#just…what would be Jason’s thought process behind any of this???

[benbamboozled]

Ngl…sometimes I miss how completely unhinged pre-Battle for the Cowl Jason Todd could be.

This is a telegram(???) that Jason sent to Dick after he spent multiple issues of Nightwing running around New York City murdering people dressed in his own(???) Nightwing suit and then turned into a tentacle monster and ate some guys. (Then he barfed the guys up and kept fighting them.)

Absolutely baffling. I love it. It’s art. It doesn’t make any sense in context, either. I miss this energy.

Source is Nightwing #122

[thesmollestsnek]

Death echoes

So a while ago, i found this dp x dc post that had a really interesting lore headcanon for Danny’s ghostly wail. Idk if I’ll be able to find it again, I’ll link it here if I do, but essentially it posited that every ghost has something called a “death echo”, which is an ability unique to them based heavily on their deaths. These echoes are the most powerful move in a ghost’s moveset, but they’re also extremely volatile and draining, typically damaging the ghost in some way when used, with Danny’s being his Wail because he died screaming. The original post then went on to some really cool halfa!Jason ideas based on these death echoes, but for this lil snippet with an extremely long intro I’d like to focus on Danny a bit more.

Edit: Apparently I may have extrapolated a lot of the actual lore behind these death echos myself? The inspiration post was a lot longer in my memories. Or I might've mushed multiple posts into one mental box and then forgot lol. So a lot of the actual detail from this point on is seemingly mostly original material? I think? Idk man, sometimes my brain spits out information without giving me any clues as to where it got that information. Anyway, this post got kinda long and since I'm... decently sure this is where I shifted from summarizing @ailithnight's post to writing all my own thoughts I figured here would be a good place to throw the cut lol.

So! with all of the context-for-the-context out of the way, let’s move on to the actual context for what I’m writing cause I can’t be bothered with writing an intro XD

Essentially, this is an au where Danny is an established member of the Justice League, or maybe one of the teen hero teams? I’m a slut for eternal teenager Danny, but maybe he’s enough of a powerhouse to be on the main team despite him both looking and acting like the dumbass fourteen year old he died as. Either way, he’s on a League/League-sanctioned mission and things go bad. Like, everyone-almost-dies bad. And so as a final desperation attack, Danny uses his Wail, a power he’s never told anyone on the league he even has. And it works, and they make it out, but after the fact everyone has. Questions. And because in this au death echoes are deeply personal, Danny dodges those questions, but the league coughbatmancough isn’t satisfied with that. So they push for answers. Answers Danny’s not willing to give, because. In my mind death echoes aren’t just based on how a person died, but also their experience of that death. What their last thoughts were. When Danny died the only thing that he could process beyond just an all-encompassing painpainpainpainpain was the sound of someone screaming. His screaming. And so his death echo is the sound of a fourteen year old child screaming in deathly pain and terror weaponized, which definitely gave the league Even More Questions than they would’ve had already. Which finally brings us to the actual snippet, which is a conversation between John Constantine, who was brought in for his experience with the supernatural once it became clear Danny wasn’t going to talk, and Danny himself. 

~~~~~~~

“So, kid. Batsy tells me you’ve been hiding some of your abilities, wanna tell me what's up with that? Call it an occultist's intuition, but somethin’ tells me you’re not just being stubborn for the hell of it.”

“It’s... complicated. And not anyone’s business, either!”

“Kid...”

“Why does it even matter?! It’s not something I want to or am even able to do on a regular basis! I saved the mission, can’t they just accept that and move on???”

Sighing, Constantine reached up to start massaging his brow. “Kid, you and I both know that ain’t gonna be enough. Now I know that some things are better left alone, but the rest of these idiots? They can’t accept that, Batsy especially. That man’s never left bloody well enough alone in his life”

He looked up just in time to see the otherworldly teen shrink into himself, looking every bit the child he was. “I know but... why? Why do they need to keep asking questions? And why do they only ask the ones that hurt to answer?”

A sharp glance. “The fuck kinda questions are they asking? Batman was speaking in more grunt than word, so I didn’t really catch all the details of what this power you’re supposedly hiding even is.”

Phantom shrinks even more into himself at that, and responds in a voice so small it’s more sigh than speech. “I... I can scream. And it breaks things and pushes people back. But it, it sounds. Bad. And it brings up bad memories and I don’t like to do it or listentoitoreventhinkaboutitandtheywon’tletmeforgetand-”

“Breathe kid. I know you don’t need to but just take a deep breath with me. Don’t you go getting lost in your own head on me now., Constantine reassured the kid automatically, the sheer hopelessness prompting action long before the words themselves could be understood. Then the rest of him caught up, and he had to pause. Looked up at the kid, saw just how distressed he was. A picture was starting to form in the back of his head, and Constantine didn’t like what he saw one bit. A last-resort power that the normally open Phantom was strangely reticent about. A scream so horrible sounding the rest of the league would not to stop asking questions about it. Terrible memories to match said scream. And one truly miserable child who couldn’t bear to even think about any of it. 

“Phantom... is that your Echo? Screaming?”

A miserable nod is his only response, the tears that had been welling up in the kid’s eyes finally starting to fall. Cursing softly to himself, Constantine stood to leave, bracing himself for the Bat’s inevitable questioning. “Well then you just take all the time you need love, and leave the rest to me. I’ll make sure the rest of those idiots know not to ask you about this ever again.”  And with that Constantine turned and strode towards the door, leaving the quietly sobbing child to collect himself in privacy.

~~~~~

I had a whole-ass lore dump conversation between Constantine and Batman planned here, explaining how death echoes are deeply personal, and asking about one is a taboo on par with, potentially even worse than, asking a ghost about their death outright. Because they are formed from an amalgamation of how a ghost died, their last thoughts, and their final emotions, in some ways asking a ghost about their Echo is like asking them to describe their death in painstaking detail. But uhhh... inspiration bug left. So yea. Side note, I’d like to apologize if my depiction of Constantine’s accent was Bad, I’m but a lowly USAmerican whose only exposure to British accents is through tv ^-^’

[envysparkler]

So far, Jason’s return to Gotham was going horribly.

Sure, it had started on a high—the drug trade had been easier to take over than he’d expected, even if he had to hold back the nausea every time he saw a collection of syringes or packets of pills.  Black Mask had done exactly what Jason predicted he would do, and the Joker had escaped from Arkham exactly as planned.

And then Batman had looked him in the eyes—as Jason begged, as he pleaded his father to kill the greatest monster of Jason’s nightmares—and walked away.

Even the explosion he’d wired hadn’t managed to do its job—not on him, not on the clown, not on the Bat.

Jason had managed to recoup some of his losses by going after the Replacement—the kid that Bruce actually cared about, the black-haired blue-eyed heir he wanted—and proving that he was still the superior fighter, but it was a hollow victory.  There was no real satisfaction in trashing the Tower—it had never been his the way it had been Dick’s—and his enjoyment had soured by the time he met Drake’s wide, scared, hurt eyes and choked him out.

He’d managed to demonstrate that their security was laughable and their baby heroes pathetic, but he’d left a fifteen-year-old unconscious and beaten on the floor in the process.  It had left a bad taste in his mouth, one even the soothing, green-laced rage couldn’t wipe, and he could still hear the kid’s lost, confused, desperate voice.

“Jason—stop—why are you doing this?  Bruce loves you!  Just come home!”

In the moment, it had only stoked his fury.  Now it matched the roiling disgust in his stomach.  The disgust at Batman.  At the oh-so-sanctimonious heroes.  At this filthy, stinking garbage pile of a city.

At himself.

He—he needed a break.  From the violence.  From the killing.  From the rage.  He needed to get out of this fucking city before he lost his mind, and there was only a couple of things he wanted to take with him.

Unfortunately, some of them were in the Manor.

A photo of him and his mother.  The old, faded red hoodie Jason had refused to let Alfred throw out.  His books.

Before, Jason might’ve asked Bruce’s permission—before he broke into the Tower and beat up the kid—but now Jason was forced to wait until he got news that Bruce Wayne was in London for a business trip—coinciding neatly with the intel that the Justice League had a big, week-long space mission—before he dared to sneak into his old home.

He didn’t try his security codes.  They would’ve definitely fixed that after he pointed out that glaring mistake in Titans Tower.  But Jason had spent more than three years at the Manor, and he’d long since mastered getting into or out of the house without setting off any alarms.

The first bedroom after the stairs was the one with the window that didn’t latch all the way, and the security system couldn’t register whether it was open or closed.  It was a little difficult to reach, involving free-climbing up two floors, but Jason had been Robin and now had League training under his belt and it was easy to haul himself up on the ledge and jimmy the window open.

The bedroom remained barren, bed stripped, desk and closets empty, the room cold with the chill of desertion, and Jason shivered as he toed his shoes off on habit and headed for the door.  Alfred usually went with Bruce on his ‘business trips’, so the Manor should be empty, leaving enough time for Jason to get whatever he wanted.

He had the petty thought that he could leave behind some random destruction—if he was leaving Gotham anyway, he might as well leave a message that even their precious Manor wasn’t as safe as they purported.

But Alfred was the one he’d really hurt, and Jason didn’t want to do that.

Jason tiptoed across the hall on automatic, his steps silent and muffled as he crossed to his old bedroom door.  He paused for a moment to scan it, making sure no one had added any traps, and hoped that his stuff was still inside this room.  He didn’t want to have to hunt through the massive house, and if they gave his room to the Replacement, he was going to fucking set something on fire.

Slow, shuffling steps sounded from the stairs, accompanied by the tinkle of glass and china, and Jason paused.  That didn’t sound like Alfred.  The Manor was supposed to be empty.  Who—

Messy black hair came into view, blue eyes firmly fixed on the wobbling tray held in one shaky hand, the other attempting to hold up a crutch as the Replacement limped up the stairs.

Fucking fantastic.  Jason wondered if he had enough time to slip inside the room before the kid looked up—his attention was pretty firmly fixed on the tray with a bowl of stew and a slice of cake—but he was frozen by the dark, fading bruises across the kid’s face.

Around his throat, finger marks obvious.  The awkward way he was holding the crutch—Jason remembered dislocating that shoulder.  The cast wrapped around the left ankle—Jason could still hear the sickening snap of bone, the scream, the sound of his chuckles over suppressed sobs—

The kid looked up, three steps past the edge of the stairs.  And Jason watched the blood drain from his face.

The tray hit the floor with a resounding clatter, china splintering and skidding in all directions.

The Replacement stumbled back—and abruptly remembered that there was nothing behind him but empty space, jerking sideways before Jason could even start the instinctive ‘look out’.  He flinched, and Jason realized that he’d just stumbled onto the china shards.

Another panicked step—but the shards were clearly digging into the kid’s bare feet and when his good leg spasmed, his bad leg buckled completely, sending the kid crumpling to the ground.

Jason stepped forward automatically, one hand raising—and froze when the kid jerked back, pressing against the railing and all but scrambling into the corner.

Blue eyes were wide and shining, face drawn pale, breaths too fast and too shallow as his chest fluttered, knees drawn up and hands slightly extended, as though to ward him off.  Jason swallowed, and stepped back.

Okay.  He got the message loud and clear.  He was clearly the monster here.  Jason kept his mouth shut, and stalked back to his old bedroom.

~#~

His bedroom was just the way he left it, which was both exactly what Jason wanted, and also extremely creepy.  No one had even tidied up the homework sheets on his table.  It would make sense if the room had been locked and dusty, but it looked as though Jason had just stepped out yesterday.

It was enough to make anyone a little bit dizzy.

Jason retrieved the items he was looking for—the picture with his mom, his old hoodie, a couple of worn copies of books that had ‘property of Jason Todd’ marked in loopy handwriting.  He wanted to take more stuff, but that meant sitting down and figuring out which stuff was his, and which stuff Bruce had bought him, and the Replacement would’ve already set off the alarm so Jason didn’t have much time.

He hadn’t considered the kid in any of his plans—he’d figured that the kid had gone with Alfred and Bruce, or with Nightwing, or somewhere—and barely managed to tamp down on the seething annoyance.  The Replacement was always getting in the way.

Well, at least Jason was going far, far from here.  He’d never have to set eyes on that scrawny little shit again.

Jason collected his stuff and headed for the door—he’d planned to stay another night in Gotham, but he wasn’t up to dealing with the return of a furious Batman and Nightwing.  He’d have to pack the rest of his stuff quickly, and get out, and—

The lunch tray was still on the floor, stew in a growing puddle, cake a soggy lump, shards of the broken plate and bowl scattered all over the hallway.  Jason hadn’t exactly expected the kid to have cleaned the mess, but he had expected the kid to be gone.  Hiding.  Or confronting him with that stick, if the kid was particularly determined and had no common sense.

He hadn’t expected the shivering, curled-up form in the corner, knees up, head tucked down, arms wrapped firmly around shins.  Or the quiet, shuddering breaths, or the choked gasps.

Jason stared at the Repla—at Robin, pressed firmly into the corner like he was trying to make himself a smaller target, and felt the pit of his stomach drop.

He hadn’t moved.  Jason had spent—had spent at least five minutes in the room, and the kid hadn’t moved.

Jason took a step towards the room he’d entered through.  He needed to leave.  Clearly the kid thought—and Jason couldn’t exactly fault him—but Jason needed to go.  Once he left, the kid would come out of it.  Eventually.  Jason couldn’t exactly call anyone, the only numbers he remembered were the ones to the Manor, and they would’ve locked him out of everything in the Cave.

Red.  There was red pooling under the kid’s feet.  The pieces of broken china littered the floor like a minefield, and that was way too much bleeding to be a minor wound.  That was the kind of bleeding that needed immediate attention and probably stitches.

Jason swallowed.

[britcision]

SNACKS!

For all y’all freaking about the ghost marriage joke 😉

Also Jason is not pregnant there is no mpreg but this will absolutely not stop him from bursting into fake tears to fuck with Dick if Dick mentions his “parasite”

——————

Well You Did Get Down On One Knee part i

Jason was feeling good, really. Actually a little surprised at how good, considering.

That crunchy little ecto-ice chip had been better than a gallon of coffee, filling him with energy like he’d actually gotten a full night’s sleep.

He hadn’t actually felt this good since the night Danny slept over, which had been the night before last. Didn’t sound all that impressive, except that it had been the best he’d felt in half a decade.

Maybe the full decade. For all Robin made him magic, skipping sleep to fight crime had done a number on him in his teens. If he’d been as willing as Dickie and Tim to slack on his schoolwork, maybe…

Yeah, no, Tim was the poster child for Do Not Emulate This Sleep Schedule.

What mattered was that even after running the docks down with Black Bat for more than half the night and then getting up to get Danny, Jason felt fucking great.

A little more emotionally wrung out, sure, but he felt lighter for… having whatever that had been. Like the stress that had been compacting his chest had finally eased.

He may still want a pillow to scream into for a good six hours, but for him? Still a solid improvement. He felt like his brain was finally working again.

Which… meant he was fully processing that his fucking soul was vibrating in time with Danny’s. And every other ghost could just. Tell.

That was gonna make fight club… actually, Jason had no idea what the fuck it was gonna make fight club. By all accounts Danny being the Ghost King hadn’t made any of them less likely to throw down with him.

If anything, Danny had warned Jason that him being a “young” ghost would make the others more eager to fight. It was a kind of play, bonding and teaching the new baby their powers.

Sounded fucking terrifying by all accounts and Jason was just glad he had Danny to explain it to him, since apparently full ghosts just… knew it wasn’t serious. Even baby ghosts came into existence recognising the game.

Halfas didn’t.

Whiiiich meant that all the “playful” threats of dismemberment had sounded pretty fucking real to Danny, back when he’d been a baby ghost and had half the Zone flocking to “play” with him.

Pitty let out a rumbly little growl, like a sulking dog and Jason hid a snicker. Yeah, he’d also be kicking their asses that little bit harder for that given half a chance.

Actually, if they kept holding fight club, Pitty could take a chunk out of them itself.

That thought got him a contented little purr, which was weird enough that Jason was going to focus back in on Frostbite’s broader explanation. He hadn’t missed anything.

“In the sense that you have tied yourselves together, it may be somewhat like a marriage… however, it is a very different relationship. In a true love-union, your signatures would beat in time,” the yeti explained, gesturing once more to the screen.

Jason’s blob continued to pulse and blur a fraction of a beat behind Danny’s. Definitely not quite in time.

This was a relief. Yup. And Jason’s cheeks definitely weren’t any warmer than they’d been a minute ago, before he knew that, again, his fucking soul was echoing Danny’s.

Frostbite gave his tablet a couple more taps, and a pulsing blue line linked the images on the screen.

“In your case, young knight, your allegiance is marked in both your resonance and in your aura, which now carries a link to your King. His status is what defines your role as a knight, instead of a more casual bond.”

“No one’s king yet,” Danny protested, folding his arms and leaning into Jason’s side. Letting a little more of his weight rest on him.

Jason leaned in too, frowning from the screen to Frostbite.

———————

Tag List:

@welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle e @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @perfectwastelandcreation @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor @lyra689 @itsparadoxlacuna @alcorbearson @asphyxia778 @why-must-i-be-like-this @tkiesai @greenpyrowolf @frivolous-pastel l @honeysuckletook k

[ganseyth]

The Date

PREVIOUS PART | MASTERLIST | NEXT PART

Part: 10

Pairing: Jason Todd x Female Reader

Length: 2.0k

Warnings: none

_________________________________________________

Your face fell. 

You had known this would happen eventually but you hadn't been expecting it to happen tomorrow. 

You weren’t even sure how to feel. It wasn’t like you didn’t want your sister to be happy but you had hoped that this thing with her fiancé would fizzle out before things got serious. 

But apparently, that hadn’t been the case. 

You sighed and looked at them. “How is that going to work? I mean planning a wedding is hard work." 

Your sister shrugged looking at her fiancé. "His work said they could cover the expenses and all the last-minute details!"

"And you think that's a good idea? To be in Penguin's debt?" You asked your brother-in-law. 

He raised an eyebrow at you then smiled. "I don't think it's any of your concern," he began, "don't you want your sister to have the wedding of her dreams?"

You opened your mouth to respond but stopped yourself. He was right and yet it still felt wrong. You knew her happiness was important but to be in Penguins debt was not something to take lightly. 

Before you could voice your concerns again Jason spoke up.  

"She's just looking out for you guys," he told them. "Penguin is not someone to mess with."

"Yeah, we know that," your sister said. "But don't worry, our little mutual friend is making sure Penguin doesn't notice the expenses." 

 Your eyes widened. Mutual friend? She didn't mean your ex did she? The thought alone made you feel sick. 

Jason as if reading your thoughts wrapped his arm around your stomach from where you leaned against him. "So I take it this mutual friend will be coming to the wedding?" 

Your brother-in-law turned back to you smiling. "Do you object to the idea?"

"No," you answered quickly, feeling awkward about all this. In truth the thought of him being anywhere near you made you want to scream. But you knew no matter what you said he would still be coming. 

"Good," your sister said, "because he'll be here first thing in the morning." 

"Oh great," you said, pulling away from Jason to stand. "Well then I guess we should all get ready for bed if we have to get up early to plan," you said motioning to Jason, "Ready?" 

He stood too, taking hold of your hand and squeezing it. "Yep." 

"Great," you said, turning toward the stairs, "goodnight everybody." 

"Hey," your sister called and you stopped turning back to look at her, "this is going to be so much fun."

You nodded smiling despite wanting nothing more than to run upstairs and hide until the wedding was over. 

You quickly made your way up the stairs and into your shared bedroom before Jason shut the door behind you. 

Once inside you sat down on the bed trying to process everything that just happened. After taking several deep breaths you forced yourself to look at Jason who had yet to say anything. 

"Do you think I'm a terrible sister?" you started cautiously, "I mean what kind of person doesn't want their sister to get married." 

"No." He shook his head. "I think you're a great sister for not wanting her to get married to that snake."

You blinked surprised by his words. "You do?"

"Yes," he replied, moving over to sit next to you on the bed. "The guy is a dick and his work will only bring about all kinds of trouble."

"And what am I going to do about my ex," you asked worriedly. Jason hadn't seemed to react to the news and you needed to know where he stood on the matter. 

He smiled gently, placing a reassuring hand on your arm. "Don't worry about him. If he tries anything I'll be right here to help you out. That is my job after all." 

How could you forget? You basically paid him for this exact situation. 

 He paused. "Besides I doubt the guy will try anything after taking one look at me."

He chuckled and you couldn't help giggling as well.

"Thank you," you told him sincerely. "I owe you big time." 

"Anytime," he said, squeezing your arm once more before getting off the bed to get ready to sleep. 

You watched in silence as he made his way back to the bed before going to get ready yourself. 

 As you made your way back to bed you watched as Jason slid himself into bed. You realized that his actions had become familiar to you. The way he kicked off the sheets before pulling the covers up to his waist and then turning around to adjust his pillows to lean against the headboard. You liked that you knew his routine. 

 It helped you relax.

He must have sensed you staring because he turned to look at you once more, smiling slightly. "You're staring." 

"Oh right," you whispered back, "sorry."  

You blushed embarrassed by your reaction. 

"Go to sleep," you added gesturing towards him with your hand.

He smirked at you before closing his eyes, still leaning against the headboard. "Ok."

You stared at him in disbelief. "What are you doing?" 

"Sleeping."

"Jay!” You exclaimed.

"Yes?" He replied, opening his eyes. 

"I meant to lay down and go to sleep," you protested. 

He raised an eyebrow at you, "I could tell you to do the same thing."

You groaned. "I won’t be able to sleep."

"I can help with that." He said, pushing himself upright. You looked at him with disbelief.

"How?" you questioned. 

He grinned at you before reaching forward to pull you down so you were lying underneath him. "Comfortable?" He asked. 

For a second you considered telling him no just to see what happened.  Then, remembering your current predicament you decided to look at his face, or more importantly his lips. 

As if knowing your eyes were on his mouth his smile widened as he leaned forward. 

"Go to bed." He whispered across your lips. 

Then he moved away from you, sliding back under the covers. A moment later he was turned on his side fast asleep. 

~ * ~

You woke to the sound of your mom making food downstairs. It felt like a normal Christmas morning as you smelt the sweet scent of cinnamon cocoa your mom always made on Christmas. Then you remembered the events of last night. 

Today was the day of the wedding. 

Your sister was getting married. 

Today. 

Your ex was coming. 

Your ex was going to meet Jason. 

You were going to see the one person you swore to never set eyes on again. 

Your hands gripped the comforter beneath you as you struggled with your emotions. You felt nauseous. 

You hated feeling so unsettled. It only proved that he still had some form of power over you. 

Sliding out of bed you made your way into the restroom to get ready. As you brushed your teeth you wondered what you would wear to the wedding. Your sister probably had some preference concerning color. 

You pulled your hair back into a ponytail and let your fingers run down your face as you chewed on your bottom lip anxiously.

You took a deep breath and exited the bathroom to find Jason sitting against the headboard. 

It was only then you remembered what had occurred between the two of you last night. It wasn't very fake boyfriend of him. 

"Sleep well?" you said, sending a knowing look to Jason. 

He glanced up at you smiling, not showing any remorse for his actions last night. "Like a babe." 

Now your cheeks grew red as you avoided his gaze. "I think we should ask Alfred to send that emergency jet he talked about on the phone," you suggested turning around to make your way to the closet.

You stopped in your tracks as Jason let out a laugh. 

"Did he really say that?"  He asked, grinning. 

You smiled. "Yes, and I'm very tempted to take him up on that offer."

"That sounds like him," he continued chuckling, "but we don't need to do that. Today will be fine." 

As he spoke you could feel yourself relax a little. Maybe today would be ok. At least you didn't have to take this on alone. 

With that last thought you pulled open the closet door and took a look at your clothing before turning back to Jason. 

"Can I wear one of your sweatshirts?" you asked innocently. "I think it would make today a whole lot better." 

"Sure." He laughed, shaking his head. "I'm all for making your ex jealous today."

Turning around you went in search of a hoodie. Once finding a nice red one you picked it up along with a pair of your favorite leggings. Before heading back to the bathroom to change, you shot one glance at Jason who was scrolling through his phone. 

You tried to ignore the butterflies in your stomach as you thought about him seeing you in his sweatshirt. You hurriedly changed, feeling more confident as the warmth of his giant hoodie covered you. 

 When you walked back into the room he looked up. His eyes swept slowly over you and for a second you swore there was a hint of hunger in his eyes. 

"I like that color on you," he said. 

"Thanks." You replied shyly, hoping he didn't see the blush making its way up your face. 

Jason got off the bed and made his way to the closet to grab what you assumed was the other hoodie he brought and some sweatpants.  

Giving you another stomach-turning smile he then made his way into the bathroom to get ready. 

Once again you found yourself wondering how the day was going to go and what you were going to say to your ex when you saw him.  

What did you even say to someone you once promised to love forever?

You snapped out of your thoughts when Jason exited the bathroom. 

A small grin grew on your face as you realized Jason was wearing a hoodie identical to the one you had on. "Wow Jay, if I didn't know any better I'd think you wanted us to match on purpose."

His cheeks colored at your remark before moving to open the door. 

You followed close behind him and closed the door behind you as you made your way down the stairs. 

"Good morning you two!" your mother called as she came into view with her arms full of Christmas donuts. 

Jason grinned. "Merry Christmas! Do you need help with anything?"

She chuckled as she took in your matching appearances. "No dear, I'm just about done setting the table." 

She began to walk towards the dining room while you followed closely behind. Before you could take a step further your mom stopped you just out of earshot of who you assumed was the rest of your family. 

"He's in there," she said, looking between the two of you. “I just wanted to let you know so you didn't go in blind," she insisted before adding softly, "I'm sorry honey." She said with a small frown. 

Your eyes widened. "Don't be mom. It's all in the past."

She nodded sadly before offering you a smile. "It's a good thing Jason's here." 

"I know," you replied, glancing over at him. "My knight in shining armor."

She chuckled lightly at your comment before nodding. "Well, I'll give you two a second." She said before disappearing into the dining room. 

You waited until you heard your mom announce the two of you would arrive shortly before turning to face Jason. You were surprised to feel tears making their way onto your face. 

However, Jason quickly wiped them away before wrapping his arms tightly around you.

"It's going to be ok," he whispered into your hair. 

You returned the embrace squeezing tightly into him. "Thank you."

He squeezed your arm before pulling away from you and nodding towards the dining room. 

"Ready?" he asked. 

You managed a weak smile. "I guess so."

He took your hand gently pulling you into the room where the rest of your family was waiting. 

You felt confident as you entered the room with Jason standing in front of you. However, it soon dissolved into unease as the first person you spotted was your ex who was sitting where Jason had sat last night.

As soon as he saw you, you tried to look away. 

However, his piercing eyes locked onto yours, causing you to shiver slightly.

"Hey beautiful," he called to you, causing you to freeze. "I'm so happy to see you again."

_________________________________________________

tag list:

@theautisticduck @igotanidea @princessbl0ss0m @parkjammys @escapism-r-us @awolfofartemis @drwmatic @letmebebatmanpls @apizzacalledmel @theendofthematerialgworl @nirvanaaaonly @redsakura101

[ghostfacesvalentine]

HALLOWEEN DAY 1: Ghost hunting - Multi!Muse x Reader

Pairing: Multimuse x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Well, ghosts, death, the afterlife, anxiety, PTSD

Type: Blerps

Request: N/A

Word Count: N/A

Prompt: How they would react to going/how they’d feel/what it would be like to ghost hunting with the reader

Notes: Happy first day of Halloween! I wrote this as a blurb, following how they would react/be like to ghost hunting with the reader.

Jason Voorhees: Honestly, doesn’t see the point in it. He’s super lost and doesn’t really know what to do or what he’s looking at. Not to mention he absolutely DESPISES the white box. Flinches anytime it turns on. Kind of just dives in head first to everything, quite literally. Jason would eventually get frustrated with you, at some point, mainly when you would keep hearing things, or seeing things. You thought you would’ve caught them on camera by now, but it’s actually the complete opposite. Overall, could be a very stressful situation for both of you.

Michael Myers: Could not care less. Still follows you though. Kind of just sides eye you as you cling onto his sleeve. Walks in first to any room, as usual. Not a fan of the spider webs, it’s probably the only time you’ve seem him visibly annoyed. Another first in seeing his shoulders sort of slouch over. You swear you could even hear an audible sigh coming from underneath his mask, there’s no one to follow, only shadows. Thinks your rituals of white noise and outrageous flashlights is pointless but on the plus side, he kind of just “walks” through the spiderwebs for you.

Tiffany Valentine: Super excited to go ghost hunting with you. It’s about time to take some kind of adrenaline rush! She LOVES contacting the other side, good or evil. She would absolutely take the lead and pull up all the stops of the most haunted places in the area. Tiffany may even go as far as booking tickets to infamous haunted mansions and abandoned buildings. She looks into different manuals, both old and new, she’d buy and steal all sorts of gadgets and anything that could be used for any rituals for you both to catch a ghost. She laughs when the lights go out or things start flying and hitting the walls, disregarding your fear, if you have any.

Billy Loomis: Kind of thinks the idea is lame at first, but after you seem to be very intrigued, at some point Billy wants to get involved. He’s kind of quiet about it at first with a very much “sure thing kitten, whatever you want” attitude. Billy takes the liberty of just watching you as you set everything up, make notes and doodle on all kinds of maps. At first you think Billy isn’t really paying attention, but when he follows you, you couldn’t help but notice he actually knows how to turn on the white noise box. It’s kind of cute, and not to mention, you are more than welcome to hide behind him if anything gets too scary for you.

Stu Macher: LOVES the idea of ghost hunting, will look into the scariest of places in the area. Asylums, jails, schools are his specialty. You’re kind of taken by surprise with how much he becomes hands on with these adventures. Before you’d know it, Stu would take the lead, flashing the light as you follow him through the grim halls of the abandoned buildings. Of course, he’d act like the light went out, losing you in the process, only to flash the light to your face making you scream, frightening almost any remaining living creature in that place, followed by Stu’s belly laughter. Almost no “real” ghost hunting would get done with this guy, you’d probably be chased out by a curtesy officer before you could sit in a room to make any contact with the other side.

Patrick Bateman: Doesn’t entertain the idea for long, he kind of just stares at you when you go on about the adventures you want to take during this season. He understands it to an extent, but it seems meaningless. Not to mention, he’s possibly more athiest than anything, never with the hope of an afterlife. Patrick would rather go where there were violent deaths, places of execution and torture he’d try to convince you “you’ll find whatever you’re looking for, there.” If you could settle then great, if not, then tough luck. There’s a fifty fifty chance you’d be able to drag him with you if you wanted, but that would depend on his relationship with you. Still thinks the ritual of Halloween is silly and meaningless and yes that includes ghost hunting.

Leatherface: Likes the idea of ghost hunting. he doesn’t really understand it at first. Bubba has an innocent way of looking at ghosts, thinking they’re silly and just the kind extension of another human. Once you tell him about the anger and the sadness some of the ghosts carry at times, you can tell he’s a little bit spooked. He’d ask you questions of the afterlife and everything you’d know about ghosts. Maybe start him off small, little haunted cafes, he’d catch on very quickly and learn how to defend himself and you, he’d become a great ghost hunter with the proper guidance.

Harley Quinn: THE BEST GHOST HUNTER. Harley’s so into it! I bet you she has the equipment already. Super enthusiastic and entirely fearless, Harley will not hesitate to protect you whether you need it or not. She’d take the initiative to look into haunted places for you, persistent until you guys find something. Harley’s so goofy, wearing night vision goggles, carrying around a backpack with all kinds of equipment, flashlights, batteries. She’d be messing with whatever you find at the room and ends up making a mess or scaring you half to death, followed by her wide smile and mouthing a non-apologetic “sorry”

Poison Ivy: Not too big on the idea of ghost hunting, but will entertain the idea. You’d have to bribe her into taking you ghost hunting. She mostly wants to make sure you were okay and what better way to make sure you’re okay than to take you herself. Pamela isn’t scared too easily, she certainly hates walking into spiderwebs though. If you’re afraid of everything, she’d scold you just a tiny bit, laughing it off after seeing your terrified expression. You’d forget batteries or chargers or certain little essential things, but your beloved Ivy would have it in her hand, looking to you with a sly smile. Even ghost hunting she seemed to be the one who knew the most.

Bruce Wayne: His first reaction would be “absolutely not” he’s not doing that, why would he? Of course he’s seen many things but ghosts? It just seems like a dull pastime, but when he sees your discouragement, it definitely tugs at his heart strings. Before you know it he’s waking you up at 1 am, packing your bag because you’re going to go investigate an abandoned jail notorious for ghostly activities. He has all the gadgets, why shouldn’t he take you? Also, if there’s nothing you find after hours and hours of looking, I wouldn’t put it past Bruce to move some stuff around or work his bat magic to get you excited about your adventure with him.

Jason Todd: Absolutely down for anything. “Woah, are you sure about that? You’re not going to hide behind me the whole time?” Jason would absolutely tease you nonstop about being scared of ghosts. “I’m not scared, I respect them” “sure whatever you say doll.” He’d let you believe you’re leading them both, following your advice as to what to take, where to go, what to do. Of course his main job is to take care of the spooky spiderwebs for you. Once you get to your destination, it’s nothing like you imagined. Tucking yourself into Jason’s jacket, it kind of makes his heart flutter, after all this time, whether it’s goons or creeps or ghosts, you constantly feel safest tucking yourself into him.

Billy Hargrove: He’s kind of a little unsure at first, not knowing exactly what you wanted to do or why. Billy likes Halloween, but his idea of a Halloween date considers a movie night, going to house parties. but not spending it alone and in an abandoned hospital or building trying to connect with the other world. He’s intrigued to say the least. If Billy learned anything throughout his years is that if a woman has made a decision of a date, it’s better to go with it. Billy is a little bit more scared than he would like to admit, he’s more on edge than you, but that doesn’t mean he’d only fend for himself. If you both get scared at a noise together, or get out of the way of a ceiling tile falling through, he’d instinctively pull you towards him, covering you with his body where he could. Sooner or later, this would become a thrill for him, wanting to go to more places with you even further out of the town of Hawkins.

Steve Harrington: He’d be hesitant, put up a little bit more of a fight than most characters. Suggesting to go to the movies, or go trick or treating, to a carnival, anything else. You’d make a deal with him, you could go to the carnival, or a house party or trick or treating, whatever he’d like as long as he went with you to cross through that abandoned slaughter house. Steve wouldn’t hesitate to tell you maybe it wasn’t such a good idea, but if you’d insist, he’d take you. He’d rather it’d be him that would go with you than anyone else. Like Billy, he’d be protective of you, but unlike Billy, his priority would be to make sure you were okay, not finding ghosts.

Steve Rogers: He’d be up for it, to your surprise, as long as you weren’t going to bother the ghosts, Steve wouldn’t mind taking a walk around said haunted area in hopes of finding proof of an actual after-life. Of course, he’d be your big body guard, ready and apt to be hidden behind. Steve wouldn’t fall victim easily to the jump scares, not as much as you would at least. There’d be times where Steve would try to hold in his laugh at how cute you look clinging onto his sleeve when you thought you’d heard a noise. Of course he wouldn’t hesitate to remind you that this was your idea after all. 

Bucky Barnes: Kind of isn’t down for it. I feel like this would be crossing a line for him of some sort. He’d beg you not to do it, trying to compromise by doing other activities he’s not so fond of, like baking or going to a Halloween party. Bucky would for sure try to sweet talk you out of it if your heart is set on it, explaining to you that maybe it’d be better to let the souls rest. If you’d sneak out then Bucky of course would track you down, finding you easily and of course it’d be at a time where you were stuck somewhere or lost. Here comes Bucky, not even having to tell you “I told you so” or anything but still, you can tell yourself that he told you so.

Wanda Maximoff: Kind of like Steve, she’d be up for it. Wanda would be curious about the after life at times, what harm would it be if you guys were just looking? There was an adrenaline rush in this hobby of yours and Wanda knew it. It’d become a great feeling for her. She’d look for places on her own time, suggesting new methods and ideas of where to go next. You’d be able to even start your own scrapbook of ghost hunting adventures together. Wanda made you promise each other not to go without each other, both for your safety and also because she liked it just as much as you do.

Loki Laufeyson: Kind of laughs about it, but then sees that you’re serious. He actually has quite a bit of knowledge on spirits and those who live in the other world. Loki would be delighted to enlighten you on said topics. He’d advise you not to go disturb them though. If you absolutely insist, or go without telling him, he’d find you just in time before you’d fall down the second floor or down the stairs into a pretty serious accident. There would be a silent “I told you so” moment, but he’d still smother you and comfort you endlessly. So, preferably an at home Halloween date would be more ideal with him.

Cloud Strife: Doesn’t understand why you’d want to do anything like that at all. He just overall doesn’t understand it and honestly he doesn’t really want to. That doesn’t mean he won’t go with you though, he will. Cloud isn’t the best at jump scares, constantly ready to fight whatever surprises you both on the way. This wouldn’t really help his PTSD or anxiety, so maybe it’s best to forget the ghost hunting and maybe read about it instead. 

Aerith Gainsborough: Kind of scared of ghosts? But also so excited about them as well. She loves anything that looks remotely creepy or enchanting, telling you constantly “You should give them a chance” Aerith truly knows how to find the beauty in everything and if it’s anyone that could convince you to find the beauty in a beaten up spiderweb infested home, it’s Aerith. She’s terribly empathetic towards the lives who have ascended your reality, often wanting to get to the bottom of their story and could sit there with you for hours trying to figure out what they’re trying to tell you two.

Sebastian Michaelis: Won’t entertain it. Sebastian is not a fan, if it’s not an actual threat to you or himself, he finds it to “just be another creature” It’s amusing how nonchalant Sebastian is in the presence of a ghost, not caring for their story or their past. If you wanted to know, he would tell you still. Sebastian wouldn’t mind explaining to you the history of souls and where they wander, how they came to be and the whole ordeal. Hopefully it would suit your curiosity enough to keep you from trying to hunt them down. 

Spencer Reid: Soooo down. He’s probably the one that suggested it in the first place. Spencer already has a map of all the said haunted locations in town, he’d even color code them to coordinate where you’d go to first. Spencer would love to keep a scrapbook of different notes, pictures and whatever “evidence” you both find regarding the souls you’ve encountered. There would be times too where Spencer could be out of town on a case, he’d promise you to go to the nearest creepiest or most haunted house in town and take pictures to add to your scrapbook. Nevertheless, the most immersive s/o on this list to go ghost hunting with!

[the-book-gnome]

Empty Warehouse

Pairings: Conner Kent x fem!reader

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: size kink, unprotected sex (do not recommend) p in v, pain implied, belly bulge, wall sex,pet names(baby, sweetie)

18+ only ! minors do not interact !

The first time you met him your first thought was that he’s massive. He had broad shoulder and was at least a foot and a half taller than you. His hands were huge too, they were also veiny and you often started at them whenever you two were around each other. Unfortunately for you, he never even spared you a glance, if you had to go on a mission together he was basically just your guard dog, and never spoke a word unless he had to. It upsets you a little, you want everyone to enjoy your company but by the looks of it he looks miserable around you.

Little did you know, the reason Conner never looked at you or talked to you was that every time he did he’d get a boner. And to not make things awake he decided to stop doing both seeing as no matter what you said or did it would always happen. It wasn't his fault, he can’t control his dick. You were just so tiny compared to him, you always sounded so sweet when you spoke and fuck when you looked up at him, he was so fucked.

You were currently waiting in an empty warehouse waiting on Jason, he was always late so it’s come expected now but that didn’t keep you from wanting to kill him. In any other situation, you wouldn’t mind it but unfortunately for you, Conner was also put on your team. It was fine since Jason could be the talker like usual but since he was late, the two of you were standing in awkward silence. Maybe that's just you that feels awkward but it’s still unbearable. His back was pressed against the wall adjacent to you, his arms crossed and eyes closed.

Your eyes trailed down his body, his shirt tight on his body due to how big his muscles were, he had huge thighs that you really really wanted to sit on. Everything about him was beautiful. He almost looked like he was asleep, his breaths even and quiet, a peaceful look on his face. You were tired of the way he treated you, well to be fair he didn’t really treat you like anything, kinda just acted like you were invisible.

“Why do you hate me?” You asked him, his eyes opened lazily to stare at you confused. “Who said I hated you?” Conner's voice was gruff, and his gaze made you want to crawl in a hole. “No one, you just act like it.” You were playing with your hands, noticing that they were getting sweaty. “No, I don’t.” He leaned his head back again and closed his eyes. “You act like I don’t exist, the only reason you would be like that was if you hated me. I’m not stupid, you’ve been doing this ever since we met.” Now you were glaring at him, why was he treating you like an idiot? He let out an annoyed sigh. He walked over to you, putting his hands on the wall behind you and bending down so his face was directly in front of yours, you flushed at how close he had gotten, if you leaned in you could kiss him.

“I already said I don’t hate you, I don’t act like it either so stop whining. Got it?” Conner was staring directly at you, he cocked his head to the side, examining the way you reacted to him. “Um, th…that’s not.. true.” You stumbled over your words, your brain not being able to process them right.

A cocky smirk grew on his lips, “Why so shy all of the sudden? Something making you nervous?” He licked his lips, eyes drifting down to your plump lips. “Have you noticed how tiny you are compared to me? How I can fit both your wrist in just one of my hands?” God he would do anything to kiss you right now. The look on your face was fucking priceless, bright red and shocked. Your eyes were wider the usual and all he could think about was what you would like on your knees for him. Conner took his eyes off you for a moment to look around, Jason won’t be here for a while, he knew that. So fuck it, you only live once. With that logic in his head, he slammed his lips against yours.

You gasped in surprise and Conner took that as his opportunity to slide his tongue in. He pulled your waist against him with both his hands, the span of them almost going around your entire waist, from and back. You felt the outline of his cock pressing into your stomach. Your wrapped your arms around his neck, kissing him make just as hard as he did to you. His tongue touches every inch of your mouth. He felt so warm, so big, you wanted to feel every inch of him. He lifted you, pressing your back as against the wall, you tried to wrap your legs around him but he was too large, your legs just kept slipping, not that it mattered since he easily held you up. “Fuck baby your so fucking small compared to me.” He muttered as he started kissing down your neck, eager to taste every inch.

“Can’t we go somewhere else? What if Jason walks in or something?” You moaned as his hot mouth started sucking onto your skin. He dropped you down a little so your waist was right next to his. “No baby right here, we don’t have much time, okay?” Conner's hand went up to cup your cheek giving you another kiss before grabbing onto your wrists and pulling them above your head. He was right, they both fit into one hand. He started unzipping his pants and pulling his dick out. You gaped at him as you saw the size. Before when you felt it against you it did not feel that big. “Con that’s not gonna fit,” you whined into his mouth. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll make it fit okay? You’ll just have to handle it, can you do that for me?” Lust filled his eyes as he pulled back to look between the two of you. “I can handle it.,” Even if he tore you in half you would thank him for it.

Using one hand he ripped open your pants, pulling your panties to the side so he could see you. “Jesus fuck youre soaked, is that all for me sweetie?” Conner was rubbing his tip against your folds, occasionally circling your clit causing you to moan out and jerk your hips towards him. “Just relax for me okay?” You nodded, he pressed his forehead against you, and you followed his deep breaths.

As the tip of his cock breached your hold you squeezed your eyes shut and whimpered in pain. “Con I told you it wouldn’t fit,” a tear fell down your cheek as he pushed in a little more, giving you a little time to adjust. “Deep breaths baby, I need you to breath.” Conner moved the hand holding your wrist and cupped your hands, giving you a reassuring squeeze. Using the other one to wipe the tear from your cheek.

You relaxed your body, trusting him completely. He sunk in even more and it felt like he was splitting you in half. You tried focusing on your breathing, doing your best to ignore the stinging and relax yourself. Your walls squeezed into his thick cock as he bottomed out. Conner's breath ticketed your cheek. “Yeah just like that sweetie, I told you it would fit didn't I?” He grunted as his pleasure flooded his senses. “You’re so much more fucking tight than imagined, holy shit.” Conner sounded breathless against you, he was doing his best to give you time to adjust, but it was getting harder every second.

His pace started out slow, giving you time for the pain to wear off but when you started moaning at the feeling of his thick cock brushing against your cervix he lost it. Pounding into you relentlessly, each thrust going straight to your brain. “Aww is my little baby already fucked out? Too bad I just started.” Conner looked down to watch his cock go in and out of you but when he looked down his eyes widened. He was amazed to see a little bulge coming from your tummy.

His cock twitched and a grin spread on his flushed face. “Baby look at that, your so fucking small that your belly had to make room for me.” You practically screamed in euphoria as he used his hand to push down the bulge. Your orgasm crashes into you, your entire body shaking and your vision going black. You couldn’t hear anything he was saying but you felt it as his lodge, his cock even feeling into you and stuffed your pussy full of his cum.

Conner pulled out of you and relaxed your hands. He cradled you into his chest, your legs and arms were completely limp. You couldn’t even think straight. His hand was rubbing your back as he sat down against the wall completely out of breath. He was amazed he didn't collapse when he came to you.

“Damn con, when I told you o fuck her brain out I wasn’t being serious, how’s she supposed to be any use to us now?” Jason’s cocky voice filled the warehouse, Conner rolled his eyes, “thought I told you to wait 2 hours dipshit.” Jason laughed at him and sat opposite the two of you. Your body covers his dick, not like Jason would care either way. “I got bored of listening to the two of you fuck, guess I was a little late on the celebration huh,” Conner rolled his eyes again and leaned his head back still trying to catch his breath.

[mxtantrights]

famous dc!au (dick's version)

TRACK 7.5: DARK RED

You hit pause on the video and speak into your phone. Your friend Theo had called you and asked about the process of filming and auditioning. You answered al his questions and then he wanted to go over something specific about the videos. When you pulled it up he told you to sync it so you can watch in real time together.

When it got to the part where it finally shows the footage from Dick’s camera your friend started whistling and hollowing. You didn’t understand and had to pause the video.

“What are you screaming about?” you ask.

“What am I—don’t you see what’s in front of you?”

“What are you talking about?” you ask again.

“He’s in love with you!” He shouts

You shake your head in confusion. What? That couldn’t be right? That could not be right at all. Yes, Dick flirted. Yes he had a way of making your stomach flip upside down and make your cheeks go hot. But you always thought that was just Dick. You don’t have any other behavior to base any of Theo’s allegations on.

“Theo I don’t think that’s what it is. He’s just like that.” you say.

Theo laughs, “Of course you don’t see it. You were always oblivious to this kind of stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” you ask.

“The love stuff, the feelings stuff.” he clarifies.

“I literally don’t know what your on about.” 

“For as long as I’ve known you, you just don’t see what’s right in front of you when it comes to romance. I mean there was the guy at your retail job, the other guy at the bar, what was the name…” he trails off.

“Casa Vodka?” You ask.

“Yes! The owner was totally head over heels for you.” Theo answers.

“No he wasn’t.”

“They named a drink after you. That wasn’t just for fun,” 

“Theo, you think that Dick Grayson, like The Dick Grayson is in love with me?” You ask honestly this time.

Theo sighs on the other end of the call. “I am looking at this music video and there is no way he can act that good.” Theo answers.

“Okay but we had just met that day. How could he have been in love with me when we first met?” 

“Love at first sight—come on! I know you read Shakespeare in high school.” Theo laughs.

You laugh at that too, “I definitely did and maybe that’s why I don’t see the lovey-dovey stuff. It ends in heartbreak.”

“Not always.”

-

Dick leans his head against the coach. The tub of ice cream in his lap long gone, and the movie playing on the screen long forgotten. He can’t get you out of his mind. He wants to text or call you and ask if you wanna hang out. But he knows that his manger and the music video director are going to also be reaching out to you about a second appearance. 

Honestly he can’t unscramble his head.

“Why don’t you just take the plunge and confess your feelings.” a voice from behind him says.

Dick turns around, knowing full well who the voice belongs to and not feeling scared at all. Why would he? He’s at the manor so really a bunch of people are walking around at all hours. But this voice was one he hadn’t heard in a few weeks. 

“Hey Jay bird.” Dick says.

Jason reveals himself and takes a seat with his brother on the couch. If Jason wasn’t shooting the last scenes for his film, he was home with his beloved partner. Dick was envious. He wouldn’t say anything to Jason though. 

“Are you done wallowing?” Jason asks.

Dick pouts, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“I’m talking about the ice cream, the cheesy rom-coms and your general facial expression.” Jason answers.

Dick looks over at Jason with a straight face, “This is my normal face.”

“No that is your ‘I’ve got it bad’ face. So what can I do to help?” 

Dick grabs a pillow and sits back into the couch. The pillow braced against his chest like he is preparing to go into battle. Jason wants to laugh badly but he keeps it in for now. Dick doesn’t say anything for a few moments.

“How’d you do it?” Dick asks.

Jason doesn’t answer at first. Partially because he doesn’t understand the context of the question. Until his mind lights up like a Christmas tree and he realized exactly what Dick is asking him. He smiles to himself. 

“You know funny story about that. A year or so back, Bruce brought me a book cover and sweetheart was on the cover.” Jason says.

Dick looks over slowly, his eyes going comically wide. “Oh my god!”

“I know, the world works in mysterious ways.” Jason chuckles.

“No I mean—well yes, it does. But wait that still doesn’t explain how you pulled off your relationship.” Dick says.

Jason shakes his head, “I didn’t have a game plan if that’s what you’re asking. I just tried my hardest to not fuck it up.” 

“Yeah I’m kind of doing that right now. But how’d you get the confidence to go after what you wanted?” Dick asks.

Jason smiles, “I didn’t. My sweetheart just came over one day and then all of sudden we weren’t tiptoeing around each other anymore.” 

Dick nods his head, “Huh.” 

[blogger360ncislarules]

The 100 knew how to do a redemption arc.

Throughout its seven-season run on The CW, post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama repeatedly doubled down on one of its many thought-provoking mantras: there are no good guys. The “good guys” often did terrible things in the name of survival, and the “bad guys” were rarely through-and-through evil (although they could be “cockroaches”).

Timed to the recent 10-year anniversary of the series premiere, we chatted with Richard Harmon, Lindsey Morgan, and Henry Ian Cusick about how they came to join the show, the extent to which Harmon and Cusick saw their characters as villains during the first season, and why they think The 100 has stuck around in the sci-fi genre.

Murphy wasn’t originally Murphy: he was “John #1,” and he wasn’t meant to live past the show’s second episode. Harmon recalled the process of first auditioning for the show: “I originally auditioned for the role of Bellamy, beautifully played by Bob Morley,” he said. “I remember auditioning for that and thinking, ‘There’s no way in hell I’m ever going to get this role.’ Lo and behold, I did not.” Weeks later, he got an audition for the roles of “John #1” and “John #2,” and after feeling confident that he’d booked it, he learned that he had. He was John #1.

Harmon said that despite his character’s predetermined Episode 2 death, he approached the first episode determined to do something different and have fun with the role. Thankfully, showrunner Jason Rothenberg was watching. “I guess he noticed that, liked what I was doing, and expanded the role in some rewrites during the shooting of the Pilot,” Harmon said, adding that half of what Murphy said in the aired Pilot wasn’t there in the original script. “When it got picked up to series, he emailed me personally—which was kind of a shocking thing as not a lead, to get an email from the creator of the show. He said, ‘I really liked what you did, how would you feel about not dying in the second episode? Could you stick around for the whole first season? Your last name will be Murphy, people will call you Murphy, and what do you think?’” And so went the story of how he booked “John #1”… and how “John #1” became John Murphy.

Katie Yu/The CW

First appearing in the show’s second episode rather than in the Pilot, Morgan wound up on The 100 through a whirlwind of correct timing and fate. She’d been waiting to hear whether she’d booked a role on Chicago P.D. when she auditioned for the part of Raven on Tuesday, chemistry-read with Thomas McDonnell [played Finn Collins] on Thursday, and was on a plane headed to Vancouver by Sunday. She later found out she wouldn’t have gotten the Chicago P.D. role. “It’s crazy to look back and imagine it happening any other way,” she said.

Similarly to Harmon’s “John #1,” Morgan’s Raven wasn’t meant to be a The 100 mainstay. Originally, Morgan said, Raven was meant to die after just five episodes—a shock, when one considers how integral the quick-thinking mechanic and tech genius became to the plot of the show. “I was on pins and needles, waiting to receive my death notice with each passing script,” Morgan said. After the Season 1 finale, Rothenberg made the offer to Morgan to stick around for Season 2. She’d been up for a role on a different show at that time. If she’d gotten it, Raven would’ve died from the gunshot wound dealt her by Murphy. Obviously, Raven survived. “The rest was history,” Morgan said. “As we all know, nothing can kill Raven Reyes.”

The CW

For his part, Cusick mentioned that it was a sense of longing for Lost that led him to The 100. “It was Pilot season, and I had just finished something, and I was reading a bunch of Pilots,” he remembered. “The 100 turned up, and I thought it was very similar in tone to Lost, which I was missing. I read that and I said to my agent, ‘That’s a cool Pilot.’ I ended up having a meeting with [showrunner] Jason Rothenberg, and we had a chat, and he offered it to me.”

While he did almost float Clarke’s mother, Dr. Abby Griffin (Paige Turco}, in the Pilot, Cusick disagrees with the label of Kane as a villain and passionately defends him. Even in the show’s early days, he says he just viewed Kane as “more of a d**k.” Cusick recounts several things his character was accused of doing but never actually did—such as attempting to kill Jaha (Isaiah Washington)—and maintains that rather than being villainous, Kane was simply a stickler for the rules. “Other people were talking about him and badmouthing him, but he was just a man who was trying to save the human race,” Cusick said. “He went about it in a rather authoritarian, draconian way. He was very strict. And then when he arrived on Earth, he went ‘Oh, humanity is still around.’ Then he could go back to being who he really was. That’s my opinion.”

Whether viewers considered him a villain or a d**k, Kane undoubtedly softened up. His kindness and diplomacy helped establish peace with the grounders as he formed a friendship with Indra (Adina Porter), he and Abby fell in love, and he gradually became a father figure to the delinquents—especially Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley). “I really took to Bob quite quickly,” Cusick remembered. “We would joke around a lot. I would call him my ‘idiot son’ and stuff like that,” he said with a laugh. “We kind of cultivated that relationship, I thought, that we were like father and son. We enjoyed each other’s company, so that was easy to play.”

The CW

Harmon, on the other hand, readily admitted he played Murphy as a villain in Season 1—so much so that he’d taken inspiration for Murphy and Bellamy’s relationship from Biblical literature. “I based [Murphy] loosely off of Lucifer, actually,” he said. “Bellamy was God, for this group, and I’m his right-hand favorite angel, but demon, really. Eventually I try to take too much power, just like Lucifer does in the Bible, and God smites me down. That’s when I get thrown out to the grounders in the wild and come back way later, with the sickness.”

When the show was picked up for a second season, Harmon and Rothenberg had another chat. “At the end of Season 1, Jason said, ‘Will you stick around for the long haul now going forward to Season 2?’” Harmon said. “And I was like, ‘Of course, I would love to, but how are you going to do that?’” Rothenberg, Harmon remembered, wanted him to get the audience on Murphy’s side. Harmon was up for the challenge, as long as he was given material to convince the audience that there was a good reason behind Murphy’s notable not-niceness. “Eventually, as the seasons progressed and the fans responded favorably to Murphy, all of my cuts were a good angle, and I was a little more tanned with dirt, and I was like, ‘I think they’re trying to, maybe, make me hot,” Harmon laughed. “I don’t think at that point in my career anyone had ever tried to make me attractive on-screen before. That was nice. That felt good.”

Raven Reyes was about as far from a villain as one could get, even though she, like every character, had to make incredibly difficult choices. Morgan has fond memories especially of Season 2, and portraying Raven’s journey with losing the use of her leg. “As an able-bodied actor, I felt a deep responsibility and honor towards playing a character with disabilities as accurately as I could,” she said. “I wanted to bring justice, nuance, complexity, and the best accuracy to her journey as I could, and hopefully share and showcase her truth, as well as the strength people with disabilities exhibit daily.”

Morgan, too, has fond memories of filming in the Vancouver wilderness. While filming with Cusick and the “adult” cast on the Ark put her inside in the warm studio (and closer to the snacks), she enjoyed being outside in the forest… and sneaking in an on-set nap when an opportunity presented itself. “I can, and will, nap anywhere,” she recalled. “Thomas [McDonnell] almost stepped on my head once, because I was napping on the floor of our cast tent. I blended into the ground.”

The CW

Aside from his bond with Bellamy Blake, Kane’s other major connection on The 100 was his romance with Dr. Abby Griffin. Surprisingly, Cusick hadn’t known the writers intended to take the characters in that direction. “I remember Paige [Turco] saying to me, ‘I think they’re trying to get us together,’ and I was thinking, ‘No, that’s never going to happen. We need to be combative. That’s where the drama is,’” he said. In the end, Kane and Abby had a heartwarming love that lasted several seasons. Cusick thinks that not being told from the start about the romance angle only improved his performance. “The actors had no clue that was going to happen, so we were just playing our motivations, and our roles, and what we thought was right,” he said. “There was no hint of any flirtation or anything like that between the characters, so that’s when it happened. Maybe the audience saw it, I don’t know, but it was certainly a surprise to me.”

Unfortunately, Kane and Abby didn’t have the happy ending that many might’ve hoped for. Cusick departed the show in its sixth season, and Turco’s character was killed off in the Season 6 finale. While The 100 fans know all about heartbreak, it might add an extra layer of sadness to know that originally, Kane and Abby had been intended to have a more hopeful story. “My relationship with Abby was good, and people wanted us to get together,” Cusick reflected. “I think that would’ve happened, had I not left. I know that Jason [Rothenberg] said he wanted that to happen—he wanted us to get married, which would’ve been interesting.”

Cusick also directed the eleventh episode of Season 4, “The Other Side,” and the tenth episode of Season 5, “The Warriors Will.” When he thinks back on those experiences, he does so with appreciation for the show’s crew including director of photography Michael Blundell, and gratitude to Jason Rothenberg, director Dean White, and the cast. “Just in general, I never really got a chance to say this: I wanted to say thank you,” he said. “When I meet everyone at cons, I’m thinking about how we all went through this together. We all have relationships that are unique, because we went through that show. I’m always amazed when we meet up at cons by how fun they all are, and how nice it is to see them again.”

The CW

On the subject of conventions, Harmon mentioned that he and Morley used to take it as a badge of honor when fans would tell them that they hated Murphy and Bellamy. Twitter death threats, too, Harmon learned to take in stride. “It got a little hectic at times, for sure,” he remembered. “If people wanted to hate you so much, I’m so grateful for that. That just means we did our job well.” Harmon also mentioned that he wished he’d gotten to keep Murphy’s jacket from Season 1. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know what happened to it. Morgan, on the other hand, has held onto a few of Raven’s iconic items—including her trademark red jacket and knee brace. “I joked that I was going to make a plaster cast out of my body and display them in my house,” she said. “I definitely didn’t do that, but I have them in a safe place.”

As for The 100’s staying power, Harmon, Morgan, and Cusick all pointed out its continued interrogation of what it means to be human, especially in heightened, life-or-death situations. While the show was airing, Harmon said he called it the “biggest show you’ve never heard of.” At this point, he no longer thinks that description is true—people have heard of it.

“It was cool to be on the biggest show you’ve never heard of, because people would be like, ‘What show?’ and then all of a sudden there’d be five people who’d go, ‘The 100? Yes!’” he remembered. “People who watched it fell in love with it. Or were livid with it. Either way.”

[eddiesbigolepp]

hey there, pretty boy

synopsis: where eddie is always looking out for his favorite cheerleader, but doesn’t know that shes doing the same.

pairing: eddie munson x cheerleader reader

warnings: general swearing, perv!eddie for ONE SECOND I SWEAR, sappy mutual pining

word count: 1223

out of the hundreds of hawkins high students, you were the only one who actively smiled at eddie. he didn’t believe it was real life. in what world would the sweetest cheerleader at hawkins repeatedly smile at eddie “the freak” munson.

the first time he swore it was because someone was behind him. the second he just thought it was a coincidence. but the third time, it was proof you smiled at him on your own accord. it was months ago, only the two of you in the hall. you were on your way to the bathroom and he was wandering aimlessly through the building. the sweet “hey, eddie!” that left your lips made him freeze in his spot. the smile that followed made his heart melt just a little.

today was no different. he received the same smile in second period from across the room. and when you walked past him on your way to your lunch table, you sent him another one of your sickly sweet smiles. he watched you walk away, eyes lingering on that tiny thing you call a cheer uniform.

he sat down in his seat with a sigh and a light smile on his face while gareth look up at you. gareth watched as you turned your head to look back at eddie and saw your face warm up a bit. gareth shook his head a took a sip of his dr. pepper.

eddie sat silently, with a smile, in a daze. until mikes voice pulled him out of it. “hey, eddie! are we still on for tonight? hellfire club?” he questioned.

“dont ask stupid questions,” eddie mutters under his breath, “of course we are, dipshit.” he says, flicking a pea from his lunch tray at his face with a chuckle.

his eyes scanned the room over before landing on yours. you smiled at him again and he stuttered for a moment, before looking back down at his tray. who knew the big, bad, cult leader eddie munson couldn’t even hold eye contact with the kindest cheerleader in the school. the effect you had on him made him feel weird; he was to be intimidating, not intimidated.

he leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes, trying to shake any thoughts of you out of his head. but it didn’t work, he couldn’t help but wonder if you wanted to hang out sometime, or even maybe go out together. maybe you’d like to-

“future girlfriend, nine o’clock,” gareth says, kicking eddie’s foot. instead of listening to gareth’s words, eddie kicks back.

“keep your feet to yourself, emerson. i paid good money for these damn shoes.” eddie grumbles. leaning back into his chair.

“hey there, pretty boy,” he hears a familiar voice speak behind him. he closes his eyes, recognizing your voice in an instant. you can’t possibly be talking to him.. or can you? he peeks over his shoulder but cant see through his hair, heart racing.

“how come you always look away when i smile at you?” you question, coming around to the front of his seat. you lift yourself onto the table and make a seat for yourself, crossing your legs in the process.

eddie is frozen, he doesn’t know whether he’s frozen in fear, shock, or both. “i don’t- i don’t think i know what your talking about, princess.” he answers, opening his eyes to look at you.

there you sat, cheeky smile on your face and you sit on the edge of the lunch table; leaning back on your hands as you cock your head to the side. sweet little uniform on display. he looked down at your white sneakers and the frilly socks peaking out the ankle. you were truly sweet like candy.

the boys around the table stare at each other in shock. dustin and mike’s eyes widen, not completely believing that the sweetest cheerleader was talking to eddie “the freak” munson.

“i think you do, it happens every time!” he giggle and watch him look away for a second. “see you did it again!” you laugh a little harder.

“i- should you be here? isn’t jason gonna drag you away in like two minutes then yell at me for talking to you?” he says half-joking.

“who cares? he’s not my dad.” you retort looking down at him. “am i ruining your ‘cool cult member image’? i can leave-” you start going to stand up. but his hand lands on your thigh quickly.

“no.” he speaks lowly, “stay.” he holds his hand on your thigh for a couple of seconds before letting it fall down. “if you want to, of course.”

“i can’t keep batting my eyes forever eddie, i wanted to talk to you.” you say in the sweetest voice, and it makes his heart melt, like everything else you do.

“good girl’s joining the dark side,” he quips, getting comfortable in his chair, legs spreading slightly.

“what can i say? i don’t think you’re all that bad.” you reply, swinging your legs a little.

he goes to speak but is cut off by the bell. he groans instead, rolling his eyes as the rest of his table starts to separate. “the day is too long,” he mumbles standing up and adjusting his jacket, he holds his hand out for you and you take it, hopping off the table.

“walk me to class?” you offer, smoothing out your skirt and looking up at him. “maybe it’ll make up for your bad day..” you say in a sing songy voice.

“sure,” he answers, “don’t you need your bag?” he mentions and you gasp, running over to your abandoned chair across the room and back to him once you’ve retrieved your items.

“okay, now we can go,” you laugh slightly and follow him out of the cafeteria.

“what made you want to talk to me?” he asks, looking down at you timidly. a face you only see when you catch him staring at you.

“theres something..” you begin, fiddling with your fingers, “interesting about you.”

“am i the bad boy you’ve always dreamed of?” he jokes wiggling his brows at you.

“i think you’ll fit in quite nicely into my dreams, yes,” you giggle, nudging him lightly. the two of you chat, and the more you talk the more he realizes that it was in fact not a coincidence that first time you smiled at him.

when you finally stop in front of ms. odonell’s class you sigh, a little upset that the walk was so fast.

“guess this is goodbye,” eddie says, eyes glaring into the floor.

“what’s it going to take to get you to ask me on a date?” you say quickly, not completely thinking about what you said.

“wow, uh-” eddie mutter eyes shooting up to yours and reading your face. “oh you’re serious, i-” he stutters and you giggle lightly, the sound making his chest tighten.

“i’ll see you later, munson!” you say opening the pocket on his denim vest and stuffing something inside. you open the door to your class and leave him standing there.

once he finally regains consciousness, he turns to lean on the near by lockers and dig into his pocket. it was a piece of paper. he opened the note and smiled.

“call me sometime, wont you?

688-7531

-y/n ♡”

[vixenpen]

Our Year (Eddie Munson x Black Fem y/n)

Okaaayyyy, sooo, hi 👋🏾 it’s been five fucking ever since I’ve written anything on this page. But I love this story so much and I missed writing for a new fandom. So, before you guys read on, I have to mention that I’ll be moving this fic onto AO3. I’m also going to making y/n into an OC (still black of course) so if you enjoy this fic, feel free to read it over there and get to know Alissa Porter!

“Look, they’re leaving.” Michaela giggled.

“Aawww, did we do that?” Liz added, with a mocking chuckle.

“Guys, that wasn’t cool.” Chrissy replied.

“God, Chrissy, you’re such a drag tonight.” Michaela rolled her eyes. “Where is your sense of fun?”

“Where’s yours?” Chrissy snapped back. “We were supposed to be having girls night out and we’ve spent the entire night worried about y/n and Eddie. Can we just watch the rest of the movie, please?”

The rest of the girls fell silent in the wake of Chrissy’s outburst until finally Frenchie replied: “Fine, geez. No need to spaz out over it.”

The girls fell silent, turning their attention to the screen rather than argue back with Chrissy. Lucky thing too, because Chrissy was finally able to relax for the first time all night as they enjoyed the movie. An hour later, the movie was over and the night was still young.

“It’s only 10:30, what do you guys wanna do now?” Liz asked.

“We could always call up the guys and see if there’s a party going on.” Michaela suggested.

“Liz, aren’t your parents out?” Chrissy quizzed. “Why don’t we have The Team over for a get together?” She suggested.

“No way, remember how close we cut it last time when my parents told me they were coming home early?” Lizzie steered her station wagon into the procession of cars leaving the drive-in. “Let’s do Frenchie’s place.”

“Oh, so I get in trouble?” Frenchie exclaimed.

As they exited the parking lot, a loud fizzing sound caught Chrissy’s attention. Before any of the girls could figure out what was happening, Liz’s windshield was splattered with coke and soggy napkins.

The girls screamed as Liz slammed on the brakes, sending everyone lurching forward.

Tires screeched against concrete as the culprit sped away, but the perpetrators were far from anonymous as Eddie’s voice yelled from the distance.

“That’s for my tapes, you cheer cunts!”

“Oh. My. GOD!” Lizzie screamed.

“Those freaks!”

Chrissy’s mouth dropped. She hadn’t thought Eddie or y/n would have that in them.

“Now, should we just ignore them, Chrissy?” Liz turned to her, angrily. “Those freaks ruined my car.”

“They didn’t ruin your car, Liz.” Chrissy replied, rolling her eyes. “We got them and they got us back. Let’s just get to your place and hose it off before it gets sticky.”

“Fine.” Liz grumbled. “But this isn’t over. Especially not with The Freak’s bride.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can’t believe we did that!” You laughed as the two of you drove away.

“Your aim and timing was perfect, babe.” Eddie laughed.

“Yeah, but I have a feeling I’m gonna be dealing with the consequences come next practice.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Eddie scowled.

“Oh no, Eddie please don’t start any trouble.”

“I’m not starting it, I’m finishing it. If those cheer cunts wanna come after you, I’ll be ready.”

“I can take care of myself, babe, don’t worry. You should be worried about those hoop heads coming after you after that stunt. Especially Jason.”

“I’m not worried. Jason’s scared of me. Has been since I kicked his ass in the locker room that time and definitely since everyone thinks I’m a devil worshipping magic man.” He wiggled his fingers at you, playfully.

“Wait, you fought him before?” You gawked.

“Oh yeah, Sophomore year. His sophomore year that is. He and his hoop head friends were talking shit about me being behind in my grade so I told him to say it to my face. He did, and I put him in a headlock. Body slammed him and everything. He’s only come at me twice since. I’ll admit, he definitely holds his own better since bulking up from basketball, but he’s never beat me in a fight.”

“Woooah! What!” You exclaimed, shocked by Eddie’s revelation. “Let me find out I’m dating a secret bad boy. Since when was my lover boy a fighter?”

Eddie shot you a sidelong smile that almost turned you on as much as learning about his hidden fighting skills.

“Hey, you learn a few things when your dickhead of a dad was a former jock. Anyway, his buddies keep his ass kicking under wraps, but they know the truth.“

You could only stare at your boyfriend’s unassuming profile as he stared ahead wearing a soft smile. As if kicking Jason Carver’s ass was a fond memory. His big, brown eyes were so soft and boyish and his smile was adorably innocent. Never would you have imagined a soul as gentle as Eddie’s could be capable of that kind of violence.

He took his eyes off the road for a split second to glance at you.

“Y/n? What’s up?”

“I can’t stop imagining you body slamming Jason Carver.” You shook your head. “That’s really fucking hot.”

Eddie chuckled.

“And here I thought you weren’t like the other girls who only liked bad boys.”

“I’m not,” you replied stroking his thigh,“but a good guy with a secret bad boy streak is a turn on.”

Eddie shifted in his seat as your hand inched closer to his crotch.

“Oh yeah?” His voice cracked.

“Yeah.” You giggled back. “And we never got to finish what we started at the movie…”

Eddie bit his lip.

“The night’s still young.” He eyed you back. “Wanna go back to my place?”

“Duh.” You smirked

“Alright ladies, let’s welcome our newest Hawkins High Tigerettes!” Coach Stacy clapped. She was a peppy forty something Asian woman with a valley girl accent and her ever perky attitude was both annoying and endearing.

You ignored the glares of Liz Rawlins and Michaela Washington as your fellow cheer sisters clapped along to welcome you and the six other new girls on the team. Once that was over, Coach Stacy continued.

“Now, we have a lot of work to do to prepare for the upcoming season, starting with a new cheer and chant. So, I want my veterans to help out the newbies as much as possible. The faster we can get through these new cheers the faster we can get to our stunt routines! Captains, let’s get started.”

Chrissy and Liz stepped forward all bright smiles to lead you guys in your stretches. So far so good. Most of the head cheerleaders hated your guts, but at least with an adult present they wouldn’t try to do anything about it.

Or so you thought. As Coach Stacy began to show you guys the moves for the new routine, you found yourself getting tripped, poked, and “accidentally” punched in the arm as the girls found their formation. It was clear, the core four, Chrissy, Michaela, Frenchie, and Liz had already spread the news that you were the team punching bag.

“Y/n, is everything ok?” Stacy asked, her brows wrinkled. “You seem a little off.”

“I’m fine coach, but the girls in my line are a little too close to me. I keep tripping. Maybe if I stepped forward on three instead, I could avoid their fists and feet.”

You demonstrated the step differently and Stacy nodded.

“Hmm, you might be on to something, y/n. We’ll try it your way on that count. Keep showing initiative like that, and you could be captain.” She winked.

Coach Stacy might’ve been impressed but your squad mates were anything but as they glared at you. Whatever. They were lucky you didn’t snitch on them.

Eventually, the girls gave up trying to get your goat in practice and things started running smoothly. Finally, it was time for your first ten minute break.

Coach Stacy exited the gym to make a call while the other girls gathered on the bleachers. Except for you. You headed for the exit, only to be intercepted by Frenchie, Liz, and Michaela.

Your heart revved with adrenaline, but your straightened and crossed your arms to stare them down.

“May I help you ladies?”

“You sure can.” Liz replied. “You can start by cleaning my car, Freakella.”

“Excuse you?”

“You heard her.” Frenchie cut in. “We know it was you and your shaggy dog of a boyfriend who trashed Liz’s car on Saturday.”

“And I know it was you three stooges who trashed my boyfriend’s on Saturday. So, as I see it, we got even. Now, if you’ll excuse me I need water.” You shoved Lizzie out of the way. “I’m exhausted from carrying this team on my back for the past half hour.”

The girls gasped as you pushed past them.

“Bitch.”

“Who does she think she is?”

You heard them whisper as you entered the half empty halls. The only people left at this time of the day were a few students in clubs, a handful of teachers, and the janitors.

You found the nearest water fountain and took your time hydrating. At that moment a wolf whistle piped up from behind you.

You whipped around to see your boyfriend’s sweet grin.

“Lookin’ good in that skirt, future captain.”

“Eddie!” You exclaimed, immediately running into his arms.

Eddie picked you up off your feet, holding you tight. After being picked on for the last thirty minutes straight, his warm comforting frame was such a relief. He smelled like his favorite cheap cologne and weed.

“What are you doing here?” You asked as he lowered you to the floor, never releasing your waist.

“Gotta make sure my little minions get home in one peace. They got AV club today.”

“Oh, the freshies you adopted?” You giggled, referring to the nerdy group of boys that Eddie had taken under his wing. Lucas, Dustin, and Mike were sweet, smart, misunderstood kids, and you loved how brotherly Eddie was with them.

“Yeah, my little protégés in training. You know some of these douchey upperclassmen can’t wait to pick on the fresh meat.” He rolled his eyes. “Cowards. Anyway, how’s practice going?”

“It’s… going…” You sighed.

“Yeah?” Eddie’s probing brown eyes took in your expression. “I know it’s going, y/n, is it going well or is it going bad is what I’m asked.”

“The core four are kinda out for my head right now.”

“Do I have to come in there?” Eddie frowned.

“No, don’t just… be here to walk me out when it finishes. It’ll be over in another half hour.”

“As the lady wishes.” Eddie booped your nose. “The kiddos should be done by then too.”

“Cool. Well, I gotta get back in, babe. See in a minute.”

Eddie kissed your forehead gently before letting you back into the gym.

The rest of practice went well enough, but it dawned on you that if these girls were trying their hardest to hurt you during the regular cheers and chants they could really hurt you during the stunt routines.

Shit. How were you going to navigate that?

As you guys started doing your last rundown of the choreography Coach Stacy taught you, the door cracked open and in walked Eddie.

He shot you a smile and a wave and you returned the gesture. That was when you heard the whispers start out. Before you could tell them to say it to your face, the door opened a second time and Jason entered followed by two of his fellow teammates.

Oh fuck.

You thought as your eyes darted to Eddie. You silently begged him to not engage with those assholes if they started shit. With fifteen minutes to go in practice, there was nothing you could do except hope the boys stayed in their own corners until it was over.

[ephemerensis]

Enough // Tim Drake x GN! Reader

Y/N is a vigilante moment even though i hate writing Y/N as a vigilante but I needed to write smth about an inferiority complex 2 cope asf and this is the only thing that made sense lmaoo i have finals this whole week pls send thots and prayers love u guys <3 HURT AND COMFORT + not proofread per usual

—

“Currently northbound, everything checks out. How’s it looking on your end?”

Tim’s voice sounded muffled behind the wind. He was using comms mid swing again, despite your countless protests against it for his safety.

“Everything is fine here too. I just checked the last two blocks.”

Or maybe he was just on a rooftop. It was windy after all, especially higher up where you were perched now, overlooking a small corner of the city.

“Sounds good, I’ll see you back at the cave.”

It bit into the side of your face, the parts your mask didn’t cover, chilled fingers running their course across your cheeks. A shiver ran down your spine. Your cape billowed violently beside you, sitting on the precipice as you were it felt as if it could pick you up at any moment. But tonight you didn’t particularly mind.

“Copy that.”

You had no intention of going back. At least not yet. There weren’t any cases to solve or villains to plot against and while it was nice to live in a place full of kind faces and warm gestures, it was difficult to hear your own thoughts when they were being drowned out by the ever flowing conversation of twelve other voices. Nights like these were your own.

Your eyes fluttered shut as you inhaled. If you focused on it enough, letting go of your mind to let it wander, it almost felt as if you were flying. Almost.

How did you get here?

The wind billowed noisily in your ears but in the silence of tempestuous isolation the question rung so clearly in your mind, it clung like the lingerings of a bell chime.

Of course you knew how you got on the roof. And you knew how to get home. And you knew you had a home.

You were happy— undoubtedly you were happy. Your friends were wonderful, your boyfriend loved you; if you didn’t blink twice the world would think you had it all.

Somehow you didn’t though. That’s how you got here. Because you don’t belong.

You felt the cold bite of your tears along your cheeks before you registered them falling.

It was easier some days to forget it; the days when everyone lounged around at home, fighting tooth and nail to avoid taking out the trash. When you wrestled with Jason over TV programs because he wanted to rewatch Riverdale “for the irony of it.” Arguing with Tim on some obscure rooftop about which Spiderman was the best one. Dinners with the family, feasing over Alfred’s food.

But you didn’t belong and you knew it.

Two weeks ago you lost a lead on the disappearances happening around downtown that Tim had to rectify for you. Before that, you scuffed a mission by getting caught; the others had to save you. What good were you?

Even if you did succeed. Your feats were nothing another couldn’t accomplish. It took you three weeks to right a low profile burglary, when Cass could’ve done it in three days. And you tried. As much as anyone could you tried, but trying isn’t enough because effort means nothing when it amounts to mediocrity.

The truth was, even with a full hand— you didn’t deserve your cards. The rest of them and the trauma they faced before getting here; what did you ever suffer for but a few minor inconveniences?

You don ’t belong.

And it was infuriating.

You don’t have the skill. You don’t have the talent. You don’t even have a sob story to your name. You are nothing and nothing you could ever do would be good enough. You would never be good enough.

“Hey.” A voice behind you drew you out of your thoughts, making you whip your head around. You’d thrown the knife you had in hand at the intruder before you could process it, habitually. It hit the door leading to the rooftop with a thud as a figure moved to avoid it. The black boots of Red Robin’s suit emerged from the shadows as he approached you with his hands up.

“Woah! Hey, it’s just me.”

The tension in your body settled as soon as you registered the symbol sprawled across his chest, turning yourself back around to resume your previous position.

“You could’ve radioed me.”

The boy shrugged as he perched himself beside you, legs dangling over the edge, mimicking you.

“You didn’t answer when I did.”

“Oh. I guess I just didn’t hear it.”

His eyes were on you as you stared at the skyline. Your hands were fidgeting, kneading the air between each other in something akin to discomfort. A beat of silence passed until he broke it.

“Wanna know a secret?”

Relief flooded your bones. If he asked you what was wrong you wouldn’t know what to say. It’s not like you could lie, not to him, and you couldn’t bring yourself to tell the truth.

“What happened?”

“Well, I was texting and grappling— like you said was stupid, and I hit a brick wall. And then I went home and told you I got into a huge fight that was super valiant and dangerous! Do you remember?“

You snorted. Two months ago he came back limping through the cave. His nose was broken, wrist was sprained, among other things. You gave him an earful then about how reckless he was that night after patching him up.

“You’re joking! I was worried sick when you just stopped texting me and then when you came back I felt terrible for not being there.” He shrugged again with a small smile.

“It was embarrassing! What else was I supposed to say? To be fair, the wall was looking pretty suspicious, I had to neutralize the target… But yeah! I’m not perfect— go figure!” You leaned over, resting your head on his shoulder with a chuckle.

“Honestly I think we should revoke your phone privileges.”

“How would I talk to you then?”

“I guess we’ll just have to ask Bruce about telepathy tech.” You felt his shoulders shake beneath your head as he laughed. His hand hand grabbed yours before you realized it earlier, drawing shapes over your palm with his gloved fingers.

“Wanna know something else?”

“What else, Timberly?” His nose crinkled at the nickname.

“I had the worst insomnia like three years ago! Which, it’s not like I don’t pull all-nighters anymore but I’m improved I swear! Wanna know what fixed it?”

“Oh please don’t say something corny, I might throw up.” Your teeth sank into your bottom lip to prevent the impending smile from forming.

“You thought I was gonna say you? Funny. Silly! Wrong!”

You gasped comically, pulling away, before slapping his arm with the hand he wasn’t holding.

“Timothy Jackson Drake!” He let go of your hand altogether to fish his phone out of his pocket with a coy smile planted firmly under his mask.

“Not so loud! My identity’s at stake.” After tapping at his screen for a few moments, he handed you the phone, “This is my one stop shop tried and true remedy for sleep support.”

Taking it, you took a look. You hadn’t taken the picture. Which makes sense because you were sleeping in it, on one of the couches in the manor on a sunny afternoon. Your nose was crinkled slightly because the sun was in your face, but it made it look like your skin was glowing.

Handing it back, internally satiated but outwardly bashful, you rolled your eyes, “So it was me anyways.”

“You should feel honored I’m blessing you with it! Any thoughts I have that keep me from sleeping? Gone! You’re pretty cool Y/N. I’ve never needed someone like I need you.”

Ah. So he knew. Wordlessly he knew.

“You need me?”

Somehow he always did. And all this was to make you feel better. And it did.

“Yeah. We all do.”

[avelnfear]

Chapter Three

Masterlist

Danny leaned back on the couch with a heavy sigh, mentally going over the events of the past few months. Life had gone downhill fast after the group had returned from the Crowning, like a rollercoaster that ran out of track. It all started when Madd- when Mom had confronted him and Jazz about his being Phantom. He’d feared the worst before she started sobbing and babbling about how sorry she was for ever targeting him or believing what Jack said about ghosts. Jack had overheard about him being Phantom, attempted to End him, and caused Team Phantom plus Mom to have to scramble to change Danny’s identity and set him up in the chosen city. He’d somehow managed to interview well at Arkham despite Mom giving him a different application than the one he thought he’d be getting, and now he finally had a chance to rest in his brand new apartment.

When the short runthrough of events didn’t calm his buzzing core he sighed, giving into the fact that he’d have to set aside time to go through everything that had happened in more detail later. Opening his eyes, Danny looked around the Crime Alley apartment that they’d managed to get him under the short notice. The walls were thin and not entirely clean, but they weren’t the worst walls he’d ever seen in Crime Alley. The furnishings were sparse, as though he was prepared to move at any moment, because he was. Despite that, the room still managed to feel cozy and lived in. If his memory served him, this apartment complex was one that Jason would frequent occasionally which would make sense because he owned the building.

Sliding from the couch to their feet, Danny wandered over to the fridge in an almost daze, drowning in thoughts of their sun. They missed him so much it hurt. Their thoughts paused at the empty fridge standing before them. They’d forgotten to go shopping. A pang of longing went through them at the thought of food, both for the idea of food itself and for the thought of a chance to taste their love’s cooking again. With another heavy sigh, Danny started to move throughout the room, gathering up everything they needed in order to go on a short shopping trip.

They attached the chain that disguised some N Capsules to their jeans, neatly hiding it under their baggy hoodie. Next they snagged the N Taser, it looked like a regular taser while still working on ghosts, and their switchblade, which was a replica of one that Jay had given them once. Danny left the living room and entered the bedroom which only contained a dresser, a wardrobe, and a bed although everything still had that cozy yet abandonable vibe to it. Snagging their wallet from the top of the dresser and making sure the window was locked, they finally made their way to the front door to slip on their shoes which were a good pair of running shoes that had seen better days.

Danny took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for any sort of situation they might get into before opening the door and stepping out, right into the path of a tall person, sending them both to the ground. Eggs dropped from their container, smashing their shells on his hoodie and leaving behind a gooey mess, but Danny only had eyes for the unfortunate person he was now tangled with on the ground. It was just his luck to have run into the very object of his thoughts right when he wasn’t prepared for it.

Jazz’s voice reminded Danny to breathe, and he calmed down quickly. There was no time for panic, he had a first impression to make. “Sorry about that, guess meet-cutes aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.” His voice was light, dramatic, and teasing, exactly the kind of tone he’d have used in their first life when he didn’t know what to say and just defaulted to the first thought that crossed his head. Evidently, Jason didn’t remember their past lives yet because there was no flare of recognition in his eyes as Danny’s words were processed. Danny is sure Jason’s face went through the five stages of grief, adding a few and not quite reaching acceptance before Jason groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“That…” Jason groaned out, still hiding his face. “That was almost a good pick up line until I registered that it was a pun.” Looking up, Jason seemed to realize what door he was in front of. “Well howdy neighbor, this is definitely not how I thought we’d meet. Been hearing you move in for the past week or so, nice to finally meet you. Your accent isn’t local, so what brings you to Gotham?”

“Many things.” Danny said with a wince as Jason accidentally dug his elbow into Danny’s ribs while trying to get free from the two person tangle. “If I’d realized you’d already known I was moving in, I definitely would have said hi sooner.” Danny winced again as their legs thumped the floor as Jason attempted to free himself. “Again, I’m sorry about this. I should have been looking where I was going, but my mind was a tad distracted by my hunger. All that work moving in only to forget to stock up on food is such a rookie mistake.” Danny had a better view of how their legs were tangled, so he swiftly untangled them, rising to his feet and extending a hand to Jace. “Name’s Danny. Not Daniel, not Dan, not Danno, not Danny Boy, just Danny.” His voice lost a tad of the humor it had kept up as he went over the names not to call him.

Jason took his hand, pulling himself to his feet with an amused smirk on his face. “Nice to meet you Danny. You can call me Jason. We’ve all forgotten to go shopping once or twice, and to be fair, you weren’t the only one at fault here. I was focused on my phone when I should have been paying attention to my surroundings.” Jason looked around, probably for his phone, quickly scooping it up once he saw it. When he turned back to Danny, he winced in sympathy at the messy hoodie. “Sorry about your hoodie.”

Danny looked down as if noticing the mess on his hoodie for the first time. “Eh, don’t worry about it. This is actually my least favorite hoodie, so I don’t care too much about it. I’m more saddened about the early death of the eggs, those could have made some great food. Speaking of,” Danny clicked his fingers to help convey the suddenness of the thought he was now speaking, “do you mind telling me a good place to get some food shopping done? I’m fairly new in town, clearly, and I didn’t really have time to research such places.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck as though nervous, but he really only wanted something to do with his hands, leaving them hanging was starting to feel awkward.

Jason smirked gently at him, and Danny had to fight back his instinctual responding smile, reminding himself that Jason doesn’t remember. “Seeing as I need to get some new eggs, why don’t we just meet up after I’ve had a chance to put the rest of this away and you to change hoodies? Say, five to ten minutes?” Jason moved while he talked, picking up the various groceries spread around the hall from their fall, Danny quickly moving to help him. 

“Sure, sounds like a plan.” Danny held out the couple of bags he’d reassembled the contents of. “Here.” Jason took the bags, and Danny spoke again before Jason could move off, “I’ll just stand inside my doorway this time. Wouldn’t want a repeat of this situation, after all, my heart couldn’t take falling for the same person twice in one day.” Danny winked along with his words, trying to convey that he was teasing in more ways than just the massive shit eating grin on his face.

Without giving Jason time to respond, Danny slipped into his apartment, smoothly and swiftly closing the door. As soon as the door was shut, the smile dropped, and Danny ran his hands over his face and through his hair. That was not how he thought his first meeting with Jason would go. Danny had figured out during that conversation with his fright after the Crowning that there was no way Jason remembered because he would have found Danny before anything really happened. After all, that was what had happened in their second life, where they both remembered from the beginning. Danny had thought that the wave of energy the Crowning had produced might have awoken the memories, but that didn’t appear to be the case.

Moving on autopilot, Danny moved through the apartment, leaving the soiled hoodie in the laundry room to be dealt with later before heading to the bedroom to find a new hoodie. Jason’s ecto-signature had been off, but Danny expected that, even would have been worried if it hadn’t been. The first time they’d met, Jason had thought Danny was also dipped into a Lazarus Pit… The Lazarus Pit! Of course! Danny paused as a thought struck them. The remaining Pit Waters in Jason must be holding back his memories, maybe even cutting off or stifling his connection to his core! How would Danny be able to fix that was the new problem.

Shaking his head, Danny put that thought away for later, focusing on finding the perfect hoodie from his collection. Shortly after his accident, Tucker and Sam had started getting him hoodies with ghost comics on them or cartoon ghosts doing silly things or just hoodies with cartoon ghosts on them. One of these hoodies had a cartoon ghost and cartoon zombie face to face with each other on the front, both of them saying, “Same hat!” The back had the same ghost and zombie now saying, “Different colors though…” They both were wearing no hats. It was perfect, and the hoodie Danny planned to wear when meeting Jason for the first time.

Finally finding it, Danny wasted no time getting to his door while pulling it on. As Danny passed the counter he spotted his phone which he promptly scooped up, mentally chiding himself for forgetting it the first time. Danny opened his door to find an empty hallway, meaning Jason wasn’t done with putting things away, or he was caught up talking to the Batfam about something. Knowing how quickly Jason usually put things away, unless that had changed, and consulting his inner clock, Danny figured it was the latter and settled in to wait, pulling up a game on his phone in the meantime.

~`~`~

Jason stared at the door that had just closed in his face. His new neighbor, Danny, was nothing like what he thought they were going to be. Shaking himself both mentally and physically, Jason walked to his own door, quickly entering his own apartment, locks opening swiftly with practised ease. Letting his body put things away on autopilot, Jason let his thoughts drift.

When he’d first heard his new neighbor moving in, Midwest accent and all, he’d brought it up to the sibling group chat, and they’d all made bets on what type of person his neighbor was and how quickly they would move. The usual things. Jason hadn’t thought they would be staying for long, and that they were likely to be timid due to how long it took them to introduce themselves, factoring in the fact that the Midwest was notorious for being friendly from what he’d heard all his life.

Danny was nothing like he’d expected. On the outside, with the baggy hoodie, Danny looked like a stiff wind would snap him in half with ease, but Jason had felt the hidden muscles while struggling to untangle himself. Usually Jason would have been free in a heartbeat, but it was like his brain had glitched the moment Danny touched him. Something about it was so familiar, yet he was sure he’d never felt anything like that before. Danny hadn’t appeared to have the same issue, moving with all the grace that Dick usually did, like someone trained to fight and entertain. Danny also punned like Dick but more subtle. 

Despite how much Danny seemed to be like Dick, Jason shied away from that comparison. It just didn’t feel right. Danny had the same eyes as Tim, icy blue, even possessing the same deep eye bags that spoke of someone who didn’t sleep well. Danny’s eyes, while sharing the same color as Tim, reminded Jason most of Damian, assessing and sharp, yet they also bore the kindness of Duke. There had been a hint of a scar that trailed from the edge of his chin to somewhere under the hoodie. The scar was barely noticeable because of how pale it was on Danny’s pale skin. The black hoodie with black pants and black running shoes had only served to make him appear paler. 

The sound of his phone blowing up drew Jason from his thoughts. The sibling chat was blowing up with concern for him. It took him a moment to remember that he’d been messaging with them before the fall. Jason sighed, spying that they were all on comms, he made the decision to join them on there rather than just texting them. It was the work of five seconds to locate one of the spare comms hidden all around his apartment. Putting it in, Jason heard a wall of concerned cries from most of his siblings while Barb tried to get them to calm down as the sole voice of reason.

“Yo.” Silence, deafening silence, dawned over the line before everyone began speaking at once again. Jason let it go for a couple minutes just to let them get the panic out of their systems. Deciding enough was enough, he spoke again, “Alright, everyone shut the fuck up or I won’t answer any of the questions.” The comms fell silent again.

“What happened, Little Wing? You were messaging us and then just fell off the face of the earth.” Dick tried to sound less worried than he was, but Jason was skilled at picking up human emotions.

Jason chuckled. “Nothing as dramatic as that Dickiebird. I just ran into my neighbor, literally. We talked for a little bit, and I just got back into my apartment.” Jason leaned on the counter as the comms dissolved into chaos once again, everyone wanting to know who’d won money in the bet.

“Tt. I still do not understand why the betting was so intense for such an insignificant event.” Leave it to the Demon Brat to get everyone to shut up.

“Damian,” Tim said slowly, clearly trying to keep his tone kind while wanting to scream at Damian for supposed stupidity, “we’re talking about someone who moved into Crime Alley, into a building that is known to be owned by Red Hood no less, who has a background so secure Oracle can’t crack it, that just got a job at Arkham as a guard assigned to the main Rogue wing, and they just so happened to move into the one apartment that was open on the top floor despite a lot of the building being empty. The whole thing sounds more than suspicious enough for us to get, as you put it, intense about this.”

In the silence that followed, Jason decided to finally offer some information. “Their name is Danny, they look like a twink yet feel like they have a decent amount of muscle, and I did not manage to get their pronouns.” Jason broke out his Mission Report Voice, knowing it would catch everyone’s attention. “They wore all black and didn’t appear to be armed, although they could be good at concealing their weapons. They look like Tim, act like Dick, and move like a combo between Dick and Damian. They looked like they had been getting about as much sleep as Tim too. Definitely from the Midwest, although they did appear to know a little bit about what they were getting into and some of the unspoken rules of Gotham, such as not being overly friendly yet still showing a sense of community and not pressing someone on what they were doing. They didn’t try to follow me into my apartment, even closing their door before I could move off, possibly to give me more comfort knowing they wouldn’t know exactly where I live. Danny has a scar that is faint yet visible that trails from the edge of their chin to somewhere below the neckline of their hoodie. They didn’t seem to know who I was, but they did agree to go shopping with me seeing as I lost some eggs and they didn’t buy groceries as they were moving in.”

There was some silence as everybody processed what he said, but that was quickly broken by Steph, “What do you mean you lost some eggs?” Her voice clearly showed her disbelief.

“I did tell you that I literally ran into them.” Jason kept his voice dry. “The only reason I have the time to talk to you guys right now is because some eggs decided to kamikaze on their hoodie.”

The comms exploded with laughter. It seems like the majority of his siblings the bat siblings found his phrasing funny, which was the whole point. Idly, Jason looked down at his phone, immediately letting out a string of expletives, carefully avoiding the use of the words that would make his siblings rush over in worry. Quickly, he snagged his wallet and shoved his feet into his boots.

“What? What’s wrong?” Dick’s voice broke through Jason’s steady stream of curses. 

“I’m fucking five minutes later than I told Danny I would be for shopping. Shit! Talk to you guys later.” Jason didn’t give anybody time to respond before turning off the commlink and yanking it out of his ear in the same motion. He dashed to the door, barely glancing in the mirror to make sure he hadn’t somehow gotten something on his shirt or jacket while he was in the house.

Jason threw his door open and himself through it, spinning to close the door and then lock it as fast as he could, only fumbling slightly. Looking up, he saw Danny in their doorway, playing on their phone. As he starts to step towards them, their head jerks up, and a smile lights up their face. 

“Hey, long time no see.” Their smile turns obviously teasing and they pitch their voice up and down to really sell that it was meant to be teasing. Jason winced, about to say something when Danny interrupted him, “Don’t worry about it, although we might need to stop at a fast food place before shopping because I definitely need a meal now.” Danny laughed while they spoke, conveying that it was still meant to be lighthearted.

Jason laughed along with Danny. “I, uh, never got your pronouns. Mine are he/him, may I know yours?” Jason smiled sheepishly.

“Oh! I knew there was something I forgot. I use he/they and sometimes she. Gender is weird.” Danny rubbed their neck again.

~`~`~

The shopping trip went well! Danny had gotten a few strange looks from Jason a few times. First was for his large order at Batburger, but Danny had quieted Jason’s suspicion by informing him that he hadn’t eaten all day. The next time was because a couple of the seven different types of mushrooms in his cart could kill someone who didn’t, or did, know what they were doing with them, the fact that they’d been placed right next to raspberry sparkling water didn’t help, but Danny just waved Jason off that time, he knew what he was doing. Danny was pretty sure his cart organization looked like a disaster just waiting to happen, but he knew what he was doing. Things were bagged with what they were going to be used with, so the concerned stares weren’t necessary from Jason and the cashier.

As all good times in Danny’s life, something had to quickly make it take a nosedive. They were two measly blocks from their apartment building when a group of robbers dragged them and their groceries into an alleyway that Danny knew was a dead end. Knives were being waved in their faces, and Jason looked like he didn’t know what to do because he couldn’t show too much skill in front of a civilian while still wanting to beat these amateurs up. As for Danny, he was just focusing on slowly working the bags down so that they wouldn’t spill any of their precious cargo when they hit the ground.

The leader walked up. “What’s taking so long? Divest them of their valuables.” The leader had a scar on one side of his face, Danny could use that.

“Hey, Lopsided!” The leader turned from the minion he was addressing to glare at Danny while everyone else looked at Danny like he’d lost his mind, which was rude in Danny’s opinion. “Do you want me to even you out?” An easy smile rested on Danny’s face, and he made himself stand like he was just offering a friendly favor to a friend, bags closer to the ground like this.

“What?!” The leader growled out, leaning forward and twisting his face in a way he probably thought was aggressive but actually just showed Danny a glimpse of what his fighting style would be like.

Danny kept the easy smile in place as he tilted his head. Speaking slightly louder he said, “My bad, you must be hard of hearing too. I asked if you wanted me to even you out. Ya know, your face. Your nose is crooked, and there’s only a scar on one side of your face. I don’t guarantee that I can fix the nose without a few more supplies, but I can definitely even out your face, it’ll be easy!” Jason looked very impressed and very concerned, but he didn’t say anything, likely speechless or wanting to see how this plays out.

“You’re clearly new in town, so I’ll give you some advice and one more chance.” Lopsided was somewhere between a growl and a smile now, looking smug as someone who just figured out something massive that was previously missing. “I’m not your friend, and I should kill you for those remarks. Apologize and I won’t slit your neck right here.”

Danny laughed gently, keeping his eyes on Lopsided. “I am new in town, thanks for noticing, but I should be the one to give you some advice and a chance. Listen closely,” Danny leaned in, using that action to disguise the fact that his arms were now free of the bags, and said bags were on the ground, “you only have one chance. I never said we were friends. People don’t need to be friends to be friendly ya know, and you should kill me even though you can’t.” 

With his last word still fading from the air, Danny launched into motion, pulling his switchblade free and flicking it open as he used the goon in front of him like a springboard to launch him at Lopsided, sending the goon to the ground. Before anyone could do anything, Danny’s blade was cutting deeply into Lopsided’s face, giving him a wound that would definitely leave a matching scar. Danny swung his legs around to rebound off of the leader, Danny couldn’t call him Lopsided anymore, and into another goon. From there, Danny let instincts take control, ripping through the ranks of the robbers with obvious ease while the majority of his focus went to not causing any fatal wounds in the people who dared threaten his Jason. It was the work of a few short minutes to have every goon disabled on the ground, the majority unconscious and all having bleeding wounds due to his switchblade.

Turning, Danny saw Nightwing and Jason standing together with their jaws open in shock. Immediately, Danny’s throat felt closed up, and he knew that his voice had left the chat. Great. Danny leaned down to wipe the switchblade off on one of the goons before closing it. Danny figured they needed a few more moments to gather themselves, so he went to go check on his groceries. It wouldn’t do to have lost something and only find out after getting home.

“T-” Jason paused, audibly swallowing. “That was very impressive.” He exhaled harshly. “Very impressive.” His voice was quiet and breathy.

Danny looked up, nodding quietly with a small smile. Danny signed a simple ‘thank you’ to him. Jason’s eyes widened slightly before a look of realization flashed across his eyes and gave way to understanding. Nightwing still looked shocked, so Danny sent a concerned look at Jason while flicking his eyes over to Nightwing and grabbing his groceries.

Jason sighed. “I’ll get him functioning, you head on to the apartment and I’ll check in with you when I get back.” Danny nodded and started walking, feeling satisfied for having defended one of his people even if that person didn’t belong to his fright just yet.

~`~`~

Jason sat on the edge of the roof with one of Nightwing’s extra communicators in his ear listening to the silence as everyone struggled to process what they were hearing. It had taken a few minutes for Jason to get Nightwing to respond to him, and he’d spent all of them thinking about the sudden switch Danny had made from speaking to not. Danny hadn’t had any issue mouthing off to the amateurs attempting to rob them, but the moment he noticed Nightwing he’d gone silent. Jason had thought about what could have caused that, if anything had even caused that, and why he’d had so much ease understanding Danny’s nonverbal cues. 

“Okay okay… Run that by me again” Jason sighed at the phrase he’d heard three times before. Steph at least sounded less confused and more amused this time.

“It all started after I met up with Danny in the hall…”

Taglist: @blacksea21090 @chrysanthemum9484 @samgirl98 @may-rbi @justwannaseesomebrozawa @serasvictoria02 @treepainting @fluffykster @enderglace @sigdexae @persephoneblackrose @angelofsongsoteira @lazy-bouqet @littlefeather345 @icedbluesoul @autumnwulf @thefearfullone @alixanterm @skulld3mort-1fan @dulceringo @vidimirrayne @betinaplayingwriter @the-legal-shipper @currant-owo @crystalqueertea @fisticuffsatapplebees @bugaboo25 @dannyphantomphan 

[vole-mon-amour]

3x12, Jamie edition, part 4.

Jamie is basically ruling this game at this point. My wonderful, wonderful boy. All this training. All that development through the seasons. I am so fucking proud of him.

You know what this reminds me of? "Hey Jamie! JAMIE! 🖕"

It was what, 1x022? 1x03? When Ted wanted Jamie to be like this and Jamie was like, "Is this a fucking joke? But no one is laughing. I'm not fucking doing this." And now? NOW??? LOOK AT HIM GO!!!!

They fit sooo many callbacks into this ep. I love it.

Jamie in the center of attention again. Jamie celebrating with Sam and the entire team cheering them on. Beard running towards them. I want to grab them all in one huge hug.

Just what, a day or two ago a was begging for them to win, in a post about how important it is for me for Jamie to score? They did it. They fucking did it. ;_; I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

Ted celebrating with his previous team. Ted celebrating with this team. And look at Jamie. My boy.

Guys. How am I supposed to just let this show go? The thing that Jason created... Tears, just tears. The only piece of media that I was able to consume in 2021 and that got me through that year after my parents died. My goodness, it's everything.

He. Him. I'm gonna ignore the circumstances bc fuck that. Jamie deserves better.

But while I'm at it, Jamie needs therapy just as much as Roy. With his depression and PTSD it would only be right. Jamie probably needs meds, too. I want him to get better (and remove his abuser from him! Who fucking thought this was a good idea? Who thought to "forgive your abuser" is the right thing to do? I have questions to the writing room.)

Knee to knee, kiss already. I can feel so much Brett in this Roy, but I'm glad the boys are having fun together and seem to genuinely be very good friends.

Ooh, you make me live Whatever this world can give to me It's you, you're all I see Ooh, you make me live now, honey

That kind of thing. :) Now I can make edits, hehe.

Jamie being good friends with Rebecca? Are you kidding me? This is perfect. The height difference so that he has to tip toe :')

Also, Keeley in sneakers instead of high heels is such a wonderful development. Hell yeah, babe! Let your feet rest!

Roy was turning so for a second I thought he was going to join the hug and hug Jamie from behind. *deep sigh* Almost a kiss this season, almost a romantic hug. If only.

Soft boy. :') Such uncharacteristic, unusual look but yeah :')

So you can canonize this but not RJ and/or RJK? Really? Where did all the talk about Roy and Jamie being the best couple of the show go? Phil? Phil, I have questions.

But hey, for better or for worse, by weird feeling of Roy, Jamie, and Keeley all staying single seems to be working? Sure, they showed them all together, we can take it any way we like it. But I definitely see it more like Roy x Jamie at best and Keeley is focusing on her work. Roy and Jamie are sitting next to each other, very, VERY close & Keeley is a bit away from them. Hugging Phoebe :') She still loves that girl, obviously.

Lots to process, but if it IS the end of the show, I can basically make anything I want out of this. Which is still better than what they could've done, for which I'm still a tiny bit grateful. Didn't ruin it completely and thanks for that.

This isn't final thoughts, just some after the first watch. Gotta think on it and sleep on it and live for like a week on it.

[piedpiperart]

Marked for Death pt 1

With Ao3 down I wanted to put my current fic somewhere for you guys to read, so here’s part one of Marked for death! A fic where Tim gets de-aged Case Closed style!

Ao3 link

Chapter one!

Tim wasn’t looking for trouble. 

This time. 

He had been walking home from Steph’s house, an impromptu study session for their classes because Steph needed help with Chemistry and Tim needed help with English. It’d been his worst grade up until Steph started dragging him to study sessions. Since then, it was admittedly, still his worst subject, but his grades were higher. Bitterly, Tim couldn’t help but want to ask Jason for help on his upcoming essay. He knew the former Robin was the best at literature, if only they’d met before.. before.

Coming up around the street, Tim scuffed his foot against the gravel, sending a few pebbles down the sidewalk. He wasn’t looking forward to coming home to his empty house at Drake Manor. With his parents still in Ghana, he was all alone at the house. Hopefully, they’d be back tomorrow morning like they said they would, but Tim wasn’t optimistic. Even so, he told Bruce he’d be spending the next two weeks with his parents, so he probably wouldn’t be able to patrol as Robin. 

He’d have to remember to text Dick later too, otherwise Nightwing would show up. Tim knew Dick and Bruce were still upset with eachother over Jason, so he’d been trying to mend their relationship with all three of them on patrol. It was going well so far, but Tim didn’t want to have to rework his plans if Dick and Bruce had an arguement when he wasn’t there. Tim sighed, mentally preparing himself for a week or so of staying in his room. Though, he figured he could catch up on some casework.

Suddenly, he started to hear muffled yelling coming from an alley ahead. Tim tensed, stepping back into the shadows of a building. Feeling the burn of curiosity, Tim's footsteps were light and silent as he creeped closer. 

“We jus’ need the bat outta the way,”One guy was saying. His voice was harsh- probably a smoker, Tim thought- and terse with frustration. “Yeh, a distraction. Jus’ ta’ Keep ‘im outta Park Row.”

Seemed like the guy was alone, talking on the phone. Tim gripped his backpack straps as he neared the entrance of the alley, getting as close as he dared. He wondered absently if he should have made for the rooftops to overhear this, but he shrugged it off. There didn’t seem to be any kind of danger, just one guy on his phone. Sure, he was saying pretty concerning things, but Tim was confident he could take him if the guy discovered him. Though, it was doubtful with how the guy was stomping about the alley, pacing back and forth. Tim didn’t need to be nearly as stealthy over the loud voice and footsteps.  

Tim puzzled on why this guy would want Batman out of the picture though His best guess was some sort of trade or  distribution going on in Crime Alley. Considering the guy called it Park Row, Tim was pretty sure he wasn’t from Gotham, and the slight accent leaned towards Japanese. Easing closer, he could peer around the wall and caught a glimpse of all black clothing. 

“Jus’ make it happen,” The guy continued, gritting his teeth. He looked frustrated. “It’s bad enough I’m stuck waitin’ on-” 

Tim froze, processing the possibility of another person coming to meet with the man in black when he was suddenly struck from behind. What felt like a giant rock collided with the back of his skull, making Tim’s vision black out almost immediately. He didn’t even realize he’d fallen until his face was pressed against the harsh gravel. 

Tim groaned, hearing muffled voices and strained to pay attention. Just who the heck were these guys who could sneak up on Robin, he winced. Trying to move was futile, given his limbs felt all fuzzy. He couldn’t think straight, and it took so much effort for Tim to curl his fingers, much less lift his arm. Squinting his eyes open- when had he closed them?-  he could make out another guy with longer hair in the same black clothing as the first guy. Both wearing fancier clothing than common thugs in Crime Alley, for sure. Tim thought absently that they kind of looked ridiculous in all black. 

The teen felt them pawing through his pockets, one pulling out his wallet and phone. Tim’s heart raced, and he tried to focus on moving, getting up, anything, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. He shouldn’t have been so cocky, should have gone straight home. Batman would be so disappointed in him if he knew Tim was snuck up on by one guy with a… was that a pipe? Ouch. Well, if Tim didn’t die today, Bruce would probably kill him. 

 There was a moment before one of them cursed. “This is fuckin’ Tim Drake, Boss,”The first guy hissed, and Tim decided that guys sunglasses made him look really, really stupid this late at night. Sunglasses then pulled out a gun, only to tuck it back after the other one stepped closer, saying something in a low voice that Tim’s aching head didn’t catch. He hoped he wasn’t going to get shot. Bruce would probably start spiraling again if he lost another robin, so Tim had to do everything he could to stay alive. He dug his fingers into the rocks below him, trying his hardest to lever himself up, but he couldn’t manage to lift himself off the ground. What was wrong with him, Tim thought desperately. 

“No, we can’t draw attention to ourselves now, especially with the deal going down this week,”The second guy was arguing. “Batman could be around here and a gunshot would only draw attention.”

Tim missed the second part as he’d tried to shift, only for a spike of pain to shoot through his head. He wasn’t sure if he’d passed out, but the next time he opened his eyes there was a strong hand gripping his hair, about to hoist his head up. 

“-organization’s latest poison. It won’t even show up on autopsies,”The second guy, the one with the long hair, said with a smirk in his voice. Tim could barely process what that meant, but froze when he realized what was about to happen. Was he about to die? Tim thought wildly. He tried to struggle, but the concussion and the grip on his hair prevented him from doing anything more than panic. “It hasn’t been tested on humans yet, but let’s consider this a trial run.”

Dread filled Tim as a hand came into his blurry vision and he tried to jerk away. The boss held firm though, managing to shove what was probably a pill down Tim’s throat and pouring what tasted like alcohol down his throat to get him to swallow it. Tim sputtered, the drink burning on the way down as he inadvertently swallowed the poison. He felt stupid, helpless, and weak as he ran over all his bat training, now virtually useless after a measly blow to the head. Now he couldn’t even think, could only feel the burn in his throat, panic in his chest and pain in his head. 

Satisfied that Tim had swallowed the poison, the kid was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, his cheeks digging into the gravel. Tim groaned, feeling his body grow hotter and mind foggier as the seconds passed by. He barely recognized the crunch of gravel as the two made their getaway, not even staying to wait and see his demise. Tim could only hope that the so-called experimental poison wouldn’t work. They’d said trial runs, right? So maybe he had a chance, he tried to tell himself. Nevermind the burning sensation traveling throughout his body, dread building in his stomach. 

They’d taken his phone, for all the help that would have been, since Tim could barely move his fingers anyways. He gripped the gravel beneath him as his body soon got hotter. He probably had a fever, Tim winced. He bit back a whine at a feeling that he could only describe as his bones melting. Zero out of ten, worst poison experience ever, Tim grimaced, tasting blood in his mouth. Must have bitten his tongue, Tim reasoned, but he couldn’t really feel anything over the white hot pain. He couldn’t do anything but hold on, body tense as the burning feeling passed through his body, ramping up until he thought he might pass out. Gasping for breath, Tim barely managed to hold in a scream before everything went dark. 

----

Tim’s thoughts came back like the last bit of syrup out of the bottle, frustratingly slow and sluggish. His body ached and it took effort to breathe evenly. His lungs hurt. Actually, he amended snidely, everything hurt. Tim lay there, breathing in a way Bruce taught him as he ran through everything that happened. If he wasn’t so drained right now he’d probably be feeling more embarrassed about being snuck up on and poisoned, but he couldn’t help but feel relief for not being dead. Well, relief and pain, because he was poisoned. 

Dizzy, Tim managed to pull his head up, wincing at the gravel that dug into his skin. Obviously, the poison didn’t work how those two had thought it would, otherwise Tim wouldn’t be here. Maybe it doesn't work on humans after all? Tim wondered. If they hadn’t tested it on humans yet, surely they had animal trials that succeeded? Tim hoped it wasn’t a long-lasting poison. He wasn’t even sure what this so called poison was supposed to do to him. So far he only felt like all of his muscles and bones were on fire. In all his time as Robin, he’d never felt so much like what comes out of a woodchipper. Tim winced as a street light shone into his eye, bringing stabbing pain to his head, and tried to bring his arms over to pull himself up. Only, his arms weren’t cooperating. 

Tim took a breath, glancing over to see his arms were.. Trapped in his jacket? Puzzled and a little more than panicky, Tim struggled to sit up. Huh. 

No wonder my whole body is so sore, Tim thought, pushing his panic aside in favor of figuring out his next steps. He tried to school his thoughts into logic, but the pain was definitely not helping. He could break down when he was somewhere safe, he reasoned. But for now… he was no doubt trapped in the body of a toddler. 

I shrunk? Tim exclaimed in his head. He wondered how old his body was now, looking down at his smaller body. He sighed, mourning his loss of height. His growth spurt had only just started, he was sure of it, and now he’s the same height as a fire hydrant.. Great. Looking himself over with barely concealed horror, he estimated his age to be between four and seven. Tim wasn’t exactly sure, considering he hadn’t been around many younger kids in his lifetime. He’d go with six for now, but abandoned that thought for more important things.

Regaining a bit of energy, Tim managed to wriggle his way out of his pile of clothes, keeping the shirt and jacket on as best he could. Regretfully, he had to abandon his jeans, considering his sudden change in height, no matter how much he wanted to keep them on. The shoes were a similar issue, but he pulled on his socks up to his knees, wanting to have some protection against the dirty Crime Alley streets. 

Tim stumbled, due to his aches as well as the change in height, down the alley and back to the street, noting the sky showed the sun about to rise. He’d been out there all night then, Tim thought. It was a miracle nothing happened to him. Oh wait, Tim scowled, pouting at his six year old body.

The toddler made his way down the street carefully, trying not to step on anything sharp or wet with his socked feet. He was wearing his boxers as pants, but his shirt and jacket were so big they reached his ankles anyway. It made sneaking around more difficult, but he was not about to give up more of his clothes for maneuverability. He was light on his footsteps, keeping to the shadows so as to not attract any attention. He definitely didn’t want to be seen at this size in Crime Alley at night. He’d die for sure, Tim thought grimmly. There was hardly anyone out this early, but Tim wasn’t going to jinx it. The two men in black could be anywhere around here. 

Tim huffed, pulling the hood of his jacket up. He needed a plan. Due to his time stalking the bats, he was very familiar with the streets. Less so in Crime Alley, but he’d manage. First, Tim figured he’d need clothes that actually fit, shoes especially. Then he needed to find a place to stay during the night. There was no way he’d be able to go out at night anymore, considering his significantly weaker body. He didn’t even have a way to contact Bruce. The two men in black had taken his phone and wallet, meaning no calls for help and no money. Which was another thing he’d need. 

Tim mentally smacked himself for forgetting to check the alley for his phone and wallet. No doubt they’d just been tossed there, but he wasn’t about to turn back now. Tim was tired, sick, sore, and hungry. At this point, he just wanted to find a safe place to take a nap. 

On Tim’s way through the dirty streets, his mind raced with plans. Obviously he couldn’t contact Bruce or go home. If he went home, his parents would find him as a child and that was not happening. Even if they canceled their plane to Gotham, Tim wouldn’t risk it. So no Drake Manor. 

No Wayne Manor either, given that the men in Black no doubt had their eyes on anything related to Tim Drake, and if Batman was suddenly after the men in black, they might connect the dots that Tim is Robin. So, no contacting Bruce, even if the man thinks he’s dead. Which, he definitely should be so Tim didn’t count it as a lie. He’d protect Batman’s identity staying away, at least until he could apprehend the Men in Black. Tim paused, looking towards his tiny hands poking out if his oversized jacket. Until he could give the information to someone else to aprehend the Men in Black, Tim ammended. 

Sunglasses and Long hair were obviously on a mission of some sort from their ‘Organization’, and they had plans later this week in Crime Alley that called for a distraction for Batman. That was second on Tim’s priority list. If he could figure their Organization out, and maybe how long this poison is supposed to last, he’d be able to go back home.

First on Tim’s priority list was obviously food and shelter. It was a good thing Tim had prepared for situations like this. Not this exactly, he amended. He’d created a system that was like a backdoor to his parent’s bank accounts, back when he was teaching himself how to hack. He’d only had to use it a few times when groceries were late and his parents cut off his allowance for snacks. He had to admit, it was a nice safety net, especially if he’d ever been kicked out or stranded somewhere, or maybe if he needed to hire a fake uncle or something. At least now he had a way to get money without much trouble.

Money was covered as soon as he could reach a computer of some sort. Shelter would be another problem, not as easily solved. There wasn’t a way to buy an apartment as a six year old, nor keep up payments on it without his parents noticing. Probably. Tim was confident in his ability to hide away in some abandoned place quietly though. He’d be fine. Once he’d gotten a secure way of getting money, he’d be able to provide food for himself, so that was covered too. Tim sighed, sidestepping a puddle on the sidewalk. He was tired. 

Tim wasn’t too familiar with Crime Alley, considering he and Batman never patrolled there, especially not after that new guy claimed it as his territory. Some guy calling himself Red Hood had recently taken over the Alley, getting rid of a lot of dealers and gangs, making new rules. Tim hadn’t been able to look into it too much before, but maybe he could do some snooping while he was incapacitated. The only thing he knew about Red Hood was that he protected kids, hated the Joker, and had no qualms about killing people who deserved it. Those including pedophiles and crime lords like Black Mask, apparently. 

As he walked, Tim came across a convenience store and silently rushed to the entrance. It looked old, but the sign with hours listed said it opened around ten. Judging by the position of the sun, it was around 5:30 in the morning, give or take. Tim squinted, pulling out part of a lockpick set from his jacket pocket. He always kept something on him, just in case of kidnappings or his urges to snoop. Tim had the convenience store unlocked in seconds. 

Hurrying inside, he missed the pieces of glass littering the ground and hissed when a piece cut into the heel of his left foot. Tim cursed, but stepped carefully to the side, away from what looked like a broken bottle. He didn’t feel so bad for stealing from this place if they just leave broken glass on the floor, he thought with an angry huff. He took a minute to brace himself against the wall and lift his foot up to what little light shone throught the window from the rising sun.

Thankfully, the cut wasn’t too big, and he was able to wrap his sock around it to stem the bleeding and still keep his foot as protected as possible. After that, he made his way to the back room, avoiding the one camera pointed at the register. In the break room, Tim was surprised to find a little girl’s jacket and backpack. Tim silently apologized to the girl as he took both. The jacket would fit him better and he needed some way to carry things while he was on the streets. To his growing luck, he caught sight of rainboots and a pink butterfly umbrella propped up near the backdoor. 

Tim heaved a sigh of relief and went to put on the boots. He didn’t even care that they were pink froggy boots, they’d keep his feet protected and waterproof, even if they were a bit big. Taking his finds, Tim made his way back to the front of the store to pack food in his newly acquired backpack. It was Wonder Woman themed, but with pink instead of the iconic red. 

The boy busied himself with supplies, taking a lighter along with three sandwiches, a first aid kit, two bottles of water and a bag of jerky. He didn’t have time or need for anything else, considering he couldn’t carry much and needed healthy foods while on the streets. He wasn’t sure what he had to do next, but knew that he needed to find out what organization the two men in black are from. If Batman immediately got involved, they might start to suspect that Tim is Robin, so he couldn’t tell B. Even though he really wanted to. This was Tim’s mess and he was going to fix it himself. He’d never forgive himself if he put the rest of them in danger because of his stupid mistake. 

Tim scoffed, pulling the convenience store shut and locking the door again. He was pretty sure no one would find him missing for at least a week. If not more. That depended on whether the guys in black planned on using his phone to pretend to be him, but Tim shrugged off that possibility because it was encrypted. With Red Hood out and his parents visiting in a few days, Bruce had benched him for the rest of the week, which Tim agreed to since he’d been hoping his parents would be home the two weeks they said they would be. 

Tim rolled his eyes, remembering the way Bruce had told him to use the time to catch up on homework and hang out with his parents. Tim knew his parents wouldn’t notice he was missing for months on end, even if they were visiting. Though, Tim was pretty sure they’d postpone their return to Gotham, so that meant at least two weeks before Bruce noticed he was gone. Maybe. The man had been acting weird lately, texting Tim more often about staying at the manor or about how school went. It was… unfamiliar to Tim, but he had to admit it was nice. 

Now that he was thinking about it though, Tim wasn’t sure if Bruce would report him missing if he’d found out. Considering he’d need to tell Tim’s parents and all, and then explain what his relationship to Tim was. Not like he could say “oh yeah I fight crime with him while you’re out of the country” without getting arrested. Probably. So Tim wasn’t entirely sure what Bruce would do, but he hated doing this to Bruce so soon after Jason’s death. It hadn’t even been a year and he was already losing another Robin. Tim just hoped he wouldn’t be gone for too long. 

Tim grunted, pushing himself to climb through a hole in a boarded up door. He’d seen this place before, an old Vietnamese restaurant. It was a small building, but he remembered it from one time he’d had to duck in there with his camera during the start of a particularly nasty turf war. THat had been before he was Robin. The Restaurant was generally left alone due to the infrastructure issues over the years and that it took up residence in between two rival territories. Tim figured it was his best bet considering it was somewhere he could easily get to at this hour on short legs. He didn’t think he could make it two more blocks, much less Bristol with the way his body was aching. 

Stifling a cough as he entered, Tim took in the place, searching for signs of life. Dust covered pretty much the whole area, so it was safe to say he was alone. On weary feet he dragged himself up to one of the booths, doing his best to take a sheet from off the table to wipe down the dust on the booth seat. When that was done he put the backpack on the seat and climbed up, laying his head down on the backpack. 

As he lay there, body aching and in pain, Tim ran through his next steps before he allowed himself to fall asleep. First was money. He needed to get to a library, there was one close by Steph’s house and that wasn’t far, he remembered. Then he could access his money stash without alerting anyone that Tim Drake was alive. On one hand, he couldn’t draw attention to himself as Tim Drake because who knows what the Organization would do to him. On the other he couldn’t catch Bruce’s attention or he’d risk the Organization looking into Batman, potentially connecting the missing Robin to Tim Drake. So, Tim had to play it safe and investigate the Organization with the men in black first. And get some sort of antidote, if there was one. 

After getting money he’d have to buy some clothes that fit him. Then probably find a more permanent place to stay, somehow. After that was done he could work on tracking the men in black and researching that strange poison. No way was it supposed to turn me into a child, he thought. Though he had to admit a child was better than being dead.

Tim sighed, then held in a sneeze as he disturbed some dust. He was glad he didn’t have any allergies. Scrunching himself up, Tim tucked his legs closer to his body and closed his eyes. Before he could stop himself he was drifting off. He just hoped he wouldn’t feel so exhausted and sore when he woke up. 

Chapter two

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

You've Always Been the Sweetest Song

First posted: May 25, 2019

Focuses on: Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne

Favorite bookmark: "Oh my god i came looking for gold and I received mythril. IT'S THE GOOD CONTENT FOLKS.

Tier: Pretty middle, but at least in the top half of all metrics

This is my “behind the scenes” series where I indulge myself horribly by annotating my fics. Link to the fic itself above. Thoughts below the cut.

As I put in the notes for this one, the idea started with watching Under the Red Hood for the first time with @starknjarvis27 and LOSING. MY. MIND. over how the movie chose to set up and portray Jason's return to Gotham. Then I went on a rabid rant to @audreycritter about how it SHOULD have gone, and here we are.

The title comes from a David Cook song that is a very Bruce song to me.

As best Bruce could reason, there were nine possibilities, ranging in plausibility from manageably unusual to outright insane, as dictated by the facts he could be sure of.

The thing about Bruce is he will always try to be logical. This is especially true in high-stress high-emotion moments. This poor man had to bury his son and was deeply destroyed for several years after. And now he suspects a new enemy might actually be his dead son, whose corpse he held and whose body he buried??? My guy is not going to reach that conclusion without AMPLE evidence AND every other alternative being crossed off as implausible, even if he has that immediate spark of recognition.

Figuring out what Bruce would accept as confirmed fact and what theories he would consider was a challenge, but a fun one. The tricky thing for me was I did need to get him to the place where he would rationally be able to consider Jason resurrected as plausible, when that's not a very plausible possibility at all. Comics, man.

The Cave was empty. Bruce’s foul mood—really, no more than poorly disguised panic, but foul nonetheless—had run off everyone else. Even Alfred. He was alone, with nothing but the computer and a backlit memorial case to keep him company. It was safe to rest his head in his hands, so he did.

My boy was going through it.

All Bruce had was the life before him, the one with visits from Dick, patrol with Tim, and solitary visits to a quiet cemetery. To hope for anything different was… foolish. . . . Even when the results returned and the screen flashed bright with a name and an achingly familiar face, Bruce felt like he was waiting still. Some possibilities were scratched off, some shuffled to put them higher or lower in the probability rankings. But the truth waited.

Bruce, bless him, will always prioritize the truth, even when it's a truth that hurts him. And that often means that even when he wants something badly, he won't give in to the temptation of the lie. He wants his son back more than anything, but he wants it to be his son. Jason is too important to replace with a falsehood.

He couldn’t tell Alfred. Couldn’t bear the thought of putting the old man through whatever it was this was without answers. Couldn’t tell Dick or withstand the confusion, the demands, the fresh heartbreak. Couldn’t tell Tim. Couldn’t begin to fathom what this would mean for any of them.

Bruce so often is so alone, not even necessarily by choice, not because it's his preference, but because he would rather take a heavy burden on himself than unload onto others and damage them in the process. (He is not always correct on the consequences and sometimes badly misjudges. But still he is trying.)

It couldn’t be Jason. Jason Todd was just a boy, slight and wiry even for fifteen. He had yet to reach his growth spurt, his potential for height only evident in the gangliness of his limbs, the knobby stretch of hands and feet too big for him. Though fed regularly and lovingly by Alfred, he had never quite shaken the damage of years of malnutrition. He was just a little boy.

This is a thing I love love love love to dig into, both from Jason's perspective and from those who knew him before. He wasn't just 15 and growing; in my version of this world, he's slight. There was no indication in him that he would become a tank. And besides, even if there had been, he was just a kid when he died and he was gone for several years.

Hood’s voice was low and rough, like a crowbar dragged across cement.

My favorite descriptor. It's a mean little nod on my part but also really how I mentally characterize Jason's voice as Hood, thanks to repetitive listens to "The Devil & the Huntsman" and "Arsonist's Lullaby" while thinking about Jason. It also matches neatly with the way Jensen Ackles voices Jason in the movie, so.

Red Hood laughed. It was not Jason’s laugh. It was hard, unyielding, and utterly devoid of humor. . . . Stop. Stop. Don’t use his words. Don’t use that name. Not without proof.

He so badly wants Hood to be Jason, because he wants his son to be alive, but he CANNOT let himself believe until he's certain. Believing a lie would break him.

At Bruce’s movement, he had swung the gun around and pointed it squarely at Bruce’s chest. Bruce didn’t care.

My original discussion with Audrey involved some version of me ranting that Bruce would hug his son even while Jason stabbed him, and I initially intended to write an actual stabbing but it got in the way.

Bruce’s arms tightened further, one hand coming up to cup the back of the neck, and he buried his nose into the sweaty, riotous curls. He knew that smell. Bruce breathed in movie nights and late-night homework sessions, false alarms and real scares, sick days and training sessions. He knew the smell of these curls, of this boy, as well as he knew his own name.

This was the bit that I text-screamed at either Audrey or Stark that got me to write this fic. Bruce Wayne absolutely buries his nose in his kids' hair and he absolutely 100% know exactly what they smell like.