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checkingoutforheroes · 3 years

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B.A.B.Y PROTOCOL.

Part 2.

Avengers x fem!reader

Pt.1

Words: 1892

Synopsis: This takes place in Avengers: Age of Ultron. When The Avengers were at the rock bottom, Nick Fury and advised by Maria Hill, to initiate the B.A.B.Y Protocol. Will a young, damaged and broke girl agree to this initiative and help a team to save this planet earth?

Main Masterlist

Maria and Fury bring you to The Avengers tower for mission briefing and meet the rest of the team. To be honest, you are beyond excited you see the building. You move from your seat to another, looking out of the window, facing the tower. Maria looks at you at the rear view mirror, seeing your awe face and smile. “If you open that window, I might’ve mistaken you with a dog.” You ignore her comment and ask them “Is this S.H.I.E.L.D? You guys work here? You build this place papa Bear? This is taller than I thought it would be!”

Fury look at you and then Maria “Now she’s excited.” Maria answer your question. “That is Avengers tower. S.H.I.E.L.D no longer exist. Burn to the ground.” You didn’t keep up about them after left the agency so you don’t know what happened. “What happened? Did this moody papa Bear show his emotion through action?” You let out a small laugh until Fury annoyed “Once again you call my name other than Fury, I’ll burn you too.” “Nahh, you’re not going to burn me. You need me. Otherwise, I’m not in this car right now. I said to him and Maria drive through the parking basement. “She got you, boss.”

Fury walk ahead to their meeting room. You stop your track when you see an aquarium placed at the wall. You never see something like that before in your life. When Maria realize that you are not walking behind her, she turns back to get you. “What are you doing?” “Looking at these fish in an aquarium stuck on the wall. How they do that? How they going to feed the fish? Rich people shit, quite awesome.” You said and Maria just shake her head. “We have a world crisis and the first thing you did is watch the fish?! Are you kidding me? Let’s go meat the team.”

Meanwhile Fury already told the team about a new protocol or whatever. You didn’t hear that clearly until you are inside the room. Fury talk to them. “Since all of you are here, including Maximoff, I have a new protocol that you can use.” Steve looking confusing at Fury. “We already made a plan.” Tony interrupt to teasing Steve “Yeah and a good ted talk by the captain too.” Natasha asking about the protocol. “Do we know about the protocol?” Fury take a seat “No, Romanoff. No one knows about this protocol except Agent Hill. This protocol was created to help the team when in need, and this team clearly need it right now.” Steve ask him. “What protocol is that?” Natasha looking at Clint and he shrug. “B.A.B.Y PROTOCOL.” Tony just laugh while Steve have a serious face looking at him. “I’m sorry. That’s kinda funny name for a protocol.” Maria open the door and you both going in. All eyes on you and you feeling slightly nervous. How can you not, they are The Avengers! You recognize all of their face except one person wearing black dress and red cardigan.

Fury introduce you to the team. “Right on time. Avengers, I introduce you B.A.B.Y PROTOCOL, as in Best Associate By Yours truly.” Maria added “Also, we call her Baby.” They are quiet and shock appear in their faces except two people. Natasha and Clint. They go greet you. “Baby!” Natasha walks to hug you while Tony look at you two weird. “Nat! Omg, I miss you. Clint! Miss you too!” You hug Clint and he hold your head. “Well, she grows up.” “Yeah, with some food and water, I did. Man, you’re old.” You said to him and Natasha smile “Kids growing, Barton.” “Natasha, beautiful as always. You have to drop your skin care routine, sis.” Tony interrupt the moment “You both knew her? Fury, you said no one know about this protocol.” Fury nods. “I said no one know about this protocol not that Romanoff and Barton didn’t know her.”

Steve starts asking question. “How old are you?” Tony interject again. “Yeah. You don’t look like a baby to me.”

You looking back at Steve, smirk on your face. “How old are you?” Maria sign you to behave. “Baby.” Tony sit down at one of the chair. “I like this kid already!” He earns a glare from Steve and you apologizing “I’m sorry. That’s not a good first impression. I’m 22.”

“What is your name?” Damn he is a serious one.

“People call me Baby.”

“What people didn’t call you?”

“If they didn’t call me? Silence, I guess.” You whisper at Natasha left ear “Can I not tell them my name?” She crooks a little smile. “It’s up to you.” “I prefer being call by that name that Maria & Fury has told you or anything you want except my real name due to personal reason.” You nod and smile at them.

“Why? Dark past? Major criminal? Wanted by CIA? Interpol? MI6? Ugly name? Kicked out of family or something?” Seriously, how can they work as a team with a guy name Tony Stark? Maria, Natasha and Clint have your back.

“She’s here to help us. Nothing else, Stark.” Maria said to him.

Natasha glare at him. “I suggest you stop right there or you’re not going to see any sunlight.”

Clint agree with them. “Leave her alone man.” Tony look guilty. “Everybody in this room has dark past. I’m just curious, not judging. She’s not alone.” Wanda tell them that he told the truth. “He’s not lying.” “Thank you Wendy. Peace?” You walking toward him “No heart feeling.” You guys fist bump each other.

Steve ask again. “How do you know Barton and Romanoff?”

“While I was in S.H.I.E.L.D Academy, which I thought a Juvenile school at first, they trained me combat espionage. Since that’s the only thing on my expertise. I wish to have Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz brain though. They’re genius in bio-chem and engerneering.”

“Why you thought it was juvenile at first? You commit crime?”

“Duh.” Both you and Tony said it at the same time and again “JINX!” Natasha look at Steve. “Relax captain, all of us commit crime back then.” “I didn’t” Tony look at him. “Are you sure about that?” “What do you mean Stark?” Steve ask and he say “You literally cheated your medical checkup to join the army.” “I did it to protect our country.” Steve said and Clint chuckle “Still crime.” Fury tell Maria to handle the briefing and he’s out. You ask where is he going? “Where is he going?” “He have another thing to do Baby.”

“I know most of you but I don’t think I know or seen you, Mr. ?” You ask and Natasha introduce him. “That is Dr. Bruce Banner.”

You shake his hand. “Nice to meet you. What did you do?”

Bruce seems like to hesitate to answer that. “You didn’t know? New York?”

“Alien? Chitauri?” You ask him back innocently.

“Um. I’m, the big green guy.” He anxiously answers that.

“An ogre! Wow, that is so cool!” Clint hold my shoulder. “The other green, buddy.” “Oh, I know. I’m sorry, I forgot your ogre name is Shrek. Still cool though. I watch all of his movies when I was a kid. Maybe we can watch it again sometimes.”

Bruce look at Natasha and then back at you. “That’s, not me either, but yeah, we can watch that, big green cartoon sometimes.” Tony finally tell you who he is. “You seriously don’t remember who broke New York kid? He’s The Hulk!” Bruce looks down and tilt his head to look at Tony. “Yes. I’m that! Thank you for bringing back memory, Tony!”

You feel guilty for not remember that. “Gosh, I’m so sorry. But hey, New York already broken before you broke it. Can I have a selfie? You’re incredible.” You snap the picture before he even answers. Tony said something “I’m literally right here. The coolest guy in the group.” You turn your head to the girl in black dress, red cardigan. “And you are?”

She answers with a thick accent “Wanda Maximoff.”

“You’re not from here? You have an accent just like Nat. Well, once she’s mad at me during training years ago.” You remember the detail and Natasha rolls her eyes at you. “That is one time. I slipped.” “Human make mistakes sis. You aren’t machine.”

“I just got here yesterday. I made a mistake. Wrong judgement, I want to make it right. I join them.” She explains and you currently melting, just to hear he talk. You want her to talk more so you can hear her talk. Thing is, you didn’t know that she can read mind. Where is that accent came from? Russian? You ask those questions in your head. “From Sokovia.”

“Where are you from? What? I just ask-“

Maria answer my question. “She’s a telekinesis, energy manipulation and some kind of neuroelectric interfacing.” “Huh?” You don’t even know what that is and Maria make it simple for you. “Telepathic.” You turn to look back at her. “That is so awesome!” Tony huff at your statement. “Yeah, until she’s in your head.” She just looking down “I’m sorry.”

Right after she said that, Thor, God of Thunder walk into the room and tell about the scepter. You are amazed and suddenly you bend the knee. “Oh. My. God. You’re Thor!” He looks back at you. “and you tiny female human.” “You. Are. the God of Lightning! I am a fan! No. I’m an air-conditioner.” He smiling, feeling proud. “Thank you, tiny human lady. It’s God of Thunder, actually. What’s an air-conditioner?”

Maria gives us final brief. “You guys might want to prepare something for tomorrow. We’re flying to Korea and find Dr. Chow tomorrow morning. Get some rest, sleep early, you guys need it.”

You ask them a question. “Can I go back to my place, then come back? Clint can you take me?” “Yeah, I can.” Steve kind of not agree with you. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” “Why? I need to take my stuff.” “I can pick her up tomorrow.” You and Clint said and Steve ask you again. “Do you have a suit? or uniform?” You unzip your sweater and show your Donut Do It uniform. “Will, this do? Because someone decided that it was okay to give a surprise visit when I’m on my way to work.” Maria just smirking at you and Natasha smile “I don’t think that appropriate gear for the field.”

Tony offers you to stay with them at the tower. “Captain’s right. Don’t want to risk anything on the team member night before fight. Stay here, I’ve got plenty of room. Natasha can show you. They basically live here. We have spare shirts too.” You look at Wanda “You live here too?” She’s thinking about the answer. “I spend the night here.” Natasha turn you to look at her. “That’s a good idea. Just stay here tonight. Wanda’s here too.” “Natasha can show you your room, take a shower and dinner later.” Tony said. You look at Maria by the mention of dinner. She sighs “Okay, spaghetti and chicken wings.” Natasha add “And caramel pudding?” You smile at her “You remember?!” “Of course I do.” Clint jokingly say “How can she not, you guys practically sisters.”

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Thank you for spending your time reading this. Feel free to reblog or ask me anything, thank you in advance!

Part 3 is coming!

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thatsjasonfkntodd · 3 years

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Ashes to Ashes

Who: Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon ( @amazingflyingdick @thebatsbutler @cassandraxxwayne @sonofabct @redrobin-timdrake @clickforspoilers @oraclestandingby ), Mentions: Bruce Wayne.

When: February 14th, after Dick returns to Wayne manor following the explosion at NOVA headquarters.

What: Dick delivers the news of Bruce’s death to the family.

Dick:

Dick made sure he didn't fall back asleep on the way back to the city. He'd never been so relieved to see it, untouched aside from an alarming amount of confetti. That meant everyone was safe. It didn't change what happened to Bruce, or how he would have to be the one to tell them, but he wasn't going to let his own emotions detract from what he had to do. It was his job to do it, even if he hadn't been the one there. He would have shouldered that burden for any of his brothers.

After repeatedly turning down medical attention, he left after giving Bucky or Steve Josh's information. His cell phone was a bust and asking to use the hospital phone seemed like an imposition at this level of chaos.

His motorcycle was already waiting at the curb. It took half the time as usual to get to the manor, but he'd run every red light and ignored basic traffic signs. There was no one out on the road anyway. The entire city seemed to be in a state of shock.

When he reached the manor, he put in the code and let himself in. His uniform was torn and his ear was still bloody, but that didn't have anything to do with the blast. He knew after this he'd also have to reach out to Erik and check on Wanda. There was so much to do and the sheer amount of it made him pause for just a second on the front stoop. Once he was inside, once they knew, then everything would be changed forever. He wanted ten more seconds like this.

Taking a deep breath, he finally disabled the last alarm and let himself inside.

Alfred:

Alfred had left Ms Barbra and Master Kord in the cave, taking a quiet moment to himself while he made tea; he’d experienced loss before… Master Thomas, Ms Martha, Master Jason. But this… This was a chasm within himself he’d been incapable of imagining. He’d tread the boards, played the grieving father more than once but and feigned backstory paled in comparison to the earth shattering numbness that pulled at him like the undertow of a stormy sea.

He had a pot of tea kept warm by the stove and a cup in front of him where he sat at the kitchen table, it was cooling now, going untouched. His wrinkled hands clasped in front of him while his head bowed down slightly. His eyes open, he gazed into the depth of the cup as though held a life-preserver to keep him afloat. In the end it was hearing the door of the manor open that forced him to move.

Rising woodenly to his feet, Alfred moved towards the doorway and at the sight of saw Master Dick the sea calmed, if only a little, the boy was alive. Wasting no time, he moved forwards and pulled the young man into his arms. His son was gone but Master Dick was here, he was safe. Master B- he would’ve wanted that. “Oh you beautiful boy, thank God you’re safe.” He held him close, uncaring about the bloodied mess his suit and self was, rubbing small circles into his broad back, feeling him warm and battered but solid and very much alive. He pulled back only slightly, framing Dick’s face in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over dirty cheeks.

“I know, my boy.” He told Dick quietly, “Myself and Ms Gordon both know what’s happened. Your brothers will be here soon and I will see to your injuries before we meet as a family to say what must be said.” He swallowed and pulled Dick close again, as much for the younger man as for himself.

Babs:

Babs had been sitting in the kitchen with Alfred, knuckles pressed to her mouth, but she hadn't said anything. There was nothing for either of them to say. All they could do was wait for Ted to find more information, or for the team to return. The possibility that they weren't going to return wasn't an option she was willing to entertain. Not right now. Not until she had to.

When she heard the door she looked up, but didn't move until she heard the tone in Alfred's voice. Immediately she wheeled out of the kitchen, her eyes wide, and when she saw it was Dick she could no longer hold back the tears. "You're okay." It was all she could say, because she could see the look on his face. She didn't need to ask where Bruce was.

She waited until Alfred let him go before hugging him too, her fingers twisting into his arm. "The others will be here soon. Everyone's okay. Everyone's safe. Just..." Swallowing hard, she shook her head.

Jason | Cass:

Everyone was coming in from opposite directions. Jason had left Airen to sleep off the rest of the fear gas and Donna to handle Superman. When all that was done, though, he still had to go to the manor - somewhere he didn’t want to be even on a normal day, let alone when everything was freshly screwed up. He pulled off his mask before letting himself in and tossed it down on one of the entryway tables. Tim ought to be close behind him, he figured, and at least he could count on Stephanie, Cass, and Damian being alright. He’d heard them over the comms.

Without much sense of what else to do, he headed toward the room they’d all ended up in the day Damian gave up the Robin title. It was one of the last times they’d all been in one place, an occurrence usually tied to something being wrong. That was the only time he showed up, if he could help it, with Dick’s birthday being the singular exception. Rather than sit, Jason paced and eventually came to a stop beneath one of the too-expensive paintings that Bruce bought just because a man of his status was supposed to have them. He kept his back to the door, and didn’t hear Cass come in behind him until she stood next to him, equally silent.

Steph:

"I hate this room," Steph grumbled. Her voice was still teary, even though she was doing her best to maintain some composure. How was this whole family so stoic? She couldn't seem to stop crying. The tears were constant, even when she angrily threw herself into a chair. "Someone's had to hear something by now. Where's Barbie? Where's Alf? Someone has to know. Just because Ted hasn't found out anything..." She was rambling and no one was going to know the answer, so eventually she talked herself into sniffling silence.

Jason | Cass:

Cass stepped away from Jason and went to Stephanie instead. She’d cried before, a few times, but her instinct in those moments tended to lean more toward focusing on what was going on with everyone else. In this case, it was Steph. She crouched down in front of the chair so that they were nearly level with each other, though she had to look up slightly, and reached to hug her. It was better than talking. It wasn’t as if she had any answers. They’d arrived there together, with Damian in tow, and knew no more then than they had standing at the docks.

Tim:

Tim had taken a longer route home than necessary. He had needed it. He needed to think. He wasn't about to walk into an emotionally charged situation without all his thoughts together.

Well, that had been the intention anway.

He was still just as scrambled as he pulled up the Manor, and he let his boots crunch the gravel as he made his way up the stairs and through the door. The thickness in the air hit him hard, but he didn't flinch. He had used this tactic before, when he'd lost Steph. Just shut it all down. Put it away. And his face was blank as he stepped into the room. Three members were missing: Dick, Alfred, and...

"Dick?" He asked Barbara directly. "Is he here?" She had blood on her outfit. Why did she have blood? Whose blood? Not hers.

Babs | Dick:

After Alfred took Dick off to get cleaned up, Babs did her best to pull herself together. Dick was alive. She hadn't asked about Bruce. It was something, but it was also the something she had to hold onto if she was going to face the others without giving away everything on her face.

She was just about to go into the den when she saw Tim, but she didn't have time to answer the question before Dick's reappearance answered it for her.

Alfred was insisting that Dick go to the hospital for X-Rays, because apparently skull fractures were serious, but he felt clearheaded enough. He could focus. There was no way he was going anywhere without seeing everyone. Leaving them in the dark just wasn't an option.

As soon as he got word of Tim's arrival, he was slipping away from Alfred and hurrying back to the room where they'd congregated. When he saw Babs and Tim just outside the door, he couldn't even bring himself to smile. "Let's go in." Dick's hand reached for Tim's shoulder and he squeezed it tightly, but then he was opening the door and leading the way.

Jason | Cass

As more than one set of footsteps approached, Jason finally turned away from the painting to see who came inside. He’d expected Tim, Babs, Alfred...The relief that he got from seeing Dick step through first was palpable. It flashed briefly across his face, just a crease in his forehead and a flex of the jaw. If Dick was there, was it wrong if some sliver of him thought he’d see the cowl and cape next? Obviously he’d heard the same scramble over the comms as Babs tried (and managed) to override the safety protocols before the whole place blew, he knew what it could mean, but there was still that part of him that waited.

When only Tim and Babs followed him, he shifted and bit back the half dozen remarks that popped into his head. You look like shit was at the top of the list, but Dick probably knew that already. The expression he wore said more than whatever was going to end up coming out of his mouth, but Jason wanted to get it over with. Rip off the bandage. “Go on, Dick.” The smart comments fell away.

Tim:

He registered the squeeze on his shoulder and he looked up at his older brother. There was that soft and muted rush of relief that Dick was here and that he was alive. It would have been stronger if he hadn't been holding it all back. Holding back everything. So he managed little more than fingers brushed over Dick's before he was making his way into the den. Turning to Jason, Tim swallowed before coming to stand beside him. He needed that 'fuck it' energy.

Looking over at Stephanie as he stood by Jason, Tim subtly extended his hand. She'd need him. He'd be solid for her even as Dick spoke.

Damian:

The world felt numb. Even as he made his way back from the docks alongside Cassandra and Stephanie, even as he tried to feel more relief that this Anton character was taking care of rescuing Lois and the Kryptonians, the world just felt numb. Damian stashed away the old Robin cycle, peeling of the duck tape and trashing it. He didn't speak to anyone and hardly bothered raising his gaze off the floor beneath them until the boys began filing in - and Dick finally stepped through the door. He was okay - he hadn't completely lost everyone, or so it had felt. He looked at Dick with every ounce of the pain he was drowning under visible in his eyes, but he kept himself distant from the family. There wasn't anyone else that walked through that door with him. He didn't see his father. They had been through this before - believing Bruce to be dead; it had been what started Dick and Damian's working so closely with one another to begin with, but this time it felt different. There was a weight to it that threatened to crush the teennager. Maybe it was everything that had happened in the last decade or so. Maybe it was how things had been left off between them in just the last year alone. Damian wasn't certain.

Alfred:

It was always difficult, getting someone under this roof to seek actually treatment for an injury, without his intervention he was convinced they'd all have died of some form of sepsis years ago. A skull fracture was a serious thing, but Master Dick was at least speaking sensibly. Alfred would keep a close eye on him and ensure x-rays were taken after this most difficult family conversation.

He let Master Dick move into the room and retreated for a moment into the kitchen. He gathered tea onto a small serving trolley and moved inside with it. He poured cups out of habit rather than anything else, fully expecting no one to drink them, and stood by the door, posture rigid and expression unreadable. "If you need to, Master Dick, I am quite capable of delivering this news."

Dick:

It was surreal to be standing in front of everyone like this. Dick's ears were still ringing, but the sound got louder once he was in the room and the heavy silence built. He knew he didn't have to tell them what happened. Just looking at them made it obvious that they already knew, or at least suspected it, and he was just there to confirm their worst fears. The words felt acrid on his tongue and he didn't want to say them, but he knew someone had to.

Someone had to and he didn't want to put Alfred in that position. He'd lost a father, but Alfred lost a son. There was something more terrible about that - parents weren't supposed to lose children - no matter how much he might have been prepared for the possibility. There was something indomitable about Bruce. Even when he'd "died" the first time, it hadn't felt entirely real. Dick hadn't allowed himself to feel that loss. There had been other things to worry about at the time, particularly Tim and Damian, and he'd put "dealing with Bruce's death" on the back burner. This time he felt the reality of it and it was oppressive. Smothering.

"It's okay, Alfred," he finally said, his voice betraying nothing he was feeling underneath the calm facade. It was the way he got when he was ready to take charge of a situation - efficient, calm, and even a little harsh if he had to be. This situation didn't call for that, but he wasn't going to draw out the moment longer than he had to. It wasn't until he met Damian's eyes that he felt some of his own control slip. He reached for him, his grip solid as he grasped his arm so Damian could feel someone else there while he delivered the news. "Bruce is dead."

He didn't avoid anyone's gaze, even though what reflected back at him was difficult to look at. They didn't deserve to have him look at the floor or be anything less than direct about everything that happened. "I'm sorry. There wasn't anything I could do." Even as he said it, it was something he didn't fully believe. He'd been the one on the mission with Bruce. Bruce had chosen him to be there and to help, entrusted him with the responsibility, and he hadn't even managed to bring Bruce back alive. He couldn't even bring back a body for his family because there wasn't anything left after the explosion. All they had was him, and he wasn't Batman. He'd never been able to fill those shoes.

But he didn't (and wouldn't) say what he was thinking.

It should have been me.

Jason | Cass:

Part of Jason wanted the details. He wanted the how. How was it that so many of them had gone on that mission, with that much power, and Bruce, out of all of them, had ended up dead? But at the same time, just this once, even he knew that it didn't matter. The specifics of it didn't change any of it. He couldn't argue with the end result, it didn't matter if it made any sense (and it didn't), which was infuriating in its own way.

He focused instead, albeit briefly, on something familiar. A finger that he could point. Joker had been behind what happened. They still had no fucking clue how he'd managed to do it, and maybe they'd never know, but he'd still done it. Bruce was dead, and at the end of the day...NOVA had built that bomb but the clown had set it off. Jason held onto that anger and let it wrap around him like a blanket, comforting and familiar. It was someone's fault.

That was for later. He'd go back to it. "We're all here on borrowed time," he said finally, though there was no callousness to it. Death was inevitable, and for all of them it would probably come early or had made a previous appearance. It was a reality he'd already faced. If he'd let himself linger on it, the news might have been surreal. He didn't. "Now what?" They had to move forward. Whether it was together or separate, he had no idea. They just had to do it.

As if there had not already been enough clues in place to guess, the way Dick held himself as he stood in front of them betrayed enough. The sudden straightening of shoulders, the way he raised his chin...none of it reached his eyes. It was for them, and not for him. He was already grieving and Cass could see it.

Still, the words made it more real, for once. Without realizing it, she'd covered her mouth with her hand. She was not the only one in that room to whom Bruce had given a family. He'd done it for all of them. Still, she couldn't replay those moments, only the ones that the two of them had shared. They rushed to her - Bruce giving her a gift and telling her that the day she became Batgirl could be her birthday, Bruce promising her that she would always have a place with them, Bruce sitting with her on the side of a riverbank, wet and exhausted from fighting, and letting her hug him after a lifetime of her actual father never allowing it.

A gasp slipped out between her fingers. It was nothing more than a quiet, "Oh."

Steph:

As soon as Tim extended his hand, Steph had taken it and stood pressed against his side. She tried to tell herself that Dick was going to say something else, anything else, because there was just no way Bruce could be dead. Not for real real.

But then the words were out in the air and she blinked, sucking in a tight breath. Her grip on Tim's hand tightened to be almost painful.

She was already crying when she snapped at Jason, her voice thick with anger and grief. "What do you think? We get the stupid fucking clowns." He was the one who was responsible for this.

Alfred:

Alfred locked eyes with Dick before he spoke, proud of the courage the young man displayed, determined to take yet another burden onto his already overladen shoulders. He remained quiet as the news was delivered, grateful in some selfish way for the alarm which had informed him of the grave event earlier that evening.

His son was dead.

The little boy who'd loved Zorro, who'd begged Alfred to teach him how to fence. The broken boy at the police station who's life had been torn apart and set on a new path all thanks to one man and a gun. The quiet boy who cried against him as his parents were laid to their final rest. The pensive teenager who decided to change the world. The steadfast young man who fought for a city that gave him nothing in return. The man who took in a child so much like himself and grew to be a caring guardian. The father who'd put his children first and mourned their losses as though they were his own. The man who'd celebrated father's day not only for his children, but for him as well.

His son.

Alfred's expression remained unreadable as he quietly spoke from the doorway. "Master Bruce prepared me some time ago for this possibility. I am the named executor of his will and shall begin preparing funeral arrangements and press releases in the morning. Master Bruce's deeds will be known by the world and he shall be mourned as a hero should be, though our own ceremony will be a great deal more subdued." He paused to swallow, the only sign speaking was difficult, "If I may make one small request of you all and ask no one goes out again tonight. For just this one evening I would like what remains of my family to be safely under this roof."

Tim:

Tim stiffened. He listened to everyone, observed everything in a cool and detached way. Jason with his anger, Dick with his guilt, Steph with her vengeance. The news passed like a ripple, creating reaction after reaction and tightening the tension in the room until it all hummed like the drone of a thousand mosquitoes. He was there but he was not feeling. He was not feeling and reacting. He was thinking. How could this have happened? That was the first question he had asked. But Tim had quickly discarded it. Not the past. The past wasn't the take away and it would solve any puzzles.

The question wasn't 'how could this have happened?'. It wasn't 'who's to blame'. That may provide comfort to Stephanie and Jason, but it still solved no puzzles. It still fixed nothing. Bruce was dead. Bruce was dead and that meant that their lives were irrevocably changed. It meant that there were going to be massive gaps to be filled, and wouldn't Bruce want them to worry about that first? Before they mourned. Or even because they mourned. Batman was their symbol. All of their alia and everything they were stemmed from one man being that persistent. That determined. So determined that he became pervasive. They needed to worry about the fact that Bruce was gone but Batman's legacy was... them. What were they going to do about that?

In the quiet of his mind, in the darkest hours of the mourning when everyone else had finally gone to sleep and it was safe to, Tim would grieve. And he would try to process through that grief as best as he could because, even if they denied it or pushed forward, they were going to need someone who could take that support role. Tim could do that. He needed to do that. For so long he had been feeling as if there was a disconnect between him and his family. He couldn't lose anymore of them. He'd lost Steph. He'd lost his parents. And now he'd lost Bruce. He wasn't doing anymore. They needed a plan. They needed a way forward. He would grieve later. For now he asked: "What about Batman?" The funeral was for Bruce. "What are we going to do about Batman and us?" Batman needed a Robin. He had said that so many years ago. But now this stood a room full of Robins with no Batman to need them. They may have all grown into their own identities or started to, but he was intrinsic to all of them.

Looking to his brothers, his grey eyes betrayed the pain he was holding off as he waited, expectant. "He's part of us."

Damian:

There were the words, as if he needed to hear them to know the truth of it all. Bruce Wayne hadn't walked through that doorway with Dick. He had seen it in the man's eyes, felt it in the tight grip on his arm. Bruce Wayne would not be coming home. His father would not be walking through those doors after being delayed. Damian felt as if the air had left the room. His chest hurt and burned with each breath he took. His eyes felt the salty sting of his building tears. The man that had taken him in so suddenly; the man that had time and time again tried to keep him on the correct path through life. The man that had forced him to learn humility from mundane public schooling; forced him to learn the nuances of navigating high society and its lowest of lows both. The man that had sat through all the hateful and venomous things Damian had spoken over the years, was gone.

"I hate this fucking city..." His words were a weak tremble.

Damian's fists balled tightly at his sides. He didn't get to say goodbye. He didn't even work up the courage to speak with him after the city headquarters bombing. There were so many 'never got to's' that bombarded the teenager. He felt Stephanie's rage as clearly as he felt his own - the same unbridled fury he had felt when Dick was injured. He felt it, but only his father's voice echoed in his ears. It wouldn't change anything. That isn't the way to handle this. He felt sick. He felt dizzy. A voice within him cried out - his own, but younger; insecure and vulnerable. He wanted his father. He wanted his mother. He wanted anyone that could make the pain go away... and before he knew it he was holding onto Dick with a death grip and burying his face against his chest. Fix it, Dick. His thoughts cried. Tim, think of something. Jason, find out who needed to be hurt. Stephanie. Cassandra. Alfred. Someone. Instead, his voice left him - replaced only with an uncontrollable flood. Tim's words did little stem the tide, true as they were.

Dick:

The reactions were expected. Dick knew his family and he knew them well. It didn't make them any easier to bear. Underneath all the anger and cold efficiency, they were grieving. It would never look the same, because they were so different, but they'd also been trained by the same man. There were similarities in how they operated that were curbed by Bruce's lessons. Some less than others, but he could see Bruce's influence in every single one of them. The fact that they were all so different was what made them great. Not having Batman didn't change that - it just took away their safety net.

Jason's question and Steph's outburst made him frown, but he didn't say anything. Not yet. Without Bruce, Dick knew he would have to provide some of the answers and the reassurances that they needed to hear. It was a role that came easily to him, as naturally as it was to comfort Damian and offer that steady support that he needed. Alfred wanted them all to stay, but he knew he would have to go out at least one more time that night. He would speak to him about it later. There were other things to focus on, more pressing things, and Dick already knew the decision he was facing. He knew Tim was right. And maybe no one would ask him to do it, but who else was going to? He didn't expect anyone else to take on the burden that Bruce shouldered.

"I'll help you, Alfred." The press was going to be difficult to handle, but they had to manage the situation. "We'll get them," he said to Steph, firmly, because he knew she needed to hear it. Jason and Tim's questions were harder to answer, because even though he knew what he had to do, it was something he dreaded doing again. He had to bite his tongue against words that sounded too much like Bruce, Let me worry about that. It wasn't a good way to start this new chapter. They needed him to be collaborative, not isolating. "You're right, Tim. And we'll talk about what's next, but not tonight. This city needs us and it needs Batman, I'll never disagree with that, but the city can give us one night." Maybe Dick would encourage business as usual for himself, but he wasn't going to send out marching orders to the rest of his family on the heels of delivering news like that. They could revisit the subject tomorrow with clearer minds. He needed to think. It didn't help that his own head was pounding in spite of the Tylenol he'd taken, either. Dick's grip on Damian tightened, his hand making circles against his back, but his voice remained calm and even. "What happens next is ultimately going to be a group decision, but... for now I agree with Alfred. No one goes on patrol tonight. We'll move forward together, on the same page, or not at all. Bruce fought and died for this city, but I know he tried to put us first when he could. We matter more, and I think it's important for us to remember that."

Jason | Cass:

The manor was always the last place that he wanted to be, and that included right then, but he couldn’t turn down Alfred’s request. Rarely did Jason make things easier on people, or so it was often said, but he’d do it for Alfred. “We’ll stay,” he agreed, answering for all of them and assuming they lacked either the desire or sheer audacity to say otherwise.

Steph’s reply only earned a small raise of one shoulder. “Obviously. I was asking about a funeral.” Of course they were going to get the fucking clowns. He still wasn’t over Joker just disappearing right beneath their noses in that warehouse. But for that exact moment, he’d been talking about something else. “We’re doing it in Gotham, right?” They had to. Fuck Star City. Star City hadn’t made Batman or Bruce Wayne. All it had done was kill him. The irony of that almost made him laugh. Who survived Gotham fucking City and went off to die in sunny California?

Damian’s sudden break made him look away. Heat rolled over his skin and settled in the back of his neck. “I think Star City can kiss our collective ass for the night. It’s got enough out of us for a few hours.” But he didn’t want to stand there and do nothing either. Not remotely. He didn’t want to watch Damian or Steph cry, and he didn’t want to see Cass barely keeping from it.

“Al, how about we skip the tea and break into that wine collection Bruce just got for show?”

Cass wrapped her arms around herself and finally sat down on the couch closest behind her. Let the others talk. Bruce had given all of them family, a purpose, and each other. It had never been Batman that mattered - it was the symbol that counted. They could still carry that, even without him. It would ever look the same, but it could mean the same.

Alfred:

“That won’t be necessary, Master Dick.” Alfred quietly replied, “I am quite capable of heading that unpleasant business. I believe your time and energy would be better put to use, as Master Timothy pointed out, focusing on the next steps to take regarding The Bat.” He didn’t want any of them to be involved in the sordid and no-doubt prying eyes of the media upon this. They would swarm like crows to a corpse… His son’s corpse, God. No. This was his duty, he was the retainer of the Wayne family and it was his burden to bear. “Indeed, Maser Jason. I shall make arrangements for the funeral to take place in Gotham and Master Bruce will be put to rest beside his dear parents.” That was what he would want, Alfred was certain. “While I suspect several of you are thinking along the same lines, I would like to say something.”

He took a step further into the room and surveyed them all, from stoic endurance to quiet crying to anger. “This crusade was begun by Master Bruce, it was his cross. However, this team, this family, is more than Batman. It will endure beyond him. And no one need take up a mantle they do not feel comfortable donning. The last thing Master Bruce would ever want would be for Batman to haunt you in such a fashion. Regardless of any choices made, his symbol shall remain absolute.” His voice was quiet but completely certain. “I should also like to take this opportunity to inform reaffirm that he was proud of all of you. He never ceased to be continually impressed by all you could do. And…” His voice shook, only slightly and he took a moment to compose himself, “Master Bruce loved you all very much. It was not his strength to verbalise such things but, in my humble expertise, I know he truly loved you all.”

“And, to honour that love, that care, I must insist we do nothing rash in coming days despite how satisfaction may demand it.” His hands were clasped tightly behind his back, his posture ramrod straight. Yes he felt anger, his hands itched for his gun, to put an end to the monster behind this once and for all, the beast who’d taken so much from his family. Hurt them so deeply. “That time shall come. But, for now we must honour the past, mourn the present, and plan for the future.” He turned back to Jason, “I believe this once such an action might be prudent, Sir. I shall collect a few bottles.” Alfred stepped quietly from the room.

Steph:

Steph had been about to snap something back at Dick that they couldn't just sit there after someone murdered Bruce, even though she knew, at least deep down, that running out and trying to do some sort of smack down tonight was not something anyone in the room would be on board with. Jason would have been the only one willing to act immediately, but even he seemed to know it wasn't a good idea. That didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

It was Alfred's speech that made her burst into tears that made her whole body shake. She turned and threw her arms around Tim's neck, burying her face in his shoulder, and tried to pretend that they were the only two people in the room. "I want tequila," she managed to wail after Alfred, her fingers twisting in Tim's shirt.

Damian:

Damian was bound to Dick even as Jason and Steph spoke up. The man's soft back rubs slowly calmed his tears, but it wasn't until Alfred began speaking at length that Damian finally pulled away and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his sweater. He hadn't even remembered he was still wearing the utility belt around his casual attire. It didn't matter right now. "I..." He started, but had to swallow and whet his dried out throat. "I don't know if anyone should take his mantle... we have all grown on our own paths, I don't think any of us are really shaped specifically to be the next Bat..." He expressed. When Alfred agreed to grab a few bottles of alcohol instead of brewing up some tea, Damian folded his arms against himself similar to how Cassandra held herself. "I... want to be alone..." He finally stated, but looked at Dick for the approval to do so. "I just... I don't want to be here. I can't..."

Tim:

Tim nodded at Damian's words. He felt the same. He didn't want to tell Alfred no. He didn't want to hurt him anymore than he was, but he also... desperately wanted to be alone. He needed it. Tim wasn't the kind to share his emotions outwardly and he wasn't sure, if he started, he'd be able to stop. He needed to be able to. Because life was going to keep on coming. Tim needed to be alone to process his emotions, the ones that he was holding at bay right now. Still, Stephanie was crying into his shirt, and he was trying to be present for them when it felt so against his nature. Already he was trying to figure out where the system had failed, what holes in it that they were going to need to fill. Ten thousand different possibilities flowed through his mind and he just kept trying to push away how badly his chest hurt. How much it was making him ache.

"I'm stepping out for air," he said quietly to Steph. "I'll... I just need a second." Catching her chin, he pressed a gentle kiss to her wet cheek, hoping she would understand that this was hitting him like bricks and the urge to just dissociate from his body so he didn't have to acknowledge how it would feel if he let it was so strong. He had to get it back under control.

Dick:

It was difficult to keep stoic when everything in him wanted to react just listening to Alfred speak. It made him think about when Bruce had come to his apartment, shortly after the disastrous dinner party, and stated on no uncertain terms that he was proud of him. He knew there would be moments when he'd have to pit that memory against his self-doubt and self-criticism.

Still, Dick was put together. "Thank you, Alfred." He didn't crack easily under pressure. Right now they needed each other, desperately needed each other, and he wanted everyone to have time to grieve. That being said, he also knew everyone grieved differently. He expected most of them would want to be alone, so it hardly came as any surprise when both Damian and Tim immediately requested it. Nodding, his hand dropped to the side of Damian's arm. "On the condition that you stay inside the manor and let me check in. Okay?" Alfred had asked them to stay together. It didn't mean they had to be in the same room (though he would prefer it). The manor was big enough. He just didn't want Damian taking off or to be left on his own for too long.

Tim also worried him. Dick remembered how he'd been the last time, and he was frightened at the idea of his brother spiraling back into that desperation. Dick knew Tim would take this hard, maybe harder than any of them, because his relationship with Bruce had been more of a kinship.

Even though he wanted to immediately go after him, Dick didn't want to disrespect Tim's request for space. He waited a few minutes, intending to have exactly zero drinks, and then excused himself to go seek him out.

Steph:

Steph knew Tim and she knew how difficult her crying on him would be, especially when he was no doubt struggling, and she sniffled when he said he was stepping out for air. "Okay," she said quietly, watching both him and Damian leave with a small, worried frown.

Wiping her eyes, she sat down on the couch next to Cass and reached for her hand. Once Dick left too she sighed and gave Jason a look, frowning. "Let me guess, you're next?" She looked at Cass and gave a small, watery huff. "Is no one in this family capable of emoting right?" Maybe she wasn't one to talk. All she wanted to do was punch something. "Hey Todd, want me to show you the move I taught my self-defense class yesterday?" This was probably the next best thing to punching something.

Jason | Cass:

As Steph sat down next to her, Cass leaned far enough to put her head against the other's shoulder and just sat there. "No," she said without any hesitation. She wasn't sure what the 'right' way to do it was, but assumed that none of them probably managed it.

Jason, for his part, stayed with the two of them. He sat down on Steph's other side and let out a loud sigh before resting his head against the back of the couch. Maybe he ought to go after Damian, or Tim and Dick, or just fuck off somewhere else entirely, but right then he just didn't want to. Steph was angry, and Cass was as much his sister as the rest of them were his brothers, so he'd stay with them. "Let me get drunk first. Then you might stand a chance of pulling it off."

#ashes to ashes; discord #ch: dick #ch: alfred #ch: damian #ch: tim #ch: steph #ch: babs #ch: cass

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