#how little effort tim actually made to find a new robin for bruce

[oifaaa]

Related to your anon: Tim didn't want to be Robin forever early on! He expected to be Robin for a little bit and quit. He even said that to Dick, that this wasn't his life plan, he was just doing this to set Bruce straight. He also reiterated this point during the time he quit being Robin because of his dad, though there's an argument to be made that it was a lie by then. Over time the "I won't be doing this forever" morphed into "I'll stop when I'm not needed" to "I'll stop when the world doesn't need Robin" to "??? Quitting? No?"

Yeah but that's kinda why I say that Tim wouldn't of become a hero until way later on if it weren't for Jason dying since he wasn't gun ho to become a hero at 13 he just wanted to be apart of his fav heroes story but he grew to love it and I definitely am one of those people who thinks he was lying since he had the opportunity to stop being Robin and he didn't

[elizabethemerald]

A Shade Darker than Red: Part 5

Previous Part

Danny and Jason trained frequently in the Ghost Zone. Of course their “training” was more accurately called “playing.” Tag, catch, hide and seek. They were games, mostly for kids, yet they still taught the new ghost about his powers. Jason learned how to fly, how to turn invisible and intangible, and how to create ecto blasts. Danny also taught him a lot about both the lore of the Infinite Realms and Astronomy. 

He talked several times a week with Jasmine about his life in between training sessions and lectures. He talked about his father being a criminal and his mother being an addict. He talked about losing her and having to live on the streets. He talked about becoming Robin and how magical it was for him. He eventually was able to talk more about his first death, about being betrayed and abandoned, then coming back, feeling like he came back wrong. He still couldn’t remember any details about his second death and Jazz insisted that it wasn’t unusual and that it was just his brain and his core trying to protect him.

It felt… strange. Comfortable. He felt loved and cared for in a way he hadn’t realized he missed and needed. He wondered why he hadn’t gotten any therapy when he first became Robin. Did the others need therapy too? It frustrated him that this was the first time he felt someone was really putting in the effort for him. Almost like he was actually worth that level of effort. 

More and more Jason was finding that the strange siblings that were Danny and Jazz actually cared for him. Loved him. Welcomed him into their little family of two and while he missed his other family and wanted to see them again, he felt good. 

He had no way of knowing exactly what was happening in Gotham after his death. 

.

A sick kind of tension hung in the air. Each of them set in their own thoughts. They were, first of all, Bats and thus detectives. Each had investigated in their own way, using their own skills and contacts. Then they had come together and compared notes, which all pointed to one horrible conclusion. 

It was Killer Croc, strangely enough, contacting Red Robin that was the final stroke. He had found a body, disposed of in the Gotham Sewers where he was known to roam. Croc was a known cannibal and had eaten more than a few corpses that had fallen into the sewers, making work easier for the city’s mafias and harder for the Bats. But he proved that he wasn’t as much of a monster as others assumed when he recognized the body and brought it to the surface. 

Dick was filled with fury as he once again stood before the dead body of his brother. He wanted to run off in a rage, he wanted to beat Bruce to a pulp like he had done with Joker. It was Damian who stopped him. Damian, who knew he had even more blood on his hands than Jason had, feared that if Bruce beat Dick in a fight that he would be the next one to disappear. 

Instead they stepped back and they planned. Batman had his paranoia, and he had trained it into all of his wards. They could be just as paranoid as him, and combined they were the best tactical fighters and strategists in the world. There was a reason one of the Bats ended up as the de facto leader of most teams they were on. Combined they could match Bruce wit for wit. 

Their planning reached its peak when they were all sent a communication from Bruce. Each of them were expected for a meeting in the Batcave. Team meetings weren’t rare in of themselves, but all of them at once was out of the ordinary and had them all tensing up. Clearly, Bruce knew they were on to him. 

Emergency plans and contingencies were made. Superman was called and asked to keep an ear on Gotham. Flash was on speed dial with instructions to extract them before the first ring had completed. Each of their contacts were instructed on where they would be and how long they expected the meeting to go. 

They each took turns denying the meeting request and submitting an alternate meeting location and time. They argued back and forth about who had responsibilities they couldn’t postpone or who hated which location, just like they usually did, however this had an additional reason. They couldn’t allow Bruce the chance to set up a location to his advantage, or some place with limited escape routes. 

Finally, after much arguing back and forth, which Stephanie especially excelled at, Damian cut them all off angrily with a demand that they just meet in the game room of the manor. Barbara planned on calling in from the clock tower, as much as she hated not being able to be there, so that Bruce couldn’t put up another signal Jammer. 

The others entered the game room a few minutes before the meeting started. Bruce was already there, but Cass had been there even earlier to make sure he didn’t tamper with the room. Alfred came in and served them all tea, then after a signal from Damian stayed, with his back to one of the walls, watching over the family and enjoying some tea himself. 

“You all have been avoiding the cave, we still need to patrol the city and-”

“Shut the fuck up Bruce.” Dick snapped, causing Alfred to raise an eyebrow. “We know about Jason.” 

“Yes, Jason has been missing for several days now and-”

“We know you killed him.” The sharp words silenced Bruce and Alfred leaned forward in surprise. 

Tim threw a packet of papers down on the table. 

“You had Fox create a jammer, specifically designed to work against the trackers we use.” 

“You forgot, Father, that I was raised by the same assassins that trained you. I recognized the signs of you attempting to hide the scent of blood on you.” Damian snapped. 

Cass signed her observation next. “You: not worried about Jason. Knew where he was.” 

Barbara spoke up from her spot over the video call. “You did a good job hiding your digital footprint, but you couldn’t hide everything. And when you and Jason disappeared at the exact same time? We connected the dots.” 

“Croc found Jason’s body in the sewers. Said he owed Red Hood enough not to dispose of the evidence.” Dick growled the words out, fury still written in every line of his body. 

For the first time an emotion crossed Bruce’s face, just a hint of annoyance before he wiped it away. He always treated Killer Croc like a mindless beast, and now he was realizing he had miscalculated. Alfred looked stunned. 

“Master Bruce I-, Bruce-, Mr. Wayne-, How could you?”

“Red Hood had taken numerous lives, and his criminal enterprises were only growing.” Bruce finally said as if he were reporting on the Riddler or the Falconies, not his own son. “I had given him enough leniency, enough chance to step away from the path of crime he was one. When he refused, it was high time that Red Hood was brought to Arkham, where he couldn’t hurt anyone else.” 

“And then you beat him to death! Jason, Robin! Stop acting like he’s some common criminal!” Dick shouted. 

“I determined that it was highly likely he would respond to my attempt to bring him into custody would result in violence. So I came prepared.” Bruce’s voice was monotone. Controlled. 

“And you specifically attempted to hide all signs of your murder?” Damian asked, pain clear on his voice even though he tried to hide it.

“I was simply planning for contingencies.” Bruce said. “Red Hood would escalate to violence. I planned accordingly and met him in kind. I of course knew that I would not be able to completely hide Hood’s transgressions, so I ensured I had the proper time to present the evidence here. Which is what this meeting had been about, if you would like to get to it-”

“Are you shitting me Bruce?” Dick was on his feet. “You harp all the time about your precious line, about how you can’t ever kill, and then you murder Jason? Your own son?” 

“Red Hood was never my son.” Bruce finally showed real emotion, rage painting his face. “My son died at the hands of the Joker. And a twisted monster came back in my son’s body. Now that monster is gone.” 

Dick was shaking in fury, and looked half a second from diving across the coffee table to try and strangle Bruce. It was Damian standing that stopped him. Damian was shaking as well, though for a different reason. 

“I have killed more people than Todd even tried to.” Damian said, his voice thick with emotion. “It is clear if you have taken to extrajudicially executing whoever you feel that I am no longer safe in the Manor. Richard, would I be able to stay at your apartment in Bloodhaven? I will be sure to pay my share of the rent on time.” 

Dick swallowed thickly, but nodded. 

“Of course, Baby Bird. That’s what family is for, taking care of each other. No matter what.” 

Damian gave Dick a stiff bow before turning to a clearly thunderstruck Alfred. “I hope the care of my animals will not be too much of a burden until I can arrange for their transport to a new domicile?” 

Alfred gave him a nod, fury and grief carved into his face in even measure. 

“Of course, Master Damian. I will do my utmost to ensure they have the best care. Do you need any assistance packing?” 

Damian shook his head and Dick followed him out of the room, taking a moment to shoot one last glare at Bruce before he left. Tim stood next and gestured to Duke. 

“Do you want to bunk with me? It would cut down on your commute to GU.” Tim said. 

Duke shook himself and nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.” He turned to Bruce. “There was a time I used to look up to you. You can say that your son died at the Joker’s hands and never came back all you want, but I need you to know, today is the day you pushed the rest of your sons too far.” 

Both boys left, Tim wiping tears from his face as he wrapped an arm around Duke’s shoulders. Barbara out to the two girls who remained in the room. 

“Team Batgirl sleep over here at the Clock Tower?” She asked and Cass and Steph both rose together. Cass stared down at Bruce. 

“I killed once. Never Again. You’re lucky.” Her mouth worked as she signed, as she tried to contain her emotions. Steph immediately wrapped her arms around Cass. She spit on the ground at Bruce’s feet. 

“I became Spoiler because my father was a murderer. I didn’t expect I would end up working under another murderer.” 

The two girls left arm in arm. Cass silently sobbed as her family broke apart, the man she had looked up to so much had betrayed her and crossed the one line she considered sacred. 

“Mr. Wayne, I think it is high time I tender my resignation.” Alfred said, his emotions once again hidden by his British Precision. “Consider this my two weeks notice. Since the manor will be without proper staffing, I would suggest you find somewhere else to stay until trusted staff can fill the open positions, perhaps the Watchtower would be best for you.” 

He turned away, then hesitated for a moment, before he turned back to gaze at Bruce, his grief now fully visible on his face. 

“You’ve been as good as a son to me, ever since you came under my care. I’ve treated each of your wards as if they were my own blood, as if they were my own grandchildren. I have loved each of them in my own way, just as I loved you. I never agreed with your strict adherence to your Rule. I’ve long thought that Master Jason was right and you should have put the Joker down like the rabid dog he is.” 

Alfred took a deep shaky breath and walked away to the door. 

“Even with my willingness to take a life to protect my family, or to avenge them, I still would never kill one of them, no matter what they had done. That is the love I have for my family. You are fortunate you once enjoyed that love too. Goodby Mr. Wayne.” 

Alfred turned off the lights to the room as he departed. Barbara signed off soon after and immediately sent the video copies both digitally and physically across the world as a form of insurance in case Bruce ever decided to target any of the rest of them. 

Bruce Wayne, the Dark Knight, Batman, was left… alone… in the dark of his empty house, staring at nothing as fruitless plans and empty contingencies spun uselessly in his head. 

.

Far away, and in a dimension that was just next door, the Ghost King sat on his throne as he listened to the supplications of two of his citizens. He was alone in his throne room with the two ghosts, any other supplicants or citizens of the Realms were elsewhere. 

“Please,” They begged. “Please. Our son has lost his way. We know you can’t reach him, but please, watch over our grandchildren. He’s already sent one on his way to you. Please, they still have so much life to live, and if he continues on this path it will throw our city into chaos.”

King Phantom, High King of All Ghosts, King of the Infinite Realms, nodded his head. His crown flared brightly as he swore to watch over the grandchildren, both blood and adopted of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Their words confirmed his ideas and Jazz’s theories about their newest charge and for the wishes of the Waynes and the protection of Jason Todd, Danny Phantom would watch over the city of Gotham and its heroes. At least those that were still on the path.

[dairy-farmer]

People think batman or superman is the most popular hero. Hell, maybe even wonder woman. They do a poll and... red robin is the most popular hero? But... but how?!?!? (He's always doing hero work, likes to comfort victims, relatable, fun, funny etc)

there's this fic that i almost constantly reread by dexdefyingstunts called 'fandom's favorite twink'!!!!! and the concept is that tim is almost universally used as the twink!! the default bottom in the capes community because they're all just so...hunky and muscley.

so maybe there's also a mix of that intertwined and the superheroes who were at first grumbling at the poll (because they were all expecting superman or wonderwoman to win but turns out its not even a JL member who won) all fall silent when they look back on footage and photos of them interacting with red robin and realizing how many of them just...pick him up and move him how they want to. and they hadn't realized just how....compact red robin was.

red robin is also very androgynous with frequent arguments in online chatrooms occurring about whether he's a boy or a girl because they're so well built but their hips are just a little too wide for a boy and they either have nice pecs for a boy or small tits for a girl.

red robin is one of the few heroes who opted out of having the distribution companies owned by wayne and queen industries design and make merch. merchandising like tshirts, backpacks, shoes, jackets, and jewlery is one of the ways to fund heroes, pay for their equipment, keep bases up and running, provide funds for relief efforts and repair damages done to cities. for other heroes it's also a way to make sure they have a steady income because the hero business leads to a lot of injuries and time off which means many aren't able to hold a steady job.

the assumption that superman, wonderwoman, or even batman and flash would win the title of favorite hero was because the number of sales on their merchandise reflected them as the top selling hero and well....you wouldn't buy a shirt of someone you hate would you?

red robin doesn't have merchandise but with a little digging into the accounting department, they're able to find small online sellers like artists, printers, and craftspeople who all handmake hero merchandise of smaller, local, and unknown heroes. red robin is the top seller across all the boards.

more than that there are an overflowing amount of fanclubs, social media, websites, and chatrooms dedicated to red robin. they're able to find out pretty quickly why.

red robin is one of the few heroes the public is sure is human. just a normal average human. and that means something to people. because superman and wonderwoman are borderline gods who are at levels no normal person could ever hope to achieve. same with all meta heroes. they're human sure, but they're all still at an...unreachable level for most people.

but even among human heroes, red robin stands out. batman is long suspected to be a meta but even if he wasn't he's just too...offputting, too creepy. a lot of people have made the assumption that he's mean in real life and sure bruce set out to be scary but he never intended to project...cruelty. red hood has the same problem. the lethality puts off as much people as it gets people who support him. nightwing hangs around more aliens and metas than actual humans which gives him a certain kind of...framing. it makes it seem like his feet don't even touch the ground. the new robin isn't as gentle and reassuring as the others. black bat has the same problem as batman. batgirl is more interested in getting into fights and solving cases than helping out the victims or people who are still shaking after a near mugging.

all the human heroes fall short.

they're not as good at their job as red robin.

they're not as nice or kind.

they're not as funny.

they're not...people. people in the sense that when they put on a mask, they don't rise to another level above everyone else. red robin stays at the exact same level. he talks like a person, walks like one, interacts with them like one.

everything about red robin highlights how he's as average and normal as everyone else. only that when he saw something wrong in the world- he went out to try and fix it. and even after all the years as a cape, all the hardships and pain he endured and went through, he still never lost his gentle touch or kindness.

he still thought people were worth saving and fighting for. even though his days must be filled with fighting against the worst humanity had to offer.

red robin looked at gotham, it's people, and the world and said that they were worth the pain and struggle of protecting.

no augmentations, no magical powers, no alien birth rights, no space ring- just human.

red robin wasn't popular because he had the flashiest costume, coolest powers, or longest time on the roster.

he was the favorite by a landslide because people looked at him and saw the personification of perseverance and the human spirit.

the other heroes see this and know they don't stand a chance against him. not even a little

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

There is only one thing I never understood about the Teen Titans, and I'm talking about the show that isn't a crime against nature and was actually cool. Why was Robin always so serious and moody?? He was supposed to represent Dick, right. Mr. Disco Wing!? The most flamboyant Bat ever?? Circus boy??? Why the heck did they make him so moody and angsty, was he having his teenage emo phase or something!?

Babe dick grayson had a character arc. He started as angry and vengeance seeking when his parents died, then chilled out to be a peppy kid for a couple of years. Then he essentially started to process the trauma and recognize how controlling bruce is vs trying to grow and find his own identity as he outgrew the robin mental. A good chunk of that was dick being highly competent and trained but still getting treated as a child.

So at around fifteen he fully left home to life full time with the titans and in new york sometimes. In that time he was constantly foghting with bruce and bruce just picked up a whole other kid and gave the kid the name robin despite the title originally being personal to dick because it was his mothers nickname for him. This would be the time period teen titans takes place. Hence angsy moody hyper competant teen. He's trying his best to prove himself and is also a leader and one of the main smart guys on the team. So his characterization makes sense even if we get very little fun dick.

Eventually dick shifts ti nightwing and moves to bludhaven and starts to establish himself as his own guy. Only for jason to die when he was on a mission to space. This furthermesses up his relationship with bruce. But tim litterally stalks him to convimce him to come back and while dick refuses to go back tobbeing robin (he sees that as a regression) he does make an effort to reconnect with bruce and to be the brother to tim he never was to jason.

The flamboyant circus boy stuff definitely comes through as he becomes nightwing, which is why we got discowong in the first place. But in general i thing reconnecting with his family made it easier for him to be happy go lucky. I also think to some degree he does mask his more negative emotions around tim and later the younger siblings. Hes honest with bruce and never really loses his anger issues. He also keeps his hyper-conpetence.

I think its kind of reductive to make dick purely 'the fun robin'. Like yes being fun and funny and cheerful is how he defined his robin and its very much part of his character, but he was never just that. He has dementions and emotions and trauma. Lots of trauma. He deserves to be shown in all his facets.

It's also just genuinely funny to me that proximity to batman makes a difference in vibes. Like next to captain paranoid doom and gloom, dick is a ray of sunshine, the traffic light, maker of puns. But next to fellow teens hes this anal professional nerd. Like bruces training is shining through in paranoia and ability. But also dick isnt the sunshine kid in this group. Contrast matters.

-hestia

[cuthwyn]

I’m Alive!!!

So, the last few years went … well … in a not well kind of way.

Qualified as a nurse … whooo

Ended up in an abusive relationship where my love of DC (and pretty much anything that made me me )was slowly crushed …. Less whooo

Good news… still a nurse and now out of that relationship and free!!

Great news … I’ve got my mojo back and I’m writing again. I missed writing and my comics so much :(

At the moment I’m trying to finish off Re-Educating Jason and a very old fic of mine A Handful of Moments I Wish I Could Change.

I’m also working on a new fic for Halloween. Untitled as yet and still WIP, but here’s a snippet as a sorry for those who were reading my stories and I then vanished???

‘Jason was sat on the floor, slouched against his bike. It were as if he had been heading off back to wherever he was currently staying and someone had cut his strings like a puppet.

‘Hood?’ Batman asked cautiously, stepping closer to see that his son was still conscious, eyes flitting around the Cave. There was no response to his name. Not even when Batman tried again to gain his attention.

‘Robin?’ Batman asked again, hesitant and unsure.

Jason eyes moved to look up at him and he smiled weakly.

‘Hey B. Kids okay? I got ‘em home.’ His voice was off, far away, younger, and it looked like Jason was putting in a lot of effort to find his words.

Nodding, Batman crouched down and squeezed Jason’s shoulder as he had when he’d actually been Robin. This presentation was more than a little concerning.

‘The kids are safe Robin. You did a good job. How are you chum? Are you okay?’

Letting out a long shaky breath, Jason nodded and he looked down at his hands. He studied them intently before using a finger to stroke over a fingernail as if proving it was still there.

‘I’m good. Kids home. They’re scared. Hadda save ‘em.’

Pursing his lips, Bruce tilted Jason’s chin up towards the light. His pupils were blown wide. The sticky residue of fear toxin stuck to the small hairs of his nostrils.

Damian had been wearing the Red Hood on arrival, with Tim wearing Jason’s gas mask to protect from further inhaling the toxic gas. Both had been given antitoxin. Red Hood carried two doses at all times.

Jason had gone out to face the Scarecrow with nothing but his bare face. His brothers had been given the equipment mean to protect him!

‘Oh Robin, you silly, stupid boy.’ Batman scolded, smoothing the hair out of his son’s face only to be shaken off.

‘Am ‘kay. Just- just a bad day. I can deal. Kids need safe.’ Jason mumbled, his voice a thin wispy thing that stole all breath from Bruce’s lungs.

Bruce watched in growing horror as Jason’s gaze focused on some other unseen nightmare again with a blank expression. He was tumbling headfirst into catatonia. This won’t happen again. It won’t. Bruce wouldn’t let it.

Dragging Jason to his feet, he slung a limp arm around his shoulders so he could take most of Jason’s weight.

‘Walk Robin!’ He barked his order in Batman’s voice. ‘Come on soldier, walk!’

Letting out a breath of relief, Bruce held Jason tighter to his side when boots clumsily stumbled along with him. 

‘That’s it. Good boy. You’re safe Robin. I’ve got you. Keeping walking.’

‘Warehouse? Joker?’

The question drove into Bruce’s gut like a knife but he just swallowed and nodded.

‘Yes. Yes Robin. I’ve got you. I came for you. You’ve got to keep walking. Walk Robin.’ Bruce answered, eyes looking ahead as he hauled his son past the med bay containing the rest of his family. ‘I need more antitoxin! And Ativan. I need Ativan!’ 

Bruce hoped Alfred heard him as he booted open the door to the showers and shoved an increasingly dissociating Jason inside.’

[incoherentbabblings]

I really love you blog!! I was wondering if you had any comic rec for timsteph or for tim&cass in particular I'm trying to read more of his canon stuff. Also what are your thoughts on Helena?

Hi! Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the dumping of thoughts 🤭

Helena is a perfect example of a byronic hero and I love her very much. Compassion and anger perfectly blended together. I have not read Birds of Prey so I have missed most of her character development moments, but I think I'm one of the few who adore her New 52 appearances, specifically in Grayson. She's not the same character, but both versions I think are pretty neat. I do miss her and Tim's relationship, and I think it would be deeply funny if she had ended up adopting Tim after his father's death rather than Bruce. What a nightmare that would have been.

For TimSteph comic recs see here - I put my fave issues together for them just the other day! It's not comprehensive, but it's the issues of them I enjoy and the ones that colour my reading of them the most.

As for Tim and Cass... Apologies if I skip some titles here and there - it has been a good five years since I have read Cass's solo stuff (except no apologies for skipping one year later stuff, I'm trying to keep it about them growing closer). This is roughly in chronological order. Hopefully I haven't missed anything too major!

Early Days

Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #120 - First Meeting. They don't have much to do with eachother for the remainder of No Man's Land, but a couple more moments can be found in:

Robin (1993) #73 - "She's my guardian angel? To tell you the truth, she kind of gives me the creeps."

Batgirl (2000) #18 - Tim apologises for judging Cass

More under the cut~

Working Together

Bruce Wayne Murderer/Fugitive - They don't pop up much together in the whole arc but I still think it's worth reading the trades for this storyline because it's just a very good Batfam story when Bruce isn't being intensely annoying and moping and being unhelpful. Babs, Tim, Dick and Cass actually do the investigating and crime solving, so it's a good arc to read for them if you want to read more canon stuff.

Batgirl (2000) #30-32 - Tim pops up halfway through, but this is a fun little arc staring a Connor Hawke, Tim, Steph and Cassandra team up.

Gotham Knights (2000) #45 - Part of a larger arc of Bruce's parenting skills being called into question, Cass, Tim and Dick have a sweet interaction which shows her sort of within and outwith relationship to the Wayne Family at the time

Batgirl (2000) #45 - Tim finds the Batgirl suit a turn on. This is slightly disturbing in hindsight but hey. It only becomes relevant again when Steph puts it on years later.

Superman/Batman (2003) #5 - Batfam and Superfam of the early 2000s comes to the aid of Batman and Superman after they're made enemies of Luthor's government. Tim and Cass have a cute interaction here, showing they're more playful now.

Gotham Knights (2000) #46 - Pretty sure this is one of the most morally awful things the batfam have ever done, tormenting this poor dude for shits and giggles, but Tim and Cass have some good banter. #47-49 follow this, a small arc about Bane's ongoing parental crisis. Cass potentially makes Tim soil himself with her flying. Quite amusing.

Losing Stephanie

Robin and Batgirl Fresh Blood (Issues 132, 58, 133, 59 of their series) - Tim and Cass after Steph's murder move to Bludhaven. It's sad and painful and awkward and neither of them know how to comfort the other.

Batman Allies Secret Files and Origins (2005) and their story 'Taking Sides'. I really like this short story.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I am now going to skip most of the rest of the 2000s for Tim and Cass.

You can ask a Cass centric blog why. It's too long to get into here.

Nearing Flashpoint

Red Robin (2009) #17 and #25 - Tim goes to efforts to bring Cass home and back to Gotham

Gates of Gotham (2011) - Tim successfully gets Cass to come home to Gotham.

Post Flashpoint

They sadly do not get much one on one time after 2011. Cass returns in Batman and Robin Eternal in 2015, but I can't genuinely recommend it due to Tim and Cass have little to no contact time, and what there is, is not... hugely informative. They also star together in Tynion's Detective Comics run (#934-981) but Tim is out of the picture between #940 and #967 (for Cass at least). There's a couple of sweet moments here and there, but largely they do their own thing distinctly from each other.

And that's it really! :( I wish they had more...

Still, I hoped this helped anon! Enjoy!

[stressedoutcanary]

Hold On - Jason Todd x Batgirl!Reader [PART 2]

WORD COUNT :- 2.3k

Warnings ⚠️: I don't even know if there are any...Swearing maybe?, mentions of kidnappings, actual kidnapping oh and also violence and angst :)

A/N 😋: I got lost while writing this so judge accordingly people. Also forgive me for any mistakes. I TRIED.

Part 1 , Part 3

•°•°•°•°

“JASON STOP!!!!!”, your voice echoed in the silent warehouse.

Jason stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard your voice, his mind was brimming with thoughts, questions and worst of all, emotions.

“Well, well, well, look who crawled out of her little cave”, He said smugly as he finally turned around to face you. The voice was his, you’d recognize that voice anywhere but it felt cold, devoid of emotions, hearing him like that sent a shiver up your spine. You could feel your determination slipping.

Even though you had your cowl on, Jason could still see how much his rampage was hurting you but he couldn’t stop now, not when all he had left to do was to capture Joker, beat the living shit out of that asshole and show Bruce how much of a failure Batman’s moral compass really is.

“Well? Got nothing to say now?... Why am I not surprised?”, Jason scoffed.

You took a deep breath, you were breaking down inside but you sure as hell weren’t going to let that stop you. You spoke, voice barely above a whisper,  “Jason...Jay...Stop all this...Please, come home, come back to the--”

“Manor? Home? Did you hit your head (Y/N)? Why in the hell would I ever go back to a place where NOBODY GAVE A DAMN ABOUT ME, WHERE HE REPLACED ME AS IF I MEANT NOTHING?!”, Jason didn’t want to lose control of himself, not in front of you. So with visible effort he calmed himself down, took a step forward and gave you a deadpan look.

“You all left me”

Your blood boiled at that statement.

“How dare you?! We lost you! We mourned for you! I mourned for you!”

Tears welled up in your eyes, listening to him you wondered whether he truly believed the words actually coming out of his own mouth.

“The Jason I knew was a roughed up street boy who still cared when many didn't, who called Bruce out every step of the way, who had this ridiculous favoritism for bread, who had the guts to take out a tire from the fricking Batmobile”, despite the dreadful situation you smiled remembering those sweet memories.

You looked him in the eye, pleading in a way, and you spoke softly, “The Jason I knew was The Robin to my Batgirl. This-this is just not who you are Jay, not really...So can you just stop?”

He looked unfazed by your words and cocked his head to the side.

“Princess, the only way you can stop me is if you fight me, knock me down real hard, make sure that I won't get back up again. Tell me Batgirl, can you do it? Do you actually have what it takes?”, he waited for an answer he knew wasn’t coming. As expected, all he was met with was silence.

Long, Painful Silence.

With that Jason knew what he had to do, he put on his red helmet and swung out of the nearest window, you couldn't stop him, for all your big talk, you just couldn't. He was right you failed him.

•°•°

You jumped awake with a start, bolting upright and immediately regretting your subconscious decision, the throbbing pain made you clutch the back of your head with your palm and you closed your eyes again to achieve some semblance of reality as a way of grounding yourself.

‘It was just a dream (Y/N)…just...a...dream’

You tried to lie to yourself knowing deep down that it was a memory, something you have already lived through, something you regret everyday. You swallowed the lump in your throat. It felt dry and your whole body was sore. You really should've called in early and then maybe Dick would've been the one stuck in this crapy situation and not you.

Pushing past your perplexed state you got up and took in your surroundings, there were vines hanging from the open roof, a LOT of flowers and some Venus flytraps by the corner. It wouldn’t even take being a detective to figure out where you were; The Botanical Gardens.

“How the hell did I end up here”, you muttered under your breath. This was getting out of hands.

“See Pammy I told ya Girl-Bat would rise and shine by now”

“I can see that Harls”

‘Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, just great, is nobody in Arkham these days’

The duo descended down from the open roof through one of the vines and stood in front of you. Harley looked as happy as a 10 year old about to get their favorite toy and Ivy seemed to be interested in anything and everything that did not concern you. Classic.

“Why the hell did you both kidnap me?”

You jumped forward and grabbed Harley by the collar of her dress, in retrospect it wasn't the best move but it's not like you were thinking straight at the time anyway.

A vine wrapped itself around your waist and you were tugged back by such force that you were sure there was gonna be a big bruise there tomorrow. You skidded across the floor and finally stopped when your back connected with a bench. You were just too drained to fight back so instead you just crawled up and sat on the bench with a grunt.

‘Not fighting my way out of this one so for once let’s try talking’

“Whoa, should ya really be this obnoxious when ya got a concussion?”, Harley burst your thought bubble as she looked you over.

“Wait, Did you just call me obnoxious?!”

“But don'tcha worry I am a doctor and I got a PhD”

“In psychology!”

“I will fix ya in no time”

“Are you even listening to me?”

Just like that you saw Harley leave the room to go get some medical supplies, or well at least you thought that that's what she was going to do, you turned your face towards Ivy hoping that she can fill in the blanks.

“So you both finally done babbling? And here I thought it was never going to end.”, She looked at you from where she was petting her plant, and made her way over to you, something about her seemed genuine. You got the feeling that whatever she had to say, it won't be a lie.

“Try and not mind what Harley does, she's just happy to make new friends for girls night.” She sighed before continuing, “As for your question, last night we were near the Gotham Central Park when we saw a masked man dragging your unconscious body out of a building and into a van parked in the alley, so we kil-- we took care of him and brought you here”, She shrugged as if that explains why the Poison Ivy just saved your life.

"Wait that means Red isn't here", you whispered more to yourself than to others.

“Pam is Red!”, Harley said cheerfully as she came back out nowhere with a bunch of boxes which would've made you very uneasy if your mind wasn't already preoccupied.

“What Harley means to say is that if you are trying to ask about that gun loving leather jacket vigilante who wears a red helmet, then no we don't know where he is”

Her words sunk in and yesterday's memories flashed in your mind, your eyes widened under your mask as the realization hit you like a bus.

The missing people, the creepy mannequins, the medical journals regarding surgeries, the weirdo in the white mask instead of a face, the poster of some Pretty Dolls parlor; Now it all makes sense!

“Pyg!”

"Huh?", the women in front of you almost jumped at your sudden revelation.

“Lazlo Valentin aka Professor Pyg that's the son of a bitch who is behind all this mess, he's the one who has got Red Hood And it's all my fault! Now, He might be dead already! I should've known, I-I should've figured it out quicker, I should've done something, DAMN IT!!”, you buried you face in your hands due to the building frustration within you.

“Don't be like that”, you heard Harley's voice as a hand was placed on your shoulder, she sat down on the bench next to you, you turned your head and eyed her warily, seeing nothing but concern.

“Don't give up. Clearly this Hoodie person means a lot to ya so you get off your ass and go get him, don't you Bat People always find a way”, you looked at her for a moment, then jumped up on your feet.

“Can't believe I am saying this but you are right Harley, I need go and I will find a way to save him, but before leaving I wanna know something”, you looked Ivy in the eyes as you worded your next sentence, “Why save me?”

“It was just my way of replaying you for saving Harls from that clown once”, instead of elaborating Ivy just crossed her hands over her chest waiting for you to leave. You gave her a warm smile, something they are not used to seeing, from a bat of all people.

“Thank you Pamela”

With that you were out of that detour and onto finding the path leading up to Jason.

•°•°

Somehow you reached the safe house without running into some kind of trouble, with how your day has been going, you were completely expecting something else to go wrong. Thankfully it didn't. You took out a spare comms unit, keys for your bike and some aspirin to dull the headache.

Soon you were whizzing past vehicles at full speed triying to contact anyone available at the moment.

“Come on pick up, pick up, pick up! What's the meaning of giving us an emergency button when no one picks the damn thing up”, you spoke into a dead line, wishing you could just bang your head against a wall, on second thought not a good idea.

Two minutes later the call was finally picked up and a screen appeared on the dash of your bike, it was from the batcave and you could see Dick, Damian and Bruce in sitting in front of the computer, Tim was connected from what you assumed to be the titans tower. However Dick was the first one to pop the question.

“(Y/N) what's the emergency? Are you okay? We haven't heard from you since last night”

“Look no time to explain. Jason's been taken by Pyg and I need you guys to give me a location. Now”, you said gritting your teeth as you narrowly missed a truck for the second time this evening.

“Todd's captured? *tt* his incompetence precedes that of Drake”, Damian's snarky remark made Tim snap his head up.

“Hey!”

“Boys”, Bruce's stern voice made them quiet enough for the time being, “Batgirl you are injured and your emotions can compromise the whole rescue, go back to the safe house and let us handle this”, Bruce ended the transmission and it made you angry.

'He said that they are going to handle it, that means they know where he is, so now all I have to do is to get Dick to spill it out'

You dialed Dick back, hoping he would understand what you are trying to do.

“I know why you specifically choose to call me back and No I am not letting you go head first into danger without any of us with you especially when you are compromised”, Dick's tone was stern but laced with concern.

“Dick the last time Bruce said he will handle it, Jason died, look I know what he is trying to say, I get him, I can't blame him for wanting to look after me but you have to understand I have to be the one to get him back”

“Why?!”

“Because I can't lose him again! The last thing that I said to him was that I might never forgive him! Never forgive him for something that's not even his fault! You are my only hope at getting him back, please don't take that away from me, please”, you pleaded with him as you slowed down the bike to a stop.

The line was silent for a while, the thought about saying more to him crossed your mind; what you are feeling about Jason, how much he matters to you, how you've failed him more than once, but ultimately decided against it and instead you just waited for his reply.

You deflated as soon as you realized that the line was cut but the ping of a notification caught your attention; The map to the possible location of Jason.

“Dick Grayson, you big softie”, you smirked, your bike roared as you made your way on to the free way heading fast towards the Gotham outskirts.

Meanwhile at Professor Pyg's 'supervillain headquarters' :

Jason slowly woke up, assessing the situation he quickly came to the conclusion that he messed up and now he is tied up to what seems like dentist's chair.

“Great, there has got to be a new record I've set in this family for messing up and getting kidnapped”, Jason muttered under his breath, he tried to tug at his restraints to get free but it turned out to be fruitless. A blinding light was switch on above him and he grunted due to the intensity.

“Man, what is up with you people and light?! Turn it off already!”, Jason said as he tried to adjust his eyes accordingly, when he came to, he was met with his captor himself.

Jason just stared at the man in front, moving towards him, wearing a pig mask and holding a butcher knife. He has seen enough crazy but this guy might just rival the Joker himself.

“Pyg know you broken. Pyg make you perfect”

“WHAT THE F--”

°•°•°•°•

(I like to think I am funny)

Cute little extra note: Yes it is the second time I'm leaving you guys hanging and NOPE I do not regret my decision.

Tagging: @ladyperceval

[animebookworm16]

Who Are You? - Angst

For @j3ssisam3ss

This is my angst piece for @maribat-angst-fluff-april, prompt 25 Childhood Friends

It was the middle of winter in Gotham when she showed up. A tiny girl everyone guessed to be about three. She never spoke or made a sound, but she often smiled, even on the coldest nights. The little girl would just curl up to whoever had taken her that day and smile. At first the other homeless believed she'd never make it to spring. But the little girl was full of surprises. Not only did she survive the worst of the winter, she thrived once spring arrived.

Everyone knew she had a name, no one knew what it was, but they knew she had one. They also knew she was old enough to know it. Surprisingly, no one ever tried to give her a new name. Sure she got nicknames. More nicknames than a toddler could ever hope to keep track of, but somehow she did.

The little girl grew. As all children must. And the older children and adults always made sure to enunciate whenever she was in the area, hoping to teach her how to speak. They all banded together, like they always do for the especially young kids, and kept her away from the worst of the drugs, gangs, rogues, and the overall darkest parts of Gotham.  She grew, and most people started calling her Pixie. Their little fairy caused laughter and mischief wherever she went. Even still she rarely spoke, her words as few and far between as they were, were always impactful to whoever she spoke to.

When Jason Todd started living on the street, everything changed. Pixie stuck to his side like glue. She laughed, she started talking, Pixie acted like the entire five years she had been living around Gotham she had been solely waiting for Jason to show up. The ones who raised her would have felt jilted if it hadn't been for how happy the little girl looked. Two years passed and the two ten-year-olds rarely left each other's sides.

Then Jason stole the hubcaps off the Batmobile and Pixie was finally picked up by CPS.

Pixie had to be strapped down by CPS so that she wouldn't hurt anyone. Luckily for her, a young French couple had been passing by when they saw what they were doing, and demanded to adopt the young girl. CPS didn't want to deal with the girl for much longer and agreed. When Tom and Sabine found out she didn't have a name, they quickly named her Marinette Dupain-Cheng and decided her birthday would be the same day they adopted her. 

The newly named Marinette was quickly taken out of Gotham and out of the country as the couple returned to Paris.

She never knew that Jason had been adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Jason was picked up by Batman and quickly adopted by Bruce Wayne. Before long he had taken up the mantle of Robin and was fighting crime.  He looked everywhere for his friend but no matter who or where he asked, no one had any idea. As the months passed, Jason lost hope for ever finding Pixie again.

He would never know that she had been picked up by CPS and adopted by a Parisian couple and taken back to Paris.

In Paris, Marinette always appeared happy, and her new parents were always busy but tried to make time for her. Marinette had taken to wandering Paris. She wanted to be familiar with her new city, even if Tom and Sabine didn't always agree with her new habit.

When she started school, Marinette stayed quiet. Friendly, but quiet. This made her a prime target for the mayor's spoiled daughter Chloe. Marinette allowed it to happen and did nothing to change the status quo. three years passed in this way until suddenly Marinette was seated next to an extremely outspoken girl named Alya, who would absolutely not stand for the status quo, so Marinette filled that space, doing what she'd always done since she'd come to Paris molded herself into what everyone around her wanted. The same day she met her new deskmate, and self-proclaimed bestie, Marinette also became one of the two heroes of Paris, fighting an emotional terrorist who thrived on negative emotions (and just being from Gotham made her a prime target). Marinette became Dame Nuit, with her partner Mister Bug.

She listened to everything Plagg told her, especially the warnings and consequences of using the Black Cat Miraculous.

For the next four years, Marinette would fill every mold she was placed in. The hero, the Guardian, the class president, the perfect baker's daughter, everything. 

Then the consequences started showing up. Marinette knew she had to wrap up Hawk Moth and Mayura quickly. She started pushing it so much that Mister Bug called her out one night and in a single moment of weakness she told him what was happening. What her Miraculous was doing to her.

Mister Bug immediately wanted her to stop and let him give the Miraculous to someone else, but Dame Nuit shut it down saying that even if she stopped now, the damage was done and nothing would change that. In fact, using the Miraculous, while it had started the process, was actually slowing it down. Mister Bug cried when she told him that.

Together they redoubled their efforts to bring Hawk Moth and Mayura down. Of course, Mister Bug insisted on bringing in more permanent heroes, under the guise of keeping one of the two things Hawk Moth was after out of the fight. Dame Nuit then argued that it should be the Ladybug because it's the one that can fix everything which just left them going in circles. But even still she conceded to his request for more backup.

Within six months, Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur had been stripped of their Miraculous and Paris was free to feel their emotions once more. All the Miraculous were returned and Marinette and Adrien revealed their identities to each other.

Adrien stuck to Marinette's side and became an unofficial brother. He helped her as the build-up of chaos in her soul took a physical manifestation, and began to destroy her 

A year after Hawk Moth's defeat Marinette's entire class was granted a trip to Gotham City.

Marinette would have laughed at the irony if she didn't know it would probably be the last place she saw. It was strangely comforting to know that the city that held her most precious memories would also be the place that would hold her last.

In Gotham, Jason grew into a young man. He discovered the woman he thought was his mother wasn't. He tracked down his real mother, then got beaten half to death by the Joker only to be blown up by one of Joker's bombs.

Jason died.

Then Jason was revived by the Lazarus Pits and trained by the League of Shadows. He grew to hate Batman and wanted nothing more than to see the end of the Joker. 

Years later, Jason would return to Gotham only to find he had been replaced and that the Joker was still running free, and alive. Jason tried to kill the new Robin, a kid named Tim Drake, Batman, and the Joker. He managed to end none of them.

Bruce convinced Jason to stick around and one thing led to another and Redhood became part of the Batfamily patrol rotation. He doesn't stay in the manor but he does drop in at least once a month for family dinners at Alfred's request. On the weekends, Jason would take Tim out and teach him how to spot a sniper, an assassin, what different guns look like when someone is trying to hide them, and most importantly, how to defuse a bomb. It becomes a bonding time for the two, but Jason still calls Tim 'Replacement' but now as a term of endearment.

He never forgets Pixie and she is one of the few things that kept him sane during the worst of the Pit Madness.

Then Damian shows up and Jason has no idea how to deal with the tiny Demon Spawn. It's rough going for a while but they all found their ways of bonding and before long they are one large dysfunctional family. 

When Jason turned eighteen, he, Dick, Tim, and Damian welcomed a French class to Wayne Industries for a week-long tour. And that is where he thought he saw someone he would never see again.

Without his permission, Jason called out to her, "Pixie?" It was barely a whisper, but she heard it.

Her head whipped around and she stared at him, "Jason?"

He wanted to say it was a happy reunion. And it kind of was. They hugged. Her class and his brothers stared. Then the tears started. Pixie was smiling but tears were streaming down her face.

One of the other students came over and asked her in French if she was okay. Pixie shook her head and the blond boy asked if there was somewhere she could rest. Jason offered to show them a room. The three of them sat in a quiet room as Pixie cried. She kept leaning into Jason and he wasn't about to stop her. After who knows how long, Pixie dried her eyes and haltingly told Jason what was going on. She told him, how she'd been adopted and went by Marinette now. How she was dying and no one besides Adrien, the blond, knew. How she probably wouldn't make it out of Gotham.

Jason's first reaction was to want to hurt something. His second was to hold Pixie as close as he could and never let her go. Jason cried. 

For the rest of the week everywhere that Pixie went, Jason was close behind. The other Waynes noticed and on the fourth day of their stay, invited Pixie and Adrien to join them for dinner.

There, a not-so-subtle interrogation went down, asking Pixie how she knew Jason. At which point, even Pixie's failing health allowed her to spill so many childhood stories about Jason that even they couldn't resist her knowledge. In return, Jason told Adrien stories he had collected about her as a toddler and little kid. It was the brightest smile Adrien had ever seen on Marinette, and the first real smile Pixie had given Jason all week. He could almost pretend that she wasn't dying.

After dinner Pixie said, "Jason, did I ever tell you about the dream I've had ever since I was a little girl?"

"What dream Pix?"

"I've always wanted to stand at the very top of the Wayne Industries building at dawn, and feel the wind at the top of the world."

"Really?"

Pixie smiled a soft sad smile, "Yeah. Do you think we could do that tomorrow?"

Jason suddenly realized what Pixie was talking about, and had to fight a lump in his throat to answer, "Yeah. Pix. Yeah, we can do that."

Adrien and Pixie stayed the night that night. That morning at about three, Jason woke them up and took them to the top of Wayne Industries. Pixie stood as high up as she possibly could. Adrien and Jason watched her with tears in their eyes. Before long, they were joined by Batman, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin, who all wanted to make sure she wouldn't fall. Jason didn't have the heart to tell them they couldn't stop what was about to happen.

As dawn started to creep up on them, Adrien broke down sobbing, begging Marinette to fight a little longer. When the light hit her head, Marinette closed her eyes and smiled. They all saw her start to fade.

Her hands went first. Like dust. As the light increased so did her fading. Before she faded completely, Pixie walked towards them a peaceful smile on her face. Jason was crying now too. His Pixie looked like a ghost.

And as she faded completely, everyone on that roof heard her say, "My name is Jeanette. It's so nice to meet you!"

[phis-corner]

How about #34 and #9 on the fluff/angst list?Ship is yours to decide

34- “Please don’t do this.” 9- “You meant too much to me.” | Platonic Timari

Note: reverse robins au, where Tim was the one captured by Joker instead, choosing to take his own life instead of break under torture. Marinette, having given up LB post Hawkmoth’s defeat, chooses to take up her dead brother’s mantle after seeing Bruce spiral. She is also Bruce’s biological child in this au.

I got reaaaally into reverse robins, and this is the result. 

TW: suicide mention

Her father and Alfred are being increasingly shifty about the Red Hood, abruptly stopping conversations when she enters the room and changing the subject when she brings up the mysterious man who’s been picking off the corrupted people in this city.

So she makes a plan to look into it in her own time, carefully watching and observing to find a free time slot, and seizes the opportunity.

Dad is at a WE meeting because Lucius threatened him with no gadgets for a month if he didn’t show again, Alfred is asleep (because he is actually human, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary), and Damian is in Bludhaven with Jon, both working their respective day jobs as an officer in the BPD and a journalist.

Marinette silently logs into the Batcomputer, bypassing the security on Hood’s file with a little help from Oracle (hey, Steph was being kept out of the dark too, and they were both curious.)

She reads the basic information, and scrolls down to the DNA section.

Her blood runs cold when she sees the information listed there, because how can it be a match?

He’s dead.

Dead.

Captured by the Joker, tortured near the breaking point, before taking his own life with a shard of broken glass to preserve their secrets.

She watched them lower his body into the ground. Watched as his friends and family stood there, under the clear blue sky, which seemed too pretty for such a terrible day.

Watched as his teammates broke down around his grave, as Bruce’s face crumpled when everyone else is gone.

Watched Damian, two weeks later, finally show up and leave a single purple hyacinth, kneeling in front of the headstone and tracing the letter with a single finger, head bowed, before leaving. 

She searched up the meaning of the flower. I am sorry, please forgive me.

She mourned him.

Mourned a brother, so kind and intelligent, who never really knew how much he meant to all of them.

She has her own suspicions about how he was captured in the first place, but pointing fingers would do more harm than good.

Her father spiraled again, after he died.

She didn’t want to do it. Didn’t want to introduce a new Robin, and slowly let the world forget about the second. Robin should have died with Tim.

But Batman will not stop, and as long as he keeps fighting, he’ll need a Robin to hold him back.

Marinette dons the costume, two months after they bury him, and tries to forget that this uniform, his spare, still smells like him.

She’s wearing a dead boy’s clothes.

Alfred helps her make a new one after that first night.

Eventually, he does accept her as Robin. He trains her harder than he did both Damian and Tim.

She pushes through.

And now, four years later, there’s evidence proclaiming that he’s alive.

Alive, and on a killing spree, weeding out Gotham’s corrupt at the very center, strategically taking people out to topple the system.

A laugh escapes her, even as her shoulders shake with tears, because the methods are so familiar, so Tim, that she doesn’t know how she didn’t notice earlier.

She asks Jason to cover for her that night. 

He agrees without any questions, seeing the serious look on her face. Marinette has never been more grateful for the boy she and Dad found stealing the tires of the Batmobile.

After Batman leaves (Robin is benched until Red Hood is taken care of, whatever that means), and she pretends to go to bed, she opens her closet and pushes against the hidden panel in the back wall, revealing a spare uniform.

Robin escapes out her window, even though she knows that Alfred will have been alerted by the window opening.

Too bad for them, though, because she removed all the trackers except the emergency beacon, which can only be activated from her side.

The Red Hood is elusive, but she knows his tricks. She keeps up with him as he turns corner after corner, jumps from building to building, until he stops on the roof of Wayne Enterprises.

“Robin.” He says, helmet filtering out any signs that it’s her brother underneath. “But you’re not really Robin, are you? You’re wearing a dead boy’s clothes.”

She can’t help it, she flinches at how casually he speaks of his own death.

“Tim.” She tugs at the uniform, which has never fit right, despite it being tailored to her exact measurements. “What happened to you?”

“What happened? I died, that’s what happened.” The helmet comes off with a click and a hiss of air, and then it’s just her brother, older, eyes violent green, face twisted into a sneer. “I went off to follow the lead on the Joker myself, since Big Bird shut the door in my face and told me it wouldn’t amount to anything, got myself captured, and ended my own life to preserve their secrets. But you should know all of that, Replacement.”

The nickname is like a dagger to the heart. “I never wanted to replace you, the same way you didn’t want to replace Damian.” She says steadily, staring straight into his eyes even as her heart skitters frantically. “I was keeping Robin’s legacy alive.”

“Robin should have died with me.” 

“You know as much as I do that Batman needs a Robin, and Batman would not stop fighting as long as he lives.” She replies. “I never wanted to be Robin, Tim. It’s been four years, and it still feels like it doesn’t fit. But there was nobody else to do it, no one else to bring him out of that spiral.”

Tim is silent for a moment, so she continues.

“Come home, Tim. Please. We’ve all missed you so much. Dad isn’t the same anymore. No one is. We can be a family again.”

“Don’t you see, Marinette? I was never meant to be Robin, either. I was just that one annoying kid who wouldn’t leave Bruce alone, the one who blackmailed him into letting a second Robin out onto the streets. Even after I moved in, I was just that one kid who never really belonged, the outsider trying to insert himself into a family, pretending that Bruce cared for me as much as he did his biological children. Bruce only allowed me to stay in the Manor because I knew his secret. Damian made no effort to hide his disgust around me. You- you were the only one in that house who treated me like an equal.”

He draws a gun and points it at her, and she hears the safety click off. “But you’re Robin. He shouldn’t have made another child Robin. He should have said no, let the legacy die.”

“Tim,” She pleads. “Please don’t do this.”

Something in his eyes waver for a moment, fading to blue, before they harden into acid green again. “You meant too much to me. Let’s see if you mean enough to Batman too, enough for him to arrive on time.”

The gun goes off with a bang, and she feels the bullet enter through a crack in her armor, burying itself in her torso.  The pain is nothing new, but overwhelming all the same as her entire body seems to be on fire.

The last thing she does before everything goes black is calibrate the beacon to send the signal to Nightwing only, before smashing the button with all her remaining strength.

I hope Flamebird gets them here on time.

There are two reasons why she chooses to send it to Nightwing, and Nightwing only. One being because Damian doesn’t know that Tim is alive, and despite everything, he deserves to.

The other?

She doesn’t trust her father to make it.

permanent tags

@wannajointhecrabcult @miraculous-simmer7 @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @fantasyislive @chocolateherringtacofan @junarvion @susiej1118 @aestheticnpoetic @toodaloo-kangaroo @ladybug-182 @itsmeevie01 @g-arya @souleateralicestein @nightstarblue @i-is-mysterious @moonystars14 @vixen-uchiha @the-flapdoodle-noodle @labschaos @nathleigh @jalaluvsu @kaithehero @iamablinkmarvelarmy

unspecified @momothefemur @indecisive-mess-named-me @laurcad123 @ilovefluffbutsmutisalsogreat @sassakitty @fusser90

[afewnovelideas]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, DCU (Comics), Batman (Comics), Young Justice (Comics), Robin (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Kyubey (PMMM), Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Selina Kyle Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric, Tim Drake is Robin, Tim Drake is Not Okay, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Alternate Universe - Madoka Magica Fusion, Soul Gems (Madoka Magica), Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Magical Boys, Origin Story, No Beta We Die Like Mami, Don't Have to Know Madoka Magica Canon, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent Series: Part 1 of Eques Magi: Originem - Magicka Knights: Origin Summary:

"The Labyrinths of Gotham City are so tightly concentrated, no human born here can escape the influence of at least one or two Witches, if not more. Despite the aura of despair and the constant work of the Witches' various Familiars, there are still those souls who persist in clinging to hope and will do whatever they can to try and make this city a better place, even though all their efforts will ultimately fail in the end.

"It's the perfect environment to find a new Magicka Knight."

---

"Have you ever seen an albino cat?"

Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle, glanced over at Batman's newest Robin curiously. She hadn't been expecting to cross paths with him, but since it was obvious the Big Bad Bat was out of town and Nightwing hadn't shown up at all in the past week, she decided to keep an eye on the new kid for at least the evening. He certainly wasn't like the previous Robin. This thirteen-year-old boy was quiet and thoughtful, which had been quite a change from the previous brash impulsive kid Batman had been mentoring a little over a year ago before they were murdered by the Joker. 

She also noticed that this Robin was glancing over his shoulder at something on the rooftop on the other side of the street. "An albino, huh?" she said as she tried to follow his gaze. However, despite using her binoculars to zoom in on the far rooftop, she couldn't see any sign of any animal, feline, albino, or otherwise. "I've heard of them, but never seen one in person," Selina admitted casually as she put away her binoculars. "They are extremely rare." She smiled at Robin. "Have you seen one around town?"

Robin leaned against his bo staff thoughtfully. "I think so, but I'm not really sure." 

"Not sure?"

The boy looked up at Selina earnestly. "Y'know how a cat has two pointed ears about here?" Amusingly to the professional cat burglar, Robin made a vague pair of cat-ear shapes with his hand at the top of his head.  She smiled affectionately. 

"Yeah. It's kind of a defining cat trait, having pointy ears."

Robin pouted slightly at the teasing tone he caught in Catwoman's voice. Then he continued. "Well... This cat I've been seeing... It looks like they have a second set of ears too."

"A second set?" 

He nodded. He made a motion with his hands that seemed to make another vague shape that started at the base of where the cat's ears ought to be and downward along either side of its head. "Yeah. They kinda start out here and go all the way down there."

"Are you sure what you're looking at is an albino 'cat'? That kinda sounds more like a white rabbit to me."

"But it has pointy ears like a cat," Robin argued. "And its got a long fluffy tail, and its legs are like a cat's." The young teenager frowned slightly. "It's really weird looking."

"Well it does sound like a unique creature, whatever it is," Selina said thoughtfully.  "Maybe it's some sort of cryptid or mutant? This is Gotham after all." She smiled at Robin. "Tell ya what. If you can catch a photo of the critter, I promise I'll take a good hard look and let you know if it's a cat, a rabbit, or something completely different." Then she gave him an almost stern maternal look. "But be careful. Don't get too close. If it does turn out to be something 'not normal', it could be dangerous."

"Okay."

 ---

  It was two nights later and Tim Drake, fully decked out as Robin for another solo patrol, had just finished trussing up a pair of would-be carjackers. As soon as he placed the anon call to the Gotham PD for pickup, he glanced up to fire his grapple gun and froze.

There, on the rooftop above him, was a familiar white shape with two sets of ears and red eyes. The "cat" was peering down. He could see the animal's long fluffy tail swishing this way and that. Tim's breath caught in his throat. This was the closest he'd ever seen the animal come to him before. Rather than risk his grapple gun startling the animal and scaring it away, the young vigilante quickly indulged in some impromptu parkour up a garbage bin and a chain link fence to reach the metal fire escape attached to the side of the building. 

When he pulled himself on the rooftop, Tim was disappointed to find that it appeared to be empty. Not a trace of red eyes or white fur anywhere. He walked across the roof slowly, scanning the area for any sign of the small creature as he pulled out a small portable camera from his utility belt. "Hey there," he whispered softly. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. I'm not going to hurt you. C'mon out please. I just wanna take a picture." 

When no one came out of hiding, Tim tried a different tactic. He reached into another pouch on his belt and pulled out a small package of beef jerky. He shook the bag temptingly before opening it and setting it on the ground before stepping away from it. "Got some food here if you want. All for you."

"Thank you, but no. I'm not hungry."

Tim froze. Then he glanced around himself as quickly as he could before zeroing in on the form of the albino "cat" sitting on top of a large A/C unit just a few yards away from him, its white body practically glowing against the cloudy night sky of Gotham City. This close, Tim could see this was not a normal "cat".  It did appear to have two sets of ears, but the two longer rabbit-like ones had golden rings attached to them and were tipped in pink with red spots. Its tail also appeared to be unnaturally long as it swished back and forth casually.

"Did you... just... talk?"

The cat-like creature flicked its smaller pointy ears. "Of course I did!" it said in a childlike voice without moving its mouth at all. Its long white tail finally stopped swishing and settled into a question mark shape behind it. "How else am I supposed to introduce myself?"

 ---

  Tim Drake gave up caffeine for the rest of the week. When the boy returned to the Cave from patrol and declared that he was quitting cold turkey, Alfred asked about it curiously. All the old butler got from the thirteen year old was a confusingly vague answer about talking albino cats with pink ears and clearly not enough sleep with too much stress before marching himself into the showers before he would make his eventual way back to his bedroom. 

 ---

  Unfortunately for Tim, giving up his favorite sodas, teas, and coffee did not stop the appearances of the strange cat-like hallucination that had introduced itself as "Kyubey" and seemed hell bent on following him and talking to him both day and night, in and out of uniform.

"You think I'm a figment of your imagination?"

Tim sighed as he reached over the creature sitting in his high school locker in order to grab his workbooks for math and english. "I'm not talking to you here," he whispered as he slammed the locker door in hopes of locking the hallucination behind it.

"It's probably better that you don't, at least not out loud," Kyubey agreed, after reappearing on the top of the locker to look down on Tim. "If people catch you talking to something they can't see, they might think you're losing your mind."

Somehow, Tim managed to choke down the near hysterical giggle that wanted to bubble up at that matter-of-fact remark. Kyubey had made it quite clear that night on the rooftop that no one else could see them except Tim.

"Besides, why waste your breath?" Kyubey said as they trotted along the top of the lockers, keeping pace with Tim as he walked to his next class. "We can speak telepathically just fine."

Tim paused at the end of the lockers and glanced at Kyubey. "Telepathically?" he asked experimentally without voicing the word.

"See! Easy!"

"Oh my god, I AM losing my mind," he thought with a grimace before sighing and stepping into the classroom and tried to ignore Kyubey as best he could for the rest of his school day.

 ---

  "So why are you here?" Tim finally asked Kyubey after tossing down his pencil and finally giving up on trying to concentrate on his homework. "What is my subconscious trying to tell me?"

"I'm not your subconscious, and I'm not a hallucination. I'm a messenger of magic." 

Tim raised his eyebrows at Kyubey as he echoed incredulously, "A messenger of magic?"

The cat-like creature made themself comfortable on Tim's bed. "That's right."

The teen noted with a slight measure of concern that he could see the disturbance Kyubey's form made on his pillow and blanket, proving that, at least right now, they had a solid physical state. Still, he was not about to reach out and try to touch the creature. "I'm probably going to regret asking this, but why is a 'messenger of magic' in Gotham City, and why am I the only one who can see and speak with you?"

"I'm on a mission to find people with the potential to become Magicka Knights to fight Witches and save the Universe, and you have that potential."

"Seriously? Magical knights? Actual witches?" Tim shook his head as he scoffed lightly. "This sounds like the plot of some generic magical girl anime."

Kyubey titled their head to one side. "And you and your mentor go out at night in masks to fight criminals who can control plants, have freeze guns, are living clay, and are occasionally half reptiles. How is that more believable than Magicka Knights and Witches?"

Tim snickered awkwardly. "I guess I'm in no position to throw stones in glass houses."

"You really aren't."

 ---

  Finally! Bruce was back from his Justice League mission and he was going to go out on patrol with Tim. Batman and Robin flying through Gotham City for the first time in over two weeks.

At least that was the plan until a call came through from Oracle barely an hour into their patrol.

"A report of potential Joker gas exposure has been put out by the GCPD in Chinatown near the Dragon's Den."

Batman and Robin paused on the roof of St. Peter's Cathedral. Tim felt a weight settle in the pit of his stomach as he took in the tightness of his mentor's jawline. He knew what was coming next.

"Go home, Robin."

"But B--"

"It's the Joker. I need to handle this alone."

"You don't have to. I can stay out of the way and watch your back. Make sure no one gets the drop on you."

Batman shook his head. "Head back to the Cave, Robin."

The leather of Robin's gloves creaked a little as he clenched his hand into a fist and turned away from his mentor. "Fine."

Without even looking, Tim could tell when he was left alone on the cathedral's roof with just the gargoyles for company.

Then, he wasn't alone.

"He doesn't trust you?"

Tim looked up to see Kyubey sitting on the head of a nearby gargoyle. He sighed. "It's not like that," he said telepathically. No need to risk Oracle or Agent A overhearing him talking to Kyubey. Not like the mic would pick up the magical creature's voice anyways. Still, better safe than sorry. "The Joker is really dangerous. He killed the Robin who came before me. B just doesn't want to risk me being anywhere near him."

Suddenly, Tim heard a pinging from his comm link, a sign that Oracle was attempting to signal him. "Yes O?"

"I know B ordered you home, but do you think you could swing by Amusement Mile along the way? I got a report on a Mad Hatter sighting there."

Tim brightened visibly at the prospect. "Sure!" He reached for his grapple gun and loaded a cartridge. "Any idea what he's up to?" 

"There have been earlier reports over the last few months of missing girls fitting the Hatter's preferred victim profile. Children with long blond hair under the age of twelve. But since the children are usually street kids or runaways, most attempts to investigate by the police have been half-hearted at best. Those that have tried haven't found anything but dead ends."

"Well, that's going to come to a stop tonight." Tim declared confidently. 

"Be careful Robin," Oracle warned. "Focus on recon tonight. Don't engage Hatter unless absolutely necessary."

"Understood!"

 ---

  "What's this?" 

At Amusement Mile, Tim was just in time to stop a kidnapping in progress. While the sudden appearance of Robin was enough to send the Mad Hatter scurrying away into the shadows, the young vigilante reluctantly let him go in favor of caring for the victim, a child of eight or nine who appeared to be in a catatonic state.

However, nothing Tim did seemed to be able to wake her up. He was about to notify O to call an ambulance when he noticed a small red mark, like a tattoo, on the girl's neck, right above her pulse point. It was about the size of a quarter and looked like the symbol used in chess to designate the Queen piece. 

"Hey O. I found a weird tattoo on the girl. Sending you a pic now." Tim quickly snapped a photo and sent it electronically to Oracle. A moment later, he got a response.

"Are you sure you sent me the right photo?"

"What do you mean?" 

"There's no tattoo in the pic. All I see is a bare neck."

Tim opened the monitor of his camera and his eyes went wide. Even on the camera, the girl's neck had no tattoo. He took several more pics to be sure, but despite being able to see the crown icon with his own eyes, they defied being photographed.

"Not sure what's going on, but I can't take a pic of it," he told Oracle. "Maybe it's some sort of weird ink that comes up invisible on cameras?"

"That's not it."

Tim glanced at Kyubey, who was sitting beside the girl. The white creature sniffed at the tattoo. "That's a Witch's Kiss."

He felt his chest tighten a bit at Kyubey's words. Tim carefully masked the sudden nervousness he felt in his voice. "Can you call an ambulance to pick up the girl? I'm going to investigate the area and try to find out where Hatter ran off to."

"Will do. Be careful."

Once the comm was silenced again and after the EMTs came to pick up the rescued child, Robin backed into a secluded alleyway and hid within the shadows before addressing Kyubey telepathically.

"What's a Witch's Kiss?"

"It's a mark used by Witches and familiars to control the minds of their prey."

Tim felt a shiver run down his spine. Still he continued. "Is... the Mad Hatter a Witch?"

Kyubey tilted their head thoughtfully before shaking in the negative. "No. I think he's just a familiar being used to bring humans to a Witch's Labyrinth."

"Why? Why would a Witch want a human child?"

Kyubey sighed. "A Witch is a creature that feeds on misery and sadness," they said very matter-of-factly. "What could be more delicious to a Witch than the grief and fear of a kidnapped child? At least this one seems to prefer the despair of children in particular."

A sudden sensation of dread settled over Tim. "That's.... That's horrible! We can't let this continue!"

"But you can't stop them."

"Why not?" Tim's righteous indignation flared up. "Batman's stopped the Mad Hatter dozens of times. Why can't I?"

"Most likely it's because your mentor has never captured him near his Witch, and never within an actual Labyrinth." Kyubey stared at Tim with their round red eyes, their stoic tone never wavering. "You're just a human being, and so is he under all that armor. Even with all your training, there's no way your frail human bodies can endure the strain of fighting a Witch and their familiars in their own Labyrinth. If you get trapped in a Labyrinth, there's no way out until either the Witch is dead or you are."

Tim watched the retreating lights of the ambulance carrying the nearly kidnapped child away. Then he took a deep breath and released it slowly.

"Can you help me find the Witch's Labyrinth?"

"I can."

 ---

  He was going to die.

Tim leaned against the wall and watched helplessly as his blood flowed freely from beneath and between his fingers to pool on the floor under him despite the pressure he tried to keep on the wound in his stomach. The Witch's familiars, not just the Mad Hatter, but a March Hare and other fictional characters pulled straight from the story Alice in Wonderland, had been too numerous and too merciless for him to fight off alone. 

The Witch herself, in the guise of a twisted Queen of Hearts, shrieked for his head through the twists and turns of her Labyrinth. 

   ͙̹̫ͪ̆̏͝  "̶͚̜̪̣̬͇ͭ͑ͅOͩͫ̄͏̬͖̳ Ḟ̖̝̟̜͖̭͑͢ F̡̜̼̰͓͍̟͎͇̆̾̐ ̨͚̫̗ͮ̚ͅ W̐ͧ̑͏͍͎͍̖̤̥ͅI͓͙̤͔̺̦͌̓̌̍͠T̖͍͒͛͢H̡̳̪̭̹̺̒̓̿ ̹̥͉̟͙̝͓̅ͫ͝H̸̝̬̘͕̩͙̤͇̾ͥ͂Į̯͔̦͖̳̣ͥ̌͆̂S͆̑ͪ͏̦̥̭̺̞̳̪͔ ͙̪̯͗̑͞Hͧ͏̤̯̪̩ E̶̯̣̰͌̆ͨͯ A̬̦̻͍͒͝ͅD̖̹͂͒͟ !ͫͯ́͆҉̺̦̩̹̺

 ͧͨ��̠͓͈͎Ō̵̪̻̭̩̯F̣͙̲̖̈́̋͝ F̌̅̾̓͏̭̺̰͉̹̖̯ ̡̮͔͇͚̬͎̝͊̆ͪͅŴ͙̠̽ I̘̬͇̖͑͂̏̂͞ T̨̗̫̜͙̩̖̮͒ H̴̙̝̀ͥͣ̚ ̘̯̮̺̥ͣ̑̄H̻̭͇̮̮͕͗͗ͬ̊͠ͅ Iͮͪ͋͏̬̺̖̝̥̭̘ͅ S̵̝̖̙̿ ̛̬̳̠̪̰̑͗̽ H̸͙̟̱̝̳̰̄͑̃̊ Ě̳͓̝̗͎͟ A̴̤͖̬̖͓͇̖͗̆ͫ́Ḋ̜͚̬̐̋͟!̨͇͚̞̩͚̗̣̿                                        

                  Ơ͚̹̜̥ͮͥ͑̏F̴̯̤̮͉̰ͫF͈̱͍̌ͩͥ̍̕ͅ ̧͎͕̱͚͍̥͔̐W̩̦̯̹̏͊̏̌̕I͐҉͕̪͔̥̞̭͈̲T̖̝̖̪̑̿̓͢H̤̠͍̣̻̠͚ͧ̍̐̿͢ ̴̲̖̫̫̺ͭH̗̤̒̆͆͡Î̤͓̭̻̝Ș̵͉͔͙̗̝̌̍̍ͬͅ ͎̫͉̞̲͆͡Ḫ̨̪̅ͧ̏E̵̮̲̩̤͓̱̙ͦÁ̻̦̘̜̂ͩ͝D̸̯͖̦͔̲͕̠̜̓̓̆̚!̨͖̓̐̈́ͪ̏ͅ҉̬͉̰̫"̙̺̬̯̹̦͖͛͗͘  

  Her magic.. too powerful.

His… everything... too weak.

Trapped in this magical Labyrinth that resembled a scene from Wonderland, he couldn't even get a signal out to call for a rescue. He'd tried early on to call Oracle... Nightwing... Agent A... Batman... But the only thing he got for his troubles was static.

Tim felt tears flow down his cheeks as his vision became dark and hazy around the edges and his limbs began to grow numb. He could hear the sounds of his pursuers coming closer, searching for him, and he just didn't have the strength anymore to run. All he could do was hide and wait for the inevitable.

Batman was going to lose another Robin.

Dick was going to lose another little brother.

Jack Drake was going to lose his only son.

He was going to die.

"Oh dear. I was almost too late."

A set of dainty white paws walked into his sight line, contrasting starkly against the pool of crimson blood on the floor. Weakly, Tim lifted his gaze.

"Kyubey?"

The magical creature stepped closer to the fallen teenager and took a seat in front of him. They tilted their head slightly. "I tried to warn you. A normal human isn't able to fight a Witch. Only a Magicka Knight has the power to defend against a Witch's curses and attack them in kind."

"I know," Tim whispered. "I should've listened to you."

Kyubey titled their head to the other side. "It's not too late. You can still listen to me."

Despite the cold feeling in his limbs and the shadows in his vision, Tim did his level best to keep his gaze locked on Kyubey, on the one bright spot in his dying world. 

"If you enter a contract with me, you can become a Magicka Knight." Kyubey explained. "You'd be duty bound to fight Witches, but in return I can grant you one wish. Anything in the world your heart desires."

"If I become a Magicka Knight, I'll have to fight this Witch right away, right?"

"I'm afraid so. It's the only way to escape her Labyrinth."

"And there's no guarantee I'll win?"

"I won't lie to you. Turning you into a Magicka Knight is not a promise of victory. But at least you'll have a fighting chance."

Tim closed his eyes and smiled sadly. "Then I want to make a wish that can outlive me, in case I die." When he opened his eyes, tears slipped down his cheeks again. "I wish Bruce Wayne's son, Jason Todd, was alive."

Kyubey's round red eyes seemed to shimmer in the darkness, and the twin gold rings that encircled their longer set of ears started to glow brightly even as Tim's vision finally faded into blackness. As his consciousness slipped away, he heard Kyubey's voice, as if it was very far away.

"As you wish."

 ---

  "Dinner was great, Alfred. Thank you." Tim set down his fork and watched as the kind old butler retrieved his dirty dishes.

"Will you be heading out with Master Bruce this evening?"

Tim got to his feet and placed the cloth napkin that had been on his lap onto the table, though he fidgeted with it a little before finally letting it go. "'Fraid not. B wants me to stay in and 'do my homework'."

Alfred gave him a knowing compassionate look. "I see. Well, if you want to take your dessert upstairs to have while you work on your homework, I'll allow it for tonight. If you need anything else, I'll be in the Cave on comms tonight..

"Thanks Alfred," Tim said with a smile and a quick side-hug. "You're the best!"

Tim made his way upstairs with a small plate of cheesecake topped with strawberries. Once in his bedroom, he closed the door behind him with a sigh.

"Bruce isn't letting you patrol again tonight?" 

The teenager glanced over and watched as Kyubey unwound itself from the fluffy white ball it normally curled into while it napped on Tim's pillow. Tim couldn't help the fond smile as his little friend stretched leisurely and indulged in a wide mouthed yawn. 

"Nope. He's still got his cape in a twist over Jason's whole empty grave thing." Tim shook his head before making his way to the window seat and making himself comfortable. "I think he just wants to make sure I don't wander off either, but it's still annoying! It's been nearly a month and B still won't let me go on any solo patrols." 

"Well, look at the bright side. Now you can get a full night of sleep and wake up early to go Witch hunting before school."

"I suppose."

Tim and his sullen mood weren't alone for long at the window before Kyubey leapt gracefully from the bed to his shoulder. The startled expression on Tim's face lasted only a second before it melted into one of amusement as Kyubey headbutted him affectionately against the cheek. Once they'd managed to wring a chuckle out of the boy, Kyubey hopped down to the window seat where Tim had placed the cheesecake and began sniffing at the selection. Tim watched as his friend picked up the reddest strawberry it could find and popped that into its mouth first, eating it with obvious relish. Then he looked out the window and thought back about the night he became a Magicka Knight, about the moment he set foot back in the cave after defeating his first Witch and claiming his first Grief Seed.

 ---

  "Where have you been?!" 

Batman had stormed up to him the moment Robin pulled up on his motorcycle into the Cave. Tim froze the moment he saw his mentor barrelling toward him. "You're back already?"

"The Joker gas was a false alarm," Bruce said as he pushed back his cowl and grabbed Tim by his upper arms, Tim was startled by the frantic way Bruce's eyes were darting over him. "Where were you?! Barbara sent you to investigate a Hatter sighting, then you didn't check in for hours! It's nearly sunrise. Where have you been?!"

Tim swallowed hard. "I... I got lured into a maze trap by Hatter," he admitted quietly. "The place had some weird interference so my comms were scrambled. Hatter got away and it took me forever to find my way out. I'm sorry."

"Are you hurt?"

Tim shook his head. "I'm fine B. Just... tired. It... was a really long night."

After another long moment of Bruce looking over him, the older man finally seemed to relax. He released his hold on Tim's arms and raked his fingers through his cowl-mussed hair. "Please don't go running off like that ever again, Tim. If anything had happened to you--"

"I know," Tim murmured, his eyes focused on the floor even as he wrapped his arms about himself tightly. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Master Bruce?"

Both Bruce and TIm turned to see a shaken Alfred coming toward them with a phone in hand. 

"What's wrong?"

"Commissioner Gordon is on the line."

Bruce and Tim shared a confused look. "Why is he calling at this hour?"

Alfred swallowed hard. "He needs 'Bruce Wayne' to come to the precinct as soon as possible. There's been a robbery."

"I don't under--"

"Someone broke into Gotham Cemetery tonight. They stole Master Jason's body."

As Bruce immediately went after Alfred as the old man gave him the phone, Tim stood in the Cave in shock before daring to glance at Kyubey, who had materialized at his heels. 

"My wish... It really came true?"

Kyubey curled their tail around Tim's legs in a comforting gesture. "Of course it did. We made a contract."

 ---

  "I wonder where Jason is," Tim mused aloud as he continued to stare out the window. "I thought he would've come straight home. Bruce has looked everywhere. I've looked everywhere..." He looked at Kyubey who had taken a delicate bite of the cheesecake itself. "Do you have any idea where he went after I made my wish?"

Kyubey looked up at Tim, a curious tilt to their head as they stared back at him with their round red eyes. "I was with you in the Labyrinth when the wish was made," they said matter-of-factly.

Tim shrugged. "Yeah. I know... I guess I was just hoping... Well, I hope he's alright, wherever he is." 

Quietly, Tim studied the new silver ring encircling the ring finger of his right hand as well as the green alchemical symbol of Mercury that was now on his fingernail. The small emerald gem inlaid within the ring itself shimmered with magic. With a smooth motion, Tim turned his palm up and the ring morphed before his eyes into a brilliant green gem encased in an intricate cage of gold, just like a faberge egg. 

His Soul Gem. The source of his power as a Magicka Knight.

For several minutes there was nothing but a comfortable silence as Tim watched the swirling glow of his Soul Gem and Kyubey ate their fill. Once the plate was empty and their paws and muzzle were thoroughly cleaned, Kyubey trotted onto Tim's lap and laid down comfortably. Unconsciously, Tim began to stroke Kyubey's soft whilte fur with his free hand. 

"I just hope Jason comes home soon," Tim said as he finally put his Soul Gem away, turning it back into his ring. "That way, he and Bruce can reunite, they can be a family again, and I can step away from being Robin so I can devote myself to being a Magicka Knight instead."

"In the meantime, it's not so bad for you to be both Robin and a Magicka Knight," Kyubey mused. When Tim glanced down at them, they continued. "You have to admit that nearly every night you go out on patrol as Robin, you stumble upon one or two Labyrinths. Even if we can't get to them immediately to flush out the Witch, at least we know where they are for later!"

Tim grinned. "Yeah. I guess there is a silver lining there." Impulsively, he picked up Kyubey and gathered them into a gentle hug. "Thanks for staying with me."

Kyubey nuzzled the underside of Tim's jawline. "Of course I'm staying with you. You're my Magicka Knight. We're in this together." Kyubey flicked their short pointy ears cutely. "Besides, it's not like Bruce or anyone else can separate us. You're the only one here that can see and hear me."

"I'm glad," Tim said. "It's nice to not be alone all the time." He smiled gratefully at Kyubey. "And it makes being grounded by Bruce easier to swallow when I've got you for company."

Then he glanced back out the window at the dark outlines of Gotham City's skyline when the appearance of the Bat-signal lit up the night sky above it. "Still--" he mused. "I really hope Jason shows up soon. I can't wait to meet him."

[blancheludis]

@whumptober2021 Day 6: Bruises

Fandom: Batman Characters: Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth Tags: Hurt Tim, Injuries, Hiding Injuries, Self-Worth Issues, Protective Bruce, Lack of Communication, Bruce Tries To Be A Good Dad Words: 3.264

Summary: “Master Timothy, what is that?”

That is a bruise the size of Tim’s head spanning over the right side of his ribcage. A few ribs might be cracked but he can breathe fine when not training and it is good practice to avoid being hit in weak spots.

“I’m fine,” Tim says and wonders why anyone even bothers. In his parents’ house, being fine was a requirement and nobody had the time to keep asking about it

---

Pain blossoms through Tim’s chest as Bruce’s fist hits right where he bruised a rib the week before. Just barely, he manages to swallow a yelp and lets himself fall with the momentum, rolling over the floor to get back to his feet a safe distance away from Bruce.

Safety, of course, is an illusion with Batman after him, who has speed and strength and long years of experience on him. Bruce does not come, though, but stays where he is.

“Everything all right?” he asks, never letting his fists fall but looking at Tim with concern.

“Of course,” Tim replies with a grin he does not feel. It is hard enough to breathe. “Should have seen that one coming.”

Bruce nods and advances again. That is something Tim can rely on. He might not be used to people stopping to ask about his well-being, but the rules are the same wherever he goes. Be the best he can be at all times and appear perfect on the surface. The focus just shifted to include physical prowess as well as school work and social encounters.

Training is a gruesome affair. Tim needs every bit of it he can get but he has not had a chance to catch his breath in weeks.

Tim does not mind Bruce’s high expectations nearly as much as he sometimes did his parents. He is learning to be someone better than himself, after all, someone who can make a difference. Heroes do not stop just because they have some bruises.

He has still a long way to go until he can call himself a hero, but the lack of lectures makes him think he is being a passable Robin.

Rolling back on his feet, Tim makes sure his stance is steady as he raises his fists back up. He does not have to wait long for Bruce to come at him again.

This time, he makes sure to guard his right side more.

“I’m fine,” Tim says again when they are finished training for the day, and wonders why anyone even bothers. In his parents’ house, being fine was a requirement and nobody had the time to keep asking about it.

---

Tim flinches when he comes out of the bathroom and finds Alfred in the middle of his room, freshly laundered clothes in his hands.

It is too late to turn around and cover his bare torso. He has also learned by now that Alfred misses little, so Tim’s only chance is to be as casual as possible.

True enough, Alfred zeroes in on Tim the moment he notices his presence. “Master Timothy, what is that?”

That is a bruise the size of Tim’s head spanning over the right side of his ribcage. A few ribs might be cracked but he can breathe fine when not training and it is good practice to avoid being hit in weak spots.

One of these days he has to get good enough at fighting to stop being a liability. Until then, he will walk around with a few aches.

“Oh, that,” Tim says with all the cheer he can muster. “I tumbled off a roof.” And took several hits and kicks in the general region, too slow to properly defend himself. “I meant to ask for some bruise salve.” The lie falls easily from his lips, even though Alfred deserves better. It is just hard to forget that Alfred’s loyalty lies with Bruce and Tim really, really does not want to give anyone reason to complain about him.

Tim is not necessarily afraid of Bruce changing his mind about the adoption. He knows that is a definite possibility because Bruce does not have time for freeloaders, even though he never said so in as many words. It would suck, of course, because he is quickly getting used to Alfred’s warmth and proper meals and the way the house brightens when Dick comes to visit on the weekends. It is not the kind of family he has seen on tv, not even the kind he pretended to be with his parents during parties, but it is one he feels comfortable in.

No, what he fears is not being allowed to go out as Robin anymore. He already is nothing but a pretender, stretching to reach Jason’s level. He has looked up to Robin for so long he can hardly believe he has been let into this house and actually wore the suit.

Good things do not just happen. He has to work for them, has to constantly increase his efforts to stop anyone from noticing how inadequate he actually is. His parents prepared him for that, at least.

“Come,” Alfred says and gestures at the door. His stern look promises bandages and ice packs and a lot of questions that Tim does not want to answer. “I’ll help you with it.”

“Not necessary, promise,” Tim says and walks pointedly fluid, taking care not to show that his hip has been aching, too. “It barely hurts.”

He brings the bed between them, where he is further into the room’s shadows. Alfred notices too much, but Tim has learned to twist that, to put things in a light that better suits him. He does not actually like manipulating Alfred, who brings him hot chocolate and cooks his favourites on good and bad days, but if he gets benched he will not get better and then he is already halfway out of the door.

“It looks fresh,” Alfred says and stares at him rather than the discolouring. Too perceptive for his own good.

But Tim frowns and makes a show of prodding the bruise, breathing through the pain. “Must be the light. It’s only a little sore.”

He looks up just in time to see Alfred’s face smooth over from blatant concern to something far politer. “It’s all right to ask for help, Master Timothy.”

Is it, though? All the evidence Tim has gathered over the course of his life points to the opposite.

So, he grins and says, “I know. I’ll let you know if I lose a limb.” That is probably not even a lie because he has no idea how he would hide that. And, just because he desperately wants to stay Robin, he will not put others at risk just because he cannot let go of a pipe dream.

Alfred straightens, his lips pursed. “Don’t joke about that.” He puts the clothes down carefully on the bed. “Now, let me get the salve for you.”

Tim breathes out in relief once Alfred is done and hurries to put on a shirt. His blunder would not hold up a single second if Alfred had gotten any closer to him. Thanks to having been with Bruce for so long, he knows all about Bruce.

Then again, he knows all about lies, too. Perhaps Alfred thinks that Tim is doing well enough to deserve a second chance if he lets Tim’s lies pass. He knows better than to let his guard down, though.

 ---

This is the fourth time this night that Tim has stumbled over his own feet and now he almost fell off the rooftop, too. He really needs to get a grip on himself.

Tim pinches his hip, right where a new bruise sits. The pain wakes him up a little, but the blurriness in his vision does not vanish completely.

Bruce stops him with a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong with you?” His tone is low and a little restless, so Tim knows his patience is running out.

“Nothing,” he says with all the brightness he can muster, then winces inwardly. He is obviously messing things up, so he should not also pretend that he does not notice. The only thing worse than a fool is a fool who thinks he is helping. “I just stayed up late studying for a test.”

He should have studied. That would have been a better use of his time than thrashing around in his bed, wide awake while trying to sleep. But he passed out in English class the day before and while his teacher did not remark on it, he knows he is walking a thin line.

Bruce’s voice drops deeper still, which is never a good time. “You should have said something if you needed to stay home.”

“No, I didn’t,” Tim bursts out quickly. This is the last thing he needs. Staying home means not learning anything. Worse, Bruce might realize he is better off without this Robin and start looking for a replacement. “I’m just a bit tired.”

“You’re slow,” Bruce counters, shaking his head with what can only be disappointment. That is a definite strike. “That’s dangerous for both of us.”

Tim’s fingers dig deeper into the bruise. The words and pain together are enough to banish the sluggishness for now. Nothing but a reminder of one’s own uselessness to awaken the spirit.

“I’m sorry,” he says and makes sure the words are clear, even while he cannot quite meet Bruce’s eyes.

Bruce’s hand tightens briefly around Tim’s shoulder. It could almost feel like encouragement if not for him saying, “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

It is a good thing that Tim is a self-made insomniac. He is used to running on too little sleep. Usually, though, nobody was around to see him struggle. Now, he has to up his game because Bruce does not miss much. His parents, though, were good teachers in that regard. He will manage.

Stretching his limbs, Tim tries to ignore the heaviness weighing them down and does his best to be alert and helpful for the rest of patrol. Bruce does not complain again, so Tim guesses he does a good enough job.

 ---

As the ground rushes up to meet Tim, he follows instinct to curl up and brace himself for the fall. His arms protect his head and his ribs protest only mildly at the shock of impact. As he rolls, though, he hits something with his left knee, knocking what little breath he had left right out of him. He feels it bending the wrong way, the ligaments screaming for a long moment until everything snaps back into place and he comes to a standstill in some dank alley.

Tim lies there, just breathing, cataloguing the new bruises forming. The by now familiar pulsing in his ribs is joined by a more insistent stabbing sensation in his knee. That is the leg that was already messed up before. He thinks of all the things that might have gone wrong. Snapped ligaments, broken bones, luxated knee cap.

Unwilling to get up just yet, he just lies there. Once he moves, he has to deal with this, has to get up and put weight on his leg and decide how to hide this. Ribs are not essential and mere bruises are easy to ignore. Somebody is bound to notice, however, if he starts limping around.

With a sigh, Tim sits up and carefully pulls his left foot towards him. It hurts but not so much that he cannot manage. Nothing looks obviously broken, but it still feels wrong and Tim suspects he ruptured some ligaments. Which is unfortunate.

“Robin, where are you?” Batman’s voice comes to life in his ear. These days, he is always impatient, Tim has been that much of a disappointment.

He sighs, allowing himself another moment of weakness before he pulls himself together with ruthless efficiency. So much for having some time to collect himself. “I’m on my way.”

It is slow and painful, but Tim manages to get out of the alley and towards their rendezvous point. His movements are neither steady nor very fluid. Climbing the roof to meet Bruce is out of the question.

Before he can think about a way around it, Bruce speaks in his ear again, “What happened?”

Tim closes his eyes. Everything was going so well. He was managing things. If he had gotten a minute longer, he would have figured something out.

“I fell and – I hit my knee.” Admitting that alone makes the ache worse. He is not supposed to fall. Jason surely did not tumble off roofs left and right just because he was tired. “Nothing’s broken, probably, but –”

“Why didn’t you call?”

Tim knows how quickly Batman can move and still he flinches away when the dark shadow appears before him suddenly. Even if he were to fell, reality would probably rather bend than give Batman bruises. He barely catches the concerned look on Bruce’s face before he is kneeling down in front of Tim and prods his knee. Tim braces for pain that never comes for Bruce’s hands are more careful and gentler than he would have thought possible.

He does hear the small sigh Bruce lets out. “Let’s get you home so we can have a better look at it.”

Ice rolls down Tim’s back. He is here to be useful and, really, the one thing he really should avoid is being a liability. Robin exists to help, not to hinder Batman from doing his job.

“You don’t have to cut patrol short,” Tim says, desperation creeping into his tone, although he knows better than to show weakness like that. “I can get back on my own.”

Bruce stills, and Tim is so distracted by having done another thing wrong, that he barely hears Bruce saying, “You’re hurt.”

What does that have to do with anything other than Tim being a burden? “It’s not so bad,” he says. “Please?”

“T- Robin.” The almost slip has Tim’s heart missing a beat. Is this it? Is Bruce taking the suit away already? But then Bruce continues “Patrol can wait. You are more important.”

Now, that is a novel thing. Bruce even says it like he means it. Tim is aware that he is staring.

“I can manage,” he insists because he does not know what is happening and he hates when he is not prepared for something.

“I know,” Bruce says but it feels like they are talking about two very different things.  “But you don’t have to.”

 ---

All of Tim’s failings are laid bare. He has a bandage around a cut on his arm he had forgotten about the moment he got it. His ribs are taped. The x-ray of his knee is open on the screen behind them. A small crack runs through his knee cap, although, once he was done with his examination, Bruce declared that the ligaments are probably intact.

Tim is a wreck and he is not even thinking about the plethora of hurts he has gathered. No, Bruce does that thing where he collects himself before a difficult conversation and Tim knows how that will end for him. His usefulness definitely does not outweigh his faults.

“You were hiding injuries from me,” Bruce finally says. His gaze is heavy on Tim, who finds he cannot meet it.

“I didn’t,” he protests, despite knowing that particular fight is lost. “You noticed the knee right away.”

A shadow flickers over Bruce’s face as he likely notices the implication that Tim would have definitely hidden it if he could have. And will try to do so again if he is given the chance.  

“What about your cracked ribs?” Bruce’s voice is brimming with displeasure. “Or the extensive bruising?”

Well, the ribs have not really gotten better since Tim does not manage to let them rest. But the bruises have almost faded. And the new ones he has gotten are not quite as big.

“They aren’t bad,” he says because they are not. Bruises do not immobilize him or turn his brain to mush. He can still learn.

But Bruce leans slightly away from him as if to distance himself from Tim’s denial. “I did some of them.”

He almost sounds guilty, but Tim is quick to reassure him. “During training. I won’t learn if you hold back.”

Tim has problems ironing out his own faults, but he will not let Bruce blame himself for things Tim should have kept from happening.

“You won’t learn if you don’t take proper care of yourself,” Bruce argues with a quiet insistence that leaves Tim confused. This is not quite the lecture he was expecting. “If you’re too injured –”

“I’m fine,” he interrupts. And he is. There really is no other alternative.

Bruce sits back, realization dawning on his face. “So, every time you say that you mean the complete opposite?”

No, he does not. It means he is working on it. It means that he is doing his best no one else will find the cracks in his composure.

“Don’t throw me out,” Tim blurts out, sounding small and nervous and hating it. Robin has to be strong, an asset, not a scared kid. Nobody wants a child around.

“Tim.” Bruce inhales audibly and reaches out as if to pull him in but stops the motion just before he actually touches Tim. “I’m not going to throw you out. Even if you chose to stop coming out with me at night. You don’t have to meet any conditions to live here.”

That is a lie if Tim has ever heard one. Life is built on conditions, and who cannot do their part has to leave – or gets left behind. That is the first lesson he has ever learnt.

“But you need a Robin,” Tim says. With a tremble in his voice, he adds, “A capable one.” Deep down, he knows that is not him. But it is so hard to let go of this stupid dream.

Now, Bruce’s hand bridges the last inch between them. His skin is warm, a comfort Tim is not sure he deserves, but he leans into it anyway.

“I went for years without a Robin,” Bruce says without a hint of accusation. “And your well-being is so much more important than me having someone to chatter with on patrol.”

He sounds like he means it. Worse, Tim wants to believe him, perhaps more than he wants to keep wearing the suit. For years, he waited for his parents to come home for good or to take him with them at least. But he was never enough to keep them close. He just does not come first for anyone. He should not come before Gotham’s innocents.

And yet. That is the thing with dreaming. He has been offered a hand and now he wants to conquer the very heaven. Be helpful and cared for? Hope is a dangerous thing, but being unable to let it go might just be another failure of his.

“You don’t chatter,” Tim says because that is easier than to acknowledge what else Bruce said.

Bruce smiles and that is warmer even than his hand. “No, I don’t.” He quickly grows serious again, although the warmth stays. “You need to tell me when you’re hurt. And you need to take breaks.”

Tim nods. Anything to keep Bruce like this. Still, he says, “But I’m doing fine.”

Once again, Bruce sighs, but his expression never changes. “We’ll make sure you do,” he promises. “Now, let’s get you upstairs before Alfred has my head.”

He does not let go of Tim, helps him up the stairs, still so very gentle. And Tim, of course, vows to be better. But perhaps being better does not always mean hiding.

He has gotten a second chance, so perhaps he will try things Bruce’s way this time. Mostly. At least until his knee is all healed up. And then, he will see what happens.

[mattelektras]

I don't know much about Duke Thomas? What do you like about him?

HOW LONG YOU GOT

i think he has a lot of qualities that the other batboys etc have but without their faults?? he has jason’s experience of being a young kid in gotham without the fancy rich upbringing and like. his street level knowledge. he’s incredibly smart like tim but in his own kind of way?? like he has his own areas of expertise that make him specifically invaluable. he’s got dick’s leadership skills and genuine passion for what he does, bruce’s motivation, n damian’s skill but in his own way imo

which is not to say he doesn’t have fault because he does. he’s not great w authority figures and can be abrasive and confrontational because he finds it hard NOT to stand up for himself and others. and he doesn’t hugely open up and embrace ppl like bruce without being hesitant to begin with. he can be kinda stubborn and maybe overconfident at times because he expects such high standards from himself

his parents were exposed to joker nonsense and became mentally unstable so he took it upon himself to lead an entire MOVEMENT of kids who felt that things without batman or someone like batman would be bad for the city and they wanted to protect it in his place

like. he didn’t do any of that with bruce’s authorisation or permission or whatever, he saw what the city needed and what the batman/robin thing meant for the people in it and made his own moves to do good. he’s a little like steph in that way?? they both decided they could and would do good regardless of whether batman wanted them to or not

he’s SMART like people think tim is the Smart One but duke!!!!!! the riddler shut off the power and said he’d switch it back on if someone answered a riddle and duke dedicated all of his time to research and studying to solve it himself. he’s AMBITIOUS and dedicated and confident in his own shit idk i really like that. i don’t think you get a lot of that in younger heroes because a big part of being a younger hero is the insecurity and self doubt. which he still has but i think he ultimately backs himself and knows what he’s capable of

even used a green lantern ring on his first attempt. i think willpower is something you could attribute to him in a lot of respects. like. he’s really dedicated and determined to BE something and DO something. same with how when he fought damian he didn’t give in despite damian being a better fighter objectively

WRITES POETRY….. HONEY SWEETIE BABY

after his parents went down joker avenue mentally speaking, he was put into foster care and was pretty much abandoned to a system that doesn’t favour the kids in it and he KNEW that. no effort was being made into finding out what happened to his parents so he went out and did it himself

knew bruce was batman when bruce had lost his memories!!! and also back when dick was agent 37, he figured that out too

when he finally started working w bruce and co, bruce asked HIM…. bruce wanted him to work with him not the other way around like that’s cool as fuck that mr batman ceo recognised duke’s potential and knew he’d be an asset

he agreed on the basis that he wasn’t another robin. which i love. because he still maintains his individuality and independence. like. he has control over it. and also to say to mr batman ceo, actually no bitch these are my terms and you WILL meet them. love that for him.

so he was lark instead which. the vibes are impeccable. bat vs bird, still connected to the robin concept but it’s own thing, a songbird. chef kiss. it was an unofficial alias i think but. in all ways he was thought of as lark

then some stuff happened and we learned that his mom was a metahuman and therefore so was duke which. again. NEW. something different for batman comics. so duke further stands out as his own thing imo. he doesn’t need batman’s resources or money etc. he can rely on his own natural resources

supervillain dad a la cass and steph. best trio. i think they should have a mini series

his powers are kind of really fucking cool??? and we don’t even know the extent of them yet because he’s still learning what he can do??

possibly immortal???

mostly light based powers. insane vision due to how his eyes process light. i’m not smart i don’t understand it i just think it’s neat

something about being able to see the history/future of light. so he can tell what’s going to happen in a fight for example. i think. like i said; not smart

the tl;dr is basically that his powers are seemingly pretty ??? at first glance but combined w how straight up genius this boy is and his work ethic and dedication, his potential is off the charts. like i said it really hasn’t been confirmed what the upper limits are which gives him so much room to grow and i Would Like To See It. i love powers like that in general like how domino just seems lucky but when pushed she can make lightning strike. that’s where i feel duke sits so by default he’s already meeting my requirements

[astralis01]

Tim Drake X Sister!Reader: Diary

The boys were going through the old stuff that was piled up in the attic. Actually no, they were ordered by Alfred to clean the attic. No one dared defy Alfred, no one was going to face the angry british butler. No one was there the whole afternoon as the manor had cleared of people except them for the afternoon. Alfred and Bruce were out and Y/n was out, caught up in her work.

Tim was looking over through some papers when he stumbled over a box. He looked down and picked it and dusted of the top. On the top was a neat handwriting saying ‘(Y/n) Drake’s memories.’ He opened the box and on the top were some photos on the top. Tim picked up the photos. The first one was of their parents. In the next photo, Tim saw that there was a baby in his parents arms, with bright blue eyes. The next photo was of Tim and (Y/n) standing together in front of the Drake Manor. The next one was of all of them.

Jason shouted from one end, “Timmy, found anything interesting?” When Tim did not respond, all three of them went to the spot where he was standing. They saw Tim open a diary. Dick saw the drawings in front and squealed. Tim jumped a little but went on flipping.

For the first few pages, there were drawings and then writings started popping up. Then were the first pages of coherent writing. it said, “Mother and Father came home and brought a brother. They said his name was Timothy. Too long. He is going to be called Timmy.”

Tim smiled at that. The next page read, “Mother and Father bad. Left Timmy with me. I don’t know how to take care of Timmy very well.” Jason frowned at this. Weren’t they supposed to take care of their child at that age? His parents were not the best but he had figured out how to live on his own but (Y/n) couldn’t barely be five at that time.

The next entry was “Timmy is one now. Mother and Father were not home so I took Tim out to the playground. I also made him a cake.” Dick frowned and asked, “Tim, why weren’t you’re parents in the house?” Tim shrugged and said, “ Our  parents weren’t the most parental people out there.” Dick was a little worried by the amount of nonchalantly he said that.

The next page read, “Timmy started rolling today. Mother and Father still not home so I had stop Timmy from falling off the bed.” With that was a small drawing of a child on the bed, trying to roll off. The next entry read, “Timmy started to walk a bit. He looks like a little penguin while he walks. Very cute.” The others laughed at that description of baby Tim.

The next entry said, “Timmy is a late speaker, according to the phone but he said his word today. It was (N/n). That was really cute.” They all smiled at that. The next entry said “Mother and Father finally had the time and took us to Haly’s Circus for an outing. It was really nice but then the sad thing happened. Dick Grayson was left alone. I feel sad for him. I was going to go down there but Mother stopped me and dragged me outside.” 

The next entry said, “Good news. A lot of good news. Its raining good news. There is a new hero in town-Robin and I also made a new friend Jason Todd. We ate out at his favorite place. It was really nice. Also, I started learning MMA.” Damian said, “Wow, did not expect Todd and her to be friends before we all met.” Jason grinned and said, “Well, don’t I live to disappoint.” Dick said, “Isn’t anyone going to comment on how she was learning MMA when she was about seven years. Everybody ignored and continued to flip the pages of the diary.

The next entry said, “Today was my eight birthday. Mother and Father were still not here but this year I stopped hoping. I learned how to hack things. Now, is the the big price. The Bat Computer.” They stopped and Tim exclaimed, “She did not tell me about that.” He flipped the page and read, “Mission successful. I hacked the computer. I found out the identities of Batman and Robin. Beat that.” 

They flipped the page and Tim read, “While we were eating dinner, mother got angry at father today and threw a knife at him. Being the terrible aim she is, the knife went towards Timmy. Thankfully, I caught it  before it went for his head. They did not even apologize! At this point, I am ready to run away and take Jay’s offer but then Tim would be alone.”

Jason asked, “Timmy, why didn’t you tell us about this?” Tim said, “Did not think that it was important.” Dick then said, “They flung a knife at you, of course it is important.” Tim sat there, uncomfortable, under their stares and said, “Can we continue reading?”

Dick took the book from him and read, “I know I haven’t written in a while. I was busy a lot. Doing school and those ridiculous extra classes of dancing with Tim. I mean, I love spending time with him but truly, he will be more graceful than me anyday. I am more of a sporty person anyway. My parents, they got separated so here I am again, being Tim’s guardian. He is an angel child. Also, earlier Robin became Nightwing and then Jason is now Robin.” He flipped the page and the next page read, “Timmy had a show today. Mother and father still did not come but I was there. He danced wonderfully. I’m just so sorry for him. He could not have a wonderful childhood.”

Dick was glaring hard towards the leather-bound diary. He did not want to blow up in front of them but it was becoming increasingly hard for him. The next page read, “Jay came to me a few times to talk, to clear his head. It was nice to have him as a friend. That meant Joker had to pay for kidnapping him. But before that, I have to find him. Timmy cries a lot these days because of the news of the newest Robin getting kidnapped. He preferred Jason  as a Robin.” Jason leaned over, smirking and said, “Timmy, you liked me as a Robin. Now, you’re making me guilty for trying to kill you.” Tim blushed and Dick continued to read the next page.

“Here we are. Tim and me in front of Dick Grayson because Timmy is now trying to be Robin and like hell am I going to let him do it alone.” Damian said, “Tt, even she knew that you could not be trusted on your own, Drake.” He was ignored by them all again.

The next page read, “So we have a new job. Me as (H/n) and Timmy as Robin. It was real cute when Bruce offered him the old Robin’s costume but I’m pretty sure I am not going to allow him to fight Gotham wearing green scaled pants.” That gave a few laughs and the next page read, “What a day. My parents died. I feel very less remorse at that but Tim-father and him were getting closer and with the older Robin trying to kill him and Bruce piling case files and school work on him, I doubt he is going to get any sleeping hours.”

The others looked at him and he shrugged and said, “It was tough times people, but she threatened me to sleep for at least two hours per day.”

The next page read ‘Hit list’ but before they could read further than Joker, they heard (Y/n) behind them, leaning forward to take the diary.

Jason asked, “Are you secretly a sniper because you sure do have a hit list.”

(Y/n) grinned and said, “Hit list means that hitting them hard every time they escape because hitting harder always works.”

Tim leaned forward and said, “Why was there no entry from the time when Damian was Robin?”

The smile from her face diminished and she said, “I was in a bad place Timmy. The family I always had was broken of sorts but Bruce being gone, destroyed the whole family. I had no one, everybody was in their own bubbles. Earlier, at least I had you but then, no one was there. But now, I’m getting better because I don’t have the whole ‘emotions are dangerous. Only face them when you are about to explode’ thing.”

Damian crossed his arms and said, “We do not do that.”

Jason and Dick pouted while Tim was hanging of (Y/n)’s back, in his effort of trying to calm her, soothe her.

(Y/n) said, “Oh really, then prove me wrong.”

[lovelydayintheneighborhood]

Baby Fever: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Summary: You find out you’re pregnant, and try to find a way to break it to everyone. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned.

Rating: G

Warnings: Swearing, pregnancy. But fluffy!!

A/N: Here’s something a little different! It’s one of my favorites!!!!

You stared down at the positive pregnancy test in your hands with wide eyes. Although you weren’t planning on it, you couldn’t say that you weren’t happy. Unlike most of your family, you’d always wanted children, even after you became a vigilante. The problem was, you didn’t know how Jason would react.

You’d started dating about a year ago, and neither of you had yet to tell the family. You both liked privacy, and you knew that once you told them, there would be absolutely none. You suspected that Alfred already knew, but he didn’t push and you didn’t ask.

You had never once talked about children, and although you knew he secretly loved them, he may not want some of his own.

You sighed and set the test on the table, placing a hand on your currently flat stomach. Tonight, you were supposed to be going to the manor to help Robin with patrol, as everybody was busy doing something else. You obviously couldn’t do that now, but at least the rest of them wouldn’t be back for a few days, so you had enough time to think about how to break the news.

***

You took a shaky breath in, then out. Standing on the front steps of the manor, you attempted to calm your nerves and a pounding heartbeat. You’d have to give Damian a reason as to why you couldn’t go out on patrol with him, and there was no point in making up excuses. You’d have to spill the beans sooner or later.

Finally, you brought up the courage to knock on the door and smiled when you were met with Alfred’s friendly face.

“Hello, Miss Y/N. It’s a pleasure to see you,” he said. You smiled and pulled him in for a hug. His warm smile and calming demeanor soothed your shaking a bit.

“You too, Alfred,” you replied as he led you towards the Grandfather clock. Slowly, you made your way down the steps, a small pit beginning to form in your stomach. You were only telling Damian and Alfred, and yet you still couldn’t stop fidgeting.

“So, I know that I said I would,” you began, glancing back at the elderly man. “But I can’t go out tonight.” He raised his eyebrows at you as you both reached the end of the staircase and proceeded on.

“That won’t be a problem, but if you don’t mind me asking, are you all right, Miss Y/N?” His brows were furrowed with worry, but right now you didn’t notice. If you didn’t go out then that would mean Damian would have to cover all of Gotham on his own, and that was nearly impossible. You anticipated Alfred being more concerned with that, rather than just blowing it off.

“But what about Damian?” You asked, stopping to turn around. A hint of a smile flashed across his face, and he gestured to the room before you. You finally looked around, and took a step back with a jolt. Gathered before you were Bruce and all of his sons. You suddenly felt very sick to your stomach.

“What’s going on? I thought you were all busy?” You questioned, a slight edge to your tone. You saw Jason quirk a brow in your peripheral vision, but carefully avoided his gaze. Bruce raised his eyebrows at you.

“We just got back. Is everything ok?” Your stomach was churning, and cool sweat began to bead upon your forehead.

“I’m.. yes, I’m fine,” you mumbled, looking at your feet. You hadn’t even told Jason yet, how were you supposed to tell everyone else as well! You gulped, panicking.

“I’m.. I’m pregnant.”

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. That was not supposed to happen.

Silence echoed throughout the room, and you looked at all the boys’ faces. You could tell Damian and Bruce were surprised, even though they attempted to hide it. The rest of them didn’t bother. Their jaws dropped, their eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets, and you saw Jason’s face pale in the corner of your eye.

“What?” Bruce managed to sputter out. “How… did this happen?” You glared at him.

“Gee, I don’t know, maybe I ate something funny,” you deadpanned. “How do you think, Bruce?” The panic was eating away at you now and you fought the urge to fidget. You refused to look at Jason, you didn’t want to see his expression.

Dick shot Bruce a dirty look. “That’s not what he meant, Y/N. We’re just.. surprised. I mean, it’s not every day that someone in the superhero community has a baby,” he said. Moving forward, he placed a reassuring hand around your shoulder, his face breaking out in a huge smile. “We’re happy for you!” The feeling in your stomach eased slightly, and you smiled back, leaning into him for a quick hug. When you pulled back, the whole room was upon you.

“Yeah, you’re going to be great!” Tim piped up excitedly. A hint of a smile was pulling at Bruce’s lips and he stepped forward, placing an awkward hand on your shoulder.

“They aren’t wrong, Y/N. I look forward to meeting the baby,” he said. Tim rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, hopefully he doesn’t adopt it,” he muttered, and Damian snickered. Bruce shot him a glare.

“Thanks, guys,” you mumbled.

“I suppose you will do a good job of mothering the child,” Damian piped up, and you chuckled. You reached down to ruffle your fingers through his hair affectionately, and he squirmed away from you. “Who will help you?”

You furrowed your brows. “What?” Damian raised an eyebrow. “I mean, if you guys want to, I would appreciate it, but I’m not going to force-“

“No, who.. aided you in the creation of this child? They are going to help you nurse it, correct?” Your eyes widened and you couldn’t stop your face from turning beet red. Tim groaned and Dick sighed, turning to Damian to probably tell him off. Bruce shifted awkwardly, looking just as uncomfortable as you.

“Um, I..” You looked around nervously, your eyes wandering to Jason. He hadn’t seemed to have processed anything his brother’s had said, and instead still appeared to be in shock. You raised your eyebrows at him, silently pleading with him to say something. He snapped out of it, clearing his throat.

“I… what?” He said, running his fingers through his hair. Everyone looked back at him, and Tim rolled his eyes.

“Shortstack over here was just asking Y/N who her baby daddy is,” Tim replied. Jason’s eyes went wide as he realized what that meant, and your stomach did a couple flips. What were you supposed to say? Hi, yes, we’ve just been going out for a year behind your backs and now he’s going to be the father of my child. Haha, nope.

You sighed, realizing that you were going to have to tell them sooner or later. “Guys, listen. I, uh,” you gulped, stealing a glance at Jason. He looked how you felt, pale and slightly sick. But nevertheless, he nodded, encouraging you to go on. You took a deep breath. “I have a boyfriend. And, uhm, we’ve been dating for about a year now.” More shocked faces.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Did any of you guys know about this?”

You stumbled back, overwhelmed at all of the questions at once. Stumbled right back into Jason, who placed a steadying hand on your shoulder, pulling you closer. Alfred coughed, grabbing everyone’s attention, and held up a hand, stopping all of the other’s questions.

“Please, let Miss Y/N breathe. I’m sure she’s just as surprised as all of you are, and interrogating her is not going to help matters,” he said sternly. Dick took a step back and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Sorry, we didn’t mean to overwhelm you,” he spoke up soothingly. Damian stood with his arms crossed and his shoulders set, trying to mask his curiosity but failing. Tim made no effort to do so, just leaned back against the computer desk, patiently waiting for you to get your bearings and continue.

You leaned back into Jason, grabbing onto his other hand and holding on for dear life. The movement did not go unnoticed; Bruce’s eyes flickered to your adjoined hands and back to your face. He raised his brows, narrowing his eyes at you. You couldn’t stop yourself from nervously tapping your thigh under his penetrating stare.

“I.. I have to go.. I’m sorry, I have to go,” you muttered, pushing Jason away and hurried up the steps, away from their worried voices and accusatory stares. You made it all the way to the bathroom, before finally retching into the toilet. You knew that sick feeling hadn’t been for nothing. Apparently, you’d been pregnant long enough that the morning sickness was already there. You wiped your mouth on your sleeve, leaning back against the wall and curled into a ball.

You couldn’t stop the intrusive thoughts from coming. What if they don’t want this? Don’t want me to be with their brother, of all people? Their son? What if he doesn’t want this? Doesn’t want me after this? You took a shaky breath in, throwing your head back and hitting the wall behind you. Tears ran down your face, blurring your vision.

Hey,” someone murmured softly. You jumped, looking up at the doorway. Jason.

He reached back and closed the door, then sat down next to you. You wiped your eyes, leaning against him. You stayed like that for awhile.

“What’s wrong, doll?” He finally asked. You looked up, searching his face. His brows were furrowed, his eyes full of worry. He reached for your hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Do you want this?” You blurted out. He tilted his head a bit, quirking a brow.

“What?”

All of the emotions you’d felt in the last couple of hours had taken a toll on you, and now it was like a dam exploding. Everything just came out. “Did you ever want them to know about us? Do you want a baby, Jason? You’ve never wanted to be vulnerable, to let people know that you have emotions. You don’t want them to know you have weaknesses, that you aren’t actually this big tough guy that you’ve made them think you are. You don’t want them to think you could actually feel things.” Your voice had started out barely audible, but now it was loud and raw. Salty tears were rolling down your face again. “Do you still want to be together after all of this?” Your voice broke on the last note. Jason’s eyes widened, mouth ajar.

“C’mere, Y/N,” he murmured, reaching out and pulling you into his lap. Your breathing was heavy, and your face was stained with tears. He cupped your cheek and wiped the tears away with his thumb, quietly humming. “I’ll always want to be with you, no matter what. You are what got through to me after I’d come back, you are the one that made me realize it was alright to feel things. That it was alright to love. I don’t want that taken away from me, not now, not ever. I wanna be there for you whenever you need me. Whether it’s a bad day at work, a crippling injury, or a certain baby coming into this world,” he whispered, grinning a little as he gripped your chin and tilted your eyes up to his. “I’ll be there.” You felt the corners of your mouth tilt up the slightest bit, and you pulled him closer for a brief kiss. You were still uneasy, though.

“What about your family? What will they think?” He chuckled, hugging you to his chest.

“You’ve worked with them for years, doll. I’m pretty sure they love you more than they love me.” You giggled and punched him on the arm, giving him a look of amusement and slight disapproval. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Y/N. They’ll be happy.” You let out a sigh of relief, all of the tension bleeding away as you sagged against his chest.

You closed your eyes, relishing in the feeling of just sitting there with him, in perfect harmony. A tiny sigh escaped your lips as he began rubbing soothing circles into your back.

“Are you ready? For a family?” You asked. He looked down at you, caught off guard.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready, you know? Sometimes things just happen, and they can be good or they can be bad. But,” he continued, fiddling with a lock of your hair. “I am excited, if that’s what you meant. I do want a family with you. It’s just not something I’d ever plan for. I think I’d be too scared to actually go through with it if we had planned it.” You chuckled, leaning into him.

“You don’t have anything to be scared of, Jay. I see the way you interact with kids. Lian, even Damian sometimes. You’re going to be a great father,” you murmured against his chest. He held you close, planting a soft kiss on top of your head.

“I love you, you know that. Nothing in this whole world could ever change that, Y/N.” You smiled, letting out a tiny sigh.

“I love you, too, Jay. Always and forever.”

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

whumptober day 1: restrained

i’m doing whumptober this year! slowly, but i’m going to try to do them all.

summary: dick wishes he were in an actual cage, or hanging from shackles in some dank basement. anything would be better than this.

warnings: some swearing, mentions of suicide. ostensibly set in comics-canon, but uh... set in a nebulous time-line that doesn’t really spoil anything other than the fact that damian is robin.

restrained

There are worse places to get stuck than the Wayne manor’s living room, Dick muses. At least he’s comfortable, people can come and visit him, and there’s limitless entertainment on the TV to distract him. He’s not in some dank basement hanging his entire weight from his arms, and he’s certainly not tied to a cold torture table or to a chair in the centre of a room that’s slowly flooding and he has to slips his knots before he drowns and is that a squid that’s trying to wrap itself around his face, what the fuck—

Okay, so Dick has had more than his share of weird and terrible experiences being tied up. Compared to them, this is a fucking holiday. 

“This is getting silly, Grayson,” Damian says, leaning against the entrance to the living room, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Has it only just, Dami,” Dick mutters. He’s lounging on the sofa, one arm over his eyes. He hasn’t moved from this position for at least a couple of hours. He isn’t sure if ‘moving’ is going to be on the agenda for the near future. He just can’t see the point. 

“Have you tried leaving again today? Maybe the—spell,” Dick imagines Damian’s mouth twisting, the tip of his nose pointing towards the ceiling, “has worn off by now.”

Dick grunts. The truth is, he hasn’t tried in a few days at least. The first few days he couldn’t stop throwing himself against the invisible barrier between this (goddamn fucking) living room and the rest of the world, even if it meant that each time it felt like he was being cut open and electrocuted. It was only a combination of Bruce and Jason bodily holding him back and his own body giving up on him, unable to process that much pain for that long, that made him stop. 

The family’s called in favours with Zatanna, Constantine, Doctor Fate, pretty much anyone who has even passing experience with magic and can figure out what’s going on and why it seemed like only Dick was trapped there. And until they can find a solution, Dick, well… 

I’ve had worse, he reminds himself again.

“That’s not an answer,” Damian says.

Dick bites back on an angry retort and turns so that he’s facing the backrest of the sofa. He means well, Dick thinks, but if he has to look at Damian’s half-concerned, half-contemptuous expression again he’s going to say something he will regret. Again. 

After a long moment, he hears Damian click his tongue against his teeth. “It’s a good thing you’re not in enemy territory, Grayson,” he says, before walking away, “where your utter lack of self-preservation might’ve ended up endangering someone else.”

And that’s the crux of the whole thing, isn’t it? If he’s in enemy hands he at least has a purpose, a readily identifiable objective, something to overcome. Here, he feels like a goldfish in a bowl, able to smell, hear and see freedom but never able to get there. Each little concession to his situation—from the portable toilet that Alfred’s dragged in there, to installing whatever gym equipment that can fit in the space, to the growing collection of books, blu-rays and multiple new streaming subscriptions—feels like a defeat to an invisible enemy he hasn’t even begun to fight.

(that he doesn’t know how to fight—)

He pulls his blanket over his shoulders, closes his eyes, and surprises himself by falling asleep almost immediately. 

-

Dick’s woken by the sound of alarms. He’s up on his feet and running towards the source of the sound before he can even put together a conscious thought; it sounds like somebody’s trying to gain unauthorised access into the Batcave, which can only mean--

He stops short when it feels like he’s run into a wall of electricity. His mind tips sideways, sparks filling his vision, nerves misfiring and his body convulsing in their wake. He falls to the floor, twitching, the impact digging bruises into his skin. He curls into a ball, his muscles taut and pulling impossibly tauter, drool seeping from a mouth that he can’t seem to close and screams locked inside a chest that he can’t seem to move.

The moment stretches for an eternity until it isn’t, and he heaves a shuddering breath. His vision clears enough to see Damian--in full Robin costume--crouched in front of him, pale and frowning. Jason’s standing behind him, shirtless and panting.

“Dick,” Damian says. His voice is small, and scared.

Dick should be trying to reassure him. He should be teasing him about using Dick instead of Grayson or Richard or any number of semi-fond insults. He should be trying to figure out which is way up, honestly, given the way the room is still spinning. Instead he says, “... the intruder?”

“My fault,” Jason says. “Tripped an alarm by mistake. But, Dick, you…”

Dick starts to push himself up on shaky arms. “I’m okay,” he says, even though his voice feels like it’s scraping through the gravel in his throat. “I must’ve gotten farther than I realised.”

Jason and Damian exchange looks.

“That’s the thing, Dick,” Jason says, after a long, silent moment. “You didn’t.”

That’s when Dick notices that he’s barely two feet away from the couch. 

“Oh,” he says.

-

Now that the circle’s started closing in around him, it doesn’t stop. Everyday, Dick discovers that the space that he can exist without pain that feels like his body is being flayed open with a machete is getting smaller and smaller. There’s a point where he can’t move from the couch, even to use the portable toilet--unless he wants to live inside it.

This is the point where he stops eating.

Family and friends come and go, reassuring, pleading, sometimes yelling at him to not give up. Dick wants to be grateful that he isn’t alone in this, but seeing the way they move in and out of the… cage that he’s in with no effort at all brings him to the verge of heart-pounding, dizzying panic. A large part of him is still unable to reconcile the wide open spaces he sees around him with his inability to… be in those spaces. An actual cage would probably be easier to deal with. 

(For a fraction of a moment, Dick considers asking Bruce to build him one. He can’t imagine that desire being treated as anything other than a joke, but he is well past the point of joking now.)

“We’re close to finding the solution,” Tim tells him fiercely. “I know it. That’s why the spell’s accelerating.”

Dick’s supposed to be the hopeful one, and yet it’s always Tim who’s reaching for even the slightest sliver of light and it’s always Dick who’s too afraid to believe him. The words I’ll die before that happens come unbidden to his mouth, but he doesn’t say them; for one, they would devastate Tim, who already looks a moment away from shattering, and two, would he really die? Or would he just be in this horrific pain for all of eternity? 

(would he be allowed to--)

Bruce spends an entire day sitting with him, talking about everything except Dick’s current predicament. He talks about old and new cases, about Damian’s newest addition to his bat-menagerie, about upgrading the Batmobile and the time Alfred tried to teach him to make Bechamel sauce and he ended up burning a perfectly good pan because for some reason when it came to cooking, he lost all sense of time and proportion. 

Dick appreciates the effort, and tries to participate, but at this point he thinks it would be a mercy to be left alone.

-

Dick can’t move. Even the slightest slump in his posture means his muscles seize up in agony, forcing him to find a position that hurts the least and… stay that way. He can’t speak. He can barely breathe.

Damian’s taken to cuddling next to him, bereft of his last shred of self-consciousness. He doesn’t look at Dick, but tucks his head under Dick’s chin, arms wrapped around his chest. The steady stream of visitors has trickled down to just his family, who move around him, silent, slow and haggard. They’re close to giving up, he realises. They’re so close to letting him--letting him--

No. Now that the moment’s here, Dick finds he’s not even remotely ready. He doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want to die!

He tries to speak, but the slightest movement of his jaw shoots white hot pain down his neck and spine, and all he can manage is a whimper.

Bruce crouches in front of him until his face is level with Dick’s. “It’s okay, Dick,” he says. “This will be over soon.”

Dick blinks, tears slipping down his face to soak into Damian’s hair.

[lovethisletters]

I miss you

Idk how to even start this except for: I'm so SO SO sorry @melyaliz thank u for being so patient with me 😖💕✨ this year has been hard for all of us, online school is much more difficult than I initially expected but I would keep trying my best! Hopefully you will grant me the possibility of keep writing this amazing characters of yours even though your experience with me as a writer hasn't been the greatest :c , then again thank you for your patience, happy holidays! And happy new year! Hopefully this will be a better year for all of us. 💕✨

Faith is @melyaliz OC!

It started a few weeks ago, his obsession. Tim had been trying to get information regarding Black Mask's newest plan.

—I trust you, Tim— were Bruce's last words before leaving to attend urgent matters with the Justice League, this time in space.

And since then, he worked more diligently than ever before: going undercover and placing microphones and trackers at locations in the false-face society, interrogating thugs, hours glued to his computer trying to figure something out.

While this behavior was not unusual for Tim, Faith began to worry ... call it a hunch, perhaps a gut feeling but something told her this would not end well; however, she tried to bury it and pretend that it was simply her usual concern for Tim's habits and that once it was all over, things would calm down.

But the end was only the true beginning of things.

That night Tim was in the Batcave as usual, and the rest of the family were preparing to patrol, when they suddenly heard a scream of anger and frustration.

—No! No! No! Fuck you!—

Silence invaded the mansion and was only interrupted by the sound of Batmobile's tires screeching and running at full speed.

—What's the deal with him? —Damian (already in his Robin suit) asked while trying to look through out the window, but the vehicle was already long gone.

Faith wasted no time and sprinted towards the Batcave.

And there it was, on the screen of the Batcomputer a giant, green, question mark. Riddler.

In the morning the news reported Riddler's arrest at the hands of Red Robin but it wasn't until 4 days later that Tim returned to the mansion; Physically he was fine but his ego and self-confidence was beyond bruised after what had happened and the information he managed to gather from Riddler's lair:

Tim's efforts had been all in vain, Riddler had caught up to Black Mask's suspicious activity recently and also to the fact that Batman seemed to have disappeared, so he devised a plan, surprisingly alongside Cobblepot in a deal (the details of which Tim was unaware) that seemed beneficial to both. Riddler started a little investigation on his own trying to find blackmail material ... until ... he hit the jackpot. One of his undercover henchmen had been interrogated by Tim alerting Riddler of Red Robin conducting an investigation as well, so ... He did a little digging and found out that Red Robin had been longer in this. So why not just take it? That night Tim had unveiled the last piece of the puzzle in Black Mask's plans, when suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the computer started to go crazy, sending every piece of information to (apparently ... but not really ) different directions ending with the screen showing the infamous green question mark.

Out of frustration Tim tracked down Riddler, throwed him on blackgate, recovered most but not all the stolen information and piced it all together.

He felt enraged, stupid, mocked, useless. Why haven't he realized about Riddler spying on him? He was foolish! The safety of the Batfamily could have been in danger have he been even more careless than he already was! His brothers, His mentor, His family ... His beloved Faith ... he had disappointed them all.

Everything went down hill from there.

His bad self-destructive habits went from 60 to 1000, He talked, ate and slept much MUCH less and although various family members had tried to converse with him, they were simply ignored, including Faith.

At least 2 hours had passed, she watched; his fingers danced fleetingly and aggressively on the keyboard, his green eyes glued to the monitor, he hadn't looked at her even once since she entered the room so she wondered if he even knew she was there.

—Tim, you haven't eaten anything ... wanna go whit us at belly burger? Dick said is his treat! —Her tone was slow and gentle trying not to disturb him.

—I'm good, you go — He wasn't ... He was getting thinner, and to be honest he didn't even remember if he had eaten that day or the day before.

—Then ... you want us to bring you something? anything? —She insisted but only got silence as a response.

In other situations, Faith would have been a little bit more aggressive with his approach: nagging him a little, blocking his view of the computer by standing in front of it or even carrying him out of his room making him blush wildly; but this time was different. Faith could tell how much the words Bruce said before leaving meant to him. Normally Bruce would put Dick or Jason in charge of situations like this (because he knew how "diligent" Tim could be with himself), but ... this time he trusted Tim to handle it; I have tried harder than ever before, but by concentrating on one thing he had forgotten to see the big picture. He felt like a failure, unworthy and she knew it.

She knew him better than anyone, better than himself, she could practically feel his pain.

Faith always knew about Tim's self-esteem issues. He always tried to hide them, he didn't like to see himself as vulnerable, especially having the responsibility of a vigilante life, but she learned about them since the beginning of their relationship: He was so nervous to talk to her, make extra efforts on their dates and once she heard him confess to Jason: "How can someone so beautiful actually like me?" Jason had laughed and mocked him by saying "I was wondering the same" in his eyes it was only a joke but this small comment made Tim even more insecure about his blossoming relationship. Faith noticed ... He was a people pleaser, always complying with everyone else's request in fear of being left alone, with her it was no different, several times Tim agreed to Faith's wishes even if he wasn't all that ... excited about them: like that time they went cave-diving ... it was a mess ... So in their next date Faith asked "What do YOU ​​wanna do?" he said "Whatever you want is fine" but she wasn't having it, a relationship is mutual and she wanted him to know that "Nope, this time you pick!"

And it evolved from there: She being patient with him, letting him know that he did not have to comply with all his suggestions as if they were orders and that having limits is fine and him being gentle and understanding with her, letting her know that she could trust him with everything.

And now ... they felt just so far appart ... like he was no longer by her side.

But she wasn't going to give up that easily ... she was stubborn and he had told her millions of times that he adored that about her.

Tim flinched a little when he felt her arms gently circling his waist, his chin resting on her head before he gave a chaste kiss to her tousled curls and let out a small sigh.

—Timothy. Jackson. Drake ... I miss you — People tend to forget how much simple and straight forward words can make you feel, long and tiring speeches can bury the feelings we are so desperately trying to convey, so when Tim heard those words ... He understood, he understood how distant he has been from her, how much she had waited for him, patiently and understanding of his feelings.

—I-I-I'm sorry ... Faith-

He could only return the hug from his chair, allowing himself to cry, taking out all his frustration as she stroked his hair moving him closer to his chest so that he could listen to his heart and regulate his breathing to the rhythm of it, preventing Tim from starting to hyperventilate.

—I'm sorry ... I'm sorry, please forgive me, please ...— He wouldn't stop apologizing profusely, like he had committed the worst of crimes.

—It's okay, love ... I'm always here for you — She said, taking his face in her hands, wiping away his tears gently with her thumb like he had done with her a thousand times before.

—I will always be here for you ...

Me again! As an apology for taking so long and as a gift for the holidays here is this: