#and then making bruce believe he died by just. running away

[mxddyhero]

No okay but. I really like White Knight: Red Hood

[dcxdpdabbles]

So I've seen a couple of Demon twin prompts that have Danny and Damien knowing and keeping in touch with each other over the years with the Batfam none the wiser (The funniest being that Damien had Danny go and replace him for a week then the two played it off like it had been happening since Damien was brought to the manor. Another good one had Danny quickly dropping off Ellie with Damien leaving him to introduce Bruce to his granddaughter). How would this play out for you? Would Danny have run with Damien faking killing him, would he have just disappeared from the compound (?) One day?

Their mother had given birth to identical twins. Damien was born three whole minutes before Danny, which shouldn't have mattered much but to the Ra's it meant the world of difference.

Ra's did not want to raise more than one hire. He did not believe in spares or succession struggles. He gave Talia the ultimatum,- pick one twin to raise in their ways and give the other up to a civilian family or lose them both and her status.

Talia will never claim to be an angel. She knew that her heart was cold and wrenched as needed to cleanse the world. She was far too selfish to even consider becoming a civilian away from the league.

It wasn't a bad life, in the end, to become a regular civilian but it was not for her. Ra's had many children who were never deemed worthy of being part of his greater plans. He never mistreated them, but ultimately he ignored them and they grew up not knowing the blood that ran through their veins.

Talia herself knew of six siblings- all different ages and races- that she had seen from a distance. Her father would take her sometimes to see them, to be reminded that unlike them, she was destined for greatness.

They were nicknamed as the Lost by one of Father's past heirs. He had died fifty years before Talia's time but he was known for his surprisingly humorous outlook on life. How Ra could stand it, she will never know.

Sometimes Talia pitted her Lost siblings. They would be outlived by their father- as all of his children thus far have been- but they would never know the waste their lives had become. They would never know the glory of battle, the rush of leading an army, or the satisfaction of successful missions.

They lived in a rose-colored world inside a small fish bowl. Her Lost siblings would never know the vast wonder of the world.

Sometimes Talia envied her Lost siblings. Even though they had no real impact on the world, no real importance, they lived peaceful lives. They grew, made friends, and fell in love without fear of being betrayed. A foolish belief but one that seemed almost blissful.

How light would their shoulders be to not have to carry the weight that Talia has known all her life? Weight to be the best, to be the killer her father required, to allow her son to head to a possible death day after day.

None of them had to worry about their children never returning from a mission like she did. That's why she trained Damian so harshly, why she pushed and pushed until he reached perfection. If she didn't, then Damian would be bested in the field and his death would shatter what little humanity she still held.

She had taken Danny- her sweet youngest boy- to America to entrust him to her Beloved. It was only as she arrived on American soil did she realized that Bruce would not be satisfied with only one twin.

He would do everything in his power to get them both. Despite the years he trained with them, after learning their ways and their mission, Bruce did not approve of the League.

He was powerful enough to succeed in taking Damian as well if she gave him the chance.

Talia chooses to not do so. She instead stopped at the closest city that was miles and miles away from Bruce Wayne. She found Amity Park, a small sleepy town that would never gather much attention let alone Bruce's, and located a couple struggling for a second child.

After her men screened them and after making sure that they were harmless despite their eccentric research into ghosts, she gave the Fentons her Danny in adoption.

When she signed the adoption forms, Danny offically became a Lost sibling. She flew home, and held Damian just a tad bit tighter and longer, allowing only a few tears to fall before shutting away her heart.

She visited him through the years, but never within sight. Danny was unaware of her presence, as he stumbled his way with his life. He was unpopular with his peers, uncoordinated in basically everything, and the idea of him harming anything was laughable.

He had too much of his Father's heart but none of his will.

Talia made the right choose in getting him out. He would not have survived long within her lifestyle.

When her sons turned six, Talia had chosen to take Damian to see his Lost brother. She had two motives for doing so. The first was to show Damian what became of those deemed unworthy. To let him see that he had been given the honor of being the twin to inherit all that the Al Ghuls could offer.

The second was so that Damian could see his brother still lived, even as worthless and meaningless as he did so, he was still alive. He would know nothing of their world but he would still be able to walk through a different one.

She hoped but never voiced that he would find comfort in this and maybe even affection for her foolish Lost brother.

_________________________________________________________

What she was not aware of, was that Damian Al Ghul was just as selfish as she was. Once he saw what he deemed as his there was little in this world that would stop him from owning it.

He believed he was entitled to having a connection with his blood brother so underneath Talia's and the League of Assassins' noses, Damian did just that. He officially introduced himself to Danny when he was eight and told him the truth about their heritage.

Danny welcomed him with open arms. Despite being polar opposites in personality the identical twins were the best of friends. Damian always looked forward to seeing his brother for a short visit whenever the opportunity arose.

Danny was always pleased to host him for a weekend and the Fentons were more than happy to have him over. They may not have been able to adopt Damian but he was just as much their son as Danny was.

Damian just wishes he could return the gesture but if he ever had the Fentons over at Nanda Parbat they would all be dead within the first thirty minutes.

It was best to go to Danny.

Then Damian went to live with Father. It was a rough adjustment and he is not proud of his less-than-optimal reaction to Father's adoptive siblings seeing as the Fentons had proved blood is not required to love a child. It took months of getting used to living there before he was comfortable enough to go visit Danny again.

They spoke every night on the phone, however, since he no longer had to worry about traitorous warriors reporting his contact with a Lost sibling. He told Danny everything about the Waynes, just as Danny told him everything about being Phantom.

They just forgot to tell any of the Waynes about him.

Damian offered to have him over now that he knew Father would never harm his brother, and that the other Wayne children wouldn't kill him either. Danny, ever the most mischievous of the two, had a better idea.

"We could prank the family instead." Danny chirps floating above his bed, headphones in his ear as tries to play videogames upside down. He grins at the screen where Damian stares back at him.

Facetiming Danny can be a bit difficult when his brother has a hard time sitting still.

Damian wasn't strong enough to say no to him.

____________________________________________________________

"Master Bruce" Alfred didn't shout exactly but it was a near darn thing that had everyone in the cave tensing up. They all turned to an older man who was nervously gesturing to a screen. "We seem to have a guest"

They gather around the older man, watching as a teenage boy wearing baggy oversized sleepwear rampages through the kitchen in an ill-fated attempt to make...a sandwitch?

"How did he get in?" Bruce demands at once watching the boy pour himself a large cup of milk. His face was turned away so they couldn't see him clearly but-

"What are you all babbling about? That's not a guest." Damian scoffs after pushing his way to the front of the computers. He waves a hand at the stranger and it is conveniently at that exact moment that he turns around gulping down his milk.

It's an exact replica of his youngest. What in the world?

"Demon Brat" Jason starts slowly, hand reaching for his gun. Bruce would be angry by that, except he's not exactly sure that his son is standing with them now "Who is that?

"Obviously it's Daniel."

"Who?" Dick asks

Here Damian actually pauses looking around at everyone in as close to alarm as Bruce has ever seen him. "Daniel. My brother. Do you all not remember him?"

"Master Damian, this is the first time I have heard of your brother," Alfred stressed, the tone just a tad bit off from being upset. Damian's eyes widen behind his mask suddenly looking rather small.

He stares at the butler like he has never seen him properly nodding his head to the Batcomputer. "Check for yourself."

"I'll do it." Tim offers strolling over. With Babs on vacation with her father, he is the best with computers. He will know if something has been altered. A few clicks on the keyboard was the only sound within the cave as everyone stood around in unease.

A quick hiss between his teeth has Tim announcing. "Demon Brat isn't lying."

There on the multiple screens is proof that for the past four years- since Damian came to live with them- there was Danny. The brother with a medical condition that made being a Bat impossible.

Tim even had a personal folder- one he made but couldn't remember making based on his wonderous expression- titled "Angel Brat". Apparently, he and Danny got on like a house on fire. At least according to the files.

"Are you all quite sure you have no recollection of Daniel?" Damian questioned. His stance is protective, tense in a way Bruce has come to know as his son being nervous.

None of this makes sense. The last time Damian was this nervous was the last large Justice Leauge mission when all hands were on deck to fix the timeline-

Oh No.

"Damian, on the last rank 10 mission of the league you were the only one on the Watchtower when Flash shifted us back. Even Alfred was commanding a tank that day." He states waiting until his son nods in agreement. Around him, everyone was equally tense likely realizing the same thing.

"I was not alone Father. Daniel was with me. I couldn't possibly control all those stations alone."

Of course.

"Damian, I'm afraid the last mission erased Daniel from our timeline. I do not remember him."

His son's eyes practically bug out of his head. He swings around in small circles looking towards the rest of the family. His jaw clenched at their blank expressions.

None of them remembered Daniel either.

"We must inform Daniel at once-"

"No!" Dick shouts, cutting him off. There was a slump in his shoulders as he spoke much less sharply now. "If we do that, there is a chance that Time will try to force his existence out. It could.... erase Daniel completely."

"So what? We just pretend to know the kid? Lie to him?" Steph scoffs,

"Yeah as much as it sucks. I've worked with Bart long enough to know that there is a real danger in telling Daniel the truth." Tim sighs running his hands over his face.

"That's fucking great." Jason sneers, kicking a chair. Duke's hands are curled into tight fists, while Cass is looking at Damian with a sad frown.

Damian sneers at them, fleeing into the showers. Cass is one step behind him. Likely for the best, his eldest daughter has always been the best one to confine into. If anyone can get Damian talking about his feelings without being too pushy, it's her.

Alfred remains silent but his posture is stiff and straight. He is equally as displeased as his more explosive children. Not that Bruce couldn't blame him.

His heart has already shattered a dozen times over once Daniel's files have been brought up. He has forgotten his son. Has lost him in a way as close to death.

He flickers through them with the family. Everyone wants to remember as much as possible. There is so much. Daniel has a heart condition that has him attached to a heart pump, his consistently cold and is rarely strong enough to wander too far away from the manor.

In fact, he seems to collapse a lot like his legs just become intangible. Talia isn't aware he is still alive- Damian broke the rules to get him out of the league before his plan execution due to his condition.

Despite all of this, Danny had the biggest heart out of them. He seemed to be the kind of person with an easy smile, and happy pun waiting. He is so gentle that Tim's nickname "Angel Brat" is not just a mirror of Damian's

And Bruce forgot him.

To make matters worse the cave's elevator dings on, and down it comes Daniel himself. He looks exhausted, likely not used to being up so late but he smiles at them all warmly anyway

"Hey guys! Welcome home!" He greets. He rushes forward, hugging everyone with ease that not even Dick has been able to do. His movements are done so naturally that this must be how he greets them every night.

Everyone lets him and he doesn't seem surprised by the fact they return the hugs.

Bruce feels like vomiting as his youngest- Damian is older- smiles up at him. "Welcome home Dad! Love you."

"I..." His words catch in his throat. Daniel tilts his head confused but Bruce pushes through wrapping his arms around him just as tightly. "I love you too son."

"Tell the others you love them too" Daniel whispers in his ear. "Don't forget that they need to be shown through words and gestures too Dad!"

Bruce stiffens, unsure if he should but he doesn't have enough information to deny Daniel anything. If he suspects something is wrong he may zap himself out of existence. He can't let that happen.

He pulls back from Daniel after a moment, and then without giving the others warning, he reaches for the child closest to him. Jason yelps as he is dragged into Bruce's warm embrace. "I love you, Jason."

"Ugh what?" Jason sounds confused from above him- when did his little boy get so tall?- but he wraps his arms around him too, giving the beaming Daniel a quick glance before he mutters. "Love you too old man."

Bruce turns to Dick who is practically bouncing on his heels, arms held out. He steps into them easily, grunting as Dick squeezes him with all his might. "I love you, Dick"

"I love you too!"

Tim is staring with wide longing eyes over Dick's shoulder and Bruce knows he will have to hug him next. Behind him, Daniel has moved to embrace both Jason and Steph, which triggered a group-wide personal hug.

Even Alfred is there affording hugs and I love yous.

It's.....nice.

_____________________________________________________________

None of the Bats are good enough to read the body launage as Cass is. She saw the mischievous glee her new brother was hiding as he went around hugging everyone.

Damian taps her wrist. "Will you keep quiet of Daniel's harmless jest?"

She smiles. "Funny. They think they can't say no to him. "

"Oh, Dad! Now that you're back can I paint your nails?" Daniel asks loudly. "I have the best black nail polish!"

"....I suppose that is fine."

Damian cracks a smile. "My brother is a menace."

[zahri-melitor]

Thinking about the decisions made by Tim and by Dick at the end of Battle for the Cowl again, and I just realised this is one of the few moments when Dick and Tim’s instinctual reaction to a situation flips and they take the route the other usually chooses.

Because Dick’s maxim since 1980 or so has been that, when situations get bad, you can walk away and leave. Your problems can be left behind. People will cope without you. When things get personally stressful, Dick generally leaves. (Leaving Bruce to become Nightwing after the you’re fired/I quit conversation, walking away from the Titans after his relationship and wedding fell apart with Kory, going to Bludhaven to establish his own separate identity after reuniting with Bruce, wandering in a daze after Blockbuster dies and then running off to join the mob, the manner in which the Dick/Babs breakup(s) are structured, needing the World Trip Cruise after Bludhaven is bombed, etc)

While Tim’s choice in bad situations has generally been to cling, to stay and hold things (hold people) together, because if he doesn’t take on the role, who will. Tim worries that without someone stepping up, things will fall apart. (‘Batman needs a Robin’, staying during Knightfall and Knightquest, coming to No Man’s Land to pull the city back together, returning to Bruce even after his 16th Birthday, returning to Robin during War Games, even going to Bludhaven after War Games is holding Bludhaven together for Dick while he’s not able to do so, to go on the World Trip Cruise to keep an eye on Bruce and Dick, to try and clone people/resurrect people because he’s clinging to their memories).

But then we hit the start of Batman Reborn. And Dick makes the decision to stay, to hold Gotham together, to hold Damian together, a decision that usually you would see Tim make.

And Tim chooses to leave, to believe that Dick and Gotham can cope without him, while he prioritises something else (the search for Bruce).

As characters, Dick and Tim have been arguing over this point for 34 years now, and it’s fascinating to see that on one of the big occasions when the decision flipped, they both ended up on the opposite side to usual.

[randomperson3736]

hello! could i request platonic batfam x sister reader who has seizures? maybe the first time it happens and how they would help her deal with it (i understand if you aren’t comfortable 👍)

A/N: Hiiiii! Thank u for her request and I am so sorry it took so long for me to do 🙏 and I'm more than comfortable doing this request 😙

~How the batfam would react to batsis having a seizure~

●I feel like the first time you ever had a seizure would be at one of Bruce's galas.

●Like one minute you would be talking and laughing with your brothers and the next you were having a seizure.

●I'm not gonna lie, i feel like Damian would first recognize the signs of a seizure and he would immediately spring into action

●He would quickly assess the surroundings to ensure there are no objects that could harm you during the seizure.

●He would also carefully observe your condition, making sure nothing changes during it like- nose bleeds or vomiting.

●During this time, he would remain calm and reassuring, offering words of comfort to you experiencing the seizure. He would avoid restraining or trying to stop the seizure, as it's crucial to let the seizure run its course. Instead, he would focus on ensuring your safety and providing support.

●Unlike Damian, dick would freak out if he saw you having a seizure.

●Yes he would jump straight into action but dick would still fear that something bad will happen to you during that time.

●He'll move away dangerous objects so you don't hurt yourself during the seizure.

●Dick would be the type of person who would hold your hand during it and repeat, "You're okay" or "you're gonna be okay".

●Once an ambulance does arrive, he would not leave your side. He'll definitely start fighting a paramedic if they said he couldn't ride with you to the hospital.

●I feel like Tim would be calm on the outside but freaking out on the inside.

●Like yes, he's a nerd and I believe he would have some knowledge about seizures and the best ways to help you through it.

●He may or may not pass out during it but hey, he'll be there in the hospital when you wake up. (May not be slapped awake by damian or Jason)

●Jason would kinda be a mix of dick and damian.

●He would move sharp objects away from you and try and help stop the seizure the best he can.

●Jason most likely would be yelling at people to move the fuck away from you and God help anyone who makes fun of you for having seizures. This mfs would be died- damian would help hide the bodies-

●Bruce would remain calm and call for an ambulance straight away.

●He would make damn sure that you had the best doctors helping you.

●Bruce would also make sure that if the media posted about you having seizures... let's just say there will be some long written apologies in the news for while.

●He's VERY overprotective of his babygirl. (I mean all the batboys are)

●And if you do have seizures regularly, they would do all the research they can ro help you through them.

●They'll still love you no matter what.

●But if someone did say anything mean about you having them.... let's just say some people about to be murdered.

[celaenaeiln]

Thank you so much for debunking the whole "Dick was a super angry child" thing the fandom has been pressing hard for the last few years it's one of my pet peeve characterization for him. (The other him being a Playboy) Does he get angry of course he does he's only human but he's usually very level head and even if he was the "Angry Robin" when he first started he was 8 years old and just lost his parents! I feel like anyone especially a child would be hurt and angry then but he didn't want revenge he wanted justice. He was a sweet child who just wanted to make his parents proud.

og post in question

Yes!!

Actually another anon asked me about this too a while ago - that I'll be getting back to soon - and I began writing right away but then I just couldn't. I had to put it on hold because I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of evidence that Dick was a happy robin. Not A happy robin, THE happy robin. I was exhausted because I didn't know where to begin, there was just too much evidence. I needed to create a separate post first.

It makes me so mad when i see Angry Dick Grayson posts because it's not even an interpretation of events. There's nothing to debate, there's no doubt, there's no question, there's no confusion, there's nothing to contest - HE WASN'T AN ANGRY ROBIN.

Jason says it himself! And unlike people in the fandom who've never read a comic in their life but like running their mouth off, he would actually know because he studied Dick. He watched all of Dick's videos when he was Robin. 11 years worth of videos. And this is what he says about Dick's robin:

Suicide Squad: Get Joker Issue #1

Jason straight up says that Dick was the happy robin. And that's just Jason. There's still Tim, Damian, Bruce, Alfred, Clark, the Justice League, and the Titans who talk about it.

Frankly it boggles my mind when I hear people who write takes say that Dick was an angry robin because even if they've never read any of the robin comics, they should at least know what he was like from what the adult characters say right? Did they really never stop and wonder why Jason keeps talking about not being Dick when he argues with Bruce? Or why Tim was so obsessed with Dick aside from knowing him from the circus? Or why Bruce writes entire monologues about how Dick saved him? Or why Alfred goes on massive rants about how Dick was the best thing ever to happen to Bruce and him or why he started crying and mourning when Dick merely left as Robin? Did no one stop to consider when they started going around saying he wasn't happy?

Honestly Angry Robin Dick Grayson characterization is a black hole of logic and intelligence.

The reason it became so popular is because it's a logical fallacy and logical fallacies sound convincing. This particular argument is the hasty generalization logical fallacy. Hasty generalization is when a statement is made after one or two examples rather than relying on extensive research to back up a claim.

For example: I got sick after eating pizza from Aleano's. Therefore, I must be allergic to pizza.

Proponents of angry robin dick characterization choose one example from decades of writing to claim that he was angry after his parents died which-seriously? Besides you'll start to notice that people who write those takes will never provide evidence because it's near possible to find something that doesn't exist. Sure one or two out of context photos might be provided but that's the best they can do to support that type of characterization. As much as we wish we were magicians from Hogwarts, no amount of wishing is going to transfigure the hundreds of comics filled with happy robin to him being an angry monster.

Also it's ridiculous that type of character because they're saying that if he's upset that his parents died, then he's an angry character. But if the Joker's happy that random people died, then he's a psycho. What do they want?! And that's not even the whole truth of it either. Dick was massively sad more than he was angry. He was taken away from his circus family and is left alone like all the time now. His life changed in a second - he's depressed. But he was able to work through it and that's how Robin was created.

Dick was not Robin when he went after Tony Zucco. The reason Bruce made him Robin was specifically because he admitted he didn't want Tony Zucco dead.

The problem is people sometimes hyperfocus so much on one detail that they forget the big picture. They centered 11 years of Robin characterization around one moment.

Let's get the facts straight. Robin is a success story. The greatness of Dick wasn't just that he was the smart, the best of the ages, and the greatest athelete - no. His greatness is that he is able to move. ON. He can do what Bruce never could. He could move on and take his parents death and turn it into something positive. He was able to overcome grief and not dwell in the past.

That's why he was able to be happy. That's why Bruce couldn't. And that's why Bruce needed Dick because Dick made him happy.

Alfred says this about Dick as Robin -

Robin: Year One Issue #1

"The addition of Dick Grayson into the Master's crusade has made a difference in him." "I do believe I saw him smile. There have been occasions in the pantry when I could just discern the muffled sounds of laughter echoeing up from that dreadful cavern beneath the manor."

People don't seem to understand. Alfred never approved Bruce's tenure as Batman. He loathed it so much he punched Bruce for it. It was Dick's light and goodness that changed Bruce's mind because he saw how happy Dick made him and how happy of a child he himself was.

And Dick? He never changed his personality in or out of costume.

Robin: Year One Issue #2

"He doesn't seem to struggle to lead a normal adolescence." "He's had no need to develop the masquerade that Master Bruce felt necessary." "His personality remains the same with or without the mask and boots. "

He's not the troubled kid some people seem to think he is. He wasn't mean or selfish or cast aside or raging moodily in a corner. Actually in the Batman (1940) and Detective Comics, he was seen as a role model for how helpful and kind he was. He was actually the one who went out of his way to help troubled kids because of his kindness, goodness, and empathy.

Checkmate (2006) Issue #14

Checkmate is a member of Task Force X under Amanda Waller and an ally of Batman's. She knows him. She knows what Dick was to him and Dick even mourns about the time when Bruce used to be happy. It was his joy and personality that did that.

Of course my argument isn't to be taken one sidedly saying he was constantly happy 24/7, all the time, in every occasion - no. Emotions are a spectrum and no one feels one emotion all the time. Thats silly. But, your personality outlook is based on what you feel most of the time. Dick sometimes got angry, sometimes got sad, etc. But in a dichotomy between happy and angry there is no doubt, no question, that he was overwhelmingly on the happy side.

There's a reason why everyone calls him happy. It's because for an overwhelming majority of the time, he was the happy robin.

52 Issue #25

Way back in the Batman (1940) comic Dick says, "I became Robin, history's first sidekick. And there I was, the laughing boy daredevil--"

Batman and Robin (2009) Issue #9

You can call him crazy, excitable, feral, overexcellent, etc. But never forget that Bruce once went insane after locking himself in a simulator that emulated Robin Dick Grayson's joy.

The incontestable truth - Dick was a happy robin.

[inthememetime]

Alfred finds and adopts three homeless teens while the whole of the Batclan is away, the three teens are of course The Fentons. Alfred on the other hand had been dealing with a bit of Empty Nest Syndrome and takes the trio in, so by the time the rest of the Batclan filters back there are three extra people in the Manor but the Fentons deliberately ghost the rest of the residents.

I love this for four reasons:

The potential for Alfred, who wishes Bruce would stop adopting small violent children, realizing that HE is the same.

You can't tell me Alfred, Danny, Dani, and Jazz won't be BFFs. Jazz is the only (mostly) sane person in this house besides him. Dani absolutely WILL spy and report on injuries in exchange for more of that casserole. Danny and Alfred have similar sarcastic wit.

"If we had a nickel for every billionaire with a secret identity we know, we would each have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot, but weird it happened twice."

The SHENANIGANS!!!!!

Shenanigans include:

At first, Alfred doesn't tell the Batfam because they're a family of detectives. Surely they'll notice. Over time, it becomes a contest of who can make them suspect the most without being found.

Alfred either playing it off or staring with a raised eyebrow when one of the Batfam asks why/if he's talking to himself.

Jazz can only be turned invisible in the nick of time so many times before somebody finds out about her. "It says here, Ms. Fenton, that you have a brother?" "Yes, Danny. He died. But don't worry, he got better!"

When Tim is forbidden caffeine for a week, Danny drinks his coffee super fast or Dani replaces it with chamomile tea with black food coloring.

Dani: "You know Dick, you really shouldn't do that."

Dick, after a moment of panic, realizing there's nothing in the room with him. "....God?"

Dani, realizing how much chaos she can cause: "yeah, that's me! God."

Danny and Dani take turns being human just to walk past open doors. They all look enough alike to Tim, Dick, Damien, and a young Jason in uncertain light that the rest of the fam has to do double takes.

When someone calls Constantine over as a favor, he takes 2 steps into the manner, says no, and RUNS.

"So I've heard the voice of God, and it sounds like a 14-year-old girl."

"....how hard did Bane hit you again?"

"God says Jason is the one who stole your book."

"...right ok."

Bruce decides he's gonna go be Batman while wounded. He snuck out, so Al calls his Secret Ghost Squad.

Batman is repeatedly interrupted (*cough* saved) by 2 OP glowing metas. Constantine will no longer cross Gotham's borders.

Danny: "You need more ectoplasm. You're a growing half-ghost."

Jason: *shoots the wall* "WHAT THE FUCK WHO WAS THAT?!"

Danny: would you believe it was God?

Jason: NO

Jason figures it out first because he's being parented by a dead guy. He actually doesn't mind that much because he gets to visit the GZ

Cass figures out second because she's observant.

Dick figures it out third by spraying 'God' with paint. He then realizes he attacked an invisible creature that can go through walls with no idea how to fight it.

Tim figures it out by deliberately putting salt in his coffee to see what would happen.

Damien finds Cujo. He is Upset that Cujo already has an owner. Danny tells Damien in exchange for Damien to stop yelling insults at him. (Dani calls him Weak for this, and tells Damien 15 minutes later because he thought she was calling HIM weak and had Opinions)

"Oh shit."

Steph bribes the 'house spirits' for prank help, and then tricks them. They tell her out of Respect.

Duke starts talking to himself about star output on his homework, gets stuck, and SpaceBoi helps. Duke's 10 minutes into stars actually being interesting for once before he realizes he's talking to a ghost.

Bruce has been introduced to them by Jazz. Alfred made her after the 4th sleepless night due to researching the surprise metas.

Dani: its cool dude, but now I have to go prank Tim. Bye!

Vlad shows up for a private meeting with Bruce Wayne. The ghosties reveal themselves in order to kick his ass.

Alfred is the only person who can get away with calling Danny 'Daniel' and Dani 'Danielle'. Anyone else has Serious Regrets.

The Joker breaks Alfred's leg in a bombing. He's never seen again. Danny, Dani, and Jazz are a little TOO innocent

[cypherscript]

In Bad Taste Part 2

"Four feet?!" The entirety of the league at the meeting is up on their feet. "Why so fast?"

"Do you have any pictures of the orb or the bodies? Were they dead," Batman asks as he pulls up the location of the League's hideout via a satellite trying to gain visual of what she was talking about.

"All but one. Why did you send Hood? I thought he was on your no go list."

"Hood's been getting better, he was the most logical one to infiltrate the League; he was already in good graces with them when Talia used the pits to bring him back. Being on my no go list made it seem like he was no longer associated with me. I have visual, why did they have the orb out in the middle of the courtyard?"

"I have some footage of the scene, they appeared to have been trying to cast some kind of spell to link the orb with other locations or maybe to expand its radius of effect. It's not completed," Zatanna places a device into a port on the table and pictures of a large magic circle surrounds the larger orb. The next few pictures were of the corpses lined up, some of the faces looking familiar to Bruce.

"So Ras is gone then, that's the man right there."

"So it appears," Zatanna agrees, switching the screen to one of the orb, with it being so big now details not seen are clear.

Superman looks at the picture closely, "Is it just me or does that look like a a bunch of stars?"

Batman says nothing as he runs the image through multiple star charting programs, "You're correct, Superman. I'm getting multiple confirmations; Perseus-Pisces, Pisces-Cetus, Ursa Major, the Centaurus Cluster, The Milky Way, Sto-Oa, Rao. It keeps going, it shows to be every star in our sky as well."

"Rao," Superman asks, looking for the familiar star by its formation. "How old is this thing?"

"We should contact Hal and the lanterns to let them know. This could be one of theirs or maybe the Guardians know what it is?"

"I'm sending the message now," Batman types away at the keypad, "While we wait for them I'm going to check on Hood."

"We'll come with you," Diana says as Bruce moves the files to his personal device.

"Do as you wish. Zatanna bring in Constantine, we may need his help."

***

The Justice League have arrived at the compound just thirty minutes later and it is swarming with more assassins and goons. Talia's there giving orders, "Remember! Squad D, do not go near the artifact! Everyone else is fine to approach, I want this circle destroyed post haste!"

Batman had snuck his way into their camp and put Talia in a hold, "Why are you here, Talia?"

"Br-" Batman tightens his hold painfully, "Batman, I suppose you're here for Jason?"

"Where is he?!"

"He's safe, you don't want to see him right now. He's back to the way he was when I first found him. It's not a pretty sight."

"Fine, what's with the orb then? You didn't answer my question, I know your father is dead, why are you here?"

"Same reason you are I suppose, I'm putting a stop to father's plans for this artifact. He planned on linking it with every Lazarus Pit on the planet, he believed this to be the heart of the god who made the pits and wished to bring it back. To bad for him he didn't know what I now know; it's not just the Lazarus waters it's absorbing, it's also draining the energy from those who have died and come back via other means. It hasn't killed anyone yet, just makes them unable to move until they're removed from its radius."

Batman releases her and taps his comms, "Batman reporting in, stay away from the compound."

Superman's comms respond, "I heard, I was able to pull myself back before I couldn't move. Felt like the life of me was being drained. Zatanna and Constantine seem to be fine, Wonder Woman says it feels like hades is staring into her soul from here."

"It feels like it's looking at me," Shazam pipes in.

"Noted, fill them in on what's going on. We need some league members who haven't been resurrected before. Let Talia's men destroy the circle then we can figure out a way to get it off the planet and away from the pits."

"Well aren't you the lucky lot," Hal's voice comes in over their comms, "Calvary's here. I can get it off planet for you."

______________________________________________

And there we go, part 2 like I promised. Also you were close @victoria-has-no-secret but it's ALL of the people who've been resurrected not just the pits. mwahahaha Now to get the tag list out of the way. hope I'm doing this right... As I was typing this up, it seemed like I made the Orb sound like an SCP... hmm, thoughts for future works.

@mnemovoid @may-rbi @cugzarui @ekatkit @farmercale @blackroserelina @justwannabecat @dragonborne-writer @aikoiya @chrysanthemum9484

[froot-batty]

FINALLY.

lore under the cut! (warning it's uh. it's long)

Because the two of them are very closely entwined, I'll write their backstories as one big thing instead of individually

Bruce Wayne had the life every kid dreamed about. The child of two successful, wealthy, loving parents, his own staff, and the ability to go wherever or do whatever he wanted in the city. Well, with parental supervision, of course. Thomas and Martha, though they believed in Gotham and saw the good in it, also tended to shelter Bruce a bit, just to keep him away from the dangerous parts. Unfortunately this backfired, making young Bruce only want to go into the city alone even more.

Harvey Dent was the polar opposite of Bruce. He grew up in the worst part of the Narrows, with a single immigrant mother who was constantly taken advantage of by their landlord or her various bosses. While she loved him dearly, she couldn't be there all of the time for him (due to her needing to work multiple jobs) or protect him from the horrors going on outside their door. He bore witness to a great deal of traumatic things, and eventually took to leaving his house when his mother wasn't home in order to get a reprieve.

Bruce and Harvey first met when they were very young children, as Harvey was wandering the streets near his home and Bruce had escaped to go and explore the Narrows. They clicked almost instantly; despite the differences in the way they grew up, they both shared the dream that Gotham was, at it's core, a good place (or could be a good place). Harvey eventually introduced his childhood friend (and neighbor) Selina Kyle to Bruce, and they became a tight trio for many years.

Bruce's parents died when he was 11. His grief made his ventures out to the Narrows lessen, but Harvey and Selina would often make trips to Bruce's house to make sure he was okay.

Harvey's mother died when he was 15. She had been sick for years now, and the constant stress of having to work multiple jobs eventually got to her. He appeared to cope with it easily enough, but on the inside, his anger towards the perceived injustice she received would never really fade.

Even as they grew older, and neared adulthood, Bruce's and Harvey's friendship seemed as strong as one could be. At least, that's what Harvey thought, until the moment Bruce completely vanished from Gotham altogether. Bruce's disappearance made Harvey and Selina drift apart, so Harvey in turn poured himself into his studies at college. It would be 15 years until Harvey saw Bruce again, and though part of him wanted to be angry, he was just desperately happy to see his best friend again.

Harvey by then was well into his career as District Attorney, and had aspirations of running for mayor in the upcoming election. Bruce was the one who eventually encouraged him to do it, promising funds and all the help Harvey could need to run his campaign. There was another person planning on running for mayor in the election, one Oswald Cobblepot, but neither of them worried too much about him, at the start.

By this time Bruce had reconnected with Selina as well. Harvey and Selina never could get as close as they were in their childhood, so her instant connection with Bruce began to make Harvey a little worried. A little jealous. He didn't want to lose his best friend again, even if it was to someone who was supposed to also be his friend. Harvey acting weird began to drive Bruce away a little bit, which only pushed him further to Selina, creating a vicious cycle between the two of them.

Well into the swing of the mayoral campaign, Harvey began to...lose it a little bit. He had begun recieving open threats on his life (from Oswald, but he didn't know that at the time, and began to think people were conspiring against him), and his paranoia over that along with everything going on with Bruce and Selina made things up top get worse. By now he was fully distancing himself from his two friends, and started to wonder if they were plotting against him.

Everything came to a head when Harvey was due to make a speech at Wayne Manor. It was only a night or two until the results of the election would be announced, and Bruce had thrown a party in honor of Harvey's campaign (and in the hopes it'd cheer him up). Harvey initially didn't want to do a speech, but Bruce encouraged it, and the District Attorney took the stage.

Unbeknownst to him, Oswald had planned to send Dent a final message - one that would take him out of the running completely.

He paid a man to dress up as a waiter and infiltrate the party. Harvey was in the middle of his speech when Penguin's man ran up to the stage and threw a glass full of acid directly at his face.

This was Harvey's breaking point. Forced to drop out of the race and his mind in tatters, he fully believed that Bruce was in on the plot to take him out, and turned his back both to him and Selina. Where they had bonded over the idea of making Gotham better, this is where they'd fall apart; because Harvey still believes that he can improve Gotham, even if he has to burn the city to the ground to do it.

(Both of them are Bisexual. Harvey also has OSDD-1, which I will probably explain in another post, since this one's way too long)

[magnoliasandarson]

birds of a feather pt. 2

Dick wasn’t sure what to make of the Redhood Jason. His baby brother, his Little Wing- back from the dead. He was gloriously and miraculously alive, but there was something different. For one, he was jacked. His Jaybird had been five-foot-nothing when they buried him, but he was now a tank given human form- well over six feet tall, at least two hundred pounds.

Then there was the less obvious. Jason had always been a dynamic fighter, explosive and quick on his feet, but where he once moved like lightning, he now moved like wildfire, fluid and lethal. Dick recognized the brutality, the swiftness. Somehow, Jason had been with the League of Assassins. It was easy to put two and two together; someone had dumped the corpse of his baby brother into the Lazarus Pit. His brother hadn’t turned away from the light; someone turned him. They would pay dearly. 

He went to Bruce immediately and demanded they kill call Talia. But Bruce didn’t react the way Dick expected. He didn’t fly to Nanda Parbat; he didn’t swear vengeance in the name of his son. Instead, he said, “This changes nothing,” and went to find the Redhood, stone-faced and deathly quiet.

Dick hesitated for all of a minute before suiting up and running after Bruce, taking care to stay just out of sight. He’d known Bruce for half his life and had spent about as much time cleaning up his messes; he knew when the elder was going to make a mistake he’d dearly regret. He wanted to be wrong. 

Still, Dick crouched in the rafters of the warehouse and watched. He wanted to sob, wanted to scream, wanted to rage as his Little Wing tossed the hog-tied Joker onto the ground in front of him. Keeping the fucking clown as a barrier between him and his father. His fingers flexed involuntarily around a WingDing as the Joker started cackling, “How sweet! It’s a family reunion!”

Jason yanked his helmet off and tossed it between him and Bruce- no man’s land. In a fucked-up way, Dick almost laughed. Jason was still Jason, even under all the rage and madness. Thank fuck Dick had found and defused that bomb- Jason’d probably go on too long, and they’d be blown to pieces. 

Any semblance of a smile faded away from his face when Jason spoke, “Ignoring what he's done in the past. Blindly, stupidly disregarding the entire graveyards he's filled, the thousands who have suffered, the friends he's crippled.” Barbara’s agonized face as she stared at the Batgirl suit from her wheelchair flashed through Dick’s mind. His knuckles popped as he clenched his fists. Jason wasn’t wrong. Dick had believed- had known- what Jason was saying was true; he’d beaten the Joker to death with his bare hands, all for Bruce to bring him back. 

 Dick shifted his weight, ready to drop down in a split-second, “You know, I thought... I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt. If it had been you that he beat to a bloody pulp, if he had taken you from this world, I would've done nothing but search the planet for this pathetic pile of evil, death-worshiping garbage and then send him off to hell!” Oh, Jaybird. This was all wrong, all so fucking wrong. Bruce had lost his mind when Jason died; why wasn’t Bruce telling him?

Finally, finally, Bruce opened his mouth, “You don't understand. I don't think you've ever understood.” Dick was going to kill Bruce. Then, he was going to cart his brother off to therapy and ice cream.

“What? That your moral code just won't allow for that? It's too hard to cross that line?” So much therapy and so much ice cream. Maybe even a trip to a bookstore. Or an island. Just anywhere but Gotham.

“No! God Almighty, no. It'd be too damned easy. All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go by that I don't think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he's dealt out to others, and then... end him.” Barbara’s beaten form in a hospital bed, Jason’s tiny grave- Dick felt all too prepared to assume the burden for Bruce.

The Joker laughed again, “Aw, Batsy’s thinkin’ bout lil ol’ me!” Jason slammed a boot into the clown’s side, and Dick found himself almost cheering.

Bruce carried on, too stuck in his self-flagellation and morality, “But if I do that, if I allow myself to go down into that place... I'll never come back.” Boo-fuckin-hoo, Dick would stop Bruce if he went too far. He'd done it before.

“Why? I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about him, just him. And doing it because... because he took me away from you.” Dick was afraid that if he exhaled, he’d scream. It took him months to realize that Jason wasn’t his usurper- that he was just a kid who needed a family. If Jason thought for a minute that Dick hadn’t wanted to burn the world to ashes-

“I can't. I'm sorry.” Fuck this.

Jason chuckled, low and uneven, and Dick felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise, “You don’t have to. I will,” he pulled a gun from his hip, cocked the hammer, and lowered it to point at the Joker’s laughing face, “Him or me, Bruce. Either kill me, or I kill him.” No, no, no, no-

Bruce reached into his utility belt and drew a Batarang- NO

Time slowed. Was this how Wally felt?

Dick launched from the beam-

Jason turned away from the Joker, his mouth opened to speak-

The Batarang glinted in the flickering lights as it flew-

Dick screamed his brother’s name, arm outstretched-

“JASON!”

A river of red opened and poured out of Jason’s neck-

Jason fell to the ground, clutching his throat-

Dick was frozen. He was standing on solid ground. His brother was bleeding out ten feet away, with the Joker howling in laughter on the ground next to him. Dick could sense Bruce Batman behind him. Unmoving.  

It wasn’t something many people acknowledged- even in his own family- but Dick Grayson was a weapon given skin. He had trained with Raptor, Lady Shiva, and Deathstroke. They didn’t specialize in nonlethal force. Dick had mutilated, tortured, and killed in the name of justice. Batman just killed his brother. Carelessly, he flicked a Wingding into the Joker’s neck, slicing his carotid like Jason’s.

"Let him go," Dick triggered his escrima stick, sparks of blue crackling into existence, "now."

He turned to face the man he had loved as a father who killed his brother, his voice uncharacteristically solemn and steady, “You killed my brother.” Blue lightning crackled into existence, drowning out the sound of the Joker’s dying giggles.

Bruce’s Batman’s face was carved from stone, even as he raised his fists, “You broke the code.”

“Fuck your code,” Dick launched himself at Batman, escrima sticks raised, “he was your son!”

Once upon a time, many years ago, Bruce had taught Dick to fight, but Dick wasn’t trying to fight his former mentor; he was trying to kill him. Batman swung at Nightwing, aiming to shatter bone and rend flesh. They had crossed the point of no return, and they both knew it, “He came back wrong.”

Dick roared in rage, primal and furious, not speaking a word, slamming a well-placed kick into Batman’s weak knee. He was done talking. He’d tried to talk to Bruce Batman for years. If the old man wanted to fight someone, he’d be reminded why Nightwing was his contingency plan.

Batman fell to one knee, slashing out with a Batarang, but Nightwing caught it with an escrima stick, knocking it from the elder’s hand, and slamming the other into the side of his head. Dick dodged a sloppy punch, flipping out of the way with agility Batman could never match. 

“Stand down, Nightwing,” Batman bellowed, “That’s enough!” He staggered back to his feet, catching the younger in the ribs with a gauntleted fist. The force of the punch threw Dick, tossed him through the air onto his back on the ground, a pained gasp leaving his lips.

Dick snarled, a horrifying imitation of the smile he was famous for, “Never again.” He’d never stand down again, not for Batman. He launched into the air off his shoulders, his feet connecting with the Bat symbol, knocking Batman onto the concrete. 

Nightwing knelt on the Batsuit, pressing a Wingding into his throat, “You slit his throat.” Tears blurred his vision as he cut through the armor, the blade touching his former mentor’s skin, drawing a single drop of beaded blood. 

“Dad?”

In a heartbeat, Dick was on the floor between the Joker’s corpse and his brother. He thought he was dead; he didn’t check- “Jason,” the word left his bloody lips like a prayer, “fuck, Jason.” He pressed his fingers to his brother’s throat- there was a thick scar under the gore but no open wound. Jason’s pulse was fast and erratic- but it was there.

“Dickie?” Jason’s voice was small, croaky. Batman had probably cut into his vocal cords when he threw that stupid Batarang. (You should call them Batarangs- like Bat and Boomerang!)

“I’m here, Little Wing,” tears dripped off his chin onto his brother’s face, “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.” 

Distantly, Dick heard Batman jump out of a window. He didn’t care. He was holding his brother, his blessedly alive brother, fuck Batman. Birds of a feather stuck together.

[that1emowitch]

At the end of the world / Or the last thing I see / You are never coming home, never coming home

Prompt from @tuna-f-b: Do you still do request? If yes and angst is o.k: what would happend i all the bats died? Like how would the hero community react. The supers alone. Clark having to deal with losing his best friend(?) and the kids he basically co parented- as well as seeing his sons lose their best friends(?) Specially as ships that would be awesome angst

A/N: I'm not crying you're crying (Also, for those who don't know, Izzy is Duke's canon gf and one of the Robins from We Are Robin)

Words: 2504

TW: Mentions of blood, Major character death, Coping with loss, Self-blame, Mentions of relapse (drugs)

“If you’re watching this, I am either deceased or indefinitely unable to continue my duties as Batman. But the world still needs Batman. Gotham still needs Batman. My son Damian Wayne, if he is an adult, shall inherit my mantle— if not, Dick Grayson will take over until he is. In the event that he, too, is unavailable for any reason, the mantle goes to Tim Drake, after him, to Cassandra Cain, then Duke Thomas, then Stephanie Brown, then Jason Todd, should he accept it.”

In the video recording, Batman pauses, taking a deep breath.

“In the unfortunate event that the entire family is… deceased… I have a list of contingency plans on both the Bat-Computer and the Justice League’s primary databases. Oracle will help you access it, but in her… absence… the password is “a6ghr83kc02m”.”

Then video-Bruce takes off the cowl, his pale blue eyes looking straight into the camera.

“I know I was never the best with feelings. But I would like my children, my allies, and friends to know that I’m proud of you. And to my fellow Justice Leaguers… Diana and Clark, I am truly grateful for your companionship. I would never have made it this far without you. Barry, Arthur, Dinah, J’onn, you’ve all been good friends. Oliver, Hal… you’re not so bad either.”

Bruce turns around, and looks over his shoulder, the shadows of the Batcave making the scene even more dramatic.

“I wish you good luck.”

Then the clip ends.

A shuddering breath leaves Clark.

It’s real.

He’s really… They’re all…

He can’t do this anymore. He turns around and walks out the door, leaving the other core Justice Leaguers staring sombrely at the now-blank screen.

He doesn’t know when he started flying, when he started trying to escape. The walls of the Watchtower seem to be suffocating him, but he has enough sense not to just leave the airlock yet.

Instead he finds a corner by a window, far, far away from the others, where he can see a majestic view of Earth, the moon, and the Sun in perfect sync with each other.

He falls to his knees.

His breathing’s uneven, a tear rolls down his cheeks.

Then he feels a hand on his shoulder— soft, trembling, yet steady.

“Kal,” Diana whispers, sitting on the floor next to him. She doesn’t continue— she isn’t sure what to say.

“They’re all going to die, you know? We’re going to bury all of them. Everyone on Earth, everyone we know.” Clark’s voice trembles, in a way Superman’s never does. “It scares me so much.”

“Kal,” Diana says again, pulling Clark into a hug. “It’s okay. We’ve lost… We’ve lost so many of our friends. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to grieve.”

“How are you— how are you so—” Clark can’t form his words properly. He turns to Diana, to see her face tight with grief, eyes misty with unshed tears.

Her voice breaks slightly as she speaks. “I don’t want to believe they’re gone. But… we have to carry on. We’re the Justice League. Our people need us, Kal.”

“So we just go on and on? Forever?” Another tear runs down his cheek. “Ollie, Hal, Dinah, Lois, Jon, they’re all going to… they’re all going to die one day and we just have to… to go on?”

“I’m sorry, but it is the truth,” Diana whispers, her eyes stinging with hot tears. “We must find peace in the fact, right now, that Batman— Bruce, the Robins, they— they were so brave. Brave till the end. And they fell as warriors, defending our world. I’m sure they’ll all reach Elysium.”

“And Dickie, Damian, Jason, Tim, Cass, Duke—” Clark’s voice is hoarse. “They were so young, just kids… I… I know Dick, Jay, Tim, Cass… they were adults, but… they’re gone, they’re gone…”

“They were heroes, like you and me. Don’t forget that.”

“I… I know, I just—” Another shuddering breath escapes Clark. “I just— I…”

“It’s okay,” Her voice is forcefully steady, but with an undertone of heartbreak. “It’s okay…”

Dinah looks around the room, her heart heavy.

Clark has left, Diana’s gone after him— both of them need their space, she knows. They were close to Bruce and the other Bats in a way no one else in this room was.

Was.

The word still weighs down on her.

Hal speaks up finally, breaking the deafening silence. “I always thought he hated me.”

No one replies for a long moment.

“I miss the kids,” Barry says finally, his voice quiet. “They were just… Robin was only 14. The others, even Nightwing, they had… they had their whole lives ahead of them.”

More silence.

“Jason, when he was Robin— do y'all remember? Kid was always my favorite,” Ollie says finally. “Was always so sassy. Roy loves him.”

Loves. Dinah winces, but doesn’t correct him. It’s easier to believe they’re just gone for a little while.

“Bruce was a good man,” Arthur adds. “They all were.”

“Tim was, I believe, the smartest,” J’onn says, somber. “It was his plan that allowed us to save Earth.”

“Damian!” Dinah says suddenly, jumping from her seat. “His… his mother. She shouldn’t have to find out from someone else.”

Everyone freezes, faces tight.

Dinah sighs, looking down. “I’ll do it.”

Then she leaves the room, dragging what feels like a heavy weight tied to her soul. She has to do this.

Roy’s sitting in a corner of his apartment, hugging his knees. All he can think of is Jason.

He’s never coming back.

He can still feel the lingering ‘goodbye’ kiss Jason gave him not two days ago, he can still hear him say, “I’ll be back before you know it, babe.”

He never came back.

He’s dead. Dead— dead dead dead DEAD DEAD—

“Small Red not okay?” A booming voice snaps Roy out of his thoughts. He looks up to see Bizarro’s pale blue skin and cold eyes looming over him. He’s crying. “Red him coming back.”

It takes Roy a second to register that Bizarro speaks backwards. It takes everything in him to not punch him for saying that, for giving him false hope.

He feels something he hasn’t felt in years— feels that whisper in his mind— one hit and it’ll all feel better. Just one hit.

NO! He screams mentally. He feels like bashing his head open.

Instead he lifts his dead eyes to survey the rest of the room— Kori’s on the couch, staring into space. Artemis has a crying Lian in her arms, she’s showing her something— old photos of Jason. Talking, whispering in a broken voice.

No, no he should be the one comforting Lian—

What’s he gonna say?

That— That Jason— That her Papa’s gone forever? That he’s never— he’s never coming back?

No— Jay— Jay deserved so much better, he— he already died once before, he’s been through so much, things were supposed to be better now— not— no, he’s— 

Roy feels Bizarro sit beside him, gently patting his arm.

He snaps out of his thoughts again, turning to Jason’s former teammate, his eyes red-rimmed. His voice raw, he whispers, “Jay’s gone…”

Wally’s standing in the Hall of Heroes, staring up at the holographic projection of Dick— he looks so majestic, so mighty, staring ahead with nothing but hope and courage in his eyes.

Nothing like the cold, dead body that Wally held in his arms just two days ago.

He’s surrounded by his teammates, his friends— Kaldur, M’gann, Artemis, Zatanna, L’gann, Garth— yet he feels so alone.

He sees it again— Dick bleeding out it his arms, his wounds so fatal he died before help arrived. Wally’s the fastest man alive, damn it, yet he couldn’t even save his best friend— his boyfriend. He feels the moment when Dick’s breathing stopped, when his body went limp, when his grip on Wally’s hand loosened.

Everyone’s quiet. M’gann’s stress baking again, L’gann by her side. Artemis and Zatanna are sitting together, Garth’s lingering in a corner, and Kaldur’s standing right beside Wally— close enough for comfort but not so close he’s lurking. He’s shaking.

He can still hear it, hear Dick forcing out his last words, telling Wally it’s okay, that he loves him, that it’ll be fine.

It’s not fine. Not without you.

He wants to scream.

He wants to cry, yell, hit something, do anything.

But he can’t move.

So he just stands there, almost as still as the holographic projection of Dick before him.

Kon is left reeling.

Tim… Tim is…

Tim’s dead.

Tim’s really gone.

He thinks, for just a second, that this is how Tim and Cassie must have felt when he and Bart “died”.

Bart is sitting beside him on the couch, leaning on his side, Cassie’s got her head on his lap. Neither of them speak— Bart’s not even fidgeting— they’re all just trying to be there for each other.

The other Titans are up and about, but staying close for comfort. Jaime and Gar are making food for everyone in the kitchen, Raven and Vic have come back to the tower to make sure the others are okay, and he’s sure Karen’s around too, somewhere.

Yet he feels so empty.

Feels nothing at all.

How can he, when his best friend is dead?

Jon hasn’t spoken in a bit. Not when his Mom brought him his favorite soup, not when Grandma and Grandpa showed up to ‘help’ him and Dad through this, not when Krypto plopped down beside him to comfort him.

He hugs the dog close.

Krypto’s technically Kon’s, but Jon’s sure Kon wouldn’t mind if he stole Krypto for a day.

Another sob escapes him, and he buries his head in Krypto’s back. The dog whines, licking Jon’s hand.

He can’t believe Damian’s gone. 

Really gone.

And he didn’t know just how much he would miss his friend.

Dinah finds Talia Al Ghul on a building in Metropolis, overlooking the city. Her face is tight with sorrow, but she keeps herself in check, her back straight, head held high.

She already knows, Dinah deduces.

“I… I’m sorry,” Dinah starts, unsure of what to say. She knows, from her experience as a psychologist, that ‘sorry’ is the last thing a grieving person wants to hear, but she doesn’t have anything else to say.

Talia doesn’t reply for a long time. Then she says, her voice numb, “I should have known, when bringing Damian into this life, that I would also be bringing him amidst the dangers that come with.”

Dinah’s brows furrow. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything at all.”

“I should have trained him better, I should have kept him close, I should—” Talia takes a shuddering breath. “I should have never brought him into this life.”

Dinah can’t argue with that— she knows how Damian had come to be, and it… wasn’t the best birth ever.

“Now leave, hero,” Talia says, her voice numb and cold. “Go back to protecting the world. Leave me be.”

Dinah wants to say something better, comfort the woman, but she can’t. So she just turns back, and leaves.

By the time Harper Row makes her way to the Clock Tower, there’s already quite a crowd there— Kate, Renee Montoya, Harley, Ivy, Silena, and Helena Bertinili— they’re crowding around Babs, comforting her. Luke Fox and Isabella Ortiz are at the computer, looking through something.

Harper tries to open her mouth to speak, but she can’t get the words out.

She makes her way over to Luke and Izzy, shoulders hunched.

Just three days ago she’d been hanging out with Duke and Izzy and Cass and Steph— they’d all been so carefree, so happy…

And now…

Once she gets close enough she realizes Izzy’s crying, and immediately wraps her arms around the shorter girl. Harper’s trying to hold back tears of her own, too. She feels Luke putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder, squeezing tight.

No one speaks for a long time, they just stand together, seeking comfort in each other.

Then Babs rolls her wheelchair to the center of the room, wiping at her bloodshot eyes. But when she speaks, she sounds surprisingly steady. She’s compartmentalizing, Harper realizes. Putting away Barbara and bringing Oracle back.

“Gotham needs her heroes, now more than ever,” Oracle says, head held high. “We must honor our friends by doing the one thing they’d have wanted— to keep fighting. Keep Gotham safe.”

She sighs, her face tight to fight away tears. “Luke. Batman’s contingency plan, in the Robins’ absence, was to pass you the mantle of Batman. Do you accept?”

Luke’s eyes grow wide slightly, but he straightens himself, looking away. “I… I accept. Dad isn’t going to be happy, but… Gotham needs Batman.”

“Thank you.” Oracle nods at him. “As per Bruce’s will, all Wayne assets, the Manor, and the Batcave are split between Kate, me, Alfred, and Lucius. I… Lucius and I are still figuring out who’s going to take over Wayne Enterprises, but on the vigilante side, I’ve got a plan.”

She turns to Ivy, Harley, Kate, Silena and Helena. “The Birds of Prey are needed here, now more than ever. Dinah— Black canary has offered to help us with Gotham, too.” 

Harley nods, sniffling. Beside her, Ivy speaks up, “The… Most Rogues aren’t happy about this. They’re not rampaging— Bane has fashioned his own version of the Batsuit, he’s going around ‘saving’ people, screaming that Batman never dies. The Joker’s searching for Lazarus Pits and Bruce’s body. Jervis Tetch and Nygma held a get-together yesterday, in the memory of the Bats. I… I think they might help us.”

Harper’s gotta admit, she’s quite surprised about this. Even Babs freezes, taking in this information.

“Gotham needs Robin as much as she needs Batman,” Izzy speaks up from beside her, her voice small but firm. “The Robins can come back, this time you can give us formal training so we can actually help.”

Oracle turns to Luke. “Taking on Robins is your decision, Batman.”

Luke winces at that title— it doesn’t feel like an honor to him, it just feels like an incessant reminder that he’s the last one left. Because his friends are dead. But he nods, anyway, not trusting himself to speak right now.

Then Oracle addresses Harper. “I… would you like to be Batgirl?”

Harper’s heart stops. Memories flash into her head— seeing Steph in the Batgirl costume, seeing Cass in the Batgirl suit, both of whom are now gone.

“N— No,” Harper stutters out, eyes tearful. “I can’t— I’m sorry, Babs. I appreciate the offer, but… Cass was Batgirl. I can’t take her place.”

“I understand.” Babs just nods, lips pursed, misty-eyed. “We will all need to work hand-in-hand until everything settles, we will need to be vigilant. Carry on Batman’s legacy, for as long as we may need to.”

No one speaks again.

They all just let it sink in, hearts heavy.

They’re going to have to do this alone now.

[romanoffsbish]

A Safe Haven

WandaNat x Fem!R

Request | Prompt | 3,060 Words

Warnings: Injured R, Descriptions of Burns/Stabbings

Natasha and Wanda had gone out for the day, they shared a short brunch before setting off to go shop. They wanted to be prepared for your return tonight with all of your favorite things. It was your first official mission as an Avenger after Fury gave you the final go ahead, you were so excited when you left this afternoon, and they wanted to make the return just as special for you because it was only fair, as you were the only light in their lives most days.

—

Then they got a call, and suddenly a concerned Wanda was falling from the skies, landing back at the compound, and running in a frantic way to get to the med bay. Apparently you were waiting there, and Natasha agreed to purchase your things then meet her back there in about ten minutes, but she promised it'd be less.

"Bruce, I swear to god I will shove that needle into your jugular if you don't get the hell away from me! I can do it by my fucking self!"

Wanda wasn't really surprised to hear you screaming, you were never a fan of the clinical side of things, nor were you one for allowing others to see you in such a vulnerable state. Except for if it was with Nat or Wanda, that trust took a long time to build, so she rushed through the doors, and made a beeline for you.

Red wisps wrapped around your hand right as you managed to steal the syringe full of numbing drugs from the nervous scientist, you scowled deeply, but your body also visibly relaxed when your lovers presence became clear to you. You instantly felt safer...

"Moya lyubov, we don't stab our friends."

You growled, "He was going to do it first."

Wanda smirked at you, eyes of an intricate green never leaving yours as she nodded sideways at the sheepish man, he took her hint with a running start. The doors swinging as he left in a rush signaled to you he was gone, "What a pussy," you grumbled and Wanda snorted, "Play nice, he was trying to help."

Honestly, if you didn't see him shift into a giant green monster with your own eyes you'd never believe that Bruce Banner was the Hulk.

"He knows better Wands." She nodded with a hum to follow. "Yeah, but he also knows if he didn't try he'd have me and Nat to deal with, and I hate to break it to you, but we're scarier."

You gasped and pointed the syringe at her now, "Take it back little witch." She rolled her eyes, and literally took it back from you. "Done." She winked, you rolled your eyes, and shrieked, "Not what I meant Wands, I am way scarier!"

"Detka," she chuckled with a soft shake of her head, because as scary as you thought you looked, you truthfully didn't. With furrowed brows, a crinkled nose and an exaggerated pout, what she knew was meant to be an intimidating scowl, it only softened her heart. So, as was an inevitability she cursed at you, "You look adorable."

You gasped again, this time more loudly, and the heatless words died on your tongue as you felt a surge of pain. The adrenaline had faded.

Your body fell back against the bed, wrapped hands pawed at the sheets and tears began to stream down your face. Wanda's teasing smile fell, and for the first time since she had arrived she witnessed just how hurt you truly were.

There was ash all over your maroon suit, the flecks of charcoal white covered not only it but your face and hair. Fortunately your hands were already wrapped by someone, but the burns you had sustained were everywhere.

Where the white ash didn't reside, jagged holes in the suit took its place, showing the brunette your third degree burns. Then her eyes trailed further down your body, noticing the scrapes and bruises, and stopping in post haste on the saturated red gauze wrapped over your thigh. Her stomach flipped, seeing you in pain like this always hurt the empath just the same.

"It's okay," you whispered through gritted teeth, forcing yourself to sit back up so you could try to comfort the witch who's lip was now wobbling, but her hand softly pushed you back into the bed. "No, it really isn't."

You should honestly be fine; this was a simple recon mission, medical aid made no sense.

Wanda reached for a white rag from the cleaning station, she softly wiped your face clean, then she thoroughly wiped an unmarred portion of your shoulder clean. She smiled down at you, her thumb traced over your cheek and you instantly nodded. Giving her the silent permission to give you the magical shot to numb the pain, her lips touched yours just as you winced. A momentum picked up as you felt the ice rolling through your veins. Your body feeling as if you could party all night when it really belongs in the junkyard in this state.

Being the responsible party the witch pulled away, smiles pressed lightly together as she hesitates to truly part, but with immense strength she manages. "We need to fix you up now my love, let me do what needs to be done."

Wanda knew she'd have to soften your resolve some to allow her to use her powers like this.

After every mission she'd rush to either your or Natasha's side, use her powers to heal you just a bit, then she'd spend an entire day sleeping.

Then one really bad time put an end to this for a long while. When Nat was struck by a bullet, Wanda suddenly collapsed as Natasha's lungs partook in a miracle as they did the opposite.

"Y/N, don't worry," she quickly shushed you. "I'm going to make these third degree ones, and then I'll stop. I promise I'll be okay, I had Tony make these bracelets for me that help me better pull my energy. No more collapsing."

"C-careful Wan," you stuttered, the heat rolling through your body was still intense, even with the Novocain coursing through you, so you're desperate for her offered relief, but you would never allow it if you thought it would hurt her.

"I always am," she winked at you, then began to remove the rest of your suit. Her body stuttered as she really took the sight of you in.

"Why are you in this state Y/N," she wasn't accusatory, just concerned. "Where was Steve and Tony?" Your eyes widened, because the truth would only lead to the other's demise.

You'd considered lying to her, but even in your delirious state you knew better than to try. Nat probably already got the ear full from Hill, so you knew Wanda would have found out.

"They forgot I was there," you whispered the embarrassing truth so quietly, but you knew she heard it when her jaw clenched. "They triggered the bombs on the floors above me, but then after I shrieked into the coms they stopped and Tony flew up to save me."

"This isn't exactly saving," Wanda sneered. "Those idiots are in for a world of hurt."

"Wanda, it's okay." It wasn't, but you wanted to pretend like it was and she could sense that. "You're right, it's gonna be fine, just relax."

Wanda placed a chaste kiss to your lips as her forehead leaned into yours. A shaky breath fanned across your face as she began to heal you, you could smell traces of mint on your lips, and feel the love she left behind in its place. "Just focus on me sweet girl, you're ok."

"Wan, you said just the burns," you whined, and the witch kissed your protests away as her warm, glowing hands hovered over your thigh.

"Look, I'm fine moya lyubov'," she hummed, her thumb tenderly traced over the new mark on your thigh, and you sighed contentedly.

Wanda saw you shiver, she didn't want to hurt you further with the tight fitting emergency clothes you all had in the medbay for moments like these, so she slipped her own hoodie off and with her magic she made sure it fit you in an oversized manner like you preferred. All to protect your body from being seen by the team.

"Can you stand now?" You nodded, and the brunette guided you onto your feet. Natasha burst into the room just as Wanda pulled you into her, eight minutes in total. The witch was hoping for more time, but you needed to eat, and the redhead will want her time with you.

Wanda pressed a tender kiss to your forehead, "I'm so happy you're okay detka," then she left an even softer one to your lips before she was gently exchanging you for the grocery bags. She gave Natasha a quick kiss, they shared a fond smile as they watched you burrow into your other lover with a swiftness. Then Wanda was gone to the kitchen before you could blink.

Natasha didn't mind the grime transferring to her shirt, she only smiled and buried her nose in your hair, she could smell hints of your apple scented conditioner beneath the layers of smoke and ash that settled onto the strands.

Natasha's blood boiled when she looked just beyond you and saw the tattered remains of your suit behind you. Most of your burns were on your upper body so she couldn't see the improved state, but she did notice the few on your legs, and knowing they were once worse was enough to make her rather homicidal.

Tony and Steve would be smart to find a safe house, because after you fall asleep tonight there's no one left to protect the assholes.

They were careless with your life, and to your girlfriends that's an unforgivable slight.

"Thank you for coming home to us detka," the woman held back a sob as she repeated her usual mantra for when you'd return from a shield mission, but the way her arms tightened around your waist gave way to her clear fear.

"I'll always come home to you guys Natty."

"I appreciate that." Natasha gently pulled away from your embrace so that she could cup your cheek and pull you in for a kiss that she poured all of her love for you into. "We love you a lot."

"I love you guys too Natty, even more than Taylor Swift." Natasha chuckled in disbelief, "Wow, you're clearly in a state of delusion."

"Let's go get you cleaned up detka." Natasha scooped you up against your weak protests. You'd lost a decent amount of blood with the wound on your thigh, plus, no amount of magic heals the need for rest after what you've been through. So this is really the least your lover felt she could do to play her part in your care.

After taking the elevator up to your shared room the redhead set you down on the counter in your en suite, then she filled the tub with scentless bubbles and lukewarm water as to not aggravate your already overheated skin.

You watched with your lip caught between your teeth as your lover stripped down to nothing. She was always something to admire, and you'd never stop. "My eyes are up here."

"I know, I'd rather look at your boobs," you admitted without any shame causing the woman to loudly snort, "Y/N, you're injured..."

"Yes, and horny for my girlfriends always."

Natasha shook her head at your truly heatless words, "You're insatiable darling." You only smiled in response, allowing her to gently guide you into the readied tub where she just as quickly settled her body behind yours for the optimum support. "Dirty, dirty girl indeed."

You huffed, a protest of sorts, but you were too fatigued to back it up with words. The silence slowly encompassed the bathroom, sounds of water splashing into the marble all to be heard as you rearranged your body to lay face down. Natasha frowned when you shivered, she tried to offer her own body heat, but she couldn't budge on the water or else you'd be worse off.

She hummed a soft tune as she ran her fingers up and down your spine with delicate strokes. Her hand began to kneed at the unmarred skin, hopefully helping to relieve the tension that still resided in your muscles from the long day.

Her hand eventually made its way to your thigh where it methodically paused. She softly ran her thumb over your new scar, face falling further as she racked her brain for an answer that only evaded her with logical thought.

"How did you get stabbed?" You tensed as she finally verbalized it, now remembering that the empty floor you were sent to had a straggler who graciously left his blade behind in your leg. He'd totally blindsided you, swinging it at you before he escaped down the fire escape.

"The information was faulty," your scratchy voice came out sounding pitiful. "The place wasn't empty like Fury had first relayed."

Natasha hummed in understanding, she lifted your face and kissed away the tears as they fell. No more words needed to be said, she could tell it was just a fluke in intel, and it infuriated her that they'd not be more thorough for your first time up against Avenger level threats.

"Natty, I'm really cold." You shivered more noticeably this time and she took that as a sign to lift your bodies so she could run the shower. You were likely having a reaction to the loss of blood now, body struggling to regulate after all its been through in only a matter of hours.

Natasha did everything, and to her surprise you let her, you were just so tired and pliant.

She gently sat you down on the bench in your massive shower, then she moved to rid your locks of all the debris. You leaned back when she requested, her strong arm held you up with ease as the warm, once clear water turned to black as it slid down the drain. The various debris getting caught on top of the silver drain gratings, and she soon grimaced as an entire chunk of plaster thunked against the marble.

Natasha waited until the water ran clear to sit you back up. You pouted when you saw her expression, it was pained, and you felt guilty. Thoughts of how you could've prevented this plagued you, truthfully you knew it wasn't on you. Tony and Steve made a massive mistake. Fortunately for you the redhead didn't give you long to overthink before she lifted you again.

You purred when her lips pressed into your neck as she tugged you into her embrace. Fresh hot tears cascaded down your skin along with the streaming water and you held her even tighter, trying to somehow reassure her that you're still here. Natasha held you close like that for an entire minute as she sobbed.

"I'm okay Nat," you whispered reassuringly, "I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm safe with you two."

You reached down, pulling her hand back up with yours to prove your words right. You kissed her knuckles with a tenderness only reserved for your lovers. Then you flattened her hand against your chest, overlaying it with yours for optimal comfort. Nat sighed as soon as she felt the strong thrum beneath her palm.

"Thank you detka..." You kissed her cheek and she turned her head fast enough to steal a proper kiss as well. To her delight you didn't try to pull away, but instead you leaned in and allowed her to deepen it without her asking.

"I love you," you whispered as you playfully smiled against her lips, "But I'm becoming a prune, can we get this show on the road?"

Natasha chuckled, "You're lucky you're cute," shaking her head as she reached for the first of many hair products you had. She set the bottle beside you, and greedily leaned in for another kiss. "Your wish is my command detka."

After Natasha finished you up she guided you to the door with a hand on your hip, and the other on your lower back for assistance. The redhead spun you, softly pressing you into the wall so she could have her last moment of alone time with you. She raised a single hand to cup your left cheek, she ran her thumb over a scar beneath your left eye. Memories of your first ever encounter, a hectic mission, flashes through the both of your minds. You share a reminiscent smile as you kissed her palm.

"I love you too," Natasha finally verbally reciprocates your earlier sentiment. It wasn't needed, her actions alone said it, but you never failed to melt when your lovers reminded you. You whined, your usual cry for attention, and Natasha pecked your lips just before opening the door so you could get in bed and rest.

When the two of you exited the bathroom you both smiled at the sight of your lover on the bed. The scene was overwhelmingly domestic. Wanda wore an oversized shirt of yours, with a smart remote in her hand, apparently keying in your favorite movie on Hulu, and you melted.

You leaned your tired body back into the redheads who leaned against the doorframe,  eyes falling to the rest of the targeted display.

On a tray to the left of the bed was three plates full of your favorite home cooked dinner of Wanda's, and three cans of varying sodas. On the bedside table sat a burn cream, a couple extra strength Tylenol, and a glass of water.

All of that alone was enough to make you want to cry. So, when Wanda jumped up and ran to embrace the both of you the tears actually fell. Your lovers rubbed your shoulders and sides lovingly, depositing kisses wherever they could as they let you have a moment to feel it all.

In there arms was where you felt the safest, you never knew what the feeling of home was like until you met them; they were your physical embodiment of a safety net, and now, you knew you'd always have something to fall into.

——

[reddtea]

I've revisited some of my old batman art seeing if I can improve both on style and design. I had this idea that Ivy should start off as a politician like Dent and I really liked the idea of her and Harvey being together, with eachother being a big part of the other's spiral into villainy. /// So here's the thought...Pam and Harvey are politicians who both want to see Gotham prosper though have different ideas of what that looks like, Pam thinks that by building more parks and public gardens they could start to pave a better future by making the city nicer for children as well as wanting to put out policies to control pollution. Harvey's approach to improving the city is by funding better education and social services to better empower the poor and put laws in place to protect workers. Both looking to tax the rich to fund these projects which get's the court of owl's attention. Both of them pay dearly for their views as Harvey gets kidnapped and tortured (half of his face is cut off) and he's given an options of either running away with Pam or doing exactly what they say if he doesn't want Pam hurt. Harvey tries to convince Pam to leave Gotham to drop it all and get away when they can. Pamela refuses after everything they've worked for and with Bruce backing them they're going to make Gotham a better place. Harvey tells her what really happened to him and why half his face is gone and why he thinks Gotham is a lost cause, hoping that it might be able to change her mind. Though the owls are watching and they take out Pamela for being too stubborn to leave and for knowing about them. When they take Pamela they murder her and dispose of her body in a swamp. Harvey knows Pam is missing though he's not sure if she dead or held hostage by the owls, all he knows is that it was likely his fault that she's gone. His paranoia of owls gets worse in her absence, without any way of communicating with them he has no way of knowing if he's doing right by them or if Pam can be saved if she's being kept as a bargaining chip. Harvey hates being made a pawn of the owls he wants to quit the political race but Bruce tells him he needs to keep at it, though he's not sure if he could trust Bruce or anyone for the possibility they might be an owl. So he choses to lock up a government building with a bunch of people trapped inside and set it on fire to eliminate any owls that might be there and to maybe see Pam again if she's already dead. When Pam is killed she is resurrected by swamp thing from there she's left confused, months (maybe little more than a year? idk) have passed since she was killed. She returns lost and confused and she goes to Bruce to figure out what happened since she was gone and Bruce turns her away at the door, so she's left to piece it all together herself.

She's heartbroken at the news that Harvey died in a fire and she makes it her goal to wipe out the people who hurt Harvey and killed her. She resents Bruce for being a bad friend and not looking out for Harvey when he needed him, believing that if he'd turn his back on her he must've done the same to Harvey while she was gone. /// I'm a big fan of the idea of villains starting off as normal to good people and then bad circumstances changing them. I don't like redeemable at all but resentful? vengeful? good stuff. I always felt like Harvey is kind of aimless after the transformation like the multipersonality bpd mr hyde takes over and that's it and Ivy just never had a legit evil motive other than "nature's great and men are trash" and her being paired with Quinn doesn't really do much for her character than making her "Harley's cute supportive not abusive lesbian girlfriend" Which no hate on gays but Ivy is really just an accessory to Harley's "men are trash I date girls now".

[dairy-farmer]

More DamiTim brain rot ❤️ This time Reverse Robins flavored!

The specifics of how and why the Joker ends up killing Tim is important - The important thing is that Tim comes back, it gets dipped in the magic mountain dew, and eventually comes back to Gotham as the Red Hood.

Now, Red Hood Tim is a bit different from Red Hood Jason in that his low self-esteem meant he didn't think Bruce saw him as a son and wasn't super surprised/devastated when Bruce didn't manage to save him or kill the Joker in revenge. Red Hood Tim still kills occasionally, when he thinks it's necessary, because well he doesn't blame Bruce for not being willing to become a killer, he still believes that the Joker and some other really really bad people do need to die. Red Hood Tim is also very protective of children, and sex workers, and the people of Crime Alley.

Damian, who is Nightwing of course, and Bruce are understandably a bit concerned about this new murderous vigilante/antihero but don't put as much focus on him as they do their other rogues. That is until Red Hood ends up running across and saving Robin Jason. Something about Red Hoods behavior and what Jason was able to tell him about his interactions with Red Hood piques Damian's curiosity. Eventually, after a few weeks of careful surveillance, stakeouts, and clue collecting Damian comes to the realization - or at least suspicion - that Red Hood is somehow Tim.

Damian is ecstatic at the prospect, because he had been secretly a little lotta bit in love / list / obsessed with Tim before he died and was devastated by his loss. Now that he's back however, Damian formulates a plan to keep Tim safe and make Tim his. Bruce of course doesn't realize who the Red Hood is and still plans to lock him up for murder if he ever catches him. It just so happens that Damian catches him first.

Tim wakes up in A room he doesn't recognize, with a collar fastened around his neck. There is more than enough chain to allow him to comfortably move anywhere in the room, which is set up like a loft apartment with every amenity he could need, in an open floor plan. Shortly after waking up Damian appears and explains what's going on; that since the Red Hood is a murderer, he needs to be locked away. But because the Red Hood is Tim, Damian could never allow him to be put in Arkham or Blackgate. So Damian took the liberty of creating a hidden and secure place to keep Tim where he will be both unable to kill anyone else and safe.

At first Damian doesn't do anything suspicious or creep on Tim... At least for the first few days. Then he starts to get more touchy with Tim - petting his head, touching his waist or back, trying to tangle their fingers together. After a few days he stops giving Tim clothes to wear, insisting that Tim is incredibly clever and could find a way to use them somehow to escape and that it's fine if he's naked because no one else can see him and the room is temperature controlled for maximum comfort.

Tim, of course, tries everything he can think of to escape or get Damian to let him go: He explains his plans and all the proof he has that he's been making a positive difference, promises to stop killing and being Red Hood, promises to leave, promises to go back home to the Manor - anything and everything he can think of. Damian will of course hear none of it: He finally has his beloved Timothy back, kept safe and sound and Damian's.

I haven't decided if it would be better for Tim to try and use sex as a way to get Damian to let him free, or for Damian to gently non-con Tim - kissing and touching him gently, reassuring Tim of his love and devotion, only using the softest and most non-appraisive materials during the times when he has to/wants to tie Tim down, all while Tim cries and pleads and begs Damian not to do this. Telling Damian that this is rape and that it makes Damian just as bad as a lot of the people he puts away, or that it's wrong because they are brothers (Even if only by adoption... Or maybe not even that. Maybe Tim was only officially Bruce's ward when he died!)

Really, just Reverse Robins Damian catching and keeping his beloved, miraculously resurrected Tim locked away where only he can see him and touch him and love him and never let anything harm him or take him away from Damian again.

damian softly nonconning resurrected tim!!!! believing its a second opportunity to be together since their time together was cut short so soon. convincing tim to let him touch him while telling him how much he loves him but still 'hurting' him even though damian doesn't think of what he's doing as "hurting" tim 😍😍😍😍

[gffa]

THIS SERIES HAS BEEN RATTLING AROUND IN MY BRAIN FOR LIKE A WEEK SINCE I READ IT and I'm going to write a post that's just for me, but y'all're welcome to read it, too, if you want, because I'm gonna spoil everything, since I feel like that's the only way to talk about why it's been whizzing around my head like a pinball game. So, the above is the true core narrative of Batman and Robin Eternal and ultimately why I really loved this whole story. It's not perfect, I would have shifted around a lot of emphasis and would have given stronger narrative presence to Jason and Tim (this story is really ultimately about Bruce, Dick, Cass, and Harper, even if the others get some hilarious banter moments), I would have focused more on showing rather than telling that Dick was choosing his own path, but at the end of the day, the pieces of this story came together for me. It's a little too long to summarize, but the basic structure of the story is that it goes back and forth between the Present and the Past. The Present has Dick, Jason, and Tim running around the world to find out who this mysterious "Mother" is and put a stop to her, a new face (Cassandra Cain) shows up to give Dick a flashdrive of information on and she's somehow tied into this, and meanwhile, Bruce is in his amnesiac era. In the past, Batman and Robin are hunting down Crane and whoever he's working with, and Bruce is keeping most of this case away from Dick, which the narrative treats it like we're supposed to believe that Bruce is falling for what Mother is doing--she's a human trafficker who is making "designer humans", because as someone who went through mind-breaking levels of trauma when she was a child, she believes that when you break a child's mind through the loss of their parents/their world around them, you can shape them into "perfect" people, unstoppable machines who can do anything. Because that's what happened to her and she knows that Bruce wants a "perfect" protege, one who doesn't make human mistakes or have human feelings, like Dick Grayson is having throughout the series. The story falls a little flat in these scenes, because the sheer idea that Bruce would be willing to let a child's parents be killed in front of them just so that he can have a perfect partner is the absolute opposite of what the character stands for, and it works as him attempting to trick Mother, but it doesn't work when attempting to trick the audience, because Bruce Wayne would fucking never. But he walks right up to the edge of it, so that he can get close to Mother and figure her operation out, and she knows what he's doing and says, well, what happens next is on you, because you thought you could play games with me, but as soon as you agreed, you know what you set in motion. Eventually, it's revealed that the child who would have their parents murdered in front of them to traumatize them to become Batman's perfect partner was Harper Row and she had sent David Cain's daughter Cassandra to do it. Cass can only kill Harper's mother before she breaks down and Harper's father manages to get away. Harper has no idea of any of this until it switches back to the present storyline and eventually Mother tells her the whole story.

Each of the kids that have joined Bruce in this fight are ones that have made their own choices, he doesn't define them, he doesn't actually make child soldiers, this entire series is a refuting of that idea. The children who are manipulated into this life either wind up as empty cannon fodder or have a high rate of walking away or falling away from the methods that trained them. Not a single one of them (Harper, Cass, Jean-Paul most centrally) is still standing with the same beliefs that were meant to shape them into "perfect" people, every one of them turned away from that manipulation. Because they weren't more valuable, they died in droves, not a single one was able or wanting to carry on the legacy--meanwhile, all four Robins are alive and kicking by the end, still standing strong. But it's not just about that, it's about Bruce's guilt, because he knows himself and his relationships, he knows his personality is an extremely heavy one, and he's not wrong to worry that he could shape these kids into something they wouldn't have been by themselves. He's not wrong that their desperate need to live up to his expectations can strike at the core of these kids--when Dick is dosed with fear toxin, that's his biggest fear, that he's not good enough for Batman. Bruce isn't wrong to worry about how that affects Dick and the others long term!

He has a room made up for a young Harper and Cullen who have just lost their mother, but eventually backs off because he can't face the idea that he might be forcing her into molding herself after him, because the force of his personality is just too strong. He worries about how he's done the same to Dick, given Dick's greatest fear under Crane's toxin is that he's not good enough for Batman--Bruce isn't just being paranoid about this, it is a legit concern from his point of view. But it drives him to keep secrets from Dick, who is shown to be incredibly intelligent (he gets that Crane seems to want them to find him, etc.) and also senses that Bruce is withholding things from him:

Which, once I reached the end and was secure in the knowledge that, no, this wasn't the most batshit comic I'd ever read where it expected me to buy the idea that Bruce would actually try to replace Dick with a "perfect" version from Mother, it recontextualized these scenes for me. Bruce has no intentions of replacing Dick but instead is worried that he's destroying this kid's life, because Dick is pushing himself so hard. To the point that he worries that Dick still has fear toxin running through his veins, because he's been over-training himself obsessively.

This isn't a story about Bruce thinking Dick isn't good enough, but instead a story about Bruce worrying that he overrode this kid's path in life, that maybe Dick wouldn't have wanted this. Which circles back to Harper again and I think that's kind of the point. She was a necessary addition to this particular story to show that, when Bruce backed off, she didn't pursue this life. We don't know the exact specific details of Dick becoming Robin in this story (though, if they used the one from the Secret Files for Nu52, this still holds true), but in pretty much every story of the last three decades of telling it, it is always Dick Grayson is mad as hell and nothing is going to stop him. Bruce didn't drag him into this life, he saw a kid willing to sneak out at night to go confront Tony Zucco to bring him to justice because there was a fire in that kid that wasn't going to be stopped. But Bruce himself loves that kid so much that he's not really objective about him, he's so afraid that he's messing this kid up--because he's still in denial that he's a father to this child, just as Dick's still lashing out that Bruce isn't his father, they're feeding into those words hurled at each other, meanwhile the narrative is setting Bruce up as a contrast against "Mother", to show, yes, he is acting as this kid's father. It's a central core of the story, that contrast, how Mother treats those who are loyal to her, who would do anything for her:

She slices David Cain open and kicks him down to his death. Her endless hoards of children are nothing more than cannon fodder. Jean-Paul is loyal to Mother because she shaped him as part of the Order of St. Dumas as well, but she discards him just as easily, and it takes a knock down drag out fight with Dick to break him out of that:

It's not just being on Mother's side or against her, it's about living by her rules and her philosophy and her worldview. Dick has to be the one to break Jean-Paul out of this because Dick is the one who did the same thing for himself when he was Batman's first protege--he chose for himself. Whether or not he ultimately agreed with Batman's philosophy, it wasn't because Bruce's force of personality was so great that he forced Dick into this, no, Dick Grayson was always going to be on this path, it was that Bruce made sure he didn't kill himself along the way--because he genuinely loved Dick and wanted him to live the life that satisfied him. And that applies to how each of the Robins is valued and wanted. This is how Bruce speaks of them:

Every single one of them is wanted. Every single one of them is valued. Every single one of them is loved by Bruce. He parallels Damian's attempts to learn to them, because that is the parallel--they're all Bruce Wayne's sons. The big emotional climax of the story is narratively set on this moment, that Dick and Jason and Tim and Damian are all different from each other, and that's why they're the ones still standing at the end. David Cain dies, Mother's children are all dead or set free from her influence, Jean-Paul Valley turns away from the path she set him on, Cassandra Cain chooses to no longer kill but instead chooses to be a hero, Harper Row chooses to walk away. And the Robins, especially Dick Grayson, the one who created the role of Robin and chose this path for himself, basically kick everyone's ass along the way. Dick defeats David Cain in combat, he defeats Jean-Paul in combat, he gathers together Tim and Jason and Harper with him to actually defeat Mother in a way Bruce couldn't. Bruce isn't always great at what he sets out to do. He's secretive and lies to Dick about what he's doing, he worries that he created Robin when Dick might have lived another life if Bruce hadn't interfered, but in the important ways, he is the inverse of Mother. Which is why Mother, as a character, worked so well for me. Her whole backstory is the inverse image of Bruce Wayne--when she was a child, her parents (and entire village) were killed in front of her and she was so destroyed by this trauma that she was entirely transformed by it and chose to wield her trauma as a weapon, she chose to transform others around her as well. In the most flattened out of terms, Bruce Wayne does the same thing. His parents are murdered in front of him and he is so destroyed by his trauma that he's entirely transformed by it and chose to wield that trauma as a weapon (Batman), he chose to help transform others around him as well. Seeing two "parental" figures be each others' foils in the narrative, how they're set up as parallels to each other, meanwhile are entirely perpendicular in what they're actually doing, the way it shows why the idea of "Batman is creating child soldiers" doesn't really hold up, because you're not looking at what these kids' circumstances actually are, why they were driven to this life. It's not a perfect story, I think the balance is off, I think trying to trick the audience weakened the story, when spending more time on the various Robins' reasons for becoming Robin and the determination in each of them, would have made this a knock-out story, nor am I beholden to this as the current backstory for the characters.

Instead, I chose to enjoy this as a version of how the characters might have come together and enjoyed that it showed these kids are indeed capable of walking away, because that's a pretty important point when it comes to comic book storytelling and Robins in particular. Not a version I'm married to, but one I can pluck a fascinating story about Bruce's role as a father to these Robins, even as he fights it and says otherwise, what the story shows is a much different story.

He cared so much about the children that came to him that he went whole-assedly over the line in the other direction, that he tried to push them away because he was so afraid of being the kind of person who supersedes others' wills. Because he does toe that line a lot of the time, he's not wrong to worry about it.

But if he truly had made Dick Grayson into his own image instead of what Dick wanted, Dick would never have been able to stand up and wipe the floor with Mothers' minions or crack open her hold over Jean-Paul. Yeah, Dick worried about not being good enough for Bruce and that probably drove a lot of him.

But he also mocked Bruce right to his face while they were fighting, that's not a "perfect" little soldier, that's a kid who regularly goes toe to toe with Batman and doesn't back down.

That's not a child soldier, that's a father's son who has the same sheer stubborn force of will that his dad did and a father who desperately wanted the best life he could give his son. And that's what this story really was about for me.

[rubydubydoo122]

In every universe Jason Peter Todd dies young. It’s a fate sealed across the multiverse. Maybe he could hope that there’s one universe where he doesn’t. aka, Jason, Dick, and Bruce go multiverse hopping, and are not having a fun time. (Ps, when I started writing this fic I hced Jason as Latino, but I don't really believe in that hc anymore, so just a heads up if you don't like that hc)

TRIGGER WARNING -> Child Death (it's Jason)

“Shit.” Dick squatted down right where he was and ran his fingers through his hair, “Fuck.” He ran his hands down his face, “Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.”

Jason blinked. He was still picturing his lifeless eyes staring up into the sky. He was still picturing his frozen body curled into the corner of the dumpster. He was still feeling the way Bruce cradled his lifeless body. “Huh?”

Dick looked to Bruce for help, but something must’ve clicked, “You knew? Bruce, you knew and didn’t–”

“I didn’t want it to be true.” 

“Ah, yes. And the multiverse is just going to bow down to your will.” Dick spit back venomously.

“Obviously not. Dick, it was two times, I didn’t want to worry you two if I was wrong.”

“Since when have you ever cared about worrying us? At least if you’d’ve told us, we could’ve saved Jason!”

Jason decided that if Bruce and Dick were going to make a scene, he was going to take in their surroundings. Make sure someone like… Ultraman doesn’t show up. 

They were on the Wayne Enterprise rooftop… and was that… whispering? Jason stood up and let out a whistle, “Oi! Quit the bickering!” He signed ‘ Someone’s here’ ,  and continued talking “I swear, it’s like we were sent back ten years.” Keeping a hand on the kris in his pocket, Jason rounded the corner where he heard the whispers coming from.

There was someone lurking in the shadows of the HVAC unit. He almost didn’t notice them, but after years of fighting the bats and assassins, and bat-assassins, he knew what to look for. “I can see you.” 

The person lept from the shadows, running at him with a metal stick. A bo staff. It was also a kid, who was very obviously new with the weapon. Jason grabbed the stick, and yoinked it out of the kid’s hand before he could land a hit on him. “Hold it, kid. I’m–”

Suddenly a bundle of red, green, and yellow kicked him right in the Jaw, and punched him in the gut, “Get away or–” He could see the recognition and confusion flutter across Robin’s face, “Who are you?”

“It’s One bad night for ART.” Jason put his hand in the air.

Robin put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to the side, with a little smile “That’s not mine, that’s B’s.” 

“You’re really gonna make me sing it?” Why couldn’t he have chosen a poem or something. Actually, no. He’s been telling poems to Jason's seconds away from death. He should’ve chosen an emo phrase like Bruce. “ I've lived long enough to have learned; The closer you get to the fire, the more you get burned; But that won't happen to us; 'Cause it's always been a matter of trust�� 

A soft smile spread across Robin’s face, “You sound just like Papi. Give me one minute to yell at this Cabron. ” he spun around to the kid. “ You are supposed to be back at the cave. Agent A is gonna be so mad at you.”

Now that the kid was in the light and not attacking him, Jason could get a much better look at him. He was slightly taller than Robin, but based on the baby fat on his face and the scolding, he was probably younger. He had an awful bowl cut, (which, wow, his parents must hate him for that,) and was wearing a domino and a black sweatshirt. There was a camera strung around his neck.“What Agent A doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, he’s on vacation.”

Robin scoffed, “Agent A always knows. I bet his butler senses are sending out a beacon to give you a look as we speak.”

“Well, I’m sorry if you’re a shit liar, but I think I can get away with it.”The kid gave him an ‘I'm scheming’ grin that was eerily reminiscent of Tim.

Wait. Hold up, “Tim?”

“Apapapapa,” Tim held up a finger, “Codenames and it’s Crow.”

“No it’s not. We just call him Egg. Since he’s supposed to be in the nest.”

Oh, Jason is totally calling Tim and Damian Eggs when they get back to their timeline.

Tiny Tim groaned, “You’re not the boss of me.”

“Well, I’m older. So yeah, kinda.”

“I’m taller.”

Robin crossed his arms, “I’m sorry if you missed the part where that giant is me.” He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, “So technically, I’m taller.”

Tim frowned and then looked to Dick, “Is alternate reality me taller than Jason?”

Dick winced apologetically, “Sorry, Timmy, you only reach 5’6”.”

Tim let out a long spew of curses and something about his winning argument.

Bruce came out of the shadows he was hiding in, “Language.”

Robin raised his eyebrows, “So all Bruce’s are the same across dimensions?”

Dick made a so-so motion, “Our Bruce is older and grumpier.”

“We’ll fix that.” He grinned and gave Tim a look that could only spell out trouble. “I’m gonna call our Batman. Then you’ll probably be given some light interrogation, but then we can go to the cave and have hot chocolate together!” 

Now that the kid mentioned it, Jason was really hungry. And tired. How many hours have they been at this cosmic adventure? Four? It would be well into the morning in their Gotham. 

Robin lifted a finger to his ear, “Batman, we have an Egg out of the Nest. I repeat, we have an Egg out of the Nest. Also we have an ART situation.” a pause, “calm down, they’re nice.” Another pause, “I am not too trusting. I just have a good judge of character. It’s a different version of Me, you, and Nightwing, but older and they said they had their own Egg, so really, how bad could they be?” Robin grinned, “Also, N looks like he’s in his protective big brother mode, so we’re safe with them. We’re on top of the Wayne Enterprise building.” The grin faded into a soft smile, “Yeah, yeah, me too, Old man. Take your time. Grapple safely. Don’t hurt your back” Robin brought his finger from the com, and looked to Bruce, “You ok, B-man? You look like you’re gonna hurl.” 

Bruce shook his head, “Nothing. It’s just, you can be too trusting of people you want to believe you can trust.”

Jason groaned, “Oh my– Bruce, it was literally one singular time. I told you we would talk about it later.” Preferably, it would be never, but Bruce is going to keep pushing it in his own Bruce way.

“Hey, Skunk-Hair Jason, Are you gonna give me back my bo-staff?”

Was Tim a little shit in every universe? Jason saw something flicker across Robin’s face at the comment though. That’s fair, his Tim called him skunk-hair often, but that was probably the first time Robin heard it. It’s gonna do wonders for his self esteem.

He heard the telltale sound of a grapple hooking behind him, “I think I’ll just give it to Daddy-bats.” He pressed the button to retract the staff, and tossed it over his shoulder. 

As expected Batman caught it, “Egglett, I thought we agreed, no more sneaking out.”

“But I didn’t sneak out, I walked out of the front door. Besides, this isn’t our biggest problem right now. Dick, you said there was a pattern? I’m assuming it’s related to the realities you’re being sent to.”

Dick glanced at Robin, “Yes, but…” He looked to Bruce for help.

Batman moved so they were all standing in a relative circle. Meaning he was in between Jason and Jason, “How about you start from the beginning, Chum.” It was his Bruce voice, not his Batman voice. 

So Dick told him. How they’d gotten hit by the interdimensional ray, how they were in the warehouse, how they thought they were sent to the past, at first, how Jason had died. 

He saw the way Robin moved a step closer to Batman. He noticed how Batman shifted his weight closer to Robin.

Dick then moved on to tell them about the Alley. About the sudden confusion, because they were definitely in Gotham, just not their Gotham. He told them about the frozen kid in the corner. Jason.

At that, Robin seemed to freeze. Definitely thinking about the Man who had saved them. Weighing the pros and cons of life and innocence. Death and sins. Though, Tim seemed to pick up the pattern, and grabbed Robin’s hand.

And finally, Dick told them about them walking back from the library. And a 13 year old Jay getting hit by a car.

“So…you think I’m gonna die.” Robin didn’t look all that scared, but Jason knew himself. It was in the way he crossed his arms, and looked at Dick defiantly. It was in the way he was in fight mode. Then like an omen, the bat signal lit up. If it’s the Joker, Jason is going to scream. 

Batman placed a hand on Robin’s shoulder. The one that was farther from him, so it was more of a half-hug. “Do you think it could be anything else? Maybe a smaller detail you missed?”

They all turned to Bruce, but Bruce just shook his head. 

Batman nodded slowly, “Alright, we’re all going back to the cave. I’m assuming your suits are in the duffle, so you two,” He pointed to Dick and Bruce, “Can suit up. The kids can be on house arrest. Once we deal with that,” Batman pointed at the bat signal, “we can work a way to get you three home.” 

There were protests from Robin and Tim, but Bruce fixed them with a batglare™ which shut them up immediately. 

Jason raised his hand, “What’ll I be doing?”

Batman blinked at him, “You’ll… be at the manor.”

The kids will be on house arrest , He thinks Jason’s a kid then. “Oh. ok.” It’s ok. He’d make good use of this.

The drive to the cave sucked. Mainly because the Bruces got front seat privileges, and the four of them had to squish together in the back.  Jason did solve the problem by propping his knees up against the passenger seat and making sure to kick it every once in a while to annoy Bruce. Dick, who was sitting in the middle, used the newfound space to stretch out his legs, and give Robin and Tim more room. 

Robin had wrapped his cape around himself, like he was a burrito. Jason forgot he used to do that. It was mainly because the Robin suit had too much leg. Even if he was wearing tights under longer shorts. It was less revealing than Dick’s version of the suit, but still mildly uncomfortable at times.

Tim was squished in between Dick and Robin, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he shifted so that his head was resting on Robin’s shoulder. Robin froze slightly at the touch, but then lowered his cheek to rest on the top of Tim’s head.

God, is this how he and Tim would’ve been if Jason hadn’t died? The bickering on the roof, but moments where you could tell they really cared about each other. And yeah, sure, Jason and Tim definitely bickered now, but sometimes, with everyone, he felt like he was making his way through glass that had shattered on the floor.

Dick discreetly took a picture of the two, which was a bad idea, because it would just hurt more in the long run. When they had to go home and this reality would never be theirs. When Dick realized that the brother he wanted would never be Jason, because the Jason he wanted was long dead.

As soon as they got to the cave, Bruce and Dick made a beeline to the stalls to change. And all Jason could think about was how much the cave had changed since his time as Robin.

It was a lot emptier. The area for the training mats were smaller, Tim’s collection of bo-staffs was down to two, and Damian’s sword and knife collection wasn’t even there. Half of the work benches were gone, and so were half of the vehicles they now used. 

Most importantly, the two cases that held the suits of two dead Robins weren't there. It was just… an empty space. 

Batman walked up to him, and grunted, “Jay was wrong, I’m still taller than you.”

Jason blinked for a minute, because Batman? Making jokes? “Your ears don’t count.”

Batman pulled down the cowl, and did the thing where you measure with your hand. Except he went up a bit, so that his hand barely brushed his curls, “Yup, still taller.”

It hurt. It was weird looking at a Bruce who was younger. The one Jason wished to come back to since he crawled out of his grave, only to find the Bruce he was looking for had died too. Maybe that’s the reason why he and Bruce were never on the same page anymore. They were looking for someone in each other who only existed in their memories. Jason and Bruce would never be the same people they were before that day in Ethiopia. 

He glanced over to where Jay was helping Tim take off his domino without getting the glue dissolver in his eyes. “I’m not that kid, ya know.”

Bruce gave him a rueful smile, “I can tell, but you’re still my kid. Alternate reality or not.” 

It was as if he had grabbed Jason's heart with both hands and started to squeeze it until it would eventually explode. The only reason Bruce could say that was because he didn’t know half the things Jason had done. He didn’t know anything about him at all. 

Bruce looked like he was about to say something else, but the security alarms started going off, immediately displaying on the Batcomputer.

Dick and Bruce(the older one) burst out of the stalls.

There were Joker goons– why did it have to be the Joker?– flooding onto the lawn, jumping over the fence, and heading straight to the manor. So they were after Bruce Wayne, not Batman.

Except it was the Joker. And something, something Jay dying. And something, something the Joker murdered Jason. Things are not really looking good. 

Bruce(the younger one) pulled up his cowl, and looked at Jay and Tim, “Stay here.” He then made eye contact with Jason, with a look that clearly said ‘ look after them’ , then looked to Bruce(the older one), and to Dick, “Lets go.”

And the three of them glided up the stairs.

They watched the Batmans and Nightwing split up and make their way through the manor, on the Batcomputer. He watched as they silently took the goons out one by one. He watched as the Joker waltzed right into the manor. Damn, if Alfred was here, he would have shot that psychotic lunatic down already. 

Jason saw a little shadow dart past the Study. Except… It was too small for Bruce or Dick, but Robin was sitting right next to him, looking at the screen intently, hand hovering to warn them if needed. And the spot where Tim was standing was empty. “Tim?”

If they weren’t in the situation they were currently in, it would’ve been comical how wide Robin’s eyes got. Then his jaw clenched, “Why in the world would he sneak off now of all times?”

“Tim’s just a little shit across universes.” Jason paused, because if some rando started talking like that about Tim, he would probably give them a nice slap across the face, “He’s doing that thing where he comes up with a plan and forgets not everyone is on the same brainwave as him.”

Robin groaned, and reached over to click on something, “Tim, care to share what you’re doing with the class?”

There was a lengthy pause, but they could see Tim on the camera, crouched down behind a decorative couch in the fancy living room, “Arming the traps.”

Robin crossed his arms and started tapping his foot, “You really think that two Batmans and a Nightwing can’t take down the Joker?”

“I just want to help.”

“You can’t–”

Jason placed an arm on Robin’s shoulder, “How ‘bout this Tim, We switch places and you tell me how to arm the traps from the cave?” 

“But–”

“I’m only gonna ask once. I’m coming up there to get you either way.” Jason moved to grab his helmet from the duffle bag and a couple of shurikens from the rack.

“...fine. I– Eep!”

Jason turned his head to the screen so fast, he was sure he’d get whiplash. There on screen was the Joker holding Tim by the collar.

A laugh came through the coms, “I think it’s a bit past your bedtime. Don’t worry, Uncle J will tell you a bedtime story…”

Jason was already halfway up the stairs, “Stay here, Robin. Tell Batman.” Robin nodded, and Jason practically sprinted across the manor to get to Tim.

He could practically hear Bruce yelling at him in his brain about attacking the Joker without a plan, but here’s the thing— Jason genuinely did not care. He was going to make sure what happened to him would not happen to this baby version of his little brother. The Joker connives to get a rise out of Batman. It’s why he terrorizes the city. It’s why his exploits get worse and worse. It’s why he hurt Babs and killed Jason. And the Joker has only gotten worse as time went on.

Jason reached the living room and was about to fling a shuriken at the Joker’s arm to make him drop Tim, but he suddenly moved to put Tim in a headlock, with a gun to his head. 

It was eerily reminiscent of the way Jason had held the Joker during that confrontation. With Him, Bruce, and the Joker.

The Joker let out a laugh that grated against his ears like nails on a chalkboard, “And who might you be? For a second there I thought you were one of mine.” The Joker tilted his head, “Though, maybe you are… did you raid Daddy’s wardrobe? I do say, you look nice, but I think I wore it better.”

Jason tsked in a way that would make Damian proud, “With your pasty looking face? No chance. Let the kid go.” 

The Joker pouted, “But the show hasn’t even started! We don’t even have a full house yet. Batsy’s going to have to make a tough choice, huh?”

There was a crackle of electricity near the other entrance to the living room, “Let him go.” Dick’s voice was dangerously low.

“Well if it isn’t the first boy blunder. My, my, you’ve grown up quite a bit. And a new costume change I see? A shame, I liked the other one better. Though I do suppose this one leaves more to the imagination.”

Jason was going to strangle the clown, and then bash his face in, and then grab his gun and shoot him multiple times, and then–

The Joker brought the gun closer to Tim’s head, “Apapa, Big Red. Wouldn’t want Timmy’s big brains painting the carpet. The dry cleaning would be just terrible.” started cackling like he had just said the funniest joke ever.

He could see the panic flash on Tim’s face for a second, before he closed his eyes and took a slow breath, and painted over the fear with apathy. It was something his Tim could do much faster, but it was still… unnerving to watch a kid barely older than 10 do. Tim rolled his eyes, “You know for someone named the Joker, you’re not very funny. I’ve seen Batman laugh at Robin loads of times. He’s known you for what, fifteen years? Yet you still haven’t gotten a laugh out of him.”

The Joker hit Tim’s temple with the gun “Shut it, brat.” He turned his gaze onto Dick, “Say, Nightwing, what would ya do if I… say, killed the little b–haha! The kid. What would you do if I killed him? Would you punch me hard? Maybe if I fanned the fire, would the punches keep coming? Would they? Until I could no longer see straight? Until I could no longer breathe.” the Joker giggled “And only my Dark Knight in shining armor– a true love's kiss from Batsy could bring me back.” The Joker, since he got out all he needed to say, let out a full body laugh.

Dick’s jaw clenched so hard, Jason would’ve thought he was about to break a tooth. 

And Tim had the biggest ‘what in the ever loving fuck?’ expression on his face, “Mr. Joker sir, could you put me down? I think you’re a bit too delusional if you think you’re even close to being in Batman’s league.”

“Tim–” Dick was about to warn him to probably take the sass down three notches when the Joker started laughing again. Both Batmen stood at the same entrance as Dick, though their 

“Batsy! There’s two of you! This is wonderful!” He frowned, and looked directly at Jason, “Hm… I wonder where the little birdie is? Hehehe, Oh well, we can just start without him. Good thing too, my hands are getting sweaty. Who knows, my finger might just slip…” The Joker curled the finger that was on the trigger, but Jason knew he wasn’t going to pull it. Not yet. It wasn’t dramatic enough yet. Batman subtly shifted closer to Jason. 

Figures. Of course he would make sure that he could get in between the Joker and Jason if need be. Though, as much as it pains him, he wasn’t going to try to kill this one. Not because the Joker deserved to be spared or because Bruce told him to stop killing. No. It was because he knew Robin was watching through the cameras, and he didn’t want that version of himself to see the person he had become.

“Such an old house. I wonder if there are any ghosts here.” The Joker looked at Jason and shivered, but it was for the bit, because he gave him a grin that made his blood run cold, “Haha! Definitely. Though… I can feel something in the air. Like it’s making room for another ghost to join.” The Joker laughed, “Now, I based this off of a dream I had once. How did it go again? Right, I didn’t have an extra gun on hand, but it’s ok! Hehe, you won’t need it anyways.” He readjusted his grip on Tim and gave Jason a wink, “ You want to stop me, you’re going to have to kill me. All you’ve got is a head-shot. I’m going to blow his addled, deranged brains out, and if you want to stop it– Hahaa! You’re going to have to shoot me, Hehehee! right in my face.” The uncontrollable laughter kept getting louder and louder– How did he know ? They were in a completely different reality , How did he know ? “Of course, you don’t have a gun, so maybe a batarang would do. Right to the neck.” The Joker looked back to Jason, his head tilting as his grin grew impossibly bigger, “This is turning out so much better than I thought. I’ll give you to the count of three. One… Two…Thr–”

“ No!” Except it didn’t come from Batman, or Batman, or Dick. It came from Jason. But It didn’t come from Jason. It came from Robin .

A batarang hit the elbow that was holding Tim, sending him to the floor just as a shot rang out. Except the bullet didn’t clatter to the floor or into the wall, there was the sound of metal piercing through skin. But it didn’t hit Tim. Because the barrel wasn’t facing where Tim had been

It was facing Jay.  

Blood was gushing from the kid’s neck as cackles rang throughout the Manor.

“You know that’s how you wanted that night to end, Red. You aren’t supposed to be here, and you know it. Not here, not anywhere! Haha, you’re supposed to be– ACK!” 

Jason couldn’t tell if there was electricity crackling, or if it was just the static in his ears. He couldn’t tell if there was the sound of skin meeting skin, or if it was just the pounding of his heart. 

All he knew was that he took off his helmet as he bent down to put pressure on the bleeding. The bullet went through the side of his neck. Almost exactly where Jason had his scar from the batarang. Except the wound was deeper and he was losing more blood. And Jay was smaller.

Tim crawled up to them, “J-Jason…?”

Even through the domino mask, Jason could feel the demanding gaze from Jay, “No. Tim. ‘s not… y’r fault.”

“But, if-if I hadn’t left, then- then the Joker, he wouldn’t’ve–”

“Not. Your. Fault.” Jay grabbed Tim’s hand, “Don’t… die. Not f’r a… long time. Live.”

“You– You’re the one who’s…You’re actively bleeding out. Right now.”

“No. Batman… d’sn’t need…  R’bin. Br’ce…Bruce needs…. Someone’a… tell ‘im he’s not… ‘n dark. Bruce. Needs. Us.” Jay brought a weak hand from his heart to Tim’s, “Hope.” Jay looked to Jason, and gave him a tired smile, “‘s the thin’... w’th… feathers.”

Jason tried his best to return the smile, “ ”Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -” Jay gave a content breath out. He closed his eyes to just… listen. “ And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird- That kept so many warm -” with each stanza, Jay’s pulse got slower and slower. “I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.”

Jay took one breath in, and he could see Tim squeeze his hand tighter. And as he let his final breath out, there was a soft, “ Te Amo.” that escaped Jay’s lips.

“Jason?” There were tears pooling in Tim’s eyes, “Jason, please . Say sike right now, this isn’t funny.” 

Jason leaned back and started to take off his bloodstained gloves, “Tim–”

“I-I promise I won’t sneak out to take pictures anymore. I promise I won’t sneak coffee, and I- I won’t lie to Alfred. I won’t make fun of your height anymore, just please – Jason , I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Come back.” 

“Tim…”

He looked up at Jason all bleary eyed, “Why won’t he say sike? He’s Robin , he- he– he can’t be gone.”

Jason spread his arms, and Tim immediately dove into his chest and started sobbing, “He- He’s never… He’s never going to be… big like you.”

Jason held onto Tim, “ Pajarito…” He rubbed small circles into Tim’s back as he sobbed harder. 

He wanted to stay. He didn’t want to leave Tim all alone just like that. He didn’t want Tim to lose one Jason just to lose another.

But the room turned white, and they were gone.

[pinepickled]

Back at it again to talk about just how much I hate the very concept of Jason 'giving up' on the Joker to return to the batfam.

Like, I see so many people who write meta and fics that claim that the one true solution to the current conflict between Bruce and Jason is for Jason to have a come to Jesus moment about why killing is wrong and to just accept that the Joker will continue to live, doing so for the sole reason of reconciling with Bruce. To me, it just reeks.

I cannot say this enough, but their conflict is not about whether killing is moral or not!!! That is not why Jason just cannot make up with Bruce as things are! Jason was considered one of the only comic book characters to be permanently dead for a reason, his death continues to mean something even after his resurrection for a reason!! The conflict starts in that the man who was supposed to protect him failed to and Jason DIED! The conflict continues because Jason was not avenged at all! His death was meaningless! Completely, utterly, meaningless!

The whole reason Jason goes on his murderquest in Gotham is because he saw newspaper clippings of the Joker, still alive and well, escaping Arkham! He must have thought of all the times Joker escaped while he was just a little kid, how they were constantly rounding the guy up and putting him back, watching the body count that this man has personally caused go up and up and up while they were functionally powerless to stop it. Jason himself says so, directly asking Bruce why he's let the Joker fill entire graveyards with innocent lives!

Under the Red Hood is a well thought out story. It never meant to make the case for whether murder is morally justifiable or not, that was Batman's trauma filled excuse. The reality, as outlined in samiralula01's post, is that Jason's death killed Bruce. He lost his ability to be compassionate, loving, merciful, and more. His little boy was dead. Clinging onto his belief that murder is wrong was just a means to justify to himself why Jason's death would have to go unavenged, and as a direct consequence of this delusion and trauma, which is explicitly said in UTRH, most of Batman's sidekicks have left him! Oracle, Tim, Steph, Cass, everyone except Dick! He's pushed them all away because of this crippling fear of losing them like how he lost Jason, this fear that has made him a colder, less loving man. The fear that turned him from a bringer of justice and hope into a dark shadow.

Jason is right, at the end of the day. He knows the Joker cannot be rehabilitated nor contained, he knows that Bats is just making excuses for himself, and his point of view is further justified by two events: 1, the fact that Barbara was brutalized by the Joker even after Jason died, and 2, that Bludhaven and supposedly Dick was literally NUKED right before Jason went to kill the Joker and instead of running to see if his son was okay, Batman went after Jason.

Batman chose the Joker over his kids not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times.

Jason dying and the Joker living on was the first.

Barbara being tortured to the point of disability was the second.

Dick being nuked and Bats not running to save him was the third.

and Jason having his throat slit by a batarang so Bats could save Joker was the fourth.

UTRH is the story of how Batman does not actually have a solid moral ground to stand on anymore. It displays not only what a broken and defeated man Bruce is, but also implies several times, most notably through the coffin maker's story, that even Bruce believes that Jason is right. He believes that his precious second son deserved to be avenged, not even through bureaucratic or judicial means, but through death. UTRH is a story about Batman, all alone, making huge mistake after huge mistake.

Jason asks Batman to choose: him or me. The Joker or Jason. Your kids or a villain.

Batman chooses.

The Joker puts it the best, after Batman upholds his no-killing rule for the Joker by killing Jason.

"You managed to find a way to win... and everybody still loses!"