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xan-izme · 9 months

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Dubble Life (ACTSV x Reader x Batfam) 3

A/n: I forgot to mention that the universe reader is in is earth-42. So, the Prowler is Miles, but he switches with Aaron here and there. and reader has the same last name as Miles.

Part 2, Part 4

Summary: Life with the Waynes so far was pretty good. Damian is still being a brat, so reader decides to be a good big sister. Someone from the past shows their face. In the need of readers help, for Spider-woman.

"I win!" Tim couldn't help but smirk in triumph. You stare at the 'Game over' on your screen. "Nah, nah. You gotta be cheating! Bro what is this!" This was the third time you have lost street fight with Tim.

"You two are acting like children." Damian spoke, watching two play video games for almost 2 hours. You rolled your eyes and gave Damian a look. "Cuz we are. You're like what, 9?" Tim chuckled as he packed his things.

"I am 12!" Damian argued. "Boy, like that makes any difference." Damian began to argue with you, you just stared down at him an announced you were getting a drink from the kitchen. You poured yourself a drink. Suddenly, your Spidey senses were warning you. You quickly turn around, just to see Damian. You scoffed.

It was funny how your Spidey senses always acted up when it came to Damian. You wondered if he wanted to hurt you so you couldn't take the Wayne throne. You turned back and continued to take a gulp from your cup. you paused for a moment before glancing to Damian you was eating a snack that Alfred made.

You thought that maybe the reason that you two haven't fully gotten along was due to both of you not even trying. So why not be the bigger person and try to be nice.

You slide yourself to the table Damian was at and set yourself in front of him. The boy frowns as he sees the smirk you had.

"What do you want, you bug."

You couldn't help but chuckle at that. If only he really knew.

"Look, demon. I think we haven't really gotten the chance to bond as siblings." You leaned in with a smile. Damian looked at you with distaste. "Did father put you up to this? What are you planning Davies?"

"No, I ain't planning nothing. What's wrong with wanning to hang out with you?" You arched your brow and leaned back into your chair. Damian sighed "I don't have time for you. I have work to do. So, if you'll excuse me." Damian stood from his chair and walked away.

"Alright, if you change your mind my door is open!" Literally, you leave your door open sometimes. You just forget to close it. A habit to try and get rid of.

After a few days. Damian did come to your room.

"Oh, look who's here. Is there something my little demon needs? hugs, kisses? whatever sisterly love can provide?" You smirked as you watched him give you a look of disgust.

"I don't want your useless affection. Father wants us to go with him to a meeting. Please wear something that doesn't look like a Hippe made it." With that, Damian walked out. He paused and took a glance of a picture you had hung on the wall; it was of a woman. Your mother no doubt.

You sighed and got yourself ready. Wondering why the hell Bruce wanted you to come along.

"Hey Alfred. Do you know why Bruce needs me at the meeting today?" you asked. Alfred handed you a drink you requested for

"It is a meeting at the Wayne enterprise. You will mistily be there to observe the working environment and understand what the Wayne family is about." Alfred escorted you down and helped you fix your dress up, so it was perfect.

Bruce couldn't help but smile as he watched you come down those stairs in one of the dresses Dick picked for you.

Once you reached the bottom, Bruce took your hand into his "You look beautiful."

Your smiled. Your smile faltered.

Remembering the time, your mother had a date with some man you didn't approve of.

It was cold out. Your mother was going to be with a man named Jim Bolton. You were happy she was happy. But you didn't trust this Jim guy. You asked, practically begged your uncle Jeff to do a background run on the man.

Jim was married at the age of 22, awfully young. He got divorced and has two daughters 3-4 years younger than you. he also had 3 DUI's. Your mother has told you he doesn't drink anymore. But you still didn't like him.

You watched your mother walk down the stairs, with a red dress on, her hair fixed up. Shinny jewels on. She looked amazing. You already saw her as a goddess, this just added onto the beauty you already saw in her. You couldn't help but look at her fondly.

"Okay, remember to lock all the doors. Your uncle Aarons going to be here in an hour to watch you and- . . . what?" Your mother noticed that small smile on your face. You were being silent. Just staring at her.

You chuckled and held her hands to yours "Nothing. . . you just look beautiful."

You missed her. You've been trying to not think too much of her. Not think of the time you two spent. Not think of her hugs. Her smile, her voice.

You have night terrors of what happened that day. At times you stay awake, too scared to close your eyes. Afraid to see every wrong thing you've done as a daughter. You make it worse for yourself by calling her number, only to hear no answer.

The Wayne building was big. Many people in uniforms rushing too somewhere. Rushing to get work done, rushing to get home.

You walked beside Damian. He has been quite this whole time. You wonder what was making your dear little weirdo so silent.

You sat in one meeting with Bruce and Damian. It was rather boring. But you did think Bruce was cool with the way he took over. Bruce had two other meetings that suddenly came up. He was going to take the two of you downtown to look around, get something to eat. Go to the movies even.

"It's alright. Me and De- Damian can go and hang around with Alfred. Can get a little Sibling bonding out of it." You held yourself back from calling the boy, demon. Almost let it slip for a second there.

Bruce liked the sound of that. When he agreed, you gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Bruce isn't the best with affection, but you have been doing these little gestures, hugging, the kisses on the cheek. You would even do the occasional 'I love you's Bruce is starting to think that you might just be getting closer to him. So, he buys you more things.

Sometimes you decline so he just gives you money.

Damian rolled his eyes as you dragged him to the car. Alfred Started the car and you two were now going to be closer than ever. Well, you hope.

"So, little brother, you have anyone that has cached your interest?"

Damian frowns "That is none of your business."

"I see, you must really her then. Or him, I don't discriminate on who you love." You felt a smirk creep up when you catch a glimpse of the look on the young boy's face. It just felt so fun toying with him like this.

"I don't have time for something like dating. Stop talking, you're giving me a migraine." Damian did visibly look tired of you, which made it even more enjoyable for you.

The first few weeks that you came to the manor. This boy has been activating the need for violence. You can't just cuss him out and flip him off like you did with Miguel.

You can tell Damian ain't stupid. He's sharp and very aware of his surroundings. One slip up and your done for. So, you decide to do what you did best.

Be annoying.

Damian ignores you more when you act like that. On top of that, you loved the reactions you got out of him.

You and Damian went to a music shop where they had those old timey records that you liked.

"Why do you need these things. You know you can listen to music like this on your phone, right?" Damian watched as you picked up a record and held it like it was precious. The most fragile thing in the world.

". . .The neighborhood I used to live in. Was loud. I could hear screaming, gun shots. And other things I wasn't supposed to hear." You gently put the record down and continued to walk down the aisle. Damian and Alfred followed behind.

"One night, there was a gang fight right outside. I got so scared. I ran into her room crying. She played a song. . ." You found a song you haven't seen in a while and grabbed it.

"She held me. . . and said, 'son solo sondios, mi amor.' and told me to listen to the music. Let that be the only thing you hear." You let yourself laugh, remembering at how much you cried.

"So, that's what I do. Instead of listening to sounds that give me fear. I listen to these."

Damian watched you happily go through the records.

Damian scoffed to himself. It was the first time he saw a real smile from you. Of course, you smile a lot. But everything was fake. You were putting on a facade. He didn't like fake people.

Lying all the time. People who lie, can't be trusted. And you lie a lot. he knows. You just haven't been caught yet.

But that, what you just did. You were actually being real. You don't seem too bad. For a bug.

"What's this?" Damian spoke up when he picked up a record that had big words on it with a blue background.

"Oh, Boney M. I love these guys." You know Uncle Aaron had full blown collocations of the band.

You looked down to see the look of confusion on Damians face. "Oh, my Go- Come on man. You really don't know these guys?"

"No, should I? . . . My mother wasn't like yours." Damian mumbled. He sets down the record. You stared at him, then glanced to Alfred. You don't know much about Damian's mother. Just that she left him with Bruce.

Due to the boy's uptight attitude, you assume his mother was strict. And based on Alfreds expression, she probably wasn't the best.

You put your hand on his shoulder. "Let's go watch a movie. Yeah?"

The movie was a comedy, it was funny to you. Even more funny that Damian couldn't understand the jokes in the movie. Just watching you laugh so much just because he wasn't understanding the jokes, Damian couldn't help but laugh himself.

"I liked the ending." Damian spoke as you two exited out the theater. "What? for real? . . . why? The ending was kind of butt." You say, Wanting to know why Damian actually liked the ending.

"Well, the main character, Lisa. She found out she was being played by that Moses guy. Even if he caught feelings for her at one point, he didn't have those feelings when he went with that dare. When he kissed her at the prom as some stupid form of an apology, she just slapped him. She knew her worth."

You just stared in utter disbelief. You couldn't help but giggle, then burst out laughing.

"What? Why are you always laughing!'' Damian was scolding you as you continued to laugh and try to explain why you were laughing.

Suddenly you felt your Spidey senses go crazy. Thats when an explosion was heard.

"Oh shi-"

people started running in panic. "It's joker. . ." You heard Damian mumble. You quickly grab Damians hand and try to get to the car where Alfred was parked. Damian let you drag him. So many people were crowding up in a panic.

Damian looked up at you, then to the multiple explosions Joker was dropping. Hearing his damn laugh echo. He was putting his Job as Robin first. And let your hand go. You felt him let go. You quickly turn around. Panic sets in you. You called out his name as you tried to shove people away so you could get through.

"DAMIAN!" You tried to help a few people who got hurt by the falling rubble around them. But all you could think of was Damian. You kept calling the boy's phone. But it would go straight to voicemail. You cussed multiple times.

You went back into the theaters, calling out for Damian, asking anyone if they had seen a little boy come back in.

You didn't know he had left to fulfill his role as Robin.

You were currently in an alleyway. Trying to get to Damian on the phone, no answer. You try to contact Bruce, you lost service. You got frustrated and decided to just run around like an idiot to try and look for the boy.

But you accidentally ran into someone and knock them down.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry Ma'am. Are you alright?" You were quick to help the girl up.

"Thanks. . . you look good, Y/n."

You paused. Who was this? how did she know your name. Your look of confusion started to fade as you recognized the voice. You began to step back.

The girl fully showed her face. Starring you right in the eyes.

"Gwen?"

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tag list: @lockofspades @redsakura101 @ruby-izo

#miguel o'hara #miles morales #atsv x reader #gwen spiderverse #x daughter!reader #damian wayne #bruce wayne x daughter!reader #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #batfam x reader #batfam x batsis #tim drake #dick grayson #spoderverse

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mckitterick · 9 months

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Let the Platforms Burn

Tumblr is seeing massive growth thanks to the implosion of Twitter and Reddit. but migrating here or elsewhere means starting all over from the beginning, which is why users so seldom make the leap away from much-despised platforms (can you say "Facebook")

in his important new piece, Cory Doctorow argues that we need to fundamentally change the way social media and other user-content platforms operate, and give users the power to easily migrate their content and connections from site to site

he argues we need to let bad platforms burn (using the metaphor of healthy fires that clear out dangerous underbrush, preventing destructive wildfires) to make room for new, better ones without punishing users for escaping social-media prison

full piece (and podcast version) here: X

a few choice excerpts:

Today's tech giants run "walled gardens" that are actually walled prisons that entrap their billions of users by imposing high switching costs on them. How did that happen? How did tech become "five giant websites filled with screenshots from the other four?"

The answer lies in the fact that tech was born as antitrust was dying. Reagan hit the campaign trail the same year the Apple ][+ hit shelves. With every presidency since, tech has grown more powerful and antitrust has grown weaker (the Biden administration has halted this decay, but it must repair 40 years' worth of sabotage).

This allowed tech to "merge to monopoly." Google built a single successful product – a search engine – and then conquered the web by buying other peoples' companies, even as their own internal product development process produced a nearly unbroken string of flops. Apple buys 90 companies a year – Tim Cook brings home a new company more often than you bring home a bag of groceries.

When Facebook was threatened by an upstart called Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg sent a middle-of-the-night email to his CFO defending his plan to pay $1b for the then-tiny company, insisting that the only way to secure eternal dominance was to eliminate competitors – by buying them out, not by being better than them. As Zuckerberg says, "It is better to buy than compete"

it's great that we're seeing such a reinvigorment of Tumblr, but this site's delight could evaporate overnight with some bad updates (presaged in recent corporate messages). better than hoping Tumblr might stay good forever is ensuring we can leave without losing everything - and knowing we can leave would help prevent the enshittification of our beloved Hellsite

#social media #enshittification #monopolies #capitalism ruins everything #good ideas #tech industry

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nerdpoe · 10 months

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An Example of Courage, part 2 of the To Live with Honor and Bravery Series

Part 1, Ao3

Rook, previously Red Robin, is one of the most effective Bats there is. He is also blind. A look into exactly how Rook fights, given his technology and League of Assassin training.

Damian was displeased.

He refused to admit he was embarrassed.

He had been assisting Todd at Grayson’s insistence, and the bumbling fool had tipped the enemies to their position. They had been overwhelmed, and Damian had been forced to step down when a barely conscious Red Hood had been threatened.

A Red Hood who was also now awake, and judging by the tension in his shoulders, was just as humiliated.

The Comm was full of chatter as Oracle and Nightwing argued uselessly over how to make the four hour journey from a different state shorter, and kept lamenting that Batman was in space.

Damian was about to give up the pretense of having no communications when he heard the last voice he wanted to hear.

“I’ve got it,” Rook's quiet voice said, “Already scoping out the building.”

“Okay; good luck,” Orphan said, before presumably returning to her case.

There was an uncomfortable pause, and Damian could feel even Red Hood’s exasperation at Gordon and Grayson’s reluctance. How was it that he and Todd, who as a rule disliked Drake, understood he was more than capable of handling himself?

It was ridiculous and stupid and Damian could not inform them as such, or he risked alerting his captors that help was on the way.

He was, however, ready to admit that he was embarrassed that Drake would be the one to perform the rescue.

~~~~~~

Tim ignored Oracle and Nightwing’s pleading that he call on Kon for assistance, and tuned in on the robotic voice of his Seeing Eye Program.

He cleared his mind and focused on the picture it was painting for him.

There were fourteen working cameras in the warehouse.

There were twenty-one goons.

Their boss had already fled, as no one was there currently that matched his description, and the previous footage the cameras had indicated he’d gone for one of the exits.

Sixteen goons were in sight of the cameras.

Robin and Red Hood were in the break room, separated from what Tim knew he was going to have to do. Good.

All the goons had guns; the guns were identified as AK-47s, 30 rounds per gun, rapid fire and single shot possible. High probability that all goons had at least one extra magazine, leading to at minimum 60 rounds per goon, leading to at minimum 1,260 rounds of ammunition.

Best course of action was to ensure that they could not use those guns at all, and the second best course was to make them think they could not.

There were crates full of unknown items, although given the criminal element it was likely it was drugs or explosives. Ergo, highly reinforced and unlikely to break or detonate unless extreme force was used. A few stray bullets would be an acceptable risk, provided the projected outcome.

Tim could work with that.

The time taken between advising he would rescue his brothers and accumulating that information was approximately one minute and twenty seconds.

No time to waste.

Tim gave two sharp, short bird calls, followed by five clicks.

His Program immediately expanded its range of footage it was utilizing, and he listened until it mentioned what he wanted to hear.

The warehouse was on the docks, so underground electrical service wouldn’t be possible. He would have to find the connection on the roof and move from there.

He nodded as the Program finally mentioned where that point was, and moved.

Timing his movements with the patrol he’d already memorized, he leveled his grappler at the direction of the warehouse until the clicks ran together in a soft, continuous noise. He fired, swiftly jumping from the roof at the same time.

The Program immediately switched to prioritizing his mask footage and gave exact calculations for the best landing. It told him where the wall was, at what angle he had to shift himself, his estimated arrival to the other building, and where his estimated landing point would be in relation to the roof of it.

It did all of this in extreme shorthand he himself had designed, based on musical notes.

Tim, as he usually did barring extraneous circumstances, nailed the landing.

It had been one minute and forty-seven seconds.

Using his bo staff to ensure he did not trip on small hazards, Tim maneuvered to where the-yes. There it was.

The Program gave a small chirp of warning, alerting him to an environmental hazard directly in front of him, looking through the eyes of his mask for him.

He gently placed the small charge on the weatherhead, and used a super-glue based adhesive to anchor the service drop lines. That done, he carefully and quietly moved to the other side of the warehouse and hunkered down.

Then he detonated the charge.

A small pop, easily mistaken for faulty wiring.

Power was immediately cut to the warehouse, and he could feel the charge in the air as the electricity angrily searched for somewhere else to go. The adhesive forced the lines to stay in the weatherhead, but by their violent crackling and humming, that metal would absolutely heat up.

The only end result would be a fire; the Program confirmed Tim’s estimation of around twelve minutes for the metal to heat beyond the temperatures that the surroundings could handle.

The goons below him were shouting at each other, a few pot shots going off before the ones that had fired those were ordered to holster their weapons.

Two minutes and thirty-two seconds.

He caught his grapple on the edge of the skylight, and gently opened it.

And jumped down.

“Fuck, is that a grap-?”

Tim’s Bo staff caught the man in his throat and threw him against one of the many crates.

The Program happily informed him that the cameras had a night vision mode.

Well, well.

The sensor between his shoulder blades gave two sharp bursts and he ducked, half turning and bringing his staff up where he knew that the goon’s chin would be.

He heard the garbled shout and the cracking of teeth.

The one he’d hit upon his entrance hadn’t gotten up. Two down.

The Program directed him through the warehouse and around the stacks of crates, allowing him to sneak up on five more and take them down quietly before he was spotted.

Gunfire rang out and Tim dodged in the direction of other goons, resulting in a short yelling match as they tried to figure out if the shooter had actually seen a vigilante or if she’d just spooked and fired at friendlies.

Tim interrupted the woman who had shot at him by sweeping her legs out from under her and introducing her skull to his staff.

She did not get up.

Thirteen left.

The Program advised him that the remaining goons were all in view of the cameras, and the idiots had left Robin and Red Hood alone.

They were already attempting to escape their bonds.

Tim ducked behind a crate, shot his grapple at one of the ceiling joists and dropped down in the middle of the group of three that had been arguing with the previous woman.

Their surprise granted him enough time to lay into one of them and take her out before her friends managed to fumble a flashlight onto Tim.

“Shit, it’s Rook-!”

Tim jumped up and grabbed onto the edge of another crate, hauling himself on top of it as he dodged the gunfire that had been aimed at him from the one behind him, allowing his assailant to hit his own ally, and dropped down again on the one that had fired at him.

Using a flashy move that Lady Shiva would have absolutely disapproved of, he locked his legs around the goon’s neck and threw himself backwards. The goon dropped his gun, forced to fall, as Tim used his momentum to twist around to force the goon to land face first in the concrete.

Three down. Ten left. They had split into two groups of five.

Tim moved quickly, relying on the Program and his Bo Staff to avoid tripping hazards, and flanked the first group. His Program had informed him that his brothers had successfully escaped and were already converging on the second group.

He watched them through his program as he laid flat on one of the crates.

He inhaled.

Held it.

He exhaled.

He dropped a small, specialized EMP over the edge and shorted out their electronics, and then tossed himself over the edge and into the middle of the group.

Their flashlights and cell phones were just as dead as his Program.

They were just as blind as he was, at that moment.

From there, it was his skill and hearing that dictated the fight.

He heard them begin to move, and swept out his Bo staff in a wide arc, knocking three of them off balance. He heard them hit the ground.

He turned towards the two behind him he could hear starting to move forward and dove at them, relying on grappling to take them both down.

He focused on the two, bouncing between them as he kept an ear out on the three picking themselves up from the ground.

Just as they managed to stand, he broke one of his current opponent’s legs and slammed the other’s head into the wall.

Turning his attention on the three, he danced around them and used them as shields against the others.

He redirected a punch to where he’d heard another goon, hooked his foot in one of their knees and shoved at their sternum, turned and taken a punch to the face so he could grab their wrist and throw them over his shoulder.

He was so caught up, he didn’t hear the one he had counted out drag himself up. He didn’t realize until, as he vaulted over one of the last fighters, there was a deafening bang and a flair of pain in his leg.

Fuck.

He finished the vault and grabbed the man he’d been about to take out, using the surprise to force him along as he charged where the shooter was.

“Wait, Dave, don’t shoot-!”

“What the fuck-?”

Tim threw the goon at his friend. Then he swept their legs from under them with his handy-dandy Bo staff, whipped around to land a semi-accidental throat shot at the goon he heard sneaking up behind him (he’d been aiming for where their face should have been, but apparently the man had been a bit tall), and dropped said staff to grab both goons by their hair and slam their heads into the ground until they stopped moving.

He heard the goon he’d gotten his throat shot in on coughing and stepping closer.

Tim waited, pretending like he didn’t notice, and turned around when he was close enough.

He gripped the man’s shoulder and drove a knee into his gut.

“Rook, cease this! That is Red Hood!”

Tim froze, and the person he’d just tried to take out gently patted his shoulder. Tim frowned and reached out, tracing the familiar helmet.

“Whoops. I dropped an EMP, so-”

“Yeah dumbass, we know,” Red Hood wheezed, voice muffled by the helmet, “Our electronics went out too.”

They’d been in range? Shit. He’d miscalculated.

“...Ah. I would imagine that is massively inconvenient to you right now.”

“To us all, Rook. Tt. We lost communication with Oracle.”

Fuck.

Dick was going to be a nightmare to deal with.

~~~~~~

Jason handed his useless helmet to Damian and piggy-backed Tim.

They knew he could walk fine on his own, bleeding leg or not, but a huge part of Tim’s efficiency in battle was his opponents not knowing he was blind.

With his weird nerd-program off, he’d have to use the Bo staff to make sure he didn’t trip or run into a crate. That shit would give him away instantly. So; piggy-back until safehouse.

Tim was grumbling in his ear, but Jason ignored it.

He understood how infuriating it was to have to take help he didn’t need.

After he’d been dipped in the Pits, Talia hadn’t been convinced he’d been completely healed from the brain damage at first. Insisted on servants cutting his food into smaller pieces, reaching out and handing him shit he’d just been about to grab, talking at him slowly and clearly while holding his hand in an iron grip.

It’d been as flattering as it had been annoying. He vaguely remembered getting the same feeling from when he’d still had his brain injury, but unable to vocalize it.

She’d stopped after a few days, but still.

Jason got it.

So he’d let Tim complain, get it out of his system while they got somewhere to change into civvies.

Damian was also complaining, but his was about how unbecoming it was for his rival to be handled like he was delicate.

Jason…didn’t really get that one.

But whatever.

Some kids played dinosaurs with their favorite siblings, Damian tried to fight his to the death. All children were different, or some shit.

They had just stepped out the door when Tim patted his shoulder.

“Also the building is gonna catch on fire in like, four or five minutes. Loose electrical wires heating up metal on the roof.”

Jason dropped Tim on his ass and turned around to drag the criminals out.

“Tell me shit like that sooner!”

~~~~~~

“Yes, Dick, I’m sure I’m fine. Don’t abandon your mission.”

“Are you sure? I can-”

“I’m sure.”

“...Okay. Let me know if a situation comes up.”

“I will,” Tim agreed, signing off from his comm and leaning back against Jason’s mirror.

He twitched from a particularly hard pull of the stitches, and waved off a muttered half-hearted apology.

“...I suppose I should thank you,” Damian said, sounding gruff.

“I suppose you should,” Tim agreed mildly, lifting his leg so that Jason could place the bandage on it properly.

They sat in silence as Damian almost audibly ground his teeth.

“Thanks, Timmers,” Jason filled in, slapping his knee as he stood up and shoved a pair of sweats in Tim’s hands, “Couldn’t have left with as little bloodshed as we did without your help.”

Tim snorted.

“I’ll take Jason’s, Damian, no need to-”

“Thank you,” Damian ground out, “For your assistance. It was invaluable.”

Tim blinked in surprise, facing Damian’s direction.

Holy shit, that was a real show of gratitude.

“Uh…you’re welcome.”

“Do not push your luck, Drake.”

#batman au #an example of courage #to live with honor and bravery series #blind!Tim #BAMF!Tim #tim drake au #Tim drake #Jason Todd #Damian Wayne #Fanfic #Someone asked how tim fights with his tech #it grew on me and i wrote it #no ragerts

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ephemerensis · 2 years

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Oatmeal Raisin // Jason Todd x GN! Reader

lil fluff piece. platonic! but any kind of relationship can be implied. jason has a lil craving for cookies that you help him out with. tim is allergic to peanuts which idk if that’s canon or not but…

—

As far as you were concerned Jason didn’t like you, not really. He got along with you civilly, certainly. But in all your years of friendship with one Timothy Jackson Drake, you hardly spoke. So you never really got to know Jason the way you got to know the others. At least not at first.

It was difficult to get to know any of them actually. Especially before you were let in on the whole Batman thing, and even after. It was hard for them to open up. And that was fine, because you understood that. And they were trying and you could appreciate that.

Naturally, Dick was the easiest to like and it got even easier when you found out that he was your beloved Nightwing. You were in love with Nightwing; owned all the memorabilia, had postcards of him plastered on your wall, knew his patrol routes as well as a civilian could so that you might just catch a glimpse of your favorite masked crusader. When you learned that you knew him? Dick became the sole recipient of your constant doting and gushing about how cool he looked on TV and what the latest magazine had to say on his relationships, his impacts on Bludhaven and so forth. You both shared a sense of humor, corny dad jokes and all.

Damian was trickier. You weren’t exactly good with children, which was bad enough, but he acted so maturely for his age it was hard for you to not feel intimidated. But as you fell for Titus, he yielded himself slightly. And when you learned that he could be swayed by the promise of a bedtime story (Jane Austen of course), so long as it was offered without condescension, it’d sealed the deal.

You bonded with Stephanie and Cass over disorganizing Tim’s meticulously arranged utility belt and hiding away all his suit capes around the manor. You argued with Babs over which stage of the hero’s journey Bruce was at in his developmental arc. You didn’t galavant the streets with them in search for crime, nor did you share tragic secrets in hushed solemn tones. Being a friend was enough.

Until eventually, you clicked with everyone over time. Everyone but Jason.

That’s not to say you didn’t like him. You admired him in your own way. He was pretty cool. He never missed a shot in training and if you were lucky enough to catch him in a talkative mood he’d teach you about the vital points to aim for or how to break off the safety switch on a gun so it wouldn’t interfere with your performance and throw you off (not a true story, just a hypothetical.) “Essential street smarts.” That was the extent of your interaction.

Until one night, you found him knocking on your window.

How he got your address was another story, probably the same way Tim knew your credit card number or how Cass found your Netflix password, but regardless he was at your window tapping away. You opened it, letting him in.

“Hey… If you’re looking Tim or something, he’s not here.

Jason clambered through the window, taking his hood off and setting it on your kitchen countertop on the way.

“Timberly? No no, I’m not here for that loser. He keeps talking about how much you like baking though, is it true?”

His back was to you as he tugged the gloves off his hands to run his hands under the water from your faucet. He sure knew how to make himself feel at home.

“Yes. Yeah. I do. Why?” Your brows knit in visible confusion as he turned off the water, wiping his hands on the towel you hung off the oven handle.

“You know know how to make oatmeal raisin cookies?”

“I’m sorry? Oatmeal raisin?”

“Yeah. You know how to make them or not?” Turning around, the muscular man crossed his arms, looking down at you from across the room almost condescendingly, like it was a challenge.

“...you know what? I do know how to make oatmeal raisin cookies. Go run and buy raisins, I’ll start on the batter.”

Sure enough, within ten minutes Jason came swinging back through your window with a jumbo bag of raisins. After nagging him for walking through your living room with his boots on and making a quip about how he’d never finish that many raisins, you invited him to the kitchen.

He was a terrible cook. You didn’t know how he succeeded in mistaking flour for sugar, but he managed. After scrapping the first batter he added four extra eggs to and halfway through the second, you kicked him out and took over completely.

“No, I insist. Let me do it, it’s okay. Just sit over there and read a book or twiddle your thumbs or something, please.”

A half hour later, your kitchen was soiled but they were baking. Closing the oven with a satisfied huff, you looked over to Jason as you straightened yourself up.

Jason was watching you. But not in the critical way he fixed his gaze on passerby’s on the street or the hard gaze he’d set on his targets; just watching you. Calloused hands tossed a bullet cartridge between them as his feet swung to and fro from your barstool chair. He looked so boyish, it was almost cute.

“They’ll be done in twelve. Why oatmeal raisin? I’m not judging or anything but I make a mean chocolate chip that blows raisins out of the water.”

A tap sounded as he placed the cartridge down on the marble counter with a shrug.

“S’what my mom used to make.”

Slinking over to the adjacent chair, you took off the oven mitts to rest your face in your palms, looking at him expectantly to continue.

“What? We’re telling stories now?”

“I mean, you almost never talk to me and then you swing in asking for the least popular cookie type to date— I think a story time might be in order.”

“You’re keeping your mouth shut short stack, no one hears any of this.”

Huffing a giggle, you motioned zipping your mouth and flicking away the invisible key as he rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t exactly grow up rich. We’d have oatmeal every other day, mostly because that’s what she could scrape together. Fucking twat I was, couldn’t stand it. Threw a tantrum couple times ‘bout how tired I was of it. So she made oatmeal raisin cookies.”

His gaze was on his hands as he spoke but his eyes seemed to see anything but.

“I don’t want to get into all the details but, no matter how she treated me or raised me, she was still my mother. Afforded me this much kindness. Sometimes I almost miss her. So. Oatmeal raisin cookies.”

Wide eyes watched him, at a loss for words as your mind ran to process a response.

Breaking free from the recesses of his mind, he turned to look at you as he continued.

“Alfred usually makes them, but he’s out of town on business so… just thought I’d swing by I guess.”

The beep of the oven took you out of the trance.

Blinking, you stood. Clapping your hands together and reaching for the oven mitts.

“Well! I don’t know how good hers were, but mine are pretty hard to beat.”

Pulling the tray out of the oven, you let them cool a moment as you sought out a plate. Transferring them over, you slid it in his direction with a smug smile.

“Yeah, nothing beats Alfred’s, bud.”

He brought one to his nose, taking an obnoxiously loud whiff, cocking an eyebrow almost animatedly.

“6/10, more cinnamon could’ve been in order.”

“It’s not my fault you dropped like half my jar in the first batch!”

“Don’t yell at your food critic. Three point deduction.”

You scoffed, crossing your arms, “my apologies, my liege.”

Without missing a beat, he’d managed to shove the entire cookie in his mouth in one bite with the same cocky arrogance he’d held before. Mid chew, he stopped, looking at you in bewilderment before reaching for another one.

“What the fuck did you put in this?”

You burst out grinning, “Love, rainbows, and cyanide, it’s a secret recipe.”

If he heard you, he didn’t acknowledge it; scarfing down another with hesitation. Not that you minded. His usually stoic, suave, aura paled in the way his face lit up.

Between the two of you (mostly him), three tray fulls evaporated in the span of half an hour.

Packing up the last few batches you’d prepped and insisting he take the raisins home, you handed him a bag to see him off with.

“These got any nuts by any chance?”

“I used peanut butter, yes.”

“Thank you for your service, I will be passing on some to Tim.”

You snorted, “You’re not killing my best friend.”

With his hood back on, bag in hand, he clambered halfway out your window before turning his head back towards you.

“...can I come back for these? When Alfred’s busy that is.”

It caught you off guard.

“Yeah. No yeah, absolutely! Whenever you want. I’ll keep my window unlocked.”

“Not in this city you’re not.”

—

if you guys read the Last Cup of Coffee fic sgdjdd this was a deleted segment because i wanted to focus more on Tim 😭😭 recycling content at its finest tbh

#jason todd x you #jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd fluff #tim drake #tim drake fanfic #batman #dc #red robin #damian wayne #dick grayson #jason todd fanfiction #red hood #red hood fluff #red hood x reader #red hood fic #batboy fluff

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johnathan-pastry · 2 months

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Did the gang ever make it to uni ??? NO

Will they ever????? NAH

Would most them go to college if they could? LOL NO

Anyways here's my highly unrealistic hc of what these fuckers would major in :3

Darry: i wanna say carpentery but i genuinely feel like he hates his job and if he had the chance to go to college he would pick something like business that has a high money outturn, he's also ba da psshhhh on the football team, he's.. he's there to play football

Sodapop: switched his major like 3 times, ended up on sociology, wants to work in human services

Ponyboy: Literature 🧍🧍

Two-Bit: graphic design 💯💯🔥 he was NOT prepared for the work load of studio classes but enjoys the college life

Steve: Engineering, he was soo excited to get to work with the expensive technology the Uni funds and labs

Dally💀: zoology, argue with a wall

Johnny: computer science and game dev (bcs thats my majors𓆏)

Ermmm

Tim: studio art but he would never tell anyone, its canon in the show he learned how to draw in jail and i am grasping onto this concept, his favorite medium is charcoal

Curly: music, he focus's on punk, he plays electric guitar and before he had the money for that he would use free or cheap audio software

Angela: biomedical engineering, she's always had an interest in medicine and skincare. She also shows up to her STEM classes in the most amazing and cvnty outfits known to mankind, outta spite

EXTRA: johnny and PB would be designing an indie game, Pony writes, storyboard, designs characters, and johnny codes it 🙏

Then Pony BEGS curly to help with music for it cause boys do not wanna get copy written

And well ponys good at writing but cant draw, so tim gets pulled into this debacle and he's bitching and moaning the whole time but secretly enjoys working on it

Then two bit gets wrapped into this for over all design and marketing and ends up using the work into for like 3 class projects

And in then end its this mess of fucking NERDS who do not look like they belong together working on this

#johnnycakes thoughts #this got way longer than i intended #the outsiders #dallas winston #tim shepard #curly shepard #ponyboy curtis #sodapop curtis #twobit mathews #darry curtis #steve randle #angela shepard #johnny cade

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mariacallous · 1 month

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Back in 2022 at the annual Code Conference, where tech luminaries submit to onstage interviews, an audience member asked Apple CEO Tim Cook for some tech support. “I can��t send my mom certain videos,” he said; she used an Android device, which means she can't access Apple’s iMessage. Cook’s now-infamous response: “Buy your mom an iPhone.”

Cook’s remark and Apple’s recent decision to block the third-party app Beeper from bridging the Android-to-iMessage interoperability chasm are two of the many examples of allegedly monopolistic behavior cited in the US government’s antitrust suit against Apple. Central to the case is Apple’s practice of “locking in” iPhone customers by undermining competing apps, using its proprietary messaging protocol as glue, and generally making it challenging for people to switch to other phones.

Those accusations are backed up by lawyerly references to the Sherman Act. But the complaint also shows the Department of Justice crafting a cultural narrative, trying to tell a technology tale with a clear message—like an episode of the crime drama Dragnet, says antitrust expert William Kovacic, who teaches at George Washington University and King’s College, London.

The Apple antitrust lawsuit, filed Thursday by the DOJ and more than a dozen state attorneys general, claims that in addition to degrading the quality of third-party apps, Apple “affirmatively undermines the quality of rival smartphones.” Because messages sent between iPhones via Apple’s proprietary network appear in blue bubbles, but those from Android phones appear in green and are excluded from many iMessage features, Apple has signaled to consumers that rival phones are of less quality, the suit alleges.

The suit includes references to the negative cultural and emotional impact of the restrictiveness of some Apple products. It ranges beyond the typical antitrust case, in which investigators might focus on supracompetitive pricing or the conditions of corporate deals that restrict competition. The core of US antitrust cases has long been proving consumers paid higher prices as a result of anticompetitive practices. But a few key paragraphs within the 88-page filing mention the exclusion and social shaming of non-iPhone users confined inside green chat bubbles, distinguishing this case from some of the more recondite explanations of tech market competition in recent years.

“Many non-iPhone users also experience social stigma, exclusion, and blame for ‘breaking’ chats where other participants use iPhones,” the suit reads. It goes on to note that this is particularly powerful for certain demographics, like teenagers, who The Wall Street Journal reported two years ago “dread the ostracism” that comes with having an Android phone.

The DOJ argues that all of this reinforces the switching costs that Apple has baked into its phones. Apple is so dominant in the smartphone market not because its phones are necessarily better, the suit alleges, but because it has made communicating on other smartphones worse, thereby making it harder for consumers to give up their iPhones.

Legal experts say this social stigma argument will need much stronger support to hold up in court, because it doesn’t fit with traditional definitions of antitrust. “What is Apple actually precluding here? It’s almost like a coolness factor when a company successfully creates a network effect for itself, and I’ve never seen that integrated into an antitrust claim before,” says Paul Swanson, a litigation partner at Holland & Hart LLP in Denver, Colorado, who focuses on technology and antitrust. “This is going to be an interesting case for antitrust law.”

Regardless, the DOJ’s complaint builds a powerful message from the cacophony of consumer voices that have vented frustrations with iMessage’s lack of interoperability in recent years. And it’s part of a broader, democratizing theme introduced by Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, says Kovacic, who previously served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission. “Kanter basically said, ‘We’re trying to make this body of law accessible to ordinary human beings and take it away from the technicians,’” Kovacic says. “Storytelling is overstated in some ways, but my sense is that a lot of work went into this filing.”

Apple has rejected the DOJ’s allegations. In an earlier statement to WIRED, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said that the lawsuit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets” and added that its products work “seamlessly” together and “protect people’s privacy and security.”

Cultural arguments about the harms of the iPhone’s stickiness will resonate with a lot of consumers, even if they end up being legally indefensible. Blue bubble vs. green bubble messaging has become a much more mainstream debate that transcends the wonky, technical underpinnings of iMessage’s protocol. Apple has also consistently boasted of iPhone and iMessage’s tight security, while seemingly denying third-party apps—such as Beeper—the ability to offer a similar level of security between iPhones and Android phones.

Apple has suggested that the design of iMessage is not anticompetitive, because iPhone users can install and use any third-party messaging app they please, as long as it’s available in the App Store. Apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Signal can all be installed on iPhones and give messages sent from users on Android or iPhone equal treatment.

The DOJ takes aim at that, too, saying that these other apps first require opt-in from consumers on both sides of a conversation because they form closed systems of their own. And the case points out that Apple hasn’t given app developers any technical means of accessing the iPhone messaging APIs that would allow SMS-like, cross-platform, “text to anyone” functions from those apps.

Swanson says he still believes Apple has been careful to take the necessary steps to legally preserve consumer choice, which is one of the fundamental principles in US antitrust law. “You probably can’t do sophisticated messaging on a T9 phone these days,” he says, referencing the predictive text system that dominated before the iPhone popularized touchscreens. “But there are plenty of other options in the market that won’t deprive you of a network effect.”

Kovacic believes that as the case continues, the DOJ will have to bring forward new evidence and arguments to stand up the cultural aspects of its suit. That could involve tapping theories of economics and the psychology of human behavior to attempt to explain why some technology consumers may unconsciously favor certain products they are emotionally attached to. More likely, he says, the DOJ will have to present contemporaneous business notes that show Apple’s anxiety about competitive apps or emerging technologies, and how the company responded in apparently dubious ways.

One way the DOJ tries to stand up its allegations is by comparing Apple to an earlier antitrust target: Microsoft. In a historic antitrust case filed in 1998, the DOJ presented evidence that Bill Gates’ company was fearful that software like the Netscape browser could weaken the market power of Windows, Kovacic says.

Steven Sinofsky, a former longtime Microsoft executive, wrote in a highly charged blog post on Saturday that he suspects many of the suit’s arguments about Apple’s products will prove to be irrelevant. “Almost all of the [DOJ-Apple] battles will end up being about the terms and conditions of contracts which is the stuff lawyers and courts are good at, and not on product design,” he wrote. “The vast majority of the settlement in the Microsoft case ended up being terms and conditions licensing Windows.”

In other words, the DOJ has shown some of its cards in this initial complaint—and told a story that will resonate with many frustrated smartphone users. But to keep the case alive the agency will have to present additional, concrete, evidence that Apple’s anxieties about its products being devalued led it to act in ways that caused actual harm. If the DOJ wants to make the case against Apple as historic as the one against Microsoft it will have to prove, as Kovacic puts it, “that the anecdotes aren’t just storytelling.”

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chachacancan · 1 year

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I’ve seen some great batfam sports!au, like hockey players and ice dancers, and then some.

And you know what? I have something to offer you, the small niche of intersectional fans of both the batfam and Formula 1. There’s like three of us on here but I’m making this for us.

The batfam, but make it F1 🏎️:

Bruce: Used to be a driver, now team principal. Most definitely Mercedes. His team has been dominant for so long, and they’re an established, respected name in the sport. (He is def. Toto Wolff. Have you ever seen the actual Toto Wolff? He could be batman I kid you not.). He appointed Barbara as Mercedes’ main race-strategist, and Alfred, who used to be Bruce’s PR rep when he was a driver, is now Dick and Damian’s.

Dick: Is Bruce’s number one driver. Multiple times world champion, likeable loveable fashion forward superstar (your Lewis Hamilton type). He’s been there a long time and has seen it all. He’s loyal to his team and plans to remain there until he retires. He’s one of the last of the old guard.

Tim: Is Bruce’s second driver for a season when Jason’s contract is broken. Arrived directly from F2 with a lot of potential but not a lot of experience. The pressure was immense, especially to replace Jason Todd and drive alongside an established world champion, and while he did well for his rookie season, he was not what the team was looking for for a second driver. He is remanded to a back-of-the-field team affiliated with Mercedes while he grows and improves. Tim to Williams is what I’m saying.

Stephanie: Steph is a development driver for Mercedes for a few years before she gets her big break and is announced for Williams to drive alongside Tim. A bit reckless, a bit too quick on the restarts. She gets a lot of flack for hitting the walls a few times but she’s a fighter and she gets results.

Cassandra: Arguably one of the best on the grid, she starts her rookie year with a midfield team before immediately being poached by Ferrari. (In my head she is very much a Charles Leclerc type - kind of shy, kind of awkward, but real kind and a menace on the circuit). PR darling and generally well-liked, she manages to be one of the more aggressive drivers on track without the usual “reckless driver” allegations.

Damian: The second Mercedes driver alongside Dick. Originally picked straight out of F3 by Red Bull and sent to Alpha Tauri, their junior team - Bruce and Mercedes definitely bought the hell out of his contract (in my head Ra’s is the Red Bull team principal and Talia is Alpha Tauri’s) after his first year and brought him in to replace Tim. He’s one of the youngest drivers on the grid, and he has a reputation of being dangerous in wheel-to-wheel battles.

Jason: Used to be Dick’s teammate at Mercedes and even won a world championship against him (for those who are in the know: I’m not saying Jason is the Nico Rosberg to Dick’s Lewis Hamilton, but he did beat him in equal machinery, so…), but left the sport for two seasons after a bad crash. People were very surprised to see him back in F1 driving for Red Bull for a year before switching to that second Ferrari seat. (Come one: I had to give that Ferrari Rosso Corsa to a guy whose helmet is bright red).

Duke: A McLaren driver through and through: papaya orange shirt merchant and general internet celebrity. One of the more well-liked drivers on the grid. He used to briefly be in Alpine but was courted by other midfield teams when his contract ended, and has now been in McLaren for a few years. Definitely the F1 video games ambassador and an unforgettable presence in the Netflix F1 documentary/soap opera series.

Feel free to argue your batfamily member/F1 team opinions in the notes, just know that I will not 🙅🏻‍♀️take any Ferrari slander😤. Trust me I know what that makes me 🤡

#batman #batfamily #batfam #bruce wayne #dick grayson #tim drake #damian wayne #jason todd #red hood #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #duke thomas #robin #red robin #f1 #formula 1

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a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all · 2 years

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Seeing Red

Fandom: DC, Batman, Batfam, Superman

Word Count: 2069

TW: Whump, Pain, Reader Death, Mind Control, Drugged, Angst

Part 1 of Seeing Colors: Seeing Red, Seeing Green, Seeing Blue (Coming Soon)

Bonus: Seeing Red (Alt. POV)

As you ran across the Metropolis rooftop, you couldn’t help but think about how different this place was compared to Gotham. Here, everything was bright and full of life, whereas back home, even in the day the city was bleak and gloomy. These differences were perfectly represented by each city’s hero as well. As Superman, Clark was an uplifting, positive presence that spread hope throughout the world. Your father on the other hand….. his Batman persona was a dark, menacing presence that inspired fear wherever he went. Of course, you never saw him that way. Even when you were little and he first adopted his new nighttime identity, you always just saw your father behind the cowl. Which is why you could never bring yourself to call him anything else. It was always simply Dad. Never Batman, never Bruce. Just Dad.

“Y/N.”

Speak of the devil. You put a hand to your ear, answering the hail on the comms. “Yeah, Dad. No sign of him yet.”

“Well, be careful and stay alert. There is no telling what he might do in this state.”

“We know, you told us.” Jason grumbles. Then switching frequencies so your father is no longer part of the conversation, he continues. “But come on, it’s not like the boy scout would really hurt any of us.”

“You weren’t there last time, Jay. This stuff is bad news.” Dick sounds worried as he chimes in. “It alters his mind into a completely different person. Bruce and I were barely able to snap him out of it last time.”

“But this time we have the antidote. We just have to get close enough.” Tim interjects.

“And just how are you planning to do that?” you ask.

“Distraction. That’s why I wanted to be paired with the Demon Spawn. I was going to use him as a projectile and throw him.” Jason states matter-of-factly.

“Tt, I heard that, Todd!” Damian spat from his end of the comms.

“You were supposed to. That’s why I said it on the group frequency.”

You rub your temples in annoyance as you cut Damian off before he can retaliate. “Guys! Come on! Your bickering is bad enough in person. I don’t need it vibrating in my eardrums.”

Everyone quietly mumbles a half-hearted apology. You had thought you had finally found the perfect configuration to reduce arguing when splitting up the teams: Dick and Damian together, Jason and Tim together, and you and your father going solo. However, you had sorely underestimated their professionalism when it came to the comms. You love your brothers immensely, but they really know how to get on your last nerve.

Suddenly, Tim’s panicked voice cracks over your comms. “He’s here! Jason, watch out! We need backup now! Please-” You hear a loud cry of pain as the line goes dead.

Frantically, you take off running across the rooftop you are currently standing on. After grappling down to the street below, you sprint as quickly as you can towards your brothers’ location. Turning the last corner, you immediately dive out of the way as Jason is flung roughly against the wall, inches from where you were just standing. Bending down to check on your brother, you see his helmet has been smashed open but he seems relatively okay if not slightly dazed. You turn back to face Jason’s assailant and come face to face with Superman.

You had never personally seen Clark infected with Red Kryptonite before, but Dick had told you stories. But nothing he told you could have prepared you for seeing it with your own eyes. The man before you was not the Clark you knew so well. This wasn’t the man who had babysat you when you were a child or took you flying whenever you asked or gave you advice about your family. No, this was now a man who would kill you and every member of your family just because he could. As evident by the way he had hurled Jason against the brick wall or how he was currently chasing after Tim with his laser vision.

Though not as skilled of an acrobat as Dick, Tim was doing an impressive job of flipping and spinning out of the way of Superman’s blasts. However, while it seems as though your brother had managed to dodge most of the direct shots, his Red Robin suit is littered with scorch marks and his arm dangled limply at his side, probably dislocated if not broken. Tim finally notices your arrival and signals you. He wants you to go along with Jason’s plan but use him as the distraction.

You hate leaving Tim in the line of fire, but you know he is right. At the moment, Superman is solely focused on him, not even registering your presence. It is probably the best chance any of you will get to surprise the Man of Steel. Slipping your hand into your pocket, you grip the small vial each of you had been given. Ever since the last time Clark had been exposed to Red Kryptonite, your father had been working on an antidote to reverse the effects. Supposedly all someone needed to do was to get Clark to inhale some of the gas contained inside the vial. That theory had never been tested but, considering there was no other option, you had to trust your father knew what he was doing. He usually did.

But just then, Tim slips and tumbles helplessly to the ground. Superman approaches him slowly, hovering a foot above the ground as his eyes begin to glow red. Tim looks at you, frantic and scared. You know you are too far away to reach him in time, so you do the only thing you can think of. Scooping up a rock as you ran, you hurl it as hard as you can at the back of Superman’s head. It bounces off harmlessly, but it does the job. As Superman whips around to face you, you silently curse to yourself. You really didn’t think through what to do next, but you know you have to do whatever it takes to protect your brothers. Oh man, this is gonna suck.

Putting on your bravest, most confident face, you yell, “Hey, Supes, you think you’re so tough? Well, why don’t you try me on for size.”

Just as you hoped, Superman soars angrily towards you. However, while you had planned on dodging at the last second and spraying him with the antidote as he rushed by, he anticipates this move and manages to grab the front of your suit just as you start to cartwheel out of the way.

With you firmly in his grasp, Superman blasts up hundreds of feet into the air. You scramble to keep ahold of the vial, waiting for a chance to use it. As he finally slows your ascent, a smile flits across your lips as you raise your arm – and Superman’s fist slams into your chest, bursting through armor, skin, and bone. You look down in horrified disbelief to see the spot, right in the middle of your bat insignia, where his wrist disappears into you, his fingers brushing violently against your heart and lungs as they are buried in your chest cavity. Pain rolls through your body as you struggle to catch your breath. You weakly grasp his arm as you slump forward, this action just driving his fist deeper into you. Blood begins to drip from your gaping mouth and your vision blurs. Somewhere far below, you can hear all four of your brothers screaming your name. You guess Dick and Damian must have arrived at some point during your skyward flight. But there is nothing they can do to help you while you dangle so far above their heads.

The Kryptonite-crazed Superman just sneers at your limp form as he scoffs, “Not so tough now, are you little girl. Any last words before I rip your heart from your chest?”

You weakly raise your head to stare into the eyes of the man who was like family to you. They were burning red and filled with a hateful rage that you never imagined you would see on his face. Your lips softly move, but no sound comes out. Superman pauses, seemingly amused you are still coherent enough to take him up on his offer, and he leans closer to try to make out what you are struggling to say. Drawing up the last of your strength, you slam the vial (which is still clutched in your hand) directly into his face. He roars and shakes his head in surprise and distress. But after a few seconds, thankfully, you see the red slowly drain from his eyes until all that you see staring back at you is the oh so familiar blue.

“Cl-Clark?” you manage to choke out.

“Y/N?” he asks, trying to get his bearings. It is only then that he realizes his hand is still buried in your chest. “Oh my god! Y/N!” He tries to carefully remove it, but your howl of agony stops him immediately. He pulls you into his chest and floats down until he can lay you gently on the grass. Your head lolls to the side, your body too weak to hold it up anymore. From this angle, you can see Dick half supporting, half-restraining Jason as he struggles to get to you. Tim is frantically speaking into his comms with a hand resting firmly on Damian’s shoulder as your youngest brother just stands stoically, eyes never leaving your wilted form. It is better this way. They don’t need to see the damage up close. Please don’t let this be the version of me seared in their brains for all eternity.

Clark hovers above you as he tries to assess the extent of your injuries, hand still residing in your chest. You struggle for a moment but finally manage to softly mumble, “Dad…. where’s my….dad?”

“He’s on his way. Just hold on.” Clark lightly runs his free hand over your hair to sooth you just like he used to when you were a child.

“Not you– don’t blame….”

Tears fill Clark’s eyes as he stares down at you. You know that he will still blame himself for what happened, but you want him to know that you understand it wasn’t really him. That you knew he would never hurt you. There was so much else you want to say, but you are struggling to fight off unconsciousness at this point. You want nothing more than to give in, but you know there is a good chance that if you let the darkness claim you, you will never wake up.

Suddenly, you hear a familiar rustle of a cape and two black boots step into your field of vision.

“Hi….. Dad….”

Your father kneels down next to you and tenderly cups your cheek in his hand. As he tilts your face up to him, he murmurs, “Hey, babybat. It’s going to be okay. Help is on the way.”

“Wow, thing….not good.…if you using tha- tone” you try to chuckle but it comes out as a ragged cough, your whole body shuttering with the effort. Your words have started slurring as each breath becomes more and more difficult. You slowly reach up and thumb the edge of your father’s cowl. He understands immediately and rips it from his face, tossing it aside. You smile softly as you stare at his bare face, running your thumb lightly against his jawline. He reaches up and covers your hand with his. Glancing slightly over his shoulder to where your brothers were still waiting, you whisper, “Please….take…care of……..them….They’ll need…..you…..” Your father doesn’t answer but he curtly nods once.

You hear a vehicle approaching but you don’t have the strength to look. Clark and your father are arguing above you about what to do but it sounds like they are in a far-distant tunnel. The world is fading to black around you and each breath is getting fewer and farther between. You gently tap your thumb once against your father’s face to get his attention. His eyes fly to you instantly.

Mustering whatever strength you have left, you manage to force out, “Thank you…..for….the life….you gave….me. I don-don’t…. regret a sec– of it……..” Your hand slips from your father’s face just as the darkness finally swallows you.

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a-reader-and-a-writer · 3 years

Text

Seeing Red

Whumptober 2021: #13. "This is Gonna Suck", #22. (It) Made Me Do It, #29. Too Weak to Move

Fandom: DC, Batman, Batfam, Superman

Word Count: 2069

The sequel to this is Seeing Green, Seeing Red (Alt POV)

“Y/N.”

Speak of the devil. You put a hand to your ear, answering the hail on the comms. “Yeah, Dad. No sign of him yet.”

“Well, be careful and stay alert. There is no telling what he might do in this state.”

“But this time we have the antidote. We just have to get close enough.” Tim interjects.

“And just how are you planning to do that?” you ask.

“Distraction. That’s why I wanted to be paired with the Demon Spawn. I was going to use him as a projectile and throw him.” Jason states matter-of-factly.

“Tt, I heard that, Todd!” Damian spat from his end of the comms.

“You were supposed to. That’s why I said it on the group frequency.”

You rub your temples in annoyance as you cut Damian off before he can retaliate. “Guys! Come on! Your bickering is bad enough in person. I don’t need it vibrating in my eardrums.”

Suddenly, Tim’s panicked voice cracks over your comms. “He’s here! Jason, watch out! We need backup now! Please-” You hear a loud cry of pain as the line goes dead.

Putting on your bravest, most confident face, you yell, “Hey, Supes, you think you’re so tough? Well, why don’t you try me on for size.”

The Kryptonite-crazed Superman just sneers at your limp form as he scoffs, “Not so tough now, are you little girl. Any last words before I rip your heart from your chest?”

“Cl-Clark?” you manage to choke out.

“He’s on his way. Just hold on.” Clark lightly runs his free hand over your hair to sooth you just like he used to when you were a child.

“Not you– don’t blame….”

Suddenly, you hear a familiar rustle of a cape and two black boots step into your field of vision.

“Hi….. Dad….”

Your father kneels down next to you and tenderly cups your cheek in his hand. As he tilts your face up to him, he murmurs, “Hey, babybat. It’s going to be okay. Help is on the way.”

“Wow, thing….not good.…if you using tha- tone” you try to chuckle but it comes out as a ragged cough, your whole body shuttering with the effort. Your words have started slurring as each breath becomes more and more difficult. You slowly reach up and thumb the edge of your father’s cowl. He understands immediately and rips it from his face, tossing it aside. You smile softly as you stare at his bare face, running your thumb lightly against his jawline. He reaches up and covers your hand with his. Glancing slightly over his shoulder to where your brothers were still waiting, you whisper, “Please….take...care of……..them….They’ll need…..you…..” Your father doesn’t answer but he curtly nods once.

#whumptober2021 #no.13 #no.22 #no.29 #this is gonna suck #they made me do it #too weak to move #fic #batman #batfam #superman #batfam x reader #batfam x you #whumptober 2021 #dc #dc x reader

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celerywrites · 2 years

Text

Snow Day

Jason Todd x gender neutral reader

Agreeing to a snowball fight with an entire family of vigilantes was not your smartest idea, but it seems Damian and Steph have a plan.

Once you're chilled to the bone, you head inside with your favorite boys for a movie marathon, and things change in ways you've only dreamed of.

No pronouns are used for the reader. Reader is best friends with Dick Grayson and has been crushing on Jason Todd for months.

In retrospect, agreeing to a snowball fight with the Wayne family when you know all of their secret identities was a really, really stupid idea. It had sounded fun and maybe even a bit romantic at first, but then, you'd let your desire for intimacy cloud your knowledge of just how brutal the siblings can get when they play literally any sort of game.

It had started out simple enough, fifteen minutes to pick teams and build up walls and stockpiles of snowballs in the yard. There'd been a small argument over whose team you were on, which was flattering considering you're definitely the least athletic of the group involved. Jason and Dick had almost begun to scuffle over it when Damian appeared at your side and simply led you to where Duke was standing a ways away, completing his team. Once you were out of earshot of the others, he grinned that dangerous grin and said, "Neither Grayson or Todd will attack you full on. Having you on our team gives an interesting advantage."

You watch as the other teams form, Steph and Cass paired up from the start, Tim joining them soon after. This leaves Dick and Jay standing together awkwardly as they realize you've already been snagged. The two frown deeply at each other until Dick extends a hand for Jay to shake. With the handshake done, they get down to business fortifying their section of the yard.

Eventually you end up hunkered down behind a wall of snow with Damian and Duke. You and Duke chat casually as you build up a stock of snowballs, but it's clear Damian is taking things far more seriously than either of you, planning a full battle strategy. You just hope he won't get too mad if you can't keep up. The cold is already seeping into your fingers through your gloves, and you regret buying such a cheap pair. In your defense, you hadn't expected to have any snowball fights when you got them.

Across the yard, the 15-minute timer goes off on Steph's phone, signaling the end of preparations and the start of the battle. You peek out over the top of your bunker to see what sort of fortifications the two other teams have made and immediately get a mouth full of snow as Cass gets a direct hit with the first snowball of the match. You hunch back down and scrub your face with the end of your scarf before looking to Damian.

"So what's our plan?"

"You're going to distract Grayson and Todd," he says firmly, giving you no room to argue. "While they are distracted, everyone will converge on their location."

"Okay, wait, back up. Distract how? And when you say everyone, that's... just you and Duke. Isn't the point of this to engage both other teams in the fight from a distance?"

The grin Damian gives in response is almost feral, and he pulls out his phone to show you a group chat containing everyone except Jason and Dick, where the entire scenario has already been planned. It was never an all-out snowball fight. Steph, Cass, and Tim are your allies, and everyone is going to bury the two oldest brothers in snow.

"Both of them like you a great deal. Say you want to switch teams, and they will believe you. You may pretend I have been saying rude things to you about your skills in combat. When you are ready, throw a snowball towards our fort. It won't go as far, so we will know it is you. Then restrain either Todd or Grayson, whichever one you think you can handle."

"This better work," you mutter, readying yourself to charge across the yard. You practice your best pleading face, and Duke laughs when he sees. "You all owe me some fancy snacks after this. If this goes wrong, I'm the one who's gonna get a face full of snow again."

"You'll do great," Duke promises. "Don't worry, we'll provide cover fire, but nobody should hit you too hard while you run. Hopefully..."

"Tell that to Cass," you laugh, not actually mad. Before he can respond, you take off, ducking as low as you can as you scurry across the yard to Dick and Jason's wall. It's taller than the one your team had built, which makes sense considering who's behind it. Both men look startled and raise snowballs to throw at you, but you raise your hands to show you're unarmed as you slide around the wall and onto your knees beside them.

"Wait, wait, I just wanted to switch teams!" you say quickly, and Dick blinks in surprise.

"Why? And is that even allowed?" He looks at you with mixed suspicion and tamped-down joy, wanting to believe you but not sure if he should.

"Duke said he understood if I wanted to. Ever since I started to help build up the wall and our snowball stash, Damian's been a little jerk talking about how I'm the worst fighter out here. He was the one that picked me for his team, but he said he only did it because he thought you guys wouldn't go all out against me. I figured I'd have more fun if I joined your team, and if I'm lucky I might be able to hit him as well."

Your answer seems to satisfy them, and you tuck yourself in the warm spot between them. Jason runs colder than Dick, but his body still provides a nice barrier from the wind. You bide your time building more snowballs for them until they let their guard down, laughing as someone from Steph, Tim, and Cass's direction manages to hit the top of Dick's head.

Once you think enough time has passed for suspicion to drop, you lob a snowball towards your former team's base. The chaos begins seconds later as you turn towards Jason and wrap him in a tight embrace that stops him in his tracks. Dick turns to ask what you're doing, but before he can get the words out there's the rapid sound of muffled footsteps in snow, and the rest of the family is upon you.

Jason realizes what's going on and throws you off of him, depositing you harmlessly into the snow off to one side as Cass and Duke hail a fury of snowballs down on him.

Damian and Tim are doing the same to Dick, but Steph is nowhere to be seen. You sit up and look around for her, but find yourself hauled up by strong arms and held against a familiar chest. Jason is using you as a human shield, you realize, his back pressed to the wall of snow he and Dick created. You squirm and try to break his hold, but Jay is much stronger than you, and you huff out a cloudy breath.

"Oh, so you can cling to me, but I can't cling to you?" he asks, voice rich and deep in your ear. A shiver runs through you that has nothing to do with the cold, and Jason chuckles behind you. You struggle harder in his grip, not wanting your crush to be evident in front of the entire family, but Jason simply pulls you tighter against him.

"I can't believe you betrayed me and Dick like this! I thought we were your best friends," he cries out, voice theatrical and full of feigned heartbreak. "You have broken my heart, but I will have my revenge!" Suddenly there is a gap between your bodies, and you think it's your chance to escape, but then there's a cold hand forcing even colder snow down the back of your shirt and you yelp like you've been shot.

Your cry alerts the others from where they've been dogpiling on Dick to bury him in snow, and although late, your rescue does come, complete with full hostage negotiations and the promise of cocoa.

By the time you all call it quits, your nose and fingers are numb and your back is entirely too cold from where the snow melted after Jason shoved it down your shirt.

Once everyone has stripped off their outerwear, you all file into the kitchen, following the smell of hot cocoa and cider. Alfred gives you all an amused look as you fill mugs and small groups break off to different rooms.

You end up curled up on the couch with Jason and Dick to marathon the Lord of the Rings trilogy, although another argument almost breaks out when Dick says he prefers The Hobbit movies. The only reason Jason doesn't launch himself across the couch is because he has his feet shoved under you to warm his toes. Since his death, he runs cold, and although it's not the most comfortable sitting position, it's one you allow because you are nothing if not soft for him.

Every time you glance at Dick he just gives you a knowing look, and you swear before the movie marathon is through you're going to have to kill him, because there's no way Jason isn't seeing it too.

Midway through The Two Towers, Dick says he's going to take a shower because he's still cold from being buried in snow. It's absolute bullshit, because you're sitting close enough to feel that he's a human furnace like always. It's a deliberate ploy to leave you and Jason alone together, and all three of you know it.

The atmosphere of the room shifts almost as soon as he's gone. You're still sitting on Jason's feet with him facing you, his knees brought up to his chest and one arm thrown across the back of the couch. He shifts to sit up and face the television, pulling a blanket off the back of the couch and holding it up with a grin.

"No snow down the back of your shirt this time, just cuddles," he promises. You give a small nod and shuffle closer until you're sitting hip to hip, thigh to thigh. Jason drapes the blanket across both of your laps and very slowly wraps his arm around you, glancing at you repeatedly out of the corner of his eye to see if you protest or look uncomfortable. You smile back, your heart drumming so loud in your chest that you're sure he can hear it as you settle your head on his shoulder.

You go back to watching the movie, just pressed into each others' sides. It's nearly an hour later that you see Dick hovering just outside the door, hair completely dry and still wearing the same clothes as before. He did not take a shower. He never intended to. You are going to murder him if he does not walk away right now.

Jason apparently has the same thought, because when you sneak a glance at him he's glaring daggers at Dick. Your eyes meet, and you have to stifle a laugh because the situation is so, so stupid. You're both feeling the same thing, both hesitating to make a move, and both thinking about killing Dick Grayson if he doesn't stop being so damn nosy.

Dick walks away, grinning victoriously, and you groan as you press your face further into Jason's shoulder. "He's going to be insufferable after this. At least we weren't making out when he came back to check on us."

Jay's brows shoot up at that, and he grins at you. "I dunno, I think the enjoyment of making out with you might win out over my frustration with Dick." You go to give him a playful shove, but you end up with your hand pressed to his chest, just feeling the rapid pounding of his heart, and you realize it's less a joke and more wishful thinking.

Your eyes meet and for a moment there's nothing but the sound of your pulse in your ears and your breathing, too heavy for having done nothing but cuddle up with your crush for a few hours. The movie is entirely forgotten as you turn to face Jason fully, movements slow and cautious as if you might scare him off.

Quick as a blink, his lips are on yours and his arms have tugged you into his lap. The kiss is gentle, but Jay is acting like he can't get enough contact with you, like he can't be close enough, as if he wants you to melt into him completely. So you do. You anchor him to you with one hand at the back of his head and the other at his lower back, hot as a brand against his chilled skin. You kiss him with all the pent up feelings from months of pining, and he returns it ounce for ounce.

You groan when Jason's tongue swipes against your lips, opening for him eagerly so he can lick into your mouth. From then, it's just learning the taste of each other and what little actions earn big reactions. You find that Jason likes it when you nip at his bottom lip. He finds he can make you shiver by pressing a kiss to the sensitive skin behind your ear.

You only pull apart when you hear Tim's voice as he enters the room. "Hey, I heard you guys were watchi-- oh holy shit, nope, never mind, bye."

After that the mood is ruined, and you simply slump in Jason's lap, your face buried against his chest even though the position is awful for your back and hips. He chuckles and runs a soothing hand in circles across your back.

"So I assume between Dick and Tim your whole family's going to know we're together before dinner," you say, your words muffled by the fabric of Jason's sweater.

His face lights up as he looks down at you, and his palms against your cheeks lift your face to look at him. "We're together?" he asks, voice reverent and full of wonder, as if he's just received the best gift of his life.

"I mean, I thought-- Since we've both been crushing on each other pretty hard, I figured..." you're losing your nerve, even though he seems delighted at the idea. "Do you want to be? Together, I mean."

"Yes," he answers, quick and with a certainty that sets your heart fluttering again. And neither of you speak again for a while, because his lips are back on yours.

#jason todd #jason todd x reader #gender neutral reader #reader insert

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soulmate-game · 4 years

Text

Well that happened.

B!dbwm 2020

Day 6: Meeting the Justice League

Marinette paced in her bedroom in Wayne Manor, running her hands through her hair as Damian laid on her bed and played animal crossing while completely ignoring her freakout.

“Dami, how did I get myself into this mess?!” she asked, frantically pulling at her pigtails. Her brother snorted, rolling his eyes unsympathetically.

“You never use your brain until after you’ve already made important decisions,” he responded ruthlessly. “All of your mental capacity goes towards planning out completely inane things like birthday parties and actually caring about what our even more idiotic class thinks about you, so when you actually need it you don’t have any intelligence left to spare.”

Marinette turned her eyes on him, the blue lightening to an icy color in her panicked annoyance as she glared at him. “Gee, thanks. I can always trust my darling brother to have my back,” she said sarcastically, to which Damian only smirked.

“When it matters? Of course. But in this case, watching the fallout will be entertaining and not at all dangerous to your physical safety.”

Damian and Marinette had been sent to live in Paris a few years back, about a year after Damian had come back to life. Marinette had been far too attached to the twin she had thought she had lost for good, and had nearly driven him crazy with how overprotective she had gotten. Right alongside that, Damian had started to become even more stifled by Bruce’s own protectiveness and distrust of him, so he quit being Robin and they were sent to PAris to try and “recover” from their “trauma” somewhere “safe and peaceful, under the jurisdiction of the JLE.”

Yeah, that was a great idea. Up until they found out the hard way that the JLE had up and abandoned the Paris headquarters and taken up unofficial residence in England somewhere. And then Hawkmoth showed up. And of course, of fucking course, an old chinese man from the pacifistic organization that acted as a direct foil to the League where they grew up somehow decided that they, out of everyone in Paris, were the best people he could find to wield the power of tiny gods to save the city.

Sure, he was right, but Damian chewed him a new asshole as soon they met for trusting complete unvetted strangers with the gods of creation and destruction.

And now Marinette had finally managed to leak to Tim, who then spread the calculated slip of information to Bruce, that Paris had had a supervillain for the past few years and the JLE had been neglecting their jobs. Which turned into Batman setting up a meeting with Ladybug and Chat Noir (Damian had tried to tell everyone his name was Chance Noir, Dark Luck, NOT ‘chat noir,’ since the last thing he needed was to be associated with Selina in any way. Nobody listened, and now he was stuck with being called Chat Noir). They had a lovely discussion about all the shit Hawkmoth did, their lack of resources, and the lack of assistance/straight up refusal to believe their word that came from the JLE.

Which led to Batman inviting Ladybug to meet the Justice League to debrief on the Paris situation. Damian had been invited as Chat Noir, but had taken the smart path and opted out. Now Marinette had to not only go to the Justice League as Ladybug, but also as Batman's daughter Hummingbird, who was being brought in for consultation along with Damian as Robin.

“I’m gonna die again,” Marinette continued her catastrophizing, Tikki and Plagg sharing a glance at once another from their spot on her writing desk. “I’m gonna die of total embarrassment. Don’t bother resurrecting me Dami, I’m just gonna die all over again once Dad finds out who we are and kills me.”

Damian snorted. “Hah. Father killing anything, good one,” he snarked back blandly. “You’ll be fine. Remember, you’re the planner and I’m the one with actual skill. You have the strangest ability when it comes to getting out of situations like these by the skin of your teeth,” Damian grinned at something on the screen of his Switch before continuing. “You’ll be fine. And if you sell me out, I’ll bury you myself.”

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. Neither of them wanted their dad to find out that they were LAdybug and Chat noir, especially since they had already explained to him the basics of the source of their powers. They were both certain that Bruce would completely ignore how well they had been handling the situation on their own for almost five years and jump straight to the “my murderous children should not be left with the powers of destruction and creation at their fingertips,” line of thought. Bruce had never trusted them alone before, why now?

“At least help me, shaqiq?” Marinette asked, walking over and plopping onto the ground next to her bed, so she could look straight into her twin’s bright green eyes. At first, he refused to even look at her, completely unmoved. Marinette hummed mischievously, a habit that was the source of her Gotham codename. “If I go down, I’m taking you with me.”

Damian finally huffed, scowling. “Fine.”

He knew better than to doubt her. Marinette always got her way when she decided she was wronged and needed to even the score for something. Always.

—* — * — * — * — *

Hummingbird. The smallest Bat, by far, and the fastest when it came to natural speed. Hard to spot, with the sole giveaway that a short playful hum could be heard if she thought she had her prey cornered. She was hardly ever wrong.

She had also been temporarily retired as she and Robin moved to some undisclosed location to get away from the vigilante life for a while. Or so Batman said. And for the most part, aside from the occasional League gathering here or glimpse that they got of the two’s civilian personas if someone visited the manor while they were there, Robin and Hummingbird stayed retired. Heroes who knew them wondered if Robin had finally given up and settled down somehow, if he was even capable of it. And they all speculated that Hummingbird was so scarred from Robin’s death that she wouldn't ever be able to leave his side again, retired or not.

Seeing Hummingbird in her navy blue and black uniform, almost identical to her brother’s but for the thick navy blue scarf that covered her neck and lower face, everyone in the Justice League who knew her thought they were right. She stood there, older and only a little taller, never leaving Robin’s side as they traded secretive glances and hand signals only they understood. They didn’t make any attempt to stray from one another’s side.

But Jon Kent, superboy and Damian’s oldest friend, was of a different mind. He had been by Marinette’s side after Damian died, and by both of theirs when he was brought back. This was not the same terrified dependence he had seen back then. His eyes narrowed.

The twins were scheming, and nobody else would notice until it was too late.

Quicker than they could blink, he was by their side with his trademark smile. “Hey guys! Long time no see!”

They gave the half-kryptonian identical deadpan expressions, sighing in tandem. “You facetimed us last night. And you flew to Paris to visit us last week,” Damian pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “Despite us expressly telling you not to.”

Jon shrugged. “If I listened to everything you two said all the time, we’d never have any fun. So, excited to meet this Ladybug girl? Dad says that your dad won’t tell him anything about her until she shows up.”

Hummingbird and Robin traded looks before Marinette answered. “Not really. We see Ladybug in action in Paris all the time—”

“She even saved Marinette from an Akuma who was obsessed with wanting to date her,” Damian interrupted with an insufferable grin. Marinette elbowed him hard, making her brother wince before chuckling at her red face.

“I could have saved myself just fine! It’s not my fault we have to lay low, or we might get kicked out of Paris for being past vigilantes!” Marinette argued, voice high as she protested how helpless Damian had made her sound. She puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. Damian’s grin widened into a predatory smirk that showed off teeth.

“Oh? What about that one time that Tsurugi got akumatized, and Chat Noir had to save you because she wanted to duel you for the right to date me and you were cornered?”

Marinette growled, throwing up her hands in frustration before smacking Damian’s shoulder angrily. He only laughed at her. “I’m leaving! Come find me when Ladybug finishes explaining the things we already know!” with that, a fuming and embarrassed Hummingbird stormed out of the room.

“Huh,” Flash remarked, leaning against the wall. “She looks a lot better than the last time I saw her. And she actually left your immediate vicinity. Willingly,” he remarked to Robin, who glared at the speedster.

“It’s been almost six years. If you think my sister is weak enough to be that thoroughly encumbered by the past for so long, you are greatly underestimating her,” he looked around to see almost all of the gathered League members staring at him. He grit his teeth and looked over at his father. “When is this woman going to arrive, anyway? You’d think she would actually be on time.”

Just then, a portal opened in the middle of the room and Ladybug walked through. Quickly shedding the brown costume that allowed her to teleport in, she was left in just her black and red-spotted combat suit. Seeing as they finally found out how to alter the costumes the Kwami gave them, Ladybug’s hair now sat in a braided bun on the crown of her head and her costume was made to look more like Nightwing’s with the ladybug symbol on her upper chest and between her shoulder blades on her back, with black gloves that reached up to her elbows and black knee-high boots with red stripes up the sides.

The brightly colored heroine smiled, seeming to light up the room with cheer that nearly put Jon to shame (it took her awhile to perfect that particular smile. She actually based it off Jon himself, and Damian was impressed by how accurate she had been able to make it over time. Not that he would say as much out loud).

That was when Diana started choking on thin air, and Damian and Marinette both realized that they had overlooked something rather major.

Hippolyta had been a Ladybug. Diana had met Tikki. Diana knew how to see past Tikki’s glamour.

At first, Ladybug tried to play it off. Maybe Diana would catch on and help her out. So she walked over, holding her hand out for Wonderwoman to shake and putting on another wide smile for good measure.

“Oh my Kwamii! It is so good to finally meet you, Wonderwoman, Tikki told me so much about you and your mother! Would you like to talk later—”

“Marinette Wayne, how in Zeus’ name did you become the new Ladybug?” Wonderwoman instantly yelled, making Marinette wilt. Damian tried backing away slowly, only for Diana’s eyes to then shoot over to him and narrow dangerously. “And you! I knew I felt something weird, but now I can pinpoint it. You are wielding the Black Cat! One of you explain what is going on. Now.”

Ladybug and Robin instantly looked away, getting ready to make a quick escape right as their father walked up behind Robin, putting a firm hand on his shoulders. As always when Batman smiled, it sent a shiver down everyone’s spine. Marinette gulped a little.

“I agree. Marinette, I forgot to tell you that we changed the locations of the League security cameras last night,” shit they were so busted. Bruce must have suspected them of something from the very beginning, stupid world’s greatest detective instincts— “But now that we have confirmed that my suspicions were correct, we can save that discussion for later. First, let’s debrief on the Paris situation like we agreed. Then, you two will explain why you decided not to tell me while you help each other clean the entire Batcave tonight.”

Damian didn’t open his hand for the entire meeting. He and Marinette made eye contact as soon as everyone sat down for a suddenly very uneasy debrief, silently agreeing that they would not let their father take away their Miraculous. They finally had names and reputations of their own, away from the Batclan and their father’s influence. They had learned more about themselves and what they were capable of in those past years as Miraculous wielders than in all the years of the rest of their lives combined. They wouldn’t give it up, not even for Bruce’s approval.

But when they got back to the Manor and began cleaning up the batcave as they had been ordered, they were surprised when Bruce made no mention of taking their jewelry back at all. And he stayed up with them, silently reviewing things on the Batcomputer as they cleaned. It could almost be considered family bonding.

By the time the twins were done cleaning the sun was about to rise, and finally their father spoke up for the first time since they had begun their punishment chore.

“I watched days worth of your Paris battles before going out to meet Ladybug and Chat Noir in person,” he said without ever turning around from his spot at the computer. “I was impressed. I still am. The teamwork was flawless, and the Parisian heroes never used deadly force. They even did their best to provide emotional support to the victims who were akumatized. I thought for sure at least one of you two would have been victims yourself, with all that you’ve been through. Anything can be a trigger for you, anything can make you vulnerable to Hawkmoth,” Bruce paused to take a sip of coffee. He didn’t have to look at his children’s reflections in the face of the Batcomputer to know they were drinking in every word he said. He did anyway, allowing a small smile that they couldn’t see to form on his lips.

“I scoured through every akuma attack one by one, trying to find the one where one or both of you were the ones possessed. But I only found more reasons to be impressed by the heroes instead. By the time I was done looking through every scrap of video I could find, I had a feeling I knew who you were. Hearing your voices in person cemented it further, but I wanted video proof. So, knowing that Marinette would have forgotten about agreeing to accompany me to a JL meeting, I asked Ladybug to debrief us.”

“You had us from the start,” Marinette sighed, shoulders slumping. But Damian said nothing, eyes wide as he picked up on the nuances of what Bruce was saying that Marinette was too tired to catch on to.

“I’m proud of you two.”

Then, even Marinette froze. The twins had identical expressions of shock on their faces, and Bruce finally turned around to look at them properly. For a long while, the three of them only made silent eye contact as dozens of emotions flew through the air silently, but understood. Then Damian and Marinette straightened up just and silently. Damian nodded to his father, Marinette gave him a vulnerable little smile, and then they both backed out and went to head to sleep.

And once they were gone, Bruce sighed in content. Seems his meet-the-Justice-League plan worked out perfectly. He had finally managed to say something right to his two most troublesome children, for the first time. He leaned back in his chair, gazing up at the dark bat-infested cave ceiling as one more tiny grin played on his face, a little melancholy this time.

Guess they never needed him to help them find their inner hero, after all. They had become even better at the whole hero thing than he was, and all on their own. Bruce closed his eyes, not noticing when Alfred draped a blanket over his body and left the Cave with a soft chuckle.

--*--*--*--*--*

This sucked, but I wanted to give you guys something. So. here you go I guess?

#maribat #b!dbwm2020 #b!dbwm #bio!dad bruce wayne #Platonic daminette #sibling daminette #Damian as Chat Noir #mlb x dc #ml x dc #Miraculous ladybug X DC #idk what happened don't yell at me #another one-hour fic

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river-bottom-nightmare · 3 years

Text

tim could hear the pounding bass coming from under his feet. the ceiling of the club wasn’t exactly soundproof, and the steady hum of people was a constant background noise. tim crept along the roof, aware of where he was. he tended to melt into the shadows on instinct, but he was taking extra care to remain hidden this time, given his decidedly not weapon-filled and bulletproof clothing.

peering over the edge of the building, he scanned the alley for a certain figure. there was a nondescript couple pressed against one of the walls, and a grimy man at the head of the alley watching them, but not what tim was looking for. letting out the quietest of frustrated sounds, tim slipped away from the edge of the roof, scurrying over to the center again.

near another edge, there was a wall of concrete, probably where the boiler was. it was there that tim leaned against the hard surface, head tipped back, just breathing in the air. he was trying not to be impatient, he really was.

then, a voice from behind. “looks like someone’s a little restless.” it was low, but with an undercurrent of teasing that made tim shiver. he whipped around just in time to see kon land on the roof with a sort of graceful ease tim didn’t think he got nearly enough credit for. hut just as he was about to stride up to the man, probably to smack him for making him wait, but kon stalked forward instead, backing tim against the concrete. “changed my mind,” kon’s eyes raked down tim. “you don’t look restless, you look darling.”

that brought a flush to tim’s cheeks, because he himself was scanning every inch of kon, and kon looked the furthest thing from darling one could possibly imagine. the bodysuit and leather jacket were an easy familiarity. the jeans he had on top were tight, the chains looped around kon’s belt clinking. tim was the one who’d dared kon to buy those chains a couple months ago, laughing. he wasn’t exactly laughing now. kon’s hair was windswept, his piercings were glinting, his eyeliner was dark, and as he pressed close to tim, the fingerless gloves that tilted his chin up were rough.

“look at you,” kon whispered, which tim thought was unfair. he wanted to argue back look at me? no, look at you kon, but somehow his attention wandered to tracing kon’s lips with his eyes instead. robin could pull a confident and reckless smirk easy, it coming to tim as second nature as he pulled superboy down to meet his lips. even to tim drake, dressed in ratty old t-shirts he thought looked cool and winking at girls he knew looked cool. but tonight, comfortable with his best friend and boyfriend, he couldn’t bring his classic cheekiness up to the surface. instead, as kon moved closer and closer, tim found himself unconsciously tilting his head up, lips parting, baring his throat.

still, he wasn’t just going to roll over, so his hands came up to tug the zipper on kon’s sleeve, and he managed a snort. “i’m not darling.”

kon’s chuckle vibrated through him. “yes you are. you’re wearing a sweater vest and your hair is adorable and you blush so pretty, rob.” well. that just made tim turn red even more. “and you’re wearing glasses.” kon’s fingers came up to trace the rims, but instead of pulling away, that large hand cradled his jaw rough and forced it up.

he kissed tim fierce, just the way tim had been imagining since he saw kon that night. his other hand went to tim’s hip in a bruising grip, which the fucker took as invitation to slip his tongue into tim’s mouth. for a second, tim poised to fight back, to tangle their tongues together in the messy way tim knew kon loved, to move out of kon’s hold and push him hard against the wall, to put some bite into the kiss.

then, kon sucked on his tongue, and tim decided nah, fuck that, instead practically melting into the his boyfriend in front of him. just as tim let out a soft noise at the feeling of metal on the roof of his mouth, kon pulled back. the boy raised his eyebrows in a confused little expression, surprised at how docile tim was acting.

tim just shrugged in response.

“alright then,” kon said, his gaze switching back to hunger so fast it made tim wonder whether or not he was really surprised. “i don’t wanna spend our entire night on this stupid roof. let’s have a little fun first.”

“oh yeah? got any ideas?”

kon raised an eyebrow, then looked pointedly at the ceiling they were standing on. “we could always go downstairs.” the beat of the song had changed, but it was no less deep, no less pounding. the vibrations made their way through the concrete and tim, who was still leaning against the wall, shuddered.

kon’s voice was as deep as the bass when he held out his hand and asked tim, “well?” it wasn’t like he was subtle, he was giving tim a choice. kon could either fly tim to wherever struck their fancy that night, and have it be another one of their lovely little dates. tim took a second to remember how kon would always tangle their feet together, his eyes mischievous yet soft as he looked at tim. then he thought about tonight, how much fun it was to have kon pinning him against something, how the way kon was acting tonight took his breath away.

tim reached out to grab the outstretched hand and tucked himself against his boyfriend’s side. he pushed himself up to his toes and whispered in kon’s ear, “i’m game. let’s go downstairs.”

This fic was inspired by those two amazing works of art up there. Tim’s by @hains-mae , and Kon’s by @daddyschlongleg and i love their works of art an unhealthy amount.

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yamithediaperdork · 3 years

Text

Baby bird and Super daddy (DC)

it was Friday afternoon and school was out which only meant one thing for a group of young sidekicks: it was time to haul their butts to San Francisco and more to the point to Titans tower.

Oddly though one member of the titans wasn't getting his normal ride from Gotham to the tower with his mentor Batman, AKA Bruce Wayne but inside had been picked up in Smallvile by his surrogate big brother Nightwing who was also giving a ride to Kon-el, AKA Superboy.

Sulking and pouting in his costume, Robin AKA Tim drake was blushing and his bottom looked a little more puffy then normal, but only a expert would know to look and see it.. so Naturally Dick had.

"So I'm not one to judge, I mean, I've know you and Kon where hooking up for awhile." Dick said, smirking and while he kept a eye on the controls of his aircraft, he made sure to steal looks back at the blushing big time Tim who had been tugged into Kon's lap. And of course Kon was smirking.

"but I just need to know, Is my little brother from anther mother in huggies because you two are kinky, or Kon needs to stop topping for awhile?"

"DICK!" Tim shrieked and whined, burying his face in Kon's shoulder and whining.

"He tried to make me his little guy, needless to say it backfired." Kon chuckled, and rubbed Tim's back and patted the boys bottom, a faint crinkling being heard only by Kon due to his super hearing over the dim of the plane.

"Oh, I HAVE to hear more..but before that.. I think I have a juice box or two if the little guy is thirsty." Dick offered.

"Dickkkkkk!" Tim whined and pouted, shooting daggers though his mask.

"Well he is a thirsty bitch, but he had a big ba-ba of fresh milk before we left." Kon chuckled.

"Hate you both." Tim whined and tried to squirm out of Kon's lap, but he was a boy of tissue in a boy of steel's grip, and wasn't going anywhere.

As Dick chuckled, Kon reached into Tim's belt and pulled out a superman logo pacifier and popped it in the boy wonders mouth and rocked him, and in seconds Tim had gone night night and Kon was free to tell the story.

Tim had pleaded and begged to hang out with Kon-el for the two days he had off from school back in Gotham (the staff was recovering from the latest attack by a bat rouge, Riddler this time.)

Bruce had tried to say the time could be used to help out with Gotham but after getting Alfred on his side it had only taken anther half hour before Bruce was dropping Tim off by the Kent farm, commenting on how much extra baggage he had taken with him for just going there for Thursday and Friday (Tim had spare clothes at titans tower)

Tim had come up with a excuse that he might help on the farm and didn't wanna end up smelling like cow dropping and Bruce had let it go.

Superboy of course who's X-ray vision was coming and going at this point had been able to spot right away was was in the extra luggage and just smirked to himself.

The Kent's of course knew without being told that Tim and Kon were dating, Connor just wouldn't shut up about him and they were practically all over each other calling it rough housing.

"If that's what you kids these days call it. Take it out to the barn." Was all Pa said, not looking up from his newspaper.

Once out in the barn, Tim went right to work turning on the puppy dog eyes and kissing Kon's neck and blowing in his ear, things that drove the boy of steel wild.

"Koooon, I have a hawt idea we should try out." Tim said in his 'I'm so cute you can't refuse me' voice which normally had Kon wrapped around Tim's little finger.

However forewarned Kon was ready and kept his control in place, though asked what Tim wanted to try out.

"Well have you ever heard of diaper punishment or age play?" Tim had asked, opening the luggage and holding up a teen sized diaper with little bat symbols on it and holding it out, grinning ear to ear.

Kon however, returned that grin with his own and played along, though not like Tim had expected.

"oh I see, You wanna be my little baby bird! Cute! and you even got bat diapers! Adorable!" Kon gushed as Tim's jaw dropped.

"W-What? No! I-" Tim started, blushing bright red.

"Ohhh I've heard of this, you're gonna act like you don't want it so you can be a pouty little boy while enjoying your diapie wipies~" Kon chuckled, dashing up and snatching the diaper from the smaller boys hands and planting a smooch on him, tongue dominating Tim's mouth and feeling the fight go out of Tim for a second.

he also felt the boy wonder less then wonderful hard on press against his leg and broke off the kiss.

"well I think that answers whether or not you want daddy Kon to make you a good little baby bird." Kon said.

"I what.. No! I was gonna.. you were gonna.." Tim whined, flustered and trying to will away his hard-on, but but there was no amount of zen training with Batman that was going to make the boy wonder's stiffie vanish.

"Oh look, you have a paddle, and some baby outfits.. paci's and ba-ba's..Damn you must REALLY wanna just be a helpless little diaper dork huh sweetie?" Kon was saying, looking though all the supplies tat had been meant for him and super warming up to the idea of babying Tim.

There was even a pair of jean overalls with crotch snaps so a certain diaper boy could work on the farm!

"and look at all these diapers! Somebody plans on making LOTS of presents for his super daddy huh?" Kon added.

"NO I DO NOT! THAT WAS ALL MEANT FOR YOU!" Tim whined and stomped a foot, hands balled in fists and at his sides.

Sadly, this did nothing to help his argument.

"Baby bird, that's enough of the attuide. You need to take off your big boy clothes and lay down so I can get you in a diapie or else mister man." Kon said, smirking but trying to have a authoritative tone, picking up the paddle.

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE BALLS!" Tim yelled.

Sadly as it turned out for Tim's poor soon to be bright red backside, Kon had the balls and more.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Kon guessed the effort he had put into the spanking (and being nice enough not to use the paddle too!) was about a 3 or 4, but from the howls and sobs that had escaped the soon to be pampered sidekick, you'd of sworn he had gone all out.

'Man, either full on humans are more fragile then I thought, or Tim just can't take a spanking!' Kon mused as he cleaned up the puddle that the boy wonder had made during his ten swats, and let's just say it wasn't urine. 'Though for someone who's sobbing so much with his nose in the corner..'

"Baby bird, you're gonna wake up half of Smallville with that sobbing, I'm gonna need you to tone it down or I'll have to get creative with gagging you." Kon called over sweetly.

Tim, with pants gone and butt glowing bright red from the spanking and having his hands on the back of his head turned around from the corner and moved his mouth as if to argue, then apparently thought better of it and meekly nodded his head.

"I-I'll try.." Robin sniffled and whined, any trace of him trying to be dom had left his body when he'd creamed himself from being spanked.

"I could give you one of your paci's, but you have to promise to be a very good boy and not spit it out, I'll just pop it back into your mouth anyways." Kon offered.

Looking around the dirty floor of the barn, Tim made a icky face and nodded he could be good and opened his mouth for the customed Superman paci, with the large oversized rubber nipple making Tim start to drool down his chin in seconds.

"it's too bag you didn't pack a enema kit, I bet you have the CUTEST 'i'm pooping!' face baby bird!" Kon commented, having laid most of the items out on his bed and chuckling at the whimper that escaped from Tim.

"Shucks, and Pa and ma Kent kicked us out to the barn for the night.. I know ma has a nice big one. Ah well, there's always tomorrow." Kon chuckled and shrugged.

Tim gave a series of muffled protests around the paci turning a little pale at the thought of getting a massive soapy enema while Kon and the Kent had breakfast, though it was also making him get a little excited.

"Hmmm? Oh I see someone likes the idea~ thats great! I'm sure Ma and Pa won't mind having a baby around the house." Kon laughed.

Tim whined and wanted to argue, wanted to take out the paci and say no way in hell,m but his body betrayed him again and he made anther puddle instead.

"Sheesh, You must be backed up like crazy.. Better get you pampered before you paint the walls."

"Wait, did he really cream himself again just from-" Nightwing asked, snickering and glad he'd switched to auto pilot for this.

"NO I didn't!" Tim whined and huffed, squirming in his seat.

"Baby bird, what did I tell you about telling fibs?" Kon warned wagging a finger at the smaller boy.

"...OK maybe I did.. But it's not my fault! you know how hard it is to crank one out at the mansion since Alfred doesn't approve!!" Tim whined and sulked,

"Actually back in my day Alfred just left me tissues and Lotion and a note asking I keep my voice down." Dick chuckled, though he blushed a little as he recalled it.

"That's SO unfair!!" Tim whined and huffed.

"Don't worry about it baby bird. now that you'll be my little guy at least once a week I'll make sure you're never backed up again." Kon teased and kissed Tim's forehead.

"My hero.." Tim huffed. "Just finish the poopie story."

To say the Kent's were a little shocked the next morning when A clearly diapered Tim was lead over, sucking on a paci and dressed to go to work in the field would of been a understatement, but as the human couple that had raised Superman from babyhood to adult, Had been the home of Matrix while she was still adjusting to life on this earth and were now looking after Kon,,they got over the shock rather quickly.

If anything, Kon had called it and Ma Kent dotted on baby Tim right away, though to Kon's disappointment (and maybe Tim's) she turned down the idea of giving Tim a enema for fun.

"Those are just in case the widdle cutie is all backed up!" she scolded Kon, who pouted a little but backed down.

Breakfast was egg's and bacon for the Kent's and Kon, and a bowl of oatmeal for widdle Timmy who (thankfully!) was too big to fit in Kal's old highchair, but they did have a booster seat he was put into and had one of Kal's old bibs tied around his neck.

"You know, after we get the farm work done, we could go into the wood shop and likely make him a high chair." Pa mused.

"W-What?" Tim asked, his spoon dropping into the bland icky oatmeal.

"Oh, get idea pa! Think we could make him a crib too?" Kon asked, grinning ear to ear.

"I don't see why not. Just a shame Most of Clark's old stuffies didn't make it." Pa chuckled.

"heh, I can help with that. I've been making teddy bears for the church to sell so I think I could make our new widdle great grandson one or two. Do you want a teddy bear Timmy?" Ma asked and reached over, using the bib to wipe a spot of oatmeal off of Tim's face.

"I...I..I.." Tim whimpered and squirmed like crazy in the high chair, suddenly thankful that Kon was the only one with hearing good enough to heard what he was doing to the front of his diapers, though Kon just smirked.

"Trust me Ma, he does."

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wordsfromthesol · 3 years

Text

Avengers or Justice League (2/2)

Author: @wordsfromthesol Taglist: @zphilophobiaz @malfoys-demigod @pricetagofficial @anousiemay Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader Word Count: 1.2k

Part One

You woke up several hours later, still in the passenger seat. It had definitely been longer than 2 hours. How were you not in New York yet…Before you could ask, Jason spoke up.

"So…welcome back. It's been a while. A lot has changed."

"I can see that. What happened?"

"Well I met the spider thing. Very helpful, definitely a child. But he said Bats was about 3 hours north of here. In a small town called Croatoa."

"Seriously?"

"I couldn't believe it either. Couldn't even find it on a map…but the kid gave me directions. Should be there in…now." Jason commented as he turned onto a dirt road. You had a feeling this wasn't going to end well.

You had been in this weird town for a few hours. All you had done was sit on the roof of the hotel and listen. The conversations…something was just off. You couldn't put your finger on exactly what. You were so zoned out that you didn't even hear Jason come up behind you.

"Something is off here. Right?" His voice broke your trance.

"Definitely." You nodded, reassuring him that he wasn't crazy.

"There's no crime here. At all. In the last 10 years. Not even a speeding ticket."

"Well the town is all dirt roads…" The comment was meant to put your minds at rest. It didn't. "Should we even be staying here? Crime does tend to follow us." Jason's bellowing laugh cut through the tension.

"I've already got us another room. About an hour away. It was the closest town to here." You moved to get up but stopped when you noticed Jason wasn't following you.

"Is there something else?" A look of concern graced your features.

"Why am I here? Good ole Bruce doesn't need me. Never has. I don't fit into the mold of his superhero gang. I shouldn't even be alive. Who thought I was worth saving?" It was as if someone dosed him with a truth serum. All the insecurities he felt began to pour out.

"Honestly…I have no idea why you were saved. Then again, why was I? Why didn’t that blast kill me? Why did Tony create something to save me? And why did Bruce teach me how to control the catastrophic energy inside of me?" Now you couldn't stop. There was something about this place. "We need to leave." You were barely able to muster up the words.

You still weren't sure how the two of you made it out of town, but as soon as you did it was like a switch flipped.

"By the way, Bruce's way of doing things…it's not always right. You don't need to fit into his mold." Even though the effects wore off, you still remembered everything Jason had said. Everything you had said. Those fears and uncertainties, you don't think you'd ever actually said them aloud. You could tell Jason hadn't either.

"Do you think he's there?"

"It's a pretty small town, I would've heard him…unless there was some underground bunker…" You turned towards Jason, realizing that that was an actual possibility. The rest of the drive was ridden in silence. Neither of you wanted to talk about the things that were said.

You had no idea where Jason went, but it had been hours. The two of you had to come up with a plan. It didn't take long for you to find him in an alleyway wailing on some drug dealer.

"Hey, Hood." You casually walked up next to him, leaning against the adjacent brick wall. He sent one final punch towards the dealer before turning towards you. "Don't you think we have more important matters?" Jason just stared at you, confused. You scoffed and starting walking back to the hotel, as you reached the end of the alley you called out, "If you want a lecture we'll have to find your dear ole dad."

You weren't surprised to hear Jason's footsteps quickly behind you. "Well do you know where to begin?"

"Kinda…I was thinking. And the power to affect people's minds like that has to be constantly going. Especially since it affected us."

"Yeah but that could be anything. A sound, emitting something into the air, even widescale mind control." You let out a defeated sigh as Jason continued. "I can call Miss Martian. If it's the latter."

"Alright, get her on standby. I'm going to call Tony. Maybe he has something we could use if it's a sound or air thing." You stopped dead in your tracks and turned towards Jason. "I just don't get why they would have Bruce. I get that he is inherently violent…but he still helps people. And they wouldn't need him if there was no crime…"

"I…" Jason started walking again, not wanting to think about the answer. "I'll get Tim on it. Just don't go back there until we know more."

Your eyes widened, "Yeah no, of course not."

Once you were sure Jason was asleep, you flew just outside the town limits and began circling the town. There had to be something you missed. It took almost 30 minutes for you to notice the sound. You stopped, hovering about 30 feet in the air, as you focused in on the noise. The next thing you knew you were plummeting to the ground, yet you couldn't stop yourself. It seemed as if Jason was at your side as soon as you hit the ground.

"Y/N! Are you kidding me?!"

Your eyes fluttered open to examine the damage around you. "I thought you were asleep."

"And I called bullshit the moment you said you wouldn't come back here." You didn't protest as he scooped you up and gently placed you in the car.

"It's sound." You mumbled as you fought off the headache.

"Guess I'll have to talk to the tin can again." He rolled his eyes, but his expression softened as he watched your face contort in pain. "You okay?"

"Just karma for not listening to the all mighty Jason Todd."

A week had passed and it seemed the mission grew stagnant. Tony had developed a device that blocked the sound, which you had already tested, but there were still too many unknowns. Every meeting consisted of hypothesizing different situations and possibilities that could be encountered once everyone was inside.

"Enough already!" You shouted at the arguing heroes. "We could do this for months. It's pointless. We need to go now. Batman may not even be there anymore."

"Oh, uh…he is." Spiderman chimed in.

You furrowed your brow, "How do you know that?"

"I put a tracker on him. It's still there…" As the whole room burst out in laughter, Spiderman just looked around, confused. "What?!" His voice broke through.

"Oh…sweetheart." You began as you regained your composure. "There are three reasons that tracker works. One, he was brainwashed and actually didn't know it was there. Two, he put the tracker on something useless to send you on a wild goose chase. And three, he put the tracker somewhere he wanted you to go."

"Considering the creepy town, I'd rule out the second one." Dick chimed in.

"So do we just split up and find the entrance to the tunnels?" You could tell that Tim was ready to get this mission over, so you started doling out responsibilities.

"Tony starts at the north end, Nightwing and Robin at the east, Red Robin and Spiderman, the west. Red Hood and I will start at the south. We can't go in costume though. It will be too obvious."

"So we must reveal our identities to these inane people?" Damian was not happy with the situation, especially having to work with members of the Avengers.

"Just don’t say your name? We're trying to find Batman, this is more important than your secret identity."

You prayed that the sonic dampeners Tony developed would hold for the duration of the mission. You had no idea how long this would take. This situation seemed much more involved than some low level, one-off criminal. It was a demonstration, a practice round.

The town was small enough, so one of the groups had to stumble upon this entrance. The only tricky part was not drawing attention to yourselves. Seven strangers come to town at once…you were hoping whatever brainwashing protocol overlooked this fact. And you were right. No one gave you and Jason a second glance as the two of you strolled down the street. It had been almost an hour before you stumbled upon a potential entrance. As discreetly as possible, you opened the hatch and lowered yourself through the hole.

"So which way do we go?" Jason commented as he followed in suit.

"Left?" You figured you had a 50/50 shot, so you went with your gut. After all, if you went right, you wouldn't be in town for too much longer. "You should probably call the others. Have them rendezvous here, in case we run into trouble."

"Trouble from who? The townies?" You shrugged off his condescending tone. The two of you had been walking for a few minutes when you started to hear footsteps. People were running towards you.

"Uh, Jason…we need to move." Jason didn't bother to argue, as the urgency was pasted over your face. The two of you raced down the corridor until you saw something. "STOP! There's a room. There." You pointed towards the concrete block to your right.

"And does this room have a door?" You could tell by his tone, Jason wasn't afraid to make one. Your eyes scanned around the area until you found it. Not bothering to answer his question, you rushed towards the opening.

"And it's locked."

"Not for long," Jason smirked as knelt down to work on the lock. It was opened in seconds. Your eyes searched around the room in awe. There was video and audio of the entire city. Even inside people's homes.

"How do we --" Your question was interrupted by a loud banging against the door. "Just subdue, don't maim or murder." The comment was a reminder to both yourself and Jason. These were innocent unsuspecting townspeople, not criminals.

"Didn't need to be said!" You shoot a glare his way, to which he responds with a shrug of the shoulders. Just as the two of you braced for a fight, the banging stopped. Seconds later, Tim swung open the door.

"In a bit of a bind?"

"Does it look like we know how to operate this?" You pointed towards the various machines behind you. Tim nodded and got to work.

"So, no evil mastermind or Batman." You had convinced Jason to come back to the hotel with you and let the rest of them deal with the groggy and confused townspeople.

"Guess not."

"There's probably going to be more towns like this. You'll have to keep an eye out…"

"Oh. So you're leaving Earth then?" Jason's chest sank at the thought.

"Is there a reason I should stay?" You knew the answer, but you wanted him to say it. You wanted to make sure you weren't imagining everything.

"I can probably think of a few…"

#BatFam #batfam fanfic #batfam imagine #batfam x reader #batboys #batboys fanfic #batboys imagine #batboys x reader #batboys x you #Jason Todd #jason todd fanfic #jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #red hood #red hood fanfic #red hood x reader #red hood imagine #jason todd x you #red hood x you

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discoscoob · 3 years

Text

Praise Him | Loki x Female Reader

Loki (Marvel) x Doctor Who

Getting tired of the tension on his ship, the Doctor threatens to take you all home if you don’t go on an adventure with him but the TARDIS gets thrown off course and you end up trapped in a hotel where the personal fears and bad dreams of every visitor are hidden behind each room.

Part Twelve | Part Fourteen | Chapter Index

Words: 8.8k

Warnings: death and angst

Read on AO3

A few days had passed since your argument with your auntie and you had spent the whole time avoiding her. Loki knew all the perfect places to hide in the TARDIS, which he had found when he was avoiding you after the Dark Ages. The pair of you had been enjoying each other’s company completely undisturbed, until the Doctor grew tired of the tension on his ship and called an intervention in the control room.

“This can’t go on any longer. I am taking you all on an adventure.” The Doctor had said once he managed to gather you all together.

“Thanks but I’d rather not.” You attempted to decline, you didn’t mean to sound rude towards the Doctor, you realised he was only trying to help and you appreciated that, however you couldn’t pretend everything was okay while Donna kept scowling in Loki’s direction the whole time.

“You can all either come on this trip with me or I can take you all back home right now, your choice.” The Doctor shocked all three of you with an ultimatum, knowing none of you would want to give up the freedom of space and time travel and return to your mundane lives.

The Doctor also knew that you had to consider your relationship with Loki, where would the Doctor take him, what was ‘home’ to Loki? Would he return him to Asgard or would he take him back to Earth with you? Technically he was still on the run from the TVA and staying put on one planet would likely only make it easier for them to track him down. You knew you couldn’t risk getting separated from Loki just to avoid the awkward tension with your auntie.

“You can’t do that!” Donna argued against the Doctors ultimatum.

“She’s right, it’s not fair.” Loki agreed with Donna who scowled at him as soon as he spoke up.

“I can. This is my ship and I can decide whether or not I will allow you to stay on it.” The Doctor threatened to display just how serious he was, practically daring any one of you to call his bluff. “So what will it be? An adventure or home?”

“Fine.” You were the first to yield, Loki and Donna looked at you with surprise but they knew that going home wasn’t an option. “We’ll go on an adventure.”

“Brilliant!” The Doctor celebrated his small victory with himself, “this might be exactly what you all need.” He optimistically assured the three of you as he pulled down the handbrake and sent the TARDIS into turbulent flight.

***

You all leaned over the brown wooden bannister of a red carpeted stairwell to look up and down at the many floors above and below you, the distinct scent of a hotel filled the air. So far your interest hadn’t been spiked and from the looks of it, neither had Loki’s or Donna’s as they wondered what sort of adventure could have been found on a seemingly abandoned hotel on Earth.

The only one who seemed excited was the Doctor, who enthusiastically bounced up the stairs with a wide smile on his face, but it didn’t usually take much to impress the Doctor.

“This could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen!” He said with genuine delight and you thought even that was a bit of an overreaction even for the Doctor, as he ran almost two flights above you.

“What’s exciting about an empty hotel on Earth that looks like it has a three star trip advisor rating at the most.” You asked, already wondering if you could call it a day and return to the TARDIS.

“Because, my friends, this is not Earth.” The Doctor told you as he leaned over the bannister above you all. “This has just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved... can you imagine?”

He ran back down the stairs towards you, now he had managed to grab your interest as you all wondered where you actually were.

“Then where are we?” Loki asked as the Doctor ran passed you all and you automatically followed after him, you were stood in front of the TARDIS which stood between two rows of stairs on the stairwell, against a wall.

“I don’t know, something must have yanked us off course.” The Doctor vaguely answered. “Look at the detail on that cheese plant!” He gasped as he stroked and sniffed the leaves.

“Why would someone mock up an Earth hotel?” Donna asked.

“Colonists perhaps,” the Doctor suggested as he turned back around to face you all. “Trying to recreate a home away from home, like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca. Whoever did this I am shaking their hand or tentacle or paw or... fin.” The Doctor trailed off.

“Have you seen these?” Loki spoke, drawing your attention to a bunch of framed portraits which were neatly lined along the walls above, below and alongside each other in thin gold frames.

“Look at the labels underneath. Commander Halke, defeat. Tim Heath, having his photo taken. Lady Silver-Tear... Daleks, I hope there aren’t any of those here.”

“You have encountered Daleks?” The Doctor looked at Loki with interest.

“Not personally, but they’re always attempting to invade the nine realms.” Loki answered while you and Donna kept looking at the portraits and reading the labels.

“What do they mean?” You wondered out loud.

“I don’t know. Let’s find out!” The Doctor was already running away in search of the lobby before anyone could ask anything else.

When you reached the abandoned reception desk of the hotel lobby, you could hear elevator music quietly playing on repeat and the Doctor hit the gold service bell, immediately giving you flashbacks to the TVA and when you looked around you realised the hotel had a strikingly similar dated decor.

You screamed and jumped back with fright when two strangers leaped out from around the corner with a battle cry. One of them, a woman dressed in blue hospital scrubs, swung a broken off chair leg at the Doctor, who managed to duck out the way just in time. The other one, a man with a head of messy curls and wearing thin silver framed square glasses, held a lamp upside down and waved it around wildly in front of him.

“What was that for?!” The Doctor cried as he moved behind your auntie for protection, while Loki was already pulling you behind him.

“Blimey, chill out!” Donna shouted at them.

“Why are you swinging about a chair leg?” The Doctor shouted from over Donna’s shoulder.

“Who are you?!” The woman in scrubs demanded.

“We’re back in reception.” The man next to her commented and you noticed the way his voice trembled as he looked around with wide eyes and you suddenly felt very uneasy.

The woman in the scrubs hesitantly stepped towards all of you and looked at each of you in the eyes.

“Rita, be careful, yeah.” The man told her.

“Their pupils are dilated. They’re as surprised as we are. Besides which, if it’s a trick, it’ll tell us something.” Rita told the man as she returned to his side.

“I’m the Doctor,” he said as he calmly stepped around Donna, “these are my friends,” he extended his arm towards the three of you and introduced each of you by your names.

“You with the glasses-“ The Doctor approached the curly haired man.

“Howie.” He introduced himself.

“You sounded surprised to be back in reception. Why?” The Doctor ask.

“The walls move, everything changes.” Howie answered.

“The corridors twist and stretch, rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It’s like the hotel’s alive.” Rita continued.

“That’s quite enough of that.” The Doctor stepped towards the old radio and flicked the switch to turn off the repetitive elevator music.

“And it’s like huge, with, like, no way out.” Howie added.

“Have you tried the front door?” You asked.

“No, in two days it never occurred to us to try the front door. Thank god you’re here!” Rita sarcastically answered and you frowned.

“Right. That’s not good.” You heard the Doctor say and you looked in his direction to find he had pulled the front doors open only to reveal a white brick wall completely blocking the exit. He walked over to a pair of shut curtains and pulled them open to reveal no window just another brick wall. “Definitely not good.”

“It’s not just that. The rooms have... things in them.” Rita explained.

“Things? What sort of things?” The Doctor asked.

“Bad dreams.” Rita answered hesitantly, almost like she was certain he wouldn’t believe her.

“Doctor, I think we should leave.” Loki suggested.

“I already told you, there’s no way out.” Rita reminded him.

“We have a ship.” Loki smugly smiled.

“Wait, how did you two get here, then?” The Doctor asks the pair.

“I don’t know, I just started my shift. I must’ve passed out, because suddenly I was here.” Rita answered.

“I was blogging, next thing, this.” Howie said.

“So people are being snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedroom.” The Doctor concluded.

“But you have a ship, we can finally leave.” Howie pointed out, sounding relieved.

“Yes we do, follow me.” The Doctor once again sped off back towards the TARDIS and the rest of you rushed behind to keep up. “We’ll all get into the TARDIS, I’ll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep and then I’ll return you back safely to the exact moments you got snatched away...”

The Doctors voice trailed off as he stopped in his tracks in front of an empty space where the TARDIS once stood. He held his arms out and felt around like he was checking it hadn’t somehow turned invisible but you could tell there was absolutely nothing there.

“Don’t tell me the TARDIS has gone.” Donna sighed.

“Okay.” The Doctor muttered, still stunned.

“Where is it then?” She asked.

“You told me not to tell you.” The Doctor turned around looking genuinely confused.

“Don’t get clever with me.” She warned him.

“What’s a TARDIS?” Howie asked.

“Our way out. And it’s gone.” Loki groaned.

Suddenly you heard the elevator music from the lobby begin playing again by itself and the uneasy feeling spread deeper through your chest.

“Okay. We all just need to remain calm.”

The Doctor could sense how you were all on edge, “Rita, are there anymore of you?”

She glanced at Howie and down the stairwell before she looked back at the Doctor, “Joe, but he’s tied up right now.”

“Doing what?” The Doctor asked.

“No, I mean he’s... literally tied up.” She clarified.

***

You all slowly entered a large room, one by one, that was filled with round tables covered in white cloths. Around each table, there sat identical creepy ventriloquist dummies, their chins lifted up and down as they all laughed.

Once you all entered the room, their laughter subsided, leaving you in complete silence. Slowly their heads began to turn by themselves, as they followed you with their large, vacant, painted on eyes.

You felt as though you had been dumped straight in the centre of a horror story, the eerie atmosphere of the room sent dreadful shivers through your spine and quickened your heart rate.

Loki had immediately sensed your trepidation and secured his arm around you as a form of comfort as he whispered in your ear reassurances that they were just puppets and could not hurt you and he would keep you safe. You had leaned into Loki’s hold in pursuit for more of his comfort.

Neither of you had noticed the way your auntie was observing your interaction from behind the pair of you, for once she wasn’t looking at you with judgement but with contemplation instead, Loki’s behaviour seemed natural and genuine, she still didn’t trust him but she appreciated the way Loki had managed to sooth you.

In the centre of the room, a dazed man sat at one of the tables, with rope across his chest which restrained him to his chair. He stared blankly ahead, as if he hadn’t even noticed anyone enter the room, as the Doctor tentatively approached him.

“Hello. I’m the Doctor.” He introduced himself.

“You’re going to die here.” Joe answered bluntly.

“Well, they certainly didn’t mention that in the brochure.” The Doctor muttered. “Is Joe there? Can I have a quick word?”

“Oh it’s still me, Doctor, but I’ve seen the light. I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon he shall... feast.” The way Joe spoke reignited the shivers down your spine.

“You’ve been here two days, what’s he waiting for?” The Doctor asked as he pulled out one of the chairs and sat opposite Joe.

“We weren’t ready. We were still raw.” Joe smiled.

“And now you’re what? Cooked?” The Doctor guessed.

“If you like. Soon you will be, too. Be patient. First, find your room. There’s a room here for everyone.” His eyes shifted over to you, as did the dolls heads and you shuffled closer into Loki’s side.

“Nothing else matters anymore. Only him. It’s like these things.” Joe looked around at the puppets which surrounded each table. “I used to hate them! They make me laugh now.” Joe began laughing to himself.

“Gottle o’ geer! Gottle o’ geer!” Joe cheered as his laughter increased and the dummies began joining in again, their slack jaws chattering up and down.

“You should go. He’ll be here soon.” Joe told the Doctor.

***

You had all returned to the reception, the Doctor had managed to find a stack barrow, to wheel Joe around in while keeping him tied to his chair as the Doctor went over his plan.

“First, we find the TARDIS. Quick thing before we go. If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times.” The Doctor instructed.

You ended up searching through the hallways of the hotel, they were decorated with a red floral carpet and white floral wallpaper, all the numbered doors to the different rooms were white and between each door there was a wall lamp, which kept the hallways bright, since there were no windows to let in any natural light.

You and Loki walked side by side at the back of the group, Rita was pushing Joe in the stack barrow, by now he had some duct tape over his mouth to quiet his nonsensical ramblings. The Doctor lead the group at the front and Howie was muttering to Donna about his theory on how whole thing was a conspiracy, she didn’t appear convinced but she just smiled and nodded before she stepped on ahead to walk beside the Doctor.

You suddenly heard a school bell ring as a man stepped out of one of the rooms in front of the Doctor, dressed in a white vest and white shorts with a whistle around his neck.

“Hello?” The Doctor spoke.

“Have you forgotten your P.E. kit again?” The man yelled, the Doctor had no answer as he glanced around in confusion. “Right, that’s it, you’re doing it in your pants!”

With that the man stormed back into his room and slammed the door behind him, the Doctor looked around at all of you in silence and you realised that must’ve been someone else’s bad dream.

“Hey! Don’t!” The Doctor shouted as he ran past you and Loki, you both jumped out the way and watched as Howie opened one of the doors to a room before the Doctor could reach him.

Once the door swung open you heard the sound of girls laughter.

“Oh look girls, it’s H-H-Howie.” You heard one of them tease, causing the others to burst into giggles.

“What’s “loser” in K-K-K-Klingon?” Another added encouraging another round of laughs.

“Shut the... d-d... the- the door!” Howie told the Doctor as he began backing away and the Doctor quickly slammed it shut as Howie stood behind him, nervously pulling the sleeves of his striped hoodie over his hands. “This is just some... m-m-messed up CIA b-b-bullshit, I’m- I’m telling you.”

“You’re right, keep telling yourself that. It’s a CIA thing, nothing more.” The Doctor told Howie as he put an arm over his shoulder and encouraged him to keep walking down the corridor and you all continued to quietly follow.

You felt as though you were walking around in circles as every hallway looked exactly the same, the same carpet, the same wallpaper, the same wall lamps and doors. There were no signs which told you what floor you were on, the only thing which was different was the numbers on the front of each of the doors.

There was a dip in the ceiling, which ran along the top of the corridor, it looked like a beam, the Doctor ran his finger over it to trace some large scratch marks that had been left behind. While Donna stopped and bent down to pick up some small notebook sized pieces of paper which she had found on the floor. You glanced over her shoulder to look at the words scribbled in pencil which were written over it.

Loki had fallen to the back of the group and he slowed as he passed one of the doors, until he was stood in front of it. Everything in him was screaming at him to walk away but he couldn’t, it was as if he were stuck, as the urge to open the door before him overpowered him.

Hesitantly he lifted his hand, which had begun shaking, to the doorknob. He was overwhelmingly curious about what his bad dream might be, many nights he had been plagued with nightmares of being back at the sanctuary, tortured by The Other. He wondered if that’s what was waiting for him behind his door, or perhaps it was Thanos himself, come to kill him just like in the projection the TVA had shown him.

No one noticed as Loki pushed his door open and peaked inside his room, to find the last thing he expected, it was empty. Apart from two single beds against the wall, a table between them with a lamp on top of it, much like a normal hotel room, there was nothing. Loki drew his brows together, he wasn’t sure whether he should’ve been relieved or worried.

Loki retreated and stepped back into the hallway, as he gently pulled the door back shut he glanced at the number on the front of it to find it was room 13 and he narrowed his eyes.

You had turned around just in time to see him with his hand on the doorknob and you called his name as you ran towards him.

“Loki, don’t go in there!” You grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the door.

“It’s too late.” Loki mumbled as his eyes remained on the door and you put both your hands on the sides of his face to force him to look at you.

“What did you see?” You asked him and he slightly shook his head.

“Nothing.”

“It’s okay, you can tell me.” You encouraged him, believing he was trying to protect you.

“No, I’m not lying... there- there was nothing.” Loki told you, you could see the genuine confusion in his eyes and you realised he was telling the truth.

A sudden growl grabbed everyone’s attention, it was a low and thunderous sound that could only come from a dangerous beast. Joe began squirming in his chair as he tried to break free from his restraints as the growling grew closer.

“Okay, whatever that is, it’s not real, yeah?” Donna asked the Doctor.

“No, no, I’m sure it isn’t,” you heard him assure her, yet the way he was backing away betrayed him, “but just in case, let’s run away and hide anyway, in here.”

The Doctor encouraged you all to pile into one of the rooms, some of you got separated, while you, Loki, Donna and the Doctor entered one room, Rita and Howie ran into another, abandoning Joe in the middle of the hallway.

When you looked into the room, you saw two stone statues of angels with their faces hidden behind their hands as if they were crying.

“Oh god. Okay, whatever you do. Don’t blink.” The Doctor ordered you all as he stared with wide eyes at the stone statues in front of him.

“Why not?” You dared to ask.

“They’re Weeping Angels, they can only move when they’re not being observed, a single touch from one of them will make you disappear forever.” The Doctor quickly explained to you and your eyes began to burn as you stared at the stone sculptures in front of you.

The light of the room began flickering off and on, every time the room was plunged into completely darkness the light came back on to reveal the angels had moved closer. Now they had removed their hands from their face as they reached out for you with their mouths open wide to reveal sharp teeth.

Your pulse raced as you backed yourself up against the wall each time they came closer, you wanted to scream but you were too frightened, your eyes watered from the sting of forcing them open too long and you clung on impossibly tight to Loki’s arm.

“Why haven’t they got us yet?” The Doctor asked once the angels stopped coming any closer.

The Doctor bravely stepped forward, while the rest of you remained against the wall.

“Doctor, be careful.” Donna warned him, as he reached his hand out towards the stone angel but once he touched it, nothing happened and the Doctor sighed with relief.

“They’re not real. They would’ve got us by now. They’re not real. Just someone’s bad dream.” The Doctor turned around to assure you all and each of you slumped against the wall in unison, as you let your eyes finally fall shut, you wiped away the moisture that fell from your tear ducts, as your eyes watered heavily to replenish their irritated and dried surface.

From the hallway you could hear the growls grow closer, as they were accompanied by heavy footsteps. On the floor, where light from the hallway leaked through the gap of the door, you saw the shadows of the beasts legs as it stomped past. You held your breath as you tightly closed your eyes and you felt Loki’s arms tighten around you.

The Doctor quietly stepped up to the door and spied through the peephole, but quickly jumped back when the beast banged against the door from the other side.

“Oh dear.” He glanced nervously at the rest of you before he returned to the door to take another glance through the peephole. “I think it’s going after Joe.”

He watched as Joe managed to struggle free from the ties which bound him to the chair, as he stood and held his arms out wide at his sides, with a large smile on his face.

“Come to me. Come to me.” He welcomed the beast. “Praise him.”

Suddenly it fell silent and you all glanced at each other, wondering if it was safe to leave the room yet. The Doctor was the first one to step out of the room as he looked up and down the empty hallway, the only thing left behind was the chair, the stack barrow and the ties which were left discarded on the floor. The Doctor looked to the top of the hallway just in time, to see Joes legs disappear behind the corner, as the beast dragged him away.

“Leave him alone!” The Doctor shouted as he ran after him. As you all ran out the room after him, Rita and Howie emerged from the room they had hidden in.

Once you all turned the corner, you found the Doctor crouching beside Joe, who was perched in a kneeling position against the wall, his head lulled lifelessly and his vacant eyes stared at nothing, as the Doctor patted at his cheek. The look on the Doctors face as he solemnly glanced back up at all of you, told you everything you needed to know.

***

The Doctor and Loki had managed to carry Joe’s body to one of the hotel’s bars, where they rested him on the floor and covered him with a white cloth from one of the tables, while you and Donna wedged chairs underneath the handles of all the doors in an attempt to stop anything from getting into the bar where you sought refuge.

The only sound that filled the room was the ear piercing whistle of an old kettle coming to a boil, as Rita made cups of tea for you all and Howie quietly sat at one of the tables by himself.

“What exactly happened to him?” Rita asked the Doctor as she approached him with two cups of tea in her hand, one of which she handed to him.

From where you sat on a nearby table, next to Loki, you listened in on their conversation.

“He died.” The Doctor answered plainly as he held his mug full of tea in front of him.

“You are a medical Doctor, aren’t you?” Rita checked, “you haven’t just got a degree in cheese-making or something.”

“No! Well, yes, both, actually.” The Doctor answered. “I mean, there is no cause, all his vital organs simply stopped, as if the simple spark of life, his loves and hates, his faiths and fears were just... taken.”

“So you believe this to be a fake alien hotel?” Rita pointed out. “I heard you talking when you arrived.” She confessed after the Doctor silently tilted his head, wondering how she knew that. “Look, it’s no more ridiculous than Howie’s CIA theory or mi... or mine.”

“Which is?”

“This is Jahannam.” She stated.

“You’re a muslim? You think this is hell?” The Doctor asked curiously and Rita nodded.

“The whole ‘80s hotel thing took me by surprise, though.” She added.

“All these fears and phobias wondering about, most are completely unconnected to us, so why are they still here?” He asked her as if she had the answers.

“Maybe the cleaners have gone on strike.” She joked which made the Doctor laugh.

“I like you, you’re a right clever clogs. But this isn’t hell, Rita.” The Doctor told her.

“You don’t understand, I say that without fear. Jahannam will play its tricks, and there’ll be times when I want to run and scream, but I’ve tried to live a good life and that knowledge keeps me sane, despite the monsters and the bonkers rooms.” She explained before Donna approached the Doctor, holding in her hand the pieces of paper she found on the floor earlier.

“Doctor, look at this. I found it in a corridor, I forgot I had it.” Donna told him as she handed over the pages to him. The Doctor took them in his hands and leaned against the table you and Loki were sat at as he read the scribbled writing on the paper out loud.

My name is Lucy Hayward and I’m the last one left. It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as he arrived. It’s funny, you don’t know what’s going to be in your room until you see it, then you realise it could have never been anything else. I just saw mine. It was a gorilla from a book I’d read as a kid. My god that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others... and how lucky they were. It’s all so clear now. I’m so happy. Praise him.

“Praise him.” Howie repeated from where he was sat, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“What did you just say?” The Doctor asked.

“Nothing...” Howie innocently answered before he looked like he was fighting against himself as the words rose to his tongue. “Praise him.” He said again before he slapped his own hand over his mouth.

“This is what happened to Joe.” Rita told you all, as Howie rose from his chair and began to pace back and forth.

“God, it’s going to come for me now.” He worriedly muttered to himself.

“I won’t leave you, I promise, you have my word.” The Doctor swore to him.

“I don’t want to get eaten!” Howie grew more anxious.

“Howie, calm down.” Rita tried to tell him.

“He’s going to lead the beast right here.” Loki said.

All their voices jumbled together as the spoke over one another, before the Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver in the air and it emitted a shrill sound which rung through your ears, you quickly covered them with your palms and everyone fell silent.

“Thank you.” The Doctor said once everyone had stopped talking.

“Don’t you see? He will lead the monster right here!” Loki was the first to speak.

“What do you suggest?” Rita turned to him and Loki silently looked around at everyone, until his eyes fell on you.

“We have to keep ourselves safe and find the TARDIS,” he told the room, “tragic though it might be, now is not the time for sentiment. The beast is coming for Howie and if we all remain here it might take us too.”

“Of course you’re thinking about yourself.” Donna snidely commented.

“I’m thinking about the safety of your niece, actually.” Loki corrected her and she frowned regretfully.

“It’s okay, I’ll stay with Howie. You take the others and go.” Rita offered.

“No. We stay together.” The Doctor said with finality. “Howie, any second now, it’s going to possess you again. When it does, I’m going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them.”

The Doctor sat Howie down at one of the tables and you all sat down opposite him. The Doctor tapped his fingers on the surface of the table as he waited for the possession to wash over Howie again. You noticed it seemed to have come over him when his eyes widened and he gasped in a breath of air.

The edge of Howie’s lips lifted into a smile and he raised his large brown eyes to look at you all from under his dark eyebrows, the sinister look unsettled you.

“Howie, you’re next! We’re all so jealous, so tell us... How do we get a piece of the action? Why isn’t he possessing all of us?” The Doctor baited him.

“You guys have got all these distractions, all these obstacles. It’d be so much easier if you just it let go, you know, clear the path.” Howie explained, his demeanour completely changed, he became lucid and relaxed.

“You want it to find you? Even though you know what it’s going to do?” You asked.

“Are you kidding?” Howie asked you directly. “He’s going to kill us all! How cool is that?!”

The Doctor abruptly stood up and you did too, followed by Loki and then Donna and Rita as you huddled into a group with your backs turned to Howie.

“It’s as I thought. It feeds on fear.” The Doctor whispered. “Everything, the rooms, Lucy’s note, even the pictures in reception, has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to, cross your fingers, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens, but do not give in to the fear.” He instructed.

“Guys... where’s Howie?” Rita asked and you all turned around and looked at the empty chair where he was once sat.

“My master, my lord. I’m here! Bring me death!” You heard Howie’s voice faintly cry from the stairwell.

“No!” The Doctor yelled as he ran out the exit of the bar, in search for Howie, Donna and Rita followed after him and you followed after them, ignoring Loki who called after you.

Somehow you all got separated as you ran through the corridors in search for Howie and each other. Rita had said that the corridors twisted and stretched, it likely did this on purpose. You found yourself alone in one of the empty hallways, the door at the end of it called to you. Number 7. Without moving the wall slid closer to you, until all you had to do was reach out your hand and turn the doorknob to find out what awaited you.

You know you shouldn’t have, you really tried not to, but you couldn’t help yourself as you slowly pushed open your door and glanced at what was inside.

Your eyes widened when on the edge of the bed you saw a dark figure, the only light in the room was the one which leaked through from the hallway, but you recognised it immediately. The figure haunted your dreams often as a child, it became less frequent as you grew older until you had forgotten about it completely. The nightmares used to petrify you, often you would wake in the middle of the night screaming and your mother would have to come running into your bedroom to comfort you and tell you it was just a bad dream.

You yelped when you felt someone yank you away from the door, before they slammed it shut.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Rita told you. “What did you see?”

“Nothing.” You said defensively, you didn’t want to explain it, “I didn’t see anything.”

Rita could easily tell that you were lying, but she didn’t call you out on it, respecting the fact you didn’t wish to share your bad dream.

“Come on.” She urged you, taking you to find everyone else.

As you ran through the endless maze of corridors, you eventually ran into Donna, all three of you remained together until you turned down a corridor and found the Doctor standing in front of Howie’s body which was presented in a kneeling position against the wall, just like Joe’s had been.

The Doctor silently stared back at the three of you, regret evident in his eyes at the fact he was unable to save his life. Just as you began to wonder where Loki was, he appeared at the other end of the hallway, as soon as you saw him you rushed towards him. He pulled you into his arms without hesitation and planted a chaste kiss on the top of your head.

***

The Doctor was walking up the stairwell, having just returned from the bar where he and Loki had placed Howie’s body alongside Joe’s and put another white table cloth over him. He had decided he needed to go for a walk, he was beginning to feel the pressure of time running out and if he didn’t come up with a plan soon he was going to lose all of you.

As he walked up the stairwell, he ran into Rita, who was walking in the opposite direction.

“Rita! How are you?” He greeted her, “not panicking, are you?”

She shook her head.

“Good. That’s very good. Because I’m on the verge of getting us out of here.” He assured her, despite the fact he wasn’t entirely certain if he actually was.

“Why is it up to you to save us?” Rita asked him. “It’s quite a god complex you have there.”

“I brought them here.” He told her, “I didn’t really give them a choice in the matter. I threatened to take them back home and take the freedom of all of time and space away from them if they didn’t join me on one adventure. How much safer they would’ve been if they had’ve decided to go home.”

“All of time and space, eh?” Rita grew interested.

“Oh, yeah. And when we get out of this, I’ll show you, too.” He promised her, before his eyes landed on a security camera above her head and he smiled as he suddenly got an idea. “Right down to the smallest detail. Got you, Mr Minotaur.”

With that, he ran off down the stairs and Rita was left staring at the security camera. Curiously she stepped up the stairs and stood right in front of it as she looked directly into it.

“Praise him.” She smiled as she closed her eyes.

***

Loki studied you as you both sat in silence at one of the tables in the bar, you had been quiet ever since you reunited after you all got separated. He understood you were frightened, even he was too, but there had been a change in you and it didn’t take him long to figure out what it was.

“You’ve seen your room, haven’t you.” Loki quietly said as he took your hand in his to get your attention.

You had been staring into nothing and you rapidly blinked as you zoned back in and looked at Loki, his face was filled with nothing but concern for you as you silently nodded before dropped your head in shame.

Loki placed the tips of his fingers under your chin and gently encouraged you to lift your head.

“What did you see?” He asked you.

“There was a figure sat on the bed,” your eyes gently filled with tears as you retold Loki of the nightmares that plagued you as a child. “I’m next, aren’t I? It’s going to come for me. I’m sorry, Loki. I’m so sorry, I tried to resist it, I’m sorry.”

Loki tenderly shushed you as you began to cry and pulled you into his chest, where you sobbed into the front of his shirt as you let his comforting warmth and scent surround you, never wanting to leave the safety of his embrace. You whined as Loki pulled back and he left a soft kiss on your salty lips before he took your face in his hands and wiped away the tears which ran down your cheeks.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise. I will do whatever it takes to protect you.” Loki swore to you, before he let you hug back into him as he tried his best to sooth you.

Unbeknownst to the both of you, Donna watched on from the doorway to the bar, she had missed the part where you revealed you had seen your room and only caught the pair of you as Loki promised to protect you, she was beginning to believe that he truly meant it.

***

After Loki had managed to calm you down, you decided that you should go find the Doctor, Donna had revealed herself to the both of you once you exited the bar and to your surprise she didn’t have anything to say about you and Loki.

“Where’s Rita?” You asked your auntie when you realised she wasn’t with any of you.

“Maybe she’s with the Doctor.” Donna shrugged.

Donna joined you on your way to find, Rita and the Doctor, she remained silent the whole time and didn’t even send any hostile glances in Loki’s direction when he took your hand in his, you were slightly confused but didn’t question it as you were just grateful that she was giving the pair of you some peace.

You were walking down a corridor when you heard the Doctor’s voice, from behind a door that was wedged open slightly and you rushed through it with Loki and Donna close behind you.

“What’s going on? Rita’s disappeared.” You told him once you entered the room, you saw all the black and white TV’s in front of the Doctor, which displayed live security footage and you noticed he had a phone to his ear, while on one of the TVA’s Rita looked directly into the camera as she, too, spoke into a phone from one of the bedrooms which she had brought out into the corridor.

“Rita. Rita, please. Let me find you.” The Doctor urgently pleaded.

“Stay where you are.” She ordered him. “Please, let me be robbed of my faith in private.”

“Listen, Rita. Go into the room, lock the door.” The Doctor instructed her after he saw the beast walk by on the security footage displayed on one of the other TV’s and saw it was closing in on Rita.

“I’m not frightened. I’m blessed, Doctor. I’m at peace.” She told him. “I’m going to hang up now.”

“No, Rita, Don’t!” The Doctor begged.

“Goodbye, Doctor.” Rita spoke directly into the camera, it was almost as if she was looking right into the Doctors eyes. “Thank you for trying.”

“Rita! Rita, please!” The Doctor shouted, but he knew he couldn’t hear her as she pulled the phone from her ear and placed it back down on the receiver. The Doctor still hadn’t removed the phone from his own ear, as the dial tone and his useless pleas were the only sounds that filled the room.

“Doctor, it’s too late.” Donna gently told him as she slid the phone from his hand and returned it to the receiver, the Doctor couldn’t tear his eyes away from the security footage as a large shadow began to loom over Rita and she smiled.

“Doctor!” Donna called after him as he abruptly stormed out the room. You jumped when you heard the sound of glass smashing and tables being thrown over, as the Doctor unleashed his emotions, you knew he had grown close to Rita during their short time together.

Watching the beast take her had only made it all the more real, as you realised that was your unavoidable fate. You looked up at Loki, your vision blurred as moisture gathered in your eyes, he had vowed to protect you and you didn’t doubt he would but you were trapped here with no way out, even the TARDIS had disappeared, you knew that the odds were not in your favour and that realistically you didn’t have long left.

***

You, Loki and Donna quietly sat at one of the tables which the Doctor hadn’t flipped over in the now trashed bar. As the Doctor paced around in front of you all, desperately trying to figure it out.

“It preys on people’s fear and possesses them. But Rita wasn’t afraid, she was brave and calm. Maybe it’s something to do with the people, some connection between you that will tell me how to fight it.”

“Yes. You keep saying that, but while we wait, people keep dying and she will be next.” Loki criticised the Doctor and you looked at him with wide eyes as he referred to you.

“No, you won’t let that happen.” You told him, as you took his hands in yours.

“I know, darling, I know.” He turned to you in his chair, “don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You saw your room?” Donna realised.

“I’m sorry.” Your voice trembled as you spoke to her and she instantly rose from her seat to pull you into her arms and shushed you.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for, you’re going to be okay.” She assured you.

“Oh, no. Oh, no, no.” The Doctor mumbled. “It’s not fear. It’s faith.” He realised.

You pulled away from Donna as you watched the Doctor have an epiphany.

“Not just religious faith, like Rita’s, but faith in something. Howard believed in conspiracies, that external forces controlled the world. Joe had dice cufflinks and a horseshoe pin on his tie. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck. They all believe there’s something guiding them, about to save them. That’s what it replaces. Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith. And this whole time, I’ve been telling you to dig deep. Find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith and gave it exactly what it needed.” The Doctor said with regret.

“What about me?” You asked, “What does it want from me?”

“Your faith in Loki.” The Doctor answered. “That’s what brought us here.”

You all fell silent and Loki realised that the one thing putting your life in danger was your faith in him. Which meant if you died, it would be his fault, he concluded in his own mind.

“But why do they lose their faith before they die and start worshipping... “it”?” Donna was the first to break the silence.

“It needs to convert the faith into a form “it” can consume. Faith is an energy, the specific emotional energy the creature needs to live.” The Doctor explained. “Which is why at the end of her note, Lucy said...”

“Praise him.” You said.

“Exactly.” The Doctor nodded, until his eyes widened when he realised you weren’t finishing his sentence for him, you had began worshipping the beast.

“No.” Loki said to you, having realised the same thing. “Please, no.” He pleaded as he took your hands in his own.

Suddenly you began to hear a distant growl and the sound of heavy footsteps from the floor above. The beast was coming for you.

“We have to get her away from here.” The Doctor announced and Loki urged you out of your seat as you all began to run out of the bar and back into the endless maze.

As you ran through the corridors with a tight grip on Loki’s hand, you heard the footsteps coming closer behind you, until when you glanced over your shoulder, you finally saw it chasing after you.

You slipped your hand free from Loki’s and turned to face the beast, you thought it was beautiful and you didn’t understand why you were ever running from it, you wanted to welcome it and the glorious death it would bring you.

But you felt two pairs of hands dragging you away, you tried to fight against them but they were stronger, as Loki and Donna both pulled you along the hallway, away from the beast which was quickly catching up to you.

“Over here!” Loki shouted towards the Doctor when he saw door number 13, “it’s my room, there’s nothing in here!”

The Doctor pushed open the door and Loki and Donna pulled you into the room before the Doctor slammed the door shut and leaned his weight against it in an attempt to keep the beast out.

“What do we do now? We’re trapped.” Donna looked to the Doctor, Loki turned to him for answers as well, as you crouched to the floor with your back facing everyone.

Suddenly the beast slammed against the door, trying to get through, but the Doctor continued pushing his weight against the door trying to keep it out.

“You have to destroy her faith in you,” the Doctor told Loki urgently, as the beast kept beating against the door. “It’s the only way you can save her.”

Loki swallowed as he felt his throat tighten and he lowered his eyes to you where you knelt on the floor with your back to him, another hit against the door from the wild beast behind him urged him to step towards you, until he crouched by your side.

“Loki, it’s happening, it’s changing me, it’s changing my thoughts.” You told Loki, still believing he could save you.

Loki fought back his tears, throughout his entire life he had been told to control his emotions, despite that, he had never been very good at it, but now your life depended on it and he tried to remain as emotionless as possible. He gulped down the lump in his throat and controlled the tremble in his voice, so it wouldn’t give him away as he spoke.

“I can’t save you.” Loki told you and he felt the first unbearable rip in his chest as you looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes, expecting him to be your hero.

“What? No, you can. You promised.” You desperately encouraged him.

Loki had to momentarily divert his gaze to stop himself from breaking. He masked it as a bored sigh as he wiped his palm down his face before he looked back towards you, ensuring that his eyes lacked any of the adoration, trust and love that he held for you in his wounded heart. Shadows cast over his eyes, making them darker in the already dimly lit room as he stared at you from beneath his eyebrows. The only time you ever recalled him looking at someone like that was when he confronted Cassandra, back then the look had sent shivers through your spine, but now it made your chest cave as you wondered what you had done to the person you love to make him look at you like that.

“I lied.” Loki lied. “I tricked you. I’m the God of Mischief, it’s what I do best, and you fell for it so easily.”

“You’re lying. It’s not funny.” You shook your head, refusing to believe him, your faith in him remained strong. Loki decided to try another tactic which caused a sick feeling to stir in his stomach, but he had promised he would do whatever it takes to protect you and he wasn’t going to break his promise, even if that meant he had to make you hate him.

“You should have listened to your auntie,” Loki continued. “She was right, I’ve been lying to you this whole time. I wasn’t controlled by the mind stone when I attacked New York, I brought death and destruction and enjoyed every second of it.”

“No, stop.” You pleaded as you began to sob, “why are you saying this?” You tried to hold onto him but he shoved you away as he stood up straight above you and you grovelled at his feet, clinging onto him and your belief in him for dear life, like it wasn’t the one thing endangering it.

By now the beast had managed to overpower the Doctor and the door was wide open. It’s shadow loomed over you and Loki realised that if he was about to lose you forever, he would rather it be in the way where you survived in the end. He had to truly hurt you.

“I told you a made up sob story and you fell for it, like a fool... or perhaps you were just so desperate for some affection, you didn’t care who it came from. I’d expect nothing less from a pathetic human such as yourself. You asked me once if I thought you were a worthless creature,” Loki noticed the monster finally stopped in his tracks half way into the room, as you finally let go of his legs and began to shuffle away from him, dreading what he was going to say next. Loki knew that this was the final blow that would completely shatter your faith and trust in him and save your life. So with his heart already torn in to shreds, he prepared to reach into his chest and rip out the broken pieces of his heart and throw them away, destroying any chance of it ever being put back together again after this. “Truth be told, I think you’re the most worthless of them all.”

With that the beast collapsed to his knees and you scrambled to your feet to get away from Loki as you looked at him with so much betrayal, he had to avoid your eyes to stop himself from breaking down right there in front of you and start begging for your forgiveness.

You rushed to your auntie for comfort, while the Doctor crouched by the creatures side as it let out it’s final breaths.

Once it was dead, the hotel around you began to collapse like a house of cards, you were all left unharmed as everything around you vanished into nothing, until it revealed that you had been on a spaceship this whole time as you were surrounded by futuristic electronics and a round window which revealed the vast vacuum of space and a nearby grey planet. The ship was quiet and it seemed to be abandoned, but you weren’t going to stick around long enough to double check as you finally saw the TARDIS, stood in the far corner of the dark room. You wanted to get as far away from Loki as possible, so as soon as you had laid eyes on the Doctors ship, you had ran towards it and disappeared behind its blue doors.

It was then that Loki realised why his room had been empty, it was in his room where he had lost you, and that was his biggest fear.

#loki #loki (marvel)#loki x reader #loki x you #loki x female reader #loki imagine #doctor who #tenth doctor #10th doctor #donna noble #tom hiddleston

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