#bruce was going to foster them

[flamingpudding]

UNO reverse B-

"And with this, the tree of you would be now legally in my care. Alfred will have your rooms ready by the time we arrive at the Manor." Bruce smiled at the three children sitting across from him at the table.

The oldest of the three, Jasmine a red-haired girl, probably about Tim's age, picked up the papers and was reading through them, eyeing him every now and then.

The youngest Danielle, a girl younger than Damian that looked like the splitting image of her brother, the middle child and only boy among the three, eyed him distrustful and was muttering something about fruitloops. Maybe he could go buy some for her on their way to the Manor.

The middle child Daniel, a boy a little bit older than Damian and appeared to have a similar temper considering the glare the boy was sending him ever since it had been mentioned to the three that he would take them in for the time being. He wondered if he should warn his own children just in case this boy had a similar tendency. The kid definitely knew his way around weapons, considering how they met.

But suddenly Daniel smirked and slammed his hand on the table, the same time the youngest girl started to giggle, and the oldest placed the papers back on the table, pushing them back towards him, shaking her head with a fond smile.

"I don't think so, man." The boy started slowly lifting his hand from the table, revealing a green UNO Reverse Card. "I think. I will be the one taking your family in. Ghost adoption, you know? Considering you have a halfa in the making, who will need guidance and protection and pretty much all of you Waynes are liminal."

[dcxdpdabbles]

Bruce: Listen up. I've been contacted for an emergency foster placement. It's for a pair of siblings found by Batman a few hours ago, and I need everyone to act like they were randomly woken up at two am. How fast can everyone get to the manor?

Barbara: Everyone should be back within ten minutes. What's the foster placement story?

Bruce: A meta child was kidnapped from his home. His sister managed to trail them over the Stateline and set the house he was being kept in on fire. I stopped her from hurting anyone, but when Child Protective Services arrived, they were attempting to separate the teens due to her "unstable" reaction. I was able to convince them to give her to Bruce Wayne, who's trained for such placements.

Tim: Is she dangerous?

Bruce: No, I think she was just desperate.

Damian: What are the Meta's powers?

Bruce: Flight, invisibility, and intangible. I believe he has more, but I need to test him for it. It's still up for debate if he isn't half Martian.

Dick: Is there anything else we should be prepared for when they arrived?

Bruce: Yes, the siblings are in some kind of cult. They kept chanting "Going Ghost" when they were attacked.

Duke: That's the chat for the Phantom cult

Cass: How do you know that?

Duke: I had a life before the We are Robin movement. Phantom cult started out in Amity Park but spilled into major cities after it was posted online. I was pretty high-ranking for the Gotham sector.

Dick: ......are you still in the cult?

Duke: Nah, after Phantom vanished, it turned more into a group of people gossiping about how hot he was. I was in it for the cult stuff, not the harem stuff.

Bruce: .....I'm going to have to focus on the fast approaching traumatized children but I will be speaking to you about that Duke.

Duke: Okay, but I took a blood oath to not share our ceremonies. I will pass along some of the fanfiction. There was a lot of it focused on steamy smut, but the plots were immaculate.

Jason: Can you all disconnect me from this call? I don't even live at the manor anymore.

[starry-bi-sky]

"Stillborn? No, no, still born." -- DPXDC AU

Based off a comment I saw where Bruce knew about Talia's pregnancy in the earlier comivs, and was ecstatic to be a father. So much so that Talia feared he'd give up being Batman for it, so when she gave birth she put the baby (Damian) on a doorstep and (seemingly) told Bruce that the baby was stillborn.

Instead of Damian, that baby was Danny! Meet Daniel Brown, the 14 year old foster kid whose been living with the Fenton family for the last two years. He's about two years older than Damian.

His last name, "Brown", was a generic surname given to him because the note he came with didn't have one on it. It just had the name "Danyal" on it, but albeit 'Daniel' was the one that had been put into the system for, I'll be totally frank here, racism reasons.

(I looked it up to make sure, and it's generally not permissible for foster parents to change the names of their foster kids even if it's a permanent residency, and for that reason Danny doesn't have the last name "Fenton".)

Danny's got ✨~issues!~✨ He's been through a handful of homes growing up, most of them terrible for a variety of reasons. Which has, as a result, left lasting scars. He's generally a very sweet kid, just very distrustful and jumpy. He's got the signs of a kid suffering from PTSD, and a handful of other issues including attachment and insomnia. His inferiority complex could rival Damian's, and that's going to make for an interesting mutual hatred for when they finally meet.

(something I'll get into later)

He still has the blanket he was found in. It's made of a very high quality material and is a beautiful emerald green with little golden thread accents, it's high quality as a result has Danny clinging onto a desperate hope that his bio family might be out there, and the only reason they gave him up was because of some outside factor. It's been taken a few times in old foster homes, and he's flipped out each time.

While he still calls Jack and Maddie by their names, he likes them well enough. The bar isn't that high though, and while they're some of the better foster parents he's had, "better" doesn't equal "safest". Their laboratory malpractice. Basically, C- Fenton Parents. They're negligent by virtue of being engrossed in their work, but they do care equally about Jazz and Danny. So he doesn't hold it against them that much.

He kinda prefers it that way, their loud affection is overwhelming and Danny doesn't know what to do with their attention, even if he craves it. It's a bit of a complicated situation.

They took in Danny because they genuinely wanted another child, but didn't want a big age gap between them and Jazz. It was actually Jack's idea to foster, and they discussed it with Jazz beforehand. She was all for the idea. Thus, a handful of weeks later, a ton of paperwork, and inspection later, and Daniel Brown entered their household with a trash bag in one hand and eyes like shards of stained glass.

His relationship with Jazz is kinda strained, but that's by virtue of her constant psychoanalyzing and helicoptering. Like with the parents, Danny's overwhelmed by the attention and also just, straight up doesn't like the fact that she's telling him that there's something wrong with him. He knows that, thank you. He pushes her away when she does this.

Other than that though? When Jazz isn't smothering him and is acting like an actual sibling and not a third parent, they're pretty close, and Danny really likes her. They've hung out a few times on their own volition, and Jazz showed him how to take better care of his long hair.

His school situation,, pretty similar to canon with the bullying, albeit with a few more instances of him blowing a fuse and lashing out against his attackers. He's a rather angry kid, but it's quiet. It builds up, piles on top of itself, until eventually, like a volcano, it erupts and burns everyone within radius.

Danny's got a fire core, not an ice core. Phantom's hair is made of white magma; thick and heavy, setting itself on fire when his anger runs hot. When he gets angry, his skin begins to char and split open to reveal pulsating lava underneath, and he crackles and pops like a raging forest fire.

I haven't decided yet on how he meets the batfam -- i've got two ideas but they're both in opposition to each other, and drastically alter how the rest of the plot goes. But I do know that him and Damian hate each other in the beginning. And it has nothing to do with inheritance or "being the blood son" -- although their blood relation absolutely plays the major role in their disdain for each other.

Simply put, they're jealous of each other for the same thing: thinking that the other was wanted.

Damian hates Danny because, unlike Damian, Bruce knew about Danny since conception and wanted him from the moment he heard about him. He had a whole nursery set up, and still does. He never took it down -- just locked the door. Damian was thrust upon Bruce without warning, and he feels like he forced himself into the family. And while on some level Damian knows and understands that Bruce wants him and loves him as much as his other children, that doubt and feeling of inferiority still remains. He looks at Danny and sees him with what Damian always feels he needs reaffirmed.

Meanwhile, Danny hates Damian because he looks at him and sees him with everything Danny's ever wanted. He hates him because Damian grew up knowing both of their parents, with one of them for most of his life, and then moved over to the other. There was never a moment where Damian was (seemingly) left to doubt his place within the family. Damian was raised with the very same woman who left Danny on a doorstep, with no clue to his identity beyond a little green blanket and a note with only a first name. Damian was wanted everywhere, and Danny was wanted nowhere. Damian is Danny's replacement in his eyes.

(It's the little revelation that Damian grew up with their mother that elevates Danny from being quietly envious of Damian to downright despising him. What did Damian do, that Danny didn't? He could live with Damian living with Bruce -- Bruce didn't know Danny was even alive. But him living with their mom? Are you fucking kidding him?)

Damian never outright attacks Danny physically, but it's not like he hides that he didn't like Danny. Meanwhile, Danny, in all his repressive anger, quietly despised him from a distance until finally one wrong snide side-comment has him blowing up and it becomes a screaming match. They're both just enough similar to each other that when they look at each other they really just see a mirror.

They'll work it out together, eventually. But it'll be ugly and cruel and explosive, and they'll start mending the bridge to become brothers in more than just blood relation in the end.

But yeah, stillborn Danny has... a lot going for him.

[sakuravalenp]

He's supposed to be invincible - DC X DP

Just something random that came to my mind.

So, Danny ends up being adopted/fostered by Bruce just months before Damian arrives at the manor, the how and why is your choice, but the GIW is still a threat. 

Now, Danny catches Damian attacking Tim the first time and instead of telling the rest of the family or scolding Damian, he went lik:

“You haven't even defeated me, and you think you have a right to attack Tim? Get in line, kid.”

And so Damian understands that to get the right to fight against Tim, he needs to get rid of Danny first. Climb the power pyramid, if you will. And so, Damian starts his assassination attempts against Danny. 

But here's the thing: Danny is making absolutely no effort to stop him, he just takes the attempts. The first time, Damian successfully stabs Danny, and goes to announce his victory over Danny to his father. Bruce rushes to Danny, worried for his safety, and finds him just chilling there, not a single drop of blood or injury. Damian is gapping.

“Oh yeah, the kid beat me in a round of hide and seek. He’s pretty good.”

Bruce is relieved and pats Damian’s head, not noticing his utter confusion. And so a cartoon-like montage starts: Damian attacks Danny and claims victory, but Danny is completely fine, and says Damian won at some random game. Everyone thinks the two are super close, and that Damian’s excitement about winning is super cute. 

Eventually, positive enforcement wears Damian down, because everyone congratulates him and gives him affection for winning the “stupid things” Danny comes up with. He gradually calms down and integrates pretty well. Danny does end up being his closest sibling because he’s the only one that actually knows all of Damian. The only one Damian could attack with zero restraint and still be treated the same. 

But the important thing here is: Danny becomes an invincible figure in Damians mind. He could be stabbed, decapitated, poisoned, and still come back like nothing happened.

So surely, when Phantom is shot out of the sky by a Blood Blossom, surely he’ll just stand back up in a minute like always. Surely, he’s just waiting to get back to the cave to pretend like he always did for Damian. Surely, he’s just putting on a show on the medbay. 

But hours go by, and he’s still pretending. Still looking pale. Still keeping his eyes closed.

Damian doesn’t understand why he hasn’t bounced back yet. He should be okay by now. Alfred is moving around, changing the IV,dabbing Danny’s head with a damp cloth. There’s commotion outside as everyone is trying to get an antidote.

But this shouldn’t be happening. 

Danny is invincible.

Danny should be back to normal already.

So Damian starts shaking Danny. Screaming to stop pretending and tell them he was beaten in some stupid game again. To open his eyes already. 

Father is pulling him away, trying to calm him down, but he keeps struggling in his arms, because he’s getting Danny to wake up. 

And he doesn’t notice the tears falling down his face until he runs out of energy, and all that’s left is hiccuping in his father’s arms.

...

So… yeah, that’s what my mind supplied today while on the bus :)

Maybe one day I'll write it, but I don't have time, so I would love to see someone else's take on it.

[saltymarshmall0w]

Demon Twins AU where Danny came to Wayne Manor with Damian

Dick threw himself on the couch next to Danyal. Damian was out of the house with Bruce for the next 2-4 hours after Danyal implied Damian would love to go with the zoo with his "dad".

The family of Bats couldn't help but notice their newest pair of members acted different when apart from each other.

He nudged Danyal, ignoring the feeling of a concealed weapon in his baggy pants.

Danyal looked over, raising his eyebrows, "Huh?"

"I've been curious, Danny why are you so..."

"Normal--- While Damian is a brat?" Danyal flipped through a couple channels as he spoke, still unable to make a choice on a show.

"I wouldn't put it like that, but yeah."

"er... so as the second heir, Mother decided to focus my education on, like, blending in to any environment for infiltration purposes. She even sent me to live with a few foster families so I would get an idea of how American families think an act." He stopped channel surfing so he could list them off on his fingers, "It was two weeks with the Burns, like, a day with the Mortons, and six months with the Fentons."

"Six months?" Dick questioned, alarmed. That was a long time for an infiltration mission for someone his age. How was he not attached?

Tim, who had taken up residency out of stabbing range for this conversation, set up with his lap top and a case file spoke up, "So, you're just masking all the time?"

"Affirmative." Danyal answered in the exact same way Damian did.

"Then why is Damian so..." Tim followed up, referencing his and Damian's contemptuous relationship.

"He's throwing fits to prove to me Father won't throw us out." Danyal shrugged. He ended up settling on an Animal documentary Damian would like.

[thedevilundercover]

The bat kids should threaten to get adopted by Tim every time Bruce is being a dickhead or just an inconvenience in anyway shape or form. Tim is paranoid enough to have his foster license and probably overthinks it enough to have Gotham CPS under his control. (Some people are bribing the cops while this man is bribing CPS smh.)

And like when Bruce over steps, they’re like “ok then, Tim’s my new dad now. “ Then they go camp out at Tim’s place for a while.

Usually the younger ones (+Cass) do this but it’s even more hilarious when Dick and Jason catch on to this. I think that Jason would do it first tho

Like imagine if Bruce refused to give Jason money for ammo or smth:

Bruce, literally so tired bc of this: Jaylad, for the last time, I’m not giving you money to buy real bullets. I'd be happy to buy you the rubber ones.

Jason, the most extra, dramatic younger-sibling-turned-older-sibling: Ok then, I get it, you don’t love me anymore. I can take a hint. You know what? I’ll do you a favour and get myself adopted by Tim *cue fake sniffles and dramatic exit*

Bruce, so so tired this has happened like twenty times this week already and it’s Wednesday: Oh my god why does he keep stealing my kids what the fuck

Tim also has no concept of money so he just shrugs, hands them his black amex and lets them do whatever the fuck they want

[batsandbirdbrains]

Okay but say Dick did turn out to actually be Bruce’s biological son. Maybe when he was traveling the world learning to be Batman or whatever, he stumbles upon a circus in Europe. And he meets a young couple of acrobats, and they teach him acrobatics for a few weeks. And one thing leads to another, and they have a threesome maybe once or twice or thrice. It’s just fun. They’re all barely 20 and they’re just having a good time.

And then he gets a letter a year later with a picture of a black haired, blue eyed baby who, in Bruce’s opinion, looks just like every other baby he’s ever seen. And Mary and John let him know that they’re not really sure who the dad is, it’s either John or Bruce, but they love their little Robin (he was born on the first day of Spring! The thought makes Bruce smile) and they just wanted to let him know that it’s very possible he’s a father. They’re not asking for money, and they don’t want to send little Dickie to live with him or anything, they fully intend on raising him in the circus, but they thought it would be polite to let him know he’s maybe got a child out there.

Bruce falls in love the second he sees the first picture of Dickie. He writes back immediately saying he wants to meet the baby, he won’t take him away, but he wants to keep in touch and he wants to know him.

Bruce flies out to Sweden a few months later and meets the baby when he’s 7 months old. He thought he’d already been in love with sweet little thing, he has a whole album of pictures that Mary and John have sent him, but holding him for the first time is magical. He knows in his heart that Dick is his son, he has no doubts about it.

Bruce visits them regularly. Dick is 9 months old when Bruce swears he hears him say dada, when Bruce is meeting up with them in Spain. When Dick is 11 months old, Bruce is visiting them in France when Dick takes his first steps.

Bruce meets up with them every few months. John and Mary send pictures regularly. Dick calls him Daddy. Dick has a Mama and a Pa and a Daddy, and he knows his family is a little different, but he loves them all so much.

Then the first time the circus visits Gotham, Dick is eight years old. He hasn’t seen his Daddy in what feels like ages, and he’s so excited to be in Gotham, because after the first show, Mama and Pa are going to take him to Daddy’s house and they’re going to have dinner and they’re going to take six whole months off from the circus to stay with Daddy in Gotham. They’re going to spend the spring and the summer together. Dick’s eighth birthday was a couple weeks ago, but Daddy couldn’t be there because of a big Wayne Enterprises meeting, so he promised to make it up to him by giving them all the best vacation they could imagine.

But then the wires snap, and everything is a blur of screaming and flashing lights and blood, so much blood.

Dick ends up in juvie for a month before Bruce can get custody of him, Dick’s social worker claiming there are no available foster homes. He’s not allowed to visit Dick more than once a week, because there’s no formal documentation that Bruce is actually his father.

The first thing Bruce does once he gets custody of Dick is prove that Dick is his son. And even though Bruce never needed a DNA test before, they need it now to make everything official.

No one believes it at first. The media makes outrageous claims that Dick, the apparent eight year old evil mastermind, has somehow tricked Bruce Wayne into making him his heir.

Several news outlets get sent cease and desist orders. Bruce is livid.

Idk I just think it’s fun when Dick turns out to be Bruce’s actual biological kid.

[prettiest-thing-in-the-morgue]

Lone Warrior pt.2

summary :reader is put into emergency foster care after a tragedy , despite living with the Wayne family for a bit , reader takes it upon herself to move away and start anew since she clearly wasn't welcomed , after many years have passed Damian finally joins the family and after a particular spat w his father he finds himself in reader's room and an interest in them has sparked.

a/n : tysm for the love on the first post hope u enjoy !!33

part 1 , part 3

" Y/n ?" Damian asks as he turns to Alfred , his face morphs into a mask of confusion . He has resided in his father's mansion for three years, and never has he heard of someone by that name ever being mentioned . He stared at Alfred curiously as he shuffled through the door and steeled himself to sit on the dusty bed .

Another reason that bewildered Damian to the core - he knew Alfred personally tended and cleaned all of Wayne Manor regardless if a space was used often or not so for this room to be neglected in this state itches at his mind .

" Y/n is one of your older adopted siblings Master Damian." Alfred begins . Damian huffs - ' Seriously, another charity case his father had to take pity on ? ' he thinks as his mind grew bored - the initial interest being lost . " Y/n was adopted around the time Master Jason had passed, and before Master Drake joined us," Alfred continued , paying no heed to Damian's uninterested look.

He rolls his eyes , " That's nothing special, Pennyworth. Besides, where are they if they're my supposed adopted sibling ?" Damian asks pointedly . Alfred goes silent for a few moments , wringing his worn hands together as he looks everywhere but at Damian .

" We do not know where Master Y/N is " he finishes - voice going soft . Damian quirks up an eyebrow, " Thats insane Pennyworth surely we have an inkling where they are - hell, we know where Jason is whenever he's being all pissy and distant !!" Damian exclaims .

" Master Damian , Master Y/N left when she was 14 without saying anything to anyone," Alfred explains as he stares at your bed with a face of longing . Silence draws out between them - Damian is too shocked to say anything . " Did father not bother to look for them ?" He asks carefully.

Another beat of awkward silence passes between them before Alfred answers with a quiet ' no ' . Nothing is said between them again for a while . " Why " Damian questions in disbelief - it's too uncharacteristic of his father to simply forget one of his own children - he is batman - batman always has a plan for everything - always thinks of possibilities- always solves anomalies - so why hadn't father cared enough about this ? About you ?

" I am afraid Master Name and Master Bruce never clicked seeing as ...they never once conversed for the scarce years she lived with us " Alfred shakily answers - it as if the thought of you haunts him deeply - maybe you do - maybe you do haunt the old man after all in his eyes you were the only normal child he had the pleasure of raising in Bruce's ward.

Damian says nothing , just walks around the room until he stops at an old portrait of a young girl - what he presumes a younger you . It's worn down from the years and pile of dust . Damian takes a good look at you , notes your dead eyes - dead eyes that reflect indifference to the world around you with hints of pain and endless suffering burrow within . Your hair is loosely tied behind with a ribbon behind . You are noticeably not smiling , even when you hold a giant ice cream cone in your hands - just a dead pan look staring back at him.

His hand caresses the portrait with care - he wonders what you are like . ' Were you someone kind ?' . ' Someone who takes and cares only for themselves? ' . 'Were you a born genius or hard worker type ? ' . 'A hero or maybe a villain ? ' . ' Were you a go with the flow person or practical?' .

' Why were you so unheard of ? ' , ' Why hadn't Father , Grayson, or Drake told him about you ?' So many questions he wants to demand but all left unanswered . " Tell me about them, Pennyworth." Damian demands , turning around to look at the old man .

Pennyworth sighs as he runs his hands along the sheets , " They were quiet - not the awkward type of quiet , the observing type - they didn't say much about themselves - only briefly mentioned her parents and life before . She was an incredible student , straight A's and incredibly independent .....in fact - I've never had to clean up Master Y/N because she insisted I hadn't because of my elderly age ....... she loved gardening and making little water fountains for the strays and the birds that used to come by . She loved apple tarts and loved to swim, but if K recalled properly , she hated whenever people talked about Arkham Asylum . " Alfrdd recounts.

Damian takes it all in - you sound complex - an enigma , sound so unlike himself and his siblings but alike at the same time . " Why did they hate Arkham Asylum?" He asks , intrigued . ' Were you close to Tood ?' , ' Had something happened to you for you to be there ?'.

" She never said - just ... expressed how inhumane Arkham Asylum is, " he finishes . Silence passes between them as Damian ponders on the response . " I must leave now Master Damian to prepare dinner," Alfred excuses himself as he leaves the room promptly.

Damian pays him no mind , eyes glued to your portrait with determination. There is something inside him that prompts him to take it - a siren call begging him to find you and if he's learnt anything in life - he knows it's best not to ignore a gut feeling .

With determination , Damian swipes your portrait, hiding it in his pocket before leaving .

Y/N sits on a rooftop , overlooking the vast skyline of distant skyscrapers . Each moment is precise as she she carefully tracks her target, leaving a store . Y/N uses the advantage of the setting sun's bright light to align her sniper's magnification on the target's neck . - A perfect disguise as the target wouldn't see her coming unless he wants to risk his eyesight .

The gun of the sniper is pressed against her cheek while her trained hand rests on the trigger as she patiently awaits the perfect moment . The target fishes out his phone and begins to converse while walking past an open dumpster - here, she carefully takes point and shoots .

She watches with a muted look as her target halts in their actions , blood spills from his head as he falls dumbly into the dumpster . " Great job agent 15 , a job well executed," a voice buzzes through her earpiece . Y/N tucks her sniper back into its discreet brief case before answering, " Thank you, agent 17 , permission to clock out for today's mission ?" Y/N asks into her intercom , the sun setting behind her in a beautiful arch as the wind blows past her .

" Permission granted , please return to base 15 " agent 17's motherly voice chimes in before cutting out . Y/N takes a good look at the setting sun - thoughts of her mother and father come to her mind - she wishes - she wishes she can cradle them both and comfort them with the knowledge that their daughter is putting a stop to crime but she knows it's wishful thinking - she knows mothers far too insane and father has long forgotten her but still - she's determined to prevent what's happened to her , happen to another person. Determined to save an innocent life from walking down the road she has .

With that , Y/N looks back at the setting sun's one last time before jumping off the rooftop and disappearing into the evening's abyss .

Damian sits in front of the bat computer as he busily types away . The batcomputer scans through hundreds of possible pictures of what Y/N would be grown up to look like now , another monitor is combing through the internet archives trying to find any presence of her .

He groans in frustration as a monitor displays another 'error' - ' how can a computer capable of decrypting alien tech be so incapable and useless when it comes to finding a missing person?' Damian thinks as he runs another program.

He leans back in the seat - exhausted and tired , it has been three hours and he has yet to find anything about you - not even your old school records, not even your own birth - it's like you were seamlessly erased from the earth and it does nothing but fuel his intrigue and nagging gut feeling to find you.

' Were you trafficked?' , ' Were you murdered and thrown away to rot in a ditch?' , ' Or used in some illegal organ transfer ?' So many thoughts course through his mind violently like a tornado.

He silently curses Bruce and Pennyworth in his mind -' how can they possibly allow a 14 year old girl to run away ? ' . ' What made her run away in the first place ?' . So many questions but no answers .

Damian was suddenly ripped out of his dilemma when a monitor began to go off . His head eagerly whipped towards it - almost snapping his neck at the pace . There on the screen , displayed a blurry security footage of a figure leaping off a building and disappearing into an alleyway along with your portrait from earlier - a 40% guaranteed match as the software compares both hair properties and the blurry closeups of your faces .

Damian's eyes widened in eagerness as he enlarged the footage and immediately ran it through software to find the footage's location . He feels his heart beat rapidly - this could be it - he could have found you ! - he might actually have done something, not even batman could do. Pride and accomplishment swell within him as he watches the loading screen complete and there - his answer to all his past questions display as bright as day , ' Russia ,Rostov-on-Don ' .

" Russia ?" He murmurs a bit confused . ' How did a 14 year old girl get to Russia of all places ?' He questions . He looks back at the blurry footage of what might be your figure leaping off the building and disappearing into an alleyway . Whatever the reason is , he is going to find out - he is going to take this sliver of hope and find you himself ." I am coming for you, sister," Damian declares as he promptly begins his preparations for Russia.

like + comment + share please!!

incorrect quotes

Taglist :

@bellethesleepypotato @1abi @pix-stuff @shadowytravelerlover @cxcilla @vanessa-boo @not-your-average-url @sirenetheblogger @fennecspage @cj-theyoungling @jsprien213 @lonelyladyghost @type-ink @ryuushou @twismare @crazycaoticsimp @bunnyharp @narmothewraith @leelovesmadly @geminis93

@rottmntdonnatello @levi-09 @anutellaa

@the-dumber-scaramouche @anyisaravia2001 @wiseduncherryblossom @nightwinggrayson12 @ghost-Orch1d

@allycat4458 @sunnydream91 @luxylucylou

[spicy-apple-pie]

I want Damian to get a really ugly foster cat. Greasy fur, meows like a smoker, eyes constantly goopy, the works.

Bruce was hesitant to allow him to foster because he knows they'll all end up foster fails and Wayne Manor is already turning into a glorified petting zoo. Damian promises that wouldn't happen. So, it ended in a bet, if Damian can successfully foster this cat, then he'll be allowed to foster more cats.

Bruce figured if Damian adopts this ugly cat, then no cat is safe.

It takes a long time for the cat to even warm up to them. She was left at the shelter in a cardboard box so no one really knows what happened to her. Damian spend almost every second he can generally in the same room as her. He just sits there, sometimes just mediating, but sometimes he has a book or a sketchbook. The cat slowly gets more comfortable around Damian. One day, she's brave enough to rub her head against Damian's hand. And it's like she turns into a whole new cat. She's suddenly the most cuddly snuggly cat on the planet. She purrs really really loud too.

And Bruce starts to think that they're going to need a couple more litter boxes.

Damian names her something really elegant, to make up for her unfortunate exterior. Something like Petunia or Tanya (idk if that's an elegant name, but it's really elegant to me). She gets along really well with Alfred the cat too. They can usually be found together cuddling or playing. She didn't like Titus at all at first, but he's as diligent as his owner, so she came around. Although she always has to be the one to initiate the interaction usually, or she'll hiss and scratch.

Predictably, it ends in a foster fail, and Damian thinks that it's probably a good thing he's not allowed to foster.

He still argues with his father though.

[kermdoeswriting]

Bruce Wayne's a Foster Parent. Also he avoids death a lot so a dead person can usually tell if a humans meant to have died but didn't.

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

"Bruce you know I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't have to but-"

Bruce just sighed from his side of the phone, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Nobody ever really expects to get a phone call nearing 3 am but exceptions had to be made when you were a legal foster parent and also a part-time secret super hero. If it wasn't one thing calling for him it was the other.

On the other side of the phone, Bruce heard the caseworker, Roni, chuckle.

"It's just for 3 nights and half of the day after, but I need you to be prepared for something before I can pass them off to you."

Bruce sat upright now on his bed, attentively listening to her words. Usually the kids didn't really come with any pre-warnings from the Caseworker themselves, letting anything about each Foster kid be said inside of their personal files that got sent along with them.

But when she gave out this information it was usually important. The last time Bruce had gotten a warning like this it was for Jason which was ages ago it feels at this point.

"What is it?"

"The kids are-" Her voice trailed off, like as if she was still searching for the right words to say. "They've been through what I can honestly only describe as the equivalent to a meta-kid trafficking lab"

Bruce shifted as he heard the driving continue on the other side of the phone.

"They're very guarded because of what they went through and they might display.. unusual behavior. More unusual then a meta-kids behavior after such a situation would be, but don't let it fool you! The kids are really sweet beyond being afraid."

Bruce frowns at the descriptions before replying to her, mentally trying to prepare himself for the idea of these kids and what they might have went through.

"I'll make a note of it then. Thank you, Roni"

"No, thank you, Bruce. I really appreciate this last minute placement. We'll be by really soon"

He was left with a click as he removed himself off his bed and threw the covers to the side of him. Alfred would want to know that they would have 2 new guests in the manor, at the very least to greet them and have rooms prepared even if they didn't need to have them prepared further then what they already were.

It was less then 5 minutes later that Bruce found himself, with Alfred, greeting the temporary fosters at the front door. Roni looked tiredly at them as she pushed the kids front and center.

Bruce could relate heavily.

"Hello Danny, Ellie. It's nice to meet you both, I'm Bruce Wayne."

Danny just stared at the mans outstretched hand for a second before he turned to look up at him, a pinched look on his face. Ellie matched his expression, although being a bit more subtle about it as she looked over Bruce as a whole.

Eerily, Bruce felt like his very soul was being judge the longer the kids stared at him. He also felt a sense of familiarity with these two kids the longer this continued.

They seemed detached rather than afraid like their caseworker had explained earlier, more so viewing the world as if they were outside of it rather then in it in any way.

Danny was quick to glare at him after another moment, "You're a fruit-loop, aren't you?"

Ellie broke from her own scanning almost immediately when she heard Danny's comment, cackling beside him before shoving him off with her arm. The action made Bruce smile as he took his arm back and placed it by his side.

Alfred also looked amused between the pair of siblings before turning attention to the task at hand again. Bruce just smiled at his pseudo-fathers usual fondness over children, knowing he was being reminded of his own grandchildren.

"This is Alfred. He's going to be the one to show you over to your rooms for the next few nights." Alfred greeted the kids in the same polite way he usually greeted all guests before he leaned down and extended his hands towards their belongings. He didn't grab their belongings just remained leaning over them before questioning the kids if they would like help to take their stuff to their rooms.

Bruce only really saw it faintly and if it were any other moment he might have ignored it as a sleepless hallucination, but for some reason he noticed the change immediately. The twins eyes go from a darker blue to a flashing bright green.

As if alarmed by the sudden movement towards their belongings.

Danny was quick to catch his own staring as well, eyes flashing back to blue for only a second before reverting back to green. Almost as if to give off some kind of warning.

Ellie noticed his staring immediately and shoved Danny again, this time more forceful for his attention before turning to whisper something to him when she had him back.

Bruce felt his skin crawl before turning away to face their caseworker, not really understanding anything they were saying beyond hearing a few words and feeling their eyes look between each other and his back.

Death Touched was an especially new description, and one that stuck in his head the second he heard it.

Bruce waited until the kids were guided away by Alfred before talking to their caseworker officially and waking her up from her half delirious tired drop-off.

"Hey Roni? Is there any chance we can extend the Fenton kids stay?"

There was something going on here with these kids and he was going to get to the bottom of it. One way or another.

[disastertwins9000]

more of the ditf au from this post

this is the better art i had and i was waiting to post it

so like i said in the last post jason finds out tim’s not rly looked after (probably not canon but ive decided he isn’t AND they legally get to keep tim idk don’t ask me) so now like either dick or alfred foster tim (bc jason’s still sixteen) and tim moves into the manor and becomes Batkid.

Jason has been struggling with Bruce’s death and so taking care of Tim has become something he can focus on, and obviously Dick and Alfred are worried bc Jason was totally killing people just a second ago but i think they’d ask him to go to therapy and he’d actually go because he wants to be the best he can mentally to help raise Tim.

Tim is their (currently) foster brother but Jason is basically everything Tim never had in a parent. Dick sees how seriously Jason takes all this but knows that Jason is still a kid and makes sure he gets a break often enough to not worry about taking care of someone else. then when Damian shows up Dick is out in space, and so now Jason is a single mom with two kids and is praying Dick will hurry his ass up and come home (obviously alfred is a huge help he just wants his older brother home)

when dick gets back he’s like “bro i left you for how long and you got another whole ass kid” and then he totally sees how Damian looks like his dead adoptive dad and then goes mama mode on that little bean and adopts him while he’s at it

when Jay is old enough Tim asks Jason to adopt him and bro totally cries his eyes out. Tim has been waiting for Jason to be old enough to be adopted into the family, not that he doesn’t like Dick, quite the opposite he loves his biggest brother, but jay and tim saved each other and the feels are hard to explain but yeah he wants jay to adopt him. Dick adopted Damian right away but when Jason is old enough Damian asked for them to have split custody of him, because he’s always had both his big brothers to look after him and he wouldn’t have it any other way

Tim becomes the Batkid Dick is still Nightwing and Jason is Red Robin up until Damian is old enough to become Robin, then i think Tim would be old enough to become Batman and Jason would become Red Hood (i’m actually still debating if he would be red hood or smth else but i’m sticking with red hood for now) i also gave him a more Arkham Night lookin outfit bc he’s got the cute ears that might remind him of his dad

there’s probably some other stuff i wanted to say but missed but oh well, thanks to @foerchen for letting me rant and also helping me decide on things here and there, ily <33

[queeniewithabeanie]

The Polyglot

Dpxdc Prompt #8

Turns out when you become the Ghost King you get a few extra powers to go along with it. One of these powers was to not only understand, but speak every language in the multiverse.

Almost all ghosts stuck to ghost speak, which was easily understandable by all the denizens of the realms, but when you're the king apparently you also have to deal with relations to nations that lack the ability to speak the mother tongue of ghosts.

When Danny's sudden language aptitude presented itself it lead to a lot of problems. Mainly that he couldn't tell what language he was speaking in, and often swapped which one every other word.

The only language that he could speak no problem right after gaining his new power was ghost speak, which was great for talking to denizens! Not so great for talking to Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. Despite their liminality Danny's closest friends couldn't hear all the frequencies that were used in ghost speak.

Soon after discovering his problem Danny started going nonverbal, not wanting to expose himself to his fellow Amitians, or Ancients-forbid his parents.

Luckily Jazz had a solution for him! ASL

ASL was easy for Danny with his newfound ability and he didn't have to worry about constantly switching around his language mid-sentence. The movements grounded him, and he could tell immediately if he was switching to another language that didn't require a voice. Jazz had learned it in high school, wanting to be able to provide therapy to those who had more trouble hearing along with everyone else.

Sam and Tucker didn't really have prior experience with ASL, but they sure were motivated to learn. By the time they got fluent, Danny mostly had control over his polyglot ability (and started speaking again because of it), but he often forgot what language he was speaking in when he was distracted or stressed.

It was nice to be able to speak with his friends even when they couldn't understand a word coming out of his mouth.

Then Jazz, Sam, and Tucker (along with his parents) died in an explosion at Nasty Burger and he was swept into the foster care system. He got picked up by some serial adopter (what was with billionaires and wanting Danny as their son?) who lived in Gotham named Bruce Wayne.

After everyone living person Danny loved had died he was prone to being a lot more stressed which meant his languages were acting up. There was no reason for normal Danny Fenton, 17-year-old-boy to know and use 20 different languages in one conversation so he reverted to the one language he couldn't mess up.

ASL.

at least that's what he told himself

he wasn't going nonverbal

he wasn't

Hopefully his new "family" knew it (they did), would be accepting of him not speaking (they would), and most importantly didn't have a creepy basement (danny had no idea what he was getting into)!

turns out knowing every language in the world and beyond wasn't too strange for the family he was joining

now he just had to explain after 6 months why he was suddenly fine speaking around them

couldn't be too hard, right?

[misspantymime]

Bat x Family ("A Girl?")

a/n: I'm still writing the scene where Reader and Bruce meet so please enjoy this prelude before that!

tw: mentions of human trafficking.

Taglist: @c4xcocoa, @shinning-stars, @whognuthis, @dkddkdkdkdkdkdk, @nisarelle, @tree-ag, @welpthisisboringing, @sugary-strawberry-shortcake,

Anya Forger! Child! Reader x Yandere! Platonic! Batfam

It had been in the wake of a recent trafficking bust by the GCPD when Bruce found out; that morning's front paper had a picture of a dilapidated building blocked off by caution tape and various squad cars.  

It’s not like the dingy and dilapidated building particularly stood out in any way. If anything, it fits right in with the slums of Gotham. Gray, with stone work almost slumped shamefully in on itself, the building was completely non-descript. And if that was all it was, then it could have been left well enough alone.

However, this desolate building was, for all intents and purposes, an orphanage.

As a whole, orphanages have been mostly phased out by governments around the world. A plethora of studies have shown the detriment of institutionalization of children; in the best case scenario, it only results in feelings of social isolation, however the worst cases involve trafficking and abuse. The foster-care system was the only remains of the previous institutions. That was the case in Gotham City as well.

Therefore, as a concept, this building should not exist.

However, an unknown “benefactor” seemed to be keeping the small building running. And more than few unsavory individuals were tied to the orphanage in one way or another, be it through less than literal paper trails or outright disappearances of children.

Not much talk of it had been passed around the Gotham Underworld, and any mention of it seemed to invoke an uncomfortable silence. Most remained tight lipped on the whole affair.

And it had been enough to be on the radar of Batman

However, the night he was set to investigate the location personally, there was a breakout at Arkham. Understandably, that required most of his attention, so he sent word to Red Hood about a potential deal occurring along with the coordinates.

But he should have known that wouldn’t be the end of it.

The night had run him ragged and most resources had been allocated to the breakout, so any follow up on the intel he provided Red Hood were lost in the channels. He was confident that Red Hood would know what to do with the information, so it came as a surprise to hear from Gordon early the next morning.

It was a bit inelegant, but Bruce did sleep in that morning. Which was so rudely interrupted by Alfred with a phone in his hand.

“Master Wayne?”

“Hrrg…” Bruce groaned as he rolled over in bed, like a petulant child not ready for school quite yet.

Rather than see it, he felt Alfred roll his eyes subtly before pushing forward, “Commissioner Gordan is on the phone. He is adamant on speaking with you.”

With a sigh, Bruce dragged himself from the tempting depths of his sheets. It took him more time, and assistance from Alfred, than he’d like to admit to pull himself together into something somewhat presentable. In the end, he was seated at the dinner table with a cup of coffee in a robe. Damian seemed to already have been dropped off at school and Tim was more than likely still asleep, after pulling two subsequent all-nighters.

When the phone finally reached him, it struck him how silent Gordon had remained. After a courtesy greeting, Gordon got down to business.

“It’s about the human trafficking case last night. You saw it already, right?”

“Hard not to. It’s all over the papers.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Gordon cleared his throat. “The whole ‘orphanage’ cover got them so far, but we got a tip-off about what was going on-”

‘Good. Looks like Red Hood pulled through.’

“-Wasn’t much left of them when we got there. Took everything that wasn’t nailed down. Only one we found was the potential buyer.”

‘Or not.’

Bruce sighed, “Nothing else?”

“Nothing except…”

“Except?” 

“Bruce…they were kids. A dozen of them. Oldest couldn't be more than seven.”

He fell silent.

It was only logical; an orphanage required children, after all. Still, the idea left a sour taste in his mouth, and twisted his face into an expression only Alfred could decipher as a grimace. 

“Yes, I expected that. But why are you–?”

“Bruce, there’s this girl.��

“A girl?”

“Yeah, and… there’s nothing on her.”

“What do you mean ‘nothing’?”

“I mean nothing. The rest of the kids, we could at least find some paper trails on them. Birth certificates, missing child reports, even if they’re old, anything. But her? Nothing.”

“But you think..?”

“I don’t think. I know. We ran a DNA test on her and Bruce… she’s yours”

If he was a less composed man, Bruce would have spit out the sip of coffee he had taken to quell the sharp taste on his tongue.

Instead, Bruce choked on it.

a/n: I'm trying to keep things light-hearted, but faithful to the source material. Did it work? Maybe? I'm taking inspiration from the anime and from Wayne Family Adventure (which is really fun give it a read)

[4mrplumi]

( crow choir. entry one ) ── dust of snow ( m.s | prev/next )

author's note at the end

you have three brothers- no, two brothers. you’ve only heard of the third. you can hardly think of them as such, feeling traitorous to your old family… families. but you are also a lonely child, so you give them permission to be props of your plain life.

the eldest, with stark blue eyes and dimples at his near-permanent smiles is named richard grayson. he’d given you a warm grin the day you arrived, that somewhat wavered at the blank look you hoped you gave him. you don’t talk to him, but sometimes you wish you did.

you know nothing of the second, apart from his first name; jason. the usual answers to unasked questions, that piece together via general conversations, don’t form here, and you can’t be bothered to ask. you wonder where he is, does he not come to visit?

the youngest of the three is younger than you too, tim drake the butler says, by maybe one or two years, you never tried to figure it out. he came to the house about a few months after you arrived, but seems far more involved with bruce’s business than you ever will be (ever hope to be). there’s a familiar twitch to his brows, and you relate it to old inquisitive roommates, the ones that tried to figure you out without asking questions and always gave up eventually. 

it's a relief he doesn't even try at all.

it does feel a little odd, to not have to talk to anyone just to shoo them away. you strangely miss it, the feeling of being irritated at bothersome small talk. in the silence of the manor, which had not much for a child to do, you start to feel lonely

you've never felt lonely before. alone, yes, isolated, absolutely, but lonely? you've never wanted company. not from anyone who wasn't... forget it.

and thus, you're in an odd situation. you want to be a part of the family, but you have no interest in talking to them. why, the mere idea makes you sweat all over, and you prefer your few meals in your room.

you don't like it. wanting so badly to converse with your brothers, get to know them the way you knew your old previous foster-care siblings, but not being able to.

in your old houses, the children would be somewhat put into forced proximity, there was no choice other than to call out for company. you'd gotten absurdly used to being reached out to without having to do it yourself. your brothers must be busy, or you must be too quiet for them to notice you around.

so with all the courage you could muster, you crept up to an idle older brother, visiting after so long from bludhaven. you might implode from the short moment where he looked at you with confusion, not knowing who you are, before giving you a awkward smile of acknowledgement. no matter, it's not his fault.

he nods off your subtle attempt at asking for his time, maybe you're not being clear enough? it's enough to put you off, so you leave quickly after he gives you a small promise to talk later, maybe get out of the house for a while.

it's such a small thing, but it makes you embarrassed. you try to build up a little stubbornness, and look to find tim. but when you find him immersed deeply in a book, a journal of some sort, you decide otherwise and leave.

it's okay. you'll try again! when you're feeling better. better and livelier.

livelier.

your patterned quilt does little to keep away the monstrous cold of gotham's winter nights, and does it wreck though your nerves and leave you shivering.

the butler; alfred, had given you a good understanding of the room's systems, yet another thing that'd take time to get used to, and you knew the switches that would connect your vents to the central heating system.

but it feels so surreal, and the familiarity of huddling into your own ice cold limbs for warmth is a comfort you can't let go off just yet. you mustn't allow these new privileges to make you forget who you are. what you are, and what you deserve.

you recall a young boy in one of your old homes, discussing earnestly with your 'sisters' about what he'd do if he had all of gotham's money. the prospect of being filthy rich had always irked you to a small degree, to be well-off when others struggle. was it guilt? 

he'd gone on and on about the different things he'd get. a curly-haired poodle, a shining red bicycle, clothes that made him look like a proper gentleman, from a gentler city. you wonder solemnly where he is now, wishing you could share the fortunes you've been shoved into with him. someone who wanted it, deserved it.

deserving... deserving something is odd. whatever makes an individual deserving of something? the hardships they recieve, and the hardships they pass out?

you don’t remember your mother, having gained metaphorical consciousness at the age of six, when your sister started taking care of you instead. you made out from her teary, drunk mumblings that she was an awfully sophisticated woman. she’d colour herself with red blushes and redder lip stains, wear family jewels she refused to sell to her ‘business’ meetings. thin-framed glasses with the eyes of a vixen’s. 

what your sister muttered most about was her many nights away from home. one-sided conversations that plunged a small anchor to your heart, because you knew you were a product of one of them. 

when she was in a bitter mood, your sister never shied away from berating you for your existence. she, unlike you, was born in wedlock. yes, to an unhappy couple, who threw picture frames and cheap souvenirs at each other before splitting up, but she knew her father.

a ridiculously strange thing to hold above one’s head. “i knew my absent father. no one knows yours.” but your depraved heart and dull mind took it so deeply. so, so deeply. 

were those hardships? did you deserve them? others have it worse, right? so do you deserve this? this wealth?

now that you do know your father, you can’t help but resent the idea of knowing. did he know? that he left his child to an unbecoming family and an irresponsible sister? did he know that the guilt of starving your sister to eat yourself made you so incredibly weak-minded at the idea of being full? did he know that you refuse to switch the heater on in the cold, because you don’t know if your old foster siblings got the same luxury? all while the elites of gotham stay in their glasshouses with their rose gardens and wine cupboards.

you can’t put your finger to it. it’s not jealousy, it’s not resentment, it’s not hatred for his absence so far… is it guilt?

you don't know what to do with this abundance of luxury. you’ve lived a lifetime of pet mice from old caretakers, mice that died from the dust that creeped out of cracked floor boards and owls that haunted your window sills. a lifetime of reminiscing about a sobbing woman in your apartment, thinking about all your promises of providing a better life for her, only for her to die in front your eyes. a lifetime of wondering why mommy didn’t come back. why daddy's never there. who daddy even is.

someone else should have it. someone else should have the option to ask the butler for a piece of chocolate pastry at an odd time. to know about their father after countless days of not knowing him. to feel pretty in new dress suits after years of wearing the same two sets of clothes every week.

someone who deserves it more.

your sister.

you miss her.

small events make you change too fast for even your own liking. small things made you so desperately attached to your big sister, small things made you so frightened, so ill, to try to talk to brothers who barely knew you only by your shadow. small things made you tolerate your father more, and mourn the fact you couldn't ever connect to him the way the others did.

small, small things. that troubeled you too much, made you decide it was time to leave. running away from reality in the comfort of your mind when you zone out, is not much different from physically running away, right? troublesome things are not worth the trouble. so you'll run away, and you'll be free. of duties you were never given.

yet another one of gotham’s teenage misfortunes. who leaves a home of riches with a light mind, with the desires of soaring through lost years in gotham like the daftest of pigeons, with no worries or vows. they leave a home of blood and bonds with a heavy heart, lamenting that this time, the choice to leave a permanent, forever family lay on them. they left unspoken conversations unsaid, and imaginary memories within their imagination.

...but, these conversations, these fake memories, become the objects of obsession, for those left behind.

where's the little crow who stalked the corridors, whose naive, cloudy eyes watched from behind walls?

alfred, where's (name)?

INTERACTIONS AND REBLOGS VV APPRECIATED !! incase it was unclear, the sections jump around in the timeline. i did want to leave it to reader interpretation, but since this is the footer, there's no harm in explaining. "you have three brothers..." and "your patterned quilt does little..." are interchangeable within the plot. both are placed after tim's given the mantle of robin, but before jason's re-entry as the red hood. the last part however, is well after both, and damian's entry. anyway you can consider this entry as like, a vague plot summary? there's a lot that happens in between and after, most of the story is about after, but i like setting the ground for this stuff.

once again, if you are interested in the series, do interact! comments, reblogs, etc are so appriciated, to anyone who posts on tumblr! i'll try to get the next entry in soon, but i can't confirm anything!

thank you for reading!!

[batsandbirdbrains]

Istg if tumblr deletes this one again im actually gonna throw a fit. It’s not as detailed bc im mad and can’t remember a lot of it but here’s the general gist of it:

The one where Dick knew he was supposed to become a Talon

But like imagine if it wasn’t a secret that Haly’s Cricus was a training ground for the Court of Owls, at least among the main troupe. It was a goal, an aspiration, something to achieve. And Dick knew for as long as he could remember that he was training to become a Talon, just like his great-grandfather. His parents trained him, the other members of the circus trained him, it was his biggest goal in life to become the next Talon. He worked at it tirelessly.

Dick couldn’t remember ever being in Gotham, but he knew he’d been there before - when he was a toddler, he’d first met his great-grandfather. That’s what his parents told him. That his great-grandfather called him the prophesied Gray Son. Dick’s father tells him stories of his great-grandfather, the head Talon, and Dick is mesmerized.

And when he was eight, they were going back to Gotham again. It would be his first real test for the Court. If he did well, it would be his first real step to becoming a Talon.

And he was so nervous. He wanted to do well, he wanted to make his parents proud, he wanted to impress his great-grandfather. He was nervous and excited and anxious all at once, but it was exhilarating.

Until his parents were killed, and he was convinced it was part of the test. And in a split second, he decided he no longer wanted anything to do with the Court. He didn’t even mind juvie, even though he knew his social worker’s excuse of there being no available foster homes was bullshit. He figured maybe the detention center was safer than a random foster home.

Then he was taken in by Bruce Wayne, and he was terrified he was about to be handed over to the Court. He didn’t know much about how they worked, but he knew they were made up of Gotham’s elite. How could a billionaire not be part of it?

But a couple weeks later, he finds out Bruce is Batman, and he suddenly feels safer than he had since his parents fell. Batman was safe. Batman was a good guy.

Dick didn’t tell him anything about the Court, though. He was terrified that Bruce wouldn’t want him anymore if he knew what Dick had trained to be, if he knew what Dick had wanted to be for his whole life. He was scared Bruce would hand him back over to the Court, disgusted by what Dick’s life has been up until then.

But it’s why Dick is so well trained, why he’s so capable of being out with Batman after only a few weeks. He becomes Robin. And even though it makes Dick said to think that the nickname his mother gave him no doubt had a connection to the Court, he thinks that this will maybe be a positive thing. Robin can be good now. Robin can do good.

And when Dick tells Bruce he never wants to go back to the circus, he assumes it’s a trauma response. That the circus makes him remember his parents’ fall, that he doesn’t want to be constantly reminded of the family he used to have. Bruce doesn’t fight him or question him when he insists he wants nothing to do with the circus anymore, he just makes sure Dick is alright, that he’s doing everything he can to make sure Dick feels safe and comfortable in his new home.

Years pass, and even though Bruce has since found out about the Court and how Dick and circus were connected to it, he still doesn’t know that Dick already knew. He tries to comfort him once it’s all over, telling him that his parents must not have known, that they wouldn’t have wanted that kind of life for their son. Dick doesn’t correct him.

Then Nightwing gets de-aged by a magician on patrol one night, and he’s suddenly eight years old again, from before his parents died. The others rush him back to the batcave, and once things have settled, Dick just sort of watches them, sitting eerily still.

“You’re in Gotham,” Bruce tells him after explaining what happened with the de-aging.

Dick tilts his head, and they all are a bit surprised at how he perks up.

“Oh! Is this the Court?” He’s looking around the room, taking in every detail. “It doesn’t look like how Pa described it.”

“The Court?” Tim asks.

“The Court of Owls!” Dick nods his head. “I’m gonna be a Talon when I grow up. Just like my great-grandfather!”

No one says anything, all of them baffled, but Dick continues looking around, kicking his feet on the edge of the exam table.

“Pa said my first test would be in Gotham soon, but I won’t leave the circus full time ‘til I’m sixteen. Then I’ll be made a real Talon when I’m eighteen.”

Bruce stands there frozen, the reality hitting him that Dick knew all along that he was supposed to be a Talon. That he never told Bruce. That this little boy who becomes his son was once training to become an assassin, and he seems so excited about it.

“You said I’m s’posed to be older, right?” He holds his hands up to his face, looking at the veins on his wrists. “Am I immortal now like great-grandfather? Pa said my veins would be black, but they still look normal.”

Dick looks up, and he finally notices their horror and shock. And he starts to shrink in on himself, his shoulders hunching, and he looks terrified. Bruce snaps out of his own shock quickly, and he explains as gently as he can that Dick has lived here since he was young, that he’s been a vigilante this whole time. That he doesn’t work for the Court of Owls.

He comforts his son. His son who’s currently a child and scared and anxious and worried and ripped away from everything he thought he knew. He doesn’t tell him that the Court is bad, not yet. He doesn’t tell him the horrible way his great-grandfather treated him once they did eventually meet when Dick was a teenager. He just holds him, and tells him how amazing he was as Robin, how fantastic he is as Nightwing, and how proud he is of him.

And maybe that’s why Dick was so close with Damian, why he sometimes seems like the only person who understands Damian. Because he does understand. He knows ha it’s like to grow up training to be an assassin, what the expectations are like, and how hard it is to turn some of that training off once you’ve decided to be a good guy.

Maybe Damian is extra protective of him while he’s de-aged, because he realizes this quickly. And Dick tells him stories about his own training, and Damian tells him stories back, and Damian lets him know that he understands the way Dick must be feeling so conflicted now.

[prettiest-thing-in-the-morgue]

Neglected Reader x Yandere Platonic Batfam

-> au where reader is neglected but like they don't really care ? Like, yeah, it sucks that their own adopted family don't really care about them, but like they make their own life and are happy? Basically, the reader is just a chill guy man.

More of this au. 🍁🍁 , 🍁🍁🍁 , 🍁🍁🍁🍁

- reader's life starts off normally. They have a loving mom and dad who cared about them a lot, but one day, their parents got caught in a crossfire between the police and Joker and ended up sadly dying.

- reader is taken into the foster care system . Foster care system was kinda shitty , you know normal Gotham shenigans of misusing funds and staff corruption. Despite how shitty foster care was , reader still manages to make connections with foster siblings and make the most of it .

- after the reader's foster parents get arrested for allegedly selling drugs, the reader is placed into Bruce's care .

- first day of reader being at the Wayne's mansion , Bruce leaves her in Alfred's care before leaving to attending to do work . Alfred's introduces the reader to their room and reader is just amazed they got their own room .

- reader meets Jason first at a week of living at the mansion , and the reader gave them a simple 'hi' but Jason just looked at them like they were weird ? Reader didn't really care and just went about their life because like why should they care what some random thinks ?

- reader indulges themselves into learning law - finding it so fascinating how cases unravel out and plans to pursue it for their future .

- reader meets Dick like two months in and he tried being nice but didn't really engage with them unless necessary which reader didn't mind they were busy with other things.

- reader is a literal programming prodigy and literal has a whole programming side hustle that brings them in millions.

- reader meets Tim after five months of living there, and they both just glare at each other because Tim's like, why are they here? The reader just thinks he looks like a zombie.

- reader continues on their life - thanks to their programming hustle , reader gains a network of persons who can help them in their law career .

- five months living there and reader feels so bored there so they take up after school activities like boxing and debate .

- so far, only Alfred's been the one to talk to the reader, not that they mind they think he's pretty cool .

- reader discovers their vigilante life one night accidentally when they came home late from their boxing class and saw NightWing being patched up by Alfred in the kitchen. Reader pieces together that if Dick is nightwing then the others must be batman and robin.

- reader continues on her passion for law and ends up getting full ride scholarship to Harvard law and they immediately jump at the opportunity. They pack their stuff and tell Alfred goodbye and that they're going away to further their education and leaves the mansion since they can live on campus.

- despite leaving the mansion, the reader still keeps in touch with Alfred because they feel a little bad for leaving him behind .

- years pass and reader graduates and becomes the most sought after lawyer in America . Reader makes a name for themselves and is living up her life with her pet cat in her private penthouse in New York.

- one day Bruce is facing some legality issues and randomly brought it up around Alfred and Alfred is like " you can always ask your daughter/son they are literally America's best lawyer " .

-Bruce sits there shocked because what, for you mean he has a daughter /son, that's America's best lawyer . Damian walks in that moment and questions Bruce about it like, " Why hasn't he met them ?"

- Alfred then buts in with " Oh you haven't met them because when you arrived, they were already left to go to Harvard " . Bruce's jaw literally drops to the floor because he literally has a kid that went to Harvard without him knowing -.

- thus Bruce makes an appointment with you along with Damian and Dick because they were both honestly shocked at the news and low behold. Here, they are sitting in your fancy office waiting for you.

- you walk in looking all fancy and professionally in your tailored suit as you welcome them . You swear they look familiar but can't place it . Bruce and you go back and forth with the legalities - still in shock that you are his kid -.

- after their appointment, Damian can't shut up about how cool you are and asking Dick and Bruce questions about you only for them both awkward since they didn't know about you.

- the three of them tell the others about you and everyone's now very much invested in your life .

- Bruce arranges another appointment with you and you're like hellah suspicious because like y'all can communicate through emails or something you know but you shrug it off thinking he's old and that he doesn't know how to properly do emails yet.

- Regardless you met Bruce at the arranged appointment meeting place, and before you could even do anything, Damian literally picks you up WWE style and throws you into the limo . Bruce literally starts lecturing him on the spot about how ' kidnapping is bad ' as if he doesn't make himself cozy in the front seat .

- and thus they drive off, and you're just sitting there like ' wtf ' .