#jason: why be traumatized by your parents when you can traumatize them back?

[undertheredhood]

unlike the rest of the bat/wayne family jason has no problem with communicating his feelings. which isn’t really a problem for bruce until he tries to tell jason what he can/can’t do and then jason brings up the fact that after damian died, bruce thought it was a good idea to trick jason into going to the place where he was brutally murdered to trigger him into remembering how he came back to life (which there is no possible explanation in the world that would make that okay), or how bruce threw a batarang at jason’s throat to save the joker.

if there’s one thing about jason it’s that while he’s willing to forgive someone wronging him, he will never forget.

(this is kinda a reference to my previous jason todd post)

[duckysprouts]

current bat games au lore

ok so here is part of what we have so far:

jason is no longer from district 2, he was originally a scrappy orphan from 12; he changed his name to "RED" after lazrus therapy and becoming a gladiator

Nightwing has a notorious reputation in the capitol as vain and bitchy. he constantly gets procedures done to look as young and beautiful as possible and will actively sabotage the new tributes' relationships with the capitol citizens. in reality, he is trying to protect the younger victors from being sexually exploited by putting himself on the front lines as the sex symbol

tim is the newest victor of the games. his mentor was barbara and they are both secretly working for the anti-capitol resistence.

damian is the political baby of a strategic union between talia and bruce to unite their clans without drawing suspicion from the government on why they're working closely. his parents are both big players in the capitol.

the al ghuls are the tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists of the capitol who believe the revolution is nigh. but instead of underground bunkers they prepare for the apocalypse by training their children in several warrior arts

bruce's alter ego is batman, political terrorist who is working behind the scenes to take down capitol corruption (good luck buddy)

the capitol has a capped maximum on how much wealthy citizens can donate as sponsorship because otherwise bruce wayne would sponsor all the kids in an effort for them to live

when jason was thrown into the arena, he had no living mentor and had to fend for himself. batman secretly helped him with tips and advice on how to survive

Nightwing tried to talk bruce out of sponsoring jason in the arena. it wasn't out of cruelty; he just thought it would be a better investment to sponsor a child who is more likely to live instead of a starving little boy from the weakest district bound to die. bruce sponsored jason anyway

bruce's parents were assassinated for the treasonous act of believing district citizens deserved human rights

jason's abundance of sponsorships made him a target in the arena. he got really messed up and had to go through a brutal, traumatic, and experimental rehabilitation called the lazarus project. he came out of it brain damaged and now most of his body consists of lab-grown flesh or robotic parts. (notice his fake eyes and how most of his body is covered up)

the hunger games are like the annual SuperBowl. for the rest of the year the capitol citizens enjoy entertainment like celebrity escorts (Nightwing) or gladiator games, which is basically the WWE but more deadly and no predetermined winner (RED)

gladiators all have a number that is worn by players and fans alike. most gladiators wear theirs on their armour but RED wears his as a corpse identification tag on his ear

tim purposefully makes himself seem boring and unlikable so that the capitol will allow him to go home rather than stay at the capitol like nightwing and RED.

tim is probably on like 10 different government watchlists

damian keeps nightwing around as a friend/babysitter, since he gave every other one he had a mental breakdown

damian keeps jason around as a personal weaponsmith/arms instructor (hired by talia)

talia and bruce have split custody of damian

nightwing and RED are top-celebs in their fields

bruce's name is brucellosis I'm sorry that's just the way it is

bruce stopped sponsoring for a while after jason's injury cause he blamed himself

hunger games sponsors are like gambling or horse race betting. if your sponsored victor lives you get more money back. but it is so costly with such high stakes that most people don't do it

nightwing volunteered for some random kid who he had no connection with because he has no self-preservation and is kinda self sacrificing like that

nightwing's mentor was starfire. he had a massive crush on her and she'd pat his head

RED has a tense relationship with bruce and Nightwing but also trusts them more than anyone else

there are more but they require more context and characters so hang tight. suggestions welcome! just dm me in my inbox

[wolfjackle-creates]

Ghost!Robin Part 8

Look at you lucky ducks! Two WIP Wednesday excerpts today! I'm afraid you won't be able to get used to it. Going forward I may update each fic on alternating weeks. I have a busy few months coming up if everything goes to plan and could use the buffer in case I can't get much writing done. We'll see, though.

I'm going to start leaving a fic summary at the beginning of every excerpt in case people find this in the wild and want to know what they're getting into.

Summary: Danny is finally going to meet Jazz's boyfriend Jason. At Jason's family's mansion. He spent weeks making sure he could have an evening off of any Ghost King business. But when he meets Jason on the steps of the mansion, he can barely pay attention to the guy because his focus is on the ghost of the dead Robin hanging off his shoulders. Who is very happy to find someone who can actually see him.

Word Count: 1.4k

First, Previous

----------

“Right. Um… Well, I do just kinda do whatever is necessary or find someone who can. Because, um, well, I’m… kinda the High King of the Infinite Realms? There’s a bunch more titles after that but I refuse to memorize them because ugh.”

Danny looked down at his plate, not wanting to see everyone’s reactions. Jazz must’ve made sure he got a piece of pie because it sat in front of him. It looked so good. Did they even know about the Infinite Realms? Justice League Dark members did, but did Batman? Jazz reached over and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Tim and Barbara’s typing seemed to get faster. And then a pair of pixie boots and legs settled on the table next to his plate. He looked up and met Robin’s eyes.

Robin reached out an poked Danny on the nose. He gave a little trill of safe, friends drawing a smile out of Danny.

At the same time, Duke exclaimed, “That’s why you have a crown!”

And Steph said, “Okay, I may be out of the loop, but what the hell are the Infinite Realms?”

Damian snorted. “Aren’t you too young to be a king of anything?”

Danny half stood. “Look, do you want to go spar or something? Is that why you keep picking fights? Because we can do that. Fighting is good for young liminals. But I really don’t think this is the time or place.”

Jazz groaned and dragged him back into his seat. “Stop it, Danny. You’re on Earth right now.” Speaking over Danny’s protests, she explained to Damian, “We wish. Managed to get them to delay until he turned eighteen at least, but his grandfather wouldn’t let us wait any longer than that.”

Danny let the fight drop, but he did notice how Damian’s grip on his spoon tightened. Looked like they would be having that spar tonight if Damian had anything to say about it. Still, Jazz was right and he had to follow human customs on Earth so he bumped his sister’s shoulder and spoke to her instead. “You know as well as I do that he would’ve if it was possible. But thanks to Pariah, there are things that haven’t been done in a thousand years and it’s been causing so many problems.”

“Steph,” said Barbara. “The Infinite Realms are the spaces between universes according to Constantine. His documentation states that the Realm’s inhabitants are all incredibly overpowered and should not be approached under any circumstances. Just one being can evade all methods of capture with standard supplies.”

Jazz nodded. “And our parents dedicated their lives to building a portal to the Infinite Realms, or the Ghost Zone as they call it, and destroying all ghosts.”

“By ‘ghosts,’” asked Bruce, “Do you mean beings from these Infinite Realms?”

Jazz nodded. “Yes. Most beings from the Infinite Realms come into being when a living creature dies in a traumatic way, with a lot of emotion, or near a large source of ectoplasm. Usually some combination of all three.”

Both Tim and Bruce tried to ask further questions, but Jason’s voice cut in over theirs. “Jazz, when you say your parents wanted to ‘destroy all ghosts,’ did they stop after Danny’s accident?” Jason’s question did, at least, cause silence to fall as everyone stared at the two siblings.

Jazz looked down and gripped the tablecloth tightly, jaw clenched. Now it was Danny’s turn to lay a comforting hand over hers.

“No,” Danny said. “They didn’t. They didn’t know what happened for several years and when they found out… Well, there’s a reason I can’t use their last name and Jazz won’t call them ‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’ anymore. But”—Danny clapped his hands—“this is a great segway into what is actually important. Does the Justice League know about the Guys in White? More formally known as the Ghost Investigation Ward? Or even just GIW?”

“That name is unfamiliar to me,” said Bruce.

Tim agreed. “Babs and I aren’t seeing anything in the JL databases.”

Even Robin just shrugged.

Danny didn’t expect the jolt of pain that sent through his chest and Jazz turned their hands around until they were gripping each other’s hands with more force than any baseline human would’ve been able to.

“I told you, Danny. They didn’t know. They didn’t know.” Her eyes were wet, but she forced a shaky smile. “You could’ve had help.”

Danny just shook his head. “Even if I had believed they didn’t know… Without meeting them, without knowing how many of their own were in danger, I would’ve never trusted them. Too many people rely on me for me to risk it.”

“Care to enlighten the rest of us?” asked Dick. His posture was relaxed, but his voice had an edge that hadn’t been there earlier.

Robin nodded from where he sat staring at Danny. He sent out a questioning Danger? pulse at Danny.

“Yeah, danger,” agreed Danny. “Barbara, Tim, if I give you a law code number, can you pull up the law I’m referring to?”

“Of course,” agreed Barbara. “Just a moment… And shoot.”

Danny gave them the code for the Anti-Ecto Acts. “The Guys in White are the government agency responsible for enforcing the Anti-Ecto Acts which classify all ‘ectoplasmic entities’”—he made the air quotes—“as non-sentient and non-sapient and excludes us from the metahuman protection acts.”

“What the fuck!” shouted Duke.

Next to Danny, Dick suddenly was sitting up tense. “That’s impossible.”

“The league would’ve noticed such an act being passed,” said Damian, though he didn’t look as sure as his words would seem.

Cass merely tilted her head and looked at him while Steph choked on her drink.

Bruce looked to Tim and Barbara. “Is this true?” he asked them.

Robin pointed to himself and mouthed the word ‘Me?’ at Danny.

“I’m afraid so. And Bruce, Cass, Steph, and Damian as well.”

Dick’s spluttering got louder. “How are they all in danger?” he demanded to know.

Before Danny could reply, Tim was speaking. “It’s all true. And far worse than Danny implied. Not only are ecto-entities not protected by the metahuman protection laws, but they are to be actively hunted and turned over to the GIW for experimentation and extermination and anyone who assists them is declared guilty of treason.”

“When did they pass?” asked Bruce.

“Four years ago,” said Barbara. “While Luthor was president. They were hidden in some laws about green energy.”

“Ghost are made of ectoplasm,” explained Jazz. “Ectoplasm is a fantastic energy source.”

“It happened a few months after I defeated the previous king but before my coronation,” added Danny.

“Why do you think myself, Damian, Cass, Stephanie, and Jason will be targeted by this Ghost Investigation Ward?”

“It’ll be easier to show you.” Danny reached down and pulled up his bag. The thing was made in Pandora’s realm and was bigger on the inside. Once open, it took him a moment to find what he was looking for. He could see Robin signing to the group next to him. “Here we are,” Danny said as he pulled out three devices. “These are all different ectoplasm detection devices. One is my own design, one is the Guys in White’s design, and one is my parent’s design. I’ll show you mine first because it’s the best.”

“Might be a dumb question,” started Dick, “but what the hell is ectoplasm?”

“So you know how all the elements in this universe came about from nuclear fusion of hydrogen in the cores of stars?” asked Danny. When most everyone nodded, he continued, “In the Infinite Realms, that base element is ectoplasm. But there’s no need for a star to transform it into anything else. It will mold to the shape any consciousness that interacts with it wants. When sentient creatures slip through, either by a portal or through death or any other means, they shape the part of the Realm they’re in to their will. The stronger the ghost, the larger the area they control.” Holding out his hands, Danny called forth a ball of ectoplasm, shaping it into a glowing-green ice duck. “Something like this,” he commented grinning around the table.

Only to be met with horrified looks as most of the table were staring at his hands with distrust. Damian had his knife out again. Jason, his gun with the other arm held protectively in front of Jazz. Bruce was standing and Cass tense.

“What’s wrong?” asked Danny. “It’s just an ice duck sculpture. Completely harmless.”

Jason’s voice was low and threatening. “It’s an ice duck made of Lazarus water.”

More alarming than his voice was the way his eyes glowed ecto-green and the fear-anger that filled the room.

----------

Next

Challenge: Stay on one topic for more than two sentences.

Outcome: Failed.

They keep getting side tracked with more questions. And Danny still hasn't had a bite of his pie. This evening will never be over.

Tag List Part 1

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Looks like 50 is the limit for active user tags in a post. Good to know

[2braincellslz]

Hello! Here are some ideas for requests:

- Bucky Barnes with male reader where reader lost his voice after a traumatic event, they both live together to help each other come but one day Bucky has a brutal breakdown or a nightmare, reader tries to calm him/wake him up but nothing works, so he tries to say Bucky's name and that's the only sound that forces Bucky to open his teary eyes.

- Jason Voorhees and male reader where they have this soft moment, Jason still feels a bit weird around reader, because he thinks he's with him bc of fear, pity or Stockholm syndrome, that he's a monster and monster can't be loved by a human and vice versa, reader notices it and does the "I look at you and I see two eyes, like mine, two ears, also like mine, *boop* a nose which I also have, one mouth, here and here as well, and what else, hmmm, two hands *puts their hands against each other and see the huge size difference*, two legs, Jason is still feeling off and reader takes his hand and places it on Jason's chest "One heart. A heart that beats for me and..." *hugs Jason while standing so Jason could hear his heartbeat* "...same heart as yours, that's beating for you".

- Billy Hargrove and male reader where reader gives Billy a necklace for Christmas (reader was on vacation in California and found a sea shell with pearl) and says "One day, you'll find one there for me as well".

Sorry for such lame ideas, you can delete them if you want, totally ok with that. It's also a mess...😬

Anyway hope you'll have a good day/night. 💕

Better Late Then Never

Ship: Billy Hargrove x Male!YN

Notes: probably not my best but whatever lmao.

Billy's birthday had come and gone. He had thrown a big party at one of his friends' houses. The cops were called. It wasn't an awful birthday, like some of the other ones, but it could have been better. It could have been a lot better. Better how? Well, for starters, his boyfriend could have been there.

It wasn't YNs fault, really. His parents had surprised him with a trip not too long ago. They couldn't blame YN parents either. They don't know when Billy's birthday was and they didn't know that it would be important for YN to be there. It was just on a big quicadince. 

But that wasn't even the worst part of it all. The worst part, at least for Billy, was that he was going to Cali. he would never tell YN to his face but he was a bit salty that he wasn't in Cali with him. Or just in Cail in general. He really does miss California.

But all of that didn't matter because today was the day. Today was the day that YN was coming home. That YN was coming back to billy. 

It felt like it had been years. At least to YN it had. He enjoyed his time in Cali but he was antsy the whole flight back to Hawkens. He and Billy had planned a whole alabrote day to spend together as a kind of “sorry my parents forced me to go to Cali on your birthday.” not only was YN antsy to see his Boyfriend but while in Cali he had found this beautiful necklace. It had a small blue shell on the end of it. It was simple but YN knew that Billy would like it. 

The plane ride was never ending. Thank god YNs parents spent the extra money on the first class. It made the trip at least a little bit more bearable.

When the plane finally landed, the worst part was yet to come. Actually getting off the plane. While YN wanted to rush off the plane, his parents held him back. They wanted to wait till everyone was off the plane before they got off.

“You don't want to be shoved off the plane, do you?” YNs mom, who was sitting next to YN in the window seat. “You don't want to be rushed.”

“Mom, Billy is waiting for me…” YN sighed, fidgeting with the box in his pocket.

“I don't understand why you want to spend your first day back with him. I haven't heard great things about him from your brother.” YNs mom sighed, watching the people that left the plane.

“He's kind to me.” YN could see his mom give him an off look out of the corner of his eye.

YN knew that other people, mostly people in his family, had a sneaking suspicion that YN wasn't as entirely straight as he let on. No one said anything but it was kind of obvious.

“And you are going to be with him all day? Are you spending the night?” YNs mom asked. YN trusted their mom. If he was going to tell anyone what was going on between him and Billy, it would be his mom. She coved for him. If YN wanted to spend the night at BIlly's house, though they usually got a hotel so they wouldn't have to deal with Neil, then YNs mom would cover for him.

“Yeah, I'm staying the night.”

“Getting a hotel again?”

“Yep.” YN could see his mom smile. Even if she didn't know what was going on between him and Billy, she was happy for YN. even if Billy was just a friend.

But he wasn't just a friend. 

He was more. And his more was waiting for his boyfriend and probably getting irritated.

“Alright, let's go.”

YN and YNs mom stood up, grabbing their book bags from under the chair in front of them. 

YN practically ran out of the plane, passing his brothers and dad. He ran past people in the airport and weaving by suitcases. He ran all the way to the baggage claim. 

He looked around, panting. It took him a bit but he found him, the man that he ran through a whole airport for. 

“Billy!” YN yelled, practically knocking over the basketball player when he lunged at the man. 

“Jesus, calm down.” Billy hugged YN back. It was rather quick though so that no one would get any bright ideas.

“Hey.” YN smiled, hands itching at his side to reach back out to Billy.

“Hey.” Billy looked over YN. “You got a tan.”

“Wow, it's almost like I was in the sun for a whole week.”

Billy rolled his eyes. “Shut up, let's go get some food.” he smiled, wrapping an arm over YNs shoulders. 

Billy had grabbed YN luggage while he was waiting and, like the gentle man he is, was carrying it for YN.

“Where shall we eat?” Billy asked once you got to the car, throwing your luggage in the backseat of his Chevy. 

“It's your day, you pick.” 

“Starcourt Mall. We can eat in the food court.”

“Sounds good to me.”

YN slipped into the passenger side as Billy got into the driver's seat. Billy started the car and rock filled the car. The song was easily recognizable. “Love Of My Life.” by Queen. It wasn't Billy's usual music but it was YNs.

“Is this the mixtape I gave you?” Yn asked as Billy pulled out of his spot and drove out of the airport parking lot.

“Maybe. What did you name it? Something sappy, right?”

YN rolled his eyes. It was sappy. It made YN cringe whenever he thought about it. “Melted candy hearts or something.”

“Exactly, really really sappy.” 

“Yeah, whatever you say Mr. Tough guy.” YN let his head lul back, closing his eyes as the ballet filled his ears. YN rested his hand on the center console which was quickly held by Billy.

It was one of the few things YN and Billy could do in public, kinda, to show each other affection. No one could really see their hands while in the car so they always took the opportunity to show each other a little bit of affection. Another thing they would do would be walking with Billy's arm around YNs shoulders. To the outsiders, they just saw it as a guy leading his friend somewhere but they knew. Billy and YN knew what it really meant and it was kind of special for them. 

Billy pulled into the mall parking lot and shut down the car. He stepped out and waited for YN who quickly followed. 

Billy reposished himself back with his arm back around YNs shoulders. The pair walked around a bit before they settled down to eat some shitty Chinese food. Honestly though, it was better than the food they gave YN in first class.

“How was your trip?” Billy asked, shoving some more rice into his mouth.

“Boring. It wasn't any fun without you there to get us into trouble.” YN looked up from his tray with a goofy grin to watch Billy's face shift to fake shock.

“How could you! I thought we were friends!” Billy dramatically placed a hand over his heart.

“You hang around Eddie too much.” YN rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his orange chicken.

Billy just chuckled and turned back to his food, stuffing some more into his mouth. 

After the pair was done eating their food, they walked through the mall. Occasionally, entertaining the idea of stopping by Scops Ahoy to see if Steve would let them in the back way.

After everything the Hawkings kids have been through, no one really cared about childish things like popularity causing all rivalries to become unimportant. Sure, people still remembered what Billy has done but they also know he is working on himself. He is becoming better. He has made amends with Max. he is better.

YN took Billy's wrist, pulling him into the ice cream place. They walked up to the counter, interrupting Steve's pitiful attempt at flirting while Robin held up a shigh from the back that read ‘SOS’ in bright red.

“Steve!” YN shouted, drawing Steve's attention away from the two girls who used Steve's moment of being distracted to make their escape. 

Steve's face lit up. “YN!” he shouted back. 

“Hey! Nimrod. How many kids are you friends with?” Robin asked from the back.

YN knew Robin and Robin knew YN. basically everyone knew everyone in their big group but Robin was not one to pass up a monet to make fun of her friends.

“We are your age.” Billy smiled, slipping through the divider to get to the back with YN close behind. 

Steve jumped through the window and closed the shutters. “How was Cali?” 

“Not that great. We didn't get to go to the beach or anything, just spent a lot of time at my grandma's house while my parents ran off to have fun or something.”

“Or something?” Robin asked, ignoring the sound of Erica abusting the bell.

“Or something.” YN repeated with a shrug, sitting down at the table.

“So where are your kids, stevie? I thought they always hung around here for the free ice cream?” Billy asked, placing his hands on your shoulders. The two of you could be yourself around the gang, they all knew.

“Well first off, they aren't my kids.” 

“Yes, they are.” Robin said, cutting off Steve.

Steve glared at Robin “And secondly, they are at the movies.” 

“Speaking of movies…” YN said with a smile. 

Steve groaned and rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, sure.” he moved from his spot leaning against the counter and pulled open the door for the couple.

“Pretty sure they are playing Dr. Zhivago.”

YN stood up and walked out the door, thanking Steve on his way out. Billy wasn't too far behind him. As soon as the door shut, their hands were interlocked together. It might not be a long walk but might as well take advantage of one of the few moments they have alone together.

They sat down near the back, no one really sat in the back so they could enjoy their moment together. The movie had already started, about twenty minutes in, but it's not like they could complain, they did get in for free. 

YN fidgeted with Billy's hand the whole time. Whether it be rubbing circles into his hand with his thumb, moving YNs promise ring to Billy's hand then back again, or just holding it. It was another one of the few moments they could be affectionate in public. Everyone was watching the movie, anyway. 

The movie ended and the pair went on to the next activity and the next. The last thing they did before turning into the hotel was bowling where YN absolutely destroyed Billy. 

Settling into the hotel for the night, Billy and YN laid in the massive bed together while watching some random documentary on TV, though neither of them were really paying attention. 

Billy had his arms wrapped tightly around YNs waist with YNs head resting on his chest. YN clinged to Billy like a baby otter clinging to its mom. 

That's when YN remembered. The necklace.

“Billy?” 

“Hmm?” Billy hummed, rubbing YNs back.

“I got you a birthday present.” YN pulled away from the warmth, sitting up on his knees.

“Really?” Billy asked, sitting up.

“Alright, close your eyes.”

Billy closed his eyes, chuckling softly.

“Ok, Now. stick out your hand and open your eyes when you feel the box.”

Billy stuck out his hand. YN fished the box out of his pocket and placed it in Billy's hand. Billy blinked his eyes open, looking from YN to the box in his hand. He pulled off the small lid and looked over the necklace.

YN watched carefully, fidgeting with his hands. He prayed to whatever god there was that Billy liked it.

“Wow… this is perfect…” Billy smiled, leaning forward and placing a kiss on YNs cheek before pulling out the necklace and putting it on.

“Does it look good?” Billy asked, playing with the small blue shell.

“You look good in everything.” Yn said, scooting forward and resting his head on Billys shoulder. 

“Someday, when I visit California again, I'll get you a matching one.”

“Vist? Don't you want to move back there? That's your home.”

“My home is wherever you are.” Billy hummed, kissing the top of YNs head.

“That's so sappy.”

“Shut up!”

[bruciemilf]

Darling, I just had an idea, but my brain doesn't know how to process it yet. And I want your opinion on it.

So, we know Thomas was a doctor, all right. Bruce ended up dropping out of medical school and all that. To put on the suit and be a mogul/justice fighter.

And well, that thanks to all that he was reunited with his kids and blah-blah-blah--

But I feel like he gave up the career for more than one reason.

It was relatively comforting and nostalgic for him to study medicine… I mean, it was his father's profession and I refuse to believe anything other than Bruce using his father's anatomy books to study or going through old medical cases to see his father's take on them.

And I doubt Alfred didn't chide him every now and then that Bruce would have been a wonderful doctor. And that, although he doesn't complain about what he's achieved, he would have liked to have seen his boy be a doctor.

But, I'm just saying, can you imagine what would have happened if Alfred had convinced Bruce to just take a year off and then go back to medical school?

How would things have been? How would he have met his kids?

I feel like Bruce would have been a pediatrician. Because I have a feeling he would have been a wonderful one. A strapping, sweet, tender, dedicated paediatrician.

I feel that, when the circus people noticed that Dick wasn't eating or drinking anything at all after his parents died, they made a triple effort between them to get him to a paediatrician. And Bruce, or God, just to see poor Dick completely depressed and traumatized…. It was like looking at himself at that age.

I feel like he didn't want to charge the Crico people anything, he covered the cost of Dick's recovery himself. And when he found out that Social Services wanted to take him away from the circus, he didn't think twice about it.

And before he knew it, he was in the legal department of the hospital, signing the legal guardianship papers. Alfred almost threw away his dinner when he saw him arrive at the mansion, after three straight guards, with a little Dick curled up in his exhausted arms.

I feel that Jason, out of some Samaritan soul's desire, inadvertently runs him over as he flees with the tyres of a stolen car. The person in question, noticing what he had done, takes Jason to the emergency room… and that's how Bruce meets his other child. Obviously the unknown pays for everything.

A little Jason, completely frightened and disoriented in a huge hospital bed, who does not know how he got there. A little Jason, who from one moment to the next has to answer the silly questions of a rather rude policeman who makes him want to burst into tears. A little Jason who, amazed, watches in wonder as Dr. Wayne takes the ugly policeman out and helps him eat and tucks him into bed, gives him extra jellies on the sly and always reads him a story until he falls asleep.

The kindly Dr. Wayne, who cries when he learns that the boy's parents won't pick him up and have basically abandoned him at the hospital…. So now he's in a huge room, inside a huge house, with a rather boisterous older brother… but now Doctor Wayne is his dad, he always has warm food and is tucked in every night; and then sneaks into his new dad's bed.

What do you think?

(Just a visual reference of Bruce, holding a baby in NCIU)

Hey bestie thanks for considering me!!! Honestly, looking through the peep-hole, the medical field seems like the most desirable career for Bruce (calculated, energy taxing, honestly kind of horrifying but also moving in a constant speeding wheel of innovation)

It's more so the branch of medicine where it gets fickle. Thomas was a surgeon if I'm not mistaken (okay, talk your trash Dr. Strange) and I feel like Bruce would feel a constant pressure of living up to him if that were the case, which is why he dropped out in the first place besides batman (for me)

There's also the detail of Bruce's hands barely hanging on for dear life after so many fractures and Injuries. I don't think he'd like to take the risk djsjs

Peditrican seems like the best option, former to nurse! I love the backstories for the kids as well :>

[samgirl98]

Cain and Abel Wept 4/?

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Not gonna lie, I'm not too proud of this chapter, but I needed a way to transition. I will say, the repealing of the Anti-ecto laws is going to be more background. I want to mostly focus on the emotional and angst/comfort. So, while the rest of the fic is gonna have the Justice League trying to destroy the GIW, I'm also going to mostly focus on the families getting to know each other. Don't except a quick fix between Damian and Danny. I will say, Jason and Danny being besties is one of my fave tropes so that's gonna happen here

Jason would be the first one to admit he came back wrong.

(As if coming back from the dead was ever right.)

He was more violent, easier to anger, and he swore that sometimes he felt invisible eyes on him even if he couldn’t truly see anything.

(They looked like afterimages, smoke in the wind as it disappeared.)

Jason knew deep down that Danny wasn’t lying.

Lazarus green eyes stared at them; the room chilled enough that, had he not been wearing the helmet, Jason would be able to see his breath. The lights flickered, and he swore Danny’s shadow turned into something monstrous for half a second.

Something deep in Jason’s chest called out to whatever Danny was signaling. Danny looked at Jason with knowing eyes.

“You and I are similar, revenant.”

Every other member of Jason’s family fell to their knees or covered their ears in pain. The Fenton’s had different reactions.

While the two parents flinched, the daughter’s, Jasmine, eyes glowed. She didn’t seem perturbed by the sounds her brother was making. Sounds whose meanings Jason couldn’t understand with his ears but from somewhere deep in his chest.

“Only the dead can understand this language. Or those like us, those who have died and come back. That’s why you can understand me, revenant.”

Jason was never gladder for his helmet than he was now, “he’s telling the truth. He’s dead, or at least he’s like me.”

Batman frowned.

“Akhi, did you die when I—when…?”

Danny shook his head, “No, it was close, but no. Mother always had someone following us, it seemed. He bandaged me up and then called mother. She faked my death and said I could never return to the League as I would be sentenced to death as a traitor.”

Damian took a deep, rattling breath. Jason had never seen the kid cry so much as he had today.

“No, I died in an accident. Only it didn’t kill me the whole way. I’m Schrodinger’s boy. Half dead, half alive. Half human,” a bright light suddenly blinded them, “half ghost.”

“How,” Bruce asked (not Batman, Bruce), “how did you die?”

Impossibly the room got colder. Frost started appearing on the windows, and Jason felt like a predator had targeted him.

“Never ask a ghost how they died,” Danny said in a deadly tone.

Both Fenton parents stepped in front of Danny on the defensive.

“It’s rude to ask how a ghost died,” the mother answered.

“It’s traumatic and can cause a ghost emotional damage. Please refrain from asking that; if Danny brings it up later, that’s up to him,” the father said in a low voice.

The older sister put her arms around her trembling younger brother.

Jason couldn’t help but feel like shit. Jason wanted to go up to the boy and protect him from Bruce, from anyone who would harm him physically or emotionally. Jason felt the familiar twinge of green forming around his vision.

They threaten your King; eliminate them!

“Peace, revenant. Thank you for wanting to defend me, but there’s no danger here yet.”

Jason calmed at the kid’s words (sounds?). He saw his family (minus Bruce and Damian) looking at Jason with worry in their gazes.

He shook his head at Dick’s silent question. Jason didn’t know what had come over him. Jason looked at Danny; he only knew the kid was important to him (to the dead).

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend,” Bruce said, “But why would you think we were going to arrest you?”

Maddie and Jack reluctantly let Danny go in front of them. They kept a hand on each of Danny’s shoulders, and both elder Fenton had the other hand hovering over their suits, no doubt to weapons only they knew about.

“You’re part of the Justice League, aren’t you? Hell, not just a part of it, a founder. And the Justice League upholds the law no matter what,” Danny said bitterly, “My very existence is against the United States of America laws. I’m an ecto-entity. Under the Anti-Ecto Acts, I’m neither sentient nor sapient, which means I have no rights. I can be captured and experimented on without prejudice.”

Danny looked straight at Jason, and Jason felt a chill over him (someone walking over my grave), “So can you, by the way. You’re lucky they haven’t found you. It could be because you’re in Gotham, but,” Danny shrugged.

 “We would never do that,” Damian yelled out, his arm waved in a single cutting motion to punctuate his point, “Justice doesn’t always mean abiding by the law. Father was a vigilante before there were laws protecting what he did! Why would you think we would turn you over to be experimented on?”

Danny looked at Damian with sad eyes, “I never thought my younger brother would stab me, yet, that came to be, didn’t it, Dami?”

Damian looked as if someone had stabbed him in the chest.

Jasmine got in front of Danny, “It’s like Danny said earlier: what else were we to think when we saw all of you, who are affiliated with the Justice League, coming after us like you would you’re, what are they called, rogue gallery?”

“I apologize for that,” Bruce said remorsefully, “I saw you were leaving. I had just found out another son had been hidden from me,” Bruce’s voice broke. “I didn’t think; I reacted. We reacted. I didn’t want to risk losing you again. Not when I just found out about your existence.”

Bruce stepped forward; the small family in front of them stepped back. Bruce stilled completely.

“Listen, we all fucked up, not just B,” Dick said, trying to do damage control, “We aren’t going to turn you in to any government branch; you aren’t criminals. We—we just wanted to get to know our newest family member.”

Danny looked straight at Dick, “The Fentons are my family.”

Dick smiled, “You can have more than one family. Besides, the more, the merrier! You don’t have to be buddy-buddy with us right away. But we do want to help. How about we start with these Anti-Ecto Act laws.”

Dick sat down, his body language open, his smile a bit feral, “So tell us. What exactly are they?”

____

Against his parents’ better judgment, Danny decided to trust his bio family, at least with the help of the repeal of the Anti-Ecto Act laws.

As soon as Bruce and the rest of the Batfamily (?) found out about the laws, they set up an emergency meeting with the Justice League to repeal them.

Danny didn’t trust them enough to stay in the same city as them, let alone the same living area.

“Akhi, please, we can protect you in Gotham. We can help you and,” Damian swallowed nervously, “and I missed you,” he confessed.

Danny wanted to tell Damian, ‘no, you don’t get to play that card. You had your chance, and you blew it. You almost killed me…You betrayed me.’

Looking at his brother’s red-rimmed eyes and semi-hopeful stare, Danny couldn’t.

Damian had been a kid.

So was I; it’s not fair!

Danny turned to his small family, “It’s up to you, sport. We’ll do whatever you want.”

“Little brother, it’s about being together and being safe. Whatever you want.”

What did Danny want?

Once upon a time, he wanted to be a normal child. He wanted to play with his little brother without fear. Danny wanted not to have to kill.

Now, he just wanted to survive.

Europe would’ve been the best option. Staying in the US was suicide. Danny knew the GIW wouldn’t go silently even if the Justice League started repealing. He also knew that the best way to make the laws disappear was if he helped Batman and the Justice League however he could.

You can do that from Europe.

Danny bit his lip. He wanted to be safe; he wanted to be selfish.

“We’ll stay in Gotham, but I refuse to go to your place.”

“That’s fine,” Damian quickly assured him, “right, father?”

Batman nodded, “Yes, I have a penthouse in the city you can stay. You can stay in this safehouse if you’d like. I’d have to stock it up. We could even find a way to set you up in school.”

“No!” All the Fentons yelled.

The other family was surprised at the vehement denial.

“We’re sorry,” Maddie apologized, “A government organization is hunting Danny. If we try to enroll him, they’ll find him quickly. It’s best if we lay low.”

“Yes, of course, we will deal with that, I promise.”

Batman turned to Danny, “If there’s anything you need, anything at all,” he took out a card and a cell phone, “call me.”

Danny nodded.

“I think we should stay here,” his mom said, “since we’re staying in Gotham, I’d rather be a bit far away from the city, if possible.”

“Of course. If you want, we can talk while the children get to know each other.”

Danny looked at the merry band of furries; sure, children.

Except for Red Robin and Damian, everyone else seemed to be an adult.

Danny’s eyes went back to the revenant. He really should talk to the guy one on one. Let him know what’s going on and maybe cure that disgusting contaminated ectoplasm.

Danny’s parents’ left with Batman, but Jazz stayed behind with Danny.

Nightwing smiled from where he sat, and Damian fidgeted. The rest of them didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves.

Let the awkwardness begin.

@spectralstardustandphantomnights @avelnfear @idfk-man10 @blackroserelina @candeartist422 @luer-mirin @mur-ururu @insufferablecrab @skulld3mort-1fan @meira-3919 @aethernorwood @mimilikey @marshmelloe @latheevening226 @ahyesanerd @lexdamo @chrysanthemum9484

[redjaybathood]

Back to Jason Todd stays the crime lord bit.

If Jason stays the crime lord and, you know, you want to use him as the Batfam villain. How?

1) Tim: Jason does visit the Titans Tower but it's a mental confrontation rather than physical one. Firstly, how easy it is for him to get inside, and get to Tim alone. Jason should look friendly but his sheer presence is menacing by itself.

Second point, is to bring up Tim's parents, especially his dad's death, and Captain Boomerang. And also the guy Tim drove to death apparently in Robin 1993 - don't remember anything but have a gut feeling it would be fitting. Heavily pressing on the similarities between them and question of whether Bruce is doing the right thing, exploiting children or allowing them to put their lives on the line at the very least. And Tim's like: maybe you were a mistake, but not me. And Jason is like: what about Stephanie?

So it can go two ways: if Tim shuts up, defeated, Jason sighs and leaves his card. Call him if you need help, type of thing.

And if Tim says anything else - worst case scenario, blaming Steph or rationalizing her death somehow; then Jason shakes his head and leaves his card, for times when you are ready to admit you're wrong - I will not hold it against you.

best case scenario, telling Hood to shut up because he doesn't have the right to compare himself to Steph who was better than him thousandsfold... Jason shakes his head and leaves his card anyway. For times when he's over his head.

Like. He might have shoot him with a tranquilizer or something, to get his point across on how easy it would be to kill Tim. But it could easily traumatize Tim, and if you're making Jason the villain, you have to empathize his morals, the things he won't do as a villain, to make him stand out better. So, even showing up on its own is a pretty scary situation for Tim to find himself in. And Jason wants him scared, wants him awake to the reality and the dangers (even as he remembers full well both understanding everything and still choosing Robin as his way of helping people) but he doesn't want to take it too far.

2) Jason showing up in New York in Nightwing suit is still funny to me. But, like. New York is way bigger than Gotham, and more complicated, and Jason's way of controlling crime would not realistically work there so. He's not there for exchanging experience. He does help rescue the kid, and kidnappers can lead to the bigger fish, and Jason is the big picture kinda guy, so he leaves them alive for Dick.

Why is he wearing Nightwing suit? No, not to fuck with Dick but he's incognito, you see. Someone - I want to say it's either Onyx or Helena Bertinelli - is in his jacket and the helmet back home. Another reason not to kill anyone, by the way.

Why's he there at all? To reminiscent. Dick once told him that if Jason needed, he could call - and Jason did, but the timing sucked, Dick wasn't on Earth. Still, Jason appreciates the gesture. And wants to return it. Because it's so obvious Dick's not doing alright. And if Dick wants Jason to kill Deathstroke, he only needs to say that.

Dick has a mini nervous breakdown where he shouts and throws things at Jason. Because the audacity, coming here after everything Jason's done, does he think he is less of a monster. Or that murdering Deathstroke would magically make everyone in Bludhaven come back to life. Dick might even describe everything he lost, the people he knew and didn't know, the ones who died, who he was unable to save etc.

At some point, when Dick is close to tears and talks about the shit that haunts him, Jason just hugs him. "It doesn't change anything," Dick says, still hugging back though.

"Yeah, because you need action to enact change. In your case, it's find a therapist."

Something like that, anyway. Jason is a menace and a criminal, but he appears in Batfam books solely in his non violent role to try and fairy godmother them. It's fucking evil, is what it is, because they can't do anything about him. And it's also a "the worst person you know just made a great point" situation.

3) Batgirl. They should meet by accident, interfere in each other business, fight, Jason loses. But the criminal gets away and only by working together Batgirl and Red Hood can beat the clock and save the victim.

They do manage to find their perp but by that time the guy does shit so heinous, even Cass recoils. Jason points and asks, does she think he's not beyond saving, that he deserves to live? And Cass asks, whether Jason thinks he (Jason) is someone who deserves to live. And Jason says no.

Which highlights Cass initial need to believe in redemption because she wants herself to reach redemption vs Jason knowing that some people are beyond that, but it's not about them, but their victims, past and future.

[vinnybox]

ok listen here's what I'm thinking so far for the shadow!Batman AU because I'm brainstorming a plot and timeline for the fic and word vomit usually helps with my planning process so-

the meta genes activated when Bruce's parents are killed (ofc) and it's a very....explosive emotional moment. so Joe Chill is running away, smoking gun in hand, sirens in the distance, and he looks back and sees....something. it looks like a demon right out of the gates of hell and it looks pissed. he runs and doesn't look back again

for the first few years Bruce doesn't know what the shadow is. he doesn't know what a metahuman is, and he doesn't know why the shadow won't just leave him alone. he thinks he's being haunted by his parents or punished for not being able to save them, etc etc (because kids brains are wild, especially after such a traumatic event.) when he finally figures out that the shadow is essentially HIM, he starts trying to learn how to control it. Alfred sends him to therapy to try and control his emotions (because the shadow is emotion-based and when Bruce is upset things happen. lights flicker, the ground kinda shakes, the shadow grows and grows and grows until it LOOMS, and maybe Bruce's eyes glow a little bit. real horror movie-level shit because I'm a slut for that.) ANYWAY things get kinda scary when Bruce is overly emotional so Alfred tries to help him with that. the therapy doesn't really work obviously (because part of Bruce doesn't want the shadow to go away because it's him) and then Bruce gets the idea to become a vigilante and a symbol etc etc etc.

from here it's just a collection of Vibes but some of my thoughts:

the shadow hovering around Dick (freshly orphaned) because it wants to help but doesn't know how

in that same vein, the shadow tucking Dick into bed/helping him bandage himself up

after Jason died the shadow took over. Batman wasn't a vigilante anymore, he was a demon. the shadow was controlling Bruce, not the other way around (which is why Tim showed up to stop Bruce from spiraling)

in that same vein: during Under the Red Hood when Bruce throws a batarang at Jason, the shadow catches it before Jason can get hurt

also some light hearted fluffy thoughts to balance out the angst (and because the shadow is all of Bruce's emotions with none of his emotional constipation):

the shadow makes faces behind Bruce's back while he's droning on about mission procedure or some shit. it gives him bunny ears too

the shadow also tried to get into a fistfight with superman's shadow which didn't work on account of superman's shadow not being sentient. it was fucking hilarious tho

the shadow watches Alfred while he cooks. it doesn't really do anything, but it just Looms over his shoulder while he's kneading bread. Alfred doesn't really mind but it makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up

I might be back with more thoughts as they come but that's everything for now I really really love this au and it's living in my brain until I can write it lmao sorry

Holy SHIT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! oh my goD YES,, I LOVE THIS!!!

I LOVE THESE SO MUCH,, OAUGH,,, I want to draw some of these if you don't mind! AUGH,, All these visuals seems so fun and intense and honestly I am absorbing all this like a sponge. This is quite close to how I view this AU aa!! LOVE seeing your take on this AU! <3

If you have more to share feel free to come scream at me here! AWHG,,,, <3 <3 <3 ((Also!! Thought I recognized you, I remember reading a few of your fics! Theyr're so good OGUH,,

[flancito22]

I don't want to be THAT girl, but I need to put this out of my chest. I hate Piper. Ok, I have only read the first book of the HOO series, but I don't think it gets better from there forward.

Here are my reasons:

First: Total disappointment.

When Rick introduced us Piper with the "beautiful and violent" quote I had so much faith in the character, even in her obvious (although quite rushed) relationship dynamic with Jason. And then, what he gave me? A jealous and possessive girl over a boy who she doesn't really know, with a lot of "trauma" because she have lived a happy and wealthy life, but her dad didn't pay her much attention (because he was working so she could live well and not how he lived in the past) so she became a thief in order to her father to pay attention to her... GROW FUCKING UP.

Second: I'm not like other girls.

Is it a crime to be feminine and tough? What is wrong with your brothers and sisters for wanting to look pretty? Nothing darling, absolutely nothing, and yet Piper make using a dress and make up such a big deal that is boring. Yes kid, we know you prefer pants and jackets, sit down. Not all the Aphrodite kids have to be hollow inside. Surprise, surprise, you can be smart, you can be brave, you can have the courage to fight with a Dragon and still care about your make up and like to use long dresses with high heels.

Third: What's is your deal with Jason?

It's like she was this toddler with a teddy bear and she just didn't wanna let it go. She knew their relationship was fake, but she hold to it with dear life and all the TLH book was a stupid amount of not necessary touching and holding hands and... well, if you read it you understand. Also there was a moment in Leo's point of view when he says something like: "she can't lose anyone else", and that was bring to life again when we though Jason had died because of Hera and Piper said "I can't lose you" my dear child who the fuck did you lose?! Your dad is save and sound, your mother came and talked to you in a dream when nobody else had seen they godly parents in months, what did you lose? A fake relationship?! Yes really traumatic, want to talk about Leo's past and Jason losing his memory?

Fourth: All the moments "Jasper"

This has a lot to do with my first point, Rick Riordan sold her to me as a strong character, all fighty and stuff, and then she broke her ankle and then caught a hypothermia, and that would have been fine if it was just that, but that moments only served to be Jasper moments, as if they can't have a normal relationship dynamic development, so let's just force them to have some alone time together and then hug near the fire... sure, really natural.

Jason and Annabeth had more chemistry the two times they interacted than Jason and Piper had in the whole book.

Fifth: A weak ass power.

I'm well aware of how the enchanting can be powerful. Words and the way someone use it can be a terrible weapon against the enemy. And then they gave it to Piper and the only time it worked in the whole book was with a female mortal pilot... I mean... they might as well be dead if not for Leo.

Sixth (and I can't say this loud enough) SHE ACTS LIKE A CHILD HAVING A TANTRUM

What is it with that line of her that went like: "Hey Drew in case you forgot Im a child of Aphrodite I don't want you near Jason, maybe he doesn't know it yet, but he is mine" I mean WTF, don't get me wrong, Drew was a bitch but I would have slapped the shit out of Piper right there, it's easy to act tough when you are facing a beauty queen who has never fought in her life, I wonder where was that spirit back in the quest. All her shit was about: I'm weak, I can't look at my own reflection, oh dang my mom made me more pretty, what should I do? Save my dad or continue with this quest? That last question, THAT LAST QUESTION could have been so much more explored, just to leave it at Jason and Leo saying: of course we will save your dad, why didn't you said it sooner? So that was the big end for that dilemma.

I have more things to say, but I'll leave it here. And once again, I repeat, the very best of that book was Leo Valdez.

[darkromanceenthusiast]

Just found ur blog, love ur stuff 💙

Can I get Michael (RZ preferably) and Jason finding out their S/O has really toxic and mentally/emotionally/verbally abusive parents? Its cool if not, but I would really appreciate it!

- A/N I mostly stuck with emotionally abusive because that’s what I’m familiar with

Slashers with an S/O who found out they have abusive parents

Slashers: Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Vincent Sinclair, Bo Sinclair

Jason Voorhees

• ‘Holy shit that’s not normal’ you mumbled out. You were telling Jason about an argument you had in your teens with your parents and Jason was appalled by the things your parents said to you.

• Jason was initially the one who pointed out that his mother would never talk to him like that which is what made you stop and think.

• That’s when the realization hit you like a ton of bricks.

• Cue Jason immediately comforting you and trying to reassure you that you were okay, your head was spinning as you recalled so many things from your parents finding reasons to punish you to flat out denying their actions as the realization set in you collapsed into Jason’s arms and held to him like a lifeline.

• “They told me I was crazy, that I was stupid, wrong, and forgetful.” You sobbed out as Jason rocked you back and forth lightly trying his best to comfort you. It was one of the many times Jason wished he could speak to you.

• You sighed and pulled back from Jason and looked up at him “I-I think my parents actually messed me up.” You said before staring at the ground, you tried to let your brain focus on something but it couldn’t

• This was going to be a long healing process but Jason was going to be there every step of the way.

Michael Myers

• Michael was surprised to come home to see you curled in bed with tissues all around and your face very obviously tear-stained. He nudged you awake and gestured to you with a look of confusion.

• “I had lunch with my (parent) today. It didn’t go well at all. They yelled at me and made a huge scene until the restaurant kicked us out.” He watched as tears filled your eyes and your lip began to quiver you could see him visibly tense a bit

• Say no more! Michael understands shitty parents and you don’t need to elaborate at all

• When you do realize that you’re being abused Michael is surprisingly comforting and loving to you

• This will be one of the few times that Michael will be loving towards you even going as far as cuddling and letting you vent to him which is very rare as he tends to just plop you off when he’s had enough cuddles and leave

• Michael will stalk your parents and will probably just be menacing towards them only slightly traumatizing them

• Afterall, it’s only a fraction of what they put you through and in Michael’s opinion hurting you is a special kind of evil that not even he is willing to do

Bo Sinclair

• “Well, now, what’s going on, Darlin” Bo asks when he sees you hanging up the phone in tears. You shake your head and walk over to him wrapping your arms around him and burying your face in his chest.

• Bo just holds you tightly for once he’s quiet, he can tell something is not right and it’s not time for his regular bullshit at the moment, he gives you time as he focuses on the cabinets behind you and lets you break down in his arms

• “I just don’t know why their like this. Why are the so hurtful.” You mumble into his chest as you cry harder just need to wrap your head around why this happens and why do they always have to hurt you

• “I just got off the phone with my (parent), they said that they were sick of me and that I was a disappointment and-“ you were cut off by Bo placing a finger on your lips

• “Your parents don’t know shit for dick and they can kiss your ass.”

• You stare at Bo for a moment you could see he was angry, he was very angry right now.

• “I don’t know why you still talk to those fucking people when they aren’t worth your time. You don’t need them you got me and I actually love you.” You flinched at the last sentence as it rings out in your head

• “Y-you love me?” You stammer out as he nods, reassuring you before pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, he was always gonna be here for you.

Vincent Sinclair

• You stormed into the House of Wax yelling for Vincent which caused the poor man to run up the stairs faster than he ever had before to meet you in the Piano Room you were red in the face and angry

• “Do you remember that fight I told you about how my (parent) gave away something that meant a lot to me and we had that huge fight and they ended up putting their hands on me?” you asked

• Vincent felt his heart drop as he nodded and reached towards you as he saw your face scrunch up and tears starting to go down your face

• “Y-yeah, well, according to them that didn’t fucking happen.” You sob out and curl inward on yourself as Vincent pulls you tightly to him just stroking your hair and giving you soft kisses and trying to carefully wipe your tears away.

• Just let him hold you, he needs it just as much as you do, the poor man can’t talk so he has to show you he hears you, he sees your pain and everything that comes with it.

• “I just don’t know why this happens every fucking time!” You whisper, Vincent just slumps his shoulders and pulls you in tighter as if somehow he can magically make this go away through his love

• Vincent will go out of his way to make you feel loved and to praise you, seeing how positivity helps you so much

[impyssadobsessions]

Vacation Crashers Chpt 28

VACATION CRASHERS on Ao3 “The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back”

After the family pulled apart, the rest of the afternoon was spent making repairs. The jet still needed a few more repairs to make it back safely, and the GAV had some damage from the fights and the explosion. Jack and Maddie split up to help make repairs quicker. Maddie insisted to help with the jet, not letting any of the bats have a word in. She began her work, often asking for tools or make shifting ones. She only ask questions pertaining to the project at hand. Jack was making the repairs on the GAV. Tim having joined him, both out of curiosity and to see what information he could get out of Jack. Jack, luckily... and unluckily, was quite a talker. He would go into every detail, then he would go on a tangent about ghosts, and then about something that happened. Tim found it was very hard to keep him on track of topic. But besides the tangents, it became very obvious that they were ingenious inventors. There was no boundaries with their technology, which was for better or for worse. They were quick too, as it only took until the early evening for Jack and Maddie to finish repairing. Bruce double-checking to make certain the repairs were accurate.

Everyone group back together after the repairs were done, preparing to leave. Jason, Damian, and Danny climbing back from the woods having said their last goodbyes to Bullwinkle while everyone else was busy repairing. Jason not wanting to be anywhere near the Fenton parents, and Damian wanted to properly see the un-dead steed for himself. Damian also got covered in ghost snot from the bull moose-wolf snorting on him. Jason and Danny got a good laugh from it. Danny walked over to his family, as his parents conversed with Batman about ecto-technology and what they did to make repairs. Maddie saying what needed to be changed out and what improvements were to be made, especially if Batman wanted it to run on ecto-energy. Bruce frowning as she picked apart his machinery, but still keeping some of it in mind. Jack reached a hand out to pat his son's shoulders as he got close, pulling him in. Danny returning a smile to his dad. Jazz was still standing near Cass and Dick having their own little conversation. Jazz providing them details on how to keep in touch with her, and other things here and there. “We'll be heading out.” Batman stated, “When can I expect you and your family in Gotham? I can arrange place for you to stay.” “Aw, thanks B-man! We still got a little work to do here, so we'll come around...uh..” Jack looked at his wife to guess how long it'll take. “It'll take us at least several days if not a couple weeks to-” Maddie started to explain. “WHAT?!!!!!!!!” Jazz yelled, her face contorted into utter disbelief as she confronted her parents. Her parents looking shock at her outburst. “Jasmine! I know we're outside, but-” “NO, no! Excuse me!? You almost DIED. WE almost died. THEY almost died trying to save you and you want to STAY?! For TWO weeks?!” Jazz looked between her parents, trying to comprehend what on earth they were thinking. Her parents frowned, glancing at each other. Danny stiffening under his father's hand, subtly stepping away back towards the bats. He didn't want to be dragged into it, though he was just as shocked as Jazz. “Now Jazzy, we have to! Its our job to-” “Then why can't you come back?! Why do we have to stay? Do you understand how traumatic this experience is for us! We need a safe space to properly... process..” Jazz noticed the look in their eyes. Every time she brought up something remotely related to psychology, they immediately shrug off whatever she was saying. Jazz stood their a gape, trying to rearrange her words, but she was so angry! “...I want a shower.. and a bed. I want to sleep somewhere, where I'm not afraid of something attacking our family! I.. Mom.. Dad please.. ” Jazz pleaded after taking a painful breath. She was trying not to cry out of frustration. Jack and Maddie seem to glance at each other, mulling over their words. Jack rubbing the back of his head, staring down while Maddie pursed her lips in thought. The bats all holding their breath, glancing at each other wondering if there was anything they could do. Danny rubbing his arm anxiously. “I'm sorry, sweetie, but.. with the level of contamination it be detrimental to leave it like this. I know your scared..” Jazz silently scoffed at her mother's words, pulling back when her mother tried to caress her cheek. She almost couldn't believe it. Of course their work came first. She was dumb to think otherwise. “They can come back with us. To Gotham.” Dick suggested. Maddie recovering from feeling hurt when her daughter pulled away, looking over at Dick with a raised brow. She glanced between them and her daughter, “Well, I don't know. Gotham is nothing like Amity.” “At least with ghosts you know they have only one goal in mind, criminals are a completely different story.” Jack stated. “I assure you, they will be safe. I have a colleague that will be happy to watch over them.” Batman stepped forward, beside Jazz. “That and we will be looking out for them.” Dick winked with a charming grin, gesturing to himself and his siblings. Jack and Maddie debated for a moment, “Hmm. Perhaps its best for the kids to relax, Mads. This was suppose to be a vacation.” “I suppose your right, Jack. I just don't like the idea of them being alone in such a big city.” “Then come with us! Batman needs your help anyways.” Jazz tried again, staring at her parents with pleading eyes. “Just.. for once..” Maddie let out a heavy sigh, rubbing her arm. Jack furrowing his brows, with a frown. They didn't want to hurt their kids' feelings, but at the same time, they couldn't just leave. There were still ghosts active in the area, plus all the ecto-contamination in the lake. Who knows what adverse effects it may have. They needed to neutralize it before the forest was overran with ghosts. “Spook!” Jack gasped catching catfish staring at them from the lake. “M̸̧̨̹̳̖̺͍̱̤̮͚̀̓͝r̸̜̀͂̑̋͝r̷̘̯̥̈͌e̷̙̲̞̪̪̲̻̋̈͊ǒ̴̜̚w̸̨̝̹̞̐̑̆̈̈́̋̑́̕͠͝!̵͕̥̣͚̌!̷̨̨̻̞̟̰͚̰̌̓͆̕͜ͅ!̸̧̱͚̦̘̻̦͈͍̤̖̜͒̂̃̌̉̀̎̀͊͐̐...” The Catfish hissed diving back into the water of the lake. It had been spying on them from the side. Batman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. Maddie looked back at her daughter, her resolved returned. “Jasmine, sweetie. I know you're always saying how grown up you are and I'm so very proud of how mature you've been..” Jazz huffed out air silently in at her mother's words. Now, they were acknowledging it? The audacity! Switching her words against her. Her fists clenched tightly as she tried to keep her emotions in check. “But.. Your father and I, have a job that's very risky. We need to put our lives on the line to make certain that not only are you and Danny safe, but everyone who may be effected by these ectoplasmic creatures.” Maddie looked at her daughter painfully. The bats were having a hard time watching, trying not to intervene. Jason and Damian silently scoffing at when Maddie said about keeping Jazz and Danny safe. Danny bit his lip looking down at the ground. “Yep, we always knew our jobs might take us away from you kids, but we hoped you two could be fine on your own. And look at you! Two peas in a pod! So independent! We could never be prouder!” Jack chimed hand on Maddie's shoulders, standing proud with a warm grin. Jazz rolled her tongue in her mouth, keeping back the urge to yell, 'no thanks to you'. That wouldn't aide her, though. It wouldn't change anything. They were still going to keep doing what they do. She couldn't do anything, so why waste her breath. “We hope you'll understand someday sweetie, if not today.-” “No. I understand completely.” Jazz cut her mother off cold, swallowing lump in her throat. Her jaw clenched tight, as she shook her head. Tears pricking at the sides of her eyes. “I get it. I do.” She sharply turned from her parents, with her head held high. Refusing to show a moment of weakness. She marched onto the the batplane, stopping only for a moment when her father hollered. “I love you, princess!” She didn't lower her head, just clenched her fists tighter and continued onto the plane. Cass ran after Jazz, to watch over her. Heart hurting from watching the painful exchange between daughter and parents. Damian look like he was about to insult the parents, Dick cutting him off. “Shh.” “Obviously they won't understand unless its spell-” “Shh. We need to make sure they come back with us.” Dick lightly pushing Damian towards the plane. Damian huffed before stomping his way into the jet, almost mimicking Jazz's exit except his chest was more puffed out. Tim moving towards the plane just to help feel like he was creating a barrier between them. Maddie sighed, shaking her head. It was hard, but she knew her daughter deserve the truth. Jack rubbing his wife's arm in comfort. They shared a smile with each other. Jason almost grabbed Danny back on instinct, as Danny slowly walked up to his parents. He recoiled his hand, crossing his arms instead. Dick elbowing Jason, giving a raised brow. Jason flipping him off. “So.. you guys.. are staying?” Danny asked hesitantly, as he walked up to his parents, rubbing his arm. Maddie gave Danny a soft expression, reaching out to brush Danny's hair out of his face. “I'm afraid so, Danny.” “With the levels of contamination in the Lakes, who knows what spooks could infest the forest!” Jack chimed. “Its better if we investigate it and clear out the area as soon as possible.” Maddie caressed Danny's cheek as she spoke. “Oh.” Danny glanced down with a sigh. “Hey, don't look so down, Dann'o! It shouldn't take us that long. I can even ask our dear ol'buddy Vlad to-” “NO!” Danny and all the bats.. even Maddie yelled out in unison. Then cleared their throats. “You know how busy Vlad is... with uh... his ...company.. and ...Vlad stuff.” Danny tried to save the situation, his heart racing. Jack blinked confused but smiled, “Ah, I suppose you're right. I did offered him to come on vacation with us, since he's part of the family. He did say he had other plans though. Shame.” Everyone let out a breath of relief, even Maddie. “So, I guess.. uh.. this is.. goodbye?” Danny muttered awkwardly. “Aw, sweetie. Not for long!” Maddie pulling Danny into a warm hug. Danny melting into it. “Hey, you can stay and join us, if you want, Danno! I know your sister didn't want to, but you and me can wrangle ghosts together. Maybe work on your grip! What do you say?” Jack grinned. Danny frowned at the mention of his grip, eye twitching in annoyance, but stayed in his mother's embrace. He almost felt like considering it. He really did miss his parents, but.. Danny's eyes glanced towards the plane. Jazz was in there. She was leaving. He would be left alone. Even without the use of the repellent, Danny wasn't safe with them.. and Jazz.. Though she would forgive him for staying, it still felt wrong to not be with her. The bats needed help too. They needed to plan, just in case.. Danny sighed, pulling from his mother's hug. He smiled up at his parents, “Nah... I'm kind of with Jazz on that one. A bed and a shower sounds nice, and maybe some mouthwash...” “Your breath does stink.” Maddie chuckled, smiling at her son. Jack ruffling Danny's hair, “Ah that's ok, boyo. You've been so sick this week, its probably for the best. We'll go hunting some other day.” Danny nodded, smiling up at his parents, feeling the back of his eyes burn. He took a deep breath, taking a step back from his parents. He wasn't sure what to say, looking between them both. “Uh... so .. see ya.. Don't turn into ghosts.” Danny chuckled awkwardly as he walked backwards. “Oh sweetie, you don't turn into a ghost. Our conscious gets imprinted on ectoplasm.” Maddie chimed. Danny flinched, feeling stupid for having said that. Moving a bit quicker away. “Yep, so if you ever see a ghost that looks and sound just like me, remember to blast it to oblivion!” Jack grinned. Danny had his back turn to them, face scrunched up. “Right.” “Right in the-” “Got it!” “Oh! And remember to be good, for Batman! No sneaking out or staying out late, young man.” Maddie stated firmly. Any heartbreaking feeling of leaving his parents, was gone as he was reminded what made it so hard to be around them. Danny replied through gritted teeth. “I'll be good.” “That's our boy!” Danny disappeared onto the jet with a grumble under his breath. The others frowning deeply, staring at the parents. How quickly they ruined the mood. Batman glanced at Dick who nodded in response. Dick pushed Jason towards the plane, ushering them inside as Bruce stayed out to talk to the parents. Tim, Jason, and Dick staying at the entrance to overhear, hidden from view. Bruce cleared his throat, addressing the parents. “I'll have to settle things with the League but I was making plans to come back out here. Are you certain you don't want to come with?” “Ghosts wait for no one!” Jack grinned. “We're certain, thank you for your concern. If there is anything you need, you can contact us on our Fenton phones.” Maddie chimed, handing Batman one of their Fenton devices. He found it a bit odd as usually he was the one handing out a way to contact, but considering the effects of ectoplasm had on devices, he took it. He'll have Tim get a better look at it later. Batman side glance back at the plane then towards the parents. “Your kids have been worried about you two all night. Even was planning on rescuing you without our aide.” “That's our kids! Bravery runs in the Fenton genes!” Jack patted his chest proudly. “I'm afraid this will leave a lasting impression, especially if you're not there.” Batman trying to persuade them, for the kids. “And it might be best to replenish supplies. Two weeks is a long time.” “Well, maybe it doesn't have to take us two weeks.” Maddie hummed in thought as she recalculated her estimate. “Oh, I know Mads. Let's bust this out in a week and surprise them! Then we can go and to that one museum! Danny and Jazz would love it.” “That's brilliant Jack, we'll have to get to work right away.” Batman frowned, clenching his fist tightly. He wanted to hit them, show them what they were doing to their kids.. but.. Batman relaxed his hand. That would risk Danny's identity. The two were already coming back to Gotham with him. He wouldn't jeopardize that. So he took his leave, in silence.. for now. ---owo--- Jazz was sitting cross legged in her seat, hands clasped tightly together on her lap. She stared blankly across with a cold expression. Every inch of her was stiff and clenched. Cass having knelled down beside her, concerned. She couldn't get Jazz to relax at all. Jazz remained silent and frozen in her own thoughts. Damian sitting across from her, sunken in his seat, arms crossed. He clicked his teeth as the conversation he overheard between Vlad and Jasmine replayed in his head. Finally understanding what Vlad meant about her parents. Partially wishing they were too late to save them... just a little. Danny sat a seat away from his sister, collapsed forward on his lap. His hands loosely clasped together, dangling against his legs. His leg bouncing, as his head was hung, hiding face behind his hair. Tim went to take a seat, plopping down with a tired sigh. All that work wasted. He felt like he could sleep for a week, but considering everything that happened, he doubt he get much. Jason plopping down, arms crossed and propped on his knees. He stared between the two Fenton siblings, then having to look down to keep his anger from boiling. They almost all got singed only for them to stay. He hoped that damn catfish or Bullwinkle give them hell. They didn't seem competent. Dick kept by the entrance, until Bruce came in. It was easy to tell that Batman was just as angry as the rest of them, as he made a beeline to the pilot seat. Dick following after, plopping down in a makeshift seat, beside Jason and Tim. He flopped like a rag doll a bit. Obviously just as exhausted and emotionally drained as everyone else. This definitely did not turn out how any of them expected. Batman flicked the switches, closing the door and started their take off, in silence. -uwu- They flew in silence, up until they were almost out of view from the lakes. That was when Danny jumped out of his seat, causing everyone to jolt back alert. “Aw, man! I should have stayed! What if Frootloop comes back? What if they get attack by another blob?! Ugh, I got to go back-” Danny was ruffling his own hair, in a panic. Turning translucent. “Danny! Don't!” Jazz stood up to grab her brother to keep him from phasing out of the plane. Danny turn back solid looking at the firm grip Jazz had on his wrist, then looking up at her. Furrowing his brows confused. “But what if-” “Danny, they're grown adults! They chose to stay behind. Besides! What do you think is going to happen if you phased through the plane?” “Right. Right..”Danny feeling embarrassed, his eyes dimly lit as he tried to work through his panic. Jazz loosen her grip, eyes softening as she watched her brother struggle. “Danny, it isn't your responsibility to look after them. Its theirs to look after us and you can't.. can't save people who don't want to be save.” Danny paused, staring at Jazz again. Looking of confusion on his face. “You.. give up on them?” Jazz stood back in shock, staring her brother in the face. She took a moment to let it sink in, finding herself nodded. “Yes..” She gasped as her eyes watered, almost shocked that she said it. She didn't take it back, as she blinked back tears. A mixed expression on her face as she almost didn't believe she was saying it. “Yes, I have.. I have.” Danny staring at her in shock. Jazz staring back at her brother, as her pent emotions spilled over.  “First thing to learn about psychology is that you can't FIX people and you can't HELP those who don't want to be helped. Those who refuse to listen. Mo-Jack and Maddie are those people! I can't keep parenting them. I can't keep begging them. I can't keep beating a dead horse! I can't.. I can't.”

Tears were spilling down her face. “I NEED to focus on us. I need to figure out something else.. because I CAN'T rely on them. I... I'm 18.. they were going to listen, if they were going to DO anything.. they should have already.” A moment of silence washed over them. Only the roaring of the engine and the sound of Jazz's shaky breathing and sniffling could be heard in that moment. The bats all watching this with held breaths. It almost felt wrong that they were watching this, as it was very emotional and personal. At least watching with front view seats. Danny was just staring at Jazz, eyes glued to his sister. He blinked, finally glancing down at the ground, hiding his face behind his hair. “Danny.. I'm so-” Jazz reached to touch her brother again, but he pulled away before she had a chance to. Danny collapsed in his seat, head hung over his lap. Jazz stood stun, her face scrunching with every huff of breath. She slowly lowered her hand, turning her head away in pain. Slowly sitting back down, slumping to the side away from Danny. Looking broken. As if her worse fear came true. The bats didn't know what to do. Its not like they were much better with their emotions. Any attempt to cut the thick atmosphere would feel artificial and useless. After a few minutes of them debating, they didn't have to as Danny spoke. His voice sounding crack. Jazz perked up, hearing his voice, glancing back at her brother. She wiped tears from her face, with a sniffle. “What...did you say?” “I said.. I.. can't.” He still kept his head hung over his lap. Jazz furrowed her brows confused. Danny clarified with pain in his voice, “I … can't.. give up.. on them.” Jazz looked like a wash of relief flood over her, as she gave a weak smile at her brother. “No one's asking you too, Danny-” “No, I mean I CAN'T.” Danny lifted his head, staring at Jazz. His eyes flashing a bright green. Jazz gasped, then looked at her brother with sympathy. The rest of the Bats feeling unease, knowing it must be something more holding Danny back. Danny turned his head to face the ground again. Jazz tried to reach out, but stopped herself, rubbing her arm instead. “A-at least.. Until I tell them.” Danny said as the realization was coming to him. “Danny, I don't know if it would change anything.” Jazz glancing at her brother, not wanting him to get his hopes up. Danny shook his head, sniffling. “Doesn't matter.” The crack in his voice, meant that it doesn't matter as much. “I have to tell them. I need to know if they be on my side or not when things go to.. Because.. I can't keep doing this either.” The dreadful feeling sinking in, as it was dawning on him. He couldn't wait. He shouldn't wait. He wiped at tears threatening to come as his breathing quicken. “I was hoping there be a perfect time to, but there.. won't be. Is there?” Danny looking at Jazz as he asked the question. Jazz pressed her lips, shaking her head. “I don't think so, Danny.” Danny snorted, taking a deep shaky breath. He took a moment, letting out a breathy laugh, tears managing to slip. He hastily wiped them away, not wanting to break down again. Tim jolted with an idea, glancing at the others then back at the pair of siblings. “Not to rush, but.. you can do it while you're in Gotham.” Danny and Jazz blinked, staring at Tim. As if being reminded that others were on the plane. “Yeah, that way no matter how it goes, you'll have us to fall back on.” Dick grinned. Danny and Jazz glanced at each other for a moment, and then Danny stared at the floor. Pondering it over. “Don't let these bone-heads rush make you feel like you got to decide.” Jason shoving Dick by the head into Tim. “hey-!” “I told him not to rush! Just a suggestion!” “No.. no the.. the sooner the better. I.. I think I'll chicken out if its just me.” Danny said shakily, but with certainty. Jazz smiled at Danny, proud of him. Cass pulling them both into a hug, of support. Making them blush. “I think that's a great idea. I rather know what side your parents are on as well.” Batman stated. Danny blinked, glancing towards where Batman sit. He nodded, leaning shoulder slightly on his sister, even after Cass released them from her arms. He wanted to silently let Jazz know it was okay to touch him. Jazz happily took it, and leaned her weight fully on Danny. Exhaustion setting in. “See Danny. Everything as it-” “You really like that saying.” “Mmhm.” “Ugh..” Danny groaned, though there was no real annoyance behind it. “........” “Sooooo.... anyone up for Uno?” Tim asked pulling out the deck, now that the tension was broken. The Fenton siblings shrugged, “Sure.”

[ayamari-no-goshi]

To Join the Whispers (12)

AO3 

There’s artwork now!!

Jason’s ghost form by @elle-mrly: Line sketch and Colored version

Scenes from chapter 11 from @impyssadobsessions: 1 and 2

Fandoms: Danny Phantom (DP) / DC universe

Summary:  THIS   IS A CROSSOVER. A contact for the Batfamily passed along a rumor that  the League of  Assassins were investigating a small city called Amity  Park.The old man and Tim managed to find evidence of unusual  paranormal  activity in the town. While they weren’t entirely certain it  wasn’t  just infested with metas, the locals believed the entities that   haunted, for lack of a  better word, the town were actual ghosts. If  there was one thing Ra’s al Ghul didn’t need to get his grubby hands on,  it was ghosts.That’s probably why Jason was doing this. He had the  unfortunate luck to experience both death and resurrection in a way he’d  never recommend to anyone else.

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, and questionable mental health

Parings: none

Notes: originally uploaded to AO3. Cross-posted to tumblr. Jason Todd-centric

Jason’s head was pounding as he came to, and his arms felt like someone tied lead weights to them. Groaning slightly, he sat up and glanced around. He was back in the hotel room and on one of the beds. He didn’t remember going to bed. Was he just that tired? Or had he passed out? Judging by the fact his red vest was on the same chair as his mask, it was probably the latter. Great.

But what happened before that? His last memory was making sure Danny was safe… Shit! Was the kid okay?

Bolting upright, he ended up hissing in pain as his arm throbbed. A quick glance told him someone must have given him first aid as the place where the Fentons grazed him was bandaged. That must have been worse than he thought it was if it was still bothering him like that.

“I don’t think Batman wants you to get up yet.” Glancing over, he found Danny in his human form sitting on the other bed. His smile seemed forced, and he wouldn’t look up. “The others filled me in. Thanks for, uh, helping me and not hurting my parents.”

He nodded. “Are you okay? Whatever Plasmius hit you with…”

“It’s fine,” Danny cut him off as he rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s done the same thing before. Guess he just put more power behind it this time. But see,” he transformed into Phantom, “I’m all good. I have a few bruises, sure, but that’s a lot better than I normally get from fights.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Jason swung his legs over the edge of the bed to more comfortably face the teen. Everything hurt.

Danny shrunk back a little as he returned to his human form. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not fine.” He pushed his bangs back before bringing both of his hands to rest on his legs. “That shock triggered a freeze response, a traumatic response, in you. You were completely unresponsive. What if the G.I.W., or God forbid, your parents managed to do something similar?”

“But it wasn’t them. It was Vlad, and as fruit loop-y as he is, he’s not going to kill me.”

“Danny,” Jason sighed before continuing, “look… you know I got murdered as a teen. I thought with all the training I had I’d be able to get out of any situation, and even if I couldn’t, Batman would swoop in at the last second. I was a hero, and heroes always win.” He gripped his hands as he continued. “When you fight the same people again and again with the same result, you can start to forget how dangerous they really are.”

“I’ll fully admit I let myself fall into a trap, that I didn’t realize I got manipulated until it was too late. And in those final moments, I knew no one was coming. I knew I was going to die alone.” He glanced at Danny as he let himself have a small pause to make sure he kept his emotions under control. The kid’s eyes had widened, and his complexion paled. “So many of us get wrapped up in the chance to play hero that we forget the dangers. Even if we have a mentor, sometimes we still end up as cannon fodder for a crusade that was never ours.”

That was one of the reasons he couldn’t get rid of some of the resentment he had towards Bruce. Even after losing a Robin, he still took on and trained more kids for the role. No matter how talented, kids shouldn’t be on the front line. They shouldn’t be fighting criminals and risking their lives. And for some fucking reason, he couldn’t get Bruce to either acknowledge or understand it. But those were thoughts for later.

As an uneasy silence began to fall between them, there was a knock before the door opened to reveal Bruce, still in costume. They momentarily stared at each other before the others, led by Dick, brushed passed him and into the room. Although Damian elected to stay near the door, the others came over to poke and prod at him. No one seemed to be wearing the Deflectors as he wasn’t getting shocked, but it still didn’t mean he liked it.

Cussing, he ended up standing in an attempt to better fed them off. What was their deal anyways? He was fine, or at least he was pretty sure he was fine. Did something in his appearance change from whatever Vlad did to him? He better not have more white hair.

All thoughts and everyone else’s actions screeched to a halt when his arm accidentally went through Cass’ chest. He stared in dawning horror that he could feel the sensation of her heart beating and the motions of the lungs and surrounding muscle as she breathed. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. What was he supposed to do? He needed to remove it, but what if he accidentally damaged her heart or lungs? What if he got stuck? What would that do?

“Panicking will make it worse.” Danny’s voice was soft and sullen as he came over and gently touched his arm. Just like when the kid made them both invisible at Vlad’s mansion, he could feel Danny’s energy wash over the intangible limb. Seconds later, he had them safely separated. Cass tentatively checked the area for a moment before giving a reassuring smile. It didn’t make him feel better.

Bruce cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. He wanted to talk so that meant everyone needed to pick a spot and stop fussing. Danny frowned in confusion at the sudden change, so Jason gestured for him to have a seat.

Once that was settled, he decided to sit on the floor using the bed he woke up on as a back rest. Well, that was what he planned on doing. It was like it wasn’t even there as he fell backwards. He blinked a few times in confusion as he realized he was staring at the underside of the bed. He had fallen through it. What even was his life at this point? “I can’t wait ‘til this shit stops.”

“Are you okay?” Duke questioned as feminine laughter could be heard throughout the room. Sounded like Stephanie. Bruce must have set up communications.

“Oh yeah, I just love counting the ungodly number of dust bunnies under beds.” After pulling himself out from under the bed, he once again tried to lean against it. This time it worked. “Guess that’s how I got under there yesterday.” He glanced at Dick. “That means you’re off the hook, this time.”

“That’s happened to me more times than I can count,” Danny admitted while trying to suppress a smile. “It was really bad in the month following my accident, and me panicking every time didn’t help. I don’t have a clue how I managed hide all my slip ups from my parents or my classmates.”

“Anyways, what was that about?” Jason asked he eyed his siblings as he rubbed his chest. That weird, concentrated feeling of the Pit was still there. “Is something glowing again?”

“I knew you were dense, Todd, but this level of unawares is almost impressive.” Damian gave an arrogant smirk, impressed with his own insult.

Bruce frowned at the brat before focusing his attention on Jason. “What do you remember from last night?”

“Let’s see, Plasmius decided to play puppeteer in ballroom.” He glanced at Danny. “Did Glowstick tell you guys what he said?”

“Yeah,” Babs affirmed with an irritated huff. “We’re already working on how to upgrade our systems so that doesn’t happen again. We have one of the most, if not most, secure computers in the world, and a ghost can bypass everything just by possessing it. It’s frustrating.”

“It also paints the data Vlad had on various heroes and criminals in a new light,” Tim added as he typed on his wrist computer. “We thought he’d gathered that on his own. So, now we’re trying to see if there are any independent systems where he might have stored more information as well as prepping for any potential fallout.”

Jason nodded before giving a quick summary of the events after getting out of the ballroom and up to when he set Danny on the bed. When he mentioned the pod, he couldn’t repress a shiver. That thing was going to haunt his dreams for a while. “I don’t think there’s anything else. Am I missing something?”

“Did Plasmius tell you what he was trying to do to you?” Bruce pressed.

Jason could tell something the old man was hiding something, and it made him uneasy. “He was unhappy about my lack of ghostliness and thought I might have an incomplete or inactive core. He wanted to fix that.” He could still feel echoes of the burning pain across his skin from being submerged in Pit water again.

Danny seemed to wince on his behalf. “Well, on the bright side, Vlad didn’t try duplicating his own accident on you. That involved cola contamination, a blast to the face with a proto-portal, and ecto-acne.”

“What the fuck, Glowstick?” he asked after a moment of stunned silence.

The kid shrugged. “Ectoplasm can do a lot of weird things to normal people and objects. I already told you my parents managed to bring food to life with it on accident when they modified the microwave and oven. I think they finally learned not to use it on turkeys and chicken after the multiple times they’ve tried taking over the house, but my dad did somehow befriended the franken-wiennies. They’re now part of the home security.”

“You know, just when I think I can’t be surprised anymore…” Dick murmured while he ran his hands over his face. Tim nodded in agreement.

“I probably shouldn’t ask, but what did they do with the undead food? You didn’t eat them, did you?” It looked like Stephanie scooted closer to the screen as she waited for the answer.

“My parents did. Jazz and I ordered take out.”

Everyone, including Bruce, showed or vocalized some sort of disgust. But if Maddie and Jack really would eat stuff like that, then maybe they really did have some form of ectoplasmic contamination. Funny, he never would have thought food would be the potential cause.

“Back to the matter at hand,” Bruce eyes wept around the room before focusing on Jason, “you’re not aware of anything abnormal?”

“Did you forget I got stuck in a table? That’s pretty abnormal, if you ask me.”

Stephanie openly snickered. “Did he really? Oracle, you’ve got to show me the video of that!”

“Spoiler.”

“Alright, alright.” Some of Steph’s excitement vanished at Bruce’s admonishment. “I can watch it later.”

“B, I really don’t think he knows,” Tim stretched his arms as he spoke. “It’s probably best to show him the footage.”

Now on edge, Jason took the laptop Dick handed him while their siblings and Danny crowded around him. The screen was split between the four feeds from when they were fighting Plasmius. Babs must have hit play on her end as the recordings started. Everything seemed normal. So why…?

When Plasmius shocked Danny, that’s where things changed. The visual feed from his equipment went out while the other three momentarily glitched. When the three feeds corrected, he noticed he looked different. The red parts of his costume appeared blue, and his boots and knee pads looked off. At first, he thought it was part of the glitch, but no one else looked different.

He glanced down at his shirt. His symbol was definitely red, and he distinctly remembered when he looked at his vest earlier, it was also still red. A growing sense of dread filled the pit of his stomach as Babs changed it to just Cass’ feed when they were escaping.

In the dark, it almost appeared as if he was glowing faintly. It had to be from him carrying Danny, but as the feed was switched to Dick’s, he realized it was slightly different than the kid’s. He also noted the injury on his arm and how it wasn’t bleeding. Instead, it was oozing an unnatural green substance.

The feed once again changed to when Tim watched him put Danny on the bed. When he pulled down his hood, white hair with a black streak was now visible, and when the mask was removed, glowing green eyes could be briefly seen before the feed glitched again. When the distortion cleared, his unconscious form could be seen looking as normal as always.

No… No. No. NO! Fuck no! It couldn’t be. It was supposed to be temporary! Things were supposed to go back to normal.

This was Plasmius’ fault. He knew. He saw. That’s why he said he got something he wanted. That fucker did this to him.

The Pit churned uneasily in response to his inner turmoil. With a jolt, he realized why it felt more concentrated than before. That… that was his core. What did that mean? Did it replace his heart? No, he could still feel that pounding in his chest. That was one good thing, he guessed.

But what was this going to mean for him? Having unstable abilities made anyone a liability, but there was also Bruce to contend with. Things still weren’t great between them, and there was a very real possibility he could get blamed for crimes he had nothing to do with. While he knew he brought that lack of trust on himself, he was trying to stay on the lighter side of gray, but Bruce’s paranoia could get the better of him at times. Then there was the temptation it’d bring. He might have to leave Gotham for a long time, maybe even permanently.

Then there was the planning. They’d have to figure out what to do if someone else found out and gained control of him to hurt the others. Should he hide it from Roy and Kori? It’d probably be safer, but at the same time, if he didn’t and it was used against him to hurt them…

His world was falling apart. Wait, no, he was actually starting to fall through the floor. There was a flutter of confusion as someone grabbed the computer off him before at least two people hoisted him up by the arms. Breaking out of their grips, he found his siblings staring at him with concern or pity or amusement. He didn’t know at this point. He just needed to leave.

“I’m… I’m going to go smoke.” Not caring he was technically still in uniform, he brushed past Bruce, who didn’t try to stop him. He grabbed the jacket he knew had his cigarettes and headed towards the roof.

…

“Did the old man send you?” Jason questioned as he lit another cigarette. He’d already gone through five of them as he sat and tried to quiet his chaotic mind.

“No, I decided to come on my own.” Danny sounded like he was sitting on top of stairwell. “I think the others aren’t sure what to do.”

“That’d be a first.” Technically, that was a lie, but they were all pros at improvising until something worked in their favor.

Unlike their previous rooftop conversation, the silence wasn’t comforting. Maybe it was because, while he never openly voiced it, the kid was hoping for a similar outcome, even if it wasn’t what Jason wanted. It wasn’t like anyone else really understood his reality, save for Plasmius. Just thinking about that bastard made the Pit whisper, stirring thoughts of punishment and revenge. No, he wasn’t going down that road. Not right now anyways.

Eventually, he couldn’t deal with it anymore and put out his cigarette. “This isn’t going to go away, is it?”

“No, it won’t.” There was a hesitant pause before Danny quietly added. “And I know from experience trying to go back to normal turns out badly.”

“Of fucking course.” He stared up at the sky and sighed. “Just when things were finally getting better, karma or whatever decides to punch me in the gut. Wait…What?” Did Danny say what he thought he said? “You tried…?”

The teen didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he slid off the roof of the stairwell and sat next to him. “Yeah. I was brought up being told that ghosts are malicious and evil. That they’d do anything to hurt the living.” His gaze was distant. “My parents used to joke that if something ever happened to me or Jazz and we came back as ghosts, that they’d make sure to destroy us before we had a chance to hurt anyone. I think they thought it was comforting.”

“That’s pretty messed up.”

“I guess. It was just part of life growing up, but then the accident happened.” Danny momentarily gripped his jeans, probably due to the memory. “I was terrified. Suddenly, I had all these powers and no way to control them. I didn’t even know if I was still alive or just pretending to be. And according to my parents, I was supposed to be evil. I think some part of me took responsibility for the others ghosts just to prove I wasn’t evil.”

The kid leaned back and stared upwards. “Sam and Tucker were there when it happened. If… if it wasn’t for them, I might have gone crazy. There were times I even debated letting my parents know so they could fix me. Even though I’m pretty sure now they would have accepted me, the ‘what ifs’ stopped me. Hearing your parents talk about dissecting you isn’t exactly comforting. Besides, it’s just been easier to keep them in the dark.”

“My friends tried to do their best to get me to think positively about the situation. I mean, who doesn’t dream about being a superhero when they’re little at least once? But they didn’t understand how hard it was. Between trying to hide my powers and the sleepless nights trying to stop the ghosts coming from the Portal, I was struggling. I just wanted everything to go back to normal, and only worry about normal teenage things and work my butt off in school so I could get into NASA and become an astronaut…” He sighed before continuing. “My parents once invented something that could separate ectoplasm from almost anything. I tried that, but it didn’t go well. It split me into two incomplete bodies.”

When he grimaced at the mental image, Danny backtracked. “Oh! No, no, no! According to Sam and Tucker, we looked okay, but it wasn’t exactly a perfect split between human and ghost, and our personalities were all screwed up. My memories from that are really fuzzy so I can’t really explain it better, but I’m pretty sure the mostly human me rode a vacuum cleaner at one point. I should ask Tucker about that. If anyone has video of it, it’s him.”

“You know… I think something like that once happened to Big Blue…” Jason was pretty sure he’d previously read through files referencing a red and blue Superman. “But Bats and the others have dealt with alternative universes, so I’m not completely sure if that happened to ours or a different one.”

“Big blue?”

“Oh, Superman. You wouldn’t think it, but him and Bats are friends.”

Danny’s mouth dropped open as his eyes widened in shock. After a moment, he seemed to realize he was staring. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. Batman is a member of the Justice League, and you and the others have probably met a bunch of other heroes. I’ve always wanted to meet Martian Manhunter. I mean, he’s from Mars! How cool is that?”

Despite himself, Jason chuckled as Danny launched into an explanation of what fascinated him about space. It was nice to see some of the wariness he carried behind his eyes and smile momentarily melt away. He really had been forced into a situation he shouldn’t have been. Maybe he could hint to Bruce to introduce the kid to J’onn. Their abilities had some similarities after all.

Oh, that applied to him now too. Fuck. He was going to have to figure out how this whole thing worked. And knowing Bruce, he was going to do everything in his power to keep him in the manor until he wasn’t a danger to himself or the others due to an accidental slip up, especially with what happened earlier.

“Huh? Sorry, I got distracted.” He hadn’t realized he got lost in his thoughts until Danny waved a hand in front of his face.

“It’s cool. Things are probably really weird for you right now.” A troubled expression crossed his face. “I was talking about how things were at first and how I wanted to have things go back to normal… For a while, I tried to ignore everything. That backfired.”

“What do you mean?”

“For us, our human side gives extra energy to our cores, and if it’s not used, you might find yourself unintentionally sinking through furniture or having an invisible arm for hours. It sucks.” Danny raised his hand and formed a small crystal in it.

“That’s ice, right? Saw you use it against Plasmius.”

“Yep, but I can make more than ice.” He mischievously grinned as a snowball formed in his hand. “Catch!”

Jason barely had enough time to prevent it from hitting his face, but that didn’t stop some of the snow from getting in his hair or on his clothes. “At least I know who to bring with me the next time some decides I need to join a snowball fight.”

“Nice, right?” Danny’s smile faded again. “This is probably the power that gives me the most trouble. If I don’t use or practice with it a couple times a week, I risk freezing myself solid.”

“Are you telling me your powers could kill you?” This kid was going to turn more of his hair white. That was an extremely important bit of information to know.

“Maybe?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I don’t really know if I can properly die or not. It’s not really something I’ve wanted to test. But, from talking to Frostbite and some of the other ghosts who have been around a while, it’s really only an issue for stronger ghosts with elemental cores. You don’t currently have one, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Don’t currently have one…” Jason repeated as he ran his hands over his face. “Glowstick, I can barely wrap my mind around having a normal one or whatever. I don’t need to think about it changing or whatever down the line right now.”

“You know, if you’re going to continue calling me that, I need to give you a nickname too, at least one better than Skunkhead.” Danny tapped his foot for a moment. “Hmm… maybe Antares or Naos.”

“What are you calling me?” He wasn’t familiar with either word, but neither sounded like an insult. He was going to have to remember to look those up later.

“Don’t worry about.” Danny stood and stretched his back. A few pops could be heard. Once he was done, he turned and grinned. “How about we go flying? It’ll help take your mind off things, and there’s nothing quite like it. What do you say?”

====

Notes:

Fun Danny did ride a vacuum around his room in Splitting Images. No clue why I remember that.

So, Superman Red and Superman Blue are a thing - same person split into 2. First appeared in a 'what if' type story in 1963 (Superman #162). The most famous version is from 1998 where it's a one shot. The 90s were a weird time in comics. Also don't know if this is still canon either. DC did say that all stories are relevant again, but might only exist as alternative memories...? Trying to figure this out gives me a headache, and I know it's just going to change again in a year or two.

Antares and Naos are the names of stars. Antares is a red star in Scorpio, and the name means 'opponent to Ares(Mars)'. Naos is a blue star that's part of the constellation Puppis which is one of three constellations that represent the ship Argo that was used by Jason and the Argonauts.

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (4)

I am sorry for not posting in a while. School is a total bitch. Here is part 4 of a fic that is not a fic.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)

-------

Tall Marinette.(I admit I might be projecting a little here.)

One day, she took out something from someplace high and the whole family realized that ‘holy shit when did you get so tall?’

Bonus if Jason comes back from a long mission and had a wtf moment because she was wearing 6-inch-heels and met his eyes with them on.

“Pixie?!”

------

You know how Bruce has the identity of Matches Malone to infiltrate the Gotham Underground.

While Jason does the drug deals more street crime stuff, Maria uses an excuse of being the representative for Red Hood excuse to mingle with the rich people who does crime on the side (Penguin), she uses it to go to black market auctions and buy some of the lost miraculouses which got into the hands of black market dealers.

Jason knows about it and acts as her ‘bodyguard’ anytime he can or sends one of his henchmen to be one with a death threat if she gets a single scratch on her.

Bruce is unaware of this. Or is he?

------

Mari helps with running WE since she is a little less busy with the vigilante side of things.

It started with Tim panicking about deadlines and Mari offering to help, to Bruce and Tim bullying the board to have her as co-CEO.

She has to be that and head of Afterlife. So she is very busy. Doesn’t know about what comes next….

------

Somehow the class comes to Gotham for a trip. It has been 3 years since her death.

Mari has changed her appearance since the day she left Paris. She has highlights in her hair after a ‘sibling bonding day’ with Jason. Her hair is kept short for convenience and not in pigtails. Along with her tall height and more confident aura, she is almost unrecognizable.

She rides a motorcycle too.

The class waits in the lobby for the tour and in walks this badass woman with aviator sunglasses, leather jacket and designer clothes which was all MT brand, making a lot of people swoon.

She takes off her glasses and walks past the class. Checking stuff on her phone and sipping coffee in her other hand.

She seems familiar but they couldn’t figure out why. (All except Chloe, Alix and Felix who are snickering in the background.)

Lila sees her and comments on how she must be a criminal with the way she dresses. (Lila internally freaks out because were her eyes messing with her? Because she looked a little like Marinette. Also jealous of the new arrival for stealing all the attention.) Alya takes the bait and calls security to ‘arrest’ her.

They just laugh. The class doesn’t understand, speaking in confused French.

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

“I am Maria Todd-Wayne, also known as designer MT. CEO of Afterlife and co-CEO of the very company you are in. I am allowed in here. Don’t judge a book by its cover.” she said in perfect French.

“But Lila told us you can’t speak French.”

“Who?”

“Lila Rossi, your friend. She told us that you and MT were dating.”

“Me dating myself. Okay I love myself because self-love is a thing but that is a whole other level. MT are my initials. Anyone who has a brain could have figured that out or at the very least do a Google search. I am not sure where your friend got that notion.”

“Hey, Bean, come on. We have a long day ahead of us.” Tim reminded her.

“Goodbye but cease the rumours or you would be escorted off the premises.”

As they rode up the elevator, “Tim, why are they here?”

“They are the lucky winners of the Wayne Enterprise Young Prodigies Contest. Why, Maria?”

“Lucky, huh.” She muttered under her breath. She might as well tell him. They are the Bats and they will find out anyway. “They are from my old class, the one you know…”

“Oh. Want me to send them back? I can do that if they are making you uncomfortable.”

“Nah. Too much to deal with. And it is unfair to send them back over a petty grudge. Besides, I could have some fun.”

“Anything that Bruce and I should be worried about?”

“I swear no killing. Just because Jason came back from the dead, hell-bent on killing. Doesn’t mean I am too.”

“Cool, just don’t do any property damage or traumatize our employees.”

“I might need you to erase some footage later and tell Bruce about this.”

“Some brownies, my favourite coffee cake, the ‘special’ brew and you have yourself a deal.”

-----

So basically she just showed up around where the class was ‘by coincidence’.

Talk to a few people and take them out of earshot of the rest of the class.

End the conversation by saying a few things only they and her would know. Insides jokes and secrets. (I pick her old childhood friends like, Nino, Kim and maybe Sabrina)

Uses Trixx to turn into a walking dead version of her 15-year old self and disappears as they freak out about how she knew that secret/story.

Freaks them out further by appearing again in front of the whole class and pretending not to know their previous conversation.

Mari manages to get Lila alone.

I should also say that Lila thought that her curse was making her see MT as Marinette.

It terrifies Lila when she finds out that MT is actually Marinette, not dead but alive after all this time and apparently living the high life she wanted. This fact made the Italian swell up with jealousy.

“I hope you are not lying about me again, Lila Rossi. Like you always do.”

“What do you want with me? I swear I didn’t say anything else about you.”

“Aw, Lila. Don’t recognize me?”

Maria flickers and Ladybug is in her place and later, the Marinette that appeared in her bedroom and back to normal.

“You! How? Why are you here? Why can’t you leave me alone?”

“Why not? I mean you did take away nearly all my friends, my parents and made my life a living hell. If you think about it, I am just repaying you the same favor. How are the others? Treating you well?”

“What did you do to me, you bitch?”

“I just put a curse on you. The ghosts of your past will haunt you until you stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop Lying, Liar. They all feed and grow in power from your lies. I wonder what would happen in a few years if you kept this up.”

“You think you can get away with this. This is war and I have already beaten you once.”

“Oh Rossi. This isn’t a war. It’s a death sentence.” With that she disappears.

Lila tries to tell her class that MT is actually Marinette. She is met with crazy looks. Some of them look like they want to believe her but don't because they don’t want to look crazy too.

Oh. Adrien wasn’t on the trip because his mother didn’t want him to go to the crime capital of America although the crime rate has gone down a little due to Hellbat curing some of the city’s bad energy..

Right after Lila told the class about MT, Scarecrow came to steal some Wayne tech and the class got caught in the crossfire. So later, it was brushed off as Lila seeing things due to the fear toxins.

-----

Joker made the mistake of kidnapping her. Once was enough to never try that again.

(It involved the use of nearly all of the Miraculouses, old and new. He was thoroughly humiliated at the end of it and his picture by the time Hellbat was done with him was on the Batfam’s Christmas Card. Like I said she doesn’t kill but making them beg for death was okay.)

It coincided with Jason’s Birthday and the video of the incident was ‘the best birthday present ever.’ The uncensored version was watched at the next undead siblings bonding day. Damian included.

After hearing a few rumours about what happened, most criminals were glad for Hellbat’s rare appearances. (which happens once a month and during really busy time of the year)

There was a time where Penguin was carrying out one of their plans and when Hellbat showed up, all of their thugs surrendered instantly. (No Batman did not pout at the fact that this French girl was more imitating than him.)

Scarecrow used his newest batch of fear toxin on her during the first year after she died.

He was astounded to see her still standing and she later proceeded to beat the crap out of him while being under the toxin’s influences.

He has tried to stay out of her way since then.

She saw Scarecrow as Hawkmoth and said a lot of things in French which scared everyone because she said it with so much hate, anger and in a very menacing tone that everyone is like ‘I am not touching this.’

It took Red Hood and Nightwing to restrain her from further beating Scarecrow up.

He was one of the people who sympathised with the Joker after the Incident.

The next was Riddler being so arrogant in his plans and managed to get Hellbat and Spoiler into a death trap.

“You know I have a few regrets in life. And my final one is that I got captured and am now going to get killed by a walking fashion disaster.”

“Hey! I made this myself. I will have, you know.”

“You have a brilliant mind but no sense of fashion at all. When I get out of here, I am going to burn that thing with you in it, for your crimes against fashion.”

“What is wrong with it?”

Cue a lot of roasting of Riddler’s costume and Spoiler adding more fuel to the fire.

They manage to escape while Riddler is crying on the floor, having an existential crisis.

The thing was no one knows why Riddler was silent the entire week after encountering Hellbat and crying when anyone mentions it.

They now think Hellbat is the scariest one in the Batfamily, second to Batman and tied with Black Bat/Orphan.

The few who find out what really happened in the warehouse that night. Blackmail material on the Riddler.

Three ( four if you count Penguin) of Gotham’s biggest villains of the Rogues Gallery scared of Bats’ newest addition. Hellbat was not someone they wanted to mess with.

---------

Magic crisis stuff. Like a world ending event thing. Dr. Fate says they need the Miraculous jewels but the last mention of them had been in Paris a few years ago and had vanished since then.

Costantine looked at Batman. “You know who you have to call.”

Batman calls Hellbat. Who hasn’t been introduced yet to the JL.

“Ah. Bats. Not that I question your authority or anything but how can your newest ‘ward’ help us?”

She takes off her helmet and reveals her face and more importantly, her earrings.

Tikki comes out of her hiding place.

“I am the current Guardian of the Miracle Box and wielder of the Ladybug miraculous during Hawkmoth’s reign in Paris a few years ago. Any other Questions?”

“Oh great Guardian. Tikki. It is an honour to meet you.”-Wonder Woman, who else.

“You too, Princess Diana. Pass on my regards to your mother.”-Tikki

A huge face-off and the big evil is defeated.

WW asks abt HM and gives a horrified face at the end of her story. Nearly everyone who eavesdropped on the conversation was.

"Forgive me, Guardian for not aiding you in your hour of need.”

“It’s okay. I understand that there are other crises, world-ending ones that JL have to take care of. I am better now. Mostly.”

“I doubt it with those revenge schemes I found lying around. But she is getting there with her therapist.”-Batman

“I hate you, Dad.”

“Did you just call him Dad?”

“No….”

“Do you see me as a father figure?”

“I see you as a nuisance with how nosy you are with my personal business. So you are more of a bother figure.”

“I see you as part of the family too, Daughter.” (Got that reference anyone?)

“Jason was the one who adopted me.”

“Legally you are adopted by me.”

Maria with Pikachu surprised face because nobody told her that. “My life is a lie.”

-------

(Part 5)

[local-redhead-bookworm]

Just finished Season 4 volume 1 and hooo boy.

Spoiler warning, and there’s a lot here, so scroll past now or forever hold your peace yadda yadda yadda.

Henry Creel and parallels

So, right off the bat, Henry Creel is paralleled with both Will and El in his backstory episode. He’s sensitive, artistically inclined, shy. He’s labeled “broken”. But he’s also cruel in ways no other character is. (Yes, I know, antis, I can hear you from here, but hush.) He torments innocent animals simply because he can, and he sees all humans as parasites and him as the only righteous one. Now, I don’t think Henry was broken and evil from birth, but even people raised with everything can become evil. I don’t know what made him that way.

My guess would be that he looked up to his parents, especially his father. But when he saw what his father had done, colored by the lens of his father’s own guilt, he lost that trust in his father and subsequently all of humanity. And when he chooses his victims as Vecna, he chooses those most wracked by guilt (often because these characters blame themselves for their own trauma).

Will and Billy as Vecna’s victims

Others have said this, but Will and Billy were both Vecna’s victims. It’s not as overt for either of them as it is later on, but it connects. Will was also traumatized, by Lonnie. However, Will survives the Upside Down by singing his favorite song. I don’t remember any bells or clock chimes, I’ll need to do a rewatch. His connection to Vecna is the most weak.

Unfortunately, Billy does not have the chance to be saved like Will does. But Billy sees his double in the Upside Down. I think this means that Billy’s greatest source of fear and guilt is himself. He blames himself for his mother leaving, for never being good enough for Neil, he’s afraid of becoming just like Neil but doesn’t know what else to do. There are bells or clock chimes when he is being possessed (someone else found those, it’s during S3 E2, when he’s stumbling to the shower).

Religious Imagery

Secondly, I have a lot of thoughts about the uses of religious imagery in this season, but I’m putting those in a reblog I’ll make later. Huge credit to @strangerthings4theories and @patheticnature pointing those out. I would like to add that Jason gives off “charismatic preacher” vibes, which immediately made me distrust him.

Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan

I’m putting these three all together because my points for them all connect.

I’m disappointed that Jonathan has been reduced to “Will’s pothead older brother.” The writers took legitimately good character motives, like Jonathan being afraid of holding Nancy back and not wanting to be like his dad, and used those lines as jokes. They could have had a genuinely interesting plot point with Jonathan using weed as a way to cope with the stress of everything, but they abandoned that too.

I love Nancy, she’s awesome, she’s brilliant. Watching her figure out that the Upside Down is stuck in the past was such a shock. But we never saw her escape Vecna’s curse. My guess is that she’s gonna wind up flayed in Volume 2. I’m worried for her.

But why are we having Stancy shoved on us again? I really liked Nancy and Jonathan together in past seasons, because I felt like they were a good team. But going back to the Season 1 dynamic feels like undoing character growth. It puts Steve right back where he was early in Season 2, pining for Nancy. And he’s clearly not over their breakup in Season 3, it hurt him deeply. But he deserves to have a character arc outside of romance, and I feel like we had that with Season 2 and 3.

In case it wasn’t obvious, Steve is my favorite of these three. But I’m so worried for him. I adore him, but he has no sense of self-preservation. He got bitten so many times by those demobats, and the previous vampire references make me worry he’ll end up semi-flayed. Not that I wouldn’t be down for Vampire!Steve, but I don’t want to lose him too.

Also we were robbed of seeing lifeguard Steve. What do you mean, he worked as a lifeguard for three years and then just… didn’t do that again over Season 3? Was he too shaken by Barb’s death to lifeguard?

Russia Arc

Did this arc feel weak to anyone else? It had a few compelling moments, like Hopper hiding in the church and talking to Antonov (or Enzo, take your pick), and the demogorgon fight was kind of fun. But it just felt like a lot of “Hopper gets beat up, knocked unconscious, dragged around, and beat up some more.” I think they could have done better.

Also, it feels very out of character for Joyce to run off and leave her kids like that, especially for her to lie to them. Why not just tell them “hey, we think Hopper might be alive, and we’re gonna follow a lead”?

I feel like more could have been done with this, and I thought “oh, Joyce just didn’t see Hopper” was lazy writing. Why not have him get sucked into the rift and spat out in Russia? That would have been more believable.

California Gang

I’ve already talked about some of my issues with how Jonathan’s being handled. Argyle has his funny moments though, and I loved that about him, and I loved meeting Suzie’s family (I loved how smitten Argyle was with Eden, and of course he was, she’s very pretty). I do wonder if Will’s birthday getting completely ignored is going to be addressed. But beyond that, I found it hard to care?? Maybe it’s just me personally.

El getting her powers back

I’m going to go into a more meta post about how central El is to the story later, but I felt like she lacked pizzazz for much of the season. I loved her early on, and seeing her bullied so relentlessly hurt a lot, especially since there were implications that these kids thought El had a learning disability (is that the correct term?). She was so sweet and wanted to make friends.

I understand how important dealing with her past was to the plot, but I’m tired of El being a lab rat and seeing her stripped of her identity just to be a hero. Because that’s all that most people see her as: not as a teenager, not as a trauma victim, not as a person, just a convenient way to save the day. And when the writers shove El back into her role of superhero, she loses some of what I loved most about her in Season 3, her personality, joy, and energy. It’s like she’s sapped of all that to be nothing more than their puppet.

Eddie

I did not expect to like Eddie. I thought he would be nothing more than a cookie cutter Billy replacement. Up until the scene in the woods with Chrissy, I hated him. But after that scene, he became goofy, lovable, and so out of his depth that I wanted to hug him.

I don’t know if he’ll survive the season, though. I want him to, but I don’t know if he will. Characters introduced for only a season typically die. We haven’t seen that clip of him from the trailer yet, the one of him drawing a swarm of demobats. He could die like that, or he might wind up as a puppet.

Max

Oh my gosh, Sadie’s acting was phenomenal this season! I’m glad that Max is responding to trauma in a way that feels realistic. I don’t have experience with the kind of loss Max deals with, but it feels authentic. So glad she has her friends that come through when it counts.

I think she’s downplayed how messed-up her family situation is, though. Neil canonically verbally and physically abused Billy, and suddenly he can’t stand to be around without Billy? That doesn’t make sense to me. Did he die, drink himself into oblivion? Did he start beating Susan? And now Susan is struggling with an alcohol addiction, but at least she still cares about Max. She never stood up for Billy, but at least she’s not become a horrible mother.

The cinematography of Dear Billy was phenomenal. I know everyone loves the “Running Up That Hill” scene, and they should, because it’s So Good. But the scene with Vecna isn’t getting nearly enough attention. She gets grabbed by a tentacle and dragged across the floor, just like Billy in Season 3. The look on her face when his hand is over her face is exactly what I envisioned Billy like before he was possessed by the Mind Flayer.

Dear Billy

In case it wasn’t clear enough already, I love Billy so much and not seeing him this season was crushing. His absence left a noticeable hole in the story. No one acknowledged that Max saw her own brother die in front of her, and then they wondered why she was suffering.

When we do see Billy again, it’s not even him, it’s Vecna using him. Or so we think. If it’s just Vecna, why did he cry? Why was his chest healed and not a mess of open wounds? The whole story feels like at the very least Max has a lot of healing and grieving left to do, and at best, Billy will return to make things right.

Seeing Max and Eddie constantly having people support them is wonderful, but it also hurts to know that Billy was so isolated from them all. It’s like he was stuck in the worst case scenario the entire show. Every time the others have someone watching their backs or showing them they care, all I can remember is how no one tried to help Billy until it was too late, and it’s like a knife to the gut every time.

[marauderundercover]

The Strings that Bind Us: Ch. 3

 AO3

Prev

Marinette is nervous. It’s worse than any other nerves she’s ever felt. Today was the day she was going to meet Bruce’s sons. They’d been dating for almost two months and even though she’d met Alfred (and often called him to talk and trade recipes), she had yet to meet Bruce’s sons. Mostly because she didn’t want to interrupt their lives. She didn’t want to walk in and meet them and then be gone. Neither of them deserved that. So, she had waited. And now the day was here and she was panicking. She glances around the small grocery store, determined to get the ingredients to make dessert for dinner tonight. Bruce had told her that Dick had an insane sweet tooth, and she didn’t want to bribe the kid, but she really did want him to like her. Bruce had already warned her that Jason was a little less welcoming, but she had hope that the cookies would work on him as well. Grabbing a bag of chocolate chips, she heads over to the frozen section to pick up a few staples.

“I don’t understand why we have to hang out today. I thought you hated us.” A voice says, and she frowns.

“I don’t hate you. And I just wanna warn you, make sure you know that just because she’s here today doesn’t mean she’ll be here tomorrow.” A second voice says. Shaking her head, she moves past, trying hard not to listen to the boys’ conversation as they walk away. It wasn’t her business, after all. She grabs a couple bags of frozen veggies before heading up to the checkout and paying. She leaves the store, taking note of her surroundings as she walks. She looks both ways before crossing the street and heading into the bank. She needed to send some money back home to her parents for the anniversary since she couldn’t be with them in person this year. She’s just about to get to the teller when a loud bang echoes throughout the bank. She whirls around and eyes widen at the man who just entered the building. His suit was interesting, half of it was a solid gray color and the other half was bright and patterned. But that wasn’t what shocked her. What shocked her was the way half his face was completely red and scarred. Well that, and the ten men with guns that walked in behind him. Her eyes dart around the room, searching for anything that may be helpful, when her eyes land on two boys. Both tense as they look at the man, but instead of fear (like everyone else had on their face) the two looked determined.

“Ah, how nice to see the two of you here.” The man says, walking up to the two boys and grabbing the younger one’s wrist tightly. Marinette’s eyes narrow as the boy winces slightly.

“Let him go.” She snaps, storming over and glaring at the man, trying hard to ignore the way the guns were now trained on her.

“Oh and what, you volunteer instead?” He asks, and she scoffs.

“I never said that, now let him go.” She demands, giving the man her worst Ladybug glare. His eyes narrow, but he lets go of the boy and she shifts so that she’s between the two. “Now, why don’t we talk about this like grown ups.” She suggests, crossing her arms.

“Do you know who I am?” The man practically growls. She raises an eyebrow.

“Non. I haven’t been in Gotham for long.” She admits, trying (and failing) to come up with this man’s name. He was obviously one of Gotham’s villains, if the reaction of everyone else was anything to go by. And the fact that he came with goons instead of by himself made her believe he wasn’t your everyday bank robber.

“Tell you what. Since you decided to take the kid’s place, we’ll let the coin decide your fate. Unmarked side, I let you go and you can go on with your day. I’ll even leave the bank.” The man starts, and her stomach drops. Two Face. That was his name. And he was leaving her fate up to chance. To luck. “Scarred side, I shoot you in the head. Or, if you don’t wanna play, we can let the kid play. Whaddya say?” He asks with a grin. She grits her teeth and hopes that her years with Tikki had left her with enough residual luck to make it through this encounter.

“Go ahead. Let the coin decide.” She says, whirling around and hushing the boys behind her who are objecting suddenly. “Not now.” She hisses, terrified that if they object he’ll move along to them next. She turns back to Two Face and nods, watching as he tosses the coin in the air and catches it. Her heart beats out of her chest as she watches him reveal...the unmarked side.

“Looks like lady luck was on your side today.” He says, and his smile almost appears genuine, which makes her stomach churn. “Pack it up boys, we made a deal.” He says, and all of his goons turn to leave with him. They make it all the way out the door before she hears the sirens pulling up. She frowns. The police here were not great at showing up on time, were they? Her eyes widen when she sees Batman drop down, joining the fight. That’s definitely unusual. Turning away from the chaos outside, she turns to the two boys.

“Are you two okay?” She asks, scanning their faces.

“That was really stupid.” The younger one says, a scowl on his face. She ignores him, instead looking at his already bruising wrist.

“May I?” She asks, holding out a hand. He frowns.

“Let her look, Jason.” The older one says, sighing. She smiles at him in thanks before holding the younger boy’s wrist gently. She pokes softly and turns it, trying to make sure there isn’t a break. She glances at the boy’s face to gauge his reactions.

“I don’t think it’s broken, but you should definitely ice it when you get home.” She says softly. The boy just snorts and rolls his eyes, taking his arm back and frowning at her.

“Why’d you do that?” He asks, and her heart aches at how he looks at her. As if he’s suspicious of her. As if someone helping him has to have an ulterior motive.

“Because I don’t appreciate people picking on children.” Marinette says simply. The boy starts to answer, but is cut off by a gruff voice.

“Ma’am, other witnesses are saying you were targeted by Two Face?” She turns and is unsurprised to see Batman.

“Ah, not quite, sir. He actually went straight for these two. I simply diverted his attention somewhere else.” She says.

“Why?” He asks and she blinks in surprise.

“Um, because they’re children? And they’re innocent. I don’t see that there needs to be any more reason than that.” She says. Batman nods.

“The police want your statement. I’ll take the boys’ statements.” He says and she nods, but hesitates to walk away from them.

“Do you boys have someone who can come pick you up?” She asks, not willing to let them walk home alone after something like that. The oldest nods.

“Yeah, we’re fine. Thank you.” He says with a small smile. She sighs and returns the smile, turning to go talk to the police. If she could get through that situation, surely she could survive meeting Bruce’s sons.

---

Marinette squeals as Bruce lifts her and spins her around, before setting her down and kissing her gently.

“What was that for?” She asks, smiling up at him through her lashes.

“Being you.” He says simply. She snorts and whacks his chest gently, rolling her eyes.

“You’re such a goof.” She teases, turning and immediately heading towards the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” He asks, slipping his hand into hers.

“To say hi to Alfred and set down the cookies.” She says, swinging their hands as she drags him to the kitchen.

“Good evening, Miss Marinette.” Alfred says, a soft smile on his face.

“Evening, Alfred. I brought some cookies for dessert. I hope that’s okay.” She says, letting go of Bruce’s hand to give Alfred a quick hug. The two had grown close in the little time they’d known each other, and Marinette could honestly say that she adored the older man’s company. He was funny, and she often got to hear embarrassing stories about Bruce (not that she’d ever tell him that).

“Mari, just a warning, the boys might be a bit...distant tonight.” Bruce says suddenly, stopping the conversation that she and Alfred were having about his latest attempt at macarons. She frowns.

“Are they okay? Should I leave? We could reschedule, I don’t want to-” She starts to ramble, concerned for the boys. She may not have met them yet, but she’d heard enough stories from Bruce.

“They’re fine, please, stay.” Bruce says, grabbing her hands and turning her so that she faces him. He cups her cheek gently, smiling down at her. “They’re fine, love, I promise.” He says. She lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding before nodding.

“Did something happen?” She asks. He sighs and lets go of her face, running a hand over his own.

“They were caught up in a Rogue attack downtown.” He says quietly and she gasps.

“Bruce Thomas Wayne!” She scolds, frowning at him. “They were involved in a villain attack and you expect us to just, meet? I doubt either one of them wants to go through the trouble of meeting some completely random person after going through something like that. Mon Dieu Bruce, they may say they’re fine but that has to be emotionally draining.” She says, shaking her head. She pushes the loose strands of hair out of her face, sighing.

“Mari-” He starts, but she shakes her head.

“Bruce, honey, I don’t want to intrude.” She says, standing on her toes to give him a quick kiss. “We can meet on a day when they haven’t been through something traumatic.”

“Well shit. Looks like we’ve already met you little girlfriend B.” A familiar voice says. She whirls around and her eyes widen at the sight of the two boys from the bank standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She glances at Bruce and raises an eyebrow at his tired expression.

“Jason, what have I said about your language?” He asks tiredly. Jason shrugs.

“To not say things like that.” He says, making both Bruce, and the boy that Marinette assumes is Dick, sigh.

“I can still leave.” Marinette offers the boys, ignoring the frown on Bruce’s face.

“To be fair, you went through something traumatic too. Might as well stick around and deal with the trauma together.” Jason snarks. She smiles, though it’s a little forced as she remembers she had almost watched one of Bruce’s sons be shot today. If she hadn’t stepped in….

“It’s nice to meet you in a, er, calmer environment.” She says with a small wave, resisting the urge to lean into Bruce for support. “I’m Marinette Dupain Cheng, but you can call me Marinette. Or Mari, if you want.”

“I’m Richard, but everyone calls me Dick.” Dick greets with a small nod in greeting.

“And I’m Jason, but you knew that.” Jason says, crossing his arms. Marinette just smiles, but this time it isn’t forced. This was going to be interesting.

---

“So, Jason, Bruce tells me that you enjoy reading. Do you have a favorite author?” Marinette asks, trying to keep the conversation going. Both boys were still hesitant, and she wasn’t sure if it was her or the incident from the bank. She hoped it was the latter.

“Not really.” Jason says, hesitating before adding, “I like classics though.” Marinette grins.

“Really? I could never get into them when I was your age, couldn’t sit still long enough.” She says with a laugh. “But in the last couple of years I’ve found myself really enjoying Hugo and Dumas. Oh! And the Brontë sisters.” She adds, eyes lighting up as Jason grins.

“Have you read Hunchback of Notre Dame?” He asks and she laughs.

“They may have thrown me out of Paris if I hadn’t.” She teases. She feels herself relax as she talks to Jason about books, grinning at the boy’s enthusiasm and genuine love for literature. It reminded her of how much she loved designing before she got so caught up in Hawkmoth. She feels someone hold her hand, and she sneaks a glance at Bruce, smiling softly at him and squeezing his hand before turning her attention back to Jason. The rest of dinner flies by, with the conversation mostly being led by her and Jason. Dick is much less talkative. Which contradicts many of the stories Bruce had told about him. Though, many of those stories were from when he was younger. Once it’s time for dessert, Marinette stands to help Alfred clear the dinner plates.

“Miss Marinette, I can bring in the dessert just fine.” Alfred scolds, gesturing for her to sit down. She just grins.

“I know, Alfred, but you already made a lovely dinner. Let me help.” She says, grabbing some of the plates and following him into the kitchen. Once the kitchen door swings shut, she starts clearing the plates and glances at him nervously. “Do you think the boys like me?” She asks, worried.

“I believe young Master Jason does. And although he may not act like it, I do believe Master Dick does as well. He just needs time to be able to show it.” He says, and Marinette feels the tension in her shoulders seep out. She nods, glancing back towards the dining room.

“I really like him, Alfred.” She says quietly, afraid that Bruce or one of the boys would hear her. “I don’t wanna mess this up.” She admits.

“If I may be frank, Miss, Master Bruce has smiled more in the past two months than I’ve seen in years.” Alfred says, and Marinette blushes. She feels her chest warm and she sighs happily.

“I don’t think I’ve smiled this much in years either.” She admits, smiling softly at Alfred before grabbing the cookies and taking them out to the dining room. This was the happiest she’d been since Hawkmoth first started his reign of terror all those years ago, and she was willing to do anything to keep her little slice of heaven.

Next

Tag list: @maribat-october-rarepairs @stainedglassm @kittenmywaythrulife @laydeekrayzee @doll246 @queenz-z @deathssilentapproach-blog @literaryhiraeth @unoriginalmess @ashbrea381writings

[capricorn-stark]

Protégé

pairing: red hood!jason todd x robin!reader, slow burn 

warning: swearing

a/n: for context, this is somewhat loosely based off of Battle for the Cowl (2009) which I definitely recommend as a read! 

There was something about falling that you would never, ever get tired of. 

Ever. 

Probably.

With the wind whistling in your ears, your hair floating up in a million directions, and your limbs seemingly weightless as the buildings and lights blurred into one endless streak of color, the rush of adrenaline that ran through your body right before your grappling hook shot out and you landed quietly on the concrete was about a million times better than any sparring session back at the cave. 

You grinned as you straightened, rather proud of the fact that you had actually managed to land so smoothly without nearly paralyzing yourself. Again.The landing was something you had been working on for a while now.

You could practically hear Bruce’s voice ringing through your head after your little stunt, lamenting on and on about how you had more important things to focus on during patrols, and you let out a sigh as you ran down the backway of the nearly empty streets. 

The heavy man who had been bound up with a decently made gag and one of Bruce’s fancy tech pieces (Batcuffs, maybe? Something else with Bat smacked in front of it?) grunted beside you. 

“What? Not like you had someplace to be.” You grabbed the back of his rather tacky-looking spandex suit to drag him along back to where your mentor was supposed to be.

Despite your (many) disagreements and his (many) criticisms of your hand-to-hand combat skills, attitude issues, and pretty much everything else relating to you, Bruce had actually still allowed you to go off on your own tonight. It might’ve been because he wanted a few hours of nothing but beating up petty criminals by himself for stress-relief, it might’ve been because he had started trying out that whole independence thing with you a little more (even though you were still only permitted to be about five blocks or so away), it might’ve been plot-convenience - but either way, you appreciated the gesture.

It didn’t take long for you to pull your new friend over to what should’ve been your rendezvous point with Batman, letting the man drop with a dull thud and a grunt of protest against the concrete as you glanced around for the other man. You weren’t particularly concerned by the fact that the Bat himself wasn’t there yet - after all, he was the goddamn Batman. He’d show up eventually. In the meanwhile, you decided to go over the information you had gotten on the criminal with you. 

Just for the sake of it. Bruce would make you go over it anyways.

“Drury Walker, thirty-two years old, found him trying to mug someone in a back alley and make an escape. Called himself…” you paused, looking down at his sorry-looking outfit for a few moments while he looked up at you with murder and vengence in his eyes. “...Killer Moth.”  

“Killer Moth?” A completely new voice repeated in disbelief, causing you to immediately whirl around to face them in a fight stance, heart racing at a million miles per hour. The guy in front of you had his hands up in the air, his face concealed with some sort of red knock-off Iron Man helmet. He was gonna get copyrighted by Marvel Studios. “Shit, sorry,” he started at the sight of you, still leaning up against one of the walls. “I was supposed to make a wholeass dramatic entrance, but you said his name was Killer Moth and that-” The man made a noise that was either a sharp cough or a laugh of some kind. “-sounded so fucking lame I couldn’t help myself.” 

Despite the fact that you were definitely in some sort of major trouble with this new guy, he really did have a point. Even Killer Moth himself would’ve been embarrassed by how trash his name was, if not for the fact that he looked like he was on the verge of an aneurysm - understandably so, since the new guy had produced not one, but two guns out of apparently nowhere. 

“And let me guess,” he continued, pointing one of them at your head, his tone still all-too light and easy. “You must be the Bat’s brand-new Robin.” 

Now this is where most people would've shut up and proceeded to be complicit with the dude holding two guns. But Batman hadn’t seen reason and made you his (sort of) partner because you were like other people. Hell no.

“Do I look like a traffic signal to you?” It had been the very first of your amendments with Bruce. You would not be fighting crime looking like a literal traffic signal or, at best, a clown from Haly’s Circus. And the tiny green shorts had to go. “Or Robin Hood?” The guy had a rather awkward pause where his gun sort of dipped. Killer Moth was looking between you with wide eyes. “Do I?” 

“I guess you kinda got a point.” You huffed and he raised his gun again, getting more in-your-face as his already angry-looking helmet somehow managed to look angrier. You weren’t exactly sure how a helmet could convey so much emotion. “But you work with Batman. And I heard you went by Robin.” 

Okay, so you couldn’t make him change the name, but you had agreed it would be more of an honorary thing.

“It’s complicated.” 

Using such a phrase as an excuse to escape from situations you didn’t want to go into was one of the many things you had learned from Bruce in your five months of training. Somehow, that seemed to trigger the guy further.

“So you do work with Batman.” 

Before he could do something actually insane, you had managed to push the gun pointed at your head away from you, using his brief second of surprise to take it out of his hands, kick him in the chest, and round back on him with it in hand. 

“And what about it?” 

As cool as you thought you might’ve sounded didn’t cover for the fact that you were still nerve-wracked about what was happening right then. Especially after the guy started to dramatically slow-clap like some sort of evil thespian in a high school drama. 

“Not bad, Robin. Not bad.” He looked at the gun in your hands and grinned. “If you weren’t Batman’s new replacement sidekick, I might’ve believed you had the balls to use that thing.” 

Now, you were an excellent fighter. You had to be, after your excessive training with the guy who had literally mastered about every martial art in existence during his (give or take) five year-long mission to find himself. Plus, some personal experience. But fighting someone like this guy? Built like a tank and padded up in a whole lot of armor and packing an assortment of knives, guns, and even a damn taser you got a first-hand taste of?

You fought hard, but about five minutes and another round of the taser later, you saw the knock-off Iron Man helmet staring down at you before the world went black.

~*~

You woke up in what you assumed was the self-dubbed Red Hood’s safehouse of sorts. 

“How the hell did he rope you into this shit?” he demanded with what you could only assume was him glaring at you through the helmet. Probably some expression that made someone look all angsty and annoyed - which was fair, since he had been trying to drill you for information you straight up refused to give while bound (way too tightly) to a chair for quite some time now. Rather rude. “Let me guess. You watched your parents die.” You stared at him before shrugging.

“Nope.”

“Oh, so they just went ahead and died somehow. Untimely accident caused by some psycho bitch in a Spirit Halloween costume.”

“…nope.” 

“They abandoned you as a child.”

“No, they didn’t - does divorce count?” 

Red Hoodlum’s hands kept clenching and unclenching while he stood there, staring at the wall behind you in silence. From the way his chest kept rising and falling, you were tempted to believe he was practicing breathing exercises amidst his rather violent twitching. 

“Divorce - what the hell is your trauma supposed to be? Why did he pick you?!”

“Hey, just because my trauma doesn’t include people dying doesn’t make it any less traumatic,” you scoffed in response, knowing you were absolutely right about that. Your middle school guidance counselor had said so (and it’s true, ladies and gentlemen, trauma comes in many forms!). “Kinda rude to assume it didn’t affect me somehow.”

He seemed rather abashed at that and you heard him clear his throat a little. 

“...right, yeah. Sorry.”

“Apology accepted - can you loosen these ropes a little? It’s starting to kinda hurt.” 

“Do I look ten? That’s the oldest trick in the book, I’m not gonna-”

“I’m not going to run, just loosen the ropes a little.” He still looked like he didn’t believe you. “Come on, I don’t think I can outrun your guns.” As in his literal array of guns tacked up to the wall behind him, not his gigantic biceps. 

And you weren’t too worried about being held hostage by him, either. You figured you had ten minutes tops before Batman burst in through the doorway, ready to give you a lecture on why straying from the specifically designated parts of Gotham he had let you traipse around was a terribly stupid idea. 

“No.” He was already walking towards the door, because apparently, he had enough of trying to interrogate you. 

“Hold on, I feel like my wrists are actually about to start bleeding or something - where are you going?”

“Keep talking and I’m gonna get the duct tape.” 

“Is that a threat?” Sounding more confident than you actually felt should eventually make you more confident. Eventually. 

The Red Hood sucked in a breath, stopping by the doorway and turning to face you, reaching into his pockets to get what you assumed was either a gun or duct tape when you both startled from a sudden crash. The man in front of you was already whirling around with two guns positioned to shoot when you heard the familiar voice of someone else.

“Hold your fire, soldier. I’m not here for you.” A pause. “Or I wasn’t, but now I kind of am.”

Apparently, Batman was too busy to save you. Now, you got Nightwing. 

And as much as you liked Nightwing, that still kinda stung.