#every other week Robin is replaced by Some Kid and Some Kid is always a) terrified of Batman for 2.4 hours max

[megamindsupremacy]

I think the Robins should have a “Robin for a Day”program. It starts with Tim after he gets fed up with the YJ team always complaining about how he acts.

Kon: Robin, you seriously need to loosen up a bit more. Chill, the whole world ain’t out to get ya

Tim, has not revealed his identity yet: This is what I’ve been trained to do. How about you spend a day with Batman, and then we’ll see who’s “paranoid”

Bart: bet

Tim somehow manages to manipulate convince Bruce that it is a good idea to let Bart be Robin for a night. Something something more training always better something something get him off my back please.

Bart goes out that night and wrecks Gotham’s shit

Tim is delighted by the efficiency. Bruce acknowledges that Bart was very useful and also is never allowed in Gotham again without explicit and detailed permission

And then the rest of YJ wants their turn. And it goes… well? They’re less rude about Tim’s Everything, at least. Dick hears about all of this going on and is like wait, my friends deserve a night too :( so the Titans and ex-Titans all get to run around with Batman for a night. Bruce treats them all just like he would Robin.

Eventually it’s like a rite of passage. You want to be a kid hero? Alright, I’m calling Batman ya little shit. Survive a night with him and then we’ll see how it goes.

[bingbongsupremacy]

Camp Hawkins AU

Pairing: Steve Harrington x plus sized reader

Warnings: Use of Y/N. This is my first time writing a plus size reader oneshot. As a plus sized person myself, I wanted to try it. I'm a little nervous tho. I know some people don't like it when ppl write insecure plus sized reader stories. I just feel like when I write, I put my emotions and my insecurities into the character as a way to work through them. I'm working on my confidence and some time I will write x confident!plus size reader oneshots, just not right now. Anyways, I hope you can understand that, and if you don't maybe try another story. Thank you.

P.S. I don't know how tf to flirt.

The story doesn't mention a lot about being plus sized but it is there.

Summary: It's your third year being a camp counselor at Camp Hawkins and your 7th year knowing Steve. Every year your crush seems to grow stronger and stronger.

*Not Proof Read*

ABC List Stranger Things Masterlist

*****

" Bunk 23. " Eddie, one of the head counselors grins while handing me a set of keys.

I groan. " The bunk with the bats? Eds, are you serious. "

Last year a bat nest was found in the corner of one of the old wooden beds. Nobody had checked the cabin before letting campers and counselors inside, resulting in a nasty surprise halfway through the first week.

Eddie shrugs. " Sorry, kid. I don't assign the bunks, I just tell people where to go. " Eddie's eyes shift over my shoulder. " Steve! There ya are, my boy. Long time no see. What's going on? "

I feel my annoyance begin to melt away as the sound of boots makes its way towards us. It's quickly replaced with a flutter type feeling in my stomach, a feeling that's been stuck with me for the past seven years.

I turn to look at the cause of my emotions.

Steve grins at the man behind me. A large leather duffle bag hangs off of his left shoulder. In his right hand, a small rolling suitcase, the same grayish color as his coat, squeaks along. The same two bags he's used since I met him. Steve pulls off his glasses, sending a dazzling smile towards Eddie and I. " Same old, same old, Ed. Hi, Y/N. "

His grin sends waves of happiness flooding through my body. I love the way he says my name.

I do my best to keep my composure. I return the smile, adding in a small wave as well. " Hey, Steve. "

" So what's this I hear about you and Nancy? A little birdy tells me you're back together again. " Eddie asks, leaning against the desk in front of him.

Nancy and Steve. The always on and off high school sweethearts.

I have no shot with Steve. I mean, he's obviously still head over heels for her if he keeps going back to her. I guess deep down I hope he'll finally see me as someone other than his chubby fellow camp counselor.

Picking up my heavy bags, I excuse myself from the conversation. " Hey, I'll catch you guys later. I'm gonna go check out the cabin, make sure no bats are hanging around. "

" Do you need help with your bags? They look a little heavy. " Steve offers, moving to set his stuff down on the ground.

He's so sweet. He always have been. No wonder I have a huge crush on him.

" No, " I shake my head. " I've got it. It's not to far. " I smile.

" But Bunk 23's on the other side of the-" Eddie begins.

I interrupt him. " I'm probably going to stop at the dining hall and see if Robin's there yet anyways. I'll be okay. " I reassure them.

" Oh, okay. " Steve nods, glancing down at the heaviest duffle bag I have.

I'm definitely regretting packing extra crafts. I just didn't want any of the kids to get bored during free time.

" Cya guys. " I shuffle towards the door. The floor creaks beneath me as I walk out onto the main cabins' porch.

Maybe some day I'll mean more to Steve Harrington.

_____

" He literally offered to help you. Why didn't you take him up on that? " Robin groans in frustration. Strands of hair that slipped out of her hat frame her flour splotched face. Bits of dough and other mysterious stains cover the front of her apron, making it look like a doughy murder scene.

She leans on the serving window counter, her arms cradling her head.

" He was just being nice. I mean, if I saw you carrying heavy bags of flour, I'd offer to help you. It's something everyone does- be nice to the people you know. It doesn't mean they like you. " I argue. I fidget with the lid of my water bottle.

" That's different. "

I narrow my eyes at the woman. " How is that different? "

Robin lets out an annoyed grunt. " You and me, " She points to the two of us. " have no chemistry. You and Steve on the other hand..." She waggles her eyebrows, sending a warm feeling climbing up my face.

I roll my eyes.

" Have a fuck ton of chemistry. Like sometimes I feel like it's choking me. " She makes a pretend choking sound. " Please! Y/N! Steve! Just make out already. Please, for the love of god! Save me! Save humanity from the horrors of watching you two interact while denying your feelings! "

I gently hit her forearm. " Shut up. That's not true, literally shut the fuck up. " I mutter.

Robin laughs. " It's so true. Ask literally anyone that hangs around you guys. Why do you think Nancy and Steve keep breaking up? "

That can't be true. Relationships have issues. There's no way in hell Steve and Nancy keep breaking up because he likes me. That's...insane.

" Your a catch, y/n. You need to start realizing that. People-they have crushes on you too. "

I turn my head to meet Robins gaze.

" You're not the only person in the world who doesn't have someone attracted to them. I mean, if fucking Mike Wheeler can have a girl crushing on him, so can you. "

It's just hard for me to believe someone like Steve, Ex Captain of the Hawkins basketball team, could like someone like me. I'm pretty sure he's only ever seen me as a friend. All these years, transitioning from campers to counselors, he's never made a move on me. In all fairness, I haven't exactly made a move on him either...in my defense, Steve and Nancy are on and off so much, a flickering light bulb has more predictability.

This is all so confusing.

-----

" Welcome campers! " A loud voice booms from on the old cement stage.

Slowly chatter from the excited campers begin to die down.

Jim Hopper, a retired sheriff and the new owner of Camp Hawkins, begins to speak again. " We're so excited to have you here. Each of you have been assigned a bunk and a counselor... " Jim's voice begins to fade from my mind. The same words have been repeated year after year, not that I mind. It's a familiar introductory speech, something I know will never change.

I look behind the older man. The gorgeous quarry shines from the sunlight. Post card worthy.

" You're bunk 23, right? " Steve's voice asks from next to me.

I was so lost in thought I hadn't noticed he took a seat next to me.

I send him a smile. " Yeah, The bat bunk. " I mumble.

Steve grins. " I'm bunk 24. "

" Oh nice, I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot then. Well, " Stupid, the kids do basically everything together. You're going to see him a ton anyways. " More than usual I guess. "

Steve chuckles slightly. A sound that sends waves tumbling through my insides. " I don't mind. You're good company. "

I feel a familiar warmth sprawl across my face. " You're not so bad yourself, Harrington. "

A look of amusement finds its' way onto Steve's face. " Hey, I know you're not a huge fan of bats...or other flying creatures, " He references my first year here as a camper.

I let out a groan at the embarrassing memory. " That was so long ago. The bird literally came out of nowhere. " I vividly remember that morning. It was still dark when Steve and our friends got the bright idea to go check out the quarry. A bird flew out of one of the nearby bushes, nearly smacking into my face.

Steve laughs, his milky brown eyes glinting from the sunlight. " Hey, birds can be terrifying. I'm not judging you. " He holds up his hands in a playful surrender. " I was just saying, if you want, I can come over to your bunk and check it out. Make sure no flying surprises are hidden anywhere. " He offers, leaning forward slightly in his seat.

My heart flutters. God, he's so sweet. " I don't want to inconvenience you, I mean, it's probably fine. I doubt the bats returned. "

" Really, I don't mind. It's not an inconvenience, if anything, I'm doing this for my bunk. I mean, I don't really feel like waking up to a bunch of people screaming at 3 in the morning. "

My eyebrow raises. " Oh? So you're doing this for you then...for your interests. "

Steve tilts his head slightly. " I guess you could say that. "

The campers around us begin to gather up their bags, making their way towards Eddie and Jonathan who have lists of where everyone's supposed to go.

Steve stands up, extending a hand towards me. " So what do you say, Y/N. Do you want Pest Control Steve to come take a look at your bunk? "

I cringe at his stupid name, causing him to laugh.

" Only if you never call yourself that again. " I accept his hand, standing up from the cement row.

Steve's hand firmly holds onto mine for a few seconds longer after we've stood up.

From over his shoulder Robin catches my eye. Her eyes flicker between our hands and back to my eyes. She mouths a silent ' He fucking likes you ', which I ignore.

I release Steve's hand, shoving mine into my pocket.

For a moment, a flicker of confusion? Maybe disappointment flashes across Steve's features. He obviously ignores it, moving to fold his arms across his chest. " Deal. "

I smile at the man. " Deal. "

I look at him for a second longer before I'm quickly swept away by the campers in my bunk.

My mind analyzes our conversation over and over again, completely ignoring whatever Eleven is telling me while we walk back to our bunk.

He couldn't like me. Right?

_______

" I think you guys are clear. " Steve says, poking his head back out from under the last bunk. He glances up at the top of the bunk, making sure there's nothing hidden in the corners.

" Thank you so much, Pest Control Steve, what would I ever do without you? " I cringe slightly at my words, shaking my head. " You know what, never mind. I thought it would be funny but no. "

Steve laughs at my attempt at mockery. " You'd live in uncertainty. " He makes his way towards me, leaning against the open door frame.

Outside the kids are running around playing capture the flag, their yells echoing slightly around the bunk.

" Sure...I'd probably just get Eddie or Jim to look around. You know how much they love me. "

Steve slightly leans towards me. " They wouldn't check as well as I do. I do have a five star rating in customer service. " His voice is soft but teasing.

My eyes flicker down to his lips.

He's so close. Just a few inches away. If I wanted to, I could kiss him.

I do want to...

But I can't.

What if him and Nancy are still dating?

Fuck, I should've stuck around and waited to hear what he had to say about their relationship.

" Y/n! El got another bloody nose! " Dustin's voice suddenly shouts.

My head snaps towards the direction of the boy. His face goes from worried to grinning in a matter of seconds.

" Wait, " He looks between Steve and I.

Without waiting for him to finish, I snatch a roll of paper towels from the desk near the door. I hurry out of the bunk, leaving the two guys behind.

" Oh my god, Dustin... " Steve's voice groans.

" Were you guys about to..." Dustins' voice fades away as I make my ways towards a group of kids. I push past them, kneeling in front of El.

Perfect timing.

-----

The dining hall is bursting with noise. Kids sit together, eagerly talking about their first day back at camp.

I grab a plate and nervously head into the kitchen.

Food. My least favorite part of the day. I don't know if it's just the fear or people watching me eat or the possibility of someone making fun of me for eating too much. I should be used to it by now, I've eating around people for my entire life, but I'm not.

Every meal time still brings unnecessary anxiety.

Robin leans against one of the walls, a iced drink in her left hand. As she raises the glass to take a sip, droplets of condensation run down her arm. " About time you showed up. I basically had to threaten Eddie with a knife for him to back away from your portion of chicken tenders. He does not go down without a fight, I'll tell you that. " She chuckles.

" Thanks. " I begin putting some food onto my plate.

There's a moment of silence. " So. " Robin looks at me expectantly.

" So? " I ask, confused. I lean against the counter across from her. The counter hidden from the view of the dining hall.

Robin rolls her eyes. " Aren't you going to tell me about it? "

" What are you talking about, Robin? "

Robin lets out a sigh of annoyance. " Oh my god, Y/N. The kiss! "

Still lost, I set my food down. " What kiss? "

Finally, Robin blurts it out. " Dustin told me he saw you and Steve making out in your bunk. "

My eyes widen. " What? No. Robin, we weren't making out, that little..." I shake my head. " Steve and I were talking. Just talking. "

Robin raises an eyebrow. " Are you sure, Y/N, I'm your best friend. You can literally tell me anything-you literally have told me basically everything. "

" Robin, I swear. If anything were to happen, you'd be the first to know. Steve and I didn't do anything. "

" Doesn't mean something won't happen in the future though. " Robin smirks.

I roll my eyes. " He has a girlfriend, Robin. I'm not making a move on a taken guy. "

" They'll probably be on break by the end of the month. "

I pick up my plate again. " I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't get myself wrapped up into that. I mean, they'll probably eventually get back together. I don't want to be a rebound or something. "

Robin hops onto the counter, taking a seat in the empty space. " Steve's not like that. "

Yeah, he doesn't seem like the type of guy to do that. But, hey, maybe I don't know him as well as I think I do.

" So Dustin's going around telling everyone? " I say in discomfort. Even if we had kissed, I don't want everyone to know.

Robin shakes her head. Her hair is finally free from her hat. " Fuck no. I was the first person he saw and the first person he told. I told him I'd feed him to everyone for dinner if he says anything to anyone. " She lets out a small laugh. " Scared him shitless. "

I shake my head. " Of course you did, Rob. "

_____

The moon reflects off the quarry beautifully. Finally, there's bit of quiet. All of the campers are huddled together in the dining hall, playing random board games.

Their voices and music fade away as I walk closer to the water. I love being a counselor, but it definitely gets overwhelming at time. I look forward to going down to the Quarry every night, just for a little bit to clear my head.

As I get closer to the waters' edge, hear a twig snap. I snap towards my right side, the direction the sound came from.

A familiar jacket catches my eye.

Hanging over a nearby log, the sleeve of Steve's jacket shines in in the moonlight.

" Fuck, I'm sorry. " I blurt out as soon as I see the pair. On top of the jacket sits Steve. On his lap is Nancy, her arms wrapped around Steve's white t-shirt clad shirt. Nancy's legs are wrapped around his hips, pulling him into her embrace.

The pair pull apart, obviously surprised by my intrusion.

Nancy looks slightly embarrassed. " Oh I'm sorry. We didn't think anyone would be out here this late. " She apologizes, quickly getting off of her boyfriend.

I don't bother to look at Steve, knowing anything I see will send a pang of even more embarrassment and jealousy through my heart.

Don't be jealous.

Don't be jealous.

He doesn't like you. He never will. He's with fucking Nancy. It'd be wrong if he liked you.

Plus, Nancy is so sweet. How could I hurt her by dating Steve?

I turn around quickly, hurrying back down the path towards the dining hall.

Steve will never like someone like me.

[red-jaebyrd]

A New Bird in the Nest

Summary: What if Jason survived Ethiopia and Bruce adopted Tim early? Jason has many insecurities about the new addition to Wayne Manor and it doesn’t help that Bruce has been avoiding Jason since he came back from the hospital. The fear of being replaced and pushed out looms over Jason and it all starts when a kid named Tim Drake moves in. This fic was inspired by this beautiful piece of art by @ky-landfill

It had been almost three months since Ethiopia and Jason was still walking on eggshells around Bruce. Lately Bruce was all clipped tones and clenched jawed whenever Jason attempted to start a conversation with him.  After a while Jason gave up trying to talk to Bruce altogether. With a heavy heart Jason came to the harsh realization that Bruce was obviously still mad at him about Ethiopia.

Bruce was always busy now that Jason was home from the hospital. And while Jason was no longer confined to a bed and could now get around with the help of crutches, Bruce was hardly home. When he was home, Bruce was either holed up in the Cave or his study at all hours. At mealtimes he was constantly hiding behind a newspaper or hyper-focused on a tablet to avoid talking to Jason. Whenever his eyes would wander and meet Jason’s, it was always met with worry lines and a furrowed brow. It got on Jason’s nerves. He didn’t want Bruce’s pity. He just wanted Bruce to talk to him without snapping.

The only time they had talked was in the car on the way to Jason’s PT or to various doctor’s appointments. The conversations always mainly focused on the progress and recovery of Jason’s leg and nothing else. Jason figured it was probably easier for Bruce to talk to him if he didn’t have to actually look at him.

Since Jason had come home from the hospital Bruce had restricted Jason’s access to the Cave. He had told Jason that he didn’t want him to be in the Cave using numerous excuses like the flooring was unstable and would interfere with his crutches. There were also no handrails or any feasible way to install them.

Bruce’s cutoff of Robin spoke volumes to Jason without Bruce ever having to say much to him.

Continue on A03

Dick was visiting at the Manor today. Jason always looked forward to Dick’s visits, but he would never admit that to his older brother. When Jason had arrived home from the hospital, Dick had temporarily moved back into the Manor to help with Jason’s care.

At first Jason resented the gesture, mostly because he thought Dick was doing it out of guilt, but after a while it didn’t matter why Dick decided to stay at the Manor, Jason liked having him around. Not to mention Dick was a great buffer between him and Bruce.

Last week Dick had moved back to his apartment in Bludhaven. It was time for Dick to go back to his city and as much as Jason didn’t want him to go, he knew Dick had responsibilities he needed to get back to. Jason missed hanging out with his older brother every day, but Dick had promised to stop by and visit at least every other weekend.

This weekend Dick came, and they were hanging out the kitchen munching on Alfred’s delicious chicken salad sandwiches when Dick surprised Jason with a question.

“Have you and Bruce talked at all about what happened in Ethiopia?” Dick broached, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“No,” Jason swallowed, putting his sandwich down and grabbing some chips. “We haven’t talked about that day. He doesn’t really talk to me anymore. Not that he ever talked a lot before, you know, but this is different. He snaps at me sometimes and stops mid-sentence. It’s like he wants to say something to me, but then he doesn’t.” Jason’s shoulders were inching toward his ears. “I think – I think he’s still mad at me.”

“He’s not mad at you,” Dick sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration and muttering a ‘Dammit Bruce’ under his breath. “Believe me. He’s – he’s just overwhelmed with what could have happened and he’s bad at communicating that fear to you.” Dick rubbed his hands together over his plate to discard the crumbs. He put his hand on Jason’s shoulder and squeezed. “You almost died, Jay and for him it wasn’t the first time he’d almost lost his kid to a rogue. He’s not upset with you. Give him time.”

Jason scowled at Dick. How much more time did Jason need to give Bruce? It had been at almost three months. Jason pushed his plate away from him and rubbed the crumbs from his hands onto his jeans. The sandwich now felt like stone in his stomach.

“He won’t let me back in the Cave. Do you think – do you think he’ll take Robin away?” Jason inquired, picking at his sandwich just to give his hands something to do.

“The truth?” Dick asked, leveling a look at Jason.

Jason nodded.

“He should. At least for –,“

“But I didn’t mean to –,“ Jason interrupted, his eyes wide at Dick’s answer.

Dick held up his hands in a placating manner “Let me finish. He should take it away at least for now. Maybe allowing a kid at 13 to fight dangerous criminals wasn’t the brightest idea on his part.”

“You did it at 9 years old,” Jason argued, clenching his fists at the table.

He couldn’t believe the hypocrite Dick was being when it came to Robin. He thought Dick would understand.

“Our situations were different,” Dick countered, raising his voice a little. “I didn’t give Bruce a choice in the matter. I was going to find my parents’ killer with or without his help. Robin was a way for me to be out there making a difference and seeking justice for my parents.”

“I don’t know why I even asked you,” Jason snapped, crossing his arms. “You never liked me being Robin in the first place.”

“No, I didn’t,” Dick retorted, his jaw clenching. Jason recoiled at the quick response. “Robin was mine. It was my mantle to hand over to a successor, not Bruce. I was replaced before I even got a say in the matter.”

Jason lips parted to say something but all he could do was glare at Dick. Dick had never let him forget that he had been replaced.

Dick got up from the table and placed his plate and glass in the sink.

Jason chanced a look at Dick who had his back turned to him with his arms braced at the sink edge. His shoulders tense. After a while Dick turned on the faucet and began to wash his dishes.

Now Dick was going to give him the silent treatment just like Bruce. Jason sighed and rubbed his forehead. He really did have a knack for messing things up and pissing people off. He couldn’t afford right now to have yet another person in his life not speaking to him; especially Dick. They just started getting to know each other again.

He never should’ve said anything to Dick about Robin.

“I never liked that he made you Robin, but…” Dick admitted, breaking the silence and turning off the water.

Here we go, Jason thought, bracing himself for Dick to lay into him.

“I quickly saw in you what Bruce did, that you were the right choice for the mantle,” Dick continued, his voice gentle and even. Jason blinked and looked up at Dick. The older man was now facing Jason drying his hands on a dishtowel. All signs of anger gone as the brightness returned to Dick’s eyes.

Jason gave him a small smile. Dick didn’t have to say that last part to him. Jason picked up his plate and limped to a drawer next to the sink for a Ziploc bag. He placed the reminder of his sandwich in it and hobbled to put it in the fridge. Dick took his plate, turned on the water, and began to wash it. Jason headed back to his chair at the table.

“Do –,” Jason hesitated, steeling himself for his next question. He padded his finger against a scratch on the wood. “-do you think he’ll replace me too?”

It was a question he hated asking out loud, especially to Dick, he didn’t even know why he asked it. Maybe he was hoping for some support, a counter argument in his favor, a lie, or a platitude. However, Jason knew deep down Dick wouldn’t sugar coat his words.

“Not unless he decides to adopt another kid,” Dick snorted, turning off the water and drying his hands. “And I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

“Thanks for the reassurance, Dick,” Jason retorted, rolling his eyes.  

“Jay, I’m kidding,” Dick teased, throwing a dish towel at Jason. “He’s not adopting another kid, okay?”

Jason nodded. He wanted to believe Dick, but Dick had now planted a seed of doubt. Considering Bruce’s track record there was always the possibility of Robin being replaced looming over Jason.

Two weeks later Jason was blindsided by the introduction to Tim Drake. A boy he had met briefly at a gala that Jason had attended with Bruce last year. He remembered trying to make conversation with the kid, but the interaction was awkward. The kid hadn’t been very talkative. While he had an overly friendly smile and gave Jason his full attention, the kid only nodded and gave Jason one word answers. Jason wasn’t sure if the kid was just shy or stuck up. Jason had concluded that the kid likely didn’t want to be seen talking to a street rat from Park Row and was just humoring him.

Bruce informed Alfred and Jason that Tim’s stay was a temporary emergency foster placement until a relative could be contacted.

Jason could deal with having a stranger in his house for a week or two, it didn’t mean he had to like him or spend time with him.  

For the next several days, Jason avoided the new kid at all costs except at meal times, which were unavoidable. Alfred and Bruce wouldn’t allow him to take meals up to his room. Bruce even stopped hiding behind newspapers and tablets at the table futilely trying to engage the kid in conversation. The kid hardly talked but answered questions when asked. Bruce still sometimes stayed in his study, but he now started opening the door again. It was something he hadn’t done since Jason had come home from the hospital.

The changes in the house were obvious, and it stung that the kid was getting Bruce’s undivided attention.

Whatever.

The kid had exceptional table manners, which was expected considering where he came from, but it still rubbed Jason the wrong way. What was this kid trying to prove anyway, that he was better than Jason? No shit, Sherlock, that much was obvious.  But it didn’t matter, the kid was soon moving out of Jason’s house and in with relatives. Jason would soon be rid of him.

It didn’t help matters that Dick and the new kid got along perfectly. Dick came over to the Manor right away to meet the new kid. The kid was completely enamored with Dick soaking up the frequent hair tousles and side hugs that Dick had always reserved for Jason.

First, the kid had stolen Bruce’s attention away from Jason, now he was stealing all of the time Jason would normally have with Dick.

About a week and half into the new kid’s stay, Bruce dropped the bomb that plans had changed, and the kid would now be staying with them at the Manor permanently. The kid was soon moved from a bedroom in the guest wing to a bedroom in the family wing next to Jason.

Jason’s stomach dropped. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Bruce had actually done the very thing Dick had teased him about almost two weeks ago, ‘not unless he adopts another kid’. It was actually happening.

Jason was being replaced! It was only a matter of time before Jason was completely out of the picture and the new kid became the new Robin.

He phoned Dick right away yelling at him that Bruce was replacing him with this new kid.

“This is all your fault,” Jason barked on the phone, slowly pacing his room.

“What’s my fault?” Dick asked.

“’Not unless he adopts another kid’ bullshit. Well it’s happening, because you’re the one who said it out loud,” Jason argued, clenching his jaw in frustration. It was a weak argument, but it was all Jason had at the moment. He had to blame someone.

“Jay, you can’t speak something into existence,” Dick snorted.

“I – I know that, dumbass,” Jason growled, irritated that Dick wasn’t taking him seriously. “I just didn’t think he’d –.”

The lump in his throat cut off his words and made his breath hitch. This was all happening too fast for Jason. Bruce wasn’t supposed to get another kid this fast or at all. The kid was supposed to move in with relatives. Jason knew he wouldn’t be Robin forever, but he thought he’d have enough time to get used to not being Robin before Bruce went and replaced him.

“Jay, are you still there? Talk to me, bud,” Dick said, breaking the silence, all teasing gone from his voice. “Bruce isn’t replacing you, Little Wing. He’s simply giving a kid something he needs right now, a home and a family. Nothing more. Besides, Tim is harmless and a great kid. I hope you’re being nice to him.”

“Why does he need my home and my family?” Jason whined, sagging onto his bed. His leg throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

Jason knew he was being unreasonable. This kid had done nothing wrong except existing, yet Jason couldn’t bring himself to be nice because this kid was getting the one thing Jason had been wanting for the last two months – Bruce’s undivided attention; and now stealing the only thing he had left - his brother’s devotion.

“Because his family failed him, Jay,” Dick replied, his tone matter of fact yet gentle. “You know what that’s like. Just talk to him and try to get to know him. He’s a great kid.”

Jason couldn’t bring himself to start a conversation with the kid, not yet anyway, but he no longer glared at the kid at meals or slammed his door in the kid’s face. He’d nod whenever the kid said, ‘Good morning’ and no longer avoided the library when he saw the kid sitting in his favorite chair. He even kept his mouth shut when he saw the kid sitting in Bruce’s study just feet away from the Grandfather clock entrance to the Cave.

The more Jason paid quiet attention to the kid, the more he saw things that reminded him of his own upbringing with Willis and he didn’t like it. The kid knew how to stay out of the way. When he was not occupied elsewhere with Bruce or Alfred, the kid spent most of his time in his room. The kid never really ventured within the Manor by himself beyond the library or kitchen, even though he was given permission and encouraged to explore his surroundings.

At first, Jason actually liked it. It meant he didn’t have to run into the kid or spend any time with him. But soon Jason realized that the kid’s avoidance of everyone was a definite problem.

The kid was quiet and never brought any kind of attention to himself. He never complained about the food given to him, ever; and ate everything on his plate, even the gross under-seasoned brussel sprouts and cauliflower. Bruce didn’t even eat the brussel sprouts on his plate. Jason knew the kid hated them because he noticed the kid struggling to swallow every single one, but he never said anything to Alfred or Bruce. Bruce eventually told the kid that he didn’t have to eat anything he didn’t like, but it was like the kid didn’t hear him. The kid also never asked for seconds but would say yes when they were offered to him.

The weirdest thing of all, the kid never initiated any conversation with Bruce or Alfred unless they spoke to him first. The kid was literally the poster child for that saying, ‘children should be seen and not heard’.

He didn’t even speak up one particular evening when he started breaking out in hives at dinner.

Jason was the first one to notice something was wrong with the kid. It was only for a split second and the kid must have realized something wasn’t right either because he instantly put his head down. But it was too late, Jason had seen the red raised splotches on the kid’s neck and face. The kid was white-knuckling his cutlery, a piece of Alfred’s Pesto Penne was still dangling off his fork.

If Jason had the height and the strength, he would have kicked the kid under the table.

Say something, kid!

Jason wasn’t sure why he was getting so mad, but it was pissing him off that this kid was going through what looked like some sort of anaphylaxis episode and staying quiet. Jason still might not know how to talk to the kid, and maybe he was still a little angry at him for stealing Bruce and Dick, but he didn’t want him to die.

Could it be that the kid was genuinely afraid to disrespect adults that he’d put his health in danger and eat whatever was put in front of him?

Didn’t the kid know by now that Bruce wasn’t going to be mad at him for speaking up about an allergy? Hadn’t the kid spent enough time with Bruce to know that he’d never be shamed for something he couldn’t control.

“Bruce!” Jason yelled, finally getting the man’s attention. Bruce gave him a puzzled look. “Your new kid needs you.”

Just then the kid cleared his throat and made a weird and alarming wheezing sound. Bruce’s fork clattered on his plate the moment he laid eyes on the kid.

“Tim, are you okay?”

The kid’s eyes went wide. His eyes scanned frantically at Jason, Bruce and then Alfred, but he didn’t say a word.

“Tim, I need you to answer me, okay,” Bruce asked, keeping his voice low and calm. “Are you allergic to pine nuts?”

“No, I…I don’t know,” The kid swallowed, tears pooling in his eyes. “I’m…I’m allergic to almonds, but I’m…I’m okay.”

It was obvious to Jason and everyone else in the room that the kid was anything but okay.

“Alfred, get two epi-pens and call Leslie,” Bruce ordered, making his way to a chair closer to Tim to examine his face and neck.

“Right away, sir.”

“I’m okay,” The kid wheezed, moving his face away from Bruce. “Really, it’s f-fine.”

Jason couldn’t take it anymore. The kid was obviously not okay. Nothing about this was fine. The sooner he realized that the better.

“You’re not okay, you dummy! You don’t fuck around with food allergies!” Jason bellowed, banging his fists on the table to emphasize his point. “If you’re not feeling good because the food is making you sick, you fucking say something.”

“Jason,” Bruce warned, keeping his voice even while also leveling Jason with a glare.

He could see Bruce clenching his jaw as he went back to examining the kid. Jason ignored him. He didn’t care that he was making Bruce mad. Jason needed to finish telling the kid what he needed to hear.

“If you’re still hungry, ask for more food,” Jason continued, his voice getting louder. “If you don’t like the food, don’t eat it. Either way Bruce and Alfred won’t get mad!”

“Jason, you’re yelling,” Bruce stated, his voice low and gravely. “Lower your voice or you’ll need to leave the table.

Jason didn’t even know why he was yelling at the kid, but it felt good to get it out. A part of him was frustrated that the kid still didn’t see what he had here with Bruce – safety. Another part of him was irritated at himself for acting like a complete asshole hating this kid for no reason other than existing and taking up space. Realizing too late that this kid was just like him when he first came to live here, scared and mistrustful of adults.

Jason wasn’t done yet. There was one last thing Jason needed the kid to hear and understand about the way things worked with Bruce and Alfred. Something Dick actually told him when Jason first came to the Manor.

“No one here is going to make you do what you don’t want to do,” Jason emphasized, grabbing his crutch, and getting up from his chair. “But they won’t know what you want if you don’t fucking say something.”

He added that last bit.

“Jason, that is enough,” Bruce scolded, his voice loud enough to make the crying kid next to him jump and Jason flinch.

Before Bruce could tell him to go to his room, Jason was already making his way to out of the dining room.

“I’m sorry, Bruce,” the kid sobbed, his breaths hitching, while Bruce continued to examine the hives on his face and neck. “I’m so sorry for making a scene. Please…please don’t be mad. I’ll…I’ll do better. I promise.”

The last sentence was said in a whisper, but Jason heard it loud and clear. It felt like a punch to the gut. He couldn’t get out of the dining room fast enough. If only his stupid leg would let him run. He made his way out of the dining room and into the hallway. He leaned against the wall taking deep breaths.

What kind of parents did this kid have that he was scared of adults and knew nothing about his own food allergies?

Jason saw the signs once he had started to pay more attention. The obvious signs of abuse. They were right there at every meal, every encounter, plain as day, but Jason was too preoccupied with his own paranoia of being replaced, and blinded by Tim’s rich kid status and upbringing to think that someone of his background was being mistreated by his own parents.

Jason was an asshole.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Alfred walked briskly passed him into the dining room with the two epi-pens for Tim. Jason proceeded to head for the stairs.

Jason made it as far as the bottom of the stairs. He sat down on the steps and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the banister. The familiar throbbing of a migraine radiated from his left temple to the back of his head. After a while he heard familiar footsteps approaching him. It was Bruce.

“How’s the kid?” Jason asked, squinting at the harsh light of the chandelier above him.

“The epi-pens helped. Alfred is monitoring him in one of the downstairs bedrooms,” Bruce answered, sitting down on the step next to Jason. “Leslie is on her way to check on him.”

“Good,” Jason replied, nodding his head. “That’s…that’s good.”

They sat there on the steps in companionable silence. Jason could feel a lecture coming from Bruce. The migraine made it hard for Jason to care. Right now, all the fight in him had left.

“You can’t yell at him like that again, Jay,” Bruce warned, breaking the silence. “He didn’t deserve that from you at all.”

“I know,” Jason groaned, leaning his head against the banister again. “And I didn’t mean to yell, but the k-,“ Jason stopped himself, the kid had a name and he should probably start using it. “Tim needed to hear it. I’m not sorry for what I said.”

“You need to be nicer to your brother, Jay,” Bruce sighed, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion. “We need to make him feel welcome here.

Brother.

Jason let the word wash over him. He hadn’t really allowed himself to think of Tim in that way even though it was obvious that he’d be staying at the Manor permanently. It was all too much for Jason to think about at the moment.  

“Bruce,” Jason breathed, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. “I don’t want to talk about him right now. My head is killing me.”

He knew he needed to talk to Bruce about Tim, but he couldn’t do it tonight. Right now his throbbing head wouldn’t let him think straight.

“Okay get some rest,” Bruce suggested, brushing Jason’s bangs from his forehead. “We definitely need to have a conversation. We’ll do that in the morning when you’re up for it.”

The next morning Jason took his time making it to Bruce’s study.

He had most of the morning to think about what he was going to say to Tim and Bruce. Jason wasn’t sure if he’d actually have the guts to admit out loud certain thoughts that had been rummaging around in his brain the last few weeks. Especially the big one concerning Robin.

Would Bruce take Robin from him and give it to Tim?

Before Jason realized it, he was in front of Bruce’s study. The door was opened. Bruce had always told Jason to feel free to come inside if the door wasn’t closed. His door hadn’t been opened in the months before Tim came to the Manor. Jason peeked inside from the doorway.

Bruce looked deep in thought as he perused over various papers from different file folders stacked on his desk. Jason was starting to have second thoughts. 

“Hey Jason, what can I do for you?” Bruce asked, not looking up from what he was reading.

It always weirded Jason out when Bruce knew it was him without even looking at him. It was likely the squeaking sound from his crutch that gave him away.           

“You look busy,” Jason observed, giving Bruce an out and hoping that he’d take it. He turned to leave. “I’ll come back.”

“I’m not busy, have a seat,” Bruce acknowledged, motioning to the sofa. He took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He closed the file folder he was reading, stood up from his desk chair, and stretched. He soon followed Jason to the sofa. “How’s your head, kiddo?”

“Better. I think I just needed to sleep it off,” Jason answered, sitting down and leaning his crutch against the arm of the sofa. Once he got a closer look at Bruce he could see dark circles under the man’s eyes. “Have you been here all night?” Jason gestured to Bruce’s desk.

“Pretty much. Though I did spend some of the night looking in on Tim,” Bruce sighed, sitting down on the sofa with Jason and rubbing his tired eyes.

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s much better, just tired. He’s back in his room if you wanted to go see him later and talk.”

Jason nodded. It was Bruce’s way of telling Jason that he needed to apologize to Tim. He had planned on visiting Tim after this, though he’d understand if Tim wasn’t up for it considering the way Jason yelled at him last night.

“Anyway, I’m just trying to see if I had missed something in any of Tim’s records,” Bruce continued, leaning back on the sofa. “They’re all pretty vague and don’t go back that far. There aren’t any details about any known allergies or yearly well checks, no documentation about any allergy testing except the most recent one that revealed an allergy to almonds. His immunization record stops at 5 years old.”

“But his parents have money, right? If they live in this neighborhood,” Jason snapped, folding his arms. “How could they just not take him to the doctor?”

“You’d be surprised by the priorities some people have in this town,” Bruce criticized. “Sadly, their children are not on the top of that list.”

Jason shook his head. It didn’t make any sense to him. Tim’s parents had money. Maybe not as much money as Bruce, but they could afford to take Tim to the best doctors for yearly check-ups and specialists to help him with his allergies. Instead, they chose to prioritize their jobs and lifestyle instead of their kid.

“Is that the reason he’s living here with us now? Because his parents didn’t take good care of him?”

“Among other things, yes,” Bruce answered. “Tim’s home life wasn’t great. From what little he told me his parents left him home alone for extended amounts of time at a fairly young age. For his safety and wellbeing, it was necessary for him to be removed from his parents. He needed a home with stability and most of all a family. I felt that we could be all of that for him.”

Jason’s shoulders dropped hearing all of this from Bruce. Tim was a lonely and abused kid, just like Jason had been. Bruce opened his heart and his home again to a boy in need. It now all made sense why Bruce had been spending so much time with Tim. He wasn’t trying to replace Jason. He was trying to make Tim feel at home; just as Jason should have been doing instead of slamming doors in the poor kid’s face.

“I realize now that the timing of his arrival was awful, and I’m sorry,” Bruce continued, interrupting Jason’s thoughts. He placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder and squeezed it. “I know this type of major change was the last thing you needed while you are still recovering.”

Jason nodded. He leaned his head back on the pillows to process everything Bruce had just said. Bruce wasn’t wrong, the timing of Tim’s arrival did suck as it played on Jason’s already frayed emotions. But after last night it made it easier to understand Tim’s sudden placement with Bruce.

Bruce saw a kid in trouble and did what came naturally to him. He did the same for Jason four years ago, of course he would do the same thing for Tim. Jason rubbed his face harshly. He felt like an idiot for not making this connection much sooner. Bruce had reached out to be Tim’s family, just like he had done for Jason, because Tim needed a family. Bruce didn’t need another kid.  It was all about helping a kid in need.

So, he’s not here to replace me.

“What? No, Jason, I would never do that– what made you think I would –,” Bruce stammered, his wide eyes searching Jason.

Oh shit.

Jason didn’t mean to say that out loud.

But before he could think of something else to say, all the thoughts that had been festering in his brain since Tim had arrived came pouring out of his mouth.

“– because you weren’t talking to me. I thought you were still pissed at me for running away. And when Tim came you were spending all your time with him that you used to spend with me,” Jason blurted out in quick succession. His vision started to blur with tears. He really didn’t want to cry, but the tears were already flowing down his cheeks. “and – and maybe I thought that you liked him better because – because he’s a good kid with perfect manners who never talked back or complained, and he’s not – not a mouthy screw up like me who messed everything up.”

Jason’s eyes widened as his brain caught up to the words that had just come out of his mouth. Every thought and fear that he had been dwelling on these past several weeks came out faster than he could contain them. There was no taking it back now.

“Jason, you’re not a screw up and you didn’t mess up anything.” Bruce affirmed, gently pulling Jason into a hug. Jason held on to Bruce like a lifeline, his tears continuing to fall. “Son, you didn’t mess up anything.”

Jason shook his head, but who was he kidding. He made a pretty big fucking mistake that almost got him and Bruce killed. How is Bruce not furious with him?

“It’s true that choices were made by both of us, good and bad and things took a serious turn, and – and for a second I thought I’d lost you,” Bruce sniffed, breaking the embrace to look at Jason. “But I didn’t. You survived and I’m so grateful every single day that you are here with me.

Bruce moved his hands to cup Jason’s face. He gently wiped away the tears from Jason’s cheeks with his thumbs. Jason kept trying to calm his breaths but they were still hitching with every sob. Why couldn’t Bruce have said all this to him sooner?

“I’m so thankful I get to watch you grow and see the person you will become,” Bruce continued, embracing Jason again and rubbing soothing circles on Jason’s back. “I’m so proud that you’re my son, and I love you just the way you are so please, don’t think for one second that I would ever want to replace you with someone else.”

There was still something that Jason needed to know from Bruce. A question he needed answered because he was tired of the subject being avoided and ignored. He was ready to take responsibly for his actions. He just needed Bruce to be straight-forward with him.

“Are you still mad at me?” Jason stammered, his bottom lip trembling. “About Ethiopia? It’s my fault –,”

“Oh, Jay, lad, no,” Bruce interrupted, his shoulders sinking. He hugged Jason tighter resting his cheek on the top of Jason’s curls. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I made you think that I was ever mad at you.”

Jason straightened in surprise at the words ‘I’m sorry’ coming from Bruce. Not that Bruce wasn’t capable of apologizing, but did Jason deserve it? It felt misplaced. He was the one that ran away and got himself in trouble. He was the one that nearly got himself killed and needed rescuing.

“I don’t blame you for what happened,” Bruce continued, interrupting Jason’s thoughts. “I blame the people who hurt and betrayed you. I’m mad at myself for not giving you the answers you needed at the time that you were seeking them. I feel responsible for making you think that you had to go halfway across the world in search of those answers. I’m angry that the one person who should have cherished you for the gift that you are betrayed you to a madman.

“I allowed my anger toward them to fester and instead of talking about what had happened in Ethiopia with you, I internalized it. I’m sorry, Jason,” Bruce apologized. “I am so sorry for pushing you away at a crucial time when you needed me; that will never happen again. Understood.”

“Understood.”

Jason blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He wasn’t expecting Bruce to say all of that to him, but it was a relief to hear that Bruce’s anger wasn’t because of him. It felt like an invisible weight had been lifted from Jason’s shoulders. Bruce wasn’t mad at him, and he didn’t blame Jason for what had happened in Ethiopia.

“I’m so grateful that you’re alive and here with me,” Bruce repeated, pulling Jason in for another hug.  

They still hadn’t discussed Robin, but right now Jason felt that Robin could wait.

“I love you so much, Jason.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

Later that afternoon Jason headed to Tim’s room. Jason still wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Tim. The kid was likely scared of him now from all the yelling that had happened last night. He couldn’t blame the kid if he now hated him. Jason kind of deserved whatever attitude the kid gave him.

Jason took a deep breath before knocking on Tim’s door.

“Who is it,” a faint voice answered from inside the room.

“It’s Jason. Can I come in?”

“Yes,” Tim answered almost immediately.

Jason wondered if Tim had ever said no to anyone. He felt it was best to give this kid a way out just in case he’d rather be alone.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel up for visitors,” Jason added, still not opening the door. “I can come back whenever you’re up for it.”

“I’m okay, you can come in.”

Jason opened the door and hoped the smile on his face looked genuine and didn’t scare Tim. It appeared that just him being in the room was enough to have the kid sitting up, hiding behind his knees and blankets.

“You’re not going to yell at me again, are you?” Tim asked, hugging his knees.

“No, Tim,” Jason laughed, making his way closer to Tim’s bed. “Not unless you give me a reason too.”

Tim’s eyes went wide.

“That was a joke,” Jason interjected quickly, before Tim burst into tears. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s try this again, how are you feeling?”

“Better, just tired. I’m not itching anymore, so that’s a relief. This one hit me harder than the almond reaction.”

Bruce had told Jason that it was only a few weeks ago that Tim had experienced anaphylaxis while home alone. This incident had prompted Tim’s removal from his parents and placed with Bruce.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Jason said, shifting his weight off his bad leg. It started throbbing in its standing prone position. “Allergic reactions suck.”

Just then the pain in his leg radiated from his hip to his knee. Jason couldn’t hide the hiss of pain that escaped between his clenched teeth. He looked up to see Tim looking at the long scar on his face and then his leg. Jason hated it when people stared.

“I think you need to sit down. You look like you’re in pain,” Tim suggested, gesturing to the armchair next to his bed. “This chair is really comfortable. I like sitting in it while I’m reading.”

“Thanks,” Jason breathed, trying to ignore the throbbing in his leg while making his way over to the chair. He noticed a familiar copy of ‘The Lightning Thief’ on Tim’s nightstand and picked it up.

“Bruce bought me the entire series. I just started it when I came here,” Tim explained. “I really like the story. I wasn’t allowed to read it before – before I came here.”

“Let me guess, your parents think gods and goddesses are evil?” Jason smirked.

“No, mother said ‘fantasy books are frivolous nonsense and not becoming of a future businessman.’”

Jason scowled. He was deeply insulted that the adults in Tim’s life had disparaged Jason’s first favorite genre of books. How dare they. It appeared that Jason had some work to do.

“I can recommend other fantasy books if you like the genre,” Jason offered, setting the book back on the nightstand. “When you’re feeling better we can go to the library. I’ll show you the fantasy section. It’s huge.”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to do that,” Tim shrugged. “I know you don’t like me.”

Hearing Tim say it like that, so matter of fact and accepting, wiped the smile off Jason’s face.  It sucked to know that he had left such a horrible impression on Tim and that Tim was giving him a way out. It was a pre-emptive strike to avoid the disappointment of rejection.

Jason was all too familiar with this tactic – he used to do it all the time to Bruce and Dick when he first came to live at the Manor.

He wondered how many times Tim had been hurt by the people closest to him to easily brush off simple offers and attention from others. It didn’t help that Jason’s actions over the past few weeks solidified Tim’s assumption that Jason really didn’t want to spend time with him.

Jason needed to fix this fast.

“I know I don’t have to show you the library, but I want to,” Jason cleared his throat, stretching his sore leg. “We can make up for lost time, okay?”

Tim nodded.

“Is there anything you want to ask me?” Jason offered, sitting back in the chair. Tim wasn’t lying, this chair was comfortable.

Jason’s brain was screaming at him for daring to open himself up like this to Tim, a kid he hardly even knew. But deep down in his heart, Jason knew this was the right thing to do. It was a fair exchange. He couldn’t expect Tim to open up to him, if he didn’t budge himself.

“Um,” Tim hesitated, wringing his hands and looking anywhere but at Jason. He took a deep breath and returned his gaze to Jason. “What happened to your leg and –,“ Tim gestured to the left side of his own face which was the same place as Jason’s noticeably long scar.

Jason took a deep breath to steel himself. He knew this was going to be a question Tim would ask. He was hoping he wouldn’t ask this question right out of the gate, but he did open himself up to be asked any question. Jason wasn’t stupid enough to give Tim details but since this kid was his new ‘little brother’ Jason should probably be somewhat honest with him.

“It’s a long story, but the short version is I went and did something I shouldn’t have, and this happened,” Jason explained, gesturing to his face and his leg. “Can I ask you a question?”

Jason wasn’t sure the kid was going to answer his question once he heard it, but he had to give it a shot.

“Sure, what do you want to know?”

“I want to know why you didn’t say anything to anyone at dinner when you were having a serious allergic reaction?” Jason asked, maintaining eye contact and using his best Robin voice.

Tim stayed quiet and Jason realized that maybe he had pushed too far with his first question. Part of him definitely wanted to give Tim an out, but the other part of him felt it was important for Tim to answer the question. Jason strongly believed that Tim needed to know from him that Tim would never be shamed or scolded by Bruce for speaking up when something was wrong.

“Mother says,” Tim swallowed, fisting his blankets and then hugging his knees again. “That making a scene at the dinner table in front of guests is rude; under no circumstances should I bring any kind of attention to myself.”

Jason had to take a few deep breaths to calm his rage and quiet a few choice words he wanted to voice out loud about these absurd rules and Tim’s parents.

“Tim, you were going into anaphylactic shock,” Jason explained, keeping his voice level like he does when talking to victims as Robin. “Saying something is always okay. Especially if you are in danger, or you just don’t feel good. You wouldn’t have been making a scene. Bruce doesn’t care about decorum all that much just as long as you don’t say ‘fuck’.”

The last sentence made Tim giggle. It was nice to know he could make the kid laugh.

“You’re safe here, Tim. I know firsthand that concept will take some getting used to but believe me. This place is safe. Bruce and Alfred like having you here and so do I,” Jason confessed. “It’s true. I know I didn’t show it in the beginning, and I’m very sorry about that. So, if you want, we can start over.”

Jason held his breath, pleading internally that Tim would forgive him for how Jason had treated him. He truly wanted to start over with Tim. Jason was looking forward to having a little brother.

 “I’d like that”, Tim smiled. It was a smile that reached his eyes and brought out the dimples in his cheeks. “I just have one more question.” Tim hesitated, biting his lip. “It’s sort of a favor. It’s no big deal. You can say no if –,“

“Tim, I’m not going to say no unless you want me to move furniture,” Jason joked, trying to make Tim laugh. “What do you need?”

Tim looked longingly at the book sitting on his nightstand and then back at Jason.

“Can you read a bit of the book to me?” Tim begged. “I’m still dizzy from last night and every time I try to read, I get a headache.”

Jason blew out a breath and smiled. This request he had no problem saying yes to. He was just glad Tim didn’t ask him to leave.

“Of course,” Jason accepted, taking the book and thumbing to the page that had the bookmark. “How are you liking this book so far?

“I like it. I already liked Greek mythology, but this makes me like it even more. I don’t trust Luke,” Tim voiced off handedly. He looked at Jason nervously like he was waiting to be shut down for his opinion. “I know I probably should, but I don’t. I don’t care how much he’s helping Percy. There’s something not right about him.”

“I’m liking you more and more, Timmy,” Jason praised, giving him an easy smile. Tim definitely had a future in this family with those deduction skills. “Maintain that energy and sit tight. We’re gonna be here a while.”

Jason and Tim hung out more and more dividing their time together in the library, playing video games in the den, or hanging out in the kitchen baking cookies with Alfred. Jason helped Tim slowly come out of his shell around Bruce and Alfred. A red-faced Tim eventually confessed to Alfred that he hated fish, couldn’t tolerate the texture of carrots or brussel sprouts but loved broccoli, chicken, steak and pasta.

Having Tim around became the very thing Jason had needed all along. Hanging out with Tim kept him more active, which in turn helped the mobility in Jason’s leg. Even his physical therapist was impressed with the progress Jason had made over the past couple of weeks.

Jason liked being a little brother, but he liked being a big brother even more.

[mk-wizard]

Winnie-The-Pooh Blood and Honey: The Liberating Hidden Message

Just to make it clear, I am not going to watch the movie, but I still appreciate its hidden message, which is not only intelligent, but it is a wake-up call.

I absolutely adore Winnie the Pooh and even as a little girl, one of my favourite cartoons was The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh which was made during the time Disney actually still held its work to a high standard. Even the other absolutely adorable live action show Pooh Corner holds up as being sweet, cute and great for kids. To say Disney really did wonders for Winnie the Pooh is an understatement, but the operative word here is “did”. Now, the more modern Winnie the Pooh works do not feel like something out of a child’s imagination anymore which is depressing as that was the whole premise of Winnie the Pooh: he, his friends and the entire world was made up by a boy named Christopher Robin. Speaking of which, I find it disrespectful that the character Christopher Robin was dropped for a long time from the series and was only brought back later in a way that I feel did not honour him at all. At times, I felt like they were making fun of the guy and childhood in general which is sad. It is not just Winnie the Pooh who has fallen from grace either. A lot of modern Disney works lack any love behind them, and it shows because Disney is making new movies and shows way too often. Plus, they are made to please modern audiences instead of the intended audiences. Just look at how Disney+ has a new show or film almost every week. The only pocket that takes its time and it shows because it actually produces amazing work 90% of the time is the Star Wars franchise. Yes, it has flops, but you can count them on your fingers on one hand and even then, their flops tend to try harder than all of Disney’s other pieces as of late which includes the Marvel Universe.

But in the midst of all this, someone decided to come up with this;

No one would think of making a Winnie the Pooh horror movie, but in its defense, has anyone thought of doing anything with Winnie the Pooh at all instead of waiting for Disney to do something new with it? There is a deep, dark yet liberating message behind this daring film and it is not about the bear;

Disney does not own Winnie the Pooh. Nor does it own Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, The Fox and the Hound, Hercules, Aladdin, Mulan, Robin Hood or any of the princesses from classic literature. All of these pieces are public property meaning anyone is free to adapt them as they wish. The problem is that everyone has been too afraid to try because in the back of our minds, it will never compare to what Disney did.

This fear of touching something that always was free for us to use is crippling us and it is depriving future generations of a chance at seeing a classic tale be reimagined in a way that truly is amazing rather than as another empty cash grab. In other words, the true message behind Winnie-the-Pooh Blood and Honey is: take back our public property.

And believe it or not, when artists did, they made amazing things. The thing is not all of them are in the form of films (though some are). I could even recommend a list. And while they may not be giants like the Disney adaptations, they are worth your time and dare I say, better in some cases. Here are some of the non-Disney adaptations of classic tales I recommend.

Ever After: which is a reimagining of Cinderella that replaces all magic with feminist elements and get this; Leonardo Da Vinci is part of the main cast.

Gepetto: a webcomic adaptation of Pinocchio with a science fiction twist along with all kinds of other twists.

Megan Kearny’s Beauty & the Beast: a webcomic adaptation of the classic tale which takes on a more gothic tone and also explores the trauma behind the Beast’s life story.

Snow White and the Huntsman: a film where Snow White is on equal heroic footing with her “prince” and is a great watch if you love Lord or the Rings or Game of Thrones.

Beauty and the Beast (TV Series): a reimagined version of the classic where “Beauty” is a badass detective and “Beast” is a super-cyborg soldier making the setting more superhero like in all the fun ways.

Red Shoes & the Seven Dwarfs: a deconstructed version of Snow White where the dwarfs are the ones who actually need saving and it is the first ever version of Snow White to be plus sized.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1982 anime film): this film follows the original tale almost to the letter with a few differences.

Splash: a reimagining of The Little Mermaid that takes place in the 1980s which also happens to be one Tom Hanks’ best classic movies.

Ponyo: another reimagining of The Little Mermaid except the two main characters are children and it was made by Chibli Studios, so you know it will be high quality.

Penelope: the most unique reimaging of Beauty and the Beast there is because in this case, the titular character is both the Beauty and Beast.

Let us make the list even longer, friends. Let us take back our public property. Let us stop comparing our work to Disney before we have even written it.

EDIT: Demon’s Mirror: I forgot about this one. This is a reimagining of The Snow Queen which is no Frozen. I would classify it as a horror-adventure that does not shy away from body horror, trauma and fates worse than death.

[fidothefinch]

HSB Whumptober '23 Day 1: Losing a Treasured Childhood Object

The batfam server I'm in created their own Whumptober prompts, and I thought I'd give a few a spin. I won't be doing every day of the month, but I do love some of these prompts! :)

Have some Dick angst, featuring baby Jason.

Read on Ao3 here

“Fine! Just – go, then!” Jason slammed the door in Dick’s face, and a moment later, a wordless of cry of anger followed, slightly muffled.

Dick clenched his fists. Like Jason had any right to be angry at him. “Don’t worry, I won’t bother coming back again,” he growled at the closed door. And he did leave, storming down the residential hall and not pausing as he swung his leather jacket on. Alfred tried to intervene – he always did – but Dick only shot him a glare he knew he would regret later as he stomped out the front door. His bike was where he had left it, and the engine revved and hummed in sync with his own simmering rage as he raced out of the city.

-

It was weeks before he had cooled off enough to return. It was Jason who answered the door. The kid’s left arm was encased in a cast. Dick, maybe with a hint of schadenfreude, wondered whether Jason had gone ahead and tried the move Dick told him he wouldn’t be able to pull off. The kid’s insistence that he could do it was the final straw that broke the peace that Dick had tried to create with passing on the Robin mantle.

 Jason looked him up and down, paling slightly. “What are you doing here?” he muttered.

“I’m getting the rest of my stuff. I’ll be fast.” Dick raised his eyebrows at the cast. “Cutting class?”

Jason scowled. “Parent-teacher conferences. I wouldn’t skip.”

Dick only hummed, already stepping past. He planned to ignore the kid – following the “nothing nice to say, say nothing at all” rule – but Jason took up step behind him as he made his way to his bedroom. Dick stopped at the door and turned. “Can I help you?” he asked, tone dripping with sarcasm.

Jason backed up.

Dick rolled his eyes, instead swinging open the door and stepping into his old room. He’d replaced all of the essentials at his new place already. In his haste to move out a few weeks ago, he’d left a few sentimental items he hadn’t been willing to risk damaging en route, but now that he was settled he was comfortable retrieving them.

Except.

Dick stopped cold in the threshold.

The “Flying Graysons” poster, autographed by all of the members of Haly’s circus before he had been shuffled into the Gotham system, had hung on the wall above his bed since he had moved in. It featured the silhouettes of his parents and himself, swinging on the trapeze. The colors had faded slightly in the last decade or so, but it was one of Dick’s most treasured objects.

And it lay on top of his bed, shredded.

A sound escaped his throat, something between squeaking and choking. He closed the distance between himself and the bed with an uneven stride. It couldn’t be real.

He reached out, tentatively, and ran a finger down one of several long strips. The glossy silhouette of his mother’s torso was cut off at the top and bottom. The first half of someone’s signature had been shorn. The frayed edges of the poster revealed more – it had been an uneven break. Ripped.

“I didn’t mean to.”

Dick inhaled sharply, suddenly reminded of the other’s presence. The breath dislodged something, and his eyes began to itch with unshed tears.

“I mean, I did,” Jason continued. “I was angry, and you were – I’m sorry.”

Dick didn’t turn around. He scooped some of the ribbons into his palm and made a conscious effort not to crush them. “Get out.”

“I can help—”

“I said. Get out!” Now Dick did turn. He stood to his full height. Jason, paler than ever, flinched when Dick raised his hand to point to the door. “Get out of here before you ruin something else!”

“I—”

“It’s not enough that you had to replace me, that you wear my colors and stand by Bruce as his partner and son. You had to destroy this, too?” Dick’s voice was rising, increasing in volume. He didn’t care. “Get out!”

Jason didn’t need to be told again. He turned and fled down the hall.

Dick dropped his hand, and realized he had crushed the paper further in his anger. He let the pieces flutter to the ground, dropped to his knees, and wept.

He didn’t hear the front door as Jason left.

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

A Light in the Darkness {Part 03 of 07}

Pairing: Eddie Munson X Hargrove!twinsister Reader

Chapter word count: 2 K

Summary: After Billy died, you got stuck in a dark place, where you didn't have to deal with your feelings. Your friends don't know what to do but to drag you away from the many fights you pick. And life was dragging itself, an agonizing day after the other... Until Eddie Munson broke through the very high walls you built around yourself.

<- Previous part (02)

Next Part (04) ->

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

Light

There's peace in the darkness. If you could, you'd spend hours underwater, despite the cold clinging to your bones. With time, you learned to hold your breath for a minute, maybe a bit more, but you never really cared enough to count.

You only swim up, slowly, when your lungs are empty of oxygen, burning for it. Eyes open, you see the faint grey light of the moon on the surface getting closer and closer, until you finally break through, breathing in and out several times. Leaning on your back, you make yourself float, looking at the white moon among the stars. It's always beautiful here, and many times, when you spend too many hours in the lake, you thought about dying here. A peaceful, calm death. Maybe drowning, in the middle of the night when sleep overcomes you. Or hypothermia. Robin warned you about that some time ago.

But still, you come here, several times a week to clear your head.

Sometime later, you're not sure how long, when you swim to the surface again, you see the sky in the East starting to light up, thin clouds painted a dark orange. Sighing, you ignore how heavy your eyelids are after two sleepless nights. Looking towards the shore you came from, you're thankful you ended up close enough for an easy swim, so that's what you do.

Once your feet hit the sand, you walk the rest of the way, bracing yourself against the wind. It doesn't help much since your clothes are soaked. You can't get inside the car now, so you lean against the hood, waiting for the wind to dry you off a little. There's some muttering coming from the walkie you keep in the glove compartment, but you ignore it. They're asking where you are, and by the multiple voices, they woke each other up. “Stupid...” You mutter, because they don't have to treat you like a child. You're eighteen, you can go around as much as you like. Not even Neil can tell you what do to now, since he decided to leave - probably with another woman -. So they can chill.

It's a Sunday, so you don't have to rush to get to school. The sky is all painted blue when you finally move to get inside the car. But when you do, you don't move.

When you were kids, you and Billy used to walk through the streets after Neil did something. It was always a mess. He would be mad, walking three feet ahead, as you would follow, crossed arms and mumbling, cursing Neil under your breath. When you came here, that habit had died down, but things got much worse, so Santa Monica's streets were replaced by the many tracks in the woods around Hawkins. That's how you found Lover's Lake. And that's how you fought with him every time he warned you not to come here because he'd bring a girl here.

You'd give everything to have the chance to argue with Billy again. About anything, really.

He was your best friend, and throughout your lives, you only had each other to rely on when it came to the nightmare you lived in. And when your mother left... You became each other's heroes.

Many times you faced Neil when he was beating Billy, and Billy did the same when you were the target of Neil's anger.

Now you're alone.

Some months after Billy's death, you opened up to everyone about Neil. But after that, you never spoke of it again, and neither did them.

Taking a deep breath, you notice the tears rolling down and wipe them off with the back of your hand, starting the car. You're just about to put the gear on reverse when you hear a car getting close. Checking the review mirror, you don't have time to wonder who would be here this early when you see the van. Takes two seconds for you to recognize it. “Shit.”

Throwing your hands up in frustration, you reach for the glove compartment and takes the walkie. “Hey. Better answer me. What the hell is E-” A knock on the window makes you jump on your seat, shooting Eddie an angry stare. “What the hell is Eddie Munson doing here?” You finish the question as you push the door open. “What are you doing here?”

“(Y/N)?” Dustin's voice comes through the radio. “Are you okay? Over.”

Rolling your eyes, you bring the radio near your mouth. “Of course I'm okay. Why is Eddie here?”

“We were worried!”

“(Y/N), please.” Is Maxine who speaks now. “Where were you all night?”

“Went for a swim.” You reply, raising your eyes to meet Eddie's stare. He doesn't say anything, crossing his arms over his chest. “Lover's Lake.”

She takes a deep breath. “Can you please go back home? I've been looking for you since 4 in the morning. You didn't sleep yesterday, you didn't sleep today...” She trails off, and you can hear the hurt in her voice. “Do this for me, if you don't want to do this for yourself.”

Eddie's eyes narrow at the dialogue, and you try to read what's going on in his mind. “You guys need to know that I'm fine. A lot of people-”

“Don't bullshit us.” Steve's voice comes through. As usual, probably everyone was on the hunt for you.

“Yeah. You know what happens to your body after 48 hours of sleep deprivation?” Robin says, too fast for you to understand. “Well, I do. You'll pass out. Probably behind the wheel. And since you always drive sooooo slow, right, (Y/N)? You'll hit a tree or something and then, boom, next thing we know we're having a funeral.” You can hear her catching her breath on the other side. “Is that what you want? Huh? To leave us? To leave Max?”

“Of course I don't want that!” You shout back, gripping the walkie a bit too hard. “I don't-” It gets caught in your throat, a bitter lump that keeps you from saying anything else.

“Hey.” Eddie's voice is barely a whisper as he moves, slow and carefully, to take the radio from your hand. “Guys? I've got her, okay? I'll make her eat something and take her home. Someone come pick up her car.”

That makes you gasp, raising both eyebrows. You don't like people taking over your life like that. Never have. And you're about to say something when Maxine's voice makes you shut up. “Please, just... Make sure she's alright.”

“I will.” He says and pushes the button to cut the connection. “I know you want to get into your car and just drive away again, probably yell at me in the process, but do as she just said. Do it from them since you clearly don't care much for your own wellbeing.”

It hits you. It really does. Biting your lip, you give him the smallest of nods, that you don't even know what mean. “Okay. Mmm...” He gestures at a house half a mile away, by the lake. “A friend of mine lives there. I could grab something and we can eat by his deck over there.”

“No.” You're quick to say.

“I was expecting that,” Eddie mutters, searching in his pocket. “I... I have enough for some cheap breakfast by the road.” He looks up at you with an apologetic smile. “If I knew we'd have a breakfast date, I'd bring some money with me.”

“Just some advice, you're not funny.” Walking past him, you get into the passenger seat of his van, much to your dismay, watching as he mumbles something to himself and gets inside the car as well.

“I know just the place... But it's out of town.”

“You have to-” You begin, but force yourself to stop. Is he... Trying to be nice? Why would he, after you did nothing but be mean to him? Probably because of your friends. “Drop the act, Munson. You don't have to pretend to be nice just because of a bunch of kids.” Crossing your arms, you lean against the window as he starts to drive off.

“If I was in it just because of your friends, I'd just drop you home and be done with it.” He says, his tone more serious now. Glancing at him, your eyes meet his. “Don't act as if you got me all figured out.”

“I don't. That's exactly what I dislike about you.” You say, averting your eyes and looking at the road ahead. “Among other things.”

“Like what?”

“You really wanna know?”

“Yeah.”

“First of all, D&D is stupid, I don't know why you make it such a big part of your life. Second, you have this whole oh, look at how I'm weird vibe going on, which is also stupid.”

“You're breaking my heart, darling.”

“Yeah. And also, this van is ridiculous!”

“Now you're talking about my car, not me.” He speaks, taking a turn right and taking the chance to look at you. “Is it because you can't find anything else to complain about?”

“Your attitude right now is stupid too.” With that, you reach over to turn on the radio, putting on a music station that you like. Turning the volume up, you lean back against your seat, closing your eyes.

You're awakened by a soft hand shaking your shoulder. Rubbing your eyes, you look up at Eddie before looking around. “Where are we?”

“A couple of miles East of Hawkins.” He says, pulling the door open. “This 24-hour dinner has a nice breakfast menu so I got you some of the best.” When you get out of the car, Eddie jerks his head to the side. “There. Let's go.”

There's a set of wooden tables across from the dinner, near a fence. Looking over it, you see that this road is high, leading to the mountains, and down there, you can see the pine trees. It's a beautiful view under the morning sun.

“I have no idea what you like so I went for the obvious.“ Eddie says. “Vanilla cake, amazing by the way. And... Coffee?“

“I don't like coffee.“ You mutter after thinking twice. You don't want to come out rude after what he did.

“Me neither. I got myself a hot cocoa, you can have it.“

“No, it's okay.“ Sitting down, you pull the slice of cake as Eddie hands you a plastic fork. “How much do I owe you for this?“

“Guys usually pay when it's a date, right?“ He says with a shy smile.

“This is not a date, Munson. Do you really think this is how I show up for a date? “ Gesturing at yourself with the free hand, you bring the fork with a piece of cake to your mouth. “In a simple shirt and worn our jeans?“ You say once you swallow.

“Well, you look good like this to me so.“ He shrugs.

You know you do. Guys have complimented you before, even when you didn't put much effort into your looks. But this feels different. Eddie feels... Honest. Truly, no games are being played here. “Hm. Thanks.“

“You know what you need?“ He pauses, only to speak again when you shrug. “A party.“

“A party?“

“Yeah. I mean, I didn't get invited, obviously, but I'm sure you were. Kate's birthday or something?“

Nodding, you decide to steal a sip from his hot cocoa. “Yeah. Next Saturday.“

“You should go.“

“But you won't.“

“Wasn't invited.“

“Well, I can bring anyone I want.“

Eddie smiles. “Are you inviting me?“

“Only if you wipe that smile off your face.“

He raises both his hands in defeat, forcing his smile to die. “It's gone.“

“Good.“ You say, focusing on your cake.

The smile does come back to his lips, but you pretend you don't see it. And just like that, too fast for your taste, you decided to go to a party with Eddie... What's happening to you?

@lovesanimals0000

[omg-i-think-i-like-you]

It was another afternoon when Joyce invited Steve for dinner. She couldn't bear the thought of him being alone in that big, empty house. He said he'd come, of course, and thanked her for the invitation. She gestured with her hands like saying 'don't thank me. you're always welcome here'. She then said he can bring friends too.

Steve smiled at the approval, and appeared at the Byers' doorstep a couple hours later with Eddie on one side and Robin on the other. Nancy arrived a few minutes earlier, she was at the Byers' every other day of the week, and when she heard her friends were coming she came a bit too early, on purpose.

Will got permission to bring friends as well, so he invited Mike, who brought El, who convinced Max, who dragged Lucas who didn't even need to tell Dustin to come, because if Steve and Eddie are there, he's always there too.

Jonathan helped Joyce bring some more chairs and another old table into the house.

"do you think I made enough food..?" she whispered under her breath.

"Mom, it's fine," Jonathan smiled, "I do think you made enough food, and if anyone's still hungry, we'll send Steve to get some pizza."

Joyce rolled her eyes, but smiled back at him. "he's our guest, Jonathan, be nice."

Jonathan picked up a pile of chairs. "guest? mom, he's here more than Will sometimes." he looked over to the living room to see everyone giggling at Eddie, who was doing something that looked like a reenactment of a movie scene.

"you know his parents aren't around much... I want him to feel comfortable here, that he has a place to be and someone to talk to..."

Jonathan put down the chairs and sighed. "mom, sometimes you're too good."

somehow everyone succeeded to find a place around the table. most of their arms were touching and rubbing against each other, but no one complained. food was being passed and joyful grunts were heard.

"This is so good, Mrs Byers," Eddie said with his mouth full. Robin nodded in agreement, "yeah, so so good!"

"I'm glad, sweethearts. please, call me Joyce." she smiled in front of an empty plate. Steve noticed.

"aren't you eating, Mrs Byers?" he asked carefully.

"call her Joyce," Robin said quietly and kicked him under the table.

Joyce heard her, and laughed. "it's okay, Steve. I want you guys to eat first. besides, you know how it is, you cook and taste and then taste again and before you notice - you're full."

"Surprisingly, I do know how it is," he smiled and looked at all the 6 kids who were sitting around the table, talking too loudly with food in their mouths, laughing at unfunny jokes, and looking so... calm.

"I don't know how it is," Robin said, cutting Steve's train of thought. "now that I think about it, Steve is the only one who cooks."

Eddie joined, "right! wherever we are, even at my beat-up trailer, Steve always takes over the kitchen."

"Even at our house, Mike, right?" Nancy joined in laughing, "he'd come over just to cook because our kitchen is big and the kids are always there anyway,"

Mike nodded and the rest of the kids joined in, "yeah!" Will said, "Steve makes the best pancakes," "and mashed potatoes!" Dustin added, "and chicken too," Max got into the conversation, "it's funny, I think I first tried it when he was over at Eddie's and came to my place to let me taste it."

Steve shook his head while his cheeks turned red. "guys, come on..."

"Steve, should I be concerned?" Joyce said jokingly, "are you trying to replace me?"

"Well, he kinda did, didn't he?" Lucas said, "not in a bad way, of course, it's just that... Steve is always with us, you know? yes, he cooks for us, but he also drives us around, teaches us basketball, patches us up when we get hurt, listens to us when we're upset... he's patient with us and cares for us and loves us. I don't think we ever even talked about it, it just happened... Steve just happened to become our mom." he ended with a chuckle.

Steve had tears in his eyes now. everything he does comes so naturally to him, he never stopped to think about it. hearing Lucas say all that, with everyone else smiling and nodding, made him realize how much he means to them. how much they love him. he was just giving them what they needed. what he was never given by any adult. he saw Joyce smiling at him, Eddie had his hand on his thigh, and Robin had her hand on his shoulder. Nancy looked at him proudly, and Jonathan couldn't stop himself from joining in the warm feeling that was around the table now. it suddenly became more than a casual midweek dinner. it now was the evening Steve realized he matters, that he's important and valued and worthy. that he's loved and welcome and wanted. he had his kids and his friends and Joyce, and he belonged in the little family he created for himself, and he was happy.

"so, Steve," Joyce suddenly said, "if you're the mom, am I a grandma now?" and everyone burst into laughter.

[sunrisesunsetqueen]

Fictober Day 1: “It’s not too late, let’s go.”

Alright this is my first fic so be nice. I'm trying this out for Fictober but this part of a much longer fanfic centering around Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, my OC Willow Howard. This is a small piece in their timeline and it is before they "meet" Eddie. all of the other fics for this month will focus on different vignettes in the timeline of my larger story. (BTW Willow is plus sized and she is black. if you don't like it, don't read <3)

Word Count: 1752 TW: Insecurity, Menstruation, blood (only a little, nothing graphic), body dysmorphia

November 1985

She goes to lock the last door. Having pulled a double, Willow was exhausted from the stress of a release day at the comic book shop, and it didn't help that Max had called off again for the 3rd time this week. She was constantly concerned about her but at this moment, she didn’t care. Her feet and her back hurt from running around all day, standing up to check people out and to restock shelves that would quickly run out after she was done.

It also didn't help that she was on her period and the heaviest day of it as well. She felt every ache and cramp that her body had to offer her, so much so she thought she was going to cry when she got to take a five to go to the bathroom and replace her products. All she wanted was to go home, shower, and just lay still in bed. 

It was about 9 pm on a Saturday, which was usually the time that she would be over at Steve’s house, watching a movie with friends or just relaxing together, but because the shift went on longer than she wanted and her body felt like it was trying to kill itself from the inside, all before noon, she called him to cancel during her fifteen.

“But Will, you have to come, I haven't seen you all week” Steve whined. This was the longest time they had spent away from each other by themselves. Only stolen kisses before they would clock in and a few hugs during their breaks which were always around Robin or the kids or customers, never when they were alone. 

“I know, I know, but Stevie I'm so tired and my body is killing me, and I've had the worst cramps of my life today. I just can’t handle being around them right now. I promise I will make it up next week” It hurt Willow to even say no to spending time with Steve or the kids, but all she could do was maybe drive to her house, before she passed out on the front lawn, let alone be around the kids and put on a fake smile.

“I love you, I'll talk to you tomorrow, baby” She hung up the phone before he got a word in to protest. She didn’t want to be disrespectful, but she was exhausted then and now that she was leaving at the end of the night, she felt even worse. 

When she got to her house, she trudged through, dragging her body where it needed to go. When she got to the kitchen to grab a cup of lemonade, she saw a note on the refrigerator door that read:

“Willow,

We left to go visit Aunt Ivy in the city. She tripped and hurt her hip…again. Your dad and I will be back tomorrow afternoon. We left some money on the counter for food tonight.

Love you Honey,

Mommy”

She looked at the note her mother had left and huffed out. It's not that her parents leaving for the night was upsetting because she did want to be left alone, but it just felt like she had been abandoned by another person today, which she found annoying. Was it justified? Not really but with her emotions being out of whack due to her period, she took it as a small grievance she had.

She set the note down and walked off to the bathroom, completely forgetting the reason why she went into the kitchen in the first place and headed to the bathroom. When she turned on the lights to look in the mirror, she saw herself for the first time today since she clocked in. Her curly hair was in a mess in her scrunchie. Her eyeliner was much more smeared than it usually was and her face looked drained. It probably didn’t help that she barely had anything to eat or drink all day because she was running around catering to everyone else's needs. 

She touched her normally chubby, round rosy cheeks that now looked a little slimmer due to being dehydrated. She rubbed her eyes before trying to take the scrunchie out of her hair which took a lot more effort than it was worth. She started to tear up. The day had truly been draining and terrible. 

She went to the kitchen to grab a cup of water and chugged it because having a headache and then crying would only lead to a migraine and she couldn’t let her day end that bad. She walked back to the bathroom and began to slip her clothes off and turned on the water for the shower. When she gets down to her underwear, she notices that she has bleed through them. Her eyes started to well up, but she wiped them away. 

“It's okay, it's just underwear. I can clean them and wash or just throw them away, it's no big deal, it's no big deal” she tries to calm herself down. Once the water is warm enough she hops in the shower and cleans herself off of the sweat, grime, blood from today. The warm water feels nice on her skin, relaxing her muscles. She takes her time in the shower, wanting to savor the feel of the water, she sits on the floor of the shower.

She's probably in the shower for 45 minutes before it starts to get cold, the warm security water slowly turning to a chilling rain. She gets out of the shower and dries off and puts another pad on as she gets dressed in a pair of sweatpants and one of Steve's shirts that she stole from his house. The soft cotton only has the slightest hint of his scent left, but the feeling of it makes her feel safe.

After she gets dressed, Willow looks into the mirror again but the full length one in her bedroom. She looks at her body, picking out pieces of herself that she hasn't been insecure about herself in a while. Looking at how bloated she looked, touching her cheeks again and seeing how drained she looked. Her hair was a mess, her small coily ringlets were wet and dangling in front of her face in a mess. She hasn't been able to take care of her hair at all in the last 3 days, nor has she felt like it. She puts it up in one of her scrunchies, deciding that it is a tomorrow problem.

She begins to cry, thinking insecure thoughts of how she's perceived, of what everyone must say about her all day; what they say about her when she’s with Steve. She touches her thighs and hips. Her arms and her stomach, they all felt like too much, too big for what she thought Steve deserved; what she thought he wanted. 

Insecure and anxious thoughts fill her head as tears start to stream down her face. She goes to lay on her bed, tired of picking herself apart to nothing when she hears the phone ring. She reaches for it and picks up the phone blindly. 

“Howard residence” she answered, not caring how she sounds.

“Will?” Steve’s voice is soft and sweet. He knows that something is up just by her attitude.

“Oh,” She wipes her tears even though she knows that Steve can’t see her. “Hi” she responds softly, she can’t help it, but she also doesn't want to concern Steve even though her attempts are failing.

“Baby, are you okay? You didn't call me when you got home. I was worried about you, plus you don’t sound okay. Honey, what's wrong?” Steve says with so much concern and care in his voice.

Willow can’t help but burst into tears when Steve asks 'what's wrong?’ The second that he asks her all the defenses she's had up all day come crashing down.

“I–I had a terrible day. I dropped 2 boxes of comics and they spilled everywhere. Max called off so I worked all day. I had to close. I'm on my period and everything hurts. My feet hurt, my back hurts, my head hurts, my uterus is trying to kill itself. I bleed through my panties and my body feels weird and I look dead and my parents left for the night. And I haven’t seen you in so long and I didn’t want to come over because I love the kids but they're so loud sometimes and I couldn’t handle that, but you were there and I wanted to spend time with you, but I was going to be late anyway an–and” Willow rambles as quickly as Robin does on a regular basis. Steve’s heart breaks for her. His poor girl had a terrible day and she's all alone with her thoughts. 

“Honey, would you like me to come over?” Steve says calmly

“What about the kids? Are they still over there? You're still hosting, I don’t want to bother you”

“You’re never ever bothering me. And I don’t care about the kids, I care about you. They can go over the Wheeler's for the rest of the night. Nancy and Robin can babysit them.”

“Okay…only if you want”

“I would want nothing more. I've missed you so much this week”

Willow blushes. She knows that Steve loves her and cares about her, but something about her saying he would want nothing more than to see her after she sat and picked herself apart thinking about how Steve views her even though none of it was true, makes her feel warm inside.

“Will, have you eaten, yet?”

“No…”

“When did you last eat?”

“One…” She whispers on the phone

“Willow!!” Slightly upset that she hasn't taken care of herself but knowing that she was probably too busy to do it.

“I'm sorry, time got away from me!” 

“Well how about this? I can come and pick you up and then we can grab a pizza and some ice cream…and I can bring you back here so you can sleep in my bed with me and I can cuddle you all night until you feel better. How does that sound?” 

“Are you sure it's not too late?”

“I promise It's not too late, let's go, I'll come and pick you up at 10.”

Willow smiles ear to ear. “Okay, I’ll see you soon. I love you, Steve Harrington”

“I love you too Willow”

[mirrored-heart-fics]

Cruel to Be Kind (s.h. x reader)

from @get-your-fics‘s A Midsummer Night’s Writing Challenge! Thanks so much for tagging me in this! Hope you all enjoy 💗

Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew // 10 Things I Hate About You 

pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!reader (fluff, a little angst)

warnings: strong language/swearing, betrayal, high school level PDA

word count: 8k

Note: The reader insert uses she/her pronouns. I chose to write the reader as an immigrant/ethnic kid (her parents are non-English speakers/speak only a little English). She’s probably ND as well but was never diagnosed. It takes place during Season 4, but no major plot events happened (nothing w/ Vecna or the Upside Down). I cut out the subplot of Bianca and her suitors for a simpler story, but still using the original source material as the basic outline. The title comes from the song by Letters to Cleo, which is featured in the soundtrack for 10 Things I Hate About You.

“Say she rail; why, I'll tell her plain She sings as sweetly as a nightingale. Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear As morning roses newly wash'd with dew. Say she be mute and will not speak a word; Then I'll commend her volubility, and say she uttereth piercing eloquence.”

✨✨✨✨✨✨

Dustin slammed the door as he got into Steve's car. (These kids, man. Where are their manners?)

"Steve, hey, look. I need you to do me a favor," he turned and looked up at the older boy who was currently fiddling with the dial on the radio with a concentration that could match El's.

"What?" Dammit, he needed to replace it soon. But he really didn't wanna go to his dad so it may have to stay busted for now.

"Okay, so just got bamboozled—"

"Bamboozled?"

"Shut up, practically trampled by these freshman—"

"You mean your classmates?"

"Yeah, whatever, anyway—these freshies wanted you do something for them. And—it's kind of like a big ask. But you owe me a soda anyway."

Steve was intrigued. Or, at least, mildly interested in whatever these freshman had to say. He hadn't befriended any other younger teens outside of Dustin's circle and had no siblings, so he didn't know how these kids knew his name. He was sure his 'King Steve' reputation died when he graduated.

"Okay? What is it?" He sounded... weary... of the details he wasn't even aware of yet.

It couldn't be too big, right? Like, these kids probably wanted him to drive them around or—

"You need to ask Y/N out so that they can ask her sister out to Homecoming. Her sister can't date anyone until Y/N does. I dunno, her family's, like, super strict or something," Dustin blurted out. Completely ripped off the band-aid.

Steve flinched back from the broken radio.

What?

...

What was he to him? Did he only exist to give into Dustin’s every needs and wants?

He wasn’t some kind of dating service or whatever the fuck.

 “Please? These kids are obnoxious as hell yet so popular somehow. They have not left me alone—I swear to God—since that dance was announced,” Dustin pleaded.

 He looked again at his younger friend. His dorky freshman and kid-brother figure in his life.

That... wasn't the most insane thing he's been asked to do, considering Dustin and the gang always got him into supernatural shit anyway.

How hard could this be?

Robin commented recently on how he's managed to go on a thousand dates every week. This is one of his main strengths in his, well, diverse arsenal of skills (using household items as demon hunting equipment was strangely a plus). If anything, it would be weirder if he didn't get the girl.

And, speaking of the girl, Y/N—she was a complete stranger to him. He could vaguely recall having junior year history with her... maybe it was chemistry? The more she didn't know who he was in high school, the simpler this would be and the sooner this would be over. He would take her on a date, turn on his trademarked charm, and be done with it.

Steve sighed. What did he have to lose, truly? It was just a stupid little favor.

Dustin looked hopeful... hopeful that this would stop those boys from pestering him. Steve empathized wholeheartedly.

"Alright, when do I ask her?" He started the engine and gripped his hands on the steering wheel.

—————✨

The girl in question was spending her time stocking shelves, sweeping the floor, helping customers find their items and then checking out their items. She planned to work at the Hawkins Art and Frame store for the year before studying at a small art school next fall.

She was currently bored at the counter, hand on her chin and forearm resting on the counter, re-reading a comfort book but not being able to focus on the story. Just skimming over the words. It was a slow day. Barely anyone came by.

The bell rang and she glanced at the source of the sound and movement. It was a guy who graduated with her from high school.

"Hi, welcome in," she called out in a light tone as she does to all customers of Hawkins Art and Frame. He nodded back and waved to her with a tight smile.

Oh god, not this jerk. She clearly remembers hiding herself in her notes or a book, trying not to get roped into the conversations of the popular group. She succeeded—they didn't bother her and she could live out her quiet existence in peace. She learned nothing deeper about them and that's the way she preferred it.

She looked down into her book, pretending to read. Literally just studying the texture of page, not comprehending any of the printed text.

The guy—Steve—wanders around the store, pausing at sections of brushes and paint, canvases and paper. Not that she's creating meticulous notes in her head of his store behavior or anything.

"Uhm, hi. I'd like to buy this," he lays down a single 2B graphite pencil in front of her.

"Alright, it'll be two dollars—"

"Two dollars? For a pencil?" She wants to let out a laugh, but she's a budding expert in the ancient art of keeping one's cool.

"Yeah—you chose an expensive brand, see?" She twists the pencil over to the side where the name is stamped into it. "And artist pencils are different from regular ones. This one is softer. It'll smudge more easily."

Steve pauses a second and decides whether or not he wants to go through his charade.

"I... sorry, I don't actually want to buy this," he runs a hand through his hair. "I came here because..." Why is he so nervous? The girl looks up at him with soul-piercing eyes, that's why.

"For a date." He manages to push out.

...why isn't she responding?

"A... date?" The girl is thoroughly confused. He nods his head.

"Yeah, I..." shit, shit, he was gonna kill these kids if he finds them. "I wanted to ask you on a date." This is far from the most embarrassing thing he's done yet it viscerally feels like it.

"I, uhm. Uh." The girl is blinking rapidly. Unsure if this is real or not. "Uhm. I don't know."

"You... don't know?" Why does he feel a bit crushed?

"I—I don't know you that well, Steve," she answers flatly.

That's fair, he thinks. He doesn't know her at all.

"Will you think about it?" Shit, he sounds too eager. Keep it cool.

"Uh." She looks up into the hope-filled brown eyes of one Steve Harrington. "Sure?" Is all she can genuinely give right now.

He gives her a thumbs up and speeds out the door.

She has a lot to journal about tonight.

—————✨

She does think about it. That part is truthful.

But—she doesn't think she'll accept the date request. The "I don't know" was a soft "no."

The girl rolls over on her bed, unable to sleep, brain too busy with potential scenarios of how this may play out. If she says yes and her parents allow it—if they don't even care—then what? She goes on a date and has a good time? Or she goes on a date and feels awkward and uncomfortable, leaving the both of them miserable?

Would her parents allow it? They sure haven't for her little sister, that bitc—kid she doesn't get along with.

But she was legally an adult now. They told her she's allowed to do anything she wants within reason.

If she says no and doesn't go on a date, life will be the same except she may hurt a dude (a guy who was pretty rude in high school, her conscience would insist—don't feel too bad).

If she doesn't show up at work and lives inside her bedroom, she would be able to avoid Steve long enough that he forgets her, but then she'd lose her job and thus her money for school.

She runs her hands over the comforter, playing with the loose threads. She hadn't considered why yet. Why would Steve want to take her on a date?

She struggled to produce an answer.

—————✨

 "Hey," Steve showed up once again to Y/N's workplace. In a cute yellow sweatshirt. With nice, fashionable, big hair. She even notices freckles on his face, but rapidly tries to erase that thought that out of her mind.

"Hi?"

"You? Me? Date?" He points at her and himself.

"Uhhhhhhhh."

"Y/N, you have gorgeous eyes," Steve tries complimenting her, realizing it was too soon as he speaks it. He internally smacked his head.

"Uh, I—thanks?" Y/N grimaces-smiles. She tried to keep it friendly, but unsure if what she wants to do in her head is showing up on her face. She's pretty sure she's not nailing what she's going for...

And Steve thinks the same with his moves.

"I just thought, 'man, I was wondering what Y/N was up to today, I'm so impressed with her art skills,' and I had to visit you," Steve wonders if he's hamming up his delivery enough.

"...How'd you know I make paintings?" Her face is showing disbelief. He was going for amazement and hopefully swooning but this is okay, too.

"I remembered—high school." Snap. Finger guns. "Miss Watson's sixth period art class. You were wicked in her studio. Complete genius. A real Picasso in there," aaaannnd that's the extent of his art knowledge. Picasso was an artist, wasn't he? He had Dustin go through his yearbook to figure out what extracurriculars Y/N did, though he did know that she had taken Watson's studio art class (Nance had it, also).

Y/N's eyes popped in recognition, but he took that as a good sign.

"I, uh. Thanks, Steve."

He smiled at that.

"But—why me?"

And the smile marginally dropped.

"I mean—you have lots of other girls dying to be with you, waiting for you to ask them, no?" Steve found it was harder to keep a friendly face. "Why don't you go look for them?" Someone who's actually interested in you, she wanted to add, but held back. It would be a bit too mean.

"Y/N, I'm really into you. Like, super. I mean—you're so artsy! And nice and cool. What guy wouldn't wanna be with you?" He's salvaging what he can from this dumpster fire he started himself.

That... did something in her. Something bad. Small, but bad. He could tell in the tiny downturn of her lips, the glimmer in her eyes. Did he say the wrong thing? He meant it as a compliment. He tried compliments this whole time. It's not working. Why isn't it working?

 She replied carefully, choosing her words like picking out a splinter. "Thanks, but... no, Steve... I'm sure you're used to getting 'yes' all the time. But. Sorry."

 He couldn't believe it. He blew at his best trait.

—————✨

 Steve re-told the story of his failed attempt to Robin, slicing out all of the bits about Dustin's favor. Robin didn't need to know that. She'd freak out and the plan would be ruined and Dustin would hold a grudge against him for a million years. He couldn't lose his only other friend.

And she was laughing. Snickering. Snorting. Hooting and clapping her hands.

"You complimented her eyes? That early? Outta nowhere?" Robin was holding her abdomen, stomach muscles hurting from the amount of laughter she was letting out.

"Yeah, yeah, I know—wasn't the best timing," Steve rolled his eyes, resting his hands on the counter of Family Video. "I panicked in the moment. Usually, I just... ya know," he waves his hands around, "smile and give girls the look, and it all ends up going good from there," he side-eyed his best friend.

"You dingus, that's why you have to learn something about her before you ask her out," Robin gave him a gentle shove.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "I panicked in the moment and-and it felt like I was slipping... she didn't join any clubs in high school. I had, like, only one class with her. I was so focused on Nance, right? I only knew she did art and that's what I told her," he lifted his eyebrows.

"You told her?" She teased.

"Complimented her. You know what I mean."

"Ooookay, have you seen any of her art?"

Steve was suspiciously quiet.

"Steve!" Robin scolded, swatting at his arm.

"I know! It's not working—my usual charm—not working..." He couldn't figure out why. He's usually in the clear at this point. He ran a hand over his face.

"Steve," Robin looked at him, sobering up, "maybe consider that not all girls are the same. Or that, you know, I can't afford to screw up if I like a girl." Steve nodded, eyebrows tilting. Grounded by the serious reminder.

"So... what do I do now?"

Robin looked around the video store, aimlessly at first and then—spotting the candy aisle.

"I have an idea, Harrington."

  —————✨

Y/N was sketching on her bed, Walkman headphones on. Her sister was throwing a fit to her parents in the bedroom next door (she couldn't go dress shopping with her friends if she wasn't allowed to go to Homecoming in the first place). She increased the volume dial.

She turned the paper around, drawing on the far end corners she couldn't reach without smudging. Thinking over the two encounters with Steve over the week. How (seemingly) spontaneous and strangely persistent they were. How it was Steve Harrington of all people.

But also noticing after the fact how... dorky he acted. Leagues away from his high school self. Finger guns? The thumbs up and dash away? She unconsciously smiled to herself, thinking of the mental images they created.

Huh. Maybe he had really changed after all.

Or maybe he hadn't.

With no reference point to the real Steve beneath the reputation, either in high school or currently, how could she judge him accurately? Or maybe the reputation was the true him, which was less of a chilling thought and more of a sad, pathetic one.

Still, neither the pity nor genuine curiosity into the layers of Steve wasn't enough to accept his date invitation. She lounged on her bed, covered by her pillows and blankets, surrounded by art supplies and snacks. It was a literal comfort zone, one she felt no desire to leave whatsoever.

Even if a... she wanted to roll her eyes at finishing this thought.

Even if a... conventionally attractive boy existed beyond its boundaries. (There. She could leave that in the open.)

 But some tiny, evil plotting part of her brain started thinking about what a date with Steve would be like. It conspired in the back of her mind, stubbornly lingering while her music and art distracted her at the forefront.

—————✨

It started with small things—her favorite candies, bookmarks from the used book store she shopped at, colored pencils. These little presents appeared on her work counter from time to time. At the very first moment, she was pleasantly surprised, but then it quickly became obvious who it was from, and her surprise turned into bitter acceptance.

Steve showed up more, hanging around her counter, even helping her when she had to restock items. He came as much as he could whenever he was off on his own shifts at Family Video. She tried to shoo him out and he respected that whenever she actually had customers to help, but for the most part...

He was here. With her.

Huh.

Okay, then.

She learned that he wasn't close to his parents (who were never home, anyway, he told her). She told him that she came from a big, nosy, tight-knit family. She learned that he was able to tell what kind of hair products people used (and later learned what kind he himself used). He learned from his own observations that she was a music and art snob, criticizing other people’s collection of cassettes and VHS tapes like her life depended on it.

 “Favorite movie?” she asked as they were both re-stocking the pencils.

“Back to the Future—I saw it with Robin when it first came out,” he chuckled to himself, remembering that night.

“Oh, your sister, right?” She recalled seeing her a couple times at Family Video. She had seen her maybe once in the frame shop before she knew Steve. She seemed like another artsy type, was kind of a band geek, she remembered, but friendly. They were cool whenever they passed each other in the halls or classrooms back when she attended Hawkins High.

“What? No! She’s not my sister.”

“Well sorry,” The girl put her hands up, “It’s just that… you guys look alike.” She shrugged. She insisted it was a fair assumption. She furrowed her eyebrows. “…Back to the Future? Really? You work at a video store. You don’t have any other ones?”

Steve was a little shocked by her boldness. He thought this girl was supposed to be nice, right? “I mean… The Karate Kid! I saw that one in the theater. Ferris Bueller? Ghostbusters?” He was getting weirdly defensive about his movie tastes.

“I liked Ferris Bueller also…” she conceded. “But that’s it?”

“What else would there be?”

“Uh, you’re skipping over entire genres and histories of movies. Not to mention international ones or experimental films. Or feminist films. Stuff like that. All of yours is kitsch,” The girl went back to sorting her pencil stock.

Steve was genuinely offended. He would have to look up whatever she said in the last part. He didn’t even know how to spell that.

“Well—which ones do you like then?” He asked just to ask. He was still recovering from his bruised ego.

“Next time you go to work, you need to look out for… actually, no, let me write you a list,” she stood up to go to the check-out counter. She pulled out a pad of yellow lined paper and a pencil. She scribbled down her list, but he couldn’t see exactly what she was writing from his angle.

“This is your homework,” she ripped out the sheet of paper and handed it to Steve. It contained a few movies he’d seen at Family Video (he recognized their VHS covers), but most of them were new names to him. Some of the titles were in foreign languages. French? Spanish? He sweated nervously.

  The girl had a couple siblings, including an annoying younger teenage sister. Steve pretended not to know that.

She observed that he morphed into a parent figure when he was with the young group of teens. She was surprised that he was close with one of them (the curly-haired one with the baseball cap. He even had a handshake with him).

The Steve she knew from high school wasn’t him. 

  "Let's go eat something," Steve tilted his head towards the storefront. The girl was closing her shift and taking off her apron and name tag.

"I should probably go home, Steve. What if my parents ask where I am?" She answered indifferently. Steve learned by now that it was another way of her saying no.

"You can say that you're eating dinner with a friend—a friend that can drive you and have you back before dark. C'mon, you live close here," he gestured to vaguely the direction of her house.

"You haven't met them in person yet," she bent down to grab her purse.

"Don't worry, I can charm parents, too," he grinned boyishly.

"Steve," she looked him in the eye, "you haven't been around immigrant parents and it's showing." She put on her windbreaker. "They're not like American parents—not so relaxed about the whereabouts of their children."

"Okay, but maybe I can try to ge—"

"It's like with my sister—they refuse to let her go to Homecoming, let alone allow any dating for her," Steve's eyes widened for a split second, heartbeat skyrocketed for one millionth. And back down.

"But you can try," she mock-smiled up at him.

—————✨

 "No shoes in the house."

"Okay," Steve wheezed out, following close behind her steps. He bent down to untie his shoes and leave them next to the door while Y/N effortlessly slipped hers off and kicked them under a stool.

"Y/N? YOU HOME?" Her mom called out from the living room. She was folding laundry on the couch while her grandmother was watching a TV show.

"YEAH! Steve, come on," she waved him in. He followed her and—she cringed slightly. She forgot to tell her family beforehand. But you can't prepare for spontaneity, she supposed.

"MOM I'M HERE WITH A FRIEND," she entered the living room.

"WHO'S THAT?" Her mom looked over just as Steve appeared in her line of vision.

He waved and smiled. In a very unusually stiff way, the girl noted.

"MOM, THIS IS STEVE," The girl crossed the room to give her grandmother a kiss on the cheek. Steve took a baby step into the living room, conspicuously out of his element.

"HI STEVE," her mom nodded at him. He nodded back, still with that nervous smile. He couldn't tell what accent she had.

Her grandmother said something to Y/N in a language he didn't understand. They laughed together and Steve felt like it was directed towards him. Not in a hostile way, but not in a way that included him, obviously.

Her dad appeared in the hallway, newspaper under his arm. He looked Steve up and down, then nodded. He disappeared into the kitchen.

"H-hi, ma'am. I was wondering if I could take her—I mean if we could eat dinner together. In a restaurant. For-for food." His voice cracked several times and was at a higher octave than usual. He gestured lamely to the door.

"YEAH, GO, GO," Her mom shooed them off.

"You're... letting me go out to eat?" Y/N was momentarily stupefied.

"YEAH," Her mom resumed her activities of folding towels and watching the TV.

"...okay. Bye, mom. Bye, grandma," Y/N waved at them, turning towards Steve, gesturing them out. Her grandmother and mother said goodbye to them.

The girl had a furrowed look on her face. "...would've never happened in high school," was what Steve was able to catch from her muttering. She shut the door and locked it with her house key.

"They liked me?" Steve was still in his meeting-the-parents-of-a-friend anxiety state.

"Yeah they did. My grandma even called you 'handsome boy.'" Y/N was annoyed by that for a current unknown reason. Though, she was equally amused.

Steve's face lit up like plugged-in string lights.

"Steve," she laughed in disbelief.

"I'll wear it like a badge of honor," he announced like he was knighted by the queen. She laughed and he thought it was a sweet sound—he wanted to hear that again.

As they walked to his car, Steve couldn't help but ask:

"What d'you mean 'never happen in high school'?"

"I... my parents would ask me a lot of questions if I wanted to go to a school event or a dance. Either that or I had to stand by a chaperone if I did. It was too tedious to answer the questions and embarrassing if I did go so I ended up not going to a lot of them.

"I guess... I guess I just got used to being a homebody. It was too much work to make the effort to go out, so why do it? It's also a lot more... my style being at home. I like my hobbies and it's convenient to have all of my stuff in one place and it doesn't require other people..."

"Hobbies like drawing. Your art," he supplied.

"Exactly," she looked up at him. He looked into her eyes for answers and found an emotion he couldn't describe. But he knew what it was. He felt it himself before.

It didn't matter that he was never good with words. He could feel, and he felt deeply. And that was the most real thing to him.

"Come on, let's go eat," she opened the door to the passenger seat and slid in. She tried to shake herself from that strange moment and try to get back to dull, impersonal normalcy. She was reeling from that discomfort.

So why did they both hold on?

—————✨

 The boys had many of these moments in their downtime. Meandering hangouts just for fun. If a monster had attacked Hawkins, this would be the stage where Dustin laid out his research and plans to strike back. But currently, Steve and Dustin were sharing a bag of chips and half-watching TV together.

Steve was finding it hard to stay present. His mind kept pulling him towards the girl. He was smiling idiotically, Dustin told him. He didn’t know until he was told.

“What’s wrong? Are you in love with her now?” he remarked sarcastically, grabbing the bag for himself. Steve froze for a second.

“I—no. No, that’s crazy talk, Dustin,” He tried to regain his composure after the kid ruthlessly snatched it away. But he knew that Dustin saw that he hesitated. He forced himself to look at the TV, knowing that all of his credibility would dissipate if he looked at him now.

Dustin was silent.

No, wait—that was scarier than if he was pelting him with questions.

He felt fear—fear that since Dustin knew that something was up, that made it unavoidable to him and his brain now, no matter how much he tried to shove the feeling down.

“…Steve?” Dustin asked in a menacingly slow way.

“Yes?”

“When did it start?”

He groaned. Caught red-handed. “Uhmmm…. Like. I dunno, man… two weeks ago? Maybe?” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Didn’t you say it’d be only one date?”

“I—yes! Yes, Dustin. I just. I haven’t taken her on a date yet—not on a real date. Just give me more time.”

“Steve, the dance is coming up soon. And it’s gonna be more complicated if you actually like the girl now.”

He knew that full well. Plus, she was going away to art school next fall and he would still be in Hawkins. He’d never done long distance before. He wasn’t sure he knew how. But—that was thinking way too far ahead.

He was positive she didn’t feel that about him.

But the way he felt about her. It was… jumping off a cliff but enjoying the feeling of jumping off and falling.

He chuckled at himself. Still no way with words.

It was like what he had with Nancy, once upon a time.

—————✨

 The girl received notes made from scrap pieces of college ruled paper—compliments on her outfits, inside jokes they had developed, and cheesy song lyrics from the Top 40 radio station. One time, she even received a mini review of one of her movie recommendations. It was a half-folded piece of paper with a crude drawing of three stars colored in with two left blank. She opened the paper. It said: “To be honest, didn’t understand it. Pretty neat I guess. The main guy was cool.” She smirked.  

The girl had a growing collection at home, stuffed into an old shoebox, hidden far beneath a suitcase in her closet that no unauthorized eyes could pry into.

Steve and the girl were growing closer as signs of the dance slid beneath her nose. Four of the freshman boys had asked her sister to Homecoming. She went dress shopping with her friends but Y/N was too preoccupied with Steve's newfound place in her life to notice.

Eventually, Steve asked her once more on a date and... she said yes. To her surprise, to his surprise.

 The girl borrowed a dress from her aunt. It was her favorite color and suited her own personal style. She did her hair and makeup in front of her bedroom mirror.

She looked like... she looked like one of those girls from high school. The ones that went out all the time and had fun outside of school. The ones who had a life.

But still a version of herself was still present with all of that.

It wasn't a bad look.

She told her parents and grandmother that she'd be out with Steve and they let her go with only a request to bring back some food.

 She opened the door and Steve was more dressed up than usual in a button down under his blue jacket and his hair in a style that probably took hours to do. She wasn't sure, but she swore his eyes lit up when he saw her in her date outfit. Cute.

The girl and Steve went to a small diner close by Family Video. It was 1950s themed with neon lights, black and white checker-board tiles, even a jukebox in the corner. They selected a booth near the jukebox so she could browse the songs while waiting for their order.

Y/N was aware that she was... enjoying this. She had a petty desire to begrudge dates (maybe it was the stab of jealously she felt when seeing couples fawning over each other in public), but she had to admit that this was nice: being with him in fancy clothes and eating a comfort meal while Ella Fitzgerald's voice enchanted them from the speakers. The colors blurred into a soft neon blue and pink. The other patrons provided a quiet background noise to their conversation.

They talked about their usual topics: plans for the year, funny and/or crazy things that happened that week, hobbies, stuff on their to-do list. Anything interesting that came to mind.

 "Ya know, I don't always get a 'yes' to everything," Steve looked up at her from his plate. "Remember when you told me that? That was like, what? The second time we talked?"

She nodded, mouth full from eating.

"I really. Um. I really haven't been... I didn't know I'd end up here," he fiddled with the straw in his drink.

"What do you mean?" she tilted her head.

"Here. I mean, working at Family Video with Robin or driving around Dustin. Uh, a lot of things didn't go the way I expected them to. I didn't always get what I wanted." He thought of his shitty home life, growing away from his high school friends who were all dickheads anyway, his relationship with Nancy, his college plans that didn't go through, and, most of all, fighting for his life in a pit of alien monsters. Just the typical growing pains of life.

 "But did you get what you need instead?" Steve was taken aback. Eyes wide. He started to shake his head 'yes'—

"Like me?" she pointed at herself with her fork. He huffed. Rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, like you," he laughed, "and like Robin and Dustin. Like... people I didn't know I'd end up friends with." He stirred around his drink with his straw.

"Glad you took a chance on us nobodies, I guess," she added sarcastically.

"Hey," he was firm, chiding her. "Hey, no, no, not like that," he barely shook his head. He was soft with his voice. His eyes told her everything—everything that she wanted to believe about him.

 He was so much of what she was not. Sure, she received lots of compliments on her art or high grades, but she navigated through the world in such an awkward, clunky way, one that contrasted so visibly to Steve's. She was afraid that she was committing an innumerable amount of missteps every single time she had to interact with anyone. She was guarded and tended to doubt people more than she trusted them. She couldn't just talk to someone without a rehearsal in her head.

He had an effortless facility at basic human interaction. At rare times, in moments when it was needed, he was earnest and serious, reeling in his usual gregarious personality back in when the time wasn't right. He made people feel seen. He made people want to be around him.

She liked him. She liked him a lot. He endeared himself to her every day and she had to pretend to be annoyed by him when it was the polar opposite of that. For what? To protect her reputation? To guard her own heart?

Y/N watched Steve look at other patrons. His eyes danced around the room, a soft contented look on his face. He called over the waiter and ordered a milkshake.

 The waiter came back with two straws.

 —————✨

 "I have to pick up Dustin after the dance," Steve told her as they walked to his car. She nodded, plastic bag in hand for her family's take-out order. Just a detour and then she'd be on her way home. But a part of her wanted to stay with him for the night.

There was something about the angle of the moonlight, the glow of the neon diner sign behind them. Something that... made her want to hold hands. She took a leap of faith.

The warmth of his hand. He held her hand. He made her feel special.

She was the only thing he could see, the only thing he wanted to see in this moment.

He softly placed a hand on her cheek to bring her closer to him. They were so close, she could almost feel it. Closer to him than she'd ever been to anyone before.

They kissed. And something released inside her—relief from the anxiety of holding herself back or the finality to the anticipation of this moment. She had no clue; she couldn't think right now.

She adjusted her face to fit better. Was she doing this right? Nope, no relief from anxiety. She was still anxious. This was happening and it was exhilarating and disorienting. But it felt good, so good.

They bumped noses accidentally and she could feel him smiling. She laughed, pulling apart a little. And then it was over.

 "I—" she took a deep breath. What was there to say after... that?

 "Do all of your dates feel like that?" she was talking with no mediation between her brain and her mouth. The kiss completely dissolved her filter.

"No," Steve's chest was heavy, his cheeks hot and hair wild.

She didn’t stop to think of the implications.

 —————✨

 He drove them to Hawkins High. They held hands in the car. It was nice.

 He parked the car and they walked towards the high school gym blasting a Cyndi Lauper track. Balloons and couples framed the entrances. It was like a tunnel to another world where she would be transformed on the other side.

“Heyyyyy! Dusty, my man!” Steve called out. Dustin arrived with his long, complicated handshake.

“And you must be the ravishing Y/N,” Dustin bowed in front of her. “Enchanté.”

“Quite the gentleman,” she laughed. “Nice to meet you, too.”

A couple of Dustin’s classmates zoomed by, clapping him on the back. She couldn’t pick up what they were saying exactly, but it was like they were congratulating him for something?

She scanned the room. The dance was a lot to take in. She didn’t remember what it was like to be at one. High school felt so long ago. The music, the mass of kids in the gym, the decorations, the lights. She took a couple unsteady breaths.

She recognized a couple of Bianca’s friends to the left of the room. They were standing to the side, drinks in their hands. She thought she saw Bianca for a split second but knew that couldn’t be true. It was probably another girl that looked like her.

In her searching trance, she wasn’t aware that Dustin’s friends formed a circle near her, chatting and enjoying themselves. She took it to mean they wouldn’t be leaving right away. She looked up to Steve—who caught her eye. He winked.

She shook her head, unable to stop grinning.

Someone bumped into her.

“Oh! Sorry!” The kid exclaimed. She turned around to see—

Bianca in a party dress.

 “Y/N? How—why are you here?” she was becoming infuriated. Her older sister was quite familiar with how these things went. “I just went to the bathroom and you appeared outta nowhere?”

“Bianca, how’d you get to the dance? Did mom drive you? How did mom and dad let you?” She gestured to her whole outfit.

“Mom let me because now you’re with Steve. I went with my group and some guys that asked me out,” She crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes at her older sister.

“What?” She let out softly, taking in this information that seemed impossible. She was asked to the dance? And by more than one person? Mom thought she and Steve were dating? She was mortified.

“God, you’re such a square sometimes,” she rolled her eyes.

“Bianca, we’re going home now.”

“Oh, you think you can make me? I thought you were into that whole artsy hippie boho thing. You need to chill, homegirl.”

“Wow, okay. When did you start thinking being an airhead was cool?”

“At least I’m not some loser brainiac.”

“Come on, we’re going now.”                                                                                  

“No!”

 “Guys, what’s going on?” Dustin rammed himself into their bickering. Steve looked over the kids with a concerned expression.

“I just need to get my sister home. I’d rather her have an attitude at home than here. Can you convince her to leave?”

“Hey! I’m standing right here! Hello??” Bianca pointed to herself repeatedly.

The whole crux of the plan—both of the girls—were here. Dustin’s eyes widened. “Uh—Steve?” he silently begged his friend to diffuse the situation.

“Besides, I have a date! I can’t leave,” Bianca defended her case. Dustin was guiltily aware that he’d been the one to enable that.

Bianca squeezed past them over to her friend group.

 “Y/N? I have something to tell you,” Dustin prompted nervously. She turned to face him. “I-I was the one who set it up. Some kids wanted to ask your sister out and I asked Steve to ask you out. I know your family rule.”

She just kept receiving more information this evening. She left Dustin’s friend group, slipped by Steve who called out her name, and walk-ran out the doors. She couldn’t think. She relied on pure muscle memory and brain mapping of the school to get away from the building. She hugged herself for warmth, left uncovered from the heat of the gym and bare to the October night. She took deep breaths, trying to escape this nightmare.

“Y/N!” Steve ran out from the gym to her. “Y/N, I’m so sorry. It’s crazy. I knew it was crazy. It’s crazy,” he tried to explain but it didn’t come to him like he needed.

“Steve,” she said in a defeated way. She laughed at the ridiculous situation. It was just her life now. "’If I be waspish, best beware my sting,’" she recited with a faux-acting hand motion.

“What?” Steve was genuinely confused.

“It’s Shakespeare.”  

“Why does this keep happening to me,” he remarked quietly to himself.

She laughed again, but it was tinged with a sour taste. He was adorable. He was so familiar now that it would be hard to let go of him.

 “Anyway, I gotta call my parents. Somebody has to pick me up,” she turned to go to the payphone.

“Wait—” but he knew he couldn’t end it with I’ll drive you home. He knew he majorly fucked up.

She stared sadly at him. She felt like she lived two separate days in one night.

A humble ‘bye’ was all she said to break his heart.

 —————✨

 After that night, the girl resumed her life as it had been pre-Steve. She went to work at Hawkins Art and Frame, drew pictures or read books at home, and took care of family errands.

 She was at work when Robin visited her out of the blue.

The girl straightened up in her chair and greeted her into the store.

“Hey, look, I’m so, so sorry that happened to you. That was so shitty of Steve and his kid friend,” Robin looked like she had run all the way to the store from Family Video. Some of her bangs were stuck to her forehead and she was inhaling air, making her raspy voice even more hoarse.

“I helped that dingus plan out all those little gifts for you. I was, like, his wingwoman ‘cause I thought he was really into you. And-and we went through the yearbooks to try to figure out what you liked,” she used her arms to steady her torso and panted.

“Hey, hey slow down,” the girl scolded. Robin nodded. She took a deep breath and continued:

“I found out that he was doing it for those freshman and I talked to him—I swear I did—I didn’t want it to hurt you,” Robin shook her head in emphasis.

The girl stared at her for a moment.

“Thanks, Robin. It’s nice to hear that. It's not your fault, though,” Y/N said impassively. She was understanding of Robin, of course, but her eyes dimmed at the mention of the incident.

“Listen—I’m gonna kick Dustin's ass and Steve's—both of them—but first I want you to know that he really did like you. He does like you. Present tense. He fell for you hard and he never believed that you would like him back,” she punctuated her sentences with hard gestures. Y/N lifted her head slightly, a small bit of hope sparked.

“Just—believe me. Or not. Whatever. I can’t control you.”

Robin took a couple more breaths. She pointed her thumb towards the door. “I’m gonna go get some water.”

—————✨

 Months passed by. The girl switched up her routine occasionally, but every day started to feel the same.

 Tonight, she was drawing in her room, Walkman headphones on.

 She thought she heard a thunk sound but couldn’t quite make it out from the music blasting into her ears. She ignored it.

Ignored it.

Ignored it.

Just ignored it…

Until the frequency of the sound increased. Was it trying to test her patience?

She lowered her headphones in gesture of blazing irritation and rested them around her neck.

Pebbles hit her window.

She walked over, moving closer to it. She drew the blinds open with more force than it required.

Her eyes lowered to—

Steve.

 She opened the window, a gush of wind blowing into her face and shocking her with its cold. Steve called out her name, elated to see her. He waved with both arms on the ground.

 She threw on a sweater and her slippers and rushed downstairs, opened the door, met him outside.

  “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here?” Y/N tried to sound accusatory, but it was more muted than she intended.

“I—,” Steve restarted his sentence a couple of times. “I wanted to see you. I had to see you.”

“You could’ve just called—,” she tried to undermine his plan, to push him away before he left her and she got hurt.

“I wanted to see you in person,” he looked directly at her. No bullshitting this time. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” His eyes gazed into her eyes. Her eyes, her beautiful eyes.

 What was there to say? Her hands were freezing, her legs were shaking. Her nerve signals were wide awake and she could only feel. She felt herself tear up against her will.

She moved closer to him and he pulled her into a hug. She relaxed under his embrace as if that was what she had always done. As if she always lived her life in his embrace. He held onto her tightly, trying to make her feel all his love with all his might.

“Sorry—,” she sobbed.

“Don’t apologize,” Steve’s voice was so gentle it almost hurt. So she shut her eyes and allowed herself to just be with him under the weighted blanket of the night. He held onto her for a while, rubbing her back and shoulders.

She pulled back.

“I-I just,” she wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater. "That was really shitty of you. It was. And it doesn’t erase what you did but. But like…” She threw her hands down. “I don’t know… My life is different now and it’s hard to go back to the way it was before. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

“Like… all the stuff you did? Like those notes and candies and stuff? Like, no one’s ever done that for me. Never. I watched all the couples in high school do that or, like, I’ll see couples on the street and I’ll feel really lonely, like I’m shut out of something,” She sniffed and wiped her nose on a napkin from her pocket. “I wonder if those couples know how lucky they are are to have each other. If they really appreciate what they have or they just take it for granted and think nothing of it because I’ve been watching from afar and wanting what they have forever.

“And I’ve never dressed up and went out for a real date and stayed outside of the house when it was dark. I’ve never been in someone’s car alone with them. I had my first kiss with you!” She gestured towards him and laughed through her tears. “I can’t stop thinking about it, all of it...

“And-and Robin! She told me that you didn’t believe I’d like you back. Which is weird because I did. I don’t know how you couldn’t figure it out but I really did, Steve,” she shrugged her shoulders.

Steve’s face flipped through a arrange of emotions. His eyebrows were pulled together. He held her arms, ran his thumbs across the knitted fabric of her sweater.

“I—you’re a good person. You’re a lovely person. You’re strangely kind and helpful and charming and accepting. And I guess I was too stubborn to accept that because of the stupid little gifts you sent me or because you’re so easy to get along with and I was trying so hard to hate you. You’re so easy to love, do you know that?” She looked into his eyes with that same intensity he was so intimated by when he first met her.

He placed a hand over her cheek, smoothed over the curve of it.

She was incredible. It was way past time to tell her that.

He kissed her. It’d better the best damn kiss she’d ever received, he’d make sure of that.

He’d give her anything she wanted. He’d give her the world. He kissed her forehead and felt her laugh. He beamed.

But she shivered. He remembered he pulled up at a late hour and that it was nearly winter at this point. He took off his jacket and urged her to lift her arms up.

“What? You’re gonna dress me up like a little kid?” she crossed her arms and tried not to grin.

“Yeah! C’mon, let me take care of you,” he gently forced her arm into the sleeve and into the other one. His mom tendencies jumped out in moments like this—it was something she missed about him but didn’t realize until now.

They were back together, working in syncopation. Their little world was whole.

  —————✨

Next August, the girl was packing in her room, figuring out what was important enough to bring with her to her dorm. She folded piles of laundry and towels to stuff into her suitcase. She nestled a neon-colored bag of toiletries in the corner of the towels.

She paperclipped photographs of her family in a brand-new journal. She carefully wrapped photobooth pictures of her and Steve in some embroidered handkerchiefs, ones given to her by her aunties. Robin took polaroid photos of Steve and her goofing off in Family Video and she stuck those in her mirror frame. She took them off. She’d give those ones to Steve.

She paused. She found some old love song lyrics from Steve in her photo box. Back when the whole thing had first happened. She found his movie review with the hand-drawn stars rating.

She ran her finger over his handwriting, scribbly in blue ink but legible enough to her.

She would save that, too.

 She hugged her parents and grandma good-bye and pulled in Bianca for a side-hug. Her dad and Steve loaded her luggage into Steve’s car. The school was only under an hour’s car ride from Hawkins. Y/N remembered her cassette tapes last minute and rushed to grab them, preparing to force Steve to listen to her eccentric music taste.

 Steve and the girl kissed goodbye after moving her into the dorm. They held onto each other like they would never see each other again in this life, but really, it was just a drive on the highway every few weeks to her school. Yeah, he’d be a long-distance boyfriend, but he was gonna make sure he’d be the best for her. He promised to call and write.

It was not the end, but more of a beginning.

[maridied]

HELLO NIKIIII i wanted to ask u abt ur thoughts abt tsukasa!!!! hes probably my fav knights member tied to leo... i like him lots and i would love to hear what u think of him. he makes me a little crazy

LENA HII i have had kasa rotating in my mind for the past like 2 weeks this is perfect sorry if this is all over the place >__< also im putting a read more thingy so it looks like a wrote a lot and im an intellectual but rlly this all basic info and its like dumbed down i think... i can only do so much</3 

i actually used to not like tsukasa at first like that was the case for izumi and leo as well but with kasa i just ??? didn't care abt him and i was mad that he 'replaced' leo as leader which is so stupid like 2019 niki didnt know wtf she was talking abt BUT ANYWAYS. after i read requiem i realized hes not a bad kid and knights is something very important to him even before he was leader. that scene where he recalls seeing knights practice for the first time and mentions how even though they looked like they were in pieces that made them seem more dear to him and when he says "there was a part of me that wouldnt be satisfied with just being obedient forever, praised every day as if were the most natural thing in the world. it was an ugly and miserable part of me, buried deep within my heart, i wanted to save it. that's probably why i started to move toward them almost instinctively" makes me so ill because everyone always says that tsukasa saved knights after what happened with the war which is true like hes literally their miracle and brought them back together but no one ever talks about how knights saved tsukasa even tho he literally says that their singing resonated with him. also this scene makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

he's a good kid it bothers me when people say that he should have never taken the crown like did you completely miss the part where naru calls him the driving force of knights? i think he has big shoes to fill but he's doing a good job i'm excited for his center song i hope we get to learn more abt him and his family life and what knights is to him. also i still think promise swords is abt him not sure if its already canon but if not then well it is to me i was supposed to finish picking apart the lyrics and explaining them/putting quotes that reminded me of the lyrics but i forgot well maybe some other day i'll finish that . also also i love when in robin hood he calls leo a traitor bcuz he thinks that leo and anzu have a kid together and in requiem where leo says 'well yeah i was always prepping you to be my successor ;P' and kasa's like 'i thought it was a metaphor and you were preparing me mentally' or something like that idk i havent read requiem in forever. hes rlly funny without trying i love talking abt him like how a mexican mother talks abt her kids. and dont get me started on the fact that he and leo are one and the same its so obvious that theyre sort of parallels of each other but thats a post for another day though its made a little obvious in the screenshot i shared. also this is stuff i have already said before srry :P

[bigskydreaming]

Okay, so you know “Justice League meets Batman’s kids, who they’d previously been unaware existed” AUs?

So picture that.....but this time, instead of them just having no knowledge of any of these other Gotham vigilantes at all....the Batkids all migrate to various cities as they get older and become known as their protectors - Dick in Bludhaven, Tim in San Francisco, Cass in Hong Kong, etc....

Meaning they’re all established figures, the Justice League are aware of them as solo local heroes who stick to their cities and so they just don’t interact with them much if at all, or else some are members of team lineups but are particularly vague about their histories or life outside of the team’s adventures....

So the big reveal isn’t that they become aware of all these other Gotham vigilantes all at once....its that some big conflict or whatever requires a huge team up of all available heroes, and in the aftermath, they figure out that like.....despite being known as solo heroes who work alone or loners outside of their team settings, 80% of these heroes all not only seem to already know each other, they seem to be related.

And so naturally they all turn to Batman, who has profiles on every known hero and they thus figure had researched these individuals too and just never mentioned this little detail, and they’re like, “Did you know about this?”

And then Nightwing turns to him too, arms crossed and is like, “Yeah Dad, did you know about this?”

And the infamous Red Hood is all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never met any of these people before in my life. Lives? Whatever.”

And then Red Robin moodily grates out “I have no siblings.” Since he’s nursing a grudge since Dick and Jason broke into his apartment the night before and replaced all his custom Red Robin gear with Darkwing Duck merchandise and his vengeance will be swift and also totally disproportionate because things escalate quickly in this family, that’s true in every universe.

Cass meanwhile has deftly skewered Jason’s lie by walking over to him and brazenly patting down the man with many many guns with no fear whatsoever. He squawks and futilely attempts to bat her hands away as she riffles through his many pockets, but he doesn’t seem shocked, just annoyed. Eventually, she pulls away and triumphantly reveals a box of Hello Kitty themed band-aids.

“So these are yours then? Just for you?” Black Bat asks smugly. Red Hood squints at the box.

“What the fuck? How long have those been in my jacket? Why are those in my jacket? Did you freaking plant them in my jacket just on the offchance you could at some point in the distant future use them at my expense?”

Black Bat frowns, puzzled. “Yes?”

“Oh come on, Dead Hood,” Spoiler says with an exaggerated toss of her head meant to convey she’s rolling her eyes beneath her own mask. She skips her way across the room to Black Bat and then drapes herself languidly all over the smaller woman. Who in turn doesn’t so much as twitch beneath the sudden added mass as Spoiler holds out her hand towards the box of band-aids. 

“One please. I have a boo-boo,” she says with easy familiarity straight into the intimidating cowl of Black Bat. Only then does she deign to finish her train of thought with Red Hood.

“I mean seriously, are you saying you don’t have potential blackmail set-ups, pre-rigged releases of incriminating material, and a random assortment of traps, pratfalls and mortifying scenarios in place for the express purpose of being able to humiliate any and all of your siblings at any given moment, without any need for additional prep time?”

“Is this true, Little Wing?” Nightwing whirls on the larger Red Hood with a faux-scandalized gasp. The founder and leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans, renowned for his stratagems and calm competence when directing squads of supers in the heat of battle while he keeps pace with nothing more than naturally acquired acrobatics and a utility belt that apparently uses the same technology as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet....now appears to be....staggering with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead, moaning about how he felt....faint? 

What is happening right now, several dozen superheroes want to know. Is this a drill? Are they supposed to be checking for signs of a mental ambush from undetected psychic saboteurs? Did they all hit their heads at the exact same time and are now experiencing some kind of shared mass concussion?

Look, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen on the Watchtower. 

“Have I failed you so utterly?” The veteran child hero bemoans with a dramatic twirl - that when contrasted with his stern demeanor of a mere ten minutes ago - makes the fears of telepathic infiltration seem less paranoia and more....concerningly probable. “Did you learn nothing from me? Did you learn nothing from B?”

He stops and jabs a finger up at the sky. “Quick, everyone! What is the very first rule of Living While Batty?”

As if by rote, over a half a dozen voices chime in from all over the room, causing various heroes to jump. Spooked by yet more and more vigilantes joining in some kind of mass recitation like they and they alone have some kind of clue what the hell is going on and everyone else just hadn’t been invited to the party. Which is just rude, honestly. Nobody likes feeling like they weren’t invited to the party. Not even superheroes. 

“If you’re not going to bother preparing for every possible contingency and at least six impossible ones, you might as well just stay in bed.”

Even the Red Hood joins in the Illuminati chant or Cub Scout pledge or demonic ritual or whatever the fuck that just was, though his slumped and exasperated posture gives away every hint of sulkiness his headgear otherwise would have kept safely hidden. He’s surprisingly more...expressive, than most who’d only known of him by reputation had expected him to be. The day continues to yield surprises.

“Of fucking course I do,” he growls out, snatching the box from Black Bat. She doesn’t even fight to hold onto it, just lets it go with a knowing smirk. “I wasn’t surprised by the idea of it, I was just surprised she bothered with such a weak effort. Like yeah whatever, actually those could be mine. I use those all the time at home. So what?”

He aggressively yanks one of the band-aids out of the box, fumbles with the peel-off strips with one hand and he roughly rolls up the sleeve of his jacket with the other. Then just slaps it on his forearm and raises said appendage high, showing it off this way and that. “See?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Signal drawls from the other side of the room, nodding his head approvingly. “Totally convincing. Nice job walking that one back, you really showed them.”

Red Hood’s head snaps in his direction with ominous intent. “Watch it, Day-Glo.”

Signal just snorts.

“Yeah, like I’m gonna take constructive criticism on my name and costume from a dude who’s spent the last several years calling himself Red HOOD while running around in a freaking HELMET.”

“Its not meant to be literal, you fucking pedant.”

“So wait, its not literally a helmet? Huh, does it at least protect your head literally, or just like...symbolically? Like if Bane were to clock you across the head, would your concussion just be a metaphor? What’s the treatment protocol for a metaphorical concussion? Fluids, bedrest and a philosophical prescription of two chapters of Chicken Soup for the Soul as needed?”

“Laugh it up, KC and the Sunshine Band,” Red Hood bats back. “You just got yourself disinvited from Thursday night’s poker game.”

Signal just grins and folds his arms over his chest cockily. “Please. You’ve been looking for an excuse to ban me for weeks, cuz you know until you can prove I’m using my ghost vision to cheat, you can’t actually bring suit against me for it in Family Court.”

“That, and also Family Court isn’t a real thing, you toddler. Stop validating Wing-a-ding-ding’s obsession with Shitty TV Nostalgia and just call it that thing where Oracle traps us all in a room until we settle our latest fight without anyone getting stabbed.”

“Yeah, but like, say that five times fast,” Spoiler pipes up. “Its just not practical. Family Court’s way easier.”

“Says the one who’s not even in our fucking family.”

“And yet I grace you all with my sublime presence anyway,” she blows a kiss at him, beatifically unbothered. “You’re welcome.”

The Red Hood scoffs and rounds on his heel, zeroing in on Batwoman in the far corner.

“Hey Auntie B, my siblings are all dead to me and I just helped stop an alien invasion so I deserve nice things like a fun Saturday night. Can you get me into Dad’s fundraiser so I can crash it? He won’t put me back on the list until I promise not to bring any C-4 with me and I won’t promise not to bring any C-4 because he should just trust me that I won’t when I say I’m not gonna and he won’t trust me that I won’t until I admit I shouldn’t have brought any to that sting last month where three tiny little yachts blew up through barely any fault of my own, and I’m just not gonna do that ever because I have convictions and I feel I shouldn’t have to be punished for that. Y’know?”

Batwoman blinks at him. “Kid, I’m not gonna lie to you. You’re my nephew and I love you, but I stopped listening three seconds into all that.”

“Ugh, fine. Can you help me crash Dad’s event tonight so I can teach him a lesson about why he should just trust me not to make a scene so I don’t have to always make a scene to make a point.”

“Tempting as you make that sound,” she says wryly, “I have a strict policy for dealing with you lot and your......everything. I only worry about tolerating one of you at a time, and there’s seven of you, and seven days in the week. You each get your own. You know perfectly well its Robin’s day today. You get me on Tuesday, just like always.”

“Auntie B, we’re not like other families, are we?” Red Robin’s delivery is sarcastically childish and his question clearly rhetorical. Most of his attention is fixated on whatever it is he’s doing with his wrist-mounted computer. 

“No sweetie, we’re all severely fucked in the head and a little bit too comfortable with that.”

“Just checking. Oh hey, Hood, I just emailed you a patch for the hole in your firewall I exploited when replacing all my shit using your accounts just now.”

“You did what?”

“Used your accounts to pay to replace all my stuff that you fucked with last night?” Red Robin says slowly. “Did you not realize that I’ve been sticking within ten feet of you for the past five minutes just so I could clone your devices and do all that while BB and Spoiler kept you distracted? I gotta say, bro, I feel like that’s on you then.”

Red Hood swivels his helmeted head in the direction of the aforementioned two. Black Bat waves. Spoiler shoots him an utterly unrepentant thumbs up.

“You’d side with your ex over me? That’s what its come to?”

“My only allegiance is to chaos,” Spoiler says brightly. Black Bat shrugs.

“Plus he bribes better.”

“Hateful,” Red Hood points at Black Bat, moving on to level the same finger at Spoiler, who curtsies in acknowledgment: “Hateful-er.”

Then the finger rounds the bases to aim judgmentally at Red Robin. “Hateful-est. And that was all Nightwing’s idea anyway, not mine.”

“Oh, I assumed as much,” he says casually. “Your idea of a prank tends to have more of a Carrie vibe. Or be a literal literary reenactment.”

“Its called an homage, 4chan.”

“Whatever, plagiarist. And anyway, I couldn’t go after ‘Wing for payback on this one. He used an Immunity card. If you didn’t want me getting back at you, you should have used one too."

Red Hood looms aggressively. Red Robin ignores willfully. Round and round they go. Superheroes who can survive excessive G-Forces are getting dizzy just watching them have a largely motionless stand-off. That shouldn’t be how that works, but whatever. All the most infamously reclusive and isolated heroes in all hero-dom are apparently part of the same one big reclusive and isolated family of fucked up weirdos and they’re all officially bonkers. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality broke. Try another stall.

“Okay, but see, in order to have an Immunity card, I would have to participate in one of you losers’ stupid Immunity challenges,” the Red Hood drags out with exaggerated patience. “And I’m just not going to do that, on account of those all being fucking stupid. You see the problem there?”

Red Robin just shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, bro. You can have principles or you can have an Immunity card. You can’t have both.”

Meanwhile, on another side of....the same room.....look, its like, an octagonal room, probably. It has a lot of sides. Robin fends off questions from an aggrieved looking Superboy.

“You never told me you had a bajillion brothers and sisters!”

“Yes but I never said I didn’t either.”

Superboy rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, so I should just assume everyone I meet has a bajillion secret brothers and sisters?”

“Well clearly it would have worked out in your favor in this instance if you had, now wouldn’t it?”

“Assuming of course that you can trust what has been said or implied here today and I am actually related to any of those numbskulls. Which I am not actually admitting to,” Robin tacks on hastily.

Superboy eyes him dubiously. “You joined in the same creepy chant all the others did and then got super self-conscious and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Which uh. I did.”

“First off, your interpretation of body language is abyssmal. I do not get self-conscious,” Robin says with a delivery that probably could have benefited from being a little less self-conscious. “And second....that proves nothing. I guessed what they were going to say.”

“Word for word,” Superboy says super-skeptically.

“I’m very good at guessing things. You know this.”

“Okay. Guess how much I believe you right now then.”

Robin glares and folds his arms grumpily across his chest. 

“And what was that anyway? Was that like....you guys’ family motto or something like that?”

“Oh no,” Spoiler pipes up. “That’s much shorter.”

Superboy balks at that. “Wait, you guys actually have one of those for real?”

“Yup,” Steph says, counting out the words with her fingers. “He who laughs last....probably works for the Joker. So tranq him just to be safe. See? Only sixteen words. The first rule of Living While Batty is way longer, and what we said was just the abridged version. You should hear the original, before Black Bat put her foot down and refused to memorize it unless sizable edits were made.”

Superboy hovers between her and Robin now, both in mid-air and on the verge of taking Spoiler’s words as an invitation to hear just that. A low growl arises from Robin’s direction.

“Must you?” He asks the older vigilante, with a most put upon expression.

She looks at him pityingly. “Do you actually need me to answer that? Like, we’ve met, right? Hi, I’m Spoiler.”

“Wait, so Robin said that I just never specifically asked him if he had a bajillion brothers and sisters, and that’s why he didn’t tell me, so that means he wouldn’t have just lied and there’s not some code of secrecy that flat out forbids telling other people stuff, right?” Superboy realizes excitedly.

“Yes, excellent direction. Go on,” Spoiler says, steepling her fingers. Robin buries his face in the palm of one hand.

“Soooo, what other stuff could you tell me about Robin’s super top secret family that I wouldn’t think to ask about but that he would tell me about if I knew what questions to ask?”

She claps once, lightly but with emphasis. “Well done. You’ve passed the first barrier. Untold secrets await you behind just a few more.”

“I’ll get you for this,” Robin vows calmly. She waves a hand at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it before January 1st, remember? You’ve promised retribution like ten times already this year and those don’t roll over, y’know. Rules are rules.”

“Enough!” Thunders a voice then, from the front of the room. Well one of the fronts anyway. Like sides, it has a lot of them, but this is the one where Batman’s standing. All eyes snap to him. Which is kinda just what eyes do when Batman says stuff like that. Its like his superpower, except he doesn’t actually have superpowers, which is what makes it scary. But where the snapping of the eyes (directional) is usually followed by Batman saying something else besides just “hey look at me,” here he pauses in the wake of his own call to attention’s waning reverberations. Uncharacteristically silent.

Not that, y’know, he’s normally Mr. Talkity Talk, but usually his silences feel like he has the words to fill them, he’s just withholding them. This though, this feels more like he doesn’t have any words at all. And he’s as confused by it as any of them, and most everyone else is confused by Batman being confused, and its this whole trickle down economy of confusion and its wrecking havoc on the value of the golden silence standard.

Of course, not everyone present is rendered spellbound with confusion.

“C’mon B,” Nightwing cajoles, leaning forward and practically radiating delight. “I think you know what you have to do now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its not likely to come around again.”

Red Hood snickers beneath his helmet and chimes in. “Yeah Pops, go ahead. You do this and you’ll actually have my respect for a whole twenty four hours. No, wait. Sixteen. No! Eight. Yeah, eight. Still a good deal.”

“Carpe diem, B,” Red Robin grins, leaning back as if to enjoy the show.

“Hey! Infringe on my trademark one more time, dude,” Signal throws a faux-glare at the former. Red Robin just quirks an eyebrow.

“And what, you’ll start saying Yum every time you eat a burger? Oh no. I’m hoist by my own petard.”

Signal flips him off with a grin and then redirects his attention back to Batman. “Yeah seriously though B, you kinda gotta do it now. Because if you don’t do it, then you’ll forever be the guy who didn’t do it, and you don’t want to be that guy, do you?”

“Yeah you really don’t want to be that guy,” Spoiler shouts out. “Nobody likes that guy. He’s the worst.”

“Do it, do it,” Black Bat starts chanting beside her, steadily picking up speed and volume. Several others start joining in. Even Robin appears to be slightly anticipatory, albeit trying very hard to hide it.

Batman sighs, and somehow everyone manages to hear it. Stills. Waits for....something? Nobody but them seems to have any clue what, but the air is thick and heavy with portentiousness. Something is about to happen, and all most of the heroes present could say for sure is it was something they never would have in a million years seen coming.

Finally, Batman straightens with the resigned air of a man about to have oh so many regrets. He crosses his arms, shakes his head, and in an absolute deadpan monotone, says:

“You are awful children. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing your father.”

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Okay I got a question for you, resident Batfam Expert! I’ve been reading a lot of fanfic recently (because I love pain) and I was wondering how many of the pet names the family calls each other are canon? Because they have A LOT and they’re all pretty consistent throughout the writings. Some of the ones I’ve noted regularly are Baby Bird, Little Wing, Jay, Jaylad, Jace, Timmers, Timbo, Dickie, Dickiebird, and then Bruce calling his kids ‘sweetheart’. (Adorable) Anyway, thanks! Don’t feel a need to rush in answering :) I’m in no hurry

Sorry it took me so long to get to all of these, I’ve spent the last few weeks scrounging up every single resource I could get my hands on so that I could make a comprehensive list of which nicknames are canon and which are fanon and it took a SUPER long time. The bottom line is I ended up accidentally making a whole-ass Google Slides for every single batkid nickname, and while the whole project isn’t anywhere near finished yet, I managed to complete the slides needed to answer all of these questions. So...yeah! Here’s what I found:

Dickie/Dickie-Bird:

Jason seems to be the main nickname-user of the family, so aside from the aforementioned comics, there isn’t very much content of Dick being called “Dickie” or “Dickie-Bird”. (I also want to bring up “Big Bird,” which I see Jason calling Dick sometimes in fanfics. That one’s not canon anywhere, unfortunately.) Dick used to be called “Dickie” sometimes as a term of endearment during his circus days, but after that it’s not likely you’ll see any of his family members calling him something other than Dick. 

Little Wing:

Sadly, “Little Wing” hasn’t been used in any canon content after this comic, which is a major bummer since the fandom has turned it into one of Jason’s most popular nicknames (from Dick at least).

Jay/Jace/Jaylad/Jaybird:

(I didn’t list the comic sources for the more widely used nicknames since they’re so common in comics that you could find them pretty much anywhere.) 

I’d say that Bruce called Jason “Jay” far more during his Robin days than he does now, though that could be attributed to their more distant relationship nowadays. (Or maybe I just didn’t happen to read the specific modern comics in which he called Jason “Jay” or “Jace/Jase”.)

Yeahhh, sorry about this one. “Jaylad” is kind of the Schrödinger's cat of nicknames. The fandom ended up misconstruing the term over time. and losing the comma between “Jay” and “lad” so it became “Jaylad” and everyone just stuck with it.

The main person who seems to use this one is Roy Harper, as I haven’t yet found a comic in which one of Jason’s family members calls him “Jaybird”. You can open pretty much any comic with both Jason and Roy in it and expect Roy to say it at least once.

Timmy/Timbers/Timbo:

I haven’t seen anyone calling Tim “Timmers” in canon, but otherwise, most of the other common nicknames derived from Timothy are canon.

Pretender/Replacement:

I always found it wild how Jason never once called Tim “Replacement” in a comic, and yet we all managed to latch onto it anyway and make it his go-to nickname for Tim? That takes some dedication, man. Otherwise, Jason called Tim “Pretender” a few times during Batman: Hush, and that was about it. 

Baby Bird/Baby Bat:

I know a lot of people hate the nickname “Babybird” (for whatever reason), but honestly, I’m really hoping that DC makes it a thing because dammit, we deserve this breadcrumb at least. As of right now, the only batkid who has ever been called “Babybird” was Damian, and it was by his mom. (In fanon, it’s typically Tim who is called “Babybird” while Dick is “Dickie-Bird” and Jason is “Little Wing”. Who decided this, I have no idea but I’m not complaining.) I also included “Baby Bat” since I see that one pretty often too, and that one is sadly not canon either. The DC writers really don’t want us getting our hands on any family fluff whatsoever, huh.

As for Bruce, I don’t think he’s ever called his kids a term of endearment more emotional than “son” or “pal” because he has the emotional capacity of a dried-up raisin. All of those nicknames like “sweetheart,” “honey,” “pumpkin,” and any other names a parent might call their child are banned from Batman’s dictionary as far as the writers are concerned. Will that make me stop having Bruce call his kids “sweetheart” in my fics every chance I get? Absolutely not.

[hintofelation99]

The Justice League Hangs out with Duke

Bruce: Duke, it's time we had the talk.

Duke: Uh... nope. No thank you. I'm not getting the sex talk from Batman.

Bruce: What? No! The Robin talk.

Duke: But, I'm- I'm the Signal now? Isn't it a bit late for a Robin talk?

Bruce: Son, it's never too late, not for this.

Duke: Um. Ok.

Bruce: When Dick, Jason, and Tim first started as Robins they created a tradition. A tradition that continued with Stephanie, Damian, and now you.

Duke: And that tradition is?

Bruce: Taking down the Justice League. By being annoying and slightly terrifying.

Duke: OHHHHHH. Is that why no one from the Justice League talks to me?

Bruce: Yes, yes it is. But don't worry. I made an arrangement that will allow you time alone with league members to continue the tradition. You have a week to prepare.

——————

Duke: Cass, what do I do?

Cass raises an eyebrow at Duke.

Duke: For the Robin tradition thing. I have to take down the entire Justice League in a night using creative, outlandish, and original methods. But it's already been done by Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, and Steph. So what do I do? How can I be better than all of them.

Cass smirks: Take them down too.

Duke looking at Cass like she's crazy: What?

Cass: Take. Them. Down.

Duke: Holy shit, you are terrifying.

Cass just smiles and leaves.

-> One Week Later <-

Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, and Steph gather in the Watchtower.

Duke: Hey guys, Batman just wanted to go through some training exercises with everyone. He'll be a little late. Harley and Ivy escaped Arkham and are trying to grow penis shaped shrubs in all the public parks. But, don't worry he asked me to go ahead and start with out him.

Green Lantern: Why are you leading this meeting?

Duke: Batman is running late and he wants me to practice leading meetings.

Green Lantern, glaring suspiciously at Duke: Are you about to do that stupid Robin tradition where you torture all of us?

Duke: What Robin tradition? Also, I'm not even a Robin? I'm the Signal.

Green Lantern continues to glare at him.

Superman: Calm down Green Lantern, the Robins never do this in front of each other.

Every League member seems to relax at this.

Duke acting confused: Uhhh, yeah. Ok, we have a few housekeeping things to do according to the list Batman left. So, I'll have everyone pair up for sparring while I handle these individually.

------

Everyone is in the training room working out or sparring. Duke approaches Tim.

Duke: Hey Tim, Bruce wanted you to look in to that Bludhaven case. Is that ok with you?

Tim: Yeah, why wouldn't it be?

Duke: Oh, I just thought it might be difficult considering what Dick did.

Tim: ...What did he do?

Duke: Wait, you haven't noticed? Oh no, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything.

Tim: Duke. Tell me what he did.

Duke: Well, Jason said that he replaced all your coffee with decaf.

Tim: THAT BASTARD. No wonder I've been feeling so tired! I'm going to kill him!

Duke: Wait, just stop! I heard that he hid all of it in Green Lantern's room.

Tim: Wait, why there?

Duke: Something about you being afraid of him.

Tim: WHAT?! I'm not afraid of the Green Nightlight! I'm gonna find that coffee then make Dick pay.

Duke: Oh, well cool, good luck!

------

Green Lantern: Um, what are you doing in my room?

Tim: Where is it?

Green Lantern: Where's what?

Tim: You know what I want. Give up now or face the consequences.

Green Lantern: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Tim: Fine. Consequences.

------

Steph, sparring with Duke: So, what's it like being the first meta bat?

Duke: Not too bad, but I could do with out the whole 'predict the future' thing.

Steph, laughing: What? You can not see the future.

Duke: I bet you $50 I can

Steph: Your on.

Duke, makes everything around him light up and uses a weird voice: In the next thirty minutes Green Lantern will flee the Watchtower in fear. Soon after Dick will be attacked by Tim.

Steph, snorts in obvious disbelief.

Steph: That was so fake-

Green Lantern runs out of the tower looking terrified.

Steph: No way.

Tim tackles Dick and they start fighting like three year old's on the floor.

Steph, handing Duke $50: Holy shit Magic Man.

Duke makes things light up and does the voice again: Oh my god.

Steph, looking excited: What?!

Duke: The- the sushi. The sushi you brought today, it's made from-

Duke pretends to choke back a sob.

Duke: It's made from the fish who was the maid of honor at Aquaman's wedding.

Steph: HOLY SHIT.

------

Steph and Aquaman sit beside each other for lunch, she pulls out her sushi and looks at Aquaman sadly.

Steph: I am so, so sorry for your loss. But just know that her sacrifice is not in vain.

Aquaman, looks confused for a second then sees the sushi: NOPE. Not this again! I'm leaving.

Steph: Wait! I'm sorry!

Aquaman leaves as Steph tries to chase him down.

------

Jason is laughing and filming as Dick and Tim fight.

Duke, whistles: Man, imagine if that video went on YouTube.

Jason, looking confused: What?

Duke: I'm just saying if the video of Red Robin and Nightwing fighting like kids ever got on YouTube, it'd go viral. Oh and they would be so pissed!

Jason, laughs: Too bad B would kill me if I uploaded this.

Duke: Yeah, I guess so. And you can't upload it here because then Superman would get in trouble.

Jason: Why would the boy scout get in trouble?

Duke: Cause he always uses his YouTube account on the Justice League computer. So it'd look like he uploaded it and B would find out that Superman watches cat videos while he's on monitor duty.

Jason, smirking: Huh, so you're saying if I upload this on the League computer I'd piss off Bruce, Tim, and Dick and get Supes in trouble?

Duke, acting innocent: Huh, I guess so.

-> A Few Minutes Later <-

A call from Bruce comes up on the main computer.

Superman: Hey Batman, what can I do for you?

Bruce: You, Red Hood, cave now.

Jason: What? Why me?

Bruce: Because I saw that little home video you uploaded of your brothers.

Jason: What, that wasn't me!

Bruce: I could hear you laughing while you filmed.

Jason: Dammit.

Jason and Clark leave for the cave pouting like kids.

------

Duke: Hey, Black Canary?

Black Canary: Yes Duke?

Duke: I'm sorry to do this on such short notice, but I'm very worried about Dick and Tim.

Black Canary: Why?

Duke: Well, Tim keeps claiming that Dick is out to get him. Something about Dick messing with his coffee? And Dick feels like he's just being attacked for no reason and is worried about Tim's health. Is there anyway you could intervene?

Black Canary, looking sighing and looking exhausted: Usually I have three days of preparation before dealing with bats.

Duke: I know it's just-

Duke gestures to Tim and Dick rolling on the floor fighting.

Duke: They really need help.

Black Canary: Alright, I'll see what I can do.

Black Canary attempts to intervene only to get pulled into the fight. Now the three of them are tangled in a huge, confusing fight, that's filled with yelling and hair pulling.

------

Duke: Damian! Quick!

Damian: What is it Thomas.

Duke: I think somethings wrong with Dick and Tim and maybe even Black Canary. They're all fighting and won't stop! Can you help me contain them so that we can figure out what's going on?

Damian: Fine. I shall help.

Duke: Ok, just try to herd them into this containment cell.

Damian joins the fight managing to get everyone, including himself, into the containment cell. As Damian is trying to leave Duke closes the cell. Damian angrily yells and bangs on the sound proof walls.

Duke: What? Sorry, can't hear you! My hand slipped!

------

Wonder Woman: Very well done Signal.

Duke, acting innocent: Hm?

Wonder Woman: You tricked Red Robin into scaring Green Lantern away, then into fighting Nightwing. Once that fight broke out you tricked Red Hood into uploading a video to the internet using the Superman's credentials. By uploading that video he caused both himself and Superman to face Batman's wrath. You also used the fight to trick Stephanie into annoying Aquaman to the point of leaving. Then you involved Black Canary in the fight, which was her downfall. And, as a final touch, you managed to get Robin into the fight and trapped all in a containment cell. You successfully eliminated 9 foes with one trick.

Duke: You mean 11.

Wonder Woman: What?

Duke: 11. You see, I didn't trick Red Robin, I tricked Nightwing. I had a week to prepare. In that week I convinced Dick that Tim needed to cut back on the caffeine and that Dick should help by switching all of Tim's coffee with decaf. I also convinced him to hide that coffee in the watchtower, in Green Lantern's room. So that was all true.

Wonder Woman: But, that still does not make 11?

Duke: It does. Because This morning I moved the coffee. I replaced the Flashes decaf with Tim's ultra caffeinated coffee. You see Tim has it specially manufactured to increase the caffeine levels. And, while Flash doesn't usually drink his coffee in the morning, he's always running late and forgets, he does drink coffee during training breaks. Which is now. So in about five minutes we will have an incredibly caffeinated speedster in the Watchtower. And since you're the only one around right now with a chance of catching him, that's your problem.

Right as Duke finishes Flash runs by, majorly hyped up on caffeine.

Duke: Checkmate.

------

Martian Manhunter: It appears that I am the last remaining League member.

Duke: Yeah, I don't really understand this tradition but apparently every Robin ends it by picking a favorite league member.

Martian Manhunter: Out of all the League members, why have you chosen me?

Duke: Your smart and have a lot of cool powers. Also, I dunno, I hear you sometimes feel like an outsider with the league. Cause, the whole martian thing. And I know it's not the same but, sometimes I feel like an outsider with the bats, being the only meta and all.

Martian Manhunter: You have chosen me so that we may bond over our lack of connections?

Duke: Uhhhh, yeah?

Martian Manhunter: Hm. Very well, I assume that this is your “Robin Weakness”. Apparently every Robin has one.

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

<- Previous |

[capricorn-stark]

Smoke and Mirrors

pairing: jason todd x reader, childhood friends

warning: language, slightly heated towards the end but it’s very mild, smoking - i’m not a smoker nor do i condone it, don’t do it kids

a/n: references some early stuff from RHATO (2011)

“The girls at the diner used to call those cancer sticks.”

You thought it was pretty ironic for him to say that when he plucked the cigarette you were holding right out of your hand, leaning against the railing of the balcony and seeming utterly unabashed. You hadn’t even heard him landing beside you until he started speaking. 

You made a face at him as he unlocked and slid his helmet off while grinning at you in a typical self-satisfied fashion, bringing the cigarette to his own lips. 

“Let me guess,” you started dryly, watching a plume of smoke swirl out of his mouth as he took a drag. “That’s why you took their warning very seriously and told yourself to never, ever smoke one.” 

“I never said that,” he protested with another obnoxious laugh as he turned to glance over at you. “You made that shit up yourself. Not my problem.” 

You rolled your eyes at him before moving to fish out your pack and lighter out again, half-heartedly settling another one between your lips and lighting it up. Jason’s eyes followed the smoke back to you, his own expression unreadable.

“And I thought you said you quit this shit.” 

You shrugged, not quite looking at him when you opened your mouth to answer. 

“People say stuff all the time, Hood. What did you expect?” Your words were directed towards a little more than just smoking. A beat passed before he shrugged it off. 

“Hell if I know.” 

You both sat there for a while in silence as you smoked, watching the grey clouds stray towards the hazy glow of the setting sun on the horizon. The city beneath you was beautiful tonight, a seemingly endless stretch of dark gleaming buildings reflecting the pinks and oranges of the sunset. You wanted to relish that moment more than anything for a while, and you did. 

You closed your eyes and let the cigarette leave your mouth, clouds falling from your lips, nicotine buzzing in your bloodstream.

It would be a beautiful night. You could tell.

When you opened your eyes, you felt Jason’s eyes on you again and your turned your head to meet them. In the sunset, they really did glow a strange hue of green - yet another marker from his swim in the Lazarus. You hadn’t seen those eyes in quite a while.

“What, you want to take a picture?” you started in a somewhat jestful tone at his expression. “It’ll last longer.” 

“Would you let me?” was his rather cocky comeback as he took his own cigarette out of his mouth, another smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “‘cus I don’t have anything against that idea, per se-”

“I was joking-”

“Right, totally.” 

“I was!” The look on his face was infuriating enough to let you know that he didn’t believe shit. You let out a rather long and weary sigh. “I thought you weren’t planning on coming back anytime soon.” And at last, the disdain you had been trying so hard to contain from him was surfacing in your tone.

And clearly, from the way he was staring at you, he seemed to notice.

His latest adventures with his new friends, dubbed The Outlaws, hadn’t exactly been on the down-low. You knew one of them, Roy Harper, from being his best friend from a long time ago, and you had seen the glowing orange alien chick who accompanied them for the past few months on the news after he had taken off from Gotham. 

You couldn’t deny the fact that you had been more than a little dismayed by the fact that he hadn’t even bothered to give you some sort of goodbye before they left, either - no visits, no phone calls, no letters, not even a poorly placed sticky note on the front of your apartment door left to get swept away by some janitor when it fell off. 

You woke up one morning and heard from his brother that he wasn’t around Gotham anymore, no real explanations as to why the hell that was. 

He just disappeared. 

“You’re not thrilled to see me?” he attempted with mock hurt, and you gave him a very unimpressed look. “Sure, doll. I see how it is.” You acted like the nickname didn’t affect you as much as it did, because he didn’t deserve the satisfaction of otherwise.

“You know what I mean, Jason.” 

“I thought it was Hood?” He caught your look again. “Jeez, I’m just fucking around.” The silence stretched on and he at least had the sense to look a little guilty when he spoke again. “Y/N. Listen, I’m - I’m sorry.” 

You didn’t say anything for a while, your eyes still fixed ahead on the horizon. What did he expect you to say?

“I didn’t plan on leaving like that, I just - shit happened. And I didn’t want to stay in this shithole of a city for longer than I had to, anyways.” 

Of course. He was bad at goodbyes, so he never said them. You were above chasing after him, so you never did.

“You could’ve at least made a call after you left.” The cigarette was still burning in your hands, the white filter crumbling away in the wind. “Or, I dunno, sent a text, or even a damn email or something. Anything.” Even you were surprised by the contempt lacing your voice with every word you spoke. You had told yourself he had to have had his reasons for leaving and that you wouldn’t waste your own time being angry at him. But somehow, you couldn’t help it. It had hurt more than you chose to realize. “It’s been months.” For once, his passive expressions and sarcasm had been replaced with something else. 

Remorse. 

“I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal to you.” You almost let out an incredulous laugh at that. 

“Not a big deal to me? Are you serious?” You turned back to face him and he pursed his lips, clearly having realized that he had said the wrong thing. “After you came back - from the dead - and after everything that happened, you seriously thought I wouldn’t care what happened to you?” Jason opened his mouth, then wisely closed it while you tossed your cigarette down to crush it beneath your heel. “Wow, Jason, you knew me way better than I thought you did.” 

“I didn’t mean to leave,” he tried again after a beat, taking a half-step towards you. “I wasn’t - I was on a mission, and this submarine thing with the dudes I was dealing with blew up, and then I woke up like a week later on this island thing with a Tamaranean alien princess who thought I was Dick, and then I found out Roy was gonna get executed, so-” He seemed to realize how incredulous that sequence of events sounded from the look on your face. So he let out a sigh, wringing his hands. “Okay. Yeah. I was kind of a douche.”

“Kind of?” 

“I was definitely a douche,” he amended with another sigh, running a hand through his dark hair. He took a breath. “But I did mean it. I’m sorry.” 

And you knew he meant it when he said that. Even back in his unruly days as a Robin, when your friendship had first formed, you had figured out that it was ridiculously hard for Jason Todd to let go of his pride and apologize for basically anything. When he got older, it admittedly hadn’t gotten all that much better.

Until now, apparently. Just a little. And you could never stay angry at him for very long, as much as you might have tried.

You let out a sigh yourself, glancing up at him. 

“When did you even get back?” 

Jason made a show of fishing his phone out of his pocket and taking a look before answering. 

“About - twenty minutes ago.” He cleared his throat a little. “I wanted to see you.” There it was again - that infuriating feeling in your chest. 

“Did you?” You tried to keep your tone as neutral as possible as he rubbed the back of his neck, somewhat awkwardly glancing away from you before he spoke again. 

“Yeah. I missed you.”

Well fuck. That was a big one. 

“I guess I missed having you around. Sometimes.” He chuckled at your attempt to be nonchalant, stepping even closer to you. 

“That’s it? That’s all I get?” You rolled your eyes at him, refusing to say otherwise. You weren’t about to give in to him.

“Yeah, that’s all you-” Before you could finish, he had cut you off with a kiss. And in another moment, after his arms wrapped around your waist to pull you in closer, you realized your entire train of thought had been derailed completely because your best friend was kissing you.

“Get?” he offered when he pulled away again, another rather smug smile playing at his lips when you managed to look at him again, clearly flustered. “You sure about that?” 

You appropriately told Jason to fuck off before you pulled him down towards you again for another kiss. And that kiss turned into another, then another, and another. 

Your seemingly blasé attitude towards him and his constant teasing towards you had always helped you both shy away from whatever it was that you actually felt towards the other. It was easier to laugh at each other, or flirt, or push each other away than to actually move past your pride and admit how you felt. 

But then again, between tender caresses and heated kisses, you didn’t think there was a need to really say anything out loud. Where his hands were on your body alone could tell anyone what was going on in his head.

You had missed him more than you could express in words, and it was increasingly clear that he had felt the exact same way. Your relationship had always toyed at the fine line between friendship and something more, and your actions in that moment had firmly moved you both past the former. 

For so many years, your respective egos had provided a cover from a truth neither of you had been ready to come to terms with. But now, beneath the haze of cigarette smoke, sheets, and Gotham sunsets, you could finally see what exactly that was. There had always been something more underneath all of your smoke and mirrors. 

And although it wouldn’t be right then and there, eventually, you’d clear all of that smoke away. 

[current-interest-writings]

Batboys and Batmoms Birthday

Requested: no, this is self indulgent

Started writing this on my birthday

Your birthday in the Wayne house hold was the most important next to Mother’s Day, well at least to the boys.

You wanted to simply sleep in on your birthday, have your husband home earlier.

And sleeping in was more manageable when only two kids were trying to climb into your bed and share it.

Even though most of your children are adults, you do wake up to a dog pile on your birthday. With Bruce taking some weight to his upper body because dick and Jason are on top of his shoulder.

Damien at first wouldn’t participate, now he’s glued to your side on most days. Especially on your birthday, Damien has wrapped himself around your arm and cuddled into you. He always places himself in between you and Bruce. ALWAYS

While Tim was just cuddled into your side, it comforts him and gets him to sleep so you can’t complain too much. The boy needs to sleep.

Cass was near the end of the bed, wanting to participate but also wanting her own space.

Duke was on the other side, kinda out of the pile but he had a leg in.

And this was just the start, you being the first one awake to see all of your children in your bed. Laughing a little to yourself knowing Bruce was right, you did need a custom sized bed to fit everyone. But they still piled on each other, Bruce and you.

One side of your large bed had almost no limbs on it. While the rest of it was covered.

The next part of your birthday was breakfast in bed, which did mean your children would have to wake up sadly.

In your thoughts about breakfast Alfred walked right into the room, and sighed.

“ are your children aware the other half of the bed is bare? Or that master Bruce is not a mattress topper?”

Bruce opened one eye

“Alfred it’s been over 10 years, I think they know. They just don’t care anymore”

*mumbles from kids*

“Shh we know, and we don’t care. Just let us sleep”

Alfred set the tray down. And gave you a look.

“ I’m going to starve on my birthday!!! 😱”

Cue kids shuffling closer to Bruce so you can eat. Damien shifted his legs closer to his father, Tim just moved down to lay his head on your leg.

But the food smell woke the rest pretty fast. And everyone knew after food, they got to get their party started.

——————————————————————

The “party” consisted of JLA members, your sons, husband, Alfred and you.

It was always small, just how you preferred it. Jon and Damien running around in the gardens, Clark and Bruce getting along for the moment. Diana relaxing and seeming human, Jason and Tim talking. Seeing the flash family run around was always funny.

The food was delicious and there was a ton of it. Your birthday was practically catered by every restaurant in the city, after all you needed enough food to feed everyone.

But the day flew by having fun with all of your friends, and eventually they had to leave. But you get to have more family time.

——————————————————————

Few minutes after guest cleared out, your children ran to grab something. While Bruce came up behind you.

“Your gift from me is coming later today, but I assure you’ll like it”

“Bruce you’ve given me everything by just being home all day, and by being social and friendly.”

Your husband just chuckled, you both could here pounding foot steps coming down the stairs. With two sets walking calmly behind them.

“Boys so we don’t have a fight in the stair well let’s go into the family room”

They all followed behind like little ducklings (or robins)

Your kids had you sit in the large arm chair, and they took the couch while your husband stood behind you.

“Well Ma how are we doing the gift order this year?”

“Jay we are doing as we’ve always done, in order”

You’ve always made them follow the adoption order. It made sense, and made it hard to argue about it whose turn it was.

Dick smiled and handed you a small box and a card. “I hope you like it”

“I love anything you kids give me”

You opened it to see a small photo book. You turned the pages to see they were blank.

You eyed your son.

“Open the card”

The card he handed you was kinda thick. But once opened was full of pictures of the kids. In their uniforms, out of them, around the manor, and school ones.

“ oh Dick... it’s wonderful!”

You have your son a tight hug. Trying not to tear up.

“Alright Ma don’t cry.. yet”

Jason handed you a card, and motioned for you to open it. What was written almost made you cry.

‘To my Ma, you’ve loved me and hugged me. You’ve taken my anger in stride, and have forgiven me for my mistakes. I didn’t get you anything huge, but I’m giving you this promise.

I’ll be coming to the manor once a week. And we can spend time together. Like we used to.

Love your favorite zombie son’

You looked at Jason and stood up, you were crying. You just hugged him tight. You whispered “love you too my little bat”

Tim was next in line and new it was small but it would be meaning full.

He handed you another card, all he wrote was

‘I love you, this family and the memories we’ve made’

It was a small flash drive, you raised you brow.

“It’s got a lot of pictures and videos of us on there, so you can always take us with you”.

Your sweet babies loved to make you cry, you swore it. You gave him a tight hug. “I love it, thank you my little robin”

Damien went next and it was kinda large, he needed some assistance from his brothers to bring it in.

“ ummi I know I am tough to deal with, but I know you hold us close because you love us. And I know you like pictures of us as well. So I made you this. “

He pulled the sheet off and it was a portrait of you, and all of your children. You just grabbed your baby and hugged him tight.

“Oh it’s beautiful my little artist!!”

You knew just where you wanted it hung.

Next went cass

She signed, still not fully comfortable talking.

“I love you mom, and I hope it keeps you warm.”

You opened the wrap to see a hand knitted scarf, beanie and cardigan. It was beautiful, she had mixed purple and black into the pattern with a dash of yellow.

You lunged a hug at your baby “I love you too sweetheart, and these definitely will”

Duke went last he also got you a card.

He just nodded with a shy smile

As you opened the card to read it, you had a feeling the tears would keep coming.

‘To my mom, you’ve taught me it’s okay to have more than one mother’s love. That by loving you I haven’t forgotten about or replaced my mother.

You’ve also shown me patience and kindness when I may have frustrated you.

Thank you,

Duke’

You opened your arms to duke while crying “hug?”

He just gave you the hug.

As he pulled away and sat down. You stared at your kids and then your husband.

“Why are all my babies so sweet!!! 😭”

And they jumped to hug you in a group hug.

——————————————————————

Later that night batwoman showed up to cover Batman and you’ve never been so thankful.

All she said was “happy birthday have fun”

And it was just you and Bruce.

[iphoenixrising]

DickTim Week 2021: Day 5 Winged!Talon Tim au

So. another dual prompt and I really regret nothing about this one tbh. I took tomorrow’s Talon and today’s Wings and made a Winged!Talon!Tim fic. Of course, I talked to the wonderful babes on Capes & Coffee about a what if combination and this just, whew. Careful, it might break your heart a little, but damn if it isn’t an interesting idea.

Not beta read, so don't be a hater :D

Previous Talon!Tim universe posts: The initial idea, Babe and I talking it out, Talon Training Ask, Ra’s vs the Court, Talon and Ra’s, Talon and Ra’s take 2, Talon and Shiva short.

**

Watching B take on the new and improved Talon is really the entertainment of the year.

Once upon a time it had taken all of them plus more to take down as much of the Court of Owls as humanly possible. Of course, like rats, the Bats knew there would be no way to get the entire Court or all the Talons, not when the upper echelons of Gotham had spent the better part of 200 years creating, storing, training, and obtaining more.

Politicians were investigated, corrupt cops removed, and criminals burrowed underground once word of what the capes did to save the day got passed around.

For the first time in years, crime in Gotham was at an all time low.

But, as the coin flip dictates, nothing good lasts forever. Trouble is always brewing below the surface to eventually rise to the top and try to take over.

Case in point:

The Bats of Gotham have come up against a new threat wearing the signature Talon armor, and the call goes out to all available capes for help taking on the undead mercenary before another crime family ends up in the Obituaries rather than Blackgate.

The fact the Court is still up and running after the Batfamily took them down in a fiery blaze that ended with all their Talons gone, Sensei exposed, and most the ruling families imprisoned or poisoned by Lincoln March, is like a kick to the abdomen after they closed that particular book. Worse, with a new Talon soldier is sighted running around Gotham, another circus kid has been kidnapped and turned into the right hand of the Court of Owls. Dick, with his absolute survivors guilt, is the one to make going after the Talon and whoever is still behind the scenes a top priority.

Which is how they find themselves in the middle of Knight’s Stadium facing down a Talon that is too short to be March. Red Hood, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, and Black Bat pretty much got their asses handed to them in the first twelve minutes. Pretty hard to understand until you take into account the new and improved Talon facing them now is terrifying in a completely different way than most undead assassins are.

He knows them.

He knows them in ways that lets him fight fast and furious with vicious accuracy, striking at weaknesses few of the vigilantes of Gotham realized they even had.

He isn't as big as Lincoln or even Cobb, not nearly as old. He hasn't been kept in cryostasis waiting for the next generation to need his skills. He doesn't have creaks in his joints from being put on deep freeze too many times.

This one is silent and efficient, obviously trained in multiple types of martial arts, is highly proficient with or without the standard Talon knives, is a master tactician, counters the majority of their moves with alarming consistency–

and the fucking Talon has wings.

Honest-to-God wings.

Everyone had assumed the metal monstrosities on his back were weapons of some kind, but the glint of steel in the streetlight flash a warning before the lumps moved in an arch, extending far out past his shoulder blades, slicing into Red Hood’s body suit with a razor-sharp edge, shredding the armor like paper.

It’s not enough he’s got weapons obviously made specifically for his skill set, it’s not enough he’s an assassin and doesn’t hold to the same standards of non-lethal combat, it’s not enough that he can use his wings to fly or to fight like he’s using another limb to kick the shit out of them, and it’s not enough that he effortlessly counters so many of their attacks that he has to have some kind of inside information on all of them and their fighting styles.

The knives are definitely a thing when the Talon can throw them hard enough to penetrate parts of their suits in between armored plating, which further drives the theory that this is a person they’ve dealt with before. Intimately. Few people in the world know how their suits are made. Even more, few people know particulars enough when their suits are constantly reconstructed.

The only thing on their side that tipped the scales in their favor–

–the Batman.

The wings threw him off his game, obviously, but not enough to stop B from holding his own with swift and merciless force.

It's like watching a dance of fast and furious fists, blades in Talon's hands glinting deadly in the night, finding B's suit over and over and over until he's made it to blood and bone. He takes every hit the Batman can dish out, head snapping back, left, and right with the volley of jaw-breaking blows and bone-shattering kicks.

None of it gives the Talon pause. When a move makes him drop a blade, another is already in hand, cutting into their body suits, wings flipping out to defend or distract, sweeping moves and well coordinated attacks.

The unnatural appendages are like another arm, another leg, an extension working on the same central nervous system, regardless as to how the Court managed to make it happen.

A jump kick off a trash can is a lucky shot as a wing catches B in the ribs hard enough to knock him into the wall of Mike's Famous Hotdogs. The only thing saving the Dark Knight from a concussion or permanent brain damage is the plating in his cowl.

It gives the Talon enough time to make a final bid for a battered Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin struggling to their feet again, eyes for their fallen mentor.

Before he can lunge forward to start the attack yet again, the Talon just stops, pauses like he’s stuck or something, and in the span of a breath, both wings extend fully, flap powerfully once to propel him up into the Gotham night.

O tries her best to track his flight through the city, but no one’s arms are working well enough to toss a tracker on him.

She loses him over Cape Carmine, slams her palms against her system in frustration, makes sure she gets as much footage from the confrontation as possible.

After some sleep and a whole lot of bandages and ice packs, the Bat family meets in the Cave to watch the footage, breakdown the Talon’s fighting style, his weaponry, and make theories on his identity.

O helps out with readings she has of electronic pulses she managed to capture coming from the armor over his wings. She thinks she might be able to use it to track him if they can get close enough for her equipment to ping the signal again.

B makes a trip to Arkham since Freeze apparently hasn’t stopped producing the formula used to put Talons in cryostasis.

It’s not until Gotham’s power grid has a massive surge that O and the Bats can pinpoint a possible location, all of them invested in one hell of a fight to get the last rats still scurrying in the underground.

The plan of attack comes together smoothly once they’ve scoped out the location, seen the shady activity, and together, they make one hell of a plan.

**

And because, you know, Gotham, it is completely normal for the Court of Owl's headquarters to have a skylight.

Natch.

For this one, they've got Batgirl and Black Bat, Red Hood and Robin, Nightwing and B, a real family affair.

O's quiet voice over comms leading them through the maze of traps and empty rooms, abandoned libraries and spooky ball rooms. The laboratory isn't the most horrific they've all ever seen (because the Joker's summer place is literally the stuff of nightmares), but a few of them do gag on the smell alone.

The plan, however, goes horribly awry when the clear sounds of tormented screaming echoes from right under their reinforced bootheels.

Black Bat's fists clench hard, her breathing wheezes out when the tone, the utter agony goes right through her.

A shudder slides up Robin's spine as all of them turn toward the noise.

Without a flicker or a word, the Batman moves, strafing in the shadows toward the sound. He can't assume it's an innocent civilian with something the Court wants, but he's betting on the fact that scream will lead them to whoever is running the show.

The medieval room has bars and reinforced locks, implements hanging on the wall. The cement brick is stained rust colored with old blood, the vestiges of training, and the awful realization they've found another hidden niche in the city that always existed right under their noses is punctuated with the abrupt drop in temperature, with the sudden charge in the air, with the zzzzcrack snapping beyond the door, replaced with a muted buzzing Robin can feel in his back teeth.

B is already on his way to the roof, Batgirl down through the floor vent while Nightwing picks the locks with fast precision, knocking the tumblers around.

Robin and Red Hood stay close to the reinforced door, balancing on the balls of their feet, katana and .45s at the ready.

Black Bat takes the high road, ceiling tiles giving way under her Bat-a-rang. She gives a sharp nod before she's up and gone.

"All right. Ready?" Nightwing stands, cracks his neck, flips his escrimas in both hands, works his shoulders to prepare for the strain of each blow he plans to give.

"Ya betcha ass," Hood murmurs low, a cut figure with both guns at his sides, gloved fingers on the trigger guard.

"Don't disappoint," Robin snarls, "either of you."

"Nice pep talk, squirt," Nightwing snickers.

"Tt, back up your mouth with action."

"Better shuddap, Demon. Golden Boy ain't fuckin' 'round. Neither is the Bat. We get one more chance a' this asshole. We ain't gonna blow it again, ya feel me?"

"Finally, something we agree on, Hood."

"Other than N's shitty mullet?"

Nightwing swiftly glares at them both over his shoulder, unconsciously putting himself front and center of the trio, ready to be the first in once they get the signal.

– which is the sound of the glass raining down from the heavens.

Three booted feet kick the door hard enough to take it off the hinges, lying against the faded stains like a fallen body.

First step in the room is the complete opposite to what they'd all been expecting.

The two Owl masks aren't the usual, but a perversion of the originals, crudely drawn yawning mouths complete with fangs dripping blood.

But.

The boy on his knees, arms in a binder holding the appendages hostage at a painful angle, is dripping the real thing. Rivulets down his chest and where his back is partially visible. Some from the base of the wings going into the back of his shoulder blades where the skin is torn and raw.

The bar gag shoved in his mouth doesn't take away from the splatters on his chin, the bruising on his face, the swollen eye. But it's his wings that makes the Bats falter from the initial rushing attack.

His wings are without the armor, are bound straight up above his restrained body with hooks grotesquely puncturing through the downy softness, desecrating the beauty with blood and gore. The angle makes the pull to his back where the wings are part of him just another agony on top of atrocity.

"Fuck," from the first Owl mask, and a swift move frees the Talon's bound arms, the appendages flopping uselessly to the floor, only his trapped, tortured wings keeping him up on his knees.

The second Owl shoves the first back, "let him take care of them. Let's get out of here!"

The first Owl snarls out something low and foreign, the phrases rolling off his tongue.

The words lock into place, and the Talon's head snaps up, snarling around the gag in his mouth.

When his face is finally, finally visible, the protectors of Gotham are frozen in their tracks.

Familiar violet-blue eyes, too-long blue-black hair, cut jawline and pointed nose. Tiny scar on his right cheek from the time he caught Ra's al Ghul's ring across the face.

"Jesus Fucking Christ," is barely heard through the Red Hood's synths and in no way fully expresses his utter horror at what these dirty motherfuckers have done.

Robin wretches, bile burning the back of his throat once those eyes swing up to the masked parody of the Owls and his bare upper body is visible through the blood and sweat on his chest, when the scars peeking through on his collar bones form a half-visible Y-incision, when the coloring of the bared wings now makes sense (robin's wings, Damian Wayne thinks with his heart beating pitter patter fast, and his stomach in knots, they put robin's wings on him...).

And the hurt, agonized noise coming out of Nightwing's chest is the only noise he can make when those dimmed, dazed eyes swing from the Owls back to the vigilantes frozen in their spots, when there's no spark of joy or fondness or stubbornness he's so used to seeing staring him down.

The errant thought, the first instinct, is the only humane way to deal with this new Talon is to put him down for good wars with the man behind the mask that only wants to reach out, wants to pull the Talon into his body and curve over, to scream at the injustice of it all, to rail at himself for not even suspecting.

Another switch flipped and the hooks release his wings, blood splattering on top the old stains.

"Get them! Don't fuck it up this time or you won't get another chance," the second Owl shoves the Talon's injured shoulder in the direction of the horrified vigilantes.

They don't even bother to take the gag out of his mouth before setting him on his target.

A flap of wings, and the Talon is on his feet again, swaying only slightly. He's in the boots and pants from earlier, the rest of his uniform tossed carelessly behind him by his tormentors. A sweep of his feet and the knives glint in bare palms, a whisper of a sound.

The curved, clawed blade glints in the overhead light when the Talon raises it and cuts the strap of the bar gag in his bloody mouth, turns his head to spit it out without looking away from the vigilantes.

The Batman, grim and stoic in the face of this surprising turn of events, gives the barest nod. From her hiding spot behind the complex machinery, Black Bat takes off after the running Owl members, leaving the rest of the family to deal with their former third Robin.

The wings flinchingly flare out and their former bird hunches over, ready for the attack.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait,” the Red Hood removes the helmet, leaves the domino underneath. He keeps one hand out in peace, slowly dipping down to put his helmet on the ground. “Is us, Tim. Timmy. Baby Bird. Is us. Yer family. Gotta lookit us, yeah?”

For the first time, the Talon speaks, “who’s Tim?”

And then he lunges.

**

The fight happens very differently this time.

The former power behind the punches is obviously dulled with the Talon’s identity reveal. He doesn’t hold back, is utterly ruthless with his attacks. He takes out B’s right knee, puts Hood down on the stained floor, knocks Robin into the wall with crushing force, and slams Batgirl’s head off the operating table.

He stands over Nightwing, wicked blade in hand and robin’s wings spread wide. He takes a knee, the sharp edge right above N’s adam’s apple, staring down impassively into the whiteouts.

“Timmy,” N spits blood, grunting when one knee pins his arm down. “Timmy, please. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I love you and I’m sorry they did this to you.”

Those eyes don’t change in the slightest. “You should not have tried to oppose the Owls.”

“We beat them once,” Nightwing gasps, “and you helped us, Baby Bird. You were with us then, don’t you remember.”

“I was nothing before the Court perfected me,” the Talon replies emotionlessly.

“You were perfect before they ever touched you.”

“No,” and the Talon leans down, puts them a breath away. “The only thing you and those others do is put the criminals back in prison, back in Arkham for them to escape again, for them to kill and destroy over and over again. Like this, I can stop them permanently.”

“Oh Timmy,” and behind the whiteouts, Nightwing’s eyes spill over, his vision wavery. “Timmy–”

“Don’t call me that. Stop calling me that.”

“You know me, you know us. You have to remember–”

“Lies. All of it lies!”

Nightwing’s chest stutters, his fist clenching, “it’s not. None of it is. Not even this–”

And he’s fast enough to grab the back of the Talon’s neck, to lean up enough against the blade pressed against his throat, can bring their mouths together, can kiss him like he’s dying and the Talon is the only thing that can save him.

It’s sloppy and awkward because the Talon doesn’t know what’s happening, gasps against the vigilante’s mouth. The tongue sliding over his, the muffled moan in his mouth sparks something in the back of his brain where the Court of Owls could never touch.

When Nightwing pulls back, stares up at wide violet-blue eyes, when the blade falls away to clatter against the block, when the Talon’s mouth trembles and tears fill his eyes, when his wings flutter and falter, fold in on them both, when his voice goes hoarse with, “D-Dick?” Nightwing throws both arms around his waist and holds on.