#you can’t tell me that batarangs don’t go everywhere

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt.3

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.4][Pt.5][Pt.6][Pt.7]

“Aquaman.” Batman swept into the room, beelining straight for the suddenly apprehensive Atlantean king.

“Batman. What can I do for you?”

“Phantom. Does he pay taxes?”

“Pardon?”

Batman makes a low noise that had Aquaman’s danger senses buzzing.

“Does Phantom have to pay taxes. Towards Atlantis.”

“No…? Why?”

“He wanted money, in exchange for… information, of a delicate sort,” Batman said, diplomatically avoiding the topic of Phantom bargaining for the identities of corpses in exchange for a measly $100 dollars per identity. Like a flea market dealer, that one was.

“You encountered Phantom again?” Aquaman perked up.

“Yes. Gotham’s bay is… polluted.” Batman paused. “With victims. Of murder.”

The entire area quieted as heads turned towards the Dark Knight.

“Yes, I am… distantly aware of Gotham’s waters.” By that, Aquaman gets green around the gills whenever he turns his awareness in that direction. There’s a reason he doesn’t enter Gotham, and the Dark Knight’s ban is only half of that reason. “Ah, but you’re correct. For what purpose would Phantom need mortal currency?”

“Hn.”

“Maybe he needs some stuff?” Flash zipped to a stop next to Batman, feet tapping as he dug into the pile of snacks cradled in his arms. “Us mortals are always coming up with new things, maybe he wants to try some games or something?”

Batman tilted his head down, seriously considering Flash’s suggestion. “It’s plausible.”

“Barry, Barry, Barry. He’s old as hell, right? He probably wants to try the new booze!”

“Hal, my man!” Flash fist bumped Green Lantern, who came up. “You’re back! What happened to John?”

“Dunno. He got called somewhere that way,” Green Lantern waved a vague hand towards the left. “Had to deal with a politician or something from that area.” He shrugged, swinging an arm over Barry’s shoulders to put him in a headlock and stealing a chip.

“Huh. Anyways, would our mortal alcohol even work on a demi-god or something?”

“We should ask!” Hal turned towards Batman. “You should ask if he wants to go for a drink, spooky!”

“He’s a child.”

“He’s been around for more than a millennia, Bats.”

“Informational gathering, right, Hal?” Flashgot out of the headlock, quickly munching on his snacks to stop Green Lantern from stealing them.

“Totally. Yup.”

“…Fine.”

“Wait, are we just gonna ignore that Gotham’s waters are full of bodies?”

“Yes.”

——

“What?” Danny asked, mind half on the bags he’s dragging out of the water and the other half on the essay he has to submit in about four hours.

“Green Lantern wanted to invite you out for a drink.”

Danny turned to the stoic Gotham knight, who had his wrist computer out to log the bodies’ info the moment Danny gave him the information. Some of them even told Danny who murdered them, so Batman could start building cases with solid leads.

Danny’s only twenty. He’s not legal yet but he doesn’t want to give any clues to who he is. How is he supposed to…

Ah!

“Can’t.” Danny shrugged. “I’m not legal. I died when I was fourteen so…” Danny trailed off, speechless at the drowned puppy face Batman was giving him. What the fuck.

“Anyways, fork over my payment.”

Batman wordlessly hands him a wad of hundreds.

“What do you need cash for?” Batman suddenly asked.

“Huh? Isn’t it obvious?” Danny tucked it in. “Material things, obviously. I need a blanket,” because holy shit, Gotham is damn cold this time of year. “Anyways, see you same time next week, litterer.”

“I don’t litter.”

“Tell that to the batarangs I found under the water,” Danny grumbled. “But I’ll stop calling you that if you get a signature from Poison Ivy. I have a friend who loves her.”

“An alive friend?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, weatherboy?”

Danny snickered and disappeared. He’s gotta cram that essay.

——

“There’s a possibility Phantom might be homeless.”

“Batman, I mean this in the nicest way, but for the love of Atlantis, please stop giving me headaches. It’s time like these I wish I stayed a lighthouse keeper.”

#batman #danny phantom #bruce wayne #dc x dp #bamf danny phantom #dpxdc #dcxdp #hal jordan #green lantern #the flash #Barry allen #mentions of Sam mason #phantom doesn’t pay taxes #but Danny Fenton absolutely pays taxes #his parents taught him how to file taxes #tax season is coming up soon tall I’m stressed #arthur curry #Aquaman #Aquaman and being interrogated on Atlantean history #Batman’s nickname is the litterer #you can’t tell me that batarangs don’t go everywhere #sea cryptic! danny au

[nincompoopydoo]

PAIRING, BAGELS, REPEAT

— I’VE SEEN FIRE, I’VE SEEN RAIN ; PART 2 / ?

PAIRING: Bruce Wayne x reader

WORD COUNT: 1909

SUMMARY: Being laid off isn’t very fun but Bruce tends to find himself even more entangled in your life, including his alter ego—Batman.

A/N: I’m loving this series and if you are, feedback is appreciated. Thank you for reading my crappy stuff aka my daydreams <3

WARNINGS: Guns! Death threats! Crying! A mental breakdown!

MASTERLIST ; MASTERPOST

James Taylor’s Fire and Rain plays like a funeral hymn on the record player, echoing through your studio apartment. You’re sitting on the ground, back against the ratty couch with a pizza box on your lap. You take a bite of a BBQ Chicken pizza slice, furiously wiping your tears away as you replayed the events from six hours ago. From being called to the principal's office to only be told that you’re one of the non-tenured teachers to be laid off due to cutbacks. Gotham High was...a tough school. The students were mean to you because well, you're young and always gave them the benefit of the doubt. Plus, you taught English Literature and frankly, your students didn’t exactly enjoy the subject as much as you wanted them to. Nevertheless, you’re devastated. Teaching was a dream of yours, and it’s being taken away from you. You cried all the way back home, tried to call your mother but it kept going to voicemail. You must have called someone else, but you don’t remember and couldn’t care less to check your phone—the whole day went by like a blur.

Then, there’s a sound. An insistent buzz, it’s the doorbell. You furrow your brows, not recalling ordering anything else other than the large pizza from Domino’s. Yet, it doesn’t cease, and you’re forced to bring yourself to stand on your feet, instinctively flattening your tousled hair to make yourself seem somewhat presentable. Like, you’re doing fine and you have everything completely under control. Maybe, you did call your mother, and she’s at the door. You’re hoping she is although she’s going to kill you for the mess.

Another buzz and you’re toddling across the wooden flooring and towards the doorway. It’s starting to become infuriating by the second, like a house fly don’t won’t stop bugging you. Considering the mood you’re in, it doesn’t take much to tick you off. Swinging the door open, you expected to see the radiant face of your mother but to your surprise, it’s not.

It’s Bruce.

Shit.

You haven’t seen him in two weeks.

You nearly choke at the sight of him in a slightly crumpled oxford blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, hair as much of a mess as yours and tired eyes staring down at you with concern. You note how Bruce is very charming, no matter how disarrayed he is. Meanwhile, you’re realizing the current state must be a little startling. Your eyes are probably bloodshot, hair still in a tangled mess and glaring tomato stains everywhere on your GCU t-shirt. This is such a low point for you.

“Bruce,” you say, voice raising an octave with wide eyes as you stare at him like he’s grown another head, “What are you doing here?” His frown is immediate, seemingly confused by your question. “You called me.” He gestures to his phone within his grasp. “It sounded bad even though I couldn’t make out what you were saying half of the time,” He chuckles and holds up a familiar looking paper bag “So, I got you bagels. Three of them. Thought you could use some of these.”

It takes a second or two for you to finally process what he just told you before your emotionally wrecked brain decides to do the most irrational thing ever—You just start sobbing. You’re crying so hard that it terrifies Bruce. He blinks, thoughts racing. The sight of you in complete misery strikes him like a punch to his gut and for the first time, he doesn’t know what to do. Not immediately. Yet, through glassy eyes, you manage to notice the way his face dropped and morphed into pure horror. Justification is key, you don’t want to weird him out and think you’re crazy. You wave your hand in the air dismissively, rubbing your eyes as you spoke between strangled sobs. “I’m sorry, it’s been a tough day and that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me all week.”

Oh.

Your words are a tug to the heartstrings, and it sends his head reeling but relief was all that overwhelmed him. Bruce would never wish to see you hurt, especially when it’s caused by him. Actions of affection were primarily reserved for those closest to him, but he never experienced the urge to be intimate and care so much for a person ever since his parents died. Yet, out of everyone, you’re the one that brings out the most in him. Moving closer to you, he reaches and pulls you in a hesitant embrace. You stiffened at the mere touch of his arms around you, unsure of what to do with yourself.

Sure, you had a fair share of intimate moments with the man but this, this was different. You couldn’t shake the thought of how something so warm felt so right, smelt right. Despite the fact you had been trying to suppress your feelings for Bruce, and this was doing the exact opposite of that, you can’t help but feel this was what you needed at the moment. So, you let your body sag, muscles becoming loose and you let yourself truly cry for the first time.

You end up inviting him in later, when your tears are dry. You eat two of the bagels, sharing the last one with him. You called a peace offering, a gift of appreciation, for the whole emotional massacre you unexpectedly shoved at him. He simply laughs, eyes crinkling with fondness. He thinks you’re beautiful, especially when your hair is wild, laughing like you don’t have a care in the world. It’s what keeps him grounded, to know you’re raw and very real. The next thing you know, you end up shuffling cards of UNO until the wee hours of the morning—exchanging knowing smiles and Bruce trying to pick a Wild Draw card from the deck to get you to lose. But, he lets you win anyway.

He slept on your couch that night, still in his dress shirt. You must've peeked a glance at his sleeping form, squeezed onto the couch that’s clearly too small for him. Cute. You snap a picture before heading to bed. For blackmail purposes, of course.

-

You end up working a night shift at a burger joint called Big Belly Burger somewhere in midtown. Your first week comes and goes, and you’re starting to hate how your uniform itches and how the restaurant can get really filthy by the end of the day. Yet, it’s the kids from Cameron Kane High that come after school that keeps you going because it makes you miss being a teacher even though they tend to leave a mess after a meal.

Thursday comes and you’re exhausted. Even so, you’re thankful it’s a slow night. You’ve done all your cleaning duties earlier on and Lucie, the manager went out to buy a pack of cigarettes from the convenience store around the corner. Hence, it’s just you, slumped against the counter, devouring a Triple Belly Burger.

You’re half way through the burger when you hear the door swing open. Expecting to see Lucie, you turned around to see two men brandishing handguns your way. “Everything from the register, now!” The taller masked man shouted, gun gesturing to the cash register. Your eyes are wide, and you can feel your chest heaving. There was no way you’ll be able to fight them. Not two of them with guns pointed at you.

The burger drops from your hand and so does your heart. With trembling hands, you slide the drawer of the cash register open and begin pulling out dollar notes. From the corner of your eye, you spot your phone on the counter, close enough for you to make an emergency call. Your eyes scan the two men wearily and with every ounce of courage you had left, you managed to unlock your phone, pulled up the messaging app and texted the first name on the list: Bruce Wayne.

help, was all you managed to say.

To say your luck ran out was an understatement; you were never lucky anyway. One of the robbers must have caught on to what you were doing and just as the call goes through, he snatches your phone away, throws it onto the ground and shoots it.

So close, yet so far.

You don't know if the message got through.

The muzzle is now inches away from your forehead, and you hear the cock of the gun. “Don’t you dare pull somethin’ funny like or I’ll blow your brains out. Give us the money, now.” It was in that moment, your tears give way and your life flashes before your eyes. You pray for a miracle, a savior.

Then, you see him.

A looming figure appears by the doorway and your breath hitches. It’s Batman, looking like a Goddamn angel. The robbers seem to realize this too, guns quickly directed towards the vigilante. He launches batarangs to the pair of men and immediately disarms them. In a flash, he knocks them out, unconscious bodies dropping to the ground like dead flies.

You stare at him in awe although he’s very frightening and intimidating but Batman...just saved you. Now, this is a story you’re going to be telling everybody until the day you die. He approaches you with caution, and you instinctively take a step back. Then, he calls you by your name like it’s second nature. You stare at him with blank amazement, brows raised.

“You know my name?” Your voice dwindled; It’s so soft and timid you hardly hear yourself. Despite the mask, the vigilante looks like his brain just short-circuited for a moment. He clears his throat.

“...Bruce has mentioned you.”

You ignore how his synthetic voice makes every hair on the back of your neck stand and the familiarity that struck for a split second when he said your name because you’re too wrapped up with the fact that Bruce has discussed about you to his other ‘best friend’ as one might call it. Brooding over this lump of a thought, the corner of your mouth twitches. “He did?” you say with a hint of affection. It’s hard to read the man under the mask, whoever he was but you’re certain he looked taken aback by your response. Maybe, it was the way you delivered it—the longing in the very core of the expression. You may have outed your feelings for Bruce to...Batman.

This doesn’t get any stranger than that.

“Yes,” he replies curtly, and you hear the police sirens afar. “Are you hurt?” Like the true caretaker of Gotham, he wants to be sure you haven’t been injured. You shake your head, lips pressed together. The whaling of the police sirens grow louder, lights of red and blue flashing before your eyes. He appears like a shadow against the glaring lights from the police cruisers and before you can blink, he flees with a muttered ‘Goodnight’ and disappears before the police come flooding in and does Lucie. The poor woman looked at with frantic eyes as soon as she glimpsed the two men on the ground, groaning in pain.

The glint of the batarang on the floor captures your attention, you smile at this.

You may or may not have taken it back to your apartment that currently sits proudly on the bookshelf in your living room.

You’re so telling Bruce.

TAGLIST:

@raineeace

#bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #batman #batman x reader #batman x you #bruce wayne imagine #batman imagine #justice league

[thr-333]

Just Another Class Trip :) Part 5

If you don’t get to fight Batman on your class trips I feel sorry for you because Marinette did and she had a great time. Besides from the fact the miracle box went missing that was kind of a downer.

First< Previous >Next

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

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe yells at her, Marinette pops her head up through the trash, “Just what do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’m looking for something Chlo,” Marinette tries not to betray the panic in her voice.

“You did not ditch us today to search the trash!” Chloe practically screeches, stomping her foot.

“Chloe! I just really, really need to find this ok?!” Chloe actually recoils at Marinette snapping at her, guilt claws at her, adding more scratches to her conscience, “Sorry, I’m just stressed,”

“You need to relax Mari,” Chloe sighs, she cant, she cant! She cant! “I will only forgive you if you come upstairs and have a shower right now ,”

Marinette glances to Tikki, who nods. They’ve searched the trash here three times over, the Miracle box isn’t here. She lets Chloe lead her upstairs, the ground feels like it's swaying under her feet. The pressure like she’s about to vomit has persisted for hours.

“I will be standing right here, so don’t even think about leaving before you are rid of that smell,” Chloe pushes her into the bathroom.

“Tikki what am I supposed to do,” Marinette curls into herself, as soon as the door closes “I looked everywhere, it-it’s gone ,”

“It’s alright Marinette I’m sure you’ll find it, you just need to think things through,” Tikki pats her arm, not blaming her even once, making everything so much worse.

“Exactly, so chin up,” Kaalki commands, Marinette listens looking at the hovering Kwami with swimming vision, “Now make a theory and we’ll work from there,”

“Only Adrien was in the apartment but he didn’t take it,” Marinette works through her thoughts, “I know he wouldn't have,”

“Good,”

“He was gone for two hours talking with Chloe and Kagami,”

“Exactly,”

“So someone stole it during that time,” Marinette had already concluded that but it was nice to lay it all out, “I thought it was Lila, but she would have just thrown it out,”

“Or,”

“Or kept it,” Marinette gets the picture, formulating a plan, “I have to search her room, as Starling they can get away with it,”

“Good I’ll transport you in there,” Kaalki nods, dipping into her bag to get a sugar cube, “Now change,”

Marinette listens and within minutes they are in Lila's room. The shower running back in Chloe's room. Starling pokes around the room, searching under the bed and in the closet. She spreads out to the whole apartment since Lila isn’t sharing with anyone.

She is opening the oven when the door opens. She freezes, coming eye to eye with Lila. In a split second Starling darts into the bathroom.

“Come out of there!” Lila bangs on the door, “Who are you! I’m calling the police!”

Marinette doesn't give her the chance, teleporting out of the bathroom.

Chloe fights to make her come to dinner that night. Marinette doesn't have the strength to argue and so is dragged along, glaring at Lila from across the table. Lila just looks smugly back, she has to know where the Miracle box is, she just has to.

“Is that the new Wayne?” Marinette hears someone across the restaurant whisper.

Wonder who they’re talking about

“The one with the pink scarf?”

Oh

“Take a picture!”

If Marinette could summon the energy she would go over and ask what they meant. Or tell them they had the wrong person. Instead she just hides her face in her arms, lying on the table.

“Head off the table,” Madame Bustier chides, Marinette listens, but doesnt bother answering.

“Oh Marinette,” Lila’s voice is so grating she is ready to send her head through the table, “You look just terrible, what happened?”

You

“Are you ok Marinette,” Rose asks, she was actually nice to Marinette either unaware of the divide or not caring, “Do you want to go back?”

Marinette supposes Lila never had to lie about her to Rose. As she was already running around after Lila trying to make sure she was comfortable, Marinette just fell by the wayside. Either way Marinette can see that changing in the near future with how livid Lila looks that Marinette got the slightest bit of positive attention.

“I know jetlag can be bad, with all my travels,” Could you get to the part where you antagonise me already? “But don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic?

“Sure Lila,” Marinette sighs, actually getting a few shocked gasps from the class.

They all probably thought that if Lila said the sky was blue Marinette would disagree. Well she would probably double check. Plus the sky is black at night. And multicoloured during sunrise and sunset. You know what? Screw it, Marinette would not trust Lila if she said the sky is blue.

“So Lila,” Alya speaks up, “ What's the worst jet lag you’ve ever had?”

“Well..”

Marinette doesn’t bother listening. She does get the side eye from Alya.

This doesn't mean I like you

Feelings mutual buddy

However it does allow her to lean against Kagami for the rest of the night and doze off. Marinette doesn't pay anymore attention to Lila’s lies the rest of the night until it comes to getting back to the hotel. They are all piling into taxis when Lila weasels her way into getting her own. Covertly Marinette slides a hundred to the driver and sends them to a less than savoury part of town. Now it’s just up to Starling to keep up.

Luckily for her Lila decides to be an idiot, and actually gets out of the car. So Starling drops in front of her when the taxi drives off.

“You!” Lila backs up into the alley, really ?

“You stole something,” Starling stalks forward, appearing every bit of threatening as a sleep deprived guardian of the miraculous can be, which is pretty fucken scary when the Miracle box is on the line, “Where is it!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Lila tears up.

“Do not lie to me ,” Starling punctuates the threat by bending a discarded metal pipe in half.

Lila squeaks, as she backs up against the wall, Starling cages her in.

“WHERE IS IT!”

The absolute terror on Lila’s face is so gratifying for a moment. Then a cold terror runs down Marinette as Lila smiles. The same smile that promises to ruin her life every day.

“Help!” Lila cries, her voice quavering in a poor imitation of the actual fear she just saw, “Please anyone!”

Anyone turns out to be the hand on her shoulder that rips Starling back. They go to grab her arm but she flips out of their grasp, getting enough distance to come face to face with The Batman!

Before she can even think about formulating a response Batman lashes out, going straight for her gut. Starling side steps, twisting around to stand in Batman’s blind spot, making him turn to see her.

“Why are you attacking a civilian?” He demands, a knife she dodges barely grazing her cheek.

“She stole something,” Marinette drops down as he swings a punch at her head.

“That’s not true!” Lila cries, huddled up against the wall, “They broke into my hotel room today! And then they attacked me! They’re trying to kidnap me!”

“She’s lying!” Apparently that’s not convincing enough as she dodges a kick, having to roll away, thankfully towards the exit.

She tries to make a run for it, getting halfway up the fire escape of the next building when a Batarang pins her cape down. She tears it out, throwing it back at the shadow who hangs in midair.

Wow that is not aerodynamic at all

She watches as it tapers off to the side, falling to the ground. Batman swings onto the staircase of the fire escape. She dodges, she slips on a stair, losing her balance. Batman aims a punch for her sternum she has no choice but to block. It hurts getting an armoured glove full impact onto her relatively light arm guards. In her defense she never prepared to fight The Batman.

He seems to be taken aback that she is able to block his punch, or is re-planning. She takes the opportunity to use her bit of super strength to push him off the fire escape, double checking he still has his grappling hook. He falls down as she bolts up the stairs. By the time she reaches the top he is already on the roof

She has no weapons to defend herself against another Batarang. She can’t slip away like she did last time so has no choice but to dodge.

“I don’t want to fight you!” She yells, rolling out of the way of another Batarang.

“I’m sure you don’t,”

“Not like that!” There's no reasoning with him then, he made up his mind and is going to beat her before asking any questions, “You know what never mind!”

She sprints to the edge of the building. He doesn’t particularly try to stop her, after all he thinks she has no escape route. Which means he was not expecting her to jump right off the building.

“Kaalki, Full gallop,” She says quietly to her Kwami, putting on her glasses.

She transforms, opening a portal inches from the ground, she lands in her hotel bedroom. Dropping the transformation, she collapses onto the bed. She pants lungs burning, soon she realises she hasn't been taking any air.

What does she have to be stressed about? So she lost the Miracle box, an ancient treasure able to harness the gods? So it was all her fault for shirking off her duties for fun. So it was all her fault that she technically attacked a civilian without any proof. So it was her fault Batman attacked her and she’s probably a criminal now. So what?

She chokes around words, apologies to her Kwamis, to Master Fu, to everyone she has failed today. Instead her vision blurs and she has to take gasping breaths, shuddering in the warm room. She curls up on top of the blankets tucked in too tight to provide her with comfort. Too perfect, too well done, everything she isn’t.

Tikki nuzzles into her cheek, Marinette shudders out a breath, curling more into herself. Kaalki comes to rest near her heart. The magical thrum of the Kwami calming her heart beat. There are no words. There don’t need to be. There’s no one here to send Akuma after them. For once Marinette can cry, let her emotions run rampant. Then she’ll harness everything she has into protecting the Miracle box.

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

Taglist:

@smolplantmum @flufflepuffle296 @dawnwave16  @caffeinetheory   @g-arya   @Maribat-2k20   @ladybug-182    @Actual-disaster-human    @fusser90   @messrs-weasley   @soap-lady  @paintedhope7   @zeneralla    @mochegato     @random-nerd-3 @clumsy-owl-4178  @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen   @too0bsessedformyowngood @certifiedbidisaster  @Purplegeekypanda @awkward0ghostfan @theymakeupfairies @tikki-marinette @insane-fangirl-of-everything @elmokingkong @inarachi02 @slytherinhquinn @moongoddesskiana @dast218 @buginetye @redscarlet95 @biodad-bruce-month @hansa-12 @waiting247 @toodaloo-kangaroo @how-to-fuction-properly @trippingovermyfeet @greekmythgal @whatthefox22 @the-alice-of-hearts @bigpicklebananatree

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug fic #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanfic #miraculous marinette #mlb #ml fic #ml #bio dad bruce wayne #Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020 #bio! dadbrucewaynemonth2020 #b!dbwm2020 #biodad au #Marinette #badass marinette #maribat #marinette is mdc #salt #class salt #Lila salt #lila lies #fluff

[hoodedwing]

Babybird, please?

Summary: Jason returns to Gotham after a year-long sabbatical at his Arkansas safehouse. Nothing has changed in Gotham, but he probably did.  Dick realizes and puts the pieces together to make a horrible discovery.

Characters: Red Hood, Nightwing. Roy Harper (brief mentions). Cheshire (brief mentions), Lian Harper(brief mentions)

Warnings: Drinking. Injury flashbacks (we’re looking at an event gone too far). Anger issues. Also, swearing but from the last dude you’d expect.

Additional Notes: Jason deserves a happy Christmas and yep, I wrote this after Christmas so sue me. Also this seemed a little choppy to me

Word Count: 1,306 words

***

Christmas had long gone by and left trees still adorned with tinsel and other décor. It was supposed to keep people in a cheery mood, keep away the post-Christmas blues and amp Gothamites for New Year in an otherwise gloomy town.

It didn’t do the trick for Jason. With his hands shoved in his leather jacket, he kept his head low and speed fast, nimbly dodging excited throngs exchanging the occasional cheers and here’s to a happy new year, folks. Snow crunched under his boots as he rounded the corner to a bar.

Quietly, he sat down and warmed down a bit. A bartender amicably approached Jason who mumbled.

“Whisky, make it extra strong.”

Nodding, the bartender left. Jason drew himself closer, making his presence as small in possible. His eyes kept shifting to not spot a certain Dark Knight or at least (for small mercies) Bruce Wayne as another civilian. A rich and seemingly happy civilian who was often seen ruffling his sons’ hair and chatting away. 

The last time Jason saw Bruce, there wasn’t a happy civilian, no stroking of hair.

There was a batarang at his neck.

Jason absentmindedly rubs the faint scar as the bartender placed the alcohol in front of him. He pushes spare change with his other gloved palm and nods imperceptibly. He takes a small sip, lets the whisky warm him up internally and space out awhile.

He wasn’t supposed to be in Gotham but Jason was a rebel. A rebel since childhood. It’s probably the rebellion that kept him alive in Crime Alley’s dark and unlit paths. Paths even Batman would be scared shitless to enter himself, even when armed with his fancy toys up to the teeth.

He suppresses what he believed was probably anger or a by-product because man, today the whisky was definitely strong. He felt a little light-headed at the kick of it but it was good, it distracted him from the fact he returned to Gotham from Arkansas for Christmas.

He never celebrated Christmas outside Gotham. It seemed strange to suddenly break the tradition. Some things shouldn’t change, it probably does alter a person entirely. With the whole shitshow of a showdown on the rooftop with Batman, he probably didn’t want to go even remotely close to them. 

Nope, not even touching five streets near them

He finished the rest of his drink before his thought loop threatened to swallow him whole with old memories. Trudging outside the snow, he thought about calling Roy.

Maybe check in with him?  

See how Cheshire and Lian were? 

He hoped Lian didn’t mind too much about his absence on her fourth birthday that year. She was a sweet girl in such a cruel world, Jason could only hope she would still retain that sweetness under such a caring dad.

Dad

God, Jason really hated that word. Reminded him of Willis but Bruce wasn’t that much of a dad to him either. The word tasted acrid on his tongue, almost unnatural, like it didn’t belong there.

Is it bad he sometimes longed for dad?

Somebody suddenly knocks into him, pretty hard by the shoulder and distracts Jason from his second thought loop of the day. Bags spill everywhere and Jason isn’t sure where the pavement is anymore from under all the obnoxiously wrapped gifts and overly expensive-looking bags.

‘“Sorry! I’m in such a hurry. I missed Christmas with my family. Kinda sucks actually”

“No bother.”

Jason rasped a little, voice unrecognizable as he bent down to help pick up the scattered mess. He quickly shoves the gifts into each bag till some names caught his eye.

For Damian. 

For Tim

For Bruce

Jason’s heart stops.

He doesn’t have to look at the rest of the gifts to know who it was for.

“Hey, is everything alright?”

A hand outstretches towards Jason who takes it and held with more force than necessary. He heard the man let out a small ouch.

“Thanks man. Hey, if its too much, can I drop you anywhere? It’s really cold out here today. My car is a street down, we can stop by for donuts and hot coffee?”

Jason momentarily looks up and the man lets out a gasp.

“J.Jason?”

He looks the other direction, angry that he’s betrayed himself to look up to the voice because he knows its Dick and older brothers would keep younger ones safe.

Why does he have to gravitate again? Fall for the same trick? Didn’t Bruce, dad, Batman make it clear?

“What?”

“Offer for donuts and coffee still stands. Come.”

-

Jason finds himself at Dunkin’ Donuts with Dick.

He wouldn’t be here, surrounded by warm coffee and sugar-glazed creations as Dick smiled at him. Jason knows that smile is stretched thin, probably filled with questions 

Where were you on Christmas?

I couldn’t look for you, did you hide somewhere?

We miss you, aren’t we brothers?

He is prepared for all of them till Dick asks the one thing that strikes an arrow.

“Your neck, babybird. Who did that?”

Jason cannot answer, He contemplates lying for a while, testing the silence till he realizes that right now Dick could kick him back out into the lung-freezing cold.

He wouldn’t do that.

Bruce almost killed you. He did that.

“Jay?”

He registers someone’s hand on his shoulder. Jason licks his lips, tests the words. He knew the implications of telling Golden Boy right here and now that Bruce could’ve murdered him though somehow he ended up voiceless for some months instead.

“Bruce.”

Dick’s smile drops from a million kilowatts to one of anger.

“Asshole.”

Jason’s ears pricked up, when did he even pick up swearing?

“Wa-”

Dick held up a finger, commanding Jason into silence and thought through it. His eyebrows further knit in realization when he thought more about it. It seemed to add up.

Bruce returning home, untouched. A brief intercepted transmission of Roy that he’s taking Jason to Arkansas because he frankly looked like he went head-to-toe with Deathstroke. Jason not returning for awhile.

“You didn’t fight back.”

Tears form in Dick’s eyes. The words didn’t sound right to him. The Red Hood not laying even a bruise on Batman?

“You let him hit you!”

Dick cried out, slamming his fists against the table. A few patrons turn briefly to the scene before refocusing back on their own conversations.

Jason turned his head down, of all the people that would come in defense for him, it was Dickie Bird. 

“Jay, he could’ve killed you.”

Again.

“Dick-”

“Don’t Dick me! Where are you staying right now?”

Jason doesn’t bother coming up with a lie anymore.

“Arkansas still.”

Dick considers awhile.

“I can get you a place in Bludhaven. Shift in with me for now while I deal with the bastard.”

“But Bruce-”

Dick angrily turns to Jason.

“You of last people should be giving fucks about what Bruce says or does.”

He almost laughs at the sheer fucking irony of it right now till Dick squeezes Jason’s hand gently and he knows Dick actually means it.

He has a chance at actually living instead of hiding and being on the run for the rest of his life.

“Sure. If that’s okay with-”

“It’s always okay, Jay. Please tell me if things like these happen again. Bruce cannot get away like that. Beating the shit out of you and then prancing away. Jay, I’m so sorry.”

Dick buries his face into his palms and Jason sits there, twisting his hands together.

Till he gathers enough courage to calmly place a hand on Dick’s shoulder.

“Hey? We still have to finish these donuts and I can’t do it alone.”

Dick turns up, eyes red but cheekily smiling back as they devour the donuts on a cold, snowy day.

Except this time, Jason feels warmer than ever.

#batfam #dc #dick grayson #nightwing #red hood #rhato 25 #jason peter todd #bruce wayne #abusive dad #hurt/comfort #angsty #reblog #hoodedwing #newyear #fanfic #donuts #coffee #angst with a hopeful ending #go off dick #angry dick #tw depressing stuff #tw injury #dick being a good bro #hurt jason #hurt #comfort #dunkin donuts #a lot of talking m so sorry #roy harper #cheshire dc

[aliypop]

Invisible  (OC x The FLASH)

Word count : 1,468

Character Count : 7,942

Warning : Mentions of IV Drip. 

A/N: I really wanted to write something new for my Character Yonah and it seemed Justice League was the push for it.

"Just because you don't see something doesn't mean it isn't there. " Yonah mumbled, pouring a cup of tea water, first then the tea as not to scorch the leaves as Alfred had taught her. "Some of the best things in the world are invisible." she hummed: trying to get her father's attention was hard, especially after everything she had done. "You're not going..." He mumbled, looking up at her as he continued to try to fix the Kryptonian plane. "And why not..." she asked, taking the wrench that he had been looking for from under the table. In her arm was an IV drip that Alfred had made himself: after all, she had only been out of Belle Reve's prison for about a week and sober from any joker toxins and alcohol for six days. "Because I can't trust you..." he grumbled, 

"Oh sure, go by yourself to stalk a literal Speedster for your, Hey look Alfred; I can make friends, team." she sat next to him " I at least know how to talk speedster," she whispered, to say that Yonah was sassy was a weak outcry. Instead, she was stubborn as a mule, but so was Bruce.  "What makes you so sure you know what he is?" he mused, a wire in his mouth as a gust of wind blew past his face, an annoyed nod following. 

"So say you'll let me go with you?"

"You are just as persuasive as -" 

"Don't say don't you dare." She looked at Bruce.

"As your mother." 

"Can we just go visit this old hero guy..." she asked, trying to change the subject. Yonah had never liked bringing up her mother, unlike Bruce: who secretly clung to every memory he had left of her. For instance, her wedding ring, super suit, and a picture he kept in his bedroom. 

 Although the ride to Central City was long and mostly full of silence from Bruce, she still felt at peace with the midwest. "We're here." Bruce tapped her: he hadn't seen his daughter sleep so soundly since she was five, and it was disheartening. "Why train tracks..." she glared over at him, sleep still in her eyes.

 Bruce sighed as he opened her door, "Must you be difficult ..." 

"Must we sneak into a creepy old train shack like thieves?" Yonah laughed. Monitors decorated the place as both Yonah and Bruce ventured around. As the door creaked, Bruce sat down, trying his best to seem as natural as possible, which was usually hard for him to do. 

"Barry Allen, Bruce Wayne."  he nodded,

"You said that like it explains why there's a total stranger in place sitting in the dark in my second favorite chair. "

"Tell me about this?" Bruce asked, holding up a picture of the man before him, watching as he took it from him, "A man who looks exactly like me but is definitely not me..." he snarked back at the billionaire as Yonah only laughed. She could tell that he'd be a perfect fit for the so-called Justice League. Besides: he was brilliant and indeed attractive, "This suit is a work of art... If I had one made out of silica-based quartz, and fabric I'd be running everywhere..." 

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Barry turned back to face the young woman. 

"Oh, uhm, Yonah Shanel Wayne. " she smiled, 

"Look, whoever you're looking for, it's not m-" he paused, watching as Bruce threw a Batarang at him. Time had seemed to freeze as he stared at the black metal blade. "I'd suggest you catch it: one, of those to the face, is not fun..." Yonah whispered as she tapped him on the shoulder. 

"You're the batman..." He asked

"So you're fast."

"We're putting together a team of heroes, if you will, and I think you'd be perfect." she blushed. 

"I'm in." Barry smiled. 

Yonah looked back at Bruce as she only smirked, " Three points for me, zero points for you." she grinned as the trio walked back towards Bruce's car. 

"It's like this layer of dimensional reality ... I call it.."

" The speed force." Both Yonah and Barry said in unison as the two locked eyes, 

"You know about the speed force." 

"There's a lot of things I know about Mr. Allen." she gave him a small smile. "Can I get to know more about you," he asked, "Only if you're free to train me over a cup of tea back on the plane..." she suggested getting into the backseat. 

"Plane...wait, what are your superpowers again?" Barry asked, looking directly at Bruce.

"I'm rich."

"So, basically, my powers include fire, super speed, and celestial magic." Yonah smiled, sitting across from Barry as the two sipped coffee from their cups. "So, like, do you slay people and sacrifice them or what." his eyes still focused on her every word. "Incremindo Aviium..." she mumbled under her breath as butterfly appeared, "It's pretty simple." she giggled,

 "See, that was cool." he gasped catching, the butterfly. "So criminal justice major, what's that like..." taking notice of the books he left by his foot. Barry only sighed as if that told Yonah everything she needed to know.

 "It's uh exciting, I mean, it's what I want to do, I just..."

"Feel like you're failing at it... Like no matter how hard you try, you feel trapped." 

"How'd you know?" 

"I went to college to be a lawyer, graduated early, and I'm currently huge into detective work," she whispered, "But my dad wanted me to stick to law..." As the plane landed, Barry could only feel his heart skip a beat: after all, he was in love with a woman he shared a 2-hour flight with; 

Yonah had seemed to be this put-together woman as if her life was all figured out when she was alone in her own home living in the state of mind that she was invisible. 

"I don't need the IV ..." she looked back at Barry, who had a look of pity on his face. She knew that this was her fault, mixing into the wrong crowds and becoming a person she didn't want to be. However, it was the price she had to pay. " Your father finds it best if you used it." Alfred sighed, "You could relapse or worse..." 

"I could die, I get it... But maybe instead of just hiding me away like a monster, give me a chance," she asked as Alfred shook his placing the needle into her skin, 

"You should rest." 

It was late in Gotham as she sat in her bed listening to the commotion from the Batcave. She could hear the voices of Diana and her father. Nothing too spectacular, but she still wanted to be apart, "Hey uh... I wanted to know if maybe you'd want to talk or even learn Gorilla sign language ?" Barry joked from the other side of the door.

"Go away..." she sighed, her voice a bit raspy.

"See, I could go... but I can't let the first girl who talked to me slip away and..." he noticed that the door was wide open. "Look, I know we just met, but I'm worried about you..." he took her hand in his. "You're just saying that..." she responded, trying to walk away, "Everyone's worried about me, but they just push me aside." she took his hand away from his. 

"I'm not everyone ." he smirked, "I'm Barry Allen, the fastest man alive." 

"I bet you can't catch me then..." she teased, "You me one lap around Gotham first one back here has to kiss the winner." 

"Challenge accepted." 

Alfred hummed to himself as he dusted off the furniture. Seeing a streak of pink and yellow lightning, he knew all too well what was going on. Yonah had quite possibly found her equal, and he for once was happy about it: after all, almost having Roman Sionis as a dinner guest would have never worked in Alfred's book. 

"I won fair and square, Mr. Allen." Yonah laughed, watching as his cheeks puffed out. 

 "There's no way you're faster than me!"

"So you were just stretching back there then?" she asked, getting closer towards him. Barry could feel his palms sweat as his nerves took over him. "I... well... I.."

"Lo-" the very breath in her body halted as her hands wrapped around Barry's neck. The kiss wasn't something out of those corny romance movies that Bruce watched on his downtime, but to her, it brought life into her lungs and fire that burned brighter than the flames she could produce.

 "Would you ... do you want to be my girlfriend ..." he asked breathlessly.

"Take me on a date, and we'll see how it goes, Flash..."

"Flash... I like that."

#justice league #barry allen x oc #fanfiction #DC comics #dc comics fanfic #yonah shanel wayne #new #bruce wayne #Alfred Pennyworth

[6rookie-writer0110]

Breathe, pilot inspector

Reader x Bat Family

Request - For said Kingdom imagine, the Reader can be one of the following: Kingdom!Superman's son/daughter (so add "dead mom" onto that trauma list), Kid Flash (who is also Kingdom!Flash's son/daughter), a member of the Kingdom!Batfamily, a member of the Kingdom!Wonderfamily, a member of the Kingdom!Titans, or a hero of their own right. how about a story where Reader (Male or female;

You can randomize or just use gender-neutral pronouns) is a hero from the Arrowverse's version of The Kingdom who ends up (on The Flash's Earth/on Supergirl's Earth/with the Legends) and joins with them on a mission, but is haunted by the fact they're receiving signs of the incoming Crisis?

Lately, you have been having trouble sleeping and you are not sure why. You have been having bad dreams, you haven't told anyone about it. You try not to stress about it but you are.

You live in the mansion with Wayne and Selina Kyle. You grew up in a privileged lifestyle, but Bruce and Selina most times we're busy. But they tried to make time for you but wasn't easy, but Alfred always took care of you. On holidays, he would write Bruce and Selina’s names on gifts but you knew it was Alfred’s signature.

”Where are you going?” Dick asked.

”Going out but I will be back soon,” You said.

”Don’t take long. We have to meet the legends and Supergirl” Dick said.

”I know,” You said.

You leave on your motorcycle. Dick has told you that Barry is trying to build a team to defeat The Anti-Monitor. Throughout the years, you have seen Bruce be a mentor to others. You did become a hero but you didn't want to Bruce mentor you.

You get off your motorcycle and you walked inside the store. It's a fortune teller store, small place, with neon lights on the window, a black cat stares at you. On the door the sign says it closed, but you still went inside.

”We are closed!” She yelled.

”Madame Xanadu, I was told you can help me,” You said.

”Y/N Wayne, about time you come to see me,” Madame Xanadu said.

”Yeah, you those crows didn't take no for an answer,” You said.

”Come closer, my child. Do you want tea?” Madame Xanadu said.

”Sure,” You said.

For two weeks, crows have been bugging you to see her. You followed the clues to find her and you saw her in your dreams. You sit down and she gave you the cup of tea and she sits across from you.

”Now my child, tell me your questions,” Madame Xanadu said.

”How do you even know my name?” You asked.

”I can see the future. I know everything about you, I know you been having trouble sleeping. Your mother died when you were twelve and she was killed by the Joker, he almost killed you. But you don't like your father’s girlfriend Selina, you haven't opened up to her. You don't like her at all” Madame Xanadu said.

Your eyes opened wide.

”No way, you can know that,” You said.

Since your mother died, everything changed for you. You barely spoke to anyone about what you feel. Dick and the others became too busy being heroes. You were going to kill the Joker but he escaped. You don't care what anyone says, one day you will kill the Joker.

--

” It's written in the cards for us to meet. The worlds across the multiverse are in trouble, you are the only one who can save us” Madame Xanadu said.

”My dreams, I see many people dying even people I never met. I wake up in the middle of the night, I sweat and I always feel terrified to live or tell anyone about it” You said.

”Infinite Crisis is here. Every earth will be destroyed, you are the only one with answers” Madame Xanadu said.

You shake your head.

”That can't be. I'm not a hero anymore. I couldn't save my mom now I have to save the whole universe! I can't...” You said.

”You will do it. Your mother would want you to do this” Madame Xanadu said.

You start to cry because you miss your mom.

-----

”This means I can see the future? I can't have powers. No one in my family has powers” You said.

She grabbed your hands and she sees the abilities you will have.

”Mastery of magic. Your mother, grandfather, and your ancestors all mastered magic. Your mother didn't tell you, because she was protecting you from someone dangerous. You must accept your abilities to see the future in order to save everyone” Madame Xanadu said.

”If I don't?” You asked.

”Infinite Crisis will end everyone including you,” Madame Xanadu said.

She kept talking about why you should accept your abilities.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✫

You keep thinking about what she said. Back at the mansion you and the others go to Prime earth. Kate introduced you to everyone when you touched Oliver's hand then you got a psychic vision. You see everyone is dead including your family.

”Y/N are you okay?” Bruce asked.

You didn't say anything and you just ran away. Everyone is confused about what just happened.

You are in the bathroom washing your face. Your heart is racing then you get another psychic vision. This time you can see everything.

You can see The Anti-Monitor killing Bruce and Jason. You see dead bodies everywhere and you are nowhere in sight. The Anti-Monitor does sinister laughter and Sara is gasping for air and she is losing blood fast. You see her eyes and she begs for help.

Bruce knocked on the door and the vision is gone. You are breathing hard and your heart is beating fast like crazy.

”Y/N what's wrong?” Bruce asked.

”I-I”

You start to stutter and he can see you are freaking out. He starts to rub your back to calm you down.

”Breathe in and out” Bruce said.

You start to breathe in and out. He waits for you to say something.

”I can see the future. I saw everyone be killed by The Anti-Monitor and I wasn't around” You said

”Since when you can see the future?” Bruce asked.

”For a while now. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want anyone to think I'm crazy. You don't seem freaked out” You said.

”Your mother had the same ability. I was going to tell you when you first had your first vision. But you didn't tell me and I understand. We should tell the others, we have the upper hand fighting against The Anti-Monitor” Bruce said.

You sighed and agreed with him. You told them about your abilities and they want you to help. But you said no and walked away.

-----

Everyone went to fight The Anti-Monitor. You haven't fully accepted your powers and you keep getting new visions. Snart walked in to grab his gun.

”I thought you left” You said.

”I was grabbing my gun. Only because you can see the future doesn't mean you can’t change it. I don't have powers and I don't understand what you are going through. My team, we always mess up the timeline but doesn't mean we give up, we will try to fix it even if it means messing up again over and over” Snart said.

”I didn't think about it like that” You said.

”You only kept thinking that you can't do anything to change the future. I have to go now” Snart said.

You watched him leave and you know that he is right.

----

Again you start to remember what Madame Xanadu said about your abilities. You must accept it in order to change the future.

”I won't be scared anymore” You said.

You take out a picture of your mom and you stare at it.

”Wish you were here helping me,” You said.

You put the picture away.

”Gideon, help me create my suit” You said.

”Of course, Y/N” Gideon said.

You and Gideon race against time to create your suit.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✫

Everyone is losing against The Anti-Monitor but they won't give up. You have on your new suit, usually, you wouldn't pick those colors but you didn't have enough time, literally. The mask is red and white and the rest is light navy blue along with red and white. You did a superhero landing and everyone is surprised to see you.

”It’s about time!!” Jason yelled.

”Shut up!” You yelled.

Jason glared at you and you glared back at him. You see The Anti-Monitor, everything is playing out like in the visions you had.

You haven't had enough time to learn your magic. But you start to save everyone, you used the Batman Batarangs to distract him and save the others. The Anti-Monitor starts to attack you but you can dodge his attacks. They got the perfect moment and you helped them with the infinite shrinking prison gadget. It worked and everyone is happy about it.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✫

After saving the world, Barry created the justice league and asked you to join. But you said no to his offer for now.

”Why did you say no?” Kate asked.

”I’m going to be trained by Dr. Fate to understand my magic and get stronger” You said.

”So, we won't see you for a while?” Kate asked.

”Yeah. I don't know how long it will take but I will be back soon. He is the only one who can help me understand my powers” You said.

”I get it, Y/N. I will call you to check up on you now and then” Kate said.

”I’m okay with that” You said.

Kate hugged you. At the mansion, there is going away party for you. You hugged everyone and everyone is at the party. Alfred hugged you and you will miss him.

#dc imagine #batman imagine #batman x reader

[currentfandomkick]

Marinette’s Villainy Lessons with her Uncles, Victor Zsasz, Jerimah, Riddler and Ed

Reminder, the rouges know her as Jillian Strange and are aware her cover in Gotham is Jillian Smith in public.

Most people would think a hitman and casual murder would make a horrible, horribly godfather. At least for morals. 

Well, her father is Strange so he’s not most people. Her Maman had to have dated him or something so she probably isn’t normal either, Marinette would think as lessons began.

“Okay, now today we’re going to review how to take down  someone bigger than you. What do you do first?”

Marinette hummed. “Check what’s on them and around them. Look for weapons and weak points while keeping distance.”

Uncle Victor smiled. “Good job Jill!”

Marinette beamed at that. “Second step?”

“disarm them.”

“Good, now next thing?”

“Exploit wekanesses. Use weapons if possible.”

“In the kitchen, no knives open. but there’s a spork.”

“Spork?”

“Don’t question it. what do you do?”

“aim for the eye?”

“Good! popped out eyes are very distracting. Now, after that’s done, what do we do?”

“Run away and call the family.”

“And why not the police?”

“Batman will know. And he and the police will take me away.”

“And do we want that?”

“NEVER!”

“That’s my Jilly bean. Now, self defense in theory you have down. and you kept up with punch practice, right?”

“And kicks and the bendy-training.”

“Flexibility. You already have strength down, so we can focus on lean muscle like gymnasts and acrobats for you.”

“If i become an acrobat does that mean i have to be nice to batman?”

Zsasz shook his head. “Just because bat is in it, doesn’t make it his.”

“He calls his boomerangs batarangs. I’m not taking chances.”

--

“Now, its all in the wrist, Bend it back, like that, when the target is close.” Jerome hovered over Marinette, watching her form closely.

“I need to do this to take out the bad guys right?”

“If a bat goes after you when you’re with one of us, hit them hard.” He wouldn’t have Strange and whoever Jill’s Maman was after any of them for losing her mid-lesson to a zealous Batman or Robin. 

“Knees are better targets right?”

“Since you’re not allowed to kill, yes.” Jerome still didn’t get that rule, but whatever. His niece followed her Maman’s rules most of the time, and was adamant about that one. it made lessons more difficult, but they worked around it.

“Maman said something about it staining the soul,” the girl threw the knife, just missing the target.

“Eh, mine’s fine.” He didn’t regret any of it, something about him being incapable of remorse. 

“They were bad people right?”

“Of course, i don’t hurt actually good people--they make it so things don’t happen in the first place.” After all, letting things happen was bad too, and worse as far as Jerome was concerned. He still remembered everything his family did and how no one said anything about what was done to him. Silence and acceptance was far worse than doing in his books.

“Like Uncle Victor?” Marinette was still fuzzy on good and bad and the in betweens. her Father said its because binaries can’t contain her understanding so she needs another frame of reference or something.

“Like Uncle Victor,” Jerome agreed, watching Marinette closely as she sunk the next knife into the cereal box. “Now, i think we’ve done enough with weapons for now. Want to practice trapeze tricks?”

“But Aunt Harley isn’t here.”

“Safety nets are there for a reason.”

Marinette considered it for one second. Then bolted up the post and threw each trapeze into one another., making them swing for a challenge “I can’t fly for a few hours!”

“Good! Sooner you get used to falling, the less scary it is, trust me!”

“Okay!” Marinette grinned as she got a running start. She loved lessons like this.

--

Uncle Riddler decided today was a software programming day. And a cyber-crime day, she guessed. But those are always boring--she practices these with Hero Stalker and sometimes Max in Paris anyways.

“See, this is how you beat their firewalls, a simple virus that looks like a normal email. when it’s opened then we have access to the servers and get the information we want, okay?” Riddler was trying to be more clear with her today. Ed was probably trying to keep control.

“How long does it take?”

“Varies.”

“Can we get icecream while we wait?”

Riddler almost sighed. almost.

“Why?”

“Why not? We can’t build anything without the base and Father said no more autopsies in the kitchen.”

“It wasn’t even a human, just a bird. but nooo, that’s traumatizing and damaging to your mind.”

“But it was cool!”

“I know, i know. Bodies are just bigger puzzles... Hm, what’s broken when spoken Jilly bean?”

“The ice cream machine at McDonalds. And Silence, but that one’s an easy answer... OH! hero’s name is a honophone with crazy!”

“Batman.”

“Yep! Did he find the new base yet?”

“Nah, Dent got him off the trail last with another robbing spree.”

“Oh, is it going to Mr. Freeze for his research or bills or the RKC?”

“I... am pretty sure Rose stole it so your group won this time.”

“Yes!” Marinette fist pumped. “I told them operation bouncy ball would work!”

“....I. is that why they were everywhere.”

Marinette grinned back. “Just like you all keep saying, misdirection is the key to getting what you want when dealing with someone with more.”

Riddler grinned, the one that spelled doom for everyone else. “Our little jilly bean is already pulling off jobs on her own! I’m so proud!”

there was shift on his face, his stance altered and he was more... Uncle Ed than Uncle Riddler. “Jill, we talked about this. You need to be at least thirteen before you start plotting on your own.”

“I had co-conspirators of age so i didn’t break that rule!”

Uncle Ed was in control now. “I curse the day Dent taught you about malicious compliance and loopholes.”

“No you don’t. You’re just mad i used it against Dent and you missed him  tripping on everything. Don’t worry, Ghoul had cameras and made a montage.”

 Uncle Ed’s lip twitched. “Really?”

“Ice cream and we watch.” Mairinette knew her horrible stealth uncle had to be good at something. business things.

“Oswald is a terrible influence on you.”

why wasn’t this working? Wait, this is Riddler... “Ice cream please?”

“... fine. but no sparkly sprinkles.”

“But those are the best kind!”

“Jillian Strange,” Uncle Ed warned. “We do not leave evidence at the scene of a crime. Your favorite sprinkles leave evidence everywhere. Do you want to answer to your father about spoiling dinner again?”

“.... No. But after?”

“I want to know who gave you a metabolism like this, but sure. No telling Strange.”

“Okay!” Marinette ran off to the kitchen, returning with a large bowl for herself--half the gallon Ed noted--and a more normal serving for himself. “Here! and this is the video,” Marinette pulled out her ipad and played a few minutes of Dent tripping over various bouncy balls swarming his base.

“You really are a baby mastermind,” Uncle Riddler cooed. “Remind me to set you up with Puzzles later.” 

“Huh?” Marinette looked up from her empty bowl. 

“Nothing,” Ed said, almost glaring. 

“Oh, are you two fighting again? I’ll clean up until its over. Then we can work on the reality augmentation glasses, right?” Marinette asked with her infamous kitten eyes.

“Of course, I think you’ll like the new coding patterns we’ve been working on..”

--

Hope you enjoyed a slice of Marinette Strange Dupain Cheng’s Gotham life. 

Bonus:

“Jill, why are we missing a gallon of ice cream?”

“Uncle Ed took it.”

“...Please tell me it wasn’t for another biology lesson.”

Marinette thought for a moment. She is bad at lying. but letting her Father come to his own conclusions isn’t lying, right?

“I have to remind him that biology lessons are for his base again then, wonderful. I will bleach the counters. Put on  something while i do.”

“Breaking News,Poison Ivy’s Plants are out of control again.”

“Rose ran away again!” Marinette yellled.

Strange took a deep breath. “Get her room ready, I’ll call Harley.”

Marinette nodded, wandering off to find Ghoul and Frost in the ‘extra room’ already. “So who’s turn is it to tell Aunt Ivy to stop?”

“You’re here the least.”

Marinette groaned. “Do i get a disguise?”

“Green wig, colored contacts, and some baggy clothes i can feel you trying to burn.” 

“If i had heat vision it wouldn’t be trying.”

a few minutes later, the boys worked on fixing up the room while Marinette walked through the plant infested section of Gotham. The vines moved away from her, cuasing the few semi-conscious to stare at her. 

“Aunt Ivy! She’s on her way to my place, ok!”

Poison Ivy dropped to Marinette’s level, appearing from a bunch of vines. “Why didn’t she tell me!”

“You do this but at home when she does.”

“She knows better!”

“She’s six. She really doesn’t. Did you feed the flowers human blood again?”

“They were already dead, and they weren’t even half decent poeple. just abusers and pedos this time.”

“Did you tell her or...”

“They’re my children, why do i need to tell my non-plant daughter what her sibblings are eating?”

“So she doesn’t think you’re murdering for fun.”

“Oh right, that..”

--

Marinette casually curbing the rogues while learning how to villian and applying skills in the opposite direction will be a trend in the au. And they support her 100% when she does this as that’s their girl, theirs!

they tolerate whoever she adds though. eventually. 

#maribat #maribat au #marinette strange dupain cheng #bio!dad au #bio!dad strange #ml au #my au #my ideas #everyday in gotham for marinette is like this

[onebourbon-oneshot-onetear]

Aquatica

Chapter 10- Injustice for All

I do not own D.C Comics, and I only own my OC and my versions of the plots.

"I'm just saying! If Luthor has that much money, then why doesn't he live somewhere nicer?"

"Evie, is now really the time for this conversation?"

"I'm only thinking out loud, Bats."

One whole hour. That's how long Batman, Green Lantern and I had been hiding outside of the room Luthor was using while he interrogated 'Superman'. An hour is a long time to wait while your only company is a guy dressed in green who isn't your biggest fan, and a guy dressed as a bat who you may or may not know their secret identity. So I did what I always do when I'm nervous and in a position I don't want to be in…I ramble.

"Could both of you shut up? I'm trying to listen," Lantern snapped. Well, isn't he being grumpy today? I opened my mouth to say something else but Batman nudged me in the ribs and shook his head. I rolled my eyes. Of course, it would come down to Batman to make sure I didn't get in trouble.

"So, this is how it ends. You know, I've carried this around for years waiting for just the right moment but now that it's here, I almost feel a little…let down," Lex said.

"Okay, so he's been in there an hour already and he's just now starting his monologue? What kind of villain is he? Usually these things start right off the bat." I grumbled, crossing my arms and trying to move into a more comfortable position.

Lantern glared at me and I glared right back. After about five seconds we both turned towards the door in order to hear a little better.

"Any last requests?" Luthor asked Superman.

"Luthor, I have to know. Those weapons you sold to the terrorists, how—"

"How did I get them through customs?" Luthor interrupted. "A gift here, a bribe there. When money talks, people listen." We heard footsteps heading towards the door, before they stopped. "Like Stafrose of the shipping company. Or Schneider, the Interpol agent who looked the other way."

"Well gentlemen, that sounds like enough evidence to put him behind bars for a couple years, don't you think?" I said, standing up and shaking my legs out. Beside me, Lantern and Batman both got ready to go in the room and arrest Luthor.

"Sounds like you're going to have company in prison." We heard 'Superman' say. Well, there's our cue.

"Are we ready?" I asked, grabbing my staff off my waist and extending it.

"Just another minute," Batman said.

We heard rushing footsteps and then Lex exclaim, "It can't be! The Kryptonite—"

"Won't protect you any longer." The deep and accented voice of J'onn said.

"Now can we go?" I asked, itching to put Luthor in a jail cell where he belongs.

Batman opened the door and we all stepped in. "You're usually more careful, Lex," Batman said. "You slipped up."

"And you're going down hard." Lantern said. He used his ring to wrench the Kryptonite out of Luthor's hands. It flew across the room and into Batman's hands. The annoying green, pulsing light disappeared when he put it in a compartment of his belt and we could all actually see again.

"Mission accomplished," Batman said, speaking into his communicator.

Luthor backed up towards his desk, and I had a bad feeling about this whole thing. This just seemed too easy. Luthor was a genius and probably had a million different escape routes planned. I stepped forward and walked to Luthor's right side.

"So much for your image as the benevolent businessman," J'onn said. Lantern and Batman walked over so that we were all surrounding Luthor. "This is the end of an era."

I tensed as Luthor reached into his jacket pocket. "The end of your era, maybe," He said pulling out a remote from his pocket and pressing the button on it. Outside the window I saw a flash of gray and recognized one of the flying ships that Lexcorp frequently made.

"Watch out!" I yelled but it was too late. The ship had already sent a beam directly at the three other men in the room. I threw a wall of ice up in front of them to try and block the beam, but it barely slowed it down. All my ice did was shatter everywhere. More beams flew in the room and we all had to duck and dodge in order to avoid being hit.

I had just rolled out of the way of a beam that came very close to taking six inches off my hair, when I looked up at the ship and saw that Luthor was hanging off the sides. He jumped in and not even a second later, two rockets flew through the window and hit the ceiling.

I was too far away from everyone else to try and help them, and I hoped that Lantern was fast enough to get a shield over them. Instead I threw my arms up and made a wall of ice, about six inches thick to form a dome around me and block the fire and falling debris that was now raining down on all of us.

After a few seconds of silence, I figured that the damage had been done and it was safe to come out, at least without getting blown up. I melted the ice and stored the water back into my staff. All around me was small fires and debris, but no sign of the boys.

"Guys?" I yelled out, automatically fearing the worse. I could feel my heart quicken and a cold sweat had enveloped me. There was a loud noise behind me, like a shifting of the ceiling that had fallen on the floor. The debris was lifted and I saw that Lantern had made a shield to cover them in.

I let myself relax, seeing that they were all perfectly okay. I walked over to the shattered window and looked out, seeing absolutely no sign of Lex anywhere.

"Why do they always run?" Lantern asked.

"Who knows?" I said, brushing some dirt off my leggings, "But Superman is out there. Lex will be in custody in a few minutes and this whole situation will be over."

"Yeah, for now. Soon we'll have the media asking us a billion questions, the media following us around, and even the government will want answers about Lexcorp. We won't ever get any rest!" Lantern exclaimed.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic green bean. Everything will be just fine." I said, patting his shoulder just as I passed him.

I was halfway to the door when we heard Superman through the coms system. "We have a problem. Lex is hurt."

I turned back to the others and saw the same look of confusion on everyone's face. "What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'm taking him to the hospital now," Superman said. "Go back and regroup at the Watch Tower. I'll let you know if anything changes." A beep sounded, and the coms unit shut off.

"So much for everything being fine," Lantern grumbled. I rolled my eyes and headed out the door and up to the roof where the Batjet was parked.

"Bats, am I riding with you?" I called over my shoulder. The only answer I got was a grunt as he walked past me. Alrighty then, I guess that's how this is going to be. I climbed into the jet and we took off, heading for the Watch Tower.

Let me tell you, it was the most uncomfortable silence I have ever experienced. The tension was so thick you could practically cut it with a batarang. I assume it's because Bat's regretting the way he has been acting outside of work, as Bruce I mean. He can't seriously blame me for that though. I mean, he isn't being too secretive about his secret identity with me. He might as well be holding a neon blinking sign saying "I'm both Batman and Bruce Wayne!".

"So, you're being quiet today," I said, trying to break the tension a little big. After a few moments he didn't say anything. At first I thought he was thinking of some really long, heartfelt answer about how he trusts me with his identity and how much I mean to him. That is, until I heard his actual answer.

"I'm always quiet."

Wow, thanks Bats. Way to get a girl's hopes up. Thankfully we arrived at the Watch Tower before any more embarrassing conversations could occur.

Once he landed, Bats stepped out and practically ran out of the hangar, all before I could even undo my seatbelt. This should be a nice couple of days until he loses this attitude. I jumped down from the jet and headed to the information center where everyone else was. Lantern was just finishing explaining what happened to Flash when Superman appeared on the screen.

"What's going on?" Diana asked him.

"Lex has a rare form of blood poisoning. The doctors believe it was from the Kryptonite that he carried around for so long." Superman said, looking down.

"Can they fix it or something?" Flash asked.

"No. It's terminal."

I raised my eyebrows. Well that was unexpected. The whole room went dead silent as we all processed this information. It was completely obvious that Superman felt guilty over the whole thing.

"Superman, it isn't your fault," I softly said. Everyone looked at me, and I looked back at them. "Well it isn't! Nobody could have known that this would happen. Luthor kept the kryptonite near him so it could be used as a weapon. As terrible as it is, it's his own fault. Not yours." I finished, looking at the screen.

Superman looked a little relieved. "Thanks Evie. I'll still stay here until he wakes up."

"Alright. We'll see you soon," Diana said, cutting off the transmission. After a few seconds of silence everyone started to disperse from the room. Flash ran off, I'm assuming to the kitchen, Batman slunk into the shadows and disappeared, and Lantern seemed to be going off on another rant that I didn't feel like listening to.

"Can someone take me home? I have a patrol tonight," I asked the rest of the people in the room.

"Sure, I would not mind," to my surprise Diana spoke up.

I only nodded my head and we walked side by side to the hangar. We walked into her jet and she sat in the driver's seat. I'm not gonna lie, it was a little uncomfortable. I mean, we obviously don't have the best relationship and we certainly aren't friends. Oh well, why would I question a nice gesture from her?

"Evie, is everything alright between you and Batman?" Diana nonchalantly asked me.

"Um, I guess so. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, it just seemed a little awkward between the two of you, that's all."

I mentally sighed. Is this how my day was going to be? Really awkward conversations with different superheroes in their jets? I decided not to say much else, mostly because I didn't even know what was going on between Bats and I. If I didn't know, then there certainly wasn't any reason that she should know either. A couple minutes of awkward silence filled the air before Diana broke it.

"Here we are, right back in Gotham."

I stood up and headed towards the back of the plane. "Thanks for the ride."

"Your welcome."

She lowered the hatch and I jumped out and onto an ice disc. It was night time, meaning I had a full seven hours of circling Gotham, stopping crime, and trying to clean up all of the muddled thoughts that were circling my brain.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Evie, you can go. I'll take it from here," J'onn told me as he walked into the monitor room.

"Are you sure?" I asked, looking away from the monitors that lined the wall.

"Of course, you've been here all day so far."

I smiled and stretched my arms above my head as I stood up. "Thanks J'onn."

He smiled back at me and took a seat in the chair I had just been occupying. I wandered around for a little bit, deciding on where I wanted to go. I spotted a very familiar hallway and turned down it, deciding to head to the pool. I figured I might as well try and work on my powers a bit more. I knew how to manipulate ice and water perfectly. Now I wanted to learn how to use my powers with snow. It could be useful, blinding someone with a sudden flurry sounded fun. Plus it would help when I had to shovel the snow outside my apartment.

I sat next to the pool and closed my eyes, concentrating on what I wanted to do. All I had to do was freeze the water vapor in the air a little bit, but not so much that it automatically became ice. I pictured snow in my head, then all around me. I opened my eyes and saw that little white flakes were just hovering in the air. I smiled and jumped up, so excited that I had almost gotten it. Unfortunately I lost my concentration, and the flakes melted and a giant sheet of rain fell on me instead.

I laughed for a minute before evaporating it off me and sitting down to try again. I had only sat down for a few seconds when my coms unit went off. "Evie!" the angry voice of Green Lantern rang through my ears, "Get to the hangar now! Humanite and Luthor escaped."

Shit, I thought. I raced through the hallways and made it to the hanger in less than a minute. Shayera was already preparing a jet so we left immediately. Through the coms, I could hear Batman was at the scene of a building explosion. In minutes we had made it to the city and we could see the burning building.

"Shay, let me out here." I said, already standing at the hatch. She opened up the door and I jumped out, practically diving into a hole that was created from the flames climbing through the roof. "Bats!" I yelled, but I doubted he would hear me over the roar of the flames.

I heard a loud crash and decided to head that way, figuring that was where Batman would be. I rounded a corner just in time to see the stairs give way, leaving him and the little girl he was holding trapped on the landing.

I shot water around them, trying to clear up some of the flames that were beginning to rise up, but the building was just too hot, the water was evaporating before I could even make a difference. Batman must have noticed me and my water because he looked up at me. Just as we made eye contact a loud boom sounded behind me, throwing enough force to knock me off my ice disc and cause me to fall.

My face was inches away from being burnt off when I was able to create another disc to catch me. I laid on the disc for a second catching my breath before I heard a loud scream. I looked up to see Bats and the girl were freefalling directly into the flames.

"NO!" I yelled, throwing my arm out and shooting a sheet of ice directly under them. They landed on it for only a second before it completely melted and they kept falling. I flew down after them, and managed to catch Batman's arm right before they went completely in the flames. Another set of hands helped me steady them, and I looked up to see it was Shayera.

She took Batman while I went around and took the girl out of his arms and carried her outside. "Sweetie, are you okay?" I asked her as I set her gently on the ground.

"Yeah, but where's my…Daddy!" She exclaimed after looking around herself. She tore herself from my grasp and ran into her father's outstretched arms. I stood up and couldn't fight he smile that was on my face.

"We're used to being thanked when we save someone," Shayera said gesturing to herself and me, while looking at Bats.

"I'm not used to being saved," Bats said. I scoffed at that and looked back at the little girl who was till hugging her father.

In the distance I could see two red figures speeding towards us, and within seconds Flash and Superman stood in front of all of us.

"Where are Luthor and the Humanite?" Batman asked them.

"We couldn't pick up their trail," Superman said.

"No biggie. It's just two guys," Flash said, "How much trouble can they give us?" We all looked at Flash like he was crazy. I reached forward and punched his shoulder. "Hey!" Flash said, rubbing it. I only pointed at the burning building for him to get the point. "Oh."

"Let's go back to the Watch Tower and see what we can find," Superman suggested. I agreed with him. There wasn't much we could do on the ground here, Luthor and Humanite were long gone.

"Hawkgirl, where did you park the jet?" I asked her. She looked a bit startled at the question, but she answered anyway.

"Up on the roof a few buildings over," She said.

"Alright. Flash, you need a ride up?" I turned and asked him.

"Sure thing, Ice Queen," He said throwing his arm around my shoulder. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Alright then." I formed a disc under our feet and headed up towards the rooftops.

"So, what's going on with you and Prince of Darkness nowadays?" Flash asked once we got to the rooftop.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I must have sounded a little annoyed, but that's because I was. This is the second person in the last few days to ask me about this.

"Well, before, you two were joined at the hip. Now, you barely talk to each other except when you have to," Flash said. "Did something happen?"

I looked over and saw that he looked a little concerned. Deciding I shouldn't tell him everything, I went with a half-truth. "No, everything's fine. He just mentioned something to me before and now I think he regrets it a little bit," I said, opening up the hatch of the jet and waling in.

"Do you want me to punch him for you?" Flash asked, now back to his usual joking demeanor.

I let out a loud laugh. "No, don't do that. I don't think you'd survive if you did that, and what would we do without you?"

Flash laughed and we both sat down, starting the jet up so that as soon as Shay came back we could leave.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

As soon as we had gone back to the Tower, Bats had occupied the computer looking for where Luthor and Humanite could be. I went to the kitchen to grab a mug of coffee, and when I came back, Flash and Shay were talking.

"And I had those flames out before the firemen could even step off their trucks," Flash was saying, obviously bragging to try and get some attention from her.

"That's fast," Shay said, but she didn't sound like she was impressed. I smirked into my coffee mug, knowing where this conversation was probably heading.

"Fastest man alive," Flash said, rubbing his knuckles against his uniform.

"Which might explain why you can't get a date," Shayera said. I snorted into my coffee mug and shook my head, knowing that Flash had walked right into that one. I figured I should walk away before Flash realizes what she meant by that. I walked over and sat in the unoccupied chair next to Batman. I sipped on my coffee while watching the screen.

Batman was typing for a few minutes before the news popped up with a breaking news story. "A dangerous hostage situation developing at the federal building. So far, the Ultra-Humanite has refused to speak with negotiators." The camera panned to the front of the Metropolis Federal Building where dozens of police and swat teams were lined up. A picture of Humanite appeared on the screen. "A freak of science, the Humanite is reportedly a genius who is also extremely dangerous."

"No biggie, right?" Batman asked Flash.

"Looks like we found our convicts. I'm sure Luthor has something to do with this too." I said, putting down my coffee mug. Batman stood up and walked away, probably heading towards the hangar. Shay, Flash and I all looked at each other for a moment before I stepped forward. "Come on, we should probably follow him."

A few minutes later we had arrived at the building. "Green Lantern and I will take the front, then Batman will grab the hostage. The rest of you, go inside once the front is clear," Superman told us through our com sets.

I waited until Superman pushed Humanite through the front doors before we all dropped into the building. Besides Superman fighting Humanite, the building seemed to be silent, which was really strange. I walked over to a door with Green Lantern. "I've got a bad feeling about this," I said, pulling my staff out.

Before he could respond, the door that we were in front of burst open and Grundy charged out. Lantern and I were thrown back onto the ground. I rolled out of the way and stood up, looking at Grundy. He ignored me and focused on Lantern, throwing him through the ground onto the level below.

I turned around when I heard Superman cry out, and I saw that Star Sapphire had blasted him. "Surprised?" She asked? I glanced over and saw that Batman was fighting with, was that a cheetah? I couldn't worry about him as I looked back at Humanite and Sapphire. I pointed my staff at her and encased her in a block of ice, causing her to slam down to the ground.

Humanite looked at her and then back to me. "Easy there big fella," I said, walking backwards a little as he advanced on me. "Don't do anything stupid."

"With my intellect, that's impossible." Before I could move he had grabbed my leg and tossed me aside like a rag doll. I hit a wall and slumped down, holding my head.

I shook the pain off and stood up, seeing Grundy whaling on Superman, Batman fighting the cat girl and Copperhead. "I'm going to enjoy this." I heard a voice above me say. I looked up and saw Lex standing there watching Superman get beaten to a pulp.

I shot a beam of ice up onto the balcony he was standing on, but he must have seen me, because he dodged it just in time. I looked around and saw that everyone else had arrived, and we seemed to have the situation under control. Flash ran past me and I saw a dark shadow sliding off the wall.

That's weird, shadows don't slide, I thought. A pale man wearing dark glasses, a black top hat and black suit walked out of the shadows. I raised an eyebrow as I looked over him and he looked at me.

"Dude, why do you look like a rejected Dracula?" I asked. He only sneered at me and raised his staff up, but instead of pointing it at me, he pointed it at Flash. I can't even describe what came out of his staff, other than blackness. Whatever it was, it enveloped Flash and slammed him into the wall.

I looked back at him and he raised his staff up to me, but I rushed forward kicked his arm down. He tried fighting back, but it was obvious that he was a terrible fighter. When he realized he was seriously outmatched, he backed up but I landed a few punches on him. He tripped and laid on the ground, groaning in pain. "Stay down," I said. I jogged off to go help some of the others, but before I could reach any of them, blackness enveloped me.

Now, I'm not scared of the dark at all, I mean I work at night all the time. But this wasn't even dark. It was nothing. It was cold and lonely. I couldn't move or see, and the dark seemed to be suffocating me. I could feel my body being raised up, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

As suddenly as it came, the blackness left and I was blinded by the light. I felt my body falling but I couldn't move in time to break my fall. I landed on my back on what appeared to be the balcony that Luthor was on before. I groaned, rolling over to my stomach, trying to get the pounding in my head to go away. I looked over the wall and saw that Batman had just punched rejected Dracula, causing him to stay down.

Star Sapphire decided to start shooting everywhere, causing a beam from the ceiling to fall. Wonder Woman took care of it before it caused any real damage. I looked around and saw that Luthor was on the upper level right across from me. I picked up my staff and started running towards him when I heard footsteps behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Batman was right behind me.

Of course he would be. God forbid he lets me do anything by myself, I grumbled in my head. In seconds we were right in front of Lex. Lex grabbed his gun from his holster, and Bats seemed to freeze up for a second before he completely tackled Luthor to the ground. Batman pulled him up, but Lex head butted him, then gave him a quick punch which pushed Bats into me. We were both on the ground and Lex grabbed the gun.

He leveled hit at us, a super creepy supervillain grin forming on his face. Bats pushed me behind him, shielding me.

Do you know how in movies, when someone shoots a gun, it's always in slow motion? That wasn't the case. Lex pulled the trigger and it seemed like the world sped up. Instinctively, I threw my arms up and made an ice shield about a foot thick, but it wasn't in front of me, it was in front of Bats.

It's a good thing it was in front of him too, because encased in the ice was a bullet, literally inches away from where his chest was. I let out a shaky breath, thanking whatever God was up there that I had gotten my arms up in time.

Except now, Lex looked pissed. He leveled the gun at me, but before he could do anything, out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright pink light headed straight for us. Batman grabbed my arm and pulled me back, not a moment too soon, because the beam hit exactly where we had been sitting. The balcony crumbled and we saw Lex fall through the hole that was made.

"Are you okay?" I asked Bats, slightly out of breath. He didn't say anything. All he did was stare at me. "Bats?" I asked again. Bats reached out and grabbed my arm, hauling me away from him.

Before I could protest, I saw why. Copperhead had made his way up the wall and was now on Batman's back. Wait, was he biting him?

Batman grunted and fell to the ground from the sudden weight of Copperhead on him. A green beam of light threw Copperhead off of him. Lantern flew down and hovered above both of us. "Are you alright?" He asked Batman.

"Don't worry about me," He said, rubbing his shoulder. "Stop them," He said, looking down below at the rest of the villains. Lantern flew off and Bats sunk to his knees. I ran over to him and kneeled in front of him.

"Shit, you were bit," I said, looking at his shoulder. "I don't know how to fix this. Is he venomous or poisonous? I don't know how mutant snake people work. I've heard of people sucking the poison out of wounds before but I don't know how to do that. J'onn will have to take a look at it, but we have to hurry," I rambled off a mile a minute. "What if we don't get back in time?"

"Evie."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Evie!"

"If you don't make it, can I have the batmobile?"

"Evelyn!"

"What?!" I yelled

"I'm going to be fine," Bats said looking at me. "Just calm down." I noticed the sweat that was starting to gather on his forehead. That certainly isn't a good sign.

"Okay. Calm. I can do calm." I said, putting my hand on the shoulder that wasn't bit. "Just stay awake for me okay?" I said when I noticed he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. "Bats. Eyes. Open. Now," I said, shaking his shoulder.

One second I was looking at Batman, when the next second there was nothing but blackness all around us. Great, Dracula is at it again.

After a few seconds, the blackness disappeared and the room was eerily quiet. I looked over at Batman and saw he was lying completely on the ground.

"I need help up here!" I yelled. Superman and Flash were the first ones over. Flash saw Copperhead lying on the ground, still out cold.

"We've still got one of them," He said.

"Yeah, but they got one of us," Superman said. We both rolled Batman over and saw that the sweating was worse and now he felt cold.

"We need to get him up to J'onn. Now!" I said when I saw that nobody was moving.

"I"ll take him," Lantern said. He put both of us in his green sphere and we flew up towards the Watch Tower.

When we got there J'onn was already waiting in the hangar and he rushed Batman to the medical wing. I ran after them, hoping that J'onn would easily be able to fix him. I walked in the med bay and looked for them. At the end of the room J'onn already had Batman attached to a heart monitor, and was injecting him with fluids.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked walking towards them.

"Not right now. I injected him with the anti-venom. Now his body just needs rest."

I nodded and sat in a chair that was next to the bed. "Do you mind if I stay here?"

J'onn smiled at me. "Of course not. Stay as long as you need to. The others have just arrived. I'll let them know what is going on." He turned around and walked out the swinging doors of the med bay. I looked over at Batman.

I put my head in my hands and let my mind wander. This was all my fault. It should have been me. Batman pulled me out of the way so I didn't get bit. Idiot. He should have let me. I heal much faster than he does. I shook my head and looked at him again. Moron.

I don't know how much time had passed, but J'onn and Superman walked in. "He's getting ready to wake," J'onn said. I sat up, looking at Batman and sure enough he was beginning to wake up.

"The venom antidote, it's working," J'onn said when Batman opened his eyes.

"Welcome back. We were afraid we'd lost you," Superman gently said.

"Luthor and the others, what happened?" Batman asked. I rolled my eyes. He literally almost died and he is still worried about everything else.

"They got away, all but Copperhead," J'onn told him.

"I'm headed down to Striker's to interrogate him," Superman said.

"Alright. Let's go." Wait, what?

Batman sat up, very slowly. This idiot is still hurt. He shouldn't be leaving this bed at all. "Are you insane?" I said, standing up and finally making my presence known. "You shouldn't be leaving that bed for another day, let alone going to interrogate some weirdo in a snake suit." He only looked at me, and kept trying to sit up.

"She's right. You're staying here," Superman said gently pushing him back down. "That venom almost killed you."

"So?" I swear I might kill this man.

"So, you're staying here."

I could practically feel the glare that Batman was giving him, but Superman gave one right back. Superman walked out of the room. Looks like he had the last word.

Before he was even out the door, Batman was already unhooking his IV and standing up. I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness. Who were we kidding? He wasn't going to just sit this one out. I shared a look with J'onn and we both followed Batman out the doors silently.

Batman went straight for the computers and started furiously typing. I decided to stay silent. There was no use in trying to change his mind so I might as well just go with it.

"You really should be resting," J'onn said. Apparently he thought that he could change his mind. "I know this must be hard for you, feeling vulnerable." Oh no. J'onn please don't bring this up. "You're the only one of us without special powers," Oh dear lord. "But you don't need to prove yourself." Batman must have the most patience in the world, or he is simply ignoring him. "You're a valued member of this team and we're only trying to-"

Batman finally stood up and looked at him. "I'm taking the shuttle. Unless you want to try and stop me." He challenged.

I let out a sigh at the ridiculousness of this situation.

"No." was the only thing J'onn said before moving out of his way. Batman walked out of the room and headed towards the hangar.

"We need to work on your people skills," I said to J'onn as I followed Batman. I jogged down the hallway to catch up to him.

"Are you going to stop me?" He asked me without stopping.

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p'. "I'm just coming with you." Batman stopped walking and gave me a look. "If you think for one second that I am letting you go down there and start fighting by yourself, then you're insane. All I'm going to do is make sure you don't collapse and die." I said, adding a slightly sarcastic smile.

Batman let out a huff, but didn't object. We walked to the hangar and got in the shuttle. We started it up and made our descent down to Earth. "So, where are we going?" I asked.

"We're following the tracker I put on Luthor. He's at an abandoned building."

"Oh. When did you put a tracker on him?" I asked, thinking back to the fight. He never got anywhere near Lex, except when he tackled him. Of course, I was met with silence.

The ride was fairly short and we arrived there in no time. Bats parked the shuttle and stepped out, with me behind him. We walked across the rooftop to an open window on ceiling. Batman outstretched his arm. "Hold on."

I walked over to him and grabbed his arm, but he only pulled me closer to him. He wrapped one of his grappling hooks across the beam and slowly lowered us down, him holding onto me, and I was tucked into his chest.

We quietly landed and looked around. Lining the one side of the wall were giant animals, at least 10 feet tall and they were all staring at us. I shuddered as I looked at them. "That is so creepy," I whispered.

Batman pulled out his tracking locater and looked at it. We walked over to where the signal was coming from. We looked over the ledge and saw all 6 of the bad guys playing poker down below.

"Well they don't seem busy," I said. I turned my head when I thought I heard something, and saw a blur of purple behind me. "Hey-"I started to say, but something hit my head. Hard. I saw stars in front of my eyes as I hit the floor. I heard another thud next to me but my head hurt too much for me to see what it was. The last thing I remembered before everything went black, was the sound of a cold, high pitched laugh that sent shivers down my spine.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I could hear voices. That's a good sign, right? It meant my brain wasn't squished. I mean, the voiced were muddled, but I could still hear them. I opened my eyes a fraction and I saw an orange light. I closed them again and tried to remember what happened.

Bats and I had left the Watch Tower and we followed the tracker to the abandoned building. I tried to remember what was after that, but all I remember is getting hit.

"Ah, I see pretty girl is waking up," I heard a high voice say. A hand reached under my head and wrenched it up, so that I was looking at the person in front of me. When I saw the face, my blood went cold.

"Joker," I whispered. I had never encountered him face to face before, but I had seen some of his work. No wonder Batman was never too happy. If I had a crazy clown wanting to kill me all the time, I wouldn't be happy either.

"Oh, so she knows who I am," He said walking behind me. I looked down and saw that my body was strapped to a metal slab, and the orange light was surrounding me. "But I know who she is. Miss Aquatica, is it not?" He said right next to my ear.

I turned my head away from him. "Don't touch me," I growled.

His high pitched laugh filled the room, "Oh, she is a feisty one."

"Enough Joker," Lex called out. I looked past Joker and saw that Lex, Humanite, and the others were gathered around as well. Oh great, we must be having a party. Joker walked back to where Luthor was standing.

"You're not going to leave them like this, are you?" Joker asked him, gesturing to the two of us. I glanced over at Batman and saw that he was in the same contraption as I was, except the light surrounding him was blue.

"Why?" He asked, catching my attention once more.

"Helloo? Their still alive," Joker growled. Um, excuse me? What is this 'they' you are speaking of? I've never done anything to you.

"And they are going to stay that way until I say we don't need them anymore." Luthor argued back.

"Lex, Lex, listen to someone who knows. Don't wait," He whispered in his ear and reached down to stroke the handle of Luthor's gun. "Do it now."

"You don't like my decisions? Leave!" Lex said, elbowing Joker in the ribs.

Joker rubbed his chest and walked away. "And they say, I'm crazy," He muttered. The rest of the villains all stared at Luthor.

"What? Those restraints are pure titanium!" He yelled, pointing at us. "They'll never get loose. And that stasis field around them will prevent the Martian from finding them. Plus the girl has a heat field around her, her powers are useless." Ah, so that's what the orange was. I was wondering why it was so warm in here.

Luthor stood in front of Batman. "Now Batman, you must have some kind of pass key or access code I can use against your friends. Where is it?" He asked, leaning very close to him.

"Guess," he said with a smirk. I looked him over and noticed that his belt was gone. Oh, the morons don't know what their getting themselves into, I thought.

"Grundy?" Luthor called. Grundy walked over holding Batman's belt. He tried sticking his fingers inside one of the compartments. Here we go. Electricity zapped him for a good thirty seconds, and when it was done, Grundy fell to the floor, his fingers twitching and smoke rolling off of him. Good thing he wasn't fully human, it probably would have killed him.

"I told you…" Joker sang.

"Shut up!" Luthor snapped. Wait, why weren't any of them asking me if I had a code?

"Ahem. Am I chop liver or something? How come nobody is asking me if I have a code or not?" I called out, a little annoyed that they didn't think I was that important.

Luthor turned around and gave me a smirk. "Don't worry. We already searched you," He said walking towards the doors. I felt a bit of a chill run up my body. Who the hell had touched me when I was unconscious? It better not have been Dracula reject over there, I'll hit him so hard I'll send him back to his castle. Luthor pointed at the belt, "Bring that upstairs. I'll get it open."

Star Sapphire carried the belt with her pink beam and everyone except Humanite and Grundy walked towards the elevator. "Humanite, Grundy," Luthor called out. "Watch them."

The doors to the elevator closed and it was only the four of us down in this basement. I squirmed a little bit, trying to get free but Luthor was right. These restraints must have been made of pure titanium because I could hardly move. Plus, the heat was making me feel a little weak. Not enough to actually hurt me, but enough that there was no way I could easily access my powers.

Grundy stood in front of Batman while Humanite stood in front of me, the both of them staring at us which was a little uncomfortable.

"Grundy, what's Luthor paying you for this?" Batman asked him.

"Money. Lots of it." He said. Oh poor Grundy. I did actually hate how people treated him. Sure he was a little stupid, but I feel like people use him just for his strength. It wasn't right. Or I just have a bleeding heart. I mean, what am I doing caring if supervillains were being treated nicely? I shook the thoughts out of my head and tuned back into the conversation.

"As much as he's getting?" Batman asked, turning his head towards Humanite.

"I don't know," Grundy said.

"Look at all you've had to put up with. You should be getting more." Batman told him.

"More than me? Preposterous." Humanite scoffed.

"Yeah, he needs all the money he can get to fix that giant head of his," I grumbled. Apparently he heard me because he gave me a rather nasty look.

Grundy must have realized that Batman was making some sense. Humanite had walked over to the desk and sat reading the newspaper. Grundy looked over at him and growled. He marched over and tackled Humanite onto the ground and started beating the crap out of each other. The two idiots rolled around on the floor, beating each other up, not realizing they had just been played.

"You are so brilliant," I said over to Batman. The fighting went on for another couple of minutes before the doors to the elevator opened and Luthor, Cheetah, Star Sapphire, and Dracula got off. Humanite and Grundy were still rolling around on the floor when Luthor yelled at them.

"Stop it, right now!"

Grundy got one last hit in before the two got off of each other. "You imbeciles are killing me faster than the kryptonite," He said walking over to them.

"Sorry," they both said and walked back to the back of the room, leaving Luthor to stand in front of us.

"You did this, didn't you?" Luthor asked Batman.

"How come he gets all the credit?" I scoff.

"Oh, I'm sure you had something to do with it too, don't kid yourself," Luthor said. "Well, it won't happen again. Cheetah!" Luthor called over his shoulder.

Cheetah walked over to us. "Take control over here. If our friends cause any more trouble, gag them!" Luthor said as he walked away. Cheetah took out her claws and hissed at us.

"Down kitty," I sneered. She only glared at me before walking over to sit at the desk that Humanite had been occupying. I closed my eyes and focused on a way to get us out of here. Not only is my head still throbbing, but these restraints are completely cutting off the circulation to my hands. I felt out to see if I could sense any water in the room, but I got nothing. Probably because of this heat shield they got me under.

Figuring that Bats would have to get us a way out of this, I closed my eyes and decided to doze for a few minutes. I opened my eyes when my brain finally registered that people around me were talking.

"And then what happened?" Batman said. I looked up and saw that he was talking to Cheetah, who had hopped off the desk and was now pacing.

"My research opened whole new worlds. There was so much to do."

"But so little funding."

"You know about that?" She asked him. I snorted, of course not. He probably has just as much money as Luthor does.

"You didn't have enough for research subjects so you used yourself."

"And now I'm a freak," she said, gesturing to her hair covered body. Yeah, just a little bit.

"That's not what I see." Wait, what? "I see someone who was willing to give up everything for a cause she believed in." Well if this isn't the biggest bunch of crap I had ever heard. Except it seemed that Cheetah was buying every word of it.

"How do you know so much about me?" She asked him.

"Let's just say cats aren't the only ones who are curious." I just threw up in my mouth a little bit, I'm serious.

She walked up and pressed herself against him, running her arm up his body. "Too much curiosity can be dangerous," She purred, putting her finger under his chin.

"Maybe…I like danger." Batman. What are you doing? Your voice isn't supposed to sound that sexy. It's supposed to be rough and scary.

"Do you?" she asked.

"Try me," Batman whispered. Now I was really worried, I had never heard his voice this gentle, at least when he was Batman and not Bruce.

Cheetah glanced over my way. "Think Ice Pop over there will mind?" Ice Pop? Who does this cat think she is?!

Bats glanced over at me, but didn't meet my eyes. "Why should she?" Apparently that was all Cheetah needed to hear, because the words had hardly left his mouth before they were lip locked. My jaw fell open and my stomach felt like it dropped out of my body. At first I was shocked, I mean who wouldn't be? Batman is kissing a girl covered in fur! It's a weird sight.

But then I noticed that the shock was being replaced with something else. Was it…was it jealousy? Judging by the way I was seeing red, and it wasn't from the heat field around me, and the way I wanted to rip her face off, I assumed it was jealousy. If my hands weren't locked into place, I'm pretty sure I could have ripped the metal off me and then beat the crap out of her.

I finally looked away and stared at the elevator doors, ignoring the both of them. I bit my lip and tried to calm myself down. Why was I this worked up? It shouldn't bother me. He's a grown man, he can kiss who he wants, I certainly don't have a say in it.

But you don't want him kissing other girls, the little voice in my head said. You want him kissing you. Did I? When did I start wanting that? When did I lose control of this whole situation? Of course I shouldn't care if he kisses other girls. I'm not his and he isn't mine, even though I kind of wanted him to be.

Where are these thoughts coming from?! I cannot like Batman. That is a biiiig no-no.

But look at how he treats you differently than the others. Think back to all the times he's helped you, and had those heart to heart conversations with you. You're special.

Shut up little voice! I opened my eyes and realized that the little voice was right. I thought I had been special. I wanted to be special, at least to him. I had no idea when these feelings started, but now I just knew they were there. And here he was, still kissing a cheetah girl.

I looked over to see her still attached to him when I finally cleared my throat. "Can you two stop sucking each other's faces off please? I would like not to have to puke everywhere."

The kissing noises stopped and I looked over. At least she was off of him now, although she was batting her eyelashes excessively at him. "No need to get so jealous sweetie," she purred. I narrowed my eyes, knowing that she was only trying to get a rise out of me.

"Oh, go play with a ball of string." I scoffed. Now it was her turn for her eyes to narrow at me. She stepped forward, releasing her claw, but before she could do any damage the elevator doors opened and Humanite stepped through.

"Luthor wants the girl upstairs. Then I'm relieving you of guard duty," He told Cheetah. He walked towards me and unlatched the wheels that were at the bottom of my restraints that I hadn't noticed before.

"This thing has wheels?" I asked him. Of course he ignored me. It seems that everyone does. He wheeled me over to the elevator and pressed the button. He didn't even have the decency to turn me around so I was facing the doors, instead I was facing the back wall. "What an interesting wall. Great quality." I sarcastically said. Again, no response.

The bell dinged and the elevator stopped. Humanite wheeled me over in front of a table in the middle of the room, then he walked away. Joker was sitting on top of a roll chair, wheeling himself around the room, smiling to himself. Good lord that man is creepy.

"As much as I like the change of scenery Lex, why did you bring me up here?" I asked him, trying to sound at least a little bored.

"How do you get into the Watch Tower?" He asked me. I rolled my eyes. Did he really think I was going to tell him?

"You know what Lex, I think I'll wait to give you that answer. But I better not wait too long, or else I'll only be talking to your headstone." I mocked. His eyes widened and I knew that I had officially pissed him off. Good.

"Ooooh, I like her," Joker cackled.

"Shut it!" Luthor said. "Fine, I'll find a way myself."

Luthor walked over to a panel and pressed some buttons. The lights in the room dimmed and the table that Batman's belt was sitting on sparked to life. The sparking got louder and louder until is suddenly stopped. At first I thought the shock to the belt didn't do anything, until there were some clicking noises and the compartments opened up.

"Finally," Luthor said. I was a little shocked that actually worked.

"Well Lex, I guess you aren't as dumb as you look," I said, trying to hide the fact that now I was a little nervous.

Both he and Joker rushed over to the table and shook the belt out. Tons of batarangs and bombs fell out, and I winced a little bit. Did they not realize that these were explosives?

"What are you looking for?" Joker asked him. "Bat-car keys, bat-breath mints?" Joker picked up a batarang and threw it at a nearby crate. Lex and I both looked at him, then at the batarang which began to spark. I smirked, knowing that it was one of the ones that gave off an electric charge. The batarang exploded, causing Joker to spin around in his chair and Lex to duck behind the counter.

"Careful you idiot!" He turned back to the belt. "Wait. This is it." He pulled out something from one of the smallest compartments.

"What?" Joker asked him, wheeling over to look at it.

"The key to our victory."

Or the key to the Watch Tower. That's what it actually is. And now these two have it. Great, just great. Lex looked up at me.

"Looks like we didn't need you after all, Aquatica."

"No, I guess you didn't. You might as well just let me go now. Sorry to bother you!" I said.

"Ah ah ah, we aren't done with you yet my dear," Joker said, rolling around behind me. He stood up and pulled a blade out from his jacket and pressed it up against my neck. "What else can you tell us?" He asked. I felt the bit of the blade pierce my neck, not causing any real damage, just enough to make a trickle of blood fall.

"Enough. I'll have someone take her back downstairs. We need to think of a plan." Luthor said.

Joker looked like he wanted to disagree, but he reluctantly put the blade away. Lex called Sapphire over and she took me back downstairs, wheeling me to my usual spot to the left of Bats.

Once she left it was fairly quiet. Humanite was back to reading his paper and I was back to ignoring Batman. At least, I was ignoring him.

"You're bleeding."

"I was bleeding. It's dry now. Joker didn't cut me that deep," I said, clipping my words a little bit so that he might get the hint that I was mad at him.

"He cut you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm surprised you noticed actually. I thought you would be sticking your tongue down someone else's throat, too busy to notice little old me." God I could be such a bitch sometimes.

"Aquatica," Batman sighed, using my hero name only because Humanite was still in the room.

"Don't. Don't say anything," I said, finally looking over at him. "Just find a way to get out of here because I am all done with today. I just want to go home and read my books. Is that so much to ask?" I practically yelled. I almost laughed at the comical look of disbelief on Batman's face, but then I remembered I was mad at him and I looked back at the wall.

Before he could say anything else, the elevator doors opened and our favorite purple suit wearing clown walked in. "Show time, everybody." He said, wheeling in a TV and what smelled to be popcorn. "Live and in color." He wheeled the TV over to where Batman and I were. "The end of the Justice League," he finished, gesturing to the TV screen.

"Don't make me laugh," Batman said.

Joker chuckled, "It's no joke! There's a surprise hidden in your little clubhouse," He said turning on the TV. The Watch Tower came into view. "And once your friends get there…kablooey!" He yelled, jumping in front of us and laughing. "Popcorn?" he asked us. We both only gave him a deadpanned look. "Oh, well, more for me." He threw a piece up in the air and caught it.

"Joker, you nauseate me," Humanite finally spoke up. Then he got up and left the room, leaving Joker by himself with the both of us. Smart.

"OH, he's going to miss the show…and the sequel."

Sequel? "What sequel?" Batman asked, thinking the same thoughts I was.

"After the bomb gets your friends…I get you. And her." He said pointing at me. Then he started laughing, but this wasn't his high pitched crazy laugh. This was his deep laugh, the laugh that meant he was being serious. Not gonna lie, I was starting to get a little worried. We had been here for God knows how long, with no clue as to what the others were doing. Were they even up there? Had they realized we were gone?

"Any second now," Joker sang. The words had no sooner left his mouth before a bright light enveloped the screen and we couldn't see the Watch Tower anymore. That is, until the light died down and we saw the Tower, looking just as it usually did.

"Oh, they ruined the punch line," Joker said sadly, staring at the screen.

"As impressive as that was, if you don't mind, we would like to get to our brooding alone please," I said.

"Oh no, I can still have my fun," He said, pulling his switchblade out of his jacket. "Shall I start with the lady first? We can pick up where we left off earlier." He started walking towards me while wearing his super creepy 'I'm crazy' smile.

"Don't touch her," Batman practically growled. Joker must have sensed just how upset he was making him.

"Alright, fine. I'll start with you, and then go to her," He said taking the blade off my neck and putting it to Bats'. I think it's hard to tell just how much of a badass someone is until a switchblade is put to their neck. I mean some people would wince and beg for him not to do anything, and then you have Batman. Who headbutts Joker so hard he knocks him back onto the floor.

"Not funny, Bats!" Joker grumbled while he stood back up. I had noticed the elevator doors opened and Grundy walked out. Before Joker could do anything else, Grundy grabbed his arm.

"Luthor not want you alone with him." He told Joker.

"Oh, come on, Grundy, old pal," Joker said, trying to sweet talk his way out of this. "What's a couple of nicks between friends?"

"Go away." I never thought I would say this, but thank you Grundy!

"Thanks. If you hadn't come along when you did…" wait, was that Batman? Saying thanks? For being saved? Hm. I thought he didn't thank people for being saved. Wait till Shay hears this one, he'll be getting shoulder punches for a week. "Could I have some water?" I perked up at the mention of water.

Grundy seemed to think about it for a minute before he agreed. He walked over to the sink and filled up a cup. He walked back over to Batman and held the cup up to his mouth so he could take a sip. Except he didn't take a sip. He spit it up in the air so that it hit the generator for the stasis field, causing it to short circuit.

I closed my eyes so the bright light didn't blind me, and opened them when it died down. Now the machine was sparking, but the stasis field was gone, meaning we now had a way out. "Thanks," Batman told Grundy.

"Uh-oh," Grundy said, realizing what he had just done. I really did feel bad for the guy.

"Grundy, it's okay," I told him. "We can help you. You don't have to work for Luthor anymore."

Grundy started backing up. "No, Grundy not listening to you anymore." He ran back to the elevator, probably to tell Luthor what he had done.

I sighed and shook my head. I noticed that Batman had been awfully quiet. I looked over and saw he had his eyes closed. "Have you talked to J'onn yet?"

"I just did."

"Good."

The room was filled with an awkward silence now.

"It didn't mean anything." Here we go.

"I'm sure."

"Evie…"

"No. Don't 'Evie' me!" I stage whispered. "It really isn't any of my business where your tongue goes. I don't care."

Bats looked at me like he wanted to say something, but the elevator doors opened before he could. Humanite stepped off, looking mighty happy about something. This wasn't good. He walked towards us and I noticed he was holding a yellow stick. He must have saw me looking at it. "Are you wondering what this is? It's an electrically charged phase stick. I can use it for when your Martian comes to save you. It doesn't matter if he's solid or not, it will still shock him."

"That sounds cool, mind if I give it a try?" I asked, hoping that he would be as dumb as Grundy was.

"Nice try." Damn.

I waited a few more seconds before speaking again. "Can I have some water?"

"NO!" Alright then.

"Well can you at least take my heat field down? Batman has his down! I'm pretty sure the law says that men and women must be treated equal in the workforce."

"That is enough. One more word out of you and you won't live to see the outside of this building," Humanite said, sticking his zap stick next to my face. Message received loud and clear. "That's better," he said when I didn't say anything else.

It had been quiet for a while, the only sound in the room was Humanite pacing.

"Batman, Aquatica…" I heard a voice whisper. I looked past Batman and saw J'onn phasing through the wall.

"J'onn don't!" we both yelled, but it was too late. J'onn had already flew over to help us, but Humanite got to him first. He was right, the stick did go through J'onn, even when he was phased, and electrocuted him. He hit the ground with a thud and didn't move anymore.

"He's gonna feel that in the morning," I mumbled.

Upstairs we could hear glass crashing and giant bangs, signaling that the rest of the League had arrived. "You might want to go check that out," I told Humanite. He only rolled his eyes but actually did walk over to the elevator.

"Remember our deal," he said before the doors closed. Deal? What deal?

"What is he talking about?" I asked Batman, but when I looked over, Bats was moving his arms, which should have been impossible if he were still tied down. Of course he would figure out how to get undone. God forbid anybody else save him.

"I made a deal with him. Don't worry, everything is taken care of," He said. With a giant click, the titanium straps came undone and he landed on the floor.

"Great, you're out. Now get me out, I can't feel my hands," I said while squirming around.

"Not yet. Just wait another minute."

I stopped squirming. "Excuse me?" I never did get an answer because Bats literally disappeared. I don't' understand how he does it. "Oh, you are so dead. When I get out of here you better run, because I honestly might try to drown you." I said, knowing that he could still hear me.

Before I could fully curse him, the elevator doors opened and Joker stepped off, and of course he was holding a gun, because why wouldn't he? He ran off the elevator but stopped when he saw that it was only me down here and Batman was gone.

"What?" He yelled, then looked at me. "Where is he?"

"If he's smart, he's halfway to mars right now."

Joker turned around, sweeping his eyes (and gun) across the room. While he was turned around, Bats somehow magically appeared behind him. Joker turned around and was face to face with him. He raised his gun up but it was easily knocked away. The gun clattered to the ground. Then Joker tried to punch Bats, which didn't work too well. Batman blocked his punch and countered with one of his own, sending Joker back towards me.

"No fair! How'd you get free?"

"I could have escaped anytime, but I thought I'd stick around to keep an eye on you clowns." Oh really? He could have escaped at any time? Please, tell me more and try to explain why you left me here all day. Now I was super pissed.

Bats punched Joker one more time leaving him super disoriented. "You're despicable," Joker said before falling to the ground, out cold. Bats smirked and then looked at me. Needless to say, he must have seen how pissed I was.

"You could have gotten out at any time?" I asked

"Yeah, the mechanism wasn't that hard to pick," He said walking over to me. I didn't say anything and just let him undo my restraints. There was a click and I slid to the floor, landing on my feet. I wobbled for a second and looked at my hands, which were alarmingly pale from the lack of blood.

"You really weren't kidding about the circulation," Batman said, taking one of my hands. "You should be fine, although your hands may tingle for a bit." He dropped my hand and knelt next to Joker, putting handcuffs on him, and took a hold of his collar.

"Can we go now?" I asked, gesturing towards the elevator. Bats dragged Joker along on the floor, and I took that as my answer. We made it upstairs and saw that the rest of the idiots were being handcuffed and locked up.

"There you are!" Superman said when he saw us. Everyone looked over at us.

"We're fine," I said, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

"Batman walked over to the swat officers, and handed them Joker. They put him in the back of the transportation vehicle along with the rest of them. Humanite was the last one out, and when he walked past us he asked to wait.

"You'll keep our bargain?" He asked Batman. Oh, so this must have been what he said before he went upstairs.

"Yes. Double what Luthor was paying." Was all Batman said. Humanite looked pleased and seemed to eagerly want to go back to prison. Double what he was paying? Holy crap that is a lot of money.

"What was that all about?" Flash asked. He only got a small smirk in response. I rubbed my hands, trying to get the blood to flow back in them.

"Can someone take me back to Gotham? I do not feel like flying all the way back tonight," I said.

Shay looked like she was about to answer but Batman did instead. "I will." I looked at him for a second before nodding, figuring it was best not to question him. He pressed a button on his belt, which he must have gotten back, and the batmobile came around the corner and parked right in front of us.

"Alright. Bye guys!" I said, limply waving my hand to the rest of the League. I turned around and climbed into the car, and laid my head back on the headrest. The driver's door opened and Batman got in. He started the car and took off, heading towards Gotham.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to talk. I think I did enough talking for the day. I certainly wasn't in the mood for it now.

"I never did thank you." Okay, never mind then.

"Thank me for what?" I asked, my head still resting against the seat and my eyes closed.

"For stopping that bullet."

I opened my eyes and looked at him. I thought he had forgotten about that.

"Well I never thanked you."

Now it was his turn to look confused. "For what?"

I chuckled, "For keeping Copperhead from biting me. Don't think I didn't notice how you pulled me out of the way. It should have been me."

He didn't say anything at first. "I was just protecting you, just like you did for me," he finally said.

I nodded my head, knowing he was right. "How's your hands?" he asked.

I looked at them and saw that they weren't as pale as before, but they were still tingling. "Better than before. I'll be fine. Don't worry." I looked back out the window and watched the street lights go past.

"You know, she wasn't that good of a kisser." I whipped my head around so fast I swear I heard something crack. He knew what he said, the jerk. He was even smiling. He looked over at me and practically laughed. "She had too much fur."

I lost it, I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face, my bad mood instantly disappearing. "Oh my God, that's hilarious," I said wiping a tear from my face. I calmed down and looked back over at him. "Why did you kiss her though?"

To his credit, he did look a little uncomfortable. "I was just trying to distract her. To be honest, I didn't think it would go that far." Seeing he was uncomfortable I looked back out the window. "Besides, I would rather that happen with someone else." I didn't even have to look at him to know that he had a smirk on his face. I closed my eyes and smiled, hoping that the 'someone else' he was speaking of, might be me.

#Bruce Wayne #Batman #Bruce Wayne x Oc #Batman x Oc #Dc #Justice League 2001

[jasontoddiefor]

Title: Manor-Dad lets me drive the Batmobile Chapter 6 Summary: The Batkids think Bruce is dating Batman ft. Jason being the best big brother ever to Tim AN: BET YOU THOUGHT YOU’D SEEN THE LAST OF ME. Yeah I updated!!!

Jason felt pretty shitty for the first week Tim was staying with them. He knew the sharp claws digging into his throat and head as well as nausea accompanied by them were all symptoms of jealousy trying to establish its place in Jason’s heart. He was sixteen for crying out loud. He should be above feeling jealous of a thirteen-year-old, who, most of the time, wasn’t even trying to get anyone’s attention. It was almost pitiful to witness Tim startling every time some addressed him because he wasn’t expecting anyone to really ask him about his day at dinner.

And yet Jason was hiding away in his room because he couldn’t stand Bruce paying attention to someone else like a spoiled little brat. He would have gone to the Cave, but Alfred had banned all of them from sulking in there. He figured it was only a question of time until Alfred got Batman to switch into civilian clothes and stay in the manor.

Groaning, Jason buried his head in his pillows.

Don’t be jealous of the new kid, don’t be jealous of the new kid, don’t be jealous of-

The door creaked.

“What’s up, Little Wing?”

Dick.

Right, it was Saturday morning. Of course Dick would be here.

“Nothing,” Jason replied, but even to his ears, his voice sounded wobbly.

Dick honored his horrible nickname and took Jason’s annoyance as an invitation. He let himself fall down onto Jason’s bed and stretched like a cat, taking up all the space. He stayed as silent as a bat while he waited for Jason to gather his courage. It was dumb, but when Dick wasn’t being a dick, he had this annoying quality that made you want to talk to him. He was good at giving advice that didn’t boil down to “money” or “batarangs” or random actually helpful bits about social cues. Jason knew he could trust his brother, he had kept his mouth shut about Sheila for months after all.

“I’m jealous,” Jason finally admitted. It was strange to say it out loud

Dick laughed. “Of my charming good looks? Don’t worry, you’ll get there.”

Jason rolled his eyes but cracked a small smile nevertheless.

“Not of that, Dickhead. And I’m already taller than you anyway.”

“Lies! Slander! How could you even just attempt to break my heart like that?”

Dramatically, Dick put his right arm to his forehead and closed his eyes, reminiscent of a shocked Victorian lady.

“Uhu, just consult the measurements on the kitchen entrance door. I’ve officially surpassed you.”

Even if Jason couldn’t really believe it. Leslie had estimated his height when he’d first gotten to the manor and back then it had seemed like he’d be lucky if he ever reached Dick’s height. Personally, Jason was blaming that alien plant fertilizer goo he’d gotten dosed with a couple months ago for his growth spurt, but he sure as hell wasn’t telling anyone that. Except for Alfred, in case he ended up growing flowers instead of hair.

“But no, I’m jealous of the kid.”

“Tim?” Dick asked.

His voice wasn’t judgmental or anything, but Jason still felt like apologizing.

Jason groaned and fell back on his bed. “I know! It’s stupid! But Bruce has been busy with him practically the whole week! I know it’s ‘cause they have to get his guardianship finalized and everything, but still. And he’s so smart too! Even Batman’s noticed! I lived in this house for weeks and I didn’t figure out the big batty secret, but the kid did it from a distance!”

“You know, I was pretty jealous too when you showed up.”

Jason definitely hadn’t known that. Honestly, Dick’s sunny attitude around Jason had almost freaked him out the first times he interacted with Dick.

“What?”

Dick shrugged easily.

“I mean, I wasn’t talking to Batman at all. And then there was you spending so much time down in the Cave with him. Of course, I was jealous. You were all cute and tiny and knew basically everything about Gotham already. I swear, I had to study boring maps for months and you already knew Gotham’s streets.”

“How did you deal with it?”

“I considered your situation and I tried to get to know you. Figure out your interests and stuff.”

Jason frowned.

“Wait. Was that the reason you went everywhere I wanted with me? Passive-aggressive exposure therapy in a mall?”

Dick grinned mischievously. “Well, it worked, didn’t it?”

X

Surprisingly, it didn’t take much to get Tim talking about himself. After reassuring him that, yes, Jason didn’t have anything more important to do and no, Bruce really was expecting Tim to decorate his room, Tim could not be stopped.

He talked.

So much.

About skateboarding, how much fun the keyboard was, his more challenging school classes, photography, Pokémon, his favorite comics, exciting facts he learned, the heroes conspiracy blog he was apparently running, and Robin.

Whenever they were alone, Tim would talk about Robin.

The sky was blue, the sun was hot, Timothy Jackson Drake didn’t shut up about Robin.

He got super excited and cheerful then, retelling Jason cases he had actually worked and wondering about how all the cool gadgets worked and just Robin.

Tim’s case of hero worship hadn’t gone unnoticed by the manor’s other residents either, but Jason wasn’t sure if Alfred or Bruce understood the way Tim talked about Robin. Like he was more than just a vigilante, like the role was a symbol.

“Batman needs Robin,” Tim said seriously. “It makes him better. I mean, Batgirl and Nightwing and Magpie, you’re all amazing! But it’s not Gotham without the Bat and his Robin, right?”

Tim looked unsure, but Jason realized the kid understood it.

And then Jason began to think.

X

Barbara couldn’t believe it took over a month for her to finally get to meet one Timothy Drake in person. She had researched him, even exchanged a few words with him over the comms once, but she had yet to actually meet the kid. Even Dick had met him, and he lived in Blüdhaven.

But Barbara had finally managed to clear enough time in her busy schedule – she was coordinating two vigilante teams and operating as Oracle after all – and driven up to the manor. If she used her time there to update the Bat-Computer as well, then that was only her business. She wasn’t a workaholic and she had a life outside of her duties when they allowed it.

She had the work-life-balance figured out, honestly.

Tim was a cute kid. A bit shy at first, but he warmed up to her quickly enough. Jason must have expected it because he was grinning when Tim started chattering about video games.

“So, what do you think?” Jason asked.

“He’s a good kid.”

“Aaaand?”

“You’re being awfully noisy. What do you want to know?”

“Batman talks to you about my training, doesn’t he? How much longer until I can go solo?”

Barbara leaned forward in her wheelchair. “What do you think?”

Jason deflated. “I don’t know. I feel like I’ve been ready for it for ages. I haven’t needed B’s back up in a long while, but imagining him being halfway across town is… unsettling still.”

Barbara nodded slowly before replying.

“Honestly? You’ve been ready for two months already at least. Batman just has a hard time letting go. He’s never really been without one of us for a very long time.”

“Right,” Jason said. “Which is why we can’t leave him alone.”

“What are you thinking?”

Jason pointed at Timothy, eagerly throwing batarangs at a target.

“He said that Gotham, that Batman, needs Robin. I’m thinking we should take advantage of the kid who already knows our secret and has a hard time falling asleep when we’re out.”

X

Bruce knew something was up, but he allowed himself to live in blissful ignorance a little longer. He let Dick sneak forensics lessons into Tim’s self-defense classes, allowed Jason to teach Tim about the various gangs ruling Gotham.

It wasn’t like these bits of information weren’t useful, the every-day citizen just didn’t particularly need them.

And Bruce definitely wasn’t thinking about who did need this knowledge and more.

Tim Drake was his ward for as long as his parents weren’t in Gotham. Nothing more and nothing less.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Bruce could see Alfred observing him while the kids (“I’m a twenty-year-old woman, B.” “And I remember babysitting you as a teenager, your point?”) bickered about some movie.

Ignorance was bliss, that was a lesson Bruce had learned early on. And sometimes you were allowed to indulge in it.

X

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tim asked from where he was sitting on Jason’s bed.

“Absolutely,” Jason replied, grinning way too cheerfully for six in the morning. He’d only gotten back from patrol two hours ago, he shouldn’t be so awake yet, or so Tim thought, yet Jason looked like he could take on the world.

“But we’re breaking one of The Rules.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. They’re more like guidelines than rules. Besides, Aunty Diana and Kate already agreed to help us. This is a surefire plan.”

Tim honestly wasn’t so sure about it. He wanted to trust Jason, but what if Bruce and Batman didn’t think it was funny to be tricked into a date?

“But-“

“Jason’s right, Tim,” Barbara’s voice echoed from the laptop sitting on Jason’s desk. “Besides, the worst that will happen is that you get grounded because Bruce and B are caught up in the romantic bliss that was relaxing on Valentine’s Day in Paris.”

“That’s right!” Jason said. “We’re setting up dates for them at least twice a year if we can. It would be suspicious if we didn’t try to get them away.”

Tim pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on them. “If you say so… I still don’t get why we need both of them out of Gotham for so long. Can’t they stay here?”

“I do say so, Timbit. Just you wait, they won’t know what hit them. And if they stay here, they’d just take their paperwork to bed.”

“Eeww.”

X

Bruce absolutely knew what hit him. Diana and Kate were good actors, they had to be if they even just wanted to operate as vigilantes, but they didn’t even bother to hide it from him.

“It’s cute,” Diana said. “How much they try to make their parents happy.”

“Very funny. What if something actually happens, though?”

“Then your Super-Bro will pick you up from Paris,” Kate replied. “And ten years ago you were working alone. Now you’ve got me and Dick and Jason and Babs to look over Gotham. We got this.”

Her words would have been more encouraging if they weren’t followed up by her narrowly avoiding a brick being thrown at her.

Nevertheless, he still pretended to buy WE having an emergency in their Paris branch and one of Gotham’s smuggler rings operating from Paris as well.

The kids’ happy expressions were worth it.

X

Dick felt maybe a little guilty for lying to Tim. It was true, they tried to give Bruce and Batman some alone time once in a while and Valentine’s day was perfect for it. This time though, they needed the two men away so they could properly get to Tim.

Truth be told, he’d been skeptical when Barbara and Jason had pitched the idea to him. Training Tim and giving him a home was one thing, bringing him into the active side of the vigilante life a whole other deal.

The longer he watched Tim though, the more could he see it. The teenager was smart, dedicated, skilled and – like Jason had said – he knew what Robin meant.

Though, seeing him be questioned about the law, recent gang activity, weapons, the Justice League, and various Gotham residing companies by Babs all while sparing with Jason, made Dick pity Tim.

Dick’s Robin training had been way more relaxed, but he also hadn’t had three older siblings.

X

If not for the fact that Jason had made Tim’s favorite smoothie for him, Tim would assume the older boy was trying to murder him. It was day three of their spontaneous ‘sibling-bonding weekend’ and Tim was pretty sure his whole body was dying. He had never had to think or work out this much. He was sore all over. The training mats he was lying on were becoming his favorite spot to be, right after his bathtub and his bed.

“And how do you feel?” Dick asked.

“Like Superman decided I was a threat and went several rounds in the ring with me because I couldn’t recall that the Kryptonite is locked with a special key, and three different locks behind the secret entrance-“

“Woah, woah, Timbit,” Jason interrupted. “That’s enough trivia. Didn’t think you could learn this much in three days.”

“Mhm,” Barbara muttered from the desk of the Bat-Computer. “You own me fifty bucks.”

Tim frowned. “Wait. You bet on this?”

“Oooh, yeah. This has been two months in the making?” Dick glanced at Jason, who nodded in confirmation.

“Yeah, putting together a time table for three days wasn’t fun, I tell you, but the results are pretty amazing.”

Jason smiled and dropped down on the mats right next to Tim to mess up his sweaty hair.

“Urgh, gross,” he cursed and rubbed his hands on his sweat pants.

“But- why did you do this?”

The three heroes in front of Tim shared a look and Tim got the distinct impression that he was missing a big piece labeled ‘context’ in bright neon colors here.

“Your parents will be back in a few hours,” Barbara said.

(Tim wondered what it meant that his first instinct wasn’t to think about his own parents but-)

“I guess that means it’s time,” Dick said and walked over to the display cases in which the various Robin uniforms were kept. From in-between them, he pulled forward a small gift-wrapped box.

“Catch!” He shouted and threw it in Tim’s direction.

Heart beating fast, Tim jumped up to catch it. The package wasn’t bigger than his palm and surrounded by Christmas themed paper.

“Christmas? Really?” Jason snorted, but Dick just shrugged.

“Didn’t have anything better at home. Go on, Tim, open it. If you want it, it’s yours.”

Carefully, Tim unwrapped the gift, revealing a cardboard box. He could feel the others’ stares on him but didn’t dare look up. They had put a lot of thought into this and spend so much time with him. He couldn’t disappoint them.

Tim opened the box and came face to face with a shiny black and gold emblem.

“What…?”

“You said it yourself,” Jason said. “Batman needs a Robin and I’m not putting on the green tights again.”

“What Jason means,” Dick added, “is that we really can’t be responsible for Batman running around without a talented little pipsqueak cracking masterful puns. So if you want to be Robin, you have our blessings. You only need to convince the other two overprotective idiots of this house.”

It took all of Tim’s strength not to burst into tears right then and there. He was thankful though that Jason and Dick dragged him over to Babs for a group hug. 

X

Bruce didn’t even know why he had assumed it would end differently. Tim had been skittish the whole week and Bruce had watched the Cave’s security tapes, just to make sure they hadn’t tried to hide an explosion from him again.

“I‘m fairly skilled in a multitude of martial arts now,“ Tim began his speech.

“No,” Batman replied.

At the other end of the Cave, Nightwing and Magpie were supposed to be sparring, but they couldn’t be listening in more obviously.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

Tim pouted.

“You’re not becoming Robin, Tim.”

Tim crossed his arms and held his chin high. Batman recognized that stance instantly, he did it fairly often himself. Maybe Clark had been right when he said that it was freaky to work alongside his kids because they all had the same body language during missions.

“I already talked to Bruce and he said that Batman needs a Robin.”

Honestly, what was it with his children lying to him?

Nevertheless, Bruce couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Did he really?”

And Tim had the audacity to nod, all serious like he wasn’t lying straight to Bruce’s face. His poker face was pretty already, not too many cracks in the mask. The kids had done an excellent job training and it would be a shame if that training went to waste.

So, Bruce really couldn’t argue against Tim, could he?

#dc #DC comics #bruce wayne #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #dick grayson #barbara gordon #fanfic #manor dad verse

[winterwolf0916]

Gregarious

Tim Drake x Extrovert!Reader

Requested by anon: Heyo! Could I please get headcannons for tim with a super loud, outgoing and extroverted girlfriend? Like how they met, how they got together etc. I love your work, thank you so much 😊

A/n: Really hope you all like this. 

Also, Requests are now open.

Word Count:2207

It first started out in a chat room. YEP! A chat room. 

Since your friends were struggling to study for their upcoming exams, they decided to create a study group. 

They added a couple of classmates onto the group chat (mostly smart ones) including you since you do give great first impression in person.

Tim was out patrolling until he felt vibration from his phone. He checks it out to find him being placed in a group chat.

 He gazed at the text message that spoke, ‘...so our first study group would be held tomorrow at 1 sharp. If you can’t arrive just let us know’ 

Tim was about to message them that he wouldn't arrive because...well he didn't want to. He already knows what is taught in the class and has a perfect A+ in the class. 

But at the same time he didn’t want to be an ass and not lend them a hand.

The next day...he overslept. He had less than 10 minutes to arrive at the library. And the manor far from the city.

Boy was he rushing. And even sped up to the library. With books in his hands and messed up hair.

As he was near to the area where they would study in the library, he stumbled upon someone. 

How? As cliché as it sounds, when he notices you were there, he was bewildered. He was so caught off guard that he tripped on his own shoes and the items in his arms flew everywhere.

Oh! And let’s not forget...He wanted to apologize to everyone about his tardiness by buying cups of coffee for each of them...So...

“I. AM. SO. SO. SO. SO SORRY!!” He yelled. Followed by some people shushing him since he was in a library.

The Pro’s about this situation, is that he saved half of the drinks.

The cons is, the other half spilled on your outfit, the floor, and parts of the table.

If Jason and/or Damian witnessed what happened, they would’ve been laughing their asses off.

The group members helped pick up his books, some of your friends left to fetch some napkins, while Tim is left there panicking in front of you.

“What the hell is wrong with me! I am so sorry again, I didn’t know what came over me-”

“Hey!” Tim immediately looked up at your eyes after your first word to him. “It's alright. I’m not hurt, well the drinks were hot, but nothing too serious. It's ok.” 

Your voice, your tone, your volume, the way how you spoke, how you smiled at him, reassuring him that it wasn’t his fault when it completely was. 

His heart skipped several beats. You weren’t angry at him. After he basically spilled many cups of coffee on you by accident. 

This was not how he imagined to introduce himself to you. I mean, he seen you in class from time to time and he thought you were brave, how you talk confidently to the teacher declaring no homework for the day or how it's unfair to have a test the next day after a lecture that has been so confusing.

He wanted to know you better. You have that charm on people, making them wanting to know you better. But it seemed like an impossibility since you were surrounded by people most of the time and he was incredibly shy. 

“Alright let's start over. I’m Y/n L/n.” 

He was confused. How can you be so nice to him after he had just committed an accident. A horrible accident. Therefore, making a horrible first impression onto some people. 

“I know.” He shook your hand. And the first thing that came up to his head, was that it was soft. You gave him a confused look causing him to panic.

“Oh! Not like that. I’m not a creep. I-Its just I see you in class and everyone knows you, not that I don’t know you. You’re outstanding in class, standing up to Mr. Clay and-Ok I’ll stop.” He was blabbering on again. 

He was waiting for an awkward ‘oook then’ from you. But instead you giggled.

“Aww!!They weren’t wrong about you being adorable. Timothy right?” You teased. Tim could feel the tip of his ears growing red. You called him adorable...

“Only Tim. Tim Drake.” You hummed in response before turning to the table with a smile on your face.

“Shall we Timmy?” He nodded several times. And low-key loving how your giving him a nickname.

“What about your clothes?” You shrugged.

“At least I smell nice. Don’t worry too much, Timmy.” So this is what it meant to be head over heels for someone. Literally and figuratively

Click

Prom night. On a luxury Yacht at Gotham Harbor.

You were laughing with your group of friends. It was a perfect moment. The weather was calming, your dress hugging the curves on your body, your hair in a beautiful style, you looked fascinating, and Tim just had to take a picture with his camera. 

You looked breathtaking in the moment. As he looked down to see the screen of how it appeared, a smile formed on his lips that the lighting on your face looked perfect.

“Tim! You’re here!” You yelled pushing through your group of friends giving him a bear hug. He could see your friends smirking at your actions but he ignored it.

“Look at you! Wow! Looking like a million bucks I see.” You teased, letting go, taking a look of his outfit. And he looked stunning as well. 

It has been many months for the both of you being close friends. He loved your company. And you loved his. Hanging out in coffee shops, at school, late night calls or facetime, and the manor...

Whenever you leave after spending time with Tim, his brothers would tease him and urge him to make a move. But Tim being Tim, he felt scared (terrified) to confess. 

I mean poor boy with his insecurities, you were a popular and well known girl for your outgoing personality and amazing socializing skills. While Tim is the opposite.

And he has a fear that you would reject him, shattering the friendship he has with you, or you won’t like him back and things would be very awkward between you both.

But his brothers believe-wait. No. They know you return the feelings for Tim.Or as Dick would say,

“Opposites attract.”

Adding onto the list of why Tim believes he doesn’t deserve you.

You being in danger because of him. 

Tim never wants to see you suffering under the hands of a villain in Gotham. Never wants you as a target for his enemies. He would keep his distance with you but it would only end up with you running to him. To stay close to him.

“How rude, its Prom night and I wasn’t invited~” The boat stopped in place unexpectedly, and vines grew out of the water and tied onto the edges.

Oh no...

Screams were heard. Tim grabbed onto your hand pulling you away from the scene. He placed you inside along with others, but as he was about to enter inside, he slammed the door shut and ran off outside where the danger lingered.

“Tim!” You yelled trying to pry the door open but instead it was locked.

The sound of a shattering window and screams were heard. The crowd back away from the green villain. Poison Ivy.

“So pathetic. You all partying not realizing you’re killing the environment. As punishment, I’m going to tear this ship apart.”

You had the guts to confront her and give her one hell of a speech for her to leave. Because you being the loud, extroverted, outgoing person you are, you’re also the voice of your classmates. 

Oh! And you roasted her. Very well that the crowd letting out oohs. 

She was so embarrassed and furious that she launched a vine to your throat and raising you up. More screams. Your friends call out for you and some holding each other back. Poison Ivy then grabbed a hold of more students by their necks.

She enjoys the panicked looks on the young adults’ expressions. Her vines start to move towards the engine room while you and a few others here hanging from vines around your neck. Choking you. You began to feel dizzy and your eyelids growing heavy. 

Suddenly small blades with the shape of bats, sliced through the vines holding up the hostages but Poison Ivy was fast enough to deflect the last one. Before it could cut you free.

“Let. Her. Go.” A hard voice demands. The redhead whipped her head to the shadows. She squinted her eyes to have a better look but instead her face met with a bo-staff. Enough strength to make her see stars and be distracted for a couple of minutes for the least.

“LET.” He was fast, launching batarangs at her large deadly flytrap.

“HER.” He rose his bo-staff once more.

“GO!” With enough strength, he whipped his bo-staff once more at the vine holding you, freeing you, then catching your body in his arms. 

“Run!”He kicked the exit open and everyone fled out. Since you were up close to the hero known as Red Robin, you were washed with Deja Vu’s. How he yelled, his jawline, his muscular figure was so familiar to you.

 He wrapped his cape over you and pressed a small device activating the minutature bombs as everyone was out of the room. 

Poison Ivy was down, boats came to aid the students back to land, you kept asking the vigilante if Tim was alright, he assured you that Tim is safe and sound. 

But as you were about to leave home in one of the limos, Tim didn’t feel secure about it, he was worried (Paranoid) that you would cross danger again.

So he dropped you back to your apartment himself, swinging around in Gotham, you screaming at first at how high you both were, and worried if the grapple hook might snap.

Tim was laughing at your reaction while feeling relieved you were right next to him, making him realize you wouldn’t be safe without him around.

As the both of you landed on your balcony, you gave a sincere thanks and slightly fangirling that one of your favorite vigilantes helped you home. When Tim was chattering excessively trying to say goodbye to you, a switch was flipped inside of you. Knowing Red Robin’s identity.

“Tim?” 

Oh shit. Bruce is gonna kill him. He denies its him. It was a failure. 

“I know it’s you. Is this why you’ve been avoiding me? Because of this?” You pointed at his suit. He sighed taking off his mask. Then he tells his side of the story. Sure you being the loudest one in the friendship, you actually stayed silent and listen. It was a big switch of role.

“...You protect me in school and I want to protect you from the villains of Gotham because I love yo-shiiit” He turned very red. You were shocked of course. You always thought he never return your feelings. But he did. And it felt like a dream when he said those three words.

He felt sad. Why? You were silent, but you’re always loud, stuck in your thoughts while Tim is breaking inside thinking you don’t feel the same way. As he took a shaky breath and put on his mask to leave (and hide the tears) but you stopped him.

“Timothy Jackson Drake, stop right there.” What were you going to do? Break his heart even more? You grabbed the straps that crossed his chest and pulled him close to you. 

“Y/n-”

“I love you too, you dork.” His eyes widen and gleamed. His heart started to beat faster. So was yours. He smiled and you yelp as he pulled you closer by the waist. Inching closer and closer-

Right on cue his com started ringing interrupting the moment. Tim let out a nervous chuckle before answering it. Bruce needs his assistance at Iceberg’s lounge and it’s urgent. He mentally cursed that he has to leave you after you both just confessed to each other. He wanted to stay by you. But he has to go. He got on the railing, slightly sulking to leave you.

“I’ll...see you later I guess-And you’re welcome to visit the manor tomo-”

“Com’ere.” You pulled his collar and your lips smashed onto his. A spark of electricity ran through him causing him to melt into the kiss. It was warm...soothing...and addicting. His hand traveling behind your neck to pull you closer. He was so distracted that he didn’t realize his foot was sliding from the railing.

After a couple of seconds of Heaven, he pulled away abruptly because he was falling back. You leaned over to see if he was alright, but soon he grapple hooked onto a building yelling, “WHOOOOO!!”

You smiled goofily while watching him running on the rooftops hollering in triumph, soon receiving a buzz from your pocket in your dress. 

Pulling out your phone, finding a text from Tim, ‘See you at dinner tomorrow! <3’

#tim drake x reader #tim drake x y/n #tim drake x you #dc x reader #dc x you #dc x y/n #red robin x reader #red robin x you #red robin x y/n #batfamily x reader #batfamily x you #tim drake headcanon #tim drake imagine #tim drake x extroverted! reader #batboys x reader #horrible writing #x reader #imagines

[m00nslippers]

In a dream world where we are getting a Red Hood live action trilogy, how would you want the three movies to be? Like what plotlines, characters, villians, what arc to develop, how to present his character to appeal to the general audience and such :D

Oh man, this is an interesting question.

Well first of all, this might sound strange, but I absolutely do not think that Under the Red Hood should be adapted to Live Action. I believe this because it already exists in animated form and is perfect. No live-action remake is going to compare unless they recreate it scene by scene and they never will. The dialogue is too good, it cannot be made better, only worse. So, that being said, RH1 should not be a retelling of UtRH, rather that movie/storyline should exist as backstory for the first Red Hood movie. They should communicate the events of that story without retelling it wholesale as the plot in the movie. They should also go ahead and go with the Lazarus Pit explanation of Jason’s resurrection because the superboy-smashing-the-universe thing is too vague and requires more context than a standalone movie can really provide. I would amend it though so that it’s actually more like Arkham Knight games, in that Joker had Jason for over six months torturing him before he finally killed Jason and sent the tape to Bruce. At that point, Ra’s and Talia got a hold of Jason’s body and resurrected him.

I have a really solid idea for the first movie, a more vague idea for the second one and a really vague idea for the last one. I’ll write you guys the synopsis of the first one up here.

Red Hood Movie 1

So, the movie opens on some brief scenes of a seemingly ordinary guy as he goes through his day. He wears blue collar clothes with a leather jacket thrown over the top, rides his motorcycle to work and stops to give money to a homeless guy on the street. He works construction or something, shows himself to be really smart and maybe a little over-competent for his job, he can jump down from high beams like he’s an acrobat, he does complex math in his head, but when colleagues ask how he knows so much he just plays it off. He seems friendly but he’s secretive, keeps to himself. He goes home from work, he’s the only one there, he works out, punches a punching bag, he checks a secret compartment in his house to make sure no one has tampered with it, but we don’t see what’s inside. He eats alone and when it gets dark he walks a ways to a local dive and sits in the corner until a red-headed friend comes in.

He and the friend bullshit together, clearly they’re close. His friend asks if he’ll babysit his daughter so he can work on a case, he says sure. They’re in the middle of talking about the daughter when something on one of the televisions playing in the bar catches his eye. It’s a breaking news feed of an Arkham breakout in Gotham City, with the building on fire, lead by the Joker. He flinches and you see this snarl of twisted fear and rage and his friend reaches out to grab his arm. “Jason, don’t. He doesn’t have to be your problem. You don’t owe Gotham anything.” And Jason looks Roy in the face and says, “Gotham owes me everything. And I’m going to get my payback.”

Jason leaves the bar, goes home, opens the secret compartment–it’s full of guns and all of his Red Hood gear. He packs it up and leaves on his motorcycle bound for Gotham.

Switch over to Bruce being Brucie at a WE function for a charity. He’s called up to give a speech and he talks about how his second son was a boy from Gotham’s streets who’d been exceptional but just didn’t have the opportunities because of his poor background. Unfortunately he was dead in a tragic accident, but Bruce had dedicated this charity in his name for underprivileged youth to fund scholarships and community support, etc. He steps down and has to glad-hand some people until his phone vibrates and he looks at the screen. It’s Oracle telling him there’s a Gotham break out.

Bruce slips away and he’s in the Batcave putting on his Batman gear as Alfred and Barbara–over the computer–fills him in on what’s going on and talks about how most everyone is out of Gotham at the moment, it’s just Bruce and Oracle, and asks Bruce if he wants Alfred to call in Nightwing or someone else for help. Bruce says no he wants them to stay out of it as he’s looking at the Memorial case of Jason’s Robin costume that’s still damaged. Alfred reminds him that since it’s the Joker, Jason is bound to appear, Bruce just grunts and says he’ll deal with that problem as it comes and has Oracle on the look out for any activity from either of them.

Bruce shows up at Arkham and talks to Gordon briefly, who tells him there’s a riot going on inside and they’ve already confirmed the warden had been murdered. Bruce busts in and starts kicking butt and capturing everyone, getting various people to safety that he finds as he makes his way through the building. All the while Oracle is giving him tech support. Bruce finds Joker’s cell but it’s been broken open. Suddenly he thinks he sees joker and and chases him down, capturing him but it turns out it’s just another inmate dressed like him–there’s a whole bunch of fake Jokers running around the building. Oracle tells him they’ll never be able to confirm if it’s really him from cameras alone like this and Bruce has to admit that’s true. But also says the Joker is probably already long gone, and they need to stop worrying about containment and start searching the city for him.

Cut to Jason riding into Gotham. He opens up a derelict safehouse with yet more guns and suits up and hits the streets. Everywhere he goes, he sees flashes of memories–of him as a kid on the streets, of Bruce catching him stealing the tires from the batmobile, him as Robin, him fighting Bruce as Red Hood. He questions homeless people and hookers and roughs up some dealers. They all know him, they’re all afraid, he’s the King of Crime Alley and remember when he ran out Black Mask. After some investigating, someone tells him a certain crime family’s men were hired to riot outside of Arkham and sow even more chaos.

Jason attacks the guy in his big mansion, mowing down hoards of mobsters with guns, all to get to the head guy and question him. He says Joker put out the word he wanted some grunts to help with the breakout and Black Mask had done a deal with him to provide men. The head mobster is Black mask’s man outside of Blackgate prison. The meeting was held in Gotham’s abandoned Amusement Mile between Joker and Roman’s proxies. Jason kills the mobster and leaves for the place he mentioned.

As Jason is on his way, someone hacks into the comms on his helmet–it’s Barbara, she found him after the attack on the mobsters–and she’s trying to get Jason to stop and leave Gotham. He and Bruce had a truce, that Jason would say out of Gotham and stop being Red Hood. Jason says that truce ended when he let Joker escape and now he’s going to kill him. Barbara says he’s not the only person Joker hurt, we see her in the Clocktower in her wheel chair with a picture of her and Gordon. Jason says he’ll kill Joker for both of them. Barbara says she’d rather the Joker be alive than Jason dead at his hands, and Jason says, well that’s where they differ.

Jason investigates the place, an empty funhouse or something. Down a hallway he thinks he sees the Joker and he runs after him but there’s no one there. He keeps seeing images of when he got captured by the Joker in the mirror, sees his younger self bloodied and dead. He’s getting increasingly unhinged. Then Bruce appears as Batman, tells Jason he broke their truce, he came back to Gotham and he killed people, but Bruce is willing to overlook it if he just leaves. Jason goes into his issues with Bruce, about how that’s his problem, he’s unwilling to go as far as necessary to really protect people. About how if Bruce had killed Joker from the beginning, Jason wouldn’t have died or become what he is, and Barbara wouldn’t be in a wheelchair, and all the people who died in the Arkham break out would still be alive.

Jason attacks Bruce, they have a huge badass fight. They are mostly fighting to a draw but they are both getting heavily injured. In the middle of their fight they think they see joker and Jason cuts off Bruce’s path and goes after him alone–only to get clocked with a crowbar from behind and dragged off.

Bruce finally makes it around to where Jason ran off only to a smear of blood on the ground that he runs through the computer and is told belongs to Jason by Alfred. Spray painted next to it is a Joker smile and the location where Jason first tried to get Bruce to murder the Joker.

Bruce goes to the location and finds the Joker there with Jason completely beat up and tied down. “Remember this Batsy? It was a fun little game, wasn’t it? It really had potential.” He’s missed his broken bird in Arkham and getting out has made him feel nostalgic, but alas he has better things to do, so it’s time to tie up this loose end for once and for all. He doesn’t need Red Hood getting between batman and his games, so he’s going to play one final round, winner takes all. “I think we should play again, but this time with a twist,” he says. Joker has set up Bruce to kill him or he’s going to kill Jason again–he’s like you can’t do it can you? Not even for your little robin. So he’s going to die–again.

The confrontation ends exactly like it did in Under the Red hood. Bruce throws a batarang that slits Joker’s throat but doesn’t outright kill him. Joker runs away laughing as Bruce goes to Jason, with Jason weeping and telling him to go after the Joker. Bruce refuses and says Jason’s injuries are more important. He tries to take him to the manor and Jason says no, he refuses to go there, to take him to a hospital. Bruce says if he goes there Red Hood will be arrested for killing the gangster. Jason doesn’t care, he refuses to have anything to do with a father who chooses the joker over his own son twice, he doesn’t get to treat his wounds and act like not going after the Joker was him saving Jason. it was just him betraying Jason yet again.

The last scene is Roy visiting Jason in Blackgate prison. He shows him home videos of Lian and brings him crayon pictures from her. He tells Jason if he ever wants out, just to say, but Jay says no, he’s got some unfinished business to handle. We see Black Mask, also there in the prison…

The End.

—

So pretty much the first movie has the Joker as the main villain in a re-working of the UtRH story, pretty typical Jason stuff.

The second one is where things are a lot less typical and almost brand new and not from the comics because let’s face it–Jason doesn’t have a lot of good stories that don’t involve the Joker. In the second movie Jason is in prison for most of the plot. And the villain? Astrid Arkham, who is the Arkham Knight. How does that work, you may wonder. Oh I have ideas and it’s twisty~ If you guys want to know how I think that one would go, I’ll write it up later.

The third one I’m thinking a League of Assassins thing. Basically Talia comes to Jason to try to get him to lead the league and we find out a lot about the circumstances of Jason’s death and resurrection and training. I’m much less sure about the exact plot for this one, but I think by the end of it Jason should finally forgive Bruce enough to go home and stop killing.

#Red Hood #Jason Todd #red hood movie #Under the Hood #Batman: Under The Red Hood #Bruce Wayne #Batman #oracle #barbara gordon #batgirl #Joker #dc comics #headcanon #movie ideas

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 174

This is the one where Goku solves ring puzzles, but it starts with Trunks turning Super Saiyan and kicking at the air for a minute while he waits for Vegeta to come out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.    Not sure why they put this in.   I’m also not sure why Trunks has been on the Lookout for the past two days straight.    I understood Vegeta waiting right here at the door, because he’s that kind of guy, but Trunks knows he can crash at Capsule Corp., and he also knows exactly when his turn will be, so why hang around?  

Meanwhile, Gohan and Krillin are hanging out with Dende, and they both whip out their homework.    They’re like “You have homework on Namek?” and he’s all like “Yeah lol.”   Then Krillin feels left out because he doesn’t have any homework.  Wait, did Krillin ever go to school?    He was pretty smart as a kid, but he also was a 14-year-old who just ran over to Roshi’s island one day and never came back.    And before that he was some sort of Shaolin monk?   Maybe those guys taught him how to read?  

Never mind that shit, here comes JIMMY FIRECRACKER.    I’m pretty sure the name was given to him by Funimation when they dubbed this episode back in 2000.  In researching this, I ran across some bitter sub purists who despised this, but come on.   If he had an original name and Funi changed it, I could see cause for concern, but he didn’t have a name, so Funimation gave him one, and it was awesome.    This guy rocks.    He’s got such an excited and apoplectic voice and he’s a total mark for the WORLD CHAMPION OF MARTIAL ARTS, MISTER SATAN.    I’m pleased to see his Japanese voice actor is just as energized.    Not sure what happened to him in Dragon Ball Kai, though.   He sounds much more subdued there.  

So this is some sort of rally for Mr. Satan before the Cell Games.   With Jimmy hosting the thing, I have a hard time telling if he’s a legitimate reporter or just some guy in Satan’s entourage.    Anyway, Satan comes out pulling FOUR BUSES!   Holy shit!

Aw, this is that good animation.   When you see those big teeth, you know you’re in for a good time.    So the animation supervisor here is Keisuke Masunaga of Studio Cockpit.    This is his first episode, which kind of feels like a waste, because it’s all filler.   It’s a shame they didn’t get this guy on board earlier than they did, but hey, this is a beautiful filler episode.  

Speaking of that, the previous episode looked pretty good too, even though all that happened was Dende turning the Dragon Balls back on, but hot damn did that look good.    I wanted to make a gif of the energy bolts shooting out to one of the Dragon Balls, but it was just too many frames, which tells you something.   I looked him up and he’s Tadayoshi Yamamuro, who’s also the guy they got to supervise the latter half of the movies.  I think it’s fair to say these two guys are among the best DBZ animators.

But back to this episode, Keisuke Masunaga rocks.   He goes “off-model”, exaggerating the character’s features, but in a really dynamic and expressive way.   Look at this shot of Mr. Satan holding a stack of West City phone books.   This could have easily been the dullest shot of this series, but it looks friggin’ epic.  

Did Mr. Satan have a bunch of phone calls to make?    Is he so popular that fans will cheer for him even if he reads the phone book?   Hell no, Mr. Satan brought these phone books so he could RIP THEM IN HALF.    YEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH.

And this right here is Keisuke Masunaga’s signature.   This clenched teeth, gums-exposed expression.   You see this expression and you know the character is putting in work.    I don’t think Masunaga has a nickname in the fandom, the way Yukio Ebisawa is not-so-affectionately called “Triangle Guy.”    I’m kind of thinking he needs one though.    I’m thinking of calling him “Teeth Guy”, because that’s how I recognize his stuff.  

Anyway, fuck all those phone books!   Seriously, I wish they’d stop making these things, no one needs them anymore. 

Then a girl in a swimsuit just walks up and hands him a microphone.  I don’t quite get that, but okay.   This is one of those moments when I’m reminded that this show is Japanese.    Same thing happens whenever I notice a mountain in the background of an outdoor shot.     That shouldn’t surprise me, but I live in the Midwest, so I never expect to see one, and then I do and I’m like “Oh, yeah, they have a lot more mountains in Japan.    They’re used to having them in the background everywhere.”   So Swimsuit Microphone Girl seems out of place to me, but I feel like I’ve seen this sort of thing somewhere before, maybe from a clip of a NJPW show.   I may be thinking of the girls who hand out flower bouqets to the wrestlers sometimes, although I think they wear sexy dresses instead.   

Anyway, Satan takes the mike and cuts a scathing promo about how he’s gonna do to Cell what he’s about to do to this bus he’s standing next to.   What, is he going to drag Cell around by a chain?    Is he going to blow off having Cell’s tires rotated?

THEN HE PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE BUS.    RIP BUS YOU SHALL BE MISSED.    This is what I’m talking about.    The joke is that Mr. Satan is a weakling compared to the main characters, and that he has no idea what he’s getting into, but he’s still jacked as hell.    Yeah, he can’t beat Cell, and he probably can’t beat Master Roshi, but could he kick Batman’s ass?   You bet.   How many buses has Batman beat up?  

Then again, I guess Batman could lure him into punching a bus and then Mr. Satan would have his arm stuck, leaving him vulnerable to some Batarangs.   Tough call.  

This is an example of why the dub rules.   In Japanese, these guys are watching Mr. Satan’s show on TV, and Chi-Chi just deadpan goes “There sure are some interesting people out there.”    Not a terrible line, but not quite funny enough to pay off this setup.   In the dub, Roshi remarks that Satan’s performance is “just sad”, and Chi-Chi goes “It sure is.   Somebody could have used that bus.”   And it’s beautiful, because it’s not only funnier, but it’s just such a Chi-Chi thing to say.

Also, what the hell is up with Roshi’s legs in this shot?   Everyone dumps on Triangle Guy and praises Teeth Guy, but this is a Teeth Guy episode and someone really blew off drawing Roshi’s legs.    They didn’t even move in this shot, so how hard could it have been?

Hey, Vegeta’s done with the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.    Piccolo notes that he’s a lot stronger, but not enough to do any good.    Also he’s got a lazy eye thing going on.   

Meanwhile, Tao Pai Pai is back, and he’s found another criminal to work for.  This time it’s a guy named Vodka. and Tao is selling him Dragon Balls.    Vodka has some sort of fortess of his own, and I think his plan is to ride out Cell, wait for the dust to settle, and use the Dragon Balls to wish for... well, I’m not sure exactly, but presumably, he’d rebuild society with himself at the top of the pecking order.  

I never thought about this before, but it really doesn’t make sense for Tao to have these Dragon Balls, since they were ordinary stones until Dende reactivated them only a short time ago.    Also, it’s not like Tao has been off the radar for a long time.    He just appeared in another filler episode set only a few days earlier.   So it’s not like we can say that he’s been hunting Dragon Balls for years and that’s how he has two of them.   

But the episode at least attempts to acknowledge this by having him think about how he found these two Balls by pure chance.   Even that seems kind of odd, but maybe he found them during the past year, before Kami and Piccolo merged, and he hung onto them, then they turned to stone, and now they’re active again.   And he just got home from his gig with Bourbon, and he noticed they were active again, and he figured he could score some quick cash by selling them.   

Honestly, I’m not sure what Tao’s game is here.   Is he just after money?    I never understood why he needed money in the first place, and he sure doesn’t need it now.    The whole world has become a looter’s paradise, and he’s strong enough to take what he wants.    Besides, a stack of bills won’t mean squat if Cell kills everyone.   

Is he just looking for a place to ride out the Cell crisis?   Bourbon and Vodka both have shelters of some sort, so maybe Tao wants to get in with one of them when things go bad.    Only they don’t need anyone assassinated at the moment, so he’s had to find other ways to make himself useful.   

Or maybe Tao is just living his life right up to the end, like the old store-owner in Episode 170 said.    The difference is that that guy was just minding his store, while Tao’s business is shady crap like what he’s doing now.    But in the back of his mind, he’s wondering if this will all just end in the blink of an eye.   

But Goku is looking for the Dragon Balls, and he has a Dragon Radar, so it doesn’t take long for him to show up.   Tao notices that Goku has brought Dragon Balls of his own, so he remarks that a pigeon has come to their doorstep, and they can just go ahead and pluck it.    The gag here is that Vodka doesn’t get the metaphor and thinks there’s a literal pigeon somewhere.  

So they just let Goku in, thinking the booby traps will kill him, but then he makes it into Vodka’s office, and Goku recognizes Tao and tells him who he is.    That takes the fight out of Tao real quick.  

Goku feels kind of bad about all of this, because he has to take the Dragon Balls they have, and he has nothing to offer in exchange.   What a nice guy.   

This gives Tao an idea, so he spits three ring puzzles out of his left robot arm.    Since they can’t trade the Dragon Balls for anything, Tao offers Goku a wager instead: If Goku can solve all three puzzles by daybreak, he’ll win Vodka’s two balls.   If not, Vodka will win Goku’s four.   

Goku accepts and gets started, while Tao and the others excuse themselves and take all six balls with them.    This is so Goku won’t be distracted, you see. 

The they just pile in the car and drive very far away.   

My favorite part of this episode is that they left a guy behind, and he gets so wrapped up in what Goku’s doing that he tries to help him, but Goku’s all “shush, I’m doing this on my own.”   The thing is, I don’t see how that guy wouldn’t be screwed if Goku got mad over the others ditching them.    They just sort of abandoned this goon.    Maybe they would call him later?

But it’s all good, because Goku finally solves the last puzzle, and the goon applauds.    You know, I was about to say he needs a name, but I distinctly remember Tao addressing him as “Henchman A”.  Fair enough.

For some reason, Vodka and Tao pull over to wash their feet in a stream, and Goku just teleports over to them to collect his winnings.    And they’re like “Yeah, okay, take ‘em.”   I mean, what else can they do?    He solved the ring puzzles, he found them, it’s awesome.  

Meanwhile, Bulma and Dr. Brief seem to have 16 fully repaired.   You know, that is pretty impressive, considering how they didn’t even have the right plans when they started on the guy. 

And Goku just found the seventh Dragon Ball, so we’re all set there.    So what’s left to cover?   

I guess nothing.   We flash forward to “M 17th”, the date of the Cell Games.   I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be May 17, but that makes no sense, because the android battle was supposed to be on May 12, right?   I’m gonna look this up.

Yeah, I think someone caught the error at some point, because Daizenshuu 7 established the Cell Games to be announced on May 17, then taking place on May 26.    At least, that’s what the Dragon Ball Wiki shows. 

Shoot, I may as well lay out that part of the chronology for reference.    All dates are Age 767.

May 12: Episodes 126-145  (Androids Saga to the destruction of Gero’s sub-basement.)

May 13-14: Episode 146 (Piccolo hunts for Cell)

May 15: Episodes 146-147 (Goku wakes up and shows Vegeta the Time Chamber)

May 16: Episodes 148-166 (Cell absorbs the androids and defeats Piccolo, 16, Tien, Krillin, Vegeta, and Trunks)

May 17: Episodes 167-169 (Cell announces Cell Games, Goku and Gohan exit the Hyperbolic Time Chamber)

May 18: Episodes 170-171 (The episode with Lime and Tao, and Gohan’s 11th Birthday party)

May 19: Episode s 172-174 (Goku installs Dende as Kami and gathers the Dragon Balls.   Vegeta and Trunks use the Time Chamber again)

May 20-25: Not actually shown, but referenced in Episode 174

May 26: Episodes 175-193 (Cell Games)

But right now, there’s only one hour left until the Cell Games begins.   Jimmy Firecracker and his cameraman are the only civilians in attendance, and they’re still waiting to see who shows up to fight.  Ooooh, this gonna be gooood.

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #cell games saga #goku #gohan #dende #krillin #trunks #vegeta #mr satan #jimmy firecracker #chi chi #master roshi #yamcha #bourbon #larry #that's the camera guy #pretty sure even funimation didn't name him and that was a team four star thing #but i'll take it #gotta call him something #mercenary tao

[mentalmimosa]

no room left for doubt

That he invites Clark at all is a surprise; that Clark shows up bearing gifts and balancing several pies, somehow, is not.

“Hi,” he says when Bruce meets him in the hall, divested of gifts by the kids and the pies by a very chuffed Alfred. “Merry Christmas.”

There’s a shyness to him, a sort of sweetness, that even out in the open, in sunlight instead of shadow, Bruce finds damned hard to resist. So there’s a kiss.

“You look nice.” Clark nuzzles his cheek. “Mmmm, smell nice, too.”

“Kent.” The word comes out more breathless than he’d like.

“What?” A blink of blue eyes, a thoroughly innocent grin. “You do. That’s just plain fact. I’m only telling it like it is.”

Bruce kisses him again because it’s easier than arguing and Clark holds him close, sighs when he slips a hand inside of Clark’s jacket and scratches at his back. And Clark is easy, Clark is caramel, because his mouth melts at the touch of Bruce’s tongue and he groans just a little, just enough for Bruce to remember that they’re not behind the solid lock of his bedroom door, or even in the depths of the cave: they’re out here in the open, in the heart of Bruce’s house, with prying eyes only an arm’s length away.

“Behave yourself,” he says in Clark’s ear, as much to himself as to Clark. “You can do that, can’t you?”

Clark’s expression is gorgeous, trapped between arousal and exasperation and a shaded face of affection. “Huh. You greet all your guests like this, Bruce?”

Bruce grins and lets him go. “Only the ones I don’t like.”

In the library, there’s a fire in the grate and a tree a mile high. Dick is knee deep in the eggnog and Tim’s singing along to Bing Crosby and Damian’s hanging upside down from the book ladder, twirling batarangs and swaying in time to the music, his face the same scarlet as his sweater. All in all, a rare kind of peace.

“Mr. Kent!” Tim calls when they push through the doors. “We thought you got lost.”

“No, we didn’t,” Damian says, pitching his voice over Bing. “We thought Bruce took you upstairs to--”

“Damian!” Dick barks.

The kid scowls at him, upside down cross-eyed. “What? You’re the one who said it.”

Now Bruce’s cheeks are red and he kind of wants to sink through the floor even though Clark is smiling at the whole scene, a big beam that refuses to dim as the bickering kicks up in pitch.

“See?” Clark says, sotto voce. “This is why I always wanted siblings.”

“Hmph. This is why I’m glad I’m an only child.”

“Hmm, maybe. But you’re a heck of a dad.” A squeeze of his fingers, a shout. “Hey! Fellas, is that eggnog? I love that stuff. Think I could have a cup?”

The boys freeze in mid-tussel, Tim caught between Damian’s fists and Dick’s snarl. “Um,” Tim says. “Of course you can. Sure. You can have a whole glass. Dick’s the only one that likes it.”

“Yeah, because it’s gross,” Damian declares. He flips out of Tim’s grip and onto his feet. “Eggs and milky stuff? Yuck.”

“Hmm,” Clark says. “Have I ever told you about the first time I tried eggnog? Well, the first time that I ever tried to make it, actually?”

It’s so obvious a turn, an attempt to redirect, that Bruce rolls his eyes; Clark’s got a lot to learn about kids.

Except Damian doesn’t turn away with a sneer like he would’ve if Bruce had tried something that corny. Instead, he tilts his head and squints. “Were you making it as a weapon? I can see how that might be effective.”

“Ah, no.”

“Was it a thing in your family?” Dick asks. “A tradition, I mean?”

Clark laughs, a sound that lights up the room. “No. Definitely not.”

“Did you have a ton of eggs you needed to get rid of?” Tim settles on the rug in front of the fire, his legs folded neatly beneath. “You grew up on a farm, right?”

“I did,” Clark says, taking a seat on the rose-colored settee next to Dick. “And we did have a lot of chickens, but no, that wasn’t why, either.”

Damian slips his batarangs into his belt--yes, he’s wearing his utility belt with his dress pants and Christmas sweater, so be it--and crosses his arms, leans his hip against the nearest wingback. “So, why then?”

Clark settles back. “Well,” he says, “it started with a visit from some friends. Some folks who’d become friends, that is. At the time, I’d never met them before until they showed up at our front door.”

Ten minutes and one Legion of Super-Heroes later, the boys are leaning towards him, following his every work and laughing at every aw shucks joke. Damian’s even sitting in a chair rather than on it. It’s some kind of weird Christmas miracle, one that’s still holding when Alfred comes to the door and calls them to lunch.

“So they really don’t have chickens in the 31st century?” Damian asks, scooting along at Clark’s side.

“Apparently not.”

“Huh.” Bruce can see the gears in the kid’s head turning. “Interesting.”

“You realize,” Bruce says as Damian zips ahead and starts yammering at Tim, “that he’s going to obsess about that for a week.”

Clark laughs. “Only a week? Darn it. I was aiming for two, at least.”

At the table, Dick says grace and Alfred passes plates, watching eagle-eyed to make sure there’s plenty.

“Master Damian,” he says, “let’s take as many yams as we do marshmallows, yes? And Master Dick, the gravy boat is just there, on your right. And yes, Master Tim, the brussels sprout casserole is vegan, as you requested; I omitted the fish oil this time.”

Bruce chuckles, nudges Clark in the shoulder. “He’s more a mother hen than I’ll ever be.”

“Master Bruce,” Alfred calls, “there are more rolls down this end. Would you like some?”

Clark squeezes his knee under the table and laughs. “You were saying, Master Bruce?”

“Oh, see if you get an extra roll now, Mr. Kent.”

“Is that a threat, Mr. Wayne?”

“You better believe it is, Supes.”

There’s a burst of snickers from across the table. “Oh, man,” Tim says. “You guys are adorable.”

“Blech,” Damian says through a mouthful of potatoes. “They’re even grosser than you and Barbara, Dick.”

Dick gives up a big, mournful sigh. “One day you’ll be in love, brat, and you won’t think it’s so gross.” His hand goes to his phone, half-buried under his salad plate. “But maybe I should try her again, though. She’s probably at her dad’s now, anyway. I should--”

“After lunch,” Bruce says. “You can call her then.”

“After lunch is presents!”

“You’ve waited this long, D,” Tim says. “Ten more minutes won’t hurt.”

“But it won’t be ten minutes! They’ll talk for hours!”

“Master Damian, no knives at the table.”

“No phones either, but Dick has his!”

“We could sneak out,” Bruce says in Clark’s ear. “I honestly don’t think that they’d notice.”

Clark’s mouth turns up. “Sneak out? Why, Mr. Wayne. Why on earth would we do that?”

“So I could take you upstairs. And you could unwrap your present.”

“My present, huh?” Two fingers on the inside of his thigh, a slow, insolent stroke. “You mean it isn’t under the tree?”

“It can be. Later. If you have a thing for pine needles.”

“I have a thing for you.” Those two fingers slide higher. “But I’m pretty sure that you know that. Hence you trying to lure me away.”

“Me?” Bruce has to swallow, has to fight the urge to tip his hips up. “Lure you? Never.”

A smile, a full-on shot of blue, amused eyes. “Good. Because I want the whole Wayne family Christmas experience before I get anywhere near your cock.”

Bruce chokes. “Before you--?”

“Presents!” Damian yells, his voice like a razor-edged gong. “It’s time to open presents, guys! Alfred says!”

“I hate you,” Bruce murmurs as the gang gets up and turns away from the table in an Alfred-led melee. “Sometimes, I really, really hate you, Kent.”

Clark leans over and drags their mouths together, pets the swell in Bruce’s trousers. “You love me,” he says. “That’s what makes this hard.”

“No, pretty sure that’s you doing that.”

Clark laughs. “Come on. Let’s go see what Santa’s brought.”

Tim insists they take turns opening gifts and it makes Damian crazy. Which Bruce figures is sort of the point.

“Fine!” Damian shouts when it’s clear he’s been overruled. “But I get to go first.”

Soon enough, there’s paper everywhere, ribbons and tissue paper caught in the boys’ hair and snagged in the arms of the tree. Clark appoints himself Santa/referee.

“Ok,” he says, diving into the pile. “Remind me, guys--who’s next?”

Alfred gets a new sous vide machine, the one he’s been waxing about for a month, and reaches out to hug each of the boys in turn.

“Dick picked it out,” Damian says, but he takes the hug anyway, his fierce little face disappearing for a moment against Alfred’s bony shoulder.

“Damian tried to break it,” Dick says with a laugh, squeezing Alfred tight. “But I double-taped the box.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Tim says, a big smile and a bigger embrace.

“Of course I do,” Alfred says, his gray eyes going wet. “Thank you, boys. Thank you.”

Dick gets a new laptop and Tim a leather-bound set of Holmes collections and Damian a set of Choose Your Own Adventure books and a new throwing knife set.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Bruce?” Dick says, draping himself over the back of the couch. “I mean, no offense, but the kid’s got enough blades, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but this come with a caveat. Don’t they, D?”

Damian’s frowning at a piece of paper. “This says I can only use them with Ms. Lance. What’s that mean?”

“It means," Bruce says, "that Dinah’s going to teach you how to throw them like she does. In a balanced and more practiced way.”

That gets him a look like could melt glass. “Ugh. Why? I already know how to throw.”

“Because adding different techniques to your repertoire makes you harder to fight. When you can mix things up, diversify your approach, you can throw your opponents off balance faster. Gives you a big advantage.”

Damian blinks. “Huh. Really?”

“Really. But she won’t go easy on you. I’ve asked her not to.”

A wicked grin kicks over the kid’s face. “Good.”

Bruce laughs. “Yeah, I thought you’d like that.”

“Does this mean Ms. Lance will be coming here?” Tim asks. “To the house? Like, um, a lot?”

“Most likely, yes.”

A different kind of smile blooms on Tim’s face, dreamy and pleased. “Oh, wow. Wow. That’s--that sounds great.”

“Huh,” Damian says. He stares at Tim, suspicious. “She’s coming to train me, not you. You can’t butt in, can he, Bruce?”

Bruce gets a look at Clark’s face which is a gigantic mistake; it takes all he has not to laugh. “No, he can’t, D.”

Damian smacks Tim on the arm, doesn’t at all dislodge that big, dreamy grin. “There,” the kid says haughty. “See? Get your own present, Drake.”

“Oh,” Dick says with a snort, “I think he just has.”

The last box in the stack, when all is said and opened and done, is for Bruce from Clark. It’s small. Doesn’t weigh anything. The boys all crowd around the back of the couch and even Alfred tips forward, peering eagerly around his tea. Only Clark, still seated at Bruce’s feet, doesn’t watch.

He tears at the paper carefully, working his way from end to end, and then unwraps it with a turn of his wrist. It’s a smooth black box with a lid that flips up; there’s something shiny inside.

“Is that supposed to be a bat?”

Bruce hears a whump behind his head. “Shut up, D,” Dick says. “Of course it is.”

It’s heavier than it looks, delicate, and the metal isn’t one that Bruce knows. It’s warm and strong, this charm, cut indeed into the sign of a bat.

“It’s Kryptonian metal,” Clark says, his cheek pressed now to Bruce’s knee. “I’m not sure what the name of it is, exactly, but it’s what the ship that brought me here was made of. The one my parents built. This is, uh--I cut this from that.”

A ripple goes through the room.

“You made this?” Bruce says. He traces the tiny points of the wings, the sharp rise of the ears.

“Yeah. That’s why it’s a little off. I couldn’t get the proportions quite right.”

There’s something in Bruce’s throat, a catch, a sweet little scratch. He swallows around it, makes himself speak. “Clark, it’s beautiful.”

Those bright eyes find his. “Really? You like it?”

“Ugh,” Bruce says, and then he’s leaning down, pitching forward, kissing Superman in front of his family, the open windows, the world. “I love it.”

“I thought you could wear it under your suit, if you wanted. There’s a chain in there, too.”

Bruce squeezes the back of Clark’s neck, gentle and fierce. “Yes. I will. I’d love to. I love you.”

Clark makes a soft sound, sweet and unbearably hot. “Funny. I love you, too.”

They kiss again and grin and when they part, there’s one last second of silence, one last beat of something special in the air.

“Ok,” Damian says, definitive, “enough Christmas. Now can I play with my knives?”

“No,” Alfred says, patting his eyes with a handkerchief. “Not until at the very least we’ve picked up this mess.”

Later, when the house is quiet and the fire’s dampened, Clark draws the charm from the box and fastens the chain around Bruce’s bare neck, traces the place where the metal hangs heavy and solid at the edge of his heart.

“You look--” Clark says, his eyes hooded, his fingers dragging down Bruce’s ribs. “Oh, Maker, Bruce, you look like--”

Bruce reaches for him, pulls them together, skin to skin. “Like what?”

Clark groans in his ear. “You look like mine.”

He pushes in too soon, before Bruce is really ready, but that’s what Bruce wants right then; wants to feel how much Clark needs him, wants to feel his own body bend and open and stretch.

Normally they talk to each other, poke and laugh and occasionally curse, but on this night, there aren’t any words needed, nothing except flesh upon flesh.

Clark bites his neck and he pulls Clark’s hair. He claws at Clark’s ass and Clark fucks him in this rough, needy way that makes Bruce feel like he’s splintering, like the only thing holding him in one piece is Clark’s body and Clark’s mouth and Clark’s deep, inexplicable love.

He comes twice like that, at the mercy of Clark’s ferocity and the heady smell of his own spunk, the feel of it sealing their bodies together, fused by the heat of their skin, and it’s only when he whimpers that Clark lets go, lets himself go, rises up on the heels of his hands so they can stare at each other as Clark’s hips shift from piston to desperate and he comes in a rush, fills Bruce up relentless until there’s no room left and it spills down the hot sting of Bruce’s thighs.

“I almost made you a ring,” Clark pants while his hips are still jerking. “But this is better. This is so much better. Looking down and seeing it there while we fuck.”

Bruce smooths the strands from Clark’s face, the dark waves dampened with sweat. He feels like he’s floating, as if his body’s made from a cloud. “You like that, huh?”

A groan, another full-body shudder. “ Yes . Maker, yes. You have no idea.”

“Well,” Bruce says softly. He raises his head and licks at Clark’s lips. “I don’t know. I think you’ve just given me some.”

Somewhere in the long dark, he crawls out of bed and comes back with a small, wrapped box. Sets it at the center of Clark’s chest.

“What’s this?”

Bruce worms back under the covers. “What’s it look like?”

“But it’s not Christmas anymore. It’s the 26th.”

“You’re that much of a Christmas purist. Really?”

Clark laughs and sits up a little, tugs at the ribbon. “No, not really. I used to beg Ma to let me open presents on Christmas Eve. No dice. I had to wait until 8 am Christmas morning, after the chores were done. Ugh. It was awful. And I wasn’t allowed to use my powers to rush.”

“Tsk tsk,” Bruce says. His heart’s pounding in his chest; he knows Clark can hear it. “Poor baby.”

It’s hard watching Clark open it; harder still seeing him lift the lid from the box and stare at what’s inside.

“A key,” Clark says. “Hmm. Something tells me it’s not for the Batcave.”

“It’s for the front door. For, ah”--he clears his throat, grateful all at once for the dark--“I want you to feel at home here, Kal-El. Like you can come and go as you please.”

Clark is very still. Still and quiet. Neither of which are familiar Clark states.

“I know you can’t, obviously, leave Metropolis and come here. It doesn’t--that wouldn’t work, I know that, but I thought, when you are here, it’s ok if people know that you are. You’re part of the family, Clark; there’s no question about it. And I don’t see any reason to hide it.” He presses a kiss to Clark’s shoulder and leans his face in to hide. “That’s all.”

Clark takes a deep, deep breath and turns his head. “Oh, baby,” he murmurs. “Come here.”

He clutches the key in one hand and Bruce’s face with the other and kisses him until they’re both gasping; pulls Bruce on top of him and kisses him more.

“I love you,” Clark says.

Bruce’s smile is a mile wide. “You do, huh?”

“Hmmm.” Clark’s fingers find the bat, push it gently into Bruce’s skin. “You’re still not sure about that?”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure. Fairly convinced.” Bruce shifts his hips, shivers when their cocks brush. “But you know how it is. There’s always that slim bit of room left for doubt.”

“Are you goading me?” Clark’s hand opens and finds the curve of Bruce’s ass, lets him feel the catch of the key's teeth. “Is this you goading me, Mr. Wayne?”

“Maybe. Mmmm, is it working?”

“I don’t know yet.” A kiss on his chin, another on the edge of his mouth. “Keep going and let’s find out.”

*****

Christmas passes for another year, then. Alfred and the boys wrestle down the tree. The holiday china Bruce’s mother bought a lifetime ago goes back in the cabinet, clean and carefully put away. Batman goes on fighting crime and so does Superman, each in his own city. But there are, in the new year, more and more occasions when Clark makes use of that key; when Bruce comes home from a board meeting or a swing through the city and finds Clark in the kitchen helping Damian with his homework, or in the library with a pot of tea and a big, absorbing book, or in Bruce’s bedroom waiting to drag him into the shower, to rub sweet-smelling soap into his skin and kiss his bruises, one by one, his fingers never far from the little bat that hangs from Bruce’s neck.

“I love you,” Bruce says, at the dinner table, in the practice room, in the warm confines of their bed.

“Funny,” Clark will will murmur, tugging him in for a kiss wherever, whenever, “I love you, too.”

#bruce wayne/clark kent #superbat #chrismas #bat family

[scaryscarecrows]

Overlord

Edward isn’t the type to scare easy, especially not out of surprise. The weak-minded can be surprised, but he is above all that.

Annoyed, however, is an emotion he can indulge in. And indulge he does-when one finds the Scarecrow in one’s lair, annoyance is acceptable.

A little alarm is also acceptable, when said Scarecrow is grinning like a schoolboy who’s just learned an especially filthy joke. Jonathan Crane isn’t emotional. Glee? Never.

So this can only be bad.

“Hello, Jon.”

“Edward.”

Any hopes Edward might have been entertaining of Jon fighting a dose of Joker Gas are dashed at that-he sounds far, far too amused to be anything but sane. Well. As sane as he ever is.

“What brings you to my humble abode?”

“A stopover. Batman dropped by.”

Hm. Perhaps something nasty has befallen Batman. Jon’s usual response to Bat-visits consists of ‘my research!’ and ‘numbskull kidnapped my patient!’ and a fair bit of ‘no respect for science!’

Truthfully, Edward is…confused. Which is not something he enjoys, so he channels it towards being irritated.

“Why me.”

“You were close,” Kitty grumbles from behind him. “Can you stop, it’s not that funny!”

Well, now. This could be interesting.

“Oh, but it is.” Jon’s grin grows a little wider. “I’m sure Batman doesn’t think so, if it’s any consolation.”

“Batman can sod off!” Ouch. “And you wipe that grin off your face before I do it for you.”

“You can’t even reach.”

Kitty bristles. Edward is reminded of a kitten versus a big, friendly dog.

Hm. Not an analogy he ever thought he’d use on a pair of serial killers. Apparently today is going to be a New Things day.

“I will climb you. I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again.”

Jon tries to school his expression into…something else…but isn’t successful and ends up with a slightly smaller grin, eyes glittering behind his glasses.

It’s…unsettling. He doesn’t need to know that, but it is.

“Did you lead Batman here.” That’s the important thing. He has traps, of course he has traps, but preparation is always nice.

“No,” Kitty seethes. “He’s fine, we’ll be out of here when there’s sun, don’t you dare tell him.”

This last is directed at Jonathan, who cocks his head at her.

“Kitty, you can’t expect him to put us up without knowing what happened.” he says, far too innocently for him to be any such thing. “Isn’t that right, Edward?”

On one hand, he’s dying of curiosity. On the other hand, he could be murdered.

He’ll be fine. There is a laser in this kitchen-a simple button will activate it.

“That’s right.”

“Fine,” Kitty mutters. “I-”

“Ah-ah. I will do the telling.”

“You weren’t even there!”

“You’ll leave half of it out!”

“Only the unimportant bits!”

“Kitty, you are a terrible storyteller. I. Will. Do it.”

“If we’re going to tell him, I will do it, ‘cos I was there.”

Jon shrugs and leans against the counter.

“If you leave anything out, I’ll take over.”

If looks could kill, Edward thinks, Gotham would breathe a little easier tonight.

“All right, I was brushing my teeth…”

* * *

Kitty spat a gob of toothpaste into the sink and grimaced. Whatever kind the old bird had been buying, it was horrific. Tasted like some combination of felt-tip marker (she’d been three, shut up) and fake mint and maybe a little bit of that nasty bubble gum elderly people everywhere seemed to be able to conjure.

It was a humid, miserable summer, almost bad enough to rival Georgia. Even Jonathan was grumbling, a little. Which was why she wet a washcloth and rubbed it over her face and neck while reaching blindly for the Lysterine.

Her fingers touched…not-plastic.

The bottle was on the floor a second before her brain clicked together and helpfully provided, roach legs!

She flailed, brushing her fingers frantically against her shirt, as the roach, startled by its fall, took flight.

Fuck. NO.

She dove out of the way as it flitted out of the bathroom and smacked the wall. Where was that Raid, why was that flying, where the hell was Jonathan? What were men for if not to deal with monsters, hm?

Although.

He’d get it, if she asked. He might not even chase her with the wadded-up paper towel, if she threatened tears. But he’d never let her hear the end of it, and she knew, just knew, that he had a bag of rubber ones somewhere that could be tucked behind shampoo bottles or tossed into laundry hampers.

She spotted the Raid. Decision made.

It couldn’t have gotten far, but the hallway was dark and these slippers weren’t great. Where was it, if she touched it again she really was going to cry and make Jonathan come get it anyway…

Well? Where the fuck was it?

She turned a corner and registered BIG BLACK SHADOW before registering anything else.

The Raid was up and spraying before she could blink.

* * *

“You sprayed the Batman with…roach killer?” That’s not so bad. A bit of a letdown, really.

“Uh-huh.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“No.”

“Something you…might have screamed at him?”

“Jonathan…”

The wide, schoolboy-has-learned-something-extracurricular-today grin has returned.

“Final answer?”

“Don’t you do it.”

Jonathan opens his mouth and Kitty lunges forward, hand flailing. He ducks, grabs her, and claps a hand over her mouth.

“I was downstairs,” he says, as though his girlfriend isn’t trying to murder him, “so I may have missed something, but my first clue that Batman had arrived was her screaming, ‘not today, roach overlord!’”

Oh.

Kitty finally gets loose and whirls. Edward half-expects steam to rise from her head.

“I will kill you.”

“You will not.”

“Watch me.”

“You’d regret it before I even stopped breathing, Kitty,” he says lazily. “Many, many hospital doctors dread to see us coming, and it’s not entirely my fault.”

She opens her mouth, pauses, and flips him off instead.

“I might.”

“You would.”

“We’ll discuss this. And you.” Edward has no delusions that she will regret his murder. As such, he is not sorry for inching his finger closer to the laser-button. “If you breathe one word of this, just one, I will shove that cane of yours so far up your arse that it’ll take a week for them to remove it.” She rises on tip-toe and jabs her finger at his chest. “One. Word.”

He thinks she’s going for scary, but he’s spent a lot of time around Oswald Cobblepot. He knows the common tactics for combating one’s vertical challenges, and he is not impressed.

All the same, Oswald is less impulsive these days. If he wants someone dead, he thinks about it. Weighs the pros and cons. Kitty? Not so much.

“Not a word,” he promises, already vowing to call Bats ‘Roach Overlord’ the next time they meet. “I promise.”

She wobbles and goes back down.

“You’d better.” She retreats to the counter, arms crossed, and scowls. “Stop grinning, it’s creepy.”

“I’ve had so little happiness in my life-”

“Rubbish-”

“-let me have this.”

“No.”

“Think I’ll have it anyway.”

“I am not above castration.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“General maiming, then.”

“Mm-hm.” She pokes his ribs. “That’s it. I shall die here, on Edward’s Lysol-smelling floor, from that lethal poke.”

“Clorox,” Edward corrects. “The floor smells like Clorox, Lysol doesn’t work as well.”

What? It doesn’t.

Kitty gives him a brief look of pity. Jonathan’s just opening his mouth, probably to make a snide comment (peon, as though he’d know the difference anyway) when a window breaks and Gotham’s own mobile gargoyle slams into the pair of them.

“Fucking hell!”

“How did you even-”

Edward reaches for his button and takes a batarang to the hand. He clutches it, hissing through clenched teeth, and tries to run.

He doesn’t make it very far, but even when Batman’s cuffing his hands, he can’t help himself.

“Rough night, Roach Overlord?”

The only warning he gets is the narrowing of eyes.

THE END

#Jonathan Crane #Kitty Richardson #Edward Nygma #Batman #Kitty's phobia of cockroaches #Jonathan is the only one having fun here #but oh boy is he having fun

[hopefully-a-good-writer]

A hero?

“So, for what it seems, Zatanna is in need of our help,” Batman said as he walked into the room full of the heroes that made part of the League Justice.

“What happened?” Flash, also known as Barry Allen, asked as he looked at the raven-haired magician.

“It seems that the Curse Book that once belonged to the great witch Morgana had disappeared.” She said, bringing the attention of them, Morgana was a powerful witch indeed, whoever possessed the book must be a powerful enemy as well.

“So, we just gotta search the book and that’s it?” Flash asked as he stretched himself.

“No, I already found the book with my magic, but I didn’t want to do this alone, I am not strong enough to fight against a warlock who has the Curse Book in its possession.” Zatanna looked at the ground.

And then, it was decided, Batman, Zatanna, Flash, and Supergirl would go on the front door with the Superman going on top with Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

They looked at the residence in which the book was in, and apparently, it was a pretty normal looking home, the lights were off, and by Zatanna words, there was no magical trap on it.

Flash, being the asshat he was, he went first and knocked on the door.

“What are you doing?” Batman asked him, who shrugged.

“Come on Bats, she said it herself that whoever lives here don’t have traps and is not like people are capable of outrunning me,” Flash said with a smirk which made Batman shake his head at that.

But before Batman could say anything, the door opened, only to see a rather lanky young man, with short brown hair that was unkept, he looked really shaken, as if he saw something he wasn’t supposed to.

“H-Hello? W-Who are you guys?” The lanky man asked as he didn’t make any kind of eye to eye contact, he recognized them from a time ago, a time in which he had friends, from a time in which things were somehow, simpler.

He suddenly closed, he couldn’t let them recognize him, because if they discovered about him, they would obviously tell them and all the sacrifice he did would be in vain.

He grabbed the book and the crown, putting it all on his backpack and he sighed at that, he didn’t want to harm the people he once helped, but they couldn’t know, no one could, this was his sacrifice.

“You do remember that we have superpowers, right?” Flash asked as he appeared, eating the sandwich that he made using the things he found on the man’s fridge.

“Y-You have no right to do that!” The man said as he looked everywhere to escape before he threw himself by the window and began to run.

“He is quite fast… Well, not for me anyway.” Flash said as he pursued the man before he had to dodge a ball of energy.

“PLEASE! Stay away from me!” He shouted at the superhero as he continued running, that is, before a Batarang made its way into his leg and it made a sound and he felt that it was dislocated.

He felt and screamed in pain as he clutched the leg before he gave a look to the Heroes and he tried his best to crawl out of there.

‘No! They can’t see me! If they see me everyone will discover the truth!’ He thought to himself as he tried to crawl, but the pain was too much, he didn’t know much about pain, he never felt it.

“Who are you?” Batman asked as the young man was now hiding his face with his arms.

“Ecaf ruoy wohs!” Zatanna chanted as she waved her hands and he was ashamed that it was all in vain, he was screwed.

When Batman looked at his face he gasped, making both heroes, not to mention Superman and Supergirl to look at him surprised, there weren’t many things that would make him react that way.

“H-hey Batman, it seems that we met a third time.” He said with a fake chuckle.

“Mr. Terrific, warp us now,” Batman said as he grabbed the man’s arm as the lights came up, and the heroes were not even close to the house right now.

On the base that resided on space, Batman now puts the man on one of the many chairs.

“Tell me, Norville, what happened?” Batman asked him.

#Shaggy #scooby doo #fanfiction #fanfic #dc comics #Magic!Shaggy #phantoms-lair

[blueflamebird]

Jaytim secret santa 2017 pt 2

so i had a second giftee! @sociallyawkwardfoxwriter I love your writing and hopefully this is ok ;-; it was such a hard prompt to write because im terrified of ghosts. 

Prompt: ghost jason meets robin tim

rating: general

Tim wasn’t one to believe in supernatural forces.

He liked to use logic and reasoning, science and math, evidence and facts.

Magic, ghosts, demons?

They had none of that.

Well, he knew several aliens, Miss Martian, Superboy, Starfire. He even knew the half demon, Raven. But he personally had no interaction with the supernatural forces, and he was fine with that.

He went through several...weird adventures with the Titans, even with Batman and Nightwing, but they were all solved in a logical way.

So when he started feeling like someone was watching him, or when weird things started happening, he thought he was just being paranoid. Little to no sleep and dealing with psychos like the Joker would do that to a person.

It wasn’t until things escalated, like his files flying everywhere, or his batarangs suddenly flying at him, that Tim finally accepted that maybe he was being haunted.

Even then, Tim didn’t tell anyone. It wasn’t like whatever spirit was doing this was hurting him, just making his job more difficult than it had to be.

So Tim ignored the papers being knocked down, grabbed a spare mask whenever his went missing suddenly, and did the best he could to try and figure out who would haunt him while paying them no mind.

The spirit, Tim begrudgingly admitted to it being a spirit, never followed him out of the cave, and though Tim still felt like he was being watched on missions, nothing supernatural ever happened. Tim wouldn’t admit he was thankful for that.

The Titans seemed to know immediately. Tim didn’t know how, but they knew. Kon and Bart always looked a touch more worried than usual. Raven gave him pointed looks, but said nothing. Gar was always on edge, and seemed anxious around him. Kori told him on multiple occasions he was more than welcome to stay. Tim declined every time, but the worried look she’d give him made Tim wonder when she would finally call Nightwing.

But none of them ever tried to force Tim to talk about it, and for that he was grateful.

Tim was always called a smart kid. He was far more intelligent than most kids his age, and he was already known as the world’s second greatest detective, right after Bruce. So, he did what every ‘normal’ kid his age would have done. He decided to talk to the spirit.

There was a sense of comfort being alone in the batcave to ‘talk to ghosts.’ He would at least hear Alfred or Bruce coming and could always say he was doing work.

With a tentative look towards Jason’s old Robin uniform, scorch marks and everything behind clear glass, Tim called out. “Uh..hello? Are you there?”

There was a pregnant silence. Tim knew he was listening, this wasn’t normal silence. Even the bats were watching, listening, waiting.

“Look, I don’t know what your problem is with me, but I’m not here to bother you.”

The silence continued to ring in the Batcave, and the cold sweat that broke out on Tim’s forehead told him that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“I’m...just here to make sure Bruce doesn’t do anything stupid. After Jason died-”

It clicked in his mind. But Tim scrunched his face up, confused. He didn’t know Jason. Sure, he took pictures of him as Robin, but personally he didn’t know anything about him. Jason didn’t know him either. So why would he-

Tim sighed, turning to Jason’s suit, hung up like a memorial in the cave. “I know no one wants me to be here. Dick doesn’t, Bruce doesn’t, and it looks like you don’t want me here either. But...I have to do this. Batman and Robin meant more to me than you could ever imagine. Bruce is beating himself up because of what happened. He’s becoming self destructive and Dick won’t do anything about it. So, I will. And once I’ve served my purpose I’ll leave. But, just know until then, I’m staying. I have to stay. Please understand.”

Tim shivered as he felt a cold breeze behind him, but a quick glance told him no one was there. Maybe the spirit wasn’t listening?

“Master Tim?”

Tim jumped, whirling around to come face to face with Alfred. The butler was looking at him with something akin to worry.

“Are you alright, Master Tim? I heard you speaking.”

Tim stuttered, an embarrassed blush rising to his face at having been caught.

“I uh...yeah. I was just-”

Alfred looked passed Tim to Jason’s uniform, a sad look replacing the worry.

“I see. Master Bruce often does the same. He wallows in his guilt.” Alfred turned to Tim, a pointed look this time. “But perhaps you being here can remind him of why he chose to dawn the cape and cowl. He may seem distant and cold, but he’s just afraid of losing another partner so soon after his previous.”

Tim paused. “But Jason wasn’t just his partner. He was his son.”

Alfred’s eyes turned sad again, even if his tone didn’t betray it. “That he was, Master Tim. Now come along, it’s time for dinner.”

With one last look at the memorial, Tim followed after Alfred. Had he turned around, he would have seen what looked like a person looking up at the memorial as well.

 Jason thought death would have been the end of things. He thought he’d see a white light and then nothing.

He was wrong.

He found himself in the manor, watching, but not being able to interact.

He’s tried, oh how he’s tried to call out to them, to touch them.

But he couldn’t.

Instead he had to sit by and watch as this...this pretender all but demanded to be made Robin. As he replaced him as if Jason was nothing more than a fleeting thought.

He was smart, Jason would give him that. He was maybe 2 years younger than him, but already brilliant in a way Jason had to work to be. Jason was book smart, and he was clever. But Tim? Tim was the detective Bruce wanted him and Dick to be.

Jason decided that if he couldn’t be Bruce’s sidekick, no one could. Sure, maybe it was petty, but Jason died and got nothing more than his mask and cape hung up. Hell, it didn’t even look like Dick knew until recently.

Jason didn’t do anything that could seriously hurt the kid. He didn’t hate him enough to stoop that low. He just wanted him to stop being Robin.

But after that one sided conversation in the Batcave, Jason was second guessing his choices.

Tim was right. Jason saw how Bruce was jumping head first into his work, pushing everyone away. But if hurt him to think that he couldn’t help, and had to rely on Tim to do it.

So, he stopped. Well, he didn’t completely stop, he was still a bit petty, but he wasn’t as bad as he was before. Where before it was a matter of trying to get Tim to quit, now it was more of something to keep him occupied and just to be a little shit.

Tim did nothing more than roll his eyes as he had to collect his papers, or sigh as his cape seemed to have disappeared. But he seemed glad that Jason didn’t outright ignore him.

Jason could do without the conversations though.

Tim had taken Jason’s little pranks to be a sign of begrudging acceptance, and while he was right, Jason didn’t want him to be comfortable with the fact. But while Tim rambled away in tales of the Titans, or the night’s mission, Jason listened. There was no way Tim could know for certain that he was listening. With the exception of Raven and Constantine, Jason was pretty much invisible to everyone else. So how could Tim know he was there and still act like they were the best of friends?

It took Jason a minute to realize that Tim simply didn’t have anyone else. While Tim had friends like Kon and Bart, they didn’t understand what it meant to be Robin. They didn’t get the mental and physical torture and exhaustion being Batman’s partner meant.

So Jason listened. Even if Tim didn’t know he was, he did.

Jason slowly saw things change. He saw Dick try to be a better brother to Tim than he was for Jason. And at first, it was another thing that pissed Jason off, but after stumbling upon one of their conversations, Jason realized it was out of guilt. Jason had left half way through the conversation. After all, Dick cared about him enough to beat the Joker to death with his bare hands, he didn’t need to try to get between them.

And as he realized how much he meant to Bruce, Dick, Alfred, and even Tim, Jason found himself at peace. He was loved, finally. But there seemed to be one thing keeping him from moving on.

“Tim.”

Tim’s ramblings and Jason’s thoughts were cut short as Bruce stood in the doorway of his room. Bruce looked around, as if looking for the person Tim was talking to, but found nothing. He raised a single eyebrow before shaking his head, seeming to remember why he was there.

“Tim, tonight you aren’t partrolling with me.”

“Excuse me?” Tim asked. His tone was polite, as if he was just asking Bruce to repeat himself, but his eyes held defiance, a challenge Bruce took in stride.

“Your father is bound to a wheelchair, Tim. He needs you more than Gotham does. Go, I will call Nightwing if i need assistance.”

“Bruce, you can’t do this to me! I need to be out there, I need to-”

“You aren’t thinking straight.” Bruce interrupted, and Jason rolled his eyes as he remembered all those times Bruce was more Batman than Bruce. “Anger is clouding your judgement. I know you want revenge but it will not end well if you go after Captain Boomerang. There is a line you don’t cross. I’ve already experienced one sidekick crossing that line out of emotion, I don’t need another.”

Tim knew where this was going, and it filled him with an unexpected wave of anger. Grabbing his coat, he angrily shoved his hands into the sleeves.

“I’m not your son, I’m your partner. I think I’ve done enough to deserve some respect.” Tim all but pushed Bruce aside as he stormed out of the room. Tim paused, turning to Bruce. “Oh, and that night with Felipe Garzonasa? Jason didn’t push him. I’d know, I was there.”

With that, Tim stormed out. As he yanked the front door open, he could have sworn he felt something warm on his shoulder.

“You’re welcome,” Tim mumbled, as he left Wayne manor.

 Jason couldn’t bring himself to hate Tim. His initial anger now seemed childish, petty. He didn’t know Tim then, but as he learned more about the kid who took over Robin for him, the more he found himself interested in him.

Could ghosts fall in love? Jason didn’t need to eat, or sleep, but he could still feel emotions. That had to explain the protective feeling he had whenever Tim came home with so much as a scratch, or when Tim crawled into bed and silently trembled as he tried to sleep.

This didn’t compare to how he felt though, watching as Tim holed himself in his room, bawling his eyes out as he mourned his father.

And Jason could do nothing but watch.

“He’s dead, and it’s all my fault.”

Tim kept saying this, and Jason wanted so badly to tell him he was wrong, to tell him he was as much as a victim as Jason was, that the cape and mask just made them targets.

But he couldn’t, because he was dead.

When Tim finally exhausted himself to the point of drifting off, Jason put his ghost skills to work and gently covered him with a blanket.

Jason was a ghost, he couldn’t feel, but how would he explain the warmth that went through him when Tim sleepily mumbled “Thanks Jason,” then?

 Jason was gone.

Tim just knew. He was gone.

He couldn’t feel him anymore. It was hard to explain how he knew, but he knew.

Did he move on? Was he at peace?

Tim felt guilty for feeling a bit bitter. Now Jason was probably in a better place, and here he was being angry for feeling left alone.

Tim sighed, pushing the thoughts out of his head as he looked up to the bat computer. It had been some years since he first decided to seek out the bat. Jason’s spirit had become such a crucial part. Who would understand now? Who would he talk to without feeling judged?

The thoughts were once again pushed out of his head as a ping appeared on the bat computer. It took Tim just a few clicks before that ping became a location.

Crime Alley?

Nightwing was busy in Bludhaven, and Bruce was off planet on League business.

That just left him.

Snapping his cape into place and slipping on his mask, Tim was just a little annoyed. Who was making trouble when he wanted to just brood and sulk?

Ugh, he sounded like Bruce.

Tim shot his grapple hook, flying and gliding to the location. He knew this could very well be a trap, but his instincts told him it probably wasn’t. Gotham had been silent since the Joker and most of the other Rogues were in Arkham, no doubt planning their next escape.

Tim sighed, a never ending war, this was.

“Tim.”

Tim whirled around, batarang in hand and ready when a figure stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, and built. He had a red helmet over his head, and dressed head to toe in armor, as if he was a vigilante himself.

Slowly, the stranger reached up to press a button behind his helmet. It loosened with a soft click, and he pulled it off.

Tim felt the breath leave him.

In front of him, the man grinned, a crooked grin that was unfairly attractive, blue eyes crinkling in mirth.

“Long time no see, baby bird.”

The voice was deep and Tim had to resist the urge to shudder. Instead he grinned back.

“Nice to finally see you, Jason.”

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