fandomtrashgirluniverse

[puppetmaster13u]

Oneshot Mini-Ramble One

For This: https://www.tumblr.com/puppetmaster13u/749966584630673408/thinkin-of-several-oneshots-and-i-wanna-ramble

ANYWAY. Day 1, doing a middle one: Living Armour Au

So first off, the world is a mixture of modern, normal DC, and fantasy. Y'know, still large cities and more modern aspects like cameras and TVs and such, but they're run by magic and runes instead of just electricity if that makes sense.

Now if monsters had scientific classifications (not that people haven't tried) then Living Armor would be something between a golem and a ghost. They can be purposely created, or just end up happening from enough magic seeping in an area.

The batfamily are still vigilantes, though the proper term would probably be closer to guardians, and don't even exactly have civilian identities. They've straight up said this to the league after it's formed, but they think that they're, well, not exactly joking but trying to get them to drop it.

No they're being literal when they motion to the helmets or masks, and the shadows inside, and say that's their face. Their skin is the metal and leather, their muscles the same, their bones the magic within. And not all of them are more knight-like in design either. Alfred (and Tim) have more plague-doctor esque inspiration, Dick has archer armour, Jason and Duke more mage-esque designs, etc.

The rest of the heroes? Utterly oblivious, despite the fact that the Bats are for a very long time sure they know. They told them, it should be obvious right?!

@brains-out-rn I believe it was you who asked about this one?

[mostly-imagines]

La Vie En Rose

jason todd x fem!reader

aka jason wildly preferring you over everyone else

4 in 1 blurbs

warnings: standard batfam arguing etc.

You sit curled up embarrassingly close to Jason on the couch, head on his shoulder. The team is still in their gear as they filter into the living room, masks and helmets discarded in scattered locations between here and the cave. The mission had been fairly simple and with all of them together it only took a couple hours to finish up.

As you waited, Alfred had kept your mind busy in the kitchen while he taught you how he makes his famous ice cream from scratch.

The clamor of the heroic party’s return had made itself known sooner than later, and you think your face must have displayed your emotions nicely because Alfred nodded you away with a small smile and no second thought.

You’d walked into the living room, weaving through the mess of siblings until a hand snuck out on your left and grabbed your wrist. You barely had time to look at him before Jason pulled you down to sit next him on the sofa. He wrapped an arm over your shoulder, pulling you in and leaving virtually no space between you. His armor sits heavy against you, but a welcome weight on your shoulders.

Tim plops down on the couch across from you and you can just make out a bit of blood on the side of his head, aptly accompanied by an irritated look sprawled across his face. It’s not enough blood to be concerned about—not for them—but you can venture a guess that whatever they were up to shouldn’t have called for any injuries and his pique is likely directly related to that.

Though Dick’s goading aura might have something to do with it too, as he comes crashing down next to him a second later, partially sitting on Tim’s cape and pulling him into an awkward angle. 

Nightwing doesn’t seem too perturbed by the younger vigilante’s agitation and curt manner of pushing him off.

The others are too caught up in chatter to pay much attention to you, and you can be certain that’s why Jason takes that moment to press a kiss to the side of your head. He lets his lips linger there for just a second as you lean into him.

Alfred’s own entrance is the only thing able to subside the flurry of conversations skirting around the room.

“A job well done,” he commends with a nod. “A selection of ice creams awaits you in the kitchen.”

He gives you a sly wink before retreating back through the swinging door, leaving Stephanie and Cass to practically trip over themselves trying to beat each other to the kitchen. Robin follows after unhurried, mask still on, with his hands behind his back.

Jason kneads your thigh before pushing himself up to stand. He turns back, looking down to you. “What do you want?” he asks softly.

You hum, "Just strawberry's good."

Tim sits up, "Can I—”

"No, you've got legs,” Jason grumbles, stalking off to the kitchen.

Dick barks out a laugh and you bite back a smile.

Tim looks absolutely aghast. 

“That’s such bullshit. You know, he used to be nice.”

“No he didn’t,” Dick laughs, shaking his head. “Not since you’ve known him.”

Stephanie stumbles out of the kitchen then, the door hitting her back on the way, as she mutters a curse behind her. You can vaguely makeout Jason grunting something back before she rolls her eyes.

Steph looks at you, shaking her head as she returns to her seat, “You live like this?”

You shrug, “He’s nice to me.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Tim grumbles.

Jason returns after Cass a minute later with a bowl of strawberry ice cream and two spoons. He expertly ignores Tim’s unwavering glare as he resituates himself beside you.

He scoops your legs up over his lap and positions the bowl in between you, wrapping the sleeve of his jacket around it so that the cold porcelain doesn’t make contact with your skin.

The others have set themselves up so that the four of them are stuffed up against each other on the sofa adjacent to you, very obviously examining you both. 

And while you’re willing to acknowledge the amused stares and singular glare, Jason only sighs heavily, rolling his eyes as he glares at the coffee table.

Only a few seconds of this are allowed to go by before he pulls over a throw pillow and sets it over your knees, so that it rests atop your heads like a mini-fort, successfully blocking out his siblings' view of the two of you.

You smile and press a light kiss to his shoulder as he simmers.

Regrettably, you miss the way Damian side-eyes the pillow above you as he re-enters the room, perching himself atop the back of the couch behind the others.

“This is so nice,” Dick preens. “He used to just leave the room when too many of us gathered in one place. Now he has to stay.”

Stephanie watches the makeshift fort with wary eyes, scooping ice cream into her mouth. “Yeah…I don’t wanna freak you guys out but, uh…”

It’s quiet for a moment and you guess Cass is speaking. 

You’re proven right when Stephanie starts up again, “My thoughts exactly.” Her voice drops into a raspy whisper that isn’t really meant to go unheard, “I don’t know who the hell that is, but it is not Jason.” 

“This is unprecedented,” Damian mumbles, dipping into his own chocolate cup.

“Do they always talk about you like you’re not here?” you ask Jason quietly. 

“Yes,” he grumbles with a scornful look directed at the bowl.

A low hiss can be heard immediately after, “I’ve never heard him whisper before, what the fuck?”

You can’t hide your laugh as well as you mean to, but you know Jason’s light swat to your thigh is nothing more than a rib.

Mumbles continue along the other couch, mostly going unacknowledged, until Tim busts out, “He doesn’t even like strawberry!”

Jason snaps the pillow out of the way, “The fuck do you know about what I like?”

Tim resets his posture with one hell of an attitude, snarking, “Well I can name one thing you really seem to fucking—”

Jason grabs the pillow harshly and chucks it at Tims head which connects with a loud thwack.

Damian swats it away before it can knock him off balance, though his scowl is only half worth what Tim’s is. 

“You’re unbelievable,” he says with a sneer. “This is why you don’t get invited to movie night anymore.”

Jason doubles back at him, “Sorry, is this not your own fucking house?”

Tim huffs, “Yes, which i—”

“Then get your own goddamn ice cream!”

Tim huffs as he stands, sending Jason a pointed look. “I’m going because I want to.”

Jason barely gives him a sardonic nod as he stomps off.

“Get me some too!” Dick calls back, only for the back of his head to be met with a sideways grimace from Tim.

As he leaves, the focus of the room seems to shift towards Damian dripping chocolate onto his cape and it fades away from there.

You turn to Jason, lowering your voice to just below a whisper, “If you don’t like strawberry—”

“I like it,” he tells you, leaving no room to argue as he takes a bite.

Voicemail. 

Voicemail.

Voicemail. 

Voicemail.

Declined.

Voicemail.

Declined.

Declined. 

“I swear to God, he better be dead,” Stephanie mutters to herself.

She shuts her phone off and tosses it into the passenger seat with a huff. Her fingers drum against the steering wheel as she scans the sidewalk across from her car.

The night before the majority of the team had been involved in a less-than-successful plan, which some have called “a display of complete idiocy and inability to circumspect.”

Then Tim had to go and make a joke about that word choice in what was apparently a bad moment. This gave way to a harsher punishment of the team being forced to clean the batcave foot by square foot—notably, an impossible task.

So naturally, they had to retaliate.

The plan was to dismantle the batmobile piece by piece and leave it a collection of parts for Bruce to find. Problem being, the group as it stood didn’t possess the capability to do so without doing a great deal of damage to the parts. Damage, that the family was not willing to face extra retribution for.

Fortunately, they knew just the man for the job. 

Unfortunately, said man has devoted his life to ignoring their messages, favoring to live peacefully and distantly from them. And because that peace and distance does come with an add-on of borderline complete secrecy from his family, no one had any idea where to look for him.

So, Stephanie decided to do the next most rational thing and track down your location. She’d hoped he would be with you like he always is, but for seemingly the first time in the last year—he’s nowhere to be found.

Now, was revenge for a minor-slight by Bruce so important that it required Stephanie to take all of these steps to get a hold of Jason? No, absolutely not. She’s pretty sure that the others have already given up on it by now and started cleaning. But it’s about the principal. And also, she does not want to clean the floors of a cave.

She jumps up in her seat when she spots you exiting a store, scurrying to unbuckle and pry the car door open.

She’s across the street in half a second, running directly into your line of sight. It actually would’ve been very difficult for her to miss your line of sight, considering she’d landed only a good six inches in front of your face. “Hey!”   

“Oh, fuck—” you jump, grabbing your chest. You take a breath when you realize who it is, less surprised now by the theatrics of the introduction. “Hey Steph.”

“Hey,” she smiles casually, like she didn’t do what she just did. “So Jason’s been ignoring us and I need to get a hold of him,” she tells you.

You nod, still collecting yourself. “Oh. I don’t know where he is—”

She shakes her head, “That’s fine. Can I use your phone to call him?”

You frown, “Is something wrong?”

“With him, yeah,” she snarks. “I called him, Tim called him, Dick called him, Cass called him, Damian called him, we used Bruce’s phone to call him—that was a bit of a long shot, but still. This is our last option. Well, not our last option, if this doesn’t work I could get really invasive, but—” She shakes the thought from her head, “Nevermind.”

You nod blankly, taking in the mountain of information she’d just handed you. “How’d you know I was here?”

She scans your eyes back and forth for a second before her own widen in realization and she’s shaking her head. “No, no, don’t worry we’re not tracking you! I just hacked into the traffic cameras to find you.”

“Oh!” you exclaim, nodding some more. “Okay.”

You hand her your phone without any further questions—for your own sake—and she happily accepts. 

“You know I texted him 115 times?” she tells you as she scrolls through your contacts.

You furrow your eyebrows, watching her click his name and press the phone to her ear. “Did you count?”

“Well, I had the time, di—you son of a bitch! One ring?” Stephanie scorns into the phone.

You can hear Jason groan on the other end of the line. 

He says something to Stephanie that she follows up with a firm shake of her head.

“No,” she says defiantly. “She let me use it.”

Stephanie rolls her eyes, not pleased with his response. “What if it was an emergency?”

She listens for a second, skeptical look on her face.

She gasps suddenly, “I am not overstepping, we thought you were dead!”

Over the course of about ten seconds the shock on her face drops into just-been-caught guilt. “Well, I mean we considered it.”

You imagine Jason’s telling her to give you your phone back as she stands her ground, pushing, “If you promise to text me back.”

A short response on his end.

“Promise to text me back!”

There’s a brief lull before she’s giving a self-satisfied nod and jostling your phone back into your hands. “Here ya go. Thanks, babe!” She smiles wide at you before jogging back across the street, not waiting for the cars.

You smile as you watch her go, putting the phone up to your ear, “Hey Jay.”

You can hear the relief on the other end of the line. “Hey sweetheart. You know if you see Steph in public, you can just walk away?”

“I’m not going to walk away from your family.” You look again across the street, “Also I don’t think that was an option for me this time.”

“That thing is fucking scary.”

Cass smiles fondly, signing, “I think he’s cute.”

Tim eyes the way Salem traipses around his feet, yellow eyes staring up at him. “Why’s it even here?”

Jason rolls his eyes, continuing to scroll on his phone. “He’s hers. Deal with it.”

Tim scrunches up his mouth. “She knows I hate it. And she, unlike you, wouldn’t subject me to this just for the hell of it. So again I ask: why is it here?”

Jason huffs, looking up from his phone. “What do you want me to say? He wants to be.”

Tim scoffs at that, “‘It wants to be’? You’re the one who put it in the car.”

“No, I didn’t,” Jason says factually.

Tim looks at him sideways as Salem leaps onto Jason’s lap and nudges his hand up. Jason follows along as requested, petting the top of Salem’s head with an open palm. 

Tim squirms to the other side of the couch with a look of disgust on his face. Salem watches him the whole time.  

A smile adorns Cass’ face as she signs, “She says he can read people’s energy.”

Tim huffs, resting his head against his fist. “What does that even mean?”

The conversation is cut off by the clatter of you and Dick stumbling into the room, carrying a freshly painted headboard. Blue paint coats both of your hands and has no doubt stained your clothes.

You’re clearly struggling a bit to keep your grip on your end, the weight of the wooden frame dragging your arms down.

Jason stands and Salem flows along with his movements easily, leaping down onto the hardwood. He comes over and helps you lift your end of the frame with a stupid amount of ease, to the point that you’re not even holding any of the weight up anymore. The three of you—less so you—move the headboard and lean it up against the wall. After it's set down Jason steps back and looks over it gingerly.

“It looks good,” he murmurs to you, quiet enough to not give his brother the satisfaction of his approval.

Dick had asked you over to help him paint Damian’s bed frame as a surprise for him for not getting in any “altercations” at school this semester. You’d decided on coating it with his favorite color first and then fill it in with a collection of what Dick has “on good authority” are his favorite animals. It’s a fairly random assortment that you’re not sure adds to or disproves Dick’s credibility. You’d spent the better half of the afternoon googling animals you’d never heard of just to make sure you projected their likenesses accurately. Dick had been very clear that you had to be precise on the details because Damian would know if he was really looking at a komodo dragon painting or if it was “some common lizard.”

You sigh, “I hope he likes it. I’m worried we did it too childish for him.”

“He is a child,” Jason says plainly.

“But he is not childish,” you counter. And he sure isn’t. You’d had a hard enough time convincing Damian to watch cartoons, adding a colorful animal mural to his bedroom might be one step too far. You’re still trying to figure him out.

“He’ll like it,” he says firmly.

You smile, slipping around under his arm and tucking yourself into his side.

Not a moment later, Dick slings an arm around Jason's shoulder, grinning as he pulls his brother in close.

Jason’s immediately louring. "No, get away from me."

Dick, unfazed and still smiling, removes his arm and takes a big step to the right. You do the same, figuring he needs his space, but you get caught by the wrist before you can do more than sway to the side. 

“Not you.” 

He pulls you back under his arm, wrapping it around the front of your shoulders. You hook your fingers around his forearm, letting your hand hang.

You hear a double-clap from the other side of the room that has you both turning around to face Cass. 

She signs something to Jason with a fond smile on her face. 

You look back and forth between them as Jason waves her off. “What?”

He shakes his head, “It’s nothing. She said—she said we’re cute.”

You smile up at him and he deflects—not so subtly—and starts nudging you back towards where the group is gathered, now all standing. 

Dick’s quick to start bragging off to the room about how great of a job the two of you did and how really complex and daunting it actually is painting animals for a child.

As he talks, your eyes find Jason, who’s definitely about to roll his eyes any second now. A bit subconsciously, your hand comes up to brush Jason’s white streak of hair back, away from tickling his forehead. 

On the other side of Jason, Tim does the same, sweeping Jason’s hair back in a much more mocking manner. 

This gives way to Jason smacking his hand away, harder than he needed to.

"Wha—You let her do it!" Tim protests, overplaying how much the slap hurt.

Jason scowls, "She can do whatever she wants."

Tim drops his shoulders, looking at Jason as if he’d been scandalized. “Oh but I can’t?”

“Not if it involves touching me,” Jason grumbles.

Tim steps closer, putting a finger to Jason’s chest. “You’re such a—”

From the floor, Salem hisses up at Tim, successfully startling the teenager. “Auahh—”

He stumbles backwards, grimacing at the cat. 

“Fucking demon,” he hisses, walking away.

When Tim’s far enough away and Salem’s seemingly satisfied, he brushes up against your leg, purring. 

You peer down at him with a furrowed brow. 

“What’s Salem doing here?”

“I’m not doing this shit with you.”

“No, come on, 9 out of 10 times is what you said. How ‘bout just once? Beat me one time at anything, Jaybird.”

“Anything?” Jason asks like he knows damn well Dick can’t swear on that word.

Rightly so, Dick backtracks. “Something agreed upon.”

Jason throws his hands up, partially in exasperation, partially relenting.

Dick smoothly turns his back to him, announcing, “Opening up the room for ideas.”

Damian’s eye roll is almost audible from the corner armchair, where his attention is unmoved from intently sharpening a blade he’d recently come into possession of.

Bruce similarly remains unbothered in his seat, trying to read despite the distractions. 

“Ooh, okay. Okay.” Stephanie wiggles up a little on the couch. “You could race!”

Dick shakes his head negatively, “I literally just busted my knee up two days ago, Steph.”

“Convenient,” Jason mumbles.

“You were there!” Dick exclaims with an open mouth.

Steph continues, “Um…”

Cass waves to the room from her position upside down on the couch, head hanging down next to Stephanie’s legs. Attention successfully acquired, she signs, “Staring contest.”

Jason grimaces, “That sounds like a nightmare.”

Dick gives him a faux-smile.

“You should play chicken,” Damian chimes in, holding up his knife.

“No,” Bruce drones monotonously as he flips a page. 

“Tic tac toe?” Steph suggests.

Cass is already shaking her head as she scrunches up her mouth in thought.  

Jason rolls his eyes, “What are we, five?”

Dick nods, cracking his knuckles as he thinks. “No, we need something that really proves our worth.”

Bruce looks up from his book, staring numbly through his brow, but remains silent.

“You could arm wrestle,” Steph suggests.

The elder brother twitches at that, “Uh, no.”

Cass moves past that before a joke has the chance to be made. “Handstand contest?” she suggests.

Jason shrugs, “Yeah, sure.”

The elder brother looks at him incredulously. “You’ll do a handstand contest with me?”

“That’s what I just said.”

Dick scoffs, “Jaybird, I’m an acrobat, you’re just some guy.”

Jason, not giving him the courtesy of eye contact, pulls his sweatshirt off from his back. “Well, you’re a lot of things, aren’t you?”

Dick throws his head back with a squint.

Jason fishes his phone out of his pocket and Dick follows suit, offended stare maintaining all the while. 

No exchange is required as they both toss their phones across the room, landing together with a rough clatter on Damian’s lap. Damian’s resulting glare is borderline disgusted.

Dick starts them off, “Alright, go. One…two…”

Both men push up onto their hands, muscles flexing as they find their balance. Dick’s form is better, of course, but Jason looks to have a stronger foundation.   

They both hold strong as several minutes go by with the brothers only maintaining the attention of some of the room, and the interest of none of it.

Stephanie huffs and tilts her head, thoroughly unentertained with the consistency they’re both managing. 

“Starting to wish they’d picked something that moved along a little faster,” she murmurs to Cass.

Dick glances over at the younger brother, clearly displeased with his lack of trouble keeping up with him. He shuffles closer one hand at a time, using the decreased distance to poke at Jason with his foot, trying to knock him over.

Jason kicks him back harder, “Hey! Don’t be a dick—”

“Very funny,” Dick leers.

They both end up finding a struggle to keep balance and are forced to mind their own.  

A chime rings out from the corner that has heads turning briefly in his direction before coming back to the competition. 

“Whose was that?” Dick calls out.

Damian leans over and inspects the screens with disinterest. “Todd’s.”

Jason adjusts his position, “Who is it?”

Damian responds with your name. 

“And?”

He picks up the phone shrugging like he couldn’t care less, “She wants to know if you want to go see some movie.”

There’s a brief silence before Jason drops out of the handstand, standing up. 

Dick’s blood-flushed face peers up at him, bewildered. “Wait, what?”

The family watches with wide eyes as Jason picks his sweatshirt up off the floor and tugs it back on.

Stephanie gawks, bordering on laughing. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he says simply.

Dick lets himself fall into a kneeling position with a huff, “You would rather go to some movie you don’t even know the name of than win a bet?”

Jason moues at him, “Uh, yeah.”

He tosses a twenty at Dick, and plucks his phone from Damian’s hand as he strolls past him, typing out a reply.

Cass sits up a bit and signs up to Stephanie, “Does he even like movies?” 

Bruce, now attention now fully removed from his book, watches Jason exit with the slightest hint of a smile. Dick sits dumbly on the floor, staring after him with an open-mouth. 

Damian twists the knife in his hands around contemplatively before rising to stand. 

“I will go,” he announces, dropping his blade onto the seat of the chair. Jason grumbles a no but Damian follows after him just the same.

you know what happened to the last guy that didn’t reblog? … 🔪🧨💥😵⚰️🪦

[purple-goo-writes]

Holds up idea: Danny is Jason's ghost dad/guardian after he dies and comes back (possibly halfa!jason) and just celestial giant eldritch space ghost danny with his tiny (lol but still Canonbrick house built jason) son

And when Danny is in non-eldritch/human ghost form he is this huge ass fucking 8 (or ten just to fuc with people) foot tall built guy who looks like he could fucking crush superman looking like some old warrior in space themed armor and long hair that floats cause fuck gravity. Who showed up during patrol once and just punted Bane off an injured Jason like he was an annoying fly.

And as in his living human form, he is a fuckin short ass smartalick mf (still built but less obvious) who looks like an astronomy prof with space themed cardigas and has long hair who gives Jason cookies patrol. Who rambles about space if someone list

The Batfam do not believe Jason whe he says that those are the same person.

[zattis]

Ancient Siblings (dpxdc thought)

So y'all know the trope where Danny, as Phantom, is perceived as thousands of years old due to time traveling shenanigans?

During an interaction with another hero (could be the Batfam, could be the JL, who knows), Danny lets it slip that he has a living sister. He doesn't mention her by name, but in just a couple sentences makes it clear that he has a sister that he has known for much of his life. The thing about this prompt is that there are two people that it could lead to.

The easy solution is Danielle, Phantom's little sister. Similar looks, similar power set, could probably fake being fairly old with some help from the ghosts in the zone.

The hard solution is Jazz, his big sister.

Jazz with her towering figure (due to her Dad's genetics), great physical strength (due to her liminality), skill in combat (due to training from her mother and perhaps some swordsmanship from Pandora), and strong sense of justice (due to being on a vigilante team) and human psychology.

Jazz who, through a series of coincidences and matching aspects, could feasibly be mistaken for an Amazon that left Themysicra in favor of Man's World.

The heroes are scrambling to figure out how an undead, interdimensional being at least three millennia old ended up meeting an Amazon and when they decided to call themselves brother and sister. How did these two decide to find family in each other, of all people?!

For her part, Jazz thinks it's hilarious, and would love to get a set of armor to fully commit to the bit.

[racke7]

De-aged and injured Danny

Danny is found out by his parents. They don't take it well.

Clockwork is very upset about this, because he'd gambled on almost-certain odds of them being chill about it. So now he has to run damage-control before this very unlikely time-line goes even further off the deep end.

Unfortunately, Danny needs to be in the living world, not the Infinite Realms. Which means that Clockwork needs to put Danny somewhere safe. Somewhere where nobody will find him.

And double-unfortunately, the only place that remotely fits this bill is to contact Lady Gotham.

City-spirits aren't... super-reliable. They're Neverborns who very very rarely consider "humanoid shapes" worth figuring out. So they just kind of... exist. An ectoplasmic presence that's undeniable, but also extremely difficult to have a conversation with.

Thankfully, Lady Gotham is (for all of her... quirks) generally very hero-aligned. Which is why she's the best one to ask for sanctuary for Danny.

Danny who Clockwork de-aged as a way to "limit his injuries" of being vivisected.

Lady Gotham agrees, but she only has one "safe place" to put him. And her Knight is a little bit too paranoid for her to just dump an injured child in his lair, without causing more trouble than it's worth.

But it's hardly a difficult thing, to arrange a few things, and place Danny in a spot where his injuries will cause her Knight to hurry to his aid.

Such as... in a room filled with medical equipment, right next door to where Joker has just lost a fight with Batman.

Things escalate somewhat when Batman finds him and makes some assumptions about what Joker has been up to. Tempers run a bit high, someone loses a few extra teeth, someone else has to physically drag Bruce off Joker's body before he beats him to death, and the Joker considers the whole thing a grand old laugh (he has no idea what's going on, but it sure pissed off Batty, and that's always a treat).

Of course, the Batfam has to actually investigate the scene, evacuate Danny, give Danny medical aid, and then also ask Danny about what happened.

Danny wakes up and is very confused about a lot of things.

He's no longer being vivisected. Great. Love that part.

He's somewhere he doesn't recognize (the Batcave). Could be good, could be bad. At least the bed is pretty nice?

He's very small. This feels like a personal attack. He might not have gotten a good growth-spurt yet, but taking away what he had is cruel and unusual.

And there's a weirdo in an... armored bat-costume? Who isn't setting off his ghost-sense? What the hell kind of "normal" person wears something like that?

Still, Danny does answer the questions that Batman asks him, because... well, there's a green post-it-note in his pocket that says he shouldn't lie.

So Danny tells Batman about his parents cutting him up "for science". And Batman hears that the Joker somehow managed to hire two mad scientists who (upon the tiniest bit of suggestion from the Joker, who'd definitely seen the similarities between Danny and Jason and thought it would be a "funny prank") had leapt at the opportunity to vivisect their own son.

This is definitely worrying, because from the phrasing, they'd been "wanting to do it for a long time". And considering Danny's slow heartbeat and low body-temperature? They'd been wanting to do it because he was a meta.

So, somewhere out there (the Bats had found no trace of the two) were two deranged lunatics who wanted to cut open metas to "see how they worked".

Batman does the very reasonable thing and actually contacts the rest of the Justice League with their descriptions, just in case they'd managed to leave Gotham before the Bats had tracked them down.

[kimberly-spirits13]

I wanted a batboys headcanon, a reader brother who is an Android, like Marvel's Vision, what would it be like for them to have a brother who is a robot? Pleaseee me notice

Hellooooo thanks for the requests 😂 I’m in AP Exam season so I’m not on here too much rn but here’s my two cents on the matter

okay so if batbro is like Vision, there’s some sort of power source that is VERY visible and easy to access

They are all super protective of you in that sense since they don’t want you getting hurt *rip vision* *you were ✨almost✨ indestructible*

Bruce or Tim would probably make some sort of mask or armor to protect the energy source

When you were younger or first introduced into the batfam, they’re always running diagnostics and computer programs to see what’s up with you so get used to it

Jason had a can of WD-40 that he threatens you with sometimes to be funny

Bruce is always concerned that you’ll get programmed or hacked by a villain and they’ll have to have some sort of terrible contingency plan

Dick is mostly just trying to help you incorporate into society normally

It helps if you can disguise the robot/ cyborg part but he’s always making sure your social life is an A+

Damian wants to push your limits and see how far you can train and fight

It takes him a while to not see you as a computer tbh but he comes around after you save his butt a few times

Duke models his armor off of your systems and Luke is typically trying to incorporate little pieces of it into Wayne Tech

Stephanie is the type to write on you with expo markers if you have a metal armor body or something

Cass doesn’t treat you as if you weren’t human but treats you like everyone else so she’s super awesome to be around

Babs has definitely sat down with you to go through diagnostics if you’re cool with it and she’s the best for that since she’s not testing you like a machine but trying to understand how you can best live

You’re often called in for League problems and the entire batfam worries about it since there protective

Alfred doesn’t bat an eye and anything since he’s used to everything by now

Is of course, very kind and understanding of anything you need or are going through

[phantoms-world-and-more]

Inspired by this

What is instead if making the deal while pharia is in charge, they attempt to make it while dannys already been kings for centuries

So ra al ghul wanted better standing in the infinite realms and get access to better Lazarus pit water

So what dose he do?

He offers his grandson as a bride... and if the king dosent want a bride it'll be an offering none the less

So the LOA kidnap damian and prepare to travel to the infinite realms to try and make a deal with the ghost king

Talia, finding this out, runs to bruce (who has spent the last 3 days without sleep trying to find out where damian is) and explains everything

They call a meeting and explain that Ra is trying to gain standing in the infinite realms by offering damian as a bride, every member looses it, dick tim and jason are all foaming at the mouth and loading up weapons left and right because that is their 12 YEAR OLD BABY BROTHER FUCKERS

So talia is driving with the batfam to get her son back while re-evaluateing her opinion of the batfam because they've gone fucking nuts

.

.

.

1 day later they arrived in the infinite realms and immediately decided to break into phantom keep

Thats where damian is being held and they have no time to loose

When the wall they crashed into cleared, they are met with the sight of damian playing with a glowing green puppy, A white haired being with a flaming crown talking to a tied up Ra al ghul and a living armor stand with a flaming sword watching over damian

Dick, still foaming at the mouth, walks up and punches Ra in the face, turns to the guy with the crown and says

:look i know they offered you a bride but-

: if you think im accepting this your more crazy then him

The white haired guy points to damian who is still playing with a dog, looks dick in the eyes and said

: that is a child! He. Is. A. Child. And im not a pedo

[luludeluluramblings]

dream duo back on our yapping because the spiral is spiraling and by god is it worth it to have two idiots on (1) account

Bruce is going to absolutely lose it if it’s superbly or Roy or any guy he doesn’t like, but hear us out:

the in laws are yanderes too. With Konnor- Superman and Lois LIVE to have a grand baby and a new daughter in law that likes being given no strings affectiom, who WANTS to be family and adjusts to it. Especially since the batfam would have a hell of a time dealing with trying to keep Superman, Lois (she canonically shot at Bruce for coming into her home all Batman like), Kara, Jon, and Konnor away from reader.

Especially if reader actually WANTS to be around them?? man, Bruce is going through it. He can’t hurt Superman as Batman because it would screw up public relations and the Justice leagues dynamic. He can’t hurt Clark Kent because the dude basically has plot armor.

Even better if baby is also superhuman and doesn’t like the batfam either. Small army of children blasting lasers at Bruce or just flying away with reader.

Do you think Konner would just pick reader up and fly away from the batfam??? i think he would. I think he and Jon would play keep away from the batfam with reader (esp knowing that the bats can’t actually force reader away from them in the air without risking hurting or killing them). The Kent’s unite against bats.

I like to imagine these type of shenanigans as something that goes on without Reader's knowledge. They got a baby to take care of, or are too tired and irritable to deal with people bickering. Basically, whoever leaves her alone or gives her what she wants in a reasonable manner, is her favorite and she'll make sure they know it.

But, as soon as she goes to take a nap, or put the baby down to rest. WW3 starts between the in-laws and the Bats. Anarchy and flames everywhere. Chaos at the family BBQ. (Stephanie is the Bats' main source of keeping Reader to themselves until the other's can butter her up. But, baby daddy might be able to swing it in his favor if they have enough charm and can manipulate Reader.)

[ayamari-no-goshi]

For reasons that I might not be able to explain, during a conversation @precarious-hermit has decided that Red Hood employees the following for his criminal empire. Mind you - this is for an AU! where Under the Red Hood never happens and the rest of the Bats are so confused as to what's going on. And Jason's living his best life not being discovered by them

Hoarders - Hoarders on speed dial to help hide various illegal things from the batfam. Jason knows some of them from the local knitting club

the teenage fanfic writer who has prophetic dreams and writes them in her fics. Jason has become her beta and will willing read through Batman/Two-Face fics in order to figure out what's going down next month

animal control - "RELEASE THE HEROIN RACCOONS!" Animal control has trained some of the local wildlife to help find and destroy certain illegal substances.

the MLM which specializes in essential oils - one of the oils is actually something of an antidote for Joker gas. Jason makes sure it's well stocked and tries to make sure no one who's gotten wrapped up in the MLM loses everything

The middle school army of online trolls that he pays a total of $120/month per kid.

The pizza place that delivers code via pepperoni pizza. Good news! For vegetarians and vegans, they'll work with mushrooms

cosplayers! (I added this one) - he enlists cosplayers to not only help with making armor but will also occasionally hire them as body doubles if the situation is not dangerous

[owl-it-here]

Missed opportunities: DC #1 [Fandom Edition]

I've noticed lately that a lot of people have a problem with how the Batfam members are color coded. Especially in the context that both Jason and Tim are red. I propose a solution like in kpop fandoms, which came to the conclusion a few years ago that there are too few colors and too many groups, so they double-match them (and also experiment with shades, but this is sometimes more difficult to distinguish). Thus my proposition (which brings together single as well as combined colors on the Batfam palette):

As for the guys: Alfred is black-white Bruce is just black Dick is blue-black/red (red as part of that other costume) Jason is red-gray (his armor is usually dark gray, if not I was thinking of green/brown as eyes/jacket, but somehow they don't match) Tim is red-black (yellow/green may be an earlier alternative) Duke is yellow-white (as he has a white bat on his outfit) Damian is green-yellow/red (mask and most prominent color, later added a lot of gray so maybe gray-green/yellow) <- somehow the most difficult

As for the girls: Kate is red, Talia is green, Selina is purple (like her old costume) Barbara is purple-yellow Steph is purple-black Cass is yellow-black Helena is purple-white Bette is red-yellow Harper is blue-purple/black (because of hair, but if we give Dick a blue-red then she is blue-black)

I also wanted to add Carrie, but as she doesn't have a costume except for Robin, her colors are very much dependent on Damian's… -> but based on the color scheme of her female predecessors, she could be red-purple Others I didn't add above because I don't feel the colors matched: Harley as pink-blue Luke as blue-white (from the bat on the costume, which is supposedly blue, but glows whitish) and Cullen who could be pink-white if Harper was blue-black as "the opposite"

There is probably more that could be done, but this is just a basic idea. I was bothered that I hadn't seen the dual color method before, just shades proposal. Maybe someone has already done it and I haven't seen it? It is still worth extending, especially since the color code can be used on both sides of their lives.

[starwrighter]

What do the Batfam look like in your "Not a baby (yes you are)" fix?

Like specific descriptions & stuff?

I REALLY want to make fanart, but be accurate to your fic & your idea!

Maybe also a small description for Danny & some changes he might go through so I can also draw him?

I look forward to any response!

(I'll give you what leviathan appearances that're set in stone since Babs, Steph, and Cass still need a bit more thought.)

Bruce's species is closely related to the gargantuan leviathan meaning he's pretty big like so big he shouldn't be living in the crater. He mostly lives in the larger more open areas but really he should be living in the void. He's more long than wide like a snake with thick pitch black scales covering him like armor. He's one of the few leviathans with "hands" four clawed fingers on each of them. He keeps the head shape of the gargantuan leviathan's with six glowing white eyes. basically a huge freaking underwater snake with a mouth of razor sharp teeth.

Damian's a hybrid between Bruce and Talia (A ghost Leviathan) he's just big enough to wrap himself around Danny's base once but he's not done growing yet. Like Bruce he's long and snakelike but he lacks the visual scale armor all over his body. Only his forehead, chest and arms have the pitch black scales. His fingers are clawed extremely sharp but he's only got four on each hand. the rest of his body is semi transparent and pale like the ghost Leviathans. He's got what looks like blue, yellow and green stripes on him but those are really just organs and blood vessels you can vaguely see through his skin. He's got some short tattered fins that run along his the sides of his body which are dotted by a line of bioluminescent spots. His arms are kind of lanky like a cat that's not quite fully grown. He's got a similar head shape to Bruce but his jaw is slimmer, his teeth more crammed together as is a (inefficient) filter feeder.

Tim looks similar to a squid shark. He's one of the smallest of the batfam. He doesn't have any arms just two large dorsal fins on each side of his body and two long, thin electric blue tendrils below them that can clumsily grab things though he shocks everything he grabs. He lives in the deeper areas of the blood kelp forest so the top side of his body often has blood oil clinging to him to blend in. Like the squid shark he's got that freaky jaw and jets to propel him through the water.

Duke is based of the hover fish in color scheme his yellow body is covered in spots some of which are shaped like bats including a white spot on his main chest. He's got two blanket like fins at the sides of his body and his gills give off a metallic shine to attract prey. The chapter where we get a glimpse of Duke Danny describes him as snake-like but really he's thicker and more like a betafish in shape.

Dick shows some resemblance to an amp eel with his exoskeleton being like armor plating and his whole electric but that's where most of the similarities end. He's got javelin like fins and spindly arms that he uses for climbing they're can become electrified when he's stressed like the rest of his body. He's built to be extremely quick with a wide range of maneuverability but he's still too big for the shallows. He keeps his Nightwing color scheme of black and blue although the colors are more muted.

Jason obviously resembles the Reaper leviathan. He's got burn scars across his body and one of his fins has been torn in half. His head shape is almost indistinguishable from a regular reaper although he's got a few extra eyes two of which are dulled stained slightly green (dormant Kharaa) he's got a horn at the top of his head he uses to launch things at top speed (fish version of gun) He's bigger than any of the reapers and a deeper red in color it's only if you look at him long enough that you can realize his patterns are different.

As for Danny he's a little kid looking to be around the age of two or three. He's got fangs that inhibit his speech a bit giving him a bit of a lisp. His eyes are still blue but if he's in a darker area they glow a bioluminescent green along. His hair has patches of white and his ears are pointed.

(For now, only Tim has his humanoid form designed but I'll reblog when that changes)

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 340

You know what I think is fun for a cryptid batfam AU? Living Armor. 

They do not realize that people think they have civilian identities. Or that people assume human when they tell them they have no powers. They are literally their armor and vigilante outfits, that is what they are, and they aren’t trying? To hide it? 

Somehow it should be obvious in their opinion! They don’t have heartbeats! Or skin! No it’s not just shadow and lead, why would you think that??

[wildcardjoey]

Anita jean!

ANITAT JEAN!!!

Alright so the Little Wren AU is basically just 'Bruce manages to find Anita after she fakes her death' and she actually does become his first sidekick. She isn't a fighter, Bruce puts her under three layers of armor, and she basically fills a mage and healer role with first aid (mostly for civilians and criminals) and the virtual reality gas drug, the use of which allows batman to remain a cryptid for far longer.

Anita also takes longer to get the hang of grappling hooks because she's less coordinated than even Tim but she does get them probably not too long after Dick comes to the manner since the two can train together. Her inability to use grappling hooks when she first enters the field is why The Whirly-Bat was made, named The Hummingbird in this au because it's Anita's and was named before Dick was adopted into the family and took a bat-gimmick to every piece of equipment in the cave. Before he joined the team, Bruce and Anita were work shopping names for a lot of their stuff but hadn't come to decisions for most of them, so Dick still gets to do that, but not for Anita's Hummingbird.

Rather than the dynamic duo, this au has either a tritastic trio of Batman, Wren, and Robin, or the dynamic duo is seen as Wren and Robin, as Batman's sidekicks. When Tim ends up at the manner, Anita basically tells him he's too tactical to be Robin and gives him the Wren mantle, which she either had already left behind or was in the process of considering it. Steph ends ends up becoming his paired Robin, for much longer than Canon.

Steph initiating that plan that required Matches Malone probably still happens, but with Anita's help she's able to salvage it, but it opens up an entirely new set of problems because at that point Anita was already on the verge of discovering The Court of Owls (because their one give away was a nursery rhyme and she wanted to find out it's origin because it's her hobby) and now The Court sees the bat clan take control of the city basically in it's entirety so those two things combined make The Court release the elite talons. A temporary alliance with The League of Assassins and the timely first arrival of Cass in the city means they just barely manage to win. This is also the family's first introduction to Damian and a recently resurrected Jason is probably also there, but dressed like the rest of the assassins so he isn't recognized.

Anita herself, which is what this au is actually about, is going to be depicted as better adjusted due to not living her life since she was, like, eight alone and eventually dedicated to revenge. She has hyperfixations on birds, nursery rhymes, programming, and tech and is an excellent detective. I already mentioned she's less coordinated starting out but that doesn't mean she's weak, she'd probably be able to beat Dick in a fight when he first gets to the manor since he's at that point just a gymnast but she's been training as a martial artist for like six months at that point.

Speaking of Dick, I really look forward to writing their banter. They are going to be so sassy to each other but very protective of each other. Almost as much as they're both protective of every one younger siblings, which, and seeing some of your posts this may be disappointing, isn't going to be terribly long. Finding a way to fit every obscure batfam character in is for my other dc au, the same one that my ruleset for Claire's powers is for, but I do have Calvin, Charlie, and and Dana (Talon, Misfit, and Strike) as sure-shows for Little Wren.

Long-Term, the au's story-arc will focus on the eventual take down of The Parliament of Owls as the main antagonists, as it feels fitting for an Anita Jean focused story for previously stated Nursery Rhyme related reasons, although I do also plan for The League to be taken down due to Tim still having his globetrotting adventure and then the batfam actually capitalizing on it.

Edit for Addendum: the first paragraph makes it sound like Anita never fights, I should clarify that her role on the team does evolve as she gets older and Bruce becomes more lenient.

[spacetime1969]

TOAxDC anyone?

I've been a part of the MariBat fandom for years now, and more recently become a part of the BatPham fandom since it grew into a full fandom of it's own.

In all that time I have been sitting on an idea for another crossover with DC that I think has just as much potential to become something entirely its own.

So, allow me to present the idea of Tales of Arcadia x Batman, which I've been affectionate calling the BATHUNTER crossover in my head.

More ramblings and fic recs under the cut.

So, first and foremost:

We have a bat bait, blue eyed, black haired, protagonist with trauma. Comparing this to the other two fandoms we've already hit the ground running.

We also have a reason for them to be in Gotham. At the end of Trollhunters we have Claire and Jim going with the trolls to find a new heartstone in New Jersey. Gotham is in New Jersey.

The trolls traveling across the country and founding New Trollmarket right in the Bat's territory doesn't even require an explanation beyond 'They found the new heartstone under Gotham City.'

The opportunities for identity shenanigans are still just as present as ever. If you stick to the full canon of the Tales of Arcadia universe, sans the time travel reset, then Jim, Claire and possibly Toby are both human and the bats could meet them as human civilians and as vigilantes who go around with glowing face covering armor and the ability to just disappear.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of canon past the first half of wizards. So I like the idea of Jim using a glamour mask to go to school while being a vigilante in his half troll form. Make the bat's even more confused.

I also feel like the dichotomy between the three rules of trollhunting and Batman's usage of fear as a weapon and no killing rule would be fascinating.

Just:

"Fear heightens your senses. Fear keeps you alive. Arrogance gets you killed."

-vs-

“You prefer to call me Batman. But the reason you can never escape me … is that my name is fear. And I live within you.”

“Always finish the fight.”

-vs-

"Heroes should never kill a villain, no matter the depths of his villainy."

They would probably agree on rule three, though: “When in doubt, always kick them in the gronk-nuts.” Since Batman identifying weakness in both his teammates and villains is a whole thing.

Lastly, the potential for bio-dad aus is fascinating to me. Specifically, not with Bruce as the bio-dad, but with Commissioner Jim Gordon.

For anyone who hasn't happened on Jim Gordon's backstory, allow me to give some context. Jim Gordon's wife was named Barbara Eileen Gordon. They had two children, Barbra Gordon and Jim Gordon Jr. Barbara Eileen divorced Commissioner Gordon because she wanted to get her son out of Gotham.

From what I understand, in canon she keeps the name and eventually moves back to Gotham after her son becomes a serial killer and inmate of Arkham Asylum.

But this is an AU, canon is what ever we want it to be and Jim Lake being the biological kid of Commishionre Gordon and little brother of Barbra Gordon aka Oracle has some real potential in the right author's hands.

Fic Recs:

Loose Lips, by NerdofSpades

Batman wants answers. Jim wants to be left alone, so he can go back to his not so normal life. Too bad those two things aren't at all compatible with each other. At least Jim gets some new friends out of all of this. Probably. Maybe.

One of my favorite fics in general. Jim becomes friends with the Young Justice team while trying to convince Batman that he's 'just a civilian'.

three teenagers are loose in gotham (what will they do), by clayr_of_the_lillies

sometimes you become a vigilante deliberately. sometimes its twitter's fault. aka a tales of arcadia/batman crossover that wouldn't leave my mind.

Very funny and well thought out. I particularly like this interpretation of Gotham's trollmarket and the friendship between the trollhunters and the batfam.

In Their Blood, NerdofSpades

Barbara Lake saw an uncomfortably familiar pattern in the behavior of James Lake Junior. She saw it in almost everything he did these days. She had seen it in her friends growing up. She had lived it herself. She just wasn't sure how to help him, so, instead, she calls in a friend.

Another fun one by NerdofSpades. Barbara, having been Batgirl, recognizes Jim's behavior in herself. It's a shorter one but still a lot of fun

I'm also working on a couple of my own fics set in this crossover, but their still WIP for now

[kbirbpods]

kbirb's Summer Podfic Swap 2024: Star Wars/Batfam Crossovers

all fics can be found in this series!

[Podfic of] Dralshy'a Tome (Stronger Together), fic by RandomReader13

Main Gift for sinesofinsanity Characters: Din, Grogu, Batfam Length: 01:16:28 Summary: Since the Covert on Nevarro was destroyed, Din's been throwing himself into finding a Jedi for the kid. If he focuses on his mission, he won't have to think about losing his Tribe or his aliit. But on the way to the Seeing Stone, Din gets a surprise call. Bruce and his ade are alive, and when Grogu gets taken by Moff Gideon, they rally to his aid. The Empire won't know what hit them.

[Podfic of] Aliit Ori'shya Tal'din (Family is More Than Blood), fic by RandomReader13

Main Gift for sinesofinsanity Characters: Din, Grogu, Batfam Length: 00:37:28 Summary: Taking care of your armor is an important aliit activity. It's a time to laugh, to sing songs, and to deepen family bonds. AKA “Hey assholes, armor care in the living room!” Steph yelled into the intercom.

[Podfic of] Bad Moon Rising, fic by victoria_p (musesfool)

Treat for sinesofinsanity Characters: Ahsoka Tano & Dick Grayson Length: 00:13:55 Summary: "And what are you supposed to be?" Ahsoka asks. "Robin," he tells her proudly, tapping the badge on his chest. "I help protect this city."

[redhoodedangel]

Batman: Arkham Echo - Ch.3: Cauldron of Bats

I don’t normally post a lot about stuff that are more personal projects. Normally I would post this on my alternate blog, CiphenWriter21. However, given how many people who are Batman fans or who are fellow writers and fans of the Arkham Series. If you want to check out ‘Batman: Arkham Echo’, the fanfic is currently on my Wattpad, CiphensNarrative, and is currently a work in progress.

Warnings ⚠️: mentions of attempted sexual assault, violence and murder, one mention of original character(s) here (this is a BatFam chapter; she is shown in a photo)

~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~

Gotham was never short on criminal activity, unsolved mysteries or domestic terrorism. The city that many considered their home was also seen as another man’s playground. One person’s workplace could be another’s primary target or testing ground for experiments. One couple’s apartment can become a flaming inferno within a matter of minutes or even seconds. A double murder could occur in an alley somewhere and the only survivor could be an eight-year-old boy.

A young boy who would grow into a man with a sense of justice and his own moral code…

A man who would become a symbol, a seeker for reform and a firm believer in hope and giving others something to believe…

Standing atop of a gargoyle on a tower, a figure looked down at the darkened city below. Pointed animalistic ears protrude menacingly from the face-concealing cowl, coming from the sides and the top of his head. A long dark cape bellowed swiftly into the brisk late winter breeze behind him, complimenting the black bat symbol on his warm gray chestplate. His armored boots pressed into the stone of the decorative stone beast. Given the amount of shadow obscuring the rest of his otherwise disguised face, his eyes looked like endless voids of ivory. To a cowardly criminal, he appeared to be a living shadow, a deadly denizen of the night.

This was Gotham’s emblem of hope and justice, a talented and inquisitive detective, the Dark Knight himself… Batman.

After listening to the GCPD police radio, he learned that a dead man was discovered in an alleyway. Apparently, he had appeared to be killed during a supposed altercation. A squad of officers was on their way to the crime scene to investigate and identify the victim and the motive. Batgirl and Robin were on the move to the location, the same way as him.

Grappling and gliding from building to building, Batman was able to get to the scene in record-breaking time. The police squad had just pulled up and were cuffing one of the men at the scene. The GCPD commissioner, Jim Gordon, steps out of his vehicle and out towards the crime scene, a cup of coffee in his hand. Everyone was getting the scene ready as one officer began putting yellow ‘Caution’ tape up. As this was happening, Batgirl and Robin landed at the far end of the alley.

“Jim…” Batman said evenly to the commissioner as his eyes scanned the walls of the buildings.

“Batman…” Gordon replied back with a similar cool tone.

“Commissioner…” Robin greeted warmly, his voice reassuring and ever laid-back.

“Robin… Batgirl…”

“What happened here, Jim?” Batman asked, hoping to find an explanation as soon as possible.

“Two sex offenders… one’s dead, the other has a dislocated jaw and broken teeth. My guess is as good as yours.” The commissioner explained before taking a swig of his coffee. Batman trekked over to the crime scene, looking for any clues or evidence.

“Their intended target fought back?” Batgirl questioned, curiosity peaked at the possibility of an offense gone wrong.

“That’s our working theory. But, we’re also keeping an eye out for potential conflicts relating to other crimes that Tom and Jerry here have on their records.” Jim stated, a gurney carrying the bagged body of the dead man wheeling by.

Meanwhile, Batman was analyzing the evidence he had found. The DNA from the blood samples of both victims belong to Devin Fryer and Simon Halls, two sex offenders originating from Gotham. Both were documented in the GCPD’s records, as well as profiles at Blackgate and Arkham Asylum. Other offenses included, but were not limited to, drug trafficking, robbery and murder.

Additional evidence shows that Fryer and Halls were attempting to corner a girl. A fact that was confirmed by the presence of a woman’s size seven-and-a-half boot print in a pile of wet sand near the dumpster. When he scanned the body of Fryer, he had severe trauma to the top of his head. Judging by the blood splatter by the garbage disposal, the brick wall was the point of impact. But, that wasn’t all…

Fryer had a red irritation mark around his neck, almost like a rope burn. This wound was likely made from a piece of cloth, such as a coat sleeve or a scarf. The item was also used to slam the victim’s head into the wall, as well as to give Halls his injuries. Shortly after, Halls was knocked unconscious by another force. However, Batman couldn’t identify who was behind it.

‘Either the girl was defending herself and didn’t know her own strength or she was that willing and ready to kill.’ The bat thought, doing a once-over of the evidence. He wanted to make sure he didn’t miss a single thing

“Is there any security footage we could look over? Maybe we find their target that way,” Robin said, looking at the cameras on the electrical poles.

“That’s a negative. Most of the cameras around this part of town are broken and haven’t been replaced in years. Mayor has been trying to get new ones installed, but the budget won’t cover it. Our best bet is the living victim, though I don’t think he will cooperate,” Gordon explained, pointing at the delinquent in the nearby police car.

Barbara, from under her Batgirl cowl, glared at the criminal, sitting in the backseat of the law enforcement vehicle. Her temperament was steadily swelling to the surface, the only thing holding her back was her shared sense of morality with Batman and Robin. She couldn’t believe that this man and his dead buddy tried to take advantage of a young girl. Sure, they were unsuccessful, their target not being a pushover and defending herself. But, it still disgusted her that these criminals only see women as objects for their own pleasure. She was lucky that she had male friends and family who respect and treat her like a person.

“Maybe, we need to give him some incentive…” Batgirl whispered, her tone taking on a serious and foreboding guise.

The second Bat and the accompanying bird moved over to the cop car holding the perp. Robin knocked on the guarding officer, pointing towards their new convicted prisoner. The officer then nodded, rolling down the backseat window to allow the duo to interrogate Halls.

“Mr. Halls…” Robin called as he walked up to the open window next to Batgirl. Simon looked up at the two vigilantes, his eyes bearing the smallest glint of fear and confusion. His tone of voice, however, contradicted his true feelings that his gaze provided insight into.

“What do you want?” he growled bitterly and painfully through his damaged mouth and broken teeth.

“The girl you and your buddy tried to jump… what did she look like?” Robin asked with a direct snap of his tongue.

“Why the hell should I tell you?”

“Well, I don’t think you want to be ripped from the car and interrogated by the big one. Might end up worsening that cocky and confident mouth and jaw of yours. And I don’t think you want another fractured bone or an expensive hospital bill. So, if you tell us now, you can avoid adding insult to injury… quite literally,” Batgirl added, her voice even with something that could be interpreted as bordering near venomous.

Halls’ eyes widened as he glanced between the two young vigilantes, trying to determine if they were serious. Their eyes gave off an intense aura of silent rage and determination. He then looked at the officer at the wheel, who did nothing but nod. When that confirmation was made clear, he submitted to the fact that he was backed into a corner.

“Alright. She was around sixteen or seventeen…”

Of course, they went after someone that young, Batgirl thought bitterly.

“Her skin was tanned, I think. Brown hair an’ eyes. She wore all black and had glasses on. She used her scarf ta’ strangle Devin! She then tried ta’ come ‘fter me… her eyes… It was like watchin’ hellfire blaze! I’d never been scared like that before in my life! The Bat’s the only one who could’ve compared!” Halls admitted, his face expressing fear and anxiety of what had happened.

Batgirl fell silent upon hearing the description of the men’s assailant. There was something about the mental image she came up with that didn’t sit well with her. Some part of her felt as if she knew the person they were giving details about. She just didn’t know why or how. It was something in her mind’s eye she couldn’t figure out… something she had missed… something she had overlooked…

“Did you get anything from the witness?” came the brooding tone of Batman. He stood behind her and Robin, waiting for the information he needed.

“Yep. More than enough for a police sketch,” Robin chimed, his laid-back aura returning tenfold.

“Good. The GCPD should be able to find them and get some answers. I need you two on patrol, keeping an eye out for anything.” Batman instructed, grabbing his grapple gun. He pointed it upwards at a nearby building and pulled towards the rooftop and disappeared among the skyline. Shortly after, the Boy Wonder and Young Bat grappled onto a nearby rooftop for scouting.

“Hey, Barb… about this new case…” Tim suddenly spoke as they landed flawlessly on the rooftop.

“What’s up?” Barbara asked simply, standing up and examining the rooftop for anything unusual.

“When the perp was giving the description of the girl they targeted, you looked like you saw a ghost. What’s going on?”

The silence that filled the air around the young duo was thick and could’ve been pierced by a bullet. Batgirl began to find a way to best explain what was going through her head. She searched and scoured for words and phrases to lay down what she was feeling and thinking about. She looked for ways to best translate her anxieties and suspicions to her fellow partner. She wondered if what she was about to say would come back to bite her.

“Before… Before I came to the crime scene, I was doing some grocery shopping. As I was leaving, my bags broke from beneath. A teenage girl approached me and offered me one of her reusable bags. She even helped me clean up my mess. This girl… she looked exactly like how the perp described. Down to the black clothing and glasses…”

Robin’s eyes widened ever so slightly, attempting to process what Batgirl had just said. However, as quickly as his shock came, Robin immediately sought logic, “Barb, it’s probably just a coincidence. Gotham is huge and a mixed bag, meaning the runaway victim could be anyone. Plenty of women fit the description we got.”

“You’re probably right. But, I just hope she’s okay and that she doesn’t get into too much trouble. I mean, it was self-defense. For all we know, she probably didn’t realize that she had killed him or that he died at all.” Barbara answered, her worries clear as the water from the ocean.

“Well, nearly getting assaulted like that… gets the adrenaline pumping…”

“Yeah. Back to patrol, did Batman tell you if we were looking for anyone in particular?”

“Other than Joker, no. We’ve been trying to capture him since you and I attempted to on Valentine’s Day. And Harley hasn’t been cooperating with the GCPD.” Robin stated, the memory leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. Batigirl was no different as she had fallen silent, recalling how she and Tim had to rescue her father, Jim Gordon, and his team of officers without Batman’s help. Joker had ambushed them at the GCPD, pairs and trios of officers locked in elaborate traps and unfinished theme park rides to test if she was worthy of her mantle. It was taxing and an experience she didn’t want to go through a second time. However, last month’s trial wasn’t the only burden on her mind…

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Wayne Manor stood proudly upon the hill it was built and over the nearby trees. Its dark wooden exterior with gothic finishes gleaming from the early light of the moon. Its sprawling cemetery was a monument to previous generations of Wayne who lived in the lavish home. The lights within were warm and beaming through the wide array of windows lining the floors of the mansion. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, no strange shadows or sudden rustling of the bushes. That was until the firm silhouette of a man passed by the rightmost windows of the manor.

Within the spacious adobe, a lone man in a suit with salt and pepper hair was tidying and dusting the hallways. He dusted the portrait frames and the various tables with assortments of vases and other priceless antiques. The dust and grime collected like a light sheen of snow or an extra skin on the wood. However, with the feather duster, it all got whisked away into the air or onto the ground below. However, as he moved further down the hallway to clean, he became more wary as he got close to a particular set of doors.

As the doors came into his field of vision, he swallowed the aching lump in his throat. His eyes gleamed with a dampness that indicated sorrow or guilt, but it never spilled over. His heart pounded and his throat throbbed and swelled from the lump that had been forming within. As he took a deep breath in before releasing it, he clasped one of the doors’ knobs and turned it counterclockwise. With a faint exhalation of air, he pushed the door open. A wave of sights and scents hit the man like a crashing wave on the sea. As he walked in, the sentimental value of the opened room only got him to feel worse.

Shelves and shelves of books lined the left and back walls of the bedroom. Occasional nick-nacks and collectibles separated the books by genre, publication year or name of the author. The bed was untouched and neatly made, no sign of a person having rested on the mattress in a long time. Not a single wrinkle in the blankets and sheets, while the pillow has no divots that matched the shape and size of a head. The wooden desk was collecting dust, the laptop on top becoming one with the snowy fibers and the desk. Other than the slowly formulating sheen of gray, the bedroom was spotless and in order. Unusual until the man realized that this room had belonged to a studious teenage boy who never had a safe space to call his own.

Clutching the duster in his hand, he got to work freeing this abandoned room of its cloudy prison. He started with the large, nearly endless bookcase, dust and specks dancing in the air as he brushed the woodwork. He was delicate and methodical as he cleaned and polished the now newly touched room. He swiped his duster over the head of the bed and the matching nightstand. Fluff and fibers invaded the air before gracing the floor that was still relatively coated in dust bunnies.

As he walked past the wardrobe, he felt that one of the doors was partially open as his arm lightly grazed it. He heard the scrapping of something metallic on wood and the sound of a metal lock hitting and splintering wood. Turning back to the dresser, he looked at the skewed door and walked up to the dresser. Placing his hand on the door’s knob, he slowly pulled it open with grace and respect. The person who once lived in this room and ran through the halls and gardens on the estate was no longer among the living of the manor after all…

Despite being slow and methodical, the mystery object in the closet came tumbling out. It hit the floor with a wooden and metallic crashing sound that reverberated harshly at the man’s feet. Scraps and squares of glossy paper fell from the open lid of the fallen chest, leaving a collage of white leading out. Some of the papers appeared to have something printed or pressed on them. However, the older gentleman was too focused on the mess he had unintentionally made to focus on that, softly proclaiming with a British tone, “Oh, dear lord…”

Getting on his knees, he turned the chest back into its proper position, open lid now closed and the top facing up. He then placed his focus on the pieces of paper and getting them back into the chest. It wasn’t until he touched the paper that he realized that they weren’t original strips of paper. The glossy texture and the colors forming figures and locations were Polaraids. Most, if not, all of them have the same people in them and the various activities they did together. One was a boy that he recognized, his dark hair and blue eyes ingrained into his brain. Yet, the brunette girl standing front and center in his arms wasn’t ringing any bells and raising any unwanted alarms. But, judging by the smile on the boy’s face, she was someone of great importance to him.

‘A potential acquaintance from outside the manor and the youth academy, perhaps…’ he pondered whilst holding the photo.

“Alfred…” A voice came through the silence of his thoughts. The tiniest earpiece blinked with a red light within the cavity of the man, Alfred’s, ear. He then pressed down on the blinking red light and began to speak, “Yes, sir?”

“Are you in the Batcave?” The rough voice of Batman came through Alfred's earpiece.

“No, sir. I’m currently in the manor, doing some light spring cleaning…” He didn’t specify where in the home he was. He knew mentioning it would bring back painful memories and feelings of guilt.

“I’m on my way to the Batcave. I need to use the Batcomputer to look through the evidence I gathered from the crime scene.”

“I will meet you down there, sir.”

Looking around the room, Alfred smiled sadly at the now more clean but still dormant room. Once more, the painful lump began to swell up in his throat. So many memories and so many regrets were linked to this room and the person who once called it theirs. Now, all that Alfred could hope for was that said person was in a better place, no longer suffering and in pain.

Maybe he found his way towards a better life…a better beginning… maybe somewhere he can call ‘home’, wherever that may be…

~~~~~~~

Oh, Alfred… if only…