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harlowsbby · 6 months

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Love Sick

- It’s a good thing the two of you broke up. - Annie.

- I agree with Annie, now you can focus on yourself! - Maddie

- he was an asshole anyways! he didn’t even try to fight for you! - Megan

You rolled your eyes as you finished reading a few messages you had gotten from your friends. Tossing your phone somewhere on your bed you rolled yourself up in your covers and sighed.

You missed Jack and you missed him dearly, even though you knew deep down that this breakup with him might’ve been the best move you couldn’t help but to feel as if it wasn’t.

You haven’t seen him since you left Louisville that night, but you figured he left you with no choice right? He didn’t bother coming back home that night so you took that as his answer.

You knew all the two of you needed was a single conversation and maybe just a little motivation but as of right now you were going on your first week without him, and truthfully you missed him.

Just as you were about to close your eyes and try and sleep away the heartache your phone started buzzing again.

“Fuck what do they want now.” You groaned and unraveled yourself from your blankets and went to get your phone to place it on dnd till you saw who the message was from.

Urban

- you down to fly out to Louisville?

————— —— time skip———————-

“Jack, dude get up! You look like someone who just got their heartbroken or some shit.” Ace told Jack which caused Urban to elbow him into the side.

“Ouch, what the hell was that for?” Ace groaned and held his side.

“He did get his heartbroken you dummy he just needs to go through all the different types of emotions I guess.” Urban said.

Jack hasn’t been doing all that well ever since the two of you broke up, he knew just leaving you that night was wrong on his end but he didn’t know what to do, he was tired of the fussing and fighting.

“Can you two just let me be? Let me be heartbroken in peace.” He groaned and pulled the blanket back over himself.

“Sorry but we can’t do that, tonight is the last show for No Place Like Home Tour so I need you to get up and go get ready for rehearsals dude.” Urban sternly stated.

Urban hated seeing Jack like this and he hated that Jack had to push his feelings to the side, but he had one last show to put on.

“What if I just cancel tonight? And give all the fans their money back yeah I think that’s a good idea.” Ace rolled his eyes. “The Jack I know wouldn’t do that, you hate letting your fans down so get up and let’s go.”

Jack knew they were right the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint his fans that traveled long and far to see him.

“Fine, but after tonight just let me listen to my Drake and be heartbroken in peace?” Ace laughed. “Whatever you say boss.” Ace and Jack walked outside to the sprinter, Urban had told them that he’d be out there in a second.

Urban did a double look around making sure everyone was gone before taking out his phone and texting you.

Y/N

- you down to fly out to Louisville?

Not even a few seconds after he sent the message you had texted him back.

Y/N

- call me…

He looked around once more and once he saw the coast was clear he called you. “Urban? Why do you want me to fly out to Louisville?”

“Jack misses you okay and I know you miss him.”

“But we broke up Urban I don’t think I should fly out there, nothing is going to change.” He huffed.

“You don’t know unless you try I want the two of you to talk and figure things out, please I need my friends back together.”

You bit your lip and thought about it, maybe if the two of you did talk it out maybe just maybe someone good could benefit from tonight.

“Alright fine just let me know where to meet you at.”

“At his show tonight I’ll let security know you’re coming in.” You nodded your head even though he wouldn’t be able to see you. “I’ll see you soon?”

“I’ll see you soon Urban.” You hung up the phone and flopped back into your bed.

“What am I getting myself into.” You mumbled to yourself.

———————time skip———————

The entire plane ride you were on ten, your nerves we’re all over the place and your anxiety was on hundred.

You tried distracting yourself by playing games on your phone or taking a little nap here and there but your mind kept drifting off to the last time you spoke to Jack.

Flashback.

“Talk to me Y/N.” You continued to ignore him causing Jack to sigh.

“Can we act like adults here and talk? This whole ignoring me game is childish as hell Y/N.”

“What do you want to talk about? Because every time I wanted to talk you just brushed me off and acted like you couldn’t be bothered.” You spat.

“Please let’s just talk I wanna resolve this.” You chuckled bitterly. “Okay so who is she? Because what from I’m hearing you’re everywhere with her.”

Lately Jack has been going out super later and coming home super later and of course it was starting to worry you. You’ve been cheated on before and you’d be dammed if you stuck around and allowed yourself to be cheated on again.

Instead of waiting around the house all day you decided to follow Jack to see where he’d be, just to find him having some sort of dinner or lunch with his supposedly ‘long time friend’

“She’s a friend I knew from high school and we’re just catching up on lost time.” You rolled your eyes.

“If that’s the case why couldn’t you tell me about her? Why do you have to sneak around.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.” You chuckled dryly.

“Not that big of a deal? You know what I’ve been through before and I’m your girlfriend so what makes you think this isn’t a big deal.” You yelled out.

“See this is why I have to sneak around behind your back because you make everything into a big deal, maybe if you weren’t so insecure within yourself I wouldn’t have to keep shit private.” He spat.

“What did you say?” You spoke your voice barley above a whisper. “I said maybe if you weren’t so insecure I wouldn’t have to keep shit from you.” He repeated again without hesitation.

“Maybe if I’m so damn insecure you should just leave then, I wouldn’t want you to be with someone who was insecure.”

You expected for Jack to come over to you and to apologize and make things right but he didn’t, he did the complete opposite.

“Maybe you’re right I think that is for the best.” And that was the last time you saw him.

Flashback over.

“Miss, we’ve arrived.” The flight attendant smiled at you and brought you out of your daze.

“Oh right I’m sorry.” You quickly apologized and got up and grabbed your bags. You sent Urban a text letting him know you just landed.

He sent you a text back letting you know to just have the driver take you to the arena and he’ll have security waiting in the back to take your bags to the hotel.

“Here goes nothing.” You sighed and leaned back into the seat of the car, the entire car ride there you couldn’t help but to think about what was going to happen or what was going to be said.

“Jack let’s go it’s time!” Nemo told him and Jack made his way to the back of the stage.

Jack was trying to focus on tonight being a good night but he missed you and wanted you here with him, he felt guilty the way things ended with the two of you.

“You ready?” Urban told him and Jack gave him a half smile. “Not really but shows gotta go on right?”

Urban so baldy wanted to tell Jack that you were here and that tonight was going to end well but he had to keep it a secret.

“By tonight I’m sure you’ll be in a better mood.” Jack rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt it but come on let’s get tonight over with.”

After the show Jack made his way backstage to where everyone cheered and congratulated him on a great tour.

He was thankful for everyone in the room but all he wanted to do was get back to the hotel.

“Where are you going so fast?” He stopped walking when he heard that familiar voice. Turning around he was met by you.

“Y/N?” He whispered as if he was dreaming. You smiled and nodded your head. “Hi Jack.” Before you were able to say anything else he was making his way towards you and pulling you into his embrace.

“I fucking missed you so much you have no idea.” He spoke, a few tears forming in his eyes.

“I missed you too Jack, I’m sorry for ever doubting you, Maggie told me that your friend well let’s just say she doesn’t exactly like guys.” Jack laughed and pulled back from you.

“I’m sorry for what I said it was wrong of me, forgive me?”

“I’ll forgive you under one condition?” He grinned. “What condition is that?” You smirked which caused Jack to have a look of worry.

————————————————————————

“And your total will be $300 dollar and 34 cents.” The cashier smiled up at Jack who had a frown displayed on his face.

“Are you sure it’s that much? I mean what the hell did you even buy babe.” Jack asked and looked down at your small Sephora bag.

“I only got the necessities babe.” You told him even though you knew full on well you were lying through your teeth.

“Fine, here you go.” Jack handed the lady the card and she swiped it without any hesitation. Once she handed Jack his card back the two of you were out the store.

“So where are we going now?” You asked him as you looked around all the different shops at the mall, you looked like a kid in a candy store.

“What? I thought we were done baby?” He panicky asked. “Done?” You huffed. “You broke my heart remember? You owe me a shopping spree.”

Jack groaned as you dragged him along he knew by the end of the day that his feet along with his bank account was going to be hurting.

(Idk about this 😭 I rewrote this about three times but I hope you all enjoy it!)

(Also idk how to make gifs so I just added a piece from the music video 🧍🏽‍♀️😭)

#jack harlow #jack harlow concepts #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow x y/n #jack harlow x you

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yourmomxx · 1 year

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Jason Todd / Red Hood anxious to get you under the mistletoe cause he is in love with you so bad and doesn't know what to do because he is afraid to scare you away if he confess

loving this request right now - I hope you like how it turned out!

Word Count: 2,2k

Warnings: none, 13+

A/N: author was stuck deep in a writer’s block while doing this, so if you don’t like it lmk and I’ll redo it for you <3

You loved Christmas. Even more than every other holiday. That was a fact that everyone knew, because every year you made it everyone’s problem.

Not that they minded, you were sweet about it. Like when you started singing Christmas songs in mid November.

Or when you took Tim to a Christmas market to help him get his mind off his exams.

Yes, christmas was your favorite time of the year. And gift giving was your specialty.

Though, this year you had decided you needed to be extra careful with gift shopping than usual. Because you had a plan.

See, there was this guy you had a crush on, his name was Jason Todd.

You and him had been friends for a long time, you were even good with his family and invited to all their gatherings. So, naturally, you spent Christmas with them, too.

And this year, you had told yourself, you were going to tell Jason how you really felt about him. What better reason than the most romantic time of the year?

You were going to pull him aside while everyone was busy with the presents, you were going to give him his and then you were going to tell him you loved him.

And nothing could go wrong. Unless he rejected you. But you were secure that your friendship would survive it if your feelings were unrequited. Until then you could just hope they were not.

You took a deep breath and stepped outside into the snowy landscape to go for a walk. There were still some things to do before you had to be at Wayne Manor.

Back in an upstairs apartment in Gotham City, shielded from the snow and cold temperatures, Jason Todd was standing in the kitchen and stuffing a turkey for the upcoming Christmas dinner, while his brothers Tim Drake and Duke Thomas were draped across the sofa, taunting him.

Because they didn’t have much better to do.

Duke had his legs crossed and batted his eyelashes as he spoke in an over dramatic female voice: “Oh, Jason, you have such beautiful and strong arms I’m sure they would be great at picking me up and carrying me into the sunset!”

Cue Tim in a deep voice: “Oh now but Y/N, I can’t do that, because I’m way too scared that you’ll reject me when I tell you my real feelings!”

“I don’t sound like that,” Jason grumbled.

Tim scoffed. “You wish.”

“I’m gonna get my gun.”

“Relax Jay were just teasing you.” Tim lifted up his hands in surrender.

“Seriously it’s mistletoe-time, man,” Duke said, “They’re everywhere. Just … take them under one and kiss them. It ain’t that hard.”

“I will in fact not do that.”

“Why not?”

Jason put some spices away and wiped his hands at the dish towel hanging at his waist. “Because. It could ruin the entire friendship we have if they don’t like it, and even if, just kissing someone like that is super unromantic.”

But the truth was that Jason was scared. Yes, him, Jason Todd, and in his mind it was absolutely ridiculous. He had died and come back to life, he was a vigilante at night, he had fought the Batman himself.

And yet, what made his hands shake and heart beat faster was the thought of kissing you under a mistletoe. What made his jaw clench was the thought of someone else getting to you before he did.

And that, in his mind, was ridiculous.

Duke threw his head back and groaned. “Oh come on, you big baby. You don’t have much of a choice here anymore. I want a mom, and Bruce sure as hell isn’t gonna get on with Selina soon, so you and Y/N are my next best choice.”

“Y/N does make amazing PB&J’s,” Tim agreed.

“Silence, both of you. Or I will tell Santa that you don’t deserve your presents.”

Tim grinned. “Ha, nice try, asshole. I stopped believing in Santa when I was six.”

“That’s when everyone starts believing in Santa,” Duke said.

“Yes because you all fall victim to parent’s mind control and illusion. Couldn’t be me, suckers.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “How mature you are.” He opened the oven and carefully put the roaster inside. ”Well then, come on, you two heroes of Gotham. This turkey needs some time in the oven and I-“ He picked up his keys “-still need a few presents.”

Duke jumped up and rubbed his hands together in excitement. “Ooh, last-minute Christmas shopping. This is a Hallmark movie.”

“Shut up and put on some shoes.”

—

That night, at Wayne Manor, Christmas was in full swing.

From ornate chandeliers (thanks in no small part to you) to landscape art made out of fake snow on the huge windows.

The entire building smelled of cinnamon and tangerines, and small loudspeakers in the corners softly played Silent Night.

It was shortly after the huge feast together, the whole family and unofficial family members were invited.

Jason had brought his ready-made turkey, Steph brought hilariously decorated Christmas cookies, Dick and Barbara brought the appetizers.

Now everyone had gathered in the living room, in which stood the huge Christmas tree (and I mean massive, department store size), decorated in dark red and gold.

Bruce, wearing an elegant black tux, stood up, holding a glass in his hand and carefully clinking a spoon against it to get everyone's attention.

When silence fell, he raised the glass.

"My dear friends, relatives," he said, "It is my pleasure to welcome you here today. Christmas is the festival of joy, love and gratitude, and I want to thank you. For the good times we have spent together - day and night - and for always being able to count on your support when I need it." He held up his glass solemnly. "I wish Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!"

"Merry Christmas!" It rang out in several voices, and glasses were raised and toasted everywhere.

Jason pushed past Stephanie and stood next to you.

"Merry Christmas," he said in your ear. His breath tickled your neck.

"Merry Christmas," you said back.

He looked up and down at you and you felt your heart start beating faster.

Then he grinned and leaned closer to you. "You look amazing today. Red really is your color."

Your breath caught in your throat and you looked up at him.

“Thanks,” you breathed out. You didn’t trust your voice to do much more.

He stayed focused on you for a second, dark blue eyes reflecting the light of the Christmas tree, when suddenly, the door bell rang and you winced, startled.

“That has to be the carol singers, Master Wayne,” you heard Alfred say and Bruce nodded.

“Well then, we’ll greet them. In the meanwhile, behave until we get back.” He threw a look around until he finally turned and disappeared, Alfred in tow. Cassandra also chose to join them.

Shortly after were previously interrupted conversations resumed until the babble of voices surpassed anyone's senses.

You decided that now was the best time to go through with your plan.

“Jason,” you said, slightly tugging at his jacket to get his attention.

“Hm?” “Can we talk for a second?” You asked him. “We are talking.” “You know what I mean.”

He raised his eyebrows in confusion, but gave in. A hand resting on your upper back, he guided you through the crowd until you found a small corner where no one was standing. Carefully, you put your glass down and Jason did the same. Then he raised his arms in defense.

“Look, whatever I did, I deeply apologize for it, but first of all, I didn’t suggest to cook Damian’s turkey, that was Tim.”

Now it was on you to be confused. “Jason, this is not this kind of talk.”

He visibly relaxed. “Oh.” He pursed his lips and chuckled awkwardly. “For a second there you had me worried.”

You smiled softly at him. “No, I just- I wanted to give you your present. You know, in private, so it’s more… private.”

Your heart was almost jumping out of your chest at this point. You were blabbering and stuttering before him as if you hadn’t gone through this monologue at least three times alone at home.

So get it together.

You took a deep breath and pulled out a small, wrapped present, handing it to Jason.

“Merry Christmas, Jay.”

He glanced first at the package in his hands, then at you, before slowly pulling the wrapping paper off and revealing an oblong black box.

You watched him as he pulled off the lid and took out what was laying on a red fabric pillow.

It was a quill, polished black with subtle gold decorations twining around the handle.

Jason wide-eyed the object in his grasp.

“I know you like to write,” you said. “I mean, you don’t have much time to do it, of course, but I know you like it. So, I thought you would like this. I know it’s not much and it’s actually pretty small now that I think about it-”

“I love it.” He interrupted you and looked into your eyes. “Thank you.” Jason quickly put the quill aside and swiftly pulled you into a warm hug.

You wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders and breathed in his scent of old cedar wood and whiskey and gunpowder.

“You’re welcome,” you murmured when you pulled apart. Jason’s armes remained wrapped around your waist and he was still remarkably close to you.

You could’ve counted the small freckles littered across his face. Just like before, his eyes went up and down your body. You felt your cheeks grow hot.

“Did I tell you that you look absolutely beautiful tonight?” He asked in a low voice.

You but your lip and nodded. “Yes you did,” you whispered.

His eyes were staring deeply into yours and for a moment, you felt you forgot what breathing was like.

Suddenly, the two of you heard a rustle above you and Jason looked up, coming face to face with something green.

He pointed above him. “Mistletoe.”

“But we’re not under any- “Jason cut you off by pulling you towards him and clashing your lips together with his. You let out a surprised noise but quickly wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him back.

And it felt good. You felt excitement in your stomach, spreading through your entire body at the feeling of Jason’s warm, soft lips moving slowly against your own.

When you pulled apart, Jason leaned his forehead carefully against yours.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” you whispered back, biting back a smile.

From above you, you heard slow clapping. Holding the mistletoe, sitting on Dick’s shoulders was Tim, with a grin on his face.

“They did it, people!” Dick yelled. “Only took them a reason to make out.” He leaned a bit closer to Jason. “You know we have like three guest rooms, so this is now an official invitation to- ow!”

Jason shoved him away and he tumbled back, making Tim almost crash into the Christmas decoration hanging from a chandelier.

“Just gonna have to hang a mistletoe over a bed, too.”

When the man in your arms turned back at you, you were still smiling at him from ear to ear.

“I apologize for this,” he said. “You know how they can be-”

This time, he was cut off by you kissing him and was more than happy to oblige. You felt his shoulders relax as his lips moved against yours slowly.

He bit at your lower lip and slid his tongue into your mouth. You pulled him closer by his neck and tangled your hands into his hair, softly pulling at the black strands-

“Excuse me!” The distinct voice of Duke Thomas interrupted your kiss. “There are children present.” As if to make a point, he took his hand off the eyes of a scolding Damian who was sitting on the floor.

“Animals,” he whispered. Duke nodded.

“So are you guys like together now?” Steph asked and collected a punch to the arm from Duke.

“Ow! What? It’s the question we all want to know!”

“Look at them!” Duke’s eyes were wide as he gestured in your direction. “They just made out under a mistletoe in the middle of our living room, the poor guys don’t even know their own names, how can they know if they are in an established. Relationship?”

Jason pulled his eyes away from his siblings and locked them on you. “I don’t know. Are we together now?” He asked. You smiled.

“Yes I think we are.”

“Like, with hand holding and going on dates and all?” Damian didn’t seem all too excited.

“Are we together with hand holding and going on dates and all?”

Jason grabbed your hand and squeezed it. “I’d love that.”

“I’d love that, too.”

Squeezing into the room and coming to a halt in front of you, Dick clasped his hands together and wiped a fake tear. “Oh, young love.”

You two ignored him and Jason pulled you swiftly into his warm side. “Best Christmas present ever,” he mumbled into your hair.

“Wait until you get to unwrap it,” you murmured to him.

“Children, people!” Duke screeched, “Children!”

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dcmeme · 6 months

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Batfam Covid series part 1

I figured out how to turn off autocorrect so it types ‘Selina’ and not ‘Selena’ woohoo! Progress! Multiple parts, all longer than usual.

Damian: Why is it everyone has to be within the same household?

Dick: Because it’s quarantine. Meaning you isolate with people you’ve been in contact with already that could have the disease.

Jason: I mean, I’ve gotta agree, this seems a bit blown out of proportion. The symptoms aren’t reading.

Tim: I think it’s more of the spread that’s of concern and those with preexisting health conditions being affected more than anything else-

Bruce: *throws tiny robots on the ground that latches to everyone’s ankles* There.

Jason: HEY! You said I wouldn’t be under house arrest again if I didn’t blow shit up (on purpose) or cause a full body cast for at least 3 weeks!

Bruce: This isn’t house arrest, this is insurance that none of you try to leave and put others at risk of infection.

Damian: That is absurd!

Dick: I gotta say, this feels a little extreme, Bruce.

Tim: Yeah, no. *takes it off*

Jason: How the f*ck?!

Tim: I’m gonna go stay at my boyfriend’s.

Bruce: The last thing you are doing is leaving this house, Tim. Like you said- it’s a major concern for those of preexisting health conditions.

Selina: I helped Alfred switch your and Damian’s old bedrooms so you are a bit more isolated-

Damian: Excuse me?! I don’t want to sleep near Helena’s room. She continues to make sounds.

Bruce: You don’t have a choice. In fact, none of you do. Not until everyone is tested- including anyone you’ve been around the last 12 days.

Dick: So no Kori?

Bruce: Has she been tested?

Dick: I mean she’s been on another planet with Mari for, like, 6 months soooo

Bruce: they’re fine to stay.

Damian: Can John come over?

Bruce: I don’t even let him over when there isn’t a pandemic.

Jason: Can’t I just be under house arrest at a safe house? I don’t care to self isolate- just let me grab a few books and I’m good for dayyys.

Bruce: Absolutely not.

Tim: Ok than let Bernard come over?

Bruce: No.

Tim: But what if he tests.

Bruce: I don’t like that boy being in my house.

Tim: Oh come on. He only broke,like, two or three things in the cave.

Jason: Didn’t that somehow include the giant penny?

Damian: and the window to the Batmobile.

Dick: *sighs* The chair to the batcomputer has squeaked ever since he left that night.

Bruce: My cape.

Alfred: He was rather harsh on the grappling hooks as well, Master Drake-

Tim: I said I loved a man, not a smart one-

Bruce: No Bernard.

Tim: oh come on! Dick gets to bring Kori!

Dick: and my kid.

Tim: Oh come on you barely see her but three times a year.

Dick: I’ve known her seven months and she’s been gone six for some Tamaranian ritual or something humans can’t be at!

Selina: Will all of you stop shouting. If my baby wakes up, I will find a way to make all of you pay.

Bruce: The only person with a second option on where they’re staying is Damian-

Jason: Bull shit!-

Bruce: Talia has asked he go back to the league’s temple since COVID hasn’t likely breeched them yet.

Damian: Can I bring my children?

Bruce: Only the dog.

Damian: than no.

Bruce: you’ll have to take that up with your mother.

Damian: I’ll make this much clear- I would sacrifice each of you individually for the sake of my children-

Tim: you mean your pets?

Damian: they are family in this house, Drake. I can’t say the same for you.

Tim: You really don’t expect me to live next to this brat for literal months, right? He’ll kill me by the end of the week! I’m much safer at my place.

Bruce: As of right now this is all of our place. Stop bickering and get used to the idea of being under the same roof for a while.

Cassandra: It could be fun! We can even have a family dinner after we’re all tested.

Damian: oh joy. Sharing food with the nuisance Drake and the pig that is Todd. Fantastic.

Jason: Don’t you have a mommy to call?

Damian: Don’t you have a casket to sleep in!

Jason: Oh f*ck you!

Bruce: now boys-

Tim: Is this seriously how you expect me to live?!

Cassandra: we can make breakfast for dinner and by then maybe the weather will be nice enough to open windows and set up candles-

Jason: you think you have it bad?! I’m surrounded by the same people who-

Damian: I better not have to sit at that dinner by Drake, Cain, or so help me god-

Bruce: enough!

Tim: For my own safety please god do not do that cass-

Jason: I don’t see why you’re complaining when I’m the one who has to-

Bruce: *louder* enough

Tim: I have a right to feel however I want!

Damian: If that is the case, I feel you should all be disowned-

Dick: why are we all arguing again?!

Damian/Tim/Jason/Bruce: SHUT UP, DICK/GRAYSON

Dick:… what did I do? 🥺

Helena: *screaming from upstairs*

Selina:…

Bruce:…

Everyone:…

Bruce:…we’ll take this outside.

Selina: That would be great, thank you.

#batfamily #batman #batfam #dc comics #dc universe #bruce wayne #dc robin #damian wayne #richard grayson #tim drake #selina kyle #bruce x selina #helena wayne

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batfam-horror-au · 2 years

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This post is dedicated to @wesavegotham! They inspired me to go further in depth on this topic, and it’s helped me get out of my writers block! Or I suppose you could say post block. Either way, feel free to send me more questions, I’ll always be happy to answer!

Anyway, Tim Drake was absolutely abused. But I didn’t necessarily say it was his parents.

He was on some levels neglected by them, of course. I think it might’ve been later in life that it happened, but Tim was still a child whose parents were gone way too often. I won’t say I know the timeline for Tim’s childhood, nor do I know how bad the Drake’s neglect was. He did have Ms. Mac, but again I don’t know that much about her cannon behavior to tell you anything. I also think he was in a boarding school for awhile, but I don’t know when that happened. But I do think there was a level of emotional neglect that led him to seek out Bruce as a mentor and parental figure.

And on the topic of Bruce, he was definitely abusive towards Tim.

1. He let a minor be a vigilante. Of course this is popular in superhero culture. If we are looking at it from a purely fictional standpoint than it would, kinda, be fine. But since we are talking specifics here, Bruce brought a kid into his shit. The fourth kid, actually. Barbra got shot, Dick flew the coop as soon as possible, and Jason died. Which, if I am recalling correctly, was mostly because he was Robin. A child died because of that suit, and Bruce brings another into the fold?

2. Tim might’ve chosen Robin, but it sure as hell wasn’t something he could’ve consented to. He was a minor when he made that decision. I’ve seen many variations of what age he was when he took up the Robin mantle. 11-14 years old is the usually ages, and let’s be real, if you got the chance to help your hero wouldn’t you take it? Especially as a kid who has little concept of how bad the world is.

3. I have to say this again, Tim was a minor!!! If he had the choice, he probably wouldn’t go to school for the rest of his life!!! But Batman, the adult in the situation, let a minor be Robin again. He has an emotional reliance on Robin (both as a concept and as a person) that is genuinely frightening. This codependency is unhealthy. He might’ve said no time and time again, but that doesn’t matter because he was the adult in the situation. He had the ability to stop Tim, or at least try his hardest to keep him from going out. There’s a million things he could have done to stop him (namely being him not taking minors into dangerous situations in the first place (actions have consequences)) but he didn’t.

4. Batman has actually hit Tim on multiple occasions. And hard too. I’m not talking about just training either, though I have heard that Bruce has definitely hit hard enough during these so called spars to bruise. Not that Bruce would ever know about easing into training. But no, I’m talking about when he punched Tim in the face. In the Batman comic book titled “The Fall and the Fallen: Part 2” Batman slugs Tim across the face. Hard enough to send his head reeling back, and we all know Batman punches hard. We also know this isn’t a first time thing either. He has hit his kids over and over in the comics, who’s to say this will be the last time he’ll hit Tim? And I’m not saying he got the worst of it- Jason got his throat sliced open and Damian was practically handed over to Dick for him to raise. But Tim definitely didn’t get win the lottery with that man.

5. Take a good look at what these vigilantes do practically every single night. They run out and beat up bad guys right? Bad guys who have no qualms about killing this little slip of a boy in bright ass colors with a gun. And Batman dressed him in that, and I do not care what you say to try to make it okay, it is very much a not okay thing to do. It’s like he wants them to get shot.

6. He is dependent on a child. He literally goes crazy if he does not have a literal child telling him what’s right and wrong. Tim felt the need to save these people because he knew Batman’s secret. He chose that life to save Batman and be his moral compass. Maybe he did want to be Robin, sure, but the only reason why he even told him he knew was because Batman was beating the shit out of purse snatchers and nearly killing them. Tim, a child, felt like he had to make Batman need a Robin. If Bruce had half the emotional regulation of a bloody child all of that could have been avoided.

There’s definitely more I can say on this subject but I’ll leave it for later. I feel like this is good enough for now. I have a few other posts in the line but, but this one was at the forefront of my mind! And don’t worry folks, this is only the beginning.

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butwhyduh · 3 years

Note

Pregnancy scare with the Batboys?

These all happen at different times in their lives. Dick at 24, Jason 26, and Tim 20 because I feel like that’s the ages they’d like have this.

Warning: it’s gotta little bit of everything. Fluff, smut, convenience story robbery, blood, one little crude sex joke.

Dick

“I stopped at the store and got everything we need before the store comes in. Even got those pad tampon things you use,” Dick said waving the box proudly. You rolled your eyes and grabbed the box.

“And what prompted that?” You asked, eyes narrowed.

“A coupon deal on them,” Dick answered and you laughed.

“That makes more sense. Let me put these up and I’ll cook dinner,” you said, walking to the bathroom.

“Nope! I’m cooking,” Dick said happily.

“Okay,” you said planning to help him anyways.

You walked in the bathroom to put the box in your usual drawer only to find it full. When was the last time you needed one? You did the math and realized that it’s been almost 2 months. With your university schedule being crazy and Dick got hurt a few weeks ago, you’d forgotten all about your period.

You skin chilled at the thought. What if you were- what if you were pregnant? You were too young. You were 24 but it felt too young. You were only dating. You hadn’t gotten to the kids talk yet.

“Hey babe, where is the- what’s wrong?” Dick asked from the doorway. He looked at the package in your hand and the matching one in the drawer with confusion.

“Uh, I missed my period last month,” you said and his eyes widened. “I completely forgot.”

“Oh.”

He looked at you frozen. “Wait- are you saying you might be...”

“Maybe,” you answered. “We gotta get tests and everything. And stress can mess it up. And we’ve been using protection every time.”

“Yeah. I’ll run to the store, okay?” He said before hurrying out the door. You sat on the toilet with the box still in hand. What if you were pregnant? Dick was a good guy but he didn’t exactly have a ton of money. He was a part time gymnastics teacher. You were in college.

“Okay I got 4,” Dick said, back in record time. He gave you the bag and watched you.

“Dick?”

“Hu?”

“Get out of the bathroom.”

“Oh right,” he said, leaving and shutting the door. You could hear him pacing as you took the tests. You unlocked the door as you waited for the tests to finish. A neat little row of absolute terror on the side of the bathtub.

“Are they done?” Dick asked anxiously.

“No. We wait two minutes,” you said almost hollowly with stress and he nodded roughly.

“If you are... I’ll be here. I’ll be here for whatever you decide. No matter your choice,” Dick said holding your hands. You gulped.

“Yeah. Thanks. I can’t believe I forgot,” you said with a little laugh. He hugged your shoulders.

“Things have been crazy,” Dick said with a shrug. Your phone alarm went off and you quickly looked at all of the tests. Negative. You both relaxed. You sighed in relief.

“That would have been crazy,” you said with a laugh. Dick laughed a little too. “I am not ready to be a mom.”

“Yeah. Same. I’d need a better job and a better place. Not that there’s anything wrong with our apartment but it’s too small for a baby,” Dick rambled on. He stopped when he noticed your little grin. “You know, I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for you.”

You didn’t answer but pulled him in for a kiss that Dick eagerly returned before finally pulling away because you were in the bathroom surrounded by used pregnancy tests and boxes of menstrual products.

“I’ll clean up while you get dinner started. Yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dick said with a kiss to your cheek.

Jason

You’d been thinking about it for a few days with a sense of denial. Your period was late. And you were mentally freaking out. You were too young. I mean, you were 26 but it felt too young! Your relationship was too new! You had been dating for 2 years but it felt too fast!

You hurried down to a corner store that you didn’t normally visit near your apartment to grab some tests. You jumped a little when the bell on the door rang as another customer entered the store. You had been too worried and stressed about picking from the 7 different types of pregnancy tests. Were they all the same or totally different? You just wanted to know ‘baby or naw.’ You grabbed three and put them in a hand basket.

“PUT your hands up where we can see them,” a man yelled and you froze before looking up, your hands above your head, basket on your wrist. “Take off any jewelry and pull out your wallets. We’ll be taking those,” a man in a ski mask said. There were a total of 12 customers and 2 shop clerks.

You carefully pulled your crossbody bag off your shoulder and held it out. A man grabbed it roughly from you and you made a tiny noise that made him smile. He looked you over and you wanted to shrink away.

There was a loud crashing noise as the side glass was broken and a man with a pair of guns blazing stood in the middle. The bright red helmet let you know that it was Jason and you almost sagged in relief. Almost. He pointed the gun at both criminals and shot at their knees. The rubber bullets hit them both in the knees and they fell before you could even move. He quickly punched them both in the head and they lost consciousness. Jason roughly tied them up by the register and everyone started to leave the building quickly while grabbing their things.

Jason grabbed you and pulled you from the building and up to the roof, basket still on your wrist. He rolled his helmet off and looked you over.

“Are you alright?” He asked holding your face in his hands. You grasped his wrists.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” you reassured him. He looked you over before his eyes fell to the basket. Jason froze as he looked at the contents. A candy bar and 3 pregnancy tests.

“Are you? Why do you have these?” He asked, looking at your face quickly. You sat the basket down.

“Maybe,” you answered quietly. His mouth opened a little as if you speak but he didn’t. “I mean, I’m late.”

“Okay. Alright,” he said nodding. “We just need to test first. God, you were almost shot and you might be pregnant.”

He pulled you tightly in his arms until the armor pressed against you. Jason’s lips pressed against the side of your head. For one of the first times, he looked scared.

Back at your apartment, you could hear Jason pacing as you took the test. You unlocked the door and he came in, staring at them. Neither one of you spoke before the results came in. Negative. You breathed a sigh of relief.

“I would have been there for you. No matter what. But I’m glad that it’s negative. We should plan this stuff, you know? My job... it’s too dangerous,” Jason said carefully.

“I know. We can’t,” you said with a dry smile.

“I’d quit. If you were. So that you and the baby would be safe,” he said and you quickly looked at him.

“You shouldn’t have to,” you said.

“But I would.”

Tim

Tim’s hands were tight on your hips as he thrust in your from behind and you couldn’t stop making little noises. God, were you always this tight? He could barely control himself and the second you clamped around him in pleasure, Tim came as well. Both of you panted as he roughly and slowly thrust through your highs. Tim pushed in deeply before stopping to catch his breath and then pulling out.

“Fuck,” he said in a terrified voice. You turned to look at him confused. “The condom came off.”

Your eyes widened at the implication. “Did you- did you finish inside?” You asked as cold panic flooded your body. You were only using condoms at this point in time.

“Yeah. Definitely,” he said, looking down and in literally any other situation he would have loved the sight before him. His cum leaked out of you and Tim winced.

After a few minutes of trying to finally get the useless condom out, you were almost in full freak out. You were only 20. You couldn’t get pregnant!

“I’ll get plan B. Unless you don’t want it,” Tim said looking at you.

“Good idea. We definitely need that,” you said nodding. “But you can’t go to the store and buy plan B. Timothy Drake-Wayne buys plan B. Playboy like his father Bruce Wayne? I could just see the headline. I’ll go.”

“Smart,” he said. You quickly took a shower and threw on clothes before running down to a pharmacy. Your heart pounded as you asked the pharmacist for a plan B but she simply gave you a box that you paid for. You took the pill before even leaving the store and threw away the evidence as if someone cared what you did.

That night you had some nausea and cramping but were fine otherwise. Tim was extra nice in the next few weeks as you both waited to see if your period would ever come. He put in effort to see you more often and stay off his phone when you were together. Finally you woke up one morning with cramps where actually pleasantly happy to see that you had finally started to bleed. That didn’t happen often.

You told Tim who sagged in relief. He didn’t even know how much tension he held in his body before releasing it. He kissed your cheek and you laughed a little.

“Never buying that brand of condoms again,” he swore.

“I’m making an appointment to get birth control,” you said and he quickly turned to you.

“Really? No more condoms?” Tim said hopefully.

“It’ll take a little while to start working but yeah,” you said with a little smile. “Then I can be your Twinkie instead of your toaster strudel,” you laughed.

“Wow. I wish I could time travel to unhear that,” Tim said covering his face with a hand while laughing.

“You know that’s a good joke,” you laughed pushing his shoulder.

“...yeah,” he said with a grin.

#dick Grayson x reader #nightwing x reader #Jason todd x reader #red hood x reader #Tim drake x reader #Red Robin x reader

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msfcatlover · 2 years

Text

Members of the Batfam in TMA

An incomplete list, because I only dabble occasionally in DC fandom, and so I don’t know the girls or Duke well at all (I will say I think Babs would be an Avatar of the Eye & Duke would be victimized by the Stranger, just for the record.) I’m also not accusing any of them of actively hurting anyone the way that all Avatars must; I’m listing which Entities I think each of them would have the hardest time escaping and which one they would be most tempted to give in to.

If anyone wants to chime in, I’d love to hear other opinions! Like I said, my comics knowledge is limited, so I’m sure I’ve royally fucked at least 3 of these up. Just... please be nice to me, okay?

Dick Grayson:

Victimized by the Buried. Not in the literal sense, Dick’s not claustrophobic (that I know of,) but his fear of letting people down, of having to step into Bruce’s shoes, the toughest calls he’s had to make that haunt him in whether he could’ve done better… that’s all pressure.

Avatar of the Vast. Unsurprisingly, Dick’s an adrenaline junkie who’s been “flying” as long as he could walk. That sort of freedom is hard to resist, and while I don’t think he’d choose it, it would be so easy to just lose track of people (including himself) out in the open sky.

(Reminder that Mike Crew didn’t sacrifice anyone else to join the Vast; he threw himself into the sky, and only sort of ever came down. His apparent lack of distinct memory after Becoming but very clear memory of everything before reinforces this, even though Mike himself admits he was pretty messed up even before that.)

Jason Todd:

Victimized by the Lonely. His fear that the people he loves don’t actually care about him at all, that he’ll be left behind & forgotten, that maybe he deserves it, that he was never good enough—

(Buried is a close second, in the most literal sense. I don’t know if Jason is officially claustrophobic, but I like the “clawed his way out of his own grave” resurrection and it’s hard to see how he wouldn’t be after that.)

Avatar of the Desolation. A controlled burn, sure, but he’ll raze it all to the ground to hurt the people who draw his ire. There is a very loud part of Jason that wants the people who hurt others to know the pain they’ve caused; he can justify it, but if their suffering wasn’t the point, he’d just wait for them to come out of hiding & snipe them in the head. The only thing holding him back is his refusal to let innocents be caught in the crossfire.

Tim Drake:

Victimized by the Slaughter. This is twofold, based half on the death of his parents & half on his role as a detective. Random, unmotivated violence is something you can’t predict, can’t protect people from, and he’s already witnessed the results. Also, is this not what Tim set out to save Bruce from by becoming Robin: the descent into excessive violence, whether or not it results in death?

Avatar of the Eye. Yes, again. I get the feeling this one’s gonna come up a lot; we are working with a bunch of detectives, it’s hardly surprising. Solving puzzles, rooting out secrets, holding all the cards just to know what’s going on… Tim’s most comfortable in the solving phase of any given case, even if he is more capable of kicking ass than most Eye followers are.

(Tim & Jon have a lot in common, and Tim’s Becoming would probably be much the same: chasing the wrong rabbit all the way down to Wonderland, not realizing the price his new powers came with until it was too late.)

Damian Wayne:

Victimized by the Vast. Again, not literal; obviously heights are not a problem for Damian. But I think he’s scared of his existential insignificance. That no matter how hard he works, no matter what he does, none of it will ever matter. That even the things he aspires to don’t matter. The multiverse is too big, and it does not care.

(This choice was really hard, for the record, as it’s basically neck-and-neck with the Lonely. I went with the Vast because even Damian is in denial about his need for acceptance, making it slightly easier for him to theoretically bluster through it in the short term. The Vast tends to compliment the Lonely anyway; any chink in your self-worth gives the Vast a chance to make it all seem pointless, and the greater awareness of your smallness & distance from others just makes the Lonely stronger.)

Avatar of the Corruption. This isn’t just because of Damian’s love of any & all animals, though that certainly plays a factor. No, I think Damian would be drawn to the Corruption for how it lets you weaponize that love, to bind people, make them a part of you, so that they’ll never leave you behind. Hold someone close, make them yours. The Lonely might not have won the top Fear on my ranking, but it is up there, and it’s not like he had the healthiest role models for love growing up. (Even if Talia’s an awesome mom, that makes one in the entire League of Assassins.)

Alfred Pennyworth:

Victimized by the Flesh. Not for him personally, I just feel like being forced to face the fact there’s nothing special about his family, forced to see them reduced to meat, would be so much worse for him than the violence or death that lead to it would be. There’s not really any shock to the End, and the Slaughter is the act itself, and I think Alfred’s depressingly come to terms with the hollow echo of the Lonely. The Flesh is the aftermath, what’s left behind, visceral & messy & close, and dealing with that, the remains of people he loves… I think that would be hardest for him.

Avatar of the End. This took a lot of thought, because Alfred just seems so well-adjusted. He’s not impulsive, he’s capable of accepting & coming to terms with his own feelings without taking them out on others, even when shocked he’s very good at going with the flow, he doesn’t need to pull the strings, or know everything, and his rage tends to be very tightly controlled. He also hates to see suffering extended, hates when innocents are at risk, and quite frankly I couldn’t think of any circumstances under which he would accept or indulge any of the Entities. Fortunately, the End doesn’t offer a choice, and its dispassionate inevitability strikes me as the closest to Alfred’s own methods whenever he’s driven to action.

Bruce Wayne:

Arguably the hardest on this list (and probably the most controversial), as Bruce’s greatest fears & vices have changed so much over the years as Batman changed writers. Arguments could be made for most of the Entities to fall under both. This is based on my own interpretation of him, so please let me explain…

Victimized by the Dark. No, this isn’t just because of his backstory — honestly, I completely forgot about the cave until I was halfway through justifying this to myself. No, I think Bruce’s greatest fear is the unknown, the things hidden from sight, things he’s overlooked or can’t account for. It’s what drives his constant need for information, contingencies, and control. Speaking of which…

Avatar of the Web. Bruce doesn’t just need to know everything, he needs plans, he needs access to all the chess pieces on the board. Even if you don’t like all-knowing Batman (and personally, I’m not a fan,) you can’t deny that given the chance to hold all the strings, Bruce would desperately want to grasp it with both hands. He’s already capable of great feats of manipulation, this is just the inevitable conclusion of where that runs into his contingency plans.

(For the record, I was seriously considering the Lonely, Slaughter, & Desolation for the Victimized section, and both the Eye & Hunt were runners-up for the Avatar spot.)

BONUS!

Clark Kent:

Victimized by the Spiral. I don’t think this needs much explanation. The Spiral’s whole thing is making you question your sanity by warping time, space, memory, and sensory perceptions, making even interpreting reality around you near impossible. Clark’s fears of being controlled, manipulated, or being unable to trust his own perceptions/judgements comes up time & time again in basically every iteration of his character (when he stops being worried about that, it’s usually because he’s gone off the deep end.)

(The Lonely is in a very close second place. However, that is dependent partially on character interpretation, and Clark’s Spiral fears are pretty inter-universal.)

Avatar of the Vast. No, I’m not saying Clark would throw people into the sky; this time, we’re working with Avatars on a mostly metaphorical level. Superman already makes people afraid for what he represents, of the vastness of possibilities, of their own insignificance in comparison. And Clark’s fear of how much damage he can do would, I think, make embracing his own relative smallness a massive relief for him. Ironically, Clark’s almost an avatar of the Vast already — it’s his constant efforts to not scare people, to be as inoffensive & gentle as possible that keep him behind that line. The moment Clark snaps, starts inflicting fear intentionally? That’s the fear he’ll be instilling.

(Obviously this overlaps with the Slaughter, Desolation, and Extinction. Special shout out to the Stranger, though, for the fear of something alien hiding among us!)

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flashfuture · 3 years

Text

Red Robin....yum

Sorry I legally had to add the yum. But let’s take a look at the Red Robin (2009) series by Christopher Yost and Fabian Nicieza. I just wanna go over some parts of the series that are misunderstood or maybe misrepresented by people who haven’t read the series.

Yost wrote issues 1-12. Nicieza wrote issues 13-26. Yost is primarily known for his works on the X-Men animated shows. Yep that’s right not only another company but another medium.

That is all he’s written for DC. You might note Battle for the Cowl as it sucked horribly. Why he was allowed to write Tim Drake’s solo series I’ll never know.

And Nicieza is known for wait let me check... X-Force comics. That’s right more Marvel mutants. You might recognize him as one of the creators of Deadpool. Nicieza also wrote for Jean-Paul Valley in his solo series. Again who thought this guy should get Tim Drake’s solo??

Anyways that’s who’s writing Tim for context. Let’s get into the story.

We begin with Dick Grayson telling Tim he’s giving the mantle of Robin to Damian and then Tim storms out.

That’s the scene from Red Robin #1. Okay this is it. Tim’s entire life has fallen apart. Everyone he’s considered a parent is dead. His best friends are dead. And now to Tim it looks like his older brother is throwing him over. Over for a kid who in his eyes is someone who just tried to murder him once.

But Tim is at his absolute lowest at the start of this series. Okay. Dick didn’t really have a choice his father is dead and his brand new child was dropped onto his lap while Bruce cosplayed as a caveman. He needed a way to keep an eye on Damian. And Robin is Dick’s so it is absolutely his right to give and take it. He was the one who recommended Tim to be Robin in the first place.

But Dick didn’t just tell Tim you’re fired fuck off. He wanted Tim to be his partner and to stay with him. Tim ran off. Like Tim is allowed to be hurt by this don’t get me wrong. But the fandom has a habit of saying in an argument one person is right and the other person was being evil. That’s just so not the case.

The other fanon idea is that Tim was abandoned by his family at this time and they thought he was crazy.

Okay yes I can see how Dick turned his back on Tim completely here. No look Tim wanted to go look for Bruce. He didn’t want anybody’s help. Tim was basically running on a gut feeling anyways and Dick didn’t have time for that. As soon as he knew Bruce was alive he offered Tim his help. This is Tim making the active and knowing choice to leave Gotham and his place next to Batman to find Bruce.

In issue #11 Tim returns to Gotham city and immediately begins working with Dick again right where they left off. There wasn’t any lingering animosity towards Dick. Just towards Damian and that started to lessen across the whole of the run.

There is also the issue of The List which I’m just gonna link to another post cause I’ve gone over that before.

As well to completely disregard that a lot of Tim’s behaviors were ooc on purpose because he was going through a time of intense grief with so many of his closest loved ones dying is just not fair to the character. There is a point where Tim is bleeding out dying and all he hopes is that he’ll be able to see Kon again. This is not a comic of Tim Drake at his best it’s him at his worst and then he gets better. So I just hate to see it used as a blanket character sheet for how Tim Drake would act.

Okay that’s it. Those are the biggest things I see crop up in fanfiction. And obviously if you’re going for a specific AU then do whatever. But this is what was going on.

#dc comics #red robin #tim drake #dick grayson #batman #nightwing #damian wayne #robin #robin V #bruce wayne #batfam #long post

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arty-shadow-morningstar · 3 years

Text

A Failed Betrothal (6)

Here is a new chapter for you guys. I am terrible at writing feelings and this is my best shot.😅 Tell me what you think.

[Masterlist]

(PART 1)(PART 5)

-------

(Words in bold is French)

“Tch, Drake is going to be busy trying to find Hawkmoth. He can’t go around Paris, being Dupain-Cheng’s boyfriend. Besides, he can’t be a proper boyfriend even in his most lucid moments. I will be her boyfriend instead.”

Tim was glad he didn’t take a sip of his coffee when Damian volunteered to be Marinette’s boyfriend. But he still choked on air. Jason with his limited knowledge of french was confused. Damian didn’t do what he heard, right?

“No, you can’t. Chloe already told them about Tim. If I come in with a different boyfriend, they would get suspicious. We can work on Hawkmoth while we go on those dates. Besides, I thought you don’t like me. That’s not going to sell the image of a loving couple.” Marinette pointed out. (She also doesn’t want to do this fake-date thing. Not because she likes Damian and she had always been a goner for green eyes and totally would be date him if it weren’t for some stupid curse dictating her feelings for him and fake-dating him might get her catch feelings for him and she would get her heart broken when this is all over and she would stay single forever and be a lonely old lady with hamsters and cats for company.)

“Actually, Mari-bug, I only told the class how romantic your boyfriend is. I never told them what he looked like. Just in case, Timothy couldn’t make it. I have back-up favors to cash in.” Chloe explained.

Marinette didn’t even know why she was surprised at that, this was Chloe after all.

“You have more than one American boy around our age in your debt who you intend to be my boyfriend? Sounds like you, Queenie. So that also means that Damian doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to.”

“My offer still stands. I will be your ‘boyfriend’ before I have to go back. I will be more understanding than those other American boys when you have to rush out for an attack. That is to assume that they can come here or agree. In our initial meeting, I didn’t like that weak girl act you put up. Recent events have made me realize that you are a much stronger person. (Careful Damian, that sounds like a compliment.) You are a decent partner to date.(Shit. Shit. Shit. That wasn’t a compliment, right?)”

Damian couldn’t see why Dupain-Cheng would refuse such a good deal. He supposed her feelings might be still hurt from his first impression of her. He would give her an apology when they are alone and away from his brothers who would make a big deal of it.

“Fine. At least, the curse will at least make this fake couple thing more believable.” grumbled Marinette. The light pink blush on her face is not because he said she was someone he would date.

Oh right, the curse. He swore internally, it had possessed him to be Dupain-Cheng’s boyfriend. He now would have to endure the hand-holding, kissing and staring into each other’s eyes, and try to resist the curse which will be much harder now. Somehow, he didn’t regret it a little bit. It sounds more bearable with him doing those things with her than her with Drake. This was just a mutual agreement to ward off her suitors and prove to her classmates that she was off the market.

Chloe clapped her hands,“If we have everything sorted out, you can start being a good boyfriend by walking Marinette to school today. We want to be on time now.”

The others started packing up their stuff or finished what they were eating. Marinette was dragged out of the bakery by an impatient Damian. Chloe and Alix picked up what Marinette left behind and followed out. The rest soon left right after, leaving the two boys in the bakery.

“Hey, Replacement, tell me if I am wrong but did Demon Spawn willingly ask a girl out?” Jason asked, stealing a croissant from Tim.

“Try making himself the perfect candidate to be her fake boyfriend out of many choices, including me, and get her to agree to it. Now he has to go on a few romantic dates with Marinette in order to ward off this really pushy guy in her class. Demon Spawn also has a crush on her and he’s in denial of it. We are not hallucinating either. I’ve checked.” Tim replied, sipping his coffee.

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

“Damian. Let go. Hey, Wayne, are you listening to me? Let me go. This is not how you treat your significant other. And you are not even going in the right direction.” Marinette all but yelled at him.

He released his grip on her. “My apologies for manhandling you but I wanted to tell you this away from everybody else.”

“What?” She asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

I- This is a little difficult to say for me,” Damian started. (Why were his palms sweaty? It’s just an apology. He had done it before although it was mostly because Grayson told him what he did wrong and made him do it.) “But I am sorry for calling you weak, pathetic and every other bad thing I have said about you when you have shown that you are anything but those. I was mad at myself for being caught and took it out on you.”

Her glare softened.

“Apologies accepted. The school is this way.” She said with a smile and went towards the school. Damian walked by her side, his hands in his pockets.

Marinette looked at where his hands were, “If we are going to do this fake dating thing, I suggest we hold hands.”

Damian grabbed her hand and continued walking in silence. Her hands were so small and fitted perfectly in his. Oh God, it’s the curse again. Turning him into a sap. Do not think about her hands. And the fact that she took down a man twice her size with them which was an amazing sight to watch.

“Why are you so stiff? Loosen up a little. You are with the love of your life. Smile a little.”

Damian plastered on a fake smile, “Happy?”

“It looks fake. Being a model he will be able to tell.” Marinette remarked, “Are you sure you want to do this? We can still go get Tim to be my boyfriend.”

“I can do this. Drake wouldn’t be a better choice. It doesn’t help that you are relentlessly nit-picking me. Or are you that bad of a girlfriend?” Damian couldn’t help but sniped back. “Maybe that’s why Chat Noir left you.”

He found himself back against the world and her elbow at his neck. (He would forever deny that he liked it.)

“Look here, Wayne. You know nothing about me and you shouldn’t assume that you do. Chat Noir was revoked of his status as a hero for his behaviour. If you don’t act the part properly, I am going to have my former partner, who has absolutely no sense of boundaries, harassing me in my civilian life and I have already dealt enough of his advances to last a lifetime. I have given you so many chances to get out of this which you refused and yet, you are half-assing it. So are you in this 100 percent or not? Because I am at the end of my patience right now.”

“The boy who is obsessed with you is the former Chat Noir?”

“Yes, I will explain about that later but what’s your answer?”

“I will give it my best shot but I have never pretended to be in love.”

“Were you not taught in the League?”

“There were seduction tactics shown to members when they were old enough and I left them when I was 10 but I am not sure if those skills can be applied here.”(Slamming your opponent against the wall wasn’t one of them but she was doing a great job of it so far. No. No. No. He is not his father. This is different from whatever he has with Kyle.)

She released her hold on him and grabbed his hand, leading him towards her school.

“Well then, here are the basics. Everytime you look at me, just think of your favourite things to make your smile a little more genuine. Maybe call me by a pet name if you want. Keep your touch on me like you can’t keep your hands off of me and act really reluctant when you have to let go. You will only keep them my shoulders, arms, hands and waist or I will break your hand. I will do the same. If you are going to have to kiss me, give me a warning.” He looked into her blue eyes and nodded.

“Alright.”

“Oh. I almost forgot. In case they try to question our relationship. My favourite colour is red. My favourite song is ‘Fearless’ by Jagged Stone.(I love Taylor. Sue me) And we met online a few months ago. You came all the way to Paris to see me a month ago and asked me out. We will talk more that later. Oh, I also love designing and have dreams of being a famous fashion designer.-”

Marinette rambled on which Damian found a little endearing. He looked forward to knowing more about her. He added a few comments here or there about himself (because it was only fair.) and ways to improve their cover story about their relationship.

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

“We are nearly at school. Let’s start the act, Romeo.” Marinette whispered at him and looked at him with a bright smile that brought a tiny smile to his face. Okay, maybe he liked Marinette a little bit but that doesn’t mean he’s in love with her.

He moved her hand holding his to the crook of his elbow.

“Is this acceptable, my lady?”

She wrinkled her nose, (Adorable. No. Don’t go there) “This is fine. But can you not call me that? And princess too? I may have erased his memories as Chat Noir but it could be a trigger to bring them back.”

“Understandable. What about Malak?”

She blushed. Marinette had learned Arabic a while back and was very fluent in the language.

“It’s okay.” She said in a soft voice. She put her other hand on his bicep and leaned on his shoulder.

“You don’t look like a touchy-feely person so is this fine?”

“Yes.”

“Cool, let me tell you more about the atrocious lies that had passed her mouth.”

They walked into the school courtyard, arm-in-arm, for the entire school, especially Marinette’s class, to see. The perfect picture of a loving couple. Marinette’s blush from earlier was evident on her face, leaving no room for doubt about her new relationship status. (Many guys, gals and pals were upset over it.) As they both walked up the stairs, whispering and laughing about who knows what (gulliable and idiotic classmates they have to suffer learning with), two pairs of green eyes followed them.

In this case, the saying ‘green-eyed monsters’ was true. One was envious of the boy who held the girl he wanted in his arms and the other was envious of the attention the couple was receiving.

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

Damian escorted Marinette to her class. He gave her a kiss on her cheek and said, loud enough for the class to hear, “Bye, Malak. I will pick you up after school for our date.”

“B-bye, Damian.”

He took her hand, gave a kiss to the back of it and departed, leaving a very red-faced Marinette behind. The rest of the class parted the way as Damian walked past.

She rushed into her seat where Chloe sat beside it, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

“Sooooo, Mari-bug, how was your date? You two rushed out of there so quickly and left your stuff behind. So eager to spend time with your boyfriend, eh? You enjoyed it very much by the looks of it.”

“Sorry about that, Chloe. Did you bring my bag and the cheese danishes?” Marinette tried to change the topic. And she also wanted to make sure a god of destruction doesn’t go hungry and angsty during school. “Yep, here you go,” Chloe said, handing Marinette her bag and a box of cheese-flavoured snacks for Plagg, “Your mom packed some for you.”

“Marinette. Where have you been the last two days? And you came back with a boy. I am honestly worried about your behaviour.” Lila played the concerned classmate wonderfully.

“Yeah, Marinette. This is a new low, even for you.” Alya added.

Marinette readied herself to tell the cover story Damian and her worked out on the way here.

“Lila, I appreciate your ‘concern’. But the last four days have been a little hard on me so excuse me if I am a little snappy today. You see, Damian disappeared and didn’t return home after school on Friday. So when he didn’t pick up for our weekly video call, I panicked and called his family and they told me what happened. They sent me a plane to get out of Paris so I can’t get akumatized.”

“Was that why you were gone on Saturday?” Chloe asked, playing along although she already knew why Marinette wasn’t in Paris the last four days.

“Yeah. Sorry for not telling you guys. It was sorta last minute. Thankfully, he wasn’t kidnapped actually. His biological mother picked him up but never told his father that she was taking him. I just came back last night. Dami followed me to make sure I am okay.”

“What a bunch of bullcrap.” Alya said, “I don’t believe you.”

Oh. The irony... “Alya, I don’t care if you do. My life is my own business. So keep your nosy nose out of it. Your opinions don’t matter to me anymore, stranger.” Marinette internally was tired of this silly routine and wanted this to end already.

Alya wanted to pick a fight with her over the smallest things she did for the past months. She wondered why her former best friend hated her this much.

“Lila told me that you were skipping school and you paid an actor to be your pretend boyfriend.”

Pretending to not hear what Alya said, Marinette turned towards Chloe, “Hey, you never told me about how you met Tim. I can’t believe that you two are friends.”

“We met at one of those charity galas-”

“Hey, we were talking to you.” Alya cut her off. To which Chloe glared at the ombre-haired girl.

“I thought our conversation was done. What else am I supposed to say?”

Marinette was frustrated and hid that fact well, showing any reaction would give the game away. If she had reacted, it would further fuel the fire of Alya’s self-righteousness, making her believe that Marinette was somehow guilty of what Lila told her about. Lila managed to turn nearly the entire class against her by appealing to their ‘hero’ side and outbursts from Marinette and the others made them more sure of themselves of being in the right. It was so deep-rooted that nothing would sway them to logical reasoning. Maybe except Phase 2. Phase 1 was made a little easier when Talia kidnapped her and made her miss a few days of school.

Phase 2 was to not acknowledge the lies or just appear uninterested. It would illustrate the point that people don’t have to listen to them if they don’t want to. If possible, sow little seeds of doubt to the ones Lila had a looser grip on. The more people they can slowly get on their side, the better.

Alya was confused, usually Marinette would throw a ‘temper tantrum’ about how she didn’t do that and Lila lied.“I-, you should-, You should apologize to Lila.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow, “For what this time?”

“For saying that she was lying.”

“Pray tell, when did in any of our conversations so far did I do that? I mean I don’t like the fact that she just accused me with little evidence of paying my someone to be my boyfriend but I am not going to fight with anyone over it. Maybe I did do that, Maybe I didn’t. Maybe there is a good reason I did those things. The thing is Lila should keep to her own business and I will keep to mine. And as should you. I know you are a reporter at heart but you should at the very least respect my privacy.”

Alya stayed silent, fuming. Everyone was looking at them now. She realized that the designer was right and if she pushed further, she would be the bad guy.

“I thought so. Now, go away. I have nothing else to say to you. Let Chloe finish her story of how she met Tim which you so rudely interrupted.”

“Who’s Tim?” Lila asked, wanting to know more about Marinette’s boyfriend to work on an angle to get him away from the ravenette.

“Mari-Bug’s boyfriend’s older brother. Now, shoo peasants, we are talking. Anyways, Mommy took me to when I was younger so I could mingle with all the other rich kids and get connections. Timothy was there and back then, he was still with the Drakes...”

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

Lila and Alya returned to their seats, both were visibly upset although Lila was seething inside. When Marinette was not at school for the last two days, the Italian thought that it was the last she had seen of her. Today, she showed up with a handsome boy on her arm and by the looks of his clothes, rich too. If she manages to get ‘Damian’ to break up with that pest and date her instead, then she would have a rich, handsome boyfriend devoted to her and that brat would be so heart-broken that an akuma so powerful would be made that even Ladybug won’t be able to defeat. A two for one deal. Lila started planning (scheming) to take her boyfriend away.

------

(Part 7)

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

Edit: I am so sorry. I forget to add the taglist.

Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop, @all-mights-asscheeks, @idk-j-go-with-it , @loysydark, @thenillabean, @lolieg, @zalladane, @silvergold-swirl, @henie04, @blueblossombliss, @khneltea, @mochegato, @itsmeevie01, @roguishredaxion, @alyssadeliv, @steph-hearthlight, @adrestar, @eliza-bich, @abrx2002, @hikari55ttva, @doglover82, @daminette5074, @moon5608,@justafanwarrior, @allis-sun, @animegirlweeb, @aespades, @corporeal-terrestrial, @mildlydeadly, @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl,

#damian x marinette #maribat #ml x dc #daminette #mlb x dc #a failed betrothal #betrothal au: take 2

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daddyissuesmademe · 3 years

Text

BATBOYS WITH DIRECTIONER S/O

A/N : SO yeah, I did a thing. But hey, this was good for my mental health considering the stuff happens on every 23rd July. Yeah happy One Direction Day. 11 years later oof.

Pairing: batboys x gn! Reader [Dick, Jason, Tim, Duke and Aged up! Damian]

Words: 919 [No apologies. Deal with it]

Warning : FLUFF. [if you have got it as bad as I do, you might cry], Suggestive line and 1 (one) swear word [one line, it’s Jason ffs]

DICK

Homeboy is a #Directioner

He’s got it as bad as you

Since you both are people who know what “Kevin!” means, both of you decided to take a day off

Date Day? DATE DAY !

“Dick, you want to match our outfits?” “DUH”

Cue both of you wearing all the One Direction merch you have like some fan in 2012

MERCH OMG SO MUCH MERCH

“Wh- why do you have Liam Payne panties? ” “. . . . ” “ YOU HAD THIS ALL THIS TIME AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!”

Better believe there’s going to be a full blown cry session.

Binge watching the movies and crying about how young they were

“You think Bruce can buy them off SYCO?” “He probably should.”

JASON

Let’s be honest, my mans over her has so many issues he’s be a little uncomfortable with you loving some dudes as much as him

PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE JEALOUS (abandonment issues oof)

No wonder he is my fav. I have a thing.

He’ll be happy seeing you happy.

After all he woke up to you singing and dancing in a really good mood

“Hey Gorgeous, what’s the occasion? Did I miss an important date”

*PANIC MODE ACTIVATED*

“It’s 11 years of One direction!” He heard their songs playing in the background.

That made sense to him. He knew you liked their songs and are a directioner. He was just happy to see you happy

“. . . GOD I LOVE NIALL HORAN. YOU KNOW I USED TO WRITE MY NAME WITH HIS LAST NAME, HAH GOOD DAYS. HE’S MY FAVOURITE LEPRECHAUN. I REMEMBER I WENT TO A CONCERT AND SCREAMED SO LOUD HE LOOKED AT ME !! AT ME, JASE! I JUST LOVE HOW HE- ”

“Bet I can make you scream louder, Gorgeous”

. . . . . mother fucker with that god sent body and pretty mouth he sure could.

SO MUCH BLUSHING

*Cocky shithead mode activated*

“Everybody wanna steal my girl” he sang along the song as you gasped.

HE KNEW THE SONGS

TIM

“BAbe IT’S ONE DIRECTION DAY”

“Oh? OH !”

Work day is cancelled. Wayne Ent can suck it.

HOME CONCERTS ! HOME CONCERTS !

You both have blackout curtains installed in your apartment and intend to use them fully.

Perks of dating a rich bitch? Useless things,

Playing concert videos from YouTube on his 150 something inches TV

Who needs an arena when you have a Home theater that would make Superman go deaf?

“MIDNIGHTTT MEEEMOORIESSSS”

Pretending you are rockstars? Check.

Singing into the wii remotes at the top of your lungs? Check

“Babeeee ZAYN, ZADDY, MY BRADFORD BADBOY, HE’S SO HOTT”

“As the representative of the council of men, I agree”

“Hey Timmy? Mr. CEO? Mr. Drake- Wayne”

“No”

“Huh? BUt I didn’t even- ”

“As much as I love you, we can’t book them all for same show, same day same time”

DUKE

“What do you think about moving to the UK?”

He’s flabstaggered. Your tone is serious.

“Did something happen? Are you in trouble? Don’t worry I’ll - ”

“That’s where Louis live and I have a few question for Mr. Tomlinson”

You had him in the first half, then he heard “Tomlinson”

It clicked. He checked the calendar that sat across the room on the kitchen table.

23rd of July is marked with all sorts of circles and hearts.

He chuckled and decided to play along

“Sure thing Gorgeous, we’ll leave right away. But do you know where he lives?”

Oh so he was playing along. You chuckled and sat next to me.

“Don’t worry, I will find him In places that we've never been for reasons we don't understand”

He knew what you meant. How could he not? It was one of your favorite songs.

“. . because we’ll be walking in the wind?” he finished for you, pulling you into him

You sighed against him and hummed the rest of the song. It was comfortable. HE was comfortable.

“You make it feel like Home”

Instant warmth spread across him.

You spent the day cuddled up and rewatching all the acoustic music videos.

DAMIAN [AGED UP]

Babyboy has n o i d e a who they are.

Thinks you are either in grave danger or cheating on him.. OOPS?

Has his siblings and dad lookout for your “suspicious” activities.

No reason given

A few hours in, he confides in Tim.

“I have reason to assume my beloved is planning to associate herself with someone who goes by the aliases One Direction. It is an odd choice of name, that makes it more dangerous and- WHy are you laughing, Drake?”

Tim loses it. So does everyone

EVEN BRUCE !!

He’s embarrassed big time.

He watched you from one of the security cameras and realizes you’re waiting for HIM to get home.

The guilt when he sees your face all excited and ready to celebrate? ACROSS THE CHARTS.

You are decked out in, who he knows as the “all powerful overlord of hip thrusts and kindness” aka Harry’s merch.

“Dami, it’s One Direction Day!”

OH boy, he thought the guilt was bad when he looked at you? It got worse after he heard the excitement in your voice.

Kid folded like a dried up leaf and spilled his guts.

“. . . beloved, are you mad? ”

“ . . . . hHAHAAHA “ That was the funniest thing you’ve heard. Cute. VERY CUTE.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to the presumed assassins”

Day full of watching Video Diaries with Damian.

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opheliawillowbrook · 3 years

Text

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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themaribatpit · 3 years

Text

Fiasco At The Wayne Gala

Author’s note: This story was written by DC Fanboy and proofread by Maribat fangirl, as a reaction to Style Queen. Maribat fangirl has been hard at work on Chapter 6 of “Hanging by a Thread”, while DC fanboy needed a break from the angst. This is the result, enjoy.

Content warning: A dash of Chloe salt, mostly Audrey managing to piss off everyone. Ships: Jason Todd / Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Dick Grayson / Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain / Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake / Bernard Dowd (mentioned), Bruce Wayne / Selina Kyle.

Fiasco at the Wayne Gala

Jason stood at the driveway to Wayne Manor, bored out of his mind as he waited for Marinette to arrive. Another Wayne Gala was underway, with Gotham’s elite pouring into Wayne Manor. Marinette said she would be arriving with her roommate, Zoe. He took out his phone and messaged his girlfriend asking where she was. He was interrupted from his thoughts when a rude woman cleared her throat in front of him. Jason was just able to look up from his phone before he was berated for not paying attention to her.

“You! Valet! How dare you play on your phone when you should be attending to us guests?” the woman screeched. Jason cringed and immediately placed his phone back into his pocket, just as he was about to argue with this banshee that he wasn’t a valet, he was rudely interrupted again with another screech. “How unprofessional! Notify Bruce Wayne that I, Audrey Bourgeois have arrived,” she waved her hand as if to shoo him away. “Now go and park the car before I fire you.” She tossed her keys to Jason, before promptly walking away with her chin held snobbishly high.

Jason looked down at the keys in his hands. He looked at the woman walking away and then towards her car, a jet black convertible. He walked around the vehicle, admiring the exquisite European sports car. A mischievous grin grew on his face as he looked back at the keys in his hand, he jumped in over the door into the car and started its engine. It roared to life, Jason couldn’t resist stamping both his feet on the accelerator and brakes at the same time. The tyres screeched from the friction, spewing smoke behind him. He then spun around, performing a doughnut around the driveway. He left behind a trail of black tyre markings on the asphalt below. Jason stomped his foot onto the accelerator, all the way to the bottom. The engine roared in response with an immediate burst of power, rocketing him out of Wayne Manor, speeding off into the distance.

Meanwhile, Dick waited for the cloakroom attendant to return. In his hands he held Barbara’s coat. Him being the gentleman that he was, he volunteered to bring it to the cloakroom for her. As he patiently waited at the counter, he heard a throat being cleared behind him. He chose to ignore it but then the voice grew louder. He elected to ignore it again, but the person behind him then shouted “You!”

Dick turned in surprise, he looked around to the source of the voice, a woman wearing a black, white and gold ball gown with a white fur coat in her arms. Beside her was, what he assumed to be, her daughter. She wore a matching dress and an entitled look on her face. He looked around, thinking and hoping she was trying to talk to someone else.

The woman then threw her coat at Dick, it draped over his head completely. He looked as if he was wearing an expensive ghost costume, as the coat hung over his head. The rude woman continued, “Now put this in the cloakroom, bring me the ticket when you are done and make sure nothing happens to it.” Dick didn’t say anything at that moment, he hadn’t fully registered what had just happened. “It is an expensive Arctic Fox coat, if anything were to happen to it I will make sure Mr. Wayne fires you.” She stomped off with her daughter in tow, the two walked past Barbara with Haley napping on her lap. The two scoff in disgust at the sight of the dog, “Disgusting, don't you think?” Audrey asked her daughter.

Chloe repeated the sentiment, “Absolutely, Mother.”

Audrey nodded towards her daughter in approval before turning back to face Barbara, “Now get that mangy, misshapen mutt out of here before we file a complaint and get that thing put down!” she threatened before walking away.

Haley whimpered from the scary lady’s yelling, Barbara’s eyes narrowed as her hands moved to cover Haley’s floppy ears, “Oh no you did not just threaten Haley.”

“Where did she go? I can’t see.” Dick asked, the coat still covering his head.

Tim stood near the food table, enjoying canapés and several other hors d'oeuvre while waiting for his date, Bernard, to arrive at the gala. A loud voice caught his attention mid bite, “Is that you Timothy? Oh it is you.” He looked up from his plate to see an obnoxious woman wearing sunglasses indoors, at night.

“Do you remember me? I’m your Aunt Audrey.” the woman spoke.

Tim cringed internally, remembering the woman from past events. A horrible woman if he remembered correctly, always sucking up to his parents, pretending to be their friend. Most of all he remembered the constant attempts at matchmaking, doing whatever she could to pawn her daughter off to the Drake family to gain their favour. He quickly swallowed the appetizer in his mouth and answered “Hello Aunt Audrey.” with a strained smile. His mind was in a flurry, trying to think of a plan to get rid of her.

“Oh how handsome you’ve grown, why don't you spend time with my daughter? I brought her here today.” she suggested, her voice devoid of any sincerity.

Tim slowly backed off, looking around the room hoping to think of a plan to get her to leave him alone. “Well...you see…” he tried to stall for time. He then spotted a familiar plume of blonde hair standing near the performing band and rushed towards her. “Steph! You gotta help me!” he croaked.

She turned in surprise, “Tim? You okay? What's wrong?”

“Pretend to be my date” he blurted out.

“What?” she cried incredulously, “No, I’m dating Cass. What would Bernard say?” she responded angrily.

“Please, I’m begging you. At least until this crazy woman leaves me alone,” Tim explained, “she’s been trying to hook me up with her daughter for years.” Tim grabbed on to her arms and gave her a shake.

“What is this, some kind of fake dating storyline? Did I wake up in one of your K-Dramas?” She answered in a voice dripping with sarcasm. She then peered over his shoulder to see two women in hot pursuit, shoving guests aside. She was already feeling her mood sour from their presence.

“You owe me for this, understand?” Stephanie said, her fingers jabbed Tim in the chest before she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Thanks, I’ll pay you back some day.” Tim then held out his elbow for Stephanie, which she held on to.

Tim and Steph slowly walked up to Audrey, “Aunt Audrey, I’d like to meet my girlfriend Stephanie Brown.” He gestures towards his friend. Stephanie then kissed Tim in the cheek, trying her absolute best to not show just how irritated she was at the whole situation.

Audrey’s eyes twitched at the sight, but it was unnoticeable under her sunglasses. “Nice to meet you too Stephanie.” she greeted, venom dripping from her voice. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I will attend to other guests. It was nice meeting you again Timothy.” She then stomped away with Chloe in tow.

The two then breathed a sigh of relief as they were left alone, “I need a drink” groaned Stephanie, as she held onto her forehead. “I just hope that Cass didn't see....that.” She turned around to see Cassandra Cain right behind the two, a frown on her face.

Both Tim and Steph both held up their hands, attempting to placate the girl in front of them. “Tim needed a fake date to get rid of a crazy old hag.” explained Steph, as quickly and concisely as she could. Stephanie gave Tim the evil eye, thinking of all the ways she would hurt him if his fiasco cost her her relationship with Cass.

Cass spun her finger on the side of her head. Tim and Steph released a breath they both had been holding, worried of what Cass’ reaction would be. Fortunately for them, Cass was able to see the whole thing. From watching Tim’s desperate plea, to the subtle signs of discomfort as the two spoke to Ms. Bourgeois.

Damian clung to the edges of the party, he detested these events. However, as the son of Gotham’s Billionaire he had no choice but to attend. He wandered around, hands in his pockets, he hoped he could find a familiar face in a sea of strangers. Perhaps Gordon or Grayson would let him pet Haley, it would at least help pass the time better.

For someone unaware of who he was, one could possibly mistake him for a delinquent. Then again, he was the grandson of the Demon. He spotted the dog on Gordon's lap, and made his way towards her. He was then intercepted by a raging woman pointing her finger at him and calling him a trespasser and an intruder.

The gall of this woman, he clenched his teeth and yelled back. "Shut up you hag, I live here!"

The woman expressed a loud gasp, "How dare you call me that? Do you know who I am? I am Audrey Bourgeois, director of Style Queen."

Damian rolled his eyes, "What? A magazine giving fashion advice to shriveled old hags like you?" he shot back.

Audrey Bourgeois snapped, she yelled at the boy at the top of the voice "How dare you!"

Damian shouted back "How dare YOU! Do you know who I am?"

Their shouting match had drawn the entire attention of the ball room, eyes drawn to the argument unraveling before them. Tim and Dick walked closer, hoping to get a clear view of what was happening, and to intervene if necessary. Who knows what would happen with Damian around?

Alfred ignored the chaos unraveling around him as he pushed a food trolley through the ball room. However, a young woman with blonde hair rushed in front of his trolley. "May I help you?" He asked.

"My mother is being harassed by some miscreant, go get rid of him." Chloe growled towards the butler.

"Very well." Alfred complied and began walking to the two shouting their lungs off.

Damian spots the two former Robins approaching and calls out to them, "Grayson, Drake, tell her who I am and get rid of her."

Both Tim and Dick narrowed their eyes, annoyed about how all attention was now on the two of them. The two looked at each other, annoyed at their younger sibling.

Tim had a plan to redirect that attention and knock Hell Spawn down a peg, "Who are you?" he asked.

This infuriated Damian, he roared "Traitor!" and was about to throw fists at Tim before Alfred stepped in between them.

"Please, let us all calm down and enjoy this fine evening." Alfred attempted to calm the entire situation.

"Not until you get rid of him!" Audrey yelled, pointing her finger accusingly at Damian.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Madam." Alfred deadpanned.

Audrey stomped her foot in anger, then she pointed threateningly at Alfred. "You're fired!" she yelled.

Alfred sighs and answers in a monotone voice "Madam, with all due respect, I don't work for you. I work for Master Wayne, and in turn I also work for the young Master Wayne." He gestured to Damian, who stood there angrily with his arms crossed.

Audrey Bourgeois recoiled in shock, she attempted to come up with a retort. Alfred continued, "As per the young master's wishes, please leave the premises immediately."

Audrey gritted her teeth, "Fine. Call the valet to bring my car over." She commanded before marching off.

Alfred and Damian looked at each other, intrigued at the request for a valet. "Pennyworth, we don't have a valet for this evening, do we?" asked Damian.

"No Master Damian, though I suspect we may have a case of grand theft auto on our hands. I shall go check the cameras for our culprit.” Alfred furrowed his eyebrows and left for the Batcave.

Marinette and Zoe stood near a window. Marinette was worried, Jason was supposed to be at the party. He did not answer any of her calls or reply to any of her messages. She paced about, worried Jason was away dealing with an emergency.

Zoe on the other hand was red with embarrassment and shame. She was unfortunately related to the two wrecking balls tearing their way through the gala. She hoped to any and every deity above that they would prevent her mother from noticing her. However, this was to no avail as Zoe was spun around forcefully.

"...Zoe! Why did you not greet your dear mother?" Yelled Audrey.

Zoe began sweating bullets trying to think of an answer while being berated by her mother and half-sister. "I-I uh, I just got here." She shakily attempted to explain herself.

"What are you doing here Marinette?" Growled Chloe, annoyed at how such a clumsy girl would be even invited to this event.

Marinette put the phone back into her purse, "I was supposed to be here with my boyfriend, but I can't find him and he won't answer the phone."

Chloe laughed at the girl's plight, "Who would even date a loser like you? Any sane person would leave you."

Marinette gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, much to Chloe’s delight. Her contained rage and shame were interrupted as Audrey began complaining about a valet.

"Where is my car? Where is that damn stupid valet?" Audrey shouted.

Zoe and Marinette looked at each other, confused at the mention of a valet. "There was a valet?" Marinette asked nervously.

"Of course there was." Audrey told her.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous," ranted Chloe, "He did not even dress properly and now he can't even deliver mother's car. Where is the idiot with the white streak of hair?"

Marinette and Zoe raised an eyebrow at the specific mention of a white streak of hair.

"At least it explains what Jason is up to." Marinette thought to herself, "They won't be getting the car back for a while, if at all."

Alfred had reviewed footage of the driveway earlier that evening, and had discovered Jason was the culprit. Alfred sighed as he picked up the telephone and attempted to call Jason. Just like Marinette, Jason was not answering his calls. Alfred then contacted Jason through his Bat Communicator.

"What's the emergency, Alfred?" Answered Jason.

Alfred could hear the sound of a roaring engine and wind whipping through the air over the communicator. "Master Todd, you are the emergency. Please return the automobile to the manor.

"Alright, I will if you bake me two dozen cookies. Just for me and no one else." Negotiated Jason.

"Very well, Master Todd." agreed Alfred "Now please return the vehicle." Alfred closed the call and made his way to the ballroom.

Jason turned the steering wheel of the car harshly, sending it to a tight drift, making a turn back towards Wayne Manor. "Alright you two, we're getting cookies!" he yelled to his passengers beside him.

"Yaaaaay" cheered Roy along with Lian on his lap.

Back in the ballroom, Alfred asked the guests to quiet down for he was making an announcement. "Esteemed guests, allow me to introduce Bruce Wayne.'' He stepped aside and gestured to Bruce atop the stairs with Selena Kyle. The two slowly walked down the stairs, and thanked each of their guests for attending the gala.

Audrey Bourgeois pushed past several attendees to get a closer look. Other guests gave her space, not wanting to incur her wrath. As she reached Bruce Wayne, she shoved Selena aside and wrapped herself around Bruce's arm. Taking extra attention to make sure her chest rubbed against his arm.

Zoe sped to the bathroom in absolute shame after watching her mother attempt to flirt with Bruce Wayne. Marinette remained by the window, waiting for Jason’s return. She was then approached by Alfred, holding a small basket of fresh cookies. “Good evening Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I just spoke to Master Todd, he is on his way.”

Marinette glanced at Audrey Bourgeois still attempting to flirt with Bruce, “the sooner he gets here the sooner she leaves.” she comments. She notices the cookies in the basket. “Can I have a cookie?” she asked, salivating at Alfred’s baking. Tikki peeked out from her small bag, enticed by the smell of the cookies.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to ask Master Todd, I made these in order to entice him to return the car. Undamaged, I hope.” Alfred explains.

Fortunately Jason arrived at that moment, with Roy and Lian in tow, their hairs were messy from the wind. Alfred gave Marinette the basket of cookies and asked her to give them to Jason while he notified Ms. Bourgeois that her car had arrived. “Jason, where have you been? I've been trying to call you all night!” Marinette yelled.

Jason scratched the back of his head, “about that, some crazy lady thought I was a valet.”

Marinette crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, “I heard. But that doesn't mean you can take her car.” she huffed.

“ ‘Sup Little Wing,” Dick greeted Jason, “heard about your joyride from Alfred. How was it?”

“Awesome,” Jason replied, reaching into the basket of cookies. Roy, Lian and Tikki were already enjoying their share.

“Now that you’re back, that crazy woman can now go.” Dick said

“What did she do?” asked Jason curiously, hoping there would be a good story.

“For starters, she thought I was the cloakroom attendant. She threw her coat over my face, she pissed Babs off by calling Haley a ‘Misshapen Mutt’. Then she tried to hook her daughter up with Tim. On top of that, she managed to royally piss off Damian.” Explained Dick.

Jason’s jaw dropped while chewing his cookie, a few crumbs landing on the floor. Before doing a spit-take with the cookie in his mouth, he burst out laughing.

Meanwhile Alfred walked up to Audrey Bourgeois, who was still clinging onto Bruce Wayne as if her life depended on it. “Ahem, Madam Bourgeois, your automobile has arrived. Please kindly leave the premises.” interrupted Alfred.

“Come now, Brucie Darling. Are you really going to send me away after all we have been through?” Audrey asked coyly.

Bruce took a deep breath, “Ms. Bourgeois, please leave. As you can see my date, Ms. Kyle, has been very patient with you.” He points with his thumb behind him towards a glaring Selena.

Audrey growled loudly, “Fine, we are leaving.” She stomped out the front door. “You, Valet! What took you so long?” she demanded an explanation from Jason.

Jason spoke to her with his mouth full, spewing crumbs everywhere. “Having dinner, what's it to you?”

Audrey and Chloe recoiled at Jason’s bad manners, as a force of habit Audrey yelled back “I’ll have you fired for this.”

Jason continued undeterred, still answering with his mouth full of cookies. “Well shit, too bad.”

Frustrated at his aloof response, the two quickly got into the car and drove off. Everyone but the two Bourgeois noticed a large scratch and several dents along the side of the sports car as it drove away. “Yeah, uh, forget you saw that. Let’s get back to the party shall we?” suggested Jason. Everyone laughed hysterically at the wild night, now that the human wrecking ball had left.

As Marinette walked back into the manor, she pouted at Jason for keeping her waiting. “Come on now Pixie, are you still mad at me?” Jason asked.

“Yes, you stole someone’s car, drove off to who knows where. You didn’t answer any of my messages or calls. I was really looking forward to enjoying the Gala with you.” Marinette complained.

Jason ran in front of Marinette, stopping her in her tracks. “Look I’ll make it up to you Pixie, I promise. How about a dance then? The night is still young.” Jason said, offering his hand to Marinette.

Marinette contemplates for a moment before reaching out to hold his hand. “Fine, but this doesn’t mean I forgive you yet.”

The two then walked to the centre of the ballroom and danced the night away.

#jasonette #maribat chloe salt #maribat #ml x dc #dc x ml

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catxsnow · 3 years

Text

OBVIOUSLY UNOBVIOUS T.D.

Request: I have a request ! It's kinda angsty but what if tim and y/n work together(maybe your like second in comment at WE), and y/n knows his secret, y/n is also very strong(powers or not up to you ) and Tim manages to convince her to join the Titans.y/n likes him , and she can't help but be jealous of him and Cassandra's friendship.y/n tries not to like cass but fails Bc she's just that good of a friend

Sorry it's a Tim request! Where Tim and y/n are unaware of their feelings for each other. So Tim asks cass to be touchy, more friendly, and y/n is unaffected but on the inside she's boiling , so she asks Bart to be extra flirty, and it's just one big hot mess.

Request for Tim falling for the new member of the Titans , y/n the protege of green arrow/black canary , Tim bring mad protective/jealous every time Bart flirts with her, yn being oblivious as hell

Warning: fluff, mentions of blood,

A/N: I combined three requests because they were all kinda simliar in the bart/cassie making reader jealous so I hope you don’t mind.

Word Count: 4k

Joining the Teen Titans had not been your idea. At all.

Tim pestered you for months to join his silly little band of sidekicks. You met him not long after he 'saved' you from a night of patrol gone wrong. New to Gotham and not quite understanding just how much of a hell hole it was. Avoiding Batman was easier than you thought - but Robin? Not so much.

Robin was kind to you, unlike his mentor. He always had a boyish smile for you, some explanation of the new tech he got excited over, and he never questioned who you really were. You knew that he knew your entire identity, how could the great Batman let his sidekick cohort with an unnamed masked vigilante?

You found yourself seeking his company more than seeking criminals at night. It wasn't just having someone watch your back, it was even if you didn't know who was hiding under the mask you felt like you could trust him. Robin quickly became the one person you could constantly rely on.

Robin was somehow always there when you got yourself into a tight situation. Cornered by goons that outnumbered you by a landslide, an unexpected amount of hired guns at a drug bust, even when you stumbled upon higher up criminals did he managed to be there just in the nick of time.

The reliance became almost unhealthy. Any time you were stuck in a rut you told yourself he would be there, he would always be there. And then he wasn't. In the moments that you needed him most, he wouldn't show up at all. Bloody and bruised, you'd barely make it out alive because you believed that he would show up.

It was your own fault for putting faith in someone you didn't even know the name of. Batman and Robin had their own issues, their own battles to fight - they didn't always have the time for yours.

A freezing Saturday night Batman had found you barely breathing in a dark alley. Ganged up out of the blood, trauma to the head that left you dazed and barely able to fight. It was a small gang that you thought you had taken down months ago - turns out they were just hiding in the shadows and waiting to attack.

They left you half-dead in the alley, hoping that you would have learned your lesson to not mess with them again. Instead, it made you angry - furious at them, at yourself for messing up like this. Revenge was the only thing on your mind while you tried to push yourself up to move again.

Truth was, if it wasn't for Batman showing up, you weren't sure if you would have ever made it back home alive. He took you to the infamous batcave, tended to your wounds like his own sidekick. He was silent, just as he always was whenever he saw you and Robin together. The quiet made it painfully obvious that Robin wasn't there that night.

You woke up in the early hours of the morning, still in the cave and with an unfamiliar face at your side. Dark tufts of black hair that stuck up in every direction, sharp cheekbones that could barely be seen from the hand resting on his face. He wore shorts, despite the cold that lingered in the air.

Your eyes flickered to the Robin costume that was displayed in a glass stand. Bright reds and greens that always stood out in the night and made it oh-so-easy to spot. A mask that covered only the eyes and the sculpted cheeks bones of the boy hiding beneath. It was Robin that was sleeping in the chair beside your bed, maskless and vulnerable to someone he didn't even know.

"You're awake," he spoke without opening his eyes. Sleep was heavy in his voice. The usual pep that he had was replaced with a hoarseness that had you taken aback for a split moment. Bright blue eyes met yours. You always wondered what color they'd be, but you never expected them to be so vibrant - so full of life.

"How could you have possibly woken up from that, I haven't even moved," You tried to joke. A pain rippled through your whole body. Bruises dark in color splattered against you and a tight wrap was around your ribs where surely half of them were broken or cracked. You could feel the swell in your lips, the metallic taste of blood that lingered in your mouth even hours after you were defeated. Without needing to see yourself, you knew that you were looking rough.

"You were making noises in your sleep, they stopped when you woke up," Robin informed you. Whimpers and whines from the pain that ached throughout you echoed through the cave for hours. He knew of getting his ass handed to him, and he knew just how you felt that moment. "How are you feeling?"

Tim felt guilty. He tried his best to watch over you in the ferocious Gotham life, but sometimes he hadn't made it in time. You were lucky to be alive, and if that wasn't the case he wouldn't be able to live with himself, not when he was on some stupid team-building exercise in San Francisco.

There were tons of descriptions that you could have used to describe how you were feeling. Enraged. Embarrassed. Vengeful. "Sore," you settled with. Tim nodded, by the hesitance you had he wasn't sure if that was going to be your final answer. You rubbed a hand down your face, mixed feelings running through more than ever.

The familiar feeling of bare skin met your path. No mask, no covering your identity. No surprise that Batman did so. You paused a moment before sticking that same hand out for Robin to shake. "I presume you already knew long ago, but (Y/N) (L/N)."

Tim accepted your hand, surprised at the sudden grip that you had on him in your weakened state. "Tim Drake, I assume you already put together that I'm Robin," he mocked your words. "It's nice to officially meet you, (Y/N)."

Months of trying to convince you that joining the Teen Titans was the best thing that could happen to you. Not only would you get the additional training you needed, but you would have the resources and a team. You'd get friends - and most importantly you'd get to be near Tim more often.

As annoying as his pestering was to get you to join him, it was far more adorable. He'd get this little pout on his face, bottom lip sticking out that made you just want to kiss him. You knew the reason - or thought you knew - why he wanted you to join. He was scared for you. That night in the alley when he wasn't even home terrified him.

He was going to make sure that it never happened again. Tim would be there to protect you, and if he couldn't then his friends sure as hell would. Months of bribing, swaying, hangouts, and patrol, Tim finally convinced you to join him. The time you spent together had brought you closer together as friends.

It also brought unwanted feelings that kept you up at night. The little amount of sleep that you usually got dwindled as your thoughts and dreams became consumed by Tim Drake. He was more than a friend, a partner, a teammate - he was someone that you could love for the rest of your life. Yet, he had no idea.

Joining his little band of heroes didn't help either. You spent far more time with him. Training, missions, just hanging out in the lounge of the infamous Titans Tower. He became your every living moment - along with his friends. They weren't all easy to get along with. Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, they all acted like they controlled your each and every move.

Conner Kent, Superboy, as nice as he was whenever he spent time with Tim you couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Bart took a while to get used to - just as Tim had told you it would. He was nice to you, but his literal sense of being all over the place drove you nuts. Cassie? Well, she was the one that got on your nerves the most.

Whenever Cassie and Tim were in the same room together, she hung off him like a leech. No matter what was going on she was right at his side. She made it impossible to hang out with him and you had no idea why she was so possessive of him. It seemed impossible to enjoy her presence.

It was also impossible to hate her too. Whenever the two of you worked alone, she was always so incredibly kind to you. She would help you when you messed up or offered words of advice from her own mistakes. Cassie wasn't afraid to admit to you that she's messed up far more than you had. It was confusing why she changed so much around Tim.

It was annoying to see his stupid little smiles every time you were visibly frustrated with them together. It was even worse when their hugs lasted a little longer than they needed to be. Your jealousy of Cassie was getting out of hand, and that would only mean that bad decisions would be made.

You stood with your fist raised, ready to knock on the door in front of you. Maybe this choice was petty, maybe you were more scared to admit your own feelings than you were fighting monsters. Truth was, you just wanted to see Tim react the same way that you did when he was around Cassie. What better way than to use one of his own friends to do it?

Kon was too loyal to Tim to keep a secret. Victor and Gar wouldn't agree to it in the slightest - them being the 'responsible leaders' that they were. That left Bart Allen. Speedster. Kid Flash. As kind as he was, you didn't know him well enough to know if he would even agree to this ridiculous plan of yours.

The more you thought about it, the more ridiculous it even was. Why waste time trying to make Tim jealous when he probably didn't even think about how Cassie acted around him? Why not just tell him outright that after over a year of working together, you had caught major feelings for him?

Before you could change your mind about this whole thing, Bart's door opened. He looked ready to run out to do god knows what but stopped, confused, when he saw you standing there. "(Y/N), hey, uh," Bart scratched the back of his head. You never stopped by to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I talk to you?" Your gaze turned to the end of the hall when hearing footsteps. Black and yellow cape, green shirt, of course, Tim remained in uniform even in his downtime. He met your eyes for a moment, a smile making it's way to his face before realizing that you were talking to Bart. His gaze turned to a glare when seeing how little of a space was between you and Bart.

Seeing his small change in facial expression had just confirmed that you liked seeing him jealous - if that's even what his emotion was. You smiled his way before grabbing Bart's hand and leading him back into his room. The door slammed shut before Tim could even reach it.

"What-" Bart tried to ask.

"I need you to do me a favour," Bart's room was a mess. Clothes were strewn all over the floor, unmade bed, food wrappers, and pizza boxes covering every inch of furniture. The difference between him and Tim was astounding just by looking at their living spaces. "I need you to help me make Tim jealous."

Surprisingly, Bart was quick to agree with your little plan. He too noticed that since your arrival to the tower, Tim and Cassie were closer than ever. If he was to notice, then surely there had to be something going on, right? Either way, it just fueled your desire to make him jealous even more.

They were small actions at first. You'd make sure that Bart would enter your room just as Tim was walking by, only to leave again moments later when he was gone. Always being quick to pair up with you for everything, only for Tim to argue that his pairing with you made more sense. Lingering hugs, watching movies together, sharing food.

Tim was quickly annoyed with Bart's presence whenever you were with him. However, he didn't bring it up. His glares, huffs of annoyance, and cold behaviour were all obvious though he never asked about your sudden interest in his best friend.

Kon, the only one that wasn't involved, but invested, quickly picked up on what happened. Tim got Cassie to be touchy the first day that you arrived. You asked Bart to do just the same. It was obvious what was going on to everyone besides you and Tim.

As funny as it was to watch, he was also getting annoyed at the lack of communication between you. According to Tim, you and him were best friends before you decided to join the team. Now, it seemed that you had never been farther apart because of your ruses.

"You and Bart got close since you've arrived," Tim was leaning against the door of your room. It had been days since the two of you had talked alone and you missed him. Keeping this fake-touchy relationship with Bart was exhausting. It didn't even seem to be worth it - until this moment.

"Yeah, he's a good guy," You peaked above the book you held in your hand. Tim invited himself into your room and sprawled across the bottom of your bed. He didn't want to hear about your relationship with Bart, but the words slipped his mouth before he could think of anything else. It drove him nuts seeing the two of you together. "Made this place feel like a home."

He didn't, at all. Truth was, you wished that you were back in Gotham, back where you didn't know you had to share Tim with anyone besides Batman. Now, with all his friends, you felt like you never got to see him at all. As much as you learned, and as thankful as you were for everything that you learned, you missed what your friendship used to be with Tim.

"You never told me you and Cassie were so close," You hesitantly spoke as a silence washed over you. Tim remainder stotic. He and Cassie were great friends, but they were never as physically close as they were now. She had been reluctant to agree to his pleas of acting closer than they really were to make you jealous. His efforts seemed all for null with your new fondness of the speedster.

If Tim were Bruce, he'd probably be able to pick up on the jealousy in your voice. Right now, he was too caught up in your own thinking about the hours that Bart spent in your room, laughing so loud that he could hear it from his room. He loathed the idea of you and Bart together.

"Yeah." Yeah. That's all he had to say? All their time together, nothing more than a single word to talk about the woman he clearly cared deeply about.

Another silence. A painful, heart aching silence that never used to happen before you joined this stupid team. It seemed that arriving had pushed you and Robin farther apart than ever before. You hated these moments, hated it felt like you knew nothing about one another, like you hadn't nearly died together half a dozen times.

It seemed that your silence in the middle of a mission was louder than these moments.

"Tim?" You asked. He was staring up at your ceiling and you couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on in his head. No matter how close you were, or thought you were, he would always remain a mystery.

"Yeah," he repeated.

What if I moved back to Gotham? What if I asked you to stay there with me? What if I told you everything with Bart was a lie? What if I told you my feelings for you were undeniable? What if the reason I want to hate Cassie is because of you? What if...

"Nevermind." There was no point in dwelling in what if's.

Kori always promoted training with teammates. It was a great way to hone in on your skills, and develop a further relationship among your team. Kon was back in Smallville, Beast Boy and Cyborg were off working for their previous leader Nightwing. That left just the four of you - two of which you could barely look at.

You were infuriated with Tim. The entire week he had been brushing you off, ignoring your messages, it was like he was avoiding you completely. To make matters worse, Cassie had been glued to his side the entire time. They didn't part ways for anything it seemed.

Now, you and Bart were fighting against Tim and Cassie. Though the speedster and Amazonian had no issues with each other, it was clear that they knew to stay out of yours and Tim's way during the spar. It seemed that just as you were frustrated with Tim, he was with you.

The clashing of staffs was almost as loud as Bart's cackling as he ran around the training room. Tim didn't hold back, not at all. He wasn't surprised to see you do the same, however, he was shocked to see how much you had improved since your time in Gotham. As good as you were, you could rarely hold your own against him.

You didn't need to see beneath his mask to know that he was angry. It was only a matter of who it was directed at. Bruce, maybe. Dick. Kon. You could only dream that it was Cassie but you knew damn better than that. Likely, you were the one to have done something wrong - which was probably why he was ignoring you.

"If you've got something to say, Robin, you should say it," You gritted out as you narrowly missed the staff swinging your way. It was beyond frustrating fighting with him. Tim was impossible to get a hit laid on him, and he was constantly on the defensive with you - as if he didn't want to hit you or something similar.

"Do you really think now is the best time for conversation?" Tim flipped to miss your swing. As he landed, he knocked your weapon away in a single move, leaving you defenseless against him. The fight, as if it wasn't already, became completely unfair in his advantage. Conversation was the only thing that was going to get your the upper hand.

"Well you refuse to talk to me any other time."

His strikes became harder, faster. You needed to get his staff away from just as he did to you before he landed a hit. Tim cried out as your heel slammed against his hand. The force of it knocked the staff out of his hand and it rolled away in the opposite direction of your own.

Tim nursed his throbbing hand for a moment before raising his fists. "Didn't think you'd notice with how much time you're spending with Bart." He jabbed at you, hitting your forearm instead of his intended target of your face. You could see the two other heroes fighting from the corner of your eye - both of them getting just as frustrated but for completely different reasons.

"You're the one that invited me to this team, Drake," your foot jutted towards his chest. It barely impacted him - even though he was quick, he wasn't quick enough. "It's like the moment we left Gotham you were ready to drop me."

"Is that seriously what you think?" Tim was barely able to dodge your oncoming throws. Punch after punch you had still missed them all. He managed to grab your fist. "You obviously don't realize-"

"You wouldn't know obvious if it punched you in the face!" You exclaimed as you wound your free arm back. Tim was so taken aback that he didn't have time to prepare for the hit. Your knuckles collided with his cheekbone and the force of it had knocked him flat on his ass. A loud thud echoed through the room - enough for Cassie and Bart to stop in their tracks.

Tim's cheek was red from where you had hit him. He didn't look angry with you - it was a spar after all. He looked disappointed, more at himself than you. Was there more to this whole situation than he had originally thought there to be.

Robin, world's second greatest detective - he should have been able to see right through everything. Just as he had asked Cassie to be affectionate when you were around - maybe you just done exactly the same thing with Bart. What kind of mess had he gotten himself into?

You stood above him, hands still in fists. In that moment you made up your mind. Staying in this damn tower was draining you and you couldn’t take it any longer.

"I'm going back to Gotham."

"You were right."

Tim caught you packing your bags for your return back to Gotham. To no surprise, he managed to sneak in without you even knowing. You were frozen, hand in your bag after shoving in a handful of clothing at the sound of his voice.

"I don't hear you say that very often," you snarked. He leaned on the edge of your desk, arms crossed over his chest and mask peeled off. He never wore it anymore when the two of you were alone. He trusted you too much not to. Then again, maybe you were just the only one that knew the real him under that mask.

"That's because you rarely are," he chuckled. Now wasn’t the time for his joke. "I'm sorry, for everything. Apparently, I wasn't able to see the truth until it hit me in the face - literally. Bart told me what happened, what you asked him to do. I... I-"

"Asked Cassie to do the same," you cut him off. Tim's mouth parted with shock. How could you have figured it out? Defeated, you sat on the edge of your bed. You felt like a fool for going through with such an elaborate plot to gain his affections. "She just left my room. Don't know whether I'm surprised or disappointed in both of us.

"Great minds think alike, huh?" Tim shook his head. Only a fool would have gone through such a process - and a fool he was. "What were we thinking? You're my best friend (Y/N), I know I can trust you with everything, and yet- and yet I was scared of what you would say."

"We really played ourselves, huh?" You chuckled. Tim pushed himself off your desk to take the seat next to you. He grabbed your hand, pulling it into his own lap and intertwining your fingers. His warmth crawled up your arm and spread across your entire body.

What were you thinking with this stupid plan? More importantly, how did neither of you figure out the truth sooner? Tim felt just as much of an idiot as you did.

He smiled at the sight of your hand in his. He was so caught up in trying to get silly reactions out of you that he forgot the reasoning behind it all. Tim adored you, he wanted you to be his and he should have just told you outright instead of being the scared little boy he once was.

"Come back to Gotham with me? Please?" You asked suddenly. The two of you needed a break away from the team, you needed time to figure out what these past few months were really for. Mostly, you wanted Tim all to yourself, even for just a little while.

"There's a great burger place that I found with Dick one night on Patrol. Ate so many that I could barely move the rest of the night," Tim smiled at the memory. "Go with me? On a date?"

Tim's eyes shone with hope for your answer. After going through this entire mess, he only assumed you would be willing to go on a date with him. You leaned towards him, lips barely brushing against his but aching with anticipation for more. He pressed himself into you, lips molding to yours like he was made for you.

"If it wasn't obvious, I'd love to."

@pricetagofficial @mora-miserium @babymango-writes @redrobin-yumm @simp-is-what-i-am @catsofsmoke @subtleappreciation @officiallydarkgeek @spiitfiires @pinkdiamond1016 @childish-kiwi @givetimdrakeacoffee @gunnedrobin @local-fandom-trashcan @bikoncon @foenixphire

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justcourttee · 3 years

Note

New idea!!! Could you write a story where Mari and Tim are full-blooded siblings except Mari was taken away from the Drakes. Mari would be Dick's age in this. The Drake's finally pass away so Bruce goes to adopt Tim but he's having trouble because Marinette is doing the same. It's a custody battle. Tim is confused because he doesn't know Mari (she was taken away before she was born and CPS wasn't dealing with that family again) but Mari knows about him. Maybe Dick/Mari?

I have a feeling I took this in a different direction than you meant for it to be, but I hope you still like it :) @elements1999

Tim’s Decision

There were two things that Timothy Jackson Drake was sure of.

One, that he had never seen Dick so flustered before in his life. The poor guy was tripping over his own feet, stumbling into the court hallway as if he had been drinking all morning, his face resembling something close to the apple Bruce forced him to eat for breakfast.

And the second, well, he was sure he had never met someone as persistently, annoyingly, upbeat as Dick Grayson until seconds ago when she reached out her hand to introduce herself.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances, Timothy. This isn’t my first time reaching out, but it certainly is my first time getting through. Maybe after this, we can grab a bite to eat, get to know each other?”

Tim slightly withdrew his hand, reaching out to steady a swaying Dick. He wanted to ask him what could’ve warranted this behavior from him, but he wasn’t sure he was prepared to hear the answer.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng-”

“Please, call me Marinette! I’m not married, nor am I a middle-aged woman. I’m only 21 after all. You’re 14, right Timothy?”

“If I call you by your name, call me Tim. Timothy sounds like a rich brat.”

Marinette’s giggle earned a small smile from the boy. He had no idea who she was, but her presence was soothing and he didn’t feel any immediate danger. Besides, she wasn’t the first person to approach him in the past week. News of his parent’s death traveled very quickly and many people attempted to adopt him in hopes that his fortune would be theirs.

Bruce was quick to wave them off, offering to adopt Tim himself, but before Tim could even think about accepting, CPS contacted Bruce with the proposal from one Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“I hadn’t realized that Bruce Wayne had caught your attention. I really want to make sure that you are able to have a regular childhood or at least some resemblance of a few normal years. If you think Bruce is a better option for you, I promise I’ll pull out right now, but if you have any doubts at all, I want to let you know that I want to fight for you, Tim.”

“I haven’t made any decisions yet and considering Bruce let me meet with you, I have to assume you’re not after my parent’s fortune.”

Marinette’s smile tightened at the mention of the fortune or was it his parents? He couldn’t tell. She was definitely holding something back, but they had just met and he wasn’t in any position to be pressuring her for some answers. What he was in the position to do was knock some sense into a now drooling Dick Grayson.

“Knock it off will you, you’re heavy and gross. You’re making a fool of the Wayne name and aren’t you supposed to be my guardian today?”

Dick muttered out something that sounded like an okay, but if Tim was honest, he wasn’t sure it was anything more than a few syllables to lower his guard.

“This is what Bruce considers a capable guardian? I’m not sure I trust him as far as I could throw him. What can it do?”

Marinette reached forward, poking Dick’s cheek, enough force to snap him out of whatever daze he had been in the past hour.

“Dick Grayson-Wayne ma’am, a pleasure to meet you.” Instantly he bowed, his hand extended as if he were waiting for something that wouldn’t come.

“Mhmm, so you are Bruce’s ward? You look like you could be his blood child. Does he have a thing for dark hair and light eyes? Creepy.”

Dick’s hand clutched his chest as if he had been struck directly in his core. Marinette turned her attention from him and back to where Tim stood.

“Anyways, I believe we mentioned lunch earlier. I’ve already submitted my application to CPS and after this formal meeting, you’re free to meet up with me whenever you would like as long as a third party comes with us. Can you think of anyone you want to come with us?”

Tim glanced to the side where he could feel Dick’s puppy eyes boring into him. He wouldn’t be his first choice but if it came down to him of Jaime, he was pretty sure he had a better chance of reigning in Dick.

“Do you mind if Dick comes with us?”

Marinette’s smile was shaken with uncertainty as if she was thinking of protesting but didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. Tim felt terrible putting her in the position but he was sure that Dick was her best chance given his options. “Of course not, where would you like to go?”

The lunch moved smoothly with Tim learning so much about her. She was originally from the Gotham foster system herself, but a young couple who couldn’t have kids adopted her at a younger age, moving her to Paris with them. She attended the equivalent of middle and high school over there where she met many lifelong friends. Starting late in her middle school years, she upstarted a fashion business where she had several big-name clients months into her start-up. Now she made personal designs, but many were taken care of by her team. She only stitched a very few commissions for close personal friends.

She was remarkable, someone who truly started from nothing. His parents did something similar as did Bruce’s. It was something he wanted for himself, something he wasn’t sure he could ever achieve with either his or Bruce’s fortune.

The custody battle was put on hold at Tim’s request. He was really intrigued by Marinette and Bruce pressuring him to take his time and really think over his choices finally led him to that decision. However, no matter how much Bruce tried to be a neutral party in the matter, Tim could feel the strain it put on their work relationship.

The more he saw Marinette, the more mess-ups occurred on patrol. Bruce would constantly tread into Tim’s area, always dropping in on his battles. It was as if he lost all trust in Tim as if he was trying to rely less on him, trying to go back to doing things on his own.

It was so frustrating. No matter how many times he told Bruce that he could still be Robin no matter who he chose, it seemed to mean nothing to him. He continually waved him off, claiming to have no idea what he was talking about.

A month after he met Marinette, Tim snuck out for the first time, begging her to meet him at a coffee shop near her hotel.

“Tim, this is dangerous. If CPS finds out we meet behind Bruce’s back, it could nullify my application.”

“I know, I know.” His head dropped to the table, buried in his arms trying to suffocate his frustration. “I just needed to get away from all of them. I think the fact that I consider you a serious option really upsets Bruce. It’s not that I don’t consider him a serious option as well, it’s just-he’s just-”

Tim let out a sigh, slowly sitting back up unsure where his thoughts were taking him.

“Tim,” Marinette reached across the table, laying her hand on his arm. “if this is too stressful for you, I can pull out of this.”

Her touch was so gentle, so soothing. It felt like the mother he never had, the kind of mother he yearned for but never realized. He really didn’t want her to leave his life just because he couldn’t give up being Robin.

“I just feel so selfish,” his vision started to blur, Marinette’s figure coming in and out of focus. “I want to keep the life I’ve made for myself here, but I also don’t feel like I can grow the way I want to under Bruce’s supervision.”

Marinette didn’t say anything for a moment, she just allowed him to cry, her thumb moving in small circles on his arm. Tim reveled in the feeling, reveled in the silence. He hadn’t had this in a while, he hadn’t had comfort for as long as he could remember. Even at his parent’s funeral, people just commented on how strong he was and how smart he was and told him he would be just fine. Not once did anyone try to hug him or ask if he was okay. They just assumed.

Everyone always just assumed.

“Tim, I haven’t been 100% honest with you since I met you. I didn’t want it to mess with your decision, but I think it’s time you knew.”

“I already know.” Tim moved his arms from her touch, his heart throbbing from the loss of touch. “I did my research on you, especially considering how Bruce let me meet you so quickly. You’ve done a lot of work to bury it, but the Will mentioned you, or at least your old name.”

Marinette’s smile was tight, her eyes as watery as his.

“Is that what’s holding you back from making the decision you want to make?”

Tim wanted to deny that he had no clear choice, but that was a lie he had been feeding himself. He wanted to stay with Bruce, in Gotham. His life was here, his friends were here, his passions were here. The only thing that wasn’t, was her.

“I want Bruce to be my official guardian. I want to be Tim Drake-Wayne.” Marinette nodded, understanding pouring from her and crashing into him. He felt like all the stress from the past month had been pushed out and replaced with relief. “But I really did want to get to know you, I didn’t want to make a decision because you would be out of my life for good. I’ve already lost you once, CPS took you didn’t they?”

“Right before mom became pregnant with you. I’m sure it happened to you too, but I was only six. They left me alone, not even a butler or maid to watch after me. They tried to argue with CPS that I was a competent child who could handle groceries and looking after myself but they didn’t buy it. My existence hadn’t even been released to the public so they didn’t take it too hard, losing me that is. But you, they immediately brought you into the limelight, almost like a challenge to CPS, I’m assuming that’s why they didn’t get involved for you no matter how many times my parent’s called and reported them.”

Tim couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled out. It seemed to have shocked Marinette too as she gave way to her own giggle threatening to spill.

“Marinette, can I ask you something selfish?”

“Of course, mon frère.” Her hand reached back across the table, gripping his tightly as if pressing him to ask the question he dreaded most.

“Will you still be apart of my life? I’m not asking you to move to Gotham, but maybe a monthly trip? A weekly dinner? Something? I just don’t want to lose you again.”

The tears that had been pooling in her eyes finally slipped free, her smile blinding.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Bruce, Marinette is coming over for game night tonight!”

“Marinette?” Dick’s head popped around the corner, the red plastered by the mere mention of her name. It sickened Tim. “But I have patrol tonight! Bruce can’t the police do their jobs for one night!”

Bruce chuckled as he set up the table, a stack of every board game imaginable piled in the middle.

“I suppose you can push it back from 11 to 5 to 2 to 5. After all, I’m not heartless.”

Tim let out an involuntary groan as he slipped into the couch, wishing it would swallow him whole.

“Whose side are you on here Bruce? She’s already your honorable daughter. Do you really need her to be part of your legal family that bad?”

“I haven’t the slightest clue what you mean.” His smirk only made Tim want to fold in on himself even more.

“Bruce, if you’re gonna set me up, can it at least be with Tim’s more attractive siblings? Like what about that Jason guy? Or Barbara Gordan?” Tim popped up in his seat, a smile beaming from ear to ear.

“Marinette’s here!” He waved her over to the seat beside him before a certain older lovebird could intervene.

“I am attractive! Why won’t you accept me Marinette?” Dick wiped away fake tears as he fell dramatically to the floor by her feet.

Tim could feel his heart overflowing for the first time in years. His life felt so fulfilled, like all of the missing pieces finally found a place. As the night continued on, only one thought stayed prominent in his mind.

He couldn’t be happier with his decision.

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#maribat #timinette siblings #dickinette

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 3 years

Text

Stalker X Stalker, Part 7

First

Perma tag: @nathleigh @peachmuses

Stalker x Stalker taglist: @aespades @jayjayspixiepop @blueslushgueen @fan-written @seraphichana @nerd-nowandforever

No I didn't get carried away with writing domestic fluff and forget to do the one thing I was supposed to with this chapter I'm a professional and would never do that

It took a long time for Tim and Cass to convince Marinette that, no, it wasn’t a trap, it was just a normal Halloween Party. It took even longer to explain what a Halloween Party really was, because apparently it wasn’t a huge deal in France.

But, eventually, she got it:

“Okay, so every Rogue and vigilante has to go to his Halloween Party in stupid costumes… or else?”

Tim nodded. “Rogues have to go because he’ll be insufferable, we have to go because otherwise we’re leaving a bunch of Rogues alone together without supervision.”

“And it really is just a Halloween Party?”

Cass flashed two thumbs up.

Marinette still looked a little confused. “And we… we want to babysit the Rogues?”

“They mostly behave themselves. Again, Crane can be insufferable when he wants to be and they have to spend a lot of time with him in Arkham.”

“I guess that’s cool then…” Then, a thought seemed to occur to her because she brightened up. “Is Nightwing coming?”

Tim nodded, suddenly a lot more wary. “Yeah, both he and Flamebird drop by for most holidays, anyway, so they might as well… why?”

She blushed a little. “I kind of wanted to see if I could get him to train me. I think his fighting style is pretty cool.”

Tim was not jealous or annoyed that Marinette might like two of his brothers more than him. He was fine if she liked Cass more, because Cass was, well, Cass. But Dick? Damian? Come on!

At least he had a month before the party to prepare himself.

For now, he glared at Cass, because she was laughing at him behind her hand.

Then he remembered that Marinette was still there and was watching the two of them interact with a vaguely confused expression and he pulled himself together: “I don’t know if he can teach you much since he’s usually in Bludhaven, but I used to be obsessed with the guy and I know all his moves by heart.”

She tipped her head to the side, considering, then smiled at him. “Sure. Thanks, Red, I owe you one.”

He tried to hide his relief behind a smile. She smiled and blushed, so he was pretty sure it worked.

Marinette smiled as she scrolled through the Batinternet on her phone (they’d finally given her the password! She no longer had to waste data!). The batkids were all working on the computer, trying to hack into their father’s files to see their Christmas presents.

She didn’t get why they were doing it then, it wasn’t even Halloween yet. Still, they insisted that Batman was always prepared well before the holidays hit. She was curious about what they’d find, if anything, so she waited as Red Robin hacked their dad’s files.

Loud cheers erupted from the others, which meant they must have found something.

“... right, Ladybug, yours is easiest to get into… he probably didn’t expect you to try… he’s getting you an Xbox and a bunch of games to go with it.”

Her gaze shot up and she surged to the front of the group to see. “Really?”

Red Robin pointed at the screen and she blinked a few times. Yep, that was a customized Xbox. Wild.

Then her shoulders slumped. “Damn, I was only kidding. If I knew he was actually going to get it I would’ve asked for a Playstation.”

She continued looking at all the ‘random’ games Batman had bought her (he was suspiciously good at guessing what she liked), completely oblivious to the fact that she had accidentally started World War III right behind herself at the casual mention of a thing she wanted.

She glanced back at them once during their fight and they straightened instantly, innocent smiles in place. The hand Red Robin had in Robin’s hair turned into a hair ruffle. Black Bat had turned the way she gripped the collar of Spoiler’s shirt into pulling her down for a hug. Signal’s eyes stopped glowing under his domino. She smiled a little and turned back to the screen to look at the rest of the games. Fighting resumed.

Or, at least, it did until Marinette saw the file name.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“I knew you fuckers took my blood,” she hissed irritably.

She wasn’t exactly scared, the bats seemed generally well-intentioned, just paranoid, but that didn’t mean she liked it. They stole her blood to figure out her identity without asking.

They all tensed up behind her and looked at each other awkwardly.

Robin was first to snap out of it. He swatted Red Robin over the back of the head. “Look what you’ve done, Drake.”

Marinette blinked and then pulled her gaze back to Red Robin. “Drake?”

The batkids looked at each other awkwardly. Except for Red Robin, who was glaring at his youngest brother.

Spoiler was the first one to come up with an excuse: “It’s an older codename. We told him to come up with something original since everything else he’s used has belonged to someone else first… and that’s what he came up with.”

She considered whether Drake really confirmed that Red Robin was Tim Drake-Wayne. On one hand, yeah… but, on the other hand, was he really that stupid? Would he really use his own last name for a codename?

She supposed that, in all her time knowing Tim and Red Robin, he had never shown himself to be original. Smart, sure, but a little unoriginal.

So, yeah, Tim was almost definitely Red Robin.

But she was prepared to ignore it for now. Every bat seemed tense at the idea of her learning their identities, so she played dumb:

“It’s not that bad of a codename. Dragons are pretty cool.”

She could feel Black Bat still staring at her, but everyone else relaxed almost imperceptibly.

“He didn’t base himself off of dragons, he chose male ducks,” Robin informed her.

She blinked. “Why the hell would he choose ducks?”

Signal snapped his fingers and started pulling out his phone. “Oh, Mari -- can I call you Mari? -- you should see his outfit.”

Red Robin realized he was about to get murdered for his younger self’s outfit choices and tried to snatch the phone away.

Unfortunately for him, while he was concentrating on Signal, Black Bat had sidled over to Marinette. She tugged her arm to pull her attention from the two fighting boys and then showed her the picture.

Marinette stared at the ugly cockroach outfit for a long time before taking a deep breath: “Alright, first of all...”

Tim… he was fine.

Okay, no, he wasn’t.

The tracker was better, he would admit. She had even started wearing more red and black so she could wear the necklace more (something that made him feel all fuzzy inside), but she wasn’t wearing it every day and he couldn’t exactly tell if the necklace was there because she was home or if it was there because she’d worn a different outfit.

So, he only had one solution: randomly dropping by to do chores with her.

It started off with the ‘might as well’ principle. They were already out for photography and getting ideas for outfits, why not pick up some groceries while they were on their way back? She could even carry more since there were two of them.

He quickly dropped pretenses, though. The one time every few days that they hung out wasn’t enough to keep her in the house, and even if it was she clearly wasn’t fond of staying inside for long periods of time. He started dropping by every day to just go out with her.

He could tell his family was getting a little suspicious about what he was doing, Steph and Cass both narrowed their eyes at him whenever they saw him leaving the office at a normal time and once he had caught Duke following him to see where he was going… but it was fine. They weren’t going to complain about him actually getting some sort of down time.

And, he had to admit, it was nice. Not only did resting his brain for an hour or two a day do wonders for his mental health, he just… enjoyed doing chores with her? He didn’t think he would. He’d expected to like it the first few times, the novelty of going on his first grocery shopping trip or figuring out how a laundromat was always going to make it interesting and new for a bit, but it didn’t seem to be wearing off.

He was pretty sure that was because of the person he was doing it with, though.

He smiled as he watched Marinette half-climb the supermarket shelves for a bag of Takis.

“Need help?” He called.

“Nope!”

He watched her jump a few times on the lowest shelf before, eventually, climbing up another shelf.

Tim winced and surged forward to support her weight a little.

She huffed and grabbed the Takis. He set her down.

She crossed her arms. “I said I could get it.”

“I trust you. The shelves? Not so much. Do you want to die crushed under a bunch of chips?”

Her halfhearted glare morphed into a grin. “If I die any other way you have to promise to resurrect me so I can do it again.”

He rolled his eyes. “How about I resurrect you and you try not to die again for a while?”

“Hm… I guess that’d be alright.”

Then, at the laundromat, Tim saw a bunch of Two Face’s henchmen. How did he know that they were henchmen? The black and white suits kind of gave them away.

He was just wondering whether it was worth it to try and call Duke over so they didn’t risk something happening when he realized that Marinette had slipped over to them.

But she wasn’t concerned as she offered some of her detergent. “Hey, if you need to wash lights and darks together like that… you’re going to need a different detergent. I know those are cheap but there’s a reason for that.”

“Isn’t that just an old detergent problem?”

“No, separating every single color into a different load is. But, if you want to do pure black and white like that… you don’t want to risk it.”

Then she turned and glared at another goon, who was pulling their luckily still okay clothes out of the washer.

“You’d better not be putting that in the dryer.”

The sheepish look on the henchman’s face was answer enough.

She huffed. “That is airdry only why would you do that --?!”

And that’s how they ended up friends with -- and possibly under the protection of? -- a bunch of henchmen. Tim had to admit, they were really nice when he and Marinette weren’t trying to get them thrown in jail. He almost found himself slipping and hoping that Frank managed to achieve his mob boss dreams. He actually did offer to babysit Sam’s kids while she had a shift because she seemed very stressed.

“Tim, darling, do you even know how to take care of kids?”

Tim didn’t know whether to blush because she had called him darling oh my god or due to embarrassment at that massive oversight.

“Uh… would you be willing to help?”

Marinette gave him an exhausted look. “I’ve only ever babysat one kid at a time without their older sibling being there to help.”

He quickly changed the offer to paying for a babysitter. Sam was thankful regardless.

When everyone had finished laundering their clothes to Marinette’s satisfaction, the two of them headed back towards her apartment.

Tim changed the position of the laundry basket on his hip so it didn’t dig into him as much. “You know, you didn’t have to help them.”

She snickered. “First of all, you’re absolutely wrong. I couldn’t just sit by and watch them ruin their clothes right in front of me!”

He rolled his eyes, trying to hide the fond smile on his face. “And second of all?”

“Secondly…” She let him into the house and closed the door behind him. A cheeky smile formed on her face. “Well, they’re henchmen. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to have them on our side in case things go wrong rather than indifferent to what happens to us?”

It was here, with her smiling in front of him, intelligence sparkling in her eyes and the necklace he gave her hanging from her neck, that he realized that he was going to fall in love. He might not be there yet but, if they continued doing things like this, he was sure he would.

He wouldn’t mind that, he thought, as she leaned forward to take the basket from him, pressing a kiss to his cheek on the way over. He watched her disappear to her room, no doubt to fix whatever damage he had done while carrying it that would be invisible to anyone but her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and went to start up the coffee machine.

There are no botanical gardens more beautiful than the ones in Gotham. Whether that was because Poison Ivy herself tended to them or because they were kept in tip-top shape to appease her, Marinette didn’t know. Whatever the reason, it was gorgeous and Marinette had gotten quite a few different ideas. She pretty much had an entire spring collection planned out…

It was unfortunate that she’d gotten ideas for a spring collection in the middle of autumn, but she was ignoring that.

Now, they were sitting on her couch. They needed to relax after all that walking around on top of a rather exhausting night the night before (Scarecrow had broken out of Arkham to start preparing for his Halloween Party). She was completely in his space in an attempt to mess with him. It, unfortunately, didn’t seem to annoy him as he lazily rested his head on top of hers.

She huffed a little but allowed it.

He fiddled with the settings on his camera, biting his lip.

She looked down at the camera and asked: “How’d you get into photography?”

“... it’s a kind of personal story,” he said carefully. “A little sad, too, I guess.”

She tried to pull back, an apology on her lips, but he just rested an arm around her shoulders and held her close.

“It’s fine.”

She nodded as much as she could with the head resting on top of hers.

They were silent for a long time. She tried to relax herself. There were no akumas in Gotham, it was okay to accidentally upset someone and it was okay to ask them if they wanted to elaborate. They were people, people are supposed to feel sad sometimes. It’s healthy.

She took a deep breath before curling more into his side. “Would you like to talk about it?”

The arm around her tightened almost imperceptibly. “I… I guess I can, sure.”

“You don’t have to,” she said quickly. In fact, she might be a little more comfortable with that. Emotional conversations weren’t a Parisian’s forte.

But he sighed and shook his head. “It’s fine. Our relationship can’t progress all that healthily if we never tell each other anything.”

Yikes. Way to accidentally call her out on the fact that she hadn’t formed a healthy relationship in years, Tim.

“Not that I’m all that great at healthy relationships,” he said after a minute.

At least she wasn’t alone, she supposed.

“No easy way to say this, I guess… my parents weren’t the best. They’d go on trips -- they were archaeologists -- and I’d be left home alone, usually for months at a time.”

She cringed internally and took his hand in hers, rubbing comforting circles into his palm.

He sighed lightly. “So… I was lonely, obviously. I started by taking pictures of my parents. Sometimes it was all I’d have of them for months. They could leave, but the pictures weren’t able to.”

She felt him bury his face in her hair.

“I started following the bats after a while. I don’t know if it was because I wasn’t sated by pictures of just the two of them and decided to expand, if it was because they had a happy family despite a distant father and I wanted that for myself, or if it was because I wanted my parents to find out and be worried about me, or a mix of all of that… but…”

She slowly moved the camera off of his lap and pulled him into a hug. “But?”

He was silent for a bit, thinking over his answer. He shrugged and wrapped his arms around her. “It was an old coping mechanism. A way of feeling connected to people when I couldn’t actually be.”

“‘Was?’ What changed?”

He laid back on the couch and she allowed him to pull her down beside him. “People around me… started ‘leaving permanently’.”

She winced. Oh.

“It hurt a lot more to look at the pictures after that. It just felt like a reminder that I was alone.”

She frowned. “But… you’re taking pictures of me, now.” Her eyes widened. “Shit, did I accidentally trigger --.”

He shook his head quickly. “No, no. Well, kind of, but it’s okay! Every time they’ve died, it was because of some sort of shortcoming on my part. I think I’ve learned from all my mistakes. You… I won’t let you get hurt, okay?”

Marinette didn’t know how to respond. On one hand, she was pretty sure that she should be assuring him that, even if she did end up dying, that he shouldn’t blame himself… on the other hand, she had no intentions of dying and she was pretty sure it was nearly impossible for her, so maybe it was a good thing that he had chosen to protect her of all people? Maybe the problem would solve itself?

She didn’t know.

She carefully took his face in her hands, pulling him to look her in the eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, okay, darling?”

He gave her a tentative smile. “I sure hope you’re right.”

He had been asked to stay the night. Her excuse was that she was almost done with an outfit for him and she wanted to give it to him the second it was done and, by the time it would be, it would be too dark to go out safely.

Tim kind of felt bad that he had worried her but he wasn’t going to turn down the offer of staying over and watching her finish the outfit.

But, first, food. They dropped a million takeout menus on the desk. A long silence stretched between them as they looked at all the options.

“... what do you want?” Asked Marinette.

“I’m not in the mood for anything in particular, you?”

She sighed. “I don’t know, do you want anything?”

“I don’t want anything, what about you --?”

This continued on for about three minutes before Tim got a brilliant idea. He dialled Damian’s number and put it on speaker.

“Drake. Why are you calling? Have you been hurt?”

“No, Dami, I’m getting takeout and I was just wondering if you had any ideas.”

Marinette gave him an affronted look, but he clapped his hand over her mouth before she could warn Damian that, no, he wasn’t buying food for him he was just going to be an asshole.

“... I suppose I wouldn’t be averse to Chinese.”

“Thanks, Dami! Hope you can get Alfie to make that for you.”

“What do -- ?”

Tim hung up on his very confused younger brother.

Marinette frowned as he removed his hand from her mouth. “That wasn’t nice of you, that’s a kid.”

Tim was not about to get beaten by his brother in both identities, thank you very much.

“Alfred can cook better than anyone in the world, he’s not going to suffer.”

She snorted. “I doubt he can make food better than…” She picked through the takeout papers for a few moments before holding up a menu. “... this place!”

He squinted at the menu. “... I really hope you can speak Mandarin.”

“You’d be hard pressed to find a language I can’t speak, Timmy,” she said, absently dialling the number.

Well, he supposed that explained how a person from France knew ASL and could speak English like a native. Damn. Now he kinda wanted magical god-earrings so he could speak every language in existence.

She spoke cheerfully to the person on the other side of the line for a moment before turning to Tim. “What do you want?”

“Uh… shrimp fried rice?”

She rolled her eyes and flicked his nose. “Alright, fine, white boy.”

“It’s a safe option okay --!”

She wasn’t listening to him explain why fried rice was the best choice for him because she was relaying the order to the person on the other side of the line. She hung up with a smile.

“Food will be here in about three minutes. Do you rich people have small bills or do you just use them for tissues or something?”

He raised his eyebrows. “They go down to a hundred, right?”

She pressed her lips together thinly, clearly unsure whether or not he was joking.

He snickered and shook his head. “Nah, I think I have twenties and fifties…”

“Yeah, that won’t do. We’re going to get robbed,” she said, reaching into her purse.

“We? Didn’t know I lived here, too,” he joked.

She barely even glanced up from where she was counting money. “Honestly, with how often you’re here, you might as well move in.”

He choked. He wanted to say something smart or funny or smooth, instead all that came out was: “You --? I --? Uh --!”

She snickered behind her hand. “Love, relax, I’m just kidding. You don’t have to leave your fancy mansion with all your siblings --.”

“Wait, don’t make living here sound even better. I will do it purely to get away from them, don’t test me.”

She rolled her eyes with a grin. “Maybe that's the plan, you’ll never know.”

Tim had exactly zero idea whether they were joking or not anymore. The tone and reactions made him pretty sure they were kidding, but… what if they weren’t?

He was just gathering the courage to ask when the doorbell rang, pulling their attention to the food. She continued counting for a second before running to the door and swinging it open.

He walked up beside her awkwardly as she chatted politely to the guy to take the food inside. He knew, logically, that Marinette was actually way stronger than he was… but his stupid brain saw a thin, short woman in need of someone to help her carry things. So, he took it from the guy with a smile.

The delivery guy glanced Tim up and down before asking Marinette something. She laughed and gave a shrug. Tim did not know what was going on but he felt vaguely insulted.

He was definitely learning Mandarin after this.

The moment the door closed he whined about being insulted. She looked amused.

“You know what he said?”

“... no,” he admitted.

Her lips twitched.

“... you’re not going to tell me, are you?”

She snickered and leaned over the two bags of food in his hands. “So, you got the fried rice, right?”

“Mariiiiiiii.”

“Your food is going to get cold.”

“Beeeaaaan,” he complained.

She raised an eyebrow at him, a blush spreading across her face. “Bean?”

He grinned, feeling heat creep to his own cheeks. “I don’t know, I couldn’t think of anything for a nickname. First thing I thought of was coffee beans, so: Bean.”

“Wow, you’re such an addict,” she teased.

He continued pouting at her until she gave in.

She leaned forward to press a kiss to his nose. “He asked if you could use chopsticks or not so he could get you a fork if you couldn’t.”

He felt the blush on his face deepen. “Oh… I can’t.”

“That’s fine.” She grabbed a tote bag from the floor of her pantry and pulled out a set of plasticware.

He blinked. “... you keep plastic forks?”

She shrugged and tossed the bag back in her pantry. “Plastic forks, grocery bags, napkins, a few sets of chopsticks…”

“... why?”

“Some of us are minorities, darling.”

“What --?”

She hummed tunelessly as she worked.

Tim had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Had most of this been an elaborate plot to make him finally get some sleep? Possibly.

She didn’t feel all that bad, though. With how much he overworked himself both as Red Robin and as Tim Drake-Wayne… honestly, she was beginning to doubt that he slept at all. And, really, if a vigilante coffee addict with a magically enhanced physique is worried about your sleep schedule, you’ve got problems. Intervention was needed.

Don’t get her wrong, though, she was going to make up for lying to him. She’d move him to her bed and leave a cup of coffee for him on the bedside table. Maybe she’d even make him breakfast, it depended on how tired she was in the morning.

But that was for when she was done. For now, she was working on the last part of the outfit: she needed to lace up the corset. His posture needed a little work and she didn’t have the heart to tell him that to his face.

… besides, corset vests are cute. She wished more guys would wear them.

She smiled to herself as she pulled the last bit of lace through and tied a loose knot. Done.

She looked down at Tim. Loose strands fell in his face as he slept. The tiny wrinkles in his forehead disappeared, making him look much younger. His lips curled into a slight smile at whatever he was dreaming about.

He looked so genuinely at peace. She hated that that was abnormal for him.

She couldn’t help but worry a little about what he’d said earlier. He’d claimed that the reason he had gone up to the top of that building the day they’d met (as Tim and Marinette) was to scout out a location for photography, but now that was seeming like a lie because he apparently preferred taking pictures of people over locations… so, why was he up so high? He’d known it was illegal to be there, so she doubted he thought anyone else would be…

She swallowed thickly.

She didn’t think his mental state was that bad… but, just in case it was, she waved Tikki over for a bug and sewed it into one of his sleeves.

Tikki was looking at her disapprovingly. Marinette ignored her.

It was Ladybug’s job to make sure everyone was doing okay mentally, and she wasn’t going to fail a person she cared about of all people.

His head slipped from her shoulder onto her stomach and she sighed, trying to lightly push him off without disturbing his sleep. It didn’t work. He made a quiet sound in the back of his throat and buried his face in her stomach, his arms wrapping around her tightly.

Well, this is her life now.

… she supposed it wasn’t so bad, though.

#stalker x stalker #shutterbug #timari #maribat #timmari #timinette #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #red robin #tim drake #yes it's all just maladaptive coping strategies #it's ME what'd you guys expect

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