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#jason is at a lack of words at bruce's confessions of pride and love but is also about to be a BAT about this and track down info
ew-selfish-art · 6 months
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Dpx Dc AU: Ectoplasm is required for Ghosts to be visible to the human eye- And Danny creates his own ectoplasm.
Danny is visiting Jazz in Gotham and its weird how friendly everyone is. Like, the city gets a really bad rapport, everywhere he goes there is someone trying to strike up a conversation or answer his questions about getting around to the tourist spots. A few people even pointed out restaurants and ways to find off the beaten path gems! Jazz seems to role her eyes at him, but when he brings up her 'roommate' being kind of cute she flat out laughs.
Danny then comes to understand the Jazz doesn't have a roommate and that Ghosts in Gotham don't move far from their haunts- He's just been inadvertently turning these undead folks visible by accident of generating abnormal amounts of ectoplasm.
Which, is comforting in a way, he's never walking this dangerous city alone and really, most of the ghosts have been really friendly! They disappear once he's a few blocks away from them anyway.
---
Tim Drake is having a horrible day.
He'd been given intel that one of Black Mask's guys was going to snitch but that he'd died before given the opportunity to reach out to the GCPD. He tracks down the guy's last know whereabouts and yikes. Its next to the Theater. Tim was often grateful for his childhood obsessions, this time it backfired.
Tim and Bruce get into an argument about trust and respect and, worst of all, mental health. And even though Tim was vehemently against Batman accompanying Red Robin to the alleyway - that's exactly what happens.
They arrive and Bruce is closing up faster than a clam in the contaminated Gotham Bay- Clearly being in the Alley bothers him. No fucking shit. RR gets started on collecting evidence, there are a few extra blood splatters and a single left shoe... When a kid walks into the Alley.
"Uh, sorry to intrude-" The kid looks scared shitless, and runs away. And then, all of a sudden, Batman and Robin aren't alone in the Alley.
Tim can hardly believe his eyes as the dead man appears and quickly blabs Black Mask's bank passwords and what the plan had been- and While he's over joyed to have that closure, he turns around to Batman weeping in the arms of his parents.
The ghosts fade, and the emotions are certainly charged as this was never something Bruce or Tim would have ever dreamed of happening. Ghosts in Gotham. Talking, floating, granting closure.
"RR, Bats, come in." Oracle calls into their ears.
"Reporting in, but, uh, we need a minute."
"A minute? We have a case on 4th and-"
"O, we just saw the ghosts of the Waynes. It's going to be a minute."
"...Lots of Ghost reports lately then. Any chance you saw a kid looking like he could be adopted?"
"Yeah, actually, black hair and blue eyes. He was super polite before he ran away."
"We have work to do. Oracle, lets prioritize finding our person of interest and divert Nightwing and Robin to the case on 4th." Batman cut between them on the comms and he sounded... calmer than either of them anticipated.
---
Jazz is no longer laughing when Batman appears at her door explaining that he's looking for Danny (Who already flew away from town to get a good night's sleep before class on Monday). Turns out Danny reunited the man with his dead parents just briefly- and then the second guy appears and mentions how Danny had also given a guy who'd been murdered by a Mob enough time to explain the ongoing threats the city faced.
Jazz just rolls her eyes and says that it's not like the ghosts are going anywhere anytime soon and Danny will visit in another month. When pressed, she just explains that her brother is a weirdo. No of course he doesn't have powers. Gaslight and Girlbosses her way out.
And Jazz thinks that the game is up for at least another month, obviously when Danny visits more shit will stir up, but then this new guy appears.
Unlike the other Bats who are keen on watching her from a distance, the Red Hood knocks on her door. Are her eyebrows all the way into her hairline when Red Hood asks her to send his thanks along to Danny because somehow this whole situation led to his Dad expressing remorse for his actions and apologizing? Yes, yes they are.
But Jazz can smell Dissertation Data off of these vigilantes- Who is she to send them away? Jazz welcomes Red Hood into her place for a cup of tea and a small chat.
The story then devolves into Jazz getting shit done, Danny being cute by proximity and also bringing ghosts to the party, and the Bats having trauma resolve between them.
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faintblueivy · 4 years
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So Imagine...
A world where Bruce Wayne died as a child in that alley that day, Martha and Thomas Wayne grieve as normal parents. They DO NOT BECOME BATMAN AND JOKER. 
Nothing ever remains the same after losing their little boy. So, Thomas buries himself in his work and Martha drowns herself in depression and pain. They do therapy and it works a little and life becomes bearable but...not happy.
One day, Alfred badgers the couple to go out and relax a little and buys them tickets for a circus - Haly’s circus. Everything was going nice and dandy and Martha was in awe of this little acrobat as much as the rest of the crowd when suddenly the rope snaps and the boy’s parents fall to their deaths - right in front of him and the gathering. Thomas is quick to jump in to see if he could help them in any way but Martha can see it in his eyes that they are as dead as they can be. 
They return to home with heavy hearts and Martha can’t get the image of the little boy out of her head. His skin was a light shade of bronze but his dark hair and bright cerulean blue eyes reminded her so much of Bruce that her heart wouldn’t rest. So a few days later she uses her connections to know if the child is safe and well cared for, when to her immense horror, she is replied that he was shipped to Gotham Juvie due to the lack of foster homes. She is enraged.
She calls Thomas and Alfred and lets them know about the little acrobat’s situation and declares that she was going to adopt him. They hesitate a little but she is not to be deterred as she goes ahead and brings the little boy home. 
Richard John Grayson - Wayne. Or Dick, as he likes to call himself. 
He is adamant that he wants no parents and Martha is fine because not only that she is old enough to be not his mother but also because no child can ever be her Bruce.
“You can just call me Grandma then.” She tells him.
His eyes are wide but he nods and then smiles and Martha, in a long while, has never felt this happy. 
Her new Grandson, despite losing his parents, is a ray of sunshine with unlimited supply of energy and the cold and empty manor is warm and happy again. 
Dick is a little charmer and even after Thomas and Alfred’s initial reluctance, they immediately fall in love with the boy and one day, when Martha comes down to the morning breakfast, she hears a happy, deep rumble - one she has not heard in many years. Thomas is laughing. 
There on the dining table, seated beside Dick, was Thomas laughing. Her eyes water at the scene and Alfred, who is standing beside her offers her a handkerchief. None of them mention how his own eyes are wet too.
 ...
Dick is sixteen, a brilliant boy in academics as much as they disinterest him but an invincible athlete. Martha has been told time and time again that her grandson is undoubtedly a international level gymnast. But he is a teenager.
And teenagers steal their grandparent’s ‘coolest’ car and rush off into the night. But they don’t come back with a little battered and bruised, homeless kid tucked under their arm.
“He had jacked three tires off your car. When I confronted him, he tried to hit me with a tire iron.” He says, amused, as Thomas tries to convince the child to show him his injuries.
“I didn’t do nothin’! He’s a fuckin’ big boob liar!” They boy screams, his blue green eyes glaring daggers at Dick.
“Language.” Both her and Alfred warn simultaneously.
After hours of struggle, interrogation and fuck you’s, Martha learns that the child’s name is Jason. He is twelve. Mother died form drug overdosing and Dad is a petty henchman of some crime lord. He ran away from multiple foster homes because they are so abusive that the child feels safer on streets. 
Martha goes on a rampage over Gotham’s foster care after that. She did not donate millions of dollars annually for children to feel safer on streets. After of lot of talks and reassurances and promises, Martha acquires her second grandchild.
Jason Peter Todd - Wayne. 
Jason is tiny. Malnourished like Leslie said. But he is sharp, observant and hungry for knowledge. Martha and Alfred joke that Jason is Thomas' soul child. Where Dick had loved activity and movement, Jason liked quiet and stability - Martha thinks that running and fighting for survival on streets every single day does that you. So evenings often found her and Dick in the garden but Thomas and Jason in the library pouring over as many books as they can.
And to nobody's surprise, despite their rocky start, the boys become inseparable. They are outwardly different, with clashing interests and behaviors but Martha can see that they both carry the same cores of light.  
When the morning of Dick’s Parent’s death anniversary comes around, both her and Thomas find Jason on Dick’s bed, arms curled protectively around his big brother. For the first time in so many years, Dick wakes up to warmth surrounding him, not nightmares. 
...
Both her grandsons attend Gotham Academy so when she receives a phone call from the Principal, she is half surprised and half not. When she enters the Principal’s office, both her boys are standing on one side, Jason with his head hung in shame and Dick glaring daggers at the other side. The boy who seems to be injured is being coddled by his mother who is shooting nasty glares at her grandchildren periodically. 
Then she notices another small boy standing beside her boys, trying to melt into the wall.
Tim Drake. The only son of Jack and Janet Drake of Drake Industries.    
She arches a questioning eyebrow at Dick who shakes his head and then she turns to the Principal. 
“What happened here?”
“Glad to see you’re here Mrs. Wayne.” The Principal says, pushing his glasses up his nose, “I regret to inform you that your ward Jason Peter Todd attacked this young man here.” He gestures to the other boy. 
“Madam, Gotham Academy is a prestigious school and we do not encourage physical violence here. Yes, it might have been acceptable from where he came from but it won’t be, here. I hope you give us the right to punish Mr. Todd here appropriately.” 
Martha inwardly bristles at the jab at her grandson and says crisply, “Mr. Wayne.”
“What?”
“He’s not just Todd. He is a Wayne. Please remember that.”
“Principal Sir.” Dick cuts in and Martha is confused because as hyperactive as Dick is, he is a mannerly child and knows better than to cut in a conversation like this but what draws her attention is the chilling tone which Dick almost never uses. Dick continues, “Why don’t you tell our grandmother more of your regrets? Or the prestigious Gotham Academy believes that bullying is acceptable.” 
Martha has been told what she needs to know. 
“Jason?” she calls out to her youngest grandson softly, “What happened?”
Jason is quiet when suddenly Tim Drake moves forward. She can see he is scared the way his hands shake but determination shines in his blue eyes. She likes him.
“I want to say something.”
He narrates the tale of how he was being bullied and how the boy on the other side with his mother threw his science project model away and broke it and physically tried to attack him when Jason stepped in to save him. Martha felt nothing but pride at Jason’s righteous indignation. 
Tim also explained that Jason exercised immense control even after these bullies called him ‘street rat’, but the verbal spar intensified after Dick was insulted for his Romani heritage, but it came to fist fight after Thomas and Martha were insulted, and Bruce’s death was made fun of.
Her gaze snaps to the other three occupants of the room and they are all in various shades of pale. Apparently, the Principal had not done his homework.
“Principal” She says icily, “Yes, I give you the authority to punish Jason appropriately but only when this young man here”, she gestures to the boy who was now cowering behind his mother, “Is dealt with in the same way.”
After threatening the Principal in soft words but harsh tone about not tolerating to having her grandsons bullied the next time, she grabs Jason’s hand to drag him away from these people who don’t deserve his company, when her eyes fall on the little trembling Tim. 
She offers him her hand.
He stares at it, shocked but after an encouraging smile from Dick and a small shove from Jason, he takes it shyly.
And since that day, Tim becomes a member of Martha’s family. The boys stay together so much that even Thomas forgets that Tim is not theirs. 
Tim’s upbringing sends Martha’s grandmother instincts on a haywire and she resents the Drakes for their criminal neglect towards Tim. 
It is rewarding that Tim flourishes in their attention. 
She learns that his hobby is Photography and he is excellent at it. And he is a genius when it comes to science, computers and gadgets. He likes crime thrillers movies and books and often picks them apart with his scarily good knowledge about forensics that leave the rest of the family in awe and slightly disturbed. 
The dam breaks when one day Jason and Dick return back from school telling her that Tim was absent today and they are worried about him. When they later sneak into the Drake mansion in the evening, Thomas receives a frantic call from their oldest grandchild that Tim was burning with fever. Because Thomas is a doctor, they save Tim before anything serious happens.
This time, it is Thomas who sues the Drakes for Tim’s custody after him and Jason had, had enough of ‘Timbo’s shitty parents’.
“Timothy?” Martha brushes his sweat soaked forehead gently. “Would you like to be a member of our family legally?"
Tim is hesitant about this but he admits that he likes Wayne manor much better than he ever liked Drake mansion. He confesses that he loves Jason and Dick as brothers and sees Martha, Thomas and Alfred as his grandparents as well.
The long custody battle ends with both Jack and Janet Drake dying at the hands of two different tragedies, leaving Tim an orphan, but also with a loving family consisting of three grandparents and two brothers by his side. 
Timothy Jackson Drake - Wayne is adopted into the Wayne family as her and Thomas’ third grandson.
...
A year after they adopt Tim, Thomas comes home with a small girl on his side. She is clearly an east Asian in heritage with dark hair and dark eyes and is speech deprived. Thomas is clearly distressed after Cassandra - her name is Cassandra - is safely secured in warm bed in a nice room across Jason’s. He calls her, the three boys and Alfred to his study to explain about the small girl. 
He talks about how Gordon brought the girl to him and after hours of wordless, signed and clumsily sketched on paper conversations with the little girl they were able to determine that Cassandra was hiding from her father who was an assassin and wanted to drag the little girl down the same path before she ran away. The more he talks about the damage and abuse the girl had experienced at the hands on her own father, the more furious Martha becomes. When Thomas’ explanations ends, Jason slams a punch into the wall making a dent but no one has the heart to reprimand him for that. 
The following morning, Martha can see that her three boys have unanimously decided that they are adopting Cassandra as their sister. She is treated like a Princess, and given the nick name ‘Cass’. 
Slowly but surely, Cass learns what it means to love through Dick’s bright kindness, Jason’s quiet protection and Tim’s infinite patience. After her father is finally apprehended, the family celebrates.
Cassandra Wayne, soon after, becomes the beloved Wayne Princess of Gotham. 
Martha and Thomas often accompany their only granddaughter to her speech therapy lessons, so after six months of her adoption, at dinner, she places a kiss on everyone’s forehead - her three brothers and three grandparents, stands at the head of the table and croaks out, slowly, “Thank...thank you.” All of them stare at her flabbergasted, but it appears that she was planning to shock them even more.
“You...Love. Love you...”
The silence that follows her broken but sure words is deafening. Surprisingly it is Tim who breaks it as he scrambles out of his chair and launches himself at Cass, wrapping his arms around her and both Jason and Dick follow him, grabbing both their youngest siblings fiercely.
A quiet sob breaks her out of the trance and she smiles when she watches Thomas furiously wiping his tears from the sleeve of his shirt. The last time he     had cried was at Bruce’s funeral. And Martha is infinitely grateful that this time these are happy tears. 
...
Sometimes Martha wonders what would have happened if Bruce had lived. If these children are her grandchildren then does that mean they are Bruce’s kids? Had Bruce lived, would he have accepted these gaggle of kids that her and Thomas have collected over the years as his own? Would he have kids of his own? 
Her questions are answered when one day she hears a slight commotion in the entrance is surprised to see a young woman with a sword threatening Alfred.
“I want to meet the Master of this house. Let them know immediately.” She demands in an authoritative but silky voice, and Martha suddenly sees the Toddler clutched in her arm. 
“What is it?” Martha speaks as soon as she can when the woman notices her. She looks surprised for a second but immediately schools her features as the baby fusses.
“You’re alive.” She whispers and before any of them could make an indignant comment about her wordings, she says, “It appears that I might have traveled in to the wrong universe.”
Now that is interesting. Martha lives in a world where they are protected by aliens...so, it is certainly worth hearing for. 
Martha offers the young lady an invitation for tea which she accepts. She notices how the woman carries herself with lethal grace and dignity as if she was a Princess but much more. As they sit and Alfred leaves to bring the promised team Martha notices how the woman’s eyes sweep over the place. 
“How may I help you?”
Her voice attracts the attention of the toddler and this time, he is not clutched tightly enough to his mother’s chest to turn his small head and look at her. Martha gasps. Because the child looks too much like Toddler Bruce. But instead of the blue eyes like her son, this child has glowing green ones, like his mother. But still, the resemblance is uncanny. 
“Yes, he is your son’s.” The woman answers the unasked question.
She is explained the existence of Multiverse, and it’s workings and how Bruce survived instead of them in that world, met Talia (the woman’s name is Talia Al Ghul) and had a child but had to leave. Talia mentions the reason she came here was because her son’s life was in danger and Talia’s father wanted to raise her son as an assassin Prince and a tool for him to use. Talia’s solution to protect her son was for her to give her son to the Bruce of this world to raise, since the Bruce of that world had gone missing.   
“I can raise him.” Martha suddenly declares and the woman looks at him shocked. “I will not raise him into a life of violence but I can certainly protect him and give him a happy civilian life.”
Talia looks unsure, hesitant, but says, “I...have been a warrior since the day I can remember. Never once have I ever thought of my son not being a warrior. He was...born to be one.” 
Martha smiles. “He doesn’t have to be one. Yes, his life will be infinitely different than the one you imagined but...he will be well loved and protected. I can assure you of that.”
“Damian.” Talia whispers as he deposits the baby in her arms after a lot of consideration. “His name is Damian.”
She looks at her son tenderly one last time and places a kiss on his forehead and Martha’s heart breaks a little for the young mother. 
“Will you return back for him?” Martha asks as she follows the Talia to the door.
“No.” Talia whispers, her voice strained. “I will not. Any action taken by me is monitored by my father closely. If I return back, then he might know that I have left Damian here and I cannot let that happen. He is yours, forever.”
Martha gives her a sad smile. “You’re a brave and good mother Talia. Thank you for doing what is best for your son.”
She nods, not turning to look at Damian one last time as she leaves the manor grounds, never to return. 
Martha looks at the baby secure in her arms and her lips quirk up into a grin at the sight of two curious green eyes watching her with interest. 
“Welcome to the family, little Damian.”
When she introduces the new addition to the family, Thomas is dumbfounded. Dick is ecstatic at the prospect of having a new baby brother, Jason is secretly pleased, Cass is happiest and Tim looks unsure.
That’s how Damian Wayne - Al Ghul joins the family.
Damian fits in their home spectacularly. After few days of hesitation, like he had with Dick, Thomas takes to Damian quickly. He has an epic competition going on with their eldest grandson to become the baby’s favorite. Damian refuses to sleep without Thomas but his tantrums are only controlled and won over by Dick. Damian loves Jason manhandling him and giggles happily when the older boy throws him in the air or swings him around. Damian loves Cassandra because she knows what he wants before any of them do. And Cass loves to carry her little brother around to watch birds and animals in the manor grounds.
The only person Damian seems to not get along with is Tim and the older boy seems not be fond of him either. Because Damian wants everything Tim does and the older brother has to compromise for Damian every time. But Martha has to bite laughs a lot now a days because almost everytime Damian falls asleep, it is with Tim in vicinity. And she has caught the older boy tenderly covering Damian in his favorite blanket more often than not. Martha thinks that this is kind of cute but keeps her opinion to herself. 
Her little grandson is quite protective of his siblings though. Anytime someone upsets any of his siblings, they are threatened with scowls, growls and even bites and stabbings in extreme cases.
Like last time when Mrs. Park made fun of Cassandra’s  speech impairment, Damian almost bit her finger off. Damian hates one of Dick’s racist colleague (they all do) so much that anytime the man enters his field of vision, the first thing Damian gets his hand on is thrown at the guy’s head. With deadly precision. And last time when Mr. Link had called Jason ‘street rat’ for personally volunteering charity work for poor and homeless, Damian had smeared his juice and drool covered hands on the Man’s thousand dollars suit. And when one time, a reporter had infiltrated a Gala and chased Tim around to ask uncomfortable questions about his parent’s death and the Wayne’s involvement in it, Damian, noticing Tim’s distress had stabbed the reporter with a fork with no hesitation. 
Martha is still not sure if she should encourage or reprimand Damian for that.
...
As she sits on the head of the table with Thomas on her side and Alfred on the other end, she wonders how miraculous it is for her to have all these children in her life. 
Dick is engaged in an animated conversation with Stephanie who was introduced to the family as Tim’s girlfriend. Barbara, the daughter of James Gordon and Dick’s girlfirend/or not was helping Cass pile up food on her plate. Damian and Tim were bickering over something as usual but Jason trying to hide his snickers in guise of drinking water which made Martha sure that the something was Jason’s doing.
These people were her family. The ones she had gained after losing Bruce. She wonders, if there was a universe where Bruce got to meet her grandchildren. 
Would he accept them? As family? 
Would he love them? As family? 
She brightly smiles when the multiple sets of eyes turn to her waiting for her to blow the candle.
“Happy Birthday Martha.”
Thomas says warmly, his voice thick with emotion and she meets his gaze and sees the love, affection and thankfulness in his eyes for this family that they had created after their earth shattering loss. She knows what she wants as she blows the candle on the cake flickering in front of her.
I wish for us to be family in every universe.
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opheliawillowbrook · 3 years
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How the Cookie Crumbles
To say his brothers fought would be an understatement: They warred. That. That was the better word. However, it was Dick who was the peacemaker among them. The mediator extraordinaire, translating all his brothers’ woes and misunderstandings into less doom-pending transgressions. But to say this unofficial, yet very necessary part he played was tasking was yet another understatement of unspeakable proportions. It was a FUCKING LOT.
“I swear to God, Drake. You and Brown are a special kind of stupid.”
“Shut up, Damian! It’s a good idea!” Tim grumbled in reply.
“Yeah! You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first!”
Dick’s face fell upon hearing the argument and considered turning the other way, but he’d learned the hard way that his lack of interference could result in bloodshed. Damian did have a history of stabbing Tim, and Robin had an impressive body count, according to Jason. I’d better  make sure he doesn’t add two more.
“Well, fuck me and my  entire life,” Dick droned in frustration. “What are you three bitching about now?”
“Damian keeps saying our idea is stupid,” Stephanie tattled.
“Yeah!” Tim added with crossed arms. “He says we lack the fortitude for good ideas!”
“You do!” the current robin exclaimed.
“Damian?”
The youngest batboy rolled his eyes and reasoned, “Listen, I know these two brain donors barely have two brain cells to rub between them—”
“That’s not the only thing they rub!” Jason called from the other room.
Damian again rolled his eyes in contempt and continued, “And I’ve accepted, as a member of this family, that everyone gets to act a little stupid from time to time. However, as much as I would like to respect their commitment to their shared stupidity, I feel as if they are abusing the privilege and it needs to stop before one of them gets hurt.”
“Wow, he actually cares,” Jason added from still in another room.
“Have you been sitting there listening the whole time?” Dick asked, near facepalm.
“Affirmative,” Jason confirmed, entering from the hall.
“And you did nothing to stop them fighting?”
“It’s funnier this way.”
“Do I always have to be the responsible one?”
“Affirmative,” all four said with little thought.
“Okay then,” Dick sighed with reluctance. “Damian, I know you find it hard to accept the choices of others, but you need to understand that free choice and expression is about accepting that others may not make the same choices as you, and that’s okay. It’s the same as you choosing not to take my dating advice and ask Raven out because you’re afraid of rejection—”
“Shut up, Grayson! This isn’t about me!!!” Damian spat.
“Damian has the hots for Raven?” Jason teased. “You have good taste, Mighty Mouse. She got a great—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence, Todd!” Dick and Damian ordered in unison.
“I was gonna say personality,” Jason droned. “Get your minds out of the gutter. I mean for fuck’ sake.”
“Sure you were,” Tim replied with a glower.
“Yeah Tim, cause you never stare at her tits while you talk to her,” Jason added, throwing him doubly under the bus.
“Dude, are you trying to get me killed?” Tim said, shooting an elbow into his brother’s ribs as Damian and Stephanie both glared. Spurring Dick into a further mood for murder.
“My point being is, just because you don’t like other peoples’ ideas, doesn’t mean they’re stupid.”
“Tell them the idea, guys!” Jason urged, stirring the pot.
Stephanie and Tim looked at each other and nodded, as though they’d discovered the holy grail itself. “We’re gonna write a series of YA novels and sell them on the web!” Steph sang optimistically.
“Yeah, it’s a huge and diverse market,” Tim added.
“And with established characters, we’ll make a killing.”
Dick’s brow furrowed. “That sounds like fanfiction?”
“It sounds like utter bullshit,” Damian sneered, not single fuck given.
“It’s not bullshit,” Tim snapped. “YA novels make up a huge portion of the market. People love those things.”
“Then name one YA novel that has sold more than a manga in the last 10 years?”
Tim shrugged. “I can’t think of one at the top of my head, but there they definitely exist and sell.”
“Yeah, so does my fanfiction based on this family,” Jason added under his breath.
“What?” Everyone asked.
“Nothing. Continue.”
“So anyway, I told Damian it’s a foolproof plan.”
Dick rolled his eyes with a bit of doubt, but who was he to judge or discourage their creativity. I mean, he dropped out of college after all? “I’m not saying I believe it’s bulletproof, because frankly, nothing is. But I’m curious why you would consider telling Damian? I mean, he hates most things.”
“And Drake. I hate Drake.”
“We’re all very aware, Dami,” Dick drawled in annoyance. “But yeah, why would you tell him anything important to you? Especially that?”
“Well, we kinda needed a loan. I knew Bruce would undoubtedly say no and, well, Damian has money.”
“Because I make good business decisions.”
“I don’t know why I thought of asking you?”
“You didn’t, Jason told you to,” Stephanie confessed, recalling an earlier conversation.
“Jason, really?” Dick tsked.
“Hey, Damian does make good business decisions. Who do you think cleans and invests money? It’s certainly not Alfred.”
“Because Alfred would have nothing to do with your blood money, Jason. And Damian, I’m very disappointed in you!”
“Grayson, I don’t know what high horse you are riding on today, but you better come off it. Father told me if I wanted money, that I needed to earn it and that I should get a job. So I got one.”
“Laundering money for Red Hood’s criminal Enterprise is not a job!”
“Actually it is. Mighty Mouse made us an LLC and everything. I own several Wash & Folds, all legitimate! Thanks to Hell Spawn here! I’m actually considering making him a partner.”
“So will your LLC fund our YA Novels?”
“Oh fuck no!”
“Come on, Jay! We have a solid business plan,” Stephanie pleased.
“You’re business plan is a bunch of meaningless numbers written on the back of a napkin and poorly illustrated versions of us,” Damian said, holding up the napkin in question.
“Okay, so it’s not the final draft, but we’re working on it!” Tim said pointedly.
“Yeah, as tempting as this all sounds, I didn’t make my money making half baked business decisions,” Jason reasoned
“No, you made it by taking over Gotham’s drug trade,” Dick clarified with disapproval.
“Which was a solid business decision.”
“Why do I even talk to you?”
“I don’t know why I talk to any of you,” Damian scowled, arms crossed, grateful there was no shared genetics between him and his adoptive kin. “I don’t understand what father saw in any of you.
“I can’t answer that,” Jason replied. “However, I can tell you, from personal experience, what he saw in your mom.”
“Do you wanna die, Todd?”
“Do you wanna not have a job?” Jason wanted. “Also, been there done that. But hey, if I died twice then I’d have buffy status so don’t threaten me with a good time, kid.”
“On that note, I’m leaving,” Damian grimaced. “I have to meet Raven, anyway.”
“Oh,” Dick sang. “You have a date!”
“It’s not a date.���
“Bet you wish it was a date,” Stephanie teased. “Y’know, if you just stopped acting like a dick all the time, I bet she’d go out with you.”
“Shut up, Brown.”
“Oh no,” Dick smiled. “I know it’s hard to believe, but he’s nice to Raven.”
“Hey keep that shit up,” Jason added. “If you’re nice to her, she’d be nice to you!”
“I hate all of you,” Damian proclaimed and stormed away.
“Fuck you too! See you at work Monday! Jason called, earning a tiger middle finger.
“He might be an asshole, but he’s a good kid,” Jason nodded with a sense of pride, causing to Dick to silently scoff. “Still needs to get laid though.”
“Bruce is gonna be so pissed when he finds out you pulled Dami into your bullshit.”
“You’re using Raven’s pet name for him now?” Jason mocked. “And fucker’s gonna have to prove it first; there’s a reason I hired ‘Dami’ for that job.”
“Dude, fuck you; dig your grave,” Dick lamented. “And don’t come at me with one of your tired ass death jokes, they’re getting old.”
“Suit yourself,” the Outlaw glowered as silence set in.
“So Dick,” Tim dared sheepishly. “You, um, wanna invest in--”
“Absolutely not,” the elder hero replied.
Leaving Jason to chuckle. “And that’s the way the cookie crumbled.”
If you enjoyed that feel free to leave me kudos 👉 here on Ao3 lol. If you have any remdom prompts send them my way; maybe I’ll feel inspired 😘
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skiesoftwilight · 5 years
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Stubborn (Jason Todd)
I found this one at the very bottom of my docs. I thought I posted it, but I was wrong, so after a brief read and edit, I got it ready to be posted :) (Sorry for the lack of writing, I’m trying hard, but I'm still trying to climb over my writer’s block :/) I hope you all enjoy! :)
Word Count: 2303
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“Where the hell is all my gear?”
Your brows furrowed together in confusion while you stared into your empty uniform showcase, wondering who took your uniform. All of your weapons were gone from their designated hooks; they even took your communicator that kept track of all your missions and routes. They didn’t even bother to close the glass door or turn off the lights inside to cover up their tracks, there was a bunch of evidence around you, but you still didn’t have the slightest clue.
The sound of numerous footsteps and talking met your ears and caused you to turn around swiftly to see Dick, Jason, and Damian enter the Batcave with cheeky smiles on their faces. They were so involved in their conversation that they didn’t acknowledge your presence that was only a few feet away from them.
“Really? Her? I would’ve thought—”
“Hello boys,” You made your presence known, walking in front of them slowly, trying to see if the culprit was in front of your eyes, “What brings you down here? I thought Bruce said that he gave you all the night off?”
The boys' attention was immediately brought to your small form in front of them. They eyed you up and down, taking in your tense demeanor, trying to figure out what had gotten you upset. Dick and Damian returned your confused state while Jason’s face remained calm while he stared at you in the eyes and giving you that goofy smile that you loved so much.
“Bruce received a surprise mission and he’s sending us to take care of it,” Jason folded his arms over his chest in a loose manner, “What are you doing down here? I thought you were supposed to be upstairs resting?”
“Alfred cleared me earlier this morning,” You stated with pride, looking at them with half-smiles as you continued your search, “I came down here ‘cause I thought I heard a noise, so I decided to investigate… so far, no culprit…”
Dick raised his hand to state that you couldn’t have possibly heard a noise from the manor as the only access was from an elevator, but when Jason placed a hand on his shoulder, he put his hand down as he knew that his younger brother had caught you, his charming partner, in a lie. He didn’t address it at first; he let you believe that you had fooled them in order to see if you would let it slip on why you were really down in the Batcave.
“Oh okay, well good luck trying to catch it, whatever it is that you heard,” Jason said with a hint of mirth as he walked passed you, letting his large hand cup your shoulder with a pat before making his way to get suited up with Damian and Dick, “just don’t stay down here too long, I don’t care if Alfred cleared you or not, you should still be resting.”
“Well, actually, now that the three of you are down here, I did notice that, uh, my uniform is, uh, missing from its showcase,” You brought yourself to stand right in front of Jason once again, not letting him advance further to his own uniform; he waved Dick and Damian to go on ahead while he stayed to talk, “You wouldn’t happen to know what happened to it by chance?”
“Nope, not a clue. You were the last person to wear it, and if I’m not mistaken, the only person to wear it, so shouldn’t you know where you put it?” Jason kept his facial expressions neutral as he stared down at you. His tone was dripping with sarcasm, and it didn’t bother you that much, but all you wanted was the person who took it.
“Well, I came down here earlier and seen it sitting perfectly in it case, and now I come back down and it’s missing…” You placed your bandaged hand on your hip gently, being careful not to put too much pressure on it; it didn’t dawn on you right away, but things were clicking together in your mind, “right around the time you, Dick, and Damian are going out on a mission. Isn’t that crazy?”
Jason’s eyes roamed around the empty case as if he was conducting his own investigation before letting his semi-serious gaze return to your face to see that you were starting to get irritated with the lack of new information on your missing suit. He placed his hands upon your shoulders to move you out of the way gently so he could get ready as Dick and Damian were already waiting on him.
“That is crazy. I’m sure I haven’t seen it,” Jason poked himself in the chess with an innocent look, but you weren’t buying into it; your boyfriend liked to play games and even with you being his partner, you didn’t make the exception. He turned to the other boys and asked them out of curiosity, “You two haven’t happened to see their suit anywhere, or did you guys move it?”
They both shook their heads, which made you laugh in disbelief at the lack of progress you were making in your investigation. You walked away from Jason to lean against the empty case to think about your options. You knew someone from inside the manor had to have taken it cause Bruce always has the cave on lockdown when not being occupied.
“I already asked Bruce and Alfred about it and they said they didn’t touch it at all, Tim is too cracked out on coffee and involved on his computer to come down here and actually do something, so it just leaves you three.” You eyed them with suspicious intentions, Jason just laughed as he threw his jacket on and went to retrieve his weapons that were in his lockbox.
“I don’t understand why your suit is so important right now, you literally are just coming out of recovery from our last mission that almost left you completely crippled, the suit should be the last thing on your mind and rest should be first.” Jason reprimanded you indirectly once again for not getting your rest; he cares about you way too much to let you do stupid things.
“Oh, enough talk about the last mission, it was one slip up, that was it, you were occupied and I thought that if we didn’t catch that guy, all our intel would’ve been gone.” You admitted, shrugging your shoulders, “I didn’t think that there would be those brutes in the other room waiting for us.” 
Jason pinched the bridge of his nose while images of your battered body from the previous mission crept into his mind, “Yeah, that’s your problem when you put your suit on and go out, you don’t think, just act. That one slip up could’ve killed you and you are failing to realize that,” He walked over to the Batcomputer to get his communicator, “When I saw you on that floor, all bloodied and bruised… I thought you were dying—you were very lucky I got there in time.”
You stood silent as you let his words sink in. When you became his partner, he confessed that he didn’t want you to fight alongside him because it could get messy mixing two lifestyles together, but you reassured him you had what it takes. He never once shied away from telling you that he would do whatever it takes to keep you from hurting yourself any more than you might’ve on or off duty and that is when it hit you like a ton of bricks. All of your confusion turned into annoyance and slight anger as you stared at him in disbelief.
“You took it.”
“What? I told you I—”
“You always said that you would do whatever it takes to stop me from hurting myself any more than I already was and that’s what you’re doing now. You took my gear because you don’t want me to leave the cave or the manor. You told me this the first time I got hurt and now after my last mission, you took my stuff. I want it back; where did you put it?” You demanded, your voice getting rougher as you approached him.
Jason sighed in defeat as he let his head hang low before turning upwards in the boys' direction to tell them that you were good at these types of things. He brought his attention back towards you, but his gaze was rougher and his demeanor was intimidating.
“What I did was right and you know it too. I saw you this morning wincing when you just had to turn a doorknob. How the hell are you gonna scale walls and fight when you can’t even open a damn door?” He was getting worked up as he matched your level of irritation. 
“That was this morning, I’m better now and you had no right to take my stuff, you could’ve at least talked to me first before resorting to this, I might’ve agreed with you.” You pushed his shoulder with your fingers as you were trying to show that you were getting worked up. You winced slightly as your wrist felt the firmness of his chest traveling through your hand.
“I took it from you because I knew you would go behind my back and go out and possibly get yourself killed. You’re stubborn and I have to find ways to deal with it so you don’t end up doing something stupid.” His voice was heavy and his tone was almost threatening; you were a bit nervous that this whole suit thing blew up into some ridiculous fight. Jason never got this mad at you, but you really did know how to work him up.
“Dick, Damian,” You said their names with such anger that they looked at you with wide eyes as they dreaded hearing their names come off your lips, “I know this is all coming from our last mission, but if you were working with me and that happened and would you talk to me about it or play some childish game like Jason here?”
They both looked at each other and Damian nudged Dick to be the spokesperson for the both of them, “In all honesty, (Y/N), I agreed with what Jason did, given that I do know that you can be a bit hard-headed when it comes to following rules. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt again either.” 
“You’re taking his side.” You threw your hands up in the air in disbelief. Even your close friends couldn’t support you when you needed them.
“This isn’t about sides…” Jason pushed, trying to usher those two to the car they would be taking.
“—I can’t believe you! What next? You lock me in my room like a misbehaving child—”
“—You could have died!” In the aftermath of the shout, the silence seemed deafening. Jason took a step closer, grabbed a hold of you, pulling you into his warm embrace, cradling your fragile form. “You could’ve died,” he spoke softly. “I nearly lost you. If you want to make this about sides, I’m on whatever side keeps you alive. Can’t you see that?”
This whole argument struck a chord deep within Jason and he finally expressed his true fear of losing you. You didn’t want to bring it this far, but it happened. While Jason cradled you in his arms, you swayed the both of you as you were thinking of ways you could apologize to him for making him get mad at you over your suit.
Jason kissed the crown of your head while he pulled away to look you in the eyes with compassion. He flashed his goofy smile at you to lighten the mood of the room before grabbing his communicator off the computer top.
“Look, Jason, I’m sorry, I really—”
“Just save the apology for when I get back. Just don’t think too much on it, for now, if you want, we can talk about it when I get back, but for now, I really gotta go before Bruce finds out that we haven’t left yet.” Jason pointed at the ceiling and rolled his eyes, which made you chuckle, “Just listen this once and go back upstairs and get some rest. Keep the bed warm for me.”
You folded your arms across your chest as you were calming down, “Alright, but when you get home, will you give me my suit back?”
Jason turned back around and gave you a look that could kill before letting it melt away to reveal a smirk, “You really are stubborn are you?” 
A smile crept onto your face as you quickly ran up to him and gave him a peck on the lips and wishing him good luck and to stay safe as well as the rest of his brothers. He gave you a light tap on your butt and only pointed to the elevator with a playful, yet serious gaze. You backed away from him slowly while you waved goodbye before making your way to the elevator and taking it all the way up to the manor.
You were happy that you had finally found firm footing with Jason, but even happier—if you had to be truly honest—that you found your suit. While you continued to think of the words of apology to Jason, you made your way up the stairs and crawled right into your bed and buried yourself under the plush blankets with the t.v. remote in your wrapped hands, ready to begin resting. You were going to wait up until Jason got back; he never said that you should get some sleep, just rest and that could mean a whole lot of other things.
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