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theskit · 1 year

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Stickers AU

Anyone linking here from the previous posts or wanting to use the links on this post to go back/forward to the other parts and not wanting to spoil the surprise stickers, after using the link, click on my blog name to go to the actual post, as direct linking takes away the readmore cut. I'll take this out and fix it if I can find out how. Sorry!

Part 6

《Prev Next》

Danny floated along as he caught his breath. Okay, so jump scaring the Red Hood *might* not have been the best plan he'd ever come up with, but man, was it funny!

It was getting kind of late, though. He should probably start making his way back to the hotel. Any more vigilante pranks would have to wait for another time. Good thing the conference was on a long weekend. He had one more night to try his luck before they left Monday afternoon for the drive back to Amity.

Pulling up the map on his phone, Danny started making his way back. Just over halfway there, he jolted to a stop, catching sight of a rippling back shadow. Batman's distinctive silhouette was marked briefly against a building wall before being almost lost again in the perpetual dimness of the city rooftops at night.

Well, well, well, looks like he might have the chance to bag all the bats and birds of Gotham in one night, leaving tomorrow to hunt down in Bludhaven for Nightwing.

Eeeeexcellent. Danny pulled himself straight in mid-air, steepling his fingers and druming them together in classic Evil Villian style, grinning in a manner that would have shown entirely too many teeth had he been visible.

Now, this would require *true* stealth if he wanted to both get a sticker onto Batman's utility belt, as well as help himself to a batarang or two. Because Ellie was right, there would be no greater souvenir from his time in Gotham than a batarang from *the* Batman himself.

Choosing a sticker and prepping it, Danny sidled up to where Batman was staring down at a building that was probably not as vacant as it looked if it called for that much concentration. All the better for him if Batman was distracted though.

Moving by inches, carefully controlling his breathing so as not to make a sound, Danny made it to Batman's side. Batman was... probably? right handed, most people were, so he was gunna make an educated guess that the sharp throwing objects would be on the left side of the belt.

Getting ready to make the grab and stick, Danny nearly jumped out of his skin as Batman moved his arm and draped his cape over the space where Danny was standing intangibly right next to him, in a gesture that seemed more ingrained habit than conscious thought.

O-KAY! Time to go before Batman had a chance to recognize that there was no one where he very obviously expected someone to be. Robin, maybe?

Thoughts to think another time! Moving with all the speed and precision he could muster while his heart was still attempting to leave the city without him, Danny swiped one hand through a series of belt pouches while the other oh-so-gently tapped a sticker to the front buckle.

Not even stopping to see what it was he'd swiped, Danny made a quick exit, stage left, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Batman was jolted out of his concentration when he felt a nudge at his belt as his cape settled against his side once more. Whirling to the left, he scanned the rooftop but saw no one.

Which was entirely unexpected as his instincts were *sure* a small presence had been snug up to his side, like a young Dick or Tim when they got tired or a bit overwhelmed while on patrol and wanted to hide in his cape.

But neither Dick nor Tim, or even Damian (though Damian had never actually done so) was small or young enough to have done that in *years*.

A quick inspection found his belt pouches missing a handful of batarangs, some candy he kept on hand to help soothe distressed children, and the extra just-in-case comm unit. As well as the addition of a glowing sticker, much like the one currently decorating the batmobile, somehow placed on the buckle despite him neither seeing or hearing anything.

@mygood-bitch99 @stargazer-luna @easily-broken-by-emotion @dolfay @britcision @cyber-geist @is-this-even-relatable @alcorbearson @fisticuffsatapplebees @thegatorsgoose @my-mom-calls-me-rat @some-rotten-nest @crystalqueertea @meira-3919 @wandererofthestars @seraphinedemort

#dpxdc #theskit writes #Stickers AU #danny makes his own stickers :3 #and now danny is running around gotham like a gremlin #with a pocket full of homemade stickers #whatever will he do with them? 😈

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mindflayer-inc · 3 months

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Batman Story Idea: Tim as an ""Antagonist""

Now, this doesn't mean Tim is evil, or is even trying to hurt Dick or Bruce.

However, after Jason dies and Tim is helping Buce not absolutely spiral, he gets in his head that Joker needs to die. Not just for revenge, though that is part of it, but because Joker will keep hurting Dick and Bruce. Logically speak, Tim is the next target and who knows what crazy scheme the Joker will have.

So, Tim gets Joker out of jail. The Joker of course is unknowing about who helped him get out, but it wouldn't be the first time (or the last) that some crime boss busted him out to keep Bats busy. More fun for him!

Joker does Joker things and gets sent back to Arkham.

So, Tim busts him out again. And again. And again...

Ok, new plan since the Joker won't actually provoke Batman enough. Tim is going to frame the Joker (really well even). Anytime a kid gets killed? Joker. Abducted? Joker. Someone stalking outside of a school? Eyewitness reports seeing someone in clown make-up.

In retrospect it's really easy to make fake videos and posts of people talking about how they saw the Joker here or there. Maybe people will just believe anything they want to believe.

Tim would even know the little details about the Joker that could make this work. Tim makes a video from the perspective of a random passerby, with a voice clip of the Joker laughing.

Batman would take the bait rather easily. Not only because of Jason's death but because the Joker is free and this is the sort of thing might do to taunt Batman.

So what gets Tim caught? Well, the Joker doesn't find it funny (well, he does, but he doesn't want to admit it). After a while the Joker starts to realize that someone is playing him. Not only that, but Batman says just weird things sometimes. Stalking outside of a school? Those voice clips on the news? Someone is framing him! Damn, he couldn't have been downtown Gotham that day, he was abducting scientist for his next Robin project (killing a Robin was fun, turning a Robin into a son to kill Batman? The laughs will be to die for!).

So, the Joker sets a trap. He starts telling different types of jokes during different heists. Batman gets the dead baby jokes (right out of 2003) cause you know, bats dead baby, but other times he will tell other jokes.

Joker realizes the voice clips on the news are from his dealings with Batman. Surely Batman isn't framing him, no, no, that isn't his style. Besides , Bats doesn't have a sense of humor and the Joker has to admit that this is kind of funny, though amateurish. Perhaps the first boy blunder? Eh, doesn't feel right. There is that newest birdie, but why? He should be thankful to the Joker, the position only opened up because of him! Ugh, maybe giving the Riddler a call is in order...

====

Main Characters: Tim Drake and Joker

Riddler gets a chapter but doesn't want to help the Joker (dude is weird af). He eventually figures out that Robin must be the one framing Joker and just loves that Batman hasn't seemed to figure it out yet.

Batman might kill Joker, a la The Killing Joke style. Joker tells a joke after everything is said and done and Batman breaks his one rule (hey movie batman gets to, a lot). He didn't believe that someone is framing Joker, at least at first, but things didn't add up so maybe he doesn't kill Joker. Idk.

Probably won't have a happiest endings between Bruce, Dick, and Tim. Like, Tim wouldn't be allowed to be a Robin... But Jason/Red Hood thought Tim was amazing, so he takes him under his wing.

If Tim can manipulate Batman into killing Joker, Jason is gonna love Tim. Absolute little brother/10! Though his whole plan to fuck with Batman went out the window, but still, Joker is dead and Tim fucked with Bruce better than he ever would have!

#dc #tim drake #batman #joker #robin #dick grayson #batfam #jason todd #red hood

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justvora · 3 months

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Cassandra Cain should be BATMAN.

Art credits: Karahuset

Honestly, I am not going to expand much on this, even though I could do an essay.

Cassandra Cain should be Batman and take his place and role. Not a "she should be in an alternate future?" No. She should be him in the current continuity, and there's nothing that annoys me more than seeing how in hundreds of elseworlds they've made Damian Batman, but Cass has been left stuck in his legacy.

Why? Simply sexism.

Helena Wayne already said it at the time: the bat is a symbol, an indistinct mantle depending on gender or whatever. Batman is a symbolic figure, not a person, but a legionary entity that exists thanks to its myths, thanks to urban legends.

"She could be Batgirl, or Batwoman", no, darling, no. Those are completely unrelated legacies no matter how much they stick to the Batman nexus. They serve a completely different book in which their own story is told, ceasing to be the pages of someone else's book. And Cass is the only one capable of taking the Bat's book to capture her story there and continue that legacy, not being an extension of it, but a central part of it.

Kate Kane (taking into account the post-crisis continuity) was a self-destructive woman who was expelled from the army for having relations with her roommate and who saw in Batman the inspiration to become a vigilante herself, so she took her military knowledge to create her own "symbol", wearing a completely different mantle that, even so, was based on and inspired by the Bat's icon.

Likewise, the Batgirl title was born in a completely different form and, in the future, she would become an assistant to the Bat-family. Barbara Gordon started in a casual, spontaneous and independent way, wanting to "annoy" her father at a party, but everything would take a turn when she would end up acting more like a heroine in a given moment to stop Killer Moth.

Those are mantles that were born detached from that of Batman himself but that, in the end, have intertwined and crossed. The point is that they do not have the same meaning, nor do they represent the same thing within the fight against crime. In the end it's digging into unnecessary technicalities, but the point is that if Cassandra should inherit a mantle it would be the core one, that of the Bat itself to become "The Bat".

Cassandra Cain is the one who has taken the symbol more seriously than anyone else. The one who most adheres to the no-kill rule. The most apt and who has the best attitude for it.

With this I do not detract from characters like Dick, Jason or Tim, as they are building their own legacy and history away from what has been the history of the Bat.

In the past it was said that she lacked other skills to take up the mantle, yet Batman himself claimed that she was best suited to take up his mantle when needed. She could very well team up with her siblings to do the job, or co-exist with another Batman to complement their skills and increase the fear of criminals given the possibility that "Batman is everywhere".

But I actually consider Cassandra to have very good detective skills. Perhaps not as refined, but her past and the fact that she has been a murderer (even if she canonically only took someone's life) gives her the knowledge of how to prevent murders, both by her hand and by the hand of others; that is, she knows what to do not to kill and still reduce those who have done evil; and, likewise, she knows how a murderer will act, which helps her when it comes to solving criminal cases.

The fact that she has stained her hands only once makes her carry a great weight on her. Among so many things, she became Batgirl to redeem herself and give meaning to an empty life, absent of identity (something that did her a lot of psychological damage, which is why Babs wanted her to develop on a social level so that Cass wouldn't be so isolated); and that's why, more than anyone else, she doesn't want a single person to die. She doesn't want to shed blood in vain, and from the beginning she always put herself before bullets by sacrificing herself (although this was something she did in a "death wish" kind of way, something I personally don't buy into because of how stale it comes across, being a trope of the time, but it still demonstrates her calling and sacrifice for heroism).

She takes the rule of killing more seriously than absolutely anyone else.

"Nobody dies tonight."

"Okay, but... She does not have the deductive reasoning. She is not a skilled tactician. She has no skill at mind games on either side of them."

#1 Bruce Wayne: Fugitive storyline. When everyone figured Bruce was a murderer, Cass was one of the few who didn't write Bruce off. She looked at the victim's body and saw the first clue to Bruce's innocence.

#2 Skilled tactician. She studied tapes of the Brotherhood of Evil in action after her prior loss to them. She studied them so much the next time they fought she owned the three members that attacked her.

No mind games you say? Tell it to Deathstroke who she played mind games with owning him twice.

All this not to mention her body language skills, something that not only makes her a superior fighter to anyone, being the first person who could beat Lady Shiva in a completely fair one-on-one, but also a human lie detector as she is able to recognize the truths and secrets that people hide deep inside. This makes her a completely empathetic girl by understanding people's emotions better than anyone else, making her a more tactful girl.

Anyway those are characteristics to fulfill the bare minimum of being Batman, and she goes above and beyond. It's not just that they meet the necessary skills, or that she has the necessary attitude, determination and self-sacrifice, but that she is the best fit. Cassandra is an equal for Bruce, a reflection of his very person in a good way, though there is one thing Cass can still do unlike Bruce at the expense of all the years he carries on his back: Cassandra can change and be a full person. It is her ability to grow, mature and understand life under a full perception, because thanks to an upbringing next to a real family she can understand the world around her to be a self-made person.

She is not driven by revenge, but by justice. She is not hate, but love and hope.

Cassandra is a woman who believes in giving people a second chance, because she believes in redemption, in change.

Likewise, and to conclude, in the current continuity it is confirmed that Cass is not only Bruce Wayne's daughter (this is indirectly implied in her dialogue with Dinah), but that she is "everyone's favorite Batman".

“ Everyone experiences tragedy. Tim. Bruce. You and me. It's not about the city. It's about how you choose to see the world. Everything else is just an excuse. ”

#Cassandra Cain should be Batman #Cassandra Wayne #She's Bruce's daughter #why #maybe I would actualice this later #sorry for my english #kindoff stephcass #queer #dc comics #lady shiva

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trust-and-jump · 1 year

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Reverse Robins AU and problems with Tim and Shrike!Damian

Bad English and no structure or good order, sorry! (BAT English :))))) and typos.

So my Reverse Robins AU has six parts. But I'm worried about Tim's part (named Lessons in Humility, by the way, LOL). Because he didn't see Graysons' deaths as a child he's, ah, different. And he wasn't as obsessed with Batman and 'Robin' thing as he was in canon. And it was kinda hard not to imagine him as some cold evil Owl.

I'm not one of those people who think that Jason was doomed from the beginning (it's one one the reasons why i decided to write the AU), angry and murdering. And i don't think he was a bad Robin, either, because Batman himself when discussing Jason with Alfred, said that he's very good and soon might not actually need Batman. (it was in Batman vol 1, 1940, i don't remember where but i do remember that it was after Jason found and put Scarecrow down all by himself)

But!

I actually enjoyed writing the idea of TIMMY being doomed to be a villain. Like. Graysons didn't die back then. And no reasons for Batman showing up, too. Maybe Tim wasn't even in circus with his parents!.. (sorry, i can't do this, he WAS in circus with his parents, but no murder and Dick was not even born yet)

So! First: how Tim sees all of this! by 'this' I mean this (not the reblog itself but the post about Damian leaving Gotham for Blüdhaven):

Tim doesn't get this focus and he doesn't get those nightmares. He's just growing up as his super-clever self. Also doesn't form his moral the way he did in canon. He's, like. Gray. Just a kid. Just Timmy. Scary clever kinda lonely always waiting for parents to come home from their trip Timmy. Maybe thinking about some shadow operation with money, who knows.

But Batman and Shrike still get his attention, once he hears about them in Gotham (WELL, HE FIRST HEARS JUST ABOUT BATMAN AND SEARCHES EVERYTHING HE CAN). I must say, Shrike is not a symbol for hope and he's DEFINITELY not the Light for Batman's darkness. If anything, the city sometimes fears Shrike more than it fears Batman. Shrike never speaks, he's silent and deadly and he's small and people are sometimes missing after encounter with him. Well, with It, not him. Because people have no idea what he or she is. Because people after all those years of thinking that Batman is just a legend started to think that Batman is metahuman or humanoid alien. But Shrike? Complete mystery. And a terrifying one. Is it even human? Is it some vengeful spirit? Is it an alien? Is some golem? WHAT THE HELL IS IT

At first Tim is just curious, but, since Timmy doesn't have any solid hobby and parents supervision, soon it becomes his new fixation, his obsession. He finds out that they are actually helping city AND how GCPD works with them without getting in trouble (for those of you who don't know, search about Batsignal in wiki, who exactly turns it on in times of need). But there are only few bad quality photos and almost no video! It's not enough for him. He saw Batman few times with his own eyes, but no material evidence.

So our friendly stalker goes for it! Yay, photos. Timmy discovers different Gotham, he sees people in need, he sees the gentle, protective side of Batman. And, once, he is actually saved by Shrike. Well, from a distance, with a well-placed batarang (at least it was what the street kids called them; I HAVE A STORY HOW BATARANGS BECAME BATARANGS it's funny and cute, maybe I'll post something about it). But Tim knew it was him.

A few weeks later, he is taking some pictures of random people on the streets (without their permission or knowledge, obviously) late evening and gets caught in 4K by the Shrike. Very angry and very silent Shrike.

Damian points at his camera, demanding to show him what he's doing. Timmy, scared and star-eyed at the same time, shows him only the recent ones (fairly convinced that he might lose his camera if the Shrike finds out that some kid is taking pictures of him and Batman). Luckily, Dami loses his interest and, with a wordless warning, leaves. Timmy is shaken, relieved, slightly nauseous and absolutely excited because he's never seen one of Gotham's Shadow SO CLOSE before (and his sleep-deprived brain even considered becoming a criminal just to meet them, once). AND HE MANAGED TO GET A PHOTO WHEN SHRIKE WAS PREPAIRING TO JUMP OFF THE ROOF— It was the best night in his life.

So. When Shrike dissapears from the streets, no one notices at first. Because Shrike is even more ghost-like than the big guy. What they DO notice is that Batman makes much more appearances than before. It's disturbing for everyone, at the beginning, and anyone who had no good intentions tries to be quiet.

But soon crime levels start to grow because poor time management skills of Batman. (no, 100000 other reasons, he's just stubborn and Damian left him alone in the battlefield Gotham is) Timmy notices and tries to find out where did Shrike go. The thought of Shrike dying doesn't come to his mind even once. He's not even sure that Shrike CAN die, but even if he can his death would be loud and bloody and murder-y, Tim just knows it (also Batman would lose his mind; it is proven that he's much more violent whenever Shrike's not with him). He could be injured, though, even if most gothamites don't think Shrike's corporeal.

But it won't hurt to try and search for some mentions of the gray stabby shadow who terrifies people on the streets and doesn't speak?

Right?

You know how you Google something innocent and after few hours end up reading, for example, Old Believers' self-immolation rituals page on Wikipedia? Well, Timmy's special and after his innocent project he with dawning horror finds out it's possible that his neighbour Bruce Wayne is freaking BATMAN. And Shrike is human (probably, if not some shape-shifting alien or weird magician) - Damian Wayne-human. Only a possibility, but Tim feels that he's gonna lose his mind if he doesn't check properly.

———

...He knows he's smart, but he feels so stupid. It should have been obvious.

———

-----okay, it's not a part of the fic, it's just me describing it in English briefly. I'll write the next post about how Tim did in his 'Red Hood arc' without being Red hood or killing the Joker and how Jason suffered from Tim's finally present Lazarus Pit Madness

#reverse robins #reverse roles #reverse robins au #tim drake #red robin #damian wayne #batfam #batfamily #batman #bruce wayne #batman au #batman fanfiction #fic writing #bad english #BAT English #robin dc #shrike #stalker tim drake #damian al ghul

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miles2g0 · 1 year

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RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPS.

Thanks for the tag @a-canceled-stamp for another tag! 💕💕💕

For this one, I’ll post a snippet from each of the WIPs in the last post. Asks are still welcome for more info. :)

- Tim red hood, reverse robins His—he’s—Jason’s talking about his photos. Of Batman and Robin. They were in his room when he died. Hidden in a compartment in his closet. “Alfred found them,” Jason explained. “He has a bunch framed, all over the Manor. Damian kept some—he keeps them in his apartment. There’s one on his damn fridge, Tim. He does miss you.”

- Renegade au "I also trained Red Hood when he was working with the League of Assassins." He didn't know where the sudden pettiness came from, but he couldn't help but add details. "I gave him his first gun. Taught him how to hold it, how to shoot. An FN 509 compact tactical. He liked the size and weight—he hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, his hands were still so small—" "That's enough." It took a minute for Batman to compose himself. Renegade felt a rogue flare of satisfaction.

- all birds have talons 2 - edited: He'd killed those two men right in front of her. He'd killed them, and that poor, broken little girl looked back up at him with stars in her eyes. Sasha had stood there with someone else's blood splattered on her hospital gown and looked at a remorseless murderer like he'd hung the moon. And she hadn't stopped following him around since.

- villains win au Dick found him in Roman's office. He was—he was in a dog crate. A large one, but Jason was big. There was no room for him to fully sit up or stretch his legs, so he lay curled on his side. There was no lock on the cage and—that meant that something was very wrong.

- homeless Tim That winter had scared him so bad he'd stayed home for a full six months after. It was the longest Tim had been home since he'd turned twelve. He'd paid for it, but it was better than dying in the cold. But it, inevitably, didn't last. It took his dad breaking his arm to have him climbing out his window this time. As soon as it had healed enough that he didn't technically...probably need it in a cast anymore, he'd sawed it off on his own and found himself right back across the bridge to Gotham proper.

- blurred blue bleeding But the pain was a cleanse. He understood, after. It was a necessary evil. He'd grown up away from the Court, where he never should have, and it had sullied him. It made him too soft, tangled him up with too many people. Relationships outside of the Court were a weakness, a liability. The pain had cleansed his mind and soul of all of that. He felt like a weight had been lifted, like he could think clearly for the first time. So now he obeyed because he wanted to. Because the Court was all he had, all he needed. And if he disobeyed he would be decommissioned, and he didn't want to be rejected by his family. He wanted to be useful to his masters. He couldn't disappoint them. So when they sent him after Jason Todd, he just nodded and picked up his blades.

- mazes in our minds He was startled awake again by the jarring sensation of something touching him. Hands burning against his cold, paper thin skin, and he bucked away from them, flailing wildly again for the walls, for his safe corner. But it wasn't there and the hands came back again following him but he was too weak to fight, muscles atrophied from lack of use. He tried to scramble away but his arms and legs wouldn't take his weight and he rolled uselessly against that terrible, soft ground. There were sounds assaulting his ears—frantic voices. Jumbled words swimming around his head, but they didn't mean anything, words hadn't meant anything to him in a long time.

- bar hopping Jun slid his arm closer to where Tim's was resting on the bar so that their forearms were almost brushing. An invitation for contact, but not a violation of boundaries. Tim could easily move away if he wasn't comfortable. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Jun said simply. Tim pressed his lips together. Then he shifted and his arm was pressed against Jun's. His raw nerves chafed at the contact, but he forced himself to breathe through it and the warmth of Jun's skin slowly began to overtake that feeling. He hadn't really known the other boy long enough for this kind of intimate contact yet, but he was surprised to find that it didn't feel... uncomfortable. The power of tequila. And vodka. And whatever was in that shot Jason had pushed into his hands earlier.

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wesavegotham · 2 years

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While I did say in my post about Batman vs Robin #2 that I liked the issue better than the first one because we finally saw Bruce act like he cared that Damian was possessed by something evil, I also have to agree with this reviewer:

I really liked that we finally saw Bruce care...but mostly because I felt it was something basic that already should have been in the first issue, because if Bruce isn't shown to care then the story doesn't land emotionally.

But to make this a good Bruce and Damian story you have to do more than the basics. One way Waid could have done this would have been to cut the cameos of some of the Sandman characters that didn't really seem to serve a purpose aside from Waid getting to show us that he knows these characters exist. Like, it was good to see that Bruce knows exactly what perfume Talia is using, but what was Cynthia even trying to achieve by turning into her and then trying to stab him?

Anyway, cutting these characters out could have made room for more internal monologue like we got in the first issue when Alfred showed up at Wayne Manor. I think giving us reactions to what is going on in the story this way is especially important for a character like Bruce who tries to hide his true feelings and thoughts from the outside world a lot. Reactions are important. It's what makes plot points have an emotional impact. Yes, it's sad on it's own to see a character die for example, but what really makes it feel impactful is seeing how the world around that character reacts to their death.

So instead or at least in addition to the exposition dump we got it would have been better to tell us what Bruce thinks about the things Damian went through on the island, what he feels because Damian didn't tell him about it and maybe even have him reflect on the role he played in Damian landing in this situation in the first place.

Because so far this story doesn't feel very personal. It's not really about Damian as a person or about Bruce and Damian's individual relationship.

If what we saw in the house of secrets can be believed Nezha possessed Damian purely because he is Batman's son:

Likewise Bruce wants to rescue Damian mostly because he is his son:

Now, don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this per se. Damian is Bruce's son and that alone should be reason enough for Bruce to want to rescue him.

But it would be more impactful if it felt like there was more to it than just the basic role Damian occupies in Bruce's life. You know like love? Appreciation for the person Damian actually is without the possession? The importance he has to Bruce as a person seperate from Damian being related to him by blood?

And here is where issue #1 is ruining things again because from the choices Waid made when he wrote that first issue it's not unreasonable to assume that he works under the assumption that Bruce does not like Damian a lot as a person:

Having Bruce describe Damian that way and making a call-back to that line from Tomasi's last arc on Detective Comics sure are choices.

It doesn't help that the issues in their relationship Waid adresses are either outdated (Damian thinking he's destined to be Batman and feeling like Bruce blamed him for Alfred's death) or don't really make sense for Damian to be angry about in the first place:

Damian doesn't think much of leading a normal life and he didn't have one before he met Bruce. It's criticism often applied to Batman and the Robins, but it makes more sense when thinking about what role he played in the lives of Dick, Jason and Tim. It doesn't really work with Damian (or Stephanie) and thus doesn't feel like it says a lot about Bruce and Damian's relationship. And ignoring that a lot of the things Damian is angry about in this book were already resolved in his solo makes it feel like he's really just a plot device, pulled into this story to explain why Batman is the protagonist in this and not Superman (the one who actually put Nezha back in his jail) or one of the magic users (since it's all about the magic being screwed up and magical artifacts getting stolen)

Now, Waid does have three issues left to turn this around and try to say something interesting about Bruce and Damian's relationship. But considering that Nezha has all the Robins under his spell now and Bruce will have to fight them:

Plus Waid escalating this into a global event in issue 4, which will lead to the Lazarus Planet event (as Bruce said, this is clearly about more than Damian and him), I'm fearing that Waid might be more or less done with the focus on Bruce and Damian's relationship.

I expect the focus of the next few issues to be increasingly about Bruce's relationship with the Robins and the batfamily in general, Alfred (since Bruce is going to find out he's being controlled by Nezha sooner or later) and Nezha, the main antagonist Batman has to defeat.

#damian wayne #bruce wayne #batman vs robin

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obsidianjewel · 2 years

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Honestly I thought the idea of Jason as the next heir could have been a really good plot if they did anything with it. There could be really interesting stories about members of the family worrying if Jason would become evil or if this could be a chance to redeem the league. Lots of "well we don't stop soldiers maybe this could work as a global military group" vs "no this is a global assassin ring it would be us legitimizing assassins" 1)

(for context: we are talking about this post)

For starters, I honestly agree with all of these questions and theories anon!

This is pretty long, which I'm honestly pretty surprised came out lmao

"Also some good will Jason choose Bruce or Talia as a parental figure drama."

In my personal opinion I feel like Jason would choose Talia, and that's not just like my dislike for Bruce talking at all. To be honest, I'm mostly talking about RHatO #25, and like the aftermath of what happened. Bruce jumped to the conclusion that Jason broke his no killing rule (which he didn't), and left him on a rooftop half dead (not to mention the whole batarang to neck bit). It canonically took Jason months to recover. Why should Jason choose Bruce? We all know about Jason's relationship with the batfam is like, and honestly? I want to see what's Jason like outside of the batfam, I want to see how's he's like not feeling like he's constantly letting down Bruce. Let Jason be on his own path for once.

"Also what of Damian or any other possible heir like Tim or Cass. Damian has never wanted the league but would he be hurt at being rejected as the heir."

Cass was raised by assassins for like most of her life, and she has a shit ton of trauma from that, so I honestly don't think she would want to take the place as heir. And Tim, like Bruce, has declined the position as heir as well. You're right, Damian never wanted the league, and I feel like he would be hurt, because well it is his birthright. Would he get over it? Probably? He would mostly be bitter about it though.

"Is everyone secretly happy it is Jason because now the league will leave them alone. Lots of questions about if they should let go and respect his decision and trust him.”

Bruce and Dick would most definitely try and stop him. I feel like Cass, Steph, and probably Tim would be neutral?? Especially since they never officially met him (mostly on Cass, Steph's end, Tim on the other hand...)? Edit: Though, Duke, he would side with Bruce and Dick on this, very recently I found out about Jason's and Duke's relationship, with Jason being a mentor to him. They more than likely heard his voice, saw him on old training tapes back when he was Robin (tbh this is like my personal headcanon), and heard about him in passing. Not to mention the glass case of Jason’s Robin uniform, which needs to be put away or something because Jason’s alive now, if I was Jason I would rather not stay around people who still mourn me :/ I don’t really know about Damian though, I mean a lot of people have this headcanon that Damian and Jason met each other in the League, which honestly kinda makes sense.

They have Damian and Jason have this brotherly relationship back in the League, when Jason was staying there. I guess Damian wouldn’t want Jason to be heir, probably thinking he would turn out like Ra’s. I don’t really know, what are your thoughts on this part?

“Let’s say Jason is the Heir. What would his rule be? Would he have assassins kill people? Would he fight to make the League better? Or would it be a long play to take it down? Would he be corrupted?”

Jason would most definitely have the League changed. This kinda relates to this fic called My Son by Zootopon on ao3. It’s about Jason becoming a CEO of a small pharmaceutical firm in Metropolis that Talia gave him. He traveled the world, Gotham in particular, giving those that lived in the most downtrodden parts of society a chance to not only survive but live. Like struggling parents, homeless beggars, unemployed Veterans were some of the many he sought out, interviewed and recruited. Jason scouted for those that were like him. A diamond in the rough.

BUT! On the other hand, I read a fic where Jason was a General for the League, sadly I forgot the name of it :/

In the end, I honestly just want to see Jason living his own life away from the batfam.

I agree with the UTRH idea and controlling crime from the inside though, I would honestly read it too lmao.

Let's just see where DC will take this first, I just thought the concept itself was good albeit a bit shocking, so I'm kinda excited on what will happen next.

Tell me what you think of this, I would love to hear your thoughts! :)

especially from these people though, I love their thoughts on things like these!: @wonderwondered @gooseyalghul-gumdrops @cats-and-katanas @aalghul @rasalghul777

#answered #these are only my opinions though #so please don't be harsh in the comments or reblogs #i do take constructive criticism though :)#anonymous #ask answered #jason todd #good mom talia #talia al ghul #ra's al ghul #batfam #bruce wayne #league of assassins #wtf i just realized how blurry the fucking images are😭😭#if i got ANYTHING wrong please for the love of god correct me #click for better quality

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ragingbookdragon · 3 years

Text

The Daughter Of Superman, The Adopted Son Of Batman...What Could Go Wrong? PT. 2

Jason Todd x Kryptonian!Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 2.8K Warnings: Angst

Author's Note: I should really post my other Kryptonian reader story. Enjoy the angst! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

She jerked backwards, eyes widening at the sight of the thick, crimson liquid running down her arm. A shudder ran through her, throat seizing up as she tried to suck in air, her other hand coming up to rub at her arm. Suddenly it was on both hands and she stared at them in horror.

A voice called from below her, pained, but firm. “Superwoman…it’s okay. Don’t—ugh—don’t panic. It’s alright.” The voice was soothing at first, but when she looked down to find its owner, the body next to him took up all she saw, a vicious, gaping hole where his heart used to be.

She peddled backwards, stumbling to the floor, apologies falling from her lips. “I’m sor—I’m so sorry. It was just—he was hurting you and I—I didn’t mean to do this, I swear—”

The boy reached out to her but grunted in pain, hand dropping to hold his side. “(Y/N)—”

Her eyes met his once more, and he could see the tears swimming in her gaze as she whispered, “I’m sorry.” She shot from the ground, disappearing in the sky in a blur of red and blue.

He reached for her calling out, “(Y/N)!” He lost sight of her as quickly as she left, and the other two ran up to him.

“Tim!” The taller boy stopped, looking down at the corpse next to him, jaw dropping in shock. “…Oh my god. Wh—what happened?” He looked at the other. “Tim?”

He shook his head, eyes meeting the shorter one. “Bart, I need you to get to Central and find Wally and Dick and tell them to get to the cave.” Bart nodded and spun, taking off in a flash of yellow lightning.

The other boy knelt, picking him up off the ground. “Tim, what happened?”

He groaned, hand moving to hold his side once more. “(Y/N) killed him on accident.” Tim looked at him. “Conner, I can get back to the tower on my own, but I need someone to get to Jason.” He sucked in a breath, reaching up and wiping the blood from his nose though it still bled despite him. “Kori and Roy will probably be with him, but right now, we need everyone who can search.”

Conner nodded, steadying Tim on his feet before rising from the ground; he looked down at him. “Do you know where she went?”

Tim shook his head, grimace crossing his lips as he muttered, “I don’t think we’re gonna find her for a long time.” He glanced up at Conner. “Go. Now.” The boy nodded, flying off, and Tim took a few steps forward before stumbling into a wall. He heaved a sigh, picking up his transmitter from his belt.

He pushed a button, and a few seconds later, a voice came over the line. What’s going on?

Tim frowned and asked, “What’s your E.T.A. to earth?”

Eighteen hours. What happened?

Tim glanced back at the body, the puddle of blood seeming to consume it. “It was (Y/N). She… she killed someone.”

The voice on the line was silent, then it said, Superman is on his way. Call me when he gets there.

The line went dead, and Tim sighed, sliding down the wall. He lent his head back, eyes staring up at the sky, waiting for (Y/N)’s father.

***Later In The Cave***

The group stood in silence, faces molded in a mixture of shock and pain. Tim yelped as Alfred pushed on his side. “Ow shi—Alfred!”

The man hummed, wrapping the cloth around his side. “Apologies, Master Tim.” He tucked an ice-pack between the layers. “With the broken ribs you’ve got, it would be best to keep ice close. I also advise against any harsh movements.”

Tim nodded, gaze turning to the man beside his oldest brother. “Clark.”

The man looked up from the ground, voice stricken as he lamented, “I can’t hear her. She’s…completely silent…” his eyes held a deep and sorrowed pain. “I can’t hear my baby girl.”

The others listened, then Jason stepped forward, expression grim and solemn. “Tim, what exactly happened in San Francisco today?”

The boy looked over at him before dropping his gaze to the ground, sighing, “What didn’t happen out there, Jason?”

Tim shook his head, clearing his throat. “It was a routine mission, patrol the area before getting back to the tower, but Bart called and said that he saw what looked to be a meta-human going on a rampage. We all met up and started fighting, and while it took some time, we managed to get him to an abandoned warehouse complex. Turns out, he not only had super strength, but he could also make copies of himself, and when I figured out that the original was susceptible to damage while he had copies, I sent Conner, Bart, and (Y/N) to fight the copies while I found him.”

He paused, picking at his nails. “What I didn’t expect was for him to throw me into a forklift and break three of my ribs. I tried to get up, but before I could move, his hands were around my throat, and he was lifting me up off the ground.” He absentmindedly reached up, fingers brushing the purple hand-prints around his pale neck. “Everything was happening so fast, and I couldn’t get my bearings in time. My vision started to get dark, and I could hear (Y/N) shouting from behind, and the next thing I knew, I was being dropped again. When I could see and breath clearly again, I looked up, and I saw (Y/N)…I saw her…”

A hand rested on his shoulder, and he glanced up, seeing Conner nodding firmly at him. He let out a breath and said, “And I saw (Y/N) standing there, and the meta-human lying in a pool of his own blood and he had…he had a hole through his chest.”

Quiet gasps were heard around the cave, and Tim looked up at Clark. “It was just an accident Clark, she didn’t mean to do it. She was trying to save me.” The man didn’t look at him, eyes glued to the floor as he swallowed thickly, obviously thinking about what he was just told.

Jason stepped up to Tim. “Do you know where she went?”

Tim shook his head. “No, she took off before I could stop her.”

“So, you’re pretty much saying that she could be anywhere.” Everyone turned their head at the sound of Dick’s voice.

Tim nodded. “That’s why I called everyone here. We need help trying to find her.”

Dick turned to Wally. “You and Bart comb Central.” The two took off, and Dick turned to Kori. “You should take Roy and go check around hideouts the Outlaws frequent.” Kori and Roy made their way to the stairs. “Tim, you sit out and monitor everything. Conner, you can help me and Jason check Gotham. Clark…”

Dick walked over and resting a hand on his arm. “You should go home and tell Lois about what’s happened, then check Metropolis.” Clark nodded, but made no move to go, and Dick squeezed his arm gently. “Clark.” He looked at Dick. “We will find her, I promise.”

Clark nodded again, this time finding his feet; he paused as he reached them and turned to Jason. “Jason?” He turned, waiting for Clark to continue. “I don’t really have any doubt that you’ll be the one to find her tonight…” His voice soft as he asked, “But when you do, will you tell her that I’m not angry at her?” Jason nodded, and they watched Clark leave.

Dick faced them, tone quiet. “Conner, you and I can take North and East Gotham, Jason, you should take South and West.”

They nodded at his words, each moving to the exit. Tim’s voice reached them before they could leave. “Jason! Can you wait for a minute?”

Jason nodded at the others, watching them leave before moving back to Tim. “What’s up?”

Tim hung his head and whispered, “It’s my fault, Jason. I should’ve been more vigilant when I was fighting. If I had gotten up sooner, none of this would’ve happened. I’m sorry—”

A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up; Jason stared at him seriously. “Tim, it wasn’t your fault. And it wasn’t (Y/N)’s either.” He squeezed Tim’s shoulder gently. “Okay?” Tim nodded and Jason let go, though he saw the tears in Tim’s eyes.

***

Jason crouched atop the ledge staring down at the city, a frown crossing his lips. He didn’t bother to look up at the sound of someone’s boots hitting the rooftop, or when they stopped beside him. “Have you found her?”

He snorted, eyes following a car on the busy road. “Do you honestly think I’d be up here if I had?” He glanced up, seeing Dick slightly grinning at him.

Dick lowered himself on the ledge until he sat next to Jason, legs hanging freely off the edge. The two of them simply stared out at the streets, observing the cars carrying their passengers’ home.

After a few moments, Dick asked, “Where do you think she is?”

He watched Jason shrug and murmur, “I have no idea…I’ve searched everywhere that has any kind of meaning to us and I still can’t find her.” He looked at Dick, eyes filled with trepidation. “I’m worried about her, Dick…she’s all alone out there, thinking about what’s happened, and it’s eating me up.” He shook his head, letting out a sigh. “I shouldn’t have left San Francisco earlier. I should’ve stayed.”

Dick’s eyebrows shot up at his words. “Wait, you were in San Fran earlier today?”

Jason nodded. “Spent the night with her but left in the morning.” He thumped the heel of his armored boot against the wall. “I could’ve stopped that meta and she wouldn’t have done anything.”

“You’re really torn up about her killing someone, Jason.”

Jason turned to Dick, shouting. “Of course I am!” He placed a hand against his chest. “I kill bad people because they’re evil and they deserve it. I wouldn’t want (Y/N) or any of the people I care about to follow the path that I do.” He paused, voice lowering. “(Y/N) is…a good person. She’s kind and caring and she loves everyone with everything she has. She protects those that are innocent and protects those she loves even more fiercely.”

He sighed heavily, his voice lowering to a whisper. “I’d never want her to have to think about the people she kills like I do.”

“You’re telling me you actually think about the people you kill?”

Jason let out a mirthless laugh, his gaze returning to the city. “Contrary to popular belief and what you see when you look at me, I am not a heartless killer, Dick. I know the consequences of my actions, and believe me, I think about them every moment I’m alive.” He stood and looked down at his brother. “I’m going to hit my apartment and take a nap before getting back out there.”

Dick nodded, observing him as he started climbing down the ledge; he called out to Jason. “She’s really changed you in the year you’ve been together.”

Jason snorted, “Don’t tell anyone, I’ve got a reputation to keep.” He paused, hand gripping the ledge as he replied, “ But yeah she has… and only in the best ways, Dickhead.”

“Hey!”

***

The apartment was quiet, just as he’d left it the day before, and he shucked his helmet and jacket off, placing them on the table. He bent over, undoing the laces from his boots, kicking them off before reaching up and pulling his domino mask off, raising a hand to rub the fatigue from his eyes. It was a futile attempt to delay the inevitable, and as he made his way to his room, he mentally took note of how long he needed to sleep before getting back in the field to look for her.

As he walked through the hallway, a quick intake of air sounded through the apartment, and Jason reached to his hip, pulling a pistol. He stepped carefully through the hall, checking the rooms before he came up to his bedroom. Sucking in a quiet breath, he stepped into the room, gun following his gaze as it landed on a huddled mass beside the window.

He walked silently over to it, and upon closer inspection, his eyes widened, voice laced with disbelief as he questioned, “(Y/N)?”

She raised her head, eyes red rimmed and bloodshot. “Jason?” she whispered, unsure of herself.

He lowered the gun, placing it on the nightstand before moving to her, hands grasping her upper arms. “(Y/N), we’ve been looking everywhere for you.” He shook his head. “Why didn’t you call one of us and tell us where you were?” She didn’t respond to him, simply looking down. Jason let go of one of her arms, gently cupping her cheek. “Doll?”

He felt something wet drip onto his hand, and finally, she sat up straight and stared at him. The blanket she’d been covered with fell away, and his gaze dropped to her arms. His eyes widened at the sight of the faint red smeared across her arm. “(Y/N),” He breathed.

“I kept scrubbing and scrubbing, but no matter how hard or how much I did, it wouldn’t come off.” The tears were rolling down her cheeks now, and she lowered her head. “I didn’t mean to do it Jason. I just…”

Jason reached for her, pulling her into his arms and hoisting her up. He reclined against the headboard, arms wound tightly around her. “Shh…it’s alright…”

“I killed him, Jason.” (Y/N) pulled back enough to look him in the eyes. “I kept yelling for him to let Tim go, but he wouldn’t. I could hear Tim’s heartbeat fading and I just reacted.” She gazed at her arm. “I put my arm through his chest, Jason!” (Y/N) stared at her arm as if it didn’t belong to her body, an alienated limb, then she felt herself being lifted again. “Jason what—”

He said nothing, maneuvering her into the bathroom where he sat her on the sink. She watched as he pulled a rag from the cabinet and reached below the sink for a bottle. He poured the solution into the rag, then gently took her arm, wiping it. His gaze was unreadable, but it was anything but hard; in fact, it was soft, and before she knew it, the remaining blood had been wiped away.

Jason threw the towel into the hamper and turned back to her, cradling her face in his hands. “It’s all gone, (Y/N)…it’s not there anymore.” Her eyes lowered to her arm before they rose back to his, and he pressed his forehead against hers. “You don’t have to think about this anymore, doll.”

“I killed him though, Jason.”

She felt him shake his head and he asked, “What would’ve happened if you hadn’t?” She went silent, and Jason asked again, “(Y/N), what would’ve happened to Tim if you hadn’t protected him?”

Clearing her throat, she whispered, “He would’ve died.”

“No, he would’ve been murdered.” Jason looked in her eyes. “(Y/N),you saved Tim’s life.”

“At the expense of another’s.”

Jason let out a sigh and nodded. “Sometimes that’s the only way…but (Y/N)?” She looked at him and he insisted clearly, “What you did today…does not make you a killer, and it doesn’t make you a murderer…do you understand that?”

(Y/N) blinked at him before looking away and muttering, “…You should call everyone and tell them where I am.”

Jason reached down and picked her up from the sink, flicking off the light and moving to the bed. He lowered her down before crawling under the covers beside her, pulling her to him and raising the covers to their chins.

“I’ll call later.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Right now, the only thing that matters is you.” (Y/N) bit her lip to keep from crying, and a moment later, Jason quipped, “Remember that time that you threw me out of a third story window?”

(Y/N) let out a watery laugh, burying her face in his chest. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you, Jason?”

She glanced up at him, and he leaned down, pecking her nose. “If I keep getting a reaction out of it, probably not.”

(Y/N) searched his eyes for a moment then whispered, “I love you, Jason.”

He nodded, pressing his lips to hers. “I love you too, (Y/N).” He curled his arms around her, caging her to his chest. “Get some sleep…I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She did as he said, tucking her head under his chin. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart, doll.”

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celaenaeiln · 5 months

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My connection went off so idk if my ask just sent but. I was wondering your thoughts on post Robin Jason, because idk what his deal is at this point and writers don't seem to either. I don't think he's a heartless killer who should be hated and hunted by the entire family but I don't like this fanon "Jason is 100% right about everything and everyone else is the problem" idea either, when they put him in the family he feels really out of place and random and it's just.. one moment he's trying to kill Tim and the next he's the best guy ever with the softest heart?? I don't know there has to be a middle ground right?? I just can't get into Red Hood as a character due to this

Thank you for being so incredibly smart, reasonable, and intelligent.

You're exactly right. I think this is the same issue that's been affecting the Robin Dick vs Robin Jason mischaracterizations as well as the batgirls' that have been predominant in the fandom post 2020. Tim and Damian's motivations and personality have stayed the same from when they entered to now but Dick, Jason, Cass, and Steph have all grown as characters. Who they started out as, they've changed from then to now which has led to some confusion about their personality and motivations.

For Jason in particular - no, he shouldn't be hunted to the ends of the Earth for the things he did. He was hurting and acted out of pain. However it's irresponsible to refute those actions and blame other characters for them.

Jason was originally meant to be a villain. He was supposed to be like Freeze, a sympathetic villain - a character who despite their evil actions is understandable. All Freeze wants is his wife, Nora, back. He loves her and commits horrible acts that don't justify his actions but it makes sense. You're supposed to feel complicated about characters like him because they point out exactly why morality is grey. What Freeze does is wrong, but he does it for the right reasons. It's ultimately still wrong which is why he gets imprisoned.

That is Jason. Jason's actions were never supposed to okay. In what universe would creators who spent half a century working on and developing characters be okay with another character trying to kill them? What about that is acceptable? But it's not just trying to kill Tim (who only escaped by outsmarting Jason) or trying to kill Damian, the crimes he did are not acceptable.

He bombed Gotham just because despite knowing he didn't need to. He was willing to kill innocent children, men, women, and civilians for Dick and Damian were chasing him, after they helped him.

Batman and Robin (2009) Issue #25

In the Red Robin Comics, he was willing to use children as bait during a gang war.

Robin (1993) Issue #177

Not to mention Mia Dearden.

But at the same time, he killed people who hurt children

Red Hood: Lost Days Issue #3

Initially Jason's morality was a swinging pendulum. He was as likely to kill kids as he was to protect them. He didn't care about the lives of civilians if it meant getting away or completing his plans.

Batman/Superman (2013) Issue #26

Here Superman says he wants to save a kid so Jason argues that to save him, they need to poison the environment and wipe out several countries.

That's why Bruce struggles with Jason so much. Over his lack of care for people's lives. It's not the murdering of criminals that Batman is caught up on which is where I believe the misunderstanding in fanon comes from. It's his fear that by his own hands, Bruce created a deadlier version of the man who killed his parents.

Batman vs Robin Issue #3

So no it's not fair to blame everyone for Jason's mistakes and claim him innocent, but it's also not fair to say Bruce had nothing to do with Jason's mental state. If he had shown a little less hesitance at the reappearance of Jason in Under the Red Hood, if he had shown a little more love then Jason probably wouldn't have gone as crazy as he did after coming back.

Because he saw Jason killing everyone, Bruce fell into his worst possible explanation of Jason, knowing the pain he was going through but succumbing to selfish actions to protect himself.

Jason's tough to deal with for writers because even when the batfamily reaches out, Jason is the one that burns his own bridges. When Dick begged Jason to take his hand during the Battle for the Cowl, when Dick and Damian helped Jason save his friend during Batman and Robin (2009), when Bruce saved Jason and fought alongside him against a couple members of the Secret Society of Supervillains, Jason immediately turned around and killed people and bragged about it.

In Batman Urban Legends, Jason tells Bruce that he has given up guns to which Bruce is grateful but it's also not for him. It's a sign that Jason is turning a new leaf especially given how caring he was with the kid, calling him Blue Hoodie. That was so sweet of him. The current Batman family comics are a sign of things changing between Jason and the family. What has happened up until now is not the family's fault, especially when they've reached out for the sole purpose of extending an olive branch only to have it burned and tied to a person in return. But now things are slowly changing and writers are trying to show that.

Jason's story is story of growth. He didn't come back to save people, he came specifically for the sake of hurting Bruce. But over the years, the repeated attempts of the family (Dick and far less Bruce) of bringing Jason back into the fold has helped him move past his anger. To slowly become adjusted and settle down.

Writers have struggled to know what to do with a character that canonically wants to be included in the family but rebuffs their every attempt to include him. They finally figured out the problem was Bruce - hence his fight against Jason and his exit in Gotham War. I'm assuming now that Jason will become more involved in Batman comics.

As a character currently though, I think of him as a lone ranger. He works independently but he'll show up for family meetings and big events. He'll also join family dinners if he's coerced but for the most part he likes to run on his own or with his team.

#jason todd #red hood #bruce wayne #batman #dick grayson #batman dick grayson #cl anon asks #thanks for the ask!

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stressedoutcanary · 3 years

Text

Family Matters - Batfamily x Reader

Summary: A surprise birthday party and Batfamily being chaotic.

“That's it Dick just a little to the right...No the other right...No! Not there you goofus! Just...Just get down from the chandelier before it comes crashing down on the rest of us and For God's Sake let Duke handle the ribbons before you somehow strangle yourself with them”

Warnings ⚠️: Fluff, lots of it, angst because I can’t help myself, Reader has got some parental issues. Hurt/Comfort.

Word count: 2.4k

A/N: I wanted some good dad Bruce content so I did it myself. Also I might have been influenced by a post I made a while back about Bruce and his children. I haven't used reader's pronouns anywhere so it's kinda gender neutral.

I don’t know where I was going with this, my imagines are often like a train derailed from its track but I think it’s fine. So Enjoy ;)

•°•°•°•°

"Focus (Y/S/N), don't jump in in blind, assessing what action your opponent is about to undertake and countering it out before they can complete that action, this is the key lesson for you today", Batman's commanding voice echoed in the enclosed area of the batcave as he observed you attempting to roundhouse kick the boy in front of you. It was rather rashly executed with the hope of knocking him down which, for obvious reasons, only ended up with your leg connecting with nothing but thin air.

'Damn he is fast when he actually tries.'

"Easy for you to say Old Man! You aren't the one dancing with Mister Duckboy, the teen wonder over here!", you exclaimed, panting as your chest heaved from the exertion.

"Duckboy?!", Tim looked near scandalized as you grinned in return, stealing a glance towards the giggling crowd gathered near the stairs.

Everyone was already in the cave, it was a rare occurrence, it happened only when the issues of upmost importance were being discussed. Today was one of those days; The planning of Alfred Pennyworth's surprise birthday party.

However things usually went a lot less violent, this day every year. The sparring session this year was the result of you messing up, real bad while on patrol last night and since you were around the same age as Tim, he was found to be the most appropriate partner for it. The only drawback was that he had a staff in his hands while your weapons were confiscated, because in Bruce's words 'you rely on them too much'. You were already tired and Tim had a huge advantage over you, if you wanted to win this match you had to be quick and efficient at the same time.

Distracting Tim by your comment allowed you to have an opening, gathering all your strength you went in for a forward strike. Unfortunately he was more than ready to take you on, he crouched down, narrowly missing your punch then proceeded to swipe your legs off of the ground with his bo staff making you fall butt first on the floor.

"Congratulations you've managed to hurt both my ass and my ego, Timbers", You said laying back on the ground, hands and legs spread out and instead of helping you up, Tim joined you on the floor sitting next to you. You gave him a look that was equivalent to 'next time I get the chance, I am going to push you off a roof'.

"Your skills need improvement", Bruce said in his monotonous tone as you grunted knowing that a full ass lecture was gonna follow, but before he could get another word out, Jason chimed in with a statement no one ever expected to hear from him,"You know (Y/N), he's not wrong in fact I think the old man's actually got a point."

Jaws dropped to floor, Tim looked like he just saw a ghost, Dick who was standing near Barbara pinched himself to see whether he was dreaming or not, Damian snapped his neck up from where he was sharpening his katana, even Titus and Ace perked their heads up at the sudden silence that settled over the place. Barbara, Cass, Duke and Steph looked equally shocked.

"Before you all get any ideas, what I'm trying to say is you better pay attention because B over here won't be able to save your ass, 'cause if you slack off the next thing you know you would be in a warehouse with a maniac, getting blown to bits", Jason looked at Bruce with accusing eyes.

'And here I thought he was finally going to say something sensible', you thought to yourself as he continued,

"Take it from someone who has had that experience, you guys remember right? The fact that I--"

"Died, we know!!", everyone groaned at the same time and Bruce looked like he had to physically restrain himself from faceplaming.

"Okay! Guys how about we go ahead and do the thing we all actually came here to do instead of... whatever this conversation was", you suggested, getting up and patting the dust off your clothes.

"Well then someone has got to ask the important question here", Barbara looked around as she worded her sentence,"who is going to be the one to keep Alfred busy while we get everything ready?"

Once again the cave went silent. For a whole bunch of detectives, you all were very, very scared of Alfred, including Bruce even though he will never admit it, lying to The old-butler-cum-grandpa and making random excuses for the whole 3 hours was a thought dreadful enough to make all of you exchange petrified glances at each other hoping someone would step forward to do the job.

"I'll do it", dick raised his hand.

"NO!", everyone snapped and Dick's head tilted with a pout.

"You are good at doing a lot of stuff boy wonder, hiding things from Alfred isn't one of them", Barbara comforted Dick as Damian stepped up next.

"*tt* Since none of you imbeciles have the courage or the ability to do it. I shall be the one to handle Pennyworth. Gordon, Cain and Titus, I will require your assistance", Damian spoke or rather commanded as he went up the stairs, followed by the group he chose.

"Don't mess this up for us, you gremlin!"

"Tim!", you lightly jabbed him in the side with your elbow.

"Ow! What?"

"Be nice", you narrowed your eyes and he understood you were being serious.

"Fine I'll try, but don't blame me if he starts something", Tim shrugged carelessly. You shook your head and let out an audible sigh as you followed everyone else up towards the manor.

•°•°

"That's it Dick just a little to the right...No the other right...No! Not there you goofus! Just...Just get down from the chandelier before it comes crashing down on the rest of us and For God's Sake let Duke handle the ribbons before you somehow strangle yourself with them", you eyed him worriedly.

"Oh come (Y/N) it'll be fine!", the cheerfulness in his voice made you cock an eyebrow at him from below. Duke slid in beside you.

"10 bucks says he will somehow fall within the next hour"

"Oh Duke you should know better, 20 says he'll fall within 30 minutes", you turned towards him with an evil smile.

"What are you both talking about down there?"

"NOTHING!", you both said in unison on which Dick gave you a confused look.

"Oh Hey look Steph needs my help with the cake so, see ya!", you quickly moved to the other side of the room checking in with Stephanie and Tim. She gave you a thumbs up to signal that everything was going according to plan and the place was almost ready. Everyone was laughing, bickering, having fun, it was all very rare and seeing it, a warm feeling spread throughout you.

You smiled to yourself for a moment but it faltered and a frown pulled up at your lips, a sorrowful thought crossed your mind, something you always kept buried deep down. Looking around and seeing as nobody needed your help at the moment you decided to slip out of the chaos, taking slow steps towards the patio to clear your head.

•°•°

Leaning against the railing you thought back to how you left your house this morning telling your mother that you are going to stay at your friend's place for a while and how she just waved her hand at that, not even questioning you anymore. Your mind was completely elsewhere, despite the awe-inspiring dense forest right in front of you, your eyes were lost in space.

You registered, a bit too late, the presence of someone standing beside you.

"It is a nice view, but something tells me that's not what brought to out here, away from everyone else"

"Careful there Brucie or people might think that you are actually capable of some emotions which happen include caring for people", you retorted back at him. It was always a sort of defense mechanism for you, whenever you felt exposed you countered it with snarky remark.

You closed your eyes hoping that Bruce would just walk away. But he didn't. He stayed there.

Bruce leaned on the railing beside you and waited. You took a deep breath, contemplating you next move carefully.

"...Look It's really silly so can we drop it?", you whispered wondering why in the world would Bruce of all people, care about your feelings.

"Talk to me (Y/N). I can tell when something is bothering you, I may not be your father, but you are my family.", unlike usual, his voice was gentle and genuine when he spoke to you.

"I am really not a fan of surprise birthdays", you stated, starting off vaguely.

"And why is that?"

"Because I...It's silly but this one time I spent a whole week working on a birthday gift for my mom, it was like a craft pop up box which had multiple photos of us together, I made that from scratch! everything in it I made that, I worked hard for it, I did it out of love but when I gave her that surprise gift you know what she said Bruce! She said that I wasted my time that she would've been much happier if I had focused on my studies, she never even once said that she liked it and I--", you looked at him with tears brimming in your eyes, threatening to spill.

"I don't know Bruce, it-it just makes me feel sad you know? every little thing reminds me that my mother doesn’t seem to love me anymore. There is this constant thought in my mind that no one cares about me, about what I do for them and I don’t know what to do with a thought like that."

"That's not true, look around you kiddo, you are surrounded by people who would do anything for you, who love you from the bottom of their hearts", Bruce finally looked at you, placing a hand on your shoulder.

"That's the thing! I am not an orphan!", you blurted out and Bruce looked more confused than ever.

"I'm aware"

"No! No you are not. I am not one of those kids you picked up from somewhere, I don't live here, Like I am sure you people aren't even sane, hell! you all make up the most dysfunctional family I have ever seen! I don’t belong here, you people have no reason to care about", Bruce gave you a sideways look, slightly chuckling at your sudden description of the people in the manor.

"But I still love everyone, my mom, you, every dumbass inside the manor right now, no matter much pain they cause me and I don't get why", this time when he looked at you, you didn't look like the vigilante who sucker punched The Riddler in the face last night, you looked like a scared little kid who is lost.

Bruce stood up straight and wrapped you in a hug. Something you never expected to happen in a million years. The shocked settled in after a bit and you wrapped your hands around him, burying your face in his chest.

"The people we love are still people at the end of the day. They act out, and sometimes they let us down, hurt us even, but that doesn't mean we stop loving them. For every bad memory, there will always be a good one that will get you through it. I promise you that (Y/N)", Bruce pulled away and gave you a warm smile. You couldn't help but smile back, your face matching his.

"Okay who are you and what have you done with Bruce Wayne? because I don't recognize this man who is full of emotions and on top of that, is giving free hugs right now", you broke into a grin, making Bruce's face go back to the stoic version.

"If you tell anyone, I will deny it"

"Sure you will"

Suddenly a clattering sound came from the hall, alerting you both. This, however, was followed by a 'I'm okay!' By the one Dick Grayson, which in turn was followed by Duke's 'Oh no!'

"Any idea what that was about?", Bruce inquired raising an eyebrow as you burst out laughing.

"That, you big softie, was the sound of me getting my 20 dollars, now let's get back before they destroy everything."

•°•°

You and Bruce entered back into the hall, everyone was gathered around waiting for Damian and his group to signal the beloved butler's arrival. You stood next to Tim as Jason moved towards the switches to turn off the lights.

"Okay I'll bite why are you covered in frosting before the party even started?"

"Steph", Tim replied, too tired to elaborate, leaving you giggling.

Barbara, Cass and Damian rushed through the door, looking close to terrified, with Titus tagging along.

"He is here, HIDE!", Damian said quickly closing the doors.

After a few moments, the door creaked open and Alfred's voice came through, "Master Damian, you and I will have words for what you did to-- Oh my", he was stuck to his position at the door, too shocked to say anything more after looking at the decorations and bunch gathered around an enormous cake.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALFRED!!", you all exclaimed with extreme excitement.

As the party went on you noticed that there was, in fact, a broken chandelier broomed to the side, later on there were a few not-at-all-safe stunts performed by the boys, some really bad puns made by Dick, all sorts of shenanigans by the others and cake, lots of cake. You looked around, everyone was busy doing something but now you knew Bruce was right:

You have one hell of a family, original, found or otherwise. And you love them all no matter what.

°•°•°•°•

Tags: @thesesickfics-justmakemesick

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bitimdrake · 3 years

Note

reading your tags for the long canon v fanon misconceptions, and yes please all of those sound amazing and I would gladly read all of those. but specifically could you explain the tim thinking bruce is alive deal? definitely read fics where tim is regarded as the Sole reason bruce came back, but other sources seem to dispute that?

Sure thing!

I’m gonna make a separate post at some point about whether people should have believed Tim or not (because I think the answer is more complicated than often claimed), but let’s start here with:

How did Bruce come back? (And was it just because of Tim?)

Tiny answer: Tim was instrumental in Bruce’s return, but not solely responsible for it.

Short answer: Tim figured out Bruce was lost in time and did all of the early investigation. Everyone else realized Bruce was alive for unrelated reasons shortly after, and the time travel evidence was provided by Tim. By the end, a whole team--including Tim--was working on rescuing Bruce.

Long answer:

A little while after Bruce’s death, Tim saw a portrait of a pilgrim-era Wayne that looked exactly like Bruce. He immediately (and correctly) hypothesized that Bruce had been sent back in time instead of killed, and set out to find more evidence of Bruce’s presence in the past. Red Robin shows him tracing Bruce alone, with what I think is a time jump of a few weeks into the journey.

...But between issues #5 and #6, there’s an event called Blackest Night. The main gimmick of that story is dead loved ones of heroes temporarily coming back as evil zombies.

Tim actually returns to Gotham briefly during the Blackest Night: Batman tie-in, when Dick calls him about both their parents’ graves being empty. (This tie-in also makes it clear that while there is still some tension, Tim and Dick completely trust and respect each other nonetheless.) Between their conversation and other chatter, it’s clear Tim is the only one holding out hope at this point--though I will note that no one seems to bear any ill judgement towards him.

[panels from Blackest Night #0. Hal Jordan and Barry Allen stand at Bruce’s grave. Hal says, “[...] And Robin’s insisting that Bruce isn’t really gone.” Barry says, “He’s holding onto hope. That’s what Dick always gave Batman.” Hal says, “I meant Tim Drake, Barry. [...]”]

(Hal is actually wrong since Damian is the current Robin by this point, but I guess the changes in Gotham are hard to keep up with. As for why everyone knows about Tim insisting Bruce is alive, I don’t have a real reason for you besides writers taking the simplest option. But I’m gonna theorize the most likely explanation is that Tim’s friends are blabbermouths and told their mentors, who told everyone else.)

[awkwardly collaged panels from Blackest Night: Batman #2. Tim grabs Dick, saying “[...] Don’t you see, Dick... Anything and everything is possible--That’s why I know that somewhere out there even Bruce is alive.” Dick puts his hands on Tim’s shoulders and responds, “You have to let them go. You have to keep moving forward. [...]” In another panel, Tim insists, “Sometimes they come back, Dick.” Dick responds, “And most of the time they don’t, Tim.”]

However, during Blackest Night, the big baddie makes Bruce’s “body” rise to provoke an emotional reaction from the surrounding heroes--but the puppet skeleton is very obviously different from the other, actually dead people who have risen, and so the hero community at large starts to believe in Bruce’s survival.

[panel from Blackest Night #8, which is a close-up of Bruce’s grave next to his parents’. Off-panel, Hal Jordan says to Barry Allen: “--except for him. That Black Lantern Batman didn’t recognize any of us. It wasn’t Bruce. Tim Drake is right. Bruce is alive.”]

When Tim returns to his search in Red Robin #6, he wonders “why didn’t I tell [Dick] what I found in Iraq? Why didn’t I tell him that I have evidence Bruce is alive?” As he keeps fighting Ra’s and various assassins through the next few issues, he sincerely worries that he’s going to die and no one will ever know what he found, and chides himself for not telling Dick. Tim mentally plans to recruit someone with a time machine in Red Robin #9. In Red Robin #12, when Ra’s is defeated, he finally shares what he’s learned.

[panels from Red Robin #12. Tim, sitting up from a medical cot, says, “Bruce is alive. He’s lost in Time, and I can prove it. I have evidence, and there’s something upstairs you need to see. Dick...Alfred...I’m not crazy. I know this is hard to hear, but please...believe in me.” Dick glances at Alfred and says, “...Okay. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”]

Tim’s explanation happens off-panel, presumably so people don’t have to read through a recap of the series they just read, but I assume that Dick is more receptive to the idea here because of that Black Lantern thing, and his “we’ve got a lot to talk about” is also referring to him sharing that info with Tim.

At this point, Tim settles into vigilante work that isn’t Bruce-focused, and a team dubbed the Time Masters--Superman, Hal Jordan, and time travelers Booster Gold and Rip Hunter--starts traveling through time to find Bruce in Time Masters: Vanishing Point. As far as I remember, Tim isn’t explicitly mentioned as providing the information for this jaunt, but considering no one else knew Bruce was lost in time (just that he was alive) and Tim thought about time travelers (and Booster Gold and Rip Hunter in particular) in his Red Robin narration, I assume that he did.

Meanwhile, Bruce’s side of the story is told in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, which also shows his eventual return.

(Disclaimer: I half-skimmed both Time Masters and Return of Bruce Wayne. They are constructed out of comic book magic/science/nonsense, and the latter is written by my nemesis Gr*nt M*rrison, so I only understood or cared about half of it.)

As it turns out, Bruce is on a path back to the present without any intervention, and the real problem is that when he does, he’s gonna accidentally blow up the universe or idk something awful and comic-booky. A large group, including the Time Masters and the current Justice League, comes together to save the day. (see: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5-6)

Tim is not only present for all this, but doing a lot of the briefing and possibly leading the mission. And, when Bruce returns wrong, he gets to do the whole “I know the real you is in there somewhere!” thing. So, while he is not alone, he definitely gets acknowledgment both from the narrative and the characters around him for all the work he did tracking Bruce down.

As for the rest of the Batfamily, Dick and Damian are busy with a concurrent calamity in Batman and Robin--Tim says in The Return of Bruce Wayne #6, he’s unable to reach them, and Bruce immediately goes to help them after returning--and Cass is busy being ignored by editorial, so they aren’t directly involved in Bruce’s return.

#tim drake #bruce wayne #dick grayson #batfam #dc #*dc #dc meta #ask #anon #*

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bigskydreaming · 3 years

Text

Doing some writing today off and on between errands and work, and jumping around various Kings of the Sky installments, specifically Dick, Jason and Cass stuff, so probably gonna post snippets from a bunch of them as I go.

(Kings of the Sky is an AU that goes canon divergent from the point of Jason calling Dick for advice for dealing with Bruce after the Garzonas case and where things end up going dramatically different from that point on. Including Jason not dying, being part of his own lineup of Titans between Dick and Tim’s, Dick being adopted not long after the Church of Blood incident, Cass being the third Wayne kid to be taken in and adopted and with Tim and Duke being next and then Damian coming along later once they find out about him. This is basically my ‘the family’s alright’ AU with largely ‘Good Dad Bruce’ except for Dick and then Jason yelling some sense into him about the other, respectively, in the first two installments, just FYI).

Anyway, this bit is from a story called “In Their Shadows Grow Trees Of Good and Evil,” set about a year after Cass has been adopted, when she and Jason are both sixteen and Dick’s twenty-one. Also just FYI, because canon has never been specific about what ways Cass is neurodivergent due to the comic-book style ‘rewiring’ of her brain so that she could learn to speak later in life, I tend to go with her being dyslexic and having aphasia. She sticks exclusively to sign language and being a silent presence in her costumed personas, so that there’s no chance of people connecting the dots between Black Bat and Cassandra Wayne, as she mostly speaks verbally in her civilian persona and doesn’t hide her aphasia. The reason there’s not likely to be any obvious signs of aphasia in the snippets of her I post is because I wait until I complete something to choose words at random to replace with aphasia-born mixups, so its more realistic and I’m not gearing her dialogue towards deliberately placed moments. Just in case you were wondering.

In Their Shadows Grow Trees of Good and Evil

“Hey Todd,” sneered an exquisitely obnoxious voice. “Why’s your sister so fucking weird?”

Jason sighed the sigh of a soul a mere century into its eternity of damnation as he rose from the lunch table he’d been studying at and crammed the rest of his books into his backpack. Then he pasted a cheerfully bland smile on his face and turned around, geared for academia warfare (teenage prep school edition).

“Hey Craig,” he said brightly. “Why’d you come out of the womb so ugly your parents had to tie a piece of steak around your neck just to get the family dog to go near you? Mysteries abound.”

The advancing junior slowed a step, momentarily rocked by his truly impressive return volley. The grimace Craig’s already gargoyle-esque features twisted into made his face even more unpleasant to look at than usual, which was quite the feat. Jason would have applauded if just looking at it hadn’t already turned him to stone.

But the bargain basement basilisk kept on towards him rather than turn tail and skulk off to pop his emotional blisters, so Jason sighed a sequel to his first one. Looked like it was one of those days where Craig felt up to powering through. Guess someone had eaten their self-esteem Wheaties that morning. Joy.

“You think you’re pretty hot shit, don’t you, Todd?”

Jason shrugged. “I mean, to be honest I kinda have a one track mind, so right now I’m mostly just thinking about punching you in your mistake.”

“My what?”

“Your face,” Jason elaborated with exaggerated patience.

“Huh?”

“Oh my god, I’m saying your face is a mistake. See, its not as fun when I have to stop and explain it to you. Ugh, you ruin everything.”

He neatly sidestepped the older boy as R2-Dumbass stayed frozen, smoke coming off of his internal CPU while trying to catch up. For a second Jason thought he was home free, but then he remembered the universe fucking hated him so haha, sucks to suck. Also, a small crowd had gathered to witness the verbal jousting match, and nothing invigorated an asshole like Craig more than an audience of like-minded peers. So there was that too.

“Whatever. Laugh it up all you want, you little shit,” the junior rallied. “But just remember, mocking your betters will never change the fact that you were born street trash and you’ll be street trash until the day you die.”

Honestly? Not his best effort. Jason almost felt bad using any of his good material. Seemed like overkill at this point. But he did have a strict Scorched Earth policy to maintain, so.....

“Yeah but my dad could buy out and ruin your dad so that means I still win, right?”

He smirked as the barb landed and Craig’s face set into a sunset vista of strangled purple and furious red. Bam. Direct hit.

“Listen, you - “

“Oh for fuck’s sake, it was rhetorical,” Jason interrupted. “I don’t actually care what you think even a little bit. Nobody does. You don’t matter. Please go be irrelevant elsewhere, you’re fucking dismissed, you loser.”

“Speak for yourself, charity case.” Oh goodie, Craig’s backup singers had finally arrived. Now if only he could remember to care enough to learn their names in the first place. Seriously, who told the extras they could have lines? “All the jokes in the world can’t change who and what you are.”

Jason shrugged and continued nonchalantly up the hill to where his sister was standing with arms crossed, staring down at something on the other side.

“True genius is never appreciated in its own time,” he tossed back over his shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll be immortalized in song eventually.”

The mob of morons deigned to let him go without further incident. Though he suspected that had less to do with his scathing wit and more to do with him being headed towards Cass. She was immaculately presented as always, wearing the Gotham Academy uniform like she was born to it despite hating its uncomfortable stiffness every bit as much as he did. But that was just Cass for you.

For all that she still struggled at times to engage verbally or speak up in social settings, her mastery of body language remained without peer. She could chameleon-camouflage her way into matching poise and posture with anyone - a skill that had allowed her to walk into school on her very first day with her head held high as though she owned everything in her sight. Exuding so much Queen Bee Intimidation Factor even the other hive queens were afraid to approach her themselves. Sending forth their drones to try and woo her into an alliance, only to see her remain oh-so-casually above it all, a slightly contemptuous smile adorning her lips.

Basically, she scared the shit out of their classmates without them having anywhere close to a true understanding of why, and Jason was outrageously jealous. Rude. Unfair. Why did his siblings always get all the cool toys when all he had was his rakish charm, scintillating intellect and debonair.....nah, who was he kidding. He was fucking awesome.

“Sup, sis,” he said, cresting the hill to stand beside Cass. “Just FYI, I just took a popularity bullet for you, which means you owe me your dessert tonight. Its a family rule that’s totally a real thing and definitely not something I just made up right now because Alf is making chocolate soufflé.”

She made no acknowledgment and remained stock still, a Colossus at Rhodes peering down into the shifting shadows of the parking lot below.

He peered down as well, though with absolutely no idea what they were looking at. Solidarity, yo.

“So are we staring fixedly at anything in particular, or should I just pick my own spot and commit?”

His humor was totally wasted on her as always. Instead of laughing and telling him what a lovable goof he was, she just inclined her head in the direction of a blonde girl where she was standing next to the driver’s side door of a Mercedes-Benz, dictating final commandments to her peons before departing. Well, probably. Jason was just guessing, based on his own body language reads, and like, general disdain for literally everyone at this school that wasn’t related to him.

He made a face. An extra special one reserved just for this classmate in particular. “Ugh, Madison Dunleavy? She’s the worst.”

Cass raised a cool eyebrow. “I thought Craig Hendricks was the worst.”

“He is. They’re both the worst. Its a hotly contested position here at Gotham Academy.”

She rolled her eyes and nodded back down at the Queen of Air and Darkness. “So. You know her?”

“Nope,” Jason said. “Come to think of it, I’ve actually never seen her in my life. No idea who that is. Can’t help you, sorry. Shall we go home?”

The Eyebrow of Inquisition speared him with clear intent. Who the fuck needed words when you could pack the Encyclopedia Britannica into a single facial expression?

Jason sighed gustily.

“I had a slight altercation with her freshman year that led to her declaring her undying enmity for me until the end of time. The word nemesis may or may not have been thrown around once or twice. I can’t recall.”

The Eyebrow of Inquisition lowered nary an inch. Ugh, she wanted more? Why did everyone in his family hate privacy, with the obvious exclusion of himself when snooping through Cass and Dick’s rooms for blackmail material, which was actually intel-gathering and thus another matter entirely.

“Okay so basically what happened was my first week here I overheard her talking shit about me and not even twenty minutes later she was pretending to kiss my ass in homeroom, like probably because of Bruce, y’know? So I just busted out laughing and told her to fuck off and die and she has inexplicably loathed me ever since.”

Avoiding further Eyebrow Inquisition-ing, he made a show of peering around aimlessly. When the silence extended and it was clear Cass was absolutely not going to break first, Jason waved a hand in dismissal and took to peering oh so casually at his fingernails. "I suppose I was less tactful back in those days.”

He chanced a look up, finally, and saw his sister’s eyebrow had somehow managed to mighty morphin power ranger its way into a configuration evoking both judgment and disbelief, with the latter perhaps aimed at the idea he was significantly differing in the tact department these days either.

“I don’t love the implications your face is making right now,” he told her.

She ignored him, because of course she did.

“Does she know Dick?” She asked instead. Jason shrugged.

“I mean, maybe? She’s probably seen him around at one of those stupid galas we have to go to, and actually I think maybe she has an older brother who was either in Dick’s grade or like, one above or below it? I don’t know.”

Now both eyebrows were doing the dance of disbelief. Okay, so maybe that was poor situational awareness on his part, since it wasn’t like Gotham Academy was a big school with a ton of other kids and also he’d only been in the same class as Madison for like over two whole years, but whatever. There were extingent circumstances.

“Look, she’s a total snob who’s always looked down on me and in return I willfully ignore both her existence and that of everyone and everything even tangentially related to her. Its called equality, Cass.”

She pursed her lips and went back to the peering, because of course in the mind of Cass it made total sense that the Grand Inquisition didn’t need to be followed up by any explanation on her part, what the hell. Like was he supposed to have inferred it?

“What’s this all about anyway?”

“I heard her talking about Dick earlier,” she said without peeling her eyes away from her personal recon mission. “I don’t know what she said though, I just heard her say Grayson, and then I was busy looking at what her body was saying. I know it was about Dick because she shut down when she saw me. And I didn’t like the way she....looked....before that happened. The way she was talking. It was.....”

Jason frowned but held back any follow-up questions while he waited - with total patience because he wasn’t an absolute cad, thank you very much - for his sister to find the word she was hunting for. It was a major source of frustration for her, that whatever neural map her brain followed put body language and spoken language in totally different regions of her brain, separated by a fairly great divide. Meaning she usually had to make a conscious choice to focus on body language or conventional languages - whether verbal or sign. But it tended to be one or the other; she’d yet to master taking in and comprehending both forms of ‘language’ at the same time. And none of them had quite figured out how to convince her that she wasn’t actually missing anything when she chose to focus on one specific form of communication - that she was still observing far more than most people ever would.

“Proprietary,” Cass settled on at last. She nodded her satisfaction with her choice of word, and Jason waited a whole two point five seconds before sticking his whole foot in his mouth.

“Proprietary?” He asked with a scrunched nose as he weighed that for possible context and implications. “You sure?”

She glared. He winced. It was a whole thing.

“Yeah, I know, sorry, sorry, I heard it the second it was out of my mouth. We don’t actually have to experiment with the legitimacy of if looks could kill.”

Cass rolled her eyes, but eh. That could’ve gone worse.

Jason swiftly redirected attention anyway. Discretion is the better part of valor, after all.

“So. The Queen of Air and Darkness was talking about our big bro, and her mood was.....proprietary, huh?” He recapped while digesting the info like a boss. “Well. Definitely not loving that, I gotta say. Hold please.”

Pulling out his phone and pulling up his most recent texts, he began typing furiously.

“What are you doing?” Cass asked.

“Texting Tom,” he replied, because duh. Hah, now it was his chance to have the answers that should be patently obvious and thus make with the ‘are you kidding me’ when she asked obvious questions she should know the answer to! How do you like them apples, sis?

“Why are you texting your boyfriend right now?”

Jason rolled his eyes, because fair is fair, but never ceased texting for a moment. Time was of the essence here, probably. Well, maybe. Okay probably not. But it’d still been like half an hour since he and Tom had last texted and that’s a very fucking long time in teenage years.

“To be our getaway driver tonight, obviously.”

She stared at him. He didn’t look up, but he could feel it anyway. He was very intuitive like that.

“What?”

Jason heaved another sigh, one keyed to tones of ‘oh my god, do I really have to spell this out,” exasperation. He was just racking up the bonus points here. It was really too bad this wasn’t an actual competition he could actually win and this was all just pettiness taking place wholly in his own head. Lame.

“Well, clearly we now have to go snoop in Madison’s house aka lair to see if its actually a house or a full on lair. Because she’s either a creeper or like, legit evil, and its important to know which one before we proceed, because obviously we can only bust her for being a weird creeper about our brother as Jason and Cass, whereas if she’s legit evil, that’s gotta go down as Robin and Black Bat. I’ll handle the snooping, you’ll take look-out, but we still need a wheelman and that’s why I’m texting Tom. This is all very mission-oriented, okay. I’m a professional.”

“Right,” she affirmed, while sounding anything but convinced. “Why don’t we just tell Bruce?”

Without looking up or breaking stride, he said: “I’m going to give you til I finish typing this sentence to figure out what was wrong with what you just said. Remember that we are talking about hypothetical danger to our brother, and also Bruce’s idea of a proportionate response to any of his children being in even hypothetical danger. And also our brother’s idea of a proportionate response to Bruce’s idea of a proportionate response. Look, you’re still new so I’m gonna need you to just trust me on this one. Its gonna be a no on telling Bruce without further intel.”

Cass said nothing in response to that, which meant that she was conceding the point and recognized the wisdom of his words. Or maybe that she was just gonna go ahead and do what she wanted anyway and just wasn’t bothering to fight about it, but it was probably that first thing.

“Well you better not just make out with your boyfriend all night,” is what she said at last, and that got his attention reeeeeal quick like.

“Umm. Wow. Okay. So, first off, you’re not the boss of me and who I make out with and when, so jot that down. And second, now I’m definitely going to make out with my boyfriend extra hard, with the exception of when we are actually on our recon mission because as previously established, I am a professional. And also, again, you’re not the boss of me.”

Jason ignored her Eye Roll With Extra Emphasis, and instead just held up his phone to Text With Extra Emphasis, as he read along with what he was typing.

“By the way babe, we have to make out extra hard tonight,” he said, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth while he dragged out his dictation with the kind of focus that usually led to Bruce asking why he couldn’t apply as much intensity to training as he did to pettiness. “Cass has suddenly decided she can dictate terms to me and I need to shut that shit down ASAP, so thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter. Smoochies and other gay stuff to the best boyfriend ever.”

Jason frowned as a response pinged back seconds later.

TheCatsMeow: ....the things I put up with for the sake of your weird family dynamics.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Yeah, yeah. You’re a saint among were-panthers. Must you mock? Why can’t you just tell me I’m pretty instead?

TheCatsMeow: Sorry. Let me try again. OMG you’re so pretty Jase how did I get so lucky xoxo.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: No. Its too late. It feels forced and unbelievable now. You’ve ruined it forever.

TheCatsMeow: Got it. From now on I will only tell you that you’re repulsive and hideous.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: I’m breaking up with you.

TheCatsMeow: But after I help you with your mission tonight.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Obvsly. I’m a professional. Why do people keep forgetting this?

TheCatsMeow: And also the making out to spite your sister.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Yeah we should do that first too. I mean we already penciled it in.

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