#why have i suddenly decided this is like catwoman and batman what's wrong with me.

[ashlingnarcos]

Carrillo and Pacho for your random pairing challenge, just because I can’t imagine it at all but it’ll be so hot😆

@purplesong1028: 💛sorry for the wait!

Pacho’s new to the Cali cartel and looking to take out a mid-level enemy, and with this being one of his first missions afield, he wants to prove himself to Gilberto and Miguel and Chepe. He’s young, Medellín is new territory to him, and he’s ready for adventure.

Carrillo’s commanding his own unit for the first time, and as the oldest son of a fearsome Santanderean general, he wants to prove himself, so he’s going off the books with a friend to rustle up some information. He’s young, Medellín is new territory to him, and he’s ready for adventure.

They are, of course, hunting the same man.

Carrillo doesn’t know that yet.

Gay bar, dancing. Carrillo sticks out like a sore thumb; the man can’t dance. But he’s convincing enough in the manner of a guy new to it all that he’s generally accepted as a harmless buffoon, rather than some type of threat.

The guy goes into a back room. Carrillo simply follows the man after a few seconds, looking like he knows what he’s doing for the first time in a while. He has the guy’s hands zip tied and hauls him towards the door, intending to take him to a hideout for questioning. There’s a scraping sound, and he catches a glimpse of someone following him, but isn’t able to see in time before the person darts behind a door, so he just focuses on getting out of there faster.

Right outside the back door, someone knocks the gun out of his hands and goes after him with a knife. Swift savage slashes, he’s blocking it with his forearms, and finally pins the man down and breaks his arm.

In the meantime, Carrillo’s buddy has pulled up in their getaway car and is wrestling the captive into it: let’s go, let’s go. Carrillo runs—it will only take a couple seconds—

Mistake.

From over Carrillo’s left shoulder come two whistling shots; he watches his captive’s head explode into a bloody mess, then his friend’s. Turns.

The man is smiling, his right arm hanging at a bad angle, his left hand steady on the gun. He can shoot nearly as well with his left hand as he can with his right. He can do most anything.

And Carrillo, who had not recognized him earlier, sees that smile and remembers—this man, earlier, he had danced with this man and thought nothing of him. This man had even introduced himself: Pacho. Something bursts in Carrillo’s gut—shame, probably, he thinks.

He does not know it, but when they danced, Pacho didn’t know who Carrillo was, didn’t care, and neither of them were particularly interested in each other, only in staying close to the target. He’ll never know it. In this moment, Carrillo only thinks that Pacho must have known all along and all along been grinning at him, on the inside, much as he’s grinning now, with a raw animal satisfaction.

It’s shame, isn’t it. This man’s hands on his hips. It’s.

At the time, it had been nothing, but now, knowing the man as an enemy, it’s no longer that simple.

Carrillo stands up straight, holds himself still. His arms are ribboned in blood from the knife fight; his blood drips onto the back alley dirt. Friday night in Medellín is never quiet, but for some reason he can’t hear it.

The smile melts off Pacho’s face, and he raises the gun again, quite deliberately. The bullet nicks Carrillo’s head; barely any blood. He didn’t flinch. Pacho appears to consider this.

It’s too long a distance to run. Any other man, and Carrillo would be charging full tilt at him right now, more than willing to take a few bullets scattered across his chest, his stomach, just for that brief shining moment he’d have with his hands around the throat—but he knows, now, that Pacho would have him down easily as blinking, headshot inevitable. So he stands there, and Pacho considers him, and then Pacho shoots.

Carrillo’s on the ground. Silent, still. Biting down so hard on nothing that he all but fractures his own jaw. It was a bullet through the arm—his right arm. Now they match, though not quite. A bullet’s worse than a clean break. And that’s not counting the two bodies in the car. But Carrillo himself isn’t dead, and he isn’t going to die anytime soon, either. He looks up.

Pacho is gone.

Medellín is too big a city; the night sky above is completely starless.

Carrillo looks again. Pacho is still gone.

[themaribatpit]

Jasonette July Day 4: Game On

Written by: The Maribat Pit  @jasonette-july-event  Prompt: Game On Rated: T (for sexual references, mostly references to things that happened in the comics.  You have been warned.) “I can’t just go spilling my protégé’s secrets. I can barely send her out into the mean streets on her own.” she said with a coy show of innocence that she wasn’t even trying to make believable.

 “I’m not asking for her identity, all that concerns me is why you decided to take her in.” Batman explained.

 “She was in trouble, I was in the neighbourhood and I gave her a helping hand,” she explained. “That special claw of hers comes in handy, and besides we all know how you feel about magic users Bruce.” She wasn’t wrong about that.  Batman could never trust Constantine further than he could throw him. He could only bring himself to turn to Zatanna when he really needed her help.  Shazam was an exception, seeing as the limits of his magic were clear and simple enough to understand.  That didn’t make him any less formidable, but it didn’t make him quite as unpredictable.  He was, at the end of the day, a detective who was trained to think rationally and logically in order to get to the bottom of a situation.  Magic was the ultimate wild card, and the sooner he figured out this girl’s abilities, the better.  “You’ll be pleased to know she’s not a completely hopeless case, she’s been helpful but she doesn’t get quite the same thrill out of thievery.” Catwoman remarked, “but it’s been lovely having her around, and I’m not about to just hand her over to you”.

 “Then what would you have me do?” he asked, “I’m concerned your rivals might be a little less forgiving.”

 “Is that so? You don’t think she’s strong enough to save herself?”  Catwoman smiled, it was nice to know that he cared, just a little. “Besides, she’s already had years of experience under her belt, maybe you’re just jealous you didn’t find her first.” She taunted playfully. Goodness knows he was in no position to talk when it came to taking people under his wing.  “Tell you what, how about we have a friendly little wager?” Bruce saw her eyes light up at the thought, but he was undeniably curious about what she had in mind.

 “What do you propose?” he asked.

 “A fun little game, your boys against my little foundling. If any of them can take her down, then you can welcome her into your family with open arms” she explained.

 “How do I know she won’t just kill them?” Batman asked, it wouldn’t be the first time Bruce had to try and steer someone away from any homicidal tendencies.

 “She’s a lot of things, but let’s just say killing wasn’t really an option for her back in the day.” she explained, “She’ll fall in line with your ‘no killing’ rule quite nicely. Think about it, your sons versus my little girl.”  Her claws skated across Batman’s shoulders as he pondered this.

 “Anything else?” Batman asked, he had to know exactly what they were walking into.

 “Your boys can bring a second to their little duels, but only one.  No need to have the Titans ganging up on her.” she explained.  She left out the part about her protégé having other tricks up her sleeve.  With the power she had, they would be lucky to get a single scratch on her.

 “So be it then.” Bruce said, it would be an opportunity to see how this girl measured up against the boys he had trained. At that moment Catwoman decided it was game on.

 Marinette had just come home from her classes at Gotham University, and she was looking forward to a quiet night working on some designs that were due a few weeks.   A text message from Catwoman brought her plans to a grinding halt:

 “Mari dear, made a little wager with Batman.  You beat his four sons in a fight, and you get to stay with me.  If you lose however, he gets to take you under his wing (in every sense of the word).  They’ll be on the lookout for Lady Noire in the next few days, but I never said anything about only using her to win.”

 Marinette was really starting to regret being saved by Catwoman. That night, she was outnumbered by some muggers who thought she would be an easy target.  She was trying to find an opening, to make a break for it, maybe find somewhere to hide and transform if she really must.  Suddenly she heard a voice grab their attention, “I’ve always loved big strong men who aren’t afraid to show it with someone half their size.” she purred.  While they were distracted, Marinette decided to call on Plagg for some help.   She always loved how the Lady Noire suit made her movements feel lighter, plus the night vision and Cataclysm were useful too. Unfortunately for her, it meant that Catwoman saw her in action and decided to take an interest in her from that day forth.  Sure, she was a cunning thief and there was little that Marinette could do to stop her. At the same time, Marinette was a young woman in a city that was the polar opposite of what she knew in Paris. She couldn’t deny that there was something comforting about having someone in this city looking out for her. Especially since her parents were in Paris, and Master Fu was no longer around to help her.  She took the Miraculous with her to Gotham City, but none of the other wielders came with her.  She was still their guardian after all, but she had to be more careful about using them.  She wasn’t about to single handedly take on superpowered crime lords with their armies of henchmen. She had to be a lot more careful with her powers since other people could get hurt.  Besides, they already had a small group of vigilantes keeping the city safe, they didn’t need her.

 Marinette reread the text message over and over again.  she was about to see what these vigilantes were made of, though it was just as accurate to say it was the other way around.  She opened the box, carefully choosing which ones she could use in a fight.  She usually used Lady Noire when she was with Catwoman, but by the sound of it she was counting on her to use all of her tricks to win.

 Damian never fully understood his father’s attachment to Catwoman, but this was a challenge he could not refuse.  They were told to keep an eye out for this “Lady Noire” character while they were out on patrol.  Oracle had agreed to referee this ordeal, Damian was absolutely certain he was going to be the one to bring her in.  They were allowed to bring a second, but Damian didn’t think it would be necessary. From what they were told she was a smaller Catwoman, though they were told to exercise caution because of her destructive abilities.  The last person Damian had expected to find was a girl in a red and black body suit, who looked nothing like the girl with long hair and green eyes that Batman had described.  Still, there was something odd about the girl and Damian moved in closer to investigate.

 Catwoman had given Marinette a vague rundown of who her opponents were.  There was Nightwing, the eldest of the four boys and a trained acrobat. The second eldest was the infamous Red Hood, Marinette had heard rumours about him and she had no way of knowing if the Kwamis could guard her against someone who uses firearms.  The third was Red Robin, Catwoman advised using clever strategy if she was going to get the upper hand on this one.  Finally, there was the current Robin, the son of Batman and Talia Al Ghul, the youngest of the boys who was trained by assassins before Batman took him in.

 She took the Ladybug earrings with her, seeing as they were more versatile for the occasion.  In addition to the earrings, she wore the Longg’s choker around her neck.  Master Fu had often cautioned against using fusions, considering how draining they were on her body.  Her new mentor advised her to use every tool she could in her arsenal, because they certainly would.  On most nights she noticed a small, hooded figure passing through her neighbourhood from time to time. She decided to see which of these boys would be her first opponent.  

 While she was standing on that rooftop, she heard a few footsteps behind her.  It was raining but through the mist and the rain she could see a small, shadowy figure watching her closely.  It made sense, she was dressed in bright colours and standing on a rooftop in the pouring rain.  She practically had a sign on her head that said “come and get me”, which in some way was part of her plan.  The question was, whether or not her first opponent would take the bait.  “I know you’re there little one, so are you going to stay there or come over and say hello?” she asked, Marinette tried to sound cheerful but she ended up sounding silly instead.  She tried to hide the burning embarrassment she felt at how silly that sounded. The boy could probably sense it too, because she turned around and saw him narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously.

 He leapt from his perch and landed behind her with a thud and splatter of rain water.  He was no taller than Marinette and he wore a red and green outfit, with a black hooded cape and a green domino mask. The red and green outfit had a golden yellow “R” on his chest, and she also noticed a sword that was sheathed at his side.  Marinette had to suspect this boy was the youngest out of the boys, Robin.   The two of them stood in silence for a long moment, she figured that someone who was formerly trained by assassins would be a little more hostile.  Then again, he was probably expecting someone else entirely.  “Aren’t you a little young to be out patrolling by yourself, little one?” she asked, trying to make some kind of conversation with the boy. She wasn’t in any position to say anything about this, considering she had been protecting Paris since she was 13.

 “What’s it to you?” He scoffed, “we’re looking for someone named Lady Noire, and you clearly wanted to attract someone’s attention by standing on a rooftop in that costume”.

 “Robin, can you not be a brat for like, five minutes?” Red Robin groaned into his comm, but Damian didn’t listen.

 “You can either state your business or stop wasting my time” he snapped, as Marinette chuckled.

 “So, you’re planning on challenging Lady Noire.  Tell me, what do you really know about her?” she asked him.

 “Only that father and that woman have taken an interest in her, and I intend to prove to both of them that she is nothing special.” he growled, “so unless you know something about her, stay out of my way”.

 “You seem certain, for someone who has never once faced her” she said with a smile.

 “I was trained by the best, I will not lose to someone who is little more than a foundling.” he was reaching for his sword at that moment.  Red Robin and Nightwing rolled their eyes at that comment as they listened in. They knew they had all bested their youngest brother at some point or other, despite being “foundlings”.

 “It would have been easy too just to hide from you and your brothers, but I’m going to enjoy taking you down a peg.” She braced herself for her first fight of the challenge.   She really could have, but sadly she had very little patience for people who thought they were better than everyone else.

 “I won’t lose to you Lady Noire, or whoever you are”, he growled as he drew his sword and pointed it at her.

 “Tikki, Longg, unify!” she called out, and a flash of red and gold light stunned Robin for a moment. The red and black bodysuit now had gold accents and a symbol on her chest.  The symbol was a lighting bolt, a wave and a gust of wind all swirling together.

 “What did you do?!” Red Robin yelled into his comm, “I swear if she kills us all just because you couldn’t control yourself…”

 Robin looked up to see that she had a yo-yo in one hand and the other reached behind her to draw a sword.  

 “And by the way, it’s Dragon Bug to you”, she swung her yo-yo with one hand and Robin ducked to dodge it. After dodging it, he charged at Dragon Bug, katana in hand.  She blocked his attack with her sword before kicking him back with her foot.  Dragon Bug pulled back her yo-yo and charged at him with her sword, when he blocked her, he spun around and kicked her legs out from under her.  As Dragon Bug fell to the floor, she raised her sword and yelled “Water Dragon!”.  There was more than enough to create a barrier that pushed Robin back before he could strike again.  Robin was knocked back against the wall, and she took out her yo-yo to make an escape to the streets below.

 This Lady Noire, Dragon Bug, whoever she was, had insulted his honor.  To him, that just simply would not stand. His father said that he wanted her alive, but he could barely get a scratch on her.  He got up quickly and used his grappling hook to swing after her. She was waiting for him, with her hair blowing in the wind, and a smile that Damian wanted to wipe off her face. He charged at her once more, this time sliding on the floor at the last moment and hoping to take a swipe at her leg. Once again, she managed to turn and block his katana. The pair of them traded blow after blow after blow, but he could only land a few scratches on her.  Marinette could use Lightning Dragon and shock the boy, to bring this to a swift end.  However, with all the water that was around them, she might end up killing the boy instead. Before she could try anything else with that sword, he blocked it and sent it flying off to the side. Marinette watched as her sword flew out of her hands before clattering on the ground next to them.

 Marinette had to admit that this kid was good and that the fusion was starting to drain her a little. She had to act fast as she dodged another incoming strike. She leapt backwards to dodge it but the boy took out a grappling hook, he gave it a few good spins before flinging it forward and catching her foot.  He pulled the wire taut and sent her crashing to the ground, hard.  “You may have your tricks, Dragon Bug, but I have skill, I have training, and now I have defeated you.” he called out as he tugged at the wire, pulling her towards him.

 “That may be true, but there’s something you should know…” she groaned as she propped herself up on her elbows, he stopped for a moment as he waited for her to tell him exactly what that was. Marinette reached for her yo-yo, she needed to finish this and safe her strength, “…you’re not the only one who’s had training.” she told him. Dragon Bug quickly spun her yo-yo and swung it at Robin, this time wrapping the wire around him and pulling the string tight.  He tried to free himself using his katana, while Dragon Bug unwrapped the wire around her foot.  As she stood up she said, “another one of my ‘magic tricks’” as she ran to retrieve her own sword.  She sheathed the sword and looked back to find a hog-tied Robin, desperately trying to cut the cord and free himself.  She wanted to enjoy this moment for just a little longer, there was always something so satisfying in moments like these.  She took a moment to send a quick message to Catwoman:

 “Dragon Bug: 1, Robin: 0” before sending her a selfie, with Robin tied up in the background.

 She glanced back at Robin who was now just scowling at her.  “You fought valiantly little one, but sadly you are not my only opponent” she told him as she unwound the string around him. When she had her yo-yo back, she flung it towards a street lamp and swung forward, lifting her up off the ground. There was one thing Damian was certain of, there was no way his brothers were going to let him live this down. With a good tug of her yo-yo, freed Damian, spinning him around in the process.

 Meanwhile, Jason and Roy were on a road trip back to Gotham, the two of them had just taken care of a Drug Lord in Starling City.  Jason’s phone buzzed with some news from Dick, something about how they had all been embroiled in a bet to take down Selina’s new protégé.  If any of them win, she has to join the Bat family, and if they all lose then she keeps working with Selina.  He could not bring himself to care, it was 50/50 on whether or not this girl was tolerable or if she was going to annoy him like the rest. Roy glanced over at him before turning his attention back to the road, “you look like you’re desperately searching for a fuck to give” he commented.

 “Just some dumb bet Bruce made,” Jason shut off his phone before reclining back in his chair.

 “That’s not like Bruce, usually making dumb bets was something you guys did” Roy wracked his brain trying to imagine the stoic and serious Batman making a dumb bet.

 “Something about Catwoman and her little sidekick.” he drawled, “If Dick, Me, Replacement or Demon Spawn take her down, she becomes Batman’s little sidekick.  Like he doesn’t have enough of those running around”.

 “Ah, I’m guessing you don’t want to fight her when we make it back to Gotham City?” Roy asked, “wouldn’t it be hilarious if you taught her how to win against your brothers?”

 Jason gave a half-hearted chuckle, moments later his phone buzzed with more messages.  He was really looking forward to this little power nap, but he checked to make sure no one desperately needed his help.

 He sees the picture that she took with Damian tied up in the background.  Babs, Steph and Cass had watched the whole thing, with popcorn. While Tim had made that photo the new wallpaper on the Belfry’s computer.

 “Well, says here she literally wiped the floor with Demon Spawn, before swinging away on a yo-yo.” he said and they both laughed “now I’m just mad I won’t get to buy the girl a few drinks”.

 “I mean either way, I’m sure you’ll get your chance if you’re both in Gotham City.  I’m just sad that I’ll have to be your third wheel.” Roy said wistfully.

 “Roy, I had to listen to you and Kory in the next room,” Jason recalled, “you have no room to complain about third wheeling.”

 “Awh was little Jaybird jealous?” Roy joked.

 “Hey you’re the one who assumed that we banged in the first place,” he said “all I said was I was with her, and you decided to interpret that however you wanted”.

 “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway because she ran off to Miami to work through some things, and we’re just over here thinking about the good old days,” Roy said.  The two of them continued to drive in silence and Jason leaned back, trying to get some sleep before facing whatever chaos was waiting to greet them in Gotham City.

  Tim has researched all he could on this mysterious Lady Noire, yet there are several reported sightings of different vigilantes all with the same height and build. Lady Noire, Ladybug, Dragon bug. Tim compiled all known sightings onto his corkboard to get a clear picture of who this person is.

The fight between Dragon Bug and Damian provided him with crucial information on how he could counter Dragon Bug. Tim then donned his Red Robin costume and began patrol of Gotham City. Gliding across he spotted an usual sight, a costumed person standing on a rooftop. It had to be the one Batman told him about, the person he was to fight because of the bet.

Tim landed on a nearby rooftop to reconfirm the target. "Same height and build, but this costume is different." Tim sighed, he had noticed that each costume had its own power and abilities, and made detailed notes on each. Codename: Polka-dot had the power to summon an unknown household object. Codename: Catwoman II used an indestructible staff and the power of disintegration, Codename: Drake used a sword and came with the power of hydrokinesis.

However, he had no intel regarding this new costume. He decided to press his luck and use stealth to take her down. He leaped off the roof and began gliding towards her with a kick.

To his surprise, his target shrank at the last second, he glided through and smashed into a skylight, landing inside an abandoned building.

Multimouse followed suit and jumped in through the broken skylight. Landing right at the centre of the room, she simply stood there arms akimbo looking at him. Red Robin threw a smoke bomb, grappling to the rafters. Multimouse did not pursue, no sense of panic she simply walked to a wooden crate and sat on it.

Red Robin, took the opportunity to launch himself off and glided towards Multimouse with a kick. He was shocked to see her suddenly turn around as if she knew he was there the entire time, with perfect timing she grabbed and judo flipped Red Robin through the wooden crate. Wiping her hands in a dramatic manner, Multimouse walked to the centre of the room and crossed her arms. Red Robin crushed a smoke bomb with his hand, obscuring the area and diving towards an underground vent.

He began to wonder how she was able to counter him so effectively. "The power of foresight? 360 degrees x-ray vision? No it can't be." Red Robin thought to himself. While crawling in the vents to a position behind Multimouse, he berated himself for pressing his luck without any information on Multimouse. He peeked his head out of the vent, Multimouse had not moved, she continued to stare at Red Robin's previous location. Taking another chance, Red Robin jumped out of the underground vent ready for a takedown.

Again as if she was a clairvoyant she countered him perfectly, spinning on the spot and delivering a crushing kick to Red Robin’s midsection. Sending him flying across the room, he took out his staff and slowly got up, using the staff as if it was a cane. He stood on shaky legs, in disbelief.

He then begins to notice something unusual hanging on the hem of his cape. His eyes widen as he takes a closer look. A miniature clone of Multimouse was hanging on, his eyes snapped up to the rafters and then the vents. There were several miniature clones all over the building, all about the size of a small insect.

Red Robin's jaw dropped as he had this epiphany. Seeing her cue, Multimouse shrank down and spawned a horde of miniature clones. Millions of clones rush towards Red Robin, he begins swinging his staff, stomping on any clones on the ground, flailing his arms like a madman. The horde bellows a collective “Surrender,” Red Robins defiantly continues to fight.

Soon the swarm begins to cover Red Robin all the way up to his neck, his body unable to move. The Multimouse arms pulls off the cowl and begins pulling all of Red Robin’s hair. Red Robin, facing the agony of Multimouse waxing his head. “Ok, ok I give up.” he cried. As he finished his plea, the swarm dissipated and reforms to the singular human sized Multimouse. Red Robin is then left kneeling and staring at the strands of his own hair left on the floor.

Multimouse, seizing the opportunity to obtain a trophy of her efforts, takes a selfie with a poor, disheveled Red Robin in the background.

  Marinette was really starting to feel the effects of using different Miraculous for two nights straight. Dragon Bug was draining enough, but she had to use Multimouse to take on Red Robin.  That left Nightwing and The Red Hood, and she was starting to wonder what was the point of this game.  She felt like she was just fighting to win, fighting so that the person who took care of her when she first arrived in Gotham could prove a point.  If she won, then she would stay under Catwoman’s protection, and the Miraculous would be protected with her.  Though she was lucky that the Miraculous themselves didn’t look valuable enough to pique her interest.  If she lost to one of them, she would be under Batman’s protection instead.  She would become a part of the group of vigilantes who operate in the city, and she didn’t know how she felt about that either. How would she feel about seemingly being the only magic user among them?  How would he feel about her being a magic user?  She hadn’t even met the guy, all she knew was that he took an interest in her dealings with Catwoman.  Maybe she would encounter the Red Hood and he would make the choice for her by putting her out of her misery.  She decided to settle this fight once and for all as Ladybug, maybe then someone would give her some answers.  

 She got a text message from Catwoman, telling her to meet her on a rooftop that had gargoyles glaring down at the streets below.  Maybe she had information on where her next fight would be, she didn’t say.  By the time she got there, she saw two people eating fast food next to the gargoyles.  The first was a redhead in red armor, and the second was…

 “Get your own brooding spot, this one’s taken!” He yelled. Marinette looked up to see the other guy had a red domino mask, and in addition to being dressed in Kevlar and leather, had a red bat symbol on his chest.

 Marinette spun her yo-yo, getting ready for a fight. The redhead continued eating, while his dark-haired companion gave her a swift once over.

 “So, you’re the girl who took down Robin and Red Robin?” he asked, as if struggling to believe it.  

 “And you are?” she asked, when he put on the red helmet that was in his hand, it suddenly became clear.

 “So, looking for me?” he asked, “Or are you on your way to fight the original boy wonder?”

 “Honestly, I’ll take my chances with you.” Marinette said as she launched her yo-yo at his companion and wrapped the cord around him.

 “Wait, wait, wait why me?” the redhead cried,  then she threw him and sent him crashing into the Red Hood.  The pair of them slammed into a nearby wall before she released the redhead.  She unwound the cord and was getting ready to strike again.

 Underneath the sprawled out pile of bodies, Red Hood grunted “Arsenal, get your ass off of my face or else…” Arsenal got up before he could finish his threat and they both stood up.

 “So who checked ‘Fights with Toys’ off their bingo card?” Arsenal joked.

 “Is that the best you can do?” Red Hood taunted. He came at her with a knife in hand, when she leapt in the air and wrapped her yo-yo cord around his arm.  She launched herself at him, landing an aerial kick on his helmet. Red Hood grabbed her by the foot and flipped her over, sending her crashing to the ground.

“If you came here to fight me that’s one thing, not many people get to say they took on someone with a yo-yo and lived, unless you’re Toyman.” he said, as he lifted her up off the ground.  “If you think this is what it takes to face Nightwing, then you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

 Ladybug took a few steps back after he helped her get to her feet, “so are you going to fight me instead?”

 “Pixie, take it from me, it’s really not all it’s cracked up to be.  As fun as it’s been watching you kick my brother’s asses, they are nothing compared to Nightwing.” he explained as he took off his helmet and set it down next to him.

 “What do you know about Nightwing?” she asked, still understandably guarded about the situation.

 “Oh what don’t I know, he’s basically Batman’s heir.” he told her “I’m just one of the spares, and that’s on a good day when I managed to not die.”

 Dick had made it clear days ago that he wasn’t going to fight her, he already put his foot down at how silly this whole thing was.  Jason, however, decided to have a little fun. “Honestly, you might as well just walk right into the batcave and challenge Batman yourself.” he told her, “I mean you won’t die, that’s kinda his whole deal, but you’ll be eating through a straw for the rest of your life.”

Jason, enjoying the anxiety bubble in the young woman, and he decided to crank it up to eleven.

“Nightwing is equal if not better than Batman in every way, he once took up the mantle of Batman when he was injured. Not only that, he broke Bane’s back.  He lifted a 7ft tall 500lb big guy, snapped his spine over his knee as if it was nothing.”  Jason moves his arms, mimicking the motion of breaking something over his knee. Ladybug began to sweat even more, struggling to imagine the powerhouse of a man to even accomplish such a feat.

Jason’s grin widens, “not only that, he fought a giant mutated bat the size of a man. He wrestled Man-Bat, putting him in a full nelson and smashing its face into solid concrete” Ladybug cringes at the thought of feeling the full force of having your face slammed into concrete. Jason gets ready for the coup de grace. “In fact, when he was 10 years old, he watched his parents get murdered by mobster Tony Zucco in front of his own eyes. After being taken under Batman’s wing, he went out for revenge. He chased after Tony for hours and cornered him in Crime Alley.

Tony died that night when Nightwent went after him, the official cause was a heart attack.”

Jason stops talking to look around him, as if he was paranoid and there were eyes all around him. He walks up to Ladybug and whispers to her ear “but between you and me, it wasn’t.”

 He turns to Roy, “but if she’s gonna try and take him on after all that, then we might as well pull up some chairs and watch.” he said, giving Roy a knowing look.

 “Oh yeah, I mean he’s no match for a cute girl and her yo-yo.” Roy joked.

 “Come on, he’s probably waiting on top of the Iceberg Lounge, and he doesn’t like to be kept waiting” he declared, Ladybug followed as the three of them made their way to the Iceberg Lounge. She felt her legs shaking, but it’s fine, she would at least live to tell the tale...right?

Nightwing stood on the roof of the Iceberg Lounge, carefully watching the whereabouts of the people going in and out of the area.  He heard footsteps and looked up to see three figures landing on the rooftop in front of him. He looked up to see Red Hood, Arsenal and a short girl who looked to be in her late teens, maybe early 20s.  He looked between them, then back at the girl who was spinning a red yo-yo with black polka dots.

Nightwing waved to them, figuring she would be the short girl mentioned in the bet between Batman and Catwoman. As he noticed the three, the short girl visibly frightened as he walked towards them.

 Nightwing sighed “what did you tell her?” he asked, he had better things to than get involved in Batman’s dumb little bet.  The outcome would have been someone joining the Bat family by force, even he had put his foot down by that point.  

 “I mean, nothing that wasn’t true.” Red Hood told him, “she might as well know who she’s dealing with.”

 “Right, and you probably told her you are just a soft teddy bear compared to me.” Nightwing remarked sarcastically, “was it to keep her from beating the stuffing out of you?”. At that point Ladybug was visibly confused, so Nightwing looked over at her “so how did you get dragged into this? Got sick of having to share a litter box?”

 Ladybug eyes Nightwing cautiously, thinking his joking mannerisms are an elaborate ruse to lower her guard. “What, don’t tell my Catwoman’s got your tongue?” Nightwing jokes with a large grin. Ladybug begins to slowly walk back, confused at how expectations did not match reality.

Nightwing points his thumb at Ladybug and talks to Red Hood, “Alright what did you tell her about me?” Red Hood raises his arms innocently “Like I said, nothing that wasn’t true.”

Nightwing raises his eyebrow at Red Hood and crosses his arms. “Alright I told her how you took down Bane and Man-Bat by yourself” Red Hood admits. “And?” Nightwing begins tapping his foot. “I may have, insinuated that you may or may not have had something to do with Tony Zucco's heart attack”

Nightwing facepalms, “well so much for first impressions, let's start over shall we?”

 Nightwing reaches his hand out to Ladybug, “Name’s Richard but everyone calls me Dick”

Marinette tentatively reaches out to shake his hand, “I know you aren’t enthusiastic about this bet, neither am I. I don’t want to knock your spots off, so how about I lie on the ground, you take a picture for Catwoman and you fly off into the sunset”

 “Where would I go?” she asked,

 “She could come with us.” Red Hood suggested, “nothing would annoy Batman more.”

 “Right, and next she’ll start asking me if I actually hypnotize people with my ass.” Nightwing said as he raised an eyebrow at him.  “Think Catwoman would let you take her?”

 “We already asked, someone has to look after this pipsqueak while she’s doing what she does best, alone”, Red Hood explained.

 Ladybug felt herself calming down a lot more at that moment.  She came to this city not really knowing anyone, feeling like there was no one else looking out for her.  Now, for the first time in a long time, she felt like she was going to be in good hands.

 Bonus 1:

Roy: So, should we call ourselves “Red Arse Bug” or “Lady Red Arse”?

Jason: Do you want me to throw you off this roof?

 Bonus 2:

Ladybug: So you all had to wear red, yellow and green?

Red Hood: Yup.

Ladybug: What was it like?

Red Hood: I did my time in the pixie boots, Pixie.  Doesn’t mean I like to talk about it.

[ultimatetornshipper]

To bee or not to bee - a Jasonette fic

@moonlitceleste I almost let this die, I honestly really wanted it dead but alas it was clearly meant to bee 

(WARNING: contains puns, angst, crack and fluff. You have been warned)

If you don’t want to read my sarcastic/funny/fangirl commentary, skip the brackets

I have another bee movie au, i didn't plan it ("I don't claim to be proud. But my head won't be hung in shame. I didn't plan it. But the light turned red, and I ran it. And I'm still standing. It's not what I wanted, but now that it's right here. I understand it. A story written by my own hand" as quoted from Waitress), it just happened and i just couldn't resist. I'm not sorry

So what if instead of dying Joker turned Jason into a bee. Because Harley convinced him and told him that people were talking shit about him because he's named the Joker and they don't think he's funny. It surprisingly works. (Obviously Harley was the one who made the plan and did the magic I mean really what do u expect of Joker?)

Ok so now Jason’s a bee right? And he’s like 15 because .~:°*plot*°:~.

They look for him and Jason’s like flying around like, “Guys! Guys I’m right here!” Poor kid. (I mean I would make it funny but like angst)

Obviously they don’t understand him because he’s a fucking bee and Joker cackles madly and Harley laughs too but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes and it's kinda that laugh u do when ur supes overwhelmed and sound maniacal but like soft (I’m a simp for Harley being portrayed as the complex and beautiful character she id leave me be)

Jason is very sad. And also quite pissed

Not knowing what else to do he follows Batman home, he listens to them trying to find him, watches Dick freak out and Alfred wipe a tear the rest of the family doesn’t see.

Jason tries to approach Alfred, hoping he somehow recognizes what happened

He doesn’t, Alfred closes him in a glass and paper and takes him outside.

He sneaks back into the manor and sleeps in one of the flowers (it's a red tulip because aesthetic) next to his bed. He cries himself to sleep. (Can bees cry? Is this possible? Is this like a thing??? I don't need sleep i need answers)

The thing is even tho he's now a bee, he still has the durability of a human, so even stepping on him won’t crush him and he still has a human lifespan

Because Harley isn’t a monster and what Puddin didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. (Simping for Harley Quinn strike 2)

After a while at the manor and following them he decides he can’t stand it anymore. Alfred has thrown him out three times and Dick freaks out each time he sees him as he’s a tad allergic (read: he would die if stung)

Which is how Jason found out that getting hit with a newspaper wouldn’t kill him.

He leaves.

He’s a bee and it’s not like he knows about a way to reverse it.

But there was someone who might.

He goes to Arkham.

Luckily, Harley was still there. (YAY we get to see mah gurl)

He flies into her cell and she just watches him, then she seems to click. She gives him a small smile, “Hi birdie,” (she puns, honestly would make for a better clown of Gotham and I saw an idea for that once where she steals Joker’s title once and I’ve been yearning for it ever since)

She holds out a finger and he lands on it, she laughs but tears come to her eyes,” Hey at least you’re not dead. That was his original plan you know? To kill you with a crowbar. I convinced him this would be a cruller fate. I guess maybe it is, but at least this way... Ugh how the hell did I get here,” (Harley angst, honestly it’s all just self service at this point)

He simply stared at her as she cried, and he felt his heart clench. From here she looked so sad... not crazy, just broken.

She took a deep breath and looked at him seriously, “Look kid, there’s a way to get you back to normal, you just need to find someone, they’re called the Guardian of the Miraculous. They can help, I don’t know who or where they are, just follow your instincts. And come say hi when you get back, yeah? I could do with the... healthier company. And remember, I bee-lieve in you,” (Gasp what a shock, you mean to tell me Miraculous magic is gonna be involved in this Maribat au. Well I never what a shock. Also puns. Oh and she’s so nice to him. We love Harley in this house)

He sat there and studied her for a while more, there was more to her than it seemed. Than what he’d assumed.

But for now, he had his own problems to deal with.

She gave him a small wave as he left. (Adorable)

He left and started considering his options, as a bee, it would probably be safest to stay inside, away from birds and things that would view him as a snack.

Staying in Arkham seemed like his best option, as bad an option as it was.

Most of the prisoners wouldn’t have a second thought about trying to crush him.

A strong scent of flowers and plants suddenly came to his attention.

Of course! Poison Ivy. (Round 2 of me simping for beautiful, complex, badass women. Too bad Catwoman ain’t here.)

He followed the smell to her cell and saw her staring out of her small window. He was still taking a chance, but she loved plants and flowers and bees were important to those, weren’t they?

He flew to the window bars and sat on one. The moment she spotted him she smiled widely, in a soft way he hadn’t seen on her before. (Ahhhhh my darling plant redhead. I love writing the Sirens as soft badasses. Also has anyone noticed how rare brunettes are in superhero worlds? Like both in Marvel and DC but like irl brown is like a pretty damn common)

She held out her finger, “Hey there, little guy. A little far from home, aren’t we?”

She had no idea.

He landed on her fingertip and watched in awe as a flower and a few leaves formed on her hand. She let the flower grow itself around one of her window bars and held her finger next to one of the petals.

“There you go, it’s all I can manage with my power dampers. I haven’t had company in a while,” she said softly as he crawled into the flower. He made himself comfortable.

She laughed to herself and he saw her shaking her head, “Talking to a bee, well, I guess stranger things have happened,” (yeah ur crush is dating a green haired murderous psychopath and you get beat up by a billionaire in a batsuit on like a biweekly basis)

The flower was soft and warm and felt safer than he expected it to. He found that he could move between the petals but decided to curl up in the middle. (It's a pink rose this time because fuck yeah flowers)

He slept better than he had in days.

The next morning he took his leave, stopping only at the manor to say a mental goodbye.

Then he headed off.

Jason flew a lot the first few months, our boy was smart at least, travelling with a cruise ship on its way to Europe.

It was Spring in the Northern Hemisphere so he had until Autumn until it was in his best interest to head south to avoid the snow. He decided to head towards Africa when summer started coming to an end. (I have no reasoning for this, just that I want to)

His first spot would be the United Kingdom. Then he'd go through the rest of Europe following his instincts.

At least it was Spring.

Jason diligently searched through England, Scotland and Ireland but found nothing.

By the time he was done he realized it was time to start heading South. He’d decided to take another cruise to South-Africa, where it would be summer, he searched through the country until April. He would admit that he didn’t feel drawn to anything in any of their 9 provinces so his search wasn’t as diligent as in England. He didn’t feel anymore drawn to the neighbouring countries like Namibia or Botswana either.

(Once again no reasoning for why I picked these countries, I mean the French Hugonotes went there when they were fleeing from the French Catholics who wanted them dead so I guess I could make up some bullshit about Mari having an ancestor in common with someone there or maybe it was just the ship he could easiest get access I don’t know, you make something up)

Which was why he decided to go back to Europe as soon as April hit.

He hitched another ride on a cruise headed for France.

It’s been a year since he got turned into a damn bee.

He was sixteen now and while he’d seen some amazing things all through South-Africa (a place that proves that humans really do have a weirdly obvious way of naming things I mean the Amazon river and Chad Lake are just more examples really) as well as the United Kingdom, all he really wanted was to go back home, to be human again.

When he gets there he diligently makes his way through France, eventually arriving in Paris.

He lands on the tip top of the Eiffel Tower. As in the point of the antenna because why not.

During his year he realized that birds and other animals tended to avoid him, sensing his strangeness so that was at least one positive.

He stared out over the city. Well, the one good thing about this was definitely the views he’s been allowed to see.

That was until a massive explosion hit.

“What the fuck?” he said out loud, searching for the source. No one understood him, human or bee, but talking to himself reminded him of his humanity.

He found the source of the explosion but just as he started flying to its general direction, a blinding white light shone followed by a horde of ladybugs that were fixing everything that was wrong. (Imagine how scary this would lowkey be irl tho? Just a shit ton of Ladybugs descending on Paris my dude)

He decided that he needed a night’s sleep before he could even begin an attempt at deciphering what had just happened. He flew lower, finding a nice little balcony right above a bakery. And it had flowers. (I’ll give u five seconds to guess who this balcony belongs to)

He flew down, exploring.

He turned around when he heard a loud thump from behind him. What appeared to be a super heroine in red spandex with black spots had landed on the balcony.

She detransformed and started to talking to a floating bug- fairy thing. Strange. Though it wasn’t like he could judge, as an ex superhero sidekick who was thought to be dead but was actually a bee.

She disappeared down her trapdoor and he made himself comfortable in one of her flowers.

He slept soundly until somewhere during a night another thump woke him. He looked out of his sleeping spot to see a cat superhero stand on her balcony. He leaned down and knocked on her small trapdoor.

Ah, a teammate of hers, they were probably meeting about something, he thought as he heard her open up.

It didn’t take him long to realize that even though they were teammates, the cat, Chat Noir he later learned, was not aware of this fact.

Oh this was rich.

He couldn’t bee-lieve his eyes. (ok so Jason used self-referential puns but can you really blame him? It’s really just me and my pun problem so don’t blame the kid)

He was going on and on about his feelings for Ladybug, the girl’s hero form, that were clashing with his feelings for another girl he fenced with, while she listened, clearly fed up with it.

He also claimed that he thought that maybe they were one and the same. Which, to Jason, was hilarious as he was literally saying this to the actual Ladybug’s face.

Marinette- he learned from the Cat’s ongoing blabbering, he was a real blab-bee mouth, - was clearly tired, nodding half asleep, probably having heard it all before.

When he finally left Jason went to sleep again, incredibly amused and even more thankful that he was fluent in French. ( u think this is plot convenience? Just u wait mah dude iz about to get worse)

The next morning he decided to follow her to school. Which was how he learned of her huge crush on a boy named Adrien Agreste.

After learning the boy could fence thanks to Marinette’s obsession interest in him, he got suspicious.

Could it really bee? (not a typo)

After seeing the boy transform a month or two later for patrol he laughed like he hadn’t for over a year. It very much was. He'd spent the time staying on Marinette's balcony and decided to stay another week before moving on and continuing his search, after all, he couldn't stop now that he finally felt like he was getting close.

The next day she got home crying, claiming that Adrien had started dating someone else.

Kagami, she called the girl. Probably the fencer if he had to place a bet.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” Tikki told the girl.

“That boy's an idiot,” he said, speaking his mind, another thing he’d gotten use to being allowed to do without consequence.

Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin, she looked around and he realized that she could hear him. He hadn’t really spoken too much before, at least not when she was around. He was usually content with watching her do whatever she was doing that day.

“Tikki, did you hear that?” she asked, Tikki nodded, her eyes landing on him.

“Oh,” the kwami said softly, flying over to him, “Oh, you poor thing, who did this to you?” (Tikki is the first ever mom friend and u can fight me on this)

He stared up at her, flying so that they were eye level.

Marinette gaped at them, heartbreak seemingly forgotten, “Tik- Tikki, are- who are you talking- are you talking to a – Tikki is that a bee?!” she finally spluttered out.

“No,” Tikki said, studying him, he felt his heart twist in hope and his stomach roll in surprise. Did she know?

“I mean yes, but no. He’s a boy whose been turned into a bee,” Tikki explained, turning back to Marinette.

“Oh,” Marinette said softly, turning to him. She held her hand out and after some hesitation he landed on her finger. She looked at him then back to Tikki.

How did they know? Would he really be that lucky? Was this real?

“Uhm, how?” she said, staring at him in disbelief. He tried shrugging but realized he couldn’t anymore- beecause of his- well if you haven’t caught on to the fact that he’s a bee by now you should really start from the beginning of this story.

“I don’t know, but Joker and Harley Quinn were involved,” he said.

Marinette stared at him in disbelief, blinking a few times. She sat in shock a few moments longer. (Our darling is an awkward lil bean, and while in media awkward is portrayed as cute, irl it isn’t, it’s just well… awkward. And we’re writing a serious and realistic fic about this sidekick of guy who wears a batsuit/billionaire's ward getting turned into a bee and falling in love with a magical girl fighting a butterfly man- none of this unrealistic nonsense)

Tikki flew over and sat on Marinette’s shoulder while her holder processed the information, the kwami stared at him sweetly, “What’s your name?”

He swallowed, he hadn’t said his name in ages, it stirred up something (emotion, it’s called emotion, Jason, you know? The thing Batman can’t process??) in him, “Jason Todd,”

Marinette seemed to finally snap out of her daze, “That sounds American. Are you American? Wait if Joker and Harley are involved then you’re probably from Gotham. Are you? Wait I’ve seen the name Jason Todd somewhere. Weren’t you some rich guy’s ward? It was all over the news last year, Alya wouldn’t stop talking about it for a month, she had a million theories. He was – you were announced dead two months after Robin was taken captive by Joker, everyone thought he was – you were killed. Joker made outrageous claims as they arrested him... saying that they’d never find Robin... that he’d all but disappeared in thin air... that he wouldn’t be the only one wearing stripes... I remember because he put a really weird emphasis on the words be and stripes and...,” her eyes widened and she gasped as she looked at him in what could only be described as pure shock. (Yes this happens, people can talk for this long and since I personally know headcannon that Marinette is ADHD this long ass paragraph is just another Tuesday bud)

He sat there, surprised that she figured it all out so quickly. (yeah bub it’s called plot convenience and it’s because of me, the writer, I don’t wanna focus on secret ID shenanigans, I got other plans for yall, also Mari is smart, don’t underestimate her)

“You’re Robin,” she breathed, “they turned you into a bee. Wait- How the hell did they turn you into a bee?!”

He chuckled, “Bee-lieve me I’ve been asking myself that question for more than a year,”

She bit her lip, seemingly contemplating his words and ignoring his pun, “Tikki do you know anything that could help? Do you think Miraculous magic-,”

He felt his heart stop, he flew up to her face, flying at eye level, “Wait, did you just say Miraculous? Harley said if I could find the Guardian of the miraculous, they could help me, do you know where they are? I’ve been looking for so long,” (‘°;~*.plot convenience.*~;°’)

Marinette blinked at him and Tikki's face dawned with realization.

“I’m the guardian of the miraculous,” Marinette said softly, “Tikki, that means I can help him, right?”

Tikki nodded and he had to dial down the hope in his heart because the look on her face told him there was a Kim Kardashian sized butt on the way.

“We can help him, but we’re gonna have to wait. (don’t look at me like that, do u want them to have time to bond or not?) You’re not trained enough to pull it off yet. If you were to do it now, all three of us would be out of commission for far too long, especially with Hawkmoth on the prowl,” Tikki said.

They must’ve been able to sense his sadness because they were staring at him with an incredible amount of pity. The amount was quite unsettling actually and he suddenly felt a primal like urge to pun. (An extract from my book: “My unhealthy coping mechanisms and how to use them,” specifically Chapter 8: “Humor hides the pain”)

Suddenly Tikki’s face lit up, the whiplash of her expression change throwing any notion of punning out the window.

“Well, there’s one thing we could do,” she said, excitedly, zipping buzzing around “If he wears a miraculous, he'll return back to human form while transformed,”

Marinette perked up at the idea, but confusion soon overtook her features, “But Tikki, most of the miraculous are bigger than he is,”

Tikki waved her away,” It’s fine it’ll work,”

“Ok,” Marinette said after a bit of thought. She stood and he followed while she started climbing down her skylight,” I’m thinking you can try each of them out for different patrols and then we’ll see which one matches you best. This could be fun, having some fun sized company while figuring out how to defeat Hawkmoth,”

He laughed, flying near her ear, “Fun sized, huh? I’ll have you know I’m considered tall in human form, unlike some of us,”

She laughed and rolled her still tear stained eyes, and so, the beginning of a bee-autiful friendship bloomed.

Marinette walked to her closet and Jason took in her room. It was very pink, but in a well-balanced way - it wasn’t completely overbearing. His eye caught on a few pictures of Adrien Agreste on her wall but figured now wouldn’t be a great time to bring it up. (Look he’s already more emotionally aware, #foreshadowing of character development)

She removed a big box from her closet. She opened it and it was filled with what appeared to be a bunch of scrap materials. At the bottom she removed a bigger bundle of black and red fabric and he flew closer.

She put it in her lap and Jason had to do a double take when he realized that her hands were glowing and what the actual fuck- it was a box now -fuck fuck fuck- why was it a box? How? What- Jason was pretty sure he did not sign up for this.

She put the box down in front of her and to his relief she opened her mouth to speak as she lifted the lid, so he’d understand everyth- and its jewellery.

The box contained jewellery. Animal themed jewellery by the looks of things.

He then realized that these were probably the other miraculous.

She looked over each artefact before handing him the yellow and black hairclip.

Out of all of them, she picked the bee miraculous.

“Hilarious,” he replied dryly, giving her a look, he realized too late she wouldn’t be able to register- on account of, well you know… (if u don’t know by now, you don’t get to find out anymore)

She gave him a grin and replied, “I certainly think it is,”

Her teasing expression turned into one of worry, “I mean we could switch it out if it makes you uncomfortable-,” (being a sassy people pleaser with no filters really do be like this tho)

He laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m only teasing. What do I do?”

Marinette opened her mouth to answer before obviously realizing that she didn’t have an answer. She turned to Tikki and the kwami had a fond smile on her face before turning to Jason. (Just Tikki casually mentor- moming Mari because Fu is useless)

“Just step on the miraculous, it’ll sense that you’re human,” the creature replied.

When he stepped onto the bee miraculous, its kwami appeared.

Pollen stared at him for a few seconds before she realized what was happening.

After an explanation about her power set and what exactly he could do in suit, he transformed.

He felt his human body appearing. He was taller and more built than he remembered being. His flying clearly had physical consequences then, not that he was complaining.

His suit included a pair of bee wings. His hair was longer than he remembered it being too.

He had a black leather jacket and combat boots. With it was a pair of practical black leggings and a yellow t-shirt with three thick black stripes. (The three stripes represent each one of his families, the Todds, the Waynes and The Dupain-Chengs, because I can) He also had a pair of black gloves. His boots had yellow laces. On his face was a black and yellow striped domino mask. The top sat on his hip. The bee miraculous sat on the middle of his chest in the form of a broach.

He all but sprinted to the mirror. He stared at his face, his blue eyes and his nose that never healed quite right after breaking it that one time. His black hair was messy and stuck up every which way, his cheekbones were as high as always, and he had a little bit of stubble and it was so familiar and so new all at once.

He touched his face, barely registering the tears flowing down his cheeks and laughed in relief. He was human again. This was real! He could- he was closer to normal than he ever thought he’d get to be.

He turned to Marinette who was staring up at him in shock. He picked her up and spun her around, laughing in joy. And after a moment she joined in. He put her down and put his hands on her shoulders, smiling widely, “Thank you. Thank you so much,”

She smiled up at him, a slightly sad look on her face, “I’m sorry, it’s not permanent,”

“Don’t be sorry. For the first time I have hope. It will be permanent eventually, and till then, I have you with me, right?” he squeezed her shoulder, still high on the feeling of hope and warmth and familiarity.

When he was overcome with the sudden urge to pull her into a hug, he didn’t resist.

He held her close, resting his chin on her head, “Damn, I missed this. Hugging, I mean. I haven’t... it’s been so long,” (not that he got all that many hugs from Bruce “emotionally constipated” Wayne)

She wrapped her arms around him, “I can imagine,”

They stood there a while before the time for patrol came along. She transformed and they made their way to the Eiffel tower, where they met Chat.

The cat themed hero rose his brow questioningly, “I thought we didn’t recruit new heroes unless it was an emergency?”

Ladybug smiled nonchalantly, “It’s Guardian business, he’s gonna be a permanent fixture in our team for at least a few months so we might as well get used to working as a team,”

Chat Noir eyed him wearily and he stepped forward, sticking his hand out, “Hi, I’m Blackback, nice to meet you,”

Chat Noir shook his hand and gave Ladybug a sceptical look, “An American? Really?”

“Please Chat, he's not American, it’s just the glamour hiding his actual accent,” she replied simply, shooting Jason a worried look.

He couldn’t give away his identity, but he was also technically a bee, he didn’t really have an identity to give away. So, her behaviour was strange. Unless she wanted to give him an identity somehow?

He couldn’t stop thinking about it for the rest of patrol.

When they got home Marinette revealed that she wanted to give him the fox miraculous. If they asked Trixx she would be able to design the costume in a way that allowed him to look like a normal civilian, without the mask.

Trixx's glamour was also stronger than the rest so his true identity as Jason Todd would be protected.

And she could help him fake an accent.

Since Marinette was a year younger than him he could just pick up where he left off school wise.

She convinced her parents that he was an exchange student in desperate need of a place to stay because the person he would’ve stayed with backed out last minute.

They agreed easily and Jason decided to not question it.

It was his third family. His second if you only counted non abusive ones. First if you wanted one with a healthy family dynamic.

They got him a fake birth certificate and name. He went with the alias Thomas Grayson. He thought it was kind of funny, and it paid homage to both Bruce and Dick. It gave him something from home to hold on to. (Jason isn’t really salty about not being avenged in this au, he didn’t die and Talia and the pit madness wasn’t there to egg on his anger. But maybe if I ever get back to this au we could do a thing with it… guess we’ll have to wait and see ;-) no promises tho)

He built himself another home with Marinette and her family. And before he knew it, he was happy again. He felt secure.

Through the weeks, he ingrained himself into Marinette's life. In a blink of an eye, they were best friends, and he couldn’t imagine life without her.

He loved living with her family as she trained to be strong enough to turn him back to normal.

He grew close to Marinette’s friends and was her shoulder to cry on about Adrien. He and Adrien got along pretty well, and he and Marc and Rose traded Literature jokes. Max would join in when it involved Shakespeare.

Then Lila happened. (She’s a staple in Maribat fiction. U can’t have Maribat without Lila. Or well u can but that’s usually a very specific au)

Her lies started out simple enough. Then she started manipulating everyone and he, Marinette, Chloe and Adrien were one scheme away from being ostracized. They sat in the back row.

They ignored her sneers and let her lie to her heart’s content. Then one day she said something that made both Marinette and Jason freeze.

“You know, I was childhood friends with Jason Todd (I know she usually gets the names wrong but like her knowing the name just makes this next bit better) You know, Bruce Wayne’s ward who died a while ago? It was just so sad. He grew up in a nice family but his parents both died in a car accident and Brucie took pity on him. He even let us keep in contact afterwards, since our parents were such good friends. We all miss them dearly of course. We were neighbours the year we lived in Gotham, you know? We'd play every day-,” she started fake crying, “Oh it just gets too much sometimes,”

But to Jason’s shock Alya didn’t move to console Lila, in fact, she was staring at the brunette in shock.

He turned his gaze to Marinette to see the girl wearing the biggest, coldest, most satisfied smirk. She rested her chin on her hands and grinned at Lila in a way that made shivers go down his spine.

He turned back, this ought to be good.

And it was.

Alya absolutely lost it.

She ripped Lila a new one and frankly? Jason was impressed. (Alya has a temper and she’s a fangirl, and we all know how we get when someone gets something wrong about one of our hyperfixations, even if it’s an old one so like yall can imagine how bad Lila had fucked up)

When an akuma flew in towards Lila, Alya grabbed it, staring the girl down with a fury he didn’t know she could possess, “Don’t you dare! Do you think I’m blind? I’ve seen how easily you get akumatized and this time I’m not letting it happen!”

Of course, Alya then got akumatized but hey it beat another version of Lila.

Everyone made up but they weren’t quite as close as before. Their group tended to consist mostly out of him, Marinette, Chloe, Adrien, Kagami and Luka.

Other than that incident and akuma attacks, life was pretty good.

In fact, it was great.

He and Marinette would spend nights on her balcony, laughing and slow dancing. They star gazed and went on patrols. He helped her when she got nightmares and she returned the favour. They went on long walks and spent the holidays together. They crammed for tests and he played model for her designs. They worked in the bakery and hung out with their friends both in and out of suit. They’d joke about his technical bee-ness and he and Chat drove her mad with puns. In retaliation she’d introduce him as her bee friend to people or only give him honey and bee themed things. (ok this sentence sounds weird but I mean like when she brings them sweets from the bakery to snack on while working and stuff.)

And one laugh, memory and fight at a time, he started to fall. (I just want good things for Jason, and really can you blame me?)

Through the months, he kept up to date on the news about Bruce Wayne and Marinette held his hand each time a new kid joined his brood. She reminded him that no child could be replaced and reassured him that of course Bruce would want him back when they figured everything out.

And if he didn’t, she’d kick his ass into space, and he’d stay with her family in Paris- a family she made sure he knew he was a part of.

He helped Sabine in the kitchen and was the only one who came closest to beating Marinette’s Ultimate Mega Strike 3 record. Tom taught him to shave and bake. He was integrated into their family and they treated him as part of the family.

But even if they were giving him everything they were, he missed Bruce. And Dick. And Alfred. And Barbara. And Gotham. He missed them all so much. He missed home.

So, 14 months later, when Marinette told him they had a meeting with the Justice League about the Hawkmoth situation, Jason felt his heart skip a beat.

“What?” he asked softly, his eyes brimming with tears (Marinette taught him how to emotion, you see. So Jason is emotionally stable-ish enough to cry without feeling embarrassed about it), “I get to see him again?”

Marinette nodded and hugged him from behind, “I’m planning on telling him what happened. Is there anything you can tell him to verify who you are?”

Memories from a million years ago entered his mind, “Yes,”

She took his hand and took a step back, “And I think I can fix you before we go, I’m strong enough. But I’d still like your help in the final battle, I mean I know you’re going home but...,”

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled, “Of course, Pixie. I’ll always be there for you when you need me,”

He pressed a kiss against her forehead, a movement so familiar it was practically a part of him. He pulled her close and cried into her hair.

“What if he doesn’t believe me?” he asked softly, after a while, resting his chin on top of her head.

“He will,” she replied, tightening her grip around his waist.

They both knew she had no guarantee of that. That she had no way of knowing for sure. Neither of them did.  And it scared him more than he wanted to admit.

The next day they do the magic turning back thing. It freaks him out quite a bit but not as much as her revealing the miraculous freaked him out the first time, you get kinda used to the magic shenaniganary. They’re both passed out for an hour afterwards and when they wake up, he holds her, crying, because he was finally, finally back to normal and this was real and permanent, and it was over.

She cried with him and held him, and they then went out and he wore a shirt she made for him, and they got ice cream the next day. They celebrated some more and went to the park with the squad and they had a picnic.

It was better than he ever could've imagined.

While the sun was setting, they stood back on her balcony, where they first spoke all those months ago, slow dancing. He pulled away and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at her as the orange light of the sunset shone on them. (So aesthetic)

“Thank you, Marinette, for everything,” he says as he rubs his thumb across her cheek. His hand holding her face. She puts her hand over his and closes her eyes, savouring the moment.

She opened her eyes again and smiled, “I’d do it again and more, if it meant I’d get to be with you,”

He started leaning down, “If I lost you, I’d fly all over the world just to find you again,”

She raised to her tip toes, faces millimetres from one another, blue bells meeting ice, “So it was all worth it in the end?”

He moves closer, eyes searching hers. “Definitely,” he breathes.

She closes the distance, and he picks her up and spins her around. They break apart and their laughter fills the air.

(now that’s enough fluff, allow me to drown you in angst)

The next day they stood on the Eiffel tower. She took his hand, “Let’s recap. I go in, we have our Hawkmoth meeting, then I ask if I can speak to Batman and Nightwing alone. Then I tell them I found you, then I give them – are you sure it’s necessary for me to give them your blood, hair and a cheek swab? Isn’t that overkill?” (Batman is serious about his no kill rule, but he’s also serious about his there’s no such thing as overkill rule)

He shook his head and she sighed, “Okay. Then I give him means to contact me and I come back. Now remember they might take a while to process and they won’t necessarily call immediately-,”

“What if they never call?” he asked, gripping her hand tightly.

She ran her finger softly through his hair, “Then you have us to help you get through it,”

He nodded, she kissed his cheek and stepped through the portal with Queen Bee, Chat Noir and Viperion. He and Ryuuko stayed behind as backup, he wielded the Fox miraculous these days, but kept the name Blackback, always wearing a black leather jacket no matter the transformation.

He and Ryuko discussed fighting styles, she was kindly trying to distract him, and if it had been anything else he needed distracting from, it would’ve worked.

So passed the slowest forty-five minutes of his life. Chat Noir and Queen Bee exit a portal and so the wait for Marinette and Luka began.

She and Bruce were talking now. Bruce would know he was alive. This was make or break for him. Luka was nearby to act as back up worst-case scenario.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by someone taking and rubbing circles on his back. He looked down to see Ryuuko on his one side and saw Chat Noir on his other.

“We’ve got you,” Chloe said standing in front of him, hand on his unoccupied shoulder.

He swallowed and nodded. She squeezed his upper arm and met his gaze, “Breathe, you’re safe, honey,”

So, 30 more minutes pass. They sit down and somewhere along the line Chat goes and grabs a dozen croissants from the bakery.

In another situation he might’ve laughed. He’d baked this morning’s batch and now he got to eat some of it for free, of course, technically he could get others for free too but-

The portal opened behind them and Ladybug and Viperion stepped out. He noted that she didn’t have the bag of his DNA with her anymore.

She smiled softly at him, “Now we wait,”

And wait they did.

They waited two weeks.

And then the burner phone that's number they'd given Bruce rang.

Jason froze, Marinette jumped up and ran to get it.

He couldn't move as she walked over and put the phone on speaker, she grabbed his hand and he held onto her for dear life.

"We can both hear you now, Nightwing," she said.

There was a beat of silence on the other side of the line, "Can he- If you're- can I speak to him? In- um- private?"

Marinette looked at him, and he nodded. She took the phone off speaker and handed it to him.

He held it up to his ear and squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the circles Marinette were drawing on his hand with her thumb.

"He- hey Dick," he said. He heard his brother's breathing hitch, followed by a few seconds of silence.

"When did Batman find you?"

"25th May 2017,"

"Who's your favourite author?"

"Mary Shelley tied with Jane Austin,” he replied.

Dick stayed silent for too long and before he could stop himself the words fell from his mouth, desperation clinging to each syllable,” My favourite- my favourite playwright is Shakespeare, and my favourite school subject is English. If I could pick any day job it would be being a writer. My favourite colour is blue. Alfred has a secret fear of dolphins. You have had a ridiculously huge crush on Barbara for years and she had no idea, and I found a picture you drew under your old room's bedside table of you two getting married. I folded the picture up and hid it in a small box of memories I kept in the farthest corner of my closet under clothes I never wore. I have a round scar on the lower left side of my back where Willis Todd burned me with a cigarette when I was 5 that you don’t know I know you know about. My first Christmas at the manor you found me in the rose garden cutting a few off to take to my mother's grave and I was terrified that you would yell at me but instead you drove me to the graveyard and that was the day I decided to give you a real chance. I despise carrots but I eat them when Alfred makes them because I don't want to be a burden. And I-," he choked on a sob- when had he started crying?

He took a shuddering breath, and swallowed some of his tears, trying to make sure the words got out right, "I've missed you guys for every single second that I've been gone,"

His stomach tied itself up in a million knots as the silence stretched on. He could hear Dick moving the phone.

"Can I speak to Ladybug again please?" A female voice he didn't recognize said.

He handed the phone to Marinette and pressed his hand over his mouth to try to contain the sobs. He felt like a knife was twisting his stomach. He couldn't even hear what Marinette was saying. (I’m going through something irl and as a result u guys get to read angst by the bucketloads and I regret nothing)

Dick didn't want to talk to him. He should've just answered the question, he shouldn't have given all the extra information. Now they were never going to believe that it's really him and he would never see them again. Maybe they knew it was him and they just didn't want him-

"Jason, breathe with me," he heard Marinette's voice. His eyes latched onto hers like a lifeline, he became aware of her hands holding his.

She took his face in her hands and rested her forehead against his, in a motion so familiar that it came as easy as breathing. Well as easy as it usually was to breathe, right now excluded.

After he calmed down, she explained to him what they discussed. They would go to Gotham and meet and discuss things from there.

They wanted to meet him, but they still didn’t completely believe that it was him. He knew this for a fact because they had organized for M’gann to be there to confirm what he was saying. (Yassss M'gann my darling girl, I adore out lil Martian)

Marinette had suggested that they meet in the Batcave in an hour. Everyone had agreed. He assumed she had a plan as to why she wanted to wait. And he trusted her, so he waited for her to explain.

“I want to take the team, as backup. If you’re not comfortable with it, I want to at least take Luka. I would suggest just letting one of us wield is miraculous, but his Second Chance Timer limit is an hour so it would be most beneficial,” she said, gesturing with the hand that wasn’t holding his.

He nodded, sitting up straighter, but not releasing his grip on her hand, “We can bring the team, it’s smart to have backup. Besides if things go haywire, we have Luka to stop us.”

“Then let’s go get our team, love,”

(oh, I should probably mention that only he and LB knows everyone’s Identities. Or well rather no one knows like officially. Like everyone lowkey knows everyone's and a few of them have officially revealed themselves to each other, but not everyone is officially revealed to everyone and Mari and Jason are the only ones who aren’t officially revealed to anyone else, it’s kinda like the vibes of knowing your best friend is queer but not saying anything because they haven’t officially come out yet but like you know because they ain’t nearly as subtle as they think. Like that aesthetic.)

Anyway, 50 minutes later, they’re all gathered on the Eiffel Tower. Jason saw Marinette give Luka a nod to reset his timer. Suddenly he was enveloped in a light with a scratch that wasn’t there a few seconds before on his cheek, his expression quite annoyed.

Marinette immediately furrowed her brows, “How many times?”

Viperion shook his head, “Don’t worry, only one so far, but they try to restrain us. We’re gonna have to try plan b this time,” Everyone nodded, they waited two minutes before the agreed upon time and Mari opened a portal, but instead of appearing out in the opened, they hid in the shadowy parts of the cave.

Jason used his illusion to hide them from any observant eyes and they spread out a bit. He and Mari stayed together, Cloe flew to get a higher perspective and hide Viperion on one of the cave’s many ledges while Chat just moved a few feet away to have a slightly different hiding spot. Kagami dropped into her wind form and was flying above them to eavesdrop, she’d go to Luka if she heard anything of importance so he could go restart again.

They’d be one step ahead of the Bats no matter what they pulled, after all, they had all the time in the world.

They watched them all get into position as time neared. Jason didn’t know all the kids but recognized them from the news.

Dick, Bruce and M’gann stood near the bat computer with Barbara – who was in a wheelchair but that was a realization to deal with later- and Alfred.

The minute they were supposed to appear Jason cast another illusion to make it appear as though they had arrived. As expected, weapons and restraints immediately swarmed on them, each kid going for a different miraculous member. Too bad the images turned into orange dust as soon as they touched them.

The tiny one in the Robin uniform was red in the face and immediately started throwing a tantrum, “Father! They’ve tricked us-,”

Before he could get another word out, Chloe mass-venomed the horde of kids that we’re sent to attack them. He counted Black bat, Red Robin, Batgirl, Signal and Robin. They were all frozen in the middle of the room and before the others near the computer could move, Kagami trapped them in a (rather large) ring of fire. They had enough space to move around comfortably but if they tried approaching the edge the flames would grow larger.

Batman growled and his eyes searched through the cave, but he wouldn’t see them, no matter how hard he searched.

Jason stared at them. Dick was also searching the cave, but he seemed to look more hopeful than angry. Alfred seemed his usual calm self and Barbara was glancing around the cave more subtly. He didn’t bother looking at the rest of the batkids because M’gann was staring right at him, staying right where she was despite her ability to fly.

“Hi, Jason,” she softly spoke into his mind, he felt emotion overwhelm him, she’d known him before everything, and she knew it was him and it was a lot.

He knew she wasn’t probing around his brain for information like he was sure Bruce had asked her to, she didn’t have to, she knew it was him.

“Can you please tell me why we’re surrounded by fire?” she asked.

“We have a time traveller,” he replied.

“Ah, not a fan of Bruce’s restrain and question method, then? Can’t say I blame you, though I do think you’ve proven your point,”

“You really think it’s a good idea to release all of them?” he asked sceptically.

“… Good point. Maybe leave the brood in the middle in whatever frozen state they’re in and just let us in the fire out. They really just think it’s too good to be true… Jason, I won’t let them hurt you,”

“Okay,” he agreed softly. He turned to Marinette and gave her a slight nod. She returned with one of her own.

They walked over to Kagami’s ring of fire and he held their illusion until they were right in front of it. He held on to it for a bit to make sure everyone else would be able to stay in position. Chloe would keep the cavalry venomized and Chat and Viperion would stick to the shadows, unless necessary.

Jason dropped the illusion and watched four heads snap to him. M'gann simply gave him a soft smile and a nod of encouragement.

Kagami moved herself to stand next to Marinette and turned back into her human form, glaring at them with a silent warning.

Their attention was elsewhere, though. For a long time they just stood there and stared at one another in silence. They studied every part of one another they could see.

His eyes caught on Barbara’s wheelchair and he felt ready to destroy whatever put her there. She met his eyes and he held her gaze. She must’ve seen something there because she gave a small smile as she allowed a few tears to escape her eyes.

“Miss Martian?” Batman broke the silence like a cheap dinner plate, shattering it in a matter of seconds.

“It’s him,” M’gann answered without a hint of hesitation.

It was Alfred that moved first. He took a few hesitant steps towards him and before Jason knew it the man was in front of him. Alfred reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, desperately studying him for a moment before pulling him into a hug only Alfred could give.

It took Jason a moment to respond but when he did he returned it wholeheartedly.

After a few minutes they pulled apart and it took him a moment to realize that they’d both started crying. When he looked up Dick was only a few feet away. The moment Alfred stepped away Dick pulled him close.

“I thought you were dead, kid. I thought I’d never see you again, I thought I lost even more family. You were too young, too innocent. Fuck Jason,” Dick whispered, tightening his grip, “I’m so glad you’re alive,”

Jason held on to his brother and that night they cried about terrible endings and broken beginnings. They cried about lost time and found family.

It wasn’t the end yet, Hawkmoth was still terrorizing Paris and he had no idea what Bruce thought yet. There were all his other kids, his brothers and sisters. There were his teammates and the incredible story of how he’d been turned into a bee of all things.

They had a lot of catching up to do.

But just for a moment, a strand of a singular moment, he had his brother in his arms again and he was back home. His first real home.

Things weren’t perfect, as things rarely are but it didn’t matter. Because part of the beauty of life is how it builds and breaks us in a cycle of love and loss.

And that night they laughed with a lightness and joy none of them had fully been able to hold onto in years.

 I hope you guys enjoyed!

This is lowkey totally gonna be the au I go to when I don’t know what to write lol, maybe write a bit of what happens afterwards or a part of everything during the year he lived with Mari them or just y’know shenanigans

[pl-panda]

The vines that bind us - Chapter 5

Chapter 1 || Previous || NEXT

“Yes.” Riddler seethed. “And I really don’t like it when someone uses mine in their ridiculous stories. Now, which of you can tell me where I can find Lila Rossi?”

Some cruel part of Mari wanted to laugh. Leave it to Lila’s lies to get the attention of one of the Rogues of Gotham. And Riddler of all people. That guy had an ego the size of Amusement Mile. He would definitely not take kindly to anyone telling tales about outsmarting him. 

The kinder part, which was domineering, worried about her classmates. Edward Nygma was an unpredictable sociopath. Her mother always warned her against him. Gotham underworld could’ve been separated into three categories: Criminals, Goal-oriented, and Madmen. The first ones were usually greedy mobsters and thieves, such as Catwoman, uncle Floyd or Penguin. They were in it for profit or thrill and could easily be reasoned with. Poison Ivy often dealt with criminals when she needed something. The second category were those who had a goal and would stop at nothing to achieve it. Marigold’s mother was one of them, as were uncles Slade and Doctor Fries. The last category contained the worst part of Gotham’s underworld like Joker, Scarecrow, or Riddler, who cared only about carnage and chaos. She was always warned to stay away from them because they had no respect for anyone or anything and she would run at the risk of great harm. 

Riddler ordered his people to spread through the room. Mari counted at least two dozen. It was bad. The employees were gathered into smaller groups guarded by three mooks. The guns were ready to fire. She really wished there was at least some flower in a glass. She could feel Tikki shifting under her suit. One look at Adrien told her Plagg was similar. The kwamis were worried for their holders. Chloe was the only one calm. She sat there with crossed legs and did her nails. Her steel nerves were incredible. Or would be if it did not attract Riddler.

“You!” He pointed his cane at the blonde. “Riddle me this. What happens to a small stone when it works ups some courage?”

“Wait. You’re speaking to me?” The girl asked. Riddler was a little baffled, but the cane was still pointing right at her. “Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!” Chloe stared at the criminal. “If you think I have time to play some stupid trivia game… I mean seriously? Stones are dead. They can’t have courage.”

Mari facepalmed loudly. Leave it to Chloe to try and antagonize a madman with a gun pointed at her. 

“Tsk tsk tsk. Wrong answer.” Riddler tried to press some button on the grip, but there was only dull sound. “What in the world?”

“Wait! I… I know where to find Lila Rossi!” Mari shouted, hoping to get Riddler’s attention away from Chloe before he managed to repair the gun. The class started to give her murderous glares. Adrien looked at her curiously.

“Oh! Do tell!” The criminal turned to her. When he hit the cane into the ground there was a loud sound of a gunshot that made everyone jump. The ground was now smoking. “Useless junk!”

“She is still in her office! I can lead you to her if you let my friends go.” 

“Ha! Do you think me a fool? As if…”

“A little boulder.” Mari interrupted him. 

“Oh. So you are smart. What about this: The person who makes it has no need of it; the person who buys it has no use for it. The person who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?”

“A coffin,” Mari said with a bit of hesitation sneaking into her voice. Why in the world was she trying to save Lila again?

“Good.” Riddler looked at her for a moment. “Fine. I will go with you. But if you try to deceive me…”

“Coffin?” Mari asked with a smile. Riddler frowned so she quickly returned to the scared expression. 

The villain motioned for eight of his men to follow him and led Mari to the elevator. She was constantly at the gunpoint. Mari had to think quickly. She could try to lose them at the one fo the office levels or… she knew for certain where to find two living plants in the building. With a shaking hand, she pressed the top button. When Nygma gave her a raised eyebrow she shrugged.

“You must’ve heard about her dating youngest Mr. Wayne.” Mari lied swiftly. 

“There was something about it on that cursed blog.” He mumbled. 

-----------------------------

Slowly, the machine went up. The tensions were high and Mari for a moment wondered if revealing her heritage would be enough to scare them. Ultimately, she decided to keep it as an additional shock when they got to the office. She really hoped Mr. Drake would be kind enough to hide under his bulletproof desk and not fire her when he learned who her mother was. Oh well, it’s not like she needed that job too much. 

The elevator paused one level below their destination, but the doors did not open and it refused to go higher. Her tablet started to beep. With all the stress, she forgot she had it on her the whole time.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

Slowly, she opened the tablet. An icon was blinking at her. When she pressed it, a video of them in the elevator popped up. 

A large number of people without authorization in the elevator. Do you approve? Yes No

She pressed yes and the elevator started moving. She should really get some manuals for this thing. When the doors opened, she looked around. It was time for the show. She strode to the doors leading to Mr. Drake’s office. The Riddler and his mooks followed her. She pushed the doors open and immediately screamed.

“Get down!”

Rolling to the side, she pushed her powers to the limit, allowing the plants to seep her energy and grow. Vines shot from the pots and quickly grabbed the guns. Riddler, seething with anger, aimed his cane, but another vine grabbed it and ripped it out of his hand. The three strongest henchmen managed to hold onto their guns and started firing, but Mari was already safe behind the bulletproof desk. Good thing it was mentioned in the notes she inherited from Sarah.

She heard a loud cracking sound and felt that one of the plants just lost their pot. She silently promised it a more comfortable one and thanked for the sacrifice. Her green skin was now in full view. Accidentally, she pressed something on the tablet and now it showed the image from the lobby. She could see that the remaining henchmen were firing at something outside. The muzzles of their guns were flashing. Angry, Mari grabbed one of the drawers and ripped it from the desk. She leaned out from behind her cover and tossed it with full force. The projectile sailed through the air spinning before hitting the middle henchman in the center of his face. He fell down firing the gun all around the place. She could definitely hear something fragile breaking. Oh well. As long as she’s not the one paying…

The vines knocked out all but one henchman who was slowly backing away toward the elevator while firing at whatever plant got close. Riddler was now hanging by his ankles and wildly flailing his hands. The video of the elevator showed he was now there and resting. He thought her friends wouldn’t reach him. How cute!

Mari walked away from her cover and slowly approached the elevator. She heard the fashion disaster grasp when he saw her in her true form, but paid him no mind for now. She only had the vines gag him. The girl pulled the ninjato from its hiding place and smiled. When she pressed the elevator button, the criminal aimed his gun at her. She quickly leaned to the side while hitting the rifle with the palm of her hand. At the same time, she stabbed him in the leg with the sword. While he was screaming in pain she could easily rip the gun from him and then hit him with it, knocking him out. 

The bluenette looked at the gun with disgust. Clenching her hand, she crushed the barrel before dropping it on the floor and approaching Riddler. The plants turned him around and restrained his arms.

“You! You tricked me!” He shouted as soon as his mouth was uncovered.

“Yes.” Marigold smiled sweetly. “Is that a problem?”

“You… Oh no no no! That won’t do! I can stand being outsmarted by Batman. I will not be defeated by some schoolgirl with feeble meta-powers playing Poison-Iy look-alike. For a moment I thought you were her.”

“Look-alike?” the girl asked. “I don’t look that… Just because I have green skin I’m suddenly Poison Ivy look-alike?” She shouted at riddler.

“The hair is wrong, but otherwise your face is very similar.”

“What?” Not believing him, Mari walked over to where she left her tablet and looked. True, her face changed a bit. She still had some of her qualities that easily marked her as Marinette, but her face was no longer that round, instead taking a more oval shape. Her nose was now smaller and lips fuller. She really looked more similar to her mother. And yeah, the green skin made it obvious.

“You’re done preening yourself?” 

“Sure. Now let’s go back to the fact you attacked my friends and made my first day at work even worse!” Her steel gaze rested on Riddler, who felt very uneasy. The vines squeezed his wrists and ankles a bit.

Gulp! “On second thought, I have nothing against preening. The look is important after all…”

“Said the guy with Hawaiian shirt under a suit.” Mari deadpanned. “I don’t have time for this.” She asked one of the vines to smack him in his head, swiftly knocking the supervillain out. With that out of the way, she walked over to the plants and thanked each of them individually. She gently picked the one with a smashed pot and placed it with the other one. 

“Now can you behave for one night? I promise I will get both of you better pots tomorrow.” Mari giggled when both of them hugged her with their leaves. Tikki floated out of her pocket. 

“Marigold! I was so worried! They were armed and you were not Ladybug! There would be no cure if something happened!” 

“Don’t worry Tikki. I had a plan. Mostly…” She looked around the devastated office and her equally devastated workplace. 

“But now your boss will know your secret!” 

“You know what?” Mari smiled. “I don’t care. I’m Marigold Isley and this is Gotham, not Paris.”

“But the word will get out!”

“It will anyway since I’m going to search for my mother Tikki.” The girl tried to calm the frantic mini-goddess.

“Fine.” Bug-like spirit huffed before zipping around the room, passing through the head of each and every henchman, ending her trip with Riddler. “There! They will remember how you took them all down with some martial arts.” 

“You’re the best Tikki!” Mari hugged her Kwami to her cheek. The mini-god nuzzled affectionately. 

Marigold willed the green to disappear from her skin and have the hair return to normal. Eyes were always the hardest, but she got the green under some control. Quickly checking the video feed from the lobby, she saw that there was no more firing, but Police did not yet enter. They must’ve been waiting for the bat. 

Looking around, she finally realized that her boss was nowhere to be seen. Strange. She could’ve sworn he was still in his office when she left. While possible that he left shortly after, he would’ve been in the lobby and he wasn’t. The other option was that he went straight to the garage, which was possible. After all, the CEO ought to have some luxurious car. Yeah, that’s probably right. 

She pulled her phone and typed 911. Time to get some professional help. 

“Nine one one, what’s your emergency?”

“Hi! I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m on the top floor of Wayne Enterprises with a knocked out Riddler and some of his men. If you could please connect me to whoever is leading the negotiations?”

“Madame, this is not a joking matter.” The voice in her phone scolded her.

“Do you believe I’m joking? I’m standing here with a bloodied ninjato and eight men unconscious men plus Edward Nygma who decided to become a fashion disaster since I’ve last seen him.” Marigold answered in a harsher tone. “Today I had one of the most stressful days of my life. First, instead of being an intern I suddenly got hired as a Personal Assistant, then I had to explain to Lex freaking Luthor that I’m not a doormat. If that was not enough, I’m stuck in this job for six! Months! Add to that, because of some mistake in communication Damian Wayne decided to attack me with ninjato. After that Security was really unhelpful. I finish my first day of work only to have Riddler parade into the building just as we were to leave. And I had to improvise because he was about to shoot my friend who, while I love her, needs to learn to shut her mouth sometimes!” Mari shouted, putting all of her frustration and withheld anger into it.

“I’m sorry madame. I will check what I can…”

“You can connect me to whoever leads the police downstairs or I can toss them Riddler from the top of Wayne Tower.” Mari was honestly done. She would do it. Chloe said it herself that it was a tall building. 

“Listen here you little…” Whoever she was speaking to was suddenly cut off and she heard a different voice.

“Gordon here. Who’s that.”

“Are you the police officer in charge down there?”

“What you mean down there? I thought we managed to evacuate everyone from the upper floors!”

“Oh. Good. I was worried about how many people he actually held hostage. I’m on the top floor with a knocked out riddler and some of his men. I don’t exactly have anything to tie them up with…”

“How exactly did you end up up there!” The man asked. “Is batman with you?”

“He was about to shoot one of my friends so I lied to him and got him to follow me to the elevator. I used a moment when he was distracted to take him out.”

“Madame. I really hope it’s not some joke.”

“I…” She wanted to speak, but there was some static on the other side of the line

“Miss Dupain-Cheng. This is Batman.” For a moment she was unsure how to answer. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

“I need you to try and tie the men you got up there. They will probably regain consciousness soon. Do you have zip-ties or at duct tape in your office?”

“Not that I’m aware. It’s my first day. Oh! I can use their jackets!”

“Do that. Riddler’s men downstairs are unaware of what happened with you. If they get wind of their boss being defeated, we don’t know what will happen.”

“Rodger that.” She proceeded to tie them up until Riddler was the one now having his hands bound by the suit he wore. His were tied with really strong vines. She would not risk anything. “Batman? are you there?” Mari asked to her phone. 

“Yes.” Came after a moment. “Are all of them tied?”

“Yes. I used the destroyed plant for Riddler. I thought we could benefit from him still wearing his suit somehow.”

“I sent Robin your way, Miss. He will be coming through the vents. Please try not to attack him on sight.” Batman said in a tired voice. She suspected there was a story behind it, but she was too tired to care. Awkwardly, she took a seat in her chair, which now had several bullet holes but was still mostly comfortable. The waiting was killing her. She was all alone in a room full of downed henchmen.

“Um… So how is your day Batman?” She asked, wanting to break the silence. 

“...” There was no answer at first. “It was mostly fine until Nygma showed up.” More silence. “I heard from Nightwing that he would have a hilarious story to tell once he got home. I’m not sure if I should already be worried or not.”

A smile forced its way onto Marigold’s face. She suddenly thought about Batman sitting in the middle of a room with the other members of Batfam running around playing tag. She did it once with Allegra and Claude when their parents had their get-togethers. 

A sound in the vent broke her out of reminiscing. She added two more names to the list of people she would have to track now that she was in Gotham. She picked the sword and slowly walked toward the vent. Batman warned her that Robin was coming, but one couldn’t be too cautious. 

A boy close to her age appeared. He was wearing a horrendous traffic light suit. At least his cloak was black on the outside and had a hood. The outfit first Robin wore was an even bigger disaster, so there was some progress. Maybe in ten Robins, she would actually be able to not be embarrassed to be seen in their presence. 

“Miss. Please don’t point the ninjato at me.” He asked when he stood up. 

“Sure. I didn’t want to get any surprises. What now?”

“Police is monitoring the situation downstairs. They wanted to enter with full force, but with so many hostages we’re afraid about casualties.” Robin spoke in a very formal tone. Too formal for her liking.

“I have the monitoring on my tablet.” She walked to the desk and showed him the feed. “I count fourteen hostiles. They are in six groups with two to three guns each.”

“I don’t need a lesson in tactics.” The vigilante got angry.

“And about motive? One of the interns posted a video about another intern helping you guys take Riddler down. He really didn’t like it. I’m plenty certain he came to kill her in a very dramatic way.”

“That… complicates things.” Came Batman’s voice. She forgot he was still on the line.

“Miss. Do you know who is the intern he is after?” The police officer asked.

“Lila Rossi. She is one of my classmates. She is the one that is now surrounded by a crowd of young people comforting her while she is crying crocodile tears.” Mari showed her at the screen to robin. “I got Riddler to come up here under the pretense of leading him to her. The floor would be mostly empty and my boss has a bulletproof desk.”

“Tt. And what exactly was that supposed to achieve?” Robin stared at her.

“Gee! I don’t know. Maybe he would no longer be pointing his gun at my best friend!?” She looked at him. “Not everyone carries Kevlar to work.”

“Robin!” Batman reprimanded him. 

“Fine.”

“We can’t give him what he wants, especially after you took him down, Miss,” Gordon spoke. “To be frank, I don’t see it ending any other way than a full-frontal assault. We have snipers in position and SWAT ready. They are only waiting for a green light.” A deep sigh made its way through the line. “I only regret how many lives it will put on the line.”

“What if we got some of them out?” An idea formed in Mari’s head.

“I don’t see it happening unless Riddler gives the command directly,” Gordon said in a solemn voice.

“Leave it to me.” Marigold was determined to save as many people as she could. She was so decking Lila for this situation.

The small girl stormed toward Riddler. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

“What… You! You tricked me!”

“Yeah. Get used to it.” She picked her tablet and started recording. “You will give the command to your people to let half of the hostages go.”

“Riddle me…” Before he could finish, Marigold grabbed him by the laps of his jacket and dragged him toward the large window in Mr. Drake’s office. She dropped the criminal, picked the drawer, and smashed it into the window several times. There wasn’t even a scratch on the glass, but the drawer was now chipped in several places. She looked at it and shrugged.

“I’m out of patience today. You can either give the command or I will open the window with your face.”

“Miss! I can’t let…” Robin tried to intervene, but she pointed the drawer at him. 

“Shut up. I want this day to end.”

Since Riddler was still silent, she picked him by the scruff and was about to smash him. “Fine! Fine! Fine!” He shouted. “Bring me the walkie-talkie.” He pointed at one lying close.

“Do I look like an idiot to you? Record the message here.” 

“As you want.” He leaned closer to the tablet (or as close as she was willing to let him). “Let go of half the hostages.”

Mari stared at him unamused. She dropped him on the ground and walked to where the sword was dropped. After picking it she returned to where the villain was desperately trying to crawl away.

“Miss! Please cease it at once. We do not torture criminals!”

“No. You just pat them on their back and let them go.” She deadpanned and turned to Riddler.

“Really? Oh wow. That’s just cold.” She heard from the phone. A new voice joined Batman and Gordon.

“Wait!” Riddler squeaked. “Let go the number of hostages that would be half of seventy-five if half of five was three!” He shouted very loudly.

Mari nodded and handed the tablet to Robin. He already held a walkie-talkie. After he played the message, there was some ruffle on the other side, but Mari was too tired to care. The girl grabbed her tablet from Robin and opened the feed from the lobby. She saw some confused henchmen before one of them shrugged and started pushing people outside. When Marigold noted that Adrien and Chloe were among those who left the building she let the air out. Only then she realized that she was holding her breath.

“It worked! We got thirty-three out. That’s over half of them.” Gordon shouted ecstatic. “You are a hero miss! Branden! You’ve got your green light!” 

The girl had enough. She hanged up and pocketed her phone. Still holding the sword, she walked into the elevator. Mari didn’t press any buttons, but she leaned over the wall and started whistling a lullaby her mother used to sing her when she had a nightmare.

The memory of a soothing voice that carried her to sleep many times allowed her nerves to settle. She could feel adrenaline slowly leaving her body. The tension left her muscles one by one and she slowly slid to the ground. 

“Tt. It’s safe to go down.” Robin startled her. She immediately jumped and pointed the sword at him. The boy was clearly unamused by being threatened with a ninjato… again. Mari lowered her weapon and pressed the button that would take them to the lobby. 

-----------------

When the doors opened, Mari was quickly tackled by a missile that was a worried Chloe Bourgeoise. “Mari! What were you thinking!?”

“I don’t know… Maybe that you were about to get shot?”

“Oh… right…” That shut Chloe up easily enough. 

“Excuse me, Miss Marinette?” An older man in a brown trench coat asked. He had a neatly cut beard and graying hair. “Commissioner Gordon. We spoke on the phone.” He extended a hand

“Ah. Yes. Thank you for trusting me.” Mari nodded and took the offered handshake.

“If not for you, casualties would definitely be higher.”

“Higher…” Mari repeated weakly.

“Oh! Um… Yes. I’m sorry, Miss. Some of our men got shot in the gunfight.”

“Will…” 

“There are also… Damn.” he rubbed the back of his neck.

“How many?” She could feel her eyes tearing.

“Three civilians and four security guards...”

“Seven…” She gave a barely audible whisper.

“I know this must be hard, but…”

Marigold was no longer listening. She left the building and walked to where the class was gathered.

“I’m telling you! She must be working with that madman. You’ve seen how quickly he trusted her!” Lila was talking loudly.

“Rossi.” The girl said in an emotionless voice. Kim and Ivan wanted to stand in her way like usual, but she pushed through them without breaking a sweat. 

“Didn’t you cause enough drama…” Lila never got a chance to end that sentence, because Mari delivered a straight one strong enough to send her flying several feet back before she came crashing down. Blood pouring from her nose.

-----

NEXT

[littlemissinvisible101]

From Replacement to the Original pt.1

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: Batman - All Media Types

Relationships: Tim Drake & Selina Kyle, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne

Characters: Tim Drake, Janet Drake, Selina Kyle, Original Male Character(s)

Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Good Parent Selina Kyle, Somewhat good parent Janet Drake, Bruce Wayne is Tim Drake's Biological Parent, Selina Kyle is Tim Drake's Biological Parent, Selina Kyle is Catwoman, Past Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Child Neglect, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake Was Robin, Protective Selina Kyle, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe

Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne had just woken up on his once-a-month mandatory rest day when he saw that the Drake Family Lawyer contacted him about a contingency letter left by his mother. Apparently, word of mouth travelled fast that he had come back from his supposed soul-searching trip around his parent’s favorite dig sites.

Mr. Fletcher had asked him when he was free to come get the letter his mother had left for him. Tim had wanted to get out of Gotham as soon as he could so he set up an appointment for that afternoon.

Tim had whipped together a quick breakfast and taken his antibiotics before he spent the rest of the morning finalizing his 2 weeks’ notice since Bruce had been able get back into Wayne Enterprises for the week. It had just been a little over a month since Tim had brought Bruce home from the Time Stream and while Tim had expected things to change, he had hoped it would be for the better.

Bruce hadn’t even blinked at the sight of Damian wearing the Robin suit. Hell, he had congratulated Dick for the way he had managed to keep Gotham and everything in line. Bruce had even found the time to fix up his relationship with Jason before he talked to Tim.

He didn’t even bother to thank Tim for saving his life and for taking over his family business. Instead, they talked business and acted as if nothing was wrong in front of the WE employees. If it wasn’t in business suits, then it was in the other suits when he called in Red Robin to help with a case. Tim hasn’t stepped foot inside the Manor in months.

If this was Bruce’s way of saying he didn’t need Tim anymore, he got the message loud and clear. After all, he was just the replacement, right? The pretender who forced his way into their lives and refused to go peacefully so he had to be kicked out. Well, here he was, bowing out silently out of their lives.

Tim had planned meticulously for how he would be able to leave without them noticing. In a week, he would submit his 2 weeks’ notice to Lucius Fox before heading on business trip to Japan to finalize a deal. He would be spending the next week there before heading to Austria for another week for another business deal. After, he would simply go wherever he wanted to go.

He preprogrammed a message to be sent to each of the Bats, as a farewell of sorts because even if they didn’t think of him as family, he still loved them as if they were his family. He had even prepared a message for the Titans in case they would ever need him again. They were the only ones Tim trusted enough to keep in contact with. Everyone else, even Alfred would have to be left behind.

Tim viciously pushed these thoughts to the side as he decided to enjoy a quick lunch before he made his way to talk to Mr. Fletcher. As he mindlessly prepped ingredients for a simple salad (because his immunity was shot so he needed all the help he could get), he wondered what would be in the letter.

His mother was not the touchy-feely type. She wouldn’t put something about them loving him. Most likely, it would be business instructions to ensure that Drake Industries would still be the empire that it had been under his mom’s command. Unfortunately for his mom, his dad had been the one to wreck the empire.

Tim had thought about reviving Drake Industries but had ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it. The amount of time that went into running a business wasn’t conducive to being a teenage vigilante and Tim wanted to be free to pursue the things he wanted in life. He had more than enough money to live off on and he had invested his money wisely so it had been turning a profit since he had left Gotham the first time.

Even if he continued his vigilantism, he had more than enough money to support himself. He didn’t need their help anymore, just like they don’t need him anymore. As he started cooking his breakfast, he marveled at how he had gotten to this point of independence from the Bats.

Ever since he came back with Bruce in tow, the rest of the Bats didn’t even bother to contact him unless it was for patrol or for a case. Oracle only kept in contact for business. Dick basically ignored their issues and tried to pretend they didn’t exist. Damian liked to act as if he didn’t exist. Jason was, oddly enough, the only one he could stand even if they did only work together for cases. Cass was still in Hong Kong.

If he was being honest with himself, Tim desperately missed being home at the Manor but after everything happened, it was clear that the Manor was no longer his home. Home used to be with the Bats and occasionally, with the Titans. Now, Tim would have to find a new home for himself, hopefully away from Gotham and the Bats.

Tim ate his salad mindlessly while he let his mind wander on his active cases. He would need to tie up his loose ends before he left without the bats taking notice. He popped his next dose of antibiotics into his mouth after and finally decided that he’s wasted enough time to start getting ready for the appointment.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Timothy Drake-Wayne was ready and presentable to the public again. Tim debated bringing his motorcycle but the address of the office was only a couple of blocks from his apartment and he could use the walk to clear his head and get some fresh air.

As he left his penthouse, Tim’s mind debated again about what his mother could have possibly written about. His inheritance had already been secured since he was born so it couldn’t be that. The business had already sunken and drowned under the guidance of his father. It didn’t make any sense for Janet Drake to write a contingency letter and yet, here it was.

Tim didn’t know why but every step felt like it was weighed down with lead and his stomach dropped as he got closer and closer. By the time he was at the office, Tim’s mind was buzzing about theories as to what could have been so important for him to know that his mother, famed Iron Dragon of Gotham wrote a letter just in case she died.

Mr. Fletcher must have been eagerly awaiting him by the looks of it since Tim had scarcely knocked on the office doors before it was opened. It’s been a while since Tim had seen Mr. Fletcher given that he had retired before the Drakes passed.

“Timothy, you’re early!”

“Mother taught me that it was better to be early than to waste other’s time. It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Fletcher.”

“That does sound like something Janet would preach. I wished we’d met again under more ideal circumstances but you’ve grown into a fine young man. Your parents would be proud.”

“Thank you. Your email mentioned a letter from Mother?”

“Ah yes! As you know, ever since my son took over my position at the firm, I had relinquished all of my active duties to him but this was more of a request made by your mother to me as a confidant and friend. Jacob, my son had been cleaning out my office a few days ago when he found the envelope. He contacted me immediately about it and I remembered what it was about. I made the trip out here because I had to give it to you before I forgot again. I owe your mother that much.”

“What do you mean, Mr. Fletcher?”

“I think it’s best for you to read it, Timothy. I already know what it contains but I’m here to answer any of your additional questions.”

This suddenly seemed like a much bigger deal than Tim originally thought it would be, especially since Mr. Fletcher had left his retirement in Metropolis to give this to him in person. With bated breath, Tim opened the sealed envelope and began to read.

~~~

Dearest Timothy,

If you are reading this, then there are two possible options. Either I have passed on before your 18th birthday or I was too much of a coward to talk to you about this in person and I gave you this letter instead. As I write this, your father is asleep, holding you after a nightmare from today’s ordeal at the circus. I have tried to sleep but my mind will not be quieted about the possibility of that happening to us before I could tell you the truth so I decided to make this contingency letter just in case. By the time

you’re reading this, you will have grown into an intelligent young man who I know is capable of so much more than Jack and I could have ever dreamed of, partially because you are more than Jack and I could ever produce.

Timothy, you are not our biological son. I had gotten pregnant but the child I had borne was stillborn. Jackson Timothy Drake hadn’t been able to take his first breath before it was taken away. Luckily for me, your father was out of town on business and I rushed to Gotham General against my earlier wishes and they had stuck me in a room with another woman who had given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy, you.

You were both born on the same day, in the same room, with different fates. Your mother was a young woman from the seedier side of Gotham and your father was out of the picture, or so she said. She was planning to give you up for adoption anyway and so I made the only impulsive decision I have ever made since marrying Jack and I told her to give you to me. I told her I would give you the life of luxury you deserved and that you would never want for anything if she gave you to me. She agreed on one condition: I tell you the truth about your parentage on your 18th birthday so that she could have the opportunity to get to know you too.  

She didn’t even let me pay for her hospital bills because she didn’t want to be indebt to me even though I was forever indebted to her for giving me you. I had John rush over to Gotham General and make a contract for both of us because I could not allow Jack and the rest of Gotham High Society to find out about this. The only ones who knew about you being adopted were me, John, your mother and the medical staff who helped us. Since Gotham General was severely underfunded prior to my intervention, it was easy to get them to change the records to make Timothy Jackson Drake be born and for Jackson Timothy Drake to disappear. I had gotten the staff involved to sign NDAs and to make sure that none of this got out.

As I write this, I have seen you grow into this absolutely marvelous and intelligent child, talented in ways I could have never expected. It is bittersweet for me because as I see you grow, I cannot help but think of what my biological son could have been had he survived. Would he be as smart and as capable as you? Would he be different compared to you? Would I have taken you in had he survived? I have never regretted my decision to adopt you but I could not stand to watch you grow when I know my biological son never will. I know I will most likely grow to be distant from you and I already regret it but I cannot stop myself from seeing my dead son in you.

However, I can already tell you will be stronger than I ever could be. You take to your lessons like a duck to water and you see a magic in the world that I could never see. I want you to know that even if you are not mine biologically, I still love you even if I cannot show it. I love you even if you cannot feel it. I love you but I also love the son that I lost and I cannot help but mourn for him while I watch you grow. Your father does not know so his love is genuine and pure for you.

I want you to know this, Timothy. I took you in on an impulsive decision but I have never regretted it. Sure, I wish with all of my heart and mind that my son had survived but I was able to have you and you more than made up for it. I know that this does not excuse my future actions, my possible neglect of you but I hope you understand why I cannot bear to be close to you. I love you even if I do not show it. I love you even if you cannot see it. I love you and I hope you can forgive me for not telling you sooner.

Love,

Mother

~~~

Of all of the possibilities Tim had considered, this was not one of them. This explained so much but also left so many questions but the only thought passing through his head was the fact that, even at birth, he was a replacement.

“I assume you have questions?”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, to be honest. You’ve known the entire time?”

“Yes. I was the one who made the contract for your mother and she swore me to secrecy.”

“So, let me get this straight. I was just a replacement for her son who died?”

“No! Of course not. Timothy, I know it must not have seemed like it but your mother and father truly did love you as if you were their own. Your mother has some leftover problems from her childhood that negatively impacted her ability to show her love even if she does. She would have never bothered to put in the effort otherwise.”

“I’m trying to believe that but my recollection of Mother is not that different from the Iron Dragon of Gotham.”

“That’s because she fought to give you the best education and care possible which she knew was not her own. That’s why she constantly changed your nannies and tutors because as soon as she felt they inadequate for you, she was searching for the next best thing for you. Janet didn’t really care in the normal ways, Timothy. I know it’s hard to see but she really did love you and take care of you in her own way.”

“I just. I never expected this.”

“I knew this day would come but I was honestly hoping your mother would be here to explain her side of the story before she told you who your birth mother was.”

“Do-do you know who my birth mother is?”

“It’s not written in the letter?” Mr. Fletcher seemed genuinely surprised at this.

“No. Mother didn’t include her name, just a vague description of her. Can you tell me who my mother is?”

“I guess by the time Janet wrote it, she had forgotten the name. I think I have the contract hidden here. Let me look for it.”

What followed was the tensest five minutes of Tim’s life. He didn’t even know if his biological mother was still alive but he wanted to find out. After all, his birth mother had wanted to reconnect when he was older. Maybe, she wanted to have him in her life, just like Mo-Janet had apparently wanted him in her life.

Maybe, she would be there with welcoming arms. Maybe, she was one of the many civilian casualties of their nighttime escapades. Maybe, she had gotten lost in the seedier side of Gotham and she had never been able to make it out. There were so many maybes that Tim wanted to figure out what was true and what wasn’t.

“Aha! Here it is. According to this, your birth mother is Selina Kyle.”

Holy shit. His mother was fucking Catwoman.

[crimsonspade]

The first sign something was terribly wrong was when he found Red Hood’s helmet. No, he reconsidered the past four hours. The first sign something was wrong was when he’d gotten a call from Alfred that there was a break-in at a blood bank, and as he’d been busy chasing a Catwoman acting abnormally, he’d called Hood. Only, Hood hadn’t answered. It was more out of character than Catwoman stealing some relic of a fifteenth-century chain whip over the statue of Bastet being featured at the Gotham City Museum.

Deciding to deal with Catwoman later, Batman had checked where Hood’s signal was coming from to determine why he wasn’t answering. Seeing his GPS put him in the same area as the bank, he was even more confused by Hood's radio silence.

Which brought him to the blood bank in question. He’d never had to deal with a robbery from this sort of location before, not even Freeze when he was searching for donors for his wife. It was quiet, not even a guard, but the door was very obviously forced open, hanging precariously off its hinges. There was a silence in the halls as he ventured further, looking for any signs of the intruder or his partner.

That was when his boot knocked into something that rolled across the floor, disturbing the quiet. Realizing it was his partner’s helmet, something Hood would rather risk death than take off where someone could potentially see him, Batman became deeply concerned. Of the occasions Hood had lost his helmet, he’d been gravely wounded 90% of the time.

“Hood? Can you hear me?” Batman dared to whisper, looking around him for some other sign his partner was here. He carefully crept forward, slower than before as he measured his steps. A batarang was already in hand in case he found his partner’s attacker first. It was only a few moments before he heard his boots step on something other than the tiled floor.

Looking down and flicking his cowl’s night vision on, he discovered a disturbing pool of blood. At least a liter, if not more. Before he could truly panic, he told himself he was surrounded by shelves full of blood. There was no reason to assume this was his partner’s.

Besides the fact Hood would have to lose that amount of blood before he’d allow his helmet to be removed.

Moving faster through the aisles and even more on guard, Batman moved towards the faint sound of something ripping. Blood smears across the floor and the shelves lead the way. As he turned the corner he spotted someone digging around in one of the shelves. It took only a second before he recognized them.

Dropping his tense shoulders and lowering his batarang, folding it away with a motion he didn’t even think about, he approached. “Hood! What’s happened, why is your helmet off and what are you doing?”

His friend froze for a second like a deer. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder at Batman. Even with his night vision activated, Batman noticed that Hood’s eyes glowed too brightly. He was less than five feet from him.

In a blur suddenly it was much less than that- Hood’s hands wrapped like vices on his biceps, his face a bare inch from him.

“You smell di-vine!” Hood hissed with a manic and bloody grin. It was then that what he’d initially ignored in his relief to see his partner standing on his own two feet and looking unharmed registered. The many empty bags of blood on the floor at Hood’s feet.

His partner rubbed his nose along the edge of Batman’s cowl. That’s when he noticed the second thing, Hood’s smile held four wicked fangs.

“Like the sweetest of nectars...I need to have a taste. You don’t mind, do you?” Like a viper, Hood struck, his fangs breaking through most of the kevlar that made up his suit. With a forceful shove, a shove he had to redouble when Hood wouldn’t pry loose, Batman tore him away from his neck.

“Hood! Get a hold of yourself!”

A high pitched laugh was his reply, “Hold of myself? I’ve never felt so whole! So- in control!” Hood gave a dramatic spin with his arms out, his red cape weighed down a bit by the blood soaked into the edges.

“You’re covered in blood.”

“Am I?” Hood’s glowing red eyes looked down at his suit shirt. It was more red than white. “Oops. Bit of a messy eater.” His grin did not diminish, and he dragged his tongue over his bloodied fangs. “Speaking of...I still haven’t gotten that taste!”

Hood lunged at him, claws extended and Batman leaned back into the motion, using his feet to kick him off with the added momentum. His friend went flying into the shelves, breaking glass and spilling even more blood. As Batman readied cuffs to try to pin him, Hood seemed to not be able to stop himself from rolling in the new pool of blood.

“Mmm, yum...but still...not as alluring as what I can hear pumping in your veins, Batsy my dear.” A swipe from the claws tearing through Hood’s gloves caught Batman’s thigh, but just a graze and not enough to cripple him. It did however slow him down enough that when Hood attempted another tackle he took them both to the floor, pinning Batman down with strength Hood didn’t normally possess.

“What happened to you Hood? Tell me what’s going on!”

“Oh my Bats. You’ve got competition you know? I wonder if I can keep you to myself…” Hood leaned closer, but seemed to stop himself. “Ngk, stop- resisting-!” Batman narrowed his eyes, noticing the sudden hesitance.

“Hood?”

“Nnno! Not Bats!” As Hood seemed to be at war with himself, Batman heard metal sing through the air.

Thwack!

The next second something hit Hood right in the head, knocking him clean off of Batman. He went rolling into more shelves, knocking them over and pinning him beneath them. More blood soaked the tiles, covering Hood’s normally pale features. He didn’t get up. The click of heels echoed in the room.

“What am I going to do with you Bats? You can’t handle one little baby fang by yourself?”

“Catwoman. What are you doing here?” Batman narrowed his eyes at the thief, currently holding the metal whip she’d stolen earlier.

“Saving your ass from becoming dinnertime.”

Getting up, Batman made his way over to his friend, checking to see if he was alright. Catwoman protested, “I wouldn’t get too close to it.”

“Him. You know he’s my partner.”

“He was. It certainly ain’t anymore. Did you miss the part where it was about to eat you?”

Batman shot her a glare over his shoulder as he knelt down to check a pulse. He was distracted from her words when he realized he didn’t feel one at first. Taking off his gloves to do it by hand, he focused and felt a very faint thrum of life. He let out a soft sigh of relief. Looking at his head, now matted with blood that was both his own and from the surroundings, he noticed that the wound caused by Catwoman’s whip was healing remarkably-inhumanly fast.

“You know more about this situation than you’re telling. Start talking.”

Selina shrugged one shoulder. “Sure. Just let me finish up and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

“He’s out cold, start talking now.”

“It’ll only be out another sixty seconds if we’re lucky. I need to stake it.”

Batman took a menacing step towards her, “Over my dead body.”

The cat burglar huffed, “That’s what’s gonna happen if you don’t move!”

He wavered for a moment before turning back to his partner. The wound in his head was nearly closed, and Batman needed answers.

“We’re taking him back to the Batcave, I’ll put him in a cell and then you will answer my questions.” He didn’t give her an option. Using some of his cuffs he cuffed his friend and scooped him up. He was dripping blood, the smell was cloying but he refused to flinch.

Catwoman rolled her eyes and he heard her mutter under her breath, “it’s your funeral.”

The walk to the batmobile was tense, and neither said a word as he sped through Gotham streets toward the Batcave. Hood woke up as they pulled in, but Batman was able to hold him long enough to lock him into the cell.

Hood used to call it a drunk tank as a joke.

Batman wished this were as simple as waiting for a drug to wear off.

But as he listened to Catwoman explain, answers given like pulling teeth and doing nothing for his rising frustration, that hope was dashed.

“There’s no cure?”

“Not once he’s had human blood.”

“I refuse to believe that. If it’s an infection of the blood, there has to be a cure.”

“Bruce, I’m telling you. People have tried for centuries and there is no going back once turned.”

“People haven’t been me.”

Selina threw her hands in the air and shouted, “You arrogant dick! You really think you can solve the plague of vampirism before he breaks out of that cell and eats you for dinner?”

Bruce smirked at her, “I got you to stop calling him ‘it’.”

That earned him a scathing glare, but Bruce couldn’t care about that. He had work to do. So did Selina. Someone had to turn Hood into this after all, and that someone was loose in Gotham streets. If the circumstances were different Bruce would suit back up and help her hunt whoever had invaded their city. But with his partner down and needing him, he wasn’t about to leave.

[ladyanput]

Seeing Green Ch. 4

[[MORE]]

"Alya, let go!" Adrien pulled his arm free from Alya's fierce grip, as soon as they had exited the mall. Nino had run out after them, clearly shaken, before exchanging a look with his friend. Marinette was still there, she was still in there at gunpoint by some twisted villain! "Why did you drag us out? We left Marinette behind!"

"Oh Adrien, don't worry! I'll contact Batman and he'll come and save Marinette!" Lila spoke up, and Adrien wanted to throttle the little harlot. Didn't she see that her lies wouldn't impress him in this instance? He noted their classmates and other mall patrons were outside, being led along by first responders. Someone must have called the police about Two Face. Adrien stepped back when Lila tried to throw herself sorrowfully into his arms, darting off in another direction. "Adrien!!"

Once Adrien was out of sight, he opened up his jacket, Plagg drifting out. He hadn't said a word to his Chosen last night, and his expression was less than pleased.

"Plagg, we have to save Marinette! God only knows that bastard rich boy is already offering to trade her life for his, he probably even-"

"Adrien, do you honestly think it's a good idea to become Chat Noir in America, when he's supposed to be in Paris? Besides, I wouldn't let you within two feet of that girl after the stunt you pulled last night!" Plagg hissed as he suddenly got into Adrien's face, his fur standing on end. "You spied on her, Adrien, you crossed a line! I should Cataclysm you for what you did, it was beyond disturbing, you basically violated the girl!"

"I didn't touch her, Plagg! It's not that big of a deal, she and I are soulmates! Ladybug and Chat Noir have always been soulmates, right?" Adrien rolled his eyes, then held up his hand. "Whatever, Mari is in trouble, we need to save her. Claws Out!"

…

Evangeline decided that if she were ever to take any of her classes on a field trip, she would ban any cities with superheroes and villains. She rushed through the halls of the mall, her blood pumping rapidly. When Nino had told her that Marinette was still in the mall, she hadn't thought twice and had merely barged back into the building. Now it was a matter of finding her, and Damian, from what Lila was blubbering out.

It still surprised her that Marinette had gone on a date with Damian Wayne. Thinking back now, the boy did certainly look like his father, from what Bruce Wayne pictures she could find on the internet.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Ma'am, you should be running towards the exit." A large hand gripped Eva's upper arm that pulled her to a halt. She spun on her heel and her eyes narrowed at the stranger. He was tall, much taller than her. The red helmet covering his face was a dead giveaway to who this was; Red Hood. "Two Face is around, we can't have civilians endangering his hostages."

"One of those hostages is one of my students!" Eva snapped, trying to tug herself free from Red Hood's firm grasp.

'And my friend..'

"She's in a fucking foreign city, alone right now, with a boy she just met yesterday, being held hostage by a psycho your jails seem to hold worth shit. She's terrified and I won't be like everyone else who's abandoned her!"

Jason stared down at the woman glared up at him, her violet eyes dark with rage. She reminded him of a fox he had come across on Bruce's property, on edge and ready to strike to get to her pup. He tightened his grip on her arm, wanting more than anything to take this woman out of the mall, he sighed and let go. He hated the sudden thought of kissing the scowl off of her full lips.

"Listen, lady, you need to leave, I can't have you getting in danger too, you'd only cause more if a mess." He growled.

"Well that's too fucking bad, now isn't it?" Eva narrowed her eyes and rushed past him, making her way towards the plaza. He groaned and followed quickly behind. The woman could run pretty fast in high heels.

…

Marinette opened her eyes, feeling her head throb as if she had been hit over the head with a freight train. She let out a cry as she was pulled into her knees by her hair, looking up at the goon she had tackled to the ground. He was scowling at her, blood oozing from his now broken nose. She had only tackled him, had he landed on his face?

"I must say, Mister Wayne, your girlfriend is quite the quick little bitch." Two Face sneered down at the boy he held at gunpoint, before turning his cruel eyes to Marinette. "I'll have great fun putting a bullet in her gut afterwards. She should really watch her tongue, spreading stories about how she's Batman's civilian sidekick."

'What?' Marinette tried to make sense of his words, her mind whirling. She had never said that, she had never even been to Gotham before. Then it clicked. Lila, he thought she was Lila, he had seen them together and had made assumptions.

"I'm not Batman's sidekick…" Marinette groaned out, noting Damian's look of panicked rage. His body was tense, trembled as if he wanted to turn and beat Two Face bloody. He probably did, not that Marinette blamed him.

"A little late to go back on your lies now, little girl." Two-Face motioned to the henchman, who let the injured girl crumple to the ground, and replaced his boss at holding Damian at gunpoint. Two Face made his way over to Marinette as she shakily got to her hands and knees. He grabbed a fistful of her dark hair and ripped her head back, making her look into his partially disfigured face. He sneered down at her, making her blood run cold. "Don't worry, I won't shoot you just yet. First, I'll batter up that pretty face up, then little Richie Rich won't want you anymore."

Damian watched in horror as Two Face backhanded her, sending her collapsing to the ground once again. He wanted to go over and rip him apart, to teach this goon of his a lesson in hurting a woman. You never fucking strike a woman, ever. Though villains don't always count, under certain circumstances.

"Two Face, let the girl go." Damian's eyes flickered over to one of the upper levels of the mall. His father, as Batman, perched on the railing, his signature scowl in place. "Leave the kids alone, they didn't do anything to you."

"This one," Two Face motioned down to the pathetic heap Marinette had become. From where he knelt, he could see the bloody gash on her right temple, her lower lip was cut, and dark bruises had formed. He gave a snarl of rage. "This one has been going around, running her mouth, saying she singlehandedly caught me, Batman. Now, as a lawyer, I do hate it when people make things up."

"Sorry to rain on your parade, Dent, but you've got the wrong girl." Nightwing spoke up as he stepped out from behind a pillar, crossing his arms. "Now be a good lawyer and let the innocent girl go."

Damian could see all of his brothers were someplace in the plaza, his curiosity piqued when Jason had run in with Miss Bourbon. But his questions quickly vanished when he heard Marinette groan in pain. Returning his gaze to her, he saw that Two Face was pressing the barrel of the gun to her injured temple.

"Anyone steps closer, and the girl gets it." Two Face snarled as he dragged Marinette to her feet. Every hero in the room froze, unsure what quite to do.

Then the skylight overhead shattered.

Chat Noir landed a few feet from the messy situation, giving Marinette a grin as he focused his eyes on Two Face.

"Alright, ugly, I highly suggest you let my purrincess go, before I make you disappear." Chat Noir flexed his hand, preparing himself to call upon his power.

" Who the fuck are you supposed to be?" Two Face grumbled, slightly dumbfounded at the tight of the teen boy in a skintight leather suit and cat ears. Here he thought he had seen everything in Gotham. "If you're Catwoman's lackey, I highly suggest you back off, these hostages are mine."

"What the fuck, Chat Noir?" Evangeline cried out, drawing eyes over to her. She looked fairly pissed. "Is this why you haven't been to the recent akuma attacks, because you've been smoozing around in Gotham?! You fucking idiot!"

It soon became a mess of shouting and screaming. Marinette felt her head throb, but blinked when she noticed that the gun was no longer pressed against her head. Two Face was waving it around, as he yelled with Chat Noir, who was yelling back for him to let her go, before he was just about to call on his Cataclysm. Taking the moment of distraction, she stomped on Two Face's instep and shoved his arm up. A shot rang out as the gun was knocked from her hand and clattered across the floor.

Eva found herself being dragged to the floor by Red Hood, him pinning her and shielding her with his body as the bullet whizzed over them. She couldn't help but realize how warm and strong he left, making her toes curl ever so slightly. She flushed a dark red, why the fuck was this thing about that?!

Marinette took the moment of confusion on the henchman's face to throw the box Damian had been forced to drop earlier into his face. He went stumbling back.

Batman and Nightwing were on the criminals in seconds, bringing them to the ground and handcuffed them.

Marinette stumbled and fell into a pair of arms. She was about to thank Damian for catching her, when she saw it was Chat Noir, giving her a cocky grin. Her body tensed as he picked her up bridal style.

"Don't worry, purrincess, I'll take you away from these unsavory characters." He announced, and Marinette didn't miss the look he shot Damian. Then he took out his staff and launched them up back through the broken skylight.

"Wait, Chat, stop! No, put me down!" She screamed as he carried her off, away from the scene.

Everyone was left staring up at the skylight in dumbfounded silence, before Eva's eyes went round when reality clicked in.

"Holy fuck, quit gawking and stop him, she's still hurt!"

"Don't worry, Robin will catch up to them!" Damian spoke up. Ignoring his father's warning too, he tore off down the hall.

"Well, I'll let Robin know to catch up with them, since he's on standby." Red Hood muttered, taking Eva's hand, dragging the woman towards the exit as his brother and father guided the villains towards the doors. At least this time, she gave in and followed him.

…

Robin vaulted himself across the rooftops of Gotham city, keeping an eye out for that cat boy. He quickly spotted them near the Wayne Botanical Gardens, his jaw clenched in anger when he landed on the rooftop just as Chat Noir dragged Marinette into the greenhouse.

Robin followed quickly behind, his sword at ready. He silently entered the greenhouse, listening intently as he eyed the masses of flora and fauna.

"Chat, please, you need to let me go. I need to go back and see if Damian is alright, he's hurt!" Marinette's voice rang through and he followed it. He soon came upon the duo; Chat Noir holding tight an obviously struggling Marinette. "Please, Chat Noir, please!"

"Relax, purrincess, I'm sure he's fine. Aren't you happy to be with your knight in shining armor?" Chat Noir purred, nuzzling Marinette's neck. She smelled so sweet and felt so soft… He reached up and cupped her cheek, gazing into her eyes, not seeing the frantic terror there. "I'm glad I got you away, I'm sure that boy was going to hurt you. That's all his type want to do is hurt pretty girls like you."

"Chat, stop, I need to go!" Marinette felt nauseous, knowing it was most likely from her injuries. She wanted so badly to transform and just give Chat a piece of her mind. All of those times he had been absent, he had been here, and what for? Didn't he realize that they needed to defeat Hawkmoth?

"I'd do as the lady says." Something wrapped around Marinette's waist and she was roughly pulled back and into another embrace. But this one, it felt familiar, it felt warm… She almost wanted to lay her head against whoever's chest this was and just stay there.

"So you're the one who kidnapped Miss Dupain-Cheng here." Robin glared at Chat, who was snarling now, his claws out, looking ready to skin him alive. "I think it's in the best interest for me to take her back to the mall. There are paramedics there waiting for her."

"You can't take my lady, she's mine!" Chat stepped forward to attack, but Robin abruptly pointed his sword to Chat's neck, the blade breaking the skin ever so slightly.

"If you value your head, I suggest to step back." Robin pulled Marinette closer, who wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled down at her, and Chat finally took a step back.

Robin turned and quickly left with Marinette, wincing as he saw her face. He felt like it was his fault that this happened to her, if only he had been able to take down Two Face, she wouldn't be hurting like this.

"Are you okay?" Robin whispered down as he set off his grappling gun, and launched them both in the direction of the mall. He found Marinette staring at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I almost got shot today… I- I could have been killed today…" Marinette sobbed out, clinging to the hero, who stopped on one of the rooftops to hold her close and let her cry. But to his surprise and slight panic, he watched her lock it all away, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She took a few deep breaths, then met his gaze. "I'm sorry, please, take me back to the mall. I need to see if Damian is okay."

"I'm sure he's fine. Batman told me he hasn't suffered any injuries, he's just talking with the police right now." Robin gave her a kind smile, and off they went again.

They quickly landed at the mall, Marinette found herself instantly in the arms of Evangeline. She was whispering something Mari couldn't quite make out, but found herself smiling when Alix, Kim, Juleka and Rose joined in on the hug.

"Alright, move it, I need to check on her." A paramedic shooed the group away, then carefully inspected Marinette's face, clicking her tongue ever so slightly. "Don't worry, sweetie, we'll fix you right up. You're a pretty brave lady, staying strong when dealing with Two Face like that."

"It wasn't too scary. We have akuma attacks all the time in Paris, so I'm pretty used to stressful situations." Marinette shrugged, not noticing the confused look the paramedics shared as they began cleaning the gash on her temple.

"Marinette! I'm so glad you're safe!" Lila ran up to the ambulance, Mari now noticing the news cameras around. "That was so scary, seeing Two Face like that! But don't worry, I told you I'd get Batman here!"

"Yeah, Mari, isn't it amazing at how quickly Lila got them here?" Alya grinned, hopeful that Marinette would finally get the stick out of her ass about Lila. Hopefully this near death experience would change the girl's tune. But her smile vanished at Marinette's eye roll and soft scoff. "Girl, don't be so ungrateful, Lila saved your life!"

"Marinette!" Damian ran up, having hid once again and changed. He went to her, taking her hands into his own. "Are you alright? I was terrified when that guy in the cat suit ran off with you. Thank God Robin was around to save you."

"Yeah, I was pretty lucky.." Marinette smiled up at him, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks again. Then she remembered, this was Damian Wayne, the son of Gotham's richest man, not that money really mattered to Marinette. She found it surprising, but she still saw him as, well, Damian. Though a voice in the back of her head demanded she transform and go hunt down Chat Noir to demand answers, she shoved that aside. Now was not the time.

"Your girlfriend is safe too, Damian, are you feeling glad?" Alya piped up, shoving Lila in their direction with an eager grin. Damian had to sneer at her broken English. Obviously the girl hadn't taught herself much before coming to America. Finally, she'd get the big scoop she'd been dreaming of!

"Girlfriend, what girlfriend?" Damian rose a brow, eyeing the girl that had been shoved in his direction, then his lip curled slightly in disdain. He remembered this one, she was the one who had defamed Marinette, who was spreading those unsavory rumours about their supposed relationship. Scratch what he said earlier, he really wanted to hit this woman. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"What? Your girlfriend, Lila? Lila Rossi?" Alya persisted, only to be shooed away by Evangeline.

"I swear to God, those two are more annoying than the orange cones in Montreal." She muttered, taking a seat beside Marinette in the ambulance. She smiled at the girl. "Are you alright? You gave me quite the scare in there."

"I'm fine, but why were you inside? Eva, you could have gotten hurt, you're not a trained hero!" Mari threw up her hands as soon as the paramedics finished patching her up and stepped away.

"I got scared." Eva admitted, pulling the younger girl into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a moment, before it was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They turned their gazes to where Batman and Red Hood stood.

"We have some questions, if that's alright?"

…

Tim Drake was not having the best day. He had spent the entire day doing research and a sample analysis.

He heard the Batmobile enter the cave, as well as his family walking up to where he sat at the computers.

"Did you find anything on the attacks this Ladybug hero had told you last night?" Bruce removed his cowl and stared up at the computer screen, watching clips of two colourful superheroes fighting many different colourful looking villains.

"What she and that Marinette girl told you is true. I don't know why we didn't pick this up sooner, it's been happening for almost four years now." Tim frowned, then glanced over at Damian. "You said your girlfriend mentioned the League? Think maybe Clark heard about this, or any of the others?"

"They would have told me if they'd learnt about such a threat." Bruce crossed his arms, but didn't sound too convinced with that statement. He sigh, then massaged his temples. "I'll ask around though, if this was ignored, we will have to make up for it big time."

"She's not my girlfriend, Tim." Damian narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw the DNA test up on one of the screens. "Tim, what is that?"

"Well, I noticed something on one of the ledges around the Gotham Grand Hotel and thought I'd test it out. I don't have a match in our system." Everyone noticed how nervous Tim suddenly appeared, but that he forced a sickened smile. "That's where your girlfriend is staying, Damian."

Damian didn't know why he got the thought, it was just a little niggle in the back of his head, but it was persistent enough that he drew out his sword, pointing the tip to Tim, the tip with dried blood on it.

"Compare it to this." He whispered.

It was a match.

"What exactly did you find on the roof?" Damian's expression slowly darkened. And when Tim finally told him what it was, Dick and Jason had to hold him down to keep him from going a skinning a cat.

"I'll fucking kill him! I bet it was across from Marinette's room, wasn't it?! The fucking freak was spying on her and doing- doing that!"

"Whoa, calm down, Demon Spawn, we don't want to kill anyone just yet." Jason piped in, though he felt revolted. Marinette seemed like a sweet girl, though quite badass, from what he heard, she had across dislocated Two Face's arm. "We have to go there anyways, to meet Ladybug, so you can check on her then, okay?"

"You're pretty eager, Jay, wanting to see that lady again?" Dick piped up, trying to lighten the mood. He also didn't want to think about… That at the moment either. He was sure once they had this Chat Noir in their sights, they'd kill him then.

"Shut up, Dick, I just want to see what a French hero looks like!" Jason rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm not the one who thought she had a nice a-"

"Can we just go please?!" Damian snapped, storming back towards the Batmobile, trembling with rage with every step. He'd mount Chat Noir's head on the wall.

…

Ladybug stood on the rooftop, waiting in silence for Batman and his crew, shivering as the crisp winter air blew. Tikki had told her that she'd take on more characteristics of the Ladybug, but she had been hoping for wings, maybe, not temperature sensitivity.

"Good evening, Ladybug." Red Robin and the others landed across the roof from her, blending almost seamlessly in with the shadows. Marinette was almost envious of how well suited their costumes were for Gotham, while she stuck out like a sore thumb, covered in bright red with polka dots. "Sorry if we kept you waiting."

"You didn't, I just got here." She out on a bright smile, hoping they didn't see her shivering pathetically in the wind. They all looked so serious, it was a nice change of pace, she found, so used to Chat Noir's antics. "I do appreciate that you're willing to hear me out. When I contacted the Justice League, the Flash told me to stop making up stories and wasting their time. I just… I need help defeating Hawkmoth, I need help finding his lair and stopping him."

"So that's what happened… Ladybug, I apologize for the League for putting you through that. We'd be more than happy to help you, tell us everything." Batman walked up to Ladybug, setting a hand on her shoulder. He saw relief in her eyes and what looked like hope, a hope that had finally been awoken after a time of pain and despair. And she told them everything.

…

"I just can't believe him, he brushed you off like you were nothing!" Alya paced in her shared hotel room with Lila, fuming from earlier. So much had happened today, she had almost gotten a groundbreaking story, but Marinette had ruined everything, just to keep the attention on her! "What kind of boyfriend does that?!"

"Oh Alya, you know how it is. He's rich and famous, he doesn't want me to be a target, like today almost happened. I hoped Marinette learned her lesson today, trying to pretend to be his girlfriend to make Adrien jealous. I feel bad for her, she feels like she needs to spread her legs to a bunch of guys to get noticed by a guy who doesn't want her." Lila cooed, laying on her belly on her bed. "Don't blame Damian, besides, he always makes it up to me in bed~. He has the most amazing tongue."

"You're so lucky you're marrying him! Hey, do you think he'd let me interview him? It would do wonders for the Ladyblog, it could even get me hired to the biggest names in the business!" Alya beamed, taking a seat beside her friend, excitement buzzing through her. "Maybe when you two get married, I can do an exclusive coverage on your wedding."

"I can certainly try, Damisweets is just so shy and sensitive, but I'm sure he'll do it since you're my bestest friend in the whole world!" Lila grinned, playfully nudging Alya. But then she pouted. "I wish I could have gotten that dress for my dinner with the Waynes tomorrow, but I completely forgot my wallet. They moved the dinner, since I was in such a horrible predicament."

"Oh girl, I wish I could help, but I need my money for this new phone that's supposed to have the best camera for taking video, and has more storage and more speed." Alya sat back, brainstorming. She had to help her best friend, afterall, tomorrow was going to be a big night for her, for both of them! Maybe she could convince Lila to let her come with them to Wayne Manor if she got her friend that dress. Then an idea popped into her head. The blogger got to her feet and went to her purse and pulled out a dark green wallet. Nino had given it to her when hadn't wanted to end up losing it if it fell out of his pocket or something at the mall. "I'm sure Nino won't mind if we use his credit card to buy the dress. It's too important to you, Lila!"

"Alya…" Lila grinned a grin that was like the cat getting the canary. "You're the greatest! I can only see his reaction now to you being such an amazing friend~"

Tag list:

@realrandomposts @interobanginyourmom @ladybug-182 @ladylb @zalladane @mochinek0 @poshplumcot @urbanpineapplefarmer @vixen-uchiha @angelofmusickaterinapetrova @thewheezingbubbledragon @northernbluetongue @violatiger8 @thequestionablyhuman @ginamarie1512 @maude-zarella @2sunchild2 @saphiraazure2708 @ayuchan07 @virgil-is-a-cutie @thepeacetea

[youbloodymadgenius]

Super Ivar  (Modern!Dad!Ivar x reader)

A/N: Well... Once again, thank you for helping me, @inforapound, you’re the best beta reader 💖

Summary: Ivar doesn’t want to attend the school year-end show of his daughter. And you know why... 

Warnings: Ivar’s insecurities; grumpy Ivar, but mostly fluff. A lot of fluff (too  much fluff?)

Words: 1916

"I should have stayed home."

You take a quick look at Ivar before focusing on the road again. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm not."

Your husband's tone is surprisingly calm, while you're already seething.

"Ivar, we've already talked about this!" Upset, you don't even try to hide it.

"You've already talked about this, Y/N. You're the one who decided I should come. I never had a say." He speaks patronizingly, almost as if he was lecturing you. "But you don't think about the possible consequences. What if that babysitter you hired doesn't know how to take care of Bodil properly? I should have stayed with him."

The light is red, allowing you to look at him. "You can't be serious, can you?!"

He looks away and you feel like you're about to explode. "Ivar, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Turning to you, he glares harshly.

"Agneta is not just a babysitter, Ivar, and you know it. She's a forty-two-year-old pediatric nurse whom we're paying a fortune every time we want to go out. She was already the one who took care of Inger when she was just a baby. There was never any problem. She's probably more qualified than us to take care of our children."

Fussing next to you, Ivar growls. "Bodil is not Inger, Y/N. Inger was always content, always happy. Just think, what will happen if the babysitter wants him to eat something he doesn't like? He's going to go to bed hungry."

Starting the car again, you take several deep breaths. "Ivar, stop so negative. You know very well that I prepared Bodil's meal before we left. And your son is perfectly capable to make himself understood."

"He's a baby!"

"A two-year-old baby, Ivar!!!" Losing patience, you nearly scream.

"Not yet! And anyway, he's too young to stay with a stranger."

"Ivar, that's enough! He'll be two years old in three weeks. Do you want me to take you home? Okay. I'll do it, I promise. We're just going to go to Inger's school, I'll pick her up and then let you explain to your ten-year-old daughter why you don't want to attend her school year-end show, okay?”

You park the car before opening the door. "Look, we're already there. I'll be back with her in two minutes, you talk to her and I'll take you home. Okay?" Your venomous tone makes him shiver.  

Grabbing your hand, Ivar speaks to you softly, lowering his head. "No, Y/N." A sharp intake of breath. "No, I can't do that."

"No, you can't, indeed. That's why you're coming with me. And please stop using Bodil as an excuse. We both know, very well, why you're reluctant to go in there. And it's not because of our son."

Ivar seems offended. "Of course it is!"

"Ivar, stop it! Be honest. You're talking to me, your wife of twelve years, remember? It's the same old story every year."

Sighing, he pouts before shrugging. "Tell me the truth, who wants to see a show called 'Superheroes at School'?"

"I do."

"Yes, you do. But you're an angel, while I'm an idiot with no patience at all. An idiot who can't get thrilled about a handful of kids singing out of tune or sputtering their text."

The faint smile in the corner of his mouth is enough for you to melt.

"And…," you add, urging Ivar to continue.

"And what?" He frowns, pretending not to understand.

"And admit you don't want to thank the teacher for her work over the past year, just like you don't want to shake hands with other parents."

"You know me too well. But damn it, Y/N, it's always the same old thing, over and over again. The farewell drink – two chips and commercial fruit juice – will take place in the schoolyard. There won't be a single chair, my legs will hurt…,” he winces, "everyone will watch me drag myself on my crutches like I'm a freak and on top of that I'll have to endure mindless conversation. Appealing, no?"

Your heart is tightening. He's not entirely wrong.

Speaking gently, you put one hand on his cheek in a tender and soothing gesture. "You'll do it for Inger, okay?"

Bringing your hand to his mouth, he kisses it. "Yes, for our little princess."

***

"Tell me again, why the superheroes?" Leaning towards you, Ivar whispers as the short play featuring Batman, Superman, and Catwoman at the age of ten has just ended.

You sigh. "Ivar, because that's the theme the teacher has been working on all year. You should know, Inger told us enough about that. She even said it was Spiderman who taught her long divisions."

Infuriated, Ivar rolls his eyes. "Nonsense! I taught her that. And she was six!"

You're about to tell him he's exaggerating when Mrs. Berg takes the floor. "The show is now over."

"It is about time," Ivar mumbles and you elbow him, sighing once again.

"We will soon gather in the schoolyard for a time of sharing, but I ask for your attention a little longer.”

Hearing Ivar growling next to you, you glance hardly at him. "Hush!"

"This year, as you may know, the superheroes worked alongside me, with your children. A few weeks ago, your children were asked to choose their favourite superhero and to write a short text explaining why they chose them. I must say that superheroes inspired your children and there were some very nice surprises. Many texts made me laugh, all stirred me up and some moved me to tears. So, I wanted to share this with you, and I suggested to your children that those who wish to read their writings tonight should do so. Five of them wish to do so. Thank you for welcoming Joen, the first of them."

As a chubby little boy walks a few steps forward, a sheet of paper in his shaky hands, Ivar whispers, "We can leave now, don't you think? No way Inger is going to put herself forward, as shy as she is. It's good though, I wouldn't have wanted her to praise Spiderman, the fucking king of math!"

"No, we're not moving." Putting your hand on his arm to prevent him from picking up his crutches, you explain as if he was a child, "That would be extremely rude, Ivar."

Hearing that, Ivar intends to protest but upset people are hushing you both and your husband, clearly annoyed, eventually quiets.

Half listening, you watch first the little Joen, who's talking about his admiration for Captain America, second the pretty Gerta explaining her love for Wolverine. While another child is speaking, you make sure to keep a close look on your childish husband.

Growling, sighing, he finally takes his phone out of his pocket.

"Ivar!" Speaking through clenched teeth and tearing the device out of his hands, your look at him hard.

Rolling his eyes, he folds his arms and you're pretty sure he's sulking. You have to bite your tongue so you don't puff at his childish behavior.

Suddenly you can see the disbelief on his face as he grabs your hand.

"Look Y/N! It's our baby!"

Following his eyes, you realize he's right. Inger is standing on the makeshift stage, panic clear in her huge blue eyes, even if she's trying to contain herself.

Ivar squeezes your hand a little harder and you can't help but hold your breath as your stomach ties up in knots.

"Our little princess, my love…"

Taking a deep breath, Inger begins, "My super—". Blushing, she stops before looking for you. When her wide-open eyes meet yours, you try to give her all your strength and love. She smiles faintly.

"My own superhero doesn't fly, doesn't drive a batmobile and he cannot become invisible. But he's as strong as the Hulk and probably smarter than Iron Man."

As she stops, you can see she's terrified. Taking two steps towards her, Mrs. Berg, a hand on her shoulder, encourages her to pursue.

"My superhero doesn't have a cape. My superhero isn't like the others. He's a superhero with crutches."

Ivar's hand is crushing yours. "What is she doing?"

As stunned as he is, you answer sincerely. "I don't know."

"My superhero, stronger than all the others, is my daddy." Looking at Ivar, her smile is full of love.

"My daddy is different. His legs don't work very well. Sometimes my classmates ask me if I mind. But why would I care? Do I need to have a dad who looks like the others when I can have mine?"

No sound. You could pretty much hear a pin drop on the floor.

Getting bold, Inger speaks louder. "My daddy didn't teach me how to ride a bike and will never play football with my little brother. But he can do a lot of other things. Playing chess, going to the cinema with me, telling me Vikings stories. I think my daddy would have wanted to be a Viking superhero, and I'm sure he would have thrown Thor's lightnings. But above all, my daddy teaches me every single day that you can and have to push your boundaries. When he was born, the doctors told my grandma that my daddy could never stand up. Yet, he gets up every morning and walks every day. So yes, maybe he has a slight limp, maybe he's not moving very fast, maybe you want to look at him sometimes because his walking is weird. But when I look at him, when I look at my daddy, my eyes, my mind, and my heart are filled with admiration. Because seeing him, every day reminds me that nothing is impossible. That's what my daddy taught me, if I fight hard enough, then my dreams will come true. My daddy is different, but different doesn't mean inferior or less worthy.  And he's my daddy. And a superhero. Who wouldn't want a superhero as a father?"

Tears run freely on your cheeks as applause resounds in the room. Ivar is sobbing next to you.

The next minute, Inger is standing in front of you. Sliding one arm around Ivar's neck, you can hear her whispering. "I love you, daddy."

Then she gently kisses your cheek. "I love you too, mom."

***

"Of course, sweetheart, enjoy playing with your friends a little longer." After kissing your daughter, you walk toward Ivar.

A glass of orange juice in his hand, he's talking to other parents. You've never seen him like this before. He stands incredibly straight, smiling at everyone. Your husband is proud. Proud of his daughter. Proud of himself, you can see it in his eyes. And you, you're so proud of the both of them that you feel like you're melting, your heart filled with joy and happiness.

Wrapping an arm, lovingly, around his waist, you give an apologetic look to the people he talks to and draw him a little closer.

Standing on tiptoes, you kiss his cheek. "I thought you hated it."

Frowning, he looks at you. "What are you talking about?"

"You know… The farewell drink in the schoolyard, the mindless chat, the chips and the commercial fruit juice…"

He knows perfectly well that you're teasing him.

His lips graze yours. "Yes, I hated it, you're right. But this was before, Y/N. When I wasn't a superhero yet." Puffing his chest, he winks, flashing you a cocky grin.

Shit. We're not out of the woods yet.

🛡⚔️🛡

@saldelys​ @waiting4inspiration​ @honestsycrets​ @lisinfleur​ @gearhead66​

[yicruz48]

My Review on the Teen Titans(2016) So Far

Date Written: March/14/2020-March/18/2020

Updated: May/10/2020

[Overall review of Special 1, Annual 1 and Issue #20-40]

My Opinion So Far [Issue #20-40 written by Adam Glass]:

-> In comparison to the first 19 issues of the Teen Titans, issue 20 and on have been bearable.

-> I will reiterate this over and over again; I will never understand why create new characters (Djinn, Roundhouse and Crush) when DC has a perfect stash of characters that Damian is already acquainted with (Colin, Maya, Surren, Maps and Jon). Although, having characters like Red Arrow (Emiko Queen) and Kid Flash (Wallace West) apart of the Teen Titans is understandable.

-> But again, in comparison to last group of Teen Titans [issue #1-19], I favor this group more. The first 19 issues are just literally Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven parenting Damian in Bruce's absence.

-> In my opinion this group is much more balance in terms of heroing experience:

A) Literally new to being a superhero and working in a group: Djinn, Roundhouse and Crush.

B) Still figuring out their place in superhero world: Robin, Red Robin and Kid Flash.

-> I am totally in favor in Kid Flash being considered the “moral compass” of the group. But so far in the Glass’s run haven’t really seen Wallace really prove this.

->It really shows that Glass had no idea or didn’t bother to do research on Emiko. Glass wrote Emiko as a sort-of Damian clone (And we all know Glass doesn’t write Damian well, so a badly-written-Damian-clone). Emiko is much more sarcastic and upbeat type of individual and wasn’t written that way.

->You can also tell Glass didn’t do research on Wallace. Wallace has a love for comics, is actually quite intelligent and is a prodigy engineer, but none of that was really expressed in the 20 issues.

->Crush, AKA Xiomara Rojas is a character besides the core three that I’ve grown to like. She is an empowered latinx Lesbian feminist who could care less what you think of her. But her backstory is rooted in stereotypical and racist beliefs. Her adoptive parents were druggies who were constantly running away from legal issues...ring a bell? Yea, its the common stereotype that latinos are all drug dealers, a stain on society and always run away from the legal ramifications of their actions. As as a latina myself, this was was extremely disappointing to see. 

-> I have a lot of issues with the hyper-focus on Robin, as much as I love Robin content, I feel like like every-other mission the Teen Titan’s have revolves around Robin. I would like to explore Red Arrow, Kid Flash and Roundhouse’s character development more. And I believe writer’s are totally capable of advancing Robin’s character development without the mission being tied to him anyways.

-> I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Robin’s ongoing goal to create a criminal system better than their superhero processors (mainly Batman and Superman) who only arrest criminals in a prison with “a revolving door” which criminals always escape from. Although, I ABSOLUTELY hate how Adam Glass has handled how Robin has gone upon learning the best system.

-> I have to admit, I like how most of the members are comprised of teens that...

A) Been raised/used to kill; Robin, Red Arrow and Djinn.

B) Are related to villainous characters; Robin, Red Arrow, Kid Flash, Djinn and Crush.

In the words of Kid Flash, the Teen Titans are just, “a bunch of screwed up kids,”

-> I strongly dislike the love triangle that Adam Glass (the previous writer) was creating between Robin, Crush and Djinn. I felt like Djinn was just created to mimic the popularity of Damian x Raven and it just lessens the value of characters like Crush and Djinn. (Plus I am on the side that believes that Robin should developing his friendships before developing a romantic interest). Hopefully, Robbie Thompson (New and current writer), will throw that idea in the trash. Although I wouldn't mind Djinn × Crush though😶.

-> Also I hate the connection Adam Glass created between Robin and Roundhouse (Billy Wu). It was soo unnecessary, and he could've found another creative way to get Djinn a trapped in her ring🙄.

-> Love the growing friendship between..

1. Robin and Red Arrow

2. Red Arrow and Crush

3. Kid Flash and Roundhouse

4. Crush and Djinn

5. (Would like to see Robin and Kid Flash’s friendship grow)

-> The build up to "The Other" for over 18 issues [Issue #20-38] was disappointing. I am still trying to understand the villain motivations because it made no sense whatsoever besides the obvious fact that Adam Glass was attempting to give Robin yet another useless redemption arc he didn't need.

-> Excited at the connection between “The Book of the Damned” and Batman #666 ( I will most likely make a post expanding on this). This offers an explanation as to why Damian was suddenly using magic in that one Batman issue and claiming he could take down Superman with magic in another issue.

-> Robin's "Prison", AKA torture chamber. Although it's not out of Damian's character to believe that his father's way of imprisoning villains in Gotham is GREATLY lacking better security, I DO NOT THINK DAMIAN WOULD CREATE A PRISON, much less a torture chamber. Damian does research on ALL the batfamily including his own father, he would know that Bruce attempted something similar  and failed which would make Damian hesitant about creating his own. Instead of developing his character this whole fiasco with the prison just ruined it and gave Damian haters another tool in their arsenal to “prove” Damian is evil (which no, its just bad writing).

-> Yes, I will acknowledge that Robin is not the kindest of the batch. But Blackmailing Black Mask with threatening to put his son's life endanger-even if he was bluffing-would not be something Robin would do. Robin is known to have compassion for children (*cough cough* Batman: Streets of Gotham) and wouldn't use a child as leverage to get his way EVEN if he was desperate.

-> Robin basking in the pain of his prisoners. LIKE EXCUSE ME, WTF. Like Robin does enjoy beating up criminals who deserve it but the way Adam Glass wrote it made it seem like Robin was a sadist and a psychopath.

-> Pissed off they killed Emiko’s development by killing Deathstroke. There really wasn’t any real reason given as to why Emiko “killed” Deathstroke. 

-> Don't get me started on the fight between Red Hood and Robin. JUST DON’T.

But I have hope:

Teen Titans issue #39 and #40 written by Adam Glass and Robbie Thompson.

As you may or may not know, Robbie Thompson has now replaced Adam Glass as a writer. And his first issue he worked on was released February [issue #39] and I've already been seeing some improvements. Robbie will be fully taking over after issue #41.

-> Robin has stepped down as leader. Leadership in the Teen Titans will now be a collaborative approach.

-> The Teen Titans struggling and learning on working as a group instead of working under one leader. They've already failed their first mission as a team without Robin as leader. Which I'll give them a break for, they've recognized how poorly their plan was executed themselves. But this just shows that the writer is demonstrating that the Teen Titan's is still learning how to best work together without a leader.

-> Robbie Thompson is now writing Damian more in character. Instead of writing him off as an asshole for no reason like previous writers.

-> Confirmed Damian went to hell after being killed by Heretic. With an added plus of the Teen Titan’s finally learning a bit more about Robin’s past.

-> Brought up Damian’s ongoing internal struggle of finding his own path that isn’t influenced by his father or his grandfather.

-> I’ve gotta admit, issue #40 has exceeded my low expectations I have set for the past 19 issues.

What I am Actually Looking Forward to [Upcoming Issues]:

Teen Titans #41 / Teen Titans Annual #2

Written by Adam Glass and Robbie Thompson

-> Finally, we get Batman's involvement in all this. I just hope he doesn't beat up Damian like he did Jason 😒. I’d like to add there was actually foreshadowing for this encounter in Teen Titans #26 (I believe).

-> But the only reason I am looking forward to this because it seems like Robin has been keeping this new group of Teen Titan’s secret (including their base), or at least heavily restricting Batman’s involvement.  

-> And even though I think I know why Damian has been trying to keep this new Teen Titans a secret from Batman (if my theory is correct), I'm curious to hear it myself from him (if the reason is written well).

-> Don't get me wrong, I am pissed that the writers decided Batman is going to fire Robin. Although, I am not against Damian being his own superhero (I actually don’t want Robin to take up the Batman mantle), but I can see DC writers abusing this. Killing his character development and making him evil like they've been foreshadowing in some comics 😒.

-> Although, I am not sure if it's really gonna happen, or Damian got the memo, because Damian appears to wear the Robin outfit in future covers of the Teen Titans.

-> I am excited the current Teen titans getting a glimpse of Batman's and Robin's current strained relationship(maybe even learning more about Robin’s upbringing). The Teen Titans (except Red Arrow) are always criticizing Robin for his way of thinking without questioning the influence to his thinking.

Teen Titans #42

Written by Robbie Thompson

->Batman kicking them out of Mercy Hall?  I am actually kinda of excited for a Teen Titans without a base. 

-> But I wanna know what this means; less oversight by Batman or more?

-> I wonder what will motivate the team to retrieve Robin back into their team? The only one's who actually seem to have some sort of relationship with Robin is Red Arrow and Djinn, besides them, everyone seems to despise Robin

Teen Titans #43

Written by Robbie Thompson

-> We are FINALLY getting a proper reaction from Robin to Nightwing's near death. What we got from Nightwing Annual was definitely not enough.

-> Apparently, Damian goes on a hunt for KGBeast (who shot Dick). Which I don't see as out of character because we all know how much Damian cares for Dick, who is a brother and father figure to Damian (more than Bruce).

-> Hopefully, the Teen Titans don't let him kill or have lethal vengeance against KGBeast because that would just kill his character development 😡. 

->I wonder if this issue will tie in with the Joker War where apparently Dick is suppose to get his memories back. I doubt it, but thought I’d mentioned it.

I've been reading Teen Titans because I've been desperate for new Damian content. But it seems like the comic is finally starting to get interesting with Robbie on board.

I wanted to give you an honest review on what I've thought of the Teen Titans so far just in case you've been on the fence about reading it or not. I've tried not to hold back on my criticism so my review is as honest as it can be.

So I'll leave it to you guys to decide whether you will read it or not.

[mcrmadness]

For the last ask game: ✨ 🌧 🍩 ⛅️ :D

Eyyyyy thanks!!! :D

✨- which fictional character (book, show, or movie) do you relate to most?

Hmmm. This is a very good question... I rarely find such characters and usually all I relate to still lack something that would make the experience perfect. For example I relate to Deadpool a lot because of his mental health stuff, medical trauma, talkativeness (actually it was because of him when I decided to stop caring and just started talking) and sense of humour, but then there's also lots of things that we don't have in common. Like the fact that he's a mercenary. I also often relate to outcast characters like Catwoman or Penguin from Batman universe but again, those are villains and often have killed people too...

So as I was thinking about this I think I'm gonna say Sherlock Holmes. He also fits all of those: book, show AND movie. I'm still in the middle of reading the novels but I'm enjoying them a lot; I love the Granada tv series (Jeremy Brett was the best Holmes, imho) and I also really like the movies with Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes.

I think the biggest reason for why I relate to him the most is because he's canonically asexual and aromantic, altho those words have never been used in canon because those words did not exist back in late 1800s yet, but still Doyle wrote him as a "bachelor" who simply just enjoyed other things over relationships. (It's just insane that I can't find a more relatable aroace character when it's the freaking 2020 but have to go all the way back to the late 1800s to find someone with a great aroace "presentation".)

But just like Holmes, I also really enjoy challenging my brain and I love to "play a detective". Altho I'm actually a terrible detective because I want everything to be somewhat special and non-cliché so I easily miss any clues that are too normal. And I'm not even nearly as smart as him, but I kinda have the same egoism sometimes that I still like to think I'm smart when I'm actually not :D I also have been playing the SH games and omg I love those games! Sometimes they're driving me crazy tho because I'm so unpatient and just don't get something right away and then I look it up and feel myself stupid because it was again something obvious but I was just again trying to think too much outside the box.

I want to go back to the books for a moment: one thing I did notice from the stories is that now as I have read quite a many of those stories, I have learnt Doyle's way of telling stories. I am now able to notice when he does that where he starts to give in clues that will lead the reader to the wrong conclusions, and that way I can already guess the actual events of the story. It was actually pretty cool moment when I was reading this one story and suddenly realized that Doyle is doing it again, he's trying to lead the reader to the wrong direction on purpose and I didn't fall for that trap anymore. And ever since it's been like this with every story. I'm excited to see if his writing style changed or evolved from this and if he ever stopped doing that. But yeah, it was super fascinating experience to myself because I do that in real life too: I observe people a lot and I slowly start to understand how they are as persons and e.g. how their sense of humour works. For example, with new people I don't always catch their "prank" humour or sarcasm but after a while, I'm able to spot when they're only joking and won't fall for those jokes/pranks any longer, and sometimes can also join the jokes myself as well. I think that's also something that kinda reminds of of Holmes' character, at least he's really good at observing people and his surroundings - I do that all the time as well.

***

🌧️- favorite thing to do on rainy days?

The same things I do every day - sit inside spending quality time with my computer XD No but, if it's a rainy day in a pretty way, like a summer rain, then it sometimes like playing with my camera and try getting photos of the rain drops or something. And especially if the sun starts shining after the rain and often creates these super interesting looking lighting phenomenons like coloring the whole air with yellow etc.!

Today is actually a rainy day and I FINALLY planted some plants I've been meaning to plant for months.

***

🍩- current mood?

Well pretty okay, just tired because it's that time of the month again, and I even got myself to use the exercise bike because I noticed I've again reached a weight I have never reached before and I've been trying to get my weight to come down for years. But it just goes up the more I try to do things like exercise and nothing makes sense, ever.

I'm also feeling slightly hyped because of dä, my anxiety and stress levels are finally reducing a little and also my mouth doesn't feel too bad anymore so I don't have those sensory overloads 24/7 either. And I'm gonna play Valheim with friends later today again so I'm really looking forward to that :D

Oh and it's extremely windy outside and the sounds of wind piss me off every single time. I don't know what it is, probably misophonia, but it just makes me feel so angry when I hear that wind hitting the walls or so. Maybe I should do something that I can listen to music meanwhile so it will hide the sounds of that wind underneath...

***

⛅- what is your morning routine?

I wake up, (check Bademeister.com), get up, turn on the computer on my way to toilet, pee, brush my teeth... Usually I do that at my computer while browsing Discord servers and Tumblr etc. After I'm done brushing my teeth I often just spend time browsing the internet, I always check the same websites like my email and browse everything on Tumblr and it depends how much time that takes, sometimes a couple of hours.

So I then get myself breakfast either when I'm still browsing Tumblr (if I'm really hungry) or only after I'm done with browsing. I also always eat my breakfast either at my computer or in the living room as I watch tv. Can't just sit still in my kitchen doing nothing so I hardly ever eat there :D And when I have eaten my breakfast, then I make myself tea. I never eat anything with it but I just start and finish my tea after I'm done eating.

That's my morning routine. But bold of you that it's always a morning when this happens. Sometimes I eat my breakfast at 5pm, sometimes at 9am ::D

***

Ask game: Sweet and pure asks.

[maxdark158]

This is based on @ozmav ‘s Damian Wayne x Marinette Dupain-Cheng au that I LOVE, please check them out.

Based on this ask they answered on their blog

AO3 link of the fanfic, any edits I make will be on there and not here

Characters are probably ooc because I am not familiar with Batman and I googled the riddle

Angel in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~ Ao3

Demon in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Ao3

Fanart for AiG: Riddler ~ Joker thank you @thegreysman

Please tag me in any fanart you draw for this guys ^^

oooOOOooo

It was a good thing that Hawkmoth’s attacks allowed Marinette to become used to supervillains at this point because otherwise, she would be losing her mind.

Oh, right, context.

Marinette’s class were still on their trip to Gotham. They had forgotten her again, but she decided she could spend the time with Damian. He accepted her offer, and together they toured some of the sights in Gotham during the day. They didn’t look as spooky as they usually did at night, and Marinette quickly wrote down and sometimes sketched out many design ideas during their adventure.

An adventure that was now put on hold because of a villain who thought green was a good color on him.

When outsiders heard of the big bad Gotham villains, they typically talked about The Joker or Harley Quinn, maybe Poison Ivy or Bane or even Catwoman. The Riddler was mentioned often, but he was the bottom of the ones on top. The A- of the A’s if you will.

Marinette knew he liked riddles and traps and he wore a lot of green. That was pretty much it.

Damian and Marinette were in line to get ice cream when the widows were suddenly blacked out. Damian grabbed Marinette’s hand. The doors locked, and the few people in the shop were trapped with the Riddler. He pointed a question mark shaped gun at them and demanded that they go to the back room.

Damian held Marinette’s hand, mumbling that it would be all right. Marinette nodded numbly, realizing that she likely couldn’t escape to become Ladybug if needed.

Tikki was unmoving in her purse.

She looked around her. The Riddler had the cashier, a father, and his two daughters, her and Damian.

The two girls were silent and scared, their shoulders hunched, but they continued to walk. Each held one of their father’s hands. The father himself was steely and glaring, but she saw the tremble in his lip. The cashier was wide-eyed and shaking. Marinette saw the beginnings of an anxiety attack in him. The worker that was dishing up the ice cream had followed them out but put on a mask. Must have been a henchman in disguise.

Damian was angry. He looked impassive at a glance, but his emotionless stare showed the fire in his eyes. Marinette hoped his anger didn’t lead to recklessness.

“Now that I’ve got you all here,” the Riddler cackled, “I need two volunteers to do the puzzle I set up until Batman and his batbrats show up! The others will wait here locked in a room as bait.”

Marinette glanced at the group. Two little girls, one around five and one around eight. A cashier struggling to breathe. A father wanting to protect his daughters.

Two pissed off able-bodied teenagers.

“We’ll go,” Marinette sounded more confident than she felt when she lifted her and Damian’s still conjoined hands.

He hissed something at her, it sounded like a question, but the blood roaring in her ears drowned out the words.

The Riddler grinned. “Excellent! A Wayne and a foreigner! Follow me!”

A Wayne? Marinette glanced at Damian but he started walking, dragging her for a few steps before she caught up.

The henchman locked the door behind them, locking the four others in the hallway. Marinette and Damian were now locked in with The Riddler

It was massive.

The room was the size of her school gym with green and purple squares covering the floor. There were black edges where they were standing now, but the majority of the room was square tiles.

They were on the ceiling too, Marinette noticed. The low hanging lights were still high enough to see the ceiling. Marinette could even see the hinges on the squares – What were those for?. Green squares were above purple squares and vice versa.

“What did you do?” Damian whispers. The blood roaring in Marinette’s ears was quiet enough for her to hear.

“We were the best bet,” she whispers back. An angry protective father would be rash. A panicking employee would stumble. Two young girls would be unpredictable.

Damian is angry, but from the, so far, little time they’ve spent together, Marinette knows he’s smart. He calculates his movements, coordinates the best course of action. He’s angry, but he will hopefully think before being reckless.

And she’s Ladybug, though currently without her suit. She’s dealt with similar things before, and she can do it again.

“As you can see,” The Riddler gestured to the brightly colored room, “there’s a gameboard. And you two are game pieces. Make a wrong step and…”

He reached for his cane that was tied at his belt and pressed a button on it. The green square nearest to them made a beeping sound. The purple square above it opened up like a latch and bricks dropped from it.

The sound of the bricks hitting the ground was loud, Marinette and Damian both flinched. She closed her eyes and gripped his hand tighter.

When she opened her eyes again, she surveyed the damage. The bricks went through the green square, opening up a dark hole below the floor. Marinette couldn’t see how far down it was.

The Riddler grinned, “as implied, if you make one wrong step then you die! Simple enough to understand?”

Marinette had to fight not to shake. She felt anger rising from within her – not fear.

She glanced at Damian. He was shifting his feet, his expression neutral. Was he angry too? Or was he scared?

Marinette’s anger grew. Her friend shouldn’t have to be scared.

She turned back to The Riddler. “How do we know if any of the cubes are fake?” she asked. Her voice shook, but she shifted her feet and didn’t meet The Riddler’s eyes so he mistook her fury for fear.

Villains loved to be feared.

Damian’s hand tightening grounded her to reality.

The Riddler smiled.

“I assure you there is a way to win,” he chuckled. “Now, who wants to go first?”

So, yeah. It was a good thing that Hawkmoth’s attacks allowed Marinette to become used to supervillains at this point because otherwise, she would be losing her mind.

She heard Damian move behind her. He was going to offer to go first, she knew it.

“I’ll go.”

Her voice sounded meek. Good.

“Angel,” Damian hissed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“No takebacks!” the villain laughed. “Go ahead and choose, but make it snappy!”

Marinette squeezed Damian’s hand before letting go.

She glanced at the floor. All the tiles that were the same color seemed to be made of the same paint. They all had the same texture of wood. They were all identical from what she could see. But there had to be a way to tell which ones were dangerous.

She looked at the ceiling. There was one open tile-door but the others were closed and waiting. She couldn’t see latches. The colors were the same paint as the floor, the same size as each other and the floor. The only real difference from the floor was the hinges but-

The hinges!

The hinge on the open door was large. Likely more expensive, made to hold a lot of weight. But there were hinges on other tiles that were smaller. Likely cheaper and not made to hold a bunch of bricks.

It was the best chance she had.

Marinette looked at the closest one with a small hinge. It was one down from the hole in the floor, two steps and she would be on it.

“Go already,” The Riddler snarled. “Unless you want your friend to go-”

Marinette stepped on the purple square.

The Riddler chuckled, and fear finally overpowered the anger. What if she was wrong? What if the hinges were a fake trap and she was about to die? What if

He clicked the button.

The square under her feet beeped.

Damian inhaled.

The trapdoor opened.

Marinette did not scream.

She did stiffen. Nothing came.

She looked up in time for a soft feather land on her nose.

“Lucky guess!” The Riddler cackled with glee. “Let’s hope you can keep it up! But for now, it’s your friend’s turn.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Why can’t I play alone?” she asked.

She felt Tikki hit her leg and ignored her.

“What, think your friend isn’t as lucky as you?” he asked. “Tick, toc, Wayne. Don’t keep us waiting.”

Damian looked at the squares on the ground, trying to figure out where to step. He didn’t look up. He wasn’t going to get it right.

Marinette glanced up. The green one to his right should be safe. It was the one next to her.

Damian began to step on the purple one next to the green one. It wasn’t safe. The hinge was too large it wasn’t safe Damian was going to die and-

He looked at Marinette, seeing her panic.

He didn’t step on it.

Marinette relaxed, ever so slightly. Damian looked her in the eyes and she glanced at the safe square.

He stepped on the green square next to her.

When The Riddler clicked his button, another feather dropped down on Damian.

“Seems the little foreigner is helping the competition!” The Riddler growled. “You think I wouldn’t see the silent communication there? Now you have to answer a riddle for every turn, girlie! Answer correctly and you’ll survive.”

Marinette saw Damian get angry for a second before his face became neutral again. She felt nervousness rise within her.

The Riddler was known for his riddles. This may be harder than she thought…

“Take your turn,” the villain growled.

Marinette did, stepping on another safe space. When the feather fell, The Riddler growled lowly.

“Now answer this,” his voice was low.

Marinette’s breathing quickened.

Damian’s fist clenched.

She tried not to shake, she was going to get it wrong and die and-

“What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end and the end of every race?”

Marinette blinked, all her nervousness and fear draining out of her.

This was supposed to be a hard riddle? By the villain named after them? Annoyance was the prickling sensation over and over again that made her skin crawl and want to be itched. This villain is trying to kill them through an elaborate game and gave her such an easy riddle?

“The letter E,” she tried not to growl.

The Riddler frowned. “Take another turn.”

“But what about mine-”

“Shut it, Wayne,” The Riddler growled at him. “Take another turn, girlie. Your luck will run out eventually.”

Marinette took another turn. She got another feather.

The Riddler snarled, glaring at the ceiling.

Did he not know? Marinette mentally shook her head. The Riddler knew which squares were good and which ones were bad, he was simply frustrated that Marinette knew too.

“Go again!” he barked, forgoing the riddle.

Marinette went again. She had to step over a square but was safe once more.

“How can you tell?” the villain was snarling. “How do you know which ones you can use and which ones you can’t?”

Marinette shrugged. There was no way she was giving away the clue to him, he would only fix it the next time. “Just lucky I guess.”

“No, you figured something out,” The Riddler hissed. “How? How did you do it?”

She heard movement behind her and panicked for a moment. What was Damian doing? She scoffed so The Riddler wouldn’t hear him too.

“As if I’d tell you,” she held her head up, haughty.

Tikki hit her leg again but it was too late.

She could see the villain’s resolve snap.

When he lunged, Marinette was expecting it. Distantly, she heard someone yell behind her but her focus was on her immediate surroundings and her movements.

Sidestep to avoid the villain. Sweep under feet to make him lose his balance. Elbow to the side to topple him over. Jump to avoid his attempt to bring her down with him. Kick his remote away from him.

Of course, the villain didn’t stay down. Once she kicked his device away he was up again, this time fighting her with more intelligent movements.

No sweat. She won against akuma smarter than her before.

And it became apparent to her within a few seconds that The Riddler was not very good at fighting hand to hand combat.

She jabbed him in the throat before quickly running off the board to look for Damian.

Instead, she ran into another body.

“Woah, calm down,” Marinette didn’t recognize the voice, but she did recognize Red Robin and Robin, who were both standing where she was running toward.

Robin looked a little messy, almost like he changed his costume quickly. He also looked surprised, but Marinette couldn’t fathom why.

She looked behind them, seeing the door she and Damian entered through open, the other people from before missing.

She didn’t see Damian.

“Where’s my friend?” she asked. “Damian, he came here with me and-”

“It’s alright An- civilian,” Robin stepped forward. Red Robin walked to the villain. “I carried him out while The Riddler was focused on you.”

“You knocked him out,” Red Robin commented from behind her.

Marinette glanced back and shrugged. “Punching faces is stupid, you’re more likely to hurt your hand if you don’t do it right. Going for the throat is a dirty move but more effective.”

Robin looked surprised again, and Marinette was confused. Why was it surprising? Most people in Paris took up basic self-defense, so it’s not like she told him she was Ladybug.

“How’d you figure out his riddle board thing?” Red Robin asked.

Marinette turned to face him and pointed upward. “Anyone can figure it out if they look up! It’s obvious.”

Red Robin looked up. Marinette heard Robin move behind her and assumed he was also looking up.

“What?” Robin sounded confused.

“Oh!” Red Robin snapped his fingers. “The hinges?”

Marinette nodded. “He must have cut some corners because there’s no way the small hinges would hold a bunch of bricks.”

She heard Robin make an, “Oh,” sound behind her.

Red Robin looked back at her. “You’re pretty smart.”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, it’s something anyone would notice if they looked up! I just managed to use the knowledge.”

Red Robin didn’t look like he believed her, but Marinette didn’t know what she could do to dissuade him. She wasn’t as smart as Max, or anyone else, she just noticed her surroundings. It was a habit she picked up from being Ladybug.

There were footsteps behind her, too heavy to be Robin. Marinette saw Red Robin nod to them and assumed it was another one of Gotham’s heroes.

“How’d you know enough self-defense to take out one of Gotham’s villains?” Robin sounded suspicious.

Marinette relaxed slightly. “Paris has akuma like, every week. Most citizens learn enough self-defense to stay alive during attacks. I did a little more because my classmates are akumatized the most.”

Red Robin stepped forward. “Is there any more information on these akuma you can-”

“Robin,” a voice said from behind Marinette and Robin. She didn’t jump since she knew someone else was there.

She turned to see Batman, THE Batman, talking to Robin. “Please allow the civilian to leave, we need to get The Riddler to Arkham.”

Robin sighed.

“I’ll guide her out,” Red Robin offered, and Batman cut off any protests from Robin.

Marinette walked away with Red Robin, managing to shake off her starstruck-ness about Batman when they neared the exit.

“You really are smart,” Red Robin told her. “Most people don’t take notice of details like that easily. And I heard you solved one of his riddles.”

Marinette made a face. “His riddle was kind of pathetic. Anyone would have solved it.”

Red Robin shrugged. “Your friend is waiting in the police station down the street.”

Marinette felt her shoulders drop in relief. “Thank you,” she said before making her way to the station quickly.

Behind her, Red Robin smiled and walked back inside. Marinette was a genius, even if she didn’t realize, and he hoped Damian invited her over soon so he could see who was smarter of the two of them.

She may actually be a challenge!

oooOOOooo

Marinette walked into the police station only to be immediately hugged by the two girls.

“Thank you,” the older one’s voice was muffled by her stomach. “I was so scared. Thank you for not letting him take us.”

“I’m happy to help,” she assured them.

She saw their father talking to the officer. His eyes met hers and he mouthed, “thank you.”

She nodded to let him know she understood. The little girls let go of her and went to their father.

Looking around more, she saw the cashier being talked to by the officer. He looked a lot calmer now, thankfully. The henchman was in cuffs and being escorted to the cells for transfer.

She didn’t see Damian.

Worry was ice water in her veins and she began to shiver. Where was he? Did something happen? Was there another villain on the street that got him? Did anyone even know he was missing?

“Angel!” she turned her head toward the door to see Damian rush in. The ice water drained out, leaving warm fuzzies – hold on when did that happen?

Before she could ponder for much longer Marinette was wrapped in a hug. She returned it without thinking, breathing in and out slowly. Damian was really warm.

“I went back out to look for you, Robin told me you were here,” Damian mumbled. He stepped back, checking over her. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Marinette shook her head. “I’m perfectly fine, Damian. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

He sighed in relief. “Don’t scare me like that again, Angel, please.”

It was now that Marinette noticed his slightly unkempt appearance. He was fine when she last saw him, but now his clothes were crooked and his hair was messy. It reminded her of someone, but she wasn’t sure who.

He must have been really worried.

Guilt was heavy on her shoulders. “I’m sorry, I should have given you more warning, or only volunteered myself.”

“What?” Damian shook his head. “No, I’m glad it was us two. The Riddler would have killed anyone else. I was more worried when you fought him.”

“You fought The Riddler?” The cashier was staring at her with wide eyes. His voice was loud enough that the entire station went silent.

Marinette laughed clumsily. The guilt had lessened, but awkwardness was chaining her. “He was bad at hand to hand combat. And mad at me. That made him make some dumb moves, most people would have been able to beat him.”

“Still,” an officer with grey hair and a mustache chuckled. “Quite commendable for a young girl.”

“It’s really nothing,” Marinette tried to wave it off. “We have a lot of villains in Paris. I’d be stupid if I didn’t learn to fight them.”

“The akuma!” the youngest daughter shouted. “I saw on the Lady’s blog about superheroes!”

She felt Tikki shift slightly in her purse.

“Don’t believe everything on that blog,” her older sister mumbled. “There is no way sausage hair is a superhero’s best friends. Superheroes don’t make friends with civilians.”

“I only watch the videos of fights,” the young girl pouted.

“Miss, if you’re ready,” the greying officer gestured to an empty room. “We need you to retell everything that just happened for the record.”

Marinette nodded. Damian let go of her fully, and she already missed the warmth – what was that? When did these feelings start?

She followed the officer into his office, not noticing the awed looks of those around her as she passed by.

After she left, Damian Wayne pulled out his phone. Someone had to let her teacher know she was alright if they even noticed her missing at all.

They’re fools not to notice her, but Damian was glad he had no competition from those idiots.

oooOOOooo

Unnamed Teenager From France Holds off The Riddler Until Batman Arrives!

“I was just doing what anyone else would have done,” she says. “He was pretty annoying though. His riddles need work.”

“A teenage girl took down Ed?” she turned to her friend. “After that whole trap he set up?”

“Seems so,” her friend shrugged. “Good for her. Hopefully, she goes back to France before he escapes and exacts revenge.”

“Watcha ladies talking about?” a pop of bubblegum. “Ooh! This lady betta watch her back, more villains might be interested in her if she can defeat Eddie!”

“You mean like us?” she asked.

“No,” her friend sighed. “We should leave her alone. One villain on her trip is enough. And I need to care for my plants, they're important for my next heist.”

The third girl shrugged. “Ain’t up ta me, but I won’t be the one that tells Puddin’ if that helps.”

“That helps,” she hummed. She would need to catch Batman on patrol tonight and ask him about it. She hadn’t stolen anything in a while, so he would likely talk to her for a bit.

“Of course you won’t tell him! You won’t go near him again if I have anything to say about it,” her friend replied to the third girl.

“Aw, Red, you do care!”

[ellana-ravenwood]

“Are the Wayne kids single ?” - Batsis x Batfam

So...I am a shameless people watcher (don’t judge haha). I get a lot of inspiration from sitting somewhere for hours and just looking at strangers going on about their lives ^^'. Sometimes catching conversations and such and man, many people are borderline obsessed with knowing who their fav’ celebrity is dating and all that. Which made me think : “Mm, wonder if the members of the Batfam, who are definitely celebrities in their world, ever have problems with people borderline obsessing about their love life ? And how do they handle it ?” so um...I wrote about that. And here it is. Hope you’ll like it :  

PS : Since I don’t appear in the Tumblr searches anymore, reblogging my stories is the only way for other people than you guys who are following me to see them...so if you feel like helping out :D.  My master list blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

“(Y/N), we don’t have to if you don’t want to, you know.” 

“What ? What are you talking about ? Don’t be stupid, of course I want to. One of them will pick up on it at some point anyway, and then believe me, it’ll be much worse. It’s always better if it comes from us.”  

You wince at the tone of your own voice. 

You didn’t mean to sound so cold and a bit condescending, especially since you understood that he was just trying to help you, understanding that you were under a lot of stress and pressure.

He. 

Conner Kent. Your boyfriend. He has been yours for a while now, which was what this all thing was about in the first place. 

************

Growing up as a “Wayne” brought it’s fair share of advantages, and disadvantages.  

The good points were very obvious. No one needed to think much about the “Why being a Wayne is great ?” thing. Everyone knew the answer to that. Money, fame, doors opening for you easily etc etc.

The bad points though...Many people never realized there even were unpleasant sides of being a Wayne, the good points overshadowing this darker facet of your life. But what most people thought was a blessing, could be a real pain in the ass sometimes ! 

Having money brought its lot of “vulture” that wanted to be friend with you just because of this. Having a good network meant that people always assumed everything you ever earned through hard work was just handed to you. And being famous...

Oh, the fame was probably one of the biggest drawback of being a Wayne. Because being often in the spotlight meant that people could get absolutely obsessed with your every move. 

You were lucky enough to have a father who always managed to shield you (and your siblings) from all this when you were a kid...But now. 

Now you were an adult, and you couldn’t always rely on your dad to save you from paparazzi and such. Plus it came with the territory of being a Wayne. Your father prepared you long enough for that. 

He knew he wouldn’t always be able to protect you from the public eye. He knew that, just because you were his kid, at some point, you’d have to appear at events filled with journalists and photographers. 

And though he was able to bargain when you were a child to only have pictures he previously approved published (plus the law was on his side, as pictures of children appearing in magazines had specific rules to follow, and he had amazing lawyers)...Now that you were an adult, you had to fend for yourself. 

Otherwise, rumors would start. Bad rumors. Hurtful ones. 

Your dad taught you long ago that to keep the little privacy you had while famous, you had to give a little first. Or things could turn sour. He could talk from experience, he had some scandals in his youth (one of them being suddenly becoming a single dad while in his early twenties, while being back in Gotham for less than a year after his mysterious disappearance when he was 16, and always refusing to talk about who was your mother um um.This sprout some pretty terrible rumors in its days...But that’s another story).

The trick was to give away enough so that people would be satisfied, without actually saying much. It was important to give them something to chew on. They’d just write something about you anyway, just because of who your family was so...Hinting on things cheekily and with humor came a long way. 

Like for example, what your dad always did in regards of women and his relationships. He build himself a “womanizer” persona and always played the part perfectly, so questions about a potential “Mrs Wayne” died down a while ago. 

Nowadays, he just  had to smile charmingly, wink and say “A gentleman never tells” to any question about his current supposed “conquest”, and everyone would be satisfied. 

And oh there were so many pictures and videos of you, standing behind him as he uses his charms to swoon everyone, and rolling your eyes at the all thing. 

In fact, Tim pointed out to you a while ago an instagram account someone made called “(Y/N) Wayne’s sassy eye roll”. It was filled with videos of you rolling your eyes in public (mainly at something your brothers or father did). This account had over two millions followers when he showed it to you, and probably gained more since then. Which wasn’t really surprising. 

Actually, this little dynamic you had with your dad, him (faking) being an extroverted flirty man, and you shaking your head whenever he did that...people loved it. And more than once, you got out of a delicate question someone asked because your dad used his charm and you acted embarrassed and “so done with it” that it made people laugh and move on, without even needing an answer ! 

Implying things without ever confirming them was key in a lot of situations. And using humor and quick come backs was too. 

When people were being rudely intrusive, and asked questions about your personal life, it was easy to shut them down. To answer with wit and sarcasm, and make them want to stop asking you this kind of questions. Plus the public LOVED a good little drama and to see rude ones being put back in their place.

Most of your “fans” were rooting for you, and wanted to know things about you because they somehow felt like you were their friends. Many of them saw you grow up by your father’s side. Your family always been a loved one in Gotham. So...If someone was being an ass to you, of course they’d yell “YAAS QUEEN !!” and talk about how well you answered, not caring about the actual question anymore even if they were curious. 

Yes. Dealing with rude scandal journalists was easy. 

But sometimes, oh sometimes...Sometimes you fell on a nice reporter who didn’t think what they did was wrong in any way, and who was just genuinely curious. Who just wanted to give actual infos to their followers. 

After all, you were a “celebrity” just for being born a “Wayne”. And though you never asked for this fame, it came with some sort of contract that you kinda had to talk about your private life from times to times. 

Which was your biggest problem currently. You weren’t really sure how to go about...All this. 

You’ve always been good for getting away from questions about your love life, by feeding journalists little anecdotes about your relationship with your dad, or funny stories involving your siblings. By deflecting their questions to give them some other hindsight about your life. 

Plus your use of social media, especially Instagram and Snapchat, also helped you get away with a lot. You showed enough, so that people wouldn’t be too curious. 

But you knew that a day would arise that you’d need to actually spill the tea...”Were the Wayne kids single, or not ?”

************

Go figure why, but this question : “Are the Wayne kids single ?”, was always only aimed at you. No one ever asked your brothers. You wondered if it was because you were the only girl, and people just instantly assume you liked talking about “love” and shit ? Damn gender cliches. 

Maybe it was the reason. But clearly, they were wrong. 

“Love and shit”. Just the way you were thinking about it could give every answer needed. For a long time, you didn’t care much about relationships. 

Even more so since, you being a Wayne, it was difficult to meet guys you could trust for being genuinely interested in you, and not just your name. Plus you simply never felt the need to be with someone to be happy. It didn’t came first on your priority list. 

It actually never even was, on your priority list. 

You were busy with so many other things, you never thought you really needed to have someone involved in that way in your life. 

Plus, maybe, just maybe, the fact your father and mother had a complicated on/off relationship kinda made you afraid of any kind of romantic commitment. 

Batman and Catwoman’s mouse and cat chase was infamous. You didn’t want to ever feel the way they did and still do. You saw more than once, how miserable they could get because of all that. Of course, they had just as much happy moments but...Meh. You’d rather just avoid it. 

Which is why you always seemed to know how to avoid questions about your love life ! You decided long ago that you wouldn’t go the “helpless flirt” way your dad took, and rather borrow the “funny self-deprecating jokes” road. 

You’d just brush off any rumors concerning you and a potential love interest with this kind of humor, and then talk about something else involving your family life. 

And that was it. Easy. Plus anyway, there really wasn’t that much to talk about. 

You were single. You were glad to be single. You didn’t want to get involved with anyone. End of story (and you knew this wouldn’t satisfy anyone’s curiosity which is why you often retorted to deflecting things). 

It was all rather simple and straightforward. 

That was your mindset. Until you met Conner. 

Things changed after that. And though you went through quite a lot of misunderstanding (I wrote stories about this, you can check them out on my master list on the DC one under “Conner” @ella-ravenwood-archives​), in the end, things were great between you two ! 

Actually getting rather...Serious. Which is what got you in that particular mood you were today. What made you somewhat snap at your beloved boyfriend. 

************

You knew. You just knew that the info would come out eventually. And not knowing when or how was getting you on edge. 

It’s not that you didn’t want to present Conner as your “official” boyfriend. Not that you were ashamed of him or unsure about your relationship. It’s just...getting this kind of thing in the open wasn’t easy. 

You were dreading all the questions about how you met (you couldn’t possibly talk about the truth, and the Young Justice, and coming up with a believable story you could both say was weirdly incredibly stressful), how things were going, wether or not you thought about marriage, living together...kids ! 

This was a step in your privacy you weren’t sure you wanted anyone to cross. And yet...Yet it HAD to be made public ! Because god forbid one of those rude scandal journalists find the truth before you talked about it. 

You could be sure it would bring its lot of rumors and unpleasant things like that. You didn’t want anyone to talk ill about you and Conner dating !! You knew it could really have a bad effect on your relationship...

You witnessed your oldest brother, Dick, and his first fall out with his first girlfriend, Barbara, because the public pressure was too much. Now of course they had other issues and after a lot of things happening managed to work things out and were back together for good (they went through too much together not to), but you didn’t want to go through any of that ! You spend enough nights trying to cheer your older brother up after his break-up, and listening to how things got awful once people started to talk about them...

You already went through so much, with Conner. Convincing your families to accept your relationship was tough for many reasons. You definitely didn’t need some noisy people to speculate about why you didn’t go public or anything...

Which is why you needed to do it now. By yourself. But you just didn’t really know how to...go on about all of that ! 

“(Y/N), we don’t have to if you don’t want to, you know.”

“What ? What are you talking about ? Don’t be stupid, of course I want to. One of them will pick up on it at some point anyway, and then believe me, it’ll be much worse. It’s always better if it comes from us.”  

You wince at the tone of your own voice.

You didn’t mean to sound so cold and a bit condescending, especially since you understood that he was just trying to help you, understanding that you were under a lot of stress and pressure.

You turn to him and smile apologetically, before adding :

“Besides, I think it’s finally time I show you off.” 

Oh it was so easy to make Conner blush. Any compliments coming from you and his cheeks would get that cute rosy tint. You were about to reach for his cheek and caress it lovingly, to complete your not-so-subtile “I’m sorry I was just being an ass” excuse when, as often, your fun and enjoyment at witnessing your boyfriend being so sweet was cut short by...one of your sibling, of course (they always seemed to be around when such moments happened...well today you were visiting the family home, so obviously they’d be there, but still). 

“Tt. There’s not much to show off really !” 

Your youngest brother starts, sneering at Conner. 

Your boyfriend got accustomed to this kind of behavior a while ago now, and only answered with a smirk which Damian thought was absolutely infuriating ! But he didn’t dare say or do much more, because you were now glaring at him and he just knew you too well to risk any other words. Before you could scold him however, your other younger brother, Tim, said : 

“Well, technically speaking, there IS a lot to show. Conner is a, and I’m quoting dad talking about him to one of the Justice League about wether or not he should be one of its new member : “big and able strong man”...bit redundant really. Now, if we speak about conversation and brain...”

Tim snickered, aware of what not finishing his sentence implied, and exchanged a knowing look with Damian. The high-five they gave each others a few seconds after almost stopped you from saying anything. After all, it was so rare to see him bond like that...You just wished it wasn’t in this circumstance. Which made you say : 

“First of all, Conner is a very intelligent man, Mister I-thought-fish-fingers-could-be-found-like-that-in-the-sea-and-were-actually-fingers. And second, he’s also a rather attractive one. So there’s a lot to show off, and you’re just being jealous.”

Damian made an exaggerated gagging sound at you calling your boyfriend “attractive”, but didn’t say anything else (your glare always had such an effect on him), but Tim exclaimed, outraged : 

“Hey ! I was kidding ok ? No need to bring out the jealousy card ! And about the fish fingers, I was seven and you and Jason kept telling me that I was right !” 

You smiled smugly at him, happy you managed to turn the tables on him, and...wow it feels nice. To joke around with your brothers, even if you’re not so sure they’re really joking when talking about your Conner. It was just nice to forget your stress a bit. Nice to think about something else. 

 You came to the realization you HAD to talk about your relationship publicly today, as you were coming home from the Kent farm with Conner and almost got caught by paparazzi. Thanks Gods for Wayne Manor’s high hedges and the fact that from behind and far away, your boyfriend could very well be one of your brother, what with his large frame and dark hair...

But this little event of you two almost getting caught made you realize that you had to go public. You had to introduce Conner to everyone. Because if you didn’t, the truth would eventually come out and it’d just be bad overall. A source of unwanted and easily avoidable troubles. 

You were talking about this all morning with your family, and they were definitely very supportive and agreed with you. You had to talk about it...

Which is why you spend most of your day stressing about it and trying to think about a strategy to bring the subject as smoothly as possible. And so, this little joking distraction was very welcome. 

Your dad’s chuckle finished to make you feel more at ease. It was very rare, to hear him laugh, and when he did, it always had a big soothing effect on you. Even if there was a possibility he was currently mocking you, you couldn’t care less. 

He laughed, and you liked when he was happy and carefree enough to do so. 

You turn to him and he smiles fondly at you. Raising you hadn’t really been the easiest thing for many reasons (none related to your personality or way of being, on the contrary...but that’s another story), and seeing you all grown up brought a special emotion to his heart. 

Seeing you stressed about introducing your relationship to the public made him feel so many different things. 

Nostalgia that you weren’t his little girl anymore. Pride that you grew up so well despite all the hardship you went through, and was such an amazing young woman. Sadness and guilt that it’s only because he was your dad that you had to go through all those troubles (and many more). Happiness because you seemed happy, albeit a bit stressed. Resentment, mainly towards Conner, because he was taking you away... 

His chuckle came from you shutting up Tim with that “fish fingers” comment (and because he was reminded of how cute it was, that arguably his smartest kid was also the most gullible one as a child...oh how you and Jason took advantage of that fact. You also managed to make him believe that the hay wrapped in white plastic in fields were actually giant marshmallows, and that those candy Tim particularly liked were plants), but also because seeing you so worked up over something he never thought you’d even think about much was entertaining. 

You often knew exactly what you wanted and how to achieve it. So the fact you were so unsure right now, about such a trivial thing as to introduce your boyfriend to the “World”...it was oddly funny to him. 

Hence the chuckle. And his next words : 

“I remember being nervous too, when I was about to announce that I was seriously dating your mother.” 

You smile at him and...Oh no. Of course. Of course you were going to turn the tables on him too and try to divert this whole issue : 

“Which time ?” 

Constantly joking about your parents on and off relationship (currently off) was your way to cope with the fact you’d never have quite conventional parents (well, as they said themselves : “they dress as animals at night”, obviously they couldn’t be “normal”). To compensate your fear of having their kind of painful yet exciting relationship (even if clearly, between you and Conner it was completely different  than between them). 

Your dad knew you weren’t quite mocking him, but just teasing. Which is what he wanted to achieve. If you teased him, it meant you were a bit less stressed. 

“When we got engaged. -short pause - The first time.” 

He answers your question, his face stoic even if you know he’s not taking all this too seriously (the fact he added “the first time” proof enough). You smirk and...it always impressed you very much, how your dad always seemed to know what to say to calm you down. 

After all, he was known to be a bit “challenged” when it came to express himself, or his feelings. But for some reasons, he just always know what to say to make his kids feel better. His magic didn’t work only on you, you knew for a fact that in moments of doubts, he always managed to cheer your brothers up to. To bring them back from dark thoughts. 

He knew what it felt like to be miserable, sad, lost and any negative feeling you could think of...And the mere thoughts of his children feeling any of that pained him so much that he always ended up letting his guard down, and letting his heart speak. 

It was always very effective. Like now. 

Even if very simple. Just a few words. You already felt better, more cool headed. Less nervous. More encline to think properly and not panic.

In fact, the way your dad just joked about his own nervousness (and knowing that he had to then announce that his engagements were off which was even worst...) made you see the entire situation in another light. 

You smiled widely at your dad, then at Conner. Ignored your two pouty little brothers who were still vexed about how you easily turned tables on them, and suddenly stood up to go get your phone. 

Conner looked at you, curious, as you came trotting back to him. Your dad, however, knew what this meant. He recognized the little spark in your eyes. He saw it enough to know instantly what it meant. 

You just had an amazing idea to solve your problem. 

************

Thanks to your dad joking around and therefor helping your mind be more at ease, you were able to foment a little plan as to how would be the best way to bring the news about you having a serious boyfriend. 

You didn’t want to directly come forward with him and say you guys were steady already. You knew that if you did, many people would wonder how long you got together. And the answer to that question would bring too much annoyances. 

If you said the truth, that you’ve been together for almost a year, then people would get vexed that you only just introduced him, even if technically, it was none of their business. They would wonder why they never saw him on any of your social media pages. 

They would talk about why you waited so long before introducing him, and even if your reason was to “make sure things were serious” which was valid, they’d find a way to twist your words, and you didn’t want Conner to think anything of it. You knew he wasn’t one to be easily manipulated, but if problems could be avoided...Then you should avoid them, right ? 

On the other hand, if you said “oh we just got together”, then people would annoyingly give your relationship an “end date” and talk about how you introduced him officially way too fast ! Again, he never even appeared on your instagram !

No. No. Rule number 1 of being famous : give a little info, just enough to satisfy people’s curiosity. Don’t give away too much at the same time, or things will go haywire. 

The biggest problem right now, was that people never even heard of Conner. How would they ? You met while at the Young Justice headquarters. You rarely had the time to go on “conventional” date and even so, you’d then go in places you were sure no one would recognize you (like in Smallville and such). 

You had to first ease him in. Talk about him a bit. Introduce him as a “friend”, before talking about “boyfriend”. So that people wouldn’t be shock. So that they’d slowly get accustomed to him. 

And how to do that ? Well, social media came in handy for sure. 

First, Conner started to appear in your “group pictures”. The one you would take with your brothers, to satisfy the “Wayne fix” people seemed to need. The caption on that first picture of you, Conner and your brothers was : “Hanging with those guys <3 #bestbrothersever #lookatthoseidiots #Waynefam″, as simple as that. 

You replied to a few comments of people wondering who “That dude on the left of Jason” was by replying a simple : “He’s a friend of my brother !” 

It was quite clever really. Bam. Conner was in as “your brother’s friend” (never mentioning which brother was smart, people just assumed it was Dick or Jason and that was it, even if technically, he was Tim’s bestie). And the fact you personally replied to some comments made you closer from the people who wanted to know all about you ! It was a win-win situation. 

Then slowly, he started to appear in your snapchat stories and such. Like “My brother’s friend is a dork”, filming him doing something silly with one of your sibling. 

And bit by bit, he took more space on your social medias. He went from an “unnamed man in your picture”, to “your brother’s friend”, to simply “Conner”. 

The first picture you posted of just you and him had so many comments from people saying things like : “I don’t know for y’all, but I ship them !” or “Oh they’d be a cute couple !” even before you’d hint at anything. 

Literally, this said first picture was of you and him in Metropolis’ streets, picture taken a little blurry on purpose, as if you’d just met by accident. 

The caption read : “Look who I ran into into in Metro-city ! #ConnerK #Thatdork #Mybrosfriend #coincidence”. It was simple, and enough for people to start kinda liking the idea of the two of you together. 

Of course by then, you’d really been together for literal months, but eh, no one but your families and close friends knew. The fact was, you guys dating was part of your “unknown world”. Part of your “superhero World”. You hung out together at the Young Justice headquarters at first. But now it was time for Conner to come and be part of your “Alter Ego” world. 

You posted another picture of you and Conner the same day you “accidentally” ran into each others in Metropolis, of him sitting next to you in a park, an ice cream in his hand, smiling charmingly at the camera. With a caption saying : “Thanks for showing me around dude ! Glad our path crossed #coincidence #Iwaslost #GladIranintohim #mybrothersfriendsarealsomyfriends #suchlonghashtags #ConnerK #icecreamtime #MetropolisSucks”. 

From that point on, it was easy to slowly ease into people’s mind that actually, they kinda like you two together. 

You denying any romantic relationship with him was another smart move. You’d sometimes say : “no he’s just a friend !” and such things whenever people shipped the hell out of you, which made people like and like even more the idea of you two dating. 

You got the inspiration from watching too many TV shows. You know, those incredible slow burn love stories ? Where the lead character has that perfect chemistry with another recurring character, and since their first scene together you’ve been wanting them to date ? But things drag and drag and problem keeps getting in their way and suddenly you would DIE for them ! You are rooting for them to get together soooo bad ! That once they finally do...You’re just incredibly happy, and since you feel like you just witnessed their relationship blossomed for the past three seasons, you don’t mind not having all the answers to your questions about them together, ya know ? 

On the contrary, you want things to keep unfold in front of you. 

Well, you basically applied that TV show trope you love so much to your own fake un-relationship. Posting more and more things with Conner. Cute “friendly” videos, and awesome pictures. 

Conner even started to use his own instagram page, that he never really used before. The message he wrote for you for your birthday, accompanied by a cute picture of you smiling at the camera made so many people write in caps lock “JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY !”. 

Your plan was going perfectly well. Your father was actually very impressed and proud about how you decided to handle everything. From extremely nervous, to a neatly and skilled little plan coming perfectly together. 

In that way, you were a lot like him. Always had a plan. And multiple back up plans. Only most of the time, your initial plans would almost always work. 

Like father like daughter, right ? 

************

You were so damn proud of yourself. And so happy Conner understood. 

You were perfectly aware that your “plan” could be misinterpreted by him. After all, he could’ve been weirded out by all the “faking” you asked of him. But nope. He really wasn’t. 

You explained to him that you thought that easing things down would be the best and more problem free way to go. That acting as if you weren’t already together since a long time was a good idea. 

You explained all the rumors that could ensue if you just came out together now without saying anything (you could see such rumors every day in scandal magazines, as soon as a celebrity was hanging out with someone else !). 

And he understood. He agreed. Plus, he didn’t mind acting like your friend in public. So far, you both always kinda hid yourself wherever you went together.

So for Conner it was a great change of pace. Even if he definitely understood too why until now you wanted to keep your relationship hidden. You just wanted to be with him without any other worries, to be with him as if you were just a random person, not someone famous ! Plus he knew you were afraid to impose your fame on him, but now, you’ve been together long enough for him to accept that fact, for him to know he’ll eventually have to roll with it if he wanted to be with you...Oh and he wanted to.

He never thought you were ashamed of him, or not serious or anything. No. He understood why you wanted to hide things. He was totally on board. He was actually pretty sure he would have waited centuries for you to be ready ! And now that you were, that he was too, and moving forward with things...Well then he’d do whatever you want him to do. 

He was never into PDA anyway, and it was nice to be able to hang out with you in public without caring much if people took pictures or not. Because it was known that he was “just one of your brother’s friend” at first, so there was no mystery there ! People knew him now. And even started to point out how he appeared before in your brothers’ pictures anyway !

And then once you started to hang out more as friends yourselves, and all that...as your PUBLIC relationship started to bud...Well who cared if paparazzi took picture and titled their articles : “Are (Y/N) Wayne and Conner Kent dating ?!”

To be honest, it was quite a big help that Conner was “Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s kid”. It eased even more your fake backstory of how you met. It was notoriously known that Bruce Wayne was good friend with famed reporters Kent and Lane. So the fact their children knew each others...wasn’t really surprising ! 

It played perfectly in your little “he was just one of my brother’s friend. I never saw him as more than a play buddy for a long time...until that fateful Metropolis encounter !”. Oh Alfred’s acting class he used to give you as a child definitely came in handy ! 

************

“So, serious question...Are the Wayne kids single, or not ? There has been rumors lately !” 

You managed to pull a bashful smile that was completely fabricated but that everyone would think was genuine. You became quite good, at faking facial expression in public. “Thanks dad”. 

You knew exactly why, this time, they asked you this question. A few days earlier, you gave an anonymous tips to some paparazzi that “the famed (Y/N) Wayne and her rumored boyfriend Conner Kent had been spotted on Gotham’s docks, having a romantic promenade”. 

You let them take pictures of you quickly kissing Conner, as if you were actually afraid someone would catch you. You and Conner played the part perfectly, acting as if this was your first date or something. All shy and small touches. 

You planned for this event for months. It was the culminating point of everything. The time when finally, things would change. And you were so glad that the journalist to ask you this tonight, was one of the few you actually liked. With a charming smile you say : 

“Oh well you know I rarely talk about that, Miss Torres.” 

Gabriela Torres, a famous EW journalist smiles knowingly but insist. She would usually never do that, but there is some pretty incriminating pictures of you and a certain Metropolis boy... 

“A Metropolis boy you say ? No idea who you are mentioning.” 

You say coyly, and you know they’re falling right in your trap. For this little stunt of admitting you’re in a relationship, your brothers gave you permission to talk about their love life. Briefly. 

“I can tell you however that my brother Dick’s wedding to Barbara Gordon is starting to coming up nicely. That Jason is most definitely following in my dad’s footstep. That Tim is still with his high school sweetheart, Steph’ and um...Well, Damian is only fourteen ! I think he’s barely interested in any kind of romance right now. I’m sure he has crushes but...uh, you know.” 

They didn’t really know, but acted as if they did. Because you had a way with words, that just made people satisfied enough. Just like your dad. Plus, they weren’t really interested in your brothers right now, they knew you were just deflecting. 

Gabriela Torres asks once more about that “Metropolis boy”, but this time, she names him. 

“Isn’t there something going on between you and Conner Kent ?” 

You manage to fake being bashful once again. You turn away from the camera. Laugh a little bit nervously, and then turn back to the journalist and say : 

“Well, a proper lady never tells.” 

You then proceed to smile and wink in a very Bruce Wayne-way (again, like father, like daughter) and walk away. 

And you’ve done it. Gave them just enough so they’ll be satisfied, but not enough to truly invade your personal life. 

Conner’s officially in. 

************

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t feeling nervous at all when you brought your boyfriend to an official and formal event for the first time. 

And oh man Conner ? Conner was almost throwing up because of how nervous he was. But here you were, walking the red carpet under a hundred of camera flashes. And it was time. 

“(Y/N) Wayne isn’t single anymore, it’s official”. 

************

“Wow, well. This went better than expected ! They really like you Kon !” 

“Yeah ? I was afraid I messed things up a bit by being so nervous...” 

“Oh no, I think they loved that. It brings a certain quirk to you. And it shows you care about making a good impression...You can bet that tomorrow, people will be all over the papers about me being hitched ! And the next day, they’ll forget all about it because then they’ll focus on the fact that there’s, potentially, three Wayne kids that are still single...So all in all, very successful evening !” 

This was such a relief. Finally. Finally he was “officially” your boyfriend, and you’d never have to hide anymore. Awesome. Things really went smoothly ! People truly LOVED Conner. 

And you were all pretty sure it was thanks to your plan of easing things down. When you finally presented Conner as your boyfriend, people felt like they knew him too, after all those videos and pictures and such you posted. 

They had been shipping you two since “way before you guys started dating” (something people often said, and that amused you often, given the fact you celebrated your first year anniversary while you were still not “officially” together), and were glad to see you two making things official. The “I ship them so hard” comment were now replaced by “#relationshipgoals” and other “THE SHIP HAS SAILED !!” and such. 

Wow. Well. Why were you nervous in the first place ? 

************

And here you were again, nervous beyond all measure, unable to stop playing with the new piece of jewelry on your ring finger...

Conner asked you to marry him months ago, but it was only now that you had time to truly announce it to the World. Your family and friends already knew of course, but your “public alter ego” had to still come out clean about that. 

The day before the gala you were going to, Conner posted on HIS social medias (sounded more logical) a simple picture of the ring on your finger, your hand holding his, and a caption saying : “She said yes <3″. 

The post broke the internet. 

It became one of instagram’s most liked pictures. And people couldn’t wait for your official statement the next day at the gala...And here you were, nervous again even if you knew most people knew already and you just had to confirm things, to “give them the little infos so they could be satisfied”. 

************

“Wow, well. This went better than expected ! They really really like you Kon !” 

“Yeah well, I think I figured that out by now. I do receive the occasional hate online about “not being good enough for you” but I’m pretty sure all those accounts are Damian’s...” 

You snort, but start to genuinely laugh when your little brother gives a half-joking “Tt, not ALL of them”. 

You’re on your way home to your apartment, and as often during official galas like so, you’re in the family car as you all went to the event together. Of course. 

You, Jason and Dick didn’t live in the Manor anymore, but Alfred and your dad always made a point to pick you up so you’d all go as a family. It was important for them, but also for that public image you kept up all those years, of you guys being a very close family (which was true anyway). 

People LOVED when the entire Wayne family went somewhere. They always went completely crazy for pictures of all of you together, which unfortunately were rarer nowadays than they used to. Which made said picture all the more appreciated. 

You finish laughing at your brother’s (half) joke and Conner smiles as you lay your head on his chest, closing your eyes, exhausted after tonight’s emotions and commotion. 

There’s a small silence as Alfred drives the family limousine back to your apartment to drop you and Conner off first, as your home is closer to the city center than Dick’s and Jason’s. And definitely closer than Wayne Manor, where your dad, Tim and Damian will go back after dropping all of you off. 

It’s a comfortable silence. Everyone is very please about how the entire evening went. Your dad would never admit it, but he was really happy and proud that you were going to marry a man such as Conner Kent. 

The silence is broken by said man :

“I wonder what people’s reaction will be when we’ll tell them you’re pregnant...” 

Conner says, before he freezes and a horrified expression slowly creeps on his face. Did he just...Drop that bomb ? While you and him only discovered that fact the day before ? And didn’t say anything to your family yet ? Oh my god, you were going to be so mad at him ! 

But you were already asleep, comfortably nestled on his chest, and your boyfriend, future father of your child...Had to bear the glares your brothers laid on him, the furious shock in your father’s eyes. 

He had to ignore the gasp they all made, the way they refrained themselves from yelling because you were asleep and it was rare for you to get any of that, especially so peacefully. The way they “yelled” silent “WHAT ?!” and threw their hand in the air, the scene being utterly comic, as they tried to make as little noise as possible. 

The way your brothers weren’t sure wether they were happy or mad. The way your dad’s glass of water he had in his hand shattered as he gripped it. The way his expression went from “angry” to “wait, what, I’m going to be a grandfather ?” to finally land on “I’m happy ! But also, how dare you touch my daughter that way ?”. 

And all the while, you slept peacefully, not knowing that this novel piece of news that stressed you out was now out in the open to your family. You had just barely started to foment a plan about how to tell them ! 

For Conner, the ride back to your apartment was a very awkward one. And he blessed the fact that you didn’t wake up as you arrived home, meaning he didn’t have to witness your grumpy self awaking to your family asking you a thousand questions about your pregnancy ! 

He exited the car slowly, making sure to not wake you up, and mouthed a “I guess we’ll talk tomorrow...” to your brothers and father, smiling awkwardly at them, closing the car’s door. Worst timing EVER. And it was a bit surreal, to see their frustrated face realizing they’d really have to wait for tomorrow to ask for an explanation, as the door slowly closed on them. 

At least the good thing about all that, was the fact that you were deeply asleep and unaware of his mistake. That way, he had time to think of something to tell you, of a plan to break the news to you that he accidentally might have slip the fact that you were bearing his child to your family...

Damn. 

_______________________________________________

Sorry it took me a while to get that story out. I just got extremely busy with life lately...So. Yeah. I had ZERO time to write. Anyway, glad I could finally post this :). As usual, the initial idea I had changed quite a bit along the way, and I ended up focusing on Batsis/Conner more than on the Batsibling as a whole (don’t worry, there’ll be more bat siblings story related, and only them :)), but eh, that happens. I always end up getting carried away by the story.

Hope you liked it (???), don’t hesitate to leave a feedback and reblog, it’s always BEYOND appreciated (motivates to write more and all). Hope you weren’t disappointed or something and...yeah. That’s pretty much it *proud for once I didn’t comment on how insecure I am posting a story*.

[goddessofroyalty]

RoyDick week Day 6: Batman!Dick

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18688585

  The way the cowl sits on his head is still something Dick is incredibly conscious of. A physical reminder of the legacy he is carrying on his shoulders. A reminder that Gotham is now primarily his responsibility.

He doesn't know how Bruce did it for all those years.

But Gotham needs Batman. Damian needs Batman. And Dick is the only one able to take up the mantle. So he dons the cowl and swings through the city with his newly gained Robin and tries to figure out the rest as he goes.

Oracle sends a message through that someone wants to see him so Dick follows where she leads and is only a little surprised to see Arsenal standing on the rooftop. It's not like he never steps foot in Gotham, just it's not usual. And certainly it isn’t usual for him to be contacting Oracle to send a message to Batman.

"What do you need me for?" Dick asks after landing on the roof. It turns out it's really hard to be Batman around his friends, and going by the raised eyebrow he gets for it, Roy isn't buying the act one bit. Or finds it funny. Probably the latter knowing Roy.

"Just wanted to see if it was true. That you really were stupid enough to decide to take his spot," Roy says with an idle walk over to Dick. And Dick's glad Damian had peeled off before Dick arrived because he has a feeling it wouldn't have ended well for him to be here for this conversation.

"I didn't have a choice." Barbara had made that clear. Jason had made that clear. Gotham needs a Batman and there just wasn't anyone else currently able to take it up, as much as there were those willing.

"Yeah and do you actually believe that?" Roy asks walking closer still.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't." Really this was the last thing he wanted. In some ways is something he had nightmares about only weeks before - becoming exactly like Bruce. But Gotham needs Batman.

Roy gives a snort because he clearly doesn't believe it but walks that bit closer so he's standing in Dick's space. "I have to say at least you look better than he did."

"What?" It's probably fine that Roy is able to make Dick break his Batman character. Roy knows Dick and how to poke at him to make him break and the performance is still only in its early days. A lot of practice to be had until he perfects his new role.  

"You know what I said." And Roy is closer still and Dick knows he should probably step away but he doesn't want to. This is a game they've been playing for years - does this suit make it any different? "Might have asked you to wear it for me earlier if I had of known how you would look in it."

"Roy-" This is probably too far. Disrespectful to Bruce's memory for his suit, his mantle, to be reduced to something just to flirt and play with.

"Come on Rob," Roy says and he's closer again and Dick can feel the breath off lips. Suddenly aware of the only skin of his own that is bare. "Don't tell me the cowl's already gotten into your head and rewired you to have no fun on the job ever."

Roy closes the slim distance between his and Dick's lips. The kiss he gives far from chaste. And it should be fine - it's not like Bruce never made out with anyone in the suit. Dick was well old enough to know what he and Catwoman got up to at times in their game. The suit not actually a sacred thing that cannot be defiled by anything sexual.

But it feels wrong.

He pushes Roy off with earns him a frown but he doesn't care because they can't keep doing this anymore. "Roy we can't."

"Oh come on!" Roy says, his face twisting into familiar annoyance. "You've only been in it for like three days and you already have let it get to you - for fucks sake man you're not actually him."

"I know." Dick will never be Bruce. Never fully able to live up to the importance and success Bruce had built up as Batman. That's why he had become Nightwing - to find where he sat in the world. "But I have to try."

"That doesn't mean you have to become him you know. You can still be you."

"Ro- Arsenal I can't." He understands why Roy doesn't fully get it. As much as Oliver was his mentor and a parental figure, Roy never felt as indebted to him as Dick did Bruce. Wally would probably understand but this isn't Wally he's talking to.

"Of fucking course. I should have known," Roy says. He backs off and that just hurts because Dick doesn't want to lose him. But on the other hand he should probably encourage this level of boundaries. Batman really shouldn't be caught so close with Arsenal considering how little the two of them had been together in the past. If people see they might figure out that it's a different person under the cowl and that will only cause more problems.

"Arsenal." He needs to be more like Batman. Needs to treat his allies as just that - allies. And not the close friends, or hell, family, they actually were to him. He needs to be like Batman not Nightwing, because he is Batman now.

"No, you know what, fuck it. I got what I wanted, and it's clear you don't want to know me anymore now you got your promotion. So I'm just going to leave you be and I guess I'll see you the next time the world ends and the Justice League calls everyone in."

Roy is off the rooftop before Dick has a chance to retort. And before Dick even has a chance to process it he hears Damian landing behind him - which, great.

"How much of that were you listening in to?"

"Enough," Damian says walking over and Dick can tell he's pissed. "What were you thinking? I thought you were taking this mantle to honour my father's memory, not sully it by playing around with some halftime hero."

Dick resists the urge to point out that Roy has been in this gig for longer than Damian has been alive because he knows it will be pointless. There is a lot of ego he has to work through with the kid to get him to realise that they're all actually in this together and not in competition for who is the best. The best hero. The best Robin. The best Batman.

It's about honouring legacy not being better.

Although Dick's doing a shit job at both.

"Come on Robin, we can't just stand on a rooftop all night." At least not unless there's a good reason to be on it. And as much as brooding is something both Batman and Dick have been known to do it's probably not a habit Dick should really get into for at least a couple of weeks on the job. It wouldn't be a good impression to give to Damian.

Plus, Gotham needs her Batman out protecting her. He can brood over what he has to sacrifice for it later.

   Waking in the Wayne manor isn't that weird. Dick did sleep over from time to time when there was a long case and Bruce needed him immediately around.

Waking in the Wayne manor and knowing that this is where he will likely be waking for the next foreseeable forever? Slightly weirder.

Still, Dick made his choice and he isn't going to go back on it. So he gets out of bed, steps around the boxes of his stuff that he still means to unpack, and makes his way downstairs for breakfast.

He really doesn't expect to see Roy in his kitchen trying to plead off Alfred feeding him breakfast. Honestly, Dick didn't think he'd see Roy until the next world ending crisis after what went down last night.

"Roy?"

"So you're finally awake?" Roy asks because he’s probably been up a few hours now. It's strange to think that fatherhood turned Roy into an earlier riser than Dick.

"I don't know if I'd call it that until I get some caffeine in me. Alfred?"

"Right away Master Richard," Alfred says, "and also some breakfast."

"I'm fine - where's Damian?"

"I insist," Alfred says with the tone that means there is absolutely no arguing the point. "Master Damian is working through his school work in his room. I shall ensure he does not come bother you both."

"Thanks." Dick sits on the other end of the kitchen counter to Roy. And even after he's had his coffee and a plate of food place in front of him he still finds himself trying to avoid catching Roy's eyes. He doesn't know why Roy is here and doesn't feel ready for another round after last night.

"The kid keeping you tired?" Roy asks as if it didn't happen. And Dick is more than happy to play pretend with him for now.

"He's a bit of a handful." Understatement of the year, but this is Dick's lot in life now and there isn't any point wallowing in how much of a handful Bruce's son can be seeing at the end of the day Damian is still Bruce's son and Dick the only one who is able to keep him from going back to Talia.

"He seems it," Roy says.

They sit in silence for probably way too long. And Dick can't even pretend it's because he's too busy eating to talk seeing as how he isn't actually that hungry and more plays with the food on his plate than eats it. But he doesn't know what to say and doesn't want to be the one to bring up last night.

"Look, I was a bit of an ass last night," Roy says after what is probably way too long for them to both be pretending it wasn't what they were going to be talking about.

"Yeah?" Dick isn't going to argue it and he isn't ready to admit that he did anything wrong yet either. Because he didn't... really. Batman can't be out doing that.

"Yeah, uh, I get that this is probably a lot to take in for you, and I guess I just wanted to give you a bit of normalcy again but I probably went about it the wrong way. I'm sorry I lashed out."

"It's fine, I get it. It's a bit of a change for all of us." Not just for Dick and those immediately close to Bruce, but everyone who knew Batman or Nightwing. How long will Dick actually be able to hide it from everyone that it's someone else under the cowl than original?

How much does he actually want to hide it?

"I stand by my point that you don't have to be exactly him about it. Sure, to the public you have to be Batman, but you can still be your version of Batman and not his."

"And what's my version of Batman?"

"I can't tell you that. It's for you to figure out," Roy says and he gets up from his chair to walk over to Dick's side of the counter. Making it all the more harder for Dick to avoid the conversation. "And I don't want us to be not talking when you do."

"We still can't be seen out together when I'm Batman."

"Why 'cause Batman can't be gay?"

"What? No, Roy-" Technically even if it was going by Dick's orientation Batman still wouldn't be gay but Dick knows that isn't what Roy meant.

"I'm joking, come on Rob, I do get it - Batman can't be seen as fraternising with other superheroes. He's only allowed to do that with morally questionable villanesses. The closest he'll ever get with one of his own is admitting that maybe, just maybe, Superman might be a friend."

"Can we stop talking about his romantic life, please." It feels disrespectful to Bruce’s memory even if it’s true.

"Fine, if you insist. But what I'm saying is that it's fine that Batman can't suddenly be all buddy-buddy with Arsenal, but Dick Grayson's still allowed to be close with Roy Harper. And you're still Dick Grayson when you don't have the cowl on right - he hasn't like somehow done a conscious swap or something?"

"You tell me?" Dick says and finally looks up at Roy only to lean up to kiss him.

It's weird. Two months ago there is no way Dick would believe he would be making out with Roy around the counter of the Wayne Manor over breakfast. He wouldn't believe he would ever take up the mantle of the Batman. He wouldn't believe he would ever have a sidekick of his own. But here he is making out with Roy over the counter of the Wayne manor after a night of running around the city as Batman training a new Robin.

“So?” Dick asks when they pull away.

“I’m pretty sure Bruce would never do that with me,” Roy says with a grin. “But I mean always better to double-check.”

He closes the distance between them again and Dick isn’t against his ‘precaution’ in this situation.

“Alright I’m satisfied, it’s still all you up there Rob,” Roy says when they separate again. “That doesn’t mean you get off and get to be an idiot who forgets he has friends to help him. You need to talk to us Dick, we’re here for you.”

“I know.” He does. It’s just that there are some things he can’t lean on his friends for. And this is one of them. Still, it’s nice to know that he has someone who he can just be Dick Grayson around without worrying about also being Batman.

[waywardnerd67]

Nerd By Day, Superhero By Night

Summary: (Y/N) loves her job as a Librarian in the small town of Lawrence, Kansas. When a new IT guy begins working there she quickly learns that there is more to him than meets the eye. Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Reader Pairing: Dean x Reader Warnings: Fluff/AU/Superhero!Dean/Nerdy!Dean Word Count: 5381 A/N: This is an AU based off THIS POST. As always this is unbeta so all mistakes are mine. Likes, comments and reblogs are splendid and I will love you doubly for them! Enjoy!

(Y/N) was sitting at the Circulation Desk at the Lawrence County Library. She was scanning in the latest books dropped off for return. Her manager, Clara, had been in her office with the newest hire to the library for the IT position.

“(Y/N), have you seen the new guy yet?” Her co-worker, Maggie asked.

She shook her head, “No. He came in during my lunch. All I know is his name is Dean Winchester.”

The girls looked up when they heard Clara’s office door open. (Y/N)’s heart nearly stopped when a tall, lean man in a button-down shirt, tie and black rimmed glasses walked out behind her manager. She swallowed hard as they approached them.

“(Y/N), Maggie this is Dean, he will be our new IT guy. Dean, Maggie is a part-time college student interning here and (Y/N) is our head librarian for this branch.” Clara said as he stuck his hand out to them both.

As soon as her hand touched his an electric currently ran up her arm. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” His baritone voice had her stomach doing flips.

“I-It’s nice to meet you as well. If you need anything, please let me know.” Her cheeks flared as she stumbled over her words slightly.

He smiled bashfully at her as he let go of her hand. She down noticing some bruising on his arm he was trying to keep covered by his sleeves. He followed Clara, giving him a tour of the library and where his office would be.

“Oh. My. God.” Maggie said her brown eyes wide, “He’s gorgeous! Kind of a nerd, but damn he makes it look hot.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes going back to scanning books, “He is very good looking and there is nothing wrong with being a nerd.”

Maggie scoffed, “Usually nerds are inexperienced, and I like a man who knows what he is doing.”

“Let’s get back to work and then you can go out to find you an experienced man.” Maggie walked away to put books back on the shelves laughing quietly.

By six o’clock, (Y/N) was ready to go home, unwind and dive into her newest book. She waved goodbye to Maggie and Clara. As she walked to her car in the back of the building, she noticed Dean getting into a beautiful black Chevy Impala. He was loosening his tie and talking on his phone to someone.

She could not help the sinking feeling that he could be talking to his girlfriend or boyfriend on the phone. She shook her head slightly trying to get rid of the disappointment filling her mind. (Y/N) was almost to her car, when she felt the hair standing on the back of her neck as if someone was behind her.

She stood still for a moment before she hurriedly started to get out her keys. That is when she was knocked from behind hard against a nearby car. Large hands grabbing at her bag as she struggled to keep it on her shoulder while sinking to the ground.

“Give it up bitch or I swear I will kill you.” The man sneered as she looked up at him.

As the man lifted some kind of long object in the air to hurt her with he suddenly went flying through the air. The assailant was just as surprised as she was when he landed a few feet away. She stood up slowly seeing a tall, intimidating person standing near her.

“I believe that bag belongs to the lady. I suggest you run before you make me do something I might regret.” His voice was deep and raspy sending chills down her spine.

The man scurried away as fast as he could without a word. (Y/N) looked back towards the hero who saved her, but he vanished before she could thank him. She looked all around noticing Dean must have left before the man attacked her. She took a few deep breaths as she sat in her car trying to calm down.

The next morning, she walked into work still a little dazed from the previous night. Maggie came running up to her waving the morning paper in her face, “Have you seen this?”

“Good morning to you as well. And no, I haven’t because you keep waving it like a lunatic.” (Y/N) said a little snippy.

Maggie rolled her eyes, “Lawrence has its very own superhero.” She said excitedly laying the paper down on the circulation desk.

Before (Y/N) could look at the article, she noticed Dean coming in with his hands full of coffee and a box of pastries. “Do you need some help, Dean?” She asked walking over to take the coffees from his hands.

“Thanks. I figured… well, since I’m the new guy I would bring everyone some morning… uh treats.” The way he stammered over his words and his cheek turning pink was adorable.

Maggie quickly grabbed a cup and a Danish hopping up on the desk, “Ah, yes we do accept all forms of sucking up and flattery here.”

He chuckled as (Y/N) looked down at the front page seeing the man who had saved her. “Who is the Hood?” she asked picking up the newspaper.

“He’s the superhero I was talking about. He showed up a couple of weeks ago and has been taking out criminals left and right.” Maggie explained as (Y/N) skimmed through the article.

The picture was blurred at best but showed a tall man with leather pants and dark red jacket with his hood up. He wore a full face mask that was bright red and military black boots.

“He kind of looks like a Red Hood knock off.” (Y/N) commented as Dean choked on his coffee.

He coughed a few times turning bright red as Maggie slapped his back, “You okay there big guy? I know, (Y/N)’s nerdiness knows no bounds. Who the hell is Red Hood?”

(Y/N) smirked, “He is a character in the Batman comics. He was originally a Robin, but then supposedly died by Joker and came back to life by the Lazarus’s Pit. He comes back to his hometown of Gotham taking out the bad guys who Batman refuses to kill. He’s an anti-hero, not good but also not bad.”

She looked up to see Dean staring at her in awe. She felt her face burning as Maggie scoffed, “Seriously, this is why you do get any dates. You need to put down the comics and pick up some lipstick.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes then heard Dean say softly, “I don’t know, I think it’s kind of hot when a woman reads comics.” He bit his lip nervously and excused himself to his office.    

“Did he just call you hot?” Maggie asked as stunned as (Y/N) was.

She shook her head, “No way. Now can we get to work.” Maggie jumped off the desk walking back towards the reference section to clean off the large tables before the library opened.

The was going well as families came in and out for their books. (Y/N) held a crafting class in the late afternoons for elementary ages so their parents could browse kid free for an hour. She noticed Dean standing there watching her closely. She looked up to see him smiling at her as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

When the library was getting ready to close a tall man with long chestnut and a large canvas jacket on. “Can I help you?” (Y/N) asked as he nodded.

“I’m looking for Dean Winchester.” He said looking around.

(Y/N) nodded, “Okay I will go get him…” just then Dean came walking up with his computer bag over his shoulder, “Never mind, did he throw up the bat signal or something?”

He chuckled nervously, “Something like that. This is my younger brother, Sam. Sam, this is (Y/N).”

Sam waved, “Nice to meet you. Dean we really need to get going.”

He nodded glancing over to (Y/N), “Have a good night, (Y/N).”

“Bye Dean.” She said watching the brothers walking away talking adamantly.  Maggie bumped her shoulder into (Y/N)’s.

“Who is that tall drink of water?” she asked as her eyes traveled up Sam’s body.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, “Can you control self around any man?” Maggie shook her head skipping off to the far end of the library to start shutting everything off.

Maggie and (Y/N) walked to their cars together after closing the library. She waved to Maggie as she drove away.

“Did that creep last night hurt you?” (Y/N) let out a yelp as the voice from behind her scared her.

She turned around seeing the man from the newspaper article. He was wearing his mask again and standing a few feet from her. “No, luckily you were there to save me before he could.”

“Good.” He turned to leave when (Y/N) called out to him.

“Wait, who are you? Why are you here in Lawrence? I mean, it’s not like we are Gotham City.” She asked moving closer to the man.

He laughed shrugging, “Every town needs a hero even if they are more like Ivy Town.”

(Y/N) laughed softly, “So even superheroes like reading comics.”

“Where do you think we get our inspiration from. There is true evil in this world Miss (Y/L/N) and I’m just a man who wants to save as many people as I can.” He said then turned away pressing his hand to his mask. “Got it. I’ll be there in five.”

“Someone in need of saving, Mr. Hood?” She asked.

He simply nodded taking off down the street disappearing from sight. (Y/N) sighed getting in her car. She started giggling uncontrollably, “So this is what Lois Lane and Catwoman feel like when the hero leaves them to save the world.”

Over the next few months, (Y/N) took to reading every article she could about The Hood which was the name the press came up with. The library was having electrical and plumbing work done so it was close for the day. (Y/N) and Maggie decided to invite Dean and Sam over to (Y/N)’s for movies and dinner.

(Y/N) and Dean had become good friends at work. They often would talk about the latest horror movie that had come out or new books coming into the library. She was nervous about seeing him outside of work and especially in her home.

“Are sure we couldn’t just go out somewhere?” She asked.

Maggie shook her head as she put more beer in the refrigerator, “No way. (Y/N), your house is meant for entertaining and parties. You just have no friends and now you do.”

(Y/N) sighed trying to swallow down her anxiety as she picked up a few of things on the kitchen table. Around five o’clock, there was knock on the door and she felt like her stomach was going to jump from her body.

She opened the door with Maggie right behind her smiling when she saw Dean. “You know you don’t have to dress like you’re going to work whenever you are around me.” She joked.

Dean was in a white, button-down, short-sleeved shirt with dress slacks and a tie. His cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, “I know, I was… uh… working a freelance job and had to come straight here after it.”

(Y/N) could tell he was hold back something. She shook it off handing them each a beer and walking over to continuing cooking. She noticed Maggie sitting close to Sam as his arm rested on the back of her chair.

“What are you making? It smells great.” Sam asked taking in a deep breath while closing his eyes.

She smiled proudly, “Chili, corn beard, bacon stuffed jalapeno poppers and lemon strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing.”

Dean sucked in a breath his lips parted slightly, “Did you say bacon stuffed poppers?”

“Yeah, I did. I hope that is okay?” She asked doubting herself. The cooler weather of fall had made her want to cook the first pot of chili for the season.

Dean’s smile erased any doubts from her mind, “It sounds amazing. Sammy and I haven’t had a home cooked meal in forever. We’re not exactly domestic.”

The girls laughed and easily the four of them fell into conversation. They found out that the brothers were born in Lawrence but after their mother died their dad moved them around a lot. Always being on the road throughout their lives, they decided they wanted a place to settle down in and they decided to come back to their hometown.

“What made you decide to go into IT?” (Y/N) asked as she placed the last dished on the table for dinner.

Dean looking longingly at all the food, “Uh… well it was just a safe career choice. What about the two of you?”

“Well I’m getting my Master’s in English Lit right now. I’m just interning at the library as extra credit. I want to travel the world and write novels or articles for online publications.” Maggie explained as Sam hung on to every word she said.

Dean turned his attention to (Y/N), “And you?”

She chuckled shrugging, “I have a degree in teaching, but I have worked at that library since I was sixteen years old. I just can’t bring myself to leave it because I love being surrounded by books.”

The brothers were digging into the food when Dean said, “You know you can do both. You can still be surrounded by books and teach. From seeing some of your classes at the library I think our schools are missing out on having you teach the next generation of doctors, lawyers and IT guys.”

(Y/N) felt her cheeks burning as she bashfully smiled over to Dean. The rest of dinner they talked about random topics and the boys praised (Y/N) repeatedly for her cooking. Afterwards, they made their way to the living room where Dean had brought over his favorite movie.

“Hatchet Man?” (Y/N) questioned as he put the DVD into the player.

“Yep! By far, my favorite movie of all time. Time to slice and dice.” Dean said sitting on the chair next to the (Y/N)’s spot on the couch.

About twenty minutes into the movie, Sam and Maggie disappeared from the living room claiming they did not like horror movies. (Y/N) did not want to think about what they were really doing within her house. She got up getting Dean another beer and some popcorn scooting over to the other side of the couch.

“If you move over then it will be easier to share the bowl.” She mentioned as he nodded moving over next to her.

(Y/N) glanced over during the movie to see Dean scrunching up his nose to push his glasses up. She watched as his lips mouthed every line from the movie. His olive eyes were focused on the screen wide with excitement.

Her body was buzzing with nervous energy sitting next to Dean. The feelings he brought up in her were foreign to her. The way she always wanted to be as close as possible to him and the urge to reach out to hold his hand. (Y/N) found herself slowly moving closer to him on the couch as the movie continued. That is when she noticed he was also moving himself closer to her and hope filled her heart.

Suddenly, Sam came out into the living room his shirt untuck and hair messy. “Dean, we… uh need to leave. Something came up at home.”

Dean looked slightly worried, “Alright Sam.” He glanced to (Y/N) softening his eyes, “I’m sorry we have to rush out. I promise we can watch your favorite movie next time and without the party poopers.”

She nodded smiling, “I hope everything is okay.”

Dean got up following Sam to the front door. Maggie and (Y/N) watched them quickly get into Dean’s car and take off down the road. Maggie placed her arm around (Y/N)’s shoulder, “I think I’m in love.”

“You mean in lust.” She chuckled as they cleaned up the living room.

Maggie left soon after leaving (Y/N) alone with her own feelings unknowing how to deal with them. Finally, around midnight she could not stand being inside anymore. Putting on her running clothes and a hoodie she grabbed her phone along with her earbuds deciding to work off some of the energy keeping her up.  

She did not normally like running in the middle of the night but lying in bed wide awake thinking of Dean was no better. She started off towards the library which was two miles from her house. The cold wind nipped at her blistering skin. Her running playlist pushed her to run harder.

She knew the policy at the library was co-workers could not be in romantic relationships. That on top of Dean’s comment of being able to teach while surrounded by books had her considering a huge change for her life. When she reached the library, she sat down on the stairs leading to the main entrance breathing heavily.

“You shouldn’t be out here this late.” Her eyes snapped to see the familiar red mask and dark leather outfit.

“Too much on my mind and running helps.” She explained standing up and walking towards the city’s hero, “Busy night?”

He shook his head, “Not anymore. Took care of a few issues near Kansas City but for tonight Lawrence is safe.”

The Hood turned to walk away, and she reached out suddenly touching his arm, “May I ask you something?”

“Sure, but I may not answer?” He said stepping closer to her.

As if her brain had no control over her hand, she reached up touching the side of his mask. The feelings Dean brought up in her did not even compare to the ones the masked man was able to make her feel.

“Why do you keep coming back to me? Am I in danger or…” she let her question drift off as he moved away slightly.

He stared down at her as she gripped his leather clad arms feelings the lean muscles of his arms. “You’re not in danger and I want to make sure to keep it that way. I… I feel a connection with you, but what I do,” he paused stepping completely away from her, “I can’t have any attachments.”

He popped his hood on turning his back to her looking over his shoulder, “You should stay clear of me.” With that he took off leaving her slightly speechless.

“What if I don’t want too.” She whispered.

Over the next several months, (Y/N) started looking into making a few changes along with hanging out with Dean more often outside of work. When she was with him, she would forget all about The Hood. They had so much in common and she loved spending time with him.

“Dean, can I ask you something?” she asked as they were walking towards the movie theater after work. They were going to see the latest Halloween movie after Dean insisted he treat her to it.

“You just did.” He chuckled.

She rolled her eyes, “Funny. Um, I feel kind of awkward asking this, but we’ve been hanging out a lot and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Dean nodded in agreement smiling at her, “I think so as well.”

(Y/N) took a deep breath stopping just outside the theater, “Is there something between us here or am I just reading too much into this?”

He nervously fidgeted with his glasses looking away from her. She could feel her heart dropping as the silence grew between them. “(Y/N), I like you a lot but…”

She shook her head not wanting to hear what he was going to say. Tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks and she did not want him to see her cry, “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have asked. I think… I think I’m just going to go home. Goodnight Dean.”

(Y/N) started to walk away quickly hearing Dean calling out to her. Her vision blurred from tears streaming down her face and her chest was burning from the sob she was holding back. When she finally stopped looking around not recognizing where she was.

She pulled her phone out to call Maggie and she cursed as she found her phone was dead. She pulled her coat around herself tighter walking back towards what she thought was the direction she came from.

“Hey beautiful, what are you doing in this neighborhood?” She turned to see someone standing behind her.

She started to back away slowly, “I’m just waiting for a friend to pick me up. He’ll be here any moment.”

For each stepped she took away from the man he would step closer to her. “Why don’t I just take you where you need to be and forget about your friend.”

(Y/N) felt her back press against a wall of a building as the man blocked her from moving placing his hands on the wall behind her. Panic was now spreading throughout her body as she wished she had never left Dean’s side.

“Step away from her.” A deep threaten voice came from behind the man caging her in against the wall.

The man started chuckling, “Hoodie Boy. You’ve been going around hurting a lot of my friends lately and I would love to repay you for that.”

“(Y/N), go now.” The Hood said looking straight at her as she ran past him. She hid behind a nearby parked car watching as the two men lunged at one another.

The Hood blocked every punch the man threw at him with ease. Never before had (Y/N) been impressed with anyone fighting but The Hood made it look as easy as breathing. She moved slightly knocking over a few empty cans next her. Looking up she saw The Hood staring at her and the man saw an opportunity to take a shot at him.

“WATCH OUT!” She screamed.

It was too late the man’s fist connected with The Hood’s mask knocking it completely off. It slid right to (Y/N) who grabbed it quickly off the ground. The Hood shook his head slightly dazed. That is when she noticed the smaller eye mask over his eyes. His hair was wildly sticking up in all directions as he got off the ground.

As he stood up he squared his shoulders and marched over to the man with a fierce determination. With two forceful blows to the face the man crumbled to the ground and The Hood tied his hands along with his feet together.

(Y/N) jogged over to him, “Thank you.” She said breathlessly.

He kept his face turned away from her, “You know you shouldn’t run away when you don’t know where you’re going. You could have been hurt or worse. You need to be more careful.”

She sucked in a shaky breath, “I-I didn’t mean too. I was… wait how did you know I was upset and ran away?”

“I have to go.” He said picking up the man and tossing him over his shoulder. Without another word he was gone. She followed him as best she could to the end of the street where he got onto a motorcycle with the man propped up against him.

She he sped by, she caught a glimpse of his face and she gasped, “Dean.”

The next morning, she walked into the library with The Hood’s mask in her bag. Walking into Dean’s office, she looked around seeing pictures of him and his brother from various states along with childhood pictures of his family. He had a few collector items on his desk like a figurine of Hatchet Man and an exact replica of his car.

There was still an hour before anyone else would be there as she sat down at his desk. She opened his top drawer seeing a variety of office supplies. When she opened the next drawer is when she found what she was looking for. It was the identical eye mask that The Hood had been wearing confirming her suspicions.

Quickly, she closed the drawer and left his office. He had called in for the day just reassuring (Y/N)’s thoughts that Dean Winchester was The Hood. That very revelation kept her distracted at work all day to the point that Clara told her to go on home.

“We’ve got this (Y/N). It’s not that busy and you don’t have any classes. Go on home and we’ll see you tomorrow.” She nodded grabbing her things.

She sat in her car for several minutes holding the menacing red mask in her hands. Tossing it onto the passenger seat, she drove off in the opposite direction of her house. Within fifteen minutes she was parked outside a beautiful two-story house in Lawrence. Walking up to the front door she knocked, and Dean answered wearing jeans, t-shirt and flannel shirt along with his black rimmed glasses.

“(Y/N), what are you doing here?” he asked stunned.

She held up the mask, “I think we need to talk.”

Dean took the mask as she walked inside. The Winchester’s house was beautiful and not at all what she was expecting for two bachelors to be living in. She turned towards him crossing her arms over her chest, “Start talking.”

“How did you figure it out?” he asked setting the mask on his kitchen table sitting down.

“I saw your face as you drove pass me last night. I think I would recognize the face of the guy I’ve been falling for the last few months even with an eyes mask and make-up.” (Y/N) sat across from him seeing a smirk.

He reached up taking off his black rimmed glasses, “Well I guess I don’t need these around you.”

Disappointment hit her seeing him take off the one thing she was attracted to the most, “Did you really think wearing glasses would not make people put two and two together?”

“I figured if it worked for Superman then why not me.” He chuckled then grew serious seeing her face, “Honestly, I never figured I would lose my mask. It’s specifically fitted for me and until last night I had never lost it in a fight. Thank goodness, Sam insisted I wear that eye mask underneath or the douchebag could have made me from the first night I took him down.”

(Y/N) gave him a curious look asking, “First night? You’ve taken him out before?”

“Yeah, the guy who pushed you against your car was the same guy from last night. The police in this town are mostly corrupt and let the criminals go. That is why Sam and I are here.” He explained.

Sam entered the kitchen cautiously, “Hey (Y/N).” he said nervously.

“Hello Sam, so are you the sidekick?” she asked as he glared at her while Dean’s booming laughter filled the room.

Sam narrowed his eyes on his brother, “No I’m not. I’m the brains while he’s the brawn. I run this operation from here and send him where he needs to kick ass.”

“So, you’re Alfred to his Batman.” She said purposely trying to get a rise out of him.

Sam gawked at her then smiled, “I’ll take that as a compliment. Please don’t tell Maggie. She knows nothing of this and I really don’t want her too.” He paused, “Yet anyway.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” (Y/N) said looking directly at Dean.

Sam rocked on his feet awkwardly, “Okay then. Well, I will just leave you two to chat.” He went back down through the door that must have led to the basement of the house.

“So?” Dean asked looking down at his hands on the table.

“So, what now? I know your big secret and now you know mine. Where do we go from here?” she asked a dull ache beginning to form in her heart.

Dean chuckled, “What, that you have a massive crush on me?”

She gave him a pointed look, “Funny Winchester, very funny. I’m trying to be serious here. Do you rec con my brain, so I never knew you and move far, far away? Do we just pretend to ignore one another like nothing ever happen?”

He stood up reaching for her hand, “Come with me.”

She hesitantly took his hand her heart racing as she followed him upstairs to an empty room. Dean stood holding her hand in the middle of the room. “When Sammy was six months old our mother burnt on this ceiling in his nursery. My dad found her and gave Sam to me to get out of the house. Then six months after his twenty-third birthday, his girlfriend Jessica burnt on the ceiling of their apartment at Stanford.”

(Y/N) looked up to the ceiling seeing absolutely no evidence of a fire. “What happened?” she asked as he turned to face her.

“A demon killed our mother and his girlfriend so that Sam would fall in line to lead an army of demons from Hell. Of course, my dad and I would never let that happen and a couple years later I killed that very demon after our dad had sacrificed himself for me.” Dean paused for a moment.

She looked up at him, “Go on.” She said reassuringly.

For the next couple of hours, Dean told her all about their lives leading them back to Lawrence and fixing up their childhood home as a base for their superhero career. They sat on the floor in the room, Dean’s back against a wall while he pulled her into his side placing his arm around her.

“Dean, why are you telling me all of this? Not that I mind because I would love to know everything about you, but why now?” she asked looking up at him.

He bit his lip nervously, “I like you. I like you a lot and this life is lonely. Being a hunter and now a vigilante is dangerous for me, for Sam and for anyone who gets close to us. It’s always only been the two of us and since we’ve been living here we both found someone we want more with.”

His olive eyes were shining as the afternoon sun was starting to set. She smiled up at him, “Found someone, huh? Then you should probably be telling her all of this and not me.”

“Ha. Ha. Funny.” He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face gently trailed his fingers down her cheek. She leaned into his touch watching as his lips moved closer to hers.

“Dean, hey… Oh! Sorry.” Sam said walking into the room.

Dean growled, “What Sam?” he asked through his teeth.

“There is a domestic disturbance a few miles away. You better suit up.” He said chuckling as he left the room.

Dean rested his forehead against hers, “I have to go.”

“I know.” She whispered as they got up walking back downstairs.

“Come on, I’ll show you where everything happens.” Dean said leading her down into the basement.

Sam was sitting in front of three large monitors clicking on a keyboard. There were large TVs with news feeds and traffic cams constantly playing. On the other side of the basement was a training area with weapons for Dean. Then she spotted his outfit hanging up on a door.

Dean was grabbing it disappearing behind the door. As she looked around, he stepped back out full dressed and her eyes traveled up his body. A smug smile spread across his face as he walked over to her. She was holding his mask in her hands.

“So, which do you prefer? Nerdy by day or superhero by night?” he asked.

She reached up running her hand up the back of his neck and pulling his lips to hers. “Both.” She whispered against them as she pulled away handing him his mask. “By the way, keep the glasses look. Nerds are hot.”

His cheeks were as red as his mask as he slipped it on. Walking out a back door that led to where his motorcycle was parked. (Y/N) stood behind Sam as he watched Dean’s helmet camera as he drove down the street.

“(Y/N),” Sam said as she hummed her response, “Welcome to the family business.”

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Masterlist!

My Nerd Herd: @waywardbaby @waywardrose13 @carryonmywaywardcaptain @anotherwaywardsister @ladywinchester1967 @dwgrl1903 @akshi8278 @ericaprice2008 @mirandaaustin93 @spnbaby-67 @time-travel-bouqet @1967-essentialghoul @dean-winchesters-bacon @destielhoneybee @-lovepeacenhope- @destiel745 @carribear31 @srsllydunnodoncare @whimsicalrobots @thisismysecrethappyplace @starstruckzonkoperatorbat @adoptdontshoppets @mrswhozeewhatsis @bella-ca @drakelover78 @imascio08 @pisces-cutie @mannls @the-salty-asian @winchesterprincessbride @xostephanie @klanceiscannon14 @superromijn @witch-of-letters @supernatural-teamfreewillpage @ain-t-bovvered

[batcatromance]

The BatCat (non) Wedding: Everything Wrong with DC Comics.

First off, I have to apologize for being absent from this blog for so long. The events leading up to, and continuing from Batman issue # 50 had a very demotivating effect on my desire to post any content. Also, to all the people who sent me questions which have remained unanswered, I am sorry. Hopefully I will address some them here. Back to the business at hand...

By now, everyone knows what happened (or did not happen) in the “Wedding Issue” of Batman. My goal here is not to review the issue, but use it as an example of how DC Comics has lost the plot and are sticking a proverbial middle finger to all of its readers. I am quite aware of my bias when it comes to Batman and Catwoman’s relationship, however this is not merely a case of me throwing a temper tantrum because my ship is being sunk (for the umpteenth time). This is my general dissatisfaction with DC Comics, its leadership and complete lack of connection with its readers.

Let us begin with the whole bait and switch that the BatCat wedding ended up becoming. A couple months before the wedding issue, I could see the signs that it was not going to happen. There were so many little signals that Batman plus happiness was impossible. I continued to see them and that little alarm bell in my logical mind went off: this whole event is going to crash and burn. I did not want to believe that it was strictly a promotional ploy, but I was obviously wrong.

This soul-sinking feeling was the reason why I stopped posting during the wedding build up. To use an analogy, I felt like the supervisor at a company who knew that people were going to lose their jobs, but I still had put on a fake smile and tell everyone they had nothing to worry about. Seeing all the positive views towards the wedding, but knowing deep-down that it was not going to happen, I could not in good conscience continue the conversations.

Besides the blatant cash grab the wedding became, I am also very disappointed that the past two years have essentially been a waste. In 50 issues of Batman, what has changed? The answer is nothing. He’s back to being hurt, unhappy and alone. Give yourself a hand DC, you really came up with something original that has never been done before. You know what would have been original? Actually following through with it.

Think about all the wasted stories: the confrontation with Talia, the Superfriends date night and the Prelude to the Wedding one-shots. Now, they are all irrelevant. Seeing Selina and Lois becoming friends had such potential, but now it’s gone. Watching Selina and Damian bond had potential too, now that story might as well be erased as it no longer has any relevance. There is a funny pejorative comment towards comics - they take two years to tell a story that goes nowhere. Well, that has been proven to be extremely prescient here.

Getting back to DC as a whole, I am very concerned with the future. The reason is Dan DiDio, plain and simple. When he and Jim Lee replaced Geoff Johns as the creative leadership for DC, I had a cold shudder. For those who do not remember (or tried to forget), DiDio was the driving force behind the New 52 reboot. He’s the one who wants superheroes to be miserable and thinks reboots and constant “crises” are a good thing. Well, the sales of New 52 proved that the fans did not agree and DiDio was pushed aside as Geoff Johns took over and went forward with Rebirth. Sales and critical reception were much better and things were looking up for DC.

Well, DC decided to shake things up at the top and out went Johns - and somehow, DiDio is back in charge with Jim Lee. And right away, you can see that he wants to go back to the New 52. What bothers me the most his is arrogance to what he thinks the audience wants. In one of the DC Nation issues, he talked about “confounding expectations” for the readers. So instead of having Batman be married for the first time, you decided to keep him alone like he has been for 75+ years. Nice work, my expectations were definitely confounded!

Here is another pearl of wisdom from DiDio when asked about the fans’ disappointment to the cancelled wedding:

“You asked about us taking the audience for granted; actually, if you want to be perfectly honest, I think the audience took the story for granted.”

Wow, so basically you are saying that us in the audience were stupid to believe that the wedding would actually happen. Go f**k yourself DiDio!

And this is not just happening in Batman. Ask Superman fans how happy they are with the current Bendis run? Look at Doomsday Clock and how it went from the crossover event of the year, to a mere afterthought which has completely lost all momentum. I will put it simply: I have no interest in this direction that DC appears to have chosen.

Anyways, it took me a long to decide if I even wanted to comment on the current state of affairs. I am at a point where I do not really care and apathy is the worst place to be. I remember when Tom King originally said that his 100 issue run was about Batman and Catwoman’s love. Well, that seemed to change at San Diego Comic Con, where he suddenly changed his tune and said “from day one, this was always going to be a story about someone breaking Batman”.

Hmm, I would comment, but I simply do not care anymore.

[hrrytomlinson]

here are a bunch of fucking fantastic fics I’ve enjoyed and loved reading throughout the month of october. I recommend that you read these great fics in november, if you haven’t already!! also check out the Reverse Big Bang and 31 Days of Smut!

(all fics with a star are my favorites and if there are two stars then it was a favorite favorite)

1. Damn the Dark, Damn the Light 20k

“Why is this face of beauty ringing so true?” The genuine confusion in Harry’s voice causes Louis’ chest to painfully twinge. “You’re a complete stranger in my eyes, William Shakespeare, but not in my heart. How is that possible?”

Louis wants to live out every romance plot he has ever written in his own life. He wants to be the protagonist of his own narrative, the hero who finds true love and gets his happy ending. Instead, Louis is stuck with only dreaming of such wild fantasies and writing them down. He can create entire romances in his dreams, yet he can never live one.

2. Threadbare 20k**

Harry Styles was eight years old when Louis Tomlinson kept him from falling into a machine in a Manchester textile mill. He was 18 years old when nothing, not even the threat of death, could keep Harry from falling in love with Louis.

3. Don’t Come Down 6k

Louis takes Harry home to meet the family.

4. I’ll Take Your Pain 2k*

Or, soulmates have the ability to feel each other's pain, and Harry finds his after getting his arse waxed.

5. We'll Never Be Lonely in the Dark 6k

Detective Louis Tomlinson keeps getting blocked when he tries to use his psychic gift to locate a missing child. One late night he manages to get through but instead of finding who he's looking for he lands in the bedroom of a mysterious man.

Harry Styles, nursing student, baker, and all around exhausted medium, thinks he's having the best sex dream he's ever had when his fantasy man shows up in his subconscious. But is that really what's going on?

6. Aquarius 6k

Louis realises he's slept with a man of every star sign except for Aquarius, and that just won't do.

7. Forget-Me-Not 26k**

“I- I can't move” the elder one finally croaked out, and with more distress Harry came to see that the vines had wrapped itself around the lad's ankles.

With a dumb nod Harry took a couple of steps forward. He could see Louis flinch with his sudden movement but he tried not to think about it. Instead, he lifted his hands, and tried his best to concentrate, hoping his power would listen to him just this once around the other man and untie him.

Ever so slowly, the vines started to detach themselves from Louis's calves, and soon enough, the man was free. With shaking legs, Louis stood up from the position he was in, and suddenly the air around them got thicker. “You're- you're a witch.” Louis hissed under the harsh wind, making Harry flinch at the accusation in his voice.

Or, where Harry had something he did not wish to have. Louis was just trying to figure him out.

8. Gem and the Hunters: The Treasure of Babylon 34k**

Louis Tomlinson wished, for one thing, his whole life: to find the ancient city of Babylon. After one failed attempt, he swore to never again attempt a search for the city. His friend, Niall Horan never pushed the issue, but when his family finds themselves in trouble, Niall’s only option is to convince Louis to try and find Babylon again.

Niall enlists the help of two famous treasure hunters: Harry and Gemma Styles and their friend Liam Payne. Harry and Gemma love ancient cultures as much as Louis and would give anything to find Babylon. Liam is just along for the ride, running from a shade in his past.

The five embark on the adventure of a lifetime… and find much more than any of them bargained for.

9. I Never Did Believe in the Ways of Magic (Through I’ve a Feeling It’s Time to Try) 54k*

Louis can’t shake the feeling that there’s something in the woods, pressing close and watching him with a heavy gaze. It makes him antsy, fills him with jitters. He wants to run, or scream, but he knows to do so would only put him in danger if there’s actually something out there after all. He’s sure he’s just imagining it, but his heart nevertheless pounds in his throat.

When Louis Tomlinson goes on a songwriting retreat to the Laurentian Mountains of Canada, this isn't how he expects his evening to go.

Or the au where Louis is a singer who has been cursed to never make music again and Harry is a reclusive witch of the Canadian mountains who's going to help him break the curse.

10. Cancel Your Reservations, No More Hesitations 10k

Louis still has his eyes on the bill when he barges into Harry’s room without knocking because he doesn’t want to get evicted and the smell hits him first.

It’s overly sweet and unnatural, and his stomach drops because it smells like an omega. Louis eyes widen and he looks up and - Harry’s on his hands and knees, a half spilled bottle of synthetic omega slick next to him and a huge, knotted dildo pressing into his hole. Harry’s face is flushed and he looks fucked-out and -

“I’m sorry!” Louis squeaks out and quickly backtracks, face red, because he wasn’t supposed to see that and Harry’s an alpha but he - Louis isn’t going to judge him.

Louis is an alpha and so is Harry, but Louis helps him through his rut anyway.

11. Foothold 18k

Louis has crossed the galaxy with a ship full of crystals; they’re the only thing he has to offer in exchange for safe harbor. He thought getting to his destination would be the hardest part, hoping that once he got his family to safety everything would fall back into place; Louis struggles to adapt while his sisters thrive. Louis suspects Emperor Styles may have something to do with it.

12. Don’t Want Shelter 76k*

Louis and Harry have known each other all their lives. Friends as children, they danced around each other as teenagers, and have spent the last twenty-five years either screaming at each other or not speaking at all. Except for that one time ten years ago…

When Hurricane Nicole threatens the coast, they end up stuck together in their families' old vacation home that they begrudgingly co-own.

During the storm, and in the months after, they’re both forced to reevaluate their history and what they mean to each other.

13. Wasted Like a Memory 4k

Six years before Hurricane Nicole forces Louis and Harry together, Fizzy gets married. Harry wrestles with reconciling the different versions of Louis he knows. (Part of Don’t Want Shelter)

14. Taste and Plead 3k

Or, the one where Harry wants something, and Louis' never been one to deny his boy anything.

15. Home For Christmas 22k**

The Shameless Hallmark Movie AU you probably didn't ask for.

Or, the one where Harry didn't think he wanted a family, but with a little Christmas magic (and maybe one Louis Tomlinson) he realizes that he is very, very wrong.

16. A Million Stars 2k

Louis watches Harry perform at the Tower Theater, and the events of the night unfold in an unexpected manner.

17. No One Like You 19k**

Where Liam and Niall are art historians discovering the truth about two nineteenth century painters on opposite sides of an artistic divide.

18. Howls Like A Beast (You Flower, You Feast) 16k*

France, 1754. Château de Versailles.

“You don’t love me,” Louis had said, utterly blasé as he callously fractured the heart of a Harry that was just barely eighteen.

“I do,” Harry had insisted pleadingly, green eyes already watering.

Louis had rolled his eyes, exasperated and flippant in the way only beautiful, young boys could be when faced with the affections of a baby prince. He had run his finger down Harry’s cheek then, had forced him to look into his eyes as he delivered the final blow.

“You’ll change your mind once you’ve seen more of the world,” Louis had teased, pressing a brutally delicate kiss onto Harry’s lovely, pure cheek. “Once you’ve been properly defiled.” He had whispered filthily, delighted by the gasp he heard, the frantic pink blush that had rested high on Harry’s cheeks, the power he had felt at knowing he could make the Crown Prince squirm.

19. You Flower, You Feast 18k**

He's King of the Underworld, but don't assume Louis has it all. He could stand for some excitement in his monotonous, eternal life and maybe, even.....a soulmate.

(Despite not having a soul.)

And along came "Harry".

20. The Dead Things We Carry 25k*

September ‘49

He hasn’t seen him since that day in France, that horrible muddy day where for one terrifyingly long second, Louis really thought he was going to die. He winces with the phantom pain, the hand not holding his cane going to his stomach automatically, remembering the franticness, the tenderness, of Harry’s hands while Louis was bleeding out. This is the man who saved Louis’ life.

For one second, Louis fears Harry won’t recognise him, but his eyes widen when he turns to his left and they meet Louis’. He takes a step forward, reaching for him with a shaky hand before stopping himself.

“Louis,” Harry says with a shudder and Louis doesn’t think his name has ever carried more weight. This is the only man Louis ever thought about kissing for real.

“Oh,” Mrs. Padley says, clearly taken aback. “You two know each other?”

There are some things people never fully come home from. Until, one day, if they’re lucky, home comes to them.

21. Do You Like My Sweater 13k

When Harry's alpha fraternity decides to host a Sadie Hawkins dance, outspoken omega Louis has a thing or two to say about it.

22. Yellow 84k**

The city of Gotham turns blood red with a new, mysterious criminal element, a beautiful woman named the Blind Cupid. She threatens to tear the fabric of the city apart, aided by her deadly protégé, the Cat. Can Batman stop them? Will he resist the bewitching allures of the Cat?

A Batman/ Catwoman AU

23. Things That Go Hump in the Night 6k

Louis goes camping. Something horrible happens. Louis is miserable.

It’s science.

24. This Thing Upon Me (Howls Like a Beast) 8k

Harry and Louis weren’t meant to be together. They’d met when they were put together through their university’s AO MatchUp, a program that set up alphas and omegas based on the schedules of their ruts and heats so they had someone to help them through it. It was pure luck that they were put together.

25. Hands Clasped Tight 44k**

Or the one where Harry and Louis are high school teachers and their students have been playing matchmaker for over a year. Little do they know, Harry and Louis are already married.

26. And the Truth Shall Set You Free (...Maybe) 17k

Betism: A religion based on the belief that the beta gender has been chosen by God to protect and defend the purity and dignity of the human race by resisting and condemning the lustful ways and flawed biology of the alpha and omega

Harry is a Betist and Louis is an alpha who runs with a bad crowd. This is what happens when two worlds collide.

27. (We Will Be) As If Chosen 35k**

There's not a royal in the world who doesn't carry some sort of secret, and Prince Louis has more than his fair share. To protect himself and his family, Louis withdrew from the public eye and tried to live a quiet life, biding his time until his sister Lottie could take the throne in his stead. Unfortunately for him, the national media and the worst person Louis has ever met team up to bring him kicking and screaming back into the spotlight.

Under the watchful eyes of millions, Louis has to figure out how to keep his carefully constructed house of cards from falling, and the first step to accomplishing that is to keep from falling in love with the irritatingly charming Prince Harry, who just won't stop showing up and trying to whisk Louis out of the constraints of his boring life.

Or: the course of true love never did run smooth, because sometimes people are stubborn and sometimes people are scared and sometimes, just sometimes, love can cause just as many problems as it solves.

28. It’ll Be 13k

Louis has always wanted children and he decides he's done waiting for love to come first. However, after adopting a baby girl just days after she's born, he quickly realizes how hard parenting is. Louis hires Harry to be his Nanny, and it all works out great. Until Louis falls in love with him.