#Tim couldn't get himself to read the whole note

[sakuravalenp]

Don't eat anything else - Part 2 - DP X DC

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Masterpost

This is the only chapter where I'll tag people. Please, if you want to follow the story from this point on, follow the master post :).

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"You both should stop eating the food." Came Babs voice through the comms. "Danny asked Tim to not eat anything else. We suspect the food may content poison."

Bruce subtly shared a look with Cass before returning to nodding at Masters' proud rambling about his latest contract. They had both stopped eating long ago. The soup was good; Masters’ words about Danny being a good cook weren’t a lie. However, Bruce couldn’t identify the chunks of meat in the soup.

He initially thought it was pork, though the texture seemed somewhat similar to veal. By the fourth piece of meat he ate, he could confidently say he didn't recognize it. When he looked at Cass, he saw her using her spoon to play with one of the pieces of meat on the edge of the plate, a frown hidden behind her polite smile. He was sure then that the meat couldn't be one they had tasted before.

Bruce has tasted every kind of meat that should be available to Masters. He has even tasted exotic meats that Masters would probably never encounter, having represented humanity in intergalactic meetings as Batman. Not being able to identify the meat discouraged Bruce from eating more, and it seemed to have had the same effect on Cass. They had kept their food mostly untouched, using the excuse of waiting for Tim and Danny to return before eating. It was a good call; the meat being poisoned could be the reason it was unrecognizable.

"If any of you feel any symptoms, turn off your comm." None of them made a move to do so, and after a couple of minutes Babs continued, "I'll call Bruce in 10 minutes to create an excuse for you guys to leave."

Bruce would have liked to think that they had not yet consumed enough poison for it to affect them, but there's always the possibility of it being a delayed-effect poison. If Masters' plan with the poison was to kill them, then a delayed-effect poison would allow Masters to avoid being immediately connected to their deaths.

However, Masters shouldn’t have a reason to kill Bruce Wayne and his wards. Unless the man had discovered that they were investigating his contracts, which Bruce doubted. It was more likely that the poison was some sort of chemical restraint or chemical submissive, which would explain why Masters' contracts always seemed to end ridiculously in his favor. It would be easy to make such deals with someone who was drugged to be more agreeable with you.

Not that Bruce would be willing to take the risk to find out, especially with Cass having also ingested the tainted meat. He was glad he had brought the poison antidote kit with him. Despite this, Bruce wasn't sure about cutting the visit short, at least not for all of them. Tim had been gone with Danny for a while now, and if Danny had informed Tim about the food, they were probably exchanging information at the moment. Maybe Tim was in the process of offering Danny help, and Bruce didn't want to interrupt that.

"Renovations will be starting next week, and I'm sure the place will end up being quite popular," Masters finally finished his rambling.

"It sure sounds like it will. You certainly got yourself a great deal with Kensington, Mr. Masters. I'm curious, what is your negotiation method?" Bruce asked, hoping to gather more information.

Masters had been surprisingly adept at avoiding any conversation about the negotiations themselves, always sidetracking the discussion or giving half-answers. Drugs in the food was a good hypothesis and would be the best outcome for them, as such substances usually shouldn’t take too long to get out of their system.

Yet, it didn't explain how Masters' business partners seemed to stay committed to their contracts long after they were made. The furthest they had gotten from them was confusion about how they had reached the point where they accepted the contract's conditions. However, they all seemed convinced they had gotten the best outcome possible, despite obviously getting the short end of the stick.

It pointed to something besides drug usage. Maybe Masters got blackmail material from them while they were drugged? It would be easier to draw conclusions if Masters had even the smallest slip about it.

Masters smiled, taking a sip from his wine. "Ah, it takes years of practice, Wayne. It isn't something one can learn in a day, and only those with the capacity can master it," he said. Then, before Bruce could ask any follow-up questions, he continued, "Now, Daniel and young Mr. Drake sure seem to be taking their time."

"Oh, that doesn't surprise me," Bruce said, shaking his head with a fond smile, playing farther into his "Brucie" persona while lamenting the lost opportunities to get more leads on what Masters was doing. "They're around the same age. Surely they got distracted talking about whatever is of interest to kids their age these days."

"I would be glad if my godson got along so well with your son, Mr. Wayne," Masters said with a practiced smile, though a hint of calculation flickered in his eyes. He gestured vaguely with his wine glass, his tone deceptively sympathetic. "The loss of his family hasn't been easy for him, and building a connection with someone like Mr. Drake could be beneficial. However, it is quite rude to leave the guests waiting. As his guardian, I must address this. I’ll go search for them." Masters stated, standing up from his seat.

Luckily, Bruce didn't need to interject to stop Masters from interrupting his son's conversation with Danny, since the two boys appeared by the door as if summoned by Masters' comment. Danny visibly tensed the moment he spotted Masters standing in his place.

"Daniel, it's good you're finally back. I was about to go search for you," Masters said, throwing Danny a stern look.

Danny opened his mouth, probably about to apologize for the wait, but Tim beat him to it.

"So sorry, Mr. Masters. I had to take a shower before changing clothes."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Mr. Drake," Masters said as he looked Tim up and down, evaluating if what Tim was saying was true. His eyes lingered on Tim's wet hair for a moment, and the tension in his eyes relaxed a bit. "It is Daniel's fault for throwing the soup on you. Now, shall we continue with the dinner?" Masters sat once more on his chair.

"Should—" Danny started, slightly stuttering when Masters' eyes returned to him. "Should I serve new portions? Since the ones on the table are probably cold by now?" the intensity of Masters gaze increased with every word Danny said. In response, Danny lowered his gaze to the floor, and shifted nervously.

Danny's voice was way too small by the end of his sentence, but Bruce could sense some hidden urgency in his tone. Remembering that Danny was the one who had warned them about the food, Bruce could infer that he was trying to further prevent them from eating it. It gave Bruce the impression that Masters had also caught onto that fact, given how tense the man was.

He was grateful for the kid doing their best to protect them, but lamented putting them in a position where they had to risk confronting their abuser. Bruce really hoped Tim had convinced Danny to leave with them. It shouldn't be difficult to create a reasonable invitation for Danny after Masters' comment about how he was isolating himself.

"Good idea," Cass said with a gentle smile directed at Danny before Masters could make any move.

Masters' eyes narrowed slightly, but then he nodded. "Very well. Daniel, go ahead."

As Danny hurried to the kitchen, Bruce shared a subtle glance with Tim, who was retaking his seat beside Cass. Unfortunately, instead of the nod indicating that they could get Danny to leave with them if they created the opportunity, Tim just shrugged. It wasn't the sign for Danny refusing help, but the one for things being more complicated than they seemed. Bruce sighed, and before Danny returned from the kitchen, his phone rang. He excused himself to answer Babs' call, lamenting not being able to take Danny with them.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Bruce came back from his brief call with Babs with a worried face that Cass knew wasn't the one he made when actual "family emergencies" happened. It was exagerated and dramatic, it screamed "something terrible had happened," and was perfect for this kind of situations. Bruce quickly ushered Cass and Tim out, apologizing to Masters for the hasty departure. They barely had time to say goodbye to Danny, who had hurried back from the kitchen after Masters had shouted about seeing off the guests.

Cass noticed a subtle shift in Danny’s demeanor as they prepared to leave. His shoulders dropped slightly, and there was a fleeting look of relief in his eyes. However, that relief was overshadowed by the palpable fear that clung to him; his tense posture betrayed the anxiety he was trying to hide. It was hard to leave him behind, and Cass almost ran back when she caught sight of Vlad’s possessive hand on Danny’s shoulder and his venomous, angry eyes as she was walking out the door.

As soon as they were in the car, Tim immediately began checking the vehicle and himself for hidden microphones, with Bruce and Cass following his lead with little more than a raised eyebrow. Tim’s decision to search for bugs made sense once he explained that Danny’s room had been bugged,

"Honestly, Danny's so careful with his actions and words everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole property is bugged."

The drive back to the house they had rented was tense, the atmosphere in the car thick with unspoken concerns. Tim decided to use the ride home to update them on what he had seen. In turn, Bruce spoke about the dinner with Masters, detailing their regrettable failure to extract any additional information from the man. The evening ultimately boiled down to the suspicion that the food had been poisoned. Cass remained silent, not feeling up to talking.

She had her doubts about the food being poisoned; even if the poison hadn't shown any symptoms, her past training should have allowed her to identify it if she had consumed it. It seemed unlikely that Masters possessed a poison so sophisticated that she couldn’t detect it, and the thought only deepened her unease. She though back to how their hosts acted at the start of the dinner.

Danny looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. His eyes darted nervously between them and Masters, his hands trembling slightly as he served the food. The guilt and fear radiating from him were almost palpable, as if he believed he was committing an unforgivable sin by offering them the meal.

Masters, however, didn’t seem like he was planning to poison them. He behaved more like Damian’s classmates had when they once tried to trick him into eating non-vegan food at a gala. His smile was too easy, his gestures too casual, like someone who thought they were pulling off a harmless but cruel prank. It felt like he was purposely feeding them something he knew was outside their comfort zone and ethical beliefs, testing their reactions with a detached amusement.

From the very beginning, Cass had felt a deep discomfort about the food. The way Masters and Danny acted around it had set off her internal alarms. When she took the first bite of the meat, something immediately felt off. The texture was unfamiliar, and the taste was oddly unsettling—not in a way that clearly indicated poison, but in a manner that was subtly disturbing, she didn't know what she was eating. It made her skin crawl, and she couldn’t bring herself to take another bite.

The car coming to a stop in the house’s garage jolted Cass out of her thoughts. They all exited the vehicle, and Jason’s motorcycle was parked beside them as he opened the door. tightly clenched jaw. Like the rest of them, he was frustrated by their inability to take Danny with them, but he wasn’t vocalizing it because he was also worried about what they had eaten.

Once the door was opened, Bruce was ready to rush into his bedroom to get the poison antidote kit, but Jason stopped him,

"Hold on old man, I want to know what the note the kid gave Tim says. It may even say what poison was used; save us time."

"Mnn" Bruce said with a slight nod, and Tim started unfolding the paper in response.

The folded paper was as small as a pinky, but once unfolded, it revealed a full letter-sized sheet, and the text filled at least half of it. Tim skimmed the text as he usually did before reading aloud, but his face quickly drained of color. His eyes widened in horror and disgust. Instead of reading aloud, he kept running his eyes over the first line repeatedly, his gaze darting between Bruce and Cass. His jaw was clenched tightly, and he struggled to keep his composure, fighting against the bile rising in his throat. Cass couldn’t help but frown deeply, a growing sense of dread settling in as she wondered what the paper could possibly contain.

"Forgot how to read, replacement?" Jason said, his tone lacking its usual edge. He stood beside Tim, his expression a mix of uncertainty and concern, unsure whether to reach for the paper or not.

Tim takes a shudering breath, and Cass herself can't help but shift in her place, her anxiety growing, as they all wait for Tim to gain back his voice and finally read what Danny's note says.

"The meat on the food is human meat." Tim finally says with a strained voice.

There's a moment of silence in the room. Cass keeps her eyes on Tim, hoping, pleading, to find any signs that what she heard is wrong, but Tim only repeats the sentence. Her stomach churns violently as bile rises in her throat. Without effort, she sinks to the ground, her legs giving out as she begins to vomit. The pounding of her heart fills her ears, as black dots fill her sight and her hands tremble uncontrollably. She is dimly aware of Bruce doubling over beside her, and the sound of Jason hitting the wall.

She ate human meat. It may have just been a bite, but she ate human meat. The dinner had been made from human meat. Her mind recoiled at the abhorrent thought. The thought of the soup they were served makes her vomit once more. She gasps for air, her body shaking as she fights against the rising tide of revulsion, desperately trying to rid herself of the lingering taste and the horrifying realization of what they ingested. She feels Tims hand doing smalls circles in her back and realizes that tears had been falling from her face.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Danny's hands trembled as he injected himself with another dose of ectoplasm. The shaking made the syringe jab painfully as he withdrew it, causing drops of blood and ectoplasm to fall to the floor while the injury quickly healed. Ten minutes of continuous electrical shocks wasn’t the worst punishment he had received from Vlad, but it had the most severe drawbacks. His body had a harder time recovering from electrical damage than from any other kind of harm, and Vlad often exploited this weakness.

He took a deep breath as the last of the Lichenberg marks disappeared from his legs and arms, leaving only the ones he’d gotten from his death. He sat on the bathroom floor, staring at the ceiling, his legs and arms still trembling. He wasn’t sure if the tremors were from the electrical aftershocks or his own anxiety. Vlad had been furious about his little stunt with the soup and had once again reminded him that they weren't eating Danny’s friends because he was such a "compassionate guardian."

The reminder had thrown Danny into a couple of panic attacks once he was allowed to return to his room. He thanks he's advanced dissociative abilities for not having those panics attacks in front of Vlad. He doesn't wan't to know how the man would try to exploit that.

But even as his whole body trembles and aches, he doesn’t regret his decisions. This is his only chance for things to change. The Waynes are a powerful family with connections to the Justice League. While the League has not interfered with what has happened in Amity Park up till now, they might get involved if the Waynes reach out to them. It’s wishful thinking, and he’s risking a lot, but this gut-wrenching dinner has become the first glimmer of hope he’s had since his family’s death, and he’ll hold onto it with his half-life.

Once he's body stops trembling and he's head feels a bit clearer, he needs to text Sam and Tucker. He'll depend on them for this to not backfire on all denizens.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Next part

[couldeatthatgirlforlunch]

Hi!

I’d love a part two to your hit me hard and soft fanfic. Maybe Y/N continues to avoid them as a romantic relationship but begins to accept a platonic one liking eating with Dick or hanging out with Jason at school, etc… but the Batfam gets impatient and talks about why they are afraid (and maybe hunt down the ex which could gain their trust?)

Hit me Hard and Soft: Whispers in the Shadows

Synopsis: The relationship between the batfam gets broken after mistakes lead to accusations, and accusations lead to contingency plans.

Pairing: Yandere!Poly!Romantic!Batboys X Gn!Reader

Tw: Poly!Yandere; All characters aged up; Possible betrayal; Bad father Bruce, but is he actually the asshole here?; Arguments; Mentions of killing and torture; Possibly ooc batboys: English is my 2nd language.

Word count: 2k

Requested? Yes.

Extra notes: Not much action between Reader and the batboys here, but definitely something. Read the end to answer my question👀

General masterlist | Hit me Hard and Soft - Series masterlist

— You can't be serious.

The tension was at its highest point. Only a few times priorly did the conflict between all of them get this bad, and as always, they feared things couldn't go back to the way they were.

— I am being serious. That's how things work. — Bruce stated darkly and Dick narrowed his eyes. — We tried it the nice way, I trusted you to behave, but you couldn't do that. — Bruce raised his gloved hand and pointed at Damian. — First, Damian can't control himself. He spent a decade acting right. Justice, not vengeance. But now, he's using (Y/N) as an excuse to defile orders and act as an assassin again! — Damian hissed and clenched his fists, taking a step forward.

— If you really cared for them, you would understand, father! But as always, you put your so-called mission above everything, even us! Even them! — Bruce clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes in his direction, then turned to Jason.

— And you! How many chances do I have to give you? Both of you! You don't change. You will never change. And until you do that, you will never deserve (Y/N)’s or mine trust. Or their love. — Jason's heart broke in two, but he didn't react on the outside. Just kept his hard, Red Hood’s exterior. As he always did every time he and Bruce had a falling out.

— Bruce… — Dick muttered, a mix of a warning to remind him of not going too far, and betrayal by what he was witnessing. Bruce didn't look phased. And the fact he was still wearing Batman's suit, minus the cowl, just made this whole situation more genuine. He was neither Bruce Wayne, the persona, nor Batman, the vigilant. He was just Bruce. Their boss and their father.

— You hunted down that man, tortured and killed him! And you… — He took his gaze away from Jason and glared at Damian again. — Knew about it, and didn't notify us!

— I did know about it. Todd, you should have told us before. I also wanted that scum’s blood in my hands-

— ENOUGH! THE BOTH OF YOU WILL STAY AWAY FROM (Y/N). FOREVER.

Tim raised an eyebrow.

— Sound’s convenient. — All head’s snapped in his direction.

— What do you mean, Tim? — Dick asked. All muscles on his body tense. Tim gazed at him for a moment, then at Damian and Jason, then at Bruce again, staring directly into his eyes. — I just think it's very convenient that Bruce's getting rid of two of them. While your reason checks with past conflicts we had, with your morals and mission. It's also good for you that you wouldn't have to share (Y/N)’s attention with so many people in the future. Right, Bruce?

Silence took hold of the room.

— What are you implying? — Bruce stomped forward until he was face to face with Tim, their nose’s almost touching, daring him to say more. Tim didn't back down.

— Yeah, Tim, what're you implying? — Jason raised an eyebrow behind his helmet and took a step forward. The others copied that action.

— I’ve been watching you, Bruce. Just like you've been watching us. I know you’ve been upgrading contingency plans, more specifically, our contingency plans. I think he's been trying to keep us busy. To rile us up to commit mistakes. While he hogs all of (Y/N)’s attention. He said Damian could be trusted again if he proved himself, that was a year ago, and he still didn't give Damian permission. I bet he knew Damian would get restless and get more violent with criminals. Until he had an excuse to kick him out. And Jason, he let you spend time with (Y/N) at university. But as soon as (Y/N) started calling you their best friend, hanging out with you outside of classes and even confiding in you about their trauma, proving that our plan to make them trust us was finally working, suddenly (Y/N)’s ex receives an offer to transfer to GCPD, while everyone here has a… Weakness, when it comes to losing people we love and avenging their suffering, it's a known fact some are more… Trigger-happy than others.

Dick shook his head.

— Tim, that's something serious you're accusing him of.

— Let him continue. — Bruce growled darkly.

— I don't have anything to accuse you of, Bruce. I just don't trust you. — He shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

— So you're ready to brush off what they did? — Bruce accused and Dick started to feel even more restless seeing that the distance between them didn't change, feeling the urge to get in the middle and defend his little brother.

— I didn't say anything. But I wouldn't be surprised if me or Dick were next. — That made Dick snap.

No, he can't.

He can’t keep me away from them.

After everything I did.

We're just so close now.

Just earlier today we were having lunch together.

He can't.

He can't do this to me.

Is that how Jay and Dami felt? Is that why they snapped and started killing people? Is that why Jason killed that guy? Just for the idea of losing them forever?

Is that why, even with how heartbreaking and horrible it sounds, any possibility of someone trying to take them away from them made Tim voice out his paranoia? Thoughts Dick had when everything was quiet, when he just brushed it off as intrusive thoughts?

It isn't… Logical… But it also is…

The only thing stopping him from believing Tim wholeheartedly is the lifelong trust he had on Bruce. But those are just feelings. And they all feel. Intensely. For you.

And as much as they tried to make it peaceful, everyone having a piece of you and being happy. They were having problems, and a traitor was always a possibility.

Either way, he couldn't take that chance.

That night, Wayne Manor slept almost completely empty. All of the sons were gone. And you would know it too.

It's been a week. They've been meeting at the apartment just beside yours. It was empty, until Damian bought it, and started living there after cutting ties with his father. He wasn't happy that the others were also using it as their nest, a place to meet and talk about strategies. And keep an eye on you.

Damian was slowly steering his tea, mind elsewhere, not really paying mind to the conversation. While it was important, his stomach was full of butterflies and his heart pounded hard every time he thought about earlier, something he couldn't stop doing. After a whole year of being almost completely away from you, finally spending time with you was like a dream. That just made his resentment towards his father grow worse, even if he didn't do that on purpose, it still felt like injustice.

He knew since he was born, his way of doing things was always better.

He just told you he didn't know that part of the town much, and you, sweet you, already acquainted with his brothers, invited him to show him around. A bad taste came to his mouth whenever he thought he was the least close to you, even if he knew everything there was to know about his beloved. He got left behind. He let himself be left behind.

Because he was weak. Because he was submissive. Because he trusted his father.

His mother did send him to his progenitor's home saying that he needed to learn from him.

— We could use the League.

All heads snapped to him.

— Huh?

— We are talking about contingency plans for our father. We could have the League of Assassins on our side. Infinite resources against one single man. (Y/N) would live in luxury. And they did tell us… — His heart warmed at the sensation of finally feeling included in your life. — … Multiple times that they despised the cold weather Gotham always seems to have. Eth Alth'eban is always hot.

— We are not joining those fuckers, and you shut down that idea before I start believing what that old man said about you and kick your ass into your grave, demon brat. — Damian kept stoic after Jason's response.

— We could use the League for something good for once. I could. As the Head of the Demon. — He retorted with confidence.

Dick shook his head in disbelief.

— Dami, I think that's too much. It would only prove what Bruce was trying to say. — Damian leaned forward, as if getting closer would make his point come across as more genuine.

— I could do it! Not as a dictator like my grandfather! But as something actually good! Not just for us, but for everyone! The whole world!

— Does that megalomaniac plan of yours have an actual strategy? — Damian rolled his eyes.

— Of course it has. Kill anyone who gets in the way of my rightful place at birth. — Damian tilted his head at Tim, who looked at him in disbelief.

— Even Ras? — Damian frowned. What a dumb question. Damian would do anything for you.

— Especially Ras. — A fist hit the table and the oldest got up with a scowl in his face.

— No one. Is going to kill. Anyone. And we are not going to use the League. — Damian got up too.

— What is stopping you? This is for (Y/N)! It is not just some fucking petty act to annoy father. He acted behind our backs and he will take my beloved from me! From us!

— We don't know that yet! — Even with Dick's exclamation, it was clear not even him was totally sure about Bruce's intentions.

— … Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. — Tim muttered. They all observed he had a distant look on his face, it was the look he had when he was planning something. After a few seconds, he looked up again and got up, facing Damian. — I'm with you. It’ll be nice to see Ras look when he realizes he lost to me one last time. And to have whole guardianship of my spleen he keeps on his bedside table again.

— What? — The other three sputtered.

— I won't kill anyone. But I will help you and be an ally. Even if that means losing the Titans and leaving behind everything I build here. All for (Y/N). — Tim spoke. Jason got up.

— Tim, you can't be serious too. — He received a glare in return.

— I am. You're invited to join us. Or to become our enemy.

Damian was staring at Tim, the brother he always had a strange relationship with, full of fights and sarcasm, but they always knew they could count on each other in the end. Because they were family.

Of course, it would be nicer to have you all to himself, but he also needed more allies, and brilliant minds like his own. It would also hurt to lose every person he loved while choosing you, even if he would always choose you in the end.

— … What if (Y/N) doesn't trust us after this? — Dick mumbled, trying to see both sides before making a decision.

— We’ll explain to them. About how we got rid of every single individual who wanted to isolate and steal them from us. How we want to care for them. Keep them safe. And how I- We, made the world a better place in the process. — Dick glared at him halfheartedly.

— We have a solid plan here, Dick. We Just have to form our strategies based on what we have. It will work!

Dick sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. He started walking around the apartment, contemplating, listening in on your apartment and Tim and Damian in the background, trying to convince Jason.

When even Jason seemed convinced, Dick knew what he had to do.

Everyone turned to him when he came back to the table again, in expectation.

He looked Damian in the eyes and put his hand on his little brother's shoulders. So grown. So different from what he was before meeting you. You brought the worst out of him. Out of all of them. And you didn't even know it. That was the worse part.

But Dick was always known for being a manipulator.

— Congratulations, you're the new Demon's Head.

Extra note: I'm curious to if you guys think Bruce was actually planning something and not just being regular canon Batman putting his morals above family👀

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[nemesis-writer]

[Unwanted Ransom (Chapter 1)]

What was I made for?

TW: Mentions of Death, PTSD, ED, SH, Neglect

Masterlist

🎵Thumbs- Sabrina Carpenter🎵 🎵What was I made for?- Billie Ellish🎵

On my first day of staying here, I was excited to see if I had brothers.

Dick the oldest, supposed to be there for me, and pose as a role model right? WRONG, he instead leaves me on read when I text him. The fucker has enough guts to ignore me, and when he notices me, it's when I either get in trouble at school, or when his teamates talk to me. He had time to look after Bludhaven.

Tim, one of the family's detectives, doesn't find me interesting, and thinks of himself too big to talk to a lowlife like me. AND WE LIVE IN THE SAME FUCKING HOUSE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. With him, I have little to no memories. All he does is twiddle his thumbs, pretending I wasn't there.

Cass, Steph, Barb. I never really cared bout' them, all they do is talk shit about others, and play daddy's little girl. I was never daddy's little girl and I never complained. Not much to really talk about with them, I even learned ASL just for some light communication.

Jason, alright, I'mma be honest here. He was the closest thing I had to a brother, but he only came to the house at night for some food and rest. The best memory with him, was him taking me to school on the first day, I joined grade 5 class because I have an IQ of 190. Everything was great until he died, a part of me died with him.

Damian, the "golden apple" of this whole shit hole. This bitch thinks that he can do anything, because he is the bastard of Bruce Wayne, and Talia Al Ghul. He gets to train with Dick, while I watch them train to become a "hero". He bullied me even when I was a year older than him. Ughh, what a bitch. He was the reason I got the name Jinx, I was the bad luck of the family

Bruce, the man had the guts to adopt me and change my true name to a wayne. I was named Xerxes because it meant warrior, my dad never thought I was one. I'm not even allowed to call him dad.

Alfred, oh sweet innocent Alfred. I considered him as my father when my mother's "sperm donor", couldn't be there for me. He was there to teach me how to bake and cook, the best part was that he never admonished me for my bad behavior at school.

For 4 years I had lived with them, every night I had prayed for a miracle to happen. At night the same dream, every morning, the same nightmare. After the first 5 months of my stay, I started to avoid eating, because of depression.

And before I go to bed I looked for any blade I could, and locked myself in my bedrooom. I cut myself below the wrist, while keeping a first aid nearby. I never felt any pain from the wounds, but I felt the scar in my heart.

It's ironic how a whore with nothing, could love a child more, than a family that has everything. I always laughed at the idea, I never allowed myself to cry or show weakness. Bruce never knew how to deal with emotions anyway, so why cry?

I never cried, when Damian slashed my arm with a knife. Not when Barbara told me to go to hell, not when Tim destroyed the birthday present I made for him. And especially when Bruce called me a mistake. I only cried when Jason was murdered by the Joker.

I always thought crying was useless, so I worked hard. I got straight A's, I made friends, I enlisted for multiple sports when I turned 10. I even took up art just for the sake of fitting in.

But I will always be the Wayne pushed from the spotlight. Not even then, could I cry.

I just went to my dilapidated bedroom, God, it was ornamented with all of my awards and certificates. I started to pack my stuff, I even took the photo of me and my mother. There wasn't much to pack, all I got were hand me downs, and the dregs of my "beloved siblings."

At night, it was the perfect time to escape, with the villains on the loose, they had to take night shifts. So I slowly climbed out of my window and placed the note I had prepared for Alfred. And I prepared to go to the abyss that awaits me...

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

A/N Hiii... I got this idea from reading @acid-ixx, and @luludeluluramblings... I'm making a seperate part for the note Jennifer gave Alfred. HOPE U LUV THIS <333

[carn4g3]

Now this brings up a whole 'nother thought about the whole possessive thing + endings in the story, but how do you think the guys would react to each other after dating MC? To make this easier, it could just be the most notable relationships of the li, like their enemy and/or closest friend of the person.

example; Masky 'dating' MC, hoodie and Toby's reaction to it. Or MC and EJ dating, and kagekao's reaction or thoughts to it, etc.

Side note: I know hoodie wasn't too interested in MC during masky's ending, in fact he seemed almost indifferent and kinda annoyed at times lol, but given how he was in the story before then + the possessive headcannons about him, how would he ACTUALLY be (what i mean is remember the whole 'without worrying about tying up loose ends' thing), and along with all the others?

🫶 (I write to much damn-)

This isn't going to include every creep and will be very Night Shift specific because some of the decisions I made with character's reactions relied heavily on how the story progressed/MC's behavior. As always, feel free to read the Night Shift if you haven't! This has a shit ton of spoilers soo if you're interested, maybe hold off on reading below the cut.

(TWs: Just a small heads up, this includes pretty explicit descriptions of unhealthy relationships and overall toxic behavior, and some mention of blood and murder)

If MC ends with Masky...

Brian Thomas

Some of his indifference towards MC in Tim's ending was completely intentional. Especially in the Night Shift, I characterize him as being alright with the Operator's control simply because it's been so aggressively instilled in him. He knows Tim doesn't see it that way, but isn't too concerned about him actually doing anything to act on his hatred. However, when Tim gets with MC in the end, he's aware that they're both interested in destroying the Operator.

I definitely didn't highlight this next part too well in the actual story, but it was what I had in mind while writing it. Brian believes that they might actually be able to defeat the Operator and also doesn't see himself entirely opposing it's defeat. He has a paranoia that the Operator is able to read all of his thoughts (which is not true for how I write Slender), so he fears that him or the few people he cares about will get hurt if he lets those thoughts exist. So, he distances himself and acts indifferent for that reason.

I know his anxiety around Slender was mentioned in both Brian and Tim's ending briefly. And the idea that Brian kind of supports the MC was there towards the end of his own ending with them. Obviously, that explanation was kind of long-winded, and I felt I couldn't easily incorporate it without some POV switches.

All of that aside, Brian definitely isn't entirely disinterested in MC even if they end up with Tim. I don't think he would go as far as to fight Tim over it. He's sane enough to realize that MC wasn't falsely manipulated to choose Tim or anything and honestly thinks the other man is more deserving of your affection if you chose him.

That being said, he does not quit the stalking habit. Even if he has to see you and Tim together, he'll opt for it over never seeing you again. Tim would eventually become aware of this, and he would start a fight with Brian over the matter, but I still don't think it would actually solve the issue.

Ticci Toby

I thought Brian's explanation was the longest originally, but Toby's ended up longer because I shared a few too many tidbits lol

I hc this consistently throughout pretty much every piece I write (not just the Night Shift) but Tim and Toby do not get along at all. Toby can't handle someone as aggressively authoritative as Tim, and Tim can't handle someone as blatantly combative as Toby.

Toby's last interaction with MC before the endings was him basically being told to stay away unless he can get his shit together. Because I wrote him as so infatuated, I don't think he would disobey that. His interactions would stay minimal and pretty surface level as to not upset MC but seeing then with Tim would deeply upset him.

At first, he would pin the blame on himself. Thinking that his erratic behavior was the sole thing that dragged them-- no, forced them-- to choose Tim over him. Though, his thinking quickly shifts to believing that Tim did somehow manipulate MC into being with him and that they need to be saved one way or another.

Again, I don't think he would outright express these ideas to MC until he reaches a boiling point (like the first time), but it would only further strain his already flimsy relationship with Tim.

I love to yap about my writing, so I'll make one more note that's probably unnecessary. I mentioned in a note somewhere that MC is around late 20s to early 30s, but I didn't really talk about any of the character's ages. Obviously, none of the characters in the Night Shift are minors, so I imagined Toby as one of the youngest love interests at about 21 years old. In any ending other than Toby's own, MC would probably perceive Toby as a sort of younger brother. I was going to include a section on this in Tim's ending, but I ended up scrapping it because it seemed out of place.

The only reason MC chooses Toby in his own ending is simply because they end up isolated from any of the others and sort of just craving any attention they can get. I definitely hinted at this in Toby's ending but thought I might as well make it clear here.

If MC ends with Hoodie...

Tim Wright

Just going to preface this with the fact that I'm not entirely sure I stand with this characterization. My feelings about how I should write Tim fluctuates endlessly, but I'm deciding to stick to this characterization since this was the initial idea I had when thinking about this ask.

Tim is definitely a character who does not think he deserves nice things. He can be vindictive and demanding on the outside, but it's largely to overcompensate with the fact that he feels like a weak, broken man internally. Romantic pursuits are the closest he gets to revealing that interior, and, with MC having some supernatural compulsion shit going on, their relationship is probably the closest he's gotten to feeling like a whole person again.

That being said, if MC doesn't choose him, he's going to crawl right back to that negative self-talk. He probably wouldn't take the rejection out on MC, but he does grow increasingly distant.

MC ending up with Brian adds another messy layer on top of all of this. Tim and Brian are inseparable (trauma bonding and all that), so, similarly, I don't think Tim would take any anger out on Brian either-- not more than usual. Just like with MC, Tim would distance himself for a bit, isolating himself for far longer than it should be healthy. And then, he'll turn right back up at Brian's side as though nothing happened. He probably won't ever return to having any sort of companionship with MC, but he's not exactly unfriendly either.

Tim would get snappy if Brian tries to bring it up to any extent, and it's clear that his pent up rage takes form in his growing tensions with everyone else. But to take it out on you two? He couldn't imagine.

If MC ends with Eyeless Jack...

Kagekao

Probably the most obvious rivalry I included, even though its very one sided. Honestly, I originally thought it would just be kinda funny to have the only two demons in the story hate each other, but I do have at least a bit of a reason for it.

Kage was definitely interested in Jack when he first heard of the other demon. Especially in the mortal realm, it's rare for demons to cross paths, and, as much as Kage boasts, he missed having a familiarity with some one. Though, upon meeting EJ, he was highly underwhelmed. Jack still clung in futility to his former humanity. Not to mention, he had been gifted such a large, killer build and hardly chose to utilize it for the thrill of carnage (ha) and suffering?! Kage doesn't understand Jack, perhaps he's a bit jealous, so he acts in petty opposition to the other whenever he can

With that out of the way, I can finally get to him and MC. As someone with a bit more supernatural experience than the rest, he recognizes that his attraction to MC is a result of something other than their personality. Though he tried to ignore it, out of spite, it was like trying not to touch a big, red, glowing button.

So, to see you choose Jack over him? He can only hate you too... well, he can try.

Other than that, the rest of Kage's reaction to MC with Jack would be standard if they ended with any of the other creeps. If MC isn't directly relying on him, he steadily looses interest. He might not be able to entirely shake himself of their unintentional yet endearing psychic hold, but Kage can quite easily occupy himself with just about anything else.

He'll pop up once in a while to hold a brief, scathing conversation, but he makes himself scarce at all other times.

Ticci Toby

Another little relationship dynamic that I didn't really put too much focus on, but, unlike Tim, Toby actually does look up to Jack in a way. Obviously, he ends up under Jack's care a lot because he can't tell when he's pushed his body too far or injured himself beyond simple repair. As a result, he's had a lot of time to talk to the demonic medic and the two have kind of bonded, despite their vastly different personalities and life experience

Another unimportant note, Brian is the one who makes Toby go to Jack (either by kind suggestion or force). Compared to Tim, Brian is a little nicer to Toby in that regard. But, I don't think Toby sees Brian as anything more than an extension of Tim, so they don't exactly get along either.

Anyways, I made this one clear, but Toby really struggles to see any flaws that MC has. If they end up with Tim or pretty much anyone else, he'll eventually assume that MC was manipulated into the relationship. But, Jack's not like that, right?

I can definitely see Toby turning against Jack in his darker moments, but, overall, I think he just acts with willful ignorance. Sure, MC lives at Jack's cabin, but that's because his place has the most space. And, the others like to pass around jokes about them sleeping together, but those are just jokes and rumors.

If anything, he's happy to see his two favorite people getting along and in the same place :)

(I do not mean this positively)

If MC ends with Jeff the Killer...

Homicidal Liu

I put MC's ending with Jeff a bit earlier in their romantic relationship because a) that's how long it would probably take for Jeff and b) their relationship would probably be completely ambiguous. Jeff wouldn't define it and I don't think MC would really care to either.

Despite that, Liu is well aware of the difference in his brother's behavior towards MC. He knows there's something more going on between them, and they all live under the same roof... it's inevitable.

Liu's "love" for Jeff throughout the Night Shift was meant to come off as an unhealthy and trauma-based attachment. He realizes that Jeff is an awful person, but that passive acknowledgement is about as far as his brain is able to go before Sully fronts. As a result, his "anger" towards Jeff tends to be pretty short lived. When they fight, Liu forgives and forgets while Jeff just... forgets

Liu's interest in MC was made pretty clear in the main story, so I think he feels a bit slighted by MC choosing his brother instead. At the end of the day, he can't bring himself to be mad at either them or Jeff for it, so he just falls back to that passive acknowledgement.

Sully would probably begin fronting a bit more frequently as Liu struggles to grapple with some of these feelings. And, Sully is not the forgive and forget type; he despises Jeff and everyone who associates themselves with him. Admittedly, he thought you were cool at first, but, seeing you with the other man, his opinion of you has become completely soured.

If MC ends with Homicidal Liu

Jeff the Killer

To all who read Liu's ending, there's more of Jeff in it than Liu himself (oops) and this one was by far the most aligned with how I think Jeff would react.

Jeff does not think about his feelings. He'd rather insist they're not there, bottle them up, and let loose via brutal homicide. Though, he recognizes there's this prickling... feeling when he sees MC and Liu together. Jealousy? Anger? He'll never know because he'll never think about it.

The biggest visible difference is that his killing streaks will become a bit more frequent. It becomes expected to see Jeff walk through the front door absolutely drenched in blood-- some of it his own. He doesn't really notice that he's gotten more careless, coming back injured more often than not. Liu gets mad, but he can forget about that easily when MC is there to wrap his wounds, hands brushing his skin and staining with his blood.

Other than getting injured, he would still linger around MC, trying to get them in on whatever it is he's doing that day. To him, it's just because they're one of the few tolerable people around-- not because he enjoys their company.

As established in Liu's portion above, I think he would notice that Jeff's behavior towards MC is different than others, motivations not nearly as secretive as Jeff would believe. He might bring it up to Jeff (to which he would get no answers) though he's much more likely to just keep silent about it all.

I wish I had more to say about Jeff and Liu, but I feel I expressed their inter-workings a bit better than the others (maybe because I wrote their endings when I still fully remembered the plot of my own story and not after months of not thinking about it.... or something).

Hopefully this answered the question, but feel free to ask more if there's something unclear or you wanted more on specific characters. As I've said, I love yapping about my writing.

[bronx-bomber87]

First off thank you much for the lovely response to my last thoughts. I was very nervous about posting and got a lot of good replies, notes and reblogs. This fandom is the best. I think it's important to see both sides and I wanted Tim's to be represented in a way that gave insight without condoning what he'd done. (Cause our boy done messed up.) So giving a little of myself achieved that I believe.

I didn't know a ton about this ep cause I’m a square who stays away from spoilers haha So let’s get started.

6x08 Punch Card

Ugh my heart Tim got a reminder for Lucy’s Bday. Instant heart stomping already….I love that he had a reminder set up though. Making sure he would't forget. I’m crying already. Even though I'm so very sad. I love that he had this setup. When the elevator opens the amount of tension is palpable. Something felt very wrong. Good thing Tim was lost in his Lucy moment or he would've picked up on this sooner.

Poor Tim just wants to explain himself to Mad Dog. To explain what happened. The man is not in a place to receive it and we see later why. That look said it all though when Mad Dog departs. When Dr. London said she just took the wrong elevator my red flag gut was going off.

Now that I've see the episode as a whole I can see Dr. London's play here. She seems to use flirting as a defense mechanism all her own. To protect herself and manipulate those around her. I mean they brought her flirt fest with Aaron in the recap back for a reason I think. She's worried Tim read into something about her interaction with Mad Dog. I mean Tim is clearly upset about seeing him and she uses that to deflect attention off herself. My off meter definitely was kicking on with her. Especially with how flirty she was being I didn't like it.

Now some may see Tim's response as him flirting back but I think he's investigating her. Also he's being a little sassy because he's not comfortable with her doing therapy outside the office. I mean his face when he leaves that elevator is not of a man who just flirted. It's one who is one still hurting and two his cop gut is going off but he isn't sure why....He seems conflicted by what just went down in that elevator. Just like us he was feeling off about her.

This scene was very cute with Grey. I loved him anointing her to be a T.O. LOL Also once again showing the faith he has in Lucy. To train Celina and know she would do a good job. I was excited for this opportunity for her. For her to tap into leadership. Honestly it shouldn't have taken this long for Lucy to get to show her chops with this.

Tim is so busy trying to delete his Lucy reminder he runs into the physical version of it without realizing. Andddddd it’s still awkward af between them. How could It not be? No communication between them so naturally it is. Stilted awkwardness. Lucy got out of there so fast. Even with Tim making the all powerful joke. Trying to make it less awkward. Ow. Couldn't get away fast enough. The way he watches her go. *sigh* Like he's watching his entire heart depart the room.

This hurts you guys. No matter how much I know it’ll be ok at some point this hurts to watch. Grey not pulling any punches noting how very awkward that was. Tim telling him that's actually better than it's been....Makes me wonder how much time has passed between 6x07 and now. Wade not caring that's progress to Tim. He is not messing around....

Just wants Tim to fix is ASAP cause of the team dynamic. He's not wrong. Man isn't wrong. Rarely if ever is. Saying if Tim can't there’s gonna be a transfer and it won’t be Lucy….I mean I LOVE Grey siding with Lucy on this one. Not a doubt in his mind if it shakes out that way it'll be Tim. That being said just hearing that. Ugh. Deep anxiety pit of my stomach. And of course it would be friggin North Hollywood. That damn station been haunting them since S2. Looming over them ready to take one of them away.

Lucy being Celina’s T.O .for the day I love it. She is so excited to be her leader even if it's just for this shift. Just wants to 'Invest in her success.' You know Lucy's leadership is pretty damn identical to how I am with my team. While I am mostly Tim there are pieces of Lucy in me as well. I related to her style of leadership quite a bit.

Aaron and Tim in the surveillance van is hilarious. Their dynamic has always entertained me. I truly adore these two goobers together. Tim is trying so hard to keep his shit together. Aaron dying of ask him if he finds it hard to surveil his old team for an OP? Tim of course gives him the company line. Doing what he is told without complaint. Pulling out some S1 Tim with that reply my love.

Tim then telling him he needs a stronger deodorant LOL It's too funny. What a boring assignment for them both. Tim went from running that entire team. Doing ops and making decisions on the fly to this….Also Aaron being too distracted by his deodorant comment to pay attention is the most Aaron thing ever haha

What I love the most about Lucy with Celina is her correcting without crushing her confidence. Once again reminding me of myself when I'm correcting my work kids on stuff. She is kind but confident in her assessment of what she did wrong in this moment. Celina receiving it well because she handles it this way. Lucy out here crushing it already with zero T.O. training. Just going off instinct and what she would want if she was a newbie still. Once again her and I very alike.

Oh Tim getting that reminder again. *heart clutch.* Sigh my boy. Aaron offering to turn it off for him. I love that he was gonna have it remind him through out the day. Pre-breakup Tim clearly didn't want to forget. Wanted to make sure he not only knew it was but to make sure to make a big deal of it. That's just an assumption on my part but man would've wanted to do that. it's the way he has 'TOMORROW.' Wanting to make sure he didn't forget such an important day. *screams into a pillow.* Aaron asking if he’s gonna get her anything? I’m sure he had stuff in mind. But yeah bad form indeed…

Tim’s sweet smile when he finds out what Aaron got her. Knowing how perfect of a gift that would be for her. That sweet knowing smile makes me wanna weep a bit. He knows his girl so well. Lot of sadness attached to the smile though. 'Can I ask why ya’ll split up?' 'No.' LMAO Took it too far Aaron....You're lucky you got that much good sir.

This scene with Mad Dog hurt my heart for Tim. No matter how wrong he was for what he did I still hate seeing this. This was what I was worried about with him working with Metro. Picking at the wounds he hasn’t even begun to heal about how he left. I knew him making notes on the OP was going to come back and bite him in the ass. Watching all his repercussions is painful to see I have to say. Knowing what we know about Mad Dog later I think that's part of why he goes off on Tim. Doesn't make it any easier to watch though...

Friggin Love Lucy being a BAMF in this episode. Especially in this moment. When she once again corrects but doesn't crush Celina about her gun. It's the way she guides Celina and has control over every situation they encounter in this ep. Proving herself a worthy teacher and leader. Also she was a better teacher to Celina in one episode than Nolan has been her entire career. Dude is a stinker of a T.O. It shows in how Celina makes basic mistakes Lucy had down pat long before this time in her rookie year.

Too bad Lucy can't finish out her training and Nolan is booted. But that'll never happen nothing sticks to that man. Not since S3 premiere. The rules and repercussions are rubber and he's glue. What doesn't stick to him does to everyone else... Grey should really evaluate his teaching skills. But that'll never happen. But she deserves a better teacher than him.

From the minute Tim entered the room something seemed very wrong. From the way Mad Dog was just expecting Tim to flog him. Like he wanted Tim to ream him out for how the OP went down. Also how Mad Dog seemed nervous af to see Dr London. I mean look at that man above. He is scared shitless she is there to see him. The way he watches her though out the scene. Especially when she leaves.

Tim's cop gut is going off like crazy when she enters the room. Wondering how the hell she even know about this? He seems to take her answer at face value because honestly its pretty good considering it's a bold faced lie. Tim once again feeling like something is very off but isn't sure why.

First let me say once again I feel personally attacked by the choice in song once again. lol I couldn't find the song to save my life. The lyrics are *chef kiss.* They're painfully accurate for them both. Think they've been very intentional with their ending music and just in general this season. These lyrics filled me with some hope as well. Jotted down the lyrics since couldn't find the song.

‘When the sun won’t shine and the words don’t rhyme. And there’s mountains you can’t move. Somethings on your mind and it’s been some time-since you felt like you were you. When it all caves in feeling paper thin. And the pain might cut right through.

Oh child, Lift up your head. All this trouble's only gonna last for awhile.’ Yeah we’re gonna be all right oh child. Lift up your head. And the light's gonna find you. When you feel like you ain’t got a friend. And you’re wondering if you ever gonna smile again. Every little thing gonna be ok. I know that you gonna see better days.’ *heart clutch.*

Damn smart of Tim saying happy birthday from Kojo and not him. I’m not crying you are. This was so so sweet. Lucy's reaction to Kojo got me all in my feels. She's so excited to see him. Then that excitement melts into sadness. Because he's an extension of Tim. The way she pet's him and says how much she misses him ugh.

Seems there is a double meaning going on there. We all know despite the hurt how much she misses her person. Tim just standing there only imagining her reaction when Kojo makes his way back. What a way to bring that sweet boy back in. I'm so happy about it. Tim is respecting her space but couldn’t let her bday go without doing something. Had to let her know her was thinking of her still. The fact that it’s happening in the hallway where so many seminal moments have played out for them.... I wanna cry.

I LOVE that Tim got Kojo to put his little paw in ink for the card. It is so sweet. Their fur baby. He put serious thought and effort into this. This was so well done. Only Melissa and Eric could have chemistry without even seeing each other. This is the first time we've really seen Lucy cry about them. 6x06 she was in complete shock. 6x07 was her processing her thoughts/emotions. She was on the verge of tears but we didn't see her cry. This was first time we've seen her shed tears on screen at least since the break up. Wanna hug her so much. She deserved this card and more. Like a real conversation with him but this is a good start.

She knows this is Tim reaching out without physically doing so. Showing her he still cares. I mean he clearly very much does. You don't put thought and effort in like this if you don't. It's a huge thing for him to do right now. Lucy recognizes the effort in this adorable act. Tim's face after she reads the card. Ripping my damn heart out. The absolute regret splayed all over it. Like it’s finally hitting him what he’s done to her. What he’s lost in the process. He gave up his favorite person. His happy place and just it’s hitting him square in his chest.

Like a freight train that’s run him over. It's the way he shakes his head. Kicking himself. Knowing he hastily threw them away. What a mistake he’s made in his irrational decision making. It’s written all over his beautiful face. He may not fully understand yet why he did it but the regret is evident. Eric be killing me. His face screams all that. Knowing he should’ve been with Lucy for her birthday. Hell probably sharing that bath bomb she brought up with her. Killing me softly. Hurts so good. Damnit writers... This is being handled so well though. So hats off to them. They both needed this moment more than either of them knew.

Mad dog killing himself....jesus H Christ. Poor Tim the last thing he needs is this. It explains why he was extra nasty to Tim though. Tim saw the flaw in his play and freaked the hell out. Also for Tim to see someone he once trusted with his life compromise themselves. Compromise the safety of their own men. Gut punch. And for what? Money? Power? We won't know till more of this unravels. Whatever it is won't be for a good reason. I know Tim hates himself for his mistakes. But those mistakes always had some form of honor attached to them.

He may not see that but I do. Now the op where he got his men killed no but what he did after was honorable. What he did for Mitch came from a honorable place. I just wonder how seeing Mad Dog doing something so very un-honorable is gonna affect him moving forward...Oh my lord I’m so mad about Dr London not because I liked her. But because I didn’t want it to derail Tim’s therapy in any way. The man needs it. Here’s hoping he continues in s7 with someone better.

Everyone was right she’s a dirty birdy. I was just hoping she wouldn’t be. But my ick and uncomfortable factor went WAY up in this ep with her. I knew it was inevitable. It's not that I didn't want to be wrong about her. It's the fact I didn't want this to hurt Aaron and I definitely I didn’t want her to be dirty for Tim that was it. For his therapy and the progress he's made. I hope this doesn’t affect his therapy journey and he can find someone not compromised in S7.

That promo for next week oh my lord….the hug! The hug! "This doesn't change anything." Then pulls him right in like nothing's changed. I will be living there from now on. Or until next week lol Love the Finale being a 2 parter as well. Phew this is gonna be an intense ending to this season. Gonna be chomping at the bit for S7 once it's done I know it. Like the song stated we're gonna see better days. I truly believe that. We got this my lovely fandom. Thank you for always being so wonderfully receptive of these reviews. Appreciate any likes, comments or reblogs that come my way.

~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

Angela shooting Monica down with Wesley. She's an Epic Queen and I adore her.

Dr London is in alliance with Monica. That's super great….cool cool cool……I have a feeling and D and I discussed this earlier. Reminds us of Armstrong. This feels more like a she's been forced into it a situation. Because its obvious she's good at her job.

But the way she freaked out about the cops being hurt clearly shook her. She looked on the verge of tears in Mad Dog's room. So do I think she's a bad person? Unsure at the moment. Do I think she was once a good person who was manipulated into whatever this alliance is? I do. Be interesting to see how her SL unfolds.

[therobinswayne]

dick grayson sometimes feels crazy. because, like, to his whole family, he's a figurehead. he was the first robin, batman's first partner, and everyone knows it. he's got incredible skill, can read batman better than anyone, except maybe alfred, always knows the right thing to say to keep a fight from breaking out, amazing mediator. he's also incredibly goofy and silly, and he brings a level of whimsy into their lives that the crime-fighters might usually miss out on. he lives in bludhaven, but he still is seen patroling in gotham all the time and he's always there for his family. few remember a dick who wasn't so put-together.

but it took him so damn long to get there.

as a child, he was so very angry. he wanted revenge for his parents, and he fought like it. he fought dirty. it took years for batman to train him out of it, for him to feel like every villain wasn't zucco.

as a teenager, he was bitter. he resented bruce's attempts at parenting, he didn't want to forget his parents. he started the titans tohave a reason to get out of the manor, out of gotham. he led the team with an iron fist, since it was how the batman operation ran. it took becoming friends with the team to remind him that he was still a kid himself, that he was allowed to have fun.

he had relationsips with kori and barbara gordon, and both times he made an ass out himself by screwing them over. it took screwing up for him to figure out how to act right. he made his peace with both of them, and it taught him how to apologize and take responsibilty for his actions.

as a very young adult, he was resentful. he started nightwing to get away from bruce, felt like he was being smothered. he let the resent keep him from getting to know jason, never answered his calls, never stopped by to see him. he would only come when he absolutely had to, for a mission or an outbreak. he resented that bruce had let jason be robin, when that was his suit, the name his mother had called him as a child. it took losing jason to see what a fool he'd been.

with tim, he swore to be better. he hung out with him all the time, tried to really be a brother. he tried to be silly, so tim wouldn't forget to be a kid. it was hard, though. he saw jason, so young, bloodied, in the robin costume, whenever he closed his eyes.

joker put babs in a wheelchair. dick beat him to death. with his bare hands. it didn't make him feel any better. he got resuscitated, and then dick had to live knowing he killed a man without joker even staying dead.

when bruce died, and damian came along, and dick had no choice but to be batman for a while. tim was struggling with damian being robin, he took over wayne enterprises, and he left the manor. damian looked to dick for instruction. dick had no idea what to do.

he ran the titans, but that was different. they were under league supervision. this was the bats operation, and he was now batman. there was tim, damian, cassandra, steph, babs, alfred, and they were all looking to him.

he had no choice but to be a leader, a solid role model for them all. he made patrol routes and set up operations, missions, delegates and took extensive notes on everything. he couldn't even grieve for bruce, because there was just too much to do. there was no damn time.

when bruce came back from the past, or wherever the fuck he was, damian threw a fit about not liking the way bruce ran things. that he liked dick's operation better. he turned to look at dick, to ask him for help, because he was the batman to this kid's robin, except he's not, he couldn't do this forever, he could hardly do it for the six months he did.

he goes back to bludhaven. it takes a while for damian to trust him again.

when jason came back, dick had no idea what to do. the last impression of him that this kid had was a bratty teen brother who wanted nothing to do with him. he'd grown so much, but suddenly jason was red hood, pushed all the right buttons, and dick felt seventeen again, he and bruce were fighting so much.

by the time jason's anger settled and everything worked out, dick is in his mid twenties and he's this leader to his little siblings. he was their batman for a half a year, when bruce is unavailable, they look to dick for leadership, and he's the level-headed goofy support they need to keep their lives balanced against bruce.

few remember a dick who wasn't so put-together. but jason didn't see any of that growth.

one night, he walks in on jason earnestly trying to convince the other kids that dick's been replaced by an alien clone. they all think he's joking, since his reasons boil down to he's being a nice guy. when jason sees dick, he narrows his eyes at him like he's assessing an enemy.

dick laughs it off, tells jason he's had to grow up a lot since the old times. he stays the night at the manor. his room hasn't been changed since he first left for bludhaven. he can still see them all in the mirror. the kid who wanted to make every fight personal bc he didn't know how to grieve. the tween who ran away to the titans tower bc he didn't want bruce to parent him. the teenager who screwed up all his relationships bc he didn't know how to balance his emotions. the young adult who saw jason's open face, cautious and nervous but excited to have a family and turned away bc he was self-righteous. the sidekick robin, the overly showboaty early nightwing, the terrified of screwing up batman. and who was he now?

he had done a lot of work to be better for his family. it felt like everything he did was for other people. when bruce was having trouble communicating with the others, he would translate so the kids felt heard and bruce didn't scare them away. he spend half his time in gotham to make sure the team was working well, that everyone was safe.

he feels crazy. he doesn't know who he is, really. but he's sure he's screwing it up somehow. he always is. but he doesn't have time to worry about it now. he's got work in the morning.

he heads to bed.

[browniesarethebest]

Ur reverse batfam is so just *chefs kiss*!! I’d love to read either Dick seeing Cass dance for the first time if it’s not too much trouble

Ah! Thank you! I am so sorry that this took forever! I promise I didn't forget about it! Thank you so much for your patience!

When Dick first moved into the manor, he was given a tour by Stephanie and Tim, which Dick was very grateful for. The place was huge and, even with the tour, Dick still managed to get lost once or twice in the beginning. At one point, they stopped to peek into a windowless room. One wall contained a giant mirror that stretched from corner to corner. The opposite wall held a wooden bar that was just as long. There were a few chairs stacked along another wall next to a closed door, and Dick could see sound system one could hook their phone up to. Dick shuffled his sock-covered feet across the polished wooden floor and almost missed Stephanie's explanation as he took in the whole room.

"This is the dance studio. Cass is pretty much the only one who uses it, but I'll join her sometimes if I'm in a dance-y mood."

Dick perked up. Cass danced? It wasn't quite the same as acrobatics, but that made Cass a performer, just like him.

Dick soon forgot about this as the tour continued and he was bombarded with the rest of the amazing rooms the Manor had to offer. He only remembered again a few weeks later when he went exploring to continue learning the layout of the Manor. He was walking down a hallway when he heard soft music coming from one of the doorways. Peeking his head in, his eyes lit up as they caught sight of Cass gliding around the mirror-filled room.

Dick stared in silent awe as Cass moved and swayed to the music. There were no words in the song, but Dick felt like he could see a story in her dance. He sighed wistfully.

She would have fit right in at the circus.

Cass seemed to have caught the sound—or maybe she caught sight of him in the Manor, Dick wasn't sure—and paused. Instead of stopping the music like Dick expected, she reached her hand out to him with a gentle smile.

Dick beamed and eagerly took her hand. She led their dance, but Dick easily stayed in rhythm with her. The performer in his heart soared as he watched the two of them in the mirrors. It wasn't his usual type of performance (not enough flair for him), but it was so nice to move with someone again...

They both slowed as the song came to an end, posing gracefully as the final note finished. They beamed at each other, and Dick felt his heart skip a beat as he felt kinship growing between them. It was strange to go from being an only child to having a gaggle of siblings, but Cass was quickly becoming one of his favorites. She understood him in a way the others couldn't, and Dick appreciated that.

"Do you ever perform for the others?" Dick asked as they sat on the floor. Cass passed him an apple from her bag, which he took eagerly.

She shrugged and made a so-so gesture. Dick frowned, so she elaborated further. "Mine. My...thing."

Dick took a moment to process that before he understood. "Oh! So you mean you like to keep it to yourself. Because it's for you."

Cass nodded, and they fell into silence. Dick picked at the stem of his apple.

"The trapeze is like that for me," he murmured. Cass tilted her head to show she was listening. "Do you think...Do you think I could have one? Like you have this?" Dick gestured around the room. He wasn't really asking if Mr. Wayne could make him one. There was no way the man would do anything like that for him—the man had done enough already taking him in. Dick just missed the circus, and he couldn't help but dream about flying on the trapeze again.

Cass huffed out a laugh and ruffled his hair. Dick batted her hand away, pouting.

"I wasn't being serious," he muttered. Cass just looked at him knowingly.

And that was how it went. Dick would find himself exploring the hallways, always ending up at Cass's dance room even if he didn't always intend it. He would watch Cass dance and wait for her to notice him. She would eventually reach a hand out to him, and he would join her. She never made him leave, even though dancing was "her thing." Maybe she knew just how much he needed it—Stephanie had said she was good at reading body language.

It was almost like a shared secret between them. Unknown to Dick, however, Cass had a secret of her own.

"What...?" Dick breathed as he was led into a room further down into the Manor by Bruce and his siblings. His jaw dropped as he stared up in awe at the trapeze set up in the middle of the room. He stopped moving, but Cass took his hand and pulled him further into the room.

They stood in front of the trapeze together, still holding hands, as Bruce came up behind him and set a hand on his shoulder.

"Cass was telling me how you miss the trapeze at the circus." His head snapped towards Bruce as the man spoke. Bruce smiled down at him reassuringly.

"This—This is too much! I—"

"Everyone here has something of their own. Cass has her dance studio, Tim has his gaming room, Damian has his art studio, Jason has the library, and Stephanie..." Bruce was pointing to each sibling but faltered when he got to Stephanie.

Said girl grinned proudly. "I call it my multipurpose room."

"...Sure." Bruce turned back to Dick. "So you see, everyone has a room that is just for them—"

"Pretty sure the library is technically for everyone."

"Yeah, but no one goes in there but you, Jason."

"Yeah, 'cause you're all uncultured."

"You all have a room just for you!" Bruce cut in, his smile becoming forced as he refused to look at the others. He heard a scoff and mentally noted to give Jason extra training tomorrow.

"Just for me..." Dick murmured as he stepped closer to the trapeze. He fought back tears as he stared up at the trapeze. For a moment, he could see his family flying across it, circus music playing softly in the background as his parents called out to him.

He blinked, and the vision was gone. The hand holding his own slipped out and slid around his shoulders, pulling him closer to his older sister. He looked up at her, lip trembling.

"Yours," Cass simply said.

Dick let out a shaky breath as he looked around the room. He took in the trapeze, but more importantly, he took in the faces of those surrounding him. Jason and Tim were subtly shoving each other while Stephanie giggled and egged them on. Damian was leaning against a wall, looking done with the whole thing. Only Cass and Bruce were still looking at him.

Dick smiled at them, warmth settling in his chest.

"Mine."

[maccreadysbaby]

Project: Killcode

batfamily + oc insert

tw: none

wanna read more? here’s the table of contents!

want to read the first fic in the hundred days series so you understand what’s going on here? here it is!

its his first day and b is already having issues... as his luck usually goes

also here's what the note they threw at koa said

part sixteen

❝ GHOSTS OF THE PAST ❞

MONDAY — JULY 23 — 9:57AM

KOA WASN'T KIDDING WHEN HE SAID THEIR TEACHER WAS WEIRD.

Ms. Heidi was her name, and she didn't show up for class until ten minutes after the bell rang. She didn't use the door, either, no -- she leaped through the open window from somewhere outside instead.

Judging by the look on Koa's face, it wasn't a rare occurrence.

She was wearing a Redwood Academy mandated uniform — a black pencil-skirt and blazer set, with these tall heels on her feet. Her hair was red, tied up in a weird looking, spiky updo. It wasn't as dark as Bentley's — it was orange-er than his, like Babs'. (Bentley had learned he was kind of a rarity, being born with dark red hair like that — he hadn't seen anyone else with that natural color but his father.)

She then began shooting questions off around the room rapid-fire style (which Bentley was not a fan of, by the way), asking them for verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs. By the end of it, she had a perfectly natural sounding story compiled of each of the words she'd been given and a perfect segway into a short lesson on a technique she called spontaneous storytelling.

The boy whose drink exploded came back to class maybe fifteen minutes later in a clean uniform — and he got a detention slip for being late. 

(Oops?)

Thankfully, after the weird spontaneous questioning and short storytelling lecture, Bentley didn't have to talk or answer anymore questions aloud — instead, they were given in-depth get-to-know-me worksheets to fill out for the remainder of the period. While they did that, Ms. Heidi played some strange jazz music from her desk and started doing some weird stretches.

Bentley may have been slightly appalled at her behavior, had he not already dealt with a teacher who was an evil murder scientist. He'd much rather deal with an eccentric weirdo.

There were lots of questions on the front and back of the get-to-know-me sheet -- about their siblings, parents, hometowns, hobbies. Bentley wondered if every school did that every year; because they'd done it at Gotham, too. 

The classroom fell silent, and he started to fill out the first blank: Your Full Name (first, middle, last.)

Bentley Thomas Whittaker-Wayne was what he put down -- because that was his name now. It still felt kind of weird, seeing it on paper, even though he was sure that was the name on all of Redwood Academy's records. Bentley hadn't known his middle name when Bruce first met him (he wasn't even aware he had any names besides his first and last, actually.) so, when he was adopted, Bruce gave him his. He couldn't even remember what they said it was before.

The second was his birthday, easy. September first.

The third was his birth city and state -- he put down Drew, New Jersey.

That's about when he noticed that Koa had gone really still next to him. When Bentley glanced over, his pencil was hovering just over the blank for question three, and he was staring at it hard like it was an impossible math equation. Maybe he didn't know what city he was born in?

Bentley watched discreetly as Koa continued to hesitate for almost ten whole seconds before he wrote down Adora, California, in handwriting that was purposefully messier than the rest. Maybe he didn't want her to know where he was born? It did seem like a random question for a teacher to ask, Bentley guessed.

He filled out the rest of the form fairly easily. For parents and their jobs, he put Bruce in the dad blanks, and didn't fill out the mom blanks. For siblings, he took it upon himself to painstakingly write down everybody's names in order of age: Babs, Dick, Jason, Cass, Tim, Steph, Duke, and Damian. He wrote about their pets. Damian's cow. About Nico and Asten, his best friends. His powers. And the last question was:

What is your dream job?

When he glanced over at Koa's, he was surprised to find that it said professional soccer player. 

Bentley looked back at his own paper, staring at the blank. What did he want to do with his life? He guessed he didn't know. Not really. Being a superhero sounded cool and all, but he wasn't exactly interested in fighting bad guys anymore -- not since he got saved from certain death by Future-Nico while under the alias of Robin. He thought he'd endured quite enough chaos for one lifetime, and superheroing just... didn't seem to be for him. Not with the way he unwillingly managed to find himself in life-threatening, bone-chilling situations without really even trying. 

What did he want to do with his life, if not follow in the secret Wayne-family legacy?

Bentley ended up writing I'm not sure yet, and hoped that was okay. For now.

And he made a mental note to google Adora, California.

--

His second period of the day was art. 

He and Koa had gone separate ways after leaving the English classroom — Bentley wasn't exactly sure why, maybe Koa had to use the bathroom — but with his handy-dandy campus map, he was able to find the art classroom without too much trouble. It was only two buildings away from the English building, which made him happy — he didn't quite feel like running across the entire campus again.

He made it to class just in time, and was immediately greeted by the smell of paint and something like clay. The whole room was layered in paintings and artworks from students long graduated, with two long, wide tables that streaked down the center with over a dozen seats at each. Layla, Koa, and Summer all ended up being in that class with him.

Their teacher was a guy named Mr. Lockwell, who was similar to Ms. Heidi in the sense that he was very odd. He kept going on and on about art and at one point got really emotional, then set them loose to create whatever they wanted in their own style so he could get a feel for their personalities.

Bentley drew a horrendous rendition of Titus the dog. Koa did a watercolor surfboard — which didn't turn out how he wanted, but still looked pretty cool anyways. Layla (who was apparently the next Van Gogh) drew an insanely realistic and detailed picture of a girl and a boy sitting on a rooftop watching the sunset, and Summer did some really intricate charcoal smearing-drawing-stuff. Bentley wasn't sure what the finished product was supposed to be. It looked like a big dark blob... maybe a butterfly? Apparently Koa thought it was the most amazing thing in the world, because he told her how good the blob was multiple times. (Bentley wondered how having a crush on somebody could make something so strange seem so... amazing.)

After various blobs and attempts at art were done, the bell rang, and they split to go to third period — Bentley's was Geometry.

Thankfully, the math building wasn't too far away, either. He crossed the threshold into classroom one-eighty-nine with a quiet exhale, with still a few minutes to spare before the lecture would begin.

The Geometry classroom was set up like the English one, like a lecture hall, but way less... chaotic. There wasn't much on the dark, wainscoted walls, and the only kind of decor that seemed to be in the room was the shelving that held the math textbooks. The desks were already full of students to glanced at him when he walked in. He relaxed just a little when he spotted Varian in one of the front tables, sitting alone, eating a pop-tart. (Where had he gotten more?)

At the teacher's desk at the front of the room sat a man...

 — and the world seemed to stop spinning for a minute.

At the front of the room sat a man. A man with light eyes, white hair, and a bald spot. Glasses. A man that sent Bentley a cold glance when he came through the door. The redhead went rigid, and his legs outright refused to work. He froze in the middle of the classroom, tugging on the strap of his backpack, his heart skipping and muscles twitching like a prey animal preparing to flee.

That guy looked just like Dr. Keene.

Like, actually just like Dr. Keene. Same face shape, same features in the same places, same mysterious air and heavy atmosphere about him.

He didn't look like Dr. Keene. He... it...

It was Dr. Keene.

Bentley was pretty sure he could've thrown up just then, willing it away for the sake of what minuscule dignity he had. Instead, his breathing picked up a little -- and he hoped it wasn't obvious to anyone else.

He blinked once, twice, glancing down at his phone that he managed to bring out of his pocket. His schedule had the all teachers' names on it, and he desperately searched for relief he wouldn't receive.

Keene, Theodore.

Keene.

Keene?

Bentley wasn't sure what was going on. But he was pretty sure he was starting to hear water in the pipes, and that Dr. Keene said something to him, and that he was still standing in the middle of the room. He kind of wanted to cry, but he also sort of wanted to bleed that man dry, literally, but he decided that was too violent, and his muddy brain finally settled on nothing more than staring and feeling awfully similar to how he he felt when he was ten.

He couldn't  live through that again.

Bentley jumped a mile and a half when someone touched his arm, and water roared in his head, blood.

"Whoa, Bentley, what's going on?"

The voice was soft, and quiet, and familiar. Bentley peeled his eyes off of the teacher just long enough for them to drift over and land on the person beside him.

Varian's worried brown eyes were staring back. He took a second to scan Bentley's outward appearance, and he assumed it all came back good when he looked back up at his face. "What is it, Bentley?"

Bentley breathed in. Felt like he might throw up. Heard some water roaring in the distance. "Dr. Keene..."

Varian glanced at the teacher. "Dr. Keene? That's Mr. Keene." 

Slowly, pieces began to click in Varian's head, and a physical, visual connecting of the dots rippled across his features. He moved in front of Bentley in an attempt to shield him from prying eyes — a valiant attempt, and thoughtful, too, but Varian was only slightly taller than him so it didn't really help that much. Even if it had, some of the students were craning their necks and leaning over to catch glimpses of the unfortunate soul who was on the verge of a panic attack at the front of the math classroom. (That was Bentley.)

"You went to Gotham Academy, didn't you?" Varian spoke lowly. "You're a lab meta."

When Bentley responded with only a curt nod, glancing back up at the teacher, Varian moved between him and Dr.— Mr.? Keene so he couldn't see him anymore. "Hey, Bentley, no."

Bentley was hardly able to breathe, to think, to focus, so when Varian grabbed his shoulder and tugged him back out into the hallway, it didn't take much to move him.

Apparently the math building had a lot of water and a lot of blood in it, because Bentley's head was roaring at the sound of it. Dr. Keene couldn't... he was in prison. He'd killed people. He'd... he knew Bentley's face. Bentley had been the one to bring his operation to light — and if Dr. Keene got ahold of him now... he was pretty sure giving him more superpowers would be the least of his worries.

Dr. Keene couldn't be there. Bentley couldn't be there.

Varian seemed to fumble for something to say. He was still holding onto Bentley's shoulder tightly and it didn't seem like he'd be letting go anytime soon. Bentley might've been embarrassed about the whole thing, if he could actually think straight. Which he couldn't.

He looked down at his phone that was clutched tightly in his hand — it was shaking. And he kind of felt like puking. And crying. And passing out. And all of those things wrapped up with a nice little bow was typically the feeling he got right before an anxiety attack.

"Are you gonna throw up?" Was what Varian settled on asking, because apparently Bentley looked like it.

He swallowed thickly and stared at the hardwood. "I don't know."

A moment of contemplation passed across Varian's face. "Are you gonna pass out?"

"I don't know,"

"Are you having a panic attack right now?" He questioned urgently, his grip tightening on Bentley's shoulder. "Oh, Geez, I-"

"I don't know, Varian, God, I... I don't know," Bentley muttered, bringing a hand up to rake through his hair. He had to be hallucinating, or flash-backing, or dying. He felt everything and nothing all at once.

"I heard about what happened in Gotham on the news," Varian inhaled and exhaled. Bentley opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"That's not him. It isn't the same guy. Dr. Keene worked at Gotham — Alexander Keene. This is Mr. Keene, Theodore Keene. It's his brother. He's been working here for a long time, since before Rockie started going here, and Rockie's been here the longest. It isn't the same guy. It's okay. You're okay," Varian rambled.

Bentley raked a hand through his hair again, trying to force himself into some semblance of calm. It wasn't Dr. Keene, it was Mr. Keene. He was fine. He was not going to have a panic attack on the first day of school. It was fine. He was fine. He absolutely refused to make himself look any stupider than he already had.

He didn't have the willpower to say anything when Varian, in a last-ditch effort to make him feel better, stepped up and hugged him.

Bentley went rigid for a split second, his mind still spinning and swirling until it maybe, finally, came to rest. The hallway came back into focus, slowly, and he was able to bring his arms up around Varian in return. Why was life so hellbent on benching him at every turn?

(He would never be able to look at his math teacher in the eye again.)

--

tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)

@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @flyrobinflyy @gayboss-too-close-to-the-sun

@xiaonothere @skylathescholarly @beatyoutothatusernameloser

[mutable-manifestation]

"So he pasted on a stoic expression and gave a simple "No.""

Here's where we differentiated because I shifted to Damian's POV and kinda forced the matter. So we could Get Damian's perspective on Danny's cover." After that was the stuff I couldn't figure out because of this spot right here! Danny's answer had to be "no" the misunderstanding doesn't sink as well if it doesn't.

The memory of tests, the pre-established no-codewords *chef's kiss* because it is always going to be safer for Danny to make contact in some other way. With invisibility and intangiblity even more so.

Closing the box cutter like that, perfect. Danny knows better than to attempt to rival Damian, especially when he's under the assumption that Damian is still acting heir. Oof I can't think of any reason getting called back wouldn't spell trouble.

I love the slight implication with the evil billionaires list and tuckers unspoken question, to me it reads like Lex has also tried to clone Phantom. Which I don't think was intended but, it tracks! He totally would!

Tim's questions, Danny looking to Damian for orders. Yes. Just yes, perfection, right there in front of my face but the question didn't even occur to me. Wonderful.

Everything that follows, YOUR TAGS they look like my notes we were on the same wavelength I swear!

Do you have plans to keep going with this? Can we collab if you do?

See I couldn't bring myself to use the Damian POV because in my mind his internal dialogue would just be. Static.

Like, yes, he's a highly trained assassin. And idk too much about batman timeline but I've seen stuff about how he's had character growth and gotten better about things over time. If he came to them at 10 and he's 16 now, that's 6 years for his personal growth. Learning to care about people again.

But outside of missions the batfam are all hot garbage and personal interaction, and I imagine Damian's had enough growth by this point to get to the "people matter to me as more than murder tools/mission tolls" idea, but without any of the understanding of how to deal without a given context.

And with Danny, the context has always been "avoid/ignore."

Danny isn't a classmate. He isn't one of his adopted brothers that he has learned how to squabble/get along with over time. And, most of all, whatever Danny might believe, he is not a League member. Which leaves Damian with no framework for how to deal with him.

Damian had/has a hard enough time getting over his League training, how does he help Danny get over his? Especially when 10 years of it would have been training he did to himself.

How does he interact with someone he was raised to hold at arms-length^2?

So I figured doing his POV would be too difficult because I couldn't think of much beyond static, panicked rambling, and several mock-conversations on how to break it to Danny that the League is gone without him going off on a suicide mission against the coup-people.

Which is kind of a shame, because you could fit a lot of angst in ala grief for Danny's seemingly emotionless state and guilt for forgetting him (which, not Damian's fault the League just sucks, but people don't stop blaming themselves for things just because they know they don't need to. Emotions be cray).

"Oof I can't think of any reason getting called back wouldn't spell trouble"

idk why but this made me think of an AU version where Damian intercepted the letter but the League actually was calling Danny back at the time (no coup), so they try to find him in Nanda Parbat only to find the (fake) dead body to the resulting tune of: Batfam Grief Rampage Time (TM). Except the League called him back because they found out what he was leaving out of his reports (about the portal & tech, not about him being a halfa) so when the batfam go to Amity to talk to the Fenton's about their "dead" son Amity is walled off w/an anti-liminal shield & armed to the teeth waiting for assassins (bc u know the whole town is in danger of being conscripted after bathing in portal radiation for so long. Call that "League of Assassins Park" at that point - sans the whole cult aspect. Unless u count the Phantom Phans).

"I love the slight implication with the evil billionaires list and tuckers unspoken question, to me it reads like Lex has also tried to clone Phantom. Which I don't think was intended but, it tracks! He totally would!"

You know that really wasn't the implication I was going for, but I could totally see Lex trying to clone Phantom. Maybe he heard about the whole overshadowing thing and was like "yo loyal clone to control the actual superman is way better than a second superman that could (did) go rogue! And this one can even be a (former) human!!!"

"Tim's questions, Danny looking to Damian for orders. Yes. Just yes, perfection, right there in front of my face but the question didn't even occur to me. Wonderful."

Am basking in the positive feedback like a lizard in the sun thanks ☀️🦎🥰 

"Do you have plans to keep going with this? Can we collab if you do?"

I thought about making a follow-up, but the stuff others tagged on kinda satisfied the brain itch for me.

But! I could totally see this turning into a fully fleshed-out fic, and I think I'd enjoy writing for it, so if you want to make it happen I'd be happy to collab :)

[paceywittters]

"tim had no space to continue talking there." He didn't want to talk, that was the point of him saying he couldn't give what she wanted when she asked for a conversation.

"he doesn't think he can support her fully without working on himself first...and honestly? i think that's noble." That's not really what happened tho. The breakup was final, he had no intention to "work on himself" and come back to her after. His justification for the breakup was that she deserved better, and there's no nobility in him deciding for her. *That* is patronizing

well, ok...just a heads up this whole style of message feels super combative to me lol but i'll at least try to explain what i mean here:

i don't think we can say if tim did or did not want to talk - he didn't really make indications in that convo, but imo, i didn't take any of that as tim not wanting to talk. i get the vibe that if lucy had actually been down to have a conversation, he would've had it. in reality: tim said 2 things that she didn't like and lucy jumped down his throat. lucy asked for an adult conversation and i'm sure tim would've had one - but lucy didn't allow that to happen. and i don't blame her for that one bit, but you can't say it was just tim there when it wasn't. she snapped - she ended the interaction. also, just something i've been thinking about...neither of them are the type of people to have that convo in uniform, at the station. i doubt either of them actually wanted to have that deep of a conversation standing in the hallway where any of their peers and supervisors could've overheard. not excusing either of their behavior with that, but it just felt like the wrong moment to me.

ok so this just feels like a perceptual issue we're going to have here bc his whole entire speech for the breakup was that he needed to better himself. sure, maybe he wasn't thinking about the future - but i don't think we can say he was like...delivering that with complete finality? imo, he explained his thoughts to allow her to understand that he can't be what she needs right now. also like...the man was literally having a crisis of conscience, i think it's pretty clear the intention was to figure that all out (aka work on himself, which got pushed forward further in this ep) before considering/returning to a romantic relationship period. anyway: what i'm not saying is that it's noble not to give her the chance to decide for herself. that's stupid, that's tim being selfish - which, this breakup is a big selfish moment for tim. he broke things off to work on himself because he thinks that's what lucy deserves - and not giving her the opportunity to discuss or decide that for herself is selfish. the nobility i was referring to was that he understands in his own way that he needed space to work on himself. even if he did it in a shitty way, understanding that you have to be a better you is a great first step to actually achieving it.

for the most part we're just going to have to agree to disagree here bc i think we're reading into the show two very different ways. also overall, i just think like...in an adult relationship where you feel like you've found what you're looking for...breaking things off for self improvement isn't usually seen as a note of finality, at least on the side of the person who does it. the issue is we aren't seeing the internal monologue of tim to understand his intention, so people are perceiving it differently. either way i think looking at this like tim wasn't coming from a loving place is just like...so deeply off base. he did what he thought was the right move - and even if it wasn't, it came from a place of love. i understand that's not the easiest notion, but like...he's not a supervillain, he's just a little dumb.

[astrosfaerydae]

Chapter 5: Nightshifter

With ao3 being down I'm going to post the full text here of chapter 5. I'll still link it but I don't know when ao3 will be back so enjoy this here.

[word count: 4.1k]

Tags/notes/warnings:

TW// violence, blood, death, weapons, bruises, mentions of vomit

There's a lot this chapter so if missed anything let me know! Also chan's dad is named Charlie here, not gonna use real names out of respect. (Also Charlie is my second favorite spn character after Rowena) Sorry didn't have this up when I said would life has been crazy and then ao3 has been down all morning.

⚠️⚠️⚠️ as far as the fic as a whole goes we are about to go into dead dove territory read with caution and take care. There are tags for a reason.

Summary:

"This!" Chan pointed at Felix gesturing up and down, "You are too nice for this! You deserve a normal life!" "How normal can my life be if l'm carrying around a little baggie of god knows what to keep demons from coming after me for reasons that we still don't know!" Felix replied quickly, his voice cracking as he ran out of breath. He wasn't trying to fight Chan again but anytime he tried to question him about anything Chan kept going on about how he should live a normal life. It was getting exhausting, his life was anything but normal from the moment he stepped foot in that library.

Felix slumped against the wall, guilt flooded every bone in his body. The anger that had erupted earlier was now replaced with a deep aching sense of humiliation and regret. Chan saved him, he gave him clothes and food; it may have been just a pop-tart but he didn't have to do anything for him. He could easily have dropped him off at his house and washed his hands of the whole situation but he didn't. And how did Felix repay him? He pushed and shoved until Chan snapped.

He needed answers though, not just answers but justice. But not this way, Felix was ashamed of himself for how he reacted. So, as much as he wanted answers he had the urge to run. He kept imagining himself running straight out of Chan's front door and never looking back. He couldn't do that even if he wanted to, he was sure Chan would come looking for him regardless. His only option was to sit with this horrible feeling until Chan came back.

A lump in his throat gave way to a deluge of tears. He was crying again, pathetic. This was a situation of his own creation, he didn't deserve to cry. He should've just kept his mouth shut and listened instead of bombarding Chan with twenty million questions all at once.

As it turned out some of the answers he really probably would've been better off never knowing in the first place. He did question them though… but Chan hasn't lied to him yet. Despite being a little big in the head, Chan had been nothing but nice and honest with Felix. He had to apologize as soon as Chan came back, he knew that much. However he wondered if everything he's ever known was a lie or was Chan lying. How could he believe Chan over people that he's know his whole life? But why would anyone lie about God being missing in the first place? It just seemed so improbable, but monsters were real so why would God abandoning his creation be so far-fetched?

As silent tears fell, he continued this back and forth in his head for a while. It was such a relief when he finally heard a knock on the bedroom door. Felix was tired of being alone with his thoughts, granted he had to face Chan but it was better than fighting the demons in his head alone.

Chan came in wordlessly, but he looked like he had calmed down at least. He exhaled heavily as he dropped to the floor beside Felix. "Well you got what you wanted, Dad will be here later, but under no circumstances can you leave the car when we get where we're going," Chan said sternly, his gaze attached to the floor.

"I'm sorry," Felix murmured so quietly under his breath that Chan had to ask him to repeat himself. He did, this time just barely loud enough for Chan to make out the words.

"It's ok," Felix picked his head up to look at Chan, he didn't expect to hear that, "Yea… you made me lose my temper but you also have had your worldview completely blown up in the last few weeks. That's enough to put anyone on edge…" Chan still refused to look up at Felix, but he did glance over at him, "I'm sorry about that too," he said pointing at Felix's wrists. Despite letting up relatively quickly, the deep scarlet marks circling Felix's wrists were certain to turn into bruises.

"No it's ok," he stated, rubbing his wrists tenderly, "I shouldn't have pushed you like that, you were really just defending yourself."

Chan felt what was left of his anger slowly dissipate, left in its place was the pang of guilt. Felix has enough going on, more than even he knew, without Chan adding to his struggles. "Welp," Chan clapped his hands together as he hopped up from the floor, enough with the feelings it was time to get to business, "It's in the past now, let's go eat, we have a hunt to prepare for."

It wasn't as easy for Felix to just jump up and move on to the next thing as it seemed it was for Chan but he had to trudge through.

They ate 'breakfast' or what Chan referred to as breakfast. Pop-tarts and coffee weren't exactly a healthy filling option for grown adults. Especially grown adults that need a lot of energy, Felix would lecture him about that later. For now, they discussed the intricacies of hunting a shapeshifter. Chan repeatedly emphasized he doesn't need to use any of this because he's not allowed to leave the car. It felt kinda useless tagging along if he couldn't help but getting to see justice served in real time was an okay trade off.

It was silent for a while as they nursed their coffee. Chan didn't mind sitting in silence, he usually did, but it felt really awkward to sit in silence across from Felix. He was staring at his phone and the table was practically vibrating as his leg bounced furiously. Chan wanted to break the silence in hopes of getting Felix to calm down. He didn't want to have to worry about Felix being a panicky ticking time bomb tonight, "Soooooo I gave you answers, how about you answer something for me?"

"What?" Felix replied as he continued scrolling on his phone.

"Who's the special guy that you wanted to 'act on it' with?" Felix nearly spat coffee in Chan's face at the question. There's no way he could answer truthfully and after choking on his coffee he had to wrack his brain for a suitable answer to give Chan.

"Uhm, No one special really, just some guy at work he uhm well he bent over and- I'm not really comfortable talking about it. Can we change the subject?" Felix laughed nervously as his ears got hot and a rosy blush spread across his face.

"Sure but if it makes you any bit more comfortable I'm not exactly straight either, I don't know if I'd necessarily put a label on it though." Chan shrugged. He was just Chan, that's all that mattered to him.

"Really?" Felix asked tentatively. That definitely doesn't make him feel better at all. In fact, it's much worse for him.

"Well if they are of age and huma–" Chan paused with a groan, "nope I can't say human there was this one time with a vampire but I swear I didn't know she was a vamp until after we had sex. But uh yea I just try to draw the line and stick to just humans." He rambled, somewhat nervously.

"Isn't a vampire technically human adjacent?" Felix questioned, genuinely curious. They can't be that much different from a human, can they?

"Yes, but it's kind of a general rule not to have sex with things you want to kill." Chan took a sip of his coffee as if this was just any normal run-of-the-mill breakfast banter. Yes, fucking vampires is a totally normal thing to talk about over pop-tarts and coffee.

"How do you even find time to do anything at all? You always seem busy hunting, relationships must be hard." It was then that Felix realized the subject never really changed, but there was no turning back now.

"Relationships?" Chan scoffed, "Hook-ups only here, anything more than that is a liability." Chan could tell by the look on Felix's face he was confused and with a deep sigh he continued, "Loving anyone or anything is a liability, even family. It can be used against you and believe me when it is, not if, when, it's a pain worse than death."

For the first time, Felix felt bad for the man. There was a real pain behind his eyes as if he was speaking from experience. Felix reached across the table and held Chan's hand without hesitation, "I'm really sorry you had to go through that, if you ever need to–"

Chan rudely interrupted him, ripping his hand away, "I won't talk about it with anyone, and see this is why exactly you can't be out there!" Rage tainted his voice causing Felix to shrink back in his seat. It was well meaning but scary nonetheless.

"Why?" He asked innocently.

"This!" Chan pointed at Felix gesturing up and down, "You are too nice for this! You deserve a normal life!"

"How normal can my life be if I'm carrying around a little baggie of god knows what to keep demons from coming after me for reasons that we still don't know!" Felix replied quickly, his voice cracking as he ran out of breath. He wasn't trying to fight Chan again but anytime he tried to question him about anything Chan kept going on about how he should live a normal life. It was getting exhausting, his life was anything but normal from the moment he stepped foot in that library.

"We are still working on that, but it doesn't mean you need to be dragged into it. It's not fair…" Chan's demeanor softened towards Felix, "I've had so many friends die in my arms, no one deserves that and especially you."

The word 'you' was highly emphasized, Felix might have to circle back to that later, but he did have a friend die in his arms. It was only one but that was traumatizing enough. "I'm sorry you have to live this life, why can't you just leave?"

"It's the family business, has been for generations, it's what I was born into. That's all I know really." Chan shrugged. He had long resigned to the fate ahead of him. Live long enough to train the next generation of hunters or die trying. "Just promise for now you'll at least try to act normal."

"I can try," Felix took a sip of his coffee and hung his head. Life as he knew it was over even if he did return to some semblance of normalcy. It wouldn't change how drastically his worldview had altered in such little time. Many if not all of his deeply rooted core beliefs were shattered in mere seconds and he's just expected to return to life as normal. Seems like a tall order.

They both scrolled on their phones in relative silence after that. There were a few small questions here and there but nothing that really mattered. Neither of them were keen to talk after their earlier conversation. The energy in the air was thick and it felt like one small spark could cause an explosion.

Thankfully, the tension in the air was finally broken by a knock at the door. It was already well after dark, Chan rushed over to see who it was. It was his Dad. He was late for some reason.

Felix watched as they had what seemed to be a heated but hushed conversation. Chan's dad was averaged sized as far as height but like Chan, he was ripped all to hell. Fighting monsters does that to a person, Felix surmised. He could also see where Chan got his good looks from, if his dad was younger they might look like twins.

After they settled down, Chan's dad approached Felix with his hand outstretched, "Nice to meet you Felix. I've heard lots about you. Name's Charles but most people call me Charlie." Oh, Chan talks about him, that's absolutely great to know. Just one more thing to think about on the list of things he definitely doesn't want to think about.

"Nice to meet you too sir," Felix said kindly, shaking the man's hand.

"No offense but none of that sir shit, call me Charlie. Sir makes me feel old." Charlie physically cringed as he said the word old.

"Haha, ok cool!" Felix blushed as he was also internally cringing. He wasn't used to that kind of reaction, valid of course, but not what he was used to.

"So did Chan here fill you in? Don't leave the car under any circumstances." He stated harshly, "We're late, we gotta get going now, I'll discuss details in the car," Charlie motioned for them to hurry up and grab their stuff as he led the way out the door.

Felix sat in the back seat of the car and listened as Chan and his dad discussed the case. The shifter was apparently killing people and stealing their identities to keep police off his tail while he committed robbery after robbery. Another hunter was after him but Charlie said he'd take over and they gladly let him. The way he talked Charlie seemed like he had some kind of seniority with hunters. He was definitely someone who had been around the block a few times, to say the least. He showed no signs of anxiety going into this hunt. Neither did Chan, this seemed like an average Saturday night to them. Well, Chan did say it was the family business so it probably was how they spent their weekends.

It wasn't long before they were pulling up in a Walmart parking lot. The lot was empty save a few RVs and trailers in the back. This felt wrong and weird, Felix thought, but he clearly wasn't the expert here. But weren't monsters supposed to creep in the shadows and cover their trail, not show up at Walmart of all places. Charlie did say there were robberies at other big box stores in town that accompanied a murder or two in the near vicinity. They guessed this would be the next target as it was really the only one left to hit. So it made sense, yet things still felt very off.

Their guess was correct but they may have been too late if the body by the door and pile of distinctive shifter goo was any indication. The two men scrambled to get out of the car as fast as they could, each spewing a mixture of colorful expletives that were vulgar enough to make a sailor blush.

Chan hurriedly handed Felix a silver dagger, "Here take this and here's my phone. Call the second number on the speed dial if anything happens ok." He ran off without another word, forgetting to shut the car door behind him.

Now all that was left for Felix to do was wait. and wait. and wait… until he couldn't. He saw no movement from inside the doors and couldn't hear anything at all. Not that he expected to, no news is better than bad news, right? Somebody without anxiety definitely came up with that saying.

Felix ran up to the broken sliding doors, and peered in. He didn't see anything immediately in his line of vision and crept into the main entrance. The flickering lights in the parking lot gave the area an ominous glow. Unlike the rest of the store this area relied mainly on natural light. Felix could just make out the carts lined up to his left and an alcove to his right that was illuminated slightly better by a set of vending machines.

It was a little bit of a relief when he heard Chan's voice in the distance. His voice meant he was alive at least. Not much of a relief though as the man sounded like he was almost negotiating. Why would Chan negotiate with a monster?

Then Felix saw exactly why. The shifter rounded the corner, back facing him and a gun pointed at Chan and Charlie. In his other hand was a duffle bag that Felix assumed to be full of cash. For every step forward that they took the shifter stepped back. Felix dipped into the alcove with his back pressed against the cold cinder block wall. His entire body went numb with adrenaline as he heard the echo of its shoes tapping against the tile floor. They were coming closer and closer, heading right his way. Felix closed his eyes and slowed his breathing to try to calm himself.

He could now hear its voice clearly, "Hey at least I'm not out here stealing from the mom and pop shops, Walmart could stand to lose a few dollars no harm, no foul." The shifter spoke, it was a female voice, presumably of the poor lady who lay dead outside.

"Tell that to the families of the people you've killed. I'm sure they'd appreciate your thoughtfulness!" Charlie quipped.

"Just let me get out of here and you'll never see this face again!" The shifter laughed stupidly at his own pun as he continued his slow escape.

Felix carefully peaked around the corner of the alcove and made eye contact with Chan and Charlie. Furious didn't even begin to describe the look in their eyes. After the shifter, Felix might be dead too, well if looks could kill anyways. His heart was racing faster as the shifter closed in. There were two options: he would either be found and possibly shot or he could try to stab the shifter from the back. Chan and Charlie were obviously no help to him while they were at gunpoint themselves.

Felix took a deep breath and stepped out quietly, the shifter was an arms length away from him now. He turned the dagger to hold it properly as Chan had taught him and lunged forward. With a primal scream, Felix put all of his weight behind the dagger and felt it grind against the bones as it went deeper. The edges of the wound seemed to burn as the crimson blood seeped out. The shifter promptly fell to the ground with the silver dagger still embedded in its back and with one last horrid gurgling noise it ceased breathing. Felix stared straight ahead in shock. His mind went blank as he looked to them for any sign of what he should be doing next. Charlie looked rather pissed off, but Chan however seemed relieved. They weren't moving with any kind of haste which helped Felix relax a tiny bit if that was even possible.

"I'll take care of this," Charlie yelled out, "you get that fucking kid home and chain him to a bed if you have to. What were you thinking Felix? You could've gotten hurt or worse!?"

The words were fuzzy to Felix. He heard Charlie speak but he couldn't quite process it, he just killed a shifter. He killed the shifter that murdered Donovan. It should've felt good, he saved Chan and Charlie too. Why did he feel like he wanted to vomit instead? It could be the adrenaline or the anxiety but either way, he stood there like a newborn foal, wobbly and looking for some reassurance.

"Do I need to come back and get you?" Chan asked his dad as he retrieved the dagger from the dead shifter's body with ease.

"No, I'll call Bobby just get him the hell out of here. Thank you Felix seriously but if you ever step a toe out of line again I'll have your ass!" Felix furiously nodded at Charlie as words weren't an option for his brain right now.

Chan nodded too and walked towards Felix. He grabbed his arm and began dragging him to the car. He wasn't forceful with his grip but he was moving faster than Felix's feet could manage right now. Many trips and stumbles later they finally made it to the car. They were in a rush, Chan practically threw Felix in the passenger seat. Once he was behind the wheel he sped off in the direction of Felix's house without a word.

Felix decided he wouldn't speak unless he was spoken to. He knew he wasn't supposed to get out of the car, but he got worried and in his mind with the way things turned out, it was justified. Sure they did this all the time but from Felix's point of view they were up the creek without a paddle. In other words, utterly screwed. He didn't think he deserved to be yelled at for it. Everything was ok, it may not have gone smoothly but they were all alive. However, he shuddered to think what would've happened had they not.

With Chan's lead foot they were in his driveway in no time. Felix figured if Chan hadn't spoken to him this entire ride he wasn't going to at all and began to step out of the car silently. He was proven wrong when Chan yanked him back down by his shirt.

"Are you ok?" His tone was solemn, he sounded almost worried.

"I guess as ok as I'm going to be," Felix chuckled nervously, he killed a shifter and still had blood on him. What kind of question was that?

"Don't get me wrong, I'm mad for sure. You didn't listen, but I'm really glad you are ok, I'm glad we're all ok," he let out a deep sigh and hung his head, "We were in a tough spot, there was another shifter inside Dad killed 'em. We thought there was only one and just got a little caught off guard, it happens."

"What would y'all have done if I didn't kill it? There had to be a backup plan?"

"Oh there was one," Chan answered quickly, "let it go. We can't track it if we're dead."

"That sounds like a great backup plan, let the thing go, it finds a new face, and boom gone." Felix deadpanned.

"I didn't say it was a great backup plan, it was a backup plan. Shit happens, it's not like we haven't done this before." Chan shrugged with a slight laugh. He was relieved that Felix still seemed like himself after the whole ordeal.

"I have so many questions I don't even know If I want the answers to…" Felix wondered aloud. He had already had the equivalent of Pandora's box opened for him, how could it get any worse? It couldn't, right?

"Nope, remember you promised to try to go back to your life and not get involved anymore." If Felix didn't remember he could count on Chan to be there to remind him a million times over.

"Yea, I get to go to church in the morning probably with shifter blood stained on my hands and pray to a god that's missing. Totally normal life… but no seriously I'll try. I– I'm Sorry, I didn't listen." Felix hung his head. He didn't want to apologize because he killed the damn thing, but it felt like the right thing to do.

"It's fine, seriously, as long as you are ok," Chan paused and thought for a moment before turning to Felix looking insanely confused, "Wait I have another question for you now. Why go back to a church where you are hated for who you are by people that claim to speak for God when God isn't even around? That sounds like the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard." Again there was anger in his voice, at least it didn't feel like it was directed at Felix this time.

"Well…" Unfortunately, Chan was right, it did sound dumb. He couldn't argue that. "But you said go back to normal. I've gone every Sunday my whole entire life. If I just don't show up first off that's not normal second my mom will have the entire congregation out searching for me."

"I guess you better go then," he laughed, "She sounds intense."

"Tell me about it. But no, I can't just stop going. It feels wrong." It felt wrong either way even if he didn't kill the shifter, how could he sit in a godless house of god and listen to them claim to speak for him? How could he sit there desperately wanting to cling to his beliefs even though he knows God isn't here? It was going to be tough he knew that much, but life goes on.

"Are you sure you're ok though? Seriously, that was a lot."

"I think sooo," his voice lifted questioningly, Felix honestly had no clue. What other choice did he have other than that? He could sob and wail but he'd already done enough of that.

"If you need anything you have my number, now go get some rest," Chan made a shooing motion towards Felix to usher him out of the car, "and I'll see you Tuesday at the gym right?"

"See you Tuesday," Felix hopped out of the car and headed for his door. He looked back one last time and called out, "You get some rest too and eat some proper food!" Chan smiled and rolled his eyes as pulled away.

When Felix made his way inside he laid down on the couch without the first thought of cleaning up. He passed out quickly, possibly before his head even hit the cushion.

[brawberryz]

You're a fucking weird hacker

Batfam Yan! × Troll Hacker! Reader

《Platonic!》

Note: English is not my first language, sorry if there is any translation error/M.list

You were a fucking pain

For months you had been bothering the batfam with your stupid pranks, they started off as mild as sending viruses to their emails or making up gossip on the internet

But now? Now you were just annoying, you managed to piss off the whole batfam even batman himself

You managed to hack the batcomputer and fill it with viruses, you even managed to hack Barbara which was quite surprising, your skills with technology went beyond what they had anticipated

No matter what they did they simply couldn't find anything about you, it's like you only existed on the net

One thing was clear, you were much smarter than all of them and you used that intelligence to make their lives miserable and annoy them

But the straw that broke the camel's back was when you threatened to show their secret identities to the world, it wasn't an empty threat you sent them evidence and it was clear that you weren't lying

You had the most important family of heroes in the palm of your hand

From that moment on they became more serious with their investigation, they tried to find anything that could tell them something about you or your information

But every time they found a clue it was just a joke yours, you yourself put those "clues" which were links with viruses that would easily render a computer useless or to weird porn pages and when I say they were weird, they were WEIRD

You were always two steps ahead of them, what surprised everyone the most is that you did nothing with that information

You just wanted to scare them and have fun for a while, your jokes continued but they were no longer as constant as before

Until days after the incident an anonymous email arrived, batman hesitated to open it but after confirming that it was not some kind of virus or joke he read it

He was surprised when he saw that it was a huge world document where you detailed with evidence the next plan of riddler

He was surprised at how well detailed and written it was, you had put the date, place, time and even minute of the attack

At the end there was a small message in the email that confirmed that it was clearly you who had sent that

"Take this as a small apology for my bad behavior :3"

A small smile formed on the man's face, maybe you weren't as bad as he thought

And so the days went by, from one day to the next you had changed now you helped them by filtering information about villains and criminals making their plans fail

In that short period of time you made the negative opinion of the batfam that they had of you change

In that time, you became great friends with Barbara and Tim

You and Barbara loved technology and programming, while with Tim you were both nerds with similar tastes

Of course, you communicated with them from anonymous messages but they still managed to get to know you a lot more

But then a small slip occurred, when you sent one of your reports about a future plan of Joker you forgot to use an anonymous email and you sent it from your main account

That's where your problems began, in a few hours the entire batfamily had your information, from your age, face and address

They discovered that you were barely a teenager with apparently too much free time

They also discovered You didn't have parents, you were an orphan teenager who lived in a small apartment and worked on weekends in those geeky or otaku stores.

Clearly you almost fainted when you opened the door to your apartment thinking it was the pizza delivery guy, you were surprised when you found Batman staring at you.

God, he looked even bigger in person.

"What are you doing here!?"

You said surprised walking backwards, you didn't imagine that he would be able to find your address, although you shouldn't be surprised it was Batman having literally doxed you was the calmest thing he could do

"I want to talk to you"

He tried to sound as serious as possible but it was almost impossible, in his mind he could only think about the person who literally made him lose his mind in person looked so fragile and small

"Well I don't want to talk, so get out"

You were already tired of this, you thought that if you helped him in his cases he would leave you alone but it seems that you awakened that protective paternal instinct

When you were about to close the door he held it tightly preventing you from closing it

"Really?"

You looked at him angrily, you couldn't believe he was so stubborn You let out a sigh of defeat and let him in

"Well, what do you want?"

You said as you laid down on your little couch, he just stood there looking at you

"This place is very dangerous"

That made you raise an eyebrow, why did he care about you?

"So?"

"You should move, the crime rates in this area went up too much"

You just frowned at that comment, who did he think he was to tell you where to live

"I don't care, I've lived here all my life I know how to take care of myself, I don't need your protection"

You didn't need a man you barely knew to take care of you, you had been alone since you were 13, you knew very well how to take care of yourself

After that strange interaction with Bruce you started receiving checks in his names, the water bill, the electricity bill and even your apartment were paid

But apparently it wasn't enough with the man's visit if he didn't also come to visit every fucking member of the batfamily

It started with Richard coming at night and opening (breaking) your window and talking to you as if you were some kind of younger sister, it made you uncomfortable the way he thought he knew you in every way besides being too clingy like hugging you for hours or not wanting to let go

Then he arrived Jason, you didn't have that many problems with him, the only thing you couldn't complain about was that at least he respected your personal space

He used to talk to you about books he read or was reading while you pretended to listen but deep down you just wanted him to get the hell out of your house

Tim wasn't as talkative as Jason or Richard, but still his presence just seemed irritating and annoying to you

It seemed like he thought that just because you had the same tastes you were going to be friends, you hated that he didn't respect your personal space and filled you with questions

Damian, how I hated that little demon he only came to your house to bother you and ask you (force you and threaten you) to fix his things, like his Robin gadgets or to improve something

At least he paid you with the food Alfred made and if you were honest it was delicious, it was worth putting up with his orders if that meant being able to try that kind old man's food

With Barbara you only talked by text, although it bothered you how insistent she could be

Cass was very quiet, she used to come to your house at night and enter your room and watch you work, sometimes she went just to rest a while from the patrol or sometimes she just enjoyed your presence but even so you considered it weird or strange

Steph treated you as if she knew you all your life, she forced you to go shopping with her and go to spas together

It's not that you didn't enjoy it, you just hated being surrounded by people with all your being, plus you felt like she didn't even listen to your opinions, you felt like she was just using you like a toy

You did everything possible to stop talking to them, you even thought about moving somewhere else, with the money that Bruce sent you it was going to be more than enough to go to another city far from Gotham

Far from them

But you knew it was going to be useless, they knew everything about you, you knew that they were even capable of putting cameras hidden around your apartment just to keep a closer eye on you

If you tried to talk to Bruce and tell him he wasn't respecting your privacy he would just use the excuse that he just wanted you to be safe

You hated that he had control over you, that they had any kind of control in your life

It was too late to regret, all eyes were on you

And they weren't going to let you escape from them that easily

I'll leave this here before I go to sleep

byeee

[hyperblue]

note: i haven't read most of the comics yet (!), meaning i have a very brief understanding of the whole timeline thing, and i honestly don't really care very much because canon is my sandbox and i do what i want (more on that later)

— timkon clone baby is either jack or wendy; i usually prefer to use jackie, but i figured that adding a girl to the chaotic boy mess that dami and terry inheritly are would be super fun too, so let's say there are two possible versions of this au

— jackie is daddy's boy through and through, tim is his first favorite person on the planet, even when he's much older (jackie @ damian 'n terry: "you guys have daddy issues? lame", even tho he Does have daddy issues himself, just a different kind of daddy issues), which has to do a lot with tim being extremely protective of his kid from early on and his willingness to "present" in jackie's life in a way his own parents couldn't; resulting in jackie being a little closed off and shy, yet he still has that specific brand of bat-humor that makes people from outside the family circle go 😟😟😟, but that's okay, at least all of his jokes are dad-approved (meaning tim made a choked up snort and crooked his lips just a little). he's also not very much into the whole "kryptonian superpowers" thing, mostly his own powers just scare him, i think — even though the bats are as close to being cryptic as regular people without superpowers can get, they are still mostly just humans, so that's what jackie always wanted to be: just a regular person (i have a strong feeling that he's accidentally hurt tim at some point when he was a kid)

— wendy, on the other hand, is witty and charismatic, and she's never failed to keep damian grounded (wendy, while holding damian by the scruff of his neck with her TTK: "i was put on this earth for the sheer purpose of humbling you, so be humbled"). she's obviously kon's daughter, but not without this specific sprinkle of Tim TM, like when she narrows her eyes on something on batcomputer and you can just see something clicking inside her brain, like oh shit. that's the clue we've been missing or something like that. she's also much more excited and proud about her kryptonian powers than jackie, and she constantly nags kon about teaching her to use it in some new cool and funny way; tim already knows that the day wendy actually decides to go on the field will be the day of his death, because unlike with jackie he knows that he's actually powerless to do anything to stop her — not when she's inherited her stubbornness from both him AND kon

— the origin is known and generic, tim went mad with grief, tried to clone kon, famously failed, mixed his own dna with kon's, BOOM — accidental baby acquisition at it's finest. I'm not sure if he went to his family right after that or tried to scrap by on his own for some time (because let's be real, imagine being 17 and having to break news to your family about having a baby, and then imagine being 17 and having to break news to your family about having a baby that you accidentally CLONED and who's technically also your dead best friend's baby. i think tim deserves to chicken out just a little, as a treat), but i guess it's not that important, the baby ends up being raised by the whole batfamily anyways; although tim is not very much considerative of the baby at first, he's too much of a mess at this point and his brain just stopped processing what's even going on — don't even get me started on how much guilt and shame he must have felt because of the whole situation. so he pretty much avoids jackie/wendy for some period of time, still goes on his saving bruce quest, almost fucking DIES, which you know. can grant you some new perspectives on your life (no shit i know) so when he finally comes back home he's in a slightly better place and the moment he sees his baby again, still reaching for him with their small hands even though it's been months (he wasn't even sure he'd be remembered at this point) it finally clicks for tim and he goes well. i guess the best thing i can do from now on is to become the best fucking dad for this kid, and he kind of does, but he also fucks up because jackie ends up having separation anxiety and wendy becomes more rebellious as she gets older and ends up getting closer with her other dad (which is not a bad thing per se but. still hurts)

— kon is NOT thrilled about the whole thing at first. i know that his reaction on tim's actions in comics was pretty subtle, but to be fair. i think he deserves to freak out, not to mention that trying to clone your best friend and failing is one thing, but trying to clone you best friend and ending up cloning a baby is whole other conversation; although he still comes to terms with this pretty quickly, his own experience of being, well, clone baby to clark helping him to figure things out for himself. they don't get together immediately after this though, i think for the first few years they are on this shaky ground of being so obviously in love with each other but also feeling like maybe considering everything it won't be a really good idea to become an item + plus very awkward co-parenting where kon doesn't really know what tf he's doing while tim thinks that he knows exactly what he's doing (he also has no idea what tf he's doing). they catch up eventually when the kid's older tho

— as for terry, well. i absolutely HATE the fact that he's bruce's actual son, the guy just can't have a goddamn biological child that he would KNOW OF FROM THE VERY START and actually consented on having, so I'm throwing that shit out of the window and making terry an orphan (which is getting even more old i know) adopted by one of the older batkids, probably jason bc jason just seems very fitting for the role, i genuinely think that him and terry would just get each other you know? i can even see, briefly, how it actually happened — jason hosting one of those public reading events in a library for the kids, including the ones from the system, and terry is there, not really paying attention to anything 'cause the book is just boring to him, and jason kinda feels nice that day so he actually approaches terry before everyone leaves and asks well which book would you like to hear me read and terry's like ??? bro how am i supposed to know; so jason just keeps picking up books that he thinks terry would like, and there's nothing like seeing that spark of an actual intrigue in kid's eyes once he actually gets it right

— he also meets terry as a red hood, too; that's actually what makes him consider adopting terry, 'cause being fond of some kid that you see once in two weeks or so in a library is one thing, jason can get attached a little as a treat, but actually seeing that same kid scrapping by in gotham at night and doing some shit that kids definitely shouldn't be doing is... well. and the worst part of it is that it makes jason understand what bruce felt, just for a moment. and jason Can't take it, so he locks himself up in apartment for days, spiraling and rethinking things over and over for hundred times, before finally deciding that okay. if it happens again (he knows it will happen again; he knows these street kids because he was also a street kid — still is) — then he's doing something about it (it happens again. so he does something about it)

so that's that for now, I'm getting a little tired and lazy but I definitely will elaborate more

side notes:

jason's not really a father figure to terry, he never actually aimed for that anyway (he's not bruce); what he's trying to be is a caretaker and maybe a friend and a mentor. terry's completely fine with that too, to him jason is that strange mix of an older brother and some kind of an uncle, i guess

tim hasn't really think jack's name through, pretty much named him after the first person that came to his mind (his dad, obviously); if had put more actual thought into it and had some time to sit this through, i think he would name his son differently, but well. we got what we got

I'm thinking terry is somewhere between jackie/wendy and damian age wise? maybe two or three years younger than damian, i don't really see him as the youngest, especially considering that there is already a pretty huge gap between clone baby and damian (10-11 years or so)

the world is not ready for the sheer comedic potential that damian wayne, terry mcginnis and timkon clone baby could have

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Take Two (Well Do Better This Time)

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/bP1fFLr by Nation_Ustria In a battle for the fate of the world, the Justice League loses. However, losing doesn’t mean that there’s nothing left to be done. Magic is always a fickle thing, and destiny doesn’t like to be thwarted. ~ There are certain things that Dick and Bruce don’t talk about. Things like how Dick has always been able to understand what Bruce means when he grunts or sometimes uses moves that Bruce hasn’t taught him yet, or how Bruce has red-yellow-green things everywhere and had installed a gymnastics room that he’s never used. It’s not like they can do anything about it, all the bits of knowing and feeling and wanting that appear like muscle memory and slip away like dreams. It’s just… how things are for them. It’s normal for the Manor to feel empty and quiet and lonely, filled with a pervasive sense of something missing. Dick sometimes finds himself wandering the Manor, as if he could just find the right room then he could stick his head in and find—someone. Someones, plural. (Or, the Bats don’t quite remember each other. They know no names, no faces, no details. But they remember enough, and once they find each other, it’ll take the world ending again before they let go.) Words: 8246, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English Fandoms: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Batfamily Dynamics (DCU), Jason Todd is a Batfamily Member, Tim Drake Joins the Batfamily Early, Caring Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily-centric (DCU), Batfamily Fluff (DCU), it might be, Reincarnation, or it might be, Time Travel, who knows - Freeform, Fix-It, Do-Over, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, he ain't perfect but he does well, Good Sibling Dick Grayson, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Good Sibling Tim Drake, Good Sibling Stephanie Brown, Good Sibling Cassandra Cain, Good Sibling Damian Wayne, I love Babs but I couldn't quite figure out how to work her into the concept, I might do another take of this with the whole caped community, we'll see, Dick Grayson Gets a Hug, Jason Todd Gets A Hug, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, they all get hugs your honor, Stephanie Brown Gets a Hug, Cassandra Cain Gets a Hug, Damian Wayne Gets a Hug, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne Get Along, Damian Wayne Has a Heart, Platonic Soulmates, Sort of? - Freeform, Stephanie Brown is a Batfamily Member, Fluff, Light Angst, Gift Fic, The Bats get to be half-decent with emotions because I say so read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/bP1fFLr

[creepy-friday]

Ok ok

Hear me out

👀

Imagine if the Proxies were in any type of relationship with Y/N, and Y/N isn't a proxy or maid or anything.

And Y/N got pregnant 💀

Brownie points if the baby is a girl-.

Notes: the reader is in an established relationship with them,and kept the pregnancy a secret until the only option was for the baby to be born

Warnings: pregnancy mentions,yandere tendencies in Brian's part,mental illness in Toby's and misogyny in Tim's

Special thanks to @spookyravioli for the inspiration♡

"Oh.Oh." Toby's first reaction is shock and slowly the feeling of dread would start to overcome him

He never imagined himself as a lover,let alone the tought of becoming a parent.Toughts of his own father started to beat him up,and insecurity spread trough him like a disease

He needs A LOT of reassurance in order for him to not break down.During the pregnancy he would be very supportive partner and would try to keep you as happy as possible

He bought a shit ton of books,from parenthood guide books to kids ones that he would often read to calm down

When the daughter was born,multiple thoughts entered his brain."I'm a father now." sounds both bittersweet and scary to him

This was the time when he started to take medicine for his outbursts,not only for him,but for both yourself and the baby's sake

As much as he wanted to not traumatize his daughter,he couldn't help but make her be constantly on edge

She wasn't afraid of him,but rather wary,slowly understanding that her father wasn't always in the right place

Despite his early efforts,I can see as the daughter grows up she would start to resent him from all the things that he hides away from her to the way he seems off putting

Because Toby's workplace is a demanding one,I can see him completely giving up on meds and having angry withdrawals because of it

That's why it will be up to the daughter to either sugarcoat the way her father is or to step up and overgrow him

Surprisingly,Masky's first tought isn't to go buy milk.Instead,he takes his time to reason with you and to list all the complication the baby will come with

He tries to be a good lover to you,he really doesn't want the of risk losing you because of his shitty moods,that's why he genuinely tries to not stress you out during the pregnancy

Tim will take care of anything you need,even if he would mutter something under his breath,all he does is for you.In his mind,if he loses you he will lose himself as well,that's why he's so eager to please you

After getting into a verbal fight with half of the hospital personnel,he almost lost his mind when he heard that he was having a daughter

He grew up distant for a while,and was passive aggressive while taking care of the baby,as if her whole existence's worth is based off her gender

After he became warmer to you he became colder to the daughter as time flew by and she grew older

"It's because you're a girl" ; "This isn't a girl's job" ; "Are you really going to wear that?Unfit for a girl"

I can see the daughter growing up to break down her father's stereotypes,but at the same time battling with his inner demons

She might have addiction problems and become obsessive over subjects she can have control over

If the mother doesn't do anything about it,I can see the daughter having a history with battling the same type of mental illness her father had

Brian knew all along about your pregnancy,and secretly enjoyed the tought of something or someone to keep both of you forever together

After all,the baby is the living proof of your love,that's what he believes

He made sure you're kept safe and get the best health care from other women doctors/nurses,he doesn't trust male personnel

Brian was an implicated parent,altough he heavily wanted as little communication as possible from you and the outside world

From the time the daughter became a toddler,he started to grow those sick ideas into her little head about how ugly society is

As time flew by,he already convinced her that all men are beasts,and that the only safe resort she has are her parents

He not only made both yourself and your daughter paranoid,but made sure that the others would avoid interacting with both of you by saying things like "oh,my wife became mentally ill because of pregnancy complications..please do not stress her out"

If the daughter grows suspicious about her father's occupation,she would keep it a secret from her panicked mother and would try to figure it out herself,all while trying not to give Brian any clue about it

Brian genuinely thinks he made a safe space for his family,and without the reader's reasoning I can see both the reader and her daughter having a limited life inside the cabin and the forest

[bioodorange]

Okay okay okay

So I got a couple of ideas/notes/headcannons thingies:

I actually really like the whole "childhood friends to enemies to lovers" with Tim/Masky. Like maybe he met [Name] back when he was still in mental hospitals, and then boom they meet again when he becomes a "proxy". I just think it's neat ✨️

I've always imagined Toby as someone who is manipulative and cunning. I don't really like the fandom portrayal of him being soft, when I can only see him as being a rat who is willing to do atrocious things to get what he wants.

Why do I feel like Brian/Hoodie would be attracted to "shy and proper" S/Os? It's like the "good nerd x cocky jock" trope, except that the Jock is also a murderer that runs around with a camera.

Masky/Tim probably wants to be held and cuddled, petting him also works, but he'll never be caught dead admitting it.

Masky/Tim and Brian/Hoodie have probably sprayed Toby with a can of pest spray at least once.

Honestly, I have always seen Clockwork as a Lesbian. Like I physically struggle to enjoy ships like Ticciwork, because I can't help but think of Clockwork as a raging Lesbian and gets into fights with Toby ever so often. Toby and Clockwork look like two rabid rats fighting over a can of cola in the trash.

I also low-key hate it when Clockwork is portrayed as being obsessed over Toby and having no brains. When the only thing I can think of is her holding a bottle of beer and a cigarette reminiscing about life and ready to plot her next mission.

Masky/Tim would probably meet his future his S/O by getting run-over by the S/O on accident.

Does any of this make sense? What do you think?

Okay first this has actually given me a few ideas to expand on later that I will list here!!!

Cringey/classic ship dynamics but with the pastas.

Jock!Brian just seems so funny to me because I feel like he'd also be a huge theatre nerd but no one believes he is taking the school productions seriously

While Nerd!Y/N is one of those people, "You know this isn't highschool right? You don't get extra credit or life experience from doing this..."

And then Brian trying to prove his dedication to the production turns to him trying to prove himself "worthy" enough to date Y/N.

Cuddling Headcanons

I've done this before I believe but it can't hurt to redo it!! and plus maybe make it a bit ~spicy~ since people tend to like it so much

And while all the pastas are touch starved, minus Jeff (who would want to touch someone that fucking crunchy???), I agree Tim is very up there on the list

He begrudgingly agrees to sitting with you and slooowwwllly morphs into him laying asleep in your lap or with his face in your chest and limbs tangled up together.

Soulmate Meetings and AU's (I'm thinking of naming it Soulmate!Meet cutes or something, some are cursed some are funny)

Can i tell you how much I fucking love soulmate tropes?? I really really fucking like them holyshit

I know you said S/O but I couldn't help but think of those "those first words on your wrist" or whatever AU's and couldn't help but imagine this

Tim's arm reads "Holyshit you're a dude!" and he could never imagine how that could possibly be someone's first words, because he is very hard to mistake as feminine

Turns out you had mistaken him for a deer, late at night while he was off galivanting and murdering

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

Now I will be responding to other points!!! omg next time feel free to send these like as one ask at a time, I wont mind!!

Masky + Childhood Friends

I love the added "enemies" part there UGH!!!! Though it isn't expanded on in MH I imagine as those events take place he is actively lashing out and pushing away people in his life.

I think it would hurt very much considering Y/N had met him when they were both in such bad places and had cared for each other none the less, seeing each other at their worst and not caring.

Y/N probably is endlessly frustrated because they never got any answers and then he literally disappeared off the face of the Earth. I think it would be tragic if Y/N met Masky because of the sickness.

Considering they share a checkered past, what if Y/N had gotten the sickness from Tim years ago, when he was being scouted to be a proxy. But they weren't being sought out, it was just killing them slowly.

Being around Tim would only worsen their condition but I don't think Y/N would mind, doing everything they could to hide it so they could keep Tim again. They wouldn't want to lose him again , he was worth dying for.

(this gave me another idea, the pastas reacting to their S/O dying. Coming soon to a theatre near you!)

Manipulative Toby

not much will be sad here because I am still working on that yandere proxy ask you sent in, if you remember it! It is tucked away but I have lots of ideas for it but you are very spot on with how I imagine Toby.

Not even him being yandere he's probably just naturally manipulative from things to guilt tripping to subtle threats. He doesn't care for you as much, as long as he can be happy.

Toby the Pest

Slight crack continuation of what was listed above, Tim and Brian keeping him in check with spray bottles. They kicked the liquid up from water to insect killer because he would just lick it up. Brian is less enthused than Tim to use the spray. Tim will use the spray on almost anyone but finds the most reasons with Toby because of how often they work together

Clockwork's Gay

She is, I agree completely. After reading THIO (The Hunt Is On 20/10, highly recommend) it changed how I viewed some of the pasta's and that's one of them.

I was never a fan of TicciWork when I was little their personalities clash to much. Their both stubborn and a bit childish in the sense of not apologizing first and screaming/fighting instead of communicating

So they'd be friendly rivals and good friends, constantly harassing each other but teaming up in an instant to dish it out to other people.