#and then the next thing he knows he’s waking up to the news story ‘Bruce Wayne shocked to find out Kansas is real’

[raeofgayshine]

Bruce Wayne, drunk and full on Brucie mood in the middle of a gala: You know, that accent doesn’t really fit in around here. It’s cute. Where are you from?

Clark, internally debating every life choice that led him to this moment: I’m from Smallville. Kansas.

Bruce, leaning closer to Clark with a flirty smile: Oh you’re cute and funny. You know, I like that in a man.

Clark, very confused but trying to just go along with it: Thank you??

Bruce: I mean, everyone knows that Kansas isn’t real but I do always enjoy a good laugh.

Clark: What.

Bruce: What? Everyone knows that Kansas was made up for Wizard of Oz.

Clark, unsure if Bruce is fucking with him or if he’s just really deep into this dumb act: Bruce, Kansas is a real place. It’s one of the 50 states that make up America.

Bruce, tilting his head a little confused: There’s 50 states? Since when?

[n3x0tic]

Head Cannon: Being Bruce Wayne First Biological Child.

For the longest of time, it was you, your dad and Alfred.

In terms of family you didn’t have much, but the three of you were what you needed, period.

You spent a lot of time with your father, learning more about business than any other normal thing unlike any regular kid.

Bruce was hesitant a few times exposing you into this kind of world and to the public eye as well, thinking that it would in a way affect you, but you weren’t much of an extrovert to stay with anyone else unless it was Alfred.

You genuinely enjoyed your time spent with him, you had fun with him, and learn a lot from him too. Of course Alfred was the one mentoring Bruce, so he too became an important figure in your life.

But everything changed when Bruce took in his first stray, named Richard Grayson, or Dick for short.

Your father’s attention began to shift completely towards your new sibling. Feeling left out, you began to seclude yourself as well, barely talking, which was worrisome considering you barely talked to begin with.

Dick wasn’t the one to blame and a part of you knew that. It was simple, Bruce got closer to him because they both went through the same pain, something that they could relate to. But every fiber of your being wanted to blame him for everything.

You stopped spending time with him and the mire they got closer to each other the more there was a distance between you two.

You barely got out of your room, and the little time you spent outside was in the manor’s library, where you read your days away, imagining yourself in a story where even if it was just you and Bruce, everything was perfect.

Your jealousy then, became resentment. After a while the few words you exchanged out of courtesy with Dick, were completely gone.

In the past, there were things that you saw that were quite suspicious for a father with a big company, you didn’t pay mind to it, but since Dick’s arrival the things you once saw are now in a different color, for example you always suspected that Bruce was a vigilante, Batman to be precise.

You got your confirmation after noticing that there was a considerately suspicious timeframe of when your adoptive brother arrived, so did a sidekick appeared on Batman’s side.

With your eyes now turned into an object of observation, you began tailing Dick one night, and you had the advantage of knowing every nook and cranny of the manor like the back of your hand. So when you saw that there was a room hidden in the manor that you never knew.

How was it that you didn’t know everything when it came to your father, and then come this boy a few weeks ago and knew everything with easy.

And then you spiraled, it was as if you lost yourself in a sea of rage.

You threw a tantrum in your room and reeked havoc in it.

You felt pathetic, weak even.

That night you waited patiently in Dick’s room, waiting for his arrival, and many hours past midnight had passed. Your body, alongside your seething anger began to falter.

To Dick’s surprise, he never expected to see you sleeping so soundly in his bed in that manner.

His first instinct after seeing you were to throw you some blankets.

Later then he scooted in a little to get some sleep too, not wanting to disturb your own and after every change that occurred in the manor he felt responsible, and he felt like he owed it to you to at least let you sleep as a way of paying reparations.

However when you opened your eyes the next day only to wake up in his embrace, you moral compass, and every bit of anger you had were wavering, an internal war occurred and you simply escaped that scene and hurried to the garden hugging your knees in which you buried your head in an attempt to hide from reality.

Then your resentment began to change to something unknown the more you thought of what happened.

Were you finally going mad?

[theoriginal-dc-hoe]

Surprise Return (Jason Todd x Female!Reader)

Okay this is a bit angsty with love making smut, brief mentions of death, and fluff.

My first fanfic since my return to the fandom! I hope you enjoy!

Story description: You meet Jason, your best friend and the man you love, for the first time after he comes back from the Joker incident...

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The lights of Gotham lit up the pitch black sky. It began to rain heavily, making those in the streets run for something to protect them from getting wet. Others paid no mind to the rain, accepting their drenched fate. 

(Y/N) quickly ran into her building with a newspaper above her head. She had grabbed it on her rush back home. The door slammed closed behind her as she made it to the elevator. While going up to her floor, she sighed, knowing she had to wake up early again for her morning shift. The diner being understaffed was not doing well for her physical health. (Y/N) couldn’t help but think about what she would give for a nice, long vacation. She mentally asked herself if she still really needed that crap job. 

Once walking into her one bedroom apartment, (Y/N) cursed while trying to turn the lights on. “Really? The lights are out?” she whispered and groaned while placing her wet umbrella to the side. 

She kicked her heels off while walking into the kitchen. Opening the fridge door, she bent down to see what she had for dinner tonight, using her flashlight to help see in the dark. (Y/N) grabbed some food she brought from the restaurant the night before. 

While turning around, something quickly, but ever so silently, dashed away from her flashlight. (Y/N) jumped, the food landing safely on the kitchen island. She pointed the light towards the direction the thing jumped to, but nothing appeared. 

(Y/N) swallowed and closed the fridge door. For a moment, she figured she was just seeing things. Placing the food down, she opened a drawer and reached for a fork. 

Creak…

(Y/N) snatched a knife out and spun around, throwing it across from her. It stabbed the wooden wall…right next to a tall man with a red helmet.

“Damn, you still got good aim,” he told her with hands raised up in surrender. 

“You…” (Y/N) took a step back, recognizing him from the newspaper she used for the rain. “You’re that guy everyone’s been talking about.”

“Really?” He tilted his head to the side. “And I’m still just a new guy in town.” 

Her brows knitted together with confusion. “What do you want? If you’re looking for that guy who pushed his wife off the balcony, he moved out a few weeks ago. This is my place now.” 

“Oh, no, babe.” He sat on her couch and patted it. His legs spread out like he was comfortable. “Hm, nice and homey… Anyway, I’m here for you.”

(Y/N) blinked. “I don’t even know you.” 

“Oh, but you do.” He motioned his head with a nod over to the couch across from him. “Sit, please.”

The way he sat, the way he talked, it somehow…didn’t bother her, but she was too stubborn to not let him know that. Why was he acting like he lived with her, too? She kept her eyes on him, studying him as she slowly walked over and sat down. 

“Okay, explain. What do you want with me?” (Y/N) asked. 

“...” He placed his hands behind his head. “When you were a teen you trained with the Batman, huh?”

“How the fuck do you know that?!” She stood up with fear in her eyes, not even because of the strange man in her apartment, but because of all the memories of Bruce telling little ol’ (Y/N) to always keep her identity a secret. 

Oh, Bruce is going to be so mad at me…

The man nodded. “You trained with him and…one night you never went back. Why is that?”

“I’m not telling you anything, you–”

“(Y/N), please…” he said sincerely. 

The man grabbed onto his helmet. (Y/N) stood frozen as he started taking it off. Soft black hair poked out first and the front was white as he lowered the helmet to reveal… 

Tears took over (Y/N) eyes. Her legs gave out and Jason quickly caught her as she started falling down. 

“J-Jason…” she whimpered, voice cracking as she slowly reached for his face with a shaking hand. “You’re…”

“Alive, yes,” he whispered, smiling warmly as he cupped her cheeks. “Alive.” 

(Y/N) threw her arms around him, hugging him so so tight as her chest went on overdrive with euphoria. “You’re back! You’re alive!” she sobbed. 

Jason hugged her back in his strong arms, nuzzling her neck. “Why did you stop working with Bruce, (Y/N)?” he asked again. 

“Because I couldn’t– I didn’t want–” She sucked in a breath. “I didn’t see a point when I lost you that night! How are– Oh, Jason!” 

Jason let her cry in his arms for as long as she needed. He took in her scent, the same one he’s been missing for so long. He noticed his body now practically swallowed her in his hold. 

After a few minutes, (Y/N) pulled back and studied him yet again, looking at how he changed, his form, his hair, his lips and his eyes. She caressed his cheek. “You look so…different,” she whispered. 

His lips picked up into a cute smile, the one she fell in love with all those years ago. “I’ll explain everything, you should get comfortable first… Also, sorry for the lights, I wanted to surprise you.” 

She whacked his arm playfully and giggled. “You idiot, I almost…” She couldn’t finish her sentence about her knife, remembering what the Joker did…

Jason noticed. “I know, babe,” he said softly. “Shower, put some pajamas on, and I’ll get the lights on again.” 

(Y/N) bit her lip and gave him a quick peck before she ran to her room, excitement in her steps. (Y/N) felt like speed as she showered. She put on some pajama shorts and a nice oversized top before she stepped back out to join Jason in the living room. The lights were now on. 

He had placed his helmet and weapons on her coffee table. He ran his fingers through his white and black hair as (Y/N) sat next to him. 

“Where do I even begin?” he sighed. 

(Y/N) held his hand. “I think… I think that night, if you don’t mind, of course.” 

He nodded and started his story from the night the Joker took him as his victim. He told her about the lazarus pit and his plans for coming back. He also spoke about his plans for Bruce. 

“Are you…alright with me fighting that asshole?” Jason asked. 

(Y/N) bit her lip. “I– I don’t know, this is a lot to take in, Jay.” 

“Right.” He nodded. “I understand, I don’t blame you.”

She stroked his hand and gave it a kiss. “...Bruce took us in when we needed someone the most and I’m always grateful for that but…”

Jason tilted his head, more serious now. “But what?”

(Y/N) looked into his blue eyes again. She saw the ghost of his past still lingering in them, still taking over with pain. 

“I don’t want you two to fight, Jason… But I know this is something that needs to be settled between the two of you,” she replied with a sigh. 

“Yeah… Thank you, I had a feeling you’d say that.” 

“Just promise me you won’t get hurt in the process, too?” (Y/N) gave him a hopeful, worried look. 

Jason stared at her back for a moment in silence. He leaned in slowly and gave her a long, deep kiss. (Y/N) felt her cheeks warm up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head to the side as their tongues mingled together. 

He pulled one of her legs over his lap. (Y/N) moaned with a deep want and she ground against him. All the passion from previous years, the longing, the yearning, the desperate need for each other's touch grew with a fiery flame that couldn’t be put out. 

Jason stood up with (Y/N) in his arms, carrying her into her bedroom. She gasped with pleasure as he kissed her neck. “Please, I–”

“I know,” he whispered, laying her down in her bed. “I need you, too, I’ve needed you for so long.” 

He undid his belt with one hand and slid it off. Jason removed her clothes and took off his shirt, noticing her bite her bottom lip. “Have you ever…seen anyone after me?”

“No, never,” she replied softly, shaking her head. She caressed his sculpted arms and chest, feeling the scars. Some were deeper than others.

A surge of relief and pride filled his body. Jason leaned down and licked her nipples, enjoying the music of her mewls. He slid a rough hand between her legs, rubbing her clit between two fingers. (Y/N) immediately grew wet from his electrifying touch. It sent her body craving for more. 

“It’s been so long,” he whispered, kissing her lips and down her body. He kissed her breasts and tummy before reaching just above her needy clit. Jason breathed in before stroking her hips, licking her center with his eyes on her. 

“J-Jason!” (Y/N) gasped with delight. “Please, faster?”

“You sure?” He kissed her inner thighs. 

She nodded quickly. “Fuck me, Jason.” She stroked his strong jaw. 

A sexy aura filled his eyes. He sucked on her clit hard first, making her create an arch with her back. Jason’s moans vibrated her bud. 

“Fuck!” (Y/N) cried. “Jason, yes!” 

He shook his head, sucking her clit deeply. He checked how wet she was and once he knew she was ready, he sat up and released his thick, long member. Jason pushed her legs up as he slowly slid in. He moaned sexily once he was in completely. 

“Fuck, so wet,” he groaned. 

“Babe, please,” (Y/N) whimpered. 

Jason began to thrust, holding her legs up and apart. He started slow until (Y/N) begged for him to roughen his pace. 

A surge of pleasure ran through his body. A deep grunt escaped his chest. Her bed began to shake with his movements, making the floors creak and the back of the bed frame hit the wall. 

(Y/N) squealed as she tightened around him. She squirted, making Jason's abs glisten.

She held onto his arms for deer life. “I’m gonna–!” 

Jason leaned down, slamming into her with all his speed and strength. He kissed her deeply with tongue again. They both moaned in the kiss, both releasing as their orgasms took control. Their pleasure mixed together in blissful love. 

Jason slowly came to a stop. He rolled their bodies to the side, wrapping one of her legs around his hips. He kissed (Y/N) some more, covering her cheeks and neck. 

(Y/N) moaned softly. “I really needed that. I really needed you.” 

He gave her another happy kiss. “Same here.” 

She nuzzled his chest, happiness filling her heart with comfort. Her best friend, her love, the man she shared most of her life with was finally, finally back.

Jason massaged her thighs. “...You still up for more?” he asked with a sexy smirk. 

(Y/N) looked up at him. “Oh?” She gave him the same mischievous smile. “Can you keep up?”

"Me keep up?" He grinned with excitement, gripping her ass after giving it a spank. "You’re gonna be up all night, baby.” 

(Y/N) giggled as he rolled back on top of her for more bedroom fun. She completely forgot about her morning shift. Well, that finally gave (Y/N) her answer, she didn’t really need that job anyway. 

[yourmomxx]

Hello! I want to make a request headcandons for jason todd, dick grayson and damian wayne with a reader who basically has a personality and background of yui komori, that is, she is super kind, sensitive, shy and who went through a very traumatic situation related to kidnapping and abuse and who because of that she is very scared and has post traumatic stress disorder, i hope it's not so dark for you and i don't want you to write this if you don't want to, i would also want it to be angs with comfort(because ptsd)and fluff.

here you go! thanks for the request, I hope you’re alright with how it turned out :)

Dick Grayson

Around Dick, you had been hinting at the fact that you didn’t have such a good past

The first time he sees you crying and doesn’t know what triggered it, he holds you tight and whispers sweet things in your ear, and his thumb rubs reassuring circles on your shoulder

Asks you if you want to talk to him and offers you tea or a glass of water

When he tells you about missions (or if you’re a vigilante, too, on missions), he kind of “sprinkles” metaphors in there until you eventually open up to him

For example after a dam break: “Sometimes the pressure is just too much. And if not at least some of it is relieved then things burst.”

Would never pressure you into anything though, he will let you take your time

And appreciates it even more when you open up to him

Jason Todd

Jason met you as a kind and gentle soul, that was always ready to take care of him

But he knew that there was more to your story, he recognized the look you head in your eyes

Jason finds out when he wakes up from you screaming and squirming in your sleep

He knows those symptoms all too well, and is careful not to startle you awake

He catches your fists when you try to hit him as he tries to carefully wake you up

“Hey it’s okay,” he coaxed, “It’s just me. You are in my apartment, it’s okay.”

He definitely makes you a bath after to get your mind off things

And reads to you so you can fall asleep to his soothing voice

Or just holds you tight until you fall asleep again, this time without nightmares, knowing that Jason is there to protect and hold you

Will give you time and space if you need it, but push you into the right direction

“You can’t just keep this forever, you know,” he said, one day, as you were sitting opposite each other. “I’m here for you when you need me. I know that it’s hard. But it will get better with time.”

And you trust him

Tim Drake

almost starts panicking himself when he sees you curled up on the floor, your back to the wall and face pressed to your knees

He doesn’t know how to respond at first

He knows panic attacks can look different for everybody and also that depending on the person it is different how they would like you to respond to it

When he comes to again, he sits down opposite you, with enough distance to not invade your personal space, and starts talking to you in a low voice

“Hey, can you hear me?”

He teaches you new techniques to ground yourself

For example box-breathing*

“It calms your heart rate,” he said.

Will cancel all his meetings the next day, just to spend it with you snuggled up in comfortable clothes

Will also stay more often at night, letting his siblings cover his shifts as Robin

Damian Wayne

The first time Damian noticed something is wrong, is when you flinched as he made a quick movement

And to be honest, he was offended at first

Thrown aback, more like it

He thought (feared) you were scared of him

He distanced himself from you, emotionally, and even got snappy sometimes

He thinks stupid of himself, how could he ever believe that someone like you could be truly in love with him, feel safe around him, see anything other than the boy with blood on his hands that he was

Funny enough it was Bruce that knocked some sense into him, because he had observed an exchange between Damian and you

He told his son to talk about you about what happened - that maybe this was all a big misunderstanding

When you reveal to Damian what happened to you, you break down

He doesn’t know what to do, and at first just stands there, but then he is careful to place a warm hand on your shoulder

After that, he will do everything to make you feel as loved as possible

And he mostly did that with presents

“I saw this and I thought of you.”

“I read in the Internet that those blankets help with anxiety.”

And when he offers to kill someone for what they did to you, you always manage to convince him not to do it - although you kind of appreciate his efforts

*this method does really exist. you breathe in for five seconds, then hold this breath for another five seconds. then you breathe out for five seconds, hold your breath again, and then repeat it all. athletes and swimmers use this technique to calm their heart rate, because it makes us take less breaths than usually in a minute.

[kittyball23]

True Crime (a Trolls fanfic)

Summary: Bruce hears something unexpected on the True Crime podcast he listens to

__________________________________________

Beach days were always the best.

It gave his wife Brandy the ample time she needed for a little R n R. It gave their 13 kids the fun they craved, hitting the waves and splashing about in the warm Vacay Island waters. And it gave Bruce the opportunity to kick back, tan, and listen in on the next episode of his True Crime podcast.

His kids were well-behaved for the most part (save for Bruce Jr. and his biting problem, and perhaps Freddy with his desire to stuff his body into whatever little cramped spaces there were). But, with a quick reminder to mind their manners and beware of any rough waves, he knew that they were well off.

As he settled down on the towel, he could hear the faint sounds of his children laughing and splashing, their mother floating on a surfboard nearby and watching over them. Bruce then removed his vest, rubbed tanning oil on his body, donned sunglasses, popped on his earbuds and began to play the podcast. The narrator's mysterious voice began to speak, introducing the story.

“In tonight's episode of True Crime, discover a true story about betrayal, deception, and greed, and the defeat of two nefarious villains who were finally dethroned from their treacherously influential reign…”

Bruce was already intrigued. Ooo, this is gonna be a GOOD one. He could tell. He tucked his arms behind his head and got comfortable.

“When one is a troll, there is no better way to live your life to the fullest than with hugging, dancing, and of course, singing. But for one troll, these harmless activities become the paramount of his nightmare for the next two months.”

Bruce scrunched his nose, skeptical. Singing and dancing that led to, as the narrator described, a ‘nightmare’ situation? He had to hear the rest of this.

“You never expect this sort of thing to happen to you, you know?” a new voice said, which Bruce could presume was the victim of the unfortunate scenario. “I sure didn't. They seemed like a nice pair of siblings. I never suspected anything malicious. They saw my performance, enjoyed it, and asked for some tips to boost their own careers. We had some drinks and… and the next thing I remember is waking up in a diamond bottle.”

Yikes, Bruce thought, pitying the victim. He sounded like a nice guy, too, with the calm, serene tone his voice had. Trapped in such a cramped space for so long sounded awful.

“And you won't believe who those said siblings were,” the narrator continued. He was very right in that, too. Because as soon as the podcast began to play a sample of the hit single ‘Watch Me Work,’ Bruce’s jaw practically dropped on the floor.

No way…

“Yes way. You heard correctly. Criminals in this case are none other than superstar sensations Velvet and Veneer, from the bedazzling city of Mount Rageous. But following them now, is a not-so-bedazzling record. (And we don't mean the musical kind.)”

A new female voice began to list off charges. “Troll-napping, Troll torture, not to mention tax evasion. You won't believe how many yachts, bling, and exotic PETS they illegally bought!”

Even if Bruce could believe it, he was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around the initial news. Velvet and Veneer? The well-known household names that his kids - and himself for that matter - were fans of? Well, not anymore! Hearing such things that they did made him sick. Man… it’s gonna be hard separating the art from the artist.

“And today, just two months after the duo was turned in by their assistant, Crimp, they find that their names live on forever not in fame, but in INfamy,” the narrator said.

“Oh, I feel awful,” the distinct voice of Veneer said next. “I wanted nothing more than to be famous, and… Vel made me believe that it didn’t matter HOW we did it, as long as we DID it. Even… even if it meant KILLING a troll. It was real rough - I mean, sucking up his talent was easy enough, but we were literally sucking the LIFE out of him. His skin was turning pale - and, like, not in a stunning Victorian way, either - and that magenta hair of his was turning whiter and whiter by the minute…”

Magenta? Bruce wondered. He’d known a troll once with magenta hair. His own younger brother. Could it be…? No, it couldn’t… I mean, there’s PLENTY of Trolls that have magenta hair, don’t they?

“I didn’t say anything to Velvet though because, truly, I was too afraid to stand up to her. She’s my sister! My biggest inspiration… I didn’t wanna discourage her. But now, I see that what we did was wrong. Very, VERY wrong.”

Good, Bruce thought.

“But despite the change of heart, this Mount Rageon still has to serve at least another six months in juvenile imprisonment, alongside his sister,” the narrator said. “It comes as much relief to the now-free victim.”

“Jail can’t be fun,” the same serene voice from before admitted, “but I’m glad they’re serving their time. Everyone makes mistakes, and just like it’s important to learn from them, it’s also important to pay the repercussions for your actions.”

Well said, Bruce had to admit. He also had to admit something else.

That sounds a LOT like something Floyd would say…

And if his suspicions were not enough…

“While recovery has been successful for the troll and he has plans to return to singing, he still feels as though something is missing from his life…” the narrator continued.

“I was solo-ing around for quite a bit of time before I ran into Velvet and Veneer,” the Troll said. “But, really… I would LOVE if I could perform in the band I was in years ago… but, we kind of had a fight, and ever since that fight, we haven’t seen each other. If we could reunite - oh - that’d be a dream come true. It’s been too long.”

Bruce swallowed. Twenty years is a long time…

The next part was the real kicker, though.

“Until that day, 36-year-old Floyd still holds onto the hope that he will see his bandmembers - also known as the brothers who made up the band BroZone - someday,” the narrator said.

“John Dory, Clay, Branch, Spruce… if ANY of you are listening, I want you to know that I miss you. And I want us to be a family again…” the Troll - FLOYD - said.

Bruce’s thumb went to hit the pause button. He had to stop. This was a lot to process, all at once. He was flabbergasted. Bamboozled. Shocked. He broke down everything he had heard piece by piece, trying to make sense of it.

Velvet and Veneer were baddies.

They had taken Floyd.

His brother Floyd.

They’d used his talent.

They’d almost killed him.

He would’ve never had the option of seeing his brother again.

But now, he did.

“Daddy! Daddy!” one of his kids - Windy - was suddenly calling to him. “Bruce Jr. threw sand in my eye!”

“I said I was sorry!” Bruce Jr. protested.

“Only after Mom told you to!” LaBreezy pointed out.

“Did not!” Bruce Jr. countered.

“Did too!” Cove jumped into his sister’s defense.

“Well, Daddy, aren’t you gonna punish him??” Windy demanded to know. The way he saw it, it wouldn’t be fair to let him slide!

But the way Bruce saw it… well, he wasn’t seeing anything. His brain was still overloaded with what he’d learned.

Brandy had followed the kids, curiously noting her husband’s surprised expression. “Honey?” she questioned. “Are you all right?”

Bruce looked at her resolutely.

“I… I have to find my brother…”

[threefandomsinatrenchcoat]

There are many tropes and concepts I could read a thousand different fics about and one of them is:

Peter Parker ending up in the DC universe

Which I've been reading a lot of, recently, so naturally I also had a lot of ideas for prompts. And here they are! These are mainly takes on the trope that I haven't seen done, yet.

1)

Peter gets changed much more severely by the bite, becoming barely recognizable as himself or human in general. He runs away from home in a panic and starts the superhero thing while on the street. Someone hatecrimes him for being a mutant, cue waking up in Gotham surrounded by green goo with only vague memories thanks to trauma responses. The reveal of what happened follows slowly throughout the story as Peter regains his memories.

1.5)

Bonus: he wakes up in the middle of the batcave where Bruce was frantically experimenting with the Lazarus pit goo, startling them both. This way, there's no big part of the bats slowly figuring out where Peter came from and how many people they've been meeting recently are him and instead a lot more potential for family drama and heartache.

2)

Shit goes ROTTEN for Peter after landing in Gotham. He's hurt to fuck and back by both villains and vigilantes alike and eventually caught by law enforcement. In a panic, he busts down the cell he's in and escapes. Next time he's caught, Batman decides to keep him personally for the time being until he can asses how to detain this criminal effectively, at which point he realizes that Peter did not actually mean to pose a threat to anyone and is just a teenager who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe in the wrong get-up as well, to be fair. (Cue the adoption papers being whipped out)

3)

Peter poofs into existence on the Kents' farm instead of Gotham and well, we all know what Ma and Pa Kent do when they find random kids from different worlds with wild superpowers in their backyard. Clarrk is not sure how to feel about his new "brother" at first but we know Peter's a charmer

[iamnotthere-idonotdie]

adored, pt. 3

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synopsis: reader and bruce continue spending time together, but a tragedy in gotham city seems to change his mind about whether this can work

warnings: bruce wayne (battinson) x reader, no explicit description of sex, one use of “fuck”

a/n: final part of this story, i was hoping to incorporate this idea that bruce is concerned about the safety of being with him, he knows his role as the batman is dangerous and anyone in association with him is in danger too, maybe he wouldn’t actually think this way but i always thought he’d be concerned about getting too close to people, again maybe that’s ooc but that’s just where my mind went, i was inspired this time by the song i won’t let you go by snow patrol (yes from the divergent soundtrack) so here’s the playlist link again if you’d like, as always sorry about the typos that are probably here

thanks by the way for the likes on the first two parts! i didn’t even think anyone would read these let alone like them so i appreciate it :) i’m working on a few other stories that are also bruce wayne/batman x reader so i’m excited to get those out, i’m hoping that over time and with more practice i’ll get better at writing, so i guess just bear with me as i work on it!

edit: link to part 2 and part 1

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you finally make your way out of bruce’s bed in the morning. you find your way out of the twisted sheets and step into the cold hardwood floor. bruce isn’t there, he must already be awake. you rub your eyes as you try to adjust to the sunlight creeping through the gap in the almost closed curtains. bruce walks in, holding two mugs of what you’re hoping is hot coffee. he hands you one and sits next to you on the bed. the two of you stay there for a while, sipping your coffee, silent, just like the last time you met.

“how are you feeling?” he asks. you think he’s still concerned about last night, about the paparazzi.

“i’m good. very good” you smile and rest your head on his shoulder.

“me too” he says softly, as he wraps his arm around you.

the rest of the day is spent with the two of you laying in bed, talking, kissing, him falling asleep multiple times. he seems exhausted, so you let him sleep, then he wakes up and pretend-scolds you for letting him drift off again. it’s a perfect day, with just each other.

sunset comes around and you almost ask if you can stay another night. before you get the chance though, bruce comes up to you and hands you a set of new pajamas and some other clothes. he says he asked his butler to go out and buy you some extra things to wear.

“thank you, you didn’t need to do this.”

“you only have your outfit from last night.”

“i could’ve gone home.”

“i didn’t want you to.”

this night is spent similarly to last, with the two of you spending it under covers, together. you think to yourself that you don’t want this weekend to ever end. you want to always stay, right here, with him.

the next morning though, bruce’s mood has shifted. you wake up alone again, but this time you’re not met with a cup of coffee. you’re not met with a good morning, a smile, nothing. you change into one of the outfits bruce gave you and find him downstairs in the living room, reading through some folder. he quickly closes it when he notices you and it sets it down on the table he’s standing next to.

you look at the television on the wall that’s playing the news, and see an anchor talking in a concerned tone.

“last night, on the edge of town, blue ridge factory suffered a sudden explosion. eleven are dead and 19 more are injured, including 3 currently in intensive care. law enforcement are still unsure about the cause of the explosion, and though they suspect it was accidental, they are not ruling out foul play.”

“oh my god,” you say in shock. “that’s so horrible.”

bruce walks towards you slowly, keeping his eyes on the television.

“what happened, do you think? do you think it really was an accident?” you ask him. you can feel a lump in your throat. all those poor people, their families.

“i don’t know.” he quietly replies.

“it’s just so sad. maybe the batman can help them with the investigation. he helped with the riddler.”

bruce just continues staring at the television.

“yeah. maybe.” he says flatly.

he walks out of the room, taking the folder from the table with him.

you’re still horrified at what happened at the factory, but you’re now also confused at bruce’s reaction to it. maybe he’s just more upset about it than you thought. you stay there, watching the news, and a few minutes later bruce comes back, no folder in hand.

“alfred can take you back home today whenever you want.” he says flatly.

you turn to him, surprised at the sudden change in mood.

“oh.. okay.”

“something just came up that i need to take care of.”

“alright.”

you get up from the couch and head towards the door. figuring that what he really means is that you should go, now. bruce’s butler has packed up your things and is coming down the stairs with it now. you pause for a moment at the door, then turn back to look at bruce.

“i had a good time this weekend. thank you.”

bruce slowly walks towards you, then gently puts his hand on your face.

“i did too.” and he kisses you. you can’t help but sense a sadness in his eyes as he says goodbye. you walk out the door, get into the car, and drive away. all the while hoping, praying, begging, that this goodbye is the last.

…

it’s been five days. no word from bruce. you’ve woken up every day hoping that this wasn’t it, that you wouldn’t become just an every-two-week hookup.

you’re sitting there at your desk, at your same job, waiting, like everyday, for 5pm to come so you can leave. you of course haven’t gone back to the bar. in fact you haven’t gone much of anywhere besides work. you just don’t see the point.

you look at the clock and see 4:59 blinking at you. as you start to gather your things, you hear the door swing open. you sigh, ready to put on a happy face for this annoying person who decided to walk in right as you’re closing. you look up from your bag though, and it’s bruce.

you’re shocked. what was he doing here?

“hi,” he says quietly.

“hi,” your reply.

“i need to speak with you” he looks concerned.

fuck. this is it.

“okay, do you want to talk here?”

“we can go back to my place.”

“okay.”

you get up from your desk and follow him outside to his car. luckily, no one’s there with cameras so you don’t have to worry about being in the news again.

after a minute of riding, bruce reaches over and puts your hand in his, silently. you hold his back and he squeezes slightly, and you feel butterflies in your stomach.

when you get back to his home, you’re appalled to see vans and a crowd of people waiting outside the gate.

“oh my god,” you say as you stare out the window at them. “what are they doing here?”

bruce seems just as confused as he looks at them too.

“someone must have seen me leave with you at work,” you start thinking out loud. “and they all decided to come here and wait for us to come.”

bruce just stays silent, clearly angry that they’ve come to his home.

you pull into the long driveway and the two of you do your best to get inside as quick as possible. you sit in the same living room as you did before, and you wait to see if bruce is going to tell you what he needed to talk to you about. he just comes and sits down next to you.

“so… what did you want to talk about?” you ask, trying to approach this delicately in case it’s going to turn into a sensitive conversation.

“it’s about this. about us.”

you wait for it, for the end.

“i don’t think it’s a good idea.”

you just sit there for a moment. you knew it was coming, but it doesn’t take away from the sting of hearing him say it out loud.

“is it because of the press?”

“partially but… no it’s just… not…”

he stutters over his words.

“what is it? is it me?”

“no… it’s…”

“then what bruce? if you’re going to cut this off then i at least deserve to know why.”

he sighs and gets up from the couch. you sit there still, looking up at him, waiting for an answer.

“i’m not safe.”

…what? what does he mean he’s not safe?

“being with me, is not safe. the paparazzi, the press, all of that can be handled. it’s the others who are the issue… i have a lot of enemies being me, having this,” he gestures around him. “and a lot of those enemies take their hatred into their own hands. i can only do so much to protect you from it. you’re not safe with me.” his voice trails off with sadness as you just look at him.

that seems a bit dramatic to you. sure he’s had issues with people before, threats and the like, but he’s always been okay. why is he now starting to get worried?

“i’m not afraid of all that. i’ll be okay.”

“i can’t guarantee that. and i can’t knowingly put you in harms way. the one thing those people know how to do is hurt, and if they see us, then they’ll try to use you against me. and i can’t allow that to happen to you.” his voice starts to rise a bit and you can tell he’s getting more and more upset.

“bruce…”

“i’m sorry.”

he looks at you with tears in his eyes and you stand up to comfort him, but he swiftly walks out of the room, leaving you to contemplate everything he just said. his butler slowly approaches you and asks if you’d like a ride home. all you do is nod as he takes you out the back door to the garage where you can leave without being seen by the hoard out front.

you cry the whole drive home. you cry over bruce, over losing him, over what he said to you. when you stop at your apartment, alfred looks in the mirror at you.

“i’m sorry about this. bruce is… well, he has some trouble letting people in. and when he does, he tries to do everything he can to not lose them. even if that means pushing them away.”

you look back at him, wondering if that’s really true.

“thank you for the ride, sir.”

“anytime.” he smiles sadly at you and you leave the car and head up to your apartment. crying in here has become an all too common practice for you. you lay in bed, tears flowing, and you eventually cry yourself to sleep.

…

it’s day six since you had that talk with bruce. day six of trying to forget him. but when he’s the richest, most famous man in the city, it becomes quite difficult to avoid reminders.

as you sit in your living room, drinking a glass of wine, in and out of crying fits, you suddenly get the urge to snap out of this self-pity and get dressed up. something about putting on a nice outfit makes you feel better, even if there’s no where to go and no one to see.

but once you get the outfit on, you get a weird feeling. you don’t know why, but something’s telling you to go the bar. maybe you need to go once by yourself to get some closure. maybe you want to listen to the music. maybe you just want a stronger drink. but for whatever reason, you leave your apartment and get a taxi there.

it’s pretty crowded tonight, your usual table is taken by a young couple. you sit at a different spot across the room, giving you a clearer view of the door. you try not to look at it as you sip your drink, but every time the door swings open, you can’t help but glance over to see who it is. it’s never him. hours go by. couples have come and gone. the band has switched to a more quiet setlist. you’re on your third drink. and you miss him. by god, do you miss him. you miss dancing. you miss his bed. you miss his rare smiles. you start to feel the tears again as you see the door open out of the corner of your eye. surely another person has left, leaving you in a near-empty bar. but you look over and you see him. he stands there for a moment, and you just look at each other.

without thinking you stand up, walk over to him, and kiss him. he holds you tightly and you fall into him, letting his embrace overwhelm you. you finally pull away from each other and you notice the camera flashes outside through the windows. you look up at him and he smiles.

“we can handle them.” he says.

“yes, we can.”

“we can handle whatever anyone throws at us.”

“yes, we can.”

he starts to pull away but you continue holding, willing him to not let you go, not yet.

he puts his arms around you again and holds you tight.

“i’m here. i won’t let you go.”

…………………………………………………………………………………….

[awhitehead17]

Battling Nightmares

TimKon, Hurt and Comfort, Fluff, Cuddles, Idiots in love, Literal Sleeping together.

A/N: This has been inspired by this post from @timdrakebrainworms I read it and wanted to put it into a story, I hope they don't mind!

Enjoy! :D

Blinking into the darkness, Kon frowns and wonders what’s going on. As his mind is fogged up with sleep, nothing registers for a long moment. The clock on his bedside table tells him it’s two in the morning, and considering how tired Kon has been recently he’s confused to what could have woken him up at such an hour.

A soft sound reaches his ears, and while it’s tempting to fall back to sleep, he wouldn’t have woken up without a reason and going back to sleep wasn't an option until he worked out what was wrong. He props himself up on his arms and glances around the dark room, finding nothing amiss he stares into the darkness, perhaps if he concentrates he’ll be able to hear that sound again.  

The sound comes again and this time Kon catches it. It’s a soft whisper coming from outside his bedroom. It was so soft that even with his super hearing Kon would’ve had trouble picking up on it, however because Kon’s so tuned in on the person whose whisper it was, he’s not surprised he heard it.

Without thinking Kon jumps out of bed and rushes across the room to the door, any lingering sleepiness is now gone and has been replaced by worry and adrenaline. He throws open his door and darts across the hall straight into the opposite room. He slows down enough to shut the door and immediately heads to the bed where his best friend sits hunched over hugging his  knees to his chest with his head ducked down resting on them.

Crouching down by the mattress Kon sighs softly, his heart feels heavy inside his chest as he looks at Tim. This isn’t new. The nightmares. Every night without fail for the last two weeks Tim’s woken up during the night due to the terrors that haunt his sleeping mind.

At the end of the first week it got bad enough to the point where Tim refused to even go to bed, and then continued to refuse for nearly four days. It took Kon, Dick, Bruce and even Ma Kent - not mentioning his complete exhaustion – to convince Tim to go to bed and sleep.

For the last week, Kon coming to Tim after he wakes from a nightmare has become routine. Once Kon drilled it into Tim’s head that he wanted Tim to call out for him when he woke, Tim had done so and each and every time Kon’s been willing to comfort his best friend after the ordeal.

Tonight is no different.

“Tim.” Kon calls out softly. He doesn't want to accidently startle Tim, that never ends well. “Hey it’s okay, I’m here. I heard you.”

“Kon.” Tim’s voice comes out muffled from where his face is buried in his knees.

Now knowing Tim’s acknowledged his presence, he gently grasps his leg. “Yeah I’m here. What do you need?”

Over the last week Kon’s come to learn Tim wants different things depending on how he’s feeling after waking up. Sometimes it’s cuddles, he just wants a solid hold around him and someone by his side as he recovers. Sometimes it’s no touch at all and just quiet company in the room. Other times he wants to be distracted and they end up playing video games or watching a film.

“Cuddles.”

Kon nods and starts getting situated on Tim’s bed next to him. Stretching out and getting comfortable, Kon reaches over and pulls Tim into his side, he sweeps his hand up and down Tim’s back in a motion of comfort. His best friend stays curled up but he leans into Kon. He knows from experience it’ll take some time for Tim to calm down and relax against him.

As time goes by, Tim slowly relaxes. It’s surprisingly comfortable to hold Tim against him, Kon wishes it was different circumstances and hates how Tim is constantly plagued by nightmares after what had happened weeks ago.

Once Tim is relaxed against him, stretched out with his arms wrapped around Kon’s waist and his head resting on Kon’s shoulder, Kon breaks the silence between them, “how are you feeling? Would you like to talk about it?”

Again these questions are part of the routine and often have different answers. Sometimes Tim will speak up about it, other times he won’t.

This time Tim doesn’t want to. He shakes his head and lets out a long resigned sigh. Kon accepts the answer, forcing Tim to talk won’t achieve anything other than aggression of some sort, and ducks his head to press a kiss to Tim's hair.

“Okay. Do you want to try and go back to sleep, it’s still early.”

Tim groans, “I don’t think I can.”

Kon smiles weakly at the almost whine. Under different circumstances it would have been both adorable and amusing. Using one hand he strokes his fingers through Tim’s hair, the other now stays still on Tim’s back keeping him pressed close to Kon.

“Well, I think you can. I’m here now, I’ll keep the nightmares away.”

“Gonna fight them off like you do bad guys and robots?” Tim asks, his tone now lightening up.

Kon gives Tim a squeeze.  “Yup. They aren’t getting past me!”

Tim snorts and smacks Kon at the ridiculousness of it. As laughable as the concept may be Kon managed to lighten Tim’s mood – even if only for a moment – so he’ll take it.

Tim sighs and settles against Kon again and Kon mimics the action and relaxes deeper into the mattress beneath him. He presses another kiss to Tim’s head and readjusts the covers around them. “C’mon, we can get another hour or two before dawn breaks.”

Kon’s promise reins true as Tim doesn't have another nightmare that night. They wake up together and Kon checks in with Tim, they talk for an hour before emerging from the bedroom to join their teammates for breakfast. No one comments on how they come out of the room looking suggestively sleep rumpled, like everything else about the situation it’s become normal for Kon to stay in Tim’s room when he has a nightmare, the rest of the team are use to it by now.

That night Kon tries something different. After Tim calls it a night, looking displeased with the decision, Kon decides to follow him. He says his goodnights to the team who all weirdly roll their eyes at him, and heads for his bedroom. He goes through his nightly routine however instead of getting into his own bed he traipses across the hall and enters Tim’s room.

Standing in the middle of the room Kon finds Tim scowling at the bed, clearly unhappy about going to sleep. After a moment of no movement Kon speaks up, grinning at the way Tim startles. “Are you planning to sleep standing up or are you going to use the bed?”

Tim glares at him for a second before dropping the look. He runs a hand through his hair and looks despondent. “I hate this,” Tim says, “just knowing I’ll wake up in a few hours terrified out of my mind. Finding myself again completely at mercy-”

Before he could say anything more Kon steps up to him and puts his hands firmly on Tim’s shoulders. “Hey. If you keep thinking about it before you go to sleep it’s all your mind will focus on. I know it’s hard but things will get better, they’ll stop soon.”

Tim shakes his head and Kon’s heart breaks at the expression on his face. Kon pulls Tim in for a tight hug. “I was thinking what if I joined you in bed now? We can sleep together and I can keep my promise of fighting the nightmares away. Only if you want too of course.”

Pulling out of the hug Tim looks uncertain. “Are you sure? I don’t want to keep you awake all night with my tossing and turning.”

Kon rolls his eyes and pushes Tim to the bed, he forces him under the covers and quickly joins him. “Dude, you say that like I’ve never slept next to you before. We’ve been doing an awful lot of bed sharing these last couple of weeks. I’ll be fine. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Tim stares at him for a moment before nodding accepting it. He smiles shyly. “Thanks. I do actually sleep better next to you.”

Unable to help himself Kon presses a kiss to his hair before moving to turn off the bedside lamp. The room plunges into darkness and Kon gathers Tim close as they both settle down for the night.

It becomes a thing. In the weeks following, Kon now spends the entire night with Tim instead of just half when Tim calls out for him. Unfortunately Kon loses some battles against the nightmares because Tim still has them even when sleeping next to Kon, but his presence undeniably helps.

Whenever they’re at the tower, at the manor or at the farm they just share a bed. It feels so natural to sleep together now, it doesn't even occur to them anymore to not share a bed. The only time they sleep apart is they’re in separate locations or on missions.

Two months after the ordeal Tim’s nightmares have mostly come to a stop, they still occur maybe once a week or in ten days if he’s lucky. Even after the nightmares stopped they continued bed sharing, again because it felt right and comfortable to do so.

Three months after the ordeal Kon and Tim officially get together as a couple in a romantic relationship. In the months they have been bed sharing, Kon’s gotten to know Tim in a completely new way which is saying something considering how well he knew Tim before everything happened.

He had always felt deeper affection for Tim with him being his best friend, but in the nights he spent lying next to the guy, Kon discovered the affection ran much deeper than he realised, and most definitely in a different way. It turns out his feelings were reciprocated.

After a particularly bad night Tim ended up confessing his feelings for Kon, at first Kon hadn’t believed him, thinking it was stress and an emotional release from the nightmare, however the following day Tim made it perfectly clear it wasn't a false confession. From there they went from best friends to boyfriends. A rather incredible upgrade Kon would say.

They kept quiet about their relationship for a little while before announcing it to the team. It wasn’t so much they were worried about what their friends would think but rather they wanted to explore the romantic side of their relationship before sharing it.

When they announced it to the team, with everyone gathered in the media room, everyone ended up with a confused expression on their face. It turns out they were confused for a different reason than what he and Tim were expecting.

“You’re saying you only got together a couple weeks ago?” Cassie stares mystified at them like they had grown another head each.

Kon shares a look with Tim. “Uh yeah… what do you… this is not the reaction I was expecting.”

“So you guys haven’t been dating for years! You’ve only just got together?”

Tim gawks at her. “Wait what? What do you mean?”

“Dudes,” Bart drawls at them while munching on pretzels, “we all thought you were already dating! And had been dating for years! We figured you didn’t want any fuss about coming out so you just didn’t.”

Both Kon and Tim were shocked into silence by that little revelation.

“Kon is so touchy feely with Tim unlike anyone else, ever, and Tim the prickly cactus he is, allows it all to happen.” Bart carries on talking.

Cassie jumps in with her own comment. “Don’t forget about all the bed sharing and cuddling. Like none of that is platonic. Granted we never heard you guys going at it, we just thought you were incredibly discrete, or it’s because of Tim’s insane soundproofing he has.”

Kon feels his face heat up and when he glances at Tim he finds his boyfriend impersonating a tomato rather accurately.

“Well we weren’t dating,” Kon tells him unable to meet anyone’s eyes, “but now we are. So…” he waves a hand around as his sentence trails off. He doesn’t know what to do with this situation anymore and would rather it end.

Thankfully Vic becomes his saviour because he calls out, “now the oblivious lovebirds are done, are we doing this or what?”

That breaks the room up and everyone settles down to watch the screen. Kon lets out a breath and turns to find Tim staring at him, looking embarrassed but relieved. He smiles at Kon and Kon’s instant reaction is to smile back.

“Oi!”

The shouts makes them both jump and it’s only then Kon realises they had been staring at one another like lovestruck fools.

“If you’re gonna make out you have bedrooms for that particular activity, otherwise sit your asses down and enjoy the movie.”

While making out with Tim sounds awesome, and hot as hell, he takes Tim’s hand and guides him to a free space on the couch where they settle down together and get involved with the team bonding. No one cares they’re together romantically and Kon is pleased to continue going forward surrounded by his friends and with an amazing, strong, boyfriend at his side.  

[an-entity-i-think]

Okay so you know the drill,, there's a gala! Wow Bruce Wayne is so dreamy 😍 he's a whore 🥵 he's a dad 🥰 he's a- oh shit he's a hostage 😳

Everyone looks around frantic and scared but also... not really... cause ya know... this happens like every Wayne gala? Like they had to sign a slip saying that Wayne Inc isn't liable for any injuries during a possible takeover cause the Board was tired of people sneaking in just to sue after being shot by Ozzie's umbrella gun (it was just a graze 🙄) (Bruce pays for them all anyway)

But! This time Damian was in his arms when he was taken hostage! Extra collateral! How tragic! He's just a poor boy ;(

The corners have shadows of course and next thing you know- through a series of odd instances that are totally irrelevant to the story (oh his other children must be so scared! Must have hid under the tables since no one saw them,, how terribly sad) -a few of Gotham's vigilantes show up to save the day! (Is it 9 already?)

Alas! a goon (he's new, he's blue, he'll shoot himself in the shoe 🎶) gets startled and almost shoots poor defenseless Damian Wayne and oh Bruce becomes a real papa bear and slams his fist into the goons face-

"No." He practically growls- which uh Brucie can growl? A spattering of confusion goes around the room before a laughing Red Hood can be heard after checking on the goon-

"Damn! Good job papi!"

Everyone in the room pauses.

Did the Red Hood... just call Brucie Wayne Papi? The Red Hood, the anti-hero of unknown age who just recently obtained the praise of the city for taking down the recent baddie with the Gotham sirens when all the other bats seemed to be out of town?

A million ideas pass through the thoughts of the elite in attendance.

A million thoughts pass through Jason who just realized what he said after seeing that Goon Lagoon lost his front teeth.

He looks to Nightwing and in state of panic they speak to each other in a way that only panicking siblings who can't speak can share-

'You done fucked up,' Dick seems to say with a twitch of his eyebrow.

'Obviously, you stupid idiot, but how do I fix it,' Jason responds practically psychically with a tilt of his head.

Dick just looks at him in pity, and with a shake of his head, he stares into his little brother's soul with the plan

-of course nobody else hears this conversation,, everyone in the room just watches the two vigilantes stare at each other weirdly for a few seconds (theyre on complete opposite sides of the room? There is not a single shred of subtle about them having a mental conversation even if nobody knows what it's about) before a look a pure absolute disgust reveals itself across Red Hood's masked face (he threw his helmet for fun earlier in the battle not important) before settling into a neutral stiffness.

Solemnly devastated, like he's about to go off to war and his Beau will be left behind to be cared for by his evil brother who will no doubt try to take advantage of his estate,,

or like a teenager being told by an acquaintance that they found their old elementary school YouTube account with videos of them role-playing with their Littlest Pet Shop animals,,

or like when a mother writes a 12k story for her fandom during her toddlers nap time only for the child not only to wake up before expected but also somehow spill applejuice all over her laptop (the one she's had since she was a teen) shorting it and deleting the story because she didn't press save on top of being morbidly tired from lack of sleep-

He looks up and says with clarity in his voice even if it's also filled with the verbal equivalent of eating 4 lemons raw and slow- peel and all,

"That's what I call him in bed."

Everyone in The Know takes psychic damage.

The elite in the crowd do little more than nod before moving on.

Bruce just smiles big and fake and pretends like he doesn't want to die.

Red Hood looks at his gun with wistfullness, while Nightwing does an unnecessary amount of acrobatics along the chandeliers above them just to land next to him and pat him on the shoulder.

Later, an anonymous commenter spoke about hearing Damian Wayne whisper to himself, "I hate this fucking family," as Timothy Drake-Wayne (who appeared miraculously safe and sound) gave him a nod of agreement.

[piedpiperart]

You Could Know Me pt 2

Chapter One

Jason was regretting going to the manor this morning. For one, the whole family was dealing with the League of Assassins again. Unbeknownst to most of them, Ra’s apparently had a pretty big grudge against Tim. Jason was impressed to hear about the whole blowing up all of the league bases, but that isn’t the most important thing here. 

No, the most important thing about this whole thing is that Ra’s was trying to get back at Tim, and Jason had been left with a choice to make. It was Tim, Duke and Jason facing off against an army of highly trained ninjas. Tim was injured, barely able to stand, and the rest of the bats were held up in some sort of trap downtown. Jason never did get the details on that situation. 

No, Jason was too busy trying to keep Tim out of Ra’s hands. Duke, Jason’s new favorite brother, took his advice to get Tim and get out while Jason stayed to take on the ninja horde. At that point, Tim was barely conscious, but Duke was able to use the shadows to sneak away, who wouldn’t have if Tim had been able to make a coherent sentence. Jason hoped they’d gotten to the medbay and were able to figure out a way to save the others before it was too late.

As for Jason, well. He was just now waking up in one of Ra’s’ bases, who knows where, broken ribs on one side and nasty cuts all over. Possibly a concussion too, Jason amended. He took stock of himself, disappointed but not surprised to find most of his equipment gone. No body armor, lockpicks, guns or knives anywhere, much to his discomfort. At least Ra’s couldn’t take away the All Blades, Jason thought wryly. 

Not long after he woke up in the cell, the doors opened. Two assassins stepped into his cell, ordering him to follow. Jason did so, grumbling in displeasure. He knew he wouldn’t be able to make it out of there without his weapons. No, for now he needed to play along, gain some information. He needs to know what Ra’s plans are for Tim, and if he’d managed to capture anyone else during his adventure in Gotham. 

“If it isn’t the Red Hood,”Ra’s drawled when Jason came into view. He’d been led to an absolutely massive room, and much to Jason’s terror he caught sight of a green glowing pool not too far away. “I apologize, I was not quite prepared for you.”

Jason grinned,”Upset about Red Robin foiling your plans again?”

Ra’s didn’t take the bait, instead continued. “It is of no matter. Plans can always be changed.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t sure what Ra’s was playing at, but knew he wouldn’t like it one bit. Looking around, he noticed a few guards around the Lazarus Pits, but looked away to avoid the green glow in his vision. 

“You see, I had wanted Timothy to meet a special someone, and yet, I find myself thinking that you might be a better fit for my plans,”Ra’s said chillingly, tilting his head towards the Pits. 

Meet someone? Jason thought wildly, mind running through all the people closest to Ra’s. “I doubt Tim would be more willing to play your games than me,”Jason scowled. 

“And yet, he is the smarter of the bunch,”Ra’s sighed wistfully in a way that made Jason want to gag,”You see, years ago, around when Timothy was born, there was another child born that caught my attention,”Before Jason could ask where the fuck this story was going, the creepy bastard continued,”I had been surveilling the Bat, as I’m sure you’re aware, when I came across information of a woman leaving a certain Gala. I thought nothing of it at the time, but nine months later she’d given birth to a small child.”

Jason’s mind raced with the possibility of another of Bruce’s bio kids, Ra’s next words made him freeze up,”Imagine my surprise when the child was not of the Bats, but of the birds.” Ra’s dropped, and Jason could barely breathe. 

“You see, Miss Mary Parker had attended the gala and had a bit of a fling with the young Grayson. You know, young love is so fleeting, it was no wonder that the two were horribly intoxicated when they conceived the child. And yet, when her parents found out they had planned to use the child to blackmail billionaire Brucie Wayne.”

“For money?” Jason whispered, in complete shock that Dick had had a whole child as a teen, and the poor girl who was caught between such shitty options. And if the kid was already Tims age that meant Dick was only 16 at most when it happened. Jason felt sick. 

“Naturally, I couldn’t let the Bat become distracted with this matter, at least not yet,”Ra’s smirked, catching Jason’s eye. Jason didn’t even care if he was showing his emotions on his face, this shit was horrible. He hadn’t known Dick had… Jason shook his head. He had to figure out what Ra’s game was. Freak out could come later. “So I had her and her parents killed.”

“The baby went to Miss Parker’s brother and his wife for the time being. The boy was to grow up with his aunt and uncle until I had a use for him,”Ra’s said, beginning to let out a more sadistic grin. “All the more reason for you to be here, I suppose.”

“What do you mean?” Jason drawled carefully. None of this made sense to him, especially when he was still reeling from the shock of the whole thing. 

Ra’s tsked. “You had been changed by the pits, angry, destructive,”The assassin listed. “Imagine your family’s surprise when yet another family member has the same affliction.”

Jason blanched, watching as Ra’s made some sort of signal to a guard, who left the room. “You want to put the kid in the pits? And what, send him to kill his own dad?” 

Ra’s looked at him with a glint in his eye. “I assure you, I have much bigger plans for the boy. For starters, I can’t allow you to leave now that you know about the boy. I can’t imagine they’d cope well with the boy’s backstory, not to mention his current situation. I bet you’d understand quite well how badly that can go, hm?”

Jason gritted his teeth. “And what? You put the kid in the pits and hope he doesn’t go insane?  What’s your plan here, and why would you need me at all?”

Ra’s seemed in the mood to indulge him, and merely answered,”You’re merely here to witness the rebirth of Red Hood’s origin,”He grinned sickly, and Jason lunged for the man, only to be stopped by a total of four assassins holding him back. 

At the same time, the doors at the far wall opened to reveal a small form being dragged between other assassins. Jason watched with horror as he recognized it as a kid, no older than 15 and dressed in torn and bloody civilian clothes and familiar curls on dark brown hair in between the assassins. The kid didn’t move or react at all to being dragged towards the pits, and Jason wanted to rage and run and pull the kid to safety all at once. 

“Young Peter Parker was raised by his aunt and uncle, until his Uncle died by gunshot right in front of him. Quite the coincidence, no? That the Bat’s own parents succumbed to the same fate. Of course, when we retrieved him, his aunt was still protective of the boy, so she had to go as well,”Ra’s stated calmly, like he was talking about the weather. It only made Jason more angry. 

Jason tuned out everything else Ra’s was saying as he struggled, gritting his teeth and watching this poor teenager get stabbed through the chest with a sword and unceremoniously tossed into the pit of glowing green water. Jason couldn’t breathe as he stared at the pools of green, surface still moving from the splash the kid made. Ra’s was going to pay for this, Jason promised himself, over and over for what seemed like hours until a scrawny pale hand breached the surface frantically. 

Letting out a breath of relief and trepidation, Jason shouted at Ra’s as the small boy dragged himself out of the pool of green, coughing and sputtering. His arms were shaking from the strain of holding himself up as he retched onto the ground. Moments later, assassins grabbed hold of him again and he saw the boy go limp in their arms. Jason continued to shout at Ra’s until he was hoarse, not even comprehending what he was saying. 

The rest passed in a daze of anger and fear and past memories as Jason was tossed back in the room disguised as a cell. He paced, yelling and banging on his door. He just wanted to see the kid. Peter. Dick’s son. He needed to make sure the kid was alright, to tell him none of it was his fault, to make sure he wasn’t alone when he woke up. 

Jason sat against the wall with his head between his knees, trying to calm his breathing. He needed to think. If he could get out and get to Peter… He cursed, mind racing with all the stupid shit his family’s been put through and what they’d ended up putting this kid through. 

Jason just hoped the kid would be okay. If he knew his family, they’d make sure of it, one way or another. 

Chapter 3

[the-coffeeaddict-tim-drake]

Just a Kid Next Door - Chapter 1

Bruce is finally back from being stuck in the time stream. Tim managed to save Batman and his loved ones. Now it is time for Tim to go home and rest. But the problem is that, Tim has no home. Or that's what he thinks so.

This will be a multichapter fic on how did Tim reconcile with his family. It will be full of angst, family feels and family shenanigans.

Masterlist

Here is the link to read the story in ao3.

-------------------------------CHAPTER 1---------------------------------

He figured it out. Holy shit, he actually managed to figure out the way to bring back Bruce from being stuck in the time stream. And the Justice league used his plan to save Batman.

 Sure, the last six months had been hard on him – Death of his father and not-so death of Kon, Bart, Steph and Bruce – has definitely taken a toll on him. But on the bright side, he managed to save Bruce and all of his loved ones, right?

He figured it out, right? Then why does Tim still feel empty. Why does he still have the urge to cry until he has no more tears left, shout until his throat burns and pull his hair out until he has no more left. Why does he still feel the needles pricking his skin which makes him want to puke even though he hasn’t eaten anything in a while? Well, three days isn’t just ‘a while’, but he knows for a fact that it’s not a lot too.

These six months had not only been painful but had helped him draw a lot of conclusions. See, Tim is a detective and hence he rely on logic and proofs to believe almost everything. Even though he don’t like what he has to believe sometimes, but truth is the ultimatum.

His string of thoughts is interrupted by Superman who shakes the teen.

“Uh?”

“I was saying that J’onn and Diana managed to put Bruce in the med bay. We ran all of the tests and now are waiting for him to gain consciousness.” Clark says tiredly with an expression of relief on his face.

“Oh”

“Rest, kiddo. You look like you could really use some. I’ll let you know when he wakes up.”

“I don’t wa-“

“I’m afraid Superman is right, Red Robin. We will alert you once Batman gains Consciousness” Wonder Woman interrupted him.

“I’m fine” Tim hissed.

Why did suddenly everyone care about him. Didn’t they consider him crazy a while ago? They didn’t care about him when he repeatedly tried to prove Bruce was alive, and now they want him rest when he finally proved them all wrong.

The Kryptonian and the Amazonian shared a worried look.

“Look child, you have worked tirelessly these few months to bring back Batman. You are just a human. Your body needs rest.” Diana said, her voice laced with concern.

‘They’re faking it, they don’t really care about you’ Tim’s brain chimed. He shuts it down. He doesn’t really have the energy to argue back, so he lies.

“Okay, but I want to see Bruce before I go to take some rest.”

“Of course Kiddo.” Superman added.

Tim dragged himself to the med bay. He didn’t realise until now how much his body ached. He really want to take a long shower to wipe off the grim and dirt from his body and drink at least two cups of coffee to feel better.

‘Later’ he reminded himself. ‘Maybe Alfred would have made something delicious for dinn-‘

‘Oh’

He doesn’t live in manor anymore. All the bitter memories from six months before floods his brain. How can he forget any of those? He’s alone.

Wait

He is lonely. He’s been lonely his entire life. He had no one even when he was in the Drake manor, not even his own fucking parents cared about him. Then what’s so new about this.

Maybe, he is just unlovable. Well, that would explain why his parents left him in that cold Manor every time they chose work over their son. And the reason why Dick chose Damian over him and took from him the only thing he had and valued more than his life and gave it to Damian. And why Alfred did nothing when he moved out of the manor. And why no one did anything when he legally emancipated himself from the family.

And would explain why he and Bruce never shared the bond he had with the previous robins. ‘It’s because they were his sons, and you were just the kid next door who forced himself into the mantle of Robin’ his brain chimed again.

A tiny part of him don’t want to believe any of this. But it’s the truth. And truth is the Ultimatum.

He let out a long sigh. He doubts the bats even noticed he went missing these few months. Well, he can’t really blame them. It is the fate of Tim Drake to be unlovable. The least good he can do is leave the family. It wasn’t really like they considered him one anyways in the first place, but they mean everything to him.

They were the very few people who cared if he ate or slept, treated his injuries, listened to his opinion and made him feel like he was important too. Maybe that’s what Tim thought they did. Maybe he read all the signs wrong. Maybe they were just being nice to him. Maybe they were Pretending.

Gosh, Tim feels like slapping himself. Why hadn’t he realised this soon enough.

Tim took too much advantage and space. Forcing himself into the mantle of Robin is one thing but forcing himself into the family is entirely another. He became Robin to save Batman from destroying himself and people around him.

Then why did he crave for his love and attention. Why did he think that he at least  meant something to them. It’s all his fault. He was digging his own grave all this time. He had too much fucking expectations even though he knew the truth all along. Yelp, now he has to face the consequences.

But no matter what, he loves them. Loves them so fucking much that it hurts. He still remember what he had said to Ra’s before the old man pushed him from the WE building.

“Bruce might not consider me his son, but he is still a father to me.”

His spiralling thoughts came to an end when he reached the door to the med bay.

Gosh he missed Bruce. Missed him so much. All he wanted to do was hug him and never leave. But he knows he cannot do so. Bruce might want to meet his family first. Six months of being stuck in the time stream would make him want to spend a lot of quality time with his family first, not some random kid.

A quiet sob escaped from his mouth. He touched his tear stained cheeks and realised he was crying.

‘Stop crying, stop being so weak. Accept the reality and move on’ he told himself.

 ‘It’s not the time or the place to have a fucking panic attack’ he told himself again.

Wiping his tear stained cheeks, he opened the door to the Med bay to be greeted by the sight of his sleeping mentor/not-so father figure.

He let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding until then.

He smiled for the first time in many many days. Bruce is safe. He is no longer stuck in the time stream. Tim felt a wave of relief wash over him.

He might not mean anything to them, but they are everything to him.

[rougerave]

Myth

(Ages are not conical, so just go with it, but that’s also the power of fanfiction.)

---

Myth – a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events – that’s what he is, and he liked it.

No, he loved it. For someone who lived his whole life in the spotlight, it makes sense as to why he actively tries to hide. He hides from the press, he hides from friends and family, and especially from the hero community.

See, here’s the thing; he doesn’t necessarily exist. To the hero community that is. He did his time as Robin and then travelled as a nameless hero. Came back to Gotham with a new name but strictly stayed in the shadows. People sort of knew of his existence, but since he didn’t show his face, people just assumed he was a spook.

Bruce also liked to keep a lot of secrets from the JL, so it made it easier to stay hidden, but that didn’t necessarily mean that they didn’t know about him. He has done missions for the JL, but it was those intel missions that needed to be extra secret. He never once showed his face to the Justice League, and he liked it like that.

So you can imagine his irritation when Bruce called him. No, not Bruce, Batman.

“It’s only Monday B and I’m not in the mood, so whatever it is, no.” He didn’t even give Bruce a chance to speak.

“I wouldn’t have called if I didn’t think it was important. Dick has a cold and a bullet wound that he tried to hide, you know how it is. The girls and Duke are in deep cover, Jason is off world, Damian would kill them on sight just for them looking at him, plus his working with the Titans, and I obviously can’t go. I have other missions.”

“What’s the mission?” He asked just as he felt a small tug on his pants. When he looked down, he saw that it was his little two year old daughter. Tim smiled, before he picked her up, and sat her on his lap. She rested her head on his chest then she fell asleep.

Bruce took off his crawl so he could rub his face. “Intel mission.”

“Don’t you have a special team for this type of stuff? Oh wait you do. The YJ!” Tim whisper yelled so that he didn’t wake Nalaya up, because God help them all if she wakes up when she’s sick.

“You know as well as I do why we can’t just put them on this mission without Dick. As much as I want to trust them, I can’t, not yet anyways. I gave them a chance, they messed it up. They still need to prove themselves to me before I can let them go without Wing.”

“So essentially, I’m babysitting a group of young adults that are as reckless as toddlers on a sugar rush. How urgent is the mission?”

“Toddlers on a sugar rush? Wait - Tim did you get Nalaya on a sugar rush?” The amusement in Bruces’ voice was clear as day. Tim went pink.

“Answer the question B. How urgent is the mission?” Tim asked as he cleared his throat.

“Three days.”

“No.”

“Tim please. You’re my best bet at the moment.”

“If you want me to go so badly, push it for a week and a half. Mari is in New York for fashion week and can’t afford to look after a sick toddler. Both would need her full attention, hence why I am working from home. Mari is only gonna be home next Wednesday because she wants to visit her parents. Next week Wednesday. Deal?”

“Fine, thank you. I’ll see you at 2200h Wednesday at the Young Justice headquarters.” Then with no further ceremony, the Bat signed off.

Tim rolled his eyes. “Your grandfather is a pain in my butt.” Then he stood up carefully as to not wake up his kid. “Let’s get you to bed princess.”

---

They have all heard of myths and legends. Different kinds, from different communities, friends and family and especially in their line of work. Some were just for scares and for fun, most where true when it came to working with magic, and some where made up to throw people of their game.

Red Robin was one of those myths that the Bat-clan say to throw them off their game, or so they thought.

Imagine walking into their base of operations and seeing said myth talking casually with the big bad Bat, holding a coffee cup as if they were old friends, which couldn’t be right seeing as Red Robin looked younger then the Bat. A year or two younger than them actually. What the fuck.

When the two bats noticed the team they strained up and went blank faced. “Team meet the myth himself Red Robin. He will be helping you with this intel mission only. Double R the Young Justice team. You are to retrieve intel only. An over view of the mission has been sent to you. You leave in fifteen minutes.” He then turned away to the zeta tube, but before he left he turned his head to Red Robin. “Do not, and I mean do not pull that stunt you did with the LOA bases.”

“Such little faith. I won’t B. I promise.”

Batman raised his eyebrow. “LB would kill me if I did, so I won’t.” Batman nodded his head, then turned around and walked to the tubes.

There was a tense silence before RR broke it. “I’ll meet you in the hanger. I have to go and cuss out Nightwing.” He said as he turned to walk to the direction of the hanger.”

“Why would you want to cuss out Nightwing?” Wally asked.

“Because my brother is an idiot, and he is very lucky I moved out or I would have done more than cuss him out.” He said not stopping and not turning around.

“Is it me or did today go from tense to super weird in a total of five minutes?”

“It’s not only you Wally. Never mind that. We have a mission to complete. Let’s go team.”

---

“What happened with the LOA bases?” Conner asked to fill the silence.

Red Robin stopped typing to look Conner straight in the eye. A chill went the young supers spin when double R smirked.

“There is a reason Ra’s al Ghul is afraid of me. I blew up most of his bases because he had something of mine. I blew six more out of pure spit.”

The team stayed quite for the rest of the trip.

---

Six hours, one failed mission and a portal to somewhere, the team stood in the middle of a field, being glared down by Red Robin.

“What in the ever loving fuck was that?!”

They were silent, and that only made him more angry and frustrated.

It was a simple mission. Get a hard-drive that had blueprints to a machine that Luthor was building for the Light and get out, undetected and unharmed. The shitshow that happened is what he was trying to comprehend. How are they this bad or where they just being cocky and wanting to show off. This mission could be long over if they had followed his plan.

“I ask again. What the fuck happened?” His tone went from deadly shouting to deadly calm in two seconds flat, it made shivers run up his spin.

“What is your deal? We only messed up a little, but we got the information. Mission complete. No need to be all bitchy.” Conner said, getting tired of this dudes attitude.

Tim let out a dark chuckle. He did not just say that to his face when he was the main cause of this failed mission.

“My deal. Here’s my deal. You, along with your team had one simple task to do. Scout ahead and report to me. I would be the one to infiltrate the base and get the information. My problem started when you disobeyed a direct order to not engaging. At. All. But no, that was such a hard job. By you not staying put, you got your team injured. Then you went off by switching off your coms, ignoring everyone, which by the way got us portaled to Ice land. Your biggest flop so far was getting the incorrect data. So please, Superboy, tell me I’m wrong.”

It was silent. “That’s what I thought. Now, you will listen carefully. You are to dismantle every tracking, communication, and electronic device on you.”

“Why?” Wrong question from Artemis.

“Why? Why is because your egotistical teammate messed up the mission against his evil surrogate father, and I for one don’t want to be hunted by that madman. So my suggestion is do it yourself, before I turn every electronic device on you into a taser.”

That’s what he thought. Once changed in some casual clothing, he led the way a modest looking house. Tim pulled out a key and opened the door very slowly. Once fully open, a knife is thrown in his direction. He catches it without blinking, but that just means his more sceptical to go inside. The team just stares at his in shock. What the hell.

“I did say I was sorry.” He shouted into the house. A dino sippy cup was thrown at him. He ducks, the person behind him does not. Artemis now has a very pretty bruise on her forehead. (Wally has a picture.)

Tim motions them inside. He led them into a different room and there they are met with a soul wittering glare that put Batman’s glare to shame. They have never felt more scared in their lives than in that moment. Tim didn’t look fazed. He just lifted his brow. “I did say I was sorry.”

“One day I hope you’ll spontaneously combust.” The women said.

“And I wait for the day your glare leaves our kid without a father. Meet the team. The real source of your anger.” He said in a deadpanned voice.

The women huffed. “No, no. You’re the source of my anger. Bruce snitched. Anyways, nice to meet you all.” After getting well acquainted with this lioness of a women called Marinette and the owner of the throw dino sippy cup, Nalaya, Marinette lead them an underground hid out, while Tim went to put his little girl to bed. He joins them a few minutes later.

“So,” Marinette said from in front of the huge monitor where she was setting up a call. “who wants to tell the big bad bat what happened.” The team goes brick still, faces pale. “I mean it’s only fair you do the report.” Tim chokes on a laugh from where he sits typing in coordinates in front of another screen. Wally faints in that moment. “That’s what I thought.” Over confindent idiots, with their big egos. “Though I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re afraid of the furry.” Tim snorts.

“God forbid he hears you say that. What then?”

“I take your challenge.” The team still frozen to their spots watch in silence. Wally still out cold. The call is accepted in that moment. “Hello you giant furry.” She says it in a flat voice that had a bit of mirth and a bit of offence. Batman makes a strangled sound and Tim dies of laughter. Bruce gathers himself before he answers.

“Ladybird.” Bruce said stiffly.

“No need to be so formal B. I saw your latest gala suit by the way. It was very… I think it is best not to say.” The smirk on her lips and the snickering form Tim was turning him redder by the second. “Send my regards to Alfie.” She said as she got up, kissed Tim’s cheek and waved the team goodbye. Just like that she was gone.

Tim sat in her vacant set. Bruce turned his full attention the still frozen team. “What happened?” Tone low and icy.

“It’s in the report I sent you B. I’ll finish up the mission by 1am. The usual drill. I’m sending the team to the watchtower, they can fill you in on parts I was not present for. See you later.” And before Batman could answer, he dropped the call.

“Did you just drop the call on Batman?” Artemis asked as she finally came out of her daze.

“No I dropped the call on my father. Big difference. The zeta is ready by the way.” Tim said as he pointed to the zeta tube.

As the team walked out and Wally finally waking up, Tim called, “FYI if you tell anyone about what you saw today that wasn’t part of the mission, I will make good on my promise.” He finished with a smirk that promised pain and misfortune. The team nodded quickly and rushed into the tube.

Man was it fun to be a myth.

[comphetkoncass]

liveblogging an outline for this stupid fic idea

RomCom TimKon (attempting to subvert tropes but they still get together in the end)

Elevator Pitch: Tim and Kon get trapped in a series of RomComs, and Tim just can’t seem to play along. 

Conner Kent is a struggling journalist in Metropolis. Tim Drake-Wayne is a wealthy Gothamite looking to expand his business. Conner is trying to write an expose on WE’s new nepo baby and the ethics of nepotism in major businesses… Tim is trying to hide press regarding Bruce’s biological son entering the family by entering his night life era. They wake up together after an extremely drunken night, and now both their stories are compromised on account of hooking up with the target/a reporter. (Mutually assured destruction bet scenario.)

Horror/you’re in a show elements: while making out, in the flashbacks to waking up together, Tim calls Conner “Kon” and he briefly wakes up from this dream/from the reality warp, only to be swiftly pulled back under.  

The conclusion passes as it’s meant to, more or less. But maybe Tim feels that something is off. He doesn’t want to take advantage of Kon or put him in a bad spot. After all, Tim won’t lose his job, but Kon could. Tim tries to put a stop to it, but then wakes up in the next scenario. 

Fake Dating. Tim Drake-Wayne needs a date to a formal event to shut his family up about his nonexistent love-life. He tasks Conner Kent, ex-child star and struggling actor to play the part. …They don’t stop at the first date. 

Horror/you’re in a show elements: While drinking together on one of their dates, Tim asks Conner what he was a child star in, and Conner seems to have trouble remembering a childhood. But he has vague memories of Hawaii. Leech. 

They get too close to the truth. Tim asks Kon again about what happened in Hawaii, how he became a child star, a few nights later, near the conclusion – Conner starts sweating from the strain of remembering. Then they both get a spiked drink and wake up in the next scenario.

Super Spy Tim Drake is tasked with killing Agent Kon-El. Only problem? They’re married.

Horror/you’re in a show elements: Tim is in his element here. He feels right when he’s in combat, when he’s using lethal equipment. The moment that feels most right of all? Fighting side-by-side against impossible odds. Kon seems to feel it too.

They go to sleep, feeling closer to ‘real’ than before. But it can’t last and they wake up in the next world. 

Christmas Special. Conner Kent lives on his family farm in Smallville. Tim Drake-Wayne is a high paid CEO of a major corporation whose jet has to make an emergency landing in rural Kansas. Tim ‘has’ to stay here for a week before a plane mechanic can come out and fix it, and can’t seem to find another way home. 

Horror/you’re in a show elements: Tim gets the sense that he knows exactly how to fix this plane, and the pilot doesn’t seem to exist, meaning he must know how to fly it, too. Every time he almost remembers though, mistletoe comes out. 

Tim starts to explicitly question things. Other realities are bleeding through, and he swears he just saw a movie in this world playing the events of one of the last. In his dreams, he’s starting to remember, too. The others, and the real world. He tries telling Kon but Kon can’t seem to understand.

Tim’s apartment is haunted by a handsome EMT who can’t remember his name. Eventually, it’s revealed the handsome EMT is in a coma and if Tim can’t save him in time, he’ll die for real. They kiss and coma EMT (Conner Kent) comes back to life and remembers him. 

Horror/you’re in a show elements: Tim has nightmares about the very real way Kon died. And when they find out Conner Kent’s name, Tim has a flicker of Kon-El instead. Kon seems to flicker with that; a spark of recognition. But it’s brushed aside by imminent threat of his death. 

Tim tries to explicitly tell Kon that this world isn’t real, once the threat is over. The universe force-reboots while he’s awake this time. 

Superboy and Robin don’t realize they’re in love with each other behind the masks; they think they can’t be together because it’s too dangerous to have a “civilian” love interest. 

This is just close enough to their reality that Tim starts to recognize that even this one isn’t quite right. He starts remembering the other realities, including the one they originated from. 

He asks if Kon feels it too. Kon struggles, but agrees. 

The two of them seek out the world beyond. They end up using some kind of gimmick that was present in all previous worlds that Tim thinks must be important. 

They end up escaping (details later), and it turns out a sorcerer was keeping them in a magic, reality-bending wormhole that fed on mutual emotions. Tim’s confused because they’re all rom-coms. That would mean they have to feel romance for each other, but that’s… totally not possible…. Kon points out that Tim’s too smart to be confused by that one, and they kiss for real. 

[hollandorks]

shadows in the night

battinson!bruce wayne x f!reader

chapter twenty-two

summary: more than a year after the events of middle of the night, y/n and Bruce are happily engaged and working to lower the amount of crime in Gotham. However, a new killer calling himself the Riddler has other plans for their happiness…set during the events of the movie, mostly canonical, some changes made to fit the story

a/n: Here it is, the final chapter. I can’t believe we’re here already?! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this fic for so long, and to everyone who is still discovering it. This has been a wild ride. 

Note: there’s still a (really really fluffy) epilogue left don’t worry! And I have plans for at least one more oneshot in this series (a honeymoon oneshot/ epilogue part two!). Epilogue will be up tomorrow and the oneshot will come.....sometime. Who knows? 

Series Masterlist

word count: 3062

They held each other as darkness fell outside, as they succumbed to their mutual exhaustion. For the first time in days, y/n was able to relax in the safety of Bruce’s arms without worrying about anything else.

Reader’s POV

Y/n was drowning. 

The water was rising above her head and she could no longer stand. She choked on salt, on blood, on vile floodwaters as the waves tried to drag her under. Around her, electricity crackled, the flashing lights of the stadium creating fearsome shadows. 

Above her, Bruce dangled from a wire. 

Even as she drowned, she feared for him. She tried to call out his name to warn him, but the water rose above her head and choked her. The fierce cold of it only helped to drag her under. 

From beneath the murky waves she could see an explosion of blue. A shadow hit the water next to her and sank. 

Y/n screamed, the sounds muffled by the water, Bruce’s name bubbling from her lips as she tried to dive after him. 

His eyes stared up at her, empty and unseeing, as he sank into shadows too deep for her to see him. 

With a jerk, y/n woke. 

Her face was wet with tears. She curled into Bruce’s warmth at her side. The room was icy cold around them and reminded her of the floodwaters, of how it felt to drown. 

It spoke to Bruce’s exhaustion that he didn’t even stir as she clutched him. She pressed her face into his side to let the steady beat of his heart lull her back to sleep, careful to avoid the worst of his bruises. 

He was alive. He was okay. They were both okay. 

But still the fear lingered. It took a long time to come down from the things they had been through in the past few days. She knew that for a fact. 

She inhaled the warm, familiar scent of Bruce and matched her breathing to his. Finally, she fell back to sleep. 

–

The ringing of a phone woke y/n hours later. She fumbled groggily for her cell phone before she realized that she no longer had it. She managed to find Bruce’s on the nightstand without waking him. 

It was the guard at the gate. 

Instantly more alert, y/n fumbled to answer the phone and get out of the warm bed all at once. She didn’t want to wake Bruce unless she absolutely had to. He needed the rest more than she did. 

“Hello?” she murmured as she stepped outside their bedroom door. She closed it softly behind her and shivered. A glance at the time on the phone told her it was nearing dawn, still way too early to be awake. Even if they’d gone to bed right at sunset the night before–they needed every bit of sleep they could get, Bruce especially. 

“Ma’am,” the guard said over the phone. He didn’t sound too concerned, which was good, y/n supposed. “There’s a woman here, says she knows you.” 

“Who? Lena?” she asked. God, she hadn’t checked on Lena and her son after everything that had happened. At least they lived a few floors up in their apartment and should be safe. Y/n rubbed tiredly at her face and added it to the immense list of things she had to accomplish in the wake of the flood. 

“No, ma’am,” the guard said. His next words were muffled as he asked the woman her name. “Says her name is Selina, insists she knows you.” 

Y/n’s mind cleared. “Selina! Yeah, send her up, I’ll meet her at the front door.” 

The guard responded in the affirmative before hanging up. 

God, the house was freezing. Y/n shivered and stepped back into the darkness of their room. She quickly found socks and a hoodie before replacing Bruce’s phone beside him and going back out. 

There was no sign of Alfred, either. He must have been asleep still, too. 

Y/n was alone in the cold house. She quickly adjusted the thermostat that would warm the downstairs and then hurried to the front door to greet Selina just as a knock sounded. 

“Hey,” Selina said casually when y/n opened the door. Her motorcycle was parked behind her on the driveway. Of all things, Selina was holding a small tuxedo kitten. It was purring loud enough for y/n to hear, seemingly content in the woman’s arms as she absently scratched behind its ears. It was mostly black, just a small bit of white around its mouth and down its neck, ending at a point. Its little feet were white too, like it had on socks.  

“Hi,” y/n said, still surprised that Selina had shown up. “Is everything okay?” 

Selina flashed a quick, mischievous smile. “Yeah. Glad to see you’re alive after everything.” 

“You, too,” y/n echoed. “Thanks again for your help with…the stadium, by the way.” 

Selina shrugged and glanced away. There was a flash of emotion on her face, there and gone again so fast y/n almost missed it. There were bruises around Selina’s neck, too, that hadn’t been there when they’d been on top of the signal tower. She hadn’t noticed them during the fighting, but she hadn’t been looking, either. 

“I just wanted to stop and say goodbye,” she finally said. “To thank you for trying to help with Annika and everything else. And if you see your friend Vengeance anytime soon, thank him too, yeah? For everything with my–my father.” 

“Goodbye? You’re leaving?” At the sharpness of y/n’s tone, the little kitten’s eyes blinked open. They were brilliantly green. It almost immediately closed them again and went back to purring and dozing in Selina’s arms. 

“I think I might head to Bludhaven for a while, see what kind of trouble I can get into there.” That mischievous smile again. “And I…wanted to give you something, as a thank you.” 

Then she held out the kitten. 

Stunned, y/n automatically took it and tucked it into her arms. “You’re giving me a cat?” she asked stupidly. The kitten didn’t even open its eyes. 

Selina grinned, a real smile, then laughed softly. “He was Annika’s. She’d found him on the side of the road one night and…since I’m leaving, I wanted him to go to a good home. Figured you and that billionaire of yours could give him a good life.” Her tone was carefully light, but y/n could hear all of the emotion running in a swift current underneath the words. 

Y/n glanced down at the kitten, stroking his soft fur almost absently. He blinked up at her and then purred even more loudly than before. 

“What’s his name?” y/n finally asked, aware of the weight of the gift she was receiving. It was no small thing for Selina to be giving her Annika’s pet. Y/n wished, above all else that had happened, that she hadn’t been too late to save the girl. It was an open wound within her, right next to the bloody scars of Marie’s death. 

“He doesn’t have one yet.” Selina looked away and swallowed. “She didn’t–have a chance to name him.” 

Y/n looked at the kitten, noticing how the spot of white around his mouth and down his neck made it look almost like he was wearing a mask. 

“I have the perfect name,” she said with a grin that Selina mirrored. “Thank you. Really. I promise I’ll spoil him forever.” 

Selina reached out and rubbed the kitten’s ears. 

“Your friend,” Selina said quietly after a moment. “The one you said died. Does it ever get any easier?” 

Y/n sighed, bit her lip. “I want to say it does, but it doesn’t. It still kills me that I couldn’t save her. And I have to live with that, forever. It still hurts. It always will. But I’ve learned to live with it, more than anything. It hasn’t gotten easier, but I’ve…gotten stronger.” She reached out and squeezed Selina’s arm, balancing the kitten with her other hand. “I think you’re already stronger than I ever was.” 

And then Selina surprised them both by wrapping y/n in a fierce hug. “Thank you. I’ll see you around, yeah?” she said as she pulled away. “Maybe we can get into some trouble together sometime.” 

Y/n laughed. “I’d like that.” 

With a wave, Selina threw her leg over her bike. Another cat’s head popped up from one of the compartments on the side and y/n couldn’t help the noise of surprise at the sight. The bike started with a roar. 

Without a backward glance, Selina was gone. 

Y/n shut the door and stared down at the kitten lazing in her arms. 

“Well,” she said to him. “I hope Bruce and Alfred aren’t allergic.” 

The kitten only closed his eyes and purred louder.

Bruce’s POV

Bruce woke to a warm pressure on his stomach and a faint vibration. 

He grunted quietly without opening his eyes. He could tell by the stiffness in his limbs that he’d been asleep for a long time. There was more warmth at his side. Y/n, curled up next to him. Knowing she was still there immediately settled him. He sighed softly. 

The warmth on his stomach shifted and he finally peeled his eyes open. He reached out and absently pet the small black and white kitten that was laying on him, its bright green eyes watching him through slits. Its fur was soft, silky. The kitten seemed to like the attention and the vibrations Bruce had been feeling intensified. 

He let his eyes drift closed again as he stroked the cat. 

Wait–a cat? 

Bruce’s eyes snapped back open and he frowned at the small creature that was using him as a bed. 

Y/n was asleep next to him. He reached out and nudged her. 

“Mm,” she mumbled, rolling towards him without waking. He nudged her again. She squinted up at him after a third nudge. “Hm?” 

“Where did this come from?” he asked, voice roughened with sleep. 

“That’s Vinny,” she mumbled without even looking. “He was a gift from Selina.” 

Bruce’s eyebrows rose. “Vinny? Selina gave you a kitten?” He was really too tired for this. When had she even had time to get a kitten? Or had it been here the whole time they’d been sleeping? He struggled to think back to when he’d gotten home, when they’d showered together and then seen Dr. Torres. He didn’t remember seeing a cat, but…

“Short for Vengeance,” y/n said around a yawn. “We’re keeping him.” 

Bruce coughed in surprise. He opened and closed his mouth several times, too stunned to speak. “You named the kitten Vengeance?” he finally said. 

Y/n sighed and stretched before snuggling up to him. One of her arms came out of the nest of blankets to scratch underneath the kitten’s chin. “He’s got a little mask on,” she said with a happy sigh. She smiled fondly at the cat. 

Bruce rubbed at his eyes with his free hand. “We–I–I’m not even going to ask,” he said. “When, exactly, did Selina give you a kitten?” 

Y/n grabbed his phone and checked the time. “Three hours ago.” 

“She came here?” He was suddenly a lot more awake than he had been. “Why?” 

Y/n stared patiently at him. “To give me Vinny,” she explained slowly. “To say thank you. Then she asked me about Marie’s death. Then she left town.” 

Bruce settled a little. “She didn’t ask about me?” he said. He couldn’t help being nervous that somehow, amidst all the chaos of the past week, he’d let his identity slip through the cracks. Even if the Riddler hadn’t figured it out, someone else could have. 

“Nope,” y/n said as she rubbed her hand down the kitten’s back. The purring really was soothing, Bruce thought idly. And the cat was soft, too. He let his hand run idly over the dark fur. “She just said to tell Batman thanks for everything with Falcone, the next time I saw him.”

Bruce relaxed back into the blankets. “And she gave you a cat.” He laughed softly, incredulous. He thought back to the dozen or so cats that had been in Selina’s apartment when he’d visited. He didn’t remember seeing this one, but he supposed it was easy to miss one out of many. 

“He was Annika’s. She’d found him on the street a few days before…you know.” Y/n shrugged. He could tell it bothered her a little–or rather, a lot. Another woman tied to the Iceberg Lounge that they had been unable to save. “Alfred isn’t allergic, is he?” she asked suddenly. 

“No, I don’t think so.” Bruce stared down at the small creature. The kitten shifted onto his side and curled into a small ball. 

Y/n said something else but it was lost to another yawn. 

Bruce had to hold back a laugh. This ridiculous woman had received a kitten as a gift, named it Vengeance, and was acting like nothing big had happened. God, he loved her. If he hadn’t done it already, he would have proposed then and there. 

As it was, Bruce shifted onto his side–earning a disdainful look from the kitten, who jumped down and disappeared into the bathroom–and kissed her full on the mouth. 

She smiled against his lips. 

“Let’s get married,” Bruce said with his own smile. 

“You’re the one who wanted to do it right,” she said with a roll of her eyes. 

“I still do,” he said. “But I want you to know I want to spend my life with you. No matter what.” 

She softened in his arms. “Right back at you,” she said, then kissed him again. 

Bruce was still in awe of the happiness he got to experience because of her. He thought back over the horror and fear and pain of the past week. She had never left his side, even when she should have. She had worked in tandem with him, by his side as they worked to figure it out. She cared for the city as much as he did, in her own ways, and didn’t shy away from what he did at night. She loved him through it all, even when they were fighting, even when they were upset with each other. 

His chest ached with it, that love. 

He pulled her closer with a shudder. He ignored the sharp pain of the bruises on his chest and simply held her, the woman he loved so much, and relished the fact that they were alive. That they were together. 

He vowed to never let anything part them again. Not a psychopath like the Riddler, or a criminal mastermind like Falcone, not even death. 

“I love you,” he told her, as if those three words would ever be enough. As if it could ever encompass how he felt about her. 

“I love you,” she said immediately, her breath tickling across the bare skin of his chest. He felt the words sink down within him, anchoring him, steadying him, keeping him afloat. 

There was a soft knock at the door and a skittering noise. 

“Come in,” Bruce called. 

“Are you two up for breakfast?” Alfred said as the door cracked open. There was a plaintive meow from that direction. “What on earth?” 

Y/n laughed from within the circle of Bruce’s arms. He couldn’t help it–he laughed too, the sound bubbling up from deep inside him. 

There was another meow. 

“Please tell me there’s not a huge hole in the study that this little cat came through,” Alfred said. 

Y/n wriggled out of Bruce’s grip and rolled out of bed. He turned his head to watch her. She walked to the door in a half-crouch, fingers outstretched. The cat came right to her with another meow and wound himself around her ankles before she scooped him up. 

“This is Vinny,” y/n said cheerfully. “Short for Vengeance.” 

Alfred choked out a laugh and raised an eyebrow at Bruce over her shoulder. “And where did he come from?” 

“Selina gave him to me as a gift,” y/n said as she kissed the kitten’s head. Even from the bed, Bruce could hear the purring. How could he say no to keeping the cat when y/n looked so absolutely happy cradling him? The kitten seemed pretty happy, too. “And don’t worry, there aren’t any holes in the study. Just the spray paint.” 

Bruce winced. He probably should have warned Alfred the day before about his mind map. Or stayed awake long enough to hide the evidence before Alfred got up. 

“The what?” Alfred said. He crossed his arms. 

Y/n froze, realizing her mistake. “Uh…nothing.” 

“Did you just say there was spray paint in the study?” Alfred said, using the voice y/n always called his dad voice. Bruce knew exactly what she meant at that moment, because it certainly felt like he was about to be punished by a parent for misbehaving. 

Y/n gave Bruce a panicked look. “No, I definitely didn’t. I said there’s not any holes. That’s all.” 

Bruce sighed and finally sat up. “It’s my fault, Alfred. I…wasn’t doing well when you were in the hospital, and I needed to get all of my thoughts out and…” He shrugged, then winced again. 

Alfred’s expression turned thunderous. “I was away for five minutes,” he said as he pointed an accusatory finger at Bruce. “You will get it cleaned up before I see it. Understood?” 

Bruce ducked his head. His cheeks were hot. He mumbled an affirmative, ignoring the way y/n was so clearly holding back her laughter. 

“I told you,” she said cheerfully as she followed Alfred out, the kitten still purring happily in her arms. 

When they were gone, Bruce allowed himself the smile that had been threatening. He had never expected to have people he loved so fiercely. Had never thought himself deserving. But here he was, all of his secrets exposed for y/n and Alfred to see, and still they loved him. Still they stuck with him. 

Bruce had lost so much in his lifetime, but he had gained so much more. He had a woman he loved, a man who was for all intents and purposes a father, and even a cat. 

Every tragedy in his life had led him there, to a home full of love and laughter, even amidst the shadows that came in the night. 

Next Chapter

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[wonderlandleighleigh]

Prompt: The nightmares keep coming back about that night. It could have ended in a million different scenarios, but the worst ones end with her dying. Lenny is having trouble sleeping because he just can’t deal with the nightmares surrounding Midge’s accident and he finally tells someone what’s been going on.

This turned into a whole thing. Takes place after "A Very Weissman Passover."

She dies on the way to the hospital, holding his hand, and life as he knows it feels over. 

He numbs the pain with more drugs. More booze, until the funeral. 

He sits in the back of the synagogue, fidgeting, hoping no one notices he's here, and he sits through the entire service, listening to person after person go up to the Bima and talk about her as if any of them really knew her. 

Really saw Miriam Weissman for who she really was. 

Joel talks a bunch of bullshit. About the kind of wife and mother she'd been when he was cheating on her. Lying about who he really was. Hurting her in increments until the final blow.

Imogene tells stories of a deep, lasting friendship. Fine. A small piece of who she was. 

Noah gets close. He talks about how kind, and weird and funny his sister was. Brave and a little nuts. 

Susie doesn't get invited to speak which is bullshit. If anyone knew Midge it was her. 

It's a blur, getting from the temple to the burial, and when it comes time to shovel dirt onto the lowered casket, he's the first one up, grabbing one of the five implements set out to do so. 

Jewish tradition dictates that you are buried by your loved ones. That each family member and friend have a turn. 

But Lenny doesn't stop at one. 

He keeps shoveling, burying her his own damn self because it's the least he can fucking do. 

No one stops him. Noah and Abe join him. Susie, too. Helping to lay her to rest, and Lenny doesn't even realize he's crying until his tears are staining Abe's sweater, and Midge's father is embracing him as if he were his own. 

And when he wakes up, sweat drenched and panicked in this new apartment he's still getting used to, he hurls himself out of bed and into the bathroom, scrambling for the bag he keeps in the medicine cabinet. 

Except he doesn't anymore because he fucking quit. 

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." 

He keeps looking because maybe Rose missed some when she stole his drugs all those months ago (on an entirely other apartment but logic has no place here), but no joy, and he sits on the floor, willing himself to calm the fuck down. 

He's had the same dream every night for a week, since Passover, and he cannot take it any fucking more. 

He cleans up and hits the bar, and pounds three shots of whiskey silently, and the beginnings of the numbness feel good. Not comforting in the same way as the dope, but better than cold sobriety.

He tenses when someone taps his shoulder, and he's about to tell whoever is about to say "aren't you Lenny Bruce?" To fuck off, but when he turns around, he finds the tired, sheepish face of Noah Weissman. 

He gestures towards the seat next to him, and Noah takes it, ordering a shot of vodka with Tabasco sauce in it. 

"I'm impressed," Lenny admits. 

"Just don't tell my wife," Noah says, as he downs the shot and shakes out his head. "I just had a very bad work thing." He orders another and then turns to Lenny. "You look like hell."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Lenny grumbles. 

"Did something happen with Midge?" Noah asks worriedly. 

"As far as I'm aware, your sister is sleeping peacefully in the Upper West Side," Lenny informs him. "This is all me."

Noah nods and orders them both another round. "I've got ears if you wanna use them."

Lenny lifts a skeptical eyebrow at the other man. 

Noah grins and shrugs. "We'll call it a practice round for when you actually become my brother-in-law."

Lenny snorts and takes a long drag off his cigarette. If he lives that long, he wants to say. If Midge puts up with him long enough, he wants to say. 

But he doesn't. Instead, he takes the shot in front of him and downs it, before turning to the older Weissman sibling. "Every night this week, I've dreamt that your sister died that night and I have to attend her funeral. And it's always the same and it's always fucking awful." 

Noah stares at him, looking unsettled, before turning to the bartender. "Hi. Can you please just leave us the bottle of whiskey? Thank you."

*****

Four in the morning is the perfect time to stumble out of the bar, they decide, mostly because they're closing.

"Look, all I'm saying is that," Noah stumbles a little, his words slurred. "I'm saying that if dreaming about somebody dying makes you wanna do life threatening substances then it's prob'ly true love."

"That is insane," Lenny tells him. 

"No it's not!" Noah argues. "It's not. Because - that's what love does. It makes you that fucking nuts. Look, before we got married, Astrid and I got into a fight, and I tried to go after her and apologize, and I ran so hard into a closed sliding glass door that I broke it with my face and had to get stitches." 

Lenny stared at him. 

Noah gives an exaggerated shrug. "That's love! Yours is just more morbid and less detrimental to your face and more detrimental to…everything else." 

Lenny shakes his head. "Where the hell are you even staying?"

"Don't change the subject," Noah scolds. "Also I can't go back to my hotel until the cleanup crew is finished."

"I don't even want to know."

"Good because if I told you, I'd have to kill you, and I don't wanna because I like you and my sister is stupidly in love with you."

Lenny rubs his face. "Sober me would put you on my couch," he mutters. "That's what sober me would do."

"Don't even try to pretend you're not just as shitfaced as me. I watched you drink half the bar tonight."

"Drunk me…would get us a cab and put you on your sister's couch," Lenny reasons. "And then try to sleep with your sister."

"Gross." He considers it. "But that couch is really comfortable."

"Upper West Side it is."

***** 

There is a lengthy argument in the cab about showing up this early and waking up Noah’s parents, and whether to do so empty-handed.

“Russ and Daughters doesn’t open til eight.” 

“Kossar’s opens at six, what time is it now?” 

“I don’t fuckin’ know.” 

“Do you think they’d open early for a spook and a comedian?” 

“I doubt it.” 

The cabbie throws them out for not knowing where the fuck they want to go, and they manage to get another cab, hit Kossar’s for bagels, bialys and schmere, catch another cab to the Upper West Side, and by the time they get there, they’re both miserably hung over. 

“This was an awful idea,” Lenny groans as they stand in front of the apartment building. 

“The worst,” Noah sighs.

“We both smell like booze and cab seats,” Lenny laments. “Midge is gonna lose her shit.” 

“You think Midge is gonna lose her shit, I’m supposed to check in with work in an hour,” Noah mutters. He takes a breath and steals himself. “At least we didn’t come empty-handed.” 

Lenny looks down at the paper bag in his hands. “What did we even order, do you remember?” 

“Nope. Let’s go.” 

It’s Midge who opens the door for them, looking well put together, if a little tired. She’s using her cane, and both men look concerned. 

So does she.

“What happened to the two of you?” she asks, looking them over. 

“Nothing a nap on the couch won’t cure,” Noah tells her, brushing past her and into the living room. 

Midge watches him, and then turns to Lenny. 

He lifts the bag, a little helplessly. “Breakfast?” 

***** 

Thankfully, Joel has the kids, and both Rose and Abe left early in the morning to get to their respective work appointments.

Now it’s just Midge and Lenny in the kitchen, eating bagels and cream cheese, drinking coffee, and he sincerely wishes he had deposited Noah on his own sofa, and wasn't currently looking at the woman he loves without anything to say. 

"I'm glad you and Noah are getting along," she says. 

"He's a good guy," Lenny shrugs. 

"He disliked Joel even before the divorce," Midge tells him. "It's a nice change."

"I'm too hungover to talk about Joel," Lenny pleads. 

Midge laughs softly and reaches out, stroking his jaw. "Noted."

He leans into the touch, letting his eyes drift shut in the quiet of the kitchen, gripping his coffee cup a little tighter than strictly necessary. 

"Something is bothering you," Midge notices. 

"I'm just really hungover," he tells her, getting up to refill his coffee.

"Or something is bothering you," Midge pushes. 

He sips his coffee and regards her seriously from over his cup. He knows he should just come clean about all this. That he’ll feel better. It would be much easier if he were still drunk.

“I haven’t been sleeping particularly well,” he admits. “I fall asleep okay, but for the last week I’ve been woken up by the same intense nightmare.” 

She gets up slowly, moving to wrap her arms around his neck, stroking the hair at the back of his head. 

“And when I don’t sleep, I get stressed,” he tells her. “And when I get stressed…” 

“Lenny…” 

“I haven’t,” he assures her. “But it’s been rough. I’ve wanted to. Actually, your brother showing up by chance probably kept me from scoring last night.” 

“God, that must be some nightmare,” Midge says, worry lacing her voice. 

He stares at her, setting his coffee cup down, wondering if she’ll understand. If she catches on he won’t have to say it out loud, sober, to her very beautiful, very much alive face. “It’s a fucking doozy.” 

She gazes into his eyes, and understanding passes over her features. She takes a deep breath, standing up straighter, trying to look strong for him. “That didn’t happen, Lenny. It didn’t, I’m right here.” 

“I know that,” he tells her softly, his hands resting on her hips. “But my subconscious seems unconvinced.” 

“Well tell your subconscious to fuck off,” Midge jokes gently. “I’m not going anywhere.” 

He can’t help a weak laugh as he lets his forehead rest against her shoulder. 

“Come lay down with me,” she offers. “Mama and Papa won’t be home for hours, and you need to sleep. If you have that nightmare again, you can just reach over and feel me up.” 

His shoulders shake with quiet laughter, and she holds him tightly, kissing the side of his head before leading him out of the kitchen toward the bedroom. 

Lenny lets himself be gently pushed onto the bed and tugs his shoes off, watching as Midge slps out of her own shoes and sits next to him, reaching over to undo his tie gently, and soon they’re both curled up, facing each other.

“It’s really that bad?” Midge asks after a long silence. 

“Really fucking bad,” Lenny mutters. 

Her fingers stroking his hair sooth him into loosening his muscles a little, letting go of some of the tension of the last seven hours. 

“What, did I rise from the dead to take my revenge or something?” Mide half-jokes, trying to lighten the mood. 

“No,” Lenny answers simply. “It was all so…banal. So real. That’s the worst part. That it was just an ordinary funeral. Joel and Imogene and Noah gave eulogies and then we all buried you.” 

She wrinkles her nose. “Remind me to write down somewhere not to let my ex speak at my funeral.” 

“Because that’s the worst part about all of this,” he mutters absently. 

They both go quiet for a few moments, and Lenny feels himself drifting in and out of consciousness. 

Midge’s voice sounds far away as she speaks up eventually, pulling him out of sleep. “I dream about it, too…about being dead. Listening to people talk from inside my coffin. A coffin. I don’t have a coffin.” 

He struggles to open his eyes and gaze at her. 

“I was scared, too,” she confesses, her hand still in his hair. 

“I know, Sweetheart,” he says, pulling her close. “I’m sorry.” 

Midge leans in and kisses him gently before cuddling in against him. “Go to sleep, Lenny.” 

He lists his eyes fall shut again. “Your brother is still in the living room.” 

“He’s a big boy,” Midge reminds him. “He’s not five.” 

Lenny thinks he responds with a joke, because she’s laughing softly, but he has no idea what he said, falling asleep quickly. 

“Sweet dreams, Lenny,” are the last words he hears for a long while.

[thrushforreal]

Batfam Ages and Other Things

So technically I guess this would be an au, because of my oc and tweaking of characters ages, but most things stay the same and I’m not ever really planning on writing any full blown stories. I don’t trust myself to get the character characterizations right, having only just started to get very interested in the Bat Family. Bolded names are what they go my what now, that out of the way here we go!

Alfred Pennyworth/Agent A: 67 yrs old

Bruce Wayne/Batman: 44 yrs old

Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson/Robin/Nightwing: 23 yrs old

Jason Todd/Robin/Red Hood: 19yrs old

Timothy ‘Tim’ Drake-Wayne/Robin: 15yrs old

Trace Drake-Wayne/Thrush: 15yrs old

Stephanie ‘Steph’ Brown/Spoiler/Robin: 15 yrs old

Cassandra ‘Cass’ Cain/Batgirl: 16yrs old

Barbara ‘Babs’ Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle: 25yrs old

Okay, ages and aliases out of the way! So lets see if I can get this into a comprehensible type beat of a timeline. Basically everything before Bruce becoming Batman is the same, parents die, Alfred stepping in being a father figure. Where I am going to really start is the night Dicks parents passed. So in the comics, and in other places and sites, its said that Tim was 5 when he went to the circus with his parents, I've shifted that back 1 year he’s 4 now. Why? Because I can, and it’ll make things move smoother. So because he is now 3 yrs old obviously he can’t really remember things very well from that young, but you know how you have these really vivid memories of like one or two things from when you were really young? Lightbulb memories, and that’s what the circus is for Tim, a lightbulb memory. His parents had brought him to a circus (Trace unable to come having come down extremely sick but Jack and Janet couldn’t go any other time it was to important), and he met this really bright personality person that hugged him so tight, tighter than he can ever remember, and he whispers something to him. But that's all he remembers, not before where his parents talk about this being a good opportunity to try and talk Bruce Wayne into a company partnership, or afterwards in the chaos of the Flying Grayson's dying. So, Dick’s 12, Tim’s 4 which make Trace 4 as well, making Jason 8, Bruce 22 and Alfred 45. (Age difference are because of birthdays happening, it all works out)

Five years later tiny 9 year old Tim is hopping rooftops, with his twin chasing behind him with various types of bandages cause their parents are out of town and their babysitter is very much asleep and nothing short of an atom bomb will wake her up, taking pictures of Batman and Robin. He snaps a picture and witnesses Robin execute a trick that only one person should be able to do. A trick that hes’ heard mentioned in one of the only stories his parents will tell him and his twin. Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson were Batman and Robin. Shortly after the mantle of Robin passed on to a new person, Bruces new ward, 13 year old Jason Todd.

Through the next three years and some months the two children would continue to jump rooftops following the vigilantes during the night. When not doing unnecessary parkour at night their either at school, both being smart enough to move up to sophomore year by the age of 12, skateboarding, Tim, studying medical books because someone has to keep their brother alive, Trace, trying to figure out if the oven should be smoking like that when they’re making pizza, both of them. When their parents are home it usually coincides with a gala being help so they would be dressed up for their parents tastes and attend in silence. One gala that sticks out to the both of them was held at Wayne Manor, their parents had set them free, planning on finally getting Wayne to agree to a partnership between their companies. The two snuck around the edges of the room, Trace tripping on their dress a couple of times falling into her brother, giggling. They ran into an older boy, also hanging around the edges of the room, for different reasons, looking uncomfortable. Tim was frozen with excitement from seeing Robin in person so up-close instead of from behind a camera lens. Trace saw a kid, an older kid sure but a kid, who unlike her and their brother wasn’t as comfortable with high society. The rest of the night the trio were quite inseparable, sneaking beneath tables and into other rooms in the manor, under Alfreds watchful eyes of course.

Of course this of era of time couldn’t last forever, and it ending with a death. Robin had run off to Switzerland, Batman not far behind him. The twins couldn’t follow them, not without making their parents suspicious. Eventually news came, but not in the way either of them were hoping. Jason Todd had died, the reason not to revealed to the public. Their parents were back in town for the funeral, the three kids had grown a little close in their civilian identities. Batman became more violent during his patrols, and Tim couldn’t make himself take pictures after the first couple of times. Three months passed before He couldn’t take it anymore, travelling to Bludhaven to Dick Grayson's apartment. Because Batman needs help, not just help he needs a partner, he needs a Robin. Dick said no, he couldn’t be Robin again, after Tim explained how he knew, but agreed that Tim was right. Batman did need help, and he would help as Nightwing, but not Robin. Five months after Jason had passed and Tim confronted Batman on a night that was more peaceful than most. Batman was flung into memories of catching a child stealing the tires off of his batmobile. He was refused, Batman didn’t want to be responsible for another childs death. Six months after the second Robin had died 12 year old Trace opens the door to Alfred Pennyworth. They knew what he was here for and called Tim down. And so the third Robin came into play, Batman agreeing to help train him. If the kid was going to go out anyway, he might as well make sure he’s prepared. Not long after Robin came into play, did another Vigilante make an appearance, Thrush.

Thrush only kept their identity secret for about a year before Batman figured them out and started training them to, by this time Nightwing had begun to help with Robins training so he also helped with Thrush. Thrush was an on field medic more than anything else, shown by the red cross on their chest where the Robins symbols was on her brothers uniform. They had a lot of experience with patching wounds, from night excursion cuts to belt lash's on the back. Their knowledge only grew over the years with Alfred and Dr Thompkins help.

When the two were 15 the Red Hood came onto the scene. And he seemed to have a vendetta against Robin and Batman. After a bad run in with the Red Hood at the Titan’s Tower Tim was put on bed rest for a while, and after he was off it was supposed to be benched from patrol. He would sneak out anyway so Batman made him promise to not go out without Him or Nightwing. It was a particularly quite night, one that Thrush wouldn’t be needed on, so Trace stayed at the Drake manor, planning on trying out a cake recipe Alfred gave them. The years where they made to oven smoke from making things far behind them. She was mixing the ingredients when there was a crash from the upper level of the house, the lights flickered and the power went out. In the dark Trace and Tim are practically indistinguishable besides their voice, that might have been the reason Red Hood came after them if they hadn’t known their name.

Red Hood took them, luring out Batman and Robin. He was focused on The Bat for the altercation allowing Tim to sneak and grab Trace. Unfortunately they were noticed as they were leaving and in the resulting chase they lost Batman. Tim and Red Hood fought, Robin taking considerably more hits that the Hood. After a while Tim was on the ground with Thrush standing in between them, ready to take any more hits for her brother. It was at this moment that Red Hood took of his helmet, “I’m not here to hurt you Trace. Just the replacement.” Twin gasps came from them, because behind the helmet was someone they both knew. It was their Robin, their hero, and their next door neighbor, Jason Todd back from death. Seeing Trace refusing to move, because that's their brother fuck you very much, even when Tim tells them too Jason leaves clutching his head. They were found not to long after by Nightwing and taken to the cave.

Things pretty much go in the direction you would think they do. Batman is confronted about Joker by Jason, Bruce and Dick get all teary eyed about him being alive and he is now slowly warming back up to his father, older brother, and two snot-nosed kids that are his younger siblings that don’t know their part of the family yet. And that’s were we are right now in the au. In the future Damian, Duke, and probably others will be added. I believe that’s all for now!