#ourlastchance.♠️

[underthe-redhood]

ONE LAST CHANCE PREVIEW

a/n: here’s the first couple of paragraphs of the next chapter that should be out in a few days now!!

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INCOMING CALL:     dick :3

     you quickly looked up at bart, very nervous about why dick could be calling. "pick up before it goes to voicemail!" bart panicked.

     "relax, there's no way we got caught," you tried to reassure him but your tone was dripping with anxiety.

     "hey y/n, turns out barbara's not here. she texted saying she got an alert, is everything okay?" he asked.

     this wasn't totally unexpected but nonetheless your heartbeat was speeding up. "oh uh, i can probably go down to the batcave and check?" you offered, hoping he wouldn't take you up on it.

     "no that's okay, we're probably just gonna pick up some donuts and head back. they have blueberry icing, you really like that one don't you?" he suggested.

     "yeah i do, you're the best," you said. saying that out loud made some of the guilt go away, because it reminded you why you were doing all of this.

"anything for you," he chuckled before hanging up. you were a little worried that your plan was going to lead to them having fights, but was that really such a bad thing at this point?

[underthe-redhood]

our last chance

- side note: it's mentioned that the reader is the daughter of bruce and selina, but it's never mentioned that she's biologically related, so you could definitely interpret it as her being adopted by them!

5. out of sparks

- synopsis\\ you watch as dick runs off after batman betrays him for the last time, causing the family to fall apart. after an explosion, and a time machine, with a speedster to help you, you have one last chance to stop history from repeating itself.

• word count: 1,332

• masterlist

as you made it out into the city, you and dick split up. you radioed barbara, “hey, are you already with someone? i don’t wanna be on my own tonight.”

“nope, just me. is something wrong?”

“no, just feeling lonely,” you lied. “where are you?”

“corner of b street,” she said. and so you drove over to where she was. she was sitting on one of the rooftops just staring out at the city lights. you swung up with a grappling hook and sat next to her.

“feels like it’s been forever since we last talked,” you started. it was true for you, but you couldn’t say the same for her.

“we talked this morning,” she laughed. you smiled, it was nice being able to sit down with your family and just talk. no one was guilty, no one was upset, no one was gone. everything was actually okay again.

“how’s the library?” you asked. you didn’t wanna immediately jump into questions about dick. people were already suspicious.

“not bad, it’s as slow as ever. how were your midterms?”

“they went well. i’m not too worried. how were yours?” she was a criminology major at the university.

“they were long, i’m just glad they’re over,” she sighed.

“so am i. besides, now you get to spend extra time with dick,” you leaned into the topic slowly.

“that too,” she said. she didn’t sound excited, the way you thought she would. but she was probably really tired, so you didn’t think much of it. “how about you? is there anyone special you’re hiding?” she grinned.

“no, not really,” how did this get turned on you?

“not even one of the titans or something?” the titans?

“why one of the titans?” you asked. she wasn’t talking about bart, was she? why would she be? you haven’t started to hang out with him at this point in time, and even when you do it’s not like she’s around you much to notice.

“where else would you be around kids your age?” she asks.

“school???” you offer.

she laughs again, “well sure, but they’re kinda boring compared to a teen titan.” she’s got a point there.

talking about relationships is new for you. you’ve never really talked about it with your brothers, and you’ve only ever brought it up once or twice with kate. bruce was totally out of the question, that’s why you got your sex talk from harley. which led to ivy giving you a better explanation. that led to selena trying to step in, but she eventually just sent you to alfred who was always the one to do it.

talking about relationships with barbara was new, but it wasn’t bad. of course, it also led you to an opportunity. and when opportunity strikes, who are you not to take it?

“whenever i do end up in a relationship, i can talk to you about it, right? i mean, you’re in a happy relationship with dick so you’d be able to give me good advice,” it was a bit heavy on implying she was happy, but it was good enough to probe her thoughts.

she didn’t answer immediately like you thought she would. instead, she thought for a moment and said “yeah, i guess i’m pretty happy.”

“you guess?” she must have just worded it strangely. she loved dick, didn’t she? maybe not later on when she did what she did. but back in time where you were, she had to have loved him then?

“i’m happy,” she said. and that was that. but it wasn’t.

————

back at the cave, you and barbara had arrived last. “you took your sweet time,” jason raised an eyebrow.

“we got caught up in talking,” barbara said.

“talking?” he continued.

“believe me, you wouldn’t be interested,” you chimed in and barbara smiled. that was enough for jason to drop the subject and move on. he walked over to tim and the two of them left for the manor. dick walked over and grabbed barbara’s hand, sliding his fingers between hers.

“how are you doing?” he looked like a puppy in love. it was a refreshing sight, not only seeing him again but seeing him happy. a second later, however, your gut was twisting itself again. it was a whole new type of uncomfortable, seeing him so happy and knowing how his life could fall apart so soon. you almost wished not to be there with him.

barbara wasn’t as enthusiastic as him. thinking back, you couldn’t remember if you’d ever picked up on that before. you could remember the early parts of their relationship when they were both starstruck in love. but, you couldn’t remember her like this. it wasn’t a huge shift, which was why you didn’t notice it. it was a change so small that you’d only pick up on it if you were looking out to begin with.

you doubted anyone else had noticed, much less dick himself. you couldn’t tell exactly what the shift in her mood was. maybe a bad day, but then she just seemed so normal when she was talking to you. not when you were talking about dick. he seemed to be the odd factor. she seemed awkward when talking about him. did she even notice? if she doesn’t even know what she’s feeling, how are you supposed to?

you couldn’t just stand there and stare at them, that would be weird. you tried to quickly find something to do that would keep you in the cave with the both of them. luck must have been on your side, a few moments later kate came down the elevator shaft. she saw you standing around and walked over, “what’re you up to kiddo?”

“not much, did you go out tonight?”

“no, i stayed in tonight. i’ve gotta big project for work i have to finish.”

and you had a conversation starter, “oh? how’s that going?” as she started talking about work, you chimed in every now and then with basic replies so as to not seem like you were tuning her out. but, from the corner of your eye you watched dick and babs and how they interacted. he was all over her, but she wasn’t reciprocating. was dick picking up on it too? probably not, because he hadn’t shifted the way he was acting yet.

you wondered what they were talking about, and you wondered if it could have to do with why babs was so uninterested. you sat there for another ten, maybe fifteen minutes just talking to kate until it finally hit you. it wasn’t that barbara was uninterested in the topic, or tired from patrol or anything. she was uninterested in him. she was tired of dick. she had fallen out of love.

the sparks just weren’t there for her anymore, but the relationship otherwise wasn’t bad. dick still treated her amazing, and she was happy. but she wasn’t in love. it’s like she was in a relationship with her friend. it just wasn’t the same anymore. that’s why babs felt bad, she still cared for him just not as a partner. you weren’t sure if that made things harder or easier for you, though. you couldn’t talk to barbara, you weren’t sure if she knew she had fallen out of love. you didn’t want to assume something so huge, but the signs had become painfully obvious.

you didn’t want to freak her out by bringing it up, and you couldn’t really bring it up to anyone else. so, you did the only thing you could do. you finished the conversation with kate and made your way to room. you laid down, and went to sleep. all you could do was wait until tomorrow, when you’d be able to talk to bart. bart would know what to do. he always knows what to do. it’s one of the things you love about him. and so you decided that for tonight, you’d just enjoy some sleep.

tags: @fake-id-69 @neptunesxlover @purpleflower777 @missmystic-vampirebarbie @elarimard @nub-the-stub @xingqiusliegee

- dm me to be removed or fill out this form to be added!

[underthe-redhood]

Ok, takeaways from the new chapter:

batsis is really well emotionally regulated considering their parentage (aside from the fact they're kinda putting a lot on their shoulders) like they were overwhelmed about discovering Babs was falling out of love but seemed to accept it and take it in stride as something that happens instead of letting it change their perception and doubt/fear love in general.

Dicks concerned older brother attitude is so sweet and really emphasises the relationship between them

- 🐌

yes! i thought about having her worry about it later on, but then for every bad relationship that she’s grown up around she’s also seen some healthy ones like whenever she visits clark and lois for example. even if every other relationship ends badly, as long as there’s one that’s healthy then there must be hope for her too!

thank you, i’m planning on trying to go more in depth on their bond so that the reader can really see and connect with batsis on why she’s trying so hard to change things!

[underthe-redhood]

Hgkahdkabd

Kind of a weird question but it's one of my special interests; a very popular Batman team up is Batfam and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Usually due to universe travelling shenanigans). If that were to happen in the Our Last Chance universe which turtle do you think would be Batsis favourite? Using whatever characterisation of the turtles you know

- 🐌

omg i love the teenage mutant ninja turtles!! okay, so as loved as batsis is she’s still kinda overlooked because like tim she’s sort of a middle child. so i’d say her favorite would be either donnie or mikey. cause on the one hand she’s super useful like donnie but they’re both robbed of the attention they deserve, but she also would love how lighthearted mikey is and how he’s literally the sweetest ever! though i’m kinda leaning more towards her favorite being mikey

[underthe-redhood]

I'm a little confused timeline wise for the story, you mentioned Joker breaking out of prison to see "the commissioner and his daughter" in the first chapter, and it seems to be at the time when Barbara should be oracle but I couldn't find mention of it, is she yet to be paralysed in this story?

yeah my timeline skills definitely need work lol, i looked back at it just to be sure myself but in the second chapter is when she lost her ability to walk!

it’s about midway through the chapter, she ends up being saved and she’s alive but loses her ability to walk. it’s kinda vague so i can definitely see it getting lost, i’m really sorry about that! but now batsis has gone back in time to about 10 months before that ever happened

let me know if you still can’t find it!

[underthe-redhood]

Couple questions (I hope my longer asks aren't too much of a bother I tend to ramble lol)

Does batsis have a favourite JL hero? Or hero in general?

Who is Batsis' superhero best friend? (You know how the bats tend to have a corresponding Kryptonian/Amazonian)

Does batsis have a favourite gothamn rogue outside of the birds of prey? Bc we know the robins aren't as impartial as they try to seem (Cass and Clayface for example share a love of ballet/theatre and have been shown to bond in the comics)

What is Batsis' weapon? (Dick = escrima sticks, Tim = bo staff, Damian = sword, Jason = guns/motorbike)

Does batsis have a colour? Either favourite personal colour or colour for her suit

- 🐌

you’re not a bother at all! i actually look forward to getting these asks! i definitely ramble a lot myself so i totally get it lol

her favorite is either black canary, because she’s like a more low-key icon for feminism, cyborg because he gets the struggle of being a teenager in modern society but is still a mature adult that she can turn to, or shazam because he’s an actual kid in the justice league and it’s really refreshing to be around him. as for best friend, however, if we don’t count bart then it’d probably be wonder girl (cassie)

for gotham rogues i’d say either enchantress (does she count??) or maybe dead shot bc she has a soft spots for dads who care about their kids no matter what

i spent a lot of time trying to imagine a weapon for batsis and i just can’t come up with anything. i think maybe like batgirl she just uses batatangs but they’d be bluejay shaped?? but i’m trying to put off writing about it specifically in case i come up with an actual good idea lol, i feel like she’d have something kinda small and maybe basic like nunchucks maybe??

for favorite color, definitely blue but also purple!

[underthe-redhood]

Are there any particular songs/quotes/scenes/stories that remind you of Our Last Chance or that you thought of when writing it? Similarly, are there any characters you think of when writing for the batsis? Personally I think of Tulip from Infinity Train (if you don't know she's a child of divorce who runs away from home BC she can't handle the changes and blames herself for them)

Particularly the quote/scene; "I know what it's like to think i-if you had just been better things would have been different. That you're responsible for fixing things that are beyond your control! Just know I speak from experience when I say this is not your fault. And I still wanna help you - if you'll let me."

And an episode where (in relation to the time travel of the story) Tulip revisits her memories in order to learn a lesson and is stuck commentating on what she wishes she had said but left unheard

"are you... Okay?"

Past tulip: yeah. Why wouldn't I be?

Present tulip: you're not.

Another character is Princess Bubblegum from Adventure time - less her tendency to need control and more about how she puts a lot on her shoulders and ends up pushing others away in her efforts. Plus the contingency plans

"I have to be "always so prepared". We can't all just wing it!I didn't have to always worry about so many things, you know? The Candy Kingdom used to be so small, so manageable. But then it kept growing and growing, and there was always some new disaster to prepare against."

"I tried. I really, really tried. I just... I thought that if I shut everything out and just focused on work, it would all be okay, but look where that landed me. All I managed to do was push everyone away. I pushed you away. I'm sorry, Marceline. I've been a real dinger to you."

And last that I can think of is Amethyst from Steven Universe but specifically the one episode where she has to face where she came from (that everyone else seems so eager to avoid bc it's bad history for them but it hurts her feelings that she can't be proud of where she's from)

"Admit it! I'm just an embarrassment to you... I'm not going to stand there and let you remind me of everything I hate about myself! I didn't ask for it to be this way... I never asked to be made!"

"this is like- my whole life! You wanna pretend that none of this ever happened. You think I'm just a big mistake!" "No, you're not the mistake - You're just the byproduct of a... Big mistake... That's not what I meant. I just never saw this as you, you didn't build this place. I- I'm sorry, I hope you can forgive me. You're the one good thing that came out of this mess. I always thought you were proud of that."

But I may have gone too heavy handed on the angst lol. These are just a few I thought of in relation to the story and I don't know the character as well as you do so what are your thoughts?

- 🐌

first off, sorry i’m replying kinda slow it’s finals week for me lol

your quotes are so perfect omg, i haven’t seen Infinity Train but that quote is so relatable to what batsis is feeling!!

as for the princess bubblegum one, i really like the quote and i actually was partially inspired by marceline’s storyline with the ice king because it was just another disaster where a kid lost a protective figure that really mattered to them!

the last two quotes are also really good! the struggle they mention isn’t necessarily about the plot but it definitely is how i imagine batsis to be and how i’d continue to write her if i ever use this same batsis in another future story!

honestly, the main way i came up with this plot was like a year ago i was reading about all the awful things batman has done to the robins (specifically dick) and i found the alternative universe comic where he slept with barbara and actually looked into the plot of ‘the killing joke’ and i saw this one scene of batman beyond (i think??) where barbara vaguely mentioned that dick left and was never seen again and i was so heartbroken for him and was thinking “if only someone had changed the past like wally or something” and then BAM inspiration hit!

[underthe-redhood]

"Our Last Chance"

1st off; the pairing of Bart Allen and a batsis is so flavourful and I love it

We already have characterisation within the first couple chapters bc batsis feels responsible for or at least dutiful to keeping the family together (it's giving middle child/child of divorce), and clear relationships set up with potential to be explored;

Is there a reason she feels so attached to Dick? Is it just because she managed to join the family after he had gotten out of his angsty phase and was ready to overcompensate for losing Jason? She would have to be closest in age to Tim so is there some rivalry or respect there? I think you mentioned Damian being a little upset upon first meeting batsis and realising he's not the only OR the first blood child/child with both parents and I can imagine there would be some jealousy and insecurity from both sides, Damian thinks her parents still love each other (and they do, but they're relationship is just as complicated as Bruce and Talia), batsis who knows they can't measure up to him skill wise BC of all his training so it feels like he just came along and was better than her despite being younger.

Does batsis have a hero name? Has she already gone through her 'estranged from Bruce and striking out on my own' phase or is that yet to come? Does she ever feel she might be in the shadow of her parents and brothers, especially considering the tension of her parents being on different sides (though not entirely opposite). We know Bruce isn't always the best at expressing his emotions so has he ever opposed the idea of batsis associating with her mum and aunts bc he doesn't want her to be associated with him if shes fraternising with criminals.

Has she ever felt the sting of betrayal knowing that she represents his 'weakness into temptation'? Did that sting become a white hot burning when she realised he strayed again by hurting Dick and Batgirl? I like how she shows some of Bruce's irrational thinking in a way that is so much like a child that it tugs at the heartstrings - all she wants is to fix it but it's not something that can be fixed and yet she still finds a way. Also love how she feels hurt and things but doesn't resort to hostility or blame and instead works on compartmentalising ways to fix it - it really feels like she's Batman's kid and it's a subtle hint of her character.

- btw I'm going to be going by 🐌 if that's ok

omg i’m so excited i’ve never gotten an ask like this before!! and going by 🐌 is more than okay!

- 1st, thank you so much! thanks to young justice i’m slightly obsessed with him

- i’m definitely going for child of divorce vibes and i’m really glad it’s easy to pick up on!

- i think dick is secretly everyone’s favorite. he’s technically the older brother but since bruce was always emotionally unavailable he’s the type of older sibling that had to act like the dad. i definitely love the concept of overcompensating after jason’s death! i think the reason batsis is so extra close to dick is probably because she met him first. since she’s selena’s kid, she’s been around from the start so when bruce took in dick she was already there. granted, because of the ages she probably doesn’t remember the early beginning but that also means she essentially grew up with him.

- you’re right about her being close to age with tim their age difference is about 5 or 6 months, the way i kinda see their ages would be dick is 21, jason is 19, tim is 17, batsis is 16-17, and damian is 14. there’s definitely some rivalry, but it’s not much and nothing serious because batsis never tries to compete for anything academic with him and she doesn’t really have an official spot with the titans so they don’t have to compete there either. the only competition would be batman-related, and since it has to do with him they know not to let it get between them because quite frankly gotham isn’t worth their relationship

- damian met her at the same time he met bruce, so he was able to get used to them at the same time. it definitely sucked for him knowing that bruce was always more likely to choose selena over talia, but overtime he started to agree with the decision. i’d say there’s more rivalry between her and damian than there is between her and tim, simply because of damian’s ego. he loves her but he also sometimes feels the need to be the better blood-child, of course the rivalry is completely one-sided but i can imagine there being times when he’s taken it just a bit far. occasionally batsis will feel a little inferior because they don’t have the same skill-set as damian, but being a vigilante isn’t as important to them as it is to someone like batman. it matters, but not to the point where they’ll drive themself crazy.

- batsis does have a hero name! in this story it’s set as her being “bluejay” because it’s one of my favorite birds, they’re just so sassy!! as the for the “estranged from bruce” phase, she hasn’t been through it yet but i’m thinking this whole situation could definitely be what sets it off. she doesn’t necessarily feel like she’s in the shadow of her parents, but it has caused an identity crisis for her more than once! we’ve seen many times that bruce and selena have fairly different moral codes, and that’s made it really hard for batsis to navigate what she thinks is right or wrong and why she thinks that. she looks up to her parents, but she doesn’t want to be either of them. it’s especially hard because occasionally when she’s out with her mom, no one will trust her and will compare to her dad. and when she’s out with batman, things could easily be pinned on her because of her mom and the people she hangs around. i’d say it’s different from living in their shadows, but their choices heavily impact her life for sure.

- bruce and everyone really (except kinda jason bc he knows batsis doesn’t hang around the joker) don’t like it when batsis hangs around the villains and have tried to use her to get info on them, which has been hard on her because she doesn’t want to betray anyone’s trust. so, she tries really hard to separate her lives depending on who she’s hanging out with

- omg bruce “giving into temptation” was actually something i’m planning on writing about later on in the story!

- thank you, it might not work out for her but she’s definitely gonna try whatever she can

-omg yes, she just can’t bring herself to hate barbara and bruce because of all she’s been through with them. and if they never do what they did, then she doesn’t have to hate them! i’m so glad you think her character fits in with the batfamily!

[underthe-redhood]

my newest chapter has over 2k words omg, longest one yet

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i got the chapter uploaded 😍 i’m having trouble tagging people in the comments though lol 😭

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the thing i regret losing most is my fully written out timeline 🥲 but i’m so close to finish the chapter that i’ll probably be able to post it tonight 😍

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now that i’ve wasted several days trying to find my outline i think i’m just gonna go off from what i remember lol

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the other day i wrote an outline of like the next four chapters and now i can’t find it 🥲

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omg i actually finished chapter 5 AND edited it ✨ about to post it now 😎

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chapter 1 has officially been edited 😍

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i messed up the timeline so badly omg, i really gotta edit it lol