#like it's not as easy as writing idk dick and damian. because damian's voice and attitude is veryyy distinct

[hood-ex]

Does anyone else find it difficult to write Dick, Roy, and Wally in the same scene without giving them the same voice? Because fuuuck me. The three of them start to blend together in my brain and it's very hard for me to make them sound more distinct from one another.

[astronomoney]

IDK if you're still taking requests or not, but the latest fix on D. Wayne was 😍🥰. For part 2 can you add the prompts 11 from fluff, 6 from angst and 20 from neutral pretty please?🥺🥺

Pairing: Damian Wayne x fem!reader (age 16ish)

Prompts: Prompt list ☁︎11- “Hey hey hey, it’s ok i’m here. It’s just me ok, you’re safe.” ᜊ6- “I don’t care about you anymore.” “i’m starting to think you never did.” ⚛︎20-“Please be quite, i can’t even hear myself losing my will to live.”

Summary: After the fight you had with Damian things have been tense but sometimes bottling up your emotions only make things worse (i can’t do summary’s to save my life) enemies-to-lovers because i’m a sucker for that shit

Warnings: Blood, swearing, kinda character death i guess, Damian being a dick as always, angsty teens being angsty teens

A/n: this is a part 2 but you can find part 1 here once again this took waaaay to long to write literally i could not figure out what to do but whatever because i did it and i’m proud of myself for it (Masterlist)

Word count: 3k jeez these are getting longer

Tag list: @battlenix @pleasestophoney wow look at that multiple tags

Part 1

Love and War pt2

Spending spring break in Wayne manor had its ups and downs. Ups included a huge library in the south wing, delicious homemade meals every day, and the best water pressure you’d ever experienced. The downs included 8 hours of training daily, getting lost while trying to find a bathroom, and having to spend way too much time with your arch enemy.

Technically he's not your enemy. At least he’s not supposed to be. After the fight you had last week you couldn’t be sure. You’d had fights with Damian before but this felt different. Usually after a fight he'd sulk for a few hours but then it would go back to normal, but this time it didn’t go back to normal. Damian had been avoiding you for almost 8 days.

You knew the fight ended too soon and you both had more to say but if he was going to act like a child and ignore you then you weren't going to stop him. You still had to patrol with him but it was considerably quieter. The manor was big enough for the both of you and after a few days you'd figured out his schedule and how to get around him. Tim let you train with him, so as long as you stayed on your side of the gym and Damian stayed on his you didn't have to interact with him at all.

It wasn't until the 4th day of break that you had to talk to him. Bruce had to go meet with the league for the day so training ended early. You had a couple hours before dinner and decided reading would be the best use of that time. You walked down one of the many hallways lazily dragging your hand along the wall until you reached a door. You couldn't remember exactly where you were but you were about 75% sure there was a couch in this room, so you pushed the door open.

Inside you found tall ceilings paired with dark wallpaper, a tall window with the thin white curtains pushed out of the way, and a couch. Actually it was three couches but after 4 days staying here you'd gotten used to the large number of furniture that was there for no reason.

The couches formed a square with the open side facing the window lined wall. The first two couches were empty but when you stepped farther inside the room you saw someone sitting on the third one. Of course the one room you picked to go into also happened to be the one room Damian was sitting in. He looked up from his sketchbook and immediately frowned.

There were two options in front of you. You could back out of the room and leave him be but then you'd be backing down from something that might not even turn into a fight which made you seem weak so really you were left with only one choice. You straighten your back and closed the door behind you, officially leaving you in a room alone with Damian for the first time since the fight. You walked over to the couch facing the windows head on and sat down on the side farthest from him. He watched you the whole time but you paid him no attention, instead you simply opened your book and began reading.

You felt his eyes leave your form and you let out a quiet breath. You heard a page turn and a  pencil being dragged lightly across paper. It had been over a week but nothing seemed to be getting better between you and him. Patrols were a nightmare beforehand but now that he'd switched from constant criticism to almost no comments you found that you preferred the former.

Damian's pencil against the paper was the only sound in the room and yet the silence seemed so loud. You hated it. You hated having to avoid him all the time. You hated not being able to talk to him anymore. You hated how far away he felt even when he was right next to you. Above all you hated that you didn't hate him as much as you used to.

You never realized how much you talked to him until you didn't. It was a weird feeling to miss someone when you hadn't even known you cared about them. You honestly just wanted to apologize and let things get back to normal but as you sat there staring at your book you couldn't bring yourself to say anything.

After three to many nightmares where Damian got hurt, you finally realized how badly you needed him back. So you took a deep breath, swallowed your pride, opened your mouth, and prayed to god that something would come out.

"Look-"

"Damian-" you both spoke at the same time. "Sorry, you go first." You apologized.

"No you can go first." He replied almost nervously. That couldn't be right, he never got nervous.

"Uh I was just going to say, well i've been thinking lately,"

"You?" He asked sarcastically.

"Oh haha really funny. Will you just listen for a goddamn second." He was not making this easy. "I know we haven't been talking much ever since, well you know and uhh." You couldn't find the right way to word it. You were still too stubborn to outright apologize but you knew he would never say sorry unprompted. "You've just seemed... off, lately and if it has something to do with me-"

"It doesn't." He cut you off. "I'm not 'off' and even if I was you definitely wouldn't be the cause." His expression was blank but calculated.

"Well jeez you don't have to be so rude about it." You sneered back at him. "What were you trying to say anyway." So much for your apology.

"I've convinced father to change our partners." His voice was flat and he seemed bored with the conversation.

"You what?" You stood up. You couldn't believe he actually did that without talking to you first.

He stood up as well and was a few inches higher than you. "We don't work well together, you can't tell me you don't agree."

"I don't! We've been a great team! Remember the Penguin pen raid or Mr Freeze's death ray thingy." you exaggerated your point by waving our hands through the air. "We stopped those. Together. You can't just go around changing things without asking me first!" You were fuming.

"Sure I can! We only stopped those villains because of what I did, you just got in the way." he pointed at you.

Here we go again, the blame game. The endless cycle of 'he did this she did that'. You were so sick of it. "That's bullshit and you know it. I can hold my own on the field just as well as you can. And you know what! I don't even want to be your partner anymore."

"Neither do I! You can go play hero with someone else while I do all the real work. I never wanted you on the team in the first place!" He stared you down and if you weren't so fired up you'd probably be intimidated.

"God you're so annoying!” You threw your hands up in frustration. “You think you're so great and no one can even come close to you but in reality you're exactly like the rest of us!"

What were you doing? This wasn't what you wanted. You wanted to apologize and make things right but now here you were screaming at him again. You almost couldn't help it. Fighting him gave you a sort of rush that you craved. It was like a drug and you were addicted to the pain. You didn't want to fight him but it was the closest thing to a conversation you'd had in over a week and at this point it was enough to satisfy your need.

"I'm going to prove that i'm better than you. I'll do it on my own too!" You told him.

"Go ahead and try! You can do whatever you want because I don't care about you anymore."

You stepped back, stood as tall as you could without going on your tiptoes and took a breath. "I'm starting to think you never did." You said calmly, it seemed to catch him off guard and he didn't retaliate. You grabbed your book and turned towards the door. Dick was standing there, completely still and staring at you and Damian.

"Woah." He said awkwardly. He clearly didn't know how to handle the situation he'd just stumbled on.

You pushed past him and into the hallway. Tears were building up in the corners of your eyes so you had to move fast, the last thing you needed right now was for them to see you cry. 

Damian watched you walk out before turning around and groaning. "I can't believe her," he muttered to himself. "I'm starting to think you never did. That doesn't even make sense."

"Because... you do care about her?" Dick asked. It probably wasn't the best choice of words.

Damian looked back at him with an almost offended expression. "That's ridiculous! I don't care about her, that was basically the whole point of our conversation."

"Was that a conversation? The part of that 'conversation' I saw seemed more like her yelling at you and then you... yelling back." He stated the obvious.

"That was completely her fault," Damian defended. He seemed angry but it wasn't his usual kind. Usually it was directed at someone or something and usually that thing would get acquainted with his katana but this time he was mad at himself and he couldn't understand why. "I don't care about her." He repeated quietly almost trying to remind himself more than anything.

You spent the rest of the day hiding in the guest room. You planned on staying there forever and letting yourself fade out of existence but the universe had other plans. 3 hours, 5 episodes of your favorite show, and a nest made of blankets later you got a call from Tim asking you to come to the cave.

He didn't tell you why he needed you, he just said to meet him in the lower level of the cave so when you got there you were very surprised to find him and Damian standing in the hallway. You groaned internally and considered turning around and just walking away but Tim spotted you before you could. Damian's back was to you so he didn't know who it was until he turned around and you saw his face fall.

'Nice to see you too asshole' You thought to yourself, walking over to stand near him but still keeping your distance. "What did you need?" You asked, wanting to get out of there as soon as humanly possible. You kept your eyes ahead trying not to look at Damian and you had the feeling he was doing the same.

The entire mood of the dimly lit hallway had shifted from the moment you locked eyes with him and the tension was noticeable. Tim looked between the two of you before clearing his throat and bringing the attention back to him. "I actually don't need anything."

"So then why did you call telling me to come down here?" Damian asked, clearly annoyed that Tim was wasting his time.

Tim smirked in response and opened the door before Jason, who was behind you apparently, pushed you both into the room before either of you could react. You landed on top of Damian with a grunt. Once you realized you were on top of him you felt your cheeks turn red and you stood up quickly. You could have sworn you saw the slightest bit of a blush on him but you were too preoccupied with the now locked door to think about too much.

"Ok love birds here's the deal, you're petty hormone fueled fighting is driving us crazy and now we're doing something about it." Jason told you from the other side of the small glass window. "We said you were gonna lock you in a room until you figured out how to get along and now we're following through." he smirked.

"I swear to god if you lock me in this room with him,"  you motioned towards Damian, "I will drop kick you into the sun."

"If you let us out now maybe I won't kill you," Damian threatened alongside you.

"Maybe if you’d learned to talk to each other like normal people you wouldn’t be here in the first place," Tim said. "We'll be back after patrol so you've got about," he looked at his watchless wrist "4ish hours. Have fun." And with that they both walked away.

"DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWA- and they're gone. Dammit." You cursed and hit the steel door which hurt a lot more than you thought it would. "Shit," You shook your hand.

"Well that was just stupid," Damian scoffed at you, taking your hand to examine it. He always did that sort of thing on patrol so you didn't pull away or even really register what he was doing.

"Oh i'm sorry, is my frustration not smart enough for you?" you sneered back. "What even is this place anyway," You looked around the small dark room, determined to not look him in the eyes.

"A containment cell for metas, we haven't used it for a while so the power blockers are probably turned off." he told you before releasing your hand. "You definitely bruised it but you'll be fine."

You reluctantly thanked him and turned back to the door to see if you could get it open somehow. "Ok so how do we get out?"

"We don't."

You flipped around, surprised to hear him give up without even trying. "You're kidding right? There's gotta be some way out of here. We're superheros, a few walls can't hold us,” you exclaimed. “Can't you use those ninja skills you're so proud of and like... kick it down, or something?" You watched him walk to the back of the small cell and sit down on the floor.

"No," he replied simply. "This room was built to hold the most dangerous people in Gotham and I don't know if you've noticed but we don't have any of our gear." He glared at you and you rolled your eyes.

"So we're just supposed to wait here until they get back? We can't just sit here all night," You tried to convince him to do... anything really.

"Well if you're so keen on getting out then let's hear your genius plan," He leaned forward with all the smugness of billionaires son, daring you to say something.  "That's what I thought. Now will you please be quiet, I can't even hear myself losing my will to live."

"Fine whatever we'll just stay here in complete silence," You muttered sarcastically under your breath. Damian remained quiet as you started pacing back and forth but you could tell he was watching you.

After pacing for about 30 minutes you realized how tired you were from training so hard the past couple of days and sat down in the corner. You spent so much time over the last week worrying about Damian that you hadn't let yourself relax long enough to get any real rest. The little sleep you did manage to get mostly turned to nightmares.

At first you didn't even realize you were asleep. It all looked real enough except for the fact that you'd somehow been transported to a rooftop. You scanned your surroundings but everything was just slightly out of focus so you couldn't tell exactly where you were. When you turned around you saw him. Damian was there, and behind him was a shadowy sort of silhouette.

The shadow raised a knife and you realized what was happening. You tried to warn him, you tried to scream or yell or move but it was no use. The knife plunged into Damians back and you were helpless to stop it. You felt the pain he felt, you felt the blade slice through you. Finally you could move again but it was too late. The shadow disappeared but you didn't care about it, all you wanted to do was get to Damian. You ran forward but it was like running through water, your body moved in slow motion and you watched the blood start to pool underneath him.

Suddenly you were falling. Damian was gone, the roof was gone, everything was gone, it was just you and a black abyss trying to swallow you up. You screamed again but no noise came out, it was like all the air was being sucked from your lungs. It was silent and dark and empty nothingness until you saw a faint light. Then you heard something, your name being repeated, someone calling you and then you were pulled out of the void.

You shot up and gasped for air and frantically looked around but your eyes hadn't adjusted to the light yet. You heard a familiar soothing voice pulled you farther out of your trance.

"Hey hey hey, it's ok i'm here." The voice was calm and concerned at the same time. "It's just me ok, you're safe," Rough hands gently turned your head and the first thing you saw clearly was a pair of worried green eyes. You're breathing slowed and you're heart nearly skipped a beat.

Wrapping your arms around his chest you pulled him closer. He hesitated for a moment before folding you into his embrace. It was soft and delicate and it seemed like he was scared of holding you too tightly. Neither of you said anything else, you just sat there on the floor of a meta containment cell in each other's arms.

Time stood still and you finally admitted the truth to yourself. The real reason you hated Damian was because you loved him.

A/n: might fuck around and make a part 3 with the classic “because i love you!” confession scene

[bluegarners]

@viceturtle  THIS IS FOR YOU, DARLIN

Trust: Years after Dick spoke those words, Damian makes a mistake on patrol that ends up getting a criminal killed.

okay, so I only recently just read this one because it was part of a whumptober series but it fed my Dick & Damian craving so well because it literally had everything in it: hurt, whump, angst, damian being so so good and trying so so hard, dick being tired and frustrated, bruce kinda being an asshole, misunderstandings, dick apologizing and damian just *casually* throwing it out there that he kind of wants to be adopted by dick,,, you know how it is

When I Go Towards You, It Is With My Whole Life:  Nine year old Dick's been kidnapped. Bruce tries not to fall apart.

so dust posted this and idk if you follow her, but literally every single one of her fics is a master piece and this is no different. she’s just soooo good at depicting emotions and anxiety. one of my favorite things about this is that all the little things that come with having a child are pointed out- like things that are SO normal that normally i wouldn’t even think about them but when dust points them out as things bruce loves, i’m just like “ugh, you’re so right, that is so precious and so sad and everything, how would bruce live without all those small intimacies??”

steady, steady, steady this heart of mine: Damian doesn't meet Dick the night his parents die.He meets him almost a week later.

i am 100% a sucker for all reverse batfam things that focus on baby dick meeting the fam, because, you know, i feel like fandom writes him off as just a cute little quirky circus kid when really dick was an actual an angry, upset child when he came to the Manor. but he’s also just extremely smart and still a young boy so this just hits ALL the targets in this fic because adult damian is written so well- their bond is absolutely precious and natural

the primacy of personal conscious: "WHAT MAKES IAGO EVIL? some people ask. I never ask."— Joan Didion, Play It as It LaysOr: Dick, his family, and the moral morass of a wishing well.

okay this one i have a lot of feelings about. it’s definitly one of those reads where you just have to read it twice in order to truly get all the nuances and complexities. my notes for this bookmark were “This... this is that tasty shit... the kind of fic you read and wonder why the writer isn't publishing their works... or even letting us read it for free... whenever i read fics like this, i literally feel like i've read a classic that'll go down in history” because it was literally that good. It’s kind of confusing at the start, but the characterizations... THE CHARACTERIZATIONS!!! i can only hope to understand and voice character thoughts like this author does one day because they truly grasp how complex each character is and what their specific motivations are for each problem they come across. it’s a longer read and can be confusing at certain points but holy mother is it 100% worth it when the wow factor really kicks in

to be seen and not heard: Nightwing is injured while helping the JLA out on a mission. With the clock ticking and no easy way to get help, he is forced to hide out in one of the JLA's old bunkers. Unfortunately, he's not the only one.

alright so this fic is EXTREMELY popular. like, probably a fandom favorite and it’s super well known. however, funny story, i avoided it for the longest time because the first time i opened the story, the first paragraph was literally a wall of text and i was just like “woah, uh, nope, not gonna.. yeah” but then i finally put my stupid bias aside AND OH MY GOSH. the injury descriptions... the desperation... the struggle of dick needing to take care of himself but not freak out lian.... his own war with dealing with the concept of possibly dying in front of his best friend’s daughter... *chefs kiss*

Friends That Say (You’re Not Alone):  Richard. The kid. Richard Grayson.Clark didn’t feel ready to meet the child that Bruce took in.What if he was a mini-Bruce? What in the world would Clark do then?

i am in love with these kinds of fics where clark meets tiny child dick grayson for the first time and sees a side of bruce he’s never seen before. it’s just so wholesome and pure and yeah, i’ll just leave you with this note i made for it: “my heart wheezes- this is that GOOD shit...that good young dad bruce with traumatized baby child pure child dick grayson and fantastic uncle clark who's trying his best to understand what's going on”

i’ll finish off with this one, Shattered Tea Cups:  It’s a slow process that tears Dick apart.Time becomes irrelevant when days begin to blend into each other. The lapses in his memory don’t seem worrying until he finds himself completing tasks he doesn’t remember starting.The family fails to notice his radio silence as anything unusual until it becomes, quite possibly, too late.

so this is one of the few fics that’s just genuinely sad. there’s no happy ending. it’s not even angst or hurt/comfort. it’s just a whole lot of sad and this author has written several fics i’ve fallen in love with, so i totally recommend checking out what else they’ve got. a slight warning: i didn’t cry after reading, but it was 100% one of those fics that left me feeling kind of numb afterwards but it’s just... SO unbelievably good and the characterizations were off the charts too

(p.s. i can rec more if you’re interested some other time but those are the one’s i’ve got rn)

[fearfulkittenwrites]

“Just a normal night”

Inspired by @s-mscott​ - link for the art, please check it out!

Word count: 2832

Notes: HEY. THIS IS JUST BEEN SITTING ON MY FILES FOR THE LONGEST TIME AND I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT IT DKJFHAKJHAKJDFH. Anyway, it's a long time coming. The writing probs isn't as neat or as good as the latest uploads bc of that, but... idk. Hopefully it's good! I couldn't bring myself to edit it again, sorry about that. I hope you can enjoy it anyways and please go check out the artist, @s-mscott​!

“Guys?” Dick asked, on his tiptoes as he rummaged through every cabinet in the huge kitchen “Hey are we out of cereal? I can’t find my Lucky Charms anywhere.”

“I think so.” Jason answered “I ate the last of the Lucky Charms last night.”

“Yep.” Tim said, popping the ‘p’ as he slid through the countertop, landing a bit behind Dick “I had the last of the frosted flakes two days ago.”

“Froot Loops?” Dick asked.

“I had those.” Duke answered “Sorry.”

“Fruity Pebbles?”

 Cass raised her hand, looking at the ground.

“Reese’s Puffs?”

“I finished the box yesterday.” Damian announced, crossing his arms as he leaned against the marble sink.

“Damn.” Dick murmured and pouted as he closed the cabinet’s door “I’ve been craving cereal today.”

“We can always go get some.” Jason shrugged.

“At three in the morning?” Duke asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Actually, four.” Jason corrected, putting up a finger “And yeah, why not? I mean, we had a hard patrol tonight, and if Dick wants some cereal, I say let’s go get some cereal.”

“It’s four in the morning, Todd.” Damian said.

“I mean, the closest Walmart is open 24/7.” Tim interfered.

“You can’t be seriously considering this, Grayson.” Damian frowned at his older brother.

“Why not? I’m not sleepy anyways.” Dick crossed his arms and shrugged.

“Yes!” Jason hissed “Late night adventures with the baby bats. Let’s roll!” He clapped his hands once, and started to walk out of the kitchen, his siblings following him to the garage.

“Oh wait!” Dick said “Let’s ring up Bruce and see if there’s anything else we need.”

“Bold of you to assume he’d know what we need.” Tim interfered.

“Yeah, well, it’s worth a shot. Plus, do any of us really want to wake up Alfred to ask him?” Dick said, taking his communicator out of his pocket and placing it in his ear “B? Have a sec?” He asked

“Nightwing. What’s wrong?” Came the answer, Batman’s raspy voice flowing through the device.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong. We’re going to take a quick trip to the supermarket, I wanted to ask if you need anything.”

“... At four in the morning?”

“Yeah. Do you need anything?”

Bruce sighed.

“We’re running out of the coffee blend that Tim likes. Alfred the cat’s favorite treats have been gone since last week, and Cass’ favorite ice cream is done. Oh, buy Duke that soda he likes, I drank the last can. Also, Jason’s cookies and that brand of chips you like, we ran out of those. Oh, and buy something with Iron in it, I’m worried that Damian might not be getting enough.”

“Like spinach?” Dick said, writing it down on his phone’s notes.

“Yeah, that’ll do. Ah, and we’re a little low on milk.”

“Okay. Will keep that in mind. Thanks B, have a nice patrol.”

“Please don’t give the papers any headlines.”

“You got it, B. Bye.”

He placed the device back on his pocket.

“Okay, there’s a lot of stuff to buy, so let’s get going. I’ll drive.”

“Shotgun!” Jason yelled.

“We’re taking the S.U.V., one of you will need to ride in the trunk.” Dick said.

“I’ll go.” Cass’ eyes twinkled. No one could understand why she was always so fascinated with the idea of riding in the trunk, but she seemed to find it fun and all of them thought that her excitement was cute.

“Alright then.” Dick smiled, ruffling her hair. Her grin grew wider, and Duke set her hair straight again before they got into the car.

“Hey, can I play my music?” Tim asked from the backseat.

“Don’t force us to listen to the atrocity Drake calls music, Grayson.” Damian complained, arms crossed “Let me play something.”

“Uh, I’d rather not listen to Mozart and Bach while we’re in the car.” Duke protested.

“It’s called classic for a reason, Thomas.”

“Doesn’t matter, bat-brat.” Jason said “I’m with him on this one. Besides, universal car rules, shotgun DJ’s.”

“Since when?” Tim asked.

“Since now.” Jason said, plugging his phone in.

“Uh, I don’t think so.” Dick took the cord from him “According to ‘Supernatural’ rules, ‘Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole’. So that’s mine.”

“No one else watches this show Dickhead!” Jason pulled the cord back.

“Doesn’t matter, because I’m older!” Dick pulled it back again.

“Age is just a number!” Tim pushed himself to the front seat and took the cord back.

“Great point Drake!” Damian pulled him back by his waist, stealing the cord from him too.

“Hey, stop with the fuss, I’m gonna crash the car!” Dick said.

“Maybe we should just play Beyoncé...” Duke suggested. The car went silent for a while.

“Okay.” Dick said “Put on ‘Single Ladies’.”

“No. ‘Halo’ is her best.” Damian complained.

“Uhm, no way? I’m playing ‘Drunk in Love’, and that’s it.” Tim shot back.

“Are you crazy? Play ‘Formation’.” Duke interfered.

“I like ‘Run the World’...” Cass said quietly from the trunk.

“Yeah, okay,” Tim murmured “We’ll play that.”

The girl smiled as the first notes from the song filled the car.

There weren’t many cars in the parking lot, which was expected. They picked up two carts, and Dick hopped inside the one Jason was pushing.

“Dude!” Duke started “You’re in your mid-twenties!”

“Leave me alone, I nearly sprained my ankle today.” Dick stuck his tongue out. No one else questioned anything beyond that. The employees simply sighed, used to the two older brothers and their antics.

“Hey Parker.” Jason greeted the nighttime security guard.

“Hey. I see you two brought the whole gang tonight.” He answered.

“Yup.” Dick smiled.

“So this is a regular thing for the two of you?” Duke asked.

“Are you really surprised, Duke?” Tim shot back.

“No. Not really.”

“Okay. First stop, Bruce said we need to get Tim’s coffee.” Dick exclaimed, looking at the list.

Jason led the way, Dick grinning like a child on the cart, Cass quietly following as she pushed their second cart, Duke making friendly conversation with her while Tim and Damian kept bickering right behind them.

“Oh, wait!” Dick held on to the metal bars “We’re right next to the cookies and Bruce said we’re out of your favorites, Jay.” He looked up.

“Alright, a little detour then.” Jason turned them around, quickly grabbing his treats “Anyone wants anything else from this aisle?”

“But... We don’t need anything else from the aisle.” Duke pointed out.

“Um, we have a billionaire’s credit card?” Tim said “Bruce won’t freak out if we buy a few extra things.”

“Uuuh, they have those koala shaped cookies!” Dick hopped out of the cart “How many do I get?”

“I want one.” Cass said.

“Chocolate or strawberries?”

“Uh… I want both.” She answered.

“Okay, one each for the lady, two strawberries for me...”

“I want a chocolate one.” Tim said.

“Me too.” Damian asked.

“Oh, just take twenty boxes, ten of each flavor.” Jason interfered, dumping them on Cass’ cart “We’ll share later.”

“Oh my God, those are expensive!” Duke said, exasperated.

“Yeah. So?” Jason shot back.

“Bruce is a billionaire, bro. He won’t mind.” Dick said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, well, it’s easy for you guys to say it. You grew up like that. It’s kinda hard to accept this when you aren’t used to having so much.” Duke answered, scratching his neck.

“Hey, I get that feeling lil’ bro.” Jason tapped his back “I spent my childhood in Gotham’s streets.”

“Yeah. I mean, I grew up in the circus. I wasn’t used to the idea of getting brand new stuff instead of asking for hand-me-downs from our friends whenever I grew out of my clothes.” Dick interfered.

“But... Just think about it like this.” Jason got closer to him “We now can get everything we couldn’t in the past.”

Duke frowned. Jason nodded encouragingly.

“That... Doesn’t help.”

“I tried.” Jason shrugged. Dick hopped back in the cart “To the coffee aisle!” He exclaimed, pushing his brother around.

“Hang on.” Tim said “This is where they leave the energy drinks. Let me take some.”

“Why do you insist on drinking this crap, Drake?” Damian scowled, reading the label in one of the cans “If you have such a death wish, jumping in front of a train is a much cheaper, quicker alternative.”

“Shut up, little devil.” Tim picked up cans from his favorite brand.

“Jason, push me a little farther down the aisle, please.” Dick asked “They keep their iced teas over there.”

“Ugh, Grayson, you disgust me.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be so judgemental Lil’ D.” He smiled, being pushed away by Jason.

As they examined the cans, Dick noticed he had attracted the looks of a middle aged man, a couple of steps from them. He was staring at his hoodie, that contained the frase ‘I love dick’ printed on it.

“Oh,” He exclaimed, smiling at the guy “My name is Richard. That’s why it’s funny.” The man nodded “I’m also queer as fuck, so that makes it better.” He added nonchalantly, and the man’s eyes widened “Okay Jay, I picked up all I wanted, let’s go back.”

“Alright you little shits, back to the coffee quest.” Jason said, leading the way once again. This time, they finally made it to the coffee aisle. Tim crouched down, looking for his favorite blend.

Cass got a little curious once she laid eyes on a colorful package on the top shelf. She picked it up and handed it to Dick.

“Read. Please.”

“This is an espresso roast. Here it says that it has notes of strawberry? Vanilla and... Sugar cane. Colombian coffee. Seems nice. Wanna take it?”

“Yes.” She nodded. Dick dropped it on his cart.

Cass wandered away, still looking at all of the coffee blends.

“Hey girlie,” A guy whistled at her, next to his group of friends “Nice ass.”

She squinted at them.

“Yo, asshole!” Tim screamed, getting their attention “That’s our sister!” He threw a bag of coffee beans at the guy’s face, causing his nose to bleed.

“Hey, who do you think you are?” One of them started to walk up to her brothers. Cass could tell that he wanted trouble, so she grabbed his arm and slammed his face against the shelf, so quickly and brutally that it barely budged, leaving the products unbothered, but the guy fell to the floor, disoriented. She stared at him.

“We are Waynes.” Damian answered, pacing towards them quietly, hands on his pockets “I suggest you apologize immediately for the troubles, if you wouldn’t want to get a hefty lawsuit for your harrasment.”

“Uh, sorry bro.” One of them started, a little scared “We didn’t-”

“Not to me.” He interrupted “To her.”

“We’re sorry, miss Wayne.” All of them mumbled.

“Now promise you won’t do it again.” Damian added.

“We won’t do it again.” They started at the floor, next to where their fallen friend laid down.

“Good.” He squinted “Help your friend up, and get out of my sight.”

They did as they were told, helping his friend walk straight again. As Cass headed back, Dick gently touched her arm, looking up at her.

“Hey, are you alright?” She smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back.

“Does this happen often?” Jason asked.

“Sometimes.” She shrugged “But they always say sorry after I break their nose.”

“Ayy, that’s our girl.” Jason praised “Alright, we got the coffee. Where to next?”

“Let’s see... Next item is Alfred the cat’s treats.” Dick said.

“Ha!” Damian laughed loudly “As if Alfred would eat the... peasant treats that this store offers. No. I’ve already bought the adequate brand from an online shop.”

“Okay...” Dick raised an eyebrow “Then... Cass’ ice cream is next, but I think we should leave that as the last item, so it won’t melt, which leads us to Duke’s soda because Bruce had the last can.”

“Let’s go then. I think that the cereal aisle is on the way, so we’ll get that first.” Jason said, pushing the cart around again.

“Which ones do we get?” Tim asked, looking through the shelf.

“Everything that has sugar.” Dick answered. His brother began handing him boxes, when they heard a small whisper.

“Oh my God, are those...?” A girl said to her friend, attracting the eyes of the siblings. The duo averted their gaze quickly. Cass frowned at them.

“Relax.” Jason smiled, placing an arm on her back “They’re probably just... Fans.”

“Fans?” She asked, still staring suspiciously at them.

“Yeah.” Dick shrugged “I mean, we’re not super stars, but we do hit the papers pretty often. A bunch of people know us here in Gotham.” The girls were looking again, and Dick gave them a small wave, making them giggle “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“Hum.”

“Hey there, ladies.” Jason greeted, a cheeky smile on his face “What brings you to this fine establishment tonight?”

“We ran out of energy drinks.” One of them answered “What about you?”

“Cereal.” Dick answered, lifting two boxes. They giggled again.

“Hey, um... can we maybe get a picture?” The girl asked “It’s just that... no one will believe us when we tell them about this.”

“Absolutely not!” Damian answered.

“Nah, don’t listen to the little brat.” Jason said “Go ahead.”

Dick held up the boxes again, smiling as Jason made a ‘crazy’ motion with his hands. Tim turned around as the photo was being taken, turning him into a blurr with tired eyes.

“Can we get some selfies too?” The other one asked, grinning.

“No!” Damian protested again.

“Of course you can!” Dick said “Duke, Cass, come here.” He called.

All of them gathered around the cart Dick was staying at, even Damian. He didn’t look so pleased as the photo was taken, but neither did Cass.

“Thanks. You guys really are nice.” The first girl said.

“Oh, you have no clue on how nice I can be.” Jason winked, making her blush “Tell you what, why don’t I give you my phone number and you can text me those pictures later, hm?”

“Sure.” The girl bit her lips as Jason scribbled his number on her wrist.

“You are such a flirt.” Dick rolled his eyes as the girls walked away.

“What, like you aren’t?” Jason snorted, pushing him away, looking for where they kept the soda.

“I think Cass didn’t like that interaction very much.” Tim whispered to his older brothers, who turned around to find a frowning baby bat. Jason chuckled.

“What’s wrong, sis?” She scowled at him “Oh, c’mon, don’t get jealous.” He threw an arm around her shoulder “You know you’ll always be our number one girl, but a guy has his needs. And sometimes, a guy needs a date.”

Cass pushed him away, rolling her eyes as Duke placed five soda cans on her cart.

“Why would you even drink this sugar filled monstrosity, Thomas?” Damian asked, reading the labels “Grandfather wouldn’t even feed his prisoners something as revolting as this.”

“Because, Bat-brat,” He said “We’re all entitled to enjoy at least one or two things that may ultimately be responsible for our deaths.”

“I suppose.” He murmured, lifting an eyebrow “You make much finer points than the rest of them. Father has been looking for heirs in the least suitable places, I assume.” He clicked his tongue “It’s a good thing I’m here to help.”

“Okay...” Duke answered, raising his eyebrows and averting his gaze. There was only so much strangeness that he could handle.

“Great, now we need to get my chips and spinach.” Dick stated.

“Spinach?” Tim asked “Why spinach?”

“B thinks Damian may have been needing more iron in his diet.” Dick shrugged.

“Aaw.” Tim said “That’s actually kinda cute. Do you think he ever worries about our diets?”

“Don’t be stupid Tim, of course he doesn’t.” Jason answered.

“He does.” Dick shot back “He worries about us, he just... Really, really, really, reaaaally sucks at showing it sometimes.”

“Potatoe, potatoe.” Jason murmured.

“Yeah, whatever. Keep me moving Little Wing, we have stuff to pick up and my tiredness is catching up to me.” Dick pointed forward.

“Sure. But the chips are in the opposite direction.”

“Well turn me around then, do you want me to look like an idiot?” Dick said, a little exasperated.

“I wish you had an off button sometimes.” Jason sighed as he made his way to the chips section.

An employee, mopping the floor with a bored expression, looked up from what he was doing when he saw the Wayne gang talking loudly. Dick tried to control his brothers from inside the cart, and had just told Jason to separate a fight between Tim and Damian. Duke and Cass snicker as they saw a bored, six feet tall Jason pushing his much smaller brothers apart.

“Yep.” The employee murmured to himself “Billionaires shopping at Walmart at four in the morning. Just a normal night.”

Hey! If you made it this far, please consider reblogging this? It helps with spreading my fics and it makes me very happy, hahahaha!

Regardless, thanks for reading <3

[runnfromtheak]

fanfic author’s tagging game (yay!)

Thank ya darling for tagging me!!!! @boyblunder-thedarkheir!!!!!

AO3 Name(s): LostandLonelyBirds aka RUNNFROMTHEAK

Fandom(s): Primarily Batfamily (so, Dick Grayson) and Young Justice (along with DCU obviously, but I also dabble into Miralculous Ladybug, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, and MCU (none of which I will ever seriously write for? Idk man).

Number of fics: 22 I will admit to (how do you have so many, my dear @boyblunder-thedarkheir​? What is your secret?)

1. Fic you spent the most time on: Are we talking writing or thinking about writing, cause those are two very different answers. I spent the most time writing this bitch of a fic I’m working on right now, and the most time thinking about the two latest installments of my main series, Death is But An Illusion (aka How Could He and How Could It Be). I agonize over every goddamn detail with Dick’s anger, Jason’s Jason-ness, and every person’s every move and word. I am a mess, and I’m going to be murdered if I don’t update them soon. I am not sorry about that XD

2. Fic you spent the least time on:  You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) aka my pick-your-own-canon clusterfuck of Dark!Dick Grayson and Dick Grayson being traumatized and tortured with no comfort (Some of them are so fucked up I question my own mind). I take less than an hour to write 80% of them, cause they’re short, and they very rarely take any time to plan. Fun and easy!

3. Longest Fic: At present, he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn)  is my longest, but the fic I’ve been hinting at on my other tumblr, @lostandlonelybirds​ is easily double the length (why do I do this to myself? Why am I like this?) the long boi (named one, not the one I won’t shut up about) is easily my best fic at the moment, and I’m so excited to write a sequel whenever I get the chance.

4. Shortest Fic: With Bated Breath and Pain You See (We're Nothing More Than Memories) technically, I have one shorter than that, but it’s a collab that wasn’t my original idea so I’m not counting it :)

5. Most Hits: You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) why do you people like this trash-fire so much? I don’t understand

6. Most Kudos:  How Could He which does not surprise me.

7. Most Comment Threads: Technically, How Could He followed by the trash-fire AU title thing I’m too lazy to type again, but I’m gonna love on this one: Just Close Your Eyes (No One Can Hurt You Now) because it’s my baby, and it deserves it okay?

8. Fave Fic You Wrote: Ooo we are doing a top five.

             5. How Could It Be (Jason is precious and sad and Dick is oblivious, and I love one-sided pining wayyyy too much)

             4.  How Could He (I put my life force into this stupid fic, so ofc it’s here)

             3. I'm Scared to Live But I'm Scared to Die (I'm Numb Inside) (the suicidal boy, major trigger warning)

             2. I See Things That Nobody Else Sees (And It's Slowly Killing Me)  (the only fic I’ve ever written from Cass’s perspective, and definitely one of the creepiest and most fucked up. Bruce does not look good here)

             1. he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn) (so ummm Bruce doesn’t look good here either? RHATO #25 if DC wasn’t cowardly and let Dick react how he actually would, aka fuck Batman is the new motto)

9. Rewrites?: Fuck. All my older ones? Everything? Who knows.

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning:

Let’s do two. I’m nice.

First comes from How Could It Be:

“You loved him,” Donna says, ignoring his barb. “You loved him, and no one’s seen you or heard from you and I’m concerned, damnit.”

 She punches his shoulder roughly, and he’s reminded of her strength, no matter how small she seems in her dead best friend’s sweater.

 “I’m fine. Peachy-keen. Couldn’t be fuckin’ better. Honestly, you should be more concerned with Replacement, don’t think he’s slept in—”

 “Jason.” Her voice is firm, even as her eyes swim with tears and she holds her arms tight to herself, breathing in the well-loved item’s scent. Jason wonders when Dick wore it last, if Donna had taken it from his abandoned Gotham Penthouse or his Chicago Apartment. He wonders if he’d left it draped over the couch, like the natural disaster he was, or if it had been folded neatly in a drawer.

For someone who prides himself on not being sentimental, Jason suddenly wishes he had something of Dick’s too.

 “I’m here because I care, and because if Dick was here, he’d be doing the same thing I am.”

 “But he ain’t here,” Jason snaps, “Is he?”

 Donna’s head falls, and he feels like a giant jerk. He just… reacts poorly to that name, hasn’t heard it spoken since the transmission and subsequent funeral, since the guy he’d had the hots for since wearing the scaly panties had his mask ripped away and his life taken in front of Bruce’s eyes (who, to absolutely no one’s surprise, failed to save his son).

In the aftermath, no one said Dick Grayson’s name, always Nightwing, or some inane nickname the superhero community had for him. Last time he said it was to Damian, a failed attempt at comfort. But even Jason’s form of mutual grieving had been better than any of Bruce’s shit ideas. Bastard immortalized the ripped costume from his own son’s corpse (not that it had been the first time) and hadn’t even had the decency to give it a plaque (No ‘Good Soldier’ or ‘Good Son’, just a bare glass case with a bloody suit). Which… was weird. Jason was far from B’s best friend, but even he noticed something seemed strange, off, just not quite right. Like the funeral he didn’t speak at, like the breakdown none of them had witnessed beyond a one-off rage fit

“B, what the fuck happened down here?”

The Batcave was a disaster, dents glaringly obvious in several vehicles and a large spiderweb crack across the Batcomputer. Bruce closes the screen down, but Jason manages to catch a spiraling eye.

“Nothing, just…”

Bruce looks at the spare Nightwing costume none of them had taken down yet, still clean and ready for use (too bad its owner died and would never wear it again).

“Dick?” Jason questions, and the way Bruce’s eyes snap to his face is almost suspicious, almost enough to arouse concern.

“Yes. I—”

Jason sits next to Bruce on the desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I miss him too, Old Man. Don’t mean you need to be an ass about it.”

 A memorial next to Jason’s own, but Dickhead’s is empty and broken from Damian’s fists and grief, and Jason’s is just gone. No one told him why, it was just gone.

Kind of like Dick.

He wonders if Bruce would have told him if the video hadn’t been broadcast, if he would’ve told anyone. B did love his fuckin’ secrets.

 “No,” she whispers, and he can hear the tears in her voice, can feel her grief as keenly as his own. It’s palpable, tangible, “He’s dead, and I’m alive, and I don’t know how to handle it.”

 And then, to Jason’s mounting horror, she starts crying openly.

…..

Second comes from my one I’m working on rn with Stray!Dick called I See Sunset In Your Eyes (I Hate This Part Right Here)

“Come on,” Wally says with a pout, dragging an overly amused Jason and Dick with him through the karaoke bar doors. “Donna and Roy are waiting for us, and Dick had to take forever to primp.”

 Dick shrugs with a grin.

 “Beauty takes time, time I can tell you did not take.”

 Jason snorts, and Wally glares at him.

 “At least I don’t take five hours to finish getting ready.”

 “At least I can last longer than five minutes.”

 “Ouch!” Roy butts in, throwing an arm around Jason and Dick’s shoulders. “Claws are out tonight!”

 “Speaking from experience?” Jason asks, eyebrow raised.

 Dick smirks without comment, sauntering past the group towards the table Donna’s lounging at.

 “Hey gorgeous twin of mine,” He greets with a kiss to her eyes. She smirks, rolling her eyes at him.

 “You’re just stroking your own ego with the twin tacked on, Wonder Boy.”

 Dick bumps his shoulder against hers.

 “Can’t I stroke both our egos?”

 “You can stroke mine,” Wally mutters, turning red when Stray winks at his phrasing. Jason and Roy both facepalm, groaning. “Not what I meant guys!”

 “Why Kid Idiot,” Dick replies, hand on his heart, “I had no idea you could be so forward~!”

 Wally glares, waving over the waitress.

 “Round of shots, on this dick,” he jerks his thumb at Stray, offering up his fake ID. She doesn’t bother checking it, probably because this is Gotham, and they were all in uniform. “Whisky, please.”

 “Trying to get me drunk?” Jason jokes. It is, after all, his first big outing with the Titans for non-mission reasons. Stray had practically dragged him out of the Manor with a wink at Alfred and a middle finger for Bruce, saying that Jason needed to have fun outside of books.

Jason knows better than arguing with Dick Grayson-Kyle when he wants something, Stray trained him well.

 “Of course, Batboy,” Roy replies, “It’s not a Titans outing if Stray is fully dressed and everyone’s sober.”

 Dick shrugs.

 “You’ll have to get some real liquor in me if you want me to do anything like last time.”

 “Last time?” Jason asks, looking to Donna for an answer. Dick snorts. You get near naked one time…

 “Boy Blunder ended up in just his boxers in a dancing cage drunk of his ass. Everyone thought he was one of the strippers, and he made, what, three-hundred dollars in bills?”

 “Five-hundred,” Dick replies proudly, offering the waitress a twenty as she came back with their drinks. “Keep the change, darlin’!” He adds with a wink.

 She flushes, making Jason frown.

 Stray, of course, notices this and elbows Jason.

 “Don’t get jealous, Blue Jay, it’s not becoming.”

 Jason does not blush. He doesn’t, and that’s the hill he will die on.

 “I’m not. On an unrelated note, pass me a shot.”

Jason is the master of changing the subject, Stray thinks sarcastically, passing him a shot and downing one of his own.

 “Five bucks says alley cat blacks out,” Roy says smugly as Dick makes a face, the way he always did with heavier liquors. He glares at the redhead, who shrugs unapologetically.

 Donna eyes them both speculatively, taking a sip of her own drink.

 “Twenty says he gives a lap dance before he blacks out.”

 Roy snorts.

 “I’ll take it,” and to Dick, “Don’t do it, for me.”

 Dick bats his eyes innocently.

 “Lil’ old me? I would never do something so…” He trails a finger down Roy’s chest, making him swallow roughly. “Scandalous.”

 Donna grins victoriously as Roy groans, trying and failing to hide his excitement.

 “I hate you. I hate you both.”

 Tagging whoever sees this, I suppose? 

[fandom-scribe]

Wonderbat Week: Day 4 - Holiday

Title: What The Kids Want

Word Count: 2,102

Author’s Note: So so sorry this is late! I just kind of went overboard for with this and I didn’t feel like writing yesterday. Not desire to write and a large word count does not go well together so I just finished this (now I got to go write today’s prompt plus yesterday and today’s prompts for Dickkory Week. Yay :( ). Anyway, in my first entry I added in a mention Donna and Cassie because I didn’t want to erase them. However I have no knowledge of them so they are absent in this fic. Also my first time writing Jason sooo… Idk, it’s really important to me that Bruce’s kids have a role in Wonderbat’s relationship.

@fyeahwonderbat

—

Gotham was not a pretty city. The gothic buildings gave off a dark aura and the rank trash on its grimy streets gave the stale air a permanent smell. And yet, despite the sky high crime rates and bitter atmosphere, the city almost looked inviting under the mask of freshly fallen snow — especially when one was standing outside of their ancestral manor, sharing a cup of tea with a close friend as one’s kids played and got along.

Bruce Wayne took a deep breath, taking in the crisp winter air. A hot cup of tea warmed his palms but it almost didn’t compare to the comforting heat radiating from the woman next to him. In front of him was his boys. What had started as gentle teasing from Dick had turned into a full blown snow war featuring Dick and Tim vs Jason and Damian. Yeah, the pairings were odd but Bruce couldn’t care less: his kids were having fun together and that was all that mattered.

“This doesn’t happen often, does it?” Diana asked as she sipped her tea, drawing bruce’s attention away from his boys. A harsh wind blew and Bruce squeezed his mug harder. It had almost killed Alfred to put their drinks in big mugs instead of proper tea cups but it was far too cold to drink tea in little spurts.

“What doesn’t?”

“Them getting along? Usually Tim and Damian are going at it and Dick is either trying to break it up or caught in the middle. And I hardly see Jason anymore.”

“Yeah…” A dark feeling stirred in Bruce’s chest, nearly stamping out the joy the sight before him brought. “It’s rare to see these moments. It’s hard to get the kids to get along and a fight to get Jason to willing drop by. But these moments makes it more than worth it.”

“I bet they do. Watching them is like watching my sisters in Themyscira. No matter how hard we fight each other, we know the other would have our back in battle. Same with your boys, right?”

“Same with my boys. They love each other, even if only Dick will admit it.” Bruce looked back towards his boys and frowned. “And they’re plotting something.”

Dick, Damian, Tim, and Jason stood huddled in the middle of the yard, snowball fight forgotten. Occasionally a pair of blue eyes would dart towards Bruce and Diana before returning to the whispered conversation between them. Bruce narrowed his eyes and strained his ears but he couldn’t hear anything.

“What’s going on over there?” he eventually called after accepting that eavesdropping was impossible from this distance. The boys jumped apart with shining eyes and sneaky smiles, an almost believable picture of innocence.

“Nothing!” Dick replied as he strolled towards the pair on the porch. His brothers followed. “We was just going over a case that’s been nagging me. Perhaps you can help?” Bruce raised an eyebrow at his youngest.

“I thought you said no work on Christmas?” Pink highlighted Dick’s cheeks and he briefly bit his lip. Bruce nearly shook his head: he had spent weeks teaching Dick to control such reactions.

“I know, I know: I’m a hypocrite. But I just can’t focus on having fun with you guys with this case on my mind. Can you please help me?” It wasn’t common for Dick to beg for help. Ever since Robin became Nightwing the young man had been adamant about independence, so it was a big red flag that was was begging for help now. But with Diana right there, Bruce found himself not wanting to make a scene.

“Sure, Dick,” the man said, voice flooded with suspicion and resignation.

“Great! I’m gonna grab some hot chocolate and we’ll meet in your study.” With that Dick raced into the manor, a large grin stretched across his face.

“I can also use a refill,” Diana hummed, shaking her empty mug. “Meet you there?”

“No!” Tim  shouted. The two adults looked at him, causing the teen to flush a dark red. “Actually, I - um - was hoping to ask Diana a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Later, Tim,” Bruce said with a tone that allowed no arguments.

“Yeah! Diana can’t answer your fangirl questions: she’ll be too busy sparing with me and Damian in the Batcave. Right Diana?” Jason asked with hopeful eyes.

“I’ve always wanted to conquer the Amazon in a sword fight,” Damian added with a shrug of the shoulders. Jason scoffed.

“In your dream, short stack. She’ll wipe the floor with you!”

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose as Jason and Damian began to squabble and exhaled through his nose. Then he looked at the woman next to him. “Diana, I’m sorry to ask but—”

“It’s no problem. But I must warn you: Damian might be a little grumpy after I defeat him in battle.” Something in Bruce’s chest burned as Diana flashed him a smile before the Amazon was dragged off by his 2nd oldest and youngest sons.  It wasn’t a bad burn; more like the burn of a cup of tea or a fireplace on the coldest day of the year. It almost brought a smile to his face but he quickly stomped that down when he saw Tim still standing there.

“Er, I’m just gonna… go inside…” Tim muttered awkwardly before sidestepping Bruce and disappearing inside. Bruce sighed and followed his second youngest.

—

By the time Bruce made it to his study, Dick was comfortable seated on his desk with a mug of hot chocolate in hands and stacks of papers spread onto the desk’s remaining surface. Dick gestured him over eagerly. Bruce was barely sat down before Dick started to explain the case to him.

5 minutes later and it was clear to Bruce that this was a waste of time. The case was an easy one with plenty of evidence as to who the perp was and why they did it. There was no way Dick hadn’t figured it out already. But Dick was determined to drag Bruce into it and no matter how many times the older man interrupted and tried to figure out Dick’s real motives, the younger just kept soldiering on and ignoring him. By the time 30 minutes had passed Bruce was completely tuning his son out, more interested in the way Dick’s eyes kept flickering to the watch on his wrist.

“Now, I was thinking —” Dick started around the 45 minute mark but he was cut off as his watch began to beep. Dick let out a breath and quickly jumped off the desk, breathing out a quiet “finally” that Bruce barely managed to catch. Dick began to collect the papers.

“Did you figure it out?” Bruce asked as he watched Dick clean up quickly. He was leaning in his seat, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

“Hm? Oh! No, I didn’t but it’s Christmas and I refuse to work on this any longer! C’mon, let’s go find the others.” Bruce barely had time to process Dick’s excuse before his son grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out the room.

“Woah - slow down!” Bruce hissed but Dick ignored him, instead pulling him through the hallways even faster as he muttered a chant of “c’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” below his breath. “Dick, where are we going?”

“To find the others - ah ha!” Dick stopped in his tracks before quickly stepping around Bruce so he was behind the man and pushing him forward. “Stay there!”

“Why?”

“Just stand there!”

Bruce rolled his eyes and exhaled harshly. He had learned not to play his kids’ games a long time ago so why was he indulging Dick now? Before Bruce could move, though, the sound of a mini stampede rumbled through the hallway. The rest of his kids were coming.

Bruce stood there and looked ahead, watching as Jason and Tim pulled Diana towards him and Dick, Damian right on their heels. He barely had time to take in the sight - let alone chastise them for their behaviour - before his two middle children sling-shotted Diana forward, right into Bruce’s arms.

“Diana!” Bruce gasped in shock as the woman collided with him. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry—”

“I’m fine. The boys were in quite a hurry to bring me up here. Is everything alright?”

“As far as I know but my sons are acting suspicious and that’s never a good thing.” Bruce shot a glare at all four of his sons. They only smiled in return, Damian’s smile a bit more hesitant and begrudging than the rest. Bruce opened his mouth to demand answers but was quickly cut off as Diana shuffled in his arms. A hot flush flooded Bruce’s face and he quickly let the Amazon go. He let go so quickly that he nearly toppled her balance again.

“S-sorry,” Bruce stuttered, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. The heat in his face increased: Batman did not stutter!

“It’s okay,” Diana replied, a faint pink blush decorating her own cheeks. A few awkward beats passed before Jason broke it with a deep groan.

“This is taking too long! Look up already!” Dick and Tim emphasized his words by pointing up towards the ceiling.

As one, Diana and Bruce tilted their heads upwards and looked at the ceiling 25 feet above them.

Oh God, thought Bruce as dread and embarrassment filled him. How did they get mistletoe all the way up there?

Bruce’s heart began to pound and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. The dream/embarrassment mixture only intensified as he heard a small “oh,” slip from Diana’s mouth. Bruce kept his eyes up as he began to stutter, too embarrassed to look at his friend.

“Di-Diana, I’m s-so sorry! I don’t - why would they - oh my gosh!” Bruce’s head fell forward into his palms, his fingers pulling at his hair. He should’ve know his kids would pull something like this: they’ve been trying to push him and Diana together for months now! And inviting Diana over during mistletoe season? Bruce mind as well gotten onto his knees and begged for his kids to do this.

Suddenly, Diana began to laugh.

“S-sorry,” the Amazon snorted between giggles. “Your face right now is just -” Diana cut herself off as she doubled over in laughter. Around them the boys began to laugh too. Was Diana in on it? Did they all team up against him?

How come that idea didn’t upset him as much as it should’ve?

Finally Diana straightened with a sniff as her laughter died out. She licked her lips and, with big blue eyes glinting, the Amazon stepped closer to Bruce and threw her arms around his neck.

“D?” Bruce muttered, questioningly. His own arms moved of their own volition and wrapped around Diana’s waist.

“Your boys put so much effort in this. Mind as well give them what they want.”

“Yes! Kiss her!” Dick yelled from the sidelines, practically buzzing. The others quickly shushed him.

Bruce couldn’t help but noticed the way Damian stood close to Dick, slightly behind his older brother as if the shield himself from the scene before him. The last time he had checked, Damian still held hopes of Talia and him reconciling and the three of them becoming a proper family. But here was help, scheming to get him and Diana to kiss? Was the boy truly okay with this?

As if reading his mind, Damian made eye contact with his father and nodded his consent, latching onto Dick’s sweater as he did so. The young man quickly threw an arm around his little brother and pulled him close.

“Are you okay with this?” Diana whispered. “I’ll understand if your not.” Bruce closed his eyes and thought. Diana was willing to kiss him. His sons wanted them to kiss. And him — Bruce thought harder — he wasn’t against the idea at all.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I’m more than okay with this.”

Diana’s blinding smile was the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes and their lips met. Inside his chest something burst and something else clicked. Bruce found himself deepening the kiss, a low groan coming from deep in his throat. He could feel Diana’s smile against his lips, the heat of her body pressed against his, her fingers in his hair. It felt good. It felt right.

The world around them melted away as Bruce and Diana kissed. And then they kissed again. And again. Lost in the woman in his arms, Bruce almost didn’t hear the cheer and applause coming from his sons.

Almost.

[sassycassie-s-writing]

Red Ruby

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC/BatFam: Tim Drake/Red Robin, feat. the BatFam

Rating: PG-11 (violence and gore)

Original Idea: This one’s been floating around in my head for a while, IDK.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) WooHoo! Exactly 2,200 words! Also shoutout to @batboys-and-other-messes whose enthusiasm for the possible existence of this inspired me to finish writing it. And for her superhero name.

^^^^^

"Red Ruby! I need your help right now!" Tim's voice shouts in your comms.

"This was a mistake," you mutter under your breath, dodging an explosion. "Who decided raiding the League of Assassin's compound was a good idea?" You say that louder, intending it to be heard by everyone on your comms.

Your question is followed by silence. It's a rhetorical question anyway---because the answer is It was Batman's idea---but you can feel the awkward agreement seeping through your team that this was a very bad idea.

"Ruby! Now!" Tim pressed.

"I'm coming, nag, I'm coming!" you retort, doing a flip over a League assassin's back and smacking him in the face with your staff so hard that he blacks out. "Where are you anyway?!"

"Third floor. Northeast corner," Tim says. "And get here fast!"

"Going as fast as I can!" You're grateful you're already on the third floor.

You look out a window as you run past. The sun. It's early morning so the sun is rising. In the east. Once you know which way is east from inside, you head north.

"Ruby!" Tim shouts. This time you hear him through the air, not your earpiece.

"Shut up, Red, I'm almost to you!" you snap.

There's a crash and a League assassin gets thrown through a closed door after a battle grunt ("Heeeeee-YAH!") that you recognize as Tim's.

You strike the assassin with your staff to knock him out too and jump through the splintered door, sliding on the wooden floor. "What's so important that you needed my help? You had that guy handled," you point out before the dust settles enough for you to even see Tim.

Once you do, your frustration falters.

"Oh."

Tim is beaten up bad. He's got a black eye the size of a large orange on his right eye. The left side of his lower lip is split, dribbling down his chin. His cowl's been torn off and his back-up mask is scratched. His hair's a mess and he looks like he's been through a hurricane.

But that's not the worst part, upon further inspection.

The room isn't a training room. Or the living quarters for some number of assassins.

It's a nursery. With a crib in the corner. The crib's railing has been broken.

It's empty, but the child it belongs to is being held securely in Tim's arm. It's wrapped tightly in a pale cream blanket. Tim's keeping its face to his chest so the baby can't see what's happening. His staff is held loosely in his other hand. He's panting and exhausted, but the baby appears to be either sleeping or at least docile.

You blink in surprise. "Um… Baby," you state, referring to the tiny human your boyfriend is holding, not a term of endearment for the boyfriend himself.

Tim nods in sarcastically enthusiastic agreement. "Yeah."

"What are you two talking about?" Damian demands impatiently in your earpieces.

"Not sure yet," you say, muting your microphone. Tim does the same. He spins his staff back into a strap across his back and approaches you.

"We can't just leave it here to be raised like Damian," Tim says quietly, even though his family can't hear either of you at the moment. He relaxes his hold on the baby just enough that it's no longer facing his chest, instead turned toward the ceiling.

The baby is adorable. But more than that, it's beautiful. It has the same smooth Arabic features and soft brown skin that Damian has and silky, glossy black hair poking out from under its swaddling blanket. It's asleep. You don't reach out for the baby. You feel conflicted. "Well… do you want us to raise it?"

Tim shrugs. "I don't know. I haven't gotten that far yet, babe. But we have to take it somewhere safe."

You nod. "I agree. Let's get it to the jet."

Tim takes his staff out of the strap and passes it to you. "Cover us, okay? I trust you to fight more than I trust me to not worry about if you held the baby."

You take his staff. You've dual-wielded staffs before, but it's not easy. They are too long to use two at the same time unless you have to.

"I'll tell the others as we get out," he says. You nod.

Both of you turn your microphones back on. "Red Ruby and Red Robin, on our way out," you say.

"What? You're leaving the compound? What for?" Dick demands.

"I found a baby," Tim answers. "We're getting it out of here. Taking it to the jet."

"A… baby?" Damian asks as you spin your own staff to whack an assassin in the neck. "Like, an actual human child?"

"Yup. It's adorable and innocent. And it might look like you if you weren't so ugly," Tim retorts, ducking under a throwing star that you hadn't managed to knock out of the air. You hear Jason start laughing. He's somewhere near because you hear it outside your earpiece too.

"Boys, not now," Dick says.

"Red Ruby, Red Robin, get to the jet," Batman orders. "We'll finish up here and rendezvous with you there."

"Yes sir," you and Tim chorus at the same time.

It's easier to get out of the League of Assassin's compound than it was to get in. Not surprising, since going in you all tried not to trip any alarms. Going out, all the alarms have already been tripped so who cares?

You cover Tim and the baby the whole way out. At one point the baby wakes up. It doesn't cry. Doesn't babble. Doesn't do anything except stare at Tim in silence with wide black eyes.

You two slide into the jet and close the doors. You put Tim's staff in his strap on his back and put your staff in your strap.

Tim raises his eyebrows. "You want to hold the baby?" he asks.

You hesitate, unsure.

"Rephrase: would you hold the baby for a few minutes while I get the jet started? I need two hands," Tim amends.

You accept the tiny child into your arms. It stares at you. Almost curiously. Tim busies himself around the jet's cockpit.

"Red Hood to the jet! I'm comin' in!" Jason shouts in your earpieces. You manage to get the door open in time for your boyfriend's brother to do a baseball slide into the jet. Once he's in you close the door again.

Jason pops his helmet off and surveys you and Tim. "Timothy, you look like h#%& man," he says.

"Thanks Jay," Tim deadpans.

Before Jason can get to complimenting or criticizing how you look coming out of a fight with a league of assassins, he notices the baby in your arms.

His face softens immediately. "Can I hold it?" he asks, big bulky tank of a man instantly turning to a puddle of mush. You snicker and hand the baby to Jason. He coos at it and gently tucks it against his chest. You go over to Tim and kiss his black eye gently.

"You okay, Tim?" you ask.

He shrugs. "Fine. Nothing a hot shower, half-a-dozen painkillers, a cup of something hot, and a good night's sleep won't fix."

"I hope you're joking about the painkillers," Jason says distractedly. "You do not need six."

"I was joking, idiot," Tim retorts.

"Nightwing, Robin, Batman, and Batgirl coming in!" Dick calls. "Get the jet ready for takeoff!"

"We're ready! Waiting on you!" Tim replies, dropping into the pilot's seat and taking the controls. You run over to the door and yank it open.

Dick, Damian, Bruce, and Cassie all drop through the door one-by-one like they were all airborne before reaching the plane. Which, you reason, they probably were. You shove the door closed. "Strap in!" Tim calls.

Bruce falls into the co-pilot's seat while the rest of you all find passenger seats and strap in.

Takeoff is rough. The baby starts to cry from the changing pressure as Jason struggles to soothe it. He refuses to hand it to anyone else despite Dick's pleading ("It's so adorable! Please?") and Damian's threats ("It may very well be a half-sibling of mine, hand it over Todd!").

Once the plane is in the air and stable, Tim gives Bruce the pilot's seat and comes back into the passenger hold. He takes the baby from Jason's arms without asking and sits next to you. The baby stops crying the second it sees him. Tim pulls his scratched-up mask off his face and smiles down at the baby. "It's okay, kiddo. We're going to take good care of you," he promises. The baby smiles.

^^^^^

"Zahra, come on! You're going to be late!" you call upstairs. Your husband chuckles.

"She's been ready for a half-hour, babe," he says. "I think she's just nervous."

"Honey?" you call. "Zahra? You hungry?"

That always works.

Your adopted daughter thunders down the stairs and careens into the kitchen on six-year-old legs not quite coordinated enough for her speed. "Yum-yum!" she exclaims.

You pass her a plate with some waffles on it that's been drowned in syrup and whipped cream.

"Mmmmm!" she says happily, black eyes widening in delight before beginning to devour it.

Tim wraps his arm around your waist. "By the way," he says, "I'm pretty sure everyone is coming to walk her to school today."

"Seriously? Everyone?" you ask quietly.

"Well so far only Jason and Damian have RSVP'd but you know Dick, and Bruce isn't likely to miss his granddaughter's first day of first-grade, is he?" Tim replies, planting a kiss on your cheek. Zahra makes a face of disgust. Tim snickers. "And neither is Alfred. Cassie may or may not turn up, depending on where she is on the planet and how busy she is."

"Wow," you say, unsure of what else you can say. The whole family walking one six-year-old girl to school. That was going to be a sight.

As if on cue, you hear, KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

Zahra jumps off her stool and runs to the door. "I'LL GET IT!" she screams.

You and Tim follow slower, your husband's arm still around your waist.

The front door flies open. "UNCLE JAY!" Zahra shouts.

"Zahra! Sweetheart! How's my favorite six-year-old niece?" your brother-in-law asks, scooping Zahra up and tickling her belly while she squeals.

"Jay---I'm your only six-year-old niece," she complains as her uncle drowns her in kisses.

Jason looks over her shoulder at you and Tim. "Already as smart as both her parents, I see," he says matter-of-factly. Tim shrugs with a proud smile.

You and he go back to the kitchen, Jason carrying Zahra trailing behind. Tim keeps a hand on you as you two work around each other for breakfast, the way you've always done. The X of your spare staffs hanging on the wall glints in the morning sunlight. Jason sits next to Zahra at the breakfast bar and talks to her while you and Tim quietly fawn over each other.

Sure enough, the entire family shows up to walk Zahra to school. Except Cassie since she is, apparently, in France for the next couple weeks. You all walk your daughter to school---her soaking up the attention like a tiny sprout seeing sunlight for the first time---and wave as she goes in. "Bye Mama! Bye Daddy! Bye Uncle Dick! Bye Uncle Jay! Bye Uncle Damian! Bye Grampa Bruce! Bye Grampa Alfred!"

Yeah… you definitely got some looks from the other parents. Not that any of you mind.

Back home, you and Tim cuddle on the sofa, taking a break and confused as to what to do without Zahra in the house.

Tim leans his head on your shoulder. "I have never been happier in my entire life," he says. "In this moment. Right here. With you. Knowing our daughter is at school and enjoying every second of it." You put your head on top of his, feeling his hand on the back of your scalp playing with your hair. "I love you. And I've never believed in any decision I've made more than I believe in marrying you and adopting Zahra."

"Mm," you agree with a smile. "I'm happy too." You snuggle closer to his chest and curl up against him. He holds you closer. "I don't think I ever imagined my life would feel this good. Especially when every one of you told me that putting on a mask and a costume meant my life was destined for pain."

"But Red Ruby and Red Robin ended up okay, yeah?" Tim prompts cheekily, a grin in his voice.

"Oh yeah." You lean up and kiss him. He kisses you back. "Red Robin and Red Ruby ended up better than okay."

The two of you hold each other for a few moments of rare silence.

"So… what now?" Tim asks. "What do we do without Zahra?"

You chuckle, realizing everything your parents ever told you about parents not knowing what to do without their children is entirely true. "Well, for now we could work on giving Zahra a little brother or sister," you say.

Tim smirks. "That sounds like a great idea."

[mayonara]

Ooh can u write a pre-slash Jaydick that leads up to slash? With jason being upset/jealous because dick is avoiding him? Or maybe something angsty with dick breaking up with jay in order to protect him or something idk. Your choice ^^

I always enjoy writing angst with a dash of comfort :D Hope you like this one. Jason has his own personal assistant he yells at when he’s mad 

Jason sighed heavily andsqueezed the Nightwing plush in his hands. He poked and probed at it, pinchingits cheeks and wiggling its arms and legs.  

“You idiot,” he jeered, turquoiseeyes meeting the toys’ masked ones as he shook him, annoyed. “Why do youalways ignore me?” He roared, raising his voice at the small stuffedNightwing, acted as if it had offended him when really he was reprimanding the actual person. Though he couldn’t quitesay it to his face so he resorted to letting off his steam at a replica.

“Seriously!”Jason growled and pulled at Nightwing’s arms, twisting and turning him in allsorts of directions since the thing was just filled with cotton. “Youalways ignore me when I try to talkto you. But you give Tim and Damian allthe time in the world,” he murmured and huffed a breath, collapsingback against the couch. He enveloped his arms around the plush and hugged ittight to his chest, before he decided to punish him by biting his shoulder.

“Ugh,” hegrumbled and jerked upright. Jason was restless, had trouble containing hisemotions after a rough night of once again being ignored by his preciouspseudo-brother.

The Red Hood had beenout on patrol tonight when he ran into Nightwing, Robin and Red Robin. They briefly teamed up together since theperpetrator they were after were one in the same. Things had gone well despiteall the bickering and when Jason went to speak to them, specifically Dick, theman turned away and instead, placed all his attention on his younger brothers.He was complimenting them, telling them they did a job well done while on theother hand, overlooking Jason eventhough he did a large chunk of the fighting.

That pissed Jason offand seeing that Dick was still continuing to ignore him as he stood there, heswiftly left. He was slightly embarrassed about his actions, overstepping hisboundaries by attempting to act chummy when he wasn’t at all close with them,so he just came back to his safe house to mope.

Things weren’t alwaysrosy when Jason came back to life, but they’d long since fixed theirrelationship. However, Dick still seemed to be on the fence about him. Heinitially started off fine, joking along with Jason when they occasionallyworked together. But then slowly, he started to distance himself to the pointwhere he completely disregarded him. And that fucking annoyed the hell out ofJason. All he wanted was to just get along with the man, chat with him a fewtimes, but the fact that he wouldn’t give him a single moment upset Jason.

And this purely hadnothing to do with the feelings he held for Dick. None at all, at least that’s what he kept trying to tell himself.He knew he couldn’t have Dick, that the man would never come to like him thatway. So all he really wanted was to just get along with him, but Dick was beinga dick.

Sighing for the umpteenthtime, he scrubbed a hand down his face and gazed at the Nightwing plush again.He’d had it for a while now, having bought it purely as a joke since hehappened to see it while he was shopping for some supplies.

He was surprised by thequality of the plush, didn’t notice it until now. He examined the toy, admiringhow nicely sewn he was, that pretty black and blue uniform shining through,mimicking the original Nightwing’s exact design. He even had a stupid smile,all happy and bright and the stripes of his fingers were also there. Jason’scouldn’t believe the manufacturers had put so much detail into him though itmade sense considering the hero himself was popular and quite well known.

But just looking at thething pissed Jason off so he slammed it to the ground, got up and stepped onit, rubbed his heel on his stomach before he disappeared to his bedroom.

Brooding wasn’t going tohelp so he might as well force himself to sleep. At least that way, he couldlet all his emotions flow away.

Jason swore he had theworst luck ever. He’d already had quite a shitty childhood and then died, wasreborn again. One would think the cycle would have ended, but no, his bad luckjust never seemed to stay away, attached onto him like a virus.

Thankfully the shot he’dsustained during a crossfire wasn’t life threatening. He wasn’t even on patrolor anything of that spectrum. The man had been out on a grocery run and as hewas crossing the street, there had been a drive by shooting. One of the ladieswho was out in the open was in their line of shot so Jason jumped into shieldher and ended up getting hit himself. 

Of course the lady waspanicking about the blood oozing from his arm, soaking into his shirt insplotches, but he had to reassure her it was fine. He couldn’t very well go tothe hospital since he’s legally dead,so they wouldn’t have any records of him. That would be too difficult to dealwith so his only choice was to sneak away before the cops would show up despitethe fact that the few witnesses that had been nearby were attempting to callthe ambulance and trying to get him to stop.

But Jason was stubbornand refused, ran as soon as he spotted an opening.

Now he was currently marginallydrugged up at his safe house after having fixed up his own wound. Luckily thebullet only grazed his arm and he didn’t have to operate on himself or worse, call up Alfred for help. Hedidn’t want to bother the butler if he didn’t have to.

Jason was resting in bedwith pillows propped up against the headboard and had the TV on, volume highand blasting into his room. His mind was slightly dazed and he was ratherlethargic, had no energy and felt a bit woozy. Probably took too high of adouse.

Every so often, turquoiseeyes would travel down to his arm, glancing to check his bandages and see ifit’d bled through. It sort of was leaking and his bandages were also slowlyunraveling, fraying at the edges from the poor job he’d done. Wrapping an arm onehanded was not as easy as people made it sound.

But he didn’t have the driveto care for it and exhaled heavily, sinking back into the soft mattress andpillows and tugged at his covers. A hand searched blindly underneath his stackof pillows, probing for something specific. When he’d found it, he gripped theitem in his hand and pulled it out to settle in his lap, wrapped arm around itto cuddle it close to his chest.

“At least you’regood for one thing,” Jason murmured and stroked Nightwing’s head. It wassoft and fuzzy and at least this version didn’t ignore him.

Content, Jason returnedhis attention back to the TV and let the time tick by as he watched a thrillerfilm until he passed out.

Jason slowly woke fromhis deep slumber, a bit dazed and muddled. The drugs must have kicked in andtook him under because he felt well rested, although still a bit sluggish. But thepain in his arm was still there, pulsing ever few seconds.

A soft sigh escaped intothe air and his attention fell onto the only source of life, the TV. Apparentlyhe’d fell asleep with it still on. The sun had already set, darkness filteringinto the room and he’d realized he’d slept most of the day.

Great, now his sense of timing was off. But it’s not as if he had it inthe first place anyways considering his schedule was out of the ordinary.

As he shifted on hisbed, pressed his palms against the mattress and attempted to sit up, his eyescaught sight of his arm and noticed the bandages had been changed. It wasclean, not a single patch of blood in sight and it was also neatly wrapped,tied carefully and pressed flush to his arm, not too tight or loose.

Who—?

His inquiry was answeredwhen the person in question entered the room with a glass of water. Theintruder had messy dark hair and was dressed in a pair of black sweatpants anda simple grey hoodie. Vivid blue eyes fell upon him and immediately, a smilebroke out onto his face.

“Jason.” Fucking hell, it was Dick Grayson. Whatwas he doing here?

Jason was oddly confusedand pinched his brows, trying to comprehend why the first Robin was currentlyin his safe house. In his room, casuallydressed and was holding one of his favorite cups like he owned the place.

“What are you doinghere?” Jason asked, watching closely as the man tapped the door shut withhis foot and approached his bed side. There was already a chair stationed rightbeside him and a blanket draped over the seat. Had he been here for a while?

“I heard you wereinjured,” Dick said and gathered the blanket from off the chair beforesettling himself back in. He then stretched out an arm and handed the glass ofwater to Jason. “Take it.” He gestured at him and also revealed theset of pills that’d been hiding in his other hand. 

Jason narrowed his eyesat him, still confused, but took it from him anyways. He tossed the pills intohis mouth, swiftly swallowed them and washed it down with water. Dick pluckedthe cup from his fingers and set it down onto his nightstand.

“How’d you know Iwas injured?”

“News. I saw itonline and I knew you lived around here and the lady you saved was freakingout. Hence I called, but you didn’t answer your phone and I got worried so Icame to check,” Dick simply stated and smiled fondly at him. 

“I see,” Jasonsaid and huffed a breath, unsure what else to say to that. There were a millionquestions stewing in his mind and he wanted to let them all out, but didn’texactly want to chase Dick away just yet so he held off.

“Are you doingokay?” Dick asked and furrowed his brows in concern.

Now this was unusual. Being specially treated by the boy wonder andhaving him be worried for his well-being wasn’t something Jason was used to.Nor had he experienced it much either. 

“I’m fine. Just agraze.”

“I saw. I uh—hopeyou don’t mind, but I fixed up your bandage. It was coming undone.“ 

"Yeah,thanks,” Jason said and glanced around the room awkwardly, thinking aboutwhat he wanted to ask Dick before he settled his gaze back on the man. Dick wassitting up straight, hands on his knees and tilting slightly forward. His lipswere tugged into a small smile and he was watching Jason closely, a hint of distressfilling his blue eyes. “So—” he started and cleared his throat.“What exactly are you doing here?”

Dick blinked, slightlytaken aback by that question. “I said I came to check on you.”

“Yeah, but why?” That was really the oneanswer he was looking for. Why? Why now? Why come visit him when he was downand injured when all of the other times he’d ignored him? Didn’t pay him asingle attention?

The smile on Dick’s facefaltered and his eyes darkened as he pulled his lips into a thin line, deep inthought. The worry had disappeared, replaced by one of confusion, seemingly abit surprised at that curve ball that Jason threw at him. It was almost as ifDick himself didn’t understand why.

As the older man dwelledin his thoughts, possibly trying to come up with an answer to his question.Jason sat there silently and shuffled on his bed, attempting to prop himself upproperly. As he moved about, restacking the pillows behind his back, his handpressed onto something firm. Lifting his arm up, he spotted the Nightwing plushthat’d somehow gotten lost in the tangle of mess he’d created. Slowly, he liftedit up and was going to attempt to hide it away before Dick saw but it was toolate.

“Is that me?”Dick asked and pointed at the object held in Jason’s hands. Busted.

He couldn’t very welldeny it now that it was out in the open. “Yeah,” he answered andbrought it into his lap as he turned around to face the first Robin. “It’s you,” he said forlornly andcurled his fingers around its waist, held it tight and started playing with itsarms.

“Oh,” Dick whispered. 

An awkward silencefilled the air as neither said a word. Jason had redirected his gaze to theNightwing plush, felt more at ease staring at something that was inanimaterather than the real thing himself. Those pretty blue eyes of his were too muchfor Jason sometimes, expressive enough that he could almost read all of hisemotions.

Jason heard the floorcreak and suddenly felt the bed dip to the side. He jerked his head up andgawked at the man who was now only a few inches away from him. Dick stretchedan arm out and flicked the plushie’s forehead. 

“I—” hestarted and then paused briefly, licked a tongue over his lips and sighednervously. “I was worried about you,” he said and brought his eyes tomeet Jason’s, holding his gaze still so the man wouldn’t break away. “Ihad to come check and see if you’re okay.”

“I get that but why?You don’t necessarily care about me,” Jason blurted, being completely bluntand pinched the toy’s arm, bringing its hand to slap at its own face. “Youalways ignore me.”

“I-I know,”Dick admitted and threaded a hand through his raven hair gently. “I’msorry about that. I didn’t exactly mean to.”

“What does thateven mean?” Jason hissed, tone sharp. He wanted Dick to be honest and getto the point instead of beating around the bushes.

The man exhaled loudlyand shrugged his shoulders. “Okay.I suppose I did it on purpose, but it’s not because I hate you or anythingJason.”

“You sure seem likeit considering you coddle the others,”he jabbed out of jealousy. It was petty, he knew, but he was upset about it.Jason had done things wrong in the past, he’d admit to that, but he’d alsotaken the time to amend his actions. Not that he regretted all his actions becausehe didn’t, but there were certain ones he wished he hadn’t done. It was alreadyin the past and all he could do was move on and not repeat his mistakes.

“I know. I do paythem more attention, but I just—they’re easier to handle. You, it’s hard,” Dick said, stuttering on his words and wasn’tthat a first? He was always so confident in everything he did but right now,when confronted by Jason, he was faltering with his words.

“I don’t get whatyou’re getting at,” Jason scowled. “Get to the damn point Dick. Ifyou’re here to insult me then leave.”He had no more patience for Dick’s delay tactics and if he was going to tellhim that he couldn’t get along with him or whatever other bullshit, then he wanted him gone.

A look of horror crossedover Dick’s eyes and he scooted closer, closing the space to settle his hand onJason’s. “No, I’m not here toinsult you Jay,” he murmured ever so gently. “I—” he nibbled onhis lower lip, struggling with whatever was fueled inside of his body.“I…” he whispered and breathed loudly, struggling to say what wason the tip of his tongue.

“Out with it,”Jason grumbled, vexed. What was it that Dick wanted to say that was giving himsuch a hard time to express? 

Blue eyes rolled off tothe side, glancing down at the little Nightwing plush still in Jason’s lapbefore he returned and settled himself back on Jason. With a firm expression,Dick brought a hand and cupped Jason’s cheek and before he knew it, before hecould react or say a word, their lips met. 

The kiss was brief, butit was chaste and sweet. Dick’s lips were soft as he kissed him gingerly,stroked a thumb under his eye, and slipped his fingers around his ear, pinchingtenderly as the tips of his fingers dove into his hair.

“I like you,”he mumbled and pressed their foreheads together, lips hovering just a merecentimeters away. “I like you,”he repeated more confidently this time.

“You like me?”Jason repeated, a bit confused, and slightly dazed from the unexpected kiss.

“Yeah. I—um,”Dick murmured and then drew in a shaky breath. “I avoided you because Ilike you. And I, well, I thought itwould be bad if we continued interacting.”

“Because I’mproblematic?” Jason asked, a bit offended if that was the case.

“No,” Dick immediately shut downthat thought. “No, that’s not it,” he said and kissed him again, alittle more desperate this time, wanting to get his feelings across. “It’sbecause I was afraid. I didn’t wantto mess it up.”

“What?" 

"You know I have agood knack at fucking up relationships. I didn’t want to repeat it again. So Ifigured it was better if I just distanced myself from you. It was—it was difficulthaving to, but it was harder being near you. So I just, I don’t know, did what I thought was best.”

Jason sighed loudly androlled his eyes at the man in disbelief. Couldn’t believe that was the thoughtprocess going on inside his mind. The reason itself was so silly and Jasoncouldn’t comprehend the fear that was coursing through Dick to make him reactthat way. But he supposed it wasn’t something that he would personallyunderstand considering he’d never really dated much before.

“You’re so dumbDickiebird,” Jason said, lips tugging into a smirk. “I can’t believeyou.”

“Hey!” he said, insulted. “Ididn’t exactly want to lose you or get my ego kicked again. Honestly, I don’tknow what it is but I always mess up one way or another and people dumpme,” Dick grumbled, a look of hurt briefly passing through his eyes.

Jason pressed a thumb tohis pretty lips, held him close and leaned in to kiss him. “Well they werestupid to do it,” he said and kissed him again, more fervently this time.“If they won’t have you, then I will,”Jason said and Dick chuckled at that remark.

“But I might makeyou mad.”

“You already pissme off.”

“I guess that’staken care of then,” he joked and then distanced himself a bit from Jasonas he turned his attention away and picked up the toy resting in his lap.“Though you have a little version of me to yell at.” There was anamused smile gracing his lips as he played with the plush and wiggled itaround, examining its outfit. “It’s pretty spot on,” he murmuredunder his breath, a bit surprised at the quality of the stuffed toy, as Jasonhad been the other day.

“Yeah and trust me,I do yell at it. He is my personal outlet,” Jason said and pinched itscheek. “He listens well.”

“You know you canjust yell at me if I make you angry right?”

“Yeah but you’dyell back.”

“Jay—” Dicksaid and leveled his eyes at him. “I’m serious.If you have an issue, please talk to me about it.” This was probably beingsprung about due to his poor relationships. “I want to communicate betterwith you. I…I want our relationship to flourish.”

And Jason did as well,so he supposed the first thing they needed to overcome was being able toexpress their emotions. Which included ones that they often kept to themselvesand he knew that Dick was the master at that. Always kept his issues in,letting it boil until it just burst open. He needed to improve on that andmaybe it was something they could work on together. 

“We’ll both have towork on communicating then,” Jason said and Dick laughed at him, noddinghis head in agreement because it was the honest truth.

“So—” Dicksettled his eyes on Jason again and wrapped the Nightwing plush close againsthis chest as his little persona settled in his lap. That was the most adorablething he’d ever seen Dick do and he wished he could snap a picture right now,but he had no clue where his phone was at. He was about to search for it, hewas interrupted as Dick finished his comment. “How do you feel about me?“He asked with a small smirk on his lips, teasing the man gently since heprobably knew his answer already. Jason just rolled his eyes at him inamusement and smiled back.

"Let me showyou,” he said as he curled a hand behind Dick’s neck, fingers tangling inhis soft hair and pulled him into a bruising kiss as their lips met in a fierypassion.

They fell against thebed, limbs tangled in one another as they kissed the night away, soft murmursand moans filtering into the still air.