#babs was jasons batgirl!! she mentored him!! she said she loved him!!

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Okay seriously why.

[yan-batgirl]

I don't know why Tumblr keeps forbidding me from editing requests! Why do you hate me, Tumblr?! 😭

Request: Hi! I love your one shots, and I was wondering if you could maybe do a clingy!yandere!batfamily (with all the family members) please and thank you!

Warning: Clingy behavior, forced cuddling, mentions of manipulation, they were cudding with her so much that batgirl reader was suffocating

The reader is going to be referred to as 'Batgirl'

~~~~~

In those nights of Gotham, the night where there aren't a lot of crimes. People would wonder what Batman and his small family are up to.

Watching a movie is what they're doing.

While cuddling with their little batgirl at the same time.

"Guys, can you stop talking? I can't hear," she tells them as she munch on her popcorn.

Currently, Batgirl was being held by her siblings at the point where she was going to be breathless. She was trying to focus on the screen, but she couldn't because of the weight on her siblings onto her.

"Shhhh... Just focus, my dear baby sister," Stephanie reassures her as she strokes her sister's head.

"Don't touch her, Brown!" Damian scolds her as he swats her hand away.

"Be careful with her head!" Tim said as he tries to make one of them hold the back of her head.

"Calm down, Tim. I got her," Duke reassures him as Cassandra is just hugging her sister's small body.

"All of you are touching her," Barbara corrects him as she munched onto her candy.

"We have to make sure that she's safe, Babs!" Dick said as he clutched onto Batgirl tightly in his arms.

"Stop pulling her so close to you, bastard," Jason said in a harsh tone that made her jolt.

Then, the two oldest children began to argue. That's when the others joined in as well, which made the movie audio unheard. Meanwhile, Batgirl is just munching on her popcorn as she tries to focus on the movie.

As she was watching, she was suddenly picked up out of her seat by someone. She looks up to see Bruce lifting her up.

"Hey, the movie is not done," she said as she pointed at the big screen as she watched Bruce pick up his bowl of popcorn.

"I couldn't hear. Well, you may now why," he said as he glanced at the rest of his children.

With that, he walks out of the theater, leaving the arguing batsiblings behind.

~~~~~

After a long argument, the others saw that their little sister is gone.

They were silent before gave each other glances before they quickly departed ways.

As they were looking around the mansion, they heard Jason make a signal that made everyone quickly run upstairs where they see him next to the smiling Alfred.

They were wondering what was happening before they saw the scene in front of them.

Bruce was holding onto Batgirl as she was underneath his covers, asleep while holding onto her stuffed animal, Batsie. The TV in his room was playing the same movie and the parts that they couldn't watch because of the other children's arguing in the theater.

They were just exchanging looks as they stared at their father and mentor cuddling with their sister. A pit of jealously rose inside them, but at the same time, they knew who won.

Bruce then gets up and turns off the TV before he walks out of his bedroom and gently closes the door.

"We have to go and patrol for tonight. Duke, Tim, Stephanie. You three will come with me. Alfred, prepare the guest room for me when I get back."

He orders with his Batman demeanor before he walks off. When he walked off, the others turned to each other.

"Looks like we know the winner of this whole thing, but not for long," Dick said as some of the others groaned out of defeat.

However, at the same time, they couldn't help but adore the sleeping Batgirl on the bed.

~~~~~

Please do NOT steal my art!

[ur-favorite-queer-queen]

Protect

For Maribat March day 18 theme protect 

Master List 

“DEAREST BIG BROTHER! I’M HOME!” A female shout came from the foyer of the manor. 

Dick, Jason, Tim, Babs, Steph, and Cass were hanging out in one of the many rooms the manor held. Alfred had just walked in with a tray of drinks but froze at the sound of the voice.

“THE HECK!” Was shouted by the same voice followed by Damian’s voice shouting, 

“WHO ARE YOU!?!?! HOW DID YOU GET IN!?!?!” 

Alfred was out of the room in an instant. He was not sprinting but he might as well be with how fast he was walking. The batkids immediately followed after him. 

They walked in on a sight none of them will ever forget. Literally, Jason had taken a picture. A strange woman who looked like a female, miniature version of Bruce had Damian’s precious katana and seemed to be taunting him with it. 

“Miss Marinette!” Alfred called and got both the woman’s and Damian’s attention. 

“Alfred!” The woman replied, running over and giving him a hug, katana still in her hand. 

“Wait, Aunt Nettie?” Dick spoke up, walking over to the pair. 

“Little Wing! Wow, you got so much bigger since the last time I saw you.” She responded, giving him a hug. 

“Wait, wait, your Aunt Nettie?” Jason asked, crossing his arms. 

“Aww, Little Blue Jay, you don’t remember me?” She shot back, crossing her arms as well. 

“Blue Jay, why is that familiar?” Jason muttered to himself, not quietly enough since everyone heard him. 

“Aunt Nettie, you only visited once when he was here.” Dick reminded her. 

“Oh, well that will explain that. Also how many more kids did Bruce adopt? I thought it was only the 2 of you, the Drake kid, and his bio kid.” She questioned, motioning to each child she remembered. 

“The only other kid he adopted is Cass, Steph and Babs are family friends.” Dick clarified. 

“Babs, the first Batgirl correct?” She asked, turning to the girl in question. Everyone froze at that, this girl who was apparently Bruce’s sister knew who they were.

“It’s fine guys, she’s known since the beginning of his time as Batman.” Dick assured. 

“Yep, speaking of my big brother, where is he?” 

“Master Bruce is currently at a WE meeting, but he will be back in time for dinner.” Alfred answered for her. 

“How come father never told us about you?” Damian voiced, glaring at her and looking like he wanted to attack her again. Probably because she still had his katana. 

“I rarely visit nowadays and he’s probably still upset after last time.” Marinette smirked, like she had won some sort of battle. Noticing she still had his katana, she handed the blade back to Damian. 

“Last time?” Tim hesitantly echoed. 

“How about Miss Marinette shares the story in the living room? I can bring snacks.” Alfred offered, Marinette looked like she was about to say something but Alfred beat her to it, “You bond with your nieces and nephews, I will be fine.” 

“Come on Marinette! You can tell them about how you helped train Bruce! Oh did you bring any kwamis with you?” Dick rambled, pulling Marinette with him into the room they were hanging out in before her appearance. 

Once they were all seated Tim started the conversation, “So I’m not hallucinating, you are actually Bruce’s sister.” 

“Yes, Bruce is 3 years older than me. I know that he is Batman and you guys are the bats and the birds.” She calmly responded. 

“What did Dick mean by you helped train Bruce? And what is a Kwami?” Babs continued. 

“Kwami are basically magical beings, kinda like gods, that are bound to jewels called miraculous. Since I’m the guardian I protect these jewels. I trained Bruce by helping my old mentor from Tibet train him.” Marinette explained. 

“What happened last time? And why don’t you visit often?” Damian asked, carefully hidden curiosity in his eyes. 

“Back in my first year of highschool, Bruce was very protective of me. Like very protective. No boy he didn’t approve of, which meant I could never talk to a single boy, could get within 10 feet of me without him present. Asking me out, out of the question. Pretty sure this one guy, Adam, wanted to ask me out but Bruce interrupted before he could. I never talked to him again after that. I got pretty tired of it so I signed up for the foreign exchange program and went to school in Paris.” 

“Wait,” Steph interrupted, “Bruce was an overprotective brother?” 

“One of the worst kinds. I’m sure if our parents were still alive he might’ve been worse than my dad.”

“What importance does this have to the questions?” Damian sneered, annoyed that he wasn’t getting any answers. 

“Hold on I’m getting there. So anyways it was in my sophomore year of highschool at Paris that a supervillain attacked. He called himself Hawkmoth, he used the butterfly miraculous to transform people into his puppets by using their emotions against them. I didn’t think much of it since it didn’t concern me, my host family agreed thinking it wouldn’t last long. But when I got to my room there was a little box sitting on my desk and that’s where I found the ladybug miraculous. The most powerful miraculous besides the cat miraculous. I told Bruce, he wasn’t too happy about it, but there wasn’t much he could do. So much happened in that amount of time that I don’t think I could summarize it all before Bruce gets back but just know that in that span of time I met the current guardian. Hawkmoth gained an ally who used the peacock miraculous, Mayura. Also a miraculous that could manipulate emotions. 

After I and my partner had defeated Hawkmoth and Mayura, sometime during my senior year, we revealed our identities, dated for a few months before I ended things. Then I went back home and Bruce was getting ready to go on his soul-searching journey to be trained by masters or whatever and I suggested he be trained by my mentor who was in Tibet. I went with him, we trained for a couple of months before he left. I decided to stay in Tibet to train to become the next guardian. Eventually my mentor died and gave me guardianship. 

Then I returned to Gotham and Bruce had adopted Little Wing over there. So I stayed here for a while before I decided to go around the world doing guardian things. Bruce didn’t like the idea but there wasn’t much he could do. I ended up catching up with an old friend of mine on one of my travels and we started dating before I came back here. That’s when I met Little Blue Jay for the first and last time.

Before you guys had gone on patrol I tried to ask Bruce to give my boyfriend a chance but he didn’t agree. I’ve always been his little sister in his eyes, I think he couldn’t handle the fact I had grown up. Nasty words were exchanged between us and I haven’t returned since. In the end me and him didn’t work out but I couldn’t bring myself to return, until now at least.” 

“Why now?” Damian immediately pressed once she finished her explanation. 

“Dusuu was missing Alfred. It has been like a decade or something.” She remarked, pulling out a peacock shaped brooch. 

“Didn’t you say that the peacock miraculous was evil?” Cass signed, raising an eyebrow at the brooch. 

“No, I said it was used for evil. The miraculous are technically neutral, can be used for good or evil. Depends on who is wielding them.” Marinette bit back, as a flash of light emitted from the brooch. Suddenly a small floating peacock creature stood in front of Marinette. 

“Is that a kwami?” Steph asked. 

“Yes, this is Dusuu, the peacock kwami of emotions.”

“Hello! It’s so nice to meet you!” Dusuu chirped, “Where’s Alfred?” 

“I am right here Dusuu. It is lovely to see you again.” Alfred spoke from the doorway, holding a tray of snacks and drinks. 

“Alfred!” Dusuu cheered before flying over and hugging the older man. 

“In all honesty Bruce doesn’t sound like the best brother.” Jason pointed out. 

“I know it may seem like he’s a shitty brother, and at the time I totally thought he was and still is, but I know where he’s coming from. Bruce was always the more reserved and protective out of the 2 of us even before what happened to our parents. I think our parents' death solidified his need to protect me from anything and anyone. And we all know how horrible Bruce is at showing his emotions so I know his heart was in the right place. Plus, we’ve had years to cool off, I’m sure we can have a mature conversation now.” Marinette explained, a fond smile gracing her lips. 

Faintly in the distance they heard Alfred say, “Welcome home, Master Bruce.” 

“That’s my cue!” Marinette said before bolting off in the direction of the foyer. 

“Alfred something’s off, what are you not telling me?” The second those words left his mouth a weight connected with his back, arms wrapped around his neck and a familiar, 

“HEY BIG BRO!” Was registered by his ears. 

The weight slipped off his back and as he turned around he was met with the familiar sight of his little sister. “Marinette.” 

“Bruce.”

“You’re here.” 

“I am.” 

“I thought-”

“That I was mad at you.”

“You didn’t visit for 10 years.” 

“Life got busy.” 

They stood in silence for a minute. 

“I missed you.” Marinette whispered, so much different from the girl that was telling them a brief summary of her life. She seemed so much more vulnerable uttering those words than when she had revealed why she hadn’t come back in the first place. 

Turns out that was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Bruce wrapped Marinette in a hug as tears slipped from his eyes. They could hear him whispering over and over again, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I did all those years ago.” 

It was weird for them all to see, including Dick who knew how much Marinette meant to Bruce. Bruce kept his emotions so closed up, master of the stoic face, but here he was breaking down in front of the all. Here he was crying and apologizing. 

“I believe we should leave them alone for now.” Alfred spoke up heading for the dining room. They followed. Later Bruce and Marinette would join them, a little red-eyed with their cheeks tear-stained, but small smiles on their faces. 

It was then that all the batkids knew that they would be seeing this ‘Aunt Nettie’ much more often. 

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

Look at that, I’m super late again! Nothing new, I think day 14 was a one time thing unfortunately. 

I’ve seen a ton of fics where Marinette was Bruce’s older sister but what about where she’s his younger sister? Bruce would so be an overprotective older brother. 

I hoped you enjoyed this! I’m planning on making a part 2 of this for ‘contest’. So stay tuned!

@maribatmarch-2k21 

[ravenkinnie]

What would you say is the ideal Batfam dynamic?

I'm gonna preface this by saying I'm a hater and I love angst and when people fight <3 I think they should all have beef with each other and almost nobody should get along <3

the only people who should have good relationships with each other:

*damian: cass and dick ofc edited to add steph fuck

*cass: tim, steph, dick, babs, damian, duke

*duke literally is just vibin, he has like no conflict with anyone but someone once said his one conflict should be with batcow and I think that's fucking funny

jason has the most drama potential!!! he should be a sort of anti-hero, doing his thing and working by his principles but with some conflicted feelings and yearning for his family, like he shouldnt compromise his principles to get along with bruce or dick better but if they have to work together they would be like "wish all that shit didn't happen and it could be like this now" but it's not because it did happen

I don't care for tim but why the fuck would jason consider him his brother tbh... king came back at 22, if my mom adopted a 17 year old after I had no contact with her for like 7 years i would be like "that's the guy living in my moms house" not "yeah that's my little brother" what fucking families do people have what

cass would hate jason like I don't know what sort of lobotomy fanon cass would have to go through to just be like :< pls don't kill uwu but cass is so much more strict on her no killing rule and her belief in how valuable life is is so fundamental (even bruce says so!!! please read her batgirl run she's an insanely nuanced character!!!),their ethics are so fundamentally different I don't think they would get along at all

I think damian should forever think jason is a clown and be mean to him, I think he should bully him into a hair transplant even. every time jason references his death damian should be like "okay and? I died too and I'm over it now #builtdifferent", bruce refers to jason as his brother and damians like sorry I have one brother and like seven sisters idk this man

bruce shouldn't be like. beating his kids because hashtag not my batman 💀 but people make him waaaay too functional he's 100% a dysfunctional well intentioned father who tries but doesn't get it right a lot and has a lot of his own shit that prevents him from connecting with his kids or doing 100% right by them

babs and bruce had such an interesting relationship preboot holy shit, she was one of the people he really did consider his equal and she did not let him get away with half the shit he did to others - and it makes sense because she was in his thirties while he was in his forties like obv he's not gonna treat her like a barely experienced 20 yo I wiiiiish they brought it back

steph would literally die before calling bruce her father y'all are wildin, she would be like yeah I get that your were Going Through Something (aka being butchered by comics writers with hard ons for frank miller) but also. forgive never forget <3 and he would be like yeah I'm working through that guilt in therapy anyways here's your college degree paid for do you want an internship too

(I think batgirls in general should be like... only tangentially under bruces supervision like babs made batgirl by specifically going against bruce shshhs it's always been babs' (and bettes but rip bettes legacy at this point) mantle like batgirls are mentored by oracle not batman and I think they should always respond to oracle first I don't like what they are doing with this legacy at all. I wish it continued being passed down to new young girls taken in by birds of prey as current batgirls (steph, cass) age and grow into their own identities) (I will literally always say it. steph should have trained under oracle as batgirl and then become spoiler again because spoiler was a good ass identity on it's own and she really would have made a name for herself with it)

[sebeth]

Young Justice: A Bat Family And The House Of Al Ghul

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

 Seriously, turn away if you aren’t up to date with Young Justice: Outsiders – particularly episode 6.

You have been warned…

  The current Young Justice season has shown the following members of the Bat-Family:

Batman (Bruce Wayne)

Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

Oracle (Barbara Gordon)

Robin (Tim Drake)

Spoiler (Stephanie Brown)

Batwoman (Kate Kane)

Jason Todd

Damian Wayne

 The House of Al Ghul has the following representation:

Ra’s Al Ghul

Talia

Sensei

Damian Wayne

 “Rescue Op”, the latest episode of Young Justice: Outsiders, dropped a few bombshells on the Wayne Family and the League of Shadows. Now is a perfect time for a recap and speculation post.

 Batman: Has grown tired of the limitations imposed on the Justice League by the United Nations and Lex Luthor in particular. Bruce resigned from the League and formed Batman Inc. Green Arrow, Batwoman, Katana, Hardware, and Plastic Man have also resigned from the League and joined Batman Inc. Robin, Spoiler, and Arrowette resigned from Young Justice in support of their mentors.

We haven’t seen Batman since the mass resignation so we are unaware of his future plans.

Batwoman: Has made one brief non-speaking appearance. I’m assuming Kate’s origin is similar to her comic book version. She should re-appear when Batman returns on the scene.

Nightwing: Left Young Justice at the end of season two. The death of Wally West, his best friend, laid a heavy burden on his shoulders. We have no idea what Dick has been up to during the two-year time gap between season two and three. The use of hypnos in an early episode hints as adventures with Spyral, a spy organization.

The season opened with Dick breaking up meta-human trafficking rings.  He’s in a relationship with Barbara Gordon.  It appears Dick will/has formed the Outsiders as of the latest episode – Brion and Halo stated they’d work best “outside” the Young Justice team.

Oracle: Has been paralyzed for less than a year. The prequel comic had Babs active as Batgirl in year six. We aren’t aware of the circumstances of her paralysis but it’s most likely due to the Joker. The only question is if we will receive a “Killing Joke” flashback or if it’s only referenced in a comment. Babs is strictly working with Nightwing at this point but will she organize the Birds of Prey in the future? I would love to see Huntress and Lady Blackhawk in the YJ-verse!

Dick and Babs were both aware of Bruce’s “Batman Inc” plan but are not actively participating in it.

Robin: We’re not sure when Tim became Robin. I’ve always felt it was shortly before season two started due to the anxious protectiveness Dick had of Tim in the first episode. Tim should be around 16-17 years old in the current season. He resigned along with Batman in the first episode. Tim’s romance with Wonder Girl is on the rocks due to the resignation.

Spoiler (Stephanie Brown) – Like Kate, she has only been featured in a non-speaking role. Steph was part of the mass resignation of episode one. I’m assuming Steph’s origin is true to her comic book roots: daughter of Cluemaster, adopts the Spoiler identity to foil his crimes. A significant difference is her early adoption into the Bat family. Trust me, Steph wouldn’t have been able to join the team without Batman’s approval. Steph’s resignation suggests she has a much smoother relationship with Bruce in the YJ-verse. Another difference – Steph isn’t romantically involved with Tim. Is Cassie doomed to be the “Ariana” of Tim and Steph’s future romance? Or will Tim and Steph simply be BFFs?

Finally, Jason Todd!

Jason was seen briefly in season two as a memorial hologram. He had died sometime during years two and four of Young Justice.  We’re not sure of the exact time or circumstances.

I would set Jason’s death in year four. Dick would be approximately 17 years old during the fourth year of the team. Dick, traditionally, is around 17 to 19 years old when he breaks off from Bruce and forms the Nightwing identity. Jason would have a brief tenure as Robin and a member of Young Justice before his death- allowing a very new to the role Tim to join the team in year 5.

We’ve never been told the circumstances of Jason’s death. It’s a safe bet the Joker was involved in some way.

Let’s recap the various versions:

Post-Crisis: Jason searches to find his birth mother. Sheila Haywood, said birth mother, betrays Jason to the Joker. The Joker beats Jason with a crowbar and leaves him to die in an exploding warehouse.

New 52: Very similar to the Post-Crisis death.

Under The Red Hood movie: Similar to the traditional death minus the mom.

Batman: Arkham Knight: The Joker kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured Jason for many months. Joker appeared to murder Jason in a video, causing Bruce to stop searching for him.

Now let’s discuss the various resurrections…

Post-Crisis: Superboy Prime punched the walls of reality causing alterations of the timeline. One alteration was Jason’s resurrection. A massively brain-damaged and physically injured Jason awoke in his coffin. He dug himself out of his grave and wandered the streets of Gotham in a semi-catonic state. Talia discovers Jason and brings him to the League of Assassins. Jason has muscle memory but no intellectual capabilities. In other words, Jason can fight but not communicate. After months of no progress, Ra’s orders Jason to be sent to a home. Ra’s orders Jason will be taken care of out of respect for the Detective. A desperate Talia throws Jason into the Lazarus Pit. Jason emerges with full mental capabilities but an insane amount of rage. Talia furthers Jason’s training but also amps Jason’s rage – she sends him like an exploding bomb into Gotham. Prime targets: Bruce, the Joker, and Tim. Jason and Talia have a brief, icky, sexual relationship.

New 52: No Superboy involved – Talia straight up throws Jason into the Lazaurs Pit. She still serves as Jason’s mentor but no sex was involved.  Jason’s return as the Red Hood and his roaring rampage of revenge happened before the New 52 began. We never receive the full details of Jason’s revenge but Jason comments about his rough treatment of Tim and Roy jokes about a “duffel bag of severed heads” so we’ll assume it was similar to the ‘Under The Red Hood” arc.

Under The Red Hood movie: Ra’s resurrects Jason due to his guilt over unleashing the Joker. Jason’s death was never intended and Ra’s resurrected him to make amends. Unfortunately, Ra’s couldn’t contain Jason’s rage and banished him from the stronghold.

Batman: Arkham Knight: Never died but still full of rage and bitterness due to Batman’s “abandonment” of him.

Jason is seen briefly in “Rescue Op”. He’s masked and wearing a red hood. He fights Nightwing. After Dick’s team leaves, he mutters “Grayson”.

Ra’s comments: “Oh, your memory is finally returning. Excellent.”

Let’s speculate:

We can safely assume Jason died at the hands of the Joker. It’s a universal constant. I feel it was a true death as the “faked” death of Arkham Knight doesn’t work well in universe with a Superman and a Martian Manhunter. If Batman didn’t have Jason’s actual corpse in his arms, he would have called in his entire Justice League team to find his son. And if he didn’t, Dick would have.

More questions: Was Dick in space when Jason died? Did Dick and Jason work together in Young Justice? Did the brothers have a better bond in the Young Justice universe or was it the more typical “overshadowed by Dick’s greatness” combined with Dick’s bitterness over being replaced route?

As for Jason’s resurrection…

We can rule out Superboy Prime and timeline alterations.

The Lazarus Pit is the obvious solution. However, Jason is very much in his post-grave but pre-Lazarus dip state.  Has Jason been immersed in the Pit? If not, what caused his resurrection?

If Jason has been immersed in the Pit, why such a half-assed job? And where’s the rage?

The Young Justice comic book had Robin (Dick) accidentally drop Ra’s – causing the man to fall to his death. Talia and Ubu threw Ra’s into the pit and he emerged fully intact with no memory loss.

If Jason still has memory loss after the Lazarus pit – is it due to the massive head trauma caused by the Joker’s crowbar?  But, again, Ra’s had died in the Young Justice-verse and been resurrected in prime condition. Talia and Ubu had to travel back to the Lazarus Pit – meaning Ra’s was dead for hours – that would also cause brain damage and he came back in perfect health.

My theory is an outside force caused Jason’s resurrection. Talia discovered Jason wondering the streets and brought him back to the League’s stronghold.

It would explain Jason’s current state. I have no idea what the “outside force” would be though.

Jason has been healing and training with the League but has not been immersed in the Pit.

Ra’s al Ghul stated in “Recue Op” that he is no longer the head of the League of Shadows or a member of the Light.

A power struggle occurred and Ra’s lost.  Ra’s only has his own family – Talia, Damian, and Sensei – along with a few loyal operatives on the island. Who has assumed control of the League of Shadows?

I listed a few suspects when I covered “Rescue Op” – Cheshire and Lady Shiva. I even theorized over the introduction of Cassandra Cain. I completely forgot the most obvious suspect – Nyssa al Ghul.

Nyssa is the older sister of Talia. Nyssa lost most of her family in concentration camps during World War II – mainly because of Ra’s outright refusal to help her.

“Batman: Death and the Maidens” is Nyssa’s origin and revenge against Ra’s. She murders Ra’s al Ghul and Talia and assumes control of the League.

The trio of Nyssa, Lady Shiva, and Cheshire would be a terrifying triple threat. And if Shiva has coerced Cassandra to help? Very bad times ahead for Ra’s and Talia.

Let’s talk Talia. She only has a brief appearance in the cartoon but received a two-issue spotlight in the comic book series.

Talia is a more multi-faceted and likable character in the Young Justice-verse than she is in the mainstream DC universe.

Talia wants Bruce to love her but realizes he doesn’t/can’t – at least not the way she wants him to. She’s frustrated that her father doesn’t understand or accept this. She wants someone to see her as something other than Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter or Batman’s lover. Talia is very tired of the endless conflict between Batman and her father.

I believe Talia discovered the resurrected Jason. She brought Jason home with her so he could heal. Talia has been patiently waiting for Jason’s full recovery. In the comics, Talia didn’t push Jason into the Pit until Ra’s threatened to send Jason away. Clearly, this isn’t a worry in the YJ-verse so Talia would have no reason to immerse Jason in the Pit and risk the resulting insanity/rage.

Initially, Talia rescued Jason in the comics so Bruce would be grateful to her. Cartoon-verse Talia likely has a similar motivation.

What would cause Talia to throw Jason into the Pit – restoring his full mental capacity even at the risk of rage and insanity?

Two words: Damian Wayne.

Talia was holding baby Damian in her arms during the episode. Why introduce both Jason and Damian together unless their storylines intertwine?

I feel Ra’s successors in the League are going to pursue the remaining Al Ghuls. The League, by its various nature, is a bloodthirsty affair – predecessors aren’t allowed to live out their lives in peace. And Ra’s isn’t a “chilling on the beach” type of guy.

Damian is a newborn and I’m assuming he was conceived the old-fashioned way. None of this Talia drugged Bruce or stole his genetic material stuff. It wouldn’t be true to the Young Justice version of Talia.

Talia has a newborn and a price on all the Al-Ghul heads. Talia realizes Damian needs to be with his father for his own safety. Talia is unable – or unwilling – to leave Ra’s side. It’s possible an ambush goes very badly. A desperate Talia throws Jason into the Lazarus Pit. She orders the now fully restored Jason to bring Damian to Bruce.

Jason may not even engage in a “roaring rampage of revenge” against Bruce. Mainstream-Talia’s manipulations helped cause Jason’s revenge (“You remain unavenged”). Talia has no reason to amp Jason’s revenge in the YJ-verse – she needs Jason to get Damian and himself to Gotham asap.

Jason’s rage may not even kick in until after he hands Damian over – it could be days or weeks later when Jason discovers the Joker is still alive. Enter the Red Hood.

If Jason does go all revenge-driven Red Hood, I am going to be seriously annoyed if he focuses his anger on Dick and not Tim.

Bad enough Dick stole the founding of Young Justice and the Kon friendship from Tim, if he takes the “replacement feud” I’m going to have a fit.

Dick is the original Bat-Family thief – first Barbara has multiple accomplishments stolen from her history in order to make her Dick’s “true love”, and then Dick steals the founding of Young Justice and Superboy from Tim!

I love you, Dick, but stop stealing your sibling’s stuff. They are allowed to have accomplishments and storylines without you hogging the action!

[lizartgurl]

So I'm sure this has been asked but, What is Emma's relationship with her siblings/batfam? (Including Bruce)

Bless you Anon this gives me the excuse to post these aesthetics I made forever ago 😁

Richard is her little brother. The only blood family she has left. He hasn't always been there for her, but she's always been there for him and it feels wrong whenever he shuts her out or she doesn't know what's going on with his life. Still, sometimes all they need is a night flipping off the rooftops of Gotham and Bludhaven and it feels like they've never fallen out of touch. No matter how many terrible decisions he makes, she loves him with all of her heart.

Bette was the first friend she made after her parents died, so she really clings to her. She likes having friends she can trust with her secret ID. Bette is her worst impulses and the best of her control personified, she can tell Bette anything and Bette will encourage her to do things that are kind of stupid, but keep her from doing the truly stupid stuff. As far as Emma's considered, Bette is the greatest hero she knows. 

Honestly, Babs was always more Rick's friend than hers. Emma was surprised to find out that Barbara had become Batgirl (because Bette was already Bat-Girl haha) but she definitely came to respect her the more that they worked together, especially when Babs became Oracle.

Emma's relationship with Jason more or less started to spite Rick. They'd had one of their arguments right on the heels of his last big fight with Bruce and Emma really tried to replace Rick with Jason when he appeared, but she quickly came to realize that she loved Jason not because he and Rick were so similar, but because they were so different. She took training him very seriously and, of course, blamed herself when he died. After he came back and everything calmed down, Emma wondered if they really had replaced Jason with Tim, or if they could have done better by him. She wonders if those are questions that still need answering at this point, or if she should be happy that everyone still wants to be a family again. 

Emma was determined to keep Tim safe when Bruce agreed to start training him as Robin. She always let him know how proud she was of him and that he could talk to her if he needed help with anything, but admittedly, she thought he'd lost it a little when he said that Bruce was lost in time rather than dead. She has never forgiven herself for disbelieving him, and as such they have not been able to become as close as they were before Bruce's supposed death.

With Stephanie, Emma was always ready for more girl power. By this point, she was an experienced teacher, so she was able to be more precise in her teaching, which left time for the two of them to come up with new techniques and moves to use together with Steph's wit and Emma's powers. She enjoyed having Steph around to the extent that she'd adopt Steph herself if her mother wasn't still around. Steph is jealous of Emma's powers and how "hot" she looks, so Emma started buying them matching clothes and trying out makeup looks together. On quiet patrol nights, they can often be found in a milkshake shop with two cookies and cream with extra whipped cream.

Cass was always Barbara's daughter before she was Bruce's, but Emma was thrilled to have an actual sister. She knew a good bit of sign language from studying it in school, so she and Barbara would talk with Cass while the others were still learning. Instead of teaching this new Batgirl, Emma actually got a few pointers in stealth from Cass, as well as having Cass correct her hand to hand combat technique from time to time. Emma attends every one of Cass's dance recitals, and tries to encourage her other passions outside of crimefighting because she knows from her own lifetime that being a hero isn’t all you have to be, no matter what you’ve done in your life.

With Duke, it's a similar situation to Steph. But with Duke, Emma isn't sure what to define their relationship as because they know that his family is alive and out there, and Duke wants to find them more than anything. She'd hate to squeeze his family out of the picture or make Duke feel like he has to choose because she struggled with honoring her deceased family while also wanting to be part of her hero family. As the only two metas in a family of nonpowered vigilantes, they enjoy teasing the others together. "Oh you can't blind Riddler in the middle of the night?" "Too bad you can't taser Joker from a dragon's-eye view." She helps him train and control his light powers, and she won't deny she likes having another meta in the family. She loves Duke, but she's afraid to get too close to him because she knows they'll find Duke's parents one day, and she doesn't want Duke feel like he has to choose between his mom and dad, or her and Bruce.

Emma met Damian when he was three and was then sworn to secrecy. Talia didn't want Ra's to discover that she had the son of Batman, but she trusted Emma to help her hide him until he was older, when it was safer for him to come out into the open as the son of Batman. He was so quiet back then, with big, intelligent, brown eyes and a small smile that Emma was rewarded with if she was patient enough. After helping Talia escape the Shadows, Emma and the others didn't hear from Talia, or Ra's, for years until Talia brought Damian to the cave. Talia and Damian had been discovered and Ra's had taken him into custody of the Shadows, where he was trained to be an assassin. This twisted him beyond recognition from the sweet little baby Emma had met. She tried to love him like Talia needed her to do, but the only thing that would soften Damian was her cat, Justice. Dick also had the ability to be more patient than Emma, so Damian still prefers him over Emma, but if he just needs to sit without being bugged by Richard's endless questions, he'll hole himself up in Emma's room, where she'll put on any kind of music and Justice will hop up and lay on Damian's lap until he's okay again. Emma knows that his bratty stubbornness is an act hiding the sweet little boy she met all those years ago, but it still drives her insane. 

Bruce, like with each of his kids, loves Emma in his own way. Unlike her relationships with everyone else, Emma isn't sure if Bruce really loves her. She knows that he hates to show emotion and that he puts on a mask to protect himself and those he cares about, but she doesn't feel like she's close with Bruce. She's looked up to him and a mentor, for guidance and protection since she lost her parents and she absolutely craves having a parental figure to do those things for her, but she can't help but feel like her neediness will drive him away, especially now that Bruce has so many other kids who need him, Emma supposes, more than she does. Bruce has yet to notice this, but he does love Emma. She is the oldest out of all the children he's mentored, she's been with him the longest, she has the most experience, and she's not afraid to call him out on his stupid, compassionless ideas, so he relies on her more as a partner to help him protect Gotham more than seeing her as a child who also needs his help and care. 

[anicomicqueen]

Broken Promises - Ch. 2: Injustice

[Read Ch. 2 on AO3]

First Chapter

Dick pulled up into the circular drive of Wayne Manor and parked his bike right in front of the stairs leading up to the front door. He wouldn’t be staying long and he was afraid if he parked in the garage, he’d do something he would regret. Some of those cars were vintage. He pulled his helmet off and just sat there for a moment, staring at his reflection in the visor.

How had it come to this?

He’d been on patrol as usual. An easy day in Blüdhaven, convince a gang of teens to stop trying to rob the local bank and stay in school, help a drunk lady get into a cab instead of behind the wheel of her bug, check on the casino. He’d been on his way to the docks for a quick tour when he’d gotten a call from Batgirl over the comms.

“Dick.”

“Hey beautiful, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” He’d joked as usual. They were comfortable in their relationship non-relationship. It was a continuous dance with them. They’d work a bust together, end up at one of their apartments, and claim this was it. This was the time it would work. They would go in completely committed. And inevitably something would come up. They’d go about their business, tracking down leads, busting criminals, and they’d grow apart until a few months later when they would try again.

God. He wanted so much for it to work between them.

It was kind of funny to think that he’d despised the redhead at first. But he’d been immature, a preteen when Batgirl first appeared, and he’d been jealous that she’d been trying to impose herself on his and Batman’s gig. It had been what he shared with Bruce. And she had been an invader.

When he’d turned thirteen however, things had changed. Barbara had become a regular part of their quest. They’d become friends after constant exposure both in and out of costume, and over time the next few years that friendship had morphed into something deeper. Unlike his Teen Titan friends, Barbara was...Barbara. They’d fought together. They’d grown together. They’d shared their first kiss together. She’d become his most important friend.

He had still been young though. It hadn’t been until Dick was nineteen that he’d realized the extent to which he loved Barbara. When he’d learned that he loved her in the way that meant forever. But they had fallen apart over the years since he’d stopped being Robin and taken a new monicker. And she’d seemed happy and he’d had no right to try to come back after so long and intrude on her new life after leaving. So he’d kept his distance, sticking with his Titans. A decision he would later regret when Barbara had been paralyzed, and Jason had died. Because then, Dick had despaired. Because he should have been there. He’d cursed and blamed himself regarding both incidents. He’d regretted not being there for them. He’d regretted not coming home. He’d been so stupid to stay away because of whatever grudge his seventeen and eighteen year old self had harbored against Bruce. Robin had been years ago for him at that point and he’d no longer resented his mentor.

It was something he still thought about on occasion, even though Bab’s had had her surgery and Jason had been back for a while now. He should have been there...

“Dick. I said, you need to come back to Gotham. NOW.” The urgency in her voice had flipped a switch for him.

“What happened?” His stomach had coiled into tight knots, dreading her response.

She’d explained very briefly that Jason had shot Penguin and it had been broadcast live, that is was all over Chirper and Blastfeed for their area. She’d sent him an encrypted file to his phone. It had turned out to be highlights from the video feed of Batman’s cowl from just minutes before.

Dick had watched the feed. His heart had momentarily stopped beating and his stomach had dropped down to his pelvis as he’d watched Bruce attack Jason over and over. He’d listened to him shout and scream at his brother. Jason had gotten in a few snarky comments, but overall it had been less of a fight and more of a beating. There had been a moment when the feed flashed a dark blue and red and then all he’d been able to see was dust and the Gotham night sky through a hole in concrete. Then it had cut out, Barbara’s doing most likely, and then cut right back in to Jason, flying into a kick, but it hadn’t been a well thought out kick. It had looked desperate and messy. The look on Jason’s face had suggested only anguish. Something had to have happened during the few minutes of visual interruption. It had looked like someone had died. At the end, all it had taken was one punch from Bruce and Jason was out cold. The last visuals had been of red smoke swarming the rooftop and Bruce looking down at an arrow hitting his gauntlet before the feed went out.

Dick had sped home immediately after watching and changed into civvies before grabbing the keys to his other bike and tearing out of Blüdhaven. He’d worked as a cop in the area for a while, he knew where the patrol cars liked to hide. He’d deftly avoided those areas, but even if they had seen him, they wouldn’t have followed. It had been too close to Gotham city limits.

Gotham had been even easier to maneouver. He’d grown up patrolling her streets.

The whole drive had been a blur for him. He hadn’t been able to get out of his own head. The look on Jason’s face immediately after Bruce had shattered the Red Hood helmet...it had looked like Bruce had shattered that boy’s goddamn heart. It had been a look of surprise mixed with fear and sadness and regret and resignation. The way Jason’s eyes shone had spoken volumes of his inner turmoil. It had made Dick’s eyes water as he’d empathised with his brother.

Even now, he couldn’t get the look out of his head. He couldn’t believe that Bruce had done this. It was wrong. He didn’t care about Jason shooting the Penguin. There had to have been a reason, and it was their fault for not noticing something was wrong.

Dick finally climbed off his bike and decided to leave his helmet. If he brought it he was going to throw it. That could only result in something priceless breaking and Alfred cleaning it up. And as much as part of him didn’t care about breaking a useless thing, it wouldn’t be fair to Alfred. He wasn’t the one Dick had a problem with right now. So he left the helmet.

Dick skipped the stairs up to the door and threw the door open, before slamming it behind him.

Alfred came around the corner from the study and jumped in alarm.

“Master Dick!” Alfred was either surprised by his presence or surprised by his lack of tact in slamming the door. Dick didn’t take the time to decipher which was right.

“Where is he?” It was a growl at best and a snarl at worst. He didn’t actually need a response. He knew where the man was. Where he always was. He slipped past Alfred and stormed into the study, through the already open passage, and down the stairs.

He could see the shadow that was Bruce standing near the computer, cowl pulled back. He could have believed the man was frozen until he turned when Dick marched closer.

“How could you?” Dick shouted. “You fucking bastard!” He pulled back and threw a punch straight across Bruce’s jaw before grabbing the front of the suit and pulling the man down so they were face to face. “How could you?” He whispered harshly, still not wanting to believe the way this man had acted less than an hour ago. He made it sound like Bruce had betrayed him instead of Jason.

Bruce didn’t push him away and he didn’t say anything either. He just grabbed his jaw and cracked it back a forth a few times.

Dick made a disgusted tch. He let go of the suit and walked away so he wouldn’t hit the man a second time. “That was despicable, Bruce.”

“He broke his promi--”

“I don’t care what Jason did!” Dick snapped, turning back to face the man. “It doesn’t matter!”

“He broke the law.”

“So what?! We break the law every day! You’re a goddamn hypocrite, Bruce!”

“He shot the Penguin, Dick,” Bruce said through gritted teeth.

“And he’s not dead, Bruce! It’s all over the news. ‘Oswald Cobblepot in Critical Condition.’ Jason fucking missed. Too bad because Penguin is such a stand up guy,” he said sarcastically, snapping his fingers. “He’s never once done something to deserve it or anything. Just hurt and killed hundreds over the years and gotten away with it because he’s got money.”

Dick took a deep breath to calm himself. Yelling and sarcasm weren’t going to do anything for him in this situation. He closed his eyes, pushing the fire down.

“Bruce…” He started, choosing his words carefully. “Why is this different from when...from when I killed the Joker?” He paused. “Or do you just pretend that never happened? Because it’s something I can never forget.”

“That was different, Dick,” Bruce protested. “We resuscitated him.”

“It’s not different, Bruce.”

“The Joker played on your emotions,” the man tried to reason. “You thought he’d killed Robin.”

Dick shook his head. “You just don’t get it, Bruce. Yes, he played my emotions. But I was the one who acted on them. I thought he’d killed Timmy. And then...then everything just went white when the Joker mentioned killing Jason. I had been so controlled by my emotions in that moment that I killed Joker with my bare hands.” He lifted his hands and clenched them into fists to accentuate his words.

The fists shook, and he couldn’t stop them. Remembering that night was difficult because it had been terrifying to know that he was able to kill a man with these hands that usually helped people. He unclenched the fists and slowly brought his hands back down, staring at them.

“You brought him back, but it doesn’t change the fact that I killed him. And it doesn’t change the fact that I felt happy that he was dead.” Dick paused and then stared at Bruce imploringly. “You don’t think Jason was upset about something? That he didn’t at least have a reason for going after Penguin? Did you even try to talk to him? Did you even think to give him the benefit of the doubt?”

Bruce looked away from him, and Dick sighed.

“Look at yourself, Bruce,” he said. “You need to figure your shit out. Last week you beat Mr. Freeze to a blue and bloody pulp even after he’d stopped fighting and confessed and given you the information you needed to take him down. Now tonight, you were angry enough to attack someone you promised to protect? Jason may not be considered a child by the law anymore, but he’s still your child. And that child has been traumatized enough in his nineteen years of life. Having you, someone he relied on, come at him the way you did for him making a mistake? Come at him and not ask for his side of the story?” Dick shook his head solemnly. “I can still see the look on his face...You broke him, Bruce.” Dick let that sink in and started walking back up to the manor. “You need to go back and rewatch that footage. And I need to go find my brother.” Dick stopped for a moment on the stairs before adding, “And don’t even think about coming after him. You’ve done enough.” He then left Bruce standing in the empty cave, with nobody but the bats for company.

He walked back out the study and headed toward the entrance hall. Alfred was standing in the foyer.

“Master Dick?” Alfred asked when the young man passed back by him.

Dick flashed him a sad smile. “I’m heading out now, Alfred. I’ll let you know when I find Jason.” He opened the front door and paused. “Listen. I know Bruce is hurting because of the whole Selina thing. I’m not stupid. But he needs to take a step back to clear his head. He needs to talk to someone. Someone who is willing to help him. Someone who isn’t...me.” He shut the door behind him and checked his phone. It had buzzed a few times since he’d left Blüdhaven, but he’d been a little busy.

Three texts.

One was from Cass. ‘Saw video. Duke with me at Steph’s. Find Jason. Worried.’

He was glad to hear Cass had taken Duke with her. ‘I will,’ he messaged back.

Another from Tim. ‘Is Jason okay? He’s not answering his phone.’

Dick messaged back. ‘I don’t know yet. I need to find him first. I’ve got an idea of where he might be, but if you hear anything, lemme know. I’ll do the same.’

There was also a message from Damian. ‘I watched the news and Brown sent me a message. I’m staying with the Kents for a while. Keep me updated on the status of Todd. If I can be of use, don’t hesitate to call.’

Dick smiled. Tim and Damian were good brothers. So much had changed over the past few years. ‘I was gonna tell you to stay at the Tower, but the Kents is good too. I’ll let you know when I find Jason.’

There was a missed call from Donna and a voicemail. That was...odd. He swiped to check it. “Hey, Dick. It’s Donna. I just dropped Jason and Roy off at his place in New York. I thought you would want to know. Sorry I couldn’t stay with them. Please let me know when you get this. And when you find out if Jason is okay or not. I want to help in any way I can. Hope to hear back soon.”

He sent her a quick text as well. ‘Got your message. Thank you. I understand and I’ll keep you posted.’

He put the device back in his pocket, put his helmet on, and sped off.

Next Chapter

[ambiengrey]

Loitering Ch 4

Summarized for your convenience: summary.

<-previous

the need to know

“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

The ever-increasingly cold breeze nipped at the sides of his face, combed his fringe back from his forehead – a blur of white tipped black in and out of his peripheral like a phantom, a spectre only there when he wasn’t looking – as he marched up the driveway; fists clenched at his sides, steps determined and unfaltering.

By the time he’d reached the ornate gates and pushed them aside, he’d stopped thinking up excuses with which to explain his presence to whoever opened the door.

Not for the first time either, did he find the ease with which the gates parted for him suspicious, and in the same vein he shoved the thought aside, again; no desire to dig too deeply into what that might suggest.

Just as before.

And before…

Only one purpose stuck at the forefront of his mind as he trudged up the way, eyes focused on the looming wooden doors of the manor – imposing and impressive.

For the first time it occurred to him that, he’d never been as in awe of the manor as he might have been – by the time he saw the outside of it, glittering windows in the sparse Gotham sunlight, big brown doors, balconies and dense, flowering shrubs, sprouting creepy crawlies like veins up the walls, he’d already spent a night inside.

He’d never glimpsed the splendour from afar and paused, gaping up at its grey stone walls, stunned to silence by its majesty. Not only for the look of it, either, but for the legacy it carried.

Jason could actually respect the latter. Could understand the origin of the daunting weight settling on his shoulders whenever he approached the estate and had to look up to see the high rooftop, the castle-like cornices adorning the manor like a crown.

He had to wonder if he was the only one under the invisible pressure – as the lowest, most unforgivable, treacherous, wayward son, adopted though he’d been, of Wayne there was?

Were a million Wayne-eyes, ghostly apparitions in the windows, trained on him whenever he sauntered down the driveway – piercing gazes narrowed; judging, disapproving of him, and wishing him away by sheer force of will?

Perhaps that was why he loitered, rebellious by nature – a nature not of theirs – to taunt them back? To shuck off the heavy weight of their gazes and drop it at their own doorstep, only to stay defiant in their sights as long as he could manage rather than skip away, lighter than before, or enter, even, into their midst, free of their scorn – but – where they could not see him anymore…?

What was a rebellion worth when no one was looking?

That was only a rambunctious child playing pretend by himself.

Jason was no longer a child.

…

He did not come to be defiant, either, though.

Not this time.

It was his own fault he was so out of the loop.

He’d spent the last few weeks in a safe-house, perfectly determined not to set foot outside, where the world was steadily turning shades of molten gold and yellow ochre, deep dark brown, burnt umber and bright orange tinged red against a backdrop of dreary forever-grey.

Only when he could finally hold it no longer – a desperate, burning desire to know a fire kindled in his belly – and it was plain they were never going to find him, he was too well-hidden – and they, perchance, too busy to try – did he at last leave the safety of his nest, determined in his task.

He had to know.

He had to know.

If they’d been too late.

If they’d been at all.

If all his effort had been in vain.

He could feel the hope inside, wishing it hadn’t been for nothing, though he had no courage to voice it or even properly think it.

Jason couldn’t dare to hope.

Not when it involved him.

There had been no hope for Jason himself, after all – in a warehouse, a gazillion miles from home, bruised, broken and bloodied. Betrayed.

…A lot of b’s going on.

…

—Shit.

When had it become a joke?

Dammit.

That had been the entire point though, hadn’t it? To be funny.

Hopelessly funny.

Why would this time be any different?

Why would there be any hope for the Repla—

—but.

Hell.

He didn’t want to think like that, either.

Best to just not think at all.

Better simply to act.

He was good at that. Impulsive, sure – on occasion, he wouldn’t deny. But, more often than not he liked to consider himself a bit of a strategist.

He liked to plan it out. Assess the situation.

Contemplate every possible route.

Weigh one outcome against another. Evaluate the consequences.

Pick a path.

It only ever seemed impulsive, to everyone else.

Except when it actually was.

Maybe this had been, just a little.

Because shit. He was thinking about it now – wavering.

He stopped abruptly, hand raised inches from the door, frozen more than halfway through a motion that would have undoubtedly caused a hollow echo reverberating through the halls inside.

He very suddenly found it hard to breathe – consequences flitting through his mind, a sickening fear spreading its fingers through the fiery want to know, oddly unafraid of the flames, seeming instead immune and intent on smothering them.

What the hell was he doing?

Almost thankfully, he was spared having to answer that thought, when the door to his right – not the one beyond his raised left fist – swung unexpectedly open.

For shit’s sake he actually jumped.

A little, dammit.

Only a little – and why the hell not? He was on edge. Even fricking Nightwing would’ve pissed his panties. Probably.

“Barbie,” he very nearly croaked, his throat was so dry.

Not that she was any kind of Barbie-doll – in the sense of long-legged and tanned (though she had been that before, still kind of was), platinum blonde and baby blue-eyed with a red-lipped smile and a freaky fashion fetish for all things neon pink.

The nickname just kind of fell off his lips, habit now more than anything else because he knew it annoyed her – or maybe it was just the way he always said it – plainly spiteful and obnoxious – because at present, she didn’t have her eyes narrowed at him, no twitch at the corner of her – sometimes red, actually – lips in response to his address, which had been decidedly devoid of the usual tone.

Part of him was a little too surprised to see her, because he actually hadn’t – not like this – since his return from the literal grave.

In hindsight he should probably have expected her presence though – she shared in Dick’s sentiments that they were all somehow family in some form or another, though she’d never been considered a sister. You don’t lock lips with your sisters, after all (—Dick).

The pointedly-being-ignored bubble of hope in Jason’s chest swelled a little at Barbara’s presence, naively thinking if she were here then probably his replacement was, too, and they had found the idiot, after all.

It was a fleeting feeling, however, because Jason noticed almost at once the swell around Barbara’s – blue, in fact, and bespectacled – eyes, one part sleep-deprivation, one part resultant of too many tears, made doubly obvious by the red rims around those blue orbs, and little scarlet veins adding to the evidence of exhaustion as they criss-crossed their way through the white.

The bubble in his chest seemed fit to burst with strain – of fear and disappointment this time. Had they been too late? Had he been too late?

Was this Barbara mourning another dead Robin…? Had she come over to…comfort Grayson, probably, who would be a blubbering mess after losing another brother – and Alfred (oh, Alfred), and…and Bruce.

Did his little—

Did his replacement have a glass case with a tattered uniform to match his own?

What did his plaque say?

A Good Robin.

…

Another Good Son.

Jason bristled, and then felt a little ashamed for it.

If Tim was dead – and it took every ounce of his being to not just assume the worst based on Barbara’s eyes alone – well, then…

Shit.

And being jealous would be petty.

“Jason,” she said, and Barbara’s tone was a practised calm. Jason realised she’d sat there for all of ten seconds before she’d spoken.

Sat. There.

Confined to her wheelchair.

…

Maybe that had been part of his surprise at seeing her, even though he’d known about it. Still.

Talia al’Ghul – Batman’s baby-mommy and Jason’s…whatever the hell she’d been (saviour, mentor, mother-figure, friend, person-thing) – had kept Jason well-appraised of the Bat-family’s fortunes and misfortunes once she’d dipped him in a healing Lazarus Pit that either returned his mind to its former – albeit teenage – glory, or screwed with his sanity – the toss was still up on that one.

It was how Jason first learned of his replacement. And of the new, suspiciously quiet Batgirl that resembled her mentor so much it was stomach-curdling – to anyone she crossed paths with anyway.

And, of course, of the Joker and his still-beating black heart, still-breathing lungs, even though he’d murdered Batman’s Robin – and then some.

There hadn’t been any vengeance for Barbara either, though, granted, she hadn’t died like he had.

Still, Joker’s bullet could very well have done more than to paralyse her. Jason had idly wondered at some point, if she had died as well, would Batman have been driven to revenge after all? At the loss of a second partner?

Would Commissioner Gordon have avenged his daughter if the Bat would not?

His daughter who also just happened to be Batgirl.

Would they have done it together – for his daughter, and for his long-dead son?

Would Babs have come back from the dead, too?

…Babs.

Dickiebird called her that.

He might have lost it, Jason mused, if Joker had killed the always-assumed love of his life.

It would have broken him, afterward. Jason knew that much. Knew about Dick’s reaction to the thought of Joker hurting Tim, and knew about his reaction to him hurting the Joker to the point he was basically dead – if only briefly.

Dickiebird wouldn’t survive another loss of control like that. He’d be drowning in misplaced – because there’d be nothing guilty behind that madman getting what he deserves – guilt.

And dammit.

If Timmy was dead, Jason was doing it himself.

If Timmy was dead…Jason’s eyes very fleetingly flickered to the second floor windows, as if he could see Dick standing there. In the middle of his room, fists clenched, lips twisted, teeth grit in a snarl – the picture of hopeless frustration, bound by the Bat’s cruel, unfair sense of morality ingrained in the marrow of his bones.

Don’t fret so much, Dickie. I’ll make sure at least one Robin gets the justice we all deserve.

“I assume you’re here to see Tim.”

“No,” he answered at once, Barbara’s voice snapping his gaze back to her and his thoughts from its morbid revenge-takings.

Her eyes did narrow at him then, lips thinning as she regarded him, and Jason cringed inwardly at the quickness of his answer.

“No,” he repeated more slowly, more calmly. “I was just—” but no, he had no more excuses, but no desire to actually explain his presence either. “I don’t want to see him,” he settled on instead, firmly, because it was the truth.

He only wanted to know. He had no desire to see.

“Wait,” he started, only just realising what he was saying – what she was saying. “Ti—the replacement is…here?”

Barbara leaned back in her chair, fingers tapping at an armrest. She nodded slowly, after a second, ducked her head, “Yes.”

There was very little relief in her tone. It sounded more ominous than anything else.

“And, he’s…”

“Alive,” she supplied, which told him absolutely nothing.

Nothing good, at least.

Their once more littlest bird was not okay.

Jason’s bubble of hope had disintegrated entirely.

“I…” he started into the silence. Kid wasn’t dead, at least, but he wasn’t alright either. Jason didn’t need to know more than that. He certainly didn’t want a catalogue of the little bird’s injuries – physical, mental, emotional, and/or whatever shit else there was.

He was not okay. That was enough.

Apparently, there was vengeance to be had, after all.

“Got to—” he was going to finish that sentence with ‘go,’ and then leave very determinedly, but—

“Sorry, I’m ready now, we can—holy crap, you’re Jason Todd.”

“No kidding,” he replied, eyes narrowing, fingers twitching with irritation.

Stephanie Brown was – more the Barbie-doll personified than Barbara – an ex-Robin, too. Cut from the same cloth of abundant “recklessness” as Jason himself, apparently. It got her fired before it got her killed, and then she died, anyway – only she didn’t – and now she was Batgirl, which…the Dark Knight either had no say about, or didn’t actually mind, after all.

Truth be told, Jason should admire her tenacity or something, but at the moment all he could manage was annoyance.

Stephanie was Tim’s ex-girlfriend – and apparently he had Dick’s same penchant for staying friends with exes – and he was upstairs, somehow not okay, and she was down here smiling.

There was a bounce in her step as she appeared behind Barbara’s wheelchair, a lightness to her tone, a pleasant curve to her lips and a happy glint in her – completely different form Barbara’s – blue eyes (even if they were also obviously freshly dried of tears).

It grated at Jason’s skin.

Jason couldn’t imagine even Dickie – who was more often than not considered the sole definition of happiness, for shit’s sakes – smiling while their little—

Dammit.

His. His – as in Dick’s – little brother was somewhere upstairs, not okay.

“Wow, that’s one intense bat-glare,” she remarked suddenly, blinking at Jason before she leaned a little towards Barbara, “Or is that just his normal expression…?”

The corner of Barbara’s lips quirked up into a little smirk, briefly, but she didn’t reply. Stephanie didn’t seem to actually want an answer anyway, though Jason didn’t give her chance to—

“Don’t compare me to him,” he snapped, and then felt stupid, because it sounded childish.

The girls didn’t reply. Instead, Stephanie said, “I assume you’re here to see Tim, and Bruce.”

Barbara shifted in her seat.

“No,” Jason scathed, harsher than he would have if she hadn’t mentioned Bruce.

Stephanie frowned and pursed her lips like she disapproved of that about as much as Jason had of her smile.

“Well, you—”

“—should,” came, quietly, with the swing of the left-sided – from where Jason stood – door, enough to reveal a short, half-Asian girl, dark hair pulled back, her eyes dark brown and peering up at him as she curled around the door, a tattered-looking book Jason couldn’t see the cover of clutched to her chest.

Damn, Replacement – apparently Dick really was rubbing off on the kid – who else was going to jump out of the woodwork just to see him?

Huntress? Batwoman? Catwoman? Wonder Girl?

That last one actually seemed likely.

And then, none of them did – as secret identities went, the three Batgirls were the only ones in the know. Jason was only mostly assuming. And yes, he was just going to collectively refer to them as the Batgirls now, for ease of monologuing – though he knew Barbara went by Oracle now and Cassandra, that was her name, had passed on the mantle to Stephanie.

She was stationed mostly in Hong Kong, according to Jason’s intel – no longer Talia, as a side – but Jason had glimpsed her flitting across rooftops, either patrolling or searching for Tim – or both – the past month. Two.

…

Almost three.

…

…His stomach twisted just thinking about it, so he stopped.

Cassandra Cain was a weapon, Jason had thought, watching her work, too curious not to, even though he really hadn’t had the time – his lead had already been old by the time he picked up the trail and getting colder by the second. Still, it was him, so it was worth it.

Pretty Bat was lithe and agile enough to rival Dick – flexible in a way few of them truly mastered – and tall, despite her lack of actual height, fierce and commanding enough to rival Bruce – invoking fear with little more than a look.

She went by Black Bat, Jason had heard, which, he’d thought, was only a little redundant since bats were already black – or so went the general assumption, anyway, but who was he to criticize, really? He went by the colour of his hood. Not technically, but if you didn’t know the history there you wouldn’t think anything else.

“You…want to.”

It took him a moment to realise what she’d said.

His arm had come down from the door at some point he didn’t remember, and he clenched his fists at his sides now, so tight the leather of his gloves squeaked with the strain.

“Like hell I do!” he snapped, glaring daggers at her.

She didn’t even flinch.

“Hey, no need to be such an a—”

But Barbara’s hand came up, almost lazily, and Stephanie cut herself off, just as Jason turned his glare back on her.

“Let’s just go, Steph,” Barbara said, tone dry. “Jason’s a big boy. He knows what he’s doing. And I’m late, besides.”

She regarded him over the rim of her glasses, and Stephanie didn’t hide her scowl either, grabbing hold of the wheelchair’s handles. Cassandra made no move to help, and Barbara’s fingers curled securely round the armrests as Stephanie made to wheel her right down the porch’s steps.

She only made it so far as the first edge before Jason had come round to the front of Barbie’s perch, fingers reaching for the armrests, only just not touching them as he met Barbara’s gaze, “Let me…”

She didn’t seem surprised in the slightest, though Stephanie had halted the chair a little abruptly. Jason chose to ignore that. Both of that – all of that, really, he needed no remarks on his behaviour. It was the decent thing to do and that was it.

He had no doubt Stephanie and Barbara had probably done this before, or else strong little Cassandra might have jumped in – not that Jason knew enough to assume, but she was a Bat, it seemed to go without saying. Only, he was there and doing nothing, plus Barbara seemed peeved at him, which sucked for some reason, and he didn’t know how else to apologize for whatever the hell he’d done this time.

Gaze unwavering, which only served to make his skin crawl, Barbara released the armrests and brought her hands up, making room for him. Grip sturdy, he gave Stephanie a quick glance before they lifted the wheelchair in tandem, hovering it just enough to move it smoothly over the steps and place it safely down on solid ground again. Jason kept his eyes on his hands, well-aware of Barbara’s on his face.

Leaning a little forward put her face inches from his own, still bent forward as he was, and Barbara’s hands came back down to settle on his wrists, squeezing slightly. He flinched, looking up at her.

Her eyes looked hazy, but serious, through the glass, and her deep red hair framed her face, spilled over her shoulders in waves of fire and blood.

“Thank you,” she said, so low he didn’t think the others could hear, and Jason’s brow furrowed – she couldn’t mean this. “For what you did for Tim.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he replied, just as quiet, if so much more strained, before, jaw firmly set, he made to straighten, intent on forcefully plucking his arms from her grip, but she let him go without protest and he stepped back, trying to remember how to breathe.

Stephanie gave him a pensive look he pointedly ignored, even as Barbara turned her gaze away, started pushing herself in the direction of the car. “Let’s go, Steph, Alfred shouldn’t be long.”

“Right…” and she wandered after Barbara, Jason’s gaze following them both for a moment – he hadn’t even seen the car parked off to the side when he’d approached the manor, too fixated on the doors.

That right there was an excellent display of his night-work skills.

Alfred was probably driving them home, but the car in question was much too expensive to be anyone’s but Bruce Wayne. Jason contemplated how not long Alfred would take and how fast he’d need to walk to get back to the gates and disappear without them passing him, when—

“Wait,” Cassandra spoke, not as quiet as she had before, but still as firm, and Jason, skittish as a cat for crying out loud, felt his shoulders twitch. The shorter girl – by at least half a head – skipped down the steps towards him, holding out her book, pointing one finger at it, “Read. Please.”

Jason snatched it only a little less politely than he could have, still a little irked, and read the title aloud, “Beauty and the—” he cut off, not only recognizing the too-large, slanted and half-crooked letters scribbled with a thick Sharpie, but the roughly bound book with its thick cover and curled pages as well. He knew if he opened the book there’d be a couple pages at the beginning in his own handwriting, the pencilled words probably faded and the paper yellowed with age, the rest neatly typed out on thick white sheets, finishing the story. “…Beast. This is mine,” he finished with a stunned mumble, before he gathered himself enough to demand, “Where the hell did you get this?”

“I’m afraid that was my doing…Jason,” came the reply, even as Jason looked up to glare at Cassandra – who had her head curiously tilted at him, but said nothing. She hadn’t been the one to speak; instead, the culprit stood just over her shoulder – tall and slim, and forever dressed in a neat black and white suit as if he owned absolutely nothing else—

Alfred.

There had been only the briefest of pauses before Alfred had said his name, as though he’d never hesitated, but that only made the absence of ‘Master’ all the more striking. Jason was no longer a master in the manor.

“My apologies, sir. Miss Cassandra expressed the desire to read to young Master Tim,” Jason only just managed not to twitch. “And as you might recall, Master Bruce has a large collection of frightening variety, but alas. None seemed appropriate for Miss Cassandra,” he smiled at her briefly, and only then did the girl taker her eyes off Jason to smile back. Jason would have shifted his weight, or looked at her properly when she moved, if he wasn’t so frozen. “I directed her to your collection instead…” Alfred’s weary eyes fell on the book Jason was unconsciously clutching with all his fingers, and rested a gloved old palm on the cover. Alfred didn’t look at him when he spoke again, but Jason couldn’t keep his eyes off the old man’s face – it had been too fucking long.

“I’m afraid I’d quite forgotten your penchant for rewriting library books in your own hand, before you could type them out. Cheaper than buying them, you used to say. More honest than simply keeping one. Practice, besides. And I believe, apart from your many Robin trinkets, your library card was your most prized possession.”

Jason couldn’t add to the conversation for the lump in his throat, though he did manage a weak nod. Alfred’s head came up and Jason lowered his gaze, no desire to catch sight of whatever disappointed expression Alfred felt fit to grace him with. The old man’s hand slipped from the book to straighten his coat.

“Do step inside, sir,” Alfred said, in that tone Jason had heard so many times as Robin and brooked no argument. “Before you catch a cold. For all that winter is on the rise still, the chill is hardly bearable.”

And then he was gone, stepping almost regally towards the car. He’d started it up and was backing out the driveway before the feeling returned to Jason’s fingers.

For all that he’d been “saved” from the streets and adopted by Bruce, was trained by him, had been his partner, his failure, had called him…Dad, on occasion…Alfred was the one who’d raised him.

A single one-sided conversation with the man and Jason had the same sickening churn in his gut that he had months ago – when he’d called Tim Timmy, of all the damn things.

“You’re more than welcome, you know…”

Jason’s head snapped up, a firm scowl on his face as he locked eyes with Dick, who stood on the porch’s first step. Jason shoved the book at Cassandra, not quite bothering for her to actually take it before he let go. For all her grace in a mask and cape roaming through darkness, the girl scrambled awkwardly to stop the book from falling. Jason had spun around to leave before he could tell if she’d managed.

“Wait,” Dick called, of course. “Where are you going?”

There was an itch between Jason’s shoulder blades. A quick, throbbing pulse in his neck. A twist to his stomach and his head ached. Honestly, he couldn’t care less where he went as long as he went away. But he thought of Timmy. Still not okay.

“Something I got to do,” he answered offhandedly, though his tone was strained, throat still dry, not certain why he was replying in the first place.

Though he’d started walking off, and not exactly slowly either, he could still hear Cassandra’s quiet input – to Dick – “The Joker.”

He quickened his pace, clenched his fists, and would have marched right down to the gates without falter, no matter what the hell Dick tried to say to stop him – dead or alive, replacement or not, Tim deserved a little justice; they all did – only—

Of all the things Jason thought Dick could possibly have come up with, this never even made the list, and hearing it Jason couldn’t do anything else but stop.

“Joker’s dead, Jason.”

next->

[digidetective-shararaizel]

Parent Troubles

Summery: Jack has found out about Tim's nightly activities as Robin and blames Tony for being a bad influence. Tonight, Tim gets to see his bio-dad and the Bats out of uniform while attending a fundraiser gala, but they're not the only people he finds himself reunited with.Takes place a few months some time after No Man's Land but before the events of the Avengers movie.

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out. Like the last two, it ended up longer than originally intended. It's also not as fluffy as I wanted, but we do get to see Barbara, Steph and Cass for the first time. Let me know how I do.

Full series AO3 link

My Master List for Fan Fiction

Parent Troubles

2012

Cassandra and Stephanie had Tim in tow as They made their way through the ballroom looking for Tony Stark so that Tim could introduce them. Tim was a bit nervous. He wasn’t sure how they’d react to his dad or how he would react to them. A lot had happened over the last six months in Gotham during No Man’s Land and all that had happened afterward. Namely, what had happened nearly a month ago, after Jack found out that Tim was Robin. No. That Tim had been Robin. He wasn’t anymore. Steph was Robin now because Jack hadn’t taken it well and Batman needed a Robin. Tim and his father had argued a lot and Jack had yelled at Tony over the phone about it too. He blamed Tony for putting ideas in Tim’s head about becoming a superhero.

When he’d managed to secretly meet up with Dick after school one day and told him what had happened, the older vigilante had found it amusing that Jack seemed to blame Tony more for Tim becoming Robin than he did Batman. Tim didn’t find it funny at all. It wasn’t Tony’s fault. Tony had had nothing to do with his decision to become Robin, though Jack didn’t seem to think so and had forbid Tim from seeing Tony. He’d even confiscated Tim’s Stark Phone. Not that it had stopped JARVIS from hacking into his new phone, or Jason from dropping by when no one but Tim was at home, but Jack didn’t need to know that. Essentially, Tim hadn’t seen Tony since that trip he’d made last fall and found out that Jason Todd was living and recuperating at the Stark Manor in Malibu. That seemed like forever ago. No Man’s Land had happened right after that and everything just seemed to come to a head and led to Jack finding out his secret.

Now Tim was attending a city fundraiser gala with Jack and Dana (his new stepmom) where (surprise!) Cass and Steph had found him and dragged him off to find Tony. Tim was surprised that Jack and Dana let him go, but - then again - neither of them knew that the girls were Batgirl and the new Robin or, apparently, that Tony was in Gotham that night.  They’d probably just assumed that they were friends of Tim’s from school wanting to hang out.

When Tim finally spotted Tony, he wasn’t surprised to see Jason “Peters” lurking in the background while Tony made small talk with some other big-wig out-of-town donators for the night’s fundraiser. Jason also happened to be scowling at a cheerful looking Dick Grayson who was saying something that only seemed to irritate Jason more. Tim smiled fondly at the sight and realized that if Barbara and Bruce were around then the whole “Bat Family” (as Tony liked to refer to them as) would be present.

“Hey, Tim.”

Ah. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, as they say.

“Hi, Barbara,” Tim said, turning to smile at the lovely young redheaded woman as she pulled up in her wheelchair next to them followed by none other than Bruce Wayne himself and Alfred Pennyworth. Cassandra moved to Barbara’s side in an instant and gave her mentor a hug.

“Bruce. Alfred,” Tim said, greeting the two men.

“Tim,” Bruce said back with a bright Brucie Wayne smile. “It’s good to see you. How have you and your father been faring?”

“We’re alright,” Tim sighed with a smile. “Still working through some things, but we’re good.”

“That’s good to hear, Master Timothy,” Alfred said genially with his usual small smile.

“Get away from me, Dickface,” Jason suddenly said loud enough to get their attention as he stomped over towards them. Tim was a little surprised when Jason stopped next to him and gave him a playful nudge with his elbow. “Sup, Replacement?”

“Jason,” Tim sighed, smiling wryly at the older teen.

“Aww! Little Wing!” Dick whined with a pout as he joined them, but Jason moved to make sure Tim stayed between them. This both irritated and amused Tim, though he could see Stephanie eyeing Jason wearily. Her first encounter with Jason had happened shortly after she’d become the new Robin and Jason had started returning to Gotham regularly as the Red Hood. It really hadn’t gone well. Red Hood hadn’t exactly beat her up or tried to kill her like he had when he and Tim had first met, but he hadn’t been particularly civil either. There had been an epic rooftop brawl though, from what he’d heard from both parties. Jason hadn’t taken Tim’s quitting the vigilante life very well.

“No! I’m done dealing with you,” Jason growled. “Go pester someone else. Don’t make me shoot you.”

“Tony didn’t give you that side arm to shoot people for being irritating, Jay,” Tim sighed.

Jason tisked, but since he hadn’t made a move for the permitted side arm they all knew he was carrying no one was worried about his idle threat.

“Dick,” Barbara said sternly, “don’t be an ass.”

Dick chuckled, flashing Jason a devilish grin, but stopped playing ring-around-the-Timmy with him and settled behind Barbara’s wheelchair so that he could give her a playful peck on the cheek.

Jason huffed, and crossed his arms before bumping his shoulder with Tim’s. “How’s civilian life treating ya?”

Tim snorted. “How do you think? I know you and Tony have been keeping tabs on me. You’re as bad as Babs and Bruce.”

“Hey!” Barbara cried, though Bruce looked more amused than irritated by the comment.

“It’s because we care, Timmy,” Tony’s voice suddenly said before the man’s arm wrapped around Tim’s shoulders when he came up behind him.

“Yeah, nothing says that more than a daily cellphone hack and a dozen or so hidden cameras in my room,” Tim deadpanned, though everyone only grinned obnoxiously at him.

Tony laughed before letting Tim go, allowing him to turn and get a proper look at the man. He looked good.

“Hey, Timmy.”

“Hi, Tony.”

“Can I have a proper hug from my Godson now?” Tony asked, arms slightly extended. The man still wasn’t much of a touchy feely person, but he was learning. Having Jason living with him for most of the last year had been good for both of them it seemed. The man was more open to hugs these days though he was still awkward when initiating them.

Tim huffed good naturedly but accepted the hug. He’d really missed Tony. Talking to JARVIS on the phone and getting updates and messages from Jason just wasn’t the same.

“You’ve gotten taller,” Tony commented.

“Nah, you just got shorter,” Tim quipped back.

“Smart ass,” Tony snorted.

“I learned from the best,” Tim chuckled.

“Damn right you did,” Tony laughed, with a smirk. “Now are you gonna introduce me to your lady friends?”

“Sorry,” Tim said, turning to the blonde on his left. “Tony, this is Stephanie Brown.”

“The infamous Steph I’ve heard so much about?” Tony asked, grinning as he offered her his hand. “A pleasure to meet you at last.”

Steph blushed, but appeared pleased. She knew how much Tony meant to Tim, though she - like everyone else except for Jason and Bruce - didn’t know their real relationship.

“And these lovely ladies?” Tony prompted, looking over towards Cassandra and Barbara.

“Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon,” Tim said, gesturing to each in turn.

“Ah,” Tony said, grinning as he shot a sly look at Dick, before turning on the charm. “Now this really is a pleasure. Timmy’s told me a lot about both of you, and Bruce and Dick speak very highly of you, Miss Gordon. I’m told you’ve got quite the set up back at your place. Timmy’s even showed me some of your little gadgets. It was some very impressive tech.”

“Oh?” Barbara said, clearly flattered and then became amused when she caught sight of Dick’s scowl.

Tim sighed. Tony couldn’t help baiting Dick, could he? He was starting to doubt that those two would ever get along.

Then Barbara and Tony began to get into some complicated techno talk about computers and various projects they’d worked on while being playfully teasing and even a touch flirty. Jason and Dick seemed to have a role reversal mere minutes into the conversation. Dick looked very grumpy and kept glaring at Tony while Jason practically looked giddy upon seeing how much it was bugging Dick that Barbara was enjoying conversing with Tony. Cassandra also looked amused, though she clearly had no idea what Barbara and Tony were talking about and had moved back over to Steph and Tim to talk about school and how Tim was handling life without a cape. Bruce and Alfred were now talking to Jason, and Tim was glad to see that Jason appeared to be more relaxed when talking to Bruce. He’d heard that Jason had been visiting the manor and had begun reconciling with Bruce about the older teen’s death. Whatever therapy Jason was going through when he stayed with Tony was doing wonders.

That is when Gotham apparently decided that they weren’t allowed to have nice nights like this so soon after No Man’s Land and something exploded near the front entrance of the gallery that was hosting the gala. There were screams and cries of alarm as people began to run and push and shove their way as far from the explosion as possible.

Jason and Tony were in action almost immediately. Tim wasn’t sure where they’d been keeping Tony’s portable suitcase armor, but Tony was suited up in seconds and Jason had his sidearm drawn and was making his way after him, shoving people towards the back exits as he went. Cass, Steph, Bruce and Dick had practically vanished, leaving Tim alone with Barbara and Alfred.

“Never a quiet night,” Tim huffed.

Alfred merely quirked an eyebrow, but Barbara was grinning wryly at him.

“TIM!”

“And cue my worried parents,” Tim sighed when he caught sight of Jack and Dana pushing their way through the panicking crowd to get to where Tim, Barbara and Alfred had managed to stay out of everybody’s way by remaining where they were against a far wall. There was no way Tim was going to leave Barbara in her wheelchair to maneuver through the crowd. It wasn’t that Tim didn’t think Barbara could handle herself. Quite the opposite in fact. It’s just that in their panic, people might knock her chair over and trample her. It was safer to wait for the crowd to thin a bit.

Jack’s hand felt like a vice as it grabbed his arm and began to yank him towards the exiting crowd.

“Dad, calm down,” Tim hissed. “I’m fine.”

“Why weren’t you trying to leave?” Jack demanded. “Thought you’d stay behind and help?”

“I thought I’d keep my friend company and help her out once the crowds thinned a bit,” Tim snapped, gesturing to Barbara and her chair.

“Jack,” Dana said softly, placing a gentle hand on the man’s shoulder. “Let him go. He’s fine.”

Jack flushed slightly, though whether it was in anger, or embarrassment, Tim wasn’t sure.

“Babs, this is my father, Jack Drake, and my step-mom, Dana” Tim said once Jack had let him go. “Dad, Dana, meet Barbara Gordon.”

“Pleasure,” Barbara said, shaking Dana’s hand.

Jack seemed to have collected himself and shook her hand as well. “Yes, a pleasure, I’m sure. But I think it’s high time we got out of here.”

Tim nodded as he looked over towards where the explosion had occurred and could hear the whine of Iron Man’s repulsors and the occasional gunshot, and saw the occasion blur of black as Batman and the others arrived to help.

“Yeah,” Tim sighed as he and the others moved away to the back of the hall where everyone was scrambling to get through the back exits. Once they got mixed up in the crowd, though, Tim found himself separated from the others. He could hear Jack yelling for him and tried moving towards the sound of his voice, but someone grabbed his arm from behind.

“My apologies, boy, but I’m going to be borrowing you for a short while,” a man’s deep voice said in his ear to be heard clearly over the din of the chaos still going on around them.

“Who are you? Let me go,” Tim hissed, shoving at the hand that had a solid grip on him.

“Now, boy, is that any way to speak to your uncle after all these years?” the man behind him asked. “Janet would be so disappointed to hear that her son has lost his manners. Although, because it’s me you’re being rude to, she might have been proud instead. She loved giving me hell.”

With a growl, Tim whirled around and faced a tall impeccably dressed, but formidable looking man wearing an eye patch over his right eye and had snow white hair. It was Slade Wilson, otherwise known as Deathstroke the Terminator to the caped crowd.

The man’s words suddenly hit him with all the metaphorical force of a speeding train. His mother was supposed to have a brother that no one had been able to track down after her death. There had been no record of him after his stint in the army nearly two decades ago. Jack had once described him as eccentric, wild and uncivil. Neither of his parents had seen him since Tim’s first birthday when Janet had apparently had a bad disagreement with him. Her maiden name was Wilson. His uncle was Slade Wilson, the Terminator: Deathstroke .

“Oh fuck,” Tim gasped, feeling slightly numb.

“Now he figures it out,” Slade grumbled before yanking him through the crowd.

Tim was reeling in so much shock he didn’t even try to resist as Slade manhandled him through the crowd and into a car.

“Come on, boy, it isn’t that shocking,” Slade snapped as he put the car in gear. “And put your seatbelt on.”

Tim numbley did as he was told as Slade smoothly pulled away from the curb and began to quickly leave the scene, though not fast enough to warrant attention from police who were just now arriving at the scene of the gala.

“Where did you think you got your athleticism from? Certainly not Jack. What exactly did you get from that moron? You look nothing like him to be honest,” Slade mused. “You look more like you’re Stark or Wayne’s brat. What the hell did Janet see in that man?”

“I am so confused right now,” Tim sighed. This man wasn’t quite what he’d expect Slade Wilson to be like after all he’d heard about the mercenary from Dick, the older Titans, and Ravager, Rose Wilson. Who was Slade’s daughter… which made her Tim’s cousin.

“What’s there to be confused about?” Slade huffed. “Your mother married a pansy.”

“Why am I only finding out about you now?!” Tim cried.

“Because your mother told me to stay out of your lives when I showed up on your first birthday after a job and nearly blew her cover with Jack. Don’t know what the problem was. The man’s so thick he never once suspected her of being a spy,” Slade grumbled. “He’s never liked me, though, and the feeling is mutual.”

“Mother was a what?!” Tim screeched.

“A spy. Are you deaf?” Slade scowled. “She worked for the CIA. Why else would she marry Jack? He was the perfect cover and allowed her to travel all over the world on all sorts of trips for so-called business meetings and archeological discoveries.”

Tim stared out the windshield unseeing, connecting dots and putting together facts about his mother that he’d never been able to make sense of before. The constant traveling, the way she’d always seemed to keep Tim at arm’s length, like she didn’t want to get too attached to her own son, and the depths she went to, to ensure that Tim had Tony in his life. Little things like that in her mannerisms and habits suddenly made too much sense.

“Fuck,” Tim breathed again.

“Yeah, Janet’s good at messing up people’s lives. Even in death,” Slade growled.

“If my mother wanted you to stay out of my life, why make contact now?” Tim demanded.

“To keep your ass safe, of course. Janet would find some way to haunt me if anything happened to you. After she died, I got a letter asking me to keep my eye on you. Not that it mattered. You’d already become Robin by the time I tracked you down. So now we’re going to have to have this little family reunion fast before the Bats and Iron Moron realize you’re missing and try to track us down,” Slade said, though he looked a little too gleeful at the prospect.

“Wait, so the robots attacking the gala weren’t your doing?” Tim asked.

“No, but they provided one hell of a distraction, and I’m not one to let a good opportunity pass by.” Slade smirked, pulling the car into the back of a parking lot and got out. He had put a hat on to cover his distinctive white hair and had the brim pulled down low to leave his eye and eyepatch in shadow. “Come on, runt. We’ve got some things to talk about before your guard dogs start sniffing out the trail.”

Tim cautiously followed Slade onto a busy street. Slade grabbed him by the arm so that they didn’t lose each other on their way down into the subway. Tim had some trouble keeping up with the man’s long strides, but he managed not to trip over himself too many times before Slade shoved him into a maintenance room that had a well hidden secret passage into a long hall that went on for blocks and led to a safehouse of sorts. Tim was surprised to find himself in a nice townhouse. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, it was only a few blocks from his school. That was unnerving. How long had Slade been watching him?

“So what’s this about?” Tim asked.

“This,” Slade said, pulling an envelope out of a wooden chest on the mantle in the living room. “This letter was sent to me by someone after her death was confirmed. An old CIA buddy, no doubt.”

Tim took the envelope with trembling hands. The addresses on the envelope and the letter inside were all written in Janet Drake’s neat cursive.

Slade,

If you are reading this, then I am dead. Looks like I wasn’t the death of you after all, big brother. I know we haven’t spoken in years and I told you to stay out of my life and Tim’s, but now that I’m dead I wish to take it back. If I’m dead, it’s likely that Jack is dead too, and that means that Timothy only has Tony Stark. As much as I like that man, I don’t fully trust him to take care of Tim. Especially now that he’s Iron Man. Consider it my dying wish that you watch over my son. I know you’re shit with kids, but just keep your eye out for him, Slade. He is a Wilson in all but name and that’s going to get him into serious trouble one of these days. He’s going to be great someday. You love to say that I am the reason your hair went prematurely white, so if that’s true, then Timothy is going to make you bald. There are a million things I want to say to you, my dear older brother, but half of them are curses and the other half is just too sappy to write down without me wanting to vomit, and will have you wanting to gouge out your eye, so I’ll spare the both of us.

I’ve left a box of things for Tim at your Gotham address for when he’s older. Please make sure he gets it.

Take care of him for me, Slade.

Your baby sister,

Janet

Tim read the letter twice before he folded it back up and handed it back to his uncle.

“There’s one for you too,” Slade said, pulling out a second envelope from the chest, this one still sealed and unread as far as Tim could tell as he turned it over in his hands. There was no address. All it said was “Tim” in his mother’s neat cursive on the front. With slightly shaking hands, Tim opened the envelope and took out a page of crisp stationary.

My dearest son,

If you are reading this letter, then I am dead and Slade has found you. He is your uncle, Timothy. My older brother, whom I trust enough with your life, despite whatever I’ve said about him to you. Though his morals may be questionable, family means a lot to him.

I know you think that I don’t know about your new nightly habit of sneaking out to train with the Batman, but I know that you’re following Tony’s example and are training to become the next Robin. Depending on how long it takes my letter to find Slade, you may already be Robin and have heard about him from in a less than spectacular light.

But I know you will give him a chance if only on the merit of him being your uncle. There is more to him than the mercenary, Timothy. There is more to him than Deathstroke the Terminator. He just may be a complete ass about it at first unfortunately. He’s sadly a touch insane, but his black heart is still in the right place and is capable of some emotion.

I want you to know that I love you very much, Timothy. I know I never said it often. I know I was hardly there for you, but I did love you. I loved you enough to make sure that you had Tony and that he remained a part of your life. I loved you enough to make sure I wrote one of these letters before every trip I took in case I met my inevitable end. Slade should have them all. I know that it can’t ever make of for all the time lost between us, or make up for how horrible of a mother I was, and how much of your life I’ve missed, but it’s all I have left to give you.

I love you with all my heart, my darling son, and am so proud of you.

Your mother,

Janet Wilson-Drake

Tim swallowed as he read the letter, holding back tears. His mother had known, and seemed to have approved of Tim’s actions to some degree. However, She was entrusting his safety to Slade fuckign Wilson, even though she had to have known that Deathstroke and Batman had clashed on more than one occasion. Just because his mother and uncle had been staying out of each other’s lives didn’t mean that they hadn’t been keeping tabs on the other’s activities. You can’t completely avoid someone if you don’t have any idea of where they are afterall.

“Why is my family life so messed up?” Tim bemoaned.

“Because you’re a Wilson by blood, sister’s spawn,” Slade chuckled softly.

“But why are you only showing up now?” Tim asked. “Mother died nearly two years ago.”

“I didn’t get my letter until last year,” Slade sighed, taking a seat in a wingback chair. “As you already know, we hadn’t spoken in years. She kept to her life and I kept to mine, making sure our paths never crossed. I have safe houses that she didn’t know about. She sent her letter to the last place she knew I was living. It got forwarded a bunch of times until it ended up at our idiot brother’s address in New York.”

“Wait, I have another uncle?” Tim gasped.

“We don’t like to talk about Wade,” Slade growled. “ He is certifiably insane. Can’t take that moron anywhere. He got some unsanctioned experimental bullshit done to him and now he’s practically immortal. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to kill him, but the idiot won’t die and now I’m stuck with him. Why couldn’t it have been Janet? Her kind of crazy was easier to deal with.”

Tim stared at Slade in alarm.

“Just stay away from a guy in a black and red suit that’s similar in design to mine and goes by the name of Deadpool and you’ll be fine,” Slade sighed. “Point being, short stuff, I didn’t get Janet’s letter because it was forwarded to our crazy brother who forgot he had it until his girlfriend found it while she was cleaning house. Then the annoying bastard decided to personally track me down and deliver it. By then you’d already been Robin for a year, Jack was awake from his coma, and you didn’t really need me. I have kept tabs on you, though. You maintained impressive grades considering how you were spending your nights.”

“Uh, thanks?” Tim said.

“In all seriousness, kid,” Slade said, “I wanted to talk to you tonight to let you know that I’m around if you need me. I might not always be here, but if I am in Gotham, I can be found at this address. You can come here whenever you need to. It’s not changing.”

“You’re not afraid that Batman might already know this address?” Tim asked.

“Kid, so long as I’m not up to anything in his city, the Bat and I leave each other alone. And even if I am up to no good in this city, I sure as hell am not staying here when I do it,” Slade laughed. “And speaking of the Bat, I better get you back home before he and Iron Man start looking for you.”

“That’s it?” Tim asked, “You just drag me off, show me a couple letters Mother wrote years ago, and just send me on my way? Wouldn’t it have been a lot easier to just approaching me at the gala and show me the letters there?”

“And let the Bats and your Dad listen in?” Slade scoffed. “Look, kid, I don’t care if they know we’re related, but I figured you’d appreciate a private conversation considering the fact no one outside of the CIA knew that your mother was a spy or that her two brothers were still alive after leaving the army, one of whom after being dishonorably discharged.”

“You?” Tim asked

“No, Wade,” Slade grunted. “I went into the CIA for a short time before I got into the mercenary business. I swear Janet only joined up too just to piss me off. Speaking of which, if for whatever reason you do need me and I’m not here, call this number,” he said as he flipped open Tim’s phone (when the hell had he taken that?) and started hitting buttons. “I put it under Winters. It’ll call a friend of mine, who’ll get in touch with me. If you can’t get a hold of him and he doesn’t get back to you no matter how many times you call within a twenty-four hour period, then - and only only if it’s an emergency - call Wade, whose number I’m also putting in here.”

“Wait, didn’t you say that I should stay away from him?” Tim asked, confused.

“Unless it is an emergency,” Slade repeated with a sigh. “He’ll probably talk your ear off when you call, but he’ll get here faster than anyone else since he’s only a couple hours away in New York. Oh! Almost forgot.”

Slade got up from his chair, took the chest off the mantle and handed it to Tim.

“It’s full of letters and things from Janet for you kid. There are hundreds of them,” Slade said.

Tim took the chest, examining the ornate carvings all over it’s wooden surface. Curious, Tim flipped open the lid and saw bound bundles of hundreds of letters and a few large envelopes that looked like they held objects in addition to the letters. Slade gently set Tim’s letter on top of everything and shut the chest.

“Don’t open anything until you’re home alone,” the man said gently. “Once you start, it’ll be hard to stop.”

Tim nodded, wordlessly following Slade - his uncle - out of the townhouse and into a garage where a sleek but unremarkable black car waited. The drive to Tim’s house was a quiet one. Neither spoke until Slade pulled the car up to the Drake house, where Jack burst through the door almost the moment Tim stepped out.

“TIM!”

Tim wasn’t surprised to see Dana right behind him or a couple figures moving slightly in the shadows. The Red Hood’s helmet gleamed briefly in the tree next to Tim’s bedroom window.

“Where the hell have you been?!” Jack cried, racing forward, gripping Tim’s arms tight and shaking him slightly.

“Relax, Jackie boy,” Slade drawled as he got out of the car and came around to stand by the passenger door. “He was with me.”

“You!” Jack growled, pushing Tim behind him as if to protect him. “What are you doing here, Slade?”

“I’m just bringing my nephew back home,” Slade said, smirking. “He got separated from you in the crowd at the gala and I offered him a ride home. We did take a detour over to my place, however. I had a few things of Janet’s that she wanted me to pass on to the boy in the event of her death.”

“It’s true dad,” Tim said gently. “Mother left a chest of things for me at his house that she didn’t want me to have until I was older.”

“What things?” Jack demanded.

“Letters, mostly,” Slade said, shrugging. “Janet was a practical woman. She wrote Tim a letter before every trip you two took when globe trotting in the event that something might happened to her. Now if you don’t mind, Jack, it’s late and I’ve got an early flight to catch tomorrow morning. I’m sure Tim is also anxious to go through the things Janet left him. Do call if you need anything, Tim.”

“Uncle Slade!” Tim called out, shoving past his father to stand before the man. “Thank you.”

Slade’s smile actually looked soft and genuine when he looked down at Tim. He hefted the chest out of his car and gave it back to Tim.

“You’re welcome, Tim,” he said. “I know that Janet would be very proud of who you’ve become.”

Tim nodded, stepping back to stand by Jack and Dana as he watched Slade get back in his car and drive away. Tim sighed, staring down at the chest in his arms.

“Please excuse me, Father,” Tim said softly as he headed inside the house.

“Tim, wait!” he heard Jack say, but Dana stopped him.

“Jack, let him be,” he barely heard her say in a soft tone. “He’s home. He’s safe. He wasn’t out fighting.”

Tim couldn’t hear anymore of their conversation as he slipped upstairs and into his room. He set the chest on the foot of his bed and stared at it for a moment, trying to reconcile all that had happened in the last couple of hours.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the window opened and Red Hood slipped in with Robin and Batgirl.

“Tim!” Robin cried softly as she practically tackled him into a hug. “Are you alright? The boss man was really worried when O reported that you’d disappeared.”

“Tony was too,” Jason sighed as he pulled off his helmet. “What the hell happened, Baby Bird?”

“Baby Bird?” Robin repeated, voice squeaking a bit as she stared at the young man in surprise. Obviously she’d never heard that particular nick name out of the many Jason had given Tim over the last year.

“He’s tiny and he was Robin,” Jason snapped defensively. “Kid was practically a baby compared to Dickface and I when we wore the uniform.”

Batgirl said nothing, but the slight shaking in her shoulders told Tim that she was laughing at the exchange. She sidled up to him, her full face mask giving nothing away.

“You okay?” she asked. “What’s in the box?”

Though she spoke quietly, Jason and Robin heard her and stopped talking.

“Letters,” Tim answered, flipping the lid open. “They’re all from my mother.”

“Why the hell did Slade have them?” Jason asked.

“Mother left them with him, I guess,” Tim said, picking up the first bundle of letters. There was fifty in the stack held together by a couple rubber bands. All had his name on the front. “Slade is her older brother.”

It got dead quiet in the room.

“You have gotta be shitting me,” Jason gasped. “Fucking Deathstroke is really your uncle?! That wasn’t just some bullshit cover story?”

“That’s not all,” Tim sighed, handing him the letter he’d read at Slade’s.

Jason’s eyes got bigger and bigger as he read it. Robin and Batgirl were up on their tiptoes to read over his shoulders.

“She knew?” Jason whispered.

“Yes,” Tim sighed.

“Do you think she knew who Batman is?” Robin asked.

“Highly likely,” Tim sighed. “My guess is that she did and was too smart to say so outright in her letter in case it fell into someone else’s hands.”

“I’m still wrapping my head around the part where Slade fucking Wilson is your uncle,” Jason growled. “Tony’s not going to like it.”

“Neither is the boss man,” Robin sighed.

“Well too bad,” Tim snapped, taking his letter back from Jason and shutting the chest full of letters. “I can’t help who my family is. It’s not my fault my mother was a spy and has two crazy mercenaries for brothers.”

“Your mom was a spy?!” the trio gasped.

“CIA,” Tim answered shortly. “So was Slade until he got into mercenary work, apparently.”

“No wonder you’re so good at being sneaky,” Jason mused. “You get that from your mom’s side apparently.”

“Yeah,” Tim chuckled darkly. “Got just the right amount of crazy in my blood too with my mother being a Wilson and all.”

“Tim,” Robin said softly, reaching out a comforting hand.

Tim stepped out of reach.

“If it’s all the same to you guys, I’d like to be alone right now. I’ve… got a lot to think about.”

He didn’t hear or see them leave, but he knew he was alone after a few minutes of silence. Letting out a long tired sigh, he got out of his suit, showered, and put on a pair of comfortable sweats and a large old worn t-shirt that he was pretty sure had been Dick’s at one point in time. Then he crawled onto his bed and stared at the chest full of letters.

When he finally mustered the courage to open the chest again, he pulled out the first bundle and undid the rubber bands. It wasn’t until he moved to open the first letter in the bundle that he realized that the back of each envelope was dated. The bundle he held dated back a year before his mother died. Putting the bundle back together, Tim searched through the chest until he found him mother’s first letters, dating back to just a few months after he’d been born.

Then he began to read them. The letters that covered the first two years of his life weren’t that long, but they were full of lovely sentiments and Janet’s hopes for his future. At least a third of the letters, however, had been written during her trips and occasionally had pictures of the places she’d been. As he went through the years through the letters, they got longer, and he occasionally found pictures of her with Jack or Tim as a child. He had found one particular letter that had been written a few months after his third birthday with a picture of Tim sitting in Dick Grayson’s lap with Janet, Jack and Dick’s parents standing behind them.

Her letter was full of reassurances that even though Dick’s parents were dead, that the boy would be fine. That she believed that there was a life after death and that Dick was sure to see them again after he died, and that Tim would get to see her again when his time came. It was one of her longest letters, one that she’d written in the event that she might die during the trip that she and Jack had taken soon after two of the three Flying Grayson’s had fallen to their deaths. Tim kept that letter and the picture out and set it on the bedside table in a small pile of letters that he wanted to reread later.

Tim kept reading through the night going through letter after letter until he came back to the last one she wrote - the first he’d read - and read it again. He let the tears flow, feeling true grief for the loss of the woman who had been his mother, who had been made real again through these letters. He felt like he knew her more now than he had when she had been alive. He missed her, mourned for her, and felt emotions that he felt hadn’t been there the day of her funeral when he’d watched them put her in the ground. He hadn’t known that woman then, but he knew her now and it pained him that he only got to know her after she was gone.

He wished that he could have spent more time with her. He wished that he could have gone on some of the trips that she’d written about and taken pictures of. That he could see the places she’d found and bought the trinkets that were kept in the larger envelopes. One trinket in particular was a necklace made of thick hemp cord with seaglass beads woven in the fibers and had a shark’s tooth dangling from it. If her letter that came with the necklace was to be believed, she’d gotten the shark’s tooth from a diving expedition that nearly went wrong somewhere in the Pacific Isles where a great white shark nearly took a bite out of her and her scuba instructor. Janet had found and collected the tooth from her wrecked diving bag that had been recovered and had a local Samoan weaver make the necklace and carve symbols of strength and love into the shark tooth.

Tim put the necklace on his side table on top of the letters he’d kept out. There were quite a few of them.

He jumped when he heard a knock at his the door before Dana slipped in.

“Did you stay up all night?” she asked.

Tim glanced out the window and realized that the sun was starting to appear in the sky. It was a good thing it was Sunday and he had no school.

“I guess I did,” Tim said, his voice a little hoarse from his crying.

“May I?” Dana asked, gesturing to the bed.

Tim nodded, putting away the rest of the letters that he wasn’t keeping out, as she sat beside him on the bed.

“Your father and I had a talk last night,” Dana said.

“I swear, I didn’t do anything,” Tim groaned. “I didn’t try to go back and fight whatever the hell attacked last night’s gala. I was lost in the crowd trying to find you but Slade showed up, dropped the bomb that he is my uncle and told me he had some things from my mother, gave me the chest, and drove me home. That’s it. Nothing happened.”

“I believe you,” Dana said, smiling softly. “Do you want to talk about her? I know Jack doesn’t like to, but I am here if you want to, Tim.”

“Thanks, Dana. I know why my father doesn’t talk about her. I don’t either. But now there’s…this,” he said, gesturing to the chest. “Before, there wasn’t anything to really talk about. I barely knew her. To be honest, I barely knew either of them. I didn’t start getting to know my father until after he woke up from his coma. It’s kind of hard to talk about someone you didn’t know.”

Dana nodded slowly. “And now?”

“Now… now I know what she must have been like,” Tim whispered, his throat tightening like it was trying to choke him as the words started spilling out. “I know how much she loved me. I know that I was always in the back of her mind. She wrote to me before every trip in case it was ever her last. She wrote all those letters like they might be the last thing she would ever get to say to me. And then there are the ones she wrote while she was on her trips about all the places she’d been and the things she’d seen. She wrote about where she’d want revisit to take me on trips with her one day. She wrote about how she wanted to show me the Pacific Islands for my sixteenth birthday, about her plans to get Tony to come out with us and trick him into paying for the whole thing.”

Tim’s strangled laugh turned into a wrenching sob.

“For my eighteenth she wanted to take me to New Zealand to visit and hike places the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed because she knew how much I love those movies. She wanted to track down and introduce me to Slade and reconcile with him. She regretted that she hadn’t tried to find her brother after his wife and son had died. She regretted that she’d spent so little time with me. She regretted being an absent mother. She regretted putting her job first and me second even though she thought about me all the time. She’s written so much and now that I’ve read everything that’s in that damn chest, all I want is to find more!

“I want to find her journals and the diaries she refers to in her letters. I want to find them so that I can know what her childhood was like with her brothers. To know how she met and fell in love with my father. I want to know more about her trips, and her life that I never knew about aside from the destinations. I want to know so much more about this woman I never knew when she was alive, and feel awful that I felt nothing when she was buried.

“I couldn’t look past her absence and didn’t love her as much as she loved me. She says it in every letter and I can feel it bleeding off the pages. It kills me that I can’t even recall a single time that I told her I loved her. But I must have, right?! She had to know that I loved her. That I only wanted to be with her. Oh, God! I wish I could see her one last time if only to tell her that I’ve read every letter. That I love her as much as she loves me. That I want to make her proud, that I want to take those trips and see the things she wanted me to see. I wish I’d said goodbye.” Tim choked. “I never got to say goodbye.”

It was like a dam had broke. His tear ducts were working overtime, producing wave after wave of tears. He found himself sobbing into Dana’s shoulder as she pulled him into her arms, her hand in his hair, shushing him and saying incomprehensible but soothing words. He wasn’t sure how long it went on, but when the tears finally stopped, and his breathing - though still hitching - was returning to normal, he found Jack sitting on his other side, gently pulling him out of Dana’s arms and into his own. They didn’t exchange any words. Jack just held Tim and began rocking him slightly, as if he were a little boy again. The action was more soothing than anything he could have possibly said, and Tim felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.

Before he succumbed to sleep, however, he vowed to be a better son. He promised himself that he wouldn’t let Jack remain a stranger in his life. That he wouldn’t have to bury the man without knowing who he was, like he had with his mother. He might miss being Robin, maybe even regret giving up the cape, but he would give it all up again to have this chance to know his father. To know Jack, and get to know Dana better. He swore that he would stop dwelling on what he missed about being a vigilante, and focus more on his family.

Author’s Note:

I KNOW! I KNOW! I totally failed to drag myself out of the darkness and keep this a fluffy piece like I'd intended. I found myself crying as I wrote the ending of this chapter because of all the feels. I actually had to get up an walk away from it for an hour before wrapping it up. I'm actually kind of mad with how depressing this chapter ended, but I just couldn't deal with writing more for this chapter. I'll try to post a new chapter soon that'll be nothing but pure fluff. Maybe I'll write about Jason and Tim racing hamsters or something.

I'm really kind of bummed that Steph and Cass weren't in this as much as I'd originally wanted. Maybe it's because I'm not as familiar with their characters as I am with everyone else's, that I kept hitting road blocks when writing them in scenes. And speaking of characters that I'm not familiar with, I totally hadn't intended for Slade to show up this chapter, but he muscled his way in anyway and then decided to go "oh hey! Here's some angst for you" and dumped a chest full of letters from Janet into Tim's lap. I must apologize if Slade comes off incredibly OC in this fic. Some of you may have caught my hints that Janet had a brother that could possibly be Slade or Wade Wilson and I have had some readers guess that her brother would turn out to be one or the other but you're all right! It's both! Though technically it was Slade that was being referred to in chapter six's funeral scene because (as Slade said this chapter) "we don't like to talk about Wade." So yeah. Tim's family situation continues to get crazier and crazier. The kid was never meant to be normal, the poor boy. XD

I hope I did alright writing Slade, Cass and Steph (even though the girls weren't in the chapter much). I realize that they are perhaps the most OC of any of the characters that I've written so far, and I'm afraid that it shows that I'm just not as familiar with them as I am with the others like Bruce, Tim, Tony, Dick and Jason (the last of which I find kinda funny because I haven't read his character in any comic apart from the new 52 Red Hood and the Outlaws comics). If you guys have any advice about writing Slade, Steph and Cass's characters, please tell me because the only thing I've read Steph and Cass in is the Red Robin comics. Slade, however, I've seen in Teen Titans, Young Justice, the DC animated movies, and CW's Arrow (all of which are different characters in their own ways, especially in age). The Slade I'm kind of leaning towards and referring to character-wise, is the Slade Wilson in the Arrow tv series on CW.

The Slade Wilson in my fic is probably in his early to mid 40s, but looks like he's in his 30s because of the procedure that gave Slade his regenerative abilities and heightened senses. For the sake of simplifying things (and because I'm not familiar with his comic origins except for what's written on wikipedia), let's just say that Slade has the same regenerative abilities as Wolverine and Deadpool, and went through a sanctioned secret government experiment that was very similar to the one Wade (who I'm gonna base off the Deadpool movie for most if not all of Wade's backstory and characterization) went though but didn't didn't have any adverse results because he didn't have cancer, though it didn't regenerate his eye because that happened before he went through the procedure.

Alright gang, technically this is where this fic ends things before we get to the events surrounding the Avenger's film. I won't change this fic's status to complete just yet, however, because there are moments I want to go back to and write little chapters for, like hamster racing, and happy times with a younger Timmy interacting with Tony, Pepper, Happy and Rhodes. If there's anything you guys would like to see, please feel free to drop a suggestion in a comment or something.

This of course means that I'm finally getting ready to actually write the Avengers plot lines. As you know (If you ever bother to read these author's notes) I have 3 main plot lines that I'm toying with and am going to write as their own separate stories that'll all exist bus as their own AU in this same verse. So for all three plots, this is where the plot lines diverge into their own realities, so keep your eye out for new fics under the new Tim Drake-Wayne-Stark series tag that I've added. :)

[redrobin-detective]

I'm a writer and I've gotten a couple complaints that my characterization/psychological state is off. I was wondering if maybe you could give me a little synopsis/character analysis of the main Batfam? Especially Bruce, Damian, and Tim? Those are the ones I'm weakest with. I've looked to many of your answers for more information on the characters and I just want to thank you for being so in depth!!!

It’s hard man and, wow, thank you for the compliment but I’mnot perfect either. With Batman there’s so much history and variability that Icherry pick the parts I like best and combine them to create the ‘ideal’character for my tastes. So keep that in mind, there’s no one right answer.

Bruce- Bruce is one of the most caring people you will evermeet. Such a big heart that loves super intensely. But he’s afraid and he’svery damaged from his experiences. He has all this love but he a) doesn’t knowhow to healthily express it and b) is afraid to acknowledge/express hisemotions for fear of being hurt again. So he comes across as kind of a coldjerk a lot of times. But as he adopts his children (big heart again) he reallydoes make and effort and does as much as he’s capable. He messes up, a lot, buthe still cares. The mission is the most important thing, just slightly behindhis family enough even he forgets sometimes. Motivated and obsessed, hesometimes pushes himself and his feelings too far with consequences.

Dick- Outwardly very bright and cheery, happy and full ofhope and love. It’s one trait he maintains but as tragedies continue in hislife, he hides of that away and instead puts up the mask of a goofball tocompensate. Refuses to be like Bruce but sometimes acts like him anyway. Such apeople person, can make friends in an instant. Observant and caring, sometimesa little overconfident and patronizing but he means well. Being a bigbrother/mentor is very important to him, he loves trying to help out thoseyounger than him to avoid repeating his mistakes. Wracked with guilt and griefand anger that he keeps bottled up cause he hates those negative emotions butthey manifest and cause lots of damage cause he never learned to deal withthem. While he seems easygoing, he’s very stubborn and hardworking and wouldmove literal mountains for those he loves.

Babs- Barb was a very cynical, mature young woman who becameBatgirl as a fuck you to her dad for not letting her join the police force.Eventually she came to love the thrill and intellectual challenge and doinggood. But she grows up and decides Batgirl is a child’s thing and puts it awayjust before her accident. The accident changed her, once a sassy but playfulknow-it, now she’s bitter and angry at her circumstances. It’s unfair whathappened and she broods in her loss, lashes out and pushed people away. Onceshe realizes that she’ll never not miss her legs, she moves on. She’s harsher,more cutting but she’s got her life back and she won’t let her paralysis defineher. Forms the BOP, works with Batman and makes a real difference as Oracle.She’s still angry a lot, bitter but she’s learned to work through it, channelher feelings into positive manners. She’s warm and comforting to those underher wing, an unofficial mom/big sister but a vicious storm to those she fights.

Jason- Jason was a street rat from day one. He grew up incrime alley with a criminal father and an addict mother, he learned to be toughand survive and fight dirty. But despite everything, he still avoided doingmuch crime himself and maintained a good heart. Despite this he has angerissues and insecurities and fears of being just what everyone said he was.Death didn’t help. The Pit scrambled his head, amplified his negative traitsand made him a bit crazy for a while. It calmed down eventually but he’d made alot of enemies and he didn’t regret too much. Through that all, he still caresfor people though, all his murders are done to save people. He’s still bitterwith the batfam, angry about being replaced but he’s tentatively working hisway back in. It’s not easy and they’ll never truly be on good terms, he’s adarker hero now and the Pit still influences him, but he wears the Bat and thatcounts for something.

Tim- Tim’s parents were away a lot as a child so he neverreally developed any bonds. He grew up quiet and alone, honing his intelligencefor lack of anything better to do and a bone deep understanding that he wasn’timportant or worthy of love. He love B&R, looked up to them as heroessaving the city, being important was lowkey obsessed as lonely kids are. Hetook over as Robin, unwillingly at first but then he saw it as an opportunity todo some good in his life, help people. He didn’t think he’d last. As a Robin hewas quiet and contemplative, always hung back and observed rather than jumpingin. Prone to depression and extreme anxiety. Probably the closest to B butstill very warm and friendly, he put everyone else before himself. He gainedsome confidence and grew into himself. When things turned bad, Tim nearlycrumbled. His eternal hope and optimism was darkened and made smaller. It madehim harsher, more willing to bend, not break, the rules. He became more self-reliantbecause people let him down and he won’t make that mistake again. Bitter still,but underneath he’s still that lonely boy who just wanted to help but he coversit with meticulously plans and calculated moves.

Cass- It took Cass a while to learn how to be a personinstead of a weapon. She hated herself and what she’d done (been forced to do)as a child. She was wandering, aimless until Batman found her and gave her backher purpose. Batgirl is so fulfilling for her, to use her skills for goodinstead of hurting people. She’s very kind, she doesn’t want to hurt but shealso will fight against those who do wrong. Very out of touch with culture andpeople in general, especially because she can’t read/write and doesn’t speakwell either. It makes her feel isolated but she tries to move past that. Very curious,loves to explore new things and meet people. Confident in herself but like haveyou seen Cass, she’s every bit as skilled as she insinuates. Loves her newfamily to death would do anything for them. Falls in love with beauty, sheloves dance because it’s a chance to use her natural body reading and movementsto make something beautiful instead of deadly.

Stephanie- Steph is a bit of a wild child, a normal kid but incrediblybrazen, even more so than most teens. When she starts as Spoiler, she reallydidn’t understand the risks and what she was getting into. But as she gotdeeper into the hero gig, she learned how treacherous and demanding it is butshe fell in love with the rush and feeling of accomplishment and also Robin.She wanted to be helpful too, she wanted to feel important and on top becausefor all of her life, she’s just been Cluemaster’s stupid kid. Bubbly but not tothe point of ignorance. She’s happy because she chooses to be and not let theworld drag her down. But it covers a bitter mean steak. Has a mean punch andwill take down anyone threatening or demeaning her. She’s angry at her dad, atTim, at Bruce, at Gotham for how things went down. But she took a page fromBarbara’s book and squared her shoulders, looked her troubles in the eye andsaid fuck off. Very open and playful because if she gives in to all thehardships in her life, that would feel too much like losing.

Damian- Damian was raised a killer but, more importantly, hewas raised to be Batman’s downfall and to eventually become Ra’s vessel. He’sarrogant and rude and doesn’t think he needs anyone. But time with the Batstells him that he doesn’t know everything and the way he was raised wasn’t thebest thing. Dick absolutely changes him; he looks up so much to the acrobat andactively tries to change for him. But changing comes naturally, he develops hiscompassion and builds a relationship within the family and a connection withRobin. He really comes to enjoy this new family and life but he’s insecure andterrified that it will all get taken away: Robin and his family and he’ll besent back to the League. He’s afraid that no one will see that he’s changed or,worse, that he really hasn’t. Covers his fears with sass and false bravado, ‘fakingit until making it’ so to speak. He’s still angry and more violent but he’sworking hard against those ingrained ideas. Feels a strong connection withanimals because they trust him and don’t judge him for his past. Awkwardlyformal and uncomfortable with people, especially kids. He was never allowed tobe a kid himself so he’s very mature but also aching for love and attention.

Also throwing in this bad boy for relationships between the fam, hope that helps!