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ultimatetornshipper · 3 years

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To bee or not to bee - a Jasonette fic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jason is very sad. And also quite pissed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He leaves.

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

But there was someone who might.

He goes to Arkham.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She had no idea.

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

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

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

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

He slept better than he had in days.

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

Then he headed off.

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

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

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

At least it was Spring.

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

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

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

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

He hitched another ride on a cruise headed for France.

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

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

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

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

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

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

That was until a massive explosion hit.

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

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

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

He flew down, exploring.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh this was rich.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Could it really bee? (not a typo)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He then realized that these were probably the other miraculous.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And she could help him fake an accent.

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

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

They agreed easily and Jason decided to not question it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He turned back, this ought to be good.

And it was.

Alya absolutely lost it.

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

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

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

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

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

In fact, it was great.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was better than he ever could've imagined.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And wait they did.

They waited two weeks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"When did Batman find you?"

"25th May 2017,"

"Who's your favourite author?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Then let’s go get our team, love,”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“We have a time traveller,” he replied.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They had a lot of catching up to do.

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

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

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

I hope you guys enjoyed!

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

#maribat #jason todd #marinette dupain cheng #jasonette #bee movie au #aka the deep dark hole within the deep dark hole #I've been working on this for a month #probably more #my brain held me captive with this au it held me at gunpoint and stalked me and wouldn't leave me alone until i wrote it #me: casually attempting to write anything else #my brain: *slaps me with ideas for this* NO #and the worst part is there's more that's not written just bull my brain came up with #and i can't believe I put angsty life philosophy writing in a CRACK AU #THIS IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF A CRACK AU #WHY #I AM SO INVESTED AND I'M MAD ABOUT IT #i enjoyed writing this and that fact alone infuriates me #blame moonie for this #and u know what blame bugabunny too #(fuck i hope i got their name right)#if it hadn't been for the two of them discussing this again i would've forgotten all about it and i woulda been allowed to write #my kaldur x marinette fic in peace. or my lila time loop fic. OR LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE #anyway i tried to make his outfit red hood esque but like only the parts i liked about it #aka the leather jacket and the combat boots #I don't know how i feel about the fact that i wrote this but what's done is done #*sigh*#jason x marinette #why me #nightwing fluff #but also angst

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ivyfair · 4 years

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Ivy Fairchild (Aisha Dee), 26, Female, Bisexual ━

( hi hi, I’m tasha! and this is my daughter ivy fairchild! it’s been a couple months since I rp’d her skdkdoa This is tech an alt. version of her since the og version does not necessarily fit with the rp. you can IM me here, on tumblr, or message me on my discord dumbass#9361 )

bare with me, this is gonna be a long mess akdkdka, I’m sorry

ivy fairchild was raised by her grandparents

her mother died when she was 2 years olds from a car accident and her father was deployed into the army

her mother, sophia, had a one night stand with a married man. she didn’t know at first until she saw his ring on his finger the next morning.

sophia was disgusted and left, wanting to forget that night but ended up finding out weeks later that she’s pregnant

she didn’t know what to do, she was was only 23 and she didn’t want to tell the guy she was pregnant. she didn’t want to ruin a marriage and she didn’t want to raise a child alone. so she went to her best friend and begged him to help her.

her best friend, luke, was heart eyes over her so he agreed to help her with the baby and telling everyone he was the father

so she did and here came along ivy woooo ( I’m a messsss )

after Ivy’s mother passed she moved in with her grandparents who then moved back to Australia to be with family. They came back to Frostford when Ivy was 8 years old

luke was deployed into the army. she only got to see him during the times he was allowed to have vacations visit

ivy grew up helping her grandfather with the family’s farm ( since she an only child and it was getting hard for him to do it alone )

ivy loved anything that had to do with flowers, painting/drawing, and animals

ivy would constantly asked stories about her mother whenever her grandfather wasn’t busy

when she was 12 luke came back home, he was on two years of inactive, which she didn’t fully understand what that meant but all she knew was that he was home, for what she thought, permanently.

there was a lot adjusting to do for everyone

it wasn’t until a year after luke has been home that when she found out the truth about her biological father

everyone was mourning the loss of ivy’s grandfather. it was a hard time for ivy, but she was trying to be strong for her grandmother

she helped packed her grandfather’s stuff away with luke a couple month after he passed.

her grandfather seemed to have a few boxes of things that belonged to sophia that ivy didn’t know he had

ivy found her mothers journal, keeping it hidden so she could take it with her to her room when she was done helping luke. she read every single page. including the one where she talks about how luke wasn’t her biological father ( dun dun dunnnnnn ) ( aejkgr;i ignore me )

ivy was angry and confronted luke, because a part of her was really hoping what her mother wrote was a lie

but alas it wasn’t and young ivy did not respond well to any of this. her emotions were everywhere. she basically gave him the silent treatment for a long time.

ivy’s grandma tried to talk some sense into her, but she was too stubborn to listen. it wasn’t until she heard that luke was going to be redeployed due to some conflicts that she regrets not talking to him.

that was the only day ivy ever skipped school. she went to luke’s apartment instead to apologize before he left town, very emo moment

Ivy left town in August after senior year for college Auburn University

Ivy and her best friend Lucinda decided to start their own business of using honey to make candy. She majored in business and minored in social work in Auburn University

Two years after graduating Ivy noticed that her grandmother’s health was starting to become questionable. She was living on her own but she decided to move back in with her grandmother until they figure things out

They found out that her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer

Ivy has completely taken over the family’s small farm while helping around the house and taking care of her grandmother

Luci moved in to help out with the farm so that Ivy can have more time looking after her grandmother

Ivy refused to let her grandmother go into a nursing home, even when she started getting worse. She believed she can take care of her. But after having a long talk with Luci, she finally decided to place her in a nursing home ( she still thinks about this decision and a bit of a mess b/c of it )

luke, now working with Frostford’s fire department, does what he can to help ivy take care of things when he’s not on duty.

She’s someone who tells everyone she’s fine when she is clearly struggling. She’s a mess but she tries to come off as if she’s not

She a mix of the outgoing-fun friend and the grandma friend

She has a southern and Australian accent

She is a sweet girl, very caring and silly. She can come off as shy in a way. She’s an active person and up for an adventure ( sometimes argsfd ) but doing thing in from of people makes her want to kermit ( she’s working on that )

Wanted Connection:

BEST FRIENDS [1/2] -NAME UTP & LUCINDA MAE BENNET — these three have been friends since they were kids. they weren't exactly the kind of people you would expect to be as close as they were. all three different as can be, but somehow together they worked. luci was reckless and always looking for an adventure, ivy was quiet but thoughtful and rather nurturing of the others, and [open] was the glue the held them together. they kept luci in check and made sure ivy never felt left out. no matter where life takes them, they know without a doubt that they have each other and always will.

HIGH SCHOOL SOMETHING? - This muse was someone that everyone thought had a crush on Ivy or had something going on with ivy. More so the latter when they both came to school with poison ivy. Ivy didn’t know there was a secret spot for kissing ( and where the poison ivy was ) in the riverbank. Why your muse had poison ivy is up to you. There was probably something between them but after those rumors started Ivy distanced herself. Especially when the rumors turned from something innocent to slut-shaming.

FIRST SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP - this muse met ivy when they were going to Auburn University. These were two pairs that no one would’ve thought would be together. The fact that they worked was a surprise to most, considering the fact they were the opposite of each other. However, they were the same for things that mattered. After graduating they moved in together. Things started to become complicated, with her trying to start her business with luci and with whatever your muse wanted to do with their career. They did find a way to work through it, but then her grandmother’s health started to change. Her focus was completely on her grandmother, which left your muse to feel neglected. Their relationship ended when ivy came back home and caught them cheating. Your muse could’ve stayed in the apartment or moved somewhere else but Ivy moved back into her grandma’s house

ONE NIGHT STAND - someone she could hook up with

FWB/FLING - with everything that is going on, Ivy does not really want anything serious. But she would love to have a distraction. Would that opinion change? who knows. However, the other person can also just see it as a fling and nothing serious. If they were to gain feelings is up to you.

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS/ACQUAINTANCES - Ivy grew up in frostford, for the most part. and since this is a small town, she would most likely know who a lot of people are. She was not popular like Luci was in high school. She never really felt like she fit in this town, so she tends to keep to herself. She’s outgoing and she will get along with mostly everyone, but she never lets them in the way she lets Luci in. That can start to change.

NEIGHBORS - if anyone wanna live next to farm! kefsgasgdfs this person probably sees the embarrassing parts of ivy since she forgets other people can see her when she's working on the farm. she most likely dies inside from embarrassment every time she sees them.

ENEMIES - ig anyone that does not like ivy sadfja;gasdg or whoever ivy does not like

ART STUFF - ivy loves drawing/painting! most of her paintings/drawings vary but she does focus on drawing/painting people of color since there is such a lack of it. especially with growing in a not-so-diverse town, this was her way of drawing others that looked like her. and posting it online for others to see themselves as well. But she does/can help anyone who would like to learn to draw or paint. Also, if someone wanted their wall decorated a certain way or wanted some type of logo she wouldn’t mind helping out.

#intro #// tis is long #// and the fact that i actually wrote some wanted connections #// im proud of me

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completelypeccable · 4 years

Text

Two for One Deal

Part 3

/Fear toxin and home

/Barbara knew she loved Dick Grayson, it was a fact of life. But suddenly it wasn’t just him, and that was better than expected./

...

Poison Ivy was just as annoying as the rash. She had grown unnoticed for over a week before the bats discovered her newest plant project, and intervened with all their usual luck. Which is to say, it was the same night that Scarecrow decided to blow his way out of Arkham.

All in all, the night wasn’t as much of a disaster as it could have been. Dick had minor stitches, Jason caused major stitches, and Tim had gotten out of bed for the fifth day in a row. Ivy and Scarecrow were secured and neither had managed to cause much damage, either in terms of structure or a body count.

Cass strong armed Dick out of the cave as soon as she patched him up, the rest following sooner rather than later.

She met Tim for an ambiguous night-morning cuppa, swapping information and enjoying each other’s presence. Barbara had a soft spot for the kid and was glad to see he was on his way to being okay.

“You should have been there,” he smiled. “Ivy was so annoyed to see us there, especially Damian.” He raised his pitch but still growled, in a poor approximation of the subject at hand. “I am an elite assassin and I will not hesitate to bite your ankles!”

Babs laughed and Tim smiled into his cup. “You know, I haven’t figured it out yet, what was Ivy even after?”

“Get this, she made some sort of plant that belched this absolutely nasty gas.”

“What?”

“I mean, Damian was the only one who was hit by it, but he said-“

“Wait, you’re telling me Damian got gassed by a fart flower?”

“Pretty much?”

“Was he okay, is he okay? I don’t think I’ve seen him since patrol.”

“I mean, when it happened we were a bit nervous, but Damian barely reacted at all. He looked more offended than anything. When we got Ivy down, she admitted that she was developing a fear toxin to get back at Scarecrow- which, honestly, fair- but that it was in its very early stages.”

Barbara set down her empty cup. She would make sure to check on the kid before bed, just in case. Tim seemed unconcerned, though, and he’s was there when it happened.

...

Damian had disappeared shortly after patrol, so Barbara assumed he went to sleep, or at least to his room. He wasn’t there when she checked, though. The kitchen was empty, as was the living room, the bathrooms, the other side of Dick’s bed, and every other location she could think to check.

Barbara was wheeling into the Batcave when she noticed the training simulator.

There he was, sweat flinging off his fingers as he fought simulation after simulation with robotic precision. He panted, face red and eyes unfocused. One figure knocked aside his arm and he took several blows to the sternum before delivering a sharp kick to the jaw, pivoting to block the next blow to the ribs. Nonstop movement, beautiful and brutal. The ratio was an absurd 15:1; the machine automatically made the odds unfair, then slowly increased the level of difficulty.

Barbara worked her way to the touch pad outside the simulator door, reviewing his current status and history. She swore silently and grabbed her comm.

She realized belatedly that while she had kept an eye on most family members for the past week or so, this name rarely made the priority list. He hadn’t seemed to care so much, being with them only a short while before the incident. With recent events considered, she wondered if maybe she had underestimated him.

Barbara worked her way to the touch pad outside the simulator door, reviewing his current status and history. She swore silently and grabbed her comm.

“Hey, Babs. Little early to be calling a nighttime vigilante.”

“Sorry Dick. I’m in the cave. It’s, well, it’s Damian.”

“What happened?” She could tell he was up and moving already. He was probably running his hand through his hair, frown crinkled at the corners.

The guilt gnawed slightly at her stomach.

“Tim said he got hit with some experimental gas Ivy was developing.”

“Yeah, the report stated it had no effect. Steph said pretty much the same.” A thunk, Dick leapt off the railing. Barbara pinched her nose and looked at the stats.

“I heard that too, but I think we missed something. He’s in the simulator, been here for a little over four hours. No sign of stopping anytime soon, either.”

“Did he even take a break after patrol?”

Babara shrugged, knowing Dick would just know despite not seeing it. Just like she knew how much he was beating himself up for heading straight to bed after the stitches. She hated to fuel the fire, but he would want to know.

“Looks like he was here for the past few nights, too.”

“Why the-“

“Today and most of the week, he started with an elevated heart rate and irregular breathing. Now it’s back to the same, but he’s probably well past exhausted at this point.”

Dick swore quietly, and she echoed the sentiment.

While they didn’t know exactly what was rubbing through his head, Barbara knew the kid likely wasn’t thinking rationally. He was new to it all, too, not knowing that this odd family understood and took care of each other. Neither nightmares nor panic attacks were a personal problem her and they could be self destructive when treated like they were.

And unreported fear toxin? That was no joke.

“Thanks for calling.”

“Anytime.”

Barbara went to the Batcomputer, already pulling up multiple files on gang activity from the past week. No one had gone out as Batman yet, and some criminals were starting to take notice. However, they always act a little less cocky when Red Hood or Black Bat shows up to the operation ready to beat their faces in.

And from here she could see the rest of the Batcave without being too in the way.

It took less than a minute for Dick to be stepping out of the elevator, slightly frazzled and bed-headed, still dressed only in flannel pajama pants. He sent a slight wave to Barbara. What a pretty goof. He was going to be cold down here.

She heard him shuffle toward the simulator, loud and lacking his usual grace and control. He was giving the kid plenty of warning.

Barbara knew she made the right call. Even though she was worried, she wasn’t the one the kid needed.

“Hey, Dami,” he called. “You’ve been at this for a while.”

’Dami’ didn’t answer, using his katanas to fight opponents from opposite sides.

“You need to take a break, Damian.”

Barbara felt the glare from across the room.

Dick sighed, typing in the override code and shutting down the simulation.

The door opened and Damian stood with his back to them, panting, swords dipping toward the floor. He sheathed his katanas and turned in one move, stalking toward where Dick waited with crossed arms.

“I do not need to be monitored like some child!”

Rage boy returns, Barbara thought sardonically. Dick looked relaxed, voice smooth and calm, but the lack of movement was the dead giveaway. He was really worried.

“If you go at a pace like this, you are going to hurt yourself. Those simulations don’t hold back.”

“My performance was more than adequate!”

“You need to rest.”

“Do not order me about!”

Dick watched him, stance wide and low, arms to the side.

“I’m not here to fight you, Damian,” he sighed.

Damian’s face softened slightly in confusion, enough so the fear in his round eyes flickered into view. Oh man, they should have been more concerned hours ago.

“You need to rest, just like all of us do. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

He stuttered back a step before tightening his fists.

“What do you care?” He asked, quiet and tight. “I am not your concern.”

This was the real problem, wasn’t it?

Dick‘s emotions were always easy to read. His care was clear, and the full force of his love could be disorienting in its strength. These words crushed him.

This was just a kid, Barbara thought. He stood there, hands shaking, breaths quickly heaving in and out of his nose. Not a demon, not an assassin. Just a scared kid.

Dick took a step forward, hunching his shoulders and becoming as small as a giant could be. He knelt down in front of Damian, who couldn’t decide how to feel, eyebrows twitching together and apart. Guarded and wounded, armed to the teeth. Melting, just like they all did.

“You have no reason to keep me here,” the uncertainty was in the softness, how he stood still, glancing from Dick’s eyes to his shoulders. He looked so tired, now that the anger faded.

Dick sat back on his knees, blue eyes level with green.

“You are going to send for Mother, are you not?”

“Do you want me to?”

Damian’s hands shook a little faster. Dick reached forward and he jerked his head to the floor.

“You don’t have to go. You can stay.”

“My father is dead, Grayson.” If the voice belonged to anyone else, Barbara would have sworn they were crying.

The dripping in the caves around them echoed, counting the stretching silence.

“Damian, bud, look at me.” Dick slowly brought a hand to his round cheek, tilting it to face him.

“I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, okay?”

Damian pressed into his hand, trembling head to toe.

“I do not want to go back,” he whispered, cracking. The words tumbled out. “I do not want to kill for them. Mother- she-“

“Sh, shh, come here,” Dick tugged gently and wrapped him tight against his chest. Barbara realized belatedly that he was crying, silent tears dripping down his face. No breathing or sound gave it away, just the anguish on Dick’s face, where he mirrored the action. He spoke softly, rubbing his hand in circles on the kid’s bony back.

“You don’t have to go back to the League. You can stay here-“

“Where?”

Barbara felt her heart pull. His voice was small, squeaky. A child’s.

Dick kissed his forehead. “With me, silly.”

“With you?”

“Of course,” he murmured, Damian’s nose pressed into his neck. He ran his thumb along the scruffy base of his head. “You’ll always have a place with me.”

Damian’s breath hitched once and Dick brought him fully onto his lap, squeezing him tight between his arms.

The drips continued and Dick held the boy in the echoes and the silence, alone and together.

Damian’s breathing slowly evened out, and Dick stood, shifting to cradle him securely.

He stood there a moment, eyes closed and feeling the solid weight of gravity center him in a new balance.

Barbara met him where the ledge jutted out and they were nearly eye to eye.

“You’re sure about this.” It wasn’t a question. She knew him well enough to know.

“Been for a while now,” he whispered, a crooked smile on his tear stained face.

She reached out, wiping the cold tracks with her knuckles. She kissed both their cheeks.

She smiled as Damian wriggled his face into Dick’s shoulder, deep in dreamless asleep.

“Alright,” Barbara whispered.

And it would be. Because this was her Richard Grayson. And he was good, overflowing with the steady love that built unbreakable things. She trusted him like no one else, and knew his judgement was sound if not always foolproof. She was the head, he was the heart, both know their own. He looked in her eyes, and she warmed at the strength of it.

As she closed her eyes and leaned against him, she could feel the thick of it all pooling at their feet and giving mass to this something. Always this something. An invisible binding, halfway a promise, halfway a vow. She saw Damian’s face twitch just slightly, fingers brushing her hair. Dick’s heartbeat matched her own, and he rested his head against their two.

“Alright.”

————————————————————

Comments are always appreciated, if you made it to the bottom :)

#barbara gordon #dick grayson #damian wayne #dickbabs for the wholesome family #dickbabs #tim drake #but briefly #dick grayson is a good day okAy (cry)

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juliaroleplays · 6 years

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Because I haven’t seen one yet, here is a masterlist of lyrics from Taylor Swift’s sixth album, reputation. You can use them as starters, memes, character tags, otp/brotp tags, thread titles, verse titles, blog titles etc. Anything in parentheses I feel like you can omit, usually for pronouns or length, but you can do whatever you want. If you find this useful, please give it a like or reblog!

Trigger warnings for: allusions to drug use/getting high

...Ready for it?

I know I’m gonna be with you I see nothing better, I keep him/her/them forever Let the games begin Lights down low No one has to know Touch me and you’ll never be alone You should see the things we do

End Game

And I heard about you And you heard about me Drinking on the beach with you all over me I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I put them I can't let you go, your hand prints on my soul I don’t wanna hurt you I don’t wanna miss you I don't wanna be just another ex-love (you don’t wanna see) I got a bad (boy/girl) persona, (that’s what they like) I got issues and chips on both of my shoulders I got some big enemies I gotta reputation (girl/boy) that don’t precede me I swear I don’t love the drama (it loves me) I wanna be your end game I’m one call away whenever you need me I've made mistakes and made some choices, that's hard to deny It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold Reputation precedes me (they told you I’m crazy) The truth is, it's easier to ignore it We tried to forget it, but we just couldn't With four words on the tip of my tongue You and me, we got big reputations You and me would be a big conversation You like the bad ones too You hold me down and I protect you with my life You've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks

I Did Something Bad

Crimson red paint on my lips Don’t throw away a good thing For every like I tell them/him/her, they/he/she tells me three Go ahead and light me up I can feel the flames on my skin I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he/she/they had it coming I let him/her/them think they saved me I never trust a narcissist (but they love me) I never trust a playboy (but they love me) If a man/woman/person/someone talks shit, then I owe him/her/them nothing If he/she/they drop my name then I owe him/her/them nothing If he/she/they spends my change then I owe he/she/they had it coming Most fun I ever had (and I would do it over again if I could) Now all he/she/they think about is me They got their pitchforks and proof, receipts and reasons They said I did something bad (but why’s/why does it feel so good?) They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one This is how the world works (you gotta leave before you get left) Why’s/Why does it feel so good? You gotta leave before you get left

Don’t Blame Me

Don’t blame me, love made me crazy (if it isn’t you ain’t doing it right) Echoes of your name in my mind For you, I would cross the line (For you,) I would fall from grace (just to touch your face) For you, I would lose my mind For you, I would waste my time I get so high every time you’re loving me I get so high every time you’re touching me I once was poison ivy, but now I'm your daisy If you walk away, I'd beg you on my knees to stay I'm insane, but I'm your baby I’m just gonna call you mine I’ve been breaking hearts a long time I’ve been toying with them older (guys/girls/people) Lord save me, my drug is my baby (that I be using for the rest of my life) My name is whatever you decide They say she’s/he’s/they’ve gone too far this time Something happened for the first time (in the darkest little paradise)

Delicate

Come here, you can meet me in the back Do the girls/boys/people back home touch you like I do? I don’t wanna share I know that it’s delicate I pretend your mine all the damn time Is it chill that you’re in my head? Is it cool that I said all that? Is it too soon to do this yet? Just think of the fun things we could do Long night, with your hands up in my hair, (echoes of your footsteps on the stairs) My reputation has never been worse so, you must like me for me Oh damn, never seen that color blue Sometimes I wonder when you sleep, are you dreaming of me? Sometimes when I look into your eyes, I pretend you’re mine (all the damn time) Stay here honey, I don’t wanna share This ain’t for the best We can’t make any promises now can we babe? (but you can make me a drink)

Look What You Made Me Do

All I think about is karma (Honey,) I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time I don’t like how you laugh when you lie I don’t like you little games I don’t like your perfect crime I don’t trust nobody and nobody trusts me I’ll be the actress starring in your bad dreams I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined Look what you made me do Maybe I got mine, but you'll all get yours The world moves on, another day, another drama You said the gun was mine Your kingdom keys once belonged to me

So It Goes

All eyes on us But, honestly, baby, who's counting? But when I get you alone, it's so simple Get caught up in the moment (lipstick on your face) Gold cage, hostage to my feelings I do bad things to you I did a number on you I know what you know I make all your grey days clear I'm so chill, but you make me jealous I’m tripping when you’re gone I’m yours to keep I’m yours to lose Met you in a bar Our pieces fall, right into place So it goes… You know I’m not a bad girl/boy/person You make everyone disappear We break down a little We can feel it You did a number on me When you get me alone, it’s so simple

Gorgeous

He's/She’s/They’re in the club doing, I don't know what Ocean blue eyes looking in mine I feel like I might sink and drown and die I got a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner, he's/she’s/their older than us If you’re single, that’s honestly worse If you've got a girlfriend/boyfriend/partner, I'm jealous of her/him/them I'm so furious at you for making me feel this way (but what can I say?) There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad You make me so happy, it turns back to sad You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk You should take it as a compliment that I'm talking to everyone here but you (but you, but you) You're so cool, it makes me hate you so much You're so gorgeous, I can't say anything to your face You're so gorgeous it actually hurts You've ruined my life, by not being mine

Getaway Car

A circus ain't a love story And now we’re both sorry (we're both sorry) Don't pretend it's such a mystery He/She/They poisoned the well, I was lying to myself He/She/They was the best of times, the worst of crimes I didn’t mean it and you didn’t see it I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed I left you in a motel bar, put the money in a bag and I stole the keys I struck a match and blew your mind I wanted to leave him/her/them, but I needed a reason It was the great escape, the prison break I'm in a getaway car It's no surprise I turned you in, because us traitors never win Nothing good starts in a getaway car That was the last time you ever saw me The ties were black, the lies were white There were sirens in the beat of your heart Think about the place where you first met me Shades of grey in candlelight Should've known I'd be the first to leave We never had a shotgun shot in the dark We were flying, but we'd never get far X marks the spot, where we fell apart You were driving the getaway car We were flying, but we'd never get far We were jetset, Bonnie and Clyde, until I switched to the other side While he/she/they was/were running after us, I was screamin', "go, go, go!" With three of us, honey, it's a sideshow

King of My Heart

All the boys/girls/people and their expensive cars, (with their Range Rovers and their Jaguars), never took me quite where you do And all at once, you're all I want I'll never let you go And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for Baby, all at once, this is enough I made up my mind, I'm better off being alone Is the end of all the endings? I'm perfectly fine, I live on my own King/Queen/Ruler of my heart, body and soul The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury Up on the roof with a school girl/boy/kid crush, drinking beer out of plastic cups You move to me like a Motown beat You try on calling me baby, like trying on clothes Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep

Dancing With Our Hands Tied

Baby can we dance (through an avalanche)? But we were dancing with our hands tied Darling, you had turned my bed into a sacred oasis Deep blue, but you painted me golden First sight, we love without reason I could've spent forever with your hands in my pockets I had a bad feeling I knew there was no one in the world who could take it I loved you in secret I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us I'd hold you as the water rushes in, if I could dance with you again I'd kiss you as the lights went out, (swaying as the room burned down) I’m a mess (but I’m the mess that you wanted) My love had been frozen Twenty-five years old, how were you to know? You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it People started talking, putting us through our paces Picture of your face in an invisible locket We were dancing like it was the first time

Dress

All of this silence and patience, pining and anticipation All of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting Carve your name into my bedpost Even in my worst lies, you saw the truth in me Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me Everyone thinks that they know us Flashback to my mistakes, my rebounds, my earthquakes Flashback when you met me I don’t want you like a best friend I only bought this dress so you could take if off I woke up just in time If I get burned, at least we were electrified Inescapable, I'm not even gonna try Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo My hands are shaking from all this My hands are shaking from holding back from you My hands shake, I can't explain this My one and only, my lifeline Now I wake up by your side Our secret moments in a crowded room Say my name and everything just stops They got no idea about me and you There is an indentation in the shape of you You kiss my face and we're both drunk

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me? Everyone swimming in a champagne sea Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year Forgiveness is a nice thing to do Friends don't try to trick you Here's a toast to my real friends, they don't care about the he-said-she-said Here's to my baby, he/she/they ain't reading what they call me lately Here's to my momma, had to listen to all this drama I can’t even say it with a straight face I took an axe to a mended fence It was so nice being friends again It was so nice throwing big parties I'm not the only friend you've lost lately, if only you weren't so shady I'm shaking my head and locking the gates Jump into the pool from the balcony So why'd you have to rain on my parade? There I was, giving you a second chance There are no rules when you show up here This is why we can't have nice things, (darling/honey) You stabbed in the back while shaking my hand

Call It What You Want

All my flowers grew back as thorns, windows boarded up after the storm All the drama queens taking swings All the liars are calling me one, nobody's heard from me for months All the jokers dressing up as kings Bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right Call it what you want, (call it what you want to) I brought a knife to a gunfight I did one thing right I know I make the same mistakes every time I want to wear his/her/their initial on a chain round my neck It fades to nothing when I look at him I'm doing better than I ever was I'm laughing with my lover, making forts under covers He/She/They built a fire just to keep me warm (He/She/They) love(s) me like I'm brand new My baby's fit like a daydream My castle crumbled overnight They took the crown, but it's alright (Slowly I said,) "You don't need to save me, but would you run away with me?" Starry eyes sparking up my darkest night

New Year’s Day

Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor Don’t read the last page Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you I can tell that it's going to be a long road I stay when it's hard or it’s wrong or you’re making mistakes I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you’re turning away I want your midnights I will hold onto you I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day I’ll be there if you strike out and you're crawling home I'll be there if you're the toast of the town Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere There's glitter on the floor after the party, girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi

#rph #rpt #rpc #rp help #masterlist #masterlist*#**

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