#And Bruce would be torn between letting it happen so he could adopt him. But in reality actually go feral on Miguel's ass | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

annah-kitathryne · 10 months

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Batman Stays Dead AU

I want to preface this by saying that this is not completely based in canon yet, and it floating in the weird space between fanon and canon, as I will read the comics that directly lead up to how this idea could exist and the comics at the time this story would branch out. However, I was hit by brain worms that I could not ignore. That being said. This is an outline and by no means should be taken as the final product. That means that some stuff is vague, and some stuff is in detail. And a lot is subject to change as I read more, and expand the idea. If you don’t like please don’t send hate comments. Instead, create your version back on the original post so that others can see it. Thank you and enjoy reading

The original Idea can be found [here]

It was created by this person: @analviel

Word count: 8,000+

Warnings: Canon Batman, dysfunctional implied and stated relationships, underage use of substances, and discussions of health, conspiracy.

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Life for Timothy Drake had gone up in flames multiple times. At this point, he questioned what was left to burn considering the foundation in which his life had become was more than cracked, it was rubble. He was now down three parents, up a murderous adopted older brother, a murderous adopted younger brother, and two dead best friends, and had just been fired from his life’s work by his eldest adopted brother. To say he was probably the only person on earth going through this exact situation said a lot about how much everything had gone to shit. So yes, his life had been more than upended.

This was why, later when he had sorted through some things and finally gotten his bearings in the new normal, he would claim his breakdown was warranted, and looking back seemed like an underreaction to the whole situation. However, at the moment he wasn’t thinking. He was just doing.

The sound of glass breaking was when Tim finally started to become fully aware of what was happening around him, and what he was doing. Looking around there was overturned furniture, the sheets had been ripped, and the clothes in the dresser and the closet were in misshaped piles. Some of them were damp from what Tim was sure was a days-old water bottle he brought to his room during one of his research spirals. The glass was from a picture frame he must have recently thrown, considering it had just barely missed a pile of what were supposed to be the curtains on the window, and it was the only object that he could see that would have made the sound.

He gulps some air while tasting something salty. Tears. His hands are shaking and his body feels numb.

Giving himself a moment he goes and grabs the picture frame. Making sure to avoid the broken glass, because he doesn’t want to have to go downstairs and deal with a cut. Flipping it over he sees the picture of him and Bruce the day he was officially adopted.

Was it strange that it felt like decades ago?

Tim sighs as he looks around. He stands back up, places the broken picture onto a desk that wasn't supposed to be empty and starts surveying the room, looking for where to start. He saw what used to be the contents of his desk on the top of his torn mattress.

This was going to be a long evening? Morning? Did it matter at this point? Not really. This was just something better to do than allowing himself to think about everything that had happened recently.

He picks up piles of clothes and heads down the hallway to the clothing shute, slowly stuffing handful after handful of clothes as he counts the varying amount of words he saw on them. He would go down later and start the laundry. This was his mess, and there was no way Alfred would let him get away with the mess he created.

After cleaning the clothes and sheets out of his room, it felt less stuffy. The room seemed to have grown slightly. It was easier to breathe. Though logically he understood that it was because he could see the floor, and not because magic had suddenly expanded the room a couple of feet.

Continuing on he cleaned up the trash and the glass. Torn papers, a couple of old letters, and a piece of scratch paper that had a list of numbers he no longer needed. Putting them in the waste bin he would take them down to a main garbage bin later. After that, he put the pencil, pens, notebooks, and folders back into the drawers they had come from. Colour coding them as he went.

He never did that, but it was another task he could do to keep his mind occupied away from the breakdown it wanted to continue. He debated over the varying shades of purple, starting to think about Steph, when he huffed, clamped his hand over the offending pencil, and had to take a deep breath to remind himself that he has to finish cleaning up the mess he made.

The pencils had been lined up, and the books had been shelved by the subject. Something Tim hadn’t cared for, but was just another bit of time he could chip away at doing anything but working through his thoughts.

He then grabbed the trash bag he had collected and took it down to the larger bin. He turned down the hall and made it to the large washing room. He had at least two more hours before Alfred would notice anything, so he started the process of cleaning all of the clothes. Only now realizing the stains that some of them had collected since he got them.

When back in the hall he grabbed some generic sheets from the hall closet and made his way back into his room, the door clicking shut softly. He may be an absolute mess but he doesn’t want to have to deal with anyone’s ire for waking them up if they had slept through the breakdown he had just been having. Looking at the mattress he counted the holes. Three that wouldn’t impact the functionality of the mattress, so he flipped it over and made his bed. He could worry about the whole situation later when he figured out what to do with everything else.

By the time everything else was cleaned up, and all the laundry was done he felt worn down enough that he might be able to knock himself out and get some rest.

The next couple of days are a blur for Tim. He’s lethargic and he can’t do more than wrap the sheets around him any more. He looks at his computer screen and absently scrolls documents he doesn’t even really read. Even though he has done a total sum of nothing, he feels exhausted to his soul and bones.

Tim had been struggling with sleep for the last couple of days. Having become a creature of nocturnal habit for years going to sleep at a regular time seemed to be as foreign as a stranger. However, he finds that he ends up sleeping at a normal time, albeit a restless sleep.

It meant that when he woke up, the light of his alarm showed brightly enough that once the world stopped being blurred, it readout three twenty-four. It was well into the time that any patrol would be done for the night, and a couple of hours before anyone would be up and about. It was the perfect sweet spot when one could be alone with their thoughts.

Exactly the thing that Tim had been avoiding. However, it seemed that he didn’t need the odd hours to start thinking because the second Tim had knocked the rest of sleep away from his system he felt a sudden sense of wrongness.

He found himself looking around at the darkest corners, at the slightly open closet door, at the window that was still curtainless. He didn’t realize what he was doing until he finished checking everything. He was looking for Bruce, Batman, in those dark corners. As if the points from the cowl or the shine of a wristwatch would appear out of nothing.

Once he started thinking about Bruce he couldn’t stop.

He thought about how the cases that were being worked on, the rebuilding that would have been done, the training he was missing out on, and to go on with everything else, he felt the need to go down to the cave and start working on cases that weren’t his.

He reigned in those thoughts. He wasn’t Robin. Damian the little brat was in the colours. Bruce wasn’t Batman. Dick was The Bat now. He was working on cold cases that had been thrown to the wayside in all the chaos, and helping with research on current cases. He reined in the urge to go and put his Robin suit on, and made his way over to his desk, grabbing his computer and opening up a couple of case files to get his mind off everything.

Maybe he would be able to solve the Tresent case now that some time had passed.

It seemed that this wasn’t going to be the case because he realized he pulled up the information on the Omega Beam and the file that had been created on the whole ordeal. Maybe it was his poor impulse control or the fact that he had held the floodgates for too long, but he ended up reading the whole file, and the connecting files like they were a scripture that held the knowledge of a long-forgotten civilization.

The more he read, the more everything felt off. It just didn’t feel right. Especially everything surrounding Bruce. It just didn’t feel right. The Omega Beam, the casket lowered for Batman. It just wasn’t adding up to Tim. No one knew what the Omega Beam was, or what it did. They just knew that whoever it was appeared to be dead. For all, they knew it could move someone’s soul into some weird pseudoscience/magic containment cell, or be a cloning transport machine. Honestly, the sky had stopped being the limit years ago. Two of his best friends had been a speedster from the future, and a partial clone of Superman. Two things that just didn’t feel possible sometimes.

So really, the idea that Bruce could be out there somewhere wasn’t farfetched.

For a brief small moment, he considered how this could fix everything, how he could go running down the hall and exclaim to Dick what he thought. How he could shove all the cold cases to the side, and bring back Batman. How the city would go back to a sense of normal. But just as he was about to get up and go through with it he stopped.

He had no proof, he had nothing but a hunch and a bad feeling. While as vigilantes they had worked with bad feelings and hunches, most of the time it was small things. Checking an alley again, looking for closed feed cameras, or even investigating a random warehouse. This was not any of these situations. This was exclaiming that someone who people had seen die, was alive, with nothing but a bad feeling.

If he was wrong, and even if for a brief moment he brought everyone’s hope up again, it would ruin everything all over again.

He doesn’t tell anyone. Not in the following days. Not as he looks at places that have experienced unusual amounts of energy lately. Not since he had been cataloguing a web of places with old and new energy signatures across the planet. He doesn’t think about how deep it is. He doesn’t bother to realize what he could be sitting on. Not the possibility, not the high chance of disappointment.

This is the first time in a couple of weeks that he has had the energy to do anything. He is going to ride this motivation, and maybe take it down the halfpipe.

For everyone else, he locked it up away where it couldn’t be found. This was confidential information, and it was information that he needed to have airtight proof for if he was ever going to do anything about it.

The more he researched the more everything felt wrong. Like he knew he was walking on an old minefield and was just waiting for one of them to go off. He was waiting for the misstep to come.

He didn’t like the feeling, and he just seemed to be marching further and further into the field and not away from it.

He would deal with it later.

Tim buys a plane ticket to France. He just wants to check something out, get this all out of his system so that maybe he can move on, or find evidence.

So he packs a civilian suitcase and a more private vigilante case. He makes up some excuse about how he just needs a moment to get away from everything. Spins a story to Dick about he needs a week for himself, but that he isn’t leaving. He needs to be subtle about this trip, he can’t leave with people being suspicious about what he is going to do.

Dick is still suspicious, but everything has been so crazy that if his younger brother needs this, then he should go do it.

The next couple of days are filled with working on case backlogs, helping Alfred where he can, and pretending to be working on a new vigilante name. (Something that he does have to work on, but not right now)

Only a couple of hours before he leaves the Arkham alarm goes off, and it’s all hands on deck when the report comes in that Scarecrow has more or less fumed the whole city in fear toxin. People are fighting each other, buildings are being burnt, and more than half of emergency services are down.

He doesn’t have a suit, but he needs to be out there, so he takes his Robin suit, doesn’t listen to Damian’s protests exclaiming that he can’t wear the red and black suit, and ruses into the private changing areas.

The fact that the city is in chaos once again shouldn’t be the worst part, but the worst part is that no one had any sense of teamwork, and the leadership has been changed around.

Dick is now calling the shots while working with his current Robin, Damian, who is still working with the whole stab now, ask questions later mentality, the previous Robin, Tim, is one bad moment from a breakdown, and sitting on possibly the biggest discovery. This would be enough of chaos as is, but then adding in Barbra and Steph and the whole teamwork thing is more of a ‘we have the same goals, therefore we will all tolerate each other’.

Through investigation, they discover that there are at least fifteen different versions of the fear toxin on the streets, and they also discovered that it was being emitted from multiple forms of air conditioner filters, and multiple local brands of air fresheners.

While Oracle is tracking down the legal connections to hand over to the Commissioner, Batgirl is working with the hospitals to help move cures around Gotham, Batman and the New Robin are working on tracking down the main cell of Scarecrow and apprehending the rogue. Tim is in charge of tracking down and taking down the side cells, and making sure that there is nothing for them to fall back to and regroup.

It takes two weeks, and there are multiple fights and scream matches, but they all eventually get the job done. The hospitals are full, but each hour more people are being cured and sent home, the whole operation is busted, and Tim didn’t have time to think about Bruce.

Over comms, they took to calling him Red Robin, because of the colours of his suit. He doesn’t like it, but it will do for now.

They end up passed out in one of the least used safehouses in the network. A small apartment that has neighbours and was the last to always be upgraded. That wasn’t to say that it was rundown, but it was the most normal safehouse that could pass it off as a civilian place of living. However, for tonight there were four vigilantes in various states of delirium.

Tim was passed out on the couch in the living room, Steph had taken the coat in the second room, and Damian and Dick had taken the two beds in the main bedroom. It didn’t matter that no one wanted to talk to each other, that all of them were in various states of fighting, because they were too tired to care.

In the morning, Dick and Steph end up in the small galley kitchen looking at the contents in the fridge and freezer. They find some condiments, and several mouldy vegetables from whoever used the place last, and in the freezer, they find two full boxes of eggos.

The toaster in the kitchen was ancient but functional, and Steph was looking around for anything to add to it when she looked out the window and saw a corner store across the street. Quickly putting on a slightly too large pair of boots and grabbing twenty dollars from an emergency pouch in her belt she rushes over to the store.

She grabs an overly sugary fruit juice, a bottle of syrup, a small bar of butter, and the ripest berries she can find, and heads back over to the apartment.

Later that morning they find themselves sitting at the small table that had one end shoved against the wall. Dick to the head of the table that faced the wall, Domain took the chair that was between another wall and the table, and Tim and Steph ended up on the other.

There were three larger plates of waffles, a small bowl of berries, and butter and syrup also present. It was the most nuclear-type breakfast any of them had all together.

It was silent. Damian wasn’t complaining about the cheap cardboard-like food, Tim wasn’t head slumped over a table in whatever slump of mood he has been in recently, Steph wasn’t talking about something to fill the space, and Dick wasn’t trying to get anyone to do anything other than eat food.

It was nice. In the weirdest way possible.

The scraping of forks and knives could be heard along with the early morning noises of the city outside. The upstairs neighbours were arguing about something or another. Muffled enough that they could tell the tone, but muffled enough that they would have to concentrate to get the actual words to get the conversation.

The silence wasn’t something that they had all agreed upon, not something that they had preestablished before sitting down. It was being held down by the sticky syrup and the sleep deprivation they were all suffering from.

Tim took a bite of his eggo, it was soggy on one side and burnt on the other.

If he was actually in school and was being hounded by an English teacher that was exclaiming the deep metaphors and connections the small things made to the overall narrative of the story, he would be under the impression that said, teacher would have a field day with the possible connections an eggo had with his life story and current mental state.

However, seeing as he wasn’t in school, and didn’t have to think about English teachers outside of when he teamed up with Huntress, this wasn’t what he was thinking about.

He wasn’t even thinking, he was just eating an eggo.

If Tim were to do anything at all in these moments he would want to start yelling at every single one of them for various grievances, and issues. Instead, he just eats breakfast and basks in relative silence.

In the future when they sit down again for a similar breakfast, in the same safe house, they will talk about how this first breakfast was possible in the first place because Bruce wasn’t there.

Bruce hadn’t been there to make Damina feel like he had to measure up to everyone else, he wasn’t there to make Dick feel like he was a disappointment, he wasn’t there to make Steph feel like she was less than the other vigilantes, and he wasn’t there to make Tim feel like he was being graded for every action that he took.

It was a breath of fresh air that they needed, and this moment would set the first bit of groundwork that would build the family later.

The next couple of months sucked. There was no way around it. Tim still didn’t have a new call sign and was being regulated to work consisting of stealth missions, undercover, and receive for if anything went wrong.

One good thing that came out of the whole ordeal was the last of the backlog of files in the Batcave had been uploaded to the computer, put in special storage, and the number of cold cases had gone down significantly.

It was all good things that might not have been done, and in the end, they had found twenty-six serial killers and twelve serial arsonists, and some of the information finally moved to the computer came in handy with a recent case.

It was a net good, so Tim couldn’t find it in himself to hate it all that much.

What it also meant was that Tim was now going back to high school full-time. There was no No Man’s Land, no Alien Invasion, and to the public Bruce Wayne was alive. So he started going to school, and while he wanted to get it over and done with, after everything it was kind of nice just to be a kid for a bit, someone who shouldn’t have the fate of the world resting in their hands.

Dick was now an established Batman, and Damian was finally settling into Robin. He still had a long way to go, but without some of the pressure from Bruce, things started to settle down. Tim and Damian could now be left in a room alone, and not start fights with each other. Sure Tim still sometimes wished he could be the Robin to Dick’s Batman, but he’s starting to understand what Dick meant when he said it just wouldn’t work.

Sure they were all still making mistakes, with each other, their friends, the teams, and on and off the field, but that was just normal when a whole system had to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Tim hadn’t thought about the possibility of Bruce being around in months. He would later understand that it was because things were going well, and that despite some dysfunctional issues, this was a real family.

He and Steph started over. They never got to know each other properly, and they needed to start working through their issues. They were finally friends.

He and Steph start working on missions and cases together. Putting together their combined knowledge and talents. They make an effective team. A team that should have worked together more often far earlier. Batgirl and whatever name Tim will eventually take make a formidable team. One that operates beside and separate from Batman and Robin.

It wasn’t long after this that Tim stumbled upon the clue to what Bruce has been doing this whole time.

He’s moving some boxes full of old stuff around, as they start to reorganize the mansion and downsize the amount of stuff they have lying around when he passes several portraits. Portraits that he hasn’t looked at since the last time they had to move stuff around after No Man’s Land.

He passes an old oil painting which had to be dated back to the pre-revolution era of the American colonies when he does a double take. He sets the box he had down and analyzes the painting in front of him. That was a painting of Bruce. Except it had to be at least three hundred years before Bruce was ever even thought of.

He stood there trying to make sense of it all when he remembered the conclusions that he had come to months ago had been right. Except he hadn’t considered the idea of a time travel device.

He was right.

Bruce was still out there and he was displaced in time.

He could do something about it.

Except when he caught himself thinking about that his head turned to look at the box he was moving. A box of decorations that Bruce loved, but no one else was partial to having out. The decision to move them had been a group choice. Something that everyone had sat down and talked about. They had set up a monitor to include Cass in the discussion.

It was something that wouldn’t have happened if Bruce had been there. It was something that would have been impossible with Bruce there.

Tim quickly turned back to the task he had been asked to do, and on his way back he removed the painting, putting it in one of the many unused rooms. This part of the manor wouldn’t be rotated until two weeks from now. He had time to figure out what to do, but for now, no one else could know. He didn’t know what they would do, and he didn’t want the pros and cons to not be compared before then.

He might have been slightly distracted the rest of the day Though everyone else checked it up to how everything seemed to be changing around the manor.

Later that night while everyone else was out on regular patrol and Tim had been relegated to cold cases again, he made his way to the portrait with a notebook and a bowl of chips. He sat in front of the painting that was leaning against the wall and just started thinking about what he should do.

He finds in the end that he knew what he was going to do the moment he walked into that room.

Tim sets up undercover work at the docks over the next couple of days, and throughout the next couple of days he brings over everything he needs, and at the end of the week, he sets up a bonfire.

He burns the oil painting, the notebook, and several other items that he doesn’t want anymore, and needs to get rid of. As the fire burns for the first time in months he feels a bone-deep sense of relief, as if the weights on his shoulders have disappeared.

It was the right thing to do. Things had finally started to become better. Everyone was working as a team, and they felt like a proper family. Gotham was under control, and things were looking up.

Things aren’t perfect but there is only room for upward improvement.

Ra’s al Ghul makes a move against Gotham, and what's left of the Bats, but it doesn’t work. They all work together, this time with Tim leading them. He helps set everyone into teams and has them all ready to fight back. They come up on top even better, and send Ra’s al Ghul back into the dark corner he came from.

They come out the other side a true family with all limbs and Organs in tack.

After everything had been cleaned up from the fight, Dick Tim and Steph end up with a bottle of whatever thousand-dollar bottle of alcohol they found in the manor. Never mind the fact that Tim and Steph shouldn’t be drinking and Dick should be stopping them. But they needed this, and they were safe in the manor to allow themselves to let go for a while.

They start talking about the past and what they wished they could change, how they were stupid kids in over their heads sometimes, and how they thought they could fight the whole world.

They talk about memories they had as Robin, before Robin, and the times they weren’t Robin but just Dick, Tim, and Steph.

They laugh and they cry. They share stories they haven’t told anyone in years, and for the first time, they all talk about Bruce, about the good times, the normal, and the bad. They talk about the things that they have kept to themselves for months, years, and what sometimes felt like lifetimes.

They all cry. If not for the past, but for what they wished it could be.

They all realize just how good things have been since Bruce left.

Cass comes back from Hong Kong two weeks later. She has news about what has been happening and is requesting some help.

Tim offers to go, but he doesn’t have a name yet, Cass says that it doesn’t matter and that she would be happy for him to come and visit. Steph comes along as well and the three of them leave Gotham in the hands of Batman, Robin, Huntress, and Oracle.

There is no fighting from each other. They are working as an amazing team.

They end up taking down a growing organization that was going to start shipping out supplies to multiple other villain groups around the world. They follow through with a report to the heroes in charge of the other villain groups.

During the trip, Tim and Steph come across another clue to Bruce being stuck in time. This time it's an old scroll that holds the account of a rogue fighter that was going around causing issues for the local authorities. It is the description of the fighter that tips both him and Steph off about the situation.

Steph had always been good at that sort of thing. Puzzles and Riddles and connecting pieces of things to see the greater picture.

She asks if Tim knew, and he replies that he did. He knew, and he had already destroyed a piece of evidence before.

They might have started a fight with each other that Cass becomes a part of. Soon they all give their piece on what they should do, but they all eventually agree to destroy it.

They burn the piece of history over a small fire in Cass’s apartment and share some food as they toast to a new future. Even if they all feel a little uneasy knowing that there must be more out there and they still deep down have the urge to get Bruce back, if not for varying reasons, they all know that this is right and that things will only continue to get better,

On their way back, Tim finds the name that he wants to go by Tanager.

There will be no more referring to him as the Red Robin, and there will be no more being held back as a backup. He is now back to being his vigilante, and his person.

Things continue from there. Tim is still in high school, and still makes it for Thursday game nights with his friends, and keeps grades that he hasn’t had since before he was Robin. Everything is going well.

He and Steph discover another clue while they are teaming up with a couple of other heroes on the west coast. It is an old gold rush town, and one of the houses is set up exactly how Bruce would set up a safe house with little resources. They move things around and generally remove any notion that it was Bruce who owned the house.

If they spend an extra day just exploring, no one was going to tell them no, Bruce wasn’t there to tell them that they were wasting time.

It has been a year since Bruce has been dead. They all gather together for a family meal. Dick, Tim, Damian, Stephanie, Cass, Barbra and the several animals that they have gotten since then. It’s great and they have an old memorial for him. They won’t speak ill of the dead today, but if the next weekend several pairs can be found bitching about how Bruce was, no one was going to be mad.

Within the next month, they move their base of operations out of the cave and the manor. That was Bruce, but as they were all aware they would all be more effective if they were in the centre of Gotham.

They do just that with one of the old buildings that Bruce owned. They fix it up, and they make it the head of operations on the main island of Gotham while using the Clocktower on the South Island as a secondary base, and they are in the process of setting up a base on the northern Island, but that is where Jason is holed up and none of them wants to have to deal with him right now.

They also don’t sleep in the same base they work in. They separate the two, and it does all of them well for their mental health.

It is also around this time that they all start seeing therapists start working through their problems. It was something that they needed earlier but that Bruce had refused to let them do. It makes things easier, and they are better heroes and people for it.

The shadows don’t feel so heavy anymore, and they all gradually stop looking in those shadows for Bruce. Instead, they see nothing but a shadow and a possible vantage point if needed. Not something that was going to breathe down their necks about their mistakes and how they could be doing better.

Tim starts being a full-time mentor to SDamian and takes him to the next mission of the Teen Titans.

Damian has calmed down a lot and has learned some of the joys of being a kid.

The mission was nothing world-shattering or extremely dangerous, but was something to show Damian how they worked as a team, and how working with a diverse team worked. He won’t be joining anytime soon, with him not being a teenager, but he confides in Tim later that he doesn’t want that responsibility right now. That he is still getting used to everything back in Gotham, and he isn’t ready for a complete change yet.

During the last couple of days of the mission he and Damian come across a crude version of the Cowl and Cape that Batman uses and Damian finds out about the whole Timestream issue because Tim actually tells him. Damian holds the cowl in his hands shaking with silent tears. Time is worried that Damian is going to want to bring Bruce back, but Damian asks what they can use to destroy it so that no one can find it.

They use one of the chemical acids on hand with the mission, and Damian can be found hugging Tim as Damian seems to come to terms with what is happening. When Tim later asks if Damian ever wanted to bring Bruce back, Damian answers with an honest no. He explains how he finally feels safe with everyone, and he felt like he was always being put under a microscope by his father.

He states that he might not have seen Tim as a brother if Bruce was still around, because Tim was Bruce’s Robin, but Tim was Dick’s brother which made them brothers.

Damian now has connections to outside heroes and has the beginning of a larger support system which is what he needed. People outside the family that he can trust.

Tim and Steph after months of getting professional help, working on themselves outside of each other, and a bit of maturing finally have their official start over. Not dating, but finally being people again without Bruce pushing the toxicity to a different level.

The first person that Tim tells about the whole situation, and not just letting the situation come up when it does is Helena, because he thinks she will give the most straightforward response on it.

Tim explains how everyone is doing so much better without Bruce, how Gotham has been doing so much better without Bruce, how he finally has a family, and things are finally starting to look up. How for the first time in a long time it feels like he isn’t waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Helena lets Tim rant for a bit before stating that it sounded like Bruce wasn’t a good dad, that even though at points he might not have meant it, he was being abusive.

This is the moment where someone finally puts Bruce and abusive together and it just kind of clicks. Every wrong feeling, and every right feeling. The dread, and the holding breath and waiting for disaster.

It’s a growing moment, and Tim finally has the words to put to the feelings.

Helena lets the kid cry on her couch for a bit while she grades some papers, and when Tim eventually calms down he thanks Helena for sticking around because they all needed her, and it had just taken most of them far too long to realize that.

Helena promises not to talk about the Bruce situation until he knows that no one is a flight risk.

The next, and final person to find out was Dick.

Tim and Dick don’t work together all that often in a set-up pairing. Sure they worked well together, and they were close, it was just that time undercover and working with Steph that made it so there was a bit of separation between the two that didn’t exist until now.

They are working on a case that brought them to Australia where on the investigation they found a Batcave that Bruce had set up back in time. When Tim explains everything to Dick they both feel like they are walking on eggshells and are waiting for the other one to say something.

Dick then asks how many other clues Tim has found, and Tim confesses to the whole thing.

Dick is mad because he wanted to know why Tim didn’t tell him. Tim states that he didn’t know if Dick would bring Bruce back, and if everything that had become good would disappear. Dick exclaims that if anyone would understand it would be him, and sure in the beginning he would have wanted Bruce back, but he too knows how good things have been going.

So Dick ends up having the cave upgraded to a base parameters that had been set up and it is now a location that an international team can use as a base when needed.

When they all get back and meet up for a family meal they finally all hold a discussion about the situation, and they all come to the consensus that Bruce Wayne needs to be laid to rest, and it is time for the world to move on.

They talk about how they should go about the whole thing, and how it needs to be airtight and conclusive, but not so conclusive that it looks like a cover up.

In the end they decide on having him die from an accident while on one of his benders abroad. Doing some stupid stunt that would have been ill adviced, and there was already warnings of. Bruce would be labeled as another stupid rich man that didn’t listen to the warnings of those around him and would suffer the consequences of his actions.

The media would have a field day about it, the public wouldn’t question it, and the family could get by having odd reactions because they themselves would build up the trip and say things about how dangerous it was.

The plan goes off without a hitch. A couple of weeks before the planned date of death, Tim says some things to his friends, Dick is caught having a loud phone conversation, and the media tracks down the records that have been set up about the trip. Have a couple of convincing fake IDs, a few stand-in people for some pictures and nothing is suspicious at all.

Set the trip to last a couple of weeks, and have everything go normally except for some weird weather reports and some chatter from the area. Then when teh couple of weeks are over, and Bruce doesn’t show back up everyone starts getting antsy.

At that point have Tim get picked up early from school during the middle of the day when the press is already on edge, and have a teary moment of realization, and hock line and sinker.

Only one of the fake IDS makes it barely alive out of the trip and suddenly Bruce is dead on an ill-advised trip, and there is nobody to bring back, but have a funeral anyway.

During the funeral, they do actually cry, and not just for the press that is hounding their backs but because they are finally closing that chapter of their lives, and can properly move into something better.

Bruce is now dead to the world, and he is no longer a shadow hanging over everyone else.

In the will left behind, they find that a lot of the money was being donated to Wayne charities, with a significant amount still being put in personal accounts for Dick, Tim, Damian, and Cass. That the manor and all other Wayne properties were not to be sold.

They decide as a family that they can do more for Gotham than what Bruce was doing, and they start renovating a lot of the other properties for new housing, and public spaces that people could use. They open up new shelters for people that will be safe, and centres where people can take free classes to help them on the path to GEDs or training for skilled jobs.

They start putting Wayne's name behind people in the city government and making reforms on a city level.

Because yes busting up a frug trade and saving kidnap victims work, but it will only continue to happen if people are not given teh opportunities to move up in life.

The company goes international and starts making waves all around the world by helping many other people. It also serves as a source of information that they would not normally be able to get.

Everything is getting better.

Tim graduates high school, something that Tim hadn’t even thought he would do for the longest time. Not because he struggled with school, but compared to everything else that was going on it didn’t seem all that important. True he still didn’t see it as all that important, but he was learning to live his life. Something that he hadn’t been doing for a very long time.

Sure his grades would never recover from what the classes he missed, the switching of schools, and the effect that No Man’s Land has on someone’s schooling. So to say that Tim wasn’t going to be a Valedictorian was an understatement. However, he pulled through since things have been getting better and he had a decent report card now. Not that it would matter as Tim still wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do after this, but it was nice to be a kid and just have to worry about grades and friends sometimes. Something he didn’t really allow himself to do.

It’s his graduation. The whole family, his friends, and other people who are important to him show up. When his name gets called he shakes hands with the principal and later throws his hat up into the sky, he can’t help but wish that Bruce was there to congratulate him. Wish that he was there to say how proud of him he was, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen.

He pushes aside the thought and goes to meet up with his family, his significant other, and his friends.

He takes pictures with multiple different groups of them as they all laugh. Afterwards, it's just the small family group as they make their way to a local family diner and have a good family meal together.

Two weeks down the line Jason shows up at one of the cases where multiple Bats are working and helps them with the information that he has collected.

This is the start of Jason coming back.

It is slow going, and for many of them they aren’t ready to forgive, but Bruce isn’t here to tell any of them that they are doing anything wrong, and because Bruce isn’t here they will all work together to get things done with this case.

The case takes a while, but Jason is slowly being folded back into the group.

During that time the manor is finally sold. None of them holds anything with the manor. The original was rebuilt from the quake, and they are ready to move on. The cave has been hidden away and cleaned of anything that would show people were there. The land is turned into a large nature area.

Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn show up and they can now be found frequenting the area. It is the start of many green and nature building projects that will be soon put into effect around Gotham. Ones that soon start to change the communities for the better.

Tim and Jason don’t interact much. Mostly because Tim and his therapist have talked and he isn’t mentally ready for that yet, but also because things aren’t stable enough right now for things to go wrong.

However, they sometimes work together on larger cases, mostly with a third person to be the middle ground just in case something goes wrong. In one of these cases, they come across another thing Bruce has left behind in the Timestream. It’s Stephanie with them this time so he hopes that things don’t go too wrong.

Jason is mad at first, but they soon start having a discussion that is the most level-headed and emotional in a while. Jason comes to understand the situation and they become brothers.

Jason is the next one to hang up a mantle that was just prolonging his pain. Red Hood goes into the box, and a new vigilante can be seen on the streets.

It’s finally a whole family again. It isn’t perfect but they are growing closer and better with every passing day. It isn’t always a good day though.

There are still nights when they will wake up in the med bay, in their apartment, in a safe house, in the Belfry, in the main house. There are times when they wake up that they cry and look around for Bruce, for Batman. Whether it be as a threat or to look for any form of comfort.

Sometimes they cry into their hands, the sheets, a pillow, a stuffed animal, and the sleeves of their clothes, and just want things to go back to the way they were. Sometimes they remember that things could go back to the way they were. They know clues are out there waiting to be found.

But they soon calm down and know they don’t want to. That they have healed, grown, and become better people because of Bruce not being there. As hard as it can be to admit some days.

So they keep hiding the clues, keep doing family dinners, and inviting friends and their teams over, and Gotham is slowly healing too.

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

Side Stories:

A side story on Stephanie and her growth into being the new Batgirl, becoming family with her mom again, interacting with the new normal, and growing up without toxic fathers and mentors holding her back.

A side story on Jason and what he was doing between the time he was finished with his Batman rampage, his coming back to the family, and his growth as a character and realizing that things are changing. Also Jason’s perspective on the announcement of Bruce Wayne’s death, and the final realization that Bruce won’t be coming back.

A side story on Damain and adapting to a new culture and place with people he slowly grows to see as family. It would focus on him learning to be a kid and learning to accept the grief he has for the family he won’t get to have, but also growing to love the family that he does have.

A side story on Cass, and her experiences with the grief of losing Bruce, her time in Hong Kong, and eventually coming back into the family. (I need to do more research before I decide what I want to do with Cass)

A side story on just the way that the media has been handling everything and the articles and news segments that have been coming out on the whole thing. This would focus more on how life in Gotham has changed from an outside perspective. It would cover some of the major events and even have some exclusive stuff like an interview or two that other characters did.

A side story on Cass and Helena finally having a talk about things when they are forced to team up during their separate cases/missions. Includes a lot of discussion on the morality of killing or letting someone be killed, and the legacy of the Batgirl that was not meant to be and the Batgirl that was chosen to be.

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lily-drake · 3 years

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So I have this bio!siblings Dick and Marinette idea that I love yet will never write so I'm gonna toss it to you. Mari is two years old when she is taken the night the Grayson's died and is sold overseas, she is found/saved in Paris and is later adopted by Tom and Sabine. She often dreams of people 'flying', strangers cheering, and a boy who takes her to see the elephants. She's a natural at gymnastics and other acrobatics tricks (swinging around as Ladybug is like breathing sometimes)[1/2]

Somehow, someway they find each other again, torn between them meeting at Haly's Circus thats traveled in Paris (Marinette felt pulled to it and Dick (along with his family) is in Paris for business and hears it in town) they meet by the elephants or as heroes where they both pull off a move their parents did in the middle of battle. Dick knows she has to be his Mari and Marinette feels like she knows him from someplace (sorry if this was long I've tried shorting it like four times)[2/2]

Birds Of A Feather Flock Together

Marinette loved her mom and dad, she especially loved her older brother. He was always with her and helped her whenever she tried to mimic him when he was doing his stretches. He took her to the elephants, Zitka was her favorite. She was so big and pretty, and Birdy would put her on his shoulders so she could touch her better. Mama and Tata were so nice as well, they would pick her up and twirl her around. She often watched them in the air and she was absolutely awed by them, and her brother when he too would join them in the sky.

Dick loved his baby sister. She was a small ball of sunshine and always followed him wherever he went, but he didn’t mind. She was so small and cute, and precious, he did everything in his power to make sure she was safe and protected. She had the cutest smile and the prettiest laugh. And when he did tricks for her she would clap her tiny hands and giggle, and if she was standing she would jump up and down and it always melted his heart. He would often be the one to carry her around the circus and let her see the animals, and it was so adorable! The animals also seemed to just adore her and would let her pet and snuggle with them, he had so many pictures of her and the loins. He thought it was the most amazing thing when the lion began to lick and clean her. He would read to her, color with her, and when she had a nightmare he cuddled her close until she fell asleep again. She was his baby sister and he loved her so much!

Marinette didn’t understand what was happening, first her parents were soaring through the sky, then they were falling, but that wasn’t right. She didn’t understand what had happened, but she remembered the noise, and as she stared she felt something cover her face and everything was black.

Tony looked down at the tiny girl and grinned. This would serve those circus freaks right, they should have taken his offer when he asked them peacefully. While the whole circus was in a frenzy he left with the tiny girl and met with one of the traffickers he knew would pay him handsomely, especially for the tiny girl in his arms, and handsomely paid he was.

Dick searched for his baby sister, but she was gone. He kept telling the cops that she was missing, that he needed to find her, but they wouldn’t listen! He needed his sister, he needed to make sure she was okay, he had to protect her because she was all he had left now. Tears were pouring down his face as he sobbed, and without his knowledge Bruce Wayne was watching him, and that he would change his world completely in the near future.

All Marinette saw when she woke up was darkness, when she tried to move she found her hands couldn't move from behind her back, and she was in a hard confined space. She didn’t understand, she felt like something was moving forward, but nothing was pushing her. Her breath grew short because she couldn’t find her Birdy. Where was Mama and Tata?! What happened to them? They fell, but they were alright, weren’t they? The moving stopped and she listened, and some door opened and there were other scared whimpers, but from where?! Where was she?! Someone was picking up whatever she was in, and it was ruff because she kept hitting the side, and when she yelled out there was a lot of yelling and it scared her and the shaking got worse and she hit the sides so much harder and her wrists hurt! She was quiet after that, she didn’t want to get hurt again. They placed her box down and waited in the dark quietly, but the more she waited the more tears fell down her face because she wanted her family. She wanted to play with Zitka and cuddle the lions, and twirl with Mama, get another piggyback ride from Tata, and color with Birdy.

She didn’t know how long she waited silently crying, but something was moving again and she could hear water, and she began to cry. Sobs wracked her body, and somebody kicked her box and began to yell at her again, she bit her lips and tried her best to quiet her sobs because people only yelled like that when they were mad. She didn’t want to get in trouble, she didn’t want someone to be mad at her. She couldn’t stop crying, but she did quiet her sobs.

Marinette didn’t know how long it had been, but she was hungry and tired. She was moved around a lot, and she didn’t know where she was anymore. But soon she heard sirens and she didn’t really understand. But there was a lot of noise, people were speaking a strange language and it sounded pretty. Suddenly the box she was in opened from the top and light, even though it was so dim, burned her eyes. She curled up and there was a voice above her yelling at someone else around them. The person’s voice was so soft and gentle, but she could not understand them! Why couldn’t she understand, where was she, where was her family?! Someone was holding her, they were hugging her, and the hug was so warm and gentle. Marinette’s eyes filled with tears and she sobbed as red and blue light surrounded the place she was in. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew she was safe.

Marinette didn’t know her last name, she didn’t know her parent’s real name, and no one in Paris claimed her, they never thought of checking outside of France. So they put her in the foster system where she stayed with Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng, and that turned out to be more permanent than the couple originally thought it would be. They loved the little girl, she seemed so shy, but once she was comfortable she was a ball of joy and light. They couldn’t bear the thought of ever having to part with her. So they didn’t, and as Marinette got older, she simply thought that they were her biological parents. But at night, there were blurred figures in her dreams that flew like birds. She marveled at their skill and she just felt so drawn to them. There was a boy, she felt so connected to him, and she felt so much love for him, but he didn’t know why. She dreamed of animals and bright lights and colors, people cheering and clapping. There were others too, but they weren’t as important as the animals and the three flying figures that haunted her dreams the most. So she grew up with these dreams, but she never told anyone about them because she felt like they were very important, and no one needed to know about them.

When she expressed her interest in gymnastics Tom and Sabine agreed to them and encouraged her as she learned. But it all felt so natural, so familiar, but she couldn’t place why. The bar was her favorite, she felt so free, like she was soaring with the people in her dreams, and it felt like they were so proud of her. So when she became Ladybird and she soared through the air with a grace so natural she felt like she was a bird, she felt like she was exactly where she needed to be. Ladybird, she didn’t know why that name felt so right, but it did, so she knew it was perfect for her.

Marinette is now 18, and she still hadn’t been able to end Hawkmoth’s reign which angered her as it blocked Collegés she would be able to attend. Lila and the d*ed school probably also wrecked her record as well with all of the bullcrap that they’ve put on. The school was corrupted, but she only had a few more months and she would be free of it. As she was walking she looked over and felt a pull as she stared at a circus tent in the distance. She had learned through lots of time and mistakes of the importance of following the pull. There was something of great importance there, she just knew it, so she had to follow it.

The Batfamily had been wandering around Paris, France investigating the claims that had come from here many months ago. It turns out that the mayor had been illegally hiding and blocking the news from reaching outside of France. He was corrupt and definitely did not have the people’s best interests in mind as he destroyed buildings and couriers just because his spoiled daughter said so. They would take care of him soon enough, but first they had to investigate the claims. Dick nearly squealed when he saw Haley’s Circus was in town and dragged his family with him. There was a small pang in his heart as he remembered his tiny little sister, and how she disappeared. Batman had tried to help him, but they couldn’t find anything, and Dick had grieved for her, figuring that she too had been killed. But they never found a body, so maybe she was out there, somewhere. He hoped, prayed that she was okay and that she wasn’t being hurt or trafficked.

The circus was full of people and he went around to see if he could find any familiar faces. There was a girl in dark blue jeans and a black and pink sweatshirt standing in front of the elephants with a look of awe and recognition. He walked up next to her and happily looked up at the elephants as well.

“First time being this close to them?”

He asked, startling the girl. She quickly turned to him, guard up and he gave her an awkward and apologetic smile.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Was lost in thought I’d all.”

She said relaxing slightly and turning back to the large animals. Her voice was soft and gentle, and it reminded him of his mom’s weirdly enough. Her eyes also seemed so familiar from the small glance he got.

“So…”

He said in a drawn out questioning tone.

“So what?”

She asked.

“Is this your first time being so close to them?”

He asked again. Her brow scrunched up in confusion and what seemed to be pain.

“I….don’t know. It should be, but I feel like I’ve seen them like this before.”

Dick hummed and smiled, Zitka was still one of the main elephants, and that made him so happy. He missed her, she was such a beautiful animal.

“What’s your name?”

He asked casually.

“Marinette.”

She replied happily. Dick’s breath was caught in his lungs and…it must be a coincidence. It had to be. But as he leaned forward and looked at her features he wasn’t so sure. She had the same blue eyes as him, slightly lighter though, she had black hair, and her eyes were the same roundness of his Tata’s, but had the roundness of his their mama’s. Tears welled in his eyes, and he had to know. He needed to know, because if this was fake…he didn’t know what he’d do.

“Um, weird question,”

He began trying to keep his voice calm and even with all of will power,

“But ummm, are you adopted by any chance?”

Her parents had told her that she was adopted a few months ago, now that she was an adult and could do what she wanted. They still loved her though, and they said they would support her no matter what she did. They even told her what had happened to cause her to be adopted. She had been trafficked, but she was too young to remember much and nobody came to claim her or posted missing posts for her. She stuffed her hands in her hood’s pocket’s and looked at the ground,

“Yea, I was really young though so I don’t remember much about my old home.”

“Do you know how old?”

“My parents said I was about 2.”

Tears fell from Dick’s eyes when he heard that. Because this was no coincidence, there was absolutely no way it could be. This had to be his sister. There was no doubt about it.

“I had a sister that was taken away from me when she was 2. Her name was also Marinette.”

She picked up at that and turned to look at him suddenly, and he continued.

“I used to take her around this exact circus, she always loved the elephants and especially the lions, always snuggled with them.”

Pieces of her dreams came to her, and the blue eyes of the young boy that haunted her dreams showed up, the eyes that looked so similar to the man’s in front of her.

“In fact, she would be 18 today, I missed so much of her life and I can only pray that she’s safe.”

“Birdy?”

The words slipped through her mouth before her mind could process what she said. The man’s eyes glimmered brightly and she was suddenly encased in a big warm embrace. Tears fell down the siblings face as they embraced only to be ruined by Damian who marched up to the two and demanded,

“Grayson, stop flirting and show me the animals like you promised.”

Dick sighed, but refused to let go of his sister. He cringed at the fact that he thought he was flirting with his sister. Ew!

“Not right Damian, I’m reuniting with my family.”

Marinette’s heart warmed at that and distant memories of hugs just like this filled her soul and made it sing with joy. She may not know her brother, but she knew that he cared for her, and that was all that really mattered at the moment as she stood next to the familiar elephants with her brother —who was far too tall, why didn’t she get a growthspert like him— and basked in his warm embrace.

#maribat #sibling dickinette #marinette dupain cheng #marinette grayson #big brother dick grayson #angst #fluff #reunited #kidnapping #tom dupain & sabine cheng sugar #ask #platonic maribat #mlb x batman #dc x mlb #marinette needs a hug #marinette gets a hug #dick grayson needs a hug #dick grayson gets a hug

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danny-chase · 3 years

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Do you think that Tim saved Dick in a way? Because we see Dick getting better as he gets closer to Tim and healing and getting back into the family, and ig it’s Tim who initiated that.

I literally don't have a yes or no answer for this... like most things in the Batfam - it's complicated. (Following answer is informed by 90s-00s comics, i can't really speak for new52 because it just... has so many issues one of which being erasing the relationship between Dick and Tim for *checks note* no discernable reason other than possibly *checks note* Didio hates legacy characters and wants only bad things for them so he could have excuses to kill them off or cancel their comics... idk just a guess)

Warnings: for Bruce stans - just look away i'm about to bring up bits of canon you most likely don't like, for Dick stans - Devin Grayson's run is mentioned, for the lovely anon - i wrote an essay, hope you are prepared

Tim coming into the family gave Dick a reason to occasionally hang around Bruce and i'm not sure if this is an exaggeration or not but he did sort of save that relationship - but whether that was a good or bad thing at the time, i can't really say. For sure - it starts off good, Bruce is actually trying to be a good dad (he comes down to Blud to check on Dick, adopts him, trusts him with his own city, calls him for backup, etc.). But we also see throughout Bruce Wayne: Fugitive/Murderer how unhealthy the relationship between the two can be. Dick built his core values around Bruce - if Bruce had actually killed here it would have been devastating for Dick (he was pretty much on the verge of a mental breakdown simply because they couldn't find proof Bruce wasn't guilty). The two literally got in a fist fight during the arc because Bruce was being uncommunicative and Dick couldn't take it anymore, snapped, and punched him when Bruce said "Bruce Wayne is dead only Batman now" - this tied into Dick finally having the relief and validation of being adopted and he couldn't handle Bruce stripping himself (and by extension, his fatherhood of Dick) away. In this era of comics Bruce had gotten physical with Dick before (here's me venting like an annoyed loser), and here's a clip from Bruce Wayne Fugitive that i just, *sigh*, canon Bruce, my detested.

Now on the other hand - getting Dick involved in the batfam more doesn't just mean he was hanging out with Bruce. His relationship with Tim is pretty great and I can definitely see where it was healing for a while - but also - to give credit where credit is due, the healing he goes through during this era of comics can also be attributed to Barbara and the Titans (the fab five specifically). Wally literally joins the Titans to give Dick a "social life" (me - it's because he's gay and wants to spend more time with Dick, actually, screw you DC you know i'm right). Donna plays a major part in keeping Dick's emotional well being in check. So like everything was going fine - Dick was healing, spending more time with friends, spending a lot of time with people he loved, like Tim, except he was neglecting his health and not sleeping - but overall he was in fact, managing, and moving past the deaths of Jason and some of the other Titans. With the current Titans - he was a hardass (which like ~trauma~ so I understand), but like things were going relatively okay.

And then Donna and Lilith died. And hooof Donna dying was like really really bad for his mental health.

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files (2003) #1

[Image ID: Dick sits in a room staring at a photo, the phone rings in the background, and he doesn't even acknowledge it, the voice mail plays: "I'm not here. Leave a message after the beep." The photo is shown closer in the next frame, it's of the five original Teen Titans - Roy kisses Donna on the cheek, tipping his hat his other hand making the okay sign, Donna has an arm around Roy, the other hand on Dick's shoulder, Garth proudly stands beaming with his hands on his hips, and Dick has both his arms around Wally's neck. Everyone is smiling in the photo. A voice plays over the answering machine: "Dick, it's Roy - pick up the phone... c'mon... please... I know you're there... just pick up. Dick, we need to talk... you can't just... please..." End ID]

For context - the previous page noted that this is Dick SIX WEEKS after Donna died. Usually Dick's the one who moves on quickly, but Donna dying broke him in a way nothing else had before - and that could be partly because he was still recovering from everyone else's death.

Up to this point, Dick had been healing and Tim was definitely a part of that, but then DC decided to throw the absolute book, bookshelf, and library at him. Reading Outsiders (2003) it's very clear he's very traumatized, and around the same time, Devin is literally whumping him like it's the whump Olympics, breaking him and Babs up, burning down his childhood home, blowing up his apartment complex (killing all but like two of his neighbors), he's literally sleeping on fire escapes using newspapers as covering because he has nothing, and the bad thing i don't like to think about (i'll let you know if you ask but that one needs lots of tw, but if you know where i'm going you know what it is already), Blockbuster is killed and he blames himself - and loses it over breaking Bruce's one rule, Bludhaven is nuked, and he pretty much tries to kill himself.

So basically, he was on the path to healing (with Tim as part of that) before he got absolutely destroyed (and almost killed off by Didio in one of the crisis). Tim in his own right, was also going through a lot in the meantime, his dad died, Steph died, Kon and Bart died, i don't remember what else happened and i haven't read that era of Robin yet. Things were good until they weren't anymore, and sometimes i think Dick would regret ever exposing Tim to the life they live, and questions whether he should have just sent Tim packing x2. They do get to spend a year together on a mental health cruise, but then Damian comes into the picture, Battle for the Cowl happens, and they have their falling out. But whatever happened on that cruise must have been really healing for Dick because he actually kind of rocks it in this era - he keeps things light with Damian, Alfred notes at one point how he makes things easy because he has lightness in him, and he patches things up with Tim - catching him in that panel of Red Robin - from there they kind of go back to normal, there's a lightness to the way they banter with each other (also here) and Tim returns the favor (from the Red Robin incident) by pulling Dick out of the water.

They've saved each other multiple times over (physically), and in both in the Black Mirror and Gates of Gotham, Tim helps out in a period where Dick is starting to fall apart from the pressure of holding things together for so long (something Tim might feel guilty for, because he did run away from Gotham on a wild goose chase for Bruce). In that period, it's really clear that Dick saves Tim (he reminds him in RR, that someone does actually care for him) and then Tim saves Dick from being torn apart by Gotham.

I should point out - Damian, while starting off as kind of a hinderance, does eventually start helping Dick as well. By the end of their relationship (before the New52 destroys everything i love), Dick has helped Damian grow emotionally, and through that process Dick probably finds meaning and value in their time together, probably a lot like he used to feel with Tim. And of course, physically, they've both saved each other multiple times by the end of the run.

So yeah. I think Dick finds meaning in growth in mentoring his younger brothers, and it's likely a healing process, that healing just has some twists and turns along the way, and sometimes, on bad days, he probably feels like maybe he shouldn't have intervened at all, but i think on most days, he's proud of what Tim's become.

...I hope this is coherent lmao

#the old: blame everything i hate about comics on Didio #thank god he got fired #tw suicide #i am so long winded oop #i'm in too deep #does this count as character meta?#maybe #Dick Grayson meta #Dick Grayson #Tim Drake #i'm kinda sad that Dick and Tim's relationship is misunderstood in a lot of fanon - because it's something that can be so personal #it's not as black and white as people seem to think #as in like... they're usually really good for each other and have a healthy dynamic #even in RR (I haven't read all of it) people take things out of context and just... ignore that Dick reached out to Tim afterwards #and like asked him to go to therapy (not arkham why are y'all obsessed with Dick throwing his brothers in arkham get help)#Tim also straight up throws Dick over his shoulder and starts a physical fight in that series #so... it can be a toxic relationship too but idk i like to highlight the good parts #i see a lot of - Dick begs for Tim's forgiveness for taking Robin away fics out there #but like there relationship isn't that simple #if they ever talked it out in canon - they'd have to address Tim lashing out physically at Dick (Dick would probably not be having it)#and the writers might then be like - hmm maybe we should address all the times we had Bruce hit him too #so like yeah i get why we never saw their reconciliation on panel (they just kinda were like okay we're fine now :D)#but still it's something i'd like to see explored from a more balanced perspective - instead of a - i project on Tim so he's always right #i probably also wouldn't be the best person to write it because i project on Dick too much #not that i would make Tim beg for Dick's forgiveness - Dick would forgive him in like .000001 seconds and def doesn't hold it against him #that's just how Dick is (he'd probably prefer if it wasn't brought up and they just pretend it never happened)#but also knowing Dick he probably feels guilty as fuck for the way RR went - which like *sigh* martyr #batfam #batfamily #batfam meta

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slowly-writing · 4 years

Text

More Than Okay

Natasha Romanoff x Teen!Reader

Word count: 1.8K

Requested by anons:

- Can I request a Nat x kid!reader where the kid was in foster care and She just recently went to live with Natasha. And it’s taking her a while to warm up but eventually starts calling Nat, mom? Thank you.

- ooh can I request a nat x (adopted)daughter reader where the reader is the kid of a couple that was killed off by a villain because of their powers. avengers and reader don’t know she has powers mostly because they’ve never shown. they finally find out when said villain comes back for reader by attacking avengers and her powers burst out of her unexpectedly and she saves them all?? thinking something of a mix between Wanda’s and Thor’s powers. thank you, love your writing so much!!

- Nat's daughter telling her she doesn't wanna be a shield agent/superhero.

Your parents didn’t work for the avengers but they were avenger-adjacent. They worked with them on multiple occasions. Your parents had powers and they fought to keep the city safe as best they could. They just hid their identities and stayed out of the public eye as much as possible while doing it. They had a child after all, and their main priority was keeping you safe. Unfortunately no secret ever stays hidden forever.

You remember that night vividly. You had woken up in the middle of the night, your throat was so dry that it was hard to breathe. You quietly made your way downstairs to the kitchen, not wanting to wake your parents, but what you saw still haunts you to this day. There were dozens of men in masks fighting with your parents. The walls were broken and crumbling around you, you feared the entire house would collapse soon.

“Y/n, run!” Your father screamed. You hesitated for a split second, wanting to stay to help but you knew there was nothing you could do. They were the ones with powers and they were clearly losing. If their last wish was to keep you safe you’d grant them that, no matter how much you’d rather stay with them and share their fate.

You ran, forgoing about the door and slipping through a crack in the wall. You looked over your shoulder, relieved to see that nobody was following you. Instead you saw a sword pierce your mother’s chest. To this day you could still hear her cries of pain, but she didn’t look scared. She had simply nodded to you, a clear side she wanted you to keep going. So you did, until you got to the one place you knew was safe.

xxxxx

When you arrived at the avengers compound hours later you were exhausted and you knew you looked awful. The sun was starting to rise, showing the tear tracks cutting through the blood and dirt from various falls, your still bare feet cut and bruised, and your pajamas torn in various places. Steve was the first to see you, as he was up first for an early run. He didn’t say anything, simply brought you inside and led you to the common room. He walked off as you sat on the couch, glancing around the room you’d only seen a handful of times when visiting with your parents. You felt tears well up in your eyes again at the thought of them. You stared down at your hands in your lap, not wanting to see the room full of memories.

When Steve returns he has a first aid kit and Natasha in tow. She knows you the best out of any of the avengers, having been close with your parents.

“Hey, do you wanna talk about what happened?” Natasha's voice is soft and comforting which gives you the courage to look up, as soon as she sees the tears she knows whatever happened was nothing good. You shake your head and she pulls you into her arms. “That’s alright. We don’t have to talk right now. Is it okay if Steve and I clean you up? You’ve got some pretty nasty cuts,” she waits for your nod before motioning for Steve to pass her the first aid kit.

xxxxx

That had been over a year ago and things were still rocky. Tony has given you a room in the compound and that’s where you spent most of your time. While all the avengers cared for you, and you for them, you rarely opened up to them. The events that happened were the worst memories you had, and you didn’t want to share the most painful parts of your life with people who were practically strangers. You’d send a small smile in Peter’s direction at school and sit in on movie nights, but heart to hearts were unheard of amongst the majority of the team. You were content to be the quiet girl nobody truly knew. Well nobody aside from Natasha. You had a few conversations with her and you’ve unpacked the whole event with your therapist, but nobody else knows the details of what happened that night, and you planned to keep it that way.

“Hey y/n, wanna go shopping with us?” Clint asks you as you walk through the kitchen after school.

“No thank you,” your response is quiet and he nods, having expected as much. He always makes an effort though.

“Alright, have a good afternoon.” With that he leaves the kitchen and you head towards the living room. Bruce and Tony are on a mission and Steve always joins Clint to go grocery shopping, it’s the only way to make sure we have more than junk food. That only leaves you and Natasha in the compound so you don’t feel the need to hide.

You sit on the floor by the coffee table, pulling out your homework with a sigh. You’re debating if you want to get your chemistry over with or get some work done on your creative writing story when you hear Natasha entering the room.

“How was school?” Her voice comforts you. It’s calming. Drastically different from the bickering and teasing the boys normally throw around.

“It was fine,” you say simply, turning around to face her as she sits on the couch behind you. Anyone else would’ve taken your short response as a sign that you didn’t want to be talking to them, that’s probably why Natasha was the only one you talked to. While Steve was technically your legal guardian you only had brief interactions with him. They never told you for sure, but you’re pretty sure the only reason it wasn’t Natasha was because she’s in America on sketchy terms and some of her missions prior to her days as an avenger could probably be classified as treason. It was best to keep her out of the mandatory background check that came with fostering a kid. You didn’t need anybody else digging into her past.

“Still dreading that chemistry homework I see,” you follow her gaze to where your textbook is pushed away and you laugh a bit.

“It’s so hard. And I don’t need it anyways! I want to be an English teacher. I don’t need to know chemistry,” you tell her and it’s her turn to laugh and place an arm around your shoulder as you flop on the couch next to her.

“You’re right, you don’t need it to teach English. But you do need it to graduate high school so you have to do it eventually. If you need help Tony will be home tomorrow, and I think Peter is coming over tonight to do some training. He’d be more than happy to help and it’d be good for you to talk to him. Remember what Dr. Tan said-“

“I need to have more interactions with people my own age. I know,” you cut her off, “But how am I even supposed to start that conversation? ‘Hi I’m Y/n- oh you already know that?-oh because I’m Stingray and Rogue’s daughter and their identities got leaked after their murder, right. Yeah I’m super sad they died too.’ Sounds like a delightful conversation to have.”

“I know it’s hard y/n, but Peter is a good place to start. He’s plenty different too and he’s not going to judge you for it,” Natasha’s argument makes sense but before you can respond you hear a crash from the kitchen and you’re grateful for the distraction.

“Is Clint back already?” You ask, pulling away from Natasha and walking towards the kitchen. You freeze in the doorway, seeing the people that have haunted your nightmares for over a year now.

“Y/n? Is everything okay?” Natasha calls but before she gets to you the closest figure charges. You duck out of the way and Natasha takes him out. She starts fighting the men but she’s beyond outnumbered. You’re frantically looking around for somebody to help, but it’s just the two of you. When you look back you see a man charging her with a sword, just like last year.

“Mom, look out!” you scream as you flail your arm in the attacker’s direction. Before Natasha can try to dodge him he’s thrown back and he’s seizing. You glance at your hands seeing a mist sparking with electricity surrounding your fingers. You don’t have time to overthink it as all the intruders’ attention turns to you. You zero in on the closest one and send a pulse of electricity in his direction. You repeat the process until they’re all on the floor. At that moment shield agents and the rest of the team come flooding in, FRIDAY having notified them of the break in.

“Holy shit,” Clint says and you look between him and your hands, eyes wide in fear.

“Did you do that?” Steve asks and you swallow hard before nodding. “You could be a good addition to the team.”

“You really could. Pulse you’re a legacy, what with your parents and everything,” an agent says and your breathing starts to speed up. Everything's happening so fast. There’s too much and you’re starting to spiral. You’re about to run when Natasha steps in front of you.

“Let’s go somewhere a bit more quiet, okay?” she offers and you nod, desperate for an escape. You both walk in silence until you’re in your room and sitting next to each other on the bed. “Did you know you could do that?”

“No! I swear I didn’t. I would’ve told you, I promise I-”

“Hey,” Natasha cuts off your rambling, placing a calming hand on your shoulder. “I’m not mad. I just want us to get on the same page. We need to figure out what this means and start training you.”

“I don’t want to be an agent,” you say bluntly. “I’m sorry. I know I should want to help people. It's the right thing to do, it’s what my parents would want me to do but I just can’t”

“That’s fine. You don't owe anyone anything and if you don’t want to use your powers then that’s okay. We do need to do some training though. Just to make sure you’re in control of them, but we don’t have to tell anyone outside of the team if you don’t want to,” Natasha promises and you nod, throwing yourself into her arms as you sigh in relief.

“Thank you,” you whisper and you feel her sigh this time.

“There’s one more thing. You called me mom in there. I know that was all probably really mentally draining and I have no idea what kind of memories it triggered. I know it was an accident but-” it’s your turn to cut her off.

“It wasn’t an accident. I know you’re not legally my mom, but you’re the one who stepped up. I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened to me if you weren’t there. I get it if it’s not okay with you, but I think of you as my mom,” you explain, wringing your hands as you wait for her response.

“It’s more than okay with me,” Natasha tells you, placing a hand over yours.

Tag List: @rvgrsbrns @rororo06 @prizmix-and-friends @worlds-in-words @im-salt-but-not-salty @5aftermidnight @riotmaximoff

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heleizition · 4 years

Note

How Alfred interact with his shifter babies? Where is Barbara in all of this? Is she a shifter or human? Also, I want to know more about Tim's parents... How was they and how Tim ended up with batfamily?

ok hold on . .. i need a second . .. im thinking about alfred holding like, baby panther dick in hi arms n smilng softly,,, jst . .. give me a moment . ..... like ... hes cooking n hyerna jason who’s starting to grow jst sits beside him n tucks his head on the counter n looks at alfred like feed me and alfred is so so fond of his grandsons yk,,, of his family,,,, cries

OK SO beside that tim shifts from cat to human the first time with alfred,,, hes a safe adult in his eyes and he trusts him and its a trust alfred hasnt and wont ever betray. cass just likes to sit on his shoulder while he has tea,,, he makes her a cup and she flies over to drink when she feels like it but mostly she’s chilling. steph usually runs around and tries to pick things up to “help” alfred and he gives her lil pets,,,, duke usually feels like in the way when hes shifted and alfred is cleaning up or working around him so he usually shift back and helps and it makes alfred smile a lot even after he tries to shoo duke away bc thats His Job yk,,, duke still helps sefooefshofse

OK UM i admit i did not think of babs bc she always slips from my mind,,,, i dont have a big connection to her character,,,, im not sure if she’s a shifter yet i gotta think but i kinda feel ,,, fox for her,,,,, if u have other suggestions im open ? i dont know much about her character sadly,,,,

OK SO under the cut is tim’s story n how he met and ended up w the bat, big tw for animal (shifter) abuse and child abuse, starvation, abandonment, umm mutilation & description of injury

tim first turned into a cat (to his parents knowledge) when he was about 4 or 5. he’d been already introduced to the world but as he was a small child they hadn’t really been showing him around everywhere so only a handful of people knew/remembered small boy tim. janet has a particular hate toward that branch in her family that can shift so she’s really jst. hating her son having it and she immediately just. decides that she just doesnt want to see him. so jack and her just start locking him in a tiny cat cage, which prevent him from turning back into a boy, feed him catfood when they remember to feed him. at some point they get him declawed (which gives him terribly vivid nightmares of human him getting his fingers torned off of his hand) and when they leave they give him a tight collar while leaving him out of the cage which prevnts him from shifting back bc the collar would just go through tim’s throat if he shifted to human.

so tim drake ends up . not existing. everyone forgets the drakes had a son, tim very rarely gets to be in human shape (which hurts at some point), and when he does his parents usually yell at him and making him feel very unwanted, going as far as throwing things at him until he jst, shifts back and makes himself as small and forgotten as possible. he stopped going to school early, but he still taught himself to read (u gotta do smth when ur stuck as a cat for years) and went through lots of his parents books (that were on bottoms shelfs bc its hard to put the books back in the right shelves while in cat form and he gets yelled at enough as it is just for existing).

so he’s like 10, and his parents have been gone for a while . and he’s rly not doing good. he’s not rly clinging to life. he’s underfed. everything hurts. his brain isn’t really reactive anymore. and hes on the wall between the drakes and the wayne’s estate dick and jason are in the garden, playing around, and he just. falls asleep. passes out from exhaustion and his body kind of giving up on him.

they hear him or see him, idk, they find him and jason shifts back, holding the small kitten in his arms and he runs inside, n they take care of him, the adress on the collar said he’s from next door,,, at this point they dont know he’s a shifter,, but when he wakes up tim’s all warm and tucked against a warm body (dick) and jason is beside them petting him gently and the second tim is awake he’s tense and trying to get away bc humans have done nothing but hurt him at this point yk,, he’s barely ever met anyone,,, he sticks to the drake’s house bc he’s terrified they’ll know if he goes somewhere else

(altho deep down he thinks they’d be happy if they came home to an empty house)

and when he wakes up. thats when dick n jay understand he’s not just a cat, he’s a shifter, n jason holds him in place to remove the collar bc he *knows* he cant possibly be able to shift to human with it,,, but even without it tim doesnt shift back, hes jst, scared cat,,,,

(”hey, it’s ok, we’re like you” jason says, in the most gentle voice dick’s ever heard him use. there is a moment of silence, where the kitten blinks, and then the familiar noise of flesh rearranging itself while jason shifts into his hyena form. he’s careful to keep his distance, laying on his stomach to make himself smaller - which helps, but not by much as he’s still huge compared to the little shifter in front of them. dick knows the lines of tension and those of exhaustion in their muscles, and remembers how they didn’t even stir when jason had carried them inside. he shifts.

“i’m gonna get you some food, okay ?” he levels his tone with his brothers. “we should have some fruits around, upstairs. fish maybe ? if you’d like ? or something else.” he smiles that smiles only he knows how to smile. “or maybe you’d like to pick yourself ?”

the little cat manages to make themselves smaller.)

they eventually manage to feed him and hydrate him, and dick tells alfred and bruce about the little shifter while jason keeps an eye on him,,, bruce connect the drake and tim shaped dots. he remembers janet and jack rejecting a gala invitation a while back bc she had recently delivered, only he’d never seen the kid.

tim only lets jason and dick close a first, bc they’re younger, bc they’re shifters, and then alfred bc alfred always brings him food on a plate and with a fork and knife like he’s going to use them as a human. he talks to tim and pets him gently once tim allows it,,, he’s a safe adult.

bruce scares him a lot, even if he’s gentle and he’s a good dad. he’s bigger than jack has ever been, and he knows he could hurt him. he just scares him a lot. he has too much authority, too much presence.

tim shifts back into a human on is seventh day at the manor, while alfred sits with him in a little room tim had hid in. he’s a very small boy and he cries out in pain when he shifts, but alfred puts a hand on his cheek and just smiles

(”hello, my boy”)

tim is very quiet, takes a shower and shifts back before anyone else can see him,,, but slowly he lets it happen around the others. one time dick n jay wake up from a nap session to a little boy suggled between them,,, there is a lot of hurt and pain from jason bc he’s been that little boy, hurt and scared and in pain, and it brings back a lot of sad things,,,

eventually he lets himself shift into bruce’s arms on the second week and he cries a lot n bruce tells him he figured out he’s the drake’s son, and jst, h, he adopts

#ask me #shifter au #PLS READ THE TW #wandersmoklight

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internalsealpanic · 4 years

Text

I Will be Your Tim Drake for Tonight (3) (Jason Todd/ Reader)

Summary: Preferring to do anything but your physics project, you decide to accepts Tim’s proposal. It’s simple. He does your project, you try to figure out whether Jason Sionis is criminal. Easy, right?

masterlist

A/n: This takes place in a world where Jason is adopted by Black Mask. Inspired by Building Interest by Zoeleo.The events and characterization in this story are very heavily based on Zoeleo's Long Term Investment series. It is fantastic and I really highly recommend all of her fics.

a/n: For clarification, Reader does have psychic powers but it only lets her sense people's emotions physically. No mind-reading. Her power is more like an overactive sense of empathy which may force her to dissociate into someone else.

There will be violence and mentions of alcoholism (used as coping mechanism for physical pain) and chronic pain.

As for the additional warning, an animal is harmed but it is barely described. I could not bring myself to actual describe it but the aftermath is described.

I also just converted this from an OC so I apologize for any grammatical mistakes.

Without further a do:

Your stomach drops.

Fuck.

Of course, Damian just had to be the one to pick up.

"Hey baby bro, could you pass the phone to dad?"

"I'm sorry who is this?"

This little shit.

"You're such a kidder! Dami, it's me, Tim. "

“Ah yes, Drake-” You can hear Tim choke in the background. “What do you want?”

“Please Dami just pass the phone to dad, I- I really need to talk to him”

“Very well,”

“Tim?” The voice sounded like Bruce’s but the intonation was all wrong. The voice changer Tim and Babs were working on seems to have made progress.

“Hey dad, I- uh. I might have gotten kidnapped.”

Tim makes another choking noise. “Might have?”

“I was at the party. I think I had around 13 drinks. 13 ! Can you believe it? I felt like a right sailor after that, like the harbor workers, y’know? Anyway, I was taking a smoke-”

“Enough!” The large man roared, snatching the phone from you. “Send us $100 million by tomorrow or your kid’ll be shark bait!” Who says that anymore?

“Of course! Of course! I’ll have the money sometime this evening. Please don’t hurt him.”

Tim, God bless him, does not laugh. Tim’s acting needs some work but he sure does know how to act worried.

The line dies and they tie you back up to the post.

“What the hell?!”

“We have to make sure you don’t just runoff.” The large man says tightening your bonds. Truthfully, you’ve felt far worse. After all, corsets exist. However, this was still a close second.

“Do I look like I could outrun a snail?”

“He’s got a point boss. He looks like he hasn’t even seen the sun in ages.”

This, you decide, is true for Tim. When was the last time he went out before dark? Maybe he got sunlight when he stayed over at Eddie’s place.

The large man grabs Jason by the collar and throws him to his men.

The 3 men kick and curse at him. They mock him and beat him down. They wail on him with their fists, their steel-toed shoes, and sometimes brick. Jason takes it all with a crooked grin and a sharp tongue. You watched in awe. Even on the floor, Jason looked sturdy, ferocious, and indomitable.

"They all break, sweet girl."

Jason is on a tiled floor. No, he should be on concrete. His blood is on the tile. They’re hitting him. They’re hitting him with a bat. No. They aren’t supposed to be holding a bat. They were kicking him but now they’re holding a bat. No, She’s holding a bat. There's supposed to be three of them, three men, but their forms coalesce into her . You can hear his ribs cracking. Next are his legs. His legs are always next. Then his arm. She'll break each bone in his arms and his hands. He’s wheezing. His voice sounds hoarse. His voice is too hoarse. He sounds like he’s been starved and dehydrated for at least a day. They’ve only been here for an hour. That isn’t right. Oh God! Now she had a cleaver in her hands.

No!

He doesn’t need to die. She can’t.

no.

No.

No!

The scene crescendos as the tall, dark, sinewy silhouette towering over Jason raises the butcher's knife above her head.

“Harder, daddy!”

“Son?”

The scene of the kitchen fades and the shit-eating grin on Jason melts into view which shifts from amusement to confusion then back to amusement.

You blink seeing his stupid grin far too clearly.

You let a bark of gut-busting laughter out as you strain against the rope. Your brow pinches with concern but based on the scowls you’re receiving they're more focused on the fact that you were laughing like a mad man.

Jason looks like he’s about to laugh from the absurdity as well when the man in charge picks him up again tossing him into a chair. The other men tie him down binding his wrists and ankles.

"I've had worse." He spits out.

The phone rings again, the dial tone echoing. Jason looks like hell with his face swollen and bruises beginning to bloom on every surface but he still looked like he was 5 seconds from starting a fight.

The large man punches Jason hard in the gut knocking the air out of his lungs as the dial tone cuts off. “Hear that, Sionis? Your little bitch is pretty soft.”

Oh God, are they serious?

“Who is this? Nevermind. You ok there, sweetheart?” Roman Sionis’ ‘concerned’ voice carries over the line.

They are.

“Nothing I can't handle, daddy.” Jason chuckles with the utmost casualness. You, on the other hand, instantly want to disinfect your brain. Thankfully, before your mind could wander somewhere it can't return from, the big man growls into the phone.

“Don't you recognize the voice of the man whose life you've ruined?!”

“You've gotta be more specific than that. I've ruined quite a few lives but I would like to know whose brain I need to put a bullet in.”

“IT'S ME BRUNO HARDIN!”

“Doesn't ring any bells.” Roman deadpans almost sounding completely disinterested. “Sweetheart, you remember anyone like that?”

“Nope,” Jason replies letting the p pop. It seemed like a strange sort of triumph before it all crashes down with another swift punch to the ribs.

You stare at the strange scene torn between amusement and horror.

“Take this seriously!” Bruno roars.

"I'm taking this about as seriously as it deserves."

A part of you thought 'yeah this is ridiculous enough to warrant nonchalance' while the other part wanted to scream. On one hand, even you found his identity anticlimactic. Doesn’t he know just how many small-time businesses Roman has ruined? He’d be lucky to get into the top 50. It’s not like he was running a pretty ethical establishment either. On the other hand, your freaking kid is getting the shit kicked out of him. Emote damn it.

“Jason. Don’t you worry. Daddy’s going to take care of this. Your Uncle D happens to be in town. He’s on his way to pick you up. Love you, baby. See you soon.”

The line dies. Your stomach sinks further somehow. You don’t know if the nausea is due to the fact that the line died, the threat, or the number of times the word ‘daddy’ came up. Who the hell is Uncle D? How is he supposed to help? Your gaze trails to Jason who is now lowering his head to the floor seemingly tired. Maybe that last punch finally drained the fight from him.

“You're all so fucked.” Jason barks out in a fit of laughter. The men around him, jumping from the volume of his voice.

Bruno grabs Jason by the collar and begins to shake him as if the “Shut the fuck up you little bitch! Whoever your Uncle D is he's-”

“Deathstroke”

You feel like someone kicked you in the chest. First of all, Uncle D? Really? You guess that there are worse hills to die on. This was somehow weirder than hearing Faust and her siblings call him pops. Second of all, Fuck. You'd never gotten your asshanded to you by Deathstroke but based on how banged up the Titans looked after fighting him this wasn't gonna be pretty. All you could hope for was that you wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Although, the image of Deathstroke grudgingly letting a kid call him Uncle D lightens your mood a bit.

Bruno throws Jason on the floor hard enough for his body to bounce. Like Jason earlier, Bruno is radiating murder.

Just run, you thick motherfucker.

You, being the ‘nice’ Wayne kid that you are, try to tell him as much but sadly that was halted by shattering glass. A flurry of black, orange, and metal crash through the glass and cut through the crowd of men.

They fire at him, panic making their faces even paler. They hit him, bullets sinking into his flesh, blood splatters but none of it fazes him. He skewers and cuts them down with ease. His swords and suit are liberally decorated with their blood when it’s all done.

He steps over Bruno’s body. From the grunt that comes out, Bruno is still alive. Dumb bastard doesn’t know how to play dead. He’ll die from blood loss anyway.

“Hey, kid-” Deathstroke greets tersely, picking up Jason’s nearly limp body. “We’re gonna get you home.” He slings Jason’s arm over his shoulder.

“Wait!”

Deathstroke stops sounding slightly annoyed.

Jason turns to you, who’s still unhappily tied to a post. “We gotta get him out.” He rasps.

“Kid, you’re the only one I’m getting paid to rescue.” Deathstroke helpfully informs as he carefully adjusts his hold on the struggling young man. You blow out a breath somehow more irritable than scared. “Just cut me out. I can make my way back just fine.”

“Walk in Gotham, are you stupid?” Jason hisses. The concern bleeding through.

“Which one of us charged at their captors while they were armed?”

Jason scowls at you with a petulant twist in his lips. “Yanno what, Leave ‘im.”

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry and yeah I’ll be fine. I know where to avoid. Just please don’t leave me with them” you plead, throwing away any pride you held as you glance at the most likely dead bodies. Deathstroke cuts you out. Your skin feels raw but you’re otherwise unharmed.

You walk out of the warehouse and Dick practically throws himself at you. “Oh thank god, they didn’t shoot you in the head.” He mumbles into your wig.

"Why would you think they would shoot me in the head?"

Dick pulls back and frowns at you through the domino mask. “You aren’t exactly the most pleasant-”

“ We were model hostages.” you squawk.

Jason snorts far too loudly to be helpful.

You glare at him but you weren’t about to say fuck off to him while he has one of the world’s deadliest assassins right next to him.

Deathstroke coughs. “Well if you don’t mind we’ll be taking our leave.”

Dick holding you protectively, glares but says nothing. Maybe he does but you faint before you can hear it.

A/n: Thanks for reading!

#jason todd x reader #jason todd x oc #dick grayson #damian wayne #deathstroke #nightwing #slade wilson #roman sionis #black mask #batfamily x reader #batfam #false face au #crime au #my writing #dc fanfiction #dc comics

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sserpente · 5 years

Text

As a last resort

A/N & Synopsis: Based on a prompt sent to me by @imboredsueme:

The hero shows up at the villain’s doorstep one night. They’re shivering, bleeding, scared. There’s also a slightly dazed look in their eyes--they were drugged. They look like they were assaulted. Looking up at the villain, swaying slightly as they’re close to passing out, they mumble: “...didn’t know where else to go...”, then collapse into the villain’s arms.

Sometimes, inspiration strikes you and when it does, you have to strike back. Featuring one of my favourite AU’s. 😉

Words: 2542 Warnings: Loki wins AU, mentions of drug use, drink spiking and attempted rape, fluff

Things were different around New York City ever since the Chitauri attack. Ever since the Avengers, hope of civilisation, society and humanity, had lost Earth to a man as beautiful as he was dangerous and the disappointment and anger the people had met you with on the streets had driven you further into living a hazardous life in the shadows.

Loki had announced a hefty bounty for your capture. Yours, and that of his adoptive brother Thor, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. Heavens knew whether Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Clint Barton were still alive after they had disappeared in the Avengers’… Loki’s tower around six months after the alien invasion. But the remaining Avengers were out there somewhere, hiding and planning to overthrow his ruling.

You had long given up on them trying to find you. Perhaps they thought you were dead—that you, a young woman with mere combat skills and two failed assassination attempts before you were recruited by the man you had been assigned to kill and became part of the Avengers only a few days after the God of Mischief had arrived on Earth to claim it, could not possibly survive this long in a realm ruled by chaos and malice.

They had left you and given up on you, choking you with all the hope that had swelled up in your chest every night before you curled up in a dirty rain barrel you had found to sleep in. Realisation had hit you after almost two years hiding among the homeless. You were alone in this world. You always had been. You had just been naïve enough to believe that the Avengers would finally change that.

Sure. The word, in the truest sense of its meaning, had sealed your fate tonight. You had shaken the devil’s hand, unsuspecting of the fatal deal you had struck. He was supposed to be an ally. Henry lived near the eerie scrap yard in the suburbs. He made money by stealing cars and selling the parts to shady dealers and they paid him enough to afford a flat he shared with friends. You had never asked but according to their looks, they were both drug dealers.

You had agreed to join them for a drink in a bar they knew would be safe for you to stroll in. Your face was all over the news, after all, the sum announced on your head making most people around New York City dizzy. It was high. Not as high as the bounty promised for the capture of Thor but higher than the bounty placed onto Captain America and Black Widow. Loki and you had fought in the past, regardless of you getting overwhelmed by the much stronger Asgardian, numerous times. He had offered you a way out to join him and you had refused. Now, self-preservation and the will to survive this hellhole New York City had become urging you on, you wished you hadn’t. Loki was a cunning and arrogant man. Something about you had fascinated him enough not to kill you when he brought you to his feet, disarmed and breathing heavily. But he had sworn revenge for your denial and rejection, for attempting to foil his plans.

When you realised that Henry’s friends, having asked for his consent prior to their actions, had spiked your drink, it was already too late. Whatever drug it was that now attacked your blood so aggressively and messed with your mind and thoughts, it burned like liquid fire in your stomach.

They had underestimated your combat skills when they dragged your weakened form outside through the back door to tear your clothes off your body which resulted in ugly holes revealing your skin on your thighs, stomach and chest. And you had fought back, striking with all your might and reaching for every body part that might hurt upon being hit as they had almost taken from you what you protected and cherished so dearly. Blood was streaming from your nose and the throbbing cut on your lip as well as a wound on your forehead. There were more injuries, for sure. The adrenaline cursing through your blood merely shut out the agony.

Bruises already formed on your stomach, one of the straps of your bra broken and revealing another cut right above your breast. A knife. Henry’s knife had done that. You would kill him for that and this time your assassination would not fail… if your survived this.

You moaned in pain when you heaved yourself into a dark alley to shield yourself from unwanted gazes. This was bad. This was really bad. You needed help but a hospital was out of the question. They would not help you without costs you could never cover without any insurance and if they recognised you…

Tears spilled from your eyes when another wave of sharp pain tore through your body, numbing your senses. You knew what fainting felt like… and you would lose consciousness soon if you didn’t act now and wanted to die in this alley. Your threw your head back, taking a deep breath which turned into a desperate sob.

Your sight blurred when you looked up into the cold night to see Loki’s tower protruding from the other buildings like an active volcano.

There was no need for Loki to guard the lobby downstairs, his Chitauri had made sure of that. He had made sure of that. People who walked into his tower usually did not make it back out unless they worked for him.

Sighing, he ran his fingers over his lower lip and tore his blue gaze away from the blond man who, only weeks after his victory over the Avengers, had volunteered to operate as his personal assistant and spy. He was a decommissioned politician, his motives questionable even to him—but thus far, he had proven to be useful.

His daily reports were beyond tiring and Loki could certainly think of more interesting activities to spend his evening. It was dark out already, thousands of artificial lights illuminating the nightly skyline of New York City and turning the many buildings beneath him into a murky sea.

He could use some distraction right about now. An attack, perhaps. Thor paying him a visit and starting yet another futile and brainless attempt to overthrow him with the sheer strength of his beloved hammer… sighing once more, he dismissed his lackey mid-sentence and leaned back in his cosy armchair, enjoying how silence spread in his living room and for once, letting his guard down.

That’s why the silent pling of the elevator caught him off guard, surprise and confusion rumbling inside of him as he stood to face the metal doors open to reveal… you. Loki closed the distance between the armchair and the elevator so fast any other human would have been intimidated but in your current state, you did not even notice.

What in the nine realms had happened to you? What were you doing here? If the Chitauri had caught you, one of their leaders would have been with you. If a bounty hunter had dragged you up, they would be demanding their reward right now.

Narrowing his blue eyes at you hostilely, he only took the time now to inspect your pathetic form. You were bleeding from several wounds, your clothes torn, skin covered in bruises and even cuts. Angry handprints and marks staining your flesh. Finally, you gathered the physical strength to look up at him shivering and scared, your eyes glazed and somewhat… abstracted. It was obvious you had been drugged by someone. What had happened?

“…I didn’t know where else to go…” You croaked out. Then, your eyelids flattered close and you collapsed into Loki’s arms.

The room you woke up in was not familiar. It was huge and spacious, neatly filled with dark brown furniture accentuated by golden engravings and green fabrics. The bed sheets covering your almost naked body were green too. Swallowing, you bit your lower lip to help ignore the pain and sat up a little to study your foreign surroundings.

A hot wave passed through you when your memories returned and hammered against your brain like Thor’s mjolnir, the amount of green and gold in the room a mocking reminder. Loki.

“You are awake.” Flinching hurt when his voiced pulled you back to the present. Next to him, the entire room appeared meagre and tiny, like his mere presence shrunk it all down. Your eyes locked with his, a scrutinising glare boring into you. Another memory. You had passed out in his arms. Your lips parted to respond but Loki cut you off before you could utter a single word.

“Tell me what happened to you.” It was not a question, it was a demand. But an explanation for why you had showed up at the very man’s doorstep who had suspended a bounty of a million dollars on you was the least you owed him.

I didn’t know where else to go, you had mumbled half-unconscious. Loki doubted you remembered your words and yet they had been echoing in his head ever since he had called for some nurses and a doctor. They had patched you up quickly, sewing the laceration on your forehead and tending to the wounds on the rest of your body. They had taken a sample of your blood, too, quickly finding the right antidote to fight the drug in your blood. You would recover.

What had you meant by “I didn’t know where else to go”? Surely, whoever was left of the Avengers would have come to your help nobly sooner or later. Loki wondered, genuinely, why they hadn’t. But even more important was the question why he had helped you.

He could have let you die and bleed out on his green carpet then and there, saving the bounty and announcing yet another victory to the already terrified people living under his reign in New York City. To decide against it had been impetuous and he had spent hours watching your sleeping form in his own bed attempting to figure out his motives.

And he had come to a conclusion. No matter whose side you had fought on two years ago, the moment you had stepped into that elevator, you were an innocent and likely assaulted woman in the need of help. You had come to him, of all people, knowing there was a chance he would bury his pointy sceptre deep in your stomach as soon as you stepped over the threshold. You had laid your life in his hands, presenting your head to him on a silver platter… and despite everything that had happened, you had trusted him enough to save you.

His question stirred up memories you did not want to harbour. Squeezing your eyes shut, you took a deep and painful breath.

“They tricked me. My drink… it was spiked. Outside, they tried to…” Your voice broke, tears worsening your sight. “They tried to rape me.”

Loki’s poignant expression darkened. “Who?” He growled. Would it make any difference to him if he knew? He could send for the Chitauri to kill whoever had dared to lay a hand on you and ravish you against your will. He clenched his fists. But why, by the Norns, would he care?

“Henry… his friends… I should have known better, I considered him a friend! He… he shared his food with me.” Out on the streets of New York City, starvation was one of the most common causes of death, right after death from exposure, drug use and alcohol poisoning and murder. Sharing food was a big deal.

Another look into Loki’s blue and nearly unreadable eyes made you burst out crying. You had no power to stop it, nor to hold it in until he had left. It must have been some kind of delayed shock that made you shake and sob uncontrollably with a start, hugging your knees to your chest for some sort of comfort.

Loki began pacing up and down his bedroom, unsure of how to deal with the situation in the most calculated way possible.

“You came to me fully aware of the consequences.” He stated bluntly, his voice surprisingly quiet. Another sob of yours tore through the air before you looked up at him so helplessly Loki felt a strange sting in his heart.

“You… treated my wounds. You won’t kill me now, w-will you? I know you are not that cruel, Loki.” Loki demanded respect and he demanded being addressed properly. As of right now, he was the king of this realm—he was your king. The provocative undertone in your voice when you spoke his name, despite your devastation, did not go unnoticed. It suited you and intrigued him. You had not lost your fire then.

“I just… I’m all alone. I didn’t know where else to go and you…” You did not finish your sentence as you did not know how. But there it was again. I didn’t know where else to go. You were right, of course. He would never kill you. You might have been an Avenger but you had not been so with all your heart. You acted out of desperation and the need of recognition, affection and praise—in which aspect, when he had first met and fought you, he had seen himself.

He had approached you before he knew himself, his feet taking control of his actions. You leaned back intimidated when he came to a halt right in front of you. Your fear of him was palpable. Loki was right. You had come to him knowing the consequences. Without probing you knew that he would not let you out of this tower again—and only Heaven knew if you would live long enough to deal with the gravity of your actions.

Yet, at the very same time, you felt an overwhelming gratefulness washing over your mangled body when your eyes locked with his once more. Loki could have let you die pathetically. He could have killed you the moment the elevator doors opened to reveal your weakened form… and he did not.

“Thank you. For saving me.”

What he did next surprised you both. Loki lifted his arm, his hand coming up to stroke your cheek. Long and soft fingers caressing your wet skin. It was a light, gentle and hesitant touch as if he was trying to figure out what to do with you—and the odd sensations in his chest ever since you had collapsed in his arms.

Your lower lip was shaking as your eyes fell shut upon his tender touch. You did not realise you began sobbing again and wrapped your arms around his middle until you were already holding onto him, desperate to forget your assault. Loki… held you. Hesitantly and rather maladroitly, he pressed you against him almost possessively. In any other situation, you would have snorted at your stupidity. You were hugging the villain. Why… did this feel so right?

He would positively kill Henry and his friends, slowly and intimately, to avenge you. But first, he would have to thank them for driving you into his arms.

A/N: If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate so much if you supported me on Kofi! kofi.com/sserpente ♥

Additional disclaimer: The original prompt that inspired this story seemed to have originally been posted by @one-lonely-whumperfly.

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hobbitsnapes · 4 years

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The Red Hoods Protègè chapter 14

Older Damian Wayne x ofc

(Photo made by my lovely friend @tyuuniverse)

Summary:Red hood has taken a young vigilante under his wing and subsequently changes Damians life forever. (I suck at summary’s)

The smell of burgers and general grease wafted the room as soon as Jason and her stepped in. The sound of workers and people muffling the busy cars right outside. They both took their usual seat in the back, preferring to be there rather than up front. Each Sunday Sandy and Jason took what they call their, ‘dad daughter day’ and went out to eat here. Jason took her to the ever so famous bat burger the day he adopted her, and ever since then they come once a week. Maybe not the healthiest thing they could do, but with all the physical activity they do they never worry. But this night in particular was a special night for them.

They always joked about the red hood hotdog, usually getting it and finding it funny that out of all the foods, they chose a hot dog. Well after almost a year being out alongside Jason on patrol, people started noticing her. She was called ‘the red hoods robin.’ And it was announced the popular food chain would be adding a side dish to the red hood dog, a side of archangel wings. They both laughed as they got them because they were in fact just the wings.

They both sat and enjoyed their respected meals, joking around as they usually do. Both of them enjoying themselves and truly just feeling like a father and his daughter.

They both finish their meals after some time, walking out back to his bike. She turns to him, grabbing her helmet and placing it on. “Hey since it’s still early, wanna go to the pier?” He asks, usually they would only go out to dinner. But they decided to go out earlier than normal, having not to go out tonight due to their promise to spend the day as normal as possible. “Sure, I don’t think I’ve been there before?” She replies, wondering if she had been there before as a child. She isn’t able to recall a time she had been before, possibly during the night with Jason but never during the day when she was able to see.

And that’s where they spent most of their day. The pier hadn’t been that large but they made do. They threw rocks, watched as all the many boats swam by, and walked around. As the day grew to evening, and the already cool air became more noticeable, the chill in the air swam around their clothes, they decided to head home.

Never did they think walking into the once lonely and blank apartment that they now called home, would look like it did now. The walls that once were blank that held photos, now all torn to shreds. Glass and wood Scattered around the floor.the wood coffee table they just got, broken into shards of wood. Their tv broken on the ground. Their couch, cut up to pieces. Everything they had built, broken.

Shock and disbelief filled them along with a dick feeling in their stomach. Their hearts dropping but accelerating as it set in. Someone has found them.

Jason turns to her, tears filling her eyes, handing her his gun. “Go look in every room. If you hear anything, scream as loud as you can.” She nods her head, grabbing the gun and slowly walking out of the living room.

Jason looks around the room, looking for any clue whatsoever of who could have done this. And Jason got his answer, Nestled in between the cracked floorboards near the broken couch. Horror filled him as his stomach and heart felt as though they both would expel from his body.

He grabs for his phone, dread filling him as sweat beads down his forehead. This goes against everything he’s built up to do in the last 3 years. His mind screaming at him not to do this. That it’ll only end in pain. But that one voice, the one that screamed at him the moment he saw her over the ledge, the one who screamed at him to help her, the one who told him to protect her, made the answer for him as he dialed the memorized number.

“Hello? Who is this?” Said Bruce, jason's heart dropping into his stomach. Feeling panic rise up to his neck. Bruce asked who is it again, an edge to his voice now. Jason lets out a shaky breath, he has to do this, for her. “This is the last number I thought I’d call. But this is my only option I have.” “J-Jason? I-I how did you rem-” “don’t you remember a part of my training was to memorize this number. I couldn’t forget it if I tried. Now cut the crap with the shock bruce. I, have to ask you for something.” “What is it?” Jason swallowed the pit forming in his throat. “Our apartment, it was broken into. Everything, and I mean everything, is broken. I sent her to go search around here and out back. I-I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought I could protect her. But I know I can’t. Not by myself. It-it’s bad Bruce. I need her to stay there for a while, I can’t be out there trying to figure out what to do whilst also trying with everything in me to protect her. We’ll be there in an hour. If we aren’t there by 10, come looking for us.” “I’ll have alfred ready one of the rooms. But Jason, what about her and-“ “I’ll talk to her. I’m one of the only people she’ll listen to.” Bruce sighs. “See you in an hour.” Jason hangs up the phone, ready for the hell he's about to walk into.

“Did you find anything?” Jason asks as he steps into the room. Tears filling his eyes as he sees her once beautifully decorated room, torn upside down in shambles. “I didn’t, it’s like they wiped everything clean of evidence. Hey, what’s wrong dad?” It’s as if they are so in tune with one another that they can read by just their face that there’s something wrong. Her big blue eyes wide as she looks at him. He lets out a shaky breath. “I don’t want to do this. But there’s nothing else I can do.” “What is it?” She asks, putting her hand on his arm. “I know I’ve always said how strong, and capable you are. And you always will be. But, this is something even I’m scared of. I, I need you to stay at the manor for a while.” Her once worried face, turns to disbelieve and anger. “What? You can’t be serious dad. Don’t you remember he’s-“ “yes. I know he’s there. But this isn’t a debate. I can’t be out there looking around and finding out who did this.” Anger bubbles up her throat. Her hands shaking by her sides. “And I’ve been fighting alongside you for over a year. And I went under the radar for another year on the streets. Do you have ANY idea how much it’ll hurt to live there with him there!” “AND DONT YOU THINK IT HURTS ME TO PUT YOU THERE!? Don’t you think it makes my blood boil to have to stay under the same roof as the boy who broke my daughters heart? Don’t you think I’d do ANYTHING to find another place to bring you? I would’ve already done it if I could. These people aren’t just regular robbers. They found out our identity, found where we live, and recanted this entire place. For all we know they could’ve bugged the entire building! I’d do anything to keep you from them. But I know that they are our best option to make sure we both aren’t killed. I know you’re smart, I know you're strong. But at the end of the day, you aren’t my partner. You’re my daughter. And I’m your father. And I love you and I know that this is the safest place on the earth for you right now. I wouldn’t be doing this if I had any other option sandy.” Tears fell down both their faces. Realization dawning on both of them what has to happen. She hugs him tightly. Clutching to him as they both cry. “When do we leave.” She asks. “We need to be there by 10. I need you to pack essentials and be at the back door in 10 minutes. Grab only what you need. I’ll bring you up everything else in a few days.” Tears fell down her eyes into his shirt. “Okay.”

The air in the car is thick as they drive down the road. Jason has an emergency car down in a storage shed a block away from their apartment. Exactly for situations like these. Tears fell down both their faces, neither speaking a word. Their hearts and stomach falling the further they go.

The thick trees surround them, a dark blanket of darkness coats the area that the headlights can’t reach. Smooth pavement creating a steady drive the closer they get. Their tears had dried by now. But the ever growing anxiety growing in both of them as the y’all manor looms over the tall trees. Growing larger the closer they get.

Lights illuminate from the windows into the dark night. The tall building high up into the sky as they stop. She had seen plenty of photos of the ever so popular but private estate. But it’s as if the photos were nothing but a mear copy of the truly beautiful building. But that didn’t stop the feeling of vomit growing up their throats the longer they look at it. They turn to one another. Tears filling their eyes again. “Alright, lets go.”

The sound of their boots clicking along the brick ground the only sound as they approach the double doors. They step up to it, Jason reaching his hand out to the door handle before it was opened. An elderly man dressed in a suit answered. A faint smile etched on his face when his eyes met Jason. “Welcome. Master Bruce and everyone is down in the cave waiting for both of you.”

The long hallways were dark, only being lit through the doorway leading into the Library.

The room was nothing but from a fairytale. Long and tall bookshelves filled to the brim lined all the way up to the ceiling. Every inch of the walls were filled with a book.

Jason and sandy walked over to one book in particular. It wasn’t bright in color, or new or old looking. Just an ordinary book. But when Jason pulled it, a rumble was heard from the bookshelf.

A doorway was opened, like one of those secret passageways in a castle.

The walk down the many steps was dark, saved only by a light at the end of it. Their feet padded against the stairway the only sound to be heard, besides the loud beating of their hearts. The pair looking at one another when they reached the last step.

The large cave was filled with computers, a few tables, glass casings, and much more. 6 people stood in the middle of it. Sandy only recognizing 2.

Damian watched as her and Jason walked in, her eyes flashing to his but just as quickly darting away. A pain shot through his chest at the obvious pain in her face when she looked at him. Her eyes flashing pain and shining with unshed tears before going back to normal when she looked at jason. Jasons eyes bore into both Damian and Bruce’s. His stare burning when he looked at Damian.

Jason let out a large sigh as he looked at everyone. What he once called his family, now almost complete strangers staring at him like he has 3 heads. “I’m guessing Bruce already told you guys what happened. Correct?” He asks, everyone nodding their heads. “I’m gonna be honest. You guys are the last fucking people I want her to be around. If I could, I’d erase every single one of you from my memory. But, I know there’s no other option I have to keep her safe. So for a while, she’ll be staying here. But that doesn’t mean you can recruit her to be a part of this, team.” Jasons eyes bore holes into Bruce when he said this. “Sandy is very strong, stronger than you’d think. She’s smart. Don’t underestimate her. Now, there’s some rules I have for you all in regards to her. Just because she isn’t a part of your team, doesn’t mean you don’t watch out for her. After all she is new to this still. But that doesn’t mean you baby her. Trust me on that. You’ll treat her with respect. Anyone having a bad day and decides to take it out on her, and I find out, you’ll be dealing with me. And above all, you.keep.her.safe. You all have done a horrible job at it in the past. But if she EVER gets hurt, either by one of you or what you didn’t do, I’ll make what I did to him look like child’s play.” Jasons eyes burned into Damian when he said this. His eyes burning with hatred and anger at him.

“This will be your room, Miss Todd. I hope it’s to your liking.” Says Alfred. The room was lavish. The size alone was larger than her and Jasons living room. A large plush queen size bed in the middle of it. A large bay window out looking into the front yard. Covered by silk blinds. The floor was a dark oak, but mostly covered by a large dark brown rug. A table that could fold into a vanity sat in the corner by the bathroom. Right next to it was a door leading to a large closet. A small nightstand stood beside her bed on each side.

She turns to Alfred, her eyes searching into his. “Thank you. It’s lovely.” “I do apologize, this is one of the only rooms on this flooring. It is 3 doors down from master Damians room. If you would like I could ready a room upstairs if you are uncomfortable.” “No thank you, as long as I don’t have to walk past his I’ll be fine. Thank you for asking though.” “It’s not a problem miss. Dinner was served earlier, I could come and bring you some if you are hungry.” Her eyes looked into his again, a soft warm smile painted on his face. “I’m honestly not that hungry for anything right now. With everything that’s happened today, I’d honestly rather just go to bed.” She looks away and sets her bag onto her bed. “As you wish miss Todd. And just so you know.” He sets his hand on her shoulder. “If you need anything, there’s a button and speaker right by your bed. It’ll ring to me if you need anything. Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything, even just to talk. You are just as welcome here as everyone. That includes your father too.” His eyes looked into her tear filled ones. A smile formed on her face. “Thank you Alfred. I really appreciate it.” He walked away from her and to the door. Wishing her a goodnight.

Tags: @comic-nerd-dc @comic-brew @psychovigilantewrites

#damian wayne x reader #damian wayne fanfiction #damian wayne imagine #older!damian wayne #damian wayne #batman #batfam x reader #batfamily #red hood #jason todd #dick grayson #tim drake #dc #dc imagine #dceu

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thenafics · 4 years

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Evil Author Day -- 2020

I saw this going around and I both wanted to feel included and have several WIPs that are probably not going to see the light of day for a long time. Most of these have titles already because I am incapable of writing a fic without having a title first~~~

1. Trouble in the Henhouse- AKA Red Hood joins the Suicide Squad

Amanda Waller thinks she might have made a mistake with the newest member to her team. She’s let the fox into the hen house, except her hens are insane criminals and her fox is a bat who also happens to be an insane criminal. The metaphor starts to deteriorate quickly, but the point remains, this choice might have been the worst one she’s made in a good long while. He is an accident waiting to happen and one of the most deadly assets she has ever managed to get her hands on. He doesn’t kill for money, like Deadshot, or hunger, like Croc, or even some deranged showmanship, like Harley does or Joker’s Daughter did. He kills when he thinks it’s right, because he thinks the target deserves it and that is the most terrifying thing to find in a highly trained killer she’s putting onto a team with a lot of the same type of people he has a habit of offing. Whoops.

2. Ghosts of our Better Natures

Tim can tell the instant that Scarecrow’s formula really starts to kick in. He sees the way Jason’s body language shifts, his muscles pulling his limbs in tighter, in spite of the restraints holding him down. Judging from the smirk just visible on Scarecrow’s sack-cloth face, he notices too. “Is my new formula finally kicking in?” His high, grating voice overlays over the sounds of Jason’s harsh breathing. “Looks like the big, bad drug lord has a bit of a tolerance. I doubt I’ll even need to use half as much on your little friend over there.” Scarecrow gestures broadly at Tim where he’s tied up against the wall and then claps his hands with fake glee. “I know what we’ll do! We’ll use all of the extra I’m saving on him for you!” Jason wrenches at his restraints, eyes wild behind his domino mask, but he remains uncharacteristically silent. He looks over at Tim and another wave of panic seems to crash over him. His struggles increase in strength to the point where Tim can hear the groaning of the rusty bolts holding Jason down.

3. Rafters for Roustabouts- JayRoy based on a piece of fanart I saw and can no longer find

Roy remembers when Jason was just a skinny little twig of a thing trailing after Nightwing with his spindly limbs and closed off smiles. The first time they’d met, Jason had looked up at him and blushed so hard that Roy was a little worried he might pass out from all the blood rushing to his head. Jason was in the Tower pretty infrequently, but any time he was there, Roy could be sure to find him either abandoning Dick for Donna (who he had immediately latched onto, like a baby bird imprinting on what it thinks is its mother) or acting as Roy’s shadow. Roy could often tell when Jason was visiting well before Dick told him because of the glimpses of inky black hair he would catch out of the corner of his eye. Eventually Roy got tired of waiting for Jason to stop being so shy. “Hey, Jason, I know you’ve got that whole stealth thing going for you, but it’s much easier to make friends if you just talk to people.” There was a muted thump and a little yelp as Jason fell down from the rafter he’d been perched on. Roy made his way over to him and crouched down to look more closely at Jason. The younger boy was blushing furiously and had his hands pressed firmly over his eyes, almost as if he thought if he couldn’t see Roy, Roy might not see him. Roy let out a little huff of laughter. “You’re just a little shy, aren’t you Jaybird?” Jason just burrowed further into his hands and seemed ready to just wait until Roy left so that he could tend to his bruised pride and tailbone.

4. Chapter 2 of Release of Liability- My very self indulgent Dresden Files fusion au that nobody asked for or wanted. *Knowledge of the Dresden Files universe up to like, book one/two is v. helpful*

Wayne manor is steeped in the type of magic that can make a place a living thing. This is the home of one of the most powerful wizards in America and has been the home of an incredibly powerful magical family for centuries. There’s history in these walls beyond what the outside world will ever know. All of the wall fixtures are old fashioned gas lamps retrofitted with lightbulbs. It’s a darker paint job and some cobwebs away from being the house from the Addam’s family.

Bruce Wayne himself leads me further into the house and to what I assume must be his office. An older man appears almost the exact moment we sit down and offers tea in a clipped British accent. He disappears as silently as he appeared and rematerializes just moments later carrying a tray laden with tea and those fancy little sandwiches they always show on the BBC. Wayne thanks him and dismisses him with a soft “Thank you,” before the man is gone again.

“So, Mr.Dresden, I hear you’re good at finding lost things.”

“I tend to be. Though I have to wonder what use a practitioner of your caliber could have for my services. With all of Gotham at your disposal.”

“The situation requires a somewhat delicate approach.” I can’t help but snort in response. Delicate and I go together like oil and water. I am not who anyone should call for delicate, subtle, or any synonyms of that ilk. Wayne gives a wry smile and little laugh of his own.

“I misspoke. Not delicate, detached. I am well known to Gotham. You are not. I’ve heard wildcard is somewhat your area of expertise.”

“I’m not going to take offense at that because it’s true. What’s missing?”

Bruce Wayne fixes me with a paralyzing gaze and speaks two words that let me know this is going to be one of those cases that sticks with me.

“My son.”

Bruce Wayne is famous for several things in the magical community. His childhood trauma of witnessing his parents’ murder would make a YA author weep and left him the sole heir to one of America’s most notable magical lineages. That alone made him a Name, capital letter intended, in the world of the mystical. He also worked hard to actually become one of the most influential wizards in America and run Gotham with an iron fist. The most notable thing about Bruce Wayne however, is not either of those. It is his incredible and almost suspicious number of extremely powerful adopted children. A disturbing number of which share his jet black hair and blue eyes. I hope it’s just a weird narcissistic rich person thing.

He is well known to be very protective of his bevy of apprentices. To the point where he’d actually knocked out another wizard with a vicious right hook for making an untoward comment about his eldest son. It was a glorious day and I am thankful to have been within enough distance of the scene to see it go down. I am also thankful to have been far enough away that his fury didn’t turn to me. If something has happened to one of his beloved children, I have no doubts that Mr. Wayne will do whatever is necessary to save them. After the death of his second apprentice he’d practically torn apart the world at its seams in his grief.

5. Windows for Bricks-

“I’m here to pick up Damian. I guess I’m one of his emergency contacts and the lady on the phone said to sign in here before I could take him home.” Jason says to the nurse by the front of the sterile smelling room.

“Oh, are you,” she looks down at her computer screen “Jason Head?”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Jason shifts uncomfortably.

“And you are his … “

“Brother. Same mom.”

“I see. We get Damian in here a lot so I see the resemblance. You have the same eyes”

6. Dialogue Snippet- Dick and Steph on the topic of ass envy

“He’s just jealous of my ass.”

“Yeah, no.”

“What do you mean no?” Dick sounds affronted.

“Have you seen his ass?,” Steph gestures expansively in the shape of an ass. A woman at the next table over glares. “Jay has no reason to be jealous Dick.”

“What.”

“And those thighs… unf.” The lady the next table over glares harder at the noise Steph makes.

“Ohmygod,” Dick buries his head in his hands. “Please stop.”

“What? I'm just saying, he's got no reason to be jealous when the dude is bammin slammin bootylicious”

“I'm pretending I don't know you. Can Tim take you back already?”

“Fine. But take a peek next time you and your ass feel so high and mighty”

7. Innocence for Sinners- JayDick prawn. I wrote this at the request of a friend. Very much not what I usually write, kind of nervous about posting it

*warning for Mature rating*

When he thinks about it, of course it makes sense to Dick that Jason is a virgin. He died before he’d even turned eighteen and spent a few years after that being either brain dead or criminally insane. It was really only in the past three or so years that Jason could be counted among the semi-rational members of the population and he had been so busy during that time span that there was no earthly way he had done anything. Still, Dick couldn’t help but be a little surprised when Jason pushes away from their kiss, while Dick’s hand rubs gentle circles over his crotch, and gasps out “No one’s ever touched me like that before.”

Dick pauses and pulls back fully, his weight between Jason’s spread legs still pinning the younger man to the bed.

“What do you mean Jason?,” he asks, seeking verbal confirmation for his suspicions. Jason blushes prettily and turns his head to one side, as if to escape the weight of Dick’s eyes. Dick reaches out and turns Jason’s face back towards him. His eyes trace the delicate flush that brings out the freckles across the bridge of Jason’s nose and blown out pupils in sea green eyes.

“Jason, are you a virgin?Am I going to be your first?” Jason blushes even further at the questions and nods mutely. Dick feels a rush of possessiveness pass through him at the idea of brash, rebellious, Jason being his. It only makes sense, after all, Jason had spent years wearing Dick’s colors and a month or so trying on the Nightwing suit for size. Of course Jason should be his in some other way. Dick leans back forward and kisses up Jason’s neck, ending up right by his ear.

“I’m going to ruin you for anybody else, little wing.” Jason shudders and lets out a soft moan as Dick scrapes his teeth against his neck in punctuation.

“Please,” Jason breathes out. Dick growls quietly and surges up to kiss Jason. He weaves his fingers through the curls of Jason’s hair and pulls slightly. Immediately, Jason gasps into Dick’s mouth and arches his back up off the bed. Dick chuckles and pulls harder. He is rewarded with a moan and a shudder from Jason.

“You like that Jaybird? When I pull your hair?” Dick laughs against Jason’s mouth when Jason nods with downcast eyes. “Let’s find out what else you like.”

Dick leaves one hand in Jason’s hair and worms the other up under Jason’s shirt, brushing over the hard lines of muscle and scar tissue. He thumbs over one of Jason’s nipples gently and feels a slight shudder run through Jason’s body. Taking that as a positive sign, he rolls it between his index finger and thumb. Jason gasps and tosses his head back, breaking the kiss.

“Dick,” he gasps out, “That feels so, ah, good.” Dick smirks and rolls the nipple again “Aaaaaaah.” Dick pulls his other hand from Jason’s hair and starts using it to push Jason’s shirt up while he brings his mouth down to Jason’s stomach, kissing over the places where his hands had traced over.

“Wait, Dick!,” Jason calls out, panting for breath. Dick looks up at Jason’s flushed face. “I… I have a lot of scars there. Some of them might not be ones that you want to see…” Jason trails off towards the end of his sentence and avoids eye contact with Dick until Dick uses his free hand to gently pull Jason to face him. Dick can see in this flustered and blushing Jason the same boy who had been so shyly admiring of him all those years ago. This shy virginal Jason is far more little red riding hood than the big bad wolf that the Red Hood pretends to be.

“I want all of you Jason. All of you.” Dick says softly. He gently pulls the shirt all the way off of Jason, manipulating the younger man’s arms so that he can remove it. Once the shirt is off, he kisses up Jason’s chest to the top of the Y-shaped scar that stretches from collarbone to collarbone and bisects his body from mid-chest to belly button. Dick mouths gently across the raised tissue and grinds his hips down against Jason’s. Jason can only gasp wordlessly in response as Dick uses his right hand to trace down and past the long tail of the scar to the top of Jason’s jeans. He pops the button and undoes the fly with one hand. When he starts to shimmy Jason’s jeans and boxers down, Jason lifts his hips and practically whines. Dick slides down Jason’s body and sits up in order to pull the pants off all the way before settling himself back between his legs.

“Your thighs are gorgeous.” Dick doesn’t even try to hold back a moan at all the exposed skin before him, some spots criss-crossed with thin lines left from slashes and stab wounds or spotted with starbursts from gunshots. He takes a moment to appreciate the way Jason’s waist cuts in and then flares out to almost feminine hips and thick, muscular thighs. Dick slides his hands under the small of Jason’s back and inches them down to the top of Jason’s ass.

“Really? You like them?” Jason asks, blushing.

“Babe, I love them. It should be against the law for you to wear pants. It’s practically a crime to keep all this hidden under your jeans.” Dick kneads at the soft flesh of Jason’s ass.

“Says the one who’s all covered up,” Jason gasps out. There’s Dick’s Jason, blushing and innocent, but still talking back.

“Let’s fix that then,” Dick chuckles and slowly removes his hands, giving one last squeeze on his way. Dick peels off his t-shirt, deliberately twisting his body and putting on a show for Jason who watches with rapt attention. Dick smiles softly at the awestruck look on Jason’s face before making quick work of the clasps on his pants and shimmying out of them completely. Dick bends down and starts to kiss up Jason’s left leg, starting at his calves and working up to his thighs. Once he gets to the sensitive skin on Jason’s inner thighs, he takes his time pressing open mouthed kisses to the skin there. Dick scrapes his teeth against the skin as he pulls away from a kiss about halfway up Jason’s thigh and feels the strong muscles underneath tremble. Smirking, he repeats the action and looks up to watch Jason. The younger vigilante is struggling to hold his composure, but Dick wants to watch him fall apart completely. So he lowers his mouth back down to Jason’s thighs and bites down. At that, Jason arches off the bed hard and lets out the loudest moan Dick has heard from him so far.

8. Runneth Over and all that Jazz- incomplete work for day 7 of Omega Jason Todd Week -Lactation kink au heavily inspired by @whumpbby and @daemoninwhiteround2 and all their stuff. A little R rated

If it weren’t for his chest, Jason would be nearly impossible to recognise as an omega. He’s taller and more muscular than most omegas so with his deep voice, no one would ever guess. If it weren’t for his body’s absolute betrayal. Jason, like pretty much all adult omegas, produces milk. It’s meant to help reinforce pack bonds and keep pups adopted into a pack fed. That’s not the problem, that part of it is manageable with absorbent pads in shirts and semi-regular use of a breast pump. It sucks, but it’s not the problem. The problem is that Jason’s pack bonds are weak, so his body will let down and start producing milk on a hair trigger. He’s peak fertile age and tangentially part of a mostly alpha pack, but not bonded well enough to balance his hormones, so his body has decided to try and tempt his pack into bonds with milk.

It’s a nuisance. He hears Bruce’s voice on the radio and a little dribble of milk escapes. Dick and Tim get into an argument and he can feel his breasts swelling with more milk. Cass gets injured and he ends up having to sneak off to change his shirt when she cuddles up to him for comfort. He saw Damian cry once and that was enough to get him leaking like a fountain and avoiding the bats for a few days. He knows at least one of them can probably smell the milk on him, but they have the good graces not to mention it so long as he doesn’t.

So Jason distances himself from the pack. He figures if he doesn’t see them, his body won’t decide to go into hormone overdrive. Except it just ends up compounding the problem. More time away from the pack means even weaker pack bonds, which ends up kicking his hormones into even higher gear than they would have been. Soon, Jason’s having to empty his milk every day, then twice a day, then eventually he has to break in the middle of patrol to empty his breasts so they aren’t incredibly sore as he’s flipping around rooftops. He switches from plain absorbent undershirts to nursing undershirts in all black so that if he leaks it won’t show. It’s gotten way out of hand but the only way to fix it is to either break his pack bonds entirely, which might make it worse, or go to the pack and suffer through some potentially very embarrassing bonding.

He shudders at the thought of his pack finally drinking from him. The vulnerability it would bring stirs up something like panic in his stomach mixed equally with want. Letting them know that he can be manipulated just because of a biological response would put him at a huge disadvantage. If they knew he could be made to let down and go into a pheromone drenched haze with some carefully chosen vocalizations they could use it to their advantage when Jason inevitably pisses one of them off. Still, something has to be done, his chest hurts so much that when he got hit there on patrol, he almost blacked out.

He decides to go to Tim first. The slightly younger man is the easiest for Jason to get along with, and despite his tendency for general sneakery, he has enough respect for what Jason does that he probably won’t use it against him too much. It’s a risk, but the potential for relief from the pain of his swollen nipples and frequent breast pump use are enough to take it. Tim is practical and doesn’t seem like the type to get physically aggressive. Even if he does, his small stature means that Jason should be able to escape. Hopefully he won’t be weird about it. Fingers crossed.

Jason knocks on the door of Tim’s apartment, about an hour before patrol typically starts. Tim answers the door looking sleep deprived as always with a mug of coffee in one hand. Jason gives him a sheepish smile and a half hearted wave, after which Tim gestures him into the apartment, one eyebrow raised in question. He shuts and locks the door behind him.

“Hi Jason. It’s been awhile. What are you doing here?” Just the sound of Tim’s voice is making his chest swell a little.

“Can’t I just come visit?”

“Of course you can, you know I like your company. You just usually … don’t. So… ”

Tim pins Jason in place with his calculating stare as he waits for a response. The silence is incredibly awkward for Jason because every second that passes he can feel the slight swelling inch closer and closer to potential leakage. He finally breaks when he feels a small dribble of milk start to leak from one nipple.

“I need your help.”

“A case?”

“No… “ Jason trails off, still unsure.

“Are you okay Jason?” Tim sets his coffee down and sits next to Jason on the couch. Their arms brush and Jason fucking gushes. If Tim couldn’t smell the milk on him before, he sure as hell can now if the way he sniffs the air is any indication.

“What’s wrong Jay? Why are you, umm, … “

“Leaking?”

Tim nods, nostrils flaring as a blush steals across his face.

“I’m letting down at the drop of a hat right now. I’m overproducing so much that I have to stop in the middle of patrols to pump. It hurts real bad.” Jason couldn't stop the whine from leaking into his tone if he tried. Tim unconsciously responds with a swell of alpha scent. The pheromones set Jason off again and he gasps as he involuntarily lets even more milk escape.

“Jason,” Tim’s voice is practically a whisper. “How can I help?” Jason takes a moment to steady himself under the force of Tim’s gaze, closing his eyes so he doesn’t have to see his reaction to the answer.

“ I need you to drink enough to solidify our pack bond.”

Tim makes an interested little noise in the back of his throat and places one delicate hand over Jason’s on his lap. He gives a gentle squeeze

“Are you making enough to do it in one go?”

“Were you even paying attention? Yes. I’m producing enough for the whole pack.”

“Why me? If you go off pack hierarchy aren’t you supposed to go to Bruce? Even if you don’t trust Bruce, you could have gone to Dick or Barbara.”

“If you’re not willing, I won’t pressure you.” Jason’s voice is flat as he starts to stand, but he’s stopped by Tim’s suddenly much stronger grip pulling him back to the couch.

“I never said that. I just want to know why you chose me before I potentially upset pack structure.”

“ ‘M more comfortable,” Jason mumbles, avoiding eye contact. “Dick’s too clingy and Babs still thinks I’m crazy most of the time. You’re … nice to me. Helpful.”

“You’re nice to me too Jason. We take care of each other.”

An unfamiliar throaty purr starts up in the back of Jason’s throat as Tim gently presses his shoulders back into the couch. He pushes up Jason’s shirt, making sure to be extra careful right around the chest area. An accidental brush from the back of his hand as he pulls the shirt off causes a whimper to interrupt Jason’s purring. Tim shushes him gently as he sets the shirt to the side in a crumpled ball. Jason glares at him until Tim sighs and folds the shirt semi-neatly. He rearranges himself until he’s draped halfway over Jason’s lap, face centimeters from touching Jason’s chest. Tim stares unashamedly at the plump flesh where he can see the wetness where milk has already escaped.

#thenafics #thenawrites #writing prompt #wip #wips #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #bruce wayne #dick grayson #Stephanie Brown #Damian Wayne #alternate universe #dresden files #harry dresden #roy harper #batfam #evil author day #evil author day 2020

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sweet-sammy-kisses · 4 years

Text

Cream Puffs and Puppies Chapter 2

For TimKon week Prompt: Matchmaker. I went in a different direction with the prompt. I hope you enjoy. Pairings: Kon/Tim, Jason/Roy/Kory, Cass/Cassie, Dick/Wally, Diana/Bruce, and Jon/Damian You can also read it on AO3

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Jason Todd growled as he glared at his two lovers and then his little sister.

"Come on Jason, you have to admit that it is clear that Bruce, Dick, and even the little demon miss Tim, and Tim misses them greatly." Roy reminded the growling man.

"I know that! I just don't get why we have to do this at a stupid con or why we have to dress up!" Jason hissed back as he tugged at his costume, at least it wasn't something ridiculous. "And why the hell can't I wear a shirt?"

"Because Dante doesn't wear a shirt." Kory happily informed Jason stealing a quick kiss. "How do I look?" She asked twirling around in her cosplay outfit.

"You look amazing." Roy came to stand beside Kory they both ended up going as Neo Queen Serenity and Neo King Endymion both looked amazing as their characters.

Cass had decided to go as Sailor Mars and Jason had a feeling a big part of her choice had to do with the fact that Cassie was going as Sailor Venus.

"Just so you know the only reason I am doing this is because I want to see what Blondie and Babs picked for Bruce, Dickie, and the demon spawn," Jason informed them as he crossed his arms over his chest.

A wide grin appeared on Roy's face as he clapped Jason on the back, "Sure Jay whatever you say."

Jason glared at Roy then turned his attention to Elizabeth, who he ended up adopting after his fifth visit when Tim rolled his eyes and shoved the adoption papers in his hands and told him to just fill them out already, gave him a doggy grin full of love. "Fine, let's get this over with."

+*****+

"You look amazing my space husband." Tim beamed at Conner who had finished putting the final touches on his costume. In Tim's opinion, he made a very handsome Shiro.

Tim had decided to go as Keith Kogane when Conner surprised him with tickets to a comic con and every Keith needed his own Shiro.

Conner could only smile as he pressed his lips against Tim's he knew his lover was obsessed with Voltron and what he called the epic love story of Keith and Shiro, he refused to accept the ending that neither Keith and Shiro or Lance and Allura ended up together.

"How dare they deny them their happy ending." Tim hissed as he watched the final seasons.

Conner had kept a close on Tim after that, the last thing he wanted was for him to do something drastic like buy the studio and redo the entire last season himself.

"The last time I went..." Tim trailed off the last time he went Dick had been there, they even managed to get Bruce to come along with them.

"Come on we better get going to meet the others." Conner stole a kiss from Tim, he hated the pain in Tim's eyes, he knew that he still missed his family. 'Please let this plan work.'

+******+

Barbara Gordon wasn't someone you messed around with, she rolled into the Batcave with Alfred and Stephanie both behind her.

"If you want to win back Tim this is your chance," Barbra informed them as she passed them their outfits. "You have half an hour to get ready before I call in reinforcements in the form of Wally, Jon, and Diana." Grinning as her threat had the effect she wanted she rolled herself out of the Batcave, she had her costume to pack.

With Bruce having his own plane it was easy to get them to San Francisco in time. Of course, Barbra had left out the little fact that Wally, Jon, and Diana would still be joining them. She rather enjoyed watching Jon appear in front of Damian and hug him.

Barbra made sure to get photos she had no clue how Diana convinced Bruce that yes he had to dress up as Wesley from the Princess Bride to her Buttercup but she had managed to do so. She had a feeling the black outfit helped.

Jon had picked Sasuke for Damian and Naruto for himself. Damian's scowl matched Sasuke's perfectly while Jon was just as happy as his character was.

Wally and Dick, well Babs was impressed at how much Dick managed to look like Tony Stark while Wally looked like a stupidly in love Steve Rogers as he gazed at Dick. 'Perfect for them.'

Barbra had chosen to go as Captain Marvel (Carol) and she rather pleased with how her costume had turned out.

Stephanie looked amazing as Spider Gwen, she looked unrecognizable.

"Now remember that our goal is to talk to Tim and prove to him how much we miss him." Dick reminded them. Guilt had eaten at him when Jason returned Red Robin's suit and everything to them. He had failed his little brother.

"Indeed." Damian, after Jon, pointed out how he talked and treated Tim had been wrong, had come to realize that both he and Tim were loved and wanted. He needed to make amends for his past treatment of Tim.

+*****+

"Wow, you guys look amazing." Tim praised as he caught sight of everyone's costumes. Raven looked amazing as Gamora and Gar looked like he was having a blast as Star-Lord. Bart was hopping around as Spiderman and Cassie looked amazing as Sailor Venus.

"Let's go," Jason growled as he stalked towards the entrance.

Linking hands with Conner Tim pulled him to follow after his older brother.

+****+

They had been there for about an hour when Conner got the text he was waiting for.

We are here.

Giving the signal to the others they followed Cass who would easily find her family.

"Look," Tim whispered to Conner as he walked behind his sister and friend.

Conner grinned as he spotted the link hands between Cass and Cassie and the faint blush on both of their cheeks.

"Hey Spiderman, looking good." Spider Gwen appeared out of nowhere, nudging Bart in the side.

Tim blinked he would know that voice anywhere. "Steph?" He had been so focused on being happy for Cass and Cassie that he hadn't been paying attention to the fact that he had been lead into a room.

Tugging off her hood Stephanie grinned at Tim, "Hey, ex-boyfriend long time no see."

It took Tim one glance around the room to see who else was there and his chest clenched. "What are you all doing here?"

Dick took a step towards Tim, "We are here for you Tim. To ask for a second chance to make things right with you. To prove that we love you, that you are part of our family. I know I haven't been the best brother to you and I want to fix that."

Bruce followed Dick and came to stand next to his oldest, "You are my son and I am sorry that I should have never made sure you knew that."

Jon nudged Damian who rolled his eyes as he followed his family, "I owe you an apology, Drake... Timothy. I was wrong in how I treated you and I wish to get to know you as my brother."

Dick gave Tim a a pleading look, "I love you, Tim, we all do will you give us a second chance?"

Tim had missed them all so much, yes they had hurt him deeply but he couldn't deny them that he missed them and wanted them back in his life. "Okay, I missed you all and I want my family back."

Dick moved and engulfed Tim in a tight hug. "I have missed you, little brother. And I'm not going to lose you again."

Tim clung to Dick, he had missed his hugs, "I missed you too big brother."

Jason rolled his eyes as he spotted Bruce's hands twitching, "Oh hug him already." Jason wasn't in the mood to watch him brood.

Tim and Dick were engulfed in Bruce's warmth as he hugged them to his chest.

Jon looked at Damian, "I am not hugging them." Damian informed his boyfriend.

A sweet smile appeared on Jon's face, "You're here that is a good start."

Once the hug broke Tim turned to face Conner, "Was this your idea?" He asked.

Conner grinned sheepishly, "It was a joint effort. We could see how much you missed them. You weren't whole without them and from what Stephanie and Barbra said they were even more miserable than you. Besides, I figured you would want your father to walk you down the aisle."

The room went silent as everyone stared at Conner.

Tim's eyes were wide, "Are you asking me to marry you?"

Conner fell down to one knee and pulled out the ring box he had been carrying around with him for a month, "Timothy Drake-Wayne since the moment I met you my life was changed for the better. I couldn't imagine my life without you. The day I met you was the day I met my soulmate and I want to spend the rest of our lives together and be able to call you my husband. So will you marry me?"

Tim lunged at Conner, wrapping his arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.

"I think that is a yes," Bart commented.

Bruce let out a distress noise that had Diana linking their hands together, "I think this is wonderful a union blessed by the Gods. Their souls have always been meant to be one." She whispered to Bruce who could only grunt.

Wally shook his head as Dick looked torn between happy that Tim was getting married or upset that his baby brother was getting married. "Conner is good for him and he will treat Tim the way he deserves to be treated." Wally did his best to comfort Dick.

"Don't worry I already gave Conner a long and very detailed list of what will happen to him should he hurt baby bird." Jason drawled out.

"What! You knew?" Dick whirled around and glared at his brother who just let out a crackle than a curse as Dick tackled him.

While chaos broke out behind them Tim broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Conner's, "The answer, by the way, is yes. Thank you for bringing my family back to me."

"Anything for you my space husband."

#timkon week #timkon #kon x tim #birdflash #wonderbat #jason x roy x kory #sherri writes #my ficlets

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manawhaat · 5 years

Text

Welcome to Womanhood

Title: Welcome to Womanhood

Characters: Steve x Reader, Tony, Sam, Wanda, Natasha, Bruce, Pepper.

Summary: When you’re faced with seeing a gynecologist, Steve and Tony don’t understand your hangups.

Prompt: No One Believes Them - for @star-spangled-bingo

Warnings: Angst, feelings of panic/fear/anger, brief mentions of past mental trauma, doctor’s offices, gynecologists/ gynecological descriptions, tmi, slight fluff, slight sexy vibes?

Word Count: 6k

A/N: Written for Star Spangled Bingo. This fic stems directly from personal history and experiences and it’s an overshare and super specific but writing it has helped me so fuck it. FYI, any dramatization or exaggeration of time in this fic are based on the exact wait times of my own gyno visit last month. Thank you @thelittleredwhocould for the beta and thank you to anyone who reads this 👍

“Ms. Y/l/n, Mr. Stark has an appointment for you today.”

“Does he, now? Cause I don’t remember having Dr. Stark and Banner in my calendar, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“This appointment was scheduled today.”

“Well how ever am I supposed to know if I have time for an appointment if it’s scheduled at the last minute?” you tease, voice all sing-song and high pitched. Steve and Sam smirk at your back and forth from the kitchen island.

Before the program can respond Tony rounds the corner with Wanda and Nat on his tail, knocking on the counter top to get your attention.

“Speak of the devil.” Sam winks in your direction and your mouth draws into smile.

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Tony snarks at Sam. “Anyway, I’m gonna need to steal you away for a bit, Y/n. Doc’s waiting.”

“What kind of doctor am I seeing today, Anthony? I thought you and Bruce were gonna do all of our check ups, and last time I checked, you were done with me.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think Cap, here, would want me or Banner up close and personal with your fun bits, even with all of my-” he clears his throat and paints on a cocky grin- “experience in the field. So I’ve brought in one of the best. Pepper’s doctor already did those two-” he waves a finger at Nat and Wanda at the other side of the island with Steve and Sam- “so we’re just waiting on you.”

A pit forms in your stomach and a lump fills your throat. “A- a gynecologist?”

“Yeah, last stop on the Health Express. Now, all aboard,” Tony jokes, completely amused by himself as he fake toots a train horn, oblivious to the panic in your eyes.

“No.”

Steve’s eyes lift from his notebook at your answer. The moment he takes in your stance, defensive and scared, he knows something is wrong.

“Oh, come on. You’ve sat there for every test we’ve done. Don’t get doctor shy on me, now. He’s great, right girls?” He claps his hands and opens them to the women behind Sam.

Wanda nods. “Very gentle.”

“Probably the best I’ve ever seen,” Natasha agrees.

“See? He’s stellar, so let’s go and we’ll get it over with and have you back here in a jiffy.”

Your head shakes back and forth in disbelief. “This can’t be happening.” It’s a whisper that no one hears and when Tony reaches for your wrist you snap and lose any semblance of cool you’d been holding onto. “Don’t fucking touch me!” The tone of your voice and fire in your eyes is enough for the guys to stand from their chairs as the girls look on with concerned eyes.

“Easy, tiger,” Tony coos, hands up in surrender.

“How dare you, Tony?”

Tired of your ‘outburst’, he deadpans, “It’s just a check up, Y/n.”

“How could you just decide this for me? Without even asking me or giving me time to-”

“Y/n, sweetheart,” Steve coos, walking around the island to de-escalate the situation.

“This is my body. Not yours. Goddammit! You have absolutely no right to grant anyone access to my body, to something so intimate,” you rage, torn apart with anger that Tony could make you feel so violated.

“Y/n, hey, look at me.”

When Steve is shoulder to shoulder with Tony, you freeze. As comforting as your boyfriend usually is, he’s too big and he’s caging you in, only adding to the fear filling you to the brim. It’s a defense mechanism, but your fists curl at your sides as he slowly approaches.

“Stop,” you plead, eyes dangerously close to spilling tears.

He does, and before anyone can blink a red hue fills their eyes. The posture they’d adopted to make themselves look smaller fades away and they turn to walk out of the room. Eyes darting from person to person, you find Wanda with energy flowing from her fingertips, mercifully removing them from the situation long enough for you to dart out of the room with Sam on your heels.

Sam calls after you, a gentle hand wrapping around your upper arm. “Hey, hey, hold up. Are you okay?”

“I- fuck!”

His hands wrap around your shoulders, his soft, concerned eyes anchoring you as he takes a breath that you mimic. “It’s okay. It’s just me. Do you want me to take you somewhere for a while?” he asks, knowing you need something but not quite knowing what exactly that is.

“Sam, I know you wanna help, but I can’t, okay. Maybe later, but for now, please just let me go,” you ask, shaking in his hold. He instantly takes a step back and raises his hands for you to leave, shooting you a small nod at the silent ‘thank you’ in your eyes.

Wanda and Natasha find you on the rooftop, face buried in your knees where you sit curled up in one of the plush deck chairs set out for sunbathing. The two take seats on either side of you, offering comfort that only another woman can provide.

Nat breaks the silence. “You okay?”

A wave of uneasiness fills you but slowly subsides into a feeling closer to guilt. “Uhm, I don’t know. But I’m sorry for all of that. And thank you for what you did, Wanda.”

“I saw what they couldn’t, so I’m happy I did the right thing.”

“When did Tony tell you guys about this?”

“About a week ago?” Wanda nods in agreement with Nat.

“We thought you knew about the exam today but apparently you didn’t. It took you by surprise and you showed that but you don’t need to apologize for that feeling,” Wanda explains.

Head falling, your eyes scrunch closed. “I know, I just, I feel like I freaked them out.”

“To be fair, Tony freaked you out first. Sooo….” Natasha smiles a little when you accept her words. “So, do you wanna talk about it?”

A heavy sigh leaves you and you sit up straight between them, fingers fiddling in your lap.

“I know that it’s just part of my health, but having someone down there-” you shudder- “inside of me, when they aren’t there for consensual romantic reasons….I just- it’s a hurdle I can’t get over. My body, my sexuality, it's always been something I was raised to keep hidden. I get that my parents were trying to protect me, but they drilled it into me so deep in such an unhealthy way. ‘No boys, no romance, don’t even talk to boys. No sex until you’re married. Your body is yours and is NEVER to be shared with another person unless you’re married.’ And then one day my childhood doctor physically unbuttoned and unzipped my pants while I was laying there on his exam table. I freaked out.”

“Naturally,” Nat chimes.

“Naturally. I didn't let him do the exam so we left and my mom yelled at me the whole way home for not letting him look. Like, how the fuck can you tell someone their entire life not to share their body and then one day just say 'open your legs and let him see.’ and expect them to be okay? It’s so- I don’t know- personal? But it’s not personal the way it is with me and Steve, and that’s the only way my brain can process anyone down there. So the only thing left for me to label it as is invasive. No matter how much time I have I can never fully prepare for it, and the thought of Tony overseeing something so….so wrong,” you squeak, “God, it makes me want to vomit.”

“Hey.” Natasha’s voice has you lifting your chin to meet her eyes. “It’s not wrong. There’s nothing wrong with gynecologists. Tony is, well, Tony- and it was kind of a dick move of him to thrust that on you. But you do need to see someone.”

Eyes narrowing in her direction, even she can see you starting to crack. “Why are you always fucking right?”

“Me? Right? Is that even possible?” she grins sarcastically.

“So you’ll see someone?” Wanda asks.

A grimace paints your face, but you nod. “Yeah. I know I have to, and at least if I set it up myself then I can be in control of it.”

“Good. And we’ll be here as long as you need us,” Nat smiles, wrapping her arm around you as Wanda hugs you from the other side.

Sandwiched between them, you sniff and let out a laugh. “Thank you.”

An hour later the three of you are just getting up to go back downstairs, find some ice cream, and watch chick flicks when a tall figure looms into view. Your back straightens, but the look in his eyes allows you to deflate.

Flashing a smile to Nat, she and Wanda leave you alone with Steve.

“Hey.”

You step into his space, reaching out for his hand. “Hey,” you sigh, playing with his fingers.

“I- I’m sorry for making things worse. Tony asked me this morning if you were available today and I told him you were. I figured he or Bruce or F.R.I.D.A.Y. would fill you in on the appointment.”

Dropping his hand, you take a step back. “You knew?” Venom laces into your voice and he stands straight. “You knew and you just volunteered me for that?”

“I’m sorry, Y/n.”

“You and Tony ambushed me, Steve. What the fuck!”

Pushing past him, he groans and follows you. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

“Yeah, you sure as hell didn’t think, Steve.”

“Hey.” His voice is firm and all too Captain Rogers, but you stop anyway, turning on your heels to glare up at him. Broad shoulders are set high and those blue eyes are piercing.

“It’s just another doctor’s appointment. Ever since Pepper started riding Tony about his health we’ve all been going through it. I don’t understand what the issue is, Y/n.”

“Of course you fucking don’t,” you puff, completely defeated and unable to believe that this is your Steve standing in front of you. “A complete stranger opening me up and prodding around inside of me-” you shove at his chest- “physically feeling the most intimate part of me while I’m laying there on a cold, hard table, forced to just sit there and let it happen for the sake of my health….” Tears finally spill from your eyes and your voice wavers as you continue. “That is not ‘just another doctor’s appointment’, Steve. It feels like molestation, and I can’t believe you would knowingly volunteer me for that.”

Broken voice, spirit, and heart, you walk away before he can say another word. You thank high heaven when he doesn’t chase after you, and you find Natasha and Wanda again, bunking down in Nat’s room for the night.

Things between you and Steve are awkward and tense for the first time in years. You’re both at odds and as much as it hurts to not be with him like normal, it hurts more knowing that he was part of what caused it.

Natasha is kind enough to share her room with you for a few days and when you start to overstay your welcome your room feels like a prison cell. The bed you share is too small, but Steve mercifully keeps his distance. It’s a rough couple of weeks before you find a doctor that you can talk to over the phone and after discussing your concerns and listening with an open heart she sets you up with an appointment.

When you tell Steve it settles some of the tension between you. He just wants you healthy and your hang ups aren’t something he can understand or relate to -even when you open up to him and tell him everything. He’s usually so empathetic and understanding, but for some reason there’s just a disconnect that he can’t bridge. He wants to understand. He wants to believe you, but he just can’t help but feel like you’re being dramatic and overly sensitive to it, so he keeps his distance on the subject. As long as you’re taking care of yourself he won’t push it.

Between missions popping up and your irregular periods reigning down endless sabotage you end up scheduling and cancelling four different appointments. The waiting game is inconvenient, stressful, and has more and more anxiety settling in your gut. It’s a shift in you that Steve easily notices and is a little surprised by, but your fifth attempt appointment date finally arrives without a hitch.

The two of you leave Stark Tower with dark shades and hats on, just in case. The subway is dark and all too bright at the same time, everything about the strangers caging you in as you reach your final destination making you almost nauseated with worry. The office is nice but still smells like old paper and hand sanitizer, and Steve sits with you as you fill out the forms that seem to never end.

“I didn’t think there would be so many questions,” he says, flipping the already filled out pages through his fingers. “You’ve been here for almost an hour just filling out forms… do they really need to know all of this if they’re looking at just one part of you.”

“Welcome to Womanhood, Captain.” The sarcasm doesn’t erase your distress, it barely hides it.

When you’re finally called back by the nurse Steve follows behind you. She puts up a feeble hand before her eyes scan his face. Pink crawls over her cheeks as she steps aside, giddy and half-focused as she takes your height and weight.

Steve stands there with your purse and shoes in his hand, a polite smile on his face as she composes herself and leads you both to the examination room.

Her words are simple. “The provider will be in soon.” And when the door shuts behind her, silence fills the already uncomfortable room.

Ten minutes pass before a different nurse comes in to take your vitals and ask a series of questions that weren’t on any of the forms you’d filled out. She seems to be completely oblivious to who you and Steve are and explains what they’ll be doing during this visit before setting out the instruments needed on a sterile cloth on the counter top.

“Go ahead and undress completely. This is the top, to be worn like a vest, and this is a sheet for the bottom,” she explains, holding the flimsy items up for display. “The provider will be in as soon as she can.” The door clicks behind her and you let out a huff.

“Why do they keep calling the doctor ‘the provider’?” Steve asks as you start undressing and handing him each item of clothing to fold into his lap.

“It’s supposed to be more removed and less personal than ‘doctor’ so you don’t feel like you’re being touched intimately, I guess.”

“I get the idea, but ‘provider’ sounds worse. Like you’re being probed.”

“Welcome to Womanhood, Captain,” you sneer with a fake salute that has Steve stiffening in his seat.

The sound of crinkly paper fills the room as you wrap the gown pieces across your body and try to find a way to secure them so you don’t have to actively hold them shut.

Steve smirks. “Nice outfit.”

You do a few model poses and spin around for him. “Oh, thanks. Wanna try it on?” The fake smile on your face turns to a real one at the way he chuckles.

Minutes that seem like hours pass at an agonizing pace, the build up and anticipation only making you more of a nervous wreck. The exam table beneath you is too firm and uncomfortable, so with a huff you jump off and Steve moves your clothes and purse to the counter so you can sit in the chair beside him.

The room is cold and quiet aside from your deep breaths and the hum of the fluorescent lights. Steve is at a loss for words, but he tries to comfort you. It doesn’t work. Every shift you make is loud, and soon the temperature of the room clings to your skin and worms past the paper dress you’re in. His arm wraps around you in an attempt to keep you warm, but it rips the fabric along your shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” he spits out the second he realizes what’s happened.

A long sigh turns into grumbling as you get up and start digging through the drawer the nurse had opened earlier. He wants to help, to comfort you, but he can’t. Steve isn’t used to feeling helpless, so he stands and paces back and forth when you take your seat on the exam table, again.

A knock on the door has you perking up, and the nurse from before enters the room. “So, the provider is going to need a urine sample,” she says, holding up the plastic cup and alcohol wipe. “You can get dressed and use the restroom two doors down, and when you come back in I’ll have you get undressed and into a new gown.”

Your eyes roll but Steve jumps in, polite as ever as the nurse turns to leave the room. “Thank you.”

He hands you your clothes and when you come back from the restroom, pee cup in tow, the room is even colder than it was before.

“Jesus Christ, it’s freezing in here,” you shiver.

“I actually asked a nurse about it while you were gone. She said she’d try to fix it. I’d try to keep you warm, but-”

“Yeah, apparently Cap beats Paper,” you smirk, the mood light for a moment while you undress and re-robe.

Time passes like molasses. You’re looking at the purple hue under your fingernails when you finally ask, “What time is it?”

His brows knit together as he looks at his watch. “Holy shit. It’s almost three.”

“Language, Captain,” you smirk, all too unamused with this entire ordeal.

“We’ve been here for almost three hours. Why does this take so long?” he asks, voice quiet but appalled as he examines the tools set out on the counter.

“Gotta set the mood,” you laugh humorlessly, flopping back onto the table, not even caring about modesty or comfort anymore. Before you can speak, Steve takes the words right out of your mouth.

“This is exhausting.”

A breathy laugh leaves your mouth and another half hour passes before a knock on the door has you sitting up with a groan.

“Hello, Y/n,” the doctor smiles and extends her hand. “I’m Dr. Nakalah.”

Shaking her hand, you nod. “Nice to meet you. And thank you for speaking with me over the phone. Like I said, this is-” the words sit heavy on your tongue and your eyes begin to glass.

“It’s alright. Women’s health is a very personal thing and I want you to feel as comfortable as possible.” Her kindness and honesty warms your heart and she gives you a moment while she turns to Steve.

He stands and offers his hand, voice deep and soothing. It’s for you, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. “Steve Rogers- Y/n’s boyfriend.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Steve. Thank you for coming with Y/n today. These things can feel invasive and be a bit overwhelming, so it’s always nice to see partners supporting each other.”

Pepper’s doctor might be one of the best but you’re happy you went with Dr. Nakalah. She’s human.

“So, Y/n, we’re going to do a Well Woman Exam today. That includes a breast exam, pap smear, and pelvic exam. In a minute I’ll have my medical assistants step in to help me with the exam and record the data.”

Her eyes flit to Steve and you clear your throat. “Um, can he stay in during the exam?”

“We don’t usually allow anyone else in the room, but with what we discussed, if you would feel more comfortable with him here, then yes, he can stay. If not, there’s a separate waiting room just around the corner.”

Steve hides his smile when you say, “I’ll have him stay.”

Two gentle knocks on the door prompt Dr. Nakalah to stand, the two nurses from before entering the room with polite smiles. The one with the laptop stands by the door as the other goes to the counter, ready to help the doctor with the exam.

“Ready?” Dr. Nakalah asks.

Your brows scrunch together and you half laugh out the words, “Hell no.” Steve goes rigid, but your smile breaks the tension and has all of the women in the room chuckling. A begrudging groan fills the room and you nod to the doctor, her voice calm as she begins.

“Like we talked about on the phone, I’ll talk you through everything we’re doing. Go ahead and lay back, then lift your arm over your head.” Nodding, you do as she says. The paper crinkles as you move it aside and her hands are gentle as she starts applying pressure to your breast. “We’re gonna feel around for any lumps or differences in breast tissue. You can do this at home routinely, and if you notice anything contact us and schedule and exam immediately.”

Your head turns and you catch Steve’s eyes. They’re filled with concern, but this isn’t the part you have any trouble with. ‘I’m good’ you mouth, and his shoulders lower a little.

She examines each breast and nods down at you. “Ok, everything felt normal. We’re going to go into the pap, now. Please put your feet into the stirrups and scoot to the edge of the table. Your butt should be almost off the edge of it.”

A hard lump forms in your throat but you do as she asks. Your thighs are still shut tight and the thought of having to expose yourself so fully has you sucking in a ragged breath. The doctor waits patiently, giving you the time to do it yourself. At the edge of the table, you mentally prepare yourself and let your knees fall open a bit, your neck straining a bit to look at the doctor.

“Is that far enough?” you ask.

“Just a little more,” she instructs, asking you to scoot closer and open your legs more. “Ok, good.”

When you look again, Steve has stood and is off to the side of the doctor, wanting to watch the process that plagues you so painfully. The line of his jaw is set tight and his eyes are laser focused when the assistant behind her clicks open the cap and lubes the speculum, handing it to your doctor and grabbing the swabs.

“Alright, I’m going to insert the speculum and open it up, then we’ll get a swab of your cervix. Try to relax and take deep breaths for me.”

As she moves the tool toward you, you decide you can’t watch. Your head thunks against the padded table as you heave in a breath, trying to control it as the speculum tip is pressed against your lips. There’s a little bit of resistance, and you open your legs further before it starts sliding in. Wrenching your eyes closed and curling your fists into the thin paper, the plastic stops, caught on your labia.

“Just gonna push this in a little more,” she says, and then there’s a bit of weight behind her hand where it is pushed in as far as it needs to be.

“I’m gonna open this up and do a couple of swabs. You’ll feel some little pressure, here, Y/n,” she warns.” The speculum opens, and the pressure isn’t too bad. It’s definitely not comfortable, but you aren’t in pain, so you risk a glance.

The look on Steve’s face is one you’ve never seen before. It’s a mixture of shock, mortification, guilt, worry, and fear.

Dr. Nakalah takes the swabs from her assistant and meets your eyes, shooting you an encouraging and comforting nod. The discomfort is temporary and before you have time to overthink and panic, she’s speaking again. “Done with that, just going to remove this.”

It’s an odd feeling that sends a shiver crawling up your spine and fluttering in your gut as the plastic slips out of you. As exposed as you still are, it’s much better than the vulnerability of being splayed open in front of everyone.

“Alright. Doing great. For the pelvic exam I’m going to place a finger inside and press down on your lower abdomen and pelvic area to feel for any irregularities and check your ovaries. Keep breathing, nice and even, okay?”

“Okay,” you nod, watching as she stands from her stool. The assistant places lube on Dr. Nakalah’s gloved finger and then she’s standing between your legs. One hand placed atop your pelvis, her finger pushes into you, the hand on your pelvis applying pressure as she feels for any abnormalities. “Alright, and we’re done,” she says, easing her finger out of you and stepping back.

Steve comes to your side, left a little dazed by what he saw, but he helps you to sit up as your feet drop slowly out of the stirrups. His hands are warm on your back and you pull the sheet back over your lap while the nurses and doctor collect the samples and remove their gloves. “Okay, Y/n, you can get dressed and one of the nurses will be back in a few minutes to schedule your follow up. We’ll give you a call when your results are back, and if you have any questions or would like to talk about the visit today please feel free to call any time.”

“Thank you so much.”

She shakes your hand again, eyes kind and warm, then shakes Steve’s hand and leaves. When it’s just the two of you in the room again, Steve’s deep voice is in your hairline. “You did great, sweetheart.”

Eyes shut, you’re able to let out the shudder that had sunk into your bones, a noise coming from your mouth as you let it go and shake your hands and head to get it out. Your posture deflates while you simply sit for a second and calm your racing heart. When you shift to stand, the excess lube slips through your labia and you wince, turning to your boyfriend.

“Can you, um, can you turn around for a minute?” He seems a little puzzled, but complies with your request.

Hopping off the table, you use the sheet you were wrapped in to wipe between your legs, then crinkle it up into a ball. There’s still lube down there, so you find the tissues on the counter and use a few to wipe away and scoop out what’s left from the exam. Steve is still facing the wall and when you pull the tissue away there’s a mixture of lube and blood. A flicker of fear ignites in your chest and you wipe a couple more times until the blood and lube are gone.

Tossing the paper and pulling on your clothes warmth seeps back into your skin and you let out a small, happy sigh when you’re fully dressed again.

“Ok, you can turn around, now.” He does, and you smile at him from the sink. “Thank you.”

You can’t wash your hands fast enough and you don’t even bother to dry them before crashing yourself into his chest. A hum vibrates against your cheek and his thick arms wrap around you, holding you tight.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t believe you. I didn’t think this was a big deal and I hate that I hurt you. I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like to be on your side of that, but I have a better understanding of what this means to you, now, and I’m so proud of you for staying as calm as you did while you went through that.”

Tears cloud your eyes and you simply bury yourself deeper in his chest, happy that you have your Steve back. He exudes tranquility and you bask in it, evening your breathing to match his beating heart, not pulling away from his hold until the nurse is knocking on the door again. She sets a follow up for you and asks if you have any questions.

“Um, yeah. Uhh, when I cleaned up the lube there was-” you clear your throat- “I was bleeding…”

Steve’s eyes shoot open wide as the nurse nods. “Some bleeding or spotting and cramping can be normal after a pap. If it’s excessive then you’ll need to come back in or go to an emergency room, but it’s usually just the day of or the day after,” she explains, and your unease is sated.

You nod and smile. “Oh, ok, perfect. It freaked me out and I just wanted to check.”

“Yeah, it should be fine. Just monitor it. And here’s your next appointment for follow up.” She hands you an appointment card. “Dr. Nakalah’s number is on there, as well, so you can call the office or call her directly if you need to cancel, reschedule, or have any more questions. Thank you, and have a great rest of your day.”

“Thank you,” you and Steve chime in unison, smiles on all of your faces as she leaves.

When the two of you exit the building, the sky outside is gold and orange and pink with blue bits starting to fade in. The air is a little cooler on your skin and your hand finds Steve’s out of instinct. He sighs- full chested, tongue swiping quickly over his lips with squinted eyes.

When he looks down at you a residual shiver runs up your spine and he pulls you into his side. Breathing him in, his scent and warmth soothe you. With your feet moving together, slowly, but in sync, he hums, voice a little more timid than before.

“I’m sorry, again, Y/n. For all of it.”

“Thank you for coming with me; for seeing for yourself.”

Steve stops you, those oceanic eyes making you melt into him. He drops his mouth, lets the space between you linger. Then, he closes in with a weight behind his actions, fingertips slipping up into your hairline as he holds you there to make sure he’s getting it all right.

It’s the first time you’ve kissed in almost a month. It’s filled with apologies and love, one kiss to make up for all the time he didn’t spend kissing you. The sounds of the street fade away and in the middle of a busy world it’s just the you and your Steve- mouth to mouth, heart to heart.

The rest of the way home you keep yourself pressed up against his side, shuddering at random until you’re in the safety of your room again. Undressing each other slowly and kissing with no destination in mind, Steve leaves your needy lips to run a bath and when the water’s warm and the enormous tub is full, he pulls you into it, your chest pressed against his as he hums an old song into your hair.

“Ya know, if anything can make me forgive Tony, it’s this bathtub.”

Laughter echoes off the bathroom walls and Steve nods down at you, asking, “Will you talk to him?”

There’s an attempt to mask your pain, but he sees past it. You shrug. “Probably not.”

Steve lets out a sigh and you know he’s a little disappointed with that answer.

Knocking on the bathroom door has you both at attention and Steve going to get up from the tub when Tony’s voice filters in from the other side. “Y/n, you in there?”

Steve’s voice is teeming with intrigue and his eyebrow quirks up when he sinks back down into the hot water. “Speak of the devil.”

“Yeah, Tony. What’s up?” Your eyes roll and Steve shoots you a look that says, ‘give him a chance’, so you pull a face but listen when Tony starts talking.

“Ah, yeah, so I just wanted to say sorry for the whole, well, you know. And, uhh, I’m sorry if you felt like- ow.” Tony stops and the two of you look at each other, puzzled for a moment before the muttering on the other side of the door and an audible smack reach your ears.

“Start over right now, Tony,” Pepper demands in a harsh whisper.

Ear-to-ear smiles bloom on your faces when you and Steve lock eyes and Tony starts over again. “I’m sorry for not realizing that surprising you with a gynecologist isn’t a good surprise.”

“Jesus Christ,” Pepper hisses, making you and Steve suppress your laughter.

“And it was wrong of me to assume that would be okay?” He stops for a beat and you can practically see him on the other side of the door looking at Pepper to see if his words are the ones she wants him to say. “Yes. I shouldn’t have done that to you, aaaand-”

“It won’t happen again.” Pepper whispers.

“It won’t happen again.” Tony declares.

Silence fills the room and when nothing else comes from his end, Steve wraps his hand around yours. “Well?”

“With an apology like that?”

Steve shrugs and you half laugh, half sigh before calling out, “Thank you, Pepper.”

“Excuse me?!”

“You’re welcome, Y/n,” she replies.

“Um, no, sorry, Pepper isn’t here right now.”

“We left a few gifts on the bed for you. And sorry again, sweetheart,” she says through the door. Tony keeps rambling but the sound soon fades as she drags him out of your room.

Steve chuckles deep and pulls you back to his chest, strong arms wrapping around you so he can whisper in your ear. “Better?”

Steve won’t doubt you again, and even with Pepper coaching Tony through his apology, you can tell that he knows he was wrong. The two of them can’t erase what they did, but it sure as hell won’t happen again.

“Y/n?” Steve asks, blue eyes looking at you like you’re all that’s good in the world.

Warmth fills your heart and you nod your head. “Better.”

When the water is only mildly warm and your fingers are pruney Steve pulls you out of the tub and wraps you in a plush, warm towel. True to Pepper’s words, a spread of gifts is laid out at the foot of your bed.

“Champagne, chocolate, flowers?” Steve turns to you with a sly grin. “Looks like Tony’s done his fair share of apologizing to women.”

You laugh and Steve plucks a note from the flowers, handing it to you while he clears the bed.

‘I messed up and you deserved better than what I gave you. Sorry, Kid.’

It’s somehow exactly what you need to hear from him.

A pop startles you but you smile when Steve offers you a glass of champagne and puts on some music. Champagne kisses are shared while the two of you sway to the music in just your towels and when your glasses are empty you get comfy for bed.

When Steve’s blue crystals turn into bedroom eyes you crawl up the bed and into his open arms. Fitting yourself perfectly in his hold, he wraps you up in a powerful kiss that makes you forgive and forget all the hell he’d put you through.

He has just one thing on his mind, and he’s only just getting started making it up to you.

Tags for my marvel list and for everyone who said they’d be interested in reading this. Thanks guys :)

@sebbytrash @becs-bunker @curlyblondexoxo @ellen-reincarnated1967 @plaidstiel-wormstache @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @the-nonsenseblog @ilovefanfic86 @missnighttigress @feelmyroarrrr @abeautifulandterriblemind @thelilbutifulthings @gryffindorable713 @shannon124 @disney-fire-fox

#star-spangled-bingo #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers #marvel fanfic #steve rogers angst #marvel angst

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blancheludis · 5 years

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Tagging: @tokky231

Fandom: Marvel, Avengers Characters: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers, James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, Bruce Barton, Steve Rogers Chapters: 13/?, Words: 72.592

Summary: Tony meets his soulmate under the worst possible circumstances. It is not just a kidnapping gone wrong. It turns out Steve and his gang picked him on purpose and they want some personal revenge. If only he had managed to say the words written on his soulmate’s arm before they threw him back out into the streets.

---

It turns out that Pepper has already been notified of what happened. Tony is too tired to ask whether it was JARVIS or Happy or someone at the hospital. He is just glad that he does not have to come home to an empty penthouse where he would have to be alone with his thoughts.

Pepper is pacing when the elevator doors open to let Tony out. When she looks up and recognizes him, relief spreads from her in waves. For a moment, they simply muster each other, looking for wounds or obvious signs of distress. Tony does not like that Pepper is here instead of safe at home but the sight of her has a feeling of warmth settle around his shoulders.

Time starts moving again, and Pepper hurries towards him like she needs to touch him to makes sure he is real.

“Tony,” she says, and the world already feels much kinder with her looking out for him. “Are you all right?”

A grimace spreads on Tony’s face, which might be what stops Pepper from pulling him into a hug. He wants to be disappointed but shrugs it off. She is here, that has to be enough.

“I’m – no,” he admits. He thinks he has never been less all right. “But I’ll be fine.”

That is what he does, going forward no matter what happens. Putting on a smile and making sure nobody sees him break. That might be the best and hardest lesson Howard taught him.

“How could this happen?” Pepper asks, taking on an urgency that has Tony wincing. It is his fault, after all. He could have stopped this from happening, could have kept Happy safe. “I’m sorry.”

Shaking his head, Tony pulls his shoulders back, standing up as straight as he can. “It’s all right,” he says, his firm tone making up for what he lacks in conviction.

“Tony, it’s not –” Pepper interrupts herself, likely realizing how little words will help at this point.

She finally steps forwards and simply pulls Tony into her arms, standing strong where he sags slightly into her warmth. The world does not seem as harsh when he has someone else helping to hold him up. He has not even noticed that he does not feel safe in his own skin before.

Tony has the best of friends. Pepper, who puts up with all of his shenanigans, his unreliability, his inability to stick to his friends. Rhodey, who has kept him sane and whole since MIT. Happy, who did not have to adopt the maniac billionaire hiring him on a whim.

They are his family. More so than Obadiah. The betrayal still hurts, but he is not alone, does not have to deal with this on his own.

They stay like this for some minutes until Tony feels like he can hold himself together on his own again. When they part, Pepper squeezes his shoulder in an unspoken promise of being there for him whenever he needs her.

Tony feels like he can breathe much easier again. There is still something he has to deal with, though.

“JARVIS,” he asks as they walk off towards the living room. “Where is Obie?” He keeps his voice strong, fights the urge to leave this problem for the next morning.

“He is not currently in the tower,” JARVIS answers. He sounds disappointed as much as angry, as if he would have liked nothing more than to test just how far the in-built security measures in the tower would allow him to go. “He left a few minutes after you.”

Perhaps Obadiah was not so sure his plan would succeed then, or he was smart enough to realize he needed to get out of the way of Pepper and JARVIS until Tony was dealt with and he could take over.

“He’s gone,” Pepper adds, looking like she has overturned every desk in the tower as if Obadiah is the kind to hide underneath them. “I’ve asked his assistant but he doesn’t know anything.”

Tony squashes the instant relief blossoming in his chest. He does not want to come face to face with his godfather no matter that he has to at some point.

“Take a look at his schedule,” Tony orders, although he is sure that will not reveal anything. Obadiah has not left the tower on official business, he is running away.

“Nothing in there, sir,” JARVIS says.

Standing in the middle of the living room, Tony is torn between wanting to lie down and to storm off and do – something. He could go through Obadiah’s office himself, could work out what allies he has and who he would likely depend on to disappear. There has to be something he can find and use.

The solution might be even simpler than that. Tony nods, ready to throw himself headfirst into disaster, and says, “I should probably call him.”

Absolute silence falls for a short minute, in which Tony is convinced this is the way forward. Obadiah is too proud, too used to being in control to not pick up if Tony were to call him, especially since he is supposed to be dead or captured right now. It will be a painful conversation, but one that can help them if Tony plays his cards right.

He should have known that blurting out this idea within earshot of Pepper would not end well.

“Or you can do the sensible thing,” she snaps turning on him as if she is prepared to physically hold him back, “and hand your evidence over so the police can do their work.”

“He was willing to spend five million to have me killed,” Tony says, although he is already faltering.

Pepper is right. Going after Obadiah will just make things worse. Obadiah probably counts on Tony being stupid. They have known each other long enough that Obadiah is aware of all of Tony’s weaknesses. He has nurtured them, too, all these years.

“One more reason to stay out of the way,” Pepper says, reaching out to put a hand on his arm. Her touch is light, even though she looks like she would want to dig her fingers in to keep him in place. “You should - You’re not going to do anything stupid?”

Tony almost laughs. When has he ever not done something stupid? “I promise,” he says nonetheless. “I just need to find out where Obie might have gone. I’ll stay safe, I won’t go after him.”

Pepper does not believe him, but Tony does not quite believe himself either. Within a matter of days, everything has changed. Tony’s trust has been shaken, his worldview has been upended. He needs to figure out how to go on from here, even though he barely manages to stay on his feet, much less take the first step.

Tony ushers Pepper out not long after that. He makes sure someone accompanies her home and stands guard outside her apartment. While he does not want to think that Obadiah would target his friends, he will not take any chances either. He has underestimated his godfather for long enough.

---

Alone in his bedroom, Tony does not think he can sleep. He reaches for his phone, half-expecting to find a dozen missed calls and messages from Steve. Instead, there is just one.

Please tell me when you made it home.

Considering their history, this is almost dismissive, and Tony does not believe for one second that Steve is calm about what happened. For one, Tony’s arm is burning with an intensity that has nothing to do with the lingering effects of the crash. He also knows Steve a bit by now, can almost feel him pacing in their base, agonizing over every minute of silence.

It is not Tony’s job to reassure a mob boss, whether he is his soulmate or not, but he finds himself pulling up Steve’s contact nonetheless. He tells himself it does not mean anything, that this is more the bond’s doing than his own choice. Things will not go smoothly, and Steve is not entirely an ally, but Tony feels he does not have to pretend with him, if only because Steve has already seen him at his lowest.

Steve picks up before the first ring is over and that, in itself, is a relief.

“How are you?” Steve asks, sounding breathless. “Are you hurt?”

Natasha surely reported everything to him already, so he should know that Tony is all right. Physically at least.

“I’m fine,” Tony says, aiming for a dismissive tone but it falls flat.

Now that he is talking to Steve, it does not seem like such a good idea anymore. They are constantly moving in circles while Tony wants to leave all of this behind. Weapons and traitorous godfathers and soulmates he cannot trust. He is stuck, though.

“Natasha says your driver was hurt?” Steve continues hurriedly. “Is he –”

“Also fine,” Tony replies, feeling slightly mollified that Steve would think of Happy too. This way, it seems like this is not just about them being involuntary soulmates. Everything’s –”

“Not fine,” Steve finishes for him when Tony trails off, and Tony does not correct him. “Someone tried to kill you.”

There it is again, put so bluntly. Steve does not manage it in as calm a tone as Natasha did, however. The traces of panic in his voice coalesce into something almost physical. Like Steve is as pained by the fact that someone actually went after Tony as Tony is by the revelation that his godfather is not holding back anymore.

“Well, they didn’t,” Tony says. His voice sounds strange. Still miffed that Steve had him followed, and stricken that it was needed. “You made sure of that.”

Steve hesitates for a minute, growing quiet enough that Tony fears he might have hung up. Then, though, he exhales loudly and Tony is not sure why is relieved at that.

“I hope you don’t expect me to apologize for that,” Steve says but sounds cautious.

Tony does not, but this is still easier to concentrate on than the memory of their car spinning out of control and Obadiah’s voice calling this is not over in the back of his mind.

“Tell me, did you send Barnes after me too?” Tony asks, his tone sharp although he wants to stumble over the name. “And Barton? Because I’d feel so very protected if you did.”

His sarcasm echoes, even while he remembers staring into the darkness of the street, wondering who else was lurking there, friend or foe.

He is not sure what to think about Barnes and Barton. He is afraid of their fists and their anger, and that their policy appears to consist of punch first, ask later. When Natasha offered to kill Obadiah, Tony’s first instinct had been to say yes, picturing Obadiah being taken down, wishing to get a hit in too for all these years of lies. Does that not mean he is just as bad as Steve and his friends?

What if Happy had died in that car? What if Obadiah had touched Pepper? What if his weapons had torn down Tony’s home and family, and he had years to nurse that grief into anger?

The part of Tony that is not curling up in pain still wants to take down Obadiah. He wants to ruin his name, destroy his life, make sure he will never get back any kind of standing where he can hurt others. That is just another scale of beating someone up. That Obadiah is actually guilty of these crimes does not make it more justified.

“Bucky wants to apologize,” Steve says, pulling Tony back to the present.

The abrupt change of topic renders Tony speechless. At least that is what he tells himself so he does not have to admit that Steve’s sheer audacity to bring this up now has him reeling.

“Not going to happen,” Tony says shortly, secretly relishing the way this has his anger flickering back to life. He is sure Steve did not plan for that, but it pushes Tony out of the pitiable whirlwind of coping with Obadiah’s actions.

“He’s –” Steve tries to explain himself, but Tony is not ready for that. Especially since he has just thought that Barnes and Barton’s reaction was not that incomprehensible.

“Drop it, Steve.” Tony wonders why he thought it would be a good idea to call Steve. He does not want to argue, yet that is all they ever do. He is not in the mood for forgiveness either.

Perhaps Steve feels Tony’s current susceptibility, or he is simply too stubborn to give up, but he naturally does not drop the topic. “I’m not saying this because he is my best friend or because I expect you to fall into each other’s arms –”

“How generous of you,” Tony drawls, and feels a little bit more alive again at least. The worst thing that can happen to him now is apathy.

“But he’s a good person, and it eats him up that he hurt you like that,” Steve continues, sounding desperate enough that Tony believes him. “He just wants to tell you that.”

Tony can imagine how that conversation would go. He would clam up, pull up his masks, and destroy whatever goodwill he gathered with the Avengers with a few pointed remarks. That is if he even wanted to play nice with them instead of keeping as much distance between them as possible.

Keeping these thoughts to himself, Tony asks, “What? Because you’ve got evidence now that I wasn’t the bad guy?”

He does not need to see Steve to know he is frowning in that way where he is not pleased with where the conversation is going while not knowing how to redirect it.

“He’s been the first of us to see sense, except for Bruce,” Steve argues. He even remains calm about it. “He’s been hurt before, badly, and it didn’t matter whether you were guilty or not, he regrets that night more than anything else.”

Tony is not sure what to say to that. Steve sounds like he believes what he is saying, but Tony does not know Bucky Barnes. He does not know any of them apart from the arguments he has had with Steve and the more amiable conversations with Bruce. He cannot make sense of any of them.

Even if he knew them, even if he knew without a doubt that Barnes regretted that night, could he forgive what happened? It was such an act of directionless violence, following no other need than the one to push down one’s inner bitterness and hurt someone with whatever methods available. Tony is sure that, in that warehouse, he was not a person to them, just an abstract concept of all their pain made flesh. He pities them for it, but that does not mean he can forget it.

“What about Barton?” Tony asks in a cutting tone. That is what he does when he does not know how to go on, he lashes out. “I’m sure he’s desperate to grovel before me too.”

“Clint is complicated,” Steve says with a sigh, sounding like he, too, has some problems with Barton. “He feels guilty too, though. I just don’t think he’s ready to say it yet.” Yet or ever, Tony thinks but allows Steve to keep talking. “He hasn’t followed you because we knew you wouldn’t want him close. But he’ll protect you, same as all of us.”

That is not as reassuring as Steve wants it to be. “What if I need protection from you?” Tony questions and means it. He needs to know that Steve will truly back off if Tony wants him too. Not this half-hearted dance they have kept up until now.

“That would be Bruce’s part,” Steve answers. More quietly, he adds, “And mine if you’ll let me.”

Tony does not know how to take that. The soul bond inside him hums, almost content with where they are going. He is in no position to make any decisions now, emotionally banged up and his ability to trust all but shattered. He wants to believe this feeling inside him just as much as he does not want to put himself into somebody else’s hands.

“Tell Barnes to send a text if he’s serious,” Tony finally says, extending an olive branch, because it will surely be better to garner some more goodwill. “I’m sure you shared my number with all your buddies anyway.”

Getting a new number will not take any effort at all if it becomes necessary.

“I didn’t,” Steve says firmly to Tony’s surprise.

“A postcard is okay too,” Tony replies, too tired to think about semantics. They have found him once, they will be able to do so again. “The tower is hard to miss, even without an address.”

“Is that a yes?” Steve asks, unable to take what he is given but always wanting more.

Tony thinks about talking to Barnes and realizes he would still prefer that to seeing his godfather again. “Just keep Barton away from me.”

“I want you to be safe,” Steve says, not clarifying what he means with that. Considering that they are mostly getting along at the moment, Tony is willing to leave it at that and give Steve the benefit of the doubt.

“I’m trying,” Tony replies, smoothly changing the topic. The Barnes tangent might have been a distraction, but Steve is going to want to know about Obadiah and why Tony let it come so far that he got another hit in. “We’re handing over the evidence in the morning. Then it’s up to the authorities to find Obie.”

There is a pause at the other end, then Steve asks in a strangely choked tone, “He’s gone then?” It is a mixture of worry and anger and determination that Tony does not know what to do with.

“Right before he sent an assassin after me,” Tony says, baring his teeth at the empty air in front of him in an attempt to act nonchalant. It barely resembles a smile. He used to be better at fooling people – and himself. “At least he’s stopped trying to look innocent.”

It is ridiculous to try to find a silver lining about this whole business. There is no way to make this any less damning or less painful.

“He will be found,” Steve all but promises, and Tony is just glad that he does not say that the Avengers will find Obadiah. That might solve a lot of his problems, but Tony has to face Obadiah again, no matter that he does not want to. Emerging from this without another, entirely too visible crack will be hard enough.

This is the point to end the call. Tony has said everything he wanted to say and some more. He is not sure how to feel about Barnes or what he might still need from Steve, but his hand stays up and keeps the phone against his ear, refusing to hang up. He cannot even blame it on the arm with the soulmate developing its own mind, because he is holding the phone in his other hand, pressing the soul mark against his belly as if that is going to dampen the sensations from it.

“How do you do it?” Tony asks before he knows what he is doing.

Asking questions he does not know what kind of answer to expect to is a dangerous thing. Especially where emotions are involved, whether they are fully his own or not.

“Do what?” Steve asks with obvious trepidation. He, too, knows that Tony would have normally hung up at this point. It should be counted in Steve’s favour that he is as nervous about it as Tony himself. It is Steve who initiated all of their previous contacts, so Tony’s sudden proactiveness is strange to the both of them.

“How do you go after your criminals without seeing their human side behind that?” Tony is grasping for straws to explain his restlessness. “How do you hold on to only the bad things people did while ignoring the good?”

Good is naturally a matter of definition. Looking back, every interaction Tony ever had with Obadiah appears tainted, driven by Obadiah’s greed and his wish to get the next figurehead of Stark Industries under his thumb. It was ridiculously easy to gain Tony’s loyalty. A few kind words, a smile, some encouragement to keep Tony building. Shame pools in Tony’s chest as he has to admit how gullible he was. Perhaps still is.

“Guilt and innocence do not work like a scale,” Steve answers after some hesitation. “You can’t just erase the bad.”

It is as generic an answer as Tony has feared he would get. Worse, it is the kind of thing people tell themselves to be able to sleep at night, knowing deep down that what they are doing might not hold up against a thorough moral questioning.

“So everybody who has ever done mistakes is doomed?” Tony asks, even though he is not in the mood for an ethical discussion. He just wants to calm his mind a bit without knowing how.

“If they don’t feel guilty about it,” Steve says slowly, clearly not knowing where this is going. Tony does not know either, but he does not want to be alone with his thoughts right now.

“Guilt can make up for crimes but reparation cannot?”

It becomes obvious then, that they could be talking about wildly different things. Tony might have started this to try and figure out what to do with his godfather, how to deal with this betrayal despite years of encouragement and aid before that – even if those were their own form of manipulation.

The same questions could be asked about Steve, who allowed Tony to be hurt, or the Avengers, whose entire line of business leans towards being shady, no matter their intentions. It could even apply to Tony himself, who was blind for so long as to what is happening with his weapons. Not knowing something is hardly an excuse when it should have been his job to know and stop it.

“I don’t think it can be called reparation if you do it without feeling remorse for what you did,” Steve says, and Tony has to give him credit for taking the matter seriously. They both have more important things to do on a night like this than talk philosophy. “You can’t make up for something if you don’t think it was wrong. Doing good things shouldn’t be calculated.”

Guilt is such a fickle thing, though. It is entirely subjective and in no way a guarantee that one will not repeat their mistakes. Tony does not know what to do with his guilt to keep it from swallowing him whole.

Taking a deep breath, Tony asks a question he is not sure he wants to hear the answer to, even while thinking he has known it all along. “Do you feel guilty for how we met?”

Without any hesitation, Steve answers, “Every day.”

Tony does not know what to say, does not know how to feel when, in the safety of his mind, he admits that he might believe it. That will only lead to him needing to make more decisions, to him needing to treat the future as something already close enough to touch, and he is not ready for that.

“Goodnight, Steve,” Tony says, nearly overwhelmed by a new wave of tiredness. He might still not be able to sleep, but he at least feels ready enough to try now.

There is a slight pause that Tony is sure means that Steve will fall into another speech about how Tony needs to stay safe, asking what he is going to do and whether he will stay in contact. Another barrage of apologies.

In the end though, Steve just says, “Goodnight, Tony.” With a click, the call disconnects.

Putting down the phone on his nightstand, Tony lies down, making himself small beneath his blanket, and tries to not think of godfathers or soulmates. He sleeps.

---

When the call disconnects, Steve keeps the phone against his ears for long minutes, trying to make sense of what might be going through Tony’s head and how he is feeling about it.

Ever since Natasha reported in the attempted hit on Tony, Steve has been restless, only held back from rushing out by Bruce, who talked him out of doing something stupid, and Clint, who ventured out to go to Natasha’s aid.

It is a relief to know that Tony is safely at home, but this entire business is far from over. The guy going after Tony was not an amateur, but he was not the best either. Considering how seldom Tony steps out of the tower these days, the would-be-assassin messed up his chance by not going in harder, by trying too hard to make it look like an accident. The next person Stane hires might not do that mistake.

Steve hates that he is thinking that way. This is about Tony. His soulmate. A man he wronged gravely. It is not his place to protect Tony, but Steve feels responsible nonetheless.

Getting to his feet, Steve knows he needs to do something if he does not want to go crazy. That Tony all but started a discussion about morals with him is a clear sign that he is not all right. And who would be? His godfather is out to kill him, his company has to be cleansed and rebuild, his soulmate is the kind of person that makes it unlikely there will ever be peace between them.

Perhaps he should find Bruce and ask for help about how to go forward. That would be the more sensible approach than to exhaust himself in the gym.

Walking out into the hallway, he does not get very far, stopping at Bucky’s door, which is propped open. Things are still awkward between them. They will get through this without doubt, having been friends for too long to give up on each other now.

Steve knocks lightly on the door before stepping in. Bucky sits at his desk, a book in hand, which he lowers upon recognizing Steve.

“You look upset,” he says by way of greeting, no judgement in his tone, although everything they have done lately could be judged unfavourably.

Steve takes his time to answer while he makes his way over to the bed and sits down on the edge. Tony is almost more of a sore subject with Bucky than it is with the rest of them. Perhaps Steve should refer Tony to Bucky the next time he wants to talk about guilt and doing good.

“I talked to Tony,” Steve then says but trails off when Bucky’s expression becomes harder, less open.

Bucky looks down at his book as he puts it down on the desk, taking the time to arrange it neatly. “That is apparently all you do these days,” he says, his tone carefully flat.

Irritation flares up inside Steve. Considering that he would have liked nothing more than to rush out the minute they learned about Stane, and even more so since the assassination attempt earlier, he thinks he is handling this quite well.

“All of you told me to back off, and now it’s somehow wrong?” Steve questions, tired of never getting anything right anymore.

“You’re not backing off, though,” Bucky argues immediately, eyes piercing into Steve. “You have him shadowed, you constantly call him –”

“Tony called me,” Steve cuts him off. He is equal parts miffed and mollified at the way Bucky perks up, visibly surprised.

“What?”

When they were younger, Steve was used to being underestimated or dismissed. He has proven himself since then, most of all to his friends. This constant doubt between them, the tension in the air, feels like acid against his skin. They are a team, till the end of the line. Sometimes, it feels like they have reached that end.

“When did I turn into the bad guy here, Buck?” Steve questions, voice turning out more desperate than planned. “I thought we were on the same side.”

In front of him, Bucky deflates. He still holds his shoulders in too tense a line, but his expression slackens into something tired and doubtful.

“I don’t even know what side we’re on anymore,” he says quietly and does not mean it as a jab against Steve. Everything that has happened over the past weeks is catching up with them. Getting hired to steal from Stark, which stoked all their old anger and hurt Unleashing said anger only to push them farther down that spiral of doubts. Learning they were wrong and not knowing how to deal with it.

If he was feeling more comfortable in his own skin right now, Steve would have tried to reassure Bucky. As it is, they are both feeling adrift.

“Well, Tony called me,” Steve repeats as if that is going to make either of them feel better. At the very least, it gives them new things to plan for. “Stane is gone. He slipped Clint when Natasha called him for help to deal with the attacker. Tony does not know where he is either.”

Bucky nods as if that is not an inconvenience. They knew it would not be easy to get Stane once he was given some room to wriggle himself free, but Steve still regrets not needling Tony into acting sooner. It would have led to more tension between them, but at least Tony would have been safer.

“Is he all right?” Bucky asks, although they both know the answer.

Even without hearing Tony’s voice just now, Steve can feel the grief radiating through the soul bond, the feeling of being lost.

“I told him that you want to apologize,” Steve says instead of reiterating feelings they are both too familiar with.

That was another mistake, however, judging on the way Bucky’s eyes narrow as he glares. “Steve,” he barks, the name alone an admonishment. “I said I would like to if it were feasible, but considering the way we met it’s better if I keep as far away from him as possible.”

It might have been bad timing, that is true, but Tony needs more people in his corner, and the Avengers can be just that if only they could put aside their differences to deal with the matter at hand. Steve is not naïve enough to believe that everything will be all right just like that, but they do have a common enemy right now, and Tony’s well-being is a top priority to him.

“He didn’t say no,” Steve offers but drops his gaze when Bucky’s glare gets worse.

“That means he didn’t say yes either,” Bucky replies in a sharp tone. Somewhat calmer, he adds, “We need to leave him alone.”

That is what they have been saying from the very beginning. Bruce and Bucky and even Natasha. How can Steve let go of this, though? Tony is his soulmate, but there is more to it. It is the bond promising that they will fit in with each other, but it is also an ingrained part of what makes Steve human that he needs to make sure he did not leave Tony worse for wear. He does not want all the interaction he ever had with Tony to end up doing him more damage.

“I can’t,” Steve says, unsure how to put these feelings into words. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t just let him go. Even less now than before. He’s in danger.”

Knowing that Tony is out there is like an itch between Steve’s shoulder blades that he cannot reach but refuses to leave alone all the same.

“Do you know what your problem is?” Bucky asks, going from tired to angry too quickly to see. “You think that bond of yours means you have some kind of right to him, that he’ll have to forgive you because you’re meant to be.”

That is not what Steve feels. This is not about ending up with Tony anymore but about keeping him safe. He feels everything Tony feels, no matter that it is dampened and blurred. Tony’s restlessness sits under Steve’s skin as if it is his own.

Steve is not going to argue that things are as they should be. None of this evolved naturally – but soulmates as a whole are not natural. This is not a matter of choice. It was thrust upon the both of them and now they have to make the best of it. For now, that is looking out for each other.

“You don’t know how it feels,” Steve tries to explain, despite the futility of it. “It’s always there. I can’t leave Tony alone when some part of me is always reminding me of his existence, always pulling me towards him. This is not love, it’s just – sheer need. I can’t –” He breaks off, does not look up from his arm. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“Why?” Bucky asks, voice sounding dangerous, causing Steve’s head to shoot up. “Because someone blew my arm off before I could meet my soulmate?”

Nobody knows whether that will keep the soul bond from forming. Steve almost constantly feels the words on his arm, but the bond has settled right in his core too. The arm is nothing but a display of the words, not the anchor necessary for the bond to take hold. Bucky remembers his words, and his match likely still has their words too.

Steve understands the sentiment, however. Losing the words is like losing a part of the future. Even though not everybody meets their soulmates, as long as the words are visible, they know someone is out there for them. They have grieved the loss of that before.

“Because you haven’t met them,” Steve says firmly. He has not meant this as an insult. “Because your head is still your own.”

When Bucky scoffs, it becomes obvious that they are not going to agree on this topic. Not now, and perhaps not ever if Bucky never meets his soulmate.

“Our heads haven’t been our own since the first time someone shot at us,” Bucky argues. He is not completely wrong about that, but this is a different kind of madness. “That’s not what I’m talking about. People used to praise you for your ability to strategize. Well, I think you’ve never been this stupid before.”

True enough, Steve has never felt this much out of depth. It is not even for the obvious reasons. Tony is a billionaire, a business man, a genius. He can build things with his hands that Steve does not even begin to grasp. Their cultural and intellectual differences alone would make this difficult. Yet, they will likely never get a chance to try to navigate that, thanks to Steve messing up before they even met.

“This is not about any possible relationship with Tony,” Steve insists and means it. “This is about him being in danger. You can hardly expect me to turn my back on him while his godfather wants him dead.”

Bucky nods, although it is not fully a concession. “If he never wants to talk to you again, you have to give him that,” he says, his tone very matter-of-fact, although that does not make it hurt any less. “We assaulted him, broke his bones and threw him out like trash. You turning all cocky on him afterwards didn’t help.”

Steve knows that. They have talked it through. When he lies awake at night and has stopped worrying, he cannot think about anything else.

“What if he never calls again?” Steve asks and barely recognizes the voice as his. It is too small, echoing with desperation.

Bucky meets his eyes unflinchingly, leaving him no escape. “Then you’ll have to live with that.”

That is the whole ugly truth. And yet. “I don’t know if I can.”

Sometimes, when the soul bond is quieter than usual, Steve wonders if it would be so bad if they went their separate ways. He has not been lacking anything before Tony was thrust in front of him. He was happy, had a goal in life. Why should he not be able to return to that?

He probably has to and he will manage it, but the way there will be long and hard. People have gone mad from losing their soulmate. Never meeting one’s soulmate at all would be kinder than to be rejected by them, even if Steve brought it down on himself.

“Well, I’m pretty sure Tony cannot imagine living with you,” Bucky replies, not unkindly but with a firmness that is not to be denied. “It’s up to you to decide whether you want to put your own needs over his. I mean, that would just continue the trend you set.”

Steve winces, dropping his eyes to his hands. “I’m sorry,” he says, wishing Tony could hear it too.

With a sigh, the hardness drains out of Bucky, leaving him to look simply tired once more. “I know you are, Stevie,” he says. “We all are.”

Being sorry will not make anything right. Keeping Tony alive and giving him space might. There is nothing else to do but try.

#stony #leave the gun on the table #soulmates #fanfiction #tony stark #steve rogers #obadiah stane #angst #emotional angst #whump #mob boss #ao3 #my writing #pepper potts #happy hogan

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itsshortfurball20 · 5 years

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Percy Jackson, The Avenger

Summary: Percy has an encounter with Nick Fury. A year later, he’s being called on to help protect the world… again. He’s not alone in this Avengers Initiative. A genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist; a super soldier; a green scientist; a Norse god; and two secret agents. What could go wrong?

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This chapter has 2,640 words

5 – The Continuum of Villains in Glass Prisons

It took them an hour to get back to the Helicarrier. An hour of Percy nervously glancing up at the ceiling. An hour of violently gripping the nearest surface every time they hit turbulence. An hour of wondering whether Zeus would strike the plane down.

Steve had sat by Percy and tried to make small talk. Percy gave short, quick answers, not in the mood to chit-chat. Steve left after a while, giving Percy some space. When the plane landed, Percy was the first one off. Being on the Helicarrier wasn’t the same as the ground, but Percy could feel the ocean below them, giving him a much-needed boost.

The others followed after Percy. Several agents had been waiting for their arrival, taking Loki and escorting him to presumably his cell. Percy watched him go, the unsettling feeling from his stomach still not gone.

Everyone made their way inside. They ended back up in the main area, where Dr. Banner was waiting, pacing back and forth. As soon as the group entered, Banner stopped his pacing. They all took places around the table. Romanoff managed to pull up a security feed of the holding cell that Loki was in for them to watch.

Percy found himself staring at Loki through a glass prison cell. The guards had taken off the cuffs, letting him wander around the small cell freely. Percy stared at the god, trying to figure out what his ulterior motive for coming here was. No man—or god, for that matter—would let themselves be captured without a plan of sorts.

Director Fury walked on screen, just as intimidating as he had been when Percy first met him. He didn’t spare Loki a glance until he was standing next to the control panel of the cell. “In case it's unclear,” his voice boomed. “You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass—” Fury pressed one of the buttons on the panel. Percy figured that the button must have opened a hatch under the cage as the sound of gushing wind became almost deafening. Loki tried his best to peer down the glass without pressing himself to the window. “—Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?”

Fury pressed the button again, and the hatch closed. With a pointed gesture at Loki, he said “Ant,” before gesturing to the panel. “Boot.”

Loki smirked. “It’s an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.”

“Built for something a lot stronger than you.”

“Oh, I’ve heard.” Loki turned to look into the camera. Around the table, the others took subtle glances at Banner, who was watching Loki intently, trying to ignore the others. “The mindless beast makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate.” Fury was walking closer and closer to Loki’s cage, illustrating each point with another step. “You might not be glad that you did.”

“Ooh. It burns you to come so close.” Loki nearly laughed. “To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is.”

Fury stared at Loki, not backing down from the god. After a beat, he turned away, hiding a small smile. “Well, you let me know if ‘Real Power’ wants a magazine or something.”

The director left, leaving Loki by himself. With a smirk, Loki cast the camera another glance, before the monitor went dark. Everyone around the table was silent. Percy sat there, mulling over Loki’s words. The speech didn’t sound like what someone who had been captured would sound like. Loki sounded relaxed, confident. Even though he was the one in the cage, Loki sounded like the one with the upper hand.

Across from Percy, Steve sat in silence. Just to his left, Thor stood, looking torn. Percy remembered that Thor and Loki were brothers. Until this moment, the son of Poseidon realized that the Greek gods might not be the only immortal dysfunctional family out there.

Dr. Banner broke the silence first. “He really grows on you, doesn't he?”

“Loki's gonna drag this out,” Steve noted. The super soldier lifted his eyes to the blond god. “So, Thor, what's his play?”

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known.” Thor uncrossed his arms and wandered closer to the table. “He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army? From outer space?” Steve repeated, tone sort of disbelieving.

Percy swiveled his chair towards the Captain. “Trust me on this, Cap. Space armies? Not the weirdest thing.”

“So he's building another portal.” Banner pieced together, ignoring Percy and Cap’s small conversation. “That's what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

Thor frowned. “Selvig?”

“He's an astrophysicist.” Banner explained to the god.

“He's a friend.”

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours,” Natasha spoke up for the first time. Percy gave a small jump, having forgotten that she was in the room with them. The demigod assumed that was just part of her nature from being a spy—don’t be noticed, blend into the background.

A troubling thought that had plagued Percy earlier popped back into his head. “Something’s up with Loki. Did anyone else notice how he actually sat and watched us like we something on Prime TV before letting us take him? Loki’s planning something.”

”I don't think we should be focusing on Loki.” Banner waved Percy’s concern off. “That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him.”

Thor turned on Banner. “Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother.”

“He killed eighty people in two days,” Natasha informed him.

“He's adopted.”

Percy chuckled. Dysfunctional family all right. He stood up from his chair, walking closer to Thor. “Hey man, I get it. My cousin once told me families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy.” Percy shrugged his shoulders. “The best thing to do is just remind yourselves that you’re related, for better or worse.” Thor’s shoulders slumped as Percy’s words moved over him. “He also said to try and keep the killing to a low, but…”

“Thank you, Perseus,” Thor told him. “I’m not sure things with Loki will go over smoothly, but I will keep your words in mind.”

Percy gave him a nod. Some of the uneasy air that had been between them seemed to melt away.

Banner looked deep in thought. “I think it’s about the mechanics.” He spoke up. “Iridium. What do they need the iridium for?”

“It’s a stabilizing agent.”

Stark and Coulson walked into the room. Tony had answered Banner’s question before turning back to Coulson and finishing whatever conversation they had been having before walking into the room. When he finished, he turned back to them. “Means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD” Tony walked by Thor and gave him a pat on the back. “No hard feelings, Point Break. You’ve got a mean swing.

“Also,” he switched back to Banner’s question. “it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants.”

“Like to bring in a giant army from space,” Percy realized. He turned to Stark before he realized that the man had turned his attention to the agents that were milling around. Percy wondered if the man had ADHD. Stark reminded Percy of some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood, jumping from one conversation topic to the next without any logical solution behind it.

“Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails.” He commanded. “That man is playing GALAGA. Thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.” Tony then proceeded to cover one of his eyes and look at the large monitors. “How does Fury even see these?”

“He turns.” Agent Hill answered.

“Sounds exhausting.” Tony turned back to Banner, but not before subtly placing something on the back of the monitor. Percy furrowed his brow as Stark continued talking. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get on his hands pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.”

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?”

“Last night. The packet, Selvig’s notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“Pretty sure you’re the only one who got that,” Percy spoke up. “Unless I missed that in my skim through.”

Steve pipped up with a question. “Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?”

“He’s got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.”

“The what now?” Percy asked, confused by what had just come out of the Doctor’s mouth. Only Tony seemed to understand his words because the two quickly launched into a conversation that Percy had trouble following.

“Finally, someone who speaks English,” Tony said.

Steve frowned. “Is that what just happened?”

“I don’t know, Cap.” Percy shrugged his shoulders. “Didn’t sound like it.”

Tony and Bruce shook hands. Percy could see what looked like mutual respect for each other as they introduced themselves to one another. “It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled.” Tony paused for a second. “And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into a huge green rage monster.”

Banner looked away. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube,” Fury announced to Stark. “I was hoping you might join him.”

“Let’s start with that stick of his,” Steve suggested. “It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.”

Percy frowned. “Hydras don’t need weapons.”

Everyone around the table seemed to look over at Percy. The son of Poseidon noticed the shocked and questioning looks from mainly everyone except from Agent Hill and Director Fury, the latter of who looked over at Percy. “Not Hydra as in the monster. HYDRA as in the secret organization that existed during World War Two. I’m not sure this is like them, but it is powered by the cube. And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor asked. “I do not understand.”

“I do! I understood that reference.” Percy stifled a laugh at the proud looking Captain who finally wasn’t the clueless one on a pop culture reference.

Tony looked to Banner, ignoring Steve. “Shall we play, doctor?”

“Let’s play some.”

Tony and Bruce walked out, heading towards the lab. Percy headed off to his room, ready to make a call to Annabeth.

He made sure to close the door behind him before heading into his small bathroom. Percy stared at the shower, trying to figure out how to turn it on. Instead of a knob, there was a couple of buttons and a pad. Percy started pushing the buttons. It took him a couple tries before he got the water going. Taking the water, he bent it to the bathroom lights just right to get a small rainbow.

Percy tossed a drachma into the rainbow-colored water. “O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Annabeth Chase, Upper East Side, Manhattan.”

The rainbow started to shimmer, and the familiar sight of Percy’s living room came into focus. He saw Annabeth curled up on the couch, fast asleep. There was a stack of papers on the coffee table in front of her. Next to the stack of papers was a cup of coffee, half empty.

Percy paused. The last time that Annabeth had drunk coffee was when they were studying for their college finals. Prior to contrary belief, coffee actually made them better focused rather than bouncing off the walls. So when Annabeth was studying hard for something, she always had a little bit of coffee to help keep her on track. He tried to peer closer at the stack of papers. The IM, while great for getting general pictures across, was not good enough to help Percy see the words on the paper, that were just a small blur.

On the couch, Annabeth stirred. One of her eyes blinked open lazily. “Percy?” She asked, running her eyes as she sat up.

Percy smiled. “Hey, Wise girl.”

“Percy,” she sat up fully. “It’s like midnight.”

Percy glanced over at the clock that hung on the wall. “It’s two over here. Sorry that I woke you, I just wanted to check in on you.”

“I’m fine. I was just working on something.” She waved her hands dismissably towards the coffee table. “How are things going? Saved the world yet?”

Percy chuckled. “I’m not sure if getting by podex handed to me by a god with a heavy hammer counts.”

“Which god?” Annabeth asked.

“Thor,” Percy told her. “His brother Loki is the one we were going after. He’s in his cell right now while Stark and Banner are tracking down the cube that he stole from SHIELD so he could invade Earth with an army from outer space.” The son of Poseidon paused, replaying his last sentence and realizing how confusing that probably was.

Annabeth seemed to agree, if her furrowed brows were anything to go by. Percy was about to explain more when she asked a question that he didn’t expect.

“Did you say Thor and Loki?”

Percy froze. “Uh, yeah. Why? Do the names mean anything to you?”

Annabeth was visibly more awake than she had been moments before, leaning forward towards Percy. “Thor and Loki are famous Norse gods. If I remember correctly, Thor was the god of thunder while Loki was the god of mischief. I think stories also said that Loki killed an unkillable guy and his punishment was to have snake poison drip on him.”

“How does one kill an unkillable person?”

“Percy—”

“That’s not logical Annabeth.” Percy pointed out. “If the guy’s unkillable, then how can someone kill them?”

“I think the guy was meant to be unkillable. I’m not up to speed on my Norse mythology. I may be smart, but I can’t remember something I read once in a book when I was six.” Annabeth took a deep breath. “Okay, I need you to tell me. Does Loki have any scarring on his face? Any marks whatsoever?”

Percy shook his head. “No. That guy could be a model if he, you know, wasn’t a murderer. But he can do illusions.” Percy added after a second. “Maybe he’s hiding something.” He shrugged. “Not all stories are true though, remember?”

“Yeah.” Annabeth agreed. “I know, just making sure.” She glanced at the clock behind her. “Listen, Percy, I got to get to bed, and so do you. You never know when you’ll get to sleep next.”

Percy didn’t want to go, it felt like they had just started talking, but Percy couldn’t deny his heavy eyelids or calling bed in the next room. “Okay,” he said simply. “I’ll IM you with another update soon. I love you, wise girl.”

“Love you too, seaweed brain.”

He swiped through the Iris-message and shut off the shower. Percy stared at the place Annabeth’s beautiful face had only just been before trudging back into his bedroom and falling into his small bed. Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

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skywalkersapprentice · 5 years

Text

so when I saw infinity war the second time, i brought a pen and a notebook with me and took notes in the dark the whole time. for my second endgame viewing yesterday, i did the same. i now present to you my Thoughts About Endgame. (this is. long.)

Major Spoilers Ahead.

okay seriously, nobody called clint up when there was a giant invasion in wakanda??? nobody???

also it was daytime in wakanda when the snap happened. it’s also daytime wherever clint is in america when the snap happens. someone explain.

god the dawning panic when clint realizes his family is gone. that whole scene is so empty and unsettling, it was shot really well

i automatically associate 80s music with space thanks to marvel.

tony stark adopting strays everywhere he goes since 2013.... i love this about him

nebula finally got to win something!!!! “it was fun.”

and then she gives him their final ration. i’m- :((((

back on earth..... thank god the beard is gone.

“I lost the kid” tony’s face wow that’s devastating, no thanks

“Is um...” what was tony going to say after that??

“I thought you were a build-a-bear.” “Maybe I am.” fuckign.... tony please sdfgdfg

“And I needed you.” tony :(((

“No trust. Liar.” this entire scene is just. chilling. heartbreaking. tony has nothing left for anyone, and especially nothing left for steve, except-

him ripping the metaphorical heart out of his chest and handing it to steve made me literally gasp the first time i watched this film. i feel like it hasn’t been talked about enough, but it’s incredibly poetic.

“where are you going?” “to kill thanos” i haven’t seen captain marvel but i’m already in love with carol danvers

and now they have hope, they still think they can bring everyone back... what a dangerous thing

suddenly steve is looking at his locket of peggy all the time.starting in this film only. can we let him grieve for his actual friends?? you know, the ones he just lost? does he even mention sam or bucky in the entire film? alright russos, i have several bones to pick with you about this, but alright....

i gotta say, when i first watched this i was astounded that thanos destroyed the stones and then got beheaded in the first twenty minutes. it really left me wondering, well- what now? and that was exciting.

five years later. i mean, we knew there would be a time jump, but i wasn’t expecting this.

we’re really calling this cameo by russo representation huh

lol

and like??? steve brings up nobody he lost in the snap, instead chosing to focus on “the love of his life” that he met and lost in 1945. this struck me as odd the first time i watched and now i’m like. man they’re really trying 2 justify their later decision, huh

so they’re calling those who were snapped “The Vanished” according to the sanfran memorial

avengers r still a thing and their complex has actually grown in size?? who is funding this. is it tony

my next note just says HAIR SDFDSDFG aka heLLO carol danvers

nat :((((

crying and eating a sandwich is a mood

god. the quiet grief

natasha romanoff has come such a long way from her introduction in iron man 2. she cries freely, loves her family, actively wants to be a better person, even if a lot of her family isn’t around today. i just- love her so much.

“we both need to get a life.” “you first.” goddamnit

i.... love happy, peaceful, good dad Tony Stark, so much.

“define lunch or be disintegrated” morgan h stark is so cute

“you like going in the garage, huh? so does daddy.” tony was already so proud of her god i just :((((

me, zooming in on nat: ARROW NECKLACE

does she only wear that when she’s missing clint, or

I’m truly in my feelings about Tony being The Best Dad

Bruce apparently spent 18 months in a gamma lab, which is interesting.

god the scene with the kids asking for a selfie was so cringe are you telling me they could include this but steve couldn’t mourn for his friends

tony does dishes now. a true housedad.

that’s!!!! his first son!!!!!! :((((((

can you believe it was peter parker who pushed tony to invent time travel

“i’ve got something on my mind.” “is it juice pops?” i’m just thinking now about how howard most definitely would have sent tony straight to bed, but tony lets morgan stay up and eat juice pops with him. this is just. straight up great content.

“I love you 3000″ can you just. his face when she says that. also i’m never getting over that phrase ever

“I can stop,” Tony says, on the brink of inventing time travel.

“But would you be able to rest?” says Pepper, who has been trying and failing to get him to stop for a good 15 years.

the parallels between this and her last words to tony. ouch.

this is such a good and steady relationship now :(.

sdfgfdfg why is steve dressing like he’s from the 40s again is this a visual sign of his regression

god they did thor so dirty in this film. not with his character- him falling into great depression and having ptsd is not a bad thing, but treating it like a joke is. the audience is invited to laugh at him. Bad.

thor threatening “noobmaster69″ over the headset for his rock friend is very funny though.

hey tokyo looks alright compared to a lot of america.

every single clintasha scene in this film kills the man.

also everyone knows thanos’s name. i assume that means the world knows why everyone disappeared.

“you’re only a genius on earth” yeah but who invented time travel, rocket

rhodey wanting to straight up murder baby thanos is hilarious

the explanations of time travel in this film give me a headache

“TIME HEIST BRAINSTORMING SESSION”

bruce, nat and tony all laying around throwing ideas back and forth.... this movie is valid sometimes

“see you in a minute,” natasha says, and she’s smiling.

this is her family you guys :(((((

NEW YORK 2012

MY FAVOURITE SCENE

omg bruce making such a halfhearted attempt at smashing things please i love

okay cut to 2013 Asgard, and Thor sneaks right by his currently dead brother without even looking at him. this movie confuses me

fuck the scene where rocket slaps thor for having a panic attack. i’m glad thor ended up abandoning him.

okay so everything important happens between 2012-2014

cap/tony/scott, clintasha, nebula/rhodey.... these are such ideal teamups

“we’re a long way from budapest” give me my clintasha movie, marvel!!!

okay back in 2012, HOW did JARVIS not register the fact that there were two steves and two tonys in Stark Tower

god this entire scene is fucking hilarious the entire mcu was worth everything for the 2012 time travel scene

fuckign.... loki

ELEVATOR SCENE

as a cap 2 stan i feel so validated

HA IL HYDRA

WHEN I SAY I GASPED IN DELIGHT

CAP VS CAP

“I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY”

“YEAH, I KNOW, I KNOW”

sadfgfdfg are u really telling me that cap takes the peggy locket everywhere

BUCKY IS ALIVE

THAT IS AMERICAS ASS SDFGFSDF PLEASE

2012 avengers best avengers

meanwhile the sorcerer lady is giving bruce a time travel lesson and i didn’t understand any of it but basically each reality requires six stones in order to not be torn apart by the forces of darkness? ??

I’m just glad thor got some kind of closure by talking to his mom

side note you can definitely tell that frigga raised loki

“EAT A SALAD”

“i’m still worthy” asdfgfdf yeah but now this timeline thor has no hammer!!!

QUILL SDFGFDSDFGHFDS

this movie is so entertaining

i live for nebula and rhodey just judging everyone

so do the guardians just.... not happen in the 2014 timeline?

gamora is ready to Fight thanos when the maw threatens nebula

was that young alexander pierce headed underground in 1970?

bone 2 pick with this whole time travel thing

thor got closure by talking to his mom

tony got closure by talking to his dad

steve saw peggy working, successful and thriving, through a window. closure where????

he should have gotten a chance to talk to her and received closure that way.

hank pym is an asshole but i guess we already knew that

“my wife is expecting” so tony was born 1970/1971 ig

howard’s dad beat him with a belt. i suppose every stark does a little better parenting-wise

Jarvis!!!!!!! agent carter is canon!!!!

vormir oh god here we go

“under different circumstances, this would be totally awesome” i’m inclined to agree with clint

this part goddamit

handholding :((((

my next note just says “aveng ers 1 paralels fu k”

the way this was filmed was beautiful. the colours, the lighting, the acting, the dialogue, the parallels to the first clintasha fight in avengers 1..... if natasha had to die, this was.... a good death, i think.

“damn you!”

“it’s okay.”

clint is begging her this hurts so much :(((

god. tears.

clint just sobbing in the water with the soul stone in his hand hits some kind of way

where is natasha’s funeral, huh??? why does steve shed like one (1) tear?

also why does the gauntlet need to physically be snapped like what does that dO

i just realized that thor’s fake eye is amber.

Infinity Stones:

almost killed thanos after 2 uses

destroyed bruce’s arm

killed tony

imagine an alternate scene where all six original avengers survived until this point and all of them held one stone as they snapped thanos’s army out of existence. that would have been the ultimate fanservice and i would have astral projected. anyway we’re getting off topic

“don’t change anything from the last five years.” what tony means is “please don’t erase my daughter”.

SNAP

yay they did it except-

how did everyone survive thanos blowing up the avengers compound

2014 gamora sounds just- slightly different than 2018 gamora. a little harsher. the guardians haven’t yet softened her edges.

“we become sisters” and suddenly gamora has hope

i- did that lightning just braid thor’s hair sdfgdsdfgh

this is a harsher thanos. thanos who died in 2018 had been changed. weakened, maybe.

thor, cap and tony fought in avengers one. now, they’re fighting thanos together.

l just. love that clint has a sword now.

“he won’t let me” nebula.... :(((((( and she dies crying

i have a note here that says “thor’s lightning + tony = c o o l”

STEVE WITH MJOLNIR

ASDFGFSDF FUCK THIS WAS WORTH EVERYTHING MARVEL HAS EVER PUT ME THROUGH

LIGHTNING POWERS

i LIVE

oooh it’s personal for thanos now

YOUR

LEFT

the portals scene fUCK

this is just. worth it. on every level.

PETER AND TONY

“this is nice” please :((((((

poor peter quill gets snapped, gamora’s loss fresh in his mind, then he thinks he’s gotten her back and she’s not the gamora he knew. ouch.

tell me why everyone but steve gets a reunion scene lol

peter introducing himself to everyone!!!! he’s so sweet.

CAPTAIN MARVEL HAS ARRIVED

i’m gay. oh my god.

hhhhgn hair

GIRLS

this is fanservice!!! as in, i am a fan and i feel fuckign SERVICED

thor duel welding mjolnir and stormbreaker is AWESOME.

strange holds up one finger. tony gives a look of heartbreaking acceptance.

god. tony stark, you brave, brave man. he knew he wasn’t going to survive this one.

“I am inevitable.”

“I. am. Iron Man.”

SNAP (2)

you lose, thanos.

but also, i lose, because oh god tony.

peter :(((

“Mr Stark!”

“Sir!!”

“Tony!!”

oh. fuck.

“you can rest now” do you SEE the parallels to the earlier conversation between tony and pepper :(((

the arc reactor going out physically broke me

i didn’t take many notes after this because i was literally sobbing lol

“I love you 3000″ stabs me again

“proof that tony stark has a heart” yes well my heart is breaking

happy :((( is morgan’s jarvis :(((((

Queen!!!! Valkyrie!!!

this dick measuring contest between Quill and Thor got old five hours of content ago.

:))))) rage time :))))))

bruce tried to bring back nat with the snap :(((

oh god bucky.

his face!!!!! his voice!!!! he’s trying to be strong and find but he looks dead inside

i just- fuck. he knew and he let steve go.

why did he show up on that bench i don’t understand

“I’m happy for you” are you telling me sam wasn’t the least bit hurt or mad

the ONLY good thing about this is Captain Sam

fuck steve tho

what year is this dance in

i mean. it’s sweet. but this is not steve.

I think i’ve talked enough about my dislike of the direction steve’s character went in in this film. that was the major point of dislike for me, but given that the council has made a stupid ass decision i’ve elected to ignore it. i understand that both tony and steve had to make their exist from the franchise here, but.... there were better ways to go about that.

i think a few different relationships slipped through the cracks here- characters suddenly grieving people they haven’t seen in /years/ and completely ignoring others who only recently died was a big one for me. but other characters saw a lot of development- nebula was a favourite of mine in this film, which i was not expecting! she and rhodey made a really good team- i feel like they understand one another.

the Original Six all saw a decent amount of screen time, which i appreciated. nobody got left behind there. there were so many references to other films that i know i didn’t catch them all, but it really made this movie seem like a love letter to the fans.

i want to make it clear that i actually loved most of this film. i think it was a good send off for the avengers and i love a good time travel plot (like, it’s one of my all-time favourite tropes. i was vibrating with excitement in the theater during the 2012 scenes.) i went in expecting a lot of the emotion to be sidelined in favor of plot and action, and while that happened a little bit, i was overall pleasantly surprised with the amount of emotion that they fit into this film. characterization and emotion is perhaps even more important to me than a good plot, and this film got the emotion down.

it’s definitely not a perfect film but it could have been so much worse, so i’m grateful that we got a good sendoff for the avengers.

7/10.

#endgame #endgame spoilers #avengers endgame #marvel #spoilers #shelby reviews movies #it took me two hours to write this out bye

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