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sparkleofpizza · 4 years

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My oh my - Jason Todd x reader

A/n: Hey guys, this is the first time I am writing for Jason. Every time I listen to My oh my by Camilla Cabello I can’t help but imagine a story about him, so I just had to do it. Also, there is a part in here that I got inspired from Gilmore Girls because I am team Logan and I wish they ended up together.

Requested: no

Warnings: swearing, song inspired

Summary: They say he likes a good time, he comes alive at midnight, my mama doesn’t trust him, he’s only here for one thing, but so am I

Word count: 3.2k

It was very cold for a Spring night, even for Gotham. The moon was a full circle displaying in the sky, shining so bright, the streets wouldn’t even night lamps for you to know what’s in front of you - of course that wasn’t enough for a city like this.

You heaved a sight, surprise white smoke didn’t come out of your mouth. You felt as if your bones were freezing, hands stuffed under your arm pits as you were crossing them, trying to provide some warmth. God, why did you agree to go out on a night like this?

When your best friend and roommate Ari, called you earlier that day to declare you were going out, you were very very tempted to say no. Then you remembered all of the hard work you put into the last paper for a class at University, and decided that maybe going out with her wouldn’t be such a bad idea. What you didn’t expect was for her to barge into your bedroom an hour before you were supposed to go out, and pick up clothes that provided too little warmth. She said where you were going, this outfit would look nicer than the jeans you had picked.

A street race wasn’t where you thought you would spend your night. Damn Ari and her crazy ideas.

She overheard there was going to be a street race near Crime Alley, and that most people from University would be there so she said it would be cool for you two to go too. Well, it did sound a bit cool, if you were being honest. Street race? Sounded something from a movie, and you didn’t have many exciting memories to one day cherish and tell your kids and grandkids, maybe this could be one. If it ended badly, it would be one hell of a story, if it ended ok, then it would still be a cool story.

But now, there you were, standing alone in a crowd because Ari left to go to the bathroom with another girl from your shared class. You knew you probably should’ve gone together because you don’t ever stay alone in Gotham, specially at night. But hey, these are college people, your college people. Nothing bad would happen, right?

You took a sip from your drink, hoping the alcohol would do that thing where it warms you up and makes you feel fuzzy.

“Hey, princess. What are you doing here all alone?”

You turned your head to the side finding none other than Jason Todd. He had a red cup similar to yours in hand, his signature lather jacket, black pants and boots. His hair was that fluffy mess, and he look good as always.

You met Jason a few weeks ago at the University library, you both reached out for the same book. He said he was waiting for his little brother and was bored so he decided to take on the opportunity of free good books, he wasn’t a college student. And ever since you two kept bumping into each other.

Your cheeks warmed up at the words that left his lips. Princess. He had been calling you that ever since you two met at the library. You tried to push away the surprised look on your face at seeing him here, it does look like his kind of place. He looks like the kind of guy who enjoys adventures and adrenaline.

“I came here with my friends, but they went to the bathroom.” you said, smiling at him “What about you?”

“Well… I don’t have a date with me tonight, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

You adverted your eyes to the side, taking a deep breath, totally embarrassed. You didn’t meant it like that.

“Oh, that’s good?” It sounded like a questioned, God you are so awkward

He smirked at you.

“Glad to know you think it’s good I’m single. I happen to think it is good that you’re single, too.”

You frowned. Was he thinking that just because you didn’t have a date for the night, you weren’t able to have a love life?

“What makes you think I am single?” You questioned, hoping your frustration didn’t leak into your voice

“I am hoping you are. I mean, if you are dating someone, that person is an asshole for not being here with you tonight, this isn’t one of the nicest places in Gotham.”

You nodded, a small smiling tugging your lips. That was a nice safe, you had to give it to him.

“Is there a nice place in Gotham?” You ironized

You were born and raised in Metropolis, you were used to big cities and the down side of it, but Gotham? That was another thing completely different. A giant hole in front your high school because Superman and his cute little sidekick Superboy were fighting some bad alien? Ok, you can deal with it. A guy dressed up as a clown who laughs way too hard and torture people for fun while he fights a guy dressed as a bat? That you cannot deal with.

You didn’t understand why Jason thought what you said was so funny. He laughed, trowing his had back.

“I mean, did Batman just woke up one day and was like hey, what if I dress up as a giant bat and start beating up criminals? What was going trough his head to choose a bat?”

Jason couldn’t believe you were making fun of Bruce without even knowing it. It brightened his day so much, and the fact that you had no idea only made it better. He was going to tell the old man all about it later, so he could laugh even harder.

You smiled as you watched him laugh. He looked so beautiful.

“Are you cold?” He asked once he stopped laughing, he saw goosebumps in your arms

“Yeah, I forgot to get a jacket before I left my dorm.” You admitted sheepishly

Jason smiled at you, he had a nice smile. He shrugged off his lather jacket and placed it over your shoulders. It was warm from his body heat, and it smelled incredibly good.

“Thank you.” You smiled at him “But aren’t you going to get cold?”

“I can handle being a little cold, and if it gets too much, we can just hug each other?” He shot up his eyebrows

You you were sure you looked like a tomato.

Jason smiled at you. He had taken an instant liking at you when he meet you at the library, something about the way you smiled at him saying he could have the book and you would just get it after he was done with it, and how your voice sounded so sweet and your eyes looked at him like he wasn’t bothering you by taking the book you wanted. He was waiting for you to lash out on him when he said he was just wanting for his brother, something like “you don’t even go here and you are trying to get my book?” He was trying to get rid of those bad thoughts, he was used to being pushed aside and treated like he was a pice of shit bothering people on the street. He sometimes, specially after his death, forgot that maybe there was still nice and polite people in Gotham.

It didn’t take long for him to realize you were a good girl, a good nice girl. He mostly ran into you at the library and at the coffee shop at the campus. You always smile sweetly at him and wave. The first time Tim had caught that action, he stopped in his tracks and stared at Jason like he was an alien and he had just now realized it. You two were completely opposites, and obviously his brother would find it odd that you were waving at Jason Todd.

And meeting you tonight at a street race? That was not what he was expecting your next meeting to be like. He was there to gather some intel about the gangs that was participating and what Black Mask and the Penguin wanted with them. Finding you here was rather concerning, this didn’t seem to be your element. And it wasn’t, from what he had learned in your brief conversations during your random meet ups.

“Have you ever been to a street race before?” He asked, voicing a bit of his thoughts

You shook your head, hoping he wouldn’t find you pathetic “No. I normally don’t do this kind of stuff, I don’t know how Ari managed to convince me to come.”

He smiled “Yeah, this doesn’t seem like your kind of thing. But it is a good thing, I mean, this is kind of dangerous.”

“Oh God.” You muttered under your breath “Dangerous as I could end up in jail or I could end up dead in an alley?”

He decided not to answer. The first answer was that the GCPD was corrupted and that they wouldn’t really care, the vigilantes in the city did most of the job. That wouldn’t be a good start. And the second answer was that you could end up dead in an alley, and the probably would make you feel a bit scared, and he didn’t want to make you afraid of being there, because he couldn’t exactly say he could and would protect you if something bad happened. You would think he was just trying to show off, when in reality he actually really could.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Jason asked you after having watched a part of the street race

He, now, had a good idea of why Penguing and Black Mask were interested in those people. He had nothing better left to do, and hey, there you were right by his side even after your friends had returned. You were still taking to him, and using his jacket.

You thought for a moment before nodding your head. You told Ari you were heading out with Jason, and she gave you a knowing look before asking you to text her when you got back to the dorm.

You walked between the crowd of people with Jason right in front of you. At some point, he reached out for your hand and kept holding it, guiding you to God knows where. You had no idea why you agreed to this, you barely know him and you knew enough bad stories to know you shouldn’t be leaving with him. But he was so nice with you all of the times you talked, and he was soooo good looking.

You stopped in front of a motorcycle. He pulled the keys out of his jeans’s pocket and smile at you, handing you the helmet and climbing on top of his bike.

“My dad always told me to never ride a bike with a boy.” You smiled at him, playing with the helmet in your hands

Right now, Jason thought you looked breath taking, and all he wanted to do was kiss you. He wasn’t surprised at all by his thoughts as he had thought them before and before. What surprised him was the flirtatious tone on your voice, he couldn’t help but feel more attracted than before. You were polar opposites, and that was everything he needed in his life ever since he came back, someone to help him maintain balance.

“So what are you going to do, princess?” He questioned in a hushed tone

“Tonight I don’t want to be the girl that does what her parents says.”

And then you had placed the helmet on your head, and climbed on top of the bike, right behind him. You could feel Jason’s warmth, you were so close to him, and that cologne smell? You could stay like this, having your chest pressed agains his back.

“Then I suggest you hold on tight.”

He sped up, making you giggle in his ear as your arms wrapped around his body.

After spending most of the rest of the night together, around 4 am, Jason walked you to your dorm. You were still wearing his jacket, and you definitely didn’t want to take it off.

You had went out to get some food after driving around for a while, and spend most of the time sitting at a booth on a fast food, eating fries and sipping on milkshakes. He was a great company, and you enjoyed the way you could talk about a lot of things and never seem to run out of things to say.

You leaned on your doorstep, staring up at him with a small smile tugging on your lips.

“Thank you for tonight. I had a really good time.”

“Me too.” He smiled back at you “What do I have to do get to spend more nights like this with you?”

A devious smile took place in your face, you had no idea where de boldness came from, but the words flew out of your mouth before you could even properly think about what you were doing.

“If you kiss me, I might let it happen.”

And Jason didn’t wait a second to comply. His hands cupped your cheeks, bringing your face closer until your lips met. You stood on your tiptoes, meeting him halfway there since he was so tall. Arms wrapped around his neck, enjoining the warm feeling that spread on your stomach.

You pulled apart when air became necessary. You smile at him, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“Goodnight, Jason.” You said, unlocking your door

“Goodnight, y/n.” He watched you walk into your dorm and stayed still until he listened to your door being locked again, just to make sure you were being safe

You felt as if you were walking on clouds. You couldn’t believe you had just said, what you had just did, what had happened tonight. It all seemed like it was part of some movie.

“You’re only arriving right now?” Ari groaned from the couch, making you jump in scare since you didn’t see her there “I was worried you didn’t text.”

“Sorry. I thought you would be out longer than me.” You pulled off your shoes “Did you have fun at the race after I left?”

“If I had fun?” She sat up on the couch “Did you have fun? I want to know all about your night with Jason Todd!”

You giggled, not quite believing it just yet. You sat on the arm chair, feeling your back muscle relax against the comfortable cushion, bikes don’t really provide back support and that kind of made your muscles sore. You wrapped his jacket tighter around your body.

“It was really nice, he is a nice guy.”

Ari smiled at you, asking you to keep talking, so you ended up telling her everything about your night with him. Usually, this was the other way around, she would tell you about her dates and what they did, if it was good or not. You are the single friend, always the single friend, this was a good change of scenario.

“I’m really happy for you.” She said “But I just want you to be careful, he has kind of a bad reputation around campus, and he doesn’t even go here. They say he likes to have a good time, just it.”

You nodded your head, understanding where she was coming from. But you wanted to have a good time too, so…

“I don’t think it’s a good idea you hanging around this Jason guy.” Your sister said on the other end of the line “Mom doesn’t like him.”

You rolled your eyes. You once, accidentally, slipped out that you have been hanging out with Jason when your mom called and you were getting ready to go out. She had asked you why you were wearing pants if it was so close to summer which meant it was hot, and you said and regret because it is uncomfortable to wear a skirt while riding a bike. Now, Jason was the bad guy.

“She doesn’t even know him.” You protested

“Yeah, and I don’t think she wants to.”

Well, if she keeps up this atitude about him then you don’t think you want her to either.

You heard knocking coming from your window, making you frown. You pulled your curtain away, seeing Jason standing on the other side of the glass, a small smile tugging at his lips, hands stuffed inside his jacket’s pockets, and hair pushed back in that way he knew you liked it.

“I have to go. There is someone knocking at the door.”

“At midnight?” Your little sister asked

“It’s Ari, she forgot her keys.” You lied, Ari was in her room fast asleep after having stayed up until 5 am doing a research paper “Bye.”

You ended the call, tossing your phone on the bed and opening up the window.

“Hey.” you said

“Hey.”

“Can I come in?” He asked in a low voice, probably not to get notice by anyone

“Sure.” You stepped back, watching him climb your window

“This always looked cooler in the movies.” He chuckled

You smiled at him when he got closer “I think you climbed the window very gracefully.”

Jason smiled at you, pulling you into him, enjoining your warmth and the calmness you brought him.

“So…” you looked at him “What are you doing here at midnight on a Friday? Well, Saturday.”

“I didn’t like the idea that we couldn’t spend this Friday together, it is kind of our day.” You try not to get the wrong idea by what he said, but it was true, you always hung out on Fridays, always coming up with different things to do, weather it was the movies, dinner, or reading books together “I knew you’d still be up so I decided to pay you a visit.”

“Thank you, I enjoyed the surprise.”

He leaned down, connecting your lips in a sweet kiss. You hummed in approval, sliding your hands over his chest until his jacket had fallen on the bedroom floor. When you pulled apart, you stared wide eyed innocently at him, just now catching up to the fact that you had pulled a move on doing something more by sliding his jacket off of him.

“Do you want me to go?” He asked, stroking your cheek

You leaned in and kissed him again. Pulling him closer to you.

“Y/n, do you want me to go?” He asked one more time, against your lips

“No. I want you to stay.”

Jason kissed you again, you walked backwards, falling on the bed with him on top of you.

This was all you have been wanting for a while. Right now you didn't really care about all you have been hearing about Jason - ever since people found out you have been hanging out, they would come to you to say how he was just simply looking for fun, apparently he only ever showed up at the University when he either was there to pick up his brother, or he wanted to know about some party, or get together or whatever. But the Jason you got to know, he actually made plans with you outside of it, he didn't want to spend time with you just at a party you randomly met up, he wanted to talk to you, and take you to the movies.

People like to talk too much, but you weren't going to let his bad reputation come in the way of allowing you to have a good time. In a long time, you had met a boy who seemed to worth it spending your time with, and he always made sure you were enjoining your time with him.

You knew there was also the part that your mom didn't like him, all your life she always told you to never trust guys like him. But you have been doing the right thing all your life, always being the good girl who did the good thing and never got into trouble. Tonight, when you were with him, you didn't want to be her. Wasn't this what part of what college experience was like? Doing things you'd regret?

In the end, you knew you'd never regret having done any of this with him.

#Jason Todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #jason todd imagine #jason todd headcanon #red hood #red hood x reader #Red Hood X y/n #red hood x you #red hood headcanon #jason todd x y/n

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thegc4life · 4 years

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Do you any other Hawks fic ideas you'd like to write? Or is Hawks-sensei all you've got on your mind right now?

Wyv. You know not what you ask. I have to put them in categories, Wyv. Categories.

Kid!Hawks:

-Kid!Hawks growing up with the LOV (both as a permanent thing and various ridiculous drabbles) This involves Unwilling Big Brother Shigaraki, scarily willing Big SisterToga who knows all the coolest knife tricks, Best Uncle Twice who sometimes on his real good days doubles as temporary Dad, the Dad who teaches you how to hot wire cars and laugh people’s money straight out of their wallets Compress, mother-henning can-not-leave-you-alone-for-one-god-damn-minute Spinner, True Mom Kurogiri, Big Sis Mag who seems to be the only actual one that realizes that children need to sleep at some point for the love of god, extremely confused but horrifically soft Dabi who may or may not eventually turn his whole life around because of this feathered idiot that needs someone to make sure he lives a happy life whether it be a permanent shrinking or not. Oh, and Machia. The best Mountain Monster Dog brother (?) a boy could ask for.

-Kid!Hawks with UA (staff edition) also both in temporary and permanent circumstances. Temporary is already in progress. Permanent? Oh boy, permanent world. They raise him within UA so as to keep him from the Commission. Hawks often sits in on their classes with coloring books, picture books, or just to sit there and watch them. He is very smart. He picks up on things, but mostly he just likes being around all the staff. He picks a new person to sleep with every week because some of them have really shitty sleep schedules and even as a kid he knows they would feel bad keeping him up, thus forcing them to go to bed through good-person guilt so he tragets the sleepiest looking people for the week (hint: Aizawa gets picked a lot, and even if he’s not sleep deprived Hawks would pick him because he adores his grumpy cat Dad). Thirteen does crafts with him all the time. She watches every kid show and gets really into it with him. Hawks and Mic make the meals and they sing the entire time. They sing together throughout the day. Hawks will chirp out a line of notes and out of nowhere Hizashi will burst in to sing the lyrics. Midnight reads him bedtime stories cause her voices are the best. She does his nails and lets him do hers. He practices on the UA students to surprise her with new designs (the students fall over their own feet to offer to be his test subject). Snipe does little challenges with him. Things that, while technically helping him get used to controlling his quirk, are more fun than anything else because Hawks enjoys using his feathers in games. Hawks dresses up like a cowboy for an entire month, quoting old western movies and driving everyone but a very proud Snipe up the wall. Hound Dog and Hawks go on walks together ALL THE TIME. They explore the woods around UA and Hound Dog tells Cementoss to change up the geography every once in a while so they have something new to explore. He teaches Hawks how to go camping and Hawks fricken adores him and is always on his shoulders just kicking his feet or napping in Hound Dogs hair. Ectoplasm is Hawks favorite person to play any kind of tag based game because the others are too easy to catch with his feathers. But with Ectoplasm and all his clones? hawks goes nuts. Ectoplasm cried once when Hawks asked Aizawa for peg legs for Halloween and when someone asks him if he wants to be a pirate he says no because he wants to be a super cool hero like Ecto for Halloween. No one will be as cool as him. Hawks fricken loves Vlad. Like, adores him. Whenever Vlad is in the room Hawks will just go hang off his shoulders, or tuck under his arms with a book to read, or just lean against him. He has a little stuffed bull dog that has Vlad’s exact resting bitch face and carries it with him every time he leaves the dorm because he feels safer with it. He goes to Vlad when he’s injured because Vlad just takes care of it, gives him a hug, and doesn’t tell him to be more careful. Just asks if Hawks learned something and moves on. Hawks and Nezu are penpals. They see eachother every single day, but they are penpals. Hawks grows up with the most beautiful calligraphy handwriting because he keeps trying to out-do Nezu’s. He absolutely tattles on every single teacher in these letters, giving Nezu years worth of blackmail. Hawks thinks Nezu is a stuffed animal until he is fourteen because Nezu never fesses up. He just thinks the staff is even cooler for letting a stuffed animal run the place. He only ever cries around Nezu.

-Kid!Hawks UA(Student edition): So many. There’s lines I’ve written where they’re still in school when Hawks is kidified. When they’re already pros. In Canon, in Hawks-sensei, I even a small blurb sentence of Deku running a preschool that Hawks gets put into in an AU with quirks still. I can’t even... there’s too many students, cause I’d do all 1-A and 1-B. My favorite one to randomly wake up in a panick and write about though is the one where it’s Hawks-sensei verse based and Kid!Hawks gets taken in by the Monoma family. Rui and Eiko are older and Monoma is a pro-hero by then. The pure amount of fluff, sass, and Hawks spoiling that will happen. Big Brother Rui and Bigger Sister Eiko. I think about this one a lot.

-I’m currently (slowly but progressing) writing a gift for @saltwater-sweets where Kid!Hawks is taken in by the Uraraka family. Like, he’s not even shrunk in this one. Uraraka’s newlywed parents were involved in the accident he first saved people in and they found him before the Commission. They realized his homelife situation and opened their home to him and now he is Uraraka’s big brother and that one line I threw out there? About him being a global superpower in household moving? Teaming up with Uraraka for that? Yeah.

-Kid!League of Villains and adult Hawks. Yeah, you heard me. They all get shrunk instead of him. And he can’t just... turn them in. They’re kids. They haven’t done any of the crimes their older counterparts have. And if it’s a permanent thing? They stay kids? Then he has a chance to really, truly save them. To give them the happy lives stolen from them. The Commission doesn’t like that. So Hawks takes them and runs. Dabi can be an adult too, I guess, if that’s the ship or something, but I just really wanna write Kid!LOV and Dad!Hawks.

-Kid!Aizawa. Dad!Hawks. Same concept. Beautiful dream. Need I say more.

-Kid!Hawks, Best Jeanist

-Kid!Hawks Gang Orca

-Kid!Hawks RUMI!!

Vigilante Hawks:

- Raven was born and I dived down that rabbit hole so fast I went back in time. Raven. But from a way earlier age. Those guys mugging Hawks when he was fifteen? The spark. Hawks stayed on the streets, he never went back, and he learned some things. He got some freedom, learned some shit, and realized that hero society was pretty fucked up. Shigaraki starts the LOV up and realizes there’s this whole underground community he was never aware of that Hawks has been building for years. It’s great.

-Hawks was never found by the Commission so he was never ‘Hawks’. His Dad raised him as a criminal but Hawks, with his little heart of gold, took every chance he could to make something good out of the bad deeds. Then he got old enough and he took full control. You ever seen the Levi OVA’s of Attack on Titan? Where he’s walking down the stairs and you realize every single person there is part of a huge ass gang of awesome with Levi at the head? That. THAT.

-Hawks loses his shit in Canon and goes completely AWOL. full Feral. He sees the problems, and he is prepared to do whatever it takes get rid of them. Whatever it takes.

AU Hawks

-Horribly injured, recently retired at the ripe old age of 23, and looking for something to save him from depression. Hawks meets Todoroki Fuyumi who gets him a job at her school. This one makes my brain happy.

-Takami Keigo and Todoroki Natsuo meet in college, graduate together, join the same hospital, and open one as partners as soon as they can. Ship or no ship, they go through their entire lives together. (I just... I really like the Todoroki sibs, okay?)

-Takami Keigo was born a lot earlier. So much, earlier, in fact that he is classmates with this overly optimistic ball of light named Yagi Toshinori and the grumpy ball of flame Todoroki Enji. Big Three anyone? Also, everyone needs a dumb smart birb to keep them sane. Hawks loves his friends, and he’ll kick anyone’s ass that tries to hurt them be it physically, mentally, or emotionally. Also, he meets Nana.

-I LOVE THE IMAGINARY KAMAKIRI FAMILY DYNAMIC OKAY?! literally anything with Hawks involved in their lives, okay?! I did not expect to spiral so hard when I made up Hideo and his relationship with Kamakiri but my god did I spiral! I just really love them!

-I’m a sucker for the classics. Tattoo/flower. Coffee shop. College. Roommates. Love.

- (she made me write this) a story surrounding the amazing love story of my sister and Iida Tenya with Aizawa crashes the wedding even though he was invited and Mirio is her maid of honor, with Eri as the ring bearer, and All Might is the flower girl. Twice is the officiator. Uraraka releases a flock of fake pigeons (not real ones cause they don’t deserve that). Oh, and everyone else is there too, I guess. Except for Mineta. Cause he’s in jail.

Right now, at this very moment, I can not for the life of me think of any others but I KNOW there’s at least seven more that I just can’t remember because my brain is work dead. Wyv. @wyvernspirit do you see what you’ve opened here? Close the box! Close it before it’s too late! There is always more! I am never without MORE ideas!

#adorable bean response #pandoras box #i only vaguely spell checked

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vikingpoteto · 4 years

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the curse of cousin Chad

Read on AO3

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Relationships: GEN. Tim Drake & Jason Todd & Stephanie Brown

Summary: Tim Drake's only wish is for people to stop talking about Red Robin on the news (and a monkey's paw finger curls somewhere as Chad Wayne shows up in their lives.)

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Red Robin had been better, but he had been worse too.

After Batgirl helps him sit down, he stops for a second and decides that he probably doesn’t have any broken bones, just more than a few bruises forming. Batgirl all but falls by his side, exhausted, and judging by the groan she lets out she must be just as sore. Still, she extends her fist for a bump and he grins as he obliges.

“Well, no one got shot or stabbed, so that’s a win on my book,” Red Robin says.

“That and we put away a dangerous gang that had been terrorizing the locals for months,” she reminds him.

“Yeah, that too.”

He glances around and decides the building they chose is tall enough that they can relax for a bit. He pulls down his cowl. Tim lets out a long relieved sigh when the cold night air touches his face. Batgirl follows his cue, even if she struggles with her hair for a bit to do so. The two of them let their legs dangle from the edge of the rooftop, unbothered by the height, their gazes on the sky.

Heavy footsteps approach the young vigilantes from behind, but neither Tim nor Steph worries, because they’re familiar with the sound. As expected, a third vigilante soon enough takes the spot by Steph’s other side, his helmet already under his arm and his face mask free.

“You two look really beaten considering you weren’t fighting alone tonight,” Jason says.

Steph flips him off.

Tim rolls his eyes. “There were a lot of weaklings, okay? Sometimes that’s more annoying than one strong guy.”

“If you say so.”

“How about your night?” Steph asks casually.

“Kicked some ass, shot the kneecaps of the most stubborn ones. All in a night’s work.”

They nod and resume watching the sky for a brief peaceful moment. So high above they can barely hear the sounds of sirens and late night traffic on the streets.

Then Steph sits up so fast she almost slips down the edge. Tim and Jason grab her shoulders by reflex and pull her back at the same time.

Ignoring the fact that she almost died, Steph shouts: “What time is it?”

“Hm... about 2am?” Tim checks his wrist pad. “Yeah, 2:35.”

“Oh my God!” She groans, pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes. “We missed the countdown by, like, a lot! How did we not hear the fireworks?”

“Gunshots?” Jason suggests.

“Fireworks and gunshots don’t sound the same, we all know the difference.”

Tim rolls his eyes, because this is so them. Of course they’d miss the start of the new year because they were busy fighting crime. Steph and Tim were even planning on going to WE’s New Year’s party together after what was supposed to be a super quick patrol, just to stop a few muggers, really . Tim is glad they did, even if Lucius is going to scold him on Monday. He hates those parties.

“Well, I have a little something here to celebrate,” Jason says with a crooked grin.

He turns his helmet upside down, revealing a bottle of booze. Of course the dramatic bitch had it hidden, just waiting for the right moment to reveal it. Steph whoops excitedly.

“Jason, you’re my hero! I mean… B is gonna kill us if he finds we were drinking in uniform, but it’s not like he’ll find out, right?”

Jason hands the bottle to Tim first, his smile positively wicked. Having been given this sort of gift from Jason before, Tim rolls his eyes and takes a generous chug without hesitation. His eyes tear up a bit at the taste when he passes the bottle to Steph.

She happily drinks straight from the bottle like Tim had… Then she freezes.

"Jason?"

“Yeah, Steph?”

“What the heck is this?”

“Spinach and lettuce juice. Timmy needs those antibodies."

"Jason, why are you like this?

"You didn’t think I was giving you guys alcohol, did you? You two are minors.”

Tim grins. He can tell Steph is trying to decide whether to throw the bottle overboard or at Jason’s head.

Before she decides, he turns his gaze back to the sky and asks: “You guys made any New Year’s wishes?”

“Resolutions,” Steph corrects. “Wishes are for birthdays.”

Jason makes a high-pitched voice, “wow, look at me, I’m Stephanie Brown, my mom loves me so much she celebrated my birthday!”

Tim laughs. “Geez, I’ll drink to that.”

There are no words to describe the horror in Steph’s face when he takes back the bottle and drinks a little more of the green juice.

He simply shrugs. “It’s an acquired taste.”

Deciding it’s not worth the trouble, Steph shakes her head and says, “I’m keeping it simple this year. My only resolution is to pass all my classes for once in my life. What about you, Jay?”

“I don’t do that corny shit.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“I know you guys like corny shit.”

“We’ve seen you cry over Jane Austen, your edgelord bullcrap doesn’t work on us,” Steph says. When Jason tries to protest that his eyes were just tearing up from yawning, she turns to Tim: “What about you? Any New Year wishes?”

“Just one, too,” Tim says. “I wanna make sure every non-criminal forgets Red Robin ever existed.”

Jason and Steph snort.

“I’m serious. No more shipping me with my family, no more stalkers. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure no reporter writes the words ‘Red Robin’ ever again.”

“Good luck with that, Timbers.”

Tim drinks his lettuce juice in silence. He hands the bottle back to Jason. Steph pretends to gag when he also takes a long sip. Despite their incredulity, Tim is feeling positive about his goal. He feels like after the Red Twins craze died down, people lost interest in him. He thinks he can pull it off.

If only he knew.

Tim almost never visits the manor anymore. He’s been to the Batcave once or twice on the past few months, but the house itself… he doesn’t even remember the last time. He decides to stop by on a rare free afternoon, hoping Duke and Cass will be around. If not, seeing Alfred outside the cave and having a cup of tea with him was more than enough.

He lets himself in, because he knows it makes Alfred begrudgingly happy when any of the kids acts as though they still live there rather than politely ringing the bell. It also makes Damian mad, which is always a plus.

Hearing voices from the living room, Tim heads straight there, excited that there’s someone home. His smile freezes on his face. Whatever he was expecting to see, it wasn’t… that.

Bruce is sitting near the fireplace pinching the bridge of his nose as he does when his children are fighting among themselves. On the opposite couch is none other than Jason being embraced by a complete stranger that is currently sobbing into his shoulder.

Jason’s gaze meet Tim’s in what is clearly a plea for help. All Tim can do is mouth who the hell is that? to which Jason mouths back I have no fucking idea.

“Would you look at that, Tim’s here,” Bruce says. Tim has the feeling he’s trying to save Jason.

The sniffling stranger pulls back and turns around. “Oh god. You’re a man now, Timmy! Last time I saw you, you were just a tiny kid!”

To Tim’s complete horror, the man stands and comes hug him tightly.

“Uh… ”

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry,” the man gives a watery chuckle “of course you don’t remember me. You were a basically a toddler and I was also a kid when I last saw you. I’m Chad, your father’s cousin.”

“Oh. You’re…”

“I mean, Bruce's cousin. I knew Jack, though. He was good people.”

“Bruce’s cousin. Hm. So your name is Chad Wayne, huh?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing,” Tim pretends not to see Jason hide a snicker into his hand. “Sounds… cool.”

“Chad is visiting Gotham for a couple of weeks,” Bruce tells him. “He just graduated from college in Central City and decided it was a good idea to visit old relatives. It was such a great surprise when he arrived.”

“Right,” Chad wipes the tears from his face, “and I happened to run right into Jason here and oof. Saying I was surprised doesn’t cover it.”

His jovial laughter is so genuine that it’s almost unsettling.

“Oh. You… You know Jason."

“Yeah, man. My family was in a year long trip to Africa, so we didn’t hear about his death until a long time had passed. My parents were crushed that they couldn’t be there for Brucie then. Bruce was telling me about how you guys got him back. Nothing short of a miracle, huh?”

“A miracle,” Jason echoes.

Chad scratches his own nape, finally looking appropriately embarrassed. “Sorry I got so emotional, Jason. I almost didn’t recognize you, you got so jacked , man. I guess I have a good memory for faces.”

He speaks so fast. Steph always complains that Tim speaks too fast whenever he is in the zone and caffeinated, but that was nothing compared to Chad’s rambling.

“Oh well. C'mere, Tim, sit with us, let me get to know you guys. Even if I’m your father’s cousin, I guess I’m closer in age to you two ahaha...”

Tim is known for being a quick thinker, but something about Chad’s khaki shorts and how out of place they look in Gotham stuns him into inaction. He lets Chad drag him to the couch and doesn’t say anything else on pure fear that the guy is about to do it to ‘em.

“Actually,” Jason stands, “Tim is here to pick me up. We have this, hm, doctor’s appointment. To check my… eyes. Yeah, my eyes. Tim’s gonna drive me.”

“Oh, that’s alright, we can talk more when you two come back.”

“Back?” Tim parrots.

“Actually, Chad, Jason and Tim don’t live in the manor,” Bruce says. “They share an apartment around downtown.”

For the first time, Chad drops his too-blessed-to-be-stressed smile and frowns. “What? Why? I thought you guys just got Jason back. Shouldn’t he stay with you, Bruce?”

“Actually, that’s a funny story,” Jason says, taking Tim by the arm. “I’m sure Bruce will love to tell you all about it. I can’t be late for my appointment, isn’t that right, lil' bro?”

“Uh… Yeah. Being dead made his insurance skyrocket and the cancelation fees are a nightmare.”

“Hm-hum, all that. See you around and stuff.” Jason is holding Tim’s arm with such force that it’ll bruise for sure. They’re still on the way to the door when he hisses: “ Get me out of here right now.”

“But I didn’t even see Alfred,” he whispers back.

“ Now, Timothy ! ”

They don’t stop powerwalking until they’re in the car. Jason doesn’t bother going back for his bike and Tim makes a mental note to ask Cass to bring it back to their place later.

For a second, they just breathe Gotham’s polluted air to remind themselves they’re still home and not in a Disney sitcom.

That’s when Jason starts ranting. Apparently he was on the way to the kitchen to get just a bowl of cereal when he walked into Alfred getting the door open for cousin Chad. Alfred had said "Master Jason, I didn’t know you were here" and cousin Chad recognized him and started losing it. Bruce didn’t let Jason kill him, unfortunately, but managed to pull a story out of his ass about Jason coming back from the dead after someone from the Justice League messed up the timeline or something like that. The official story is that they found Jason just a couple of weeks ago and are still working out the kinks of having a family member return from the grave. Except Jason’s speech was a lot more convoluted and involved a lot of curse words and shakespearean insults.

“...and I didn’t even get my freaking cereal!” he finishes, just as Tim parks in front of their home.

“Well. That was an afternoon you just had,” Tim says. Jason huffs and gruffs on the way to the elevator. Tim waits until the doors close to say: “Bruce didn’t pull that story out of his ass, by the way.”

Jason frowns. “What?”

“Your cover story,” Tim clarifies. “He had it for years. I know everything about it if you want the details. He asked me for feedback when he was figuring how to make it believable and whatnot.”

“What? When? Why?”

“As soon as we found out you were alive. He wanted to be ready in case you decided to officially join the family again. It took a few days of work, but the plan exists and is ready to go whenever.”

Jason doesn’t say anything. Tim had expected that, so he allows him to mull over the newfound knowledge. He also expects Jason to head straight for the kitchen, which he does, and Tim follows his brother closely, not commenting on the tension of his shoulders or the way his jaw is set tight enough to crack a few teeth.

When his brother just stands near the sink apparently unsure of what to do with himself, Tim gets milk from the fridge and starts preparing a bowl of cereal.

“What were you doing there, anyway?”

“I went to see Alfred,” Jason mumbles. “But he was busy, so I was… I was talking to Bruce for a bit.”

“Oh?”

Jason grabs the bowl Tim is offering him. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Shut up.” And Jason stomps his way to his room, slamming the door after him.

When Steph shows up after class, Tim tells her not to bother him.

WAYNE FAMILY

Tim: @Bruce so wats his deal

Bruce: Dear Tim, what do you mean by that? sincerely, Bruce Wayne.

Tim: chad

Tim: whats his night persona

Tim: his masked name

Bruce: Tim, Chad is not a vigilante. sincerely, Bruce Wayne

Dick: shoot

Dick: he’s a villain???

Bruce: Dear Dick, Chad is not a villain either. He’s just a civillian. sincerely, Bruce Wayne.

Duke: dont he want to avenge his parents?

Bruce: Dear Duke, His parents are alive and well. They’re international activists currently on a mission to feed the poor somewhere in South America. sincerely, Bruce Wayne.

Damian: That means he’s must be a sleeper agent of sorts. I’ll collect some of his DNA for examination. Drake, I trust you’ll do a thorough check on his background, official and otherwise.

Tim: on it

Bruce: Damian, if you get your second-cousin’s DNA to run tests, your weekend at the Kent farm is permanently cancelled.

Jason: so b you admit you text like it’s a business email just to fuck with us, huh?

Bruce: Dear Jason, Mind your language in front of your little brothers. Sometimes I’ll sacrifice the format for the sake of speed. Regardless, this is the ideal way of writing a text message. sincerely, Bruce Wayne.

Bruce: @everyone Chad will be staying with us for a few weeks. He’s just a regular civilian with no tragic backstory, no metapowers and no secret identity. I expect all of you to behave like Alfred taught you and hide your secret identities like I trained you to. No one will investigate him or do anything to compromise our identities. Is that clear? Awaiting confirmation, Bruce Wayne

Cass: weird

Bruce: Dearest Cass, It’s not weird. Civilians exist. Sincerely, Bruce Wayne

Tim: not in our family they dnt!!!

Tim: cmon b you cant tell me s not suspicious!!!!!

Bruce: It is not.

Alfred: Master Bruce already checked his DNA for metagenes and ran a thorough background check with the help of miss Barbara. Unfortunately, Master Chad is clear.

Cass: weeeeeiiiiird

Tim decides to avoid Wayne manor for the foreseeable future. Instead, he buys Alfred’s favorite brand of tea and wonders if he can convince the butler to come over to stay with them for an afternoon or perhaps the whole weekend. Tim is more than willing to share the couch with Steph and let Alfred have his bed. He puts the tea away with a passive aggressive note letting Jason and Steph know that tea is to be saved for Alfred.

Jason is in the living room cleaning one of his guns while Steph does her homework on the carpet by his feet, meaning is just an afternoon like any other for them.

Tim has to remind himself of her resolution before he gives in the temptation of asking her to go patrolling with him. The thing is that his resolution is a lot easier to pursue when Batgirl is around, because she can deal with the civilians after the fact while Red Robin vanishes as soon as the criminals are in cuffs.

Alas. Working alone can be fun, too, he tells himself.

Before he heads out to get his suit, however, the buzzer sounds. He hears Steph cheering and saying something about pizza.

Then a voice that makes Tim freeze in horror.

“Oh, hey. I must have the wrong apartment. Is this Tim and Jason Wayne’s place?”

“Uhhhh…”

He runs so fast Bart would be proud, hoping he can sign at Steph to send him away before he sees them, but it’s too late. Tim rushes only to find out that, in all the glory of his khaki shorts and boat shoes, Chad Wayne is already inside his apartment.

Tim is very aware that Jason is frozen on the couch right behind him, still holding a gun.

“Chad! What a surprise!”

“Hey, Timbo!” Chad grins, looking genuinely happy to see him. “Damian told me you wouldn’t be working tonight and then he gave me your address!”

Why, god? Why hadn’t Tim killed Damian when he had the chance?

“And who is this lovely young woman?” He asks. “If she isn’t spoken for, I might want to steal her for me.”

“I’m his ex, actually, and I sort of live here.” Steph offers her hand. “I speak for myself.”

Instead of shaking her hand, Chad brings her fingers to his lips and gives them an excuse of a kiss. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma damme .”

Steph’s smile is too wide to be natural and her eyes look like they’re about to jump out of the sockets. Like the rest of the family, she seems to struggle to believe this guy is real. Tim can’t save her, he just wishes Jason would put away his things while cousin Chad is busy with Steph.

“So, Chad, it’s so nice to see you, but uhhh... What are you doing here?”

“Well, since you guys never go over I had to come see you! And trust me, I get it , when I let my folks’ place to go to college, I wanted to spend even the breaks at my frat house. Anyway, I thought I’d come here, we can order some take out and…”

His eyes finally find Jason and he freezes. “...is that a gun?”

Crap, poop, turd, crap, crapcrapcrapcrap-

“Uhhh… yeah?”

In the same way when he heard that Jason doesn’t live with Bruce, Chad’s positive vibes vanish and he looks distraught.

“Guys… does Bruce know about that?”

Before anyone can stop him, Chad walks in like he owns the place and takes the seat by Jason’s side. Tim and Steph exchange a panicked look, both praying that the gun isn’t easy to assemble or at least that Jason doesn’t have any ammo within arms reach. The two hurry to join them, Steph dropping on the couch and casually leaning against Jason in a position that allows her to hold his arm should he decide to throw Chad out. Tim takes the arm of the couch closer to Chad, ready to pick him up and throw him away himself if he says something stupid.

“We keep it here for safety,” Jason says simply.

“Okay. Oof.” Chad reaches for Jason’s shoulder. “Look, I get it. Gotham is dangerous. But having a gun at home is more of a hazard than anything else, Jace. Can I call you Jace?”

“No.”

“Look, I’m an only son, but if I had a little brother like Tim, I’d want to show him a good example, you know? And guns are not the solution. Do you genuinely think you could shoot someone? I don’t think so. I served the army and there we learn that shooting a person is harder than you can imagine."

Tim can see Steph discreetly pinching Jason’s thigh to keep him in check. Jason looks like he’s asking himself if he’s in the Twilight zone.

There is a beat of silence and Jason opens his mouth. Tim braces himself. Before disaster hits, Steph blurts:

“Actually, that’s why Jason’s here.”

Fortunately, Chad doesn’t notice Jason’s and Tim’s perplexed faces because he’s focused on Steph again.

“Of course Bruce hates guns with his parents and all that,” she frowns sympathetically. “But… Chad, Jason died. Of course he’s getting therapy, but he still needs something to feel safe at least at home. Isn’t that right, Jay?”

She gently rubs his arm. Jason knows Steph enough to recognize the play along or you’re dead in her falsely upset expression.

“Uh… Right. That. I moved in with Tim because, uh, I know Bruce is weird with guns." Another pinch to his thigh. Clearly in a begrudging voice, he adds: "And I super agree with him. I mean, what if Damian found it?”

“God, no,” Tim deadpans. “I don’t want to even imagine Damian with a gun.”

“But Tim and he knows he's not to mess with it,” Jason adds.

“Bruce told me you’re here you and him are a bit at odds, but he didn’t tell me you fought over you having a gun.”

“Bruce doesn’t know and you can’t tell him,” Tim cuts in. Batman is definitely going to forget his no-killing rule if he finds out they let cousin Chad see Red Hood’s gun. “Please, Chad. I promise you we’re careful. We’re just trying to make the best out of a difficult situation.”

Tim hopes the mention that this is a touchy subject will deter Chad. He forgets to take in consideration that Chad thinks they’re his family despite him knowing literally nothing about them. He is under the very wrong impression that he's allowed to talk to them about personal shit. Which is great. This is just great.

“If it makes you feel better, this is temporary,” Jason says. “I talked to my, uh, my therapist about it and he cleared me to have the gun. When I start, you know, getting over the death trauma, I’ll get rid of it.”

“Right,” Steph nods eagerly. “We’re planning on throwing a party when we reach that point and everything.”

The three of them wait with baited breath as Chad considers their excuses, his expression somber. Then Chad opens his arms and pulls Tim and Jason into a triple hug.

“I get it,” he says in a hoarse voice he probably finds cool. “You do what you have to do to cope, man. Bruce told me you’re brave and I can see that’s true. And you, ” he squeezes Tim, “I heard from Dickie that you’re a little prodigy, but I’m so proud of you for being there for your brother!”

God, he has so many feelings. Tim promises himself he’ll never complain about Dick being clingy again. Dick has a Batman level of emotional constipation if compared to this guy.

“Right,” Jason pulls himself free from the hug. “I’m gonna put this away, alright?”

He gathers his cleaning supplies and the spare parts spread across the coffee table and takes it to his room. His expression says he's still trying to figure out what that was.

“But, Timbo…”

“Just Tim is fine.”

“I thought you didn’t know Jason before his death? Bruce adopted you kind of recently, didn’t he?”

“Uhhh… I don’t know what to tell you. Jason and I hit it off and became friends fast,” Tim says. “I mean, at first he hated me enough to want to slit my throat…”

“Wow, alright,” Jason interrupts as he returns, a pout on his lips. “I see we’re very comfortable joking about my early… grumpiness. It’s not something I feel guilt or still have nightmares about at all”

Tim almost snorts at that. “Like I was saying, we got better.”

Chad nods thoughtfully and leans back to be more comfortable, nothing about his body language suggesting he might be getting ready to leave.

“So!” Steph claps her hands together. “Thank you for understanding, Chad. Now maybe let's talk about something lighter, shall we?”

And that’s what they do, with some sttrugle. At first, Chad seems too upset to talk about anything and Steph has to use all of her charm to get him to forget about the fantastic start of his visit. Jason helps by making sarcastic remarks that almost sound genuine and Tim… Tim can’t do much.

He texts Cass and she agrees to take his patrol duty for the night. Tim considered making up an emergency at WE and going out anyway, but in the end he decided that was unfair to the others.

He also sends a message chewing on Damian for sending Chad his way without a warning. No one ever visits Tim’s apartment other than his family and his hero friends, so they could have been in full uniform in the middle of the living room. Damian responds with a dismissive text filled with words that Tim doesn’t know. Tim threatens to break all of his crayons and puts his phone away

By this point, Chad is a bit more like himself again and Tim almost wishes he stayed distressed, because the rest of the night is painfully weird. To avoid more awkward conversation, Jason puts on a random horror movie for them. Chad comments on how impressive it is that none of them seems to mind the gore. He squeals and groans and gives Steph a horrified look when she simply keeps eating her pepperoni pizza as though nothing of note is happening on the screen.

The thing is that the movie’s gore is decidedly inaccurate to the point that they barely recognize it for what it's supposed to be. Besides it’s nothing worse than some wounds they’d either suffered or seen as vigilantes.

Maybe it’s because Tim didn’t get the adrenaline he expected from patrol, but he ends up falling asleep on Jason’s shoulder during the climax of the second movie.

He wakes up alone on the couch with a blanket half-thrown over his legs. It's still the middle of the night and he has half a mind to go to his room before he hears muffled voices from the kitchen. Rubbing his eyes, he follows the sound without thinking much.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Steph greets him.

She and Jason apparently are building a castle of Uno cards in the middle of the kitchen table.

Tim joins them. “It’s 3am.”

“Witching hour,” Jason mumbles.

Steph gestures at the castle and offers Tim a card. He takes it.

“It was a dirty trick to fall asleep like that,” she tells him. “You missed the selfie party to celebrate the first time he visited Jace and Timbo.”

Tim groans. “He stayed long?”

“Too long.” Jason adds another pair of cards to the castle. “I think I have a headache and the Lazarus pit is supposed to make you immune to headaches.”

“That's what I was telling Jason before you got here, Tim. We’re socially capable, right?”

“Hmmm… Right, I guess.”

“How come we couldn’t get rid of him? Why were we so lost while we were, like, just hanging out with him? Is everyone outside of Gotham like that?”

Part of Tim is relieved that Steph hates Chad too. He thought he and Jason had finally caught Batman’s moodiness, but Steph is one of the most cheerful people he knows and her dry sense of humor and quick quips are a lot more bearable than cousin Chad’s peppy attitude.

The other part of him…

“I think it’s less about him not being from Gotham and more about him being a civilian,” Jason says.

The castle falls. None of them reacts.

“That can’t be right,” Steph says. “We have civilian friends and they’re not like that.”

“Do we?”

“Yeah! Jason-- Hm. Tim has Tam… Oh, forget it, she’s not talking to him again. I have Francisco and- I just remembered he’s the son of a gangster.” Steph pauses. “Huh. Do we seriously not know any civilians?”

They don’t. Not on a friendly level, at least.

Tim had considered that before, but he didn't want to think about it. It was weird he was so distant from a normal life that he felt unsettled by it. Not bad. Just weird. If he hadn’t found out Batman’s and Robin’s identities, would he grow up to be a Chad? Finishing high school, living in a frat house in college, and all that? Would he still be a Drake, neighbor to the Waynes?

He loves all of his siblings and Bruce and Alfred and he doesn’t want to consider a life without them.

However.

In a world without Batman. Bruce would still be a good man. He still wouldn’t hesitate in adopting an orphaned circus boy. He would probably also adopt the little shit that tried to steal his not-batmobile tires. If by a miracle he also adopted the boy next door that tragically lost his parents and a girl from a very broken family and a young boy whose parents couldn’t be there for him anymore. His gremlin of a biological son would have grown up beloved and incapable of harming anyone, let alone assassinating a person.

He remembers the plan to bring Jason back to the world of the living and how easy it had been for him and Bruce to put it together and make it seem believable, because in their world it was believable and it could have been the truth.

If Jason Wayne, a regular boy, son of a regular man, had been killed in a freak criminal act and brought back to life thanks to superhero shenanigans, all of them would have been there for him. Jason wouldn’t resent his father for not killing his murderers, because that wasn’t a possibility, and they’d find a way to get him to overcome the effects of the trauma. Bruce certainly wouldn’t spare effort or money to get his son back to full health.

If Stephanie’s father hadn’t been a super criminal, Tim’s first girlfriend wouldn’t hit him in the face with a brick on their first meeting. She would have been a normal girl with a normal life and she could even run into him at school. There is no doubt in his mind that he would have found and made Steph his friend no matter the universe, except… would he?

In that reality, he didn’t know what gore looked like. He would get too upset to function for half an hour at the mere sight of a gun. He’d visit relatives unannounced and the worst thing that could happen was to find them heading out as he arrives. He draws the line at the khakis and boat shoes, because he doesn’t think he’d wear those in any universe, but still.

That would not be Timothy Drake-Wayne. Tim had seen his own internal organs before. Tim’s not only unfazed by fire guns but also built some for his older brother. Tim is fully aware that visiting any of his siblings might mean walking into a ninja fight at worst and finding them pretending to drive the batmobile at best.

Steph and Jason don’t say anything for a while and Tim could easily blame it on the fact that it’s almost 4am and they have yet to sleep, but he knows it’s because they’re reaching the same conclusion he did: they’re not normal people. They always knew that, but knowing something and seeing evidence are two different things.

And again… it’s not bad. It’s not that Tim wouldn’t change anything about the past, it’s just that he doesn’t regret the life he lead up until this point.

It’s still weird. Too weird.

BABS

Babs: The red dynamic duo ship is back with a vengeance, huh?

Babs sent you a link.

Tim had never had a panic attack. Considering the life he leads, that’s a pretty surprising thing. However, that text from a woman he considers part of his family kicks his fight-or-flight instinct like nothing in the world could. He clicks on it. He reads the article.

He screams into a pillow for about ten minutes.

Jason and Steph find him lying face down on the floor trying to get his phone’s AI to buy him a ticket to Smallville. He's sure Conner will take him in. He’ll work at the farm. He’ll stop being Red Robin. He doesn’t care.

It’s an article from a teen magazine.

TIM WAYNE AND MYSTERY MAN?

Ah, the Wayne Family. Our favorite and most iconic family of Gotham. Timothy Drake-Wayne (18), or Tim, how he prefers to be called, has been under our radar for quite a while and not just because of his cute face. The young CEO of Wayne Enterprises and heir to Drake Industries is smart, rich and incredibly charming if the rumors are true. That being said, the question we’re all asking is: how is this boy still single?

Little to nothing is known about Tim Wayne’s love life and we were all crazy to know if he is in the market for a girlfriend.

Well, ladies, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Tim Wayne might have a special someone. Nothing is confirmed yet, but Chad Wayne (26), Tim’s adoptive father’s cousin, shared a rather interesting picture on his snapchat.

[IMAGE]

Once we got over how freaking hot Chad is looking, we noticed something in the background. Right behind Chad, we can barely see someone that looks exactly like Tim Wayne fast asleep on the shoulder of a real heartthrob. Our suspicions were confirmed by Chad’s caption that said “visiting the little cousins”!

It’s a well-known fact that Tim Wayne is openly bisexual, so could this be his boyfriend? Or are they just dudes being bros, unbothered by toxic masculinity? Only time will tell.

THE BIRDNEST

spoiler alert sent a screenshot.

spoiler alert: lmao

WonderWing: … ok first I thought it was funny but now I’m concerned

WonderWing: do I need to talk to them?

WonderWing: do I need to talk our dad???

In the hood: WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO US?

In the hood: WHY IS ANYONE SEEN NEAR THIS DAMN KID AUTOMATICALLY HIS SIGNIFICANT OTHER??

send me a Signal: scratch that what is this openly bisexual business?

send me a Signal: I mean we know hes bi but hes not that vocal bout it?

spoiler alert: lmao tell em dick

WonderWing: lololol when he was like 12 there were rumors that Jack Drake’s son was gay right?

WonderWing: high society trashy gossip

WonderWing: around the same time his mom thought it was a good idea to let him be interviewed for this random magazine

WonderWing: they mentioned the rumors prolly because they wanted him to like say something motivational about bullying or wtv

send me a Signal: i think i know where this is going

send me a Signal: what did he say?

spoiler alert: i like my men how i like my women

send me a Signal: of course he did

spoiler alert: yeah and he wasnt out to his parnts yet so that part is less fun

send me a Signal: oof

In the hood: are you kidding me? Tim came out to the whole world because he couldn’t stop himself from making a dumb bi joke? Why can’t he stay in the closet like the rest of us?

Boss A$$ Bat: Bi rights

WonderWing: steph did you change cass nickname again

spoiler alert: ye

Boss A$$ Bat: I like it (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

send me a Signal: wait tims too quiet where is he

in the Hood: Steph took away his phone because he kept trying to book a flight to Smallville to become a farmer.

send me a Signal: of course. why wouldnt he.

Chad apologizes profusely for not noticing Tim and Jason were on that shot, but thankfully he does it over the phone so Tim can hang up halfway through his heartfelt apology.

The kids that still live in the manor aren't so lucky.

Tim gets a stream of facetimes from Duke, Cass and even Damian. Apparently Chad won't stop asking Cass to speak up, because she can, why bother with this weird sign stuff? (Cass stops Duke from hitting him.) He insists on asking Damian to play football with him until Damian knocked him out with a ball to the face. Bruce forced Damian to pretend he dislocated his shoulder on the stunt to prevent further invitations. Even though Duke is, by all means, perfect, Chad keeps stalking him and asking about his opinions on his siblings and if he thinks Bruce is doing the best job on raising them. The answers never satisfy him and he keeps asking as though he thinks the boy will change his mind if caught by surprise. Duke starts using his powers to jump out of the window whenever Chad is about to walk into the room until he lands on Alfred's roses. The fact that the butler isn't mad, just disappointed causes Duke to stop his daring escapes.

Bruce, despite his cool facade, isn't much better. He now has to keep his public persona at home too and, when it isn't driving him insane, he is being annoyed by his children exchanging weird looks and holding back giggles while he plays the himbo part.

Long story short, Chad is making a few days feel like torturing years.

The breaking point is the day Tim walks into his living room only to find Steph and Damian sitting on the couch facing each other while she dutifully paints his nails black.

“What is happening?” Tim asks. “Did I fall into a parallel Earth?”

“Tt, do not concern yourself with us, Drake. I’m here for Brown, not for you.”

Steph smirks at him.

“What the- Okay, first of all this apartment is mine and Jason’s. Steph doesn’t live here. Sometimes. Second… Since when do you get along with Steph?”

“I tolerate her.”

“What the hell? That’s like I love you in Gremlin language! Since when did you get Damian?”

Her smirk widens and Tim more or less expects her to do a little victory dance. “I don’t know what to tell you, man. I’m just irresistible.”

“Hm.” Tim turns to Damian. “Chad drove you out of the house and Bruce didn’t let you go to Dick's place in Bludhaven, right?”

“Father says I cannot miss school.”

“Great. If you’re going to become our second unofficial roommate, please stay away from Jason’s pots. He says he has a system and he's a nightmare when we mess with them.”

“I would never spend more time than necessary in your disgusting nest.”

“You’re literally on my couch! Letting my best friend paint your nails! You freaking pest!”

And Damian isn’t the only one.

Cass used to come over regularly, but the frequency of her visits increases dramatically now that Chad is staying at the manor. She isn’t bad to be around, though, as she mostly keeps training in the basement or napping on the couch that Steph is more than happy to share with her. When Tim asks why she doesn’t simply stay in the Batcave, Cass tells him Bruce is keeping their time at the cave to a minimum because Chad noticed sometimes they vanish even if all cars were in the garage.

Chad is also painfully public. He’s constantly tweeting and updating his Instagram and making sure everyone and their mother knows what he’s doing, who’s with him and where they are. That makes it difficult to kick him out without drawing attention. Gotham's elite is a nest of gossip and intrigue and people ought to ask uncomfortable questions if a rich guy sends a rich relative away for seemingly no reason. Bruce might be the most private person in the world, but Brucie Wayne is supposed to be a fun-loving man.

Cass convinces Tim not to make much fun of Bruce, because apparently, after Chad posted a picture of him and Bruce trying to bake and Brucie is wearing an apron that says “Kiss the Bat!”, Superman himself called him only to laugh for ten minutes. Tim Supposes that’s punishment enough.

When Duke is the one seeking shelter, it isn’t as fun. As much as Tim likes the guy, he’s a chronic worrier in a completely different way of Tim. He wants to make sure they're all living healthy lives and eating properly and, for some reason, whether Steph and Jason are bullying Tim. He question things such as the fact that Steph is ruining her back on the couch, Tim’s habit of leaving dirty dishes in the sink overnight and the lack of the right brands of food, whatever that means. Tim gets tired of it pretty fast, but he also finds that being unnecessarilly dark is a efficient way to get Duke to shut up.

“So Steph basically moved in, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you guys share the rent or…?”

“I own the building, Duke.”

“Right. So she doesn’t pay any bills.”

“She kills bugs for us sometimes. She buys candy, too.”

"Does Jason pay bills?"

"He does. We split it evenly between the two of us."

"Huh. Where does he get any money?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

"Is Bruce okay with that?"

"If Bruce wanted to have a say in my life he shouldn't have died and forced me to get emancipated."

"... Tim, I love you so much, man, but sometimes it's hard to be your brother."

"I know, Duke. I love you too, Duke."

One night, he comes back from patrol and he finds all of his siblings literally camping in the living room. Someone even built a pillow fort by tying a preposterous amount of blankets to the porch door and the TV stand. Too tired to care, Tim turns to his room.

“Good night, Jay. Good night, Steph. Good night, parasites that do not live here.”

“You take back those words on this instant, Drake,” Damian hisses, but fortunately someone (Steph) tucked him too tightly into his sleeping bag, so there’s nothing he can do but wiggle around like an angry worm.

“Why are we parasites?” Duke asks from his air mattress. “I’ve done the dishes. That’s more than what Steph does.”

“Good night, Tim,” Cass says from… somewhere. They know she found a place to sleep. They don’t know where it is.

DAD

Tim: brus pls get rid of him

Dad: I can’t, Tim, it’d be suspicious to kick out a relative for no reason.

Tim: every1 is living at my place bc of him

Tim: even damian

Tim: do u kno how insuferable a man has to be that damian would rather spend time with jason and i

Dad: If everyone being at your place is bothering you so much, why don’t you invite Chad?

Tim: … no. ur not pushing him to me.

Dad: Chad and you are close in age, aren’t you? You could get along if you tried.

Tim: i 19! he 26!

Dad: Jason is 22 and he’s your best friend.

Tim: conner is my best friend

Tim: jason is a partner in crime at best

Dad: If you’re able to think of something to shorten Chad’s visit, I’m all ears. I admit it’s inconvenient to have him here. Otherwise, I think spending time with your siblings will do you some good.

Tim: i hate you

Dad: Alright, Tim.

Tim: … ok that was a lie and im sorry i love u bruss

Dad: I love you too, Tim.

One day, Tim goes to the kitchen for a mug of coffee and finds Barbara comfortably working on her laptop.

“...you don’t even live at the manor.”

“Hm? Oh, I’m not avoiding cousin Chad, Steph just invited me over for waffles.”

Tim just takes his coffee and leaves without saying anything else.

And then shit finally hits the fan.

Because Tim isn’t an idiot like Bruce, he didn’t make his public persona something that would be painful for him to play. As far as Gotham’s society knows, Tim Drake-Wayne is a calm and collected young man, work-driven and not too ill-mannered for a rich boy, which isn’t as different from the real Tim. Real Tim is an overworked ball of anxiety that appears to be a calm and collected young man, so no one is surprised when he doesn’t acknowledge the rumors about him and the mysterious man.

At least not until a son of a bitch with too much free time decides to ruin his brother’s life on twitter.

@earthnotflatffs101 yo don’t this dude with tim drake low key look like jason todd?

And the motherfucker even dared to repost Chad’s selfie and an old picture of a 13 year-old Jason walking alongside Bruce.

Of course the tweet goes viral.

Everyone starts talking about the eerie resemblance between Tim’s buddy and his deceased brother that he supposedly never met. Some find it tasteless that everyone is making a conspiracy theory out of an allegedly dead child, but they are quickly overpowered by the wave of old gossip being revisited. It takes one Sunday afternoon for everyone to start pointing out how weird it is that Tim Drake left the Wayne manor seemingly out of the blue and started living by himself at such a young age and how my sense it’d make for him to share a place with a brother. They notice Chad captioned the picture as "visiting the cousins" plural even if it's public knowledge that Tim Drake- Wayne lives alone. People start demanding to know who is the mystery man lending his shoulder to Tim, tagging the few Waynes with known social media in their posts and even WE corporate account.

It’s the very definition of a shit show, in Tim’s humble opinion.

Red Robin and Batgirl skip their Sunday patrol to brainstorm ideas of damage control. Damian is pacing around the kitchen as the two of them desperately try to apply an algorithm Oracle made to make sure less people will see posts about Jason Todd. There’s not a lot they can do about the fact that #IsJasonToddAlive? is trending. They’re so distressed that Damian forgets to be unpleasant.

“I see no other option,” Damian says at some point. “We should kill that man before he ruins our family any further.”

“How would killing him solve anything?” Tim groans.

“It would make me feel better.”

“No.”

“His death would cause people to forget about Todd.”

“... Go on.”

“Tim, you’re not going to let Dami kill Chad.”

“Why not!”

“Because with our track record he’s going to come back with radioactive powers or some shit.”

“That would be good! He’d finally fit in with the family! As it is now, we’re becoming the freaking Kardashians with a hint conspiracy theory, Steph!”

That’s not the biggest problem, though.

The problem is that Jason doesn’t come home on that night.

Tim and Steph wait for hours after Damian finally calms down in his sleeping bag, but the sun rises and Jason’s room remains empty.

He isn’t freaking out, by any means. Jason is an adult man and he can handle himself. He used to go missing by months at a time before moving in with Tim. He must be busy doing Red Hood stuff. He could let them know he’s okay, just for shits and giggles, but it’s alright. He doesn’t owe them anything.

On the third day after #isJasonToddAlive went viral, Tim and Steph go on patrol even if it’s not their turn. It’s a spur of the moment thing, because they’re home and bored. They agree to split up and just ride around town aimlessly, see what happens and meet at the end of the night to grab waffles at that 24 hour diner Steph likes so much. One that Jason first took her to after one particular bad night in which she failed to stop a mugger from shooting their victim.

He is just riding his bike, not paying attention to where the wheels take him. It’s just a coincidence that he ends up in Red Hood’s old territory. He hears from some loiterers that Batgirl had been seen roaming around just south from where he is. He keeps his patrol focused on the north side.

A beeping sound informs him that someone is trying to contact him. He accepts it almost right away.

“ Jason ?”

“Nope, it’s me, Timmy,” Dick’s voice answers.

He sighs. And cringes when he realizes he broke the no-real-names-when-in-uniform rule. He’s lucky it isn’t Batman calling him. “Sorry, Nightwing, I thought… Never mind. You need something?”

“No, it’s just that I just got here at the manor. I thought I’d let you know.”

“Oh. Is everything okay? I didn’t even know you were coming back.”

“Well, with this whole Jason is alive thing blowing up I thought I’d come home, help in any way I can. Reporters are driving B insane.”

“Ugh.”

“Yeah. Also… Do you know Jason’s here?”

There is a beat. Tim presses the breaks with too much force and it’s a miracle that his bike doesn’t simply throw him away with how fast he stops.

“ What? ”

Dick chuckles over the comm. “I figured he didn’t tell you. Do what you want with this information. I’m gonna help Alfred now.”

Tim doesn’t bother saying goodbye, but he’s sure Dick will forgive him. He’s already pressing the buttons on his wrist pad to contact someone else. “Batgirl? Meet me at the cave. Now.”

It takes a lot of effort to stop Steph from storming into the manor through the main entrance in full Batgirl gear. And it’s a good thing Tim managed it, because there is a literal swarm of reporters in front of the gates and Tim wonders if anything happened in the short two hours he was out patrolling.

Once they’re in the cave, they’re careful enough to change into civies. Unlike Tim, Steph doesn’t have clothes stashed there so she simply steals a sweater from Damian’s locker while Tim checks the news.

“Someone saw the mystery man that looks like Jason Todd getting into Bruce Wayne’s car two days ago, ” he tells her when she comes out of the changing room. “How did we miss that?”

“I don’t know, you’re the tech dude,” she groans. “Maybe we hid so much crap the computer started hiding it from us too.”

It’s an explanation as good as any other and the truth is unimportant now. They climb out of the cave with unusual care, checking twice to make sure no one is around to see them emerge from the secret passage. As soon as the cave entrance is hidden, they hear altered voices.

Steph reaches for Tim’s hand when they walk towards the commotion and intertwines their fingers. One could think the gesture was a request for comfort. Tim had been friends with her long enough that it was a silent plea to hold her back if she needs to fight the urge to dropkick someone.

“... can’t simply hide him forever, Brucie!” They hear Chad saying.

Then, in a deep voice that isn’t quite Bruce or quite Batman, but that is still firm and definitive:

“If you can’t agree with me, feel free to leave. But stay aware that if you do anything to expose my son to unnecessary attention, I will not take it lightly.”

They walk into the room to find a Chad that looks somewhere between mildly horrified and extremely angry. Bruce is standing against the fireplace and he is definitely using the shadow he’s casting to appear bigger and more threatening, a trick he usually only uses when he’s wearing a cowl.

“What’s going on?” Tim asks.

“Tim!” Chad turns to him. “Get your father to see reason. I’ve been telling him that this is the perfect time to tell everyone Jason is alive. He wants to… to hide him like he’s a dirty secret.”

Tim raises an eyebrow. “What does Jason think?”

“Jason doesn’t know what’s best, Tim, he’s not okay! He has a gun in your house, for crying out loud!”

For the sake of the intensity of the argument, Tim pretends not to notice the batglare he’s getting from his father and focuses on giving Chad a batglare of his own:

“So? You have a problem with my brother?”

Steph is squeezing his hand enough to hurt. He isn’t sure who’s holding who back now.

Chad takes a step back. “You people are insane. Mom was right. Trying to help you guys is useless.”

“ That’s what you’ve been trying to do?” Steph blurts.

Chad shakes his head and storms out of the room… And just like that, Chad’s gone. Gone from their lives, hopefully forever, and if not... Tim knows last year Duke learned a lot about restraining orders.

“I was wondering when you two would come pick him up,” Bruce says. “I hoped it’d take a little longer, it’s nice having him home.”

“Where is he?”

“First… what is this about a gun?”

“First of all, it was Damian’s fault for giving him our address.” Steph shrugs. “Second of all, the gun is the least dangerous thing in Jason’s room and right now I’m more dangerous than any weapon you have, so where is he ?”

“Library.”

They bolt out of the room and straight upstairs. Tim is so caught in the relief of the biggest source of problem being gone that he gets careless. Jason always said Tim is too quick to forgive, even if he doesn’t forget, and he guesses that is true. When he enters the library and he finds himself facing a startled Jason, he’s not angry. Mildly annoyed, for sure. Relieved that his worst paranoiac fears rooted in PTSD are proven to be untrue. Concerned by the fact that Jason looks almost small, younger, maybe because he’s wearing one of Bruce’s shirts or because his expression is so off guard.

But, most importantly, Tim isn’t holding Steph’s hand anymore.

“Jason Todd, you mOTHERFUCKER!”

“No, don’t- ”

But it’s too late. She leaps and dropkicks him and Jason screams in pain and soon the two of them are literally rolling on the floor yelling insults at each other and knocking an entire table sideways. Tim sighs.

“Say uncle! Say uncle right now, you musky bitch!”

“ It’s musty, dumbass!!”

“You’re that, too!”

He sits down in one of the comfy reading chairs and waits for them to get it all out of their system. At some point, Steph is straddling Jason’s back pulling him backwards by the nostrils and he somehow is reaching back to tickle her sides and both of their gazes meet Tim’s unimpressed glower. They stop.

“You two done?”

“She started it!”

“ Bitch- ”

“Enough already,” Tim groans. He waits until both look appropriately ashamed and get off of each other. “Steph is right, though, what the fuck, Jason?”

Jason cringes, but still tries to play it cool, as though nothing unusual happened. “The news had my face, I decided to lay low.”

“And how’s that working out for you?” Steph snaps. “It took us three whole days to find you without actively looking. Bruce found you even before.”

“Also lay low hiding from what? Us?”

Grumbling something impossible to understand, he stands and crosses his arms in a clear attempt to look tough. In the absence of his leather jacket and the presence of all of Tim’s annoyance he only looks stupid.

“Look, I freaked out, alright? Me being found out was my fault.”

“How the heck is Chad’s stupid selfie your fault?”

“Because I knew it was a bad idea, okay?” Jason snaps. “I shouldn’t have sat there and made dumb excuses, I should have told him to fuck off the moment he saw my gun. I noticed him taking the stupid pictures, but I didn’t even care that I could be in one of them, I thought it wasn’t worth waking Tim up. All these months playing house and messing around with you guys made me reckless and soft. ”

Steph retreats a step as if he had slapped her.

“Okay, Jason, I’m willing to put up with a lot of angsty bullshit from you, but… Is that really what you think of us? That we’re, we’re what, bringing you down?”

“That’s not what I said!” He runs his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“No,” Tim interrupts. “He's right.” When Steph makes to argue, he raises a hand asking her to listen. “You did grow reckless. That’s what you’re supposed to do, Jason. You’re supposed to relax and have down time and mess around with us. And if shit happens… We have each others' backs. You’d known that if you had come home, because you’d know Steph and I spent the past three days trying to cover for your stupid butt, since we knew you’d want that.”

Jason doesn’t say anything for a minute. When Steph doesn’t either, Tim continues:

“You don’t have to just survive anymore, you know? I thought you knew that when you agreed to live with us. You’re family.”

“You sound like Dick.”

“I mean, Dick was the first person that treated me like family. Maybe that’s why I was so... Hm. Never mind.”

“You’re still upset he fired you, huh?”

“No. I mean, I have been. But I know now it wasn’t personal. He was doing the best he could, even if he didn’t really understand what I needed back then. I know Dick always loved me.”

“Hm. Did you talk to him so he could apologize or did you work all that on your own and forgave him by yourself?”

“Nice try, but right now we’re talking about your issues, not mine.”

Because Steph had been awful quiet for a while - which is something highly unusual - they turn to her in question. They find her wearing her furious expression, the one that puts fear for their lives in criminals hearts, but the effect is ruined by the fact that her big eyes are pooled with tears.

“Oh shit. That’s new. I didn’t know she did that. I thought she destroyed her tear ducts when she was a kid or something. What do I do?”

She simply shakes her head. “I get you, Jay,” she says, her voice a bit wobbly. “Admitting you have something means knowing you can lose it. But is the fear of losing it worth throwing it away altogether?”

Jason pulls her into a hug. She sniffles and rubs her face on his chest, purposefully wiping her runny nose there before she hugs him back.

“I hate you so much, Jason.”

“I hate you too, Steph,” he says softly. “And, from the bottom of my heart, my bad.”

She sniffles again. “Tim, get your gay ass over here. This is a triple hug situation.”

Tim snorts and mumbles something about the fact that Dick can never find out about this or he’ll never forgive them for not including him.

He joins the triple hug nonetheless.

The trio ends up sitting on the floor, their backs resting against the table Steph and Jason knocked over. They learn that Jason had escaped to one of his old hideouts when he heard the news. He was both annoyed and creeped out to find Bruce already there waiting for him and the fucker had the gall to bring Alfred along to make sure Jason wouldn’t say no.

In exchange, they tell him Damian was offering to kill Chad on Jason’s behalf, which makes him bit moved.

“Bruce had already said everything you said, by the way,” he tells Tim. “It’s scary how you’re more like him than his own biological son.”

Tim rolls his eyes. “We said the same thing because we’re right.”

“It almost sounds like you do want me to go out and tell everyone I’m alive.”

“I mean, yeah, but that doesn’t matter.”

“Wait, what?” Steph frowns. “You want people to know Jason’s alive? Then why did you make me spend hours sitting in front of a computer hunting tweets about this glorified zombie?”

“Because if Jason’s secret goes out, it’s for us, not for him,” Tim says. “It’s a pain to be part of a public family. We’d get to go out in public without worrying about being seen and to, I don’t know, post stupid pictures online, mock old people together in Bruce’s galas, but it also means that he would have to avoid reporters and have a double life like the rest of us do.”

After Tim finishes speaking, Steph nods as if that makes sense. Jason finds himself frowning at his feet.

“I’m gonna do it.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m gonna come out as a living person. I’ll maybe even pepper in the fact I’m also queer, just to spice things up.”

“Jay, you don’t have to…”

“No, I don’t. When it was Chad’s bullshit about me having to live my best life, I wasn’t going to, but if it’s for you guys, I can do it. Steph’s right. I can’t live a half live." His smile twists into something wicked. "And I know exactly how to do it.”

Congratulations, @JasonToddWayne! Your twitter account has been successfully created.

The first and only post is a picture of a man in a leather jacket and sunglasses in the middle of a fancy lobby. Hanging upside down from the chandelier above him is no one other than Dick Grayson-Wayne holding a flashlight right behind the man’s head to simulate a bright aura. Around him, some kneeling, some standing, but all holding out their arms towards him are all of the Wayne kids, Tim, Cassandra, Duke and even Damian. If you look closely, you can see a smiling butler on the background and, further, a shadow that looks very much like Bruce Wayne facepalming.

The caption of the picture simply says: I lived, bitch.

@dgraysonman retweeted that.

@stephssss retweeted that.

@thomascommaduke retweeted that

@babsgeez retweeted that

@BruceWayne retweeted that

The thing about being part of a scandal you purposefully caused is that you get to kick back and watch the world burn around you while you wear an evil little grin on your face whenever people ask what the hell you were thinking. Tim used to get annoyed by interview requests that had nothing to do with WE and everything to do with his personal life, but for once he enjoys watching the messages piling up and eventually saying no to all of them.

Bruce makes a brief and vague declaration about his son being back from the dead, no big deal, and he expects everyone can respect his family's privacy in this delicate moment. He gives the press just enough and refuses to elaborate. Only liars give too many details and they’re not lying. Not entirely, at least.

Of course, Jason doesn’t help by posting the weirdest freaking memes to his twitter account and, whenever someone tries to get answers from his, his retorts vary widely from “I returned from the grave to wash Damian’s mouth with soap” to “I was captured by a group of murderous ninja that dipped my corpse in a cursed pool that brought me back to life”. Unfortunately, he gets verified and no man should hold so much power.

They return to their lives, Tim in his room, Jason in his and Steph on her couch. Sometimes they even meet in the kitchen to play Uno and prank call Dick - it never works, because Dick always says he’s flattered that they wanted to hear his voice, but it’s the thought behind it that counts.

They go on patrol sometimes. By this time, the public seems to have caught on that Batgirl and Red Robin are basically a duo. Sometimes the Red Hood is included in the mix. For once, Tim doesn’t mind that they know as much.

He thinks they’re heading towards more peaceful days.

DUCK DUCK BRUISE

Duck Robin: hey stephanie what the hell

Duck Hood: Do I even want to know

Bruise: we need our own groupchat

Duck Hood: Why is it named that?

Bruise: bc we red red and purple

Bruise: u never played duck duck bruise?

Duck Robin: its duck duck goose steph

Bruise: u and i led v different childhoods

Duck Hood left the chat

Bruise added Jason Todd to the chat

Bruise changed Jason Todd’s name to Duck Hood

Bruise: u cant escape us jay

Drake Robin: one of us! one of us! one of us!

Duck Hood: Next time either of you complain about not getting laid I’ll show you a screenshot of this conversation.

Jason, Tim and Steph are walking home. It’s still day and, even if the sun isn’t quite shining because this is still Gotham, it’s nice and warm outside. The reason they went to get groceries together is because Jason had been horrified to find out that neither Tim nor Steph knew how to pick fruit and they spent a good part of their afternoon arguing over which apple was the ripest. Tim refused to get out of the shopping cart until their groceries were paid.

It had been fun.

Steph forced them to carry all the bags, arguing that she is but a frail young woman even if Tim is pretty sure she can bench press him. The real reason is because she wants to play Pokemon Go on the walk home and that’s valid, so they carry the bags. She is one of the few people of Gotham that isn’t afraid of getting mugged, so she might as well use that privilege.

A text stops her from catching a bulbasaur right before it stops her entirely.

“Steph?” Tim calls, his brow furrowing in worry.

“It’s happening again,” she whispers.

The brothers approach her to look at her phone. They’re already familiar with this at this point, so none of them is surprised to see a headline and a picture.

MYSTERIOUS BOMBSHELL SEEN LEAVING JASON WAYNE’S APARTMENT

Tim recognizes the outfits they wore two days ago on the day he snapped and forced them to take out the trash together, which ended a week long battle of wills. It’s also the day the biggest bag ripped open and an obscene amount of RedBull cans rolled down the curb. The picture is them watching the disaster. Steph is a pretty girl, but that picture is not doing her any favors. Her face is all scrunched up, as Gothamites tend to be on the rare occasions they see the sun, part of the ripped trash bag still in her hand. Jason has his hands on his hips looking like every bit of the mother hen he is and he is wearing crocs over socks (Tim has sworn to kill Roy Harper for corrupting his brother like that, making him think that’s an okay thing to do and say disgusting things like just try it, you annoying hipster, it’s comfy. )

“You know what? They called me a bombshell, I’m not even mad.”

“How come it’s Jason’s apartment? I’m literally the only person in this household with a dayjob!”

“First of all I'm an university student. Second, you only do actual work because you’re a sucker, you’re all trust fund babies. And that includes you, mr. Crime Lord.”

“Thank you, miss Eats All my Fucking Food.”

They resume their walk without reading the rest of the article. Tim thinks to himself that this is not too bad. Then it gets worse.

“Hey. Are those reporters?” Steph asks. “In front of our house?”

It only takes a glance to find out that she’s right. There is a small group of people hanging out near their apartment complex even though there’s no apparent reason to be there. Any decent Gothamite knows you don’t loiter for no reason, because you never know when the freaking Killer Croc is going to randomly pop out of the sewer or some crap. Those people are there with a purpose and that purpose involves a lot of them holding cameras.

“Yeah, I’m out,” Tim says.

“What?”

“This is the first time I’m not involved in the news. I’m going to enjoy my immunity. You two are on your own for this one.”

He turns his back to them. Enough is enough. Sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand, let the universe know what you’re willing to put up with on that day. Tim is not willing to deal with this. He gestures at Steph and Jason not to follow him as he stalks into the adjacent empty alley. He takes a long, deep breath and shouts at the top of his lungs:

“COOONNEEEEEEEEEEER!”

Tim had never been better, or at least that’s what he tells himself 50 times in a row. He chose to be in denial and deny he will. He sits on the floor of his best friend’s room and takes a deep calming breath of the fresh air coming through the window. It doesn’t smell like gritty cities or nosey reporters at all.

Conner finally comes back and hands him a bowl of popcorn before taking a seat by his side. He turns on the old television in his room. Tim smiles.

“Hey, your siblings are on the news,” Conner says.

Tim glances at the phone Conner is holding. It’s a picture of Steph walking into their building carrying Jason in her arms as one would carry a toddler, one arm supporting his bottom and the other pointing threateningly at the camera. There is no doubt in Tim's mind that they’re mimicking the meme on purpose. He doesn’t bother reading the headline. He doesn’t want to know. He simply puts the phone aside and hugs Conner.

“I don’t want to go back to Gotham ever again. Let me live here, please.”

Conner laughs. “Sure, Ma’s been trying to get me to kidnap you for a while now.”

“Good. I’m going to learn farm work. I’ll bring honor to us all.”

“Sure," Conner pets his hair. "It’s been a whole day now. You already miss Jason and Stephanie, don’t you?”

“...yeah.”

“I’ll fly you back home tonight.”

“Thanks, Conner, you’re the best.”

Despite everything, there’s no place like home.

#batfam #jason todd #tim drake #stephanie brown #red hood #red robin #batgirl #impulse control? idk her #i swear i was gonna wait to post it but lmao #i mean it's already written so #here take this

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super-cerulean · 6 years

Text

Two Way Street

Request: Hi sweetheart, can I request a #10 & #13 from Jason Todd prompt challenge? Sorry to bother u. I love ur blog (The prompts were Jason being Jealous of the reader and Dick and the reader being jealous of Jason and Kori)

Warnings: Language

Part One/ Part Two

Jason Todd had been a friend of yours before you had even become a superhero. You met him after he had become Red Hood while he was doing an undercover mission at the bar you worked at. The two of you became quick friends and it didn’t take long for you to figure out who he really was. Though you thought what he did was cool and noble, you never really saw yourself doing it. Some people were cut out for staying up all night exchanging bullets with the criminal underworld and some weren’t. You didn’t think you were cut out for that kind of life. Of course, there were all types of ways to be a superhero and you ended up finding that out the hard way. Being a vigilante didn’t fit well for you, but apparently being a Green Lantern did. At least that’s what everyone told you after the ring had dragged you halfway across the galaxy. From then on, you found yourself doing a lot of things you wouldn’t have even dreamed of; one such thing being assisting Jason’s brother Dick on a mission.

Getting the call from Nightwing was surprising, but it wasn’t the first time you had been asked to assist another hero. Jason had done it plenty of times under the guise of “extra training” when he needed back up or wanted you to use your ring to help with something. If you hadn’t known him as well you might have gotten angry that he was using your powers for his own gain. Unfortunately, you’d known him long enough to have asked for the Red Hood’s help enough times to allow him the freedom of using you in the same way. Karma really could be a bitch sometimes.

Despite not having any experience working with Dick or in Bludhaven, you knew him well enough had been bored with life between your own missions so you suited up, charged your ring and went out. Dick was working on a case where alien technology was involved, so he wanted help from someone who was more familiar with it. Of course, being a close friend of Jason and a nosey person in general, you knew Kori and you knew they had a thing going on. Why he'd asked for your help instead of hers was intriguing to say the least and the question burned in the back of your mind for most of the mission until he finally decided to bring it up.

“So um. Besides this mission, I kind of need your help with something,” he said while you were travelling to your next destination. Your ring allowed you to fly on your own, but you didn’t feel like dealing with Dick travelling across rooftops so you made a small plane construct for Dick to ride in. It was a lot quicker and made it easier to talk to each other.

“And what would that be?” You slowed your own speed, trailing parallel to the construct to better hear him over the sound of wind in your ears. Dick leaned onto the front of the plane, his hair flying away from his mask and exposing the entirety of his face. His eyes were covered by his mask, but you could still read most of his expression. He seemed nervous, biting his lip as he figured out what he wanted to say.

“It’s kind of dumb, but I needed help with something with Starfire.”

“Okay? You’re starting to freak me out with this cryptic shit,” you responded.

“Well I've been trying to figure out what we are for the longest time but she really doesn't seem like she wants to be in a relationship. So I asked her about it and we got into a huge fight because I said I wanted to have an actual relationship and she wanted to keep things the way they are. So I said, fine but if you don’t want to take this seriously, then neither will I.” You paused, eyes wandering away from his face as you though then returning with a confused look.

“...so, because you wanted a more serious relationship…you broke up?”

“I don’t know, there isn’t anything to really break up since we apparently aren’t that serious. I want to be with her and all, I just wish she would...you know, think me as more than a dick appointment.” He paused, seeing you quirk a smile at his choice of words, and sighed. “No pun intended.”

“Okay, so what do you want me to do about it?”

“I want you to help me make her jealous.”

“Me? She will kick. My. Ass. I've only been a Green Lantern for like half a year, I couldn't take her in a fight.” You turned suddenly so that you were facing him, slowing to an almost complete stop. “Not only that, but trying to make her jealous? That’s kind of fucked up.”

“I won’t let it go that far, I just want to do something to find out if she cares about me as much as I care about her. I know it’s a shitty thing to do, but I don’t think she realizes how it feels to not know where we stand.” You were quiet, turning around again and guiding you to the location you needed to go for your mission and deconstructing the plane once Dick had stepped out of it. “I just really need someone to help with this and you’re the best candidate.”

“Why?”

“You just got into this whole hero circle so it wouldn't be completely insane for us to be flirting. We’re kind of in similar circles and you’re obviously not bad looking.”

“Oh haha, you're so funny,” you retorted. Even though you were still teasing each other, you were actually thinking about his proposal. He was right that Kori would likely not get angry enough to fight you, but it was kind of odd. His intentions were good but you had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

“I know we’re not that close and all, but I feel like I’m running out of options. If you’re not comfortable with it, it’s fine though. I can ask someone else or find another way.”

“You know what? Fine, if this blows up it'll be in your face so I don't have that much to lose.” Dick broke into a grin at your agreement to help him and you rolled your eyes.

“Absolutely, if Kori really does get mad, I’ll tell her it was all me. And if it doesn’t work and whatever sliver of a relationship I had is ruined, at least I can say I made a new friend.”

“I’m glad you’re making jokes to cope with this, because that’s more than likely what’s going to happen.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t,” Dick responded. He turned to walk away, but suddenly faced you again. “Oh, and don’t mention this to Jason. I know you guys are close but he’s also close with Kori and I don’t want him to ruin the plan.”

“You do realize we started sharing an apartment like a month ago, right?” You narrowed your eyes at him, crossing your arms over your chest. Maybe you should have just told him to find someone else. Jason was now your closest friend and lying to him didn’t feel right; even if it was to help his brother out.

“Yes, but it’ll be fine. We’ll let him believe it with Star for a while until the plan is done. Then, you can tell him and laugh about how dumb this is.”

After a moment of heavy thought, you finally sighed in defeat. “...Alright, I guess that's fair.”

“So you’re in?”

“Yeah, I’m in.

Dick had apparently thought everything through before he even asked for your help. He wanted to start off small with random video chats while he was at the Titan’s Tower and inviting you over to hang out with him when he knew Kori would be there. You didn’t put much thought into it because the plan wasn’t really yours, so you weren’t even sure it was working. He wasn’t doing much outside of hanging out and talking to you more. When he asked you to help make Kori jealous, you thought he would be acting overly flirtatious, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Whatever it was, you were at least glad you didn’t have to do much either. The only real indication that anything was different came a few days in when Jason brought it up.

It was a lazy day where both of you were relaxing after going through hell doing Red Hood and Green Lantern work respectively. Jason was sitting in an armchair opposite to you in sweat pants and a plain t-shirt while you reclined on the couch in your own pajamas. Dick had been texting you back and forth for a while since you had gotten home and you were laughing at the dumb things he’d been talking about. Despite the whole situation, Dick was actually pretty fun to talk to. If he didn’t end up dead in a ditch, you’d be glad to keep up a friendship with him. It was while the thought had crossed your mind that Jason suddenly spoke up.

“I heard that you and Nightwing have been working together a lot…” You looked up, seeing Jason glancing at you over his book. His eyes remained on the page, but he was waiting on a response from you as he read. The fact that he even knew about it surprised you, so when he spoke you had to take a moment to find a response.

“Yeah, I guess we have.” Jason didn’t react much besides nodding at first, so you thought he was done with it. He seemed to not care much about the whole thing other than being curious as he continued to stare down at the pages in his book. Then, he surprised you again by pressing a bit further into his inquiry.

“I didn’t know you two were that close.”

“Well we weren’t, but he asked me to help him on a case and we’ve been talking a lot since then.” You watched Jason carefully. He seemed like he wanted to say something more, but he was biting his tongue. You wondered just how much Kori had told him and what Dick had been doing on his end. Having the effects of his plan ripple into your house was a bit unnerving, but you kept your promise to Dick not to say anything to Jason. He seemed fairly nonchalant about it, so you didn’t think too much about him asking you. The only thing that worried you was that Dick’s plan might interfere with your own relationships, but that seemed to not be the case. At least that was what you thought.

He may have looked cool as a cucumber to you, but he was internally fuming. Kori had only told him about your relationship with Dick the night before and he was even angrier a day later than he had been when he first learned of it. It took so much willpower to come off as nonchalant mentioning it to you that he could have been a lantern himself. His anger was pretty much boiling inside him, but he refused to let it show. Instead, he stuck to playing it cool, using the book as a way to keep from losing it. In all honesty, he had been planning to read from it to calm himself down a bit, but he ended up reading the same page over and over again because he was distracted. Distracted by you smiling and laughing at text messages that were likely coming from his brother.

Denial was his first thought when he found out, thinking there must have been some kind of misunderstanding. Maybe that’s why it didn’t piss him off as much. It wasn’t until he noticed the shift in your behavior that it really sunk in as real. It wasn’t a lot, but he knew you well enough to know that something was different. Especially the way that you spent much more time on your phone. He didn’t have to see your phone to know who you were texting and the thought alone made him want to throw his book out the window.

What did he think he was doing?

First, he has a huge fight with Kori and now he decides to reach out and start flirting with you? He knew Dick had a bit of a reputation, but this was just ridiculous. And of all people, he had to start talking to Y/N. One of his best friends and his roommate. It was so out of the blue that Jason had no idea what to do with all this sudden anger. He didn’t want to talk to you about it because that might end up in an argument. It really wasn’t his business to be telling you who to talk to and Jason knew that. Still, he couldn’t just turn off his feelings. He was angry and whether or not it was warranted, he had to do something about it or at least get more information before he started freaking out.

Not long after Jason had asked you about Dick, you found yourself being dragged further into the mess again. Just as you were heading into the kitchen to prepare lunch for yourself, your phone rang and drew your attention away from the refrigerator. The caller ID read “BIG Richard” and was followed by a slew of eggplant emojis. Initially you had it set to Little Richard to be funny, but Dick had seen it and changed it himself immediately. Cracking a small smile, you answered his call and pressed the phone to your ear.

“Y/N, is Jason at home right now?” You hummed in thought at his question, doing a quick walkthrough of your apartment to check and see if he was out. After you’d looked around you responded to Dick, telling him that Jason wasn’t at home.

“I thought so. Kori’s gone too and I heard her talking about the outlaws with Beast Boy on her way out. They must be out on a mission together.”

“Wow, you really are a detective.”

Dick ignored your sarcastic comment and questioned you again. “You said they come by your apartment after missions sometimes, right?”

“Yeah, sometimes. Jason didn’t take much from his room when I checked so it’s probably not a long one.”

“Okay then, I’m coming over.”

“Seriously? They probably won’t even come here.”

“Maybe not, but at least you’ll be in my incredible company.”

“Do we really have to do this at my house? Jason’s been acting weird about it already.” It wasn’t noticeable at first, but he was certainly acting differently. He seemed less apt to talk to you and was in a bad mood fairly often. You didn’t want to think it had been because of everything going on with Dick but it couldn’t have been a coincidence.

“Oh trust me, I know. He told me off about it the other day.” You paused what you were doing, at this.

“Wait, he did? What did he say?”

“He asked me to meet up with him and he was asking if we were dating. I brushed it off and just said we were talking, but he actually got mad about it.”

“Did you tell him it’s not real?”

“Of course not, that would ruin everything. I just told him we’re both adults and can make our own choices.”

“Well that explains his shitty attitude.” You hesitated, chewing your lip as you leaned against the kitchen counter. “Did he say why he was so pissed off?”

“No, but I can probably guess why. I just hope this is working as well on Kori as it is on him.” You chose not to ask him to elaborate more, instead opting to focus on him instead. This wasn’t about you and the thoughts that were starting to form in your mind were just going to be trouble in the long run. It was better to just let it go and worry about what was going on in the present.

“Let’s hope not for your sake,” you replied. Dick laughed at your response and ended the call, letting you know he was on his way. You agreed and said you’d set up something for you both to do, but you couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling in your chest.

Dick was at your apartment for hours before anyone came back. To pass time, you’d been watching random tv and relaxing on your couch together with pretty much all of the snacks you’d been hiding in your room. You were sitting on either side of the couch with your legs crossed over the middle and tossing popcorn back and forth, trying to catch it in your mouths when the front door opened. Dick shot you a sudden look and you almost choked laughing at his expression.

There was chatter coming from the entrance so you knew Jason wasn’t alone. You were already shaking your head, knowing that Dick’s plan had worked and you weren’t going to hear the end of his “genius” for at least a full 24 hours. Unfortunately, you were going to be seeing the results up close and personal instead of through dramatic retellings via phone.

Roy was the first one to notice the two of you in the living room. Well, he saw the snacks more precisely and wasted no time in leaping over the couch and stealing some. It was then that Jason and Kori noticed that Dick was there with you. They had already changed out of their costumes and Roy smelled like alcohol and cigarettes so they likely had gone out somewhere after they were done with their mission. You could already sense the tension in the room, so you busied yourself with saving your snacks from Roy’s greedy hands.

“Oh come on, you can share some of this with your guests!” He protested, trying to keep you from taking the bag of candy he’d taken.

“Yeah, some. Not the whole bag. Give it back, Harper!” Roy laughed when you lunged at him and Dick balanced the popcorn on his arm away from the couch so that it wouldn't spill everywhere while you were fighting for your snacks. Roy was another hero you were well acquainted with as he often came by and stayed with Jason when he was in town. He hadn’t crashed overnight at your new apartment yet, but he came by often enough.

“Would you two fight away from the food so you don’t ruin it all!” Dick kicked at Roy, who fell to the floor in front of the couch with a dull thump. He laughed, adjusting into a sitting position between the couch and coffee table where he stole candy from another bag.

“Oh I’m sorry, am I disturbing date night?”

“No, but you are disturbing the peace and I’ll send your ass flying to Metropolis if you don’t cut it out!” You heard shuffling behind you and turned to see what the others had been doing while Roy was stealing food. Kori was walking around into your kitchen while Jason had paused near the entrance and was staring at Dick with narrowed eyes. Before you could say anything, he was talking.

“Dick, can I talk to you for a minute?” You looked back at him with raised eyebrows, and he gave you a quick smile before agreeing and hopping over the couch. Roy was quick to take his spot and the bowl of popcorn he’d left in his wake while they disappeared down the hallway to your rooms.

“Want any snacks, Kori? There’s a bunch here,” you called out, trying to relieve some of the awkwardness from the situation.

“Oh so you offer her snacks but when it’s me you snatch them away like a little gremlin?”

“Yes, because she didn’t run over here like a wild animal to steal them,” you said, returning Roy’s glare with one of your own. Kori came around with a smile, laughing at Roy’s face and looking over the selection of foods on your table. She sat down between the two of you, picking out something she liked and crossing her legs onto the couch.

“How was the mission?”

“Way easier than we thought it would be,” Roy responded simply.

“Which means boring,” Kori added. The three of you sat together and talked for a while, falling into an easy conversation. You were glad that even though Dick had you wrapped up in his little scheme that you were still cool with Kori and your friendship was fine. At this point, you kind of wished the whole thing was over so you didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Of course, things were never that easy.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Jason returned to the living room, his entire stance changed. It was easy to tell he was pissed off by the way he walked and Dick followed behind him, not looking much better. You hadn’t heard anything but they’d clearly gotten into an argument while the rest of you were chatting. Jason had thrown his jacket back on while Dick was watching him with a furious gaze.

“Come on, Kori,” he said. You raised your eyebrows, glancing at her as she looked over the back of the seat with as much confusion as you held.

“Why?”

“Because,” Jason said, glancing at Dick, who was still fuming. “We have a date.”

Tag List

@jason-todd-rh @chidroichan-blog @queen-fighter @hyp-oh-critical @roseangel013bf

#Jason Todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #red hood #red hood imagine #red robin x reader #request

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thorne93 · 7 years

Text

No Matter What (Part 3)

Prompt: Imagine you’re an Avenger and you meet Bucky for the first time during Civil War

Word Count: 2630

Warning: Language, fighting, violence, angst

Notes: This will follow Cap America: Civil War…. I envisioned a younger reader who’s like 19-24 years old, btw. Thanks to my beta @like-a-bag-of-potatoes

Forever Tags: @amarvelouswritings @cocosierra94 @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @harleyquinnandscarletwitch @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked527 @myparadise1982sand @missinstantgratification @thejulesworld @rda1989 @marvelloushamilton @munlis @bubblyanarocks3 @thefridgeismybestie @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @hardcollectionworldtrash @igiveupicantthinkofausername @kaliforniacoastalteens @feelmyroarrrr

Sebastian Stan Tag: @nedthegay @lostinspace33 @alwayshave-faith @elleatrixlestrange @buenostardissherlock @lenawiinchester @the-red-world-of-jess-chibi @memory-of-a-goldfish @mellsstark

Bucky Barnes: @nedthegay @lostinspace33 @alwayshave-faith @elleatrixlestrange @ultrarebelheart @lenawiinchester

No Matter What: @void-imaginations @devil-may-cry-11-blog @james-heaven-barnes @shifutheshihtzu

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

It was only a few weeks after the problems in Africa that Tony was coming to the compound. You had met him a few times and you loved his wit, his humor, his intelligence, but sometimes he gave off a very...cocky and arrogant vibe. But you still loved to be around him.

Steve was watching more footage and coverage of the accident, as was Wanda. He paused his to go check on her while you and Vision stood in the kitchen.

“Vis, you don’t blame Wanda, do you?” you asked suddenly as you played with an apple.

“I know she didn’t mean to hurt anyone with her actions, no,” he responded as Tony walked in with someone.

“Where’s capsicle?” he asked as he looked at you two.

“I will get Captain Rogers for you,” Vision responded.

“Thank you,” Tony noted. “Y/N, this is Secretary of State. Secretary Ross. Mr. Secretary this is y/F/N, our newest recruit.”

You choked on your spit as you realized who was standing in the room. Immediately you stood up straight, adjusted your hair, and shook his hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” you said.

“And you,” he responded with a grin.

Finally, Steve and Wanda and the rest of the team joined you, taking some of the heat off of you. The Secretary and Tony said they wanted to speak to all of you. You converged in the conference room and Secretary Ross began to talk.

“Five years ago... I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass... I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us... protected us, risked your lives... but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some... who would prefer the word ‘vigilantes’.”

Natasha asked, “And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?”

“How about "dangerous"?” he retorted and you automatically blanched. How were you dangerous? You weren’t dangerous. Rumlow. Ultron. Double agents - they were dangerous. Not the Avengers. You were the only hope against the dangers. “What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals... who routinely ignore sovereign borders... and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?”

Again, your anger flared. You did care. All of you did. How could he say you didn’t seem concerned?

He shuffled through footage on the screen of different accounts where the Avengers had destroyed cities. Until Steve told him to turn it off.

“For the past four years you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution,” Secretary Ross stated as he placed a thick booklet on the table. “The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries... it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary.”

You could feel yourself getting worked up. This was bullshit. Who had the right to just order you all around? The world owed you an unpayable debt yet they wanted to chain all of you and control you? That doesn’t add up. Either they trusted you to save their lives or they didn’t.

After a tense and quiet moment, Steve said, “The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that.”

You nodded in agreement.

Ross demanded, “Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes... you can bet there'd be consequences.”

“Okay, wait, time out,” you said, holding your hand in the air. “We didn’t ‘misplace’ Thor and Dr. Banner. Thor went home, to Asgard. You get that, right? That Thor doesn’t live here. And the only times he has come here is to help us fight. Dr. Banner? He was out in the middle of nowhere before you all pulled him back in. He lived without any incidents for years, he can do it again. I read the file.”

“Be that as it may, the world no longer sees the Avengers as a team of heroes anymore. But there is a possible solution here. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground.”

“So, there are contingencies,” Rhodey confirmed.

Secretary Ross answered, “Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over.”

Nat asked, “And if we come to a decision you don't like?”

“Then you retire.”

You sat back and bit your cheek to keep from going off. This was stupid. This was beyond idiotic.

All of you got up to sort your own thoughts, grab water, take a breather, go to the bathroom, then you regrouped in the living space.

Sam and Rhodey had started to talk and they were already getting into a heated debate.

“Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor which is one more than you have,” Rhodey noted to Sam.

“So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?” Sam asked.

“A 117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, ‘No, that's cool. We got it.’”

“Just because the whole world wants us to sign it doesn’t mean we should,” you argued. “Sam’s right. Where does it stop? So they control us, then what? Will we be tagged and numbered? What if they only let those without powers operate, so Vision, Wanda, and I are benched?”

“That’s not what would happen,” Rhodey argued.

“Oh yeah? Bet you thought SHIELD would never get compromised either,” you spat.

Vision suddenly spoke up, “I have an equation.”

Sam sarcastically remarked, “Oh, this will clear it up.”

“In the 8 years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate.”

“Are you saying it's our fault?” Steve questioned, a little bit of defense coming into his voice.

“I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight... Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand.”

“Boom,” Rhodey said as if that just put an end to all discussion.

“What?” you challenged. “Vision, I get what you’re saying. I’m not arguing that by us existing it makes anything better. But do you honestly think that if we all retired or if we all were never even born, that we wouldn’t have the same problems? Loki? He would’ve still come to rule Earth. Rumlow would still be an evil dick. So taking us out of the equation or putting chains on us won’t make anything better.”

“Tony. You're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal,” Nat noted after your rant.

Steve informed, “It's because he's already made up his mind.”

Tony got up as he said, “Boy, you know me so well. Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?” Tony put his phone on the counter and flipped up an image. “Oh, that's Charles Spencer by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul... before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia.” For a moment, everyone was quiet in thought as they listened to him. “He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass. There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys.”

Steve said, “Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up.”

“Who said we're giving up?”

“We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames.”

“I'm sorry. Steve. That... That is dangerously arrogant,” Rhodey argued

“Arrogant? Arrogant?” you mocked, furious. “How is it arrogant to say that we need to own up for our own shit? If we fuck up, it’s on us. How is stating that the UN takes blame or responsibility any better?”

“Because, Y/N, this is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA.”

“I don’t give a fuck if it’s the Keebler Elves,” you argued. “It’s still people. People that can be corrupt. People that will start war. What if one country needs us and we can’t go because the 116 countries say no? What if one country doesn’t want our help but the other’s think we should go and we walk into a god damn fire fight?”

“Y/N’s right,” Steve said. “It’s run by people and people with agendas and agendas change.”

“That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stop manufacturing,” Tony added.

“Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. Just like Y/N said. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.”

You nodded to him, proud and happy that he took your side and backed you up.

“If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty,” Tony said and you let that sink in. Maybe he was right. Maybe it would be better to go quietly now than it would be later with a fight. But it still didn’t feel right getting strong armed into this.

“You’re saying they’ll come for me,” Wanda said.

“We would protect you,” Vision assured.

Nat concurred, “Maybe Tony's right. If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off…”

Sam demanded, “Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?”

“I'm just... reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back.”

You realized she was right. You knew how this would look to the outside world. That the Avengers didn’t want to be controlled. What are they so afraid of? You could hear and see the headlines now. But what did they know? They weren’t the ones risking their lives. The ones saying “Yes, go ahead and shackle us like criminals”. It wasn’t the whole picture. It wasn’t just about saying no, it was about the fact that you all were losing a right.

“Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?” Tony asked.

“Oh, I want to take it back now,” Nat said, shaking her head.

“No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed - I win.”

“No, Tony, not case closed,” you argued, getting so frustrated it was hurting your head. “How is it any better if the UN is in control of us? What? Are we just going to be extra careful not to kill people? How is this any better?” you asked. You could not fathom how giving the UN control over you all made anyone any more safer than they were. How Nat and Tony and the rest of them didn’t see that was beyond your comprehension.

“I have to go,” Steve suddenly said as he tossed the Accords onto the table and headed downstairs. All of you looked around the room at each other with confused looks.

“I, uh, I’ll go check on him,” you said as you got up and followed him. you saw him leaning against the bottom of the stair rail, his head bowed as his hand hid his face. “Steve?” you gently said. “You okay?”

He looked up at you, his eyes glassy. “It’s Peggy,” he answered.

Instantly, you knew. You’d only known everyone on the team for a year, but you had a way of reading people. Besides, you and Steve were best friends.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry, Steve.” You immediately pulled him into a hug, his massive form overtaking yours as he gripped you and you heard and felt him start to cry. You held him a long time, rubbing your arms on his back soothingly as he gripped you tight. You weren’t going to quiet him, tell him it would be okay. You knew that sort of pain and you knew the generic shit never consoled anyone, so you didn’t say anything.

After a few minutes, he said he wanted to be alone in his room. You nodded and said you would tell the others.

You came back upstairs and everyone looked to you for an answer as to why Steve left abruptly.

“Peggy passed away,” you informed.

A murmurs of shocks, gasps, and soft curses floated around the room at the tragic news.

“Talk about timing,” Sam said.

After that, everyone went around the room, signing the Accords if they so chose. The only people left were you, Sam, Wanda, and Steve.

“I can’t sign that. Not unless Steve does,” you informed emphatically.

“Jesus Christ, kid. He isn’t your father,” Tony barked. “You don’t have to say and do everything he does.”

You flinched at his anger. “It’s not like that. I just don’t feel right signing something he doesn’t agree with. He’s been around longer than all of us. He’s wiser. If he feels it’s not right in his heart to sign this, then I gotta back that up. He would do the same for me.”

“I can’t believe this. This is unbelievable,” Tony said, clearly angry. “I don’t have time for this. Nat, Vision, work on the rest of them,” Tony ordered before he left.

“Y/N,” Nat started, looking at you.

“No, Nat. I’m not fucking signing that thing,” you insisted. “If they want to come for us, fine. Let them. It will show the world who the real danger is, the real threat.”

You got up and went downstairs to Steve’s room.

“Hey,” you said softly as you entered. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to bother you. I just wanted to see if you needed anything or anyone?”

He looked up from his bed where he was staring at his phone. He gave you a gentle half smile. “You could never bother me, Y/N. I’m okay though,” he informed.

“You sure?”

“Well...I knew this would come,” he said. “It’s not like she was going to be around forever.”

You gave a slight nod as you stepped farther into the room. “Do you want someone to come with you to the services?” you asked.

After a moment of thought, he answered, “Yeah. I think I’d appreciate that.”

You nodded and smiled. “Anything for you. I’ll see if Sam wants to come and we’ll join you,” you informed in a soothing tone.

“You’re too good to me,” Steve said with a small laugh.

“I only repay the kindness you continue to show me,” you informed with a shrug. “I can never repay you for what you’ve done for me, Steve. the least I can do is be with you in your time of need.”

#no matter what #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes #steve rogers #captain america

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