#I keep thinking of Dick's Titan Team instead of Tim's

[thevoidstaredback]

Honestly, Danny doesn't know how he gets into these situations. It's probably the fault of a deity or an Ancient or someone. It's most definitely Clockwork's fault.

Going on that mission with Constantine sounded like a good idea at the time, and Raven was going to be there! She's the best impulse control on the team. He realizes he should've clarified why Raven was going with them. Evidently, it was not to help or be impulse control for the Ghost King and the Alcoholic Soul Whore. (Don't tell Constantine that's his nickname) Raven was going along because she had business at Titan Tower. It should've been obvious, but Danny is not the most observant.

Either way, he was wrong. He thought going on this mission with John - there was a demon running around an apartment building and people were, apparently, quite upset about that - would deter the Justice League from hounding him like roaches. He was right about that, but also very wrong because the proteges took the opportunity to sniff him out like the bloodhounds they are. Unsurprisingly, Red Robin was at the head of the charge.

Raven, the traitor, sat back and laughed at him. She wasn't laughing, but it was obvious that she found his misery amusing.

Anyway, this lead to a citywide hunt for Danny. Anytime he spotted even a hint of any of the Titans chasing him, he was gone. He couldn't stray too far from Constantine, though, and Beast Boy had a nose like a damn elephant.

The chase lasted a solid three hours before he had to let them catch him, if only so that he could tell them to leave him alone because he's there on official JLD business. Not like that would actually work, but he had hope. Unfortunately, he forgot that Red Robin is Bat Trained.

Danny took a second for himself before the Titans caught up with him. Was this really better than Deadman harassing him about his first time in Gotham? No, it wasn't. It wasn't any worse, either, and he didn't know how to feel about that.

"Are you finally done running?" Red Robin asked, landing in a crouch in front of him.

Danny folded his legs to sit criss-cross in the air as the rest of the kids that had been chasing him joined RR. "You make it sound like I'm a criminal."

"You ran like one," Beast Boy pointed out. Fair, but rude. "And, dude, I don't know if you know this, but you smell horrible."

Danny placed a hand on his chest with a dramatic gasp. "How dare you! I took a shower just last week!"

Raven was now unamused.

Superboy gagged a bit. "He's right," A small shudder. "I couldn't smell it before, but I can now that you're so close to me."

He sighed with equal dramatics as his gasp. "I guess I can never get rid of the smell, even after all this time."

Wonder Girl tilted her head to the side slightly. "Oh? And what smell would that be?"

"The smell of death," John Constantine, ever a man of impeccable timing, turned onto the side street to join them. He largely ignored the kids in favor of the ghost child who isn't actually a child but no one listens to him when he explains that so he's probably going to stop trying. "It lingers. C'mon, kid, we've got a demon to exorcise."

Danny huffed like a petulant child, "Still not a kid!"

Constantine continued walking away. "Still don't care."

Part 4 Part 6

Tag List:

@zaiothe4th @someonebored0100 @wolfeyedwitch @angelheartgamer @nymanders @princessbelix @luminanightfall @kgne-k @bianca-hooks123 @reigning-catsanddogs @sassywombatranchhorse @dontfightmecauseillcry @soul-lime @anarinette

#part 5 #dc x dp #dcxdpdabbles #dp x dc #dcxdp #dcu #danny phantom #ghost king danny #the elephant comment is a complete coincidence #it's funny and I'm not complaining though #teen titans #red robin #justice league dark #I keep thinking of Dick's Titan Team instead of Tim's #we're figuring it out though #jld #no ships #If it's not been obvious #I've never actually read any of the DC comics #It's also been a minute since I last watch Danny Phantom #Enough Caffeine to Kill an Elephant #sorry for the short updates for this story

[mysterycitrus]

Your opinions are sooo correct & sexy! I wanna know what you think about the switch of Roy being Dick's friend to (primarily) Jason's friend. Like in terms of both canon & fanon

(no pressure to answer though, just curious!)

ive talked about this before, so im not being facetious when i say that i don’t think there is anything remotely salvageable in the jason+roy relationship. i hate it.

when u consider current comic canon (that’s more or less tepidly reverted to post-crisis, pre-2011 canon), there is literally no reason why a freshly single father would be besties with his actual best friend’s 12yo brother. it’s profoundly unserious. even removing dick from the equation, in what world would roy be closer to jason than he is to ollie or donna or dinah or wally or jade or connor or mia or grant or vic or grace or literally any of the other titans?

i truly don’t think fans who like their relationship in that capacity care about roy, his history as a character, or his characterisation, because he is reduced to a demeaning, dehumanised depiction of any addict that is so totally divorced from his previous runs. how can u look at the roy harper that exists in rhato canon and not feel insulted that lobdell removed his family, his culture, his teammates, and his daughter in favour of making him swoon over jason? how is this a remotely egalitarian relationship when he exists to facilitate jason’s development and nothing else? how is roy treated with any respect by these fans?

the spiralling fanon vortex pulls everyone around roy in and ruins them by association. think about how unkind these interpretations of ollie are, or jade, or dick. how the actual important people in roy’s life, who love him and lian, are demonised to make room for jason. how unsympathetic the writing is to addicts, and how roy’s own addiction is switched as if different substances are interchangeable? how can u seriously engage with stories about sexual assault that posit roy as a slut-shaming, immature asshole who would seriously blame anyone for their own assault? it makes me so angry.

that’s even ignoring that roy would objectively not be cool with the things jason does, whether it be dealing, murdering people, or attacking roy’s own sister. roy has a moral backbone and isn’t afraid to be loud about it. there’s never been a team he was on pre-reboot where he hadn’t spoken up against shitty leadership or bad decisions — especially with dick. the difference in respect between dick and jason, where roy is allowed to be an adult with the titans and the outsiders and the league but is the team pet of the outlaws who can’t advocate for himself, is very stark.

it’s literally like if they decided to change kon to be damian’s best friend instead of tim’s, ignoring the age difference and their history together and any pre existing relationships. that’s how absurd the change was. that’s how much kon would have to be mischaracterised in order for that relationship to “work.”

jason could exist as an interesting contrast to roy, the same way he does to dick, but that would rely on roy being written well. it would have to mean they weren’t friends, that they weren’t close, and that jason wasn’t an actual part of his life, because that’s the only way they could exist together without roy being thrown on the fire to keep jason warm.

#anti jayroy #roy harper #dick grayson #teen titans #dc comics #the ask and the answer #very sweet ask ty #ok im clocking out of the meanie bobeanie factory

[soleminisanction]

If I were put in charge of making a true-to-the-comic adaptation of the original Young Justice, I do think there's one change I'd make:

I'd ditch the "Batman has a rule against revealing secret identities" angle and instead root that subplot entirely in Tim's personal need to keep his superhero and civilian lives separate through compartmentalization. That'd make Tim's personal arc more strongly about finding a place among his friends where he feels truly comfortable being himself, gradually realizing that "Robin" and "Tim Drake" are both masks, one he wears for Bruce and the other he wears for Jack.

Initially with the rest of YJ he puts on another mask, "Rob," the leader, the responsible one, the stick-in-the-mud but the one everyone can rely on, basically his best attempt at play-acting the role he thinks Dick took in the Teen Titans. But over time he sees the others growing into themselves and becoming more genuine with each other, and he wants that, but he struggles to let himself have it because it goes against everything that kept him safe as a child, that helped him earn Robin's wings, that got him on the team in the first place.

I just think that'd fit his arc in the story a little better.

#tim drake #young justice #young just us #dc comics #musings #hyptheticals #tim's relationship with identity is something I've always found very compelling #it's a solid queer narrative to boot #you know that's gonna play a part in why he created the mask for Jack in the first place

[writing-ca-ira]

HASARDER — PART 1

YJ/Teen Titans Dick Grayson x Reader

Prologue << MASTERLIST >> Part 2

Dick Grayson is no stranger to death, but that doesn’t make it any harder to deal with. As it turns out, however, the grieving process for you would prove to take an interesting twist when Tim calls him with some shocking news.

The reader is gender neutral.

Contains: civilian reader, mentions of death (your death), mentions of a dead body (your dead body), spoilers: you’re actually alive… kinda, I’m probably forgetting something.

“Does the hurt ever go away?”

“I wish I could say yes… but it will get better over time. For you. That, I can promise.”

Dick felt his grip on the picture frame get weaker and weaker. Had he not snapped out of his thoughts a moment sooner, it would’ve slipped out of his hands and clattered on the floor, shattering the glass in the process. The mere thought of that happening caused his stomach to churn, guilt eating away at his heart despite managing to avoid that outcome. To ensure the safety of the picture frame (well, more importantly, the photo within it), he gingerly placed it back in its rightful place on top of his nightstand, right next to his old digital alarm clock and bedside lamp.

You keep thinking..."If only I'd done something differently,” Bruce’s voice echoed in his head. “If only I could've...warned them." But there isn't anything you could've done. There isn't anything either of us could've done.

That conversation happened years ago; over a decade by now. Back when Dick was still processing the death of his parents, and when Bruce was there to help him through it. Despite the consolation those words provided in the moment, he never expected them to carry such weight throughout his life.

There isn’t anything you could’ve done.

His eyes drifted back to the picture frame. The photo within it was taken 4 years ago, during his sophomore year of high school at Gotham High. He still remembers the crisp autumn air against his skin, the red and orange leaves scattered on the ground, and the chocolate flavored milkshake he was halfway through. There was a giant smile on his face, his blue eyes sparkling with such joy and vibrancy.

It’s because you were right next to him.

The photo caught you mid-laugh, your eyes crinkling with happiness. You had haphazardly thrown up a peace sign with one hand while holding your own drink in the other. Though you were too busy laughing to notice, Dick had snaked his arm behind your head to give you bunny ears, which caused you to playfully throw leaves at him when you found out afterwards.

Thinking about that day still causes a fond smile to tug at his lips. Wally had to bail on their plans that day due to a date he forgot about with Artemis, so Dick found himself in the Cave to hand out with you instead. That’s how you two ended up walking around Happy Harbor — your idea, if he recalls correctly — exploring random shops and goofing around outside.

Had that really been 4 years ago?

Whatever warmness that flooded his chest while reminiscing on the past was immediately extinguished by the coldness of reality. It’s been 2 years without you now. The anniversary of your death was a week and a half ago, which was when he found himself so filled with grief that he could barely even get out of bed. It took all of the senior members of the team to rouse him out of his depressive episode; much like the year before.

You were gone. He still wasn’t used to saying that. Even with the time that’s passed since you died, he can feel his heart drop whenever he thinks about it, as though he’s learning about your death for the first time. The tears still wouldn’t stop, and neither would the nights filled with feverish dreams of your face.

If only I could’ve done something differently.

Of course, Bruce was right all those years ago; there wasn’t anything he could’ve done. Much like with his parents, Jason, and now the recently deceased Tula (all whom he still has nightmares of to this day), there was logically nothing he could’ve done to save you. He was all the way in Santa Prisca leading a covert mission when he received a distress call from your phone in Happy Harbor. All he could do was make sure someone was en route to your coordinates — which led to the Happy Harbor boardwalk — and pray you were safe.

But by the time Aquagirl and Tempest got there, it was too late.

Learning about what happened to you was hard for Dick. The ringing in his ears blocked out every sound except for his own shaky breaths, and he could barely even stand without feeling dizzy. But he managed to fight through his state of shock and despair to listen to the report. You were caught in a domestic dispute gone deadly at the Happy Harbor health clinic. A man stormed into the clinic to take back his kid from his ex-wife, who was there for a check-up. Things escalated, and the man shot and killed his wife, threatening the doctor in the room if she didn’t let his son go with him.

You happened to be in the next room over. Hearing the gunshot must’ve made you spring into action, making a 911 call along with the distress call to the team. The doctor that was with the son said that you snuck up behind the man and lunged at him, yelling at her and the kid to run. There was signs of a struggle in the room, but you unfortunately weren’t the one to walk out of there alive.

The man was neutralized by police around 3 to 4 minutes after your estimated time of death. If you hadn’t had your scuffle with him, it’s possible that he could’ve grabbed his son and escaped before the cops arrived. Your face was on the news after that, journalists proclaiming you to be a hero that sacrificed their life.

Except you should’ve never had to in the first place.

It’s not fair, Dick decided. Why did you, the one who wasn’t supposed to be risking their life, have to die because of some other people’s marital problems?! You weren’t even a hero; you were just a normal civilian going about your daily life. So why did you have to die like this?!

Even thinking about it caused his eyes to sting from frustrated tears, his jaw tightening as his fists clenched at his sides. If that guy wasn’t shot down by the cops, lord only knows what Dick would’ve done to him. The fact that he couldn’t even see justice for your death — your murder — get delivered also feeds into his anger. God, why couldn’t he just be there to at least get justice for you himself?!

Justice and revenge aren’t the same thing.

God, he hated it when Bruce was right.

There was nothing he could’ve done. There was nothing anyone could’ve done. Everything happened to fast; from the man barging into the clinic, to the shouting between him and his ex-wife, to the gunshot, to you calling 911 and sneaking up on the man, to the struggle that happened for a solid minute or so, to the gunshot that ultimately ended your life. All of that happened in under 10 minutes, according to the timeline, and that just wasn’t enough time for someone to come help you.

“There isn’t anything you could’ve done,” he had to solemnly tell Tula and Garth, who were both blaming themselves for not being there. Tula Zeta’d in from Atlantis, while Garth had to go on foot from Mount Justice. They were the only ones who weren’t on a mission at the time; the only ones who could respond to your distress call. But no matter how fast they moved, they just couldn’t be there in time.

A buzzing noise snapped him out of his thoughts. It caused enough surprise to him that his shoulders jolted upwards, his heart completely skipping a beat. He soon realized that it was his phone buzzing. Someone was calling him.

Shakily reaching for his phone (which was unceremoniously tossed onto his bed), he held it closer to his face to read the caller ID. Ah, Tim. It was a bit unusual for his successor to give him a call (he was a bit too socially awkward for that), but anytime he did, it would make Dick feel special. In fact, maybe a conversation with Tim would help clear his head a bit.

He cleared his throat as a small test for his voice, then hit accept and held the phone up to his ear. “Hey, Tim. What’s up?”

“Dick—! I… it’s—” Panic was evident in Tim’s voice. Hearing his shaky words on the other end caused Dick’s brows to furrow. At first, he thought that there was something going on with Batman and Robin, but he remembered that it was Tim who called Dick, and not Robin who called Nightwing. So, did that mean something happened at the Manor?

“Tim,” Dick softly began, though with slight urgency in his tone, “is everything okay?”

“They’re… I’m— I don’t…” an uneven puff of air could be heard before the teen tried again. “I’m really sorry, Dick, I didn’t mean to poke around!! It’s just that Ba— Br— B had been spending so much time away from the Manor and the Cave, and I wanted to know what he was doing, a-and I used the Bat Computer and found the file about everything, and— a-and…!!”

Dick had to raise his voice a bit to interject. “Tim!! Tim, calm down… what are you talking about? What’s wrong?”

For a moment, all Dick got was a shuddery breath as a reply. Before he could repeat his question, however, Tim finally responded. “Don’t… don’t get your hopes up, alright? Promise me you won’t get your hopes up.”

“… Okay,” Dick decided after a moment of hesitation. “I won’t.”

There was a long pause. Anticipation and apprehension was building up in Dick’s chest, his heart thumping against his rib cage. It seemed as though Tim was trying to carefully choose his words; trying to find the best way possible to break whatever news he had.

But nothing in the world could prepare Dick for the next few words that came out of Tim’s mouth. “There’s another (Y/N).”

Everything in Dick’s body stopped working.

From his heart to his mind, his hearing to his vision, Dick felt as though he was shutting down. He almost let the phone slip out of his hands entirely, the blood in his veins feeling cold as ice and causing his limbs to tremble. Even trying to get air in his lungs was a tough task, despite his mouth hanging open. The room was spinning for him, and the ringing in his ears almost blocked out Tim’s panicked ramblings entirely.

There’s another (Y/N).

What…

What did he mean by that?

“I-I know how close they are to you, Dick,” Tim practically wailed. “I know how close they are to the team… I didn’t know that Bruce was hiding this from you— I-I-I don’t even know if I should’ve told you… oh, god, Dick… is Bruce going to fire me—?”

Dick swallowed thickly, hoping to get rid of the lump in his throat. Despite his tongue feeling like sand, he spoke up anyway. “What do you mean by another (Y/N)?”

Tim sputtered out something completely incomprehensible to Dick. It was hard to tell if the poor kid was scared of what he knows, scared of Bruce finding out, or scared of both. Either way, Dick knew that he wasn’t going to learn anything from Tim in this state. He bit the inside of his cheek before dawning the most imperative voice he can muster in the moment.

“Tim,” he lowly chided. “Give me a report.”

That got Tim to his frantic rambling of nonsense. Getting him to think of this like a mission debriefing would calm him down, Dick figured. And, from the deep breaths the former Robin could hear on the other end, he knew he was right.

“Someone was taken in by the police a week ago,” Tim started, his cracking voice taking a factual tone. “Said their name was (Y/N) (L/N). Cops ran that name through their database and found (Y/N)’s death certificate. This (Y/N) was confused, ‘n started saying weird stuff about… something called the Titans.”

“Titans,” Dick echoed. It was meant to be a question, but came out more as a statement.

Tim hummed. “Titans. A… supposed team of young superheroes, o-or something. I don’t know, the report didn’t really…” he trailed off, possibly realizing he was rambling again. “Tests were ran. Their DNA is an exact match to the real (Y/N)— but when they… they checked (Y/N)’s grave a-a couple of days ago…”

The thought of someone digging up your grave made him clench his teeth together. They went through with something like that and he didn’t even know? Who gave them permission?!

Probably Batman, he bitterly thought.

“They’re still there, Dick,” said Tim. “(Y/N)’s body is still there. But this other (Y/N) is an exact copy..!!”

Dick’s freehand was digging into the flesh of his other arm. “Cadmus?”

“Isn’t involved.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“No biological trace of Cadmus’ synthetic enhancements in this (Y/N)’s bloodstream. No psychic trace of Genomorphs in their mind, either. This (Y/N)…” Tim struggled with his words for a moment, “is natural. Genuine.”

Genuine. Dick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was another version of you walking this earth, supposedly confused about your own death, and Batman was planning to hide this from him? No, even worse, Bruce was planning to his this from him?!

No biological trace… no psychic trace…

All of these people to run tests, and yet he still didn’t know?

“Send me the file,” he monotonously demanded.

There was a small pause on the other end before Tim’s fragile voice spoke up. “What… are you going to do?”

“… I don’t know,” Dick answered, a tired sigh escaping his lips. It was an honest answer; what was he supposed to do after learning this? There was a (Y/N) alive out there, but not his (Y/N)…

“Are…” Tim trailed off, then tried again, “are you mad at me?”

“No—!!” Dick’s answer was quick. When he heard the sharp intake of breath on the other line, he realized that he might’ve spooked the poor boy, so he took on a softer tone. “No, Tim. It was good that you… brought this to my attention. Why would I be mad at you?”

“Bruce is going to be mad,” Tim practically whispered. “I shouldn’t of gone through his stuff… and… he would’ve wanted me to keep this all from you…”

Dick took a few moments to think of his response. “Well, you made the right choice telling me. He shouldn’t be keeping secrets like this in the first place.” Definitely not secrets that revolve around you…

“… ‘M sending the file now.” Distant clicking noises could be heard through the call, and then Tim followed up with, “I’m… sorry that Bruce didn’t let you know.”

“It’s not your fault, Tim,” was Dick’s soft reply. “He’s always been like that. Thinking it would protect us, or something.”

Protect us. The words were like acid on Dick’s tongue. Using secrets as protection always made Dick feel sick to his stomach. Looking at the past couple of years, Bruce’s secrets have done anything but protect others. They drove Dick away from him, they put Jason six feet under, and now…

God, why wasn’t Dick the first person to know about this other (Y/N)?

Maybe it was selfish of him to think that. He wasn’t your only friend, so the rest of the Team had just as much as a right to know as he did. But he still should’ve known. He should’ve been involved with the investigation; he knows you better than anyone. And Bruce knows this.

“You… gonna be okay?”

Tim’s voice pulled him back to reality. With a weak cough, Dick wet his lips and said, “yeah. I’ll be alright. Just gonna read over the file for myself and… figure out what to do from there.” An awkward pause, then he continued. “Thank you for this, Tim. Call me if anything else comes up.”

“Yeah… yeah, of course. I-I will.”

And, with that, the call ended.

His hand dropped to his side, the phone in his hand almost slipping from his grip. This couldn’t be real. None of this could be real. You were dead, yet… you were back. Someone with your face was out there talking about some other team… the Titans, and he was just now finding out about this.

After a week, he bitterly recalled.

Taking a final glance at the picture frame, his eyes scanned over your face. This new supposed (Y/N) wasn’t you. It couldn’t be you. The memory of your dull, lifeless face at the morgue still haunts him to this day, causing a chill to run up his spine and his hair to stand on end. Dick knows what death looks like, and you were, without a doubt, dead.

So, who was masquerading as his dead friend?

The answer seemed to be simple; you were masquerading as his dead friend. But… not you. Even if your DNA was an exact match, and Cadmus didn’t have any involvement, whoever you were, you weren’t his (Y/N). He’d like to believe that his (Y/N) would demand to see him, to assure him that you were still alive. You wouldn’t have let him go an entire week without knowing, leaving him to mourn someone that was still alive. As far as he concerned, this new (Y/N) was a stranger.

But, that just led him back to square one; who was this stranger?

Guess I’m about to find out.

#Young Justice x reader #Teen Titans x reader #Dick Grayson x reader #Nightwing Dick Grayson

[galaxymagitech]

Graveyard

Written for Dick Grayson Anniversary Week: Day 4 Prompt: Batman's Most Trusted

@dickgraysonweek

Summary: No one comes to save a mourning Bruce from himself. Until, months after Tim would have stepped in, Dick notices Bruce's recklessness on a League Mission. He returns to Bruce's side to help him back into the light, but ends up following him into the darkness instead.

Characters: Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Jason the Narrative Ghost

Warnings: Referenced death of a family member, dissociation, discussions of suicidal thoughts in a non-POV character, brief mentions of rape (specifically, Felipe Garzonas’s crimes, not of any main characters). Mild gore? I don't think it's that bad, but it's slightly present.

It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Bruce had made it clear that he didn’t want to see Dick again, not after their confrontation over Jason’s death. But there was an emergency, and the Justice League had called for all available heroes to come and help beat back the robotic alien army. And Dick, well, of course he came. Normally he’d be leading his own team during a situation like this, but he was on break from the Titans and he didn’t want to mess with their leadership structure. Indecision in battle is dangerous, and if the Titans weren’t sure who to listen to…it wouldn’t be good. Clark had asked Dick if he was sure he wanted to join the main Leaguers—he knew that Dick and Bruce aren’t on best terms right now, even though he likely doesn’t know the details. But Bruce is professional and Dick should be able to keep his head in the game.

Should being the keyword. And yet he can’t stop watching as Bruce faces off against twelve robots, because something…something is wrong. His heart nearly leaps out of his chest as an energy beam misses Batman by an inch. Bruce should’ve dodged that. Easily. The man doesn’t try to split up his opponents, lead a group of them off to dispatch separately. No, he fights all of them at once. When a blow from one of their four arms strikes him in the stomach, Bruce doubles over. He grins, even as blood drips between his teeth, dribbling down his chin and into the snow.

Focus, Dick orders himself as he dodges an energy beam and rolls between one of the robot’s eight legs, scoring its underside with a batarang.

Batman spins, his cape a whirlwind as he pulls two more robots into the fight.

Dick watches an energy beam scorch Bruce’s arm, and suddenly it clicks. Bruce isn’t trying to keep himself safe.

This is all wrong.

---

Dick may have given his keys to Alfred—or, tossed them away in the Batcave where Alfred would find them, at least—but his Batcave access hasn’t been revoked. He had thought it might be, after the way he left, but he had other plans for if this didn’t work.

It’s 4 PM. Bruce should be upstairs in the Manor, but he’ll come down eventually. In the meantime, Dick has a case that he picked up in New York with potential ties to the League of Assassins. He needs to analyze a sample of poison, and the Batcomputer will be useful for that. Dick could probably call up Clark and get access to some Justice League equipment, but…the Batcomputer is probably best for the job.

It's a convenient excuse. Dick might not be allowed in the Manor, but Batman wouldn’t deny Nightwing access to the Batcave’s equipment, not when it could save lives.

This is going to be awkward as hell, if it doesn’t devolve into Round Two. But Dick can’t just stand by while Bruce gets himself killed.

Fuck. That’s what’s happening, isn’t it? He knows—he knows that Jason’s death hit all of them hard. Dick and Alfred, hell, the entire superhero community…but especially Bruce. He knows. But Dick never would’ve expected this. Not of Bruce.

When Dick climbs off his bike, he finds that the Batcave is not empty. In fact, Bruce is hunched over the Batcomputer, cowl off but uniform still on, the same burn marks from the fight still present. Bruce turns around at the sound of Dick’s footsteps, and Dick sees a bruise on the man’s jaw that wasn’t there before. He went on patrol, didn’t he? That reckless idiot. No patrol after League missions unless absolutely necessary, and Dick’s kept an eye on the news—it wasn’t necessary at all.

“Dick?” Bruce asks, like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. His voice is hoarse from exhaustion and his eyes are glazed. Dick doesn’t think Bruce has slept in days.

Dick pulls the poison sample out from his pocket and holds it up. Instead of the nod of acknowledgement Dick was expecting, Bruce’s shoulders slump.

“You need access to the Batcomputer?”

“Yeah,” Dick says softly. “Have you slept in the last forty-eight hours?” Bruce grunts in the negative. Yeah, Dick thought so. “Seventy-two?” Another grunt. Dick steps closer. He can see the bags under his father’s eyes, the exhaustion evident in his normally military posture. “I’m worried about you, Bruce,” he admits.

Surprise flickers across Bruce’s face. “I’m…relatively uninjured.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Dick says. Bruce looks off to the side. Dick walks over to stand by the second chair by the Batcomputer, the one normally reserved for Robin, and hovers there, uncertain.

“You should…you should sit,” Bruce says gruffly. Dick sits. He thinks they both know that this means something. “What is the sample? Do you need help with it?”

This is definitely a distraction tactic, but the sample is important too, so Dick takes the vial out of the plastic bag he was keeping it in and places it in one of the machines attached to the Batcomputer. The two vigilantes fall into a practiced rhythm, cycling through tests and databases until Dick’s fairly certain that the poison is a paralytic that comes from a region close to a League base in the Amazon. He wants to keep working, find something else that they haven’t considered yet, just to keep this comfortable companionship with Bruce. He misses it so much. But he came here for a reason. “If you keep this up,” Dick says as he turns back from the hazardous waste chute, “you’re going to get yourself killed. And I’m worried that you don’t seem to care.”

“I’ve always been devoted to my work,” Bruce argues, even as he doesn’t outright deny the accusation.

“Not like this,” Dick says. He looks around the cave, the mess of files cluttering the medical cots, the dust on the giant penny, the number of windows open on the Batcomputer. “Not like this,” he repeats. “Bruce, you need to slow down and…and think. How many of those blows could you have dodged during that battle? How many of your injuries could you have healed if you stayed in the League infirmary for even an hour?”

“That’s not your concern, Nightwing.”

“It is! Bruce, I…” Dick feels his heart clench. “You’re going to get yourself killed. It’s…it’s terrifying. I know after…” He trails off. “I know after everything, it’s hard. I get it, okay? But this? You can’t do this.”

Bruce’s fists clench. “I’m taking all normal precautions. You don’t need to worry.”

“I think I do, Bruce. You’ve never been reckless like this before. I mean, what does Alfred think?”

“Alfred left,” Bruce says shortly.

What? “He’s coming back, right?”

“…I don’t know,” Bruce admits. He shifts uncomfortable. “Alfred…he said he couldn’t stay and watch this. So I asked him to take a vacation.”

“And he left? Just like that?” Alfred has dealt with a stubborn Bruce for far too long to just leave when commanded. There’s something that Bruce isn’t saying. And Bruce is perfectly capable of hiding things, so either this is something so bad that Bruce can’t hide it or, deep down, Bruce doesn’t want to hide it.

“There was a fight with Two-Face. It went badly. Alfred…had the same opinion that you do now.”

“Holy shit,” Dick says. “And you think you’re just fine and dandy?”

“I think,” Bruce says slowly, “that how I fight is my business.”

“Not if…not when you’re like this.”

“I’m fine.”

“Would you tell me if you weren’t?” Dick takes a deep breath and accesses the post-patrol reports, running a quick script. The list of injuries—far, far more extensive than it should be—prints out before his eyes. Dick’s stomach turns.

“You shouldn’t be looking at that,” Bruce says, almost apologetically.

“Then you shouldn’t get hurt,” Dick hisses. “What the hell, B? This isn’t…this isn’t recklessness.” He can’t bring himself to say the proper words. “This is deliberate.”

The air sits heavy in the Batcave. “I think you should go,” Bruce says.

“No.” Dick takes a deep breath. After seeing this…his breath catches as he stares at the list, and he forces himself to look away and face Bruce. Dick can’t leave. “I’m not leaving you alone. I shouldn’t have left you alone while you were grieving, but…I can’t. I can’t leave and come back to realize you’re dead. Don’t do this to me, Bruce.”

“I’m not—”

“Bruce, please.”

“Dick, you’re making—”

Yeah, Dick doesn’t want to hear how that sentence ends. “You clearly don’t care if you live or die.” Dick stands up. “Well, guess what, asshole? I care! I’m staying here where I can keep an eye on you and make sure I don’t wake up one day to the news of your corpse. And if you don’t want me to stay, then I’ll just live in the Batcave! And—and if you kick me out of here too, then I’ll follow you on patrol and fucking tranq you and take you to Clark. So what’ll it be?”

“Dick—”

Dick can feel the tears welling up in his eyes. He rarely cries anymore, but all he can think of is losing Bruce, so soon after he lost Jason. Dick can’t do that. He can’t lose another father, another family member. Not like this. “Jason wouldn’t want you to die, Jason would want you to live. And I need you to live. So I’m going to make damn well sure you do, no matter what you say!”

“Chum, I—”

Fuck, the tears are falling now. Dick wipes his eyes with his sleeve. “I don’t care if it’s selfish, you are not going to die. I won’t let you.”

Suddenly, Dick feels Bruce’s arms around him, pulling him close. Dick sinks into Bruce’s chest and slings his arms around Bruce’s waist. Bruce is alive. Dick will make sure he stays that way. He won’t lose him.

“If you’re willing to stay, I would…I would greatly appreciate it,” Bruce says. He doesn’t pull away. Dick clings close, afraid to let go.

---

On patrol, Nightwing sticks close to Batman’s side. It should be suffocating, but it’s better than the fear that freezes his lungs whenever the two vigilantes get separated. Dick leaps into fight after fight, brandishing escrima sticks and cracking jokes like it’s the only thing that’ll keep him afloat. Dick is painfully aware that if he can’t keep a light heart, then no one will. There is no Robin around to light the way. Nightwing will have to be enough.

It's hard, though, when Dick sees Jason on every rooftop and the Joker laughing in every shadow. It’s hard, when Dick realizes he hasn’t contacted his friends for two weeks—and none of them have contacted him. It’s hard, when Dick and Bruce trade nights of nightmares.

The first time Dick hears Bruce screaming at night, he throws himself out of bed, terrified that the Manor is under attack. But when he reaches Bruce’s door, he can hear the man crying and sobbing inside. This is wrong. Batman doesn’t have nightmares, Batman doesn’t cry out in his sleep. Dick hovers outside the door, uncertain, unwilling to cross that boundary.

Should he go in? When Dick was a child, he was always welcome after one of his own nightmares. But Dick is no longer a child, and Bruce having nightmares is completely uncharted territory.

Dick should leave. This isn’t his place. But he can’t bring himself to go back to sleep when he knows Bruce is suffering.

Slowly, he rests against the wall to Bruce’s room and slides down to the floor. He leans his head back, closes his eyes, and listens as every cry stabs at his heart. Eventually, it stops, and Dick drifts off until morning.

The next night, Dick dreams that he is sitting with Barbara in a small, quaint coffee shop. Outside the window, every adult is dressed as Batman and every child as Robin, but inside, Dick is just Dick and Barbara is just Barbara. “Don’t look at them,” Barbara says. “It doesn’t matter.”

And then she’s choking, doubled over with the Joker standing behind her, his bloody red lips twisted into a smile. His hand is buried in her back.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Joker grins. “I can just twist, and—oops!”

Barbara falls to the ground. “Dick, help me! Dick, please, I can’t move.”

Outside, all the children drop dead. The coffee shop is on fire.

“Why?” Dick asks the Joker.

The monster laughs and laughs and laughs, and with every second his face loses its pallor and his grin shifts into a grimace, until Dick finds himself staring at Bruce.

“No,” he tries to say, but it doesn’t come out. He stumbles, only to find his back pressed into a wall. “No, wait—”

Bruce plunges his hand into Dick’s chest. Dick can feel it close around his heart. “Jason is dead.”

All the dead Robins outside sit up and twist their heads at unnatural angles. Their Batmen pick them up and hold them, like an army of despair.

“Jason is dead,” Bruce repeats, and Dick knows it’s an accusation, but—

“It’s not my fault,” he insists.

“These are your colors,” Bruce says. Dick looks down. He’s wearing a yellow shirt and green tights, and Bruce’s hand is still clenched around his heart. “Yellow. And green. It’s only missing the red.” And then Bruce pulls.

Dick watches, frozen, as his father holds a bloody, pulsating heart in his hands.

“I would give this to Jason if I could,” Bruce says. “But it’s not enough.” His grimace twists even further. “You’re useless to me.” He tosses the heart to the side. Around them, the flames burn brighter and brighter.

Dick wakes up screaming, with Bruce at his side.

Immediately, he pushes himself up into a seated position, flicking on his lamp and breathing heavily as he tries to force the dream from his mind.

“I’m sorry,” Bruce says. “I had to check. I heard you screaming. I had to check.”

And three years ago, Dick would’ve been angry. Would’ve ranted about invasions of privacy and paranoia. Instead, he slides off the edge of the bed, wraps his arms around Bruce, and lets his father hold him close. “I’m fine,” Dick says, wishing he believed it. “I’m fine. You’re fine. Everyone’s—” He chokes on the word. Jason.

“You’re alive,” Bruce whispers, as Dick buries his face in Bruce’s chest.

---

“Where were you?” Bruce asks as Dick pokes at his mac and cheese. They’ve been eating the most basic meals possible. Too much takeout and the papers will start to speculate. “I needed to consult with you on the Michaelson case.”

Dick sighs. This is why he moved out. Bruce does not need to know where he is at all times.

And yet, Dick gets it. Bruce didn’t keep track of Jason.

“I was looking for a job.”

Bruce’s brows furrow. “A job? Why?”

Dick rolls his eyes. Seriously? “A job. To earn money. You know, that thing that buys food?”

“I have plenty of money,” Bruce says, like he doesn’t see the problem there.

“I’m not mooching off of you,” Dick insists.

“It’s not…mooching. I’m happy to support you.”

Rich people. Seriously. “You don’t get it, B. I’ve got to get a job. Save up. Be independent.”

“You don’t need a job, Dick. Besides, you’re twenty-one. If you were in college, I would still be paying for everything.”

“Bruce.”

“Dick.”

“You don’t get it,” Dick says. He can feel his frustration rising. “I’m not going to be living with you or the Titans forever. You get that, right? This is temporary.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Bruce says, looking down at his plate.

Dick stands up. “Seriously, B?” He moved back into the Manor to help Bruce out of the funk he’s in, not to staypermanently. But Bruce doesn’t seem to have caught onto that.

“You can stay as long as you want.”

Dick is already sacrificing everything he built by staying here. And he’s willing to do it, he is, but Bruce doesn’t seem to realize just what Dick has lost. “I don’t want to stay forever. I have a life. I have friends. I don’t exist solely for your stupid fucking mission!”

Bruce stands up too. “Richard John Grayson!”

“Oh, the full name, huh?” Dick scoffs. “You’re not my father, Bruce. And if you want me to give a fuck about language, then get Alfred back. Oh, wait—you drove him away!”

“At least I know where Alfred is! When you run off, you don’t tell me where. And when Jason ran off, he got himself killed!”

“I’m not Jason!” Dick screams. “And I’m a grown adult, I don’t have to tell you anything! You don’t own me and you don’t own my life!”

“Then you don’t have any right to dictate how I live mine!”

“I have the right to make sure you fucking live!”

They’re both heaving for air, fists clenched as they stand over the dinner table. Suddenly, the guilt hits, filling Dick’s lungs. It all just ran away from him, the whole fight spiraling and spiraling and spiraling. Dick didn’t mean for it to go like this. And instead of storming out, like he normally does after a fight with Bruce, he just slumps over and stands there, head hung.

“I don’t want to fight,” Dick says, eventually.

“I…I don’t want to fight either, Dick.” Bruce looks so very tired.

“I didn’t mean it,” Dick whispers.

“I know,” Bruce says.

“I just want to help.”

Bruce pulls him close. “I know.”

---

“Bet you can’t keep up, B!” Dick shouts, diving off a skyscraper. He shoots his grappling hook before he jumps. Bruce does not.

The two race through the rooftops, Dick adding in unnecessary acrobatics and Bruce replicating them, though not quite as elegantly. In theory, they’re patrolling. In practice, it’s the closest they get to a game.

The last time Bruce and Dick raced across Gotham’s rooftops, Dick was fourteen. The next time Dick thought Batman was looking down and tried to start the chase, Bruce growled at him to focus. Dick didn’t stop trying for another year.

Dick tries to push the dismal thoughts from his head. What matters is the here and now. The thrill of the wind blowing through his hair, the swooping in his stomach as he falls, the laughter that spills past his lips. This is how Batman and Robin used to be.

Did Jason do this with Bruce too?

Dick mistimes his landing and stumbles, forcing himself into a sloppy roll. When he lands on his feet, his shoulder is aching. That’s going to bruise, and bad.

Bruce, in the middle of copying one of Dick’s flips, doesn’t notice. Dick forces a grin onto his face and rushes forwards.

As he somersaults over the gap between the next two buildings, he notices a man threatening a scrawny teenager with a knife in the alley below. “You go on ahead, B!” Dick shouts. “You could use the head start!”

He makes short work of the mugger and ties him up for the police.

“Wait,” the kid calls out as Dick turns to leave. Dick pauses. “Can I…can I report something?”

Dick shifts his body language, trying to make himself appear open. “Sure!” He says cheerily—but not overly cheerily, just enough to be encouraging.

“There’s this tunnel,” the kid explains. “Some of us—I mean, some of my friends—go there to paint. I mean, I don’t. But some guys I know do.” Their shoulders hunch defensively. Dick’s not buying it for a second, but Batman and Nightwing don’t hunt down graffiti artists. “These guys came along one day, wearing these weird masks, and said we all had to get out. So I—I mean, my friends left. But some people were like, ‘screw it,’ and stayed, and no one’s seen them in days.”

That certainly sounds concerning. “What sort of masks?”

“Like, clowns. Hey, do you think it’s the Joker?”

“Maybe,” Dick says. Probably. But the Joker’s still in Arkham right now, so what’s he playing at? “What else can you tell me?”

By the time he’s got all the information the kid has, Dick knows Bruce is far ahead of him. He races along the patrol route, not bothering to do any fancy acrobatics. A few minutes later, Dick hears the sound of grunts from yet another alleyway and sighs, dropping down to join the fray.

Except, it isn’t much of a fray at all. There are two men lying on the ground, unconscious, one of them bleeding, a tiny kid cowering a few feet away against a building, and Batman straddling a third man, pummeling him in the face.

Dick freezes, taking the scene in. One of the unconscious men has half his limbs bent at artificial angles. The other appears to be bleeding from the temple and has a batarang pinned through his hand (batarangs aren’t supposed to be that sharp). And the kid, the kid is shivering, his arms wrapped around his knees as he pushes himself into the corner between the building’s wall and a dumpster. He’s wearing a ragged red hoodie and his face is far too gaunt to be healthy. Homeless, probably.

Another grunt pulls Dick’s gaze toward the third man, who Bruce is taking an unusually long time to subdue. Or—that can’t be right, because he already seems to be unconscious, not even moving as Bruce strikes him again and again. “Batman?” Dick asks hesitantly, stepping forward. Bruce doesn’t respond. He aims another strike at the criminal’s face and Dick hears a distinct crack. “B, I think you got him,” Dick says, his voice shaking ever-so-slightly. Another grunt. Another strike. This is wrong. The man is already unconscious. They’re supposed to tie him up and leave, why is Bruce still attacking him? “B!” Dick orders. “That’s enough!”

But nothing seems to be getting through. Bruce grabs the man’s shirt collar and slams him against the ground. His head bounces off the pavement, and all Dick can think of is that Bruce is going to kill this man, if he’s not already dead. Dick rushes forward and shoves Bruce in the shoulder as hard as he can. Bruce reacts instinctively, throwing a wild fist that Dick easily ducks, but now Batman’s standing up, and he’s not hitting the man anymore, so it’s—it’s okay.

Bruce freezes. “Dick—”

No names in the field. No names in the field. That’s all Dick can think of. Bruce is the stickler for that rule, but even Dick only ever breaks it when on rooftops, far away from the action. But here, in an alleyway in the middle of Gotham, with a witness…

Bruce is compromised. Dick knew it already, but not like this. He pictures Bruce’s fists pummeling the criminal again and again and feels…sick.

“What the hell was that?” Dick accuses.

“I didn’t mean—I didn’t see you. I didn’t know it was you.”

Dick laughs harshly. That’s what Bruce is focusing on? “Forget about me, what about him?”

Bruce tilts his head to look at the criminal lying on the ground. He swallows.

Dick kneels down and checks for a pulse. He finds one, thank god. Faint, but present. “He’s alive,” Dick reports. “But you could have killed him.”

Bruce just stares. Dick takes out the encrypted burner phone all of them carry and dials 911. Bruce watches silently as Dick says that an ambulance is needed. Dick throws a disgusted look at Bruce. Clearly he’s not going to be any help, and there’s still a terrified street kid to deal with. Thankfully, the kid looks too out of it to have heard Dick’s name, but if he’s still there when the ambulance arrives, he’ll get taken by CPP. And Dick knows that kids in Gotham often have a very good reason to avoid social workers.

“Hey,” Dick says softly, kneeling down a few feet away from the kid. The boy just shakes even harder. “I’m Nightwing.” Normally, he tells kids in Gotham that he works with Batman. But with what the kid just saw…Dick doesn’t even know if that’ll help him right now. “I fight the bad guys,” he says instead. The kid shifts, but looks at him with blank, blue eyes. Black hair, blue eyes, red hoodie…around ten to twelve years old…he looks like Jason, in his early days at Wayne Manor. “Can you tell me your name?”

The sound of sirens fills the air and suddenly, like a marionette, the kid jumps to his feet and takes off running. Dick doesn’t follow him. If the kid had the presence of mind to run, he probably has somewhere to go.

“Cave,” Dick says, voice hard. “Now.”

---

In the cave, Dick paces. Motion has always helped him think. But here, it doesn’t seem to be enough. What can Dick possibly say? Bruce was always the one who held him back, until Dick accepted the no-kill rule as part of his identity. But if Dick hadn’t gotten there in time…

A sick feeling churns in his gut. Batman wasn’t stopping. Batman would’ve killed that man.

If Dick wasn’t here, Bruce would be a murderer.

Dick gags and just barely holds down his light dinner. This is wrong. It isn’t supposed to be like this. This isn’t who Bruce is.

But maybe, this is who Bruce is now.

“You almost killed someone,” Dick says quietly, stopping to face Bruce, who stands over by Jason’s display case with his cowl off. Dick hates that damn thing. A GOOD SOLDIER. Like Jason was a soldier who died in a war. Like he made a choice to serve. Like he wasn’t a child in over his head who should have been protected by his family.

“You stopped me in time.”

“What if I wasn’t there?” Dick asks. Dick was trying to help, but…Bruce seemed to be improving. Just an hour ago, they were racing through Gotham. Dick thought he heard Bruce chuckle. How did everything change so fast? Will Dick ever be able to trust that Bruce is improving?

“But you were,” Bruce says, his voice filled with some emotion that Dick is too tired to name.

Dick was there, but he can’t always be, can he? Not all the time. He was willing to save Bruce from himself. He didn’t know he’d have to save Gotham from Bruce.

Dick steps forward and raises a hand to the glass display case. He looks at the costume, so similar to his own old circus leotard. These aren’t the clothes Jason died in. They aren’t burnt and tattered and stained with blood. It seems wrong, to remember Jason like this. With shining glass and a clean costume and a plaque.

But Dick can’t say he knew Jason well enough to decide on the right way to remember him.

“The kid looked like Jason.” Dick says it like a question, even though it isn’t one. “That’s why you were so…” Violent? That’s the understatement of the century. Batman’s always been violent, but he’s also always been kind, and that kindness was nowhere to be found in that alleyway.

“Yes,” Bruce says, and his voice shakes. Dick wants to pull him close and hug him, but he doesn’t think it would be appreciated right now. Dick’s not even sure if he could stomach it. This is Bruce, his mentor, his second father in every way that matters, but…but he just almost beat a man to death. His gauntlets are still bloody. “They were going to…”

“I know,” Dick interrupts before Bruce can continue. He places a hesitant hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Bruce, Jason wouldn’t…Jason wouldn’t want this.”

Bruce goes stiff and takes a step back, forcing Dick’s hand away. “Don’t talk about what Jason would want,” he says, voice cold.

“He wouldn’t,” Dick says. He knows…he knows that this is a surefire way to start a fight, but he needs to get through to Bruce. He needs the real Bruce back. “Jason believed in Robin, believed in Batman. He would want you to be the man he…the man he believed in.”

Bruce shakes his head. “You have no idea.”

Dick steps forward. “Then tell me.”

“Jason killed Felipe Garzonas.” What? Dick cycles through cases in his head, but he wasn’t particularly involved in Gotham during Jason’s time as Robin. He doesn’t know who that is. “He said the man slipped. I wasn’t sure at the time. I wanted to believe him. But he didn’t even try to make the story convincing.”

Dick closes his eyes. “Jason,” he whispers.

“Garzonas had diplomatic immunity. Much like the Joker did shortly after Jason’s death. He...he was a rapist. He tormented a woman until she hung herself. And Jason went after him alone. I arrived to see Garzonas hit the ground, after falling from the top of a building with a railing.”

“He said he didn’t,” Dick protests weakly. “Jason wouldn’t.”

“Don’t pretend to know what Jason would or wouldn’t do.”

That’s fair, Dick supposes. He still…he still struggles to wrap his head around the idea of Jason killing, Jason who proclaimed Robin to be magic. And Bruce doesn’t know for sure. But whether Jason pushed Garzonas or not, that doesn’t change what Dick saw in that alleyway. “You almost killed someone, Bruce. What would have happened if he hadn’t had a pulse?”

Bruce’s every muscle stills. “What would you have me do?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Bruce turns to face Dick, meeting his eyes. “If I had killed him, what would you say I do next?”

Why is Bruce asking Dick of all people? Batman doesn’t kill. (Neither does Robin.) It’s just how it is. Batman doesn’t. “Batman doesn’t kill,” Dick says. But that’s not an answer, is it? Bruce looks at him, like he’s waiting for more. This isn’t a situation Dick’s ever considered. He’s thought about what would happen if he failed. As Robin, he always figured Bruce would disown him, kick him out permanently and leave him to fend for himself. As Nightwing, he figured Bruce would put him to Arkham. “Batman doesn’t kill,” Dick repeats. “I don’t…what do you want me to say, Bruce?”

“Would you place me in Arkham?” Bruce asks. “I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t stop you.”

“No,” Dick says, before he can even think about it. Immediately, he wants to take it back. Of course he should put Batman in Arkham. If someone kills in Gotham, they’re a criminal, and if they wear a mask, they’re a Rogue. Bruce should berate him, tell him that Batman is no different, that if he kills, it’s Dick’s duty to stop him. But Bruce just watches Dick closely. Not like this is a test…like he genuinely wants to hear Dick’s answer. “I’d. I’d. I don’t know.” Maybe Bruce could throw Dick in Arkham. Probably could. But Dick doesn’t think he could do that to Bruce. “Batman doesn’t kill,” Dick repeats for a third time, clinging to it like a lifeline. He can feel tears welling up in his eyes. He turns around so that Bruce won’t see. “We don’t kill. It’s the first rule you taught me.”

“I know,” Bruce says quietly. “We don’t kill,” he agrees.

“I don’t think you should patrol right now.”

“Gotham needs me,” Bruce protests.

Dick turns around. “One week. I can handle Gotham for one week, and then you’ll be back out in the field. Okay?”

There’s a long silence, before Bruce eventually nods.

“Okay,” Dick says. “Pull yourself together, Grayson,” he mutters under his breath. It doesn’t help.

---

Fifty-six hours later, Dick wakes up from his third nightmare of the night. All he can see is Bruce’s body burnt and disfigured, bones clattering like a skeleton as he cries out again and again, “Why didn’t you save me?”Dick stumbles through the hallway, reaches Bruce’s door and, against his better instincts, opens it.

It doesn’t bring relief, though. All Dick can see are blankets, and that’s not enough. He shuffles over to the bed, wincing as the floorboards creak. And he can see Bruce, but his mind whispers insidiously. What if it’s an illusion? What if he’s not there? What if he’s dead? Tentatively, Dick raises a hand to touch Bruce’s face.

“Dick?” Bruce asks blearily, and Dick jumps back.

“I had to check,” Dick justifies.

“I’m here,” Bruce says. He raises a hand, slightly, letting it slip outside his blankets. Dick grabs the hand and holds it tight, fingers twisting around to feel Bruce’s heartbeat.

“You’re here,” Dick echoes.

---

On day four of Bruce’s forced break, the Joker, Killer Croc, and the Riddler break out of Arkham. Dick reluctantly admits that he needs help and tells Bruce that he’s back to being Batman.

“Are you sure, Dick?” Bruce asks quietly.

“I trust you,” Dick says. He doesn’t know if that’s a lie or not. Either way, it’s impossible to miss the flash of guilt on Bruce’s face. “We’ll stick together. No splitting off.”

Bruce nods. “Thank you, Dick.”

“Nothing to thank me for.”

Dick watches Bruce like a hawk. Although he hits perhaps a bit too hard, it’s nothing like the excessive violence Dick saw in that alleyway. Bruce is more reluctant to get hurt when Dick is watching, and Dick is sure to block the strikes that Bruce doesn’t avoid.

They finish patrol at 5:31 AM, battered and sore and exhausted, but Killer Croc has been returned to Arkham, and they have a lead on the Joker. That tunnel the graffiti kid mentioned may look clear now, but sooner or later, the Joker is liable to show up.

After one too many nightmares, they give up on boundaries. Dick humors Bruce’s first idea, which is to put cameras in their rooms to check on each other at night, but neither of them is satisfied that someone isn’t just looping the feed. When Dick finds himself checking on Bruce at four in the morning, Bruce mutters deliriously, “just stay, Dick.”

So Dick crawls next to him and falls asleep to the sound of Bruce’s heartbeat. He doesn’t have any more nightmares that night.

---

Donna calls. The Titans have been on another off-planet mission. She asks if Dick is coming back soon.

“I don’t know,” Dick says. “Bruce is…Bruce isn’t doing well.”

Dick can practically hear her purse her lips over the phone. Dick and Donna tell each other everything. “You’re living with him again?”

“Yeah,” Dick says. “Yeah, I…I am. Look, it’s really bad, Donna. I had to do something.”

“You don’t owe him anything.”

“I wanted to help him,” Dick says.

“Yeah,” Donna says. She sounds resigned. “Just…be careful, Dick. Please.”

“Always am.”

That’s a lie. They both know it.

---

The Joker returns to the tunnel that his henchmen set up. Along with him goes the Riddler.

Dick knows that with two villains, they’ll probably get split up. So when Bruce says that he’ll take the Joker and Dick will rescue the hostages playing one of the Riddler’s games, Dick holds out an escrima stick to stop him in his tracks.

“What?” Bruce growls.

“You get the hostages, B. I’ll deal with the Joker.”

“I don’t want you facing him alone.”

“Tough luck,” Dick says. Bruce may not be beating street-level thugs to near-death right now, but Dick doesn’t trust him against the Joker. Hell, Dick doesn’t even fully trust himself. “I can take care of myself.”

“Fine,” Bruce agrees reluctantly. Dick can see how difficult it is for the man, allowing Dick to face the Joker, and he’s grateful that Bruce manages to agree.

They split ways. Dick follows the tunnel, disarming booby traps until he finds the Joker perched atop a throne. Dick sighs.

“This ends here,” Dick says. “Whatever fucked-up scheme you concocted now, it’s over. I’d recommend you come quietly.” He bares his teeth. “Wouldn’t want to give me an excuse.”

The Joker doesn’t respond. Dick steps closer, wary of traps. Another step. Another step. Something’s off about the Joker. Something’s really off.

Another step. The Joker’s face has a waxy sheen.

Another step. That’s not just some bad makeup. That’s…

Dick spots the bomb strapped to the wax figure’s back.

“Fuck.”

His first instinct is to run, but a cave-in here could be disastrous. He tries to estimate the distance he travelled, and he guesses he’s right underneath the Narrows right now. And Dick does not trust Gotham tunnel inspectors.

Dick rushes forward. Two minutes on the clock. Only one bomb, as far as he can tell.

He makes quick work of it. A minute in, and the bomb’s disabled. Dick looks around. He must be missing something. A trap’s never just a trap, with the Joker. It’s never this easy.

Fear shoots through Dick. Of course. It’s not a trap for him. It’s a trap for Batman.

Dick takes off in the direction of the Riddler’s game, where he assumes the Joker will also be.

He arrives just in time to see the bullet hit.

Brain matter splatters all over his face, and Dick can’t breathe.

---

“Dick.”

Dick isn’t here. He isn’t. He isn’t here. Not here.

This is a nightmare.

Dick has had this nightmare before. He picks up a gun and shoots the Joker, and it feels good. Bruce picks up a gun and shoots himself. Bruce picks up a gun and shoots Jason. Bruce shoots the Joker. Bruce shoots the Joker. Bruce shoots the Joker.

“Batman doesn’t kill,” Dick whispers, but it’s a lie. It’s a fucking lie. Batman doesn’t kill, but Dick watched him shoot the Joker and he doesn’t even know how it happened. Just that the Joker’s head exploded and Bruce stared at him and then said, quietly, “I’m sorry, Dick,” and then everything went sort of fuzzy and—

His lips feel disconnected from his body. He wants to talk, to scream, to beg. To ask why. Why did Bruce do this? Bruce, who hates guns with his whole soul. Who sees the good in everyone. Who could never kill.

Was Dick just lying to himself this whole time? Pretending like he could help Bruce, like he was what Bruce needed, like he could stand in for the magic of Robin?

Cold water hits Dick’s face. It’s a decontamination shower. Why is he in a decontamination shower?

Blood runs out of his hair, flowing off his suit and swirling around the drain. Oh. That’s why.

The Joker is dead. Dick knows that, because Bruce checked for a pulse, face stony. Bruce killed the Joker. And Dick didn’t stop him.

Because Dick could have jumped in front of that bullet. There was a split-second, where he saw Bruce’s finger tense on the trigger. Where he knew what was going to happen. And he watched. He watched it happen.

The water turns off. Someone presses a towel into Dick’s hands. He just stares at it blankly, before sliding down to sit on the stone floor. He should change out of the Nightwing suit, probably. But it’s so difficult to even twitch one of his fingers. Bruce sits down a few feet away from him.

“You killed him,” Dick says eventually.

“Yes,” Bruce agrees. “I did.”

“Why?”

“He had a detonator. He was going to kill the hostages. And I didn’t know where you were—he might have. He might have killed you too.” Bruce wraps an arm around Dick’s shoulders. Dick feels empty inside. He should—he should feel revolted, shouldn’t he? This is a—this is a killer.

(But this is his father. This is Bruce.)

“You always find another way,” Dick says.

“I didn’t want to.” Bruce inhales deeply. “I’m sorry, Dick. I’m sorry that this happened. But I’m not sorry for what I did.”

Dick closes his eyes. He can smell blood, thick and metallic. Can practically taste it. But he also smells Bruce, and the unique scent of the Batcave, and—

How did it end up like this? Dick was supposed to help.

“I’m sorry,” he ends up whispering. “I failed you, Bruce. I’m so sorry.”

Bruce pulls him close. Dick can feel himself start to cry. He doesn’t deserve to cry. He’s just as responsible for this as Bruce. “You didn’t fail me,” Bruce promises.

“I did,” Dick mumbles. “I did, I failed you. I failed you.”

“Don’t say that,” Bruce tries to order, but Dick’s never been good at following orders. “You did not.”

Dick swallows. “You were always there to catch me and I…I let you fall.”

A hand runs through his hair. Dick lets himself rest against Bruce. They’re murderers, the both of them. Dick doesn’t want to pull away and find out what comes next. “Dick, look at me. Please.” Reluctantly, Dick opens his eyes to look up. “This is not your fault. This was my decision alone, and you couldn’t have…you couldn’t have stopped me.”

But Bruce doesn’t get it. It was his decision, but it was a decision Dick let him make. Dick knew Bruce shouldn’t be out in the field. He knew he shouldn’t split from Bruce when hunting down the Joker. He knew that Batman was violent and dangerous and unpredictable, but he couldn’t see past Bruce.

Dick still can’t see past Bruce. Because he should be fighting him and throwing him in containment, but he’s not, he’s not. He’s just letting Bruce hold him, comfort him, lie to him.

Suddenly, a horrible thought strikes Dick. It takes root in his stomach, and grows and grows and grows until he can’t ignore it. It makes too much sense. “This isn’t the first time,” Dick whispers, “is it?”

Bruce lowers his head. “No, Dick, it isn’t.”

Dick pushes himself away from Bruce and stands up. Bruce stays seated. “When?” He demands.

“Before you got here. I stopped caring. I only…I only realized he was dead after I left the scene. I went back, and there wasn’t any pulse. I didn’t mean to,” Bruce says, like that matters.

Dick doesn’t know what to say to that. “That’s why Alfred left, isn’t it?” Bruce nods. Dick tries to wipe the tears from his eyes. “I should take you to Arkham.”

“Okay,” Bruce says, resignation filling his voice.

“I need to stop you,” Dick says. “I—you’ve gone too far. You’ve broken all your own rules. I need to.”

Bruce just closes his eyes.

“Say something!” Dick shouts.

Bruce looks straight up at Dick. “I accept your judgement.”

“You’re supposed to fight me,” Dick screams. “You’re supposed to say you’re right, you’re supposed to tell me I’m wrong, you’re supposed to put me in a cell until I agree, you’re not supposed to just come quietly!”

“I’m not going to fight you.” Bruce swallows. “You’ve always been better than me, Dick.”

Dick laughs. “That’s why you let me come to the Manor, isn’t it? It’s not because you wanted me back. It’s because you wanted me to judge you! I was a fool for thinking I was welcome, wasn’t I?”

“No,” Bruce says. It’s finally something other than the quiet acceptance of before. Arguing feels right. “No, Dick. I…I wanted you to stay. It was selfish. I let you stay against my better judgement. I didn’t want you involved at all, to know about this. I wanted to spare you this burden. And I’m sorry that I couldn’t.”

Dick kneels down next to Bruce. “I don’t think I can put you in Arkham.” It’s true, and Dick hates himself for it.

“That’s okay, Dick,” Bruce says. “Should I turn myself in?”

Dick closes his eyes. “Don’t put this on me, Bruce. Don’t—don’t do that. Don’t make this my responsibility.”

“There’s always room for you in the League,” Bruce says softly. “You have Clark and Diana’s respect. And, of course, there’s Titans. If you can’t stay, if you can’t have any part in this, I understand.”

Dick shakes his head and settles so he’s leaning against the wall only inches away from Bruce. Bruce doesn’t reach out to him again. “I already have a part in this.”

“You don’t, Dick. I swear you don’t.”

“I should have been there,” Dick whispers. “I left you. I left you to grieve alone after Jason’s death. I knew I should’ve pushed. I knew I shouldn’t have left. I—”

“No,” Bruce says harshly. “No. I made you leave. You made the right decision. No one would blame you for leaving after that. The fact that—the fact that you came back at all is a miracle.”

And Dick can’t help himself. He reaches for Bruce’s wrist and twists his fingers around to feel the pulse. And it’s there, it’s there, strong. Alive.

“I understand, Dick, if you can’t follow me down this road. I understand if you need to stop me.”

“I can’t stop you,” Dick admits.

“That’s okay, Chum.”

Dick leans his head against Bruce���s shoulder. “I don’t want to leave.”

“Okay.”

“I know I should,” Dick says. Bruce doesn’t deny it. “I want to stay. I want you to live.”

“You will always be welcome here. Even if you decide you can’t be here anymore.”

“What would Jason think of us now?” Dick asks.

“I don’t know,” Bruce whispers.

Did Jason push Garzonas? Or did the rapist slip? Would Jason have approved of Bruce killing the Joker? Or would he see it as a betrayal?

Neither of them can ask him. Neither of them can turn back time, and neither of them can speak to the dead.

“What happens next?” Dick asks.

Bruce’s hand cards through Dick’s hair once more, slow and soothing. “We go on.”

#dick grayson #fanfiction #batman #batman fanfiction #dc fanfiction #dick grayson fanfiction #batfamily #batfam #dc comics #dc #dcu #fanfic

[itsjustafia]

If Ever I Was Running, It Was Towards You

Summary: Dick and Kory get a chance to talk when they find themselves back at Elko's.

Word Count: 4.9k

A/N: Felt like writing some dickkory angst + fluff. Takes place post 4x06. Also this is canon divergent. The Titans don't get blipped away after the fight in the temple...and Jinx lives (but that's not important).

Tags: @escapism-through-imagination @ambelle @meetmeunderthestarrynight @ambeauty @d-grayson58

This has been the longest day of his life. Prior to today, he would have said it was the day his parents died. The three minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive to the scene felt like hours had passed by alone. And everything else that happened after that felt like time was just standing still, prolonging the hurt he felt in his heart. Despite all of that, today is still the longest day of Dick’s life.

What started out as a small field trip to the asylum quickly turned into a brawl with zombies, Conner getting cursed, Gar risking his life by transforming into a virus, Rachel getting her powers back, and Kory being upset with him. To top it all off, the blood ritual was successful and now Sebastian is ready to bring on the end of the world.

But they all escaped the temple alive, thankfully. With Rachel’s powers back, she was able to heal Jinx and save her life. And Conner was only knocked out by a light spell as opposed to a curse this time. The both of them are currently recuperating in the med may. Dick uses that small positive as fuel to keep going. Because even with everything that’s already happened today, their true fight is only really beginning right now. And losing isn’t an option.

As Dick makes his way to the conference room he texts the rest of the team, telling them to meet him there. They need a plan and fast. There’s no telling what Mother Mayhem has in store next and he really doesn’t want to find out. But even with this threatening force looming over the world, his mind still drifts to Kory and the conversation (or disagreement) they had earlier.

He can still picture the disappointed look on her face right before she walked away from him. His chest feels tight just thinking about it. Hurting Kory’s feelings was never, and will never be, his intention. If he had known she was going to bring up the vision of the little girl he would’ve handled the situation with more tact. But alas, he ended up with his foot in his mouth instead. When things get better and they can all finally catch their breath, making things right with Kory will be his first priority.

Right now, though, Dick has a planet to save. When he enters the conference room, he can see that his family looks exactly how he feels – exhausted and a little defeated. Rachel and Gar are quietly sitting in a corner together, trying to get a bit of rest. While Tim and Bernard are at the opposite end of the room looking at something on an iPad. Everyone is accounted for except for Kory. The lack of her presence instantly fills Dick with worry. He knows they aren’t really on speaking terms right now but she wouldn’t ignore his text and skip a briefing. Especially with the situation they’re in. And he also doesn’t remember Kory having any injuries from their fight in the temple that she’d need to take care of first. So, where could she be?

“Any of you seen Kory?” Dick asks, looking at his teammates.

“We thought she was with you,” Gar answers.

Clearly, they don’t know why that’d be unlikely right now.

“No. Last time I saw her was when we got back. I sent the text in the group chat, so she should’ve gotten it like the rest of you.”

“I’ll check the cams to see if she’s on her way,” Bernard offers.

“You could always call her. Maybe she just didn’t get it,” Rachel suggests.

That option did cross his mind already. He’d like to make the call. It’s just that if he did, there’s a high probability of Kory ignoring it which wouldn’t solve their current dilemma.

“Can you do it?”

Rachel observes him then. And Dick can tell that she’s using her newly restored empath powers to try and read him. “Hey, did something happen?”

He’s spared an awkward explanation when Tim speaks up. “Hey, Rach? Did Kory park her car in the garage when you guys got back earlier?”

“Yea, she parked right next to the Porsche,” Rachel responds.

“Well, it’s gone.”

Dick’s legs immediately start moving, and he makes his way over to where Tim and Bernard are looking at the cams in about 4 brisk strides. Looking at the screen he confirms that Kory’s Oldsmobile is in fact missing from its parking spot.

“Her phone went straight to voicemail when I called. She turned it off,” Gar adds.

The hairs on the back of Dick’s neck instantly shoot up, and the headache that’s been assaulting his skull for the past hour only gets more intense. Where could she have gone? Why did she leave in the first place? Dick knows all too well about going off alone and taking matters into his own hands. It has never yielded good results. He hopes this isn’t what that is. He knows Kory’s been worried about this prophecy with the number of times she’s brought it up to him. And he knows he’s been difficult about listening. It’s just that he’s scared of what it all means. What he’ll lose if it comes true…

Dick pushes his spiraling train of thought to the back of his mind and pulls out his phone. He runs Kory’s license plate number into one of Bruce’s tracking software he has installed. Not even 10 seconds later and he’s found her.

“Looks like she’s heading midtown,” Dick announces, his voice laced with confusion.

Rachel quickly stands up from her seat then. “I think I know where she’s going.”

“Where?” Gar asks, standing up too.

“Elko’s.”

“Why would she go back there?” Dick asks.

“Before we were attacked by Mother Mayhem, Kory spoke to her mentor. A woman from Tamaran named Zadira. She wanted Kory to kill Sebastian. But Kory refused, obviously. She’s probably going back there to talk to her again.”

“So, is Kory safe with this woman? Should we be worried?” Because that’s all that matters to him.

“Well…yes and no…she did try to kill me but--” And that’s all Dick needs to hear before he’s bolting towards the door.

“Dick wait! What about us?” Tim asks.

"You’re staying here.”

"But if this woman’s dangerous, you’ll need backup, right?”

Dick understands how badly Tim wants to be a part of the action, to feel useful. But this simply isn’t the time.

“Dick will be fine on his own. Zadira is annoying as hell, but I don’t think she’s really an enemy. Especially if Kory is trusting her,” Rachel interjects. She can sense that Dick needs this time alone.

“We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone,” Gar adds, an assuring smile on his face.

Dick nods to the both of them, a silent thank you for understanding. He directs his attention back to Tim. “I won’t be long. Once Kory and I are back we’ll figure things out. Get some rest in the meantime.”

And then he’s out the door.

*☆*☆*

As she drives down the empty streets of Metropolis, she can’t help but glance up at the moon at every stop sign and stop light. The crimson sphere reminding her of how she messed up. How she missed her opportunity to stop all of this. Now guilt and fear gnaw at her conscience as she heads to the only place she can think of to get help.

Kory wonders how everything went so wrong so fast. Just a few days ago she was expressing how free she felt. How the burden she’d been carrying her entire life was finally lifted and she was looking forward to finally experiencing life her own way. But now she’s right back where she started. Bounded by destiny. All she wanted was a chance at freedom. Was that really too much to ask?

Even though she still feels hurt from their prior interaction, Kory wishes Dick were sitting beside her right now. Ever since Gotham, they’d become really good at confiding in and leaning on each other during these uncertain times. If he were here, he’d probably tell her that everything would be okay and they’d get through this. And she’d probably try to lighten the mood with a witty remark. The both of them feeling calmer afterwards. She yearns for that feeling at this moment.

But after what happened earlier, a part of her questions if they’ve actually made any progress when it comes to communicating at all. Sure, they could confide in each other when it came to their feelings about smaller issues. But what about the heavy, emotional stuff? Dick withheld such a huge secret from her. Something that pertains to the both of them and their futures. He said he didn’t know why he didn’t tell her, yet she could barely keep up with the ever-changing emotions on his face before he settled on that answer. He was once again holding back and she hated it.

Kory pushes all thoughts of the matter to the backburner when she turns into the parking lot at Elko’s. It’s closed this time around. All signs of life gone and everything dark, save for the establishment’s large illuminated logo.

She decides to use the back entrance for a more discreet break in. Thankfully, there’s only one security camera that’s facing the alley way rather than the door directly. And with the large hood of her cloak, she’ll be unidentifiable. When she reaches the door, she channels her blue energy to the fingertips of her right hand and places it on the security alarm. It deactivates immediately and she quietly makes her way to her destination.

The jukebox remains in its usual spot, only this time it’s turned off. Kory ignites her finger tips a second time, forming a pseudo flashlight to locate the plug. Once plugged back in, the box shines its usual array of colors. She says a quick small prayer to X’hal and then punches in her birth year, hoping that the one person she came to see will actually be here.

After a moment, she lowers her hood and turns to see Zadira sitting at the bar, pouring some sugar into her cup of coffee. Kory takes a deep breath readying herself for what she expects to be a long, and somewhat annoying, conversation.

“Zadira.”

“Koriand’r.”

“I’m going to assume you know what’s happened, so if we could skip to the part where you tell me how to fix this, it’d be much appreciated.”

“Is this how they apologize here on Earth?”

Yep, this was going to be annoying. But if she has to suck up for a little while to get what she wants then so be it. Luckily, having grown up as a royal and dealing with the politics of it all, she was used to playing this game.

Kory slowly approaches her mentor, a bit of reluctance in every step. Once she’s standing right in front of her, she places her right hand over her heart and bows her head.

“I apologize, Zadira. You were right about Sebastian and I was wrong to call you a liar. Please forgive me,” she offers in the sincerest voice.

Zadira sips her coffee and dramatically takes a moment to savor its warmth and taste; and it takes everything in Kory not to sigh and roll her eyes. Her mentor finally turns and stands, mimicking Kory’s stance.

“Apology accepted.”

“Thank you. Now, I really do need your help. My powers… how can I get strong enough to--”

“At this moment, I cannot help you.”

Kory stands up straight, her perfectly arched brows furrowing. “What? Why?”

“Your heart is troubled,” Zadira states matter-of-factly, also returning to a neutral stance.

“Well, the guy that I was trying to protect gave into his dark side thanks to his evil mother, and now the end of the world is pretty much imminent. So, yea, I’m not in the best mood,” Kory says, her patience already starting to wear.

“No, it’s not that. It’s something else. Or, rather, someone else.”

Kory’s face remains stern, avoiding giving Zadira any confirmation to her words. She had done enough meddling in Kory’s love life for one day, and engaging in another conversation about it was definitely out of the question.

“Remember your training, Koriand’r. Entering into battle with a clouded mind guarantees defeat,” Zadira continues.

“Are you going to help me or not?”

“I will… once you’ve resolved your issue.”

“I don’t have an issue!” Kory exclaims, her nice-guy act finally crumbling.

“Koriand’r, you cannot lie to me. I know you too well.”

“Look even if I had something to resolve, which I don’t, that’s not possible right now so--”

“Are you sure?”

Zadira turns her attention to the jukebox at the back of the room. Kory gives her mentor a quizzical look. But suddenly, a bright light shines from behind her and she looks back to see her “issue” manifested before her.

“Dick?” she asks incredulously.

“Kory. Are you ok?”

For a second, Kory wonders if she's dreaming. But then she quickly remembers the day she’s had so far; which has included encountering zombies, being ambushed by a literal witch, and seeing her daughter who has yet to be born. So, Dick’s presence here now really isn’t astonishing.

“How did you find me?”

“Well, Rachel said you might be here. And GPS confirmed that. Then some numbers on that jukebox started glowing, I pressed them and now I’m here,” Dick explains as he looks around, taking in the space.

She makes a mental note to have a talk with Rachel about the importance of confidentiality after this is all over with.

“Well, you can go. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Kory, we’re a team. Of course this concerns me. Plus, you almost got killed the last time you were here. So, whatever this is. Whatever you came here for, please let me help you.”

“The song said this was my fight. And I let Sebastian get away so I have to fix it.”

She knows she made the right decision not to kill Sebastian, and she’d make it again if given the chance. But she still couldn’t keep him safe. They were all counting on her and she failed. That’s what was eating her up.

“Kory, that wasn’t your fault.”

“I don’t expect you to understand, Dick. After all, prophecies aren’t your thing.”

Kory turns her attention back to Zadira, ignoring the slightly hurt look on Dick’s face.

“Look we don’t have a lot of time. The ritual is complete and we don’t know what that woman’s next move is. So please, tell me how I can stop the end of the world,” she pleads.

Her mentor simply places her hands behind her back. Which, through the decades of knowing and training with her, Kory knows to mean she’s not budging.

Kory lets out a frustrated sigh. Her tolerance level has finally reached zero.

“I’m so tired of people withholding things from me. I’m done! When you’re ready to stop this game of yours, let me know. Until then I’ll be in the kitchen.”

With that, she storms off leaving Dick and Zadira in the dining area together. Silence fills the room and Dick merely scratches the back of his neck, trying to figure out what to make of his current situation.

“A stubborn one, isn’t she? Likely one of the reasons you fancy her?”

Dick quickly looks up at her, taken aback by her words. He opens his mouth to respond but the Tamaranean interjects before he can.

“I will be back when you’ve made your peace,” Zadira says.

She swipes her hand in a circular motion, disappearing in a cloud of fire. And then he’s alone. He can hear Kory slamming cupboard doors, and moving dishes and cutlery around in the kitchen.

Dick drags his hand over his face, once again feeling the stress of the day. But he is grateful for a chance to fix things with Kory, one he otherwise wouldn’t have gotten so soon if they weren’t here now. Coincidentally, on the drive to the diner, he thought about some things he’d like to say to her when he had a moment to apologize. He takes a deep breath before he begins, hoping he says the right thing this time.

“Look, Kory I’m sorry about how I've been acting today. And for what I said about visions and destiny. I know how much that stuff means to you and how strongly you believe in them. So, I’m sorry for making you feel like what you believe in doesn’t matter. Because it does. Especially to me.”

The commotion coming from the kitchen lessens. She’s listening. So, he presses on.

“And I’m also sorry for not telling you about my own vision. It was a lot to take in at the time, along with the other stuff I saw in the pit. Plus, we were still trying to defeat Crane and save Gotham. The timing just wasn’t right…”

This time, Dick is met with complete silence. He’s about to call out for Kory but she emerges from the kitchen seconds later, a bowl of ice cream in hand. Leaning against the doorway, she takes a moment to look at him. And he watches her as she searches his eyes. He hopes that she sees sincerity in them, because he meant every word he said.

“If the time was right, would you have told me?” There’s no hostility in Kory’s voice. Just genuine curiosity. Despite being upset, she still wants to understand him. Something she’s always trying to do. He appreciates that about her. But he already knows the answer he has for her isn’t the right one.

“I know this is probably not what you want to hear…but, I don’t know. I’d like to think that I would have… but I really don’t know.”

There’s a flash of sadness on Kory’s face, but it quickly turns to mild irritation.

“You can just say it, you know.”

“Say what?” Dick asks, confused at her statement.

“That it didn’t mean anything to you. The vision, I mean. I’m a big girl, Dick. I can handle the truth.”

Dick instantly feels like the biggest idiot. He was already feeling that way, but even more so now that everything in his mind is clicking. This was never just about not telling Kory about his vision. Rather, what not telling her actually meant.

“Kory, that’s not what I’m saying--”

“You’re not really saying anything, Dick! You’ve been telling me that what I believe in matters to you. That it’s important. But what do you believe?”

He swallows hard and once again runs a hand over his face. She’s asking him to be vulnerable right now. To let her in. And Dick wants nothing more than to do that for her. But for some reason he’s second-guessing himself. He knows Kory won’t judge him. She never has. So why is this so hard for him?

Dick is startled out of his thoughts when Kory brushes past him. Her bowl of ice cream now partially melted and abandoned on the counter. He watches as she makes her way to the jukebox and starts pressing one of the buttons.

“What are you doing?”

Kory looks back him briefly. “Heading back to Star Labs. I’m wasting time here.”

He can’t help feel like a dagger’s been lodged in his heart. Is this him losing her before he even had her?

Dick remembers watching Bruce and Selina fall in love. And he also recalls their fallout. How Bruce never fully let her into his world. It hurt Selina deeply. The day she left Wayne Manor for good, Dick saw how heartbroken she looked, but also how confident she was in the decision to move on with her life. The one that got away.

And now as he looks at Kory, this moment feels all too similar. He’s already learned that being like his adoptive father has led him to dark places he never wants to go again. He is the son of John Grayson. A man whom Dick remembers in their short time together as thoughtful, caring and open. That’s who he wants to be too. Especially for Kory.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

Kory immediately stops fussing with the jukebox. Dick is thankful that he’s got her attention again. But she remains silent.

“It was in front of a jukebox similar to that one. I told you I needed to talk to you and you told me to take a number,” he says, a hint of laughter in his voice as he recalls the moment.

Kory can’t stop the corners of her lips from turning upward. That day feels so long ago to her, and yet like it just happened yesterday. They’ve both been through so much since then.

“That was the day my life changed,” Dick continues.

Kory finally turns around, her planned exit forgotten.

“Until that day, I thought I’d spend the rest of my life alone. And I was okay with that. Welcomed it, even. But then I met you and you made me realize that no one manages alone...Look, I wish I could say that destiny or some other force brought us together that day. Wish I could believe in the concept as wholeheartedly as you do. But the truth is I can’t. Because if I choose to believe in destiny in that instance, then I have to believe it in others.”

Kory’s head tilts to the side as she folds her arms over chest. She takes a step towards him.

“Dick, I’m not following…”

“My parents, Garth, Jericho, Donna…Kory, if destiny is real then that means I was meant to lose them all. I was meant to experience that grief and heartache to end up where I am today. I can’t accept that. And I like where I am, don’t get me wrong. Being with you and the kids, helping people. I wouldn’t change that for anything. It’s just…I don’t know…I just think our choices are what really brought us together.”

Kory is quiet again. Dick watches her and he can see the gears turning in her mind. She’s going over his words and trying to make sense of them. He knows he’s not great at expressing himself, but he hopes she can at least understand where he’s coming from.

After some silence that feels like eternity, Kory finally looks up at him and speaks.

“I get it,” she says.

“You do?” Dick asks, somewhat shocked.

“Yes. The pain you’ve experienced, you didn’t deserve that. Especially at such a young age. And it does make sense why you’d shy away from the idea of destiny because of it. So, yea, I get it…But Dick, that still doesn’t answer everything. And I know it must feel like I’m pestering you. I’m sorry for that. But I just need to know for my own peace of mind…The little girl. We both saw her. That has to mean something, right?”

And this is it. His final chance to make things right. Dick knows his answer here will determine how his relationship with Kory moves forward.

He takes a moment to think about the situation they’re in. Not the one pertaining to just the two of them, but the entire earth. He has no idea how it’ll all end. No one does, not even Rachel. But if the world fell to darkness tonight, he’d want Kory to know how he feels. How much he cares for her. Loves her. She deserves to know.

Dick walks towards Kory until they’re standing mere inches apart, and links her left hand with his right one.

“That little girl…she saved my life. When she showed up and handed me that balloon, I instantly knew that I had to keep fighting and make it out of that pit. I had to live. But seeing her didn’t make me realize I wanted a future with you--”

He hates the pained expression that emerges on Kory’s face. Even with only their hands linked, he sees and feels her entire body tense at his words and she starts to pull away. Dick quickly moves both his hands so that they’re grasping her elbows, grounding her in place.

“Let me finish. Please?” he pleads softly.

She initially hesitates, but then relents. Dick takes another deep breath before continuing.

“She didn’t make me realize I wanted a future with you because I already knew I did. Kory, I’ve loved you for a long time now. Way before my vision. And part of me has tried to push those feelings away and forget them. Partially because I don’t think I deserve you and also because I’m scared of messing what we already have up. But like I said before, you taught me that everybody in life needs someone. And for me that someone is you. I may not believe in destiny, but I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for you. And I can’t lie, that scares me. Because I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. But not having you in my life, not being with you…that’s even scarier. I want to be with you in all the ways that I’ve been dreaming of.”

Kory doesn’t realize she’s crying until she feels Dick’s left hand on her cheek wiping her tears away. She can’t remember the last time she was at a loss for words, but she’s definitely speechless right now. She opens and closes her mouth multiple times but she simply can’t find the words to respond to Dick’s declaration.

All she can manage is launching herself into his arms, wrapping her own arounds his neck tightly. He stumbles back a bit but quickly braces himself, reciprocating the hug with just as much intensity. Their two bodies fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.

Kory’s been waiting for this moment for so long. For the both of them to finally let their guards down and trust each other with their hearts. She knew that for a while they weren’t ready. That they both needed time to grow and deal with their messy pasts. But they’ve overcome that now. Things aren’t perfect, but they’ve both reached a place where they’re ready to offer and accept love. And it feels so good to finally be here.

After a minute or two, Kory finally pulls away far enough so she can look at Dick. She lowers her hands to his chest, fresh tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

“I love you too. All of you. Even the parts that drive me crazy. And you do deserve me,” she says pointing at his chest. “We both deserve each other and a future filled with happiness. I know that most people dream of having my former life. Being a royal, living in a castle, and being waited on hand and foot. But all I’ve ever dreamed of is being free. And that’s what I feel when I’m with you. Freedom.”

It’s Dick’s turn to get misty eyed. Kory’s words providing him with a joy he’s never felt before.

He reaches up to tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear; and gently glides his hand towards her cheek, caressing it. This is another moment in Dick’s life where time feels like it’s standing still. But for a good reason this time. The both of them gaze into each other's eyes, as if trying to convey all the love and adoration they have each other.

But Dick gives in first. He leans forward, closing the gap between them. Her lips are soft and sweet, hints of vanilla from her frozen dessert remaining. Warmth fills his chest as they draw each other closer, tightly pressing their bodies together. And they remain like that, trading tender kisses until they start to feel light-headed.

After they pull a part, they linger in the peaceful atmosphere as Kory lays her head on Dick’s shoulder. And he proceeds to gently rub circles into her back. That calmness she had been yearning for earlier filling her soul in abundance now.

“Didn’t think I’d be experiencing all of this today in a metaphysical diner,” Dick jokes.

Kory giggles into the crook of his neck. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I needed to get that all off my chest. I wanted you to know.”

“Me too.”

Not long after, their bubble of tranquility bursts when a familiar cloud of fire reappears. Kory turns her head to see Zadira with a triumphant smile on her face. If she wasn’t so happy, she’d be annoyed at her presence. But truly, nothing can ruin this moment for her.

“Issue resolved?” Zadira asks, clearly already knowing the answer.

Kory looks back at Dick again, giving him one of her bright signature smiles. He reciprocates with a soft grin. And all she wants to do is kiss him again. But alas, she knows it’s time to face this unprecedented reality. Even so, she’s more confident than ever because she has him by her side. And they’ll figure it out together.

“Issue resolved,” she answers.

“Then we have a world to save.”

#dickkory #dickkory fanfic #starfire #kory anders #koriand'r #dick grayson #nightwing #titans #titans season 4

[mzminola]

Had the thought “How would the Dynamic Duo of Batman!Dick and Robin!Stephanie have gone?” and immediately started tearing Preboot canon apart and rebuilding it like a LEGO set.

~

Firstly, we gotta make sure Damian isn’t getting sidelined, and for that I propose he and Tim are a team for BruceQuest. Have Damian’s yearning to get to know his dad outweigh his dislike/jealousy/etc of Tim, and highlight Tim’s canonical compassion and forgiving nature.

Either they both make new mantles for this, or they’re both color-coded Robins. Red Robin for Tim, since he’s using Kon’s colors, Green or Blue Robin for Damian (I like Green for he ties to his mom, but him trying to make his own version of the Nightwing suit in some attempt to outrank Tim and everyone calling him Blue Robin would be very funny).

Things start out tense, Damian is only listening to Tim because a) Tim will just have a Titan pick Damian up and drop him back off in Gotham if he’s too much trouble like he was during Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, and b) Tim is the only person who believes Bruce is alive and is cautiously keeping some of the methodology of proving it to himself at first.

In the original 2009 Red Robin comic, Tim repeatedly got sidetracked with hero work during his quest. Have that keep happening, and actually spend more time in that period than RR did, because it’s part of Damian’s growth. He starts out pissed at the delays and confused by Tim’s insistence on helping strangers. Tim gives some talks about the Bat philosophy and about why he keeps coming back to the hero life despite everything it’s taken from him.

Damian gets thanked by some of the people they rescue, and slowly shifts from pride in his fighting skills to pride in helping people. Eventually starts actively looking for people to help while they’re searching for artifacts. Tim is so flipping proud of him.

Sets us up for some big choices when the League of Assassins finally gets involved.

~

Okay, back to Stephanie, rewinding the comics even further:

1: Don’t kill off Arthur ‘Cluemaster’ Brown, we need him for later.

2: Tim & Steph never date because this is my LEGO set and I want more platonic boy-girl friend pairs in fiction, dang it. Bruce never tells Steph Tim’s identity and Tim is still keeping it secret. Rather than stalking Tim at school and seeing another girl kiss him, Stephanie and Tim are in the middle of an ongoing argument about secret identities when Jack discovers Tim is Robin and makes him step down.

Tim contacts Steph over the phone to let her know why Spoiler won’t be seeing him around, and that’s when she pulls what she did in canon of making her own Robin suit and volunteering with Batman.

Keep most of War Games, but nix the prolonged torture (because fuck that shit) in favor of quickly-gained but extensive injuries (she was tossed off a building? A building fell on her while she was saving someone?) so she really does need a long recovery period, complete with Dr. Thompkins taking her out of the country.

Honestly not sure if they should still fake her death. If yes, I think it should be Bruce’s idea.

This keeps Steph out of the way so we don’t need to rearrange the in-between canon too much, and potentially adds more fuel to the Keeping Secrets vs Not Keeping Secrets arguments.

The start of our big change for Stephanie’s arc is Violent Tendencies. Instead of agreeing to Bruce’s messed up plan, Stephanie is raring to atone for the lives destroyed back in War Games, and what do you know, some motherfucker just started another city wide gang war!

Spoiler works with Robin to stop Ulysses Armstrong. They never worked their shit out before she first left town, so it’s tense, and they fight, but they prioritize stopping the bad guys and bringing what peace is possible in Gotham.

Have repeated moments where Stephanie’s temper and instinct to argue almost messes things up, but she reins herself in to focus on butt-kicking and detective work. Have Tim notice this newer self-control, and have Steph notice changes in Tim, too.

At least one instance, preferably more, of Stephanie meeting someone who was hurt or lost a loved one in War Games, and wrestling with the fresh reminder of her guilt.

If we want to have a two-steps-forward, one-step-back situation, Tim gets caught in the blast of Armstrong’s bomb because after one of their fights, Stephanie stormed off in a temper, leaving Tim to deal with a two-person job on his own.

This sets up Stephanie second-guessing her decision to keep being a hero. If her own temper keeps getting in the way, should she really be doing this?

If we don’t want that, have it be that Tim takes the brunt of the blast because he threw Stephanie to safety or threw himself on top of her. Because that’s the kind of hero Tim is, because at this point in her arc Steph needs reassurance that her friend still cares about her despite her mistakes, and because it’s an example of heroism Stephanie needs to decide if she wants to copy or not.

Stephanie wants to be a hero.

Does she want to be the kind of hero who throws herself between another person and a bomb?

So either scenario, we set up for Stephanie to be doing some introspection when Bruce gets tossed into the timestream.

~

/points at the fried clone-corpse nearly everyone thinks is Bruce/ “Well he ain't gettin’ any deader!”

Tim calls up Cassandra during the whole Battle For The Cowl incident. She needs to wrap up an investigation, but comes back as soon as she can, which is when the dust has settled. Welcome back to Gotham, Batgirl!

(Cass is the Batgirl to both Tim & Steph’s Robin. She gets her own solo book back and has lots of interactions with Babs during this era.)

Not sure whose idea it is for Stephanie to be Robin again; Tim resigning himself to Dick not helping with BruceQuest? Dick acknowledging Batman needs a Robin and seeing Spoiler is struggling? Stephanie herself, volunteering for the second time?

Regardless, very early on, Arthur Brown gets out of jail or comes back to town and is being a Problem. Stephanie’s got a lot of anger, and Dick helps her deal with that. This is both an echo of Stephanie’s introduction, when she tried to kill her dad, and a way of bringing up Dick’s roots as Robin. He wanted to kill Tony Zucco, remember?

One former hot-headed Robin who’s learned how to find balance and prioritize justice over revenge helping the next generation do the same!

Meanwhile, Jason is also around being a Problem, providing straight up antagonism, but also a different opinion on how vigilantism in Gotham should work, so that Stephanie has multiple views to wrestle with.

Stephanie is a middle-class kid from the suburbs, who, as Jason put it to Tim when breaking into Titans Tower, “slept in a real bed”. But she’s also got a (recovering) drug-addict mother and a criminal father, providing points of commonality for Jason to work with. Remember his speech to Mia Dearden during the Green Arrow crossover?

Jason also plays on Stephanie’s guilt, talking about the fallout of the gang war she started, all of the ripple effects that kept going after the initial burst of violence was over. Describes some of his Under the Red Hood crime lord takeover work as “cleaning up your mess.”

Stephanie regrets everything about War Games, Dick is helping her do better going forward, whereas Jason’s argument is that she should have been more decisively violent at the start. It’s hard for all the mafia bosses to fight each other and get the little people caught up in it if the mafia bosses are dead.

During one altercation between Batman & Robin and the Red Hood, Jason punts Black Mask’s head to them and sarcastically says “You’re welcome.”

Arthur’s current criminal enterprise should directly affect Stephanie’s life in some negative way, so that all of this is fresh, not a It’s In The Past situation, and also be endangering civilians’ lives.

This arc has a big climatic scene of Dick being restrained while Jason gives Stephanie the chance to kill her dad.

(We know she’s not gonna, because she’s the Robin in Batman & Robin, but it should be as suspenseful as we can make it.)

~

Meanwhile over in BruceQuest, Tim & Damian are bonding over being raised with high expectations, and confusing relationships with one’s parents. Tim finally allowing himself to think & say negative things about Jack in order to help Damian grapple with his own upbringing? Heck yes.

Damian & Tim & the crushing weight of family legacies & parental expectations!

Tim being allowed by the narrative to be a big brother to Damian like Dick was to Tim!

Damian coming to see Tim as his brother despite his upbringing focusing on blood, and expressing remorse for the introductory murder attempt!

Ra’s trying to pit them against each other and getting his ass kicked!

Tim standing up to Bruce about his toxic habits once they rescue him because Tim refuses to let Damian go through the same crap he did!

~

Since dads are a big thing for both of the above arcs, we could go for three and bring back David Cain for Cass to deal with. Or keep him away, but bring him up in Cass & Steph’s shared scenes. They bonded over having terrible dads in Batgirl 2000, we can have callbacks.

Tim was sending progress reports back to Gotham during BruceQuest (because whether he left on good or bad terms, he wants the Bats to know what’s going on in case something happens to him and the ten year old he’s in charge of needs a rescue).

Once a week Cass makes popcorn and Babs reads the reports aloud. They make bingo cards for What Crazy Shit The Boys Got Up To This Week. When Tim gets home he makes bingo cards about Batgirl & Oracle’s shenanigans (while stealing some of theirs for his scrapbook). Stephanie demands Batman & Robin bingo cards too, and we discover Babs actually made some years ago when Dick was still Robin.

~

There are a lot of different ways who has what mantle could shake out once these arcs are over (in the very short time before the universe reset) but instead of getting into that I’m just going to imagine everyone reunited & hugging.

#fic ideas #or rather canon rewrite ideas #Stephanie Brown #Damian Wayne #Tim Drake #with appearances by Dick and Babs and Cass and Jason #yes the War Games arc is terrible but this is a rewrite of the AFTERMATH so it's staying #but slightly modified #Robin #Robin Stephanie #Batgirl Cassandra #Tim and Damian being brothers #Batman Dick #DC #Batfam

[weekend-conspiracy-theorist]

ngl though, my personal ideal reverse robins scenario (circa bruce in the timestream era) is batman cass with robin dick--if you want to mirror the initial "bruce isn't thrilled about the new child in his house" dynamic on damian's arrival, cass is the one at the circus that night. but she doesn't watch the graysons die--she watches their son watch them die, sees and feels his grief as viscerally as her own, and swoops into action as black bat... and brings a child home with her. she's always been his batman 🥺 ANYWAY the two of them together as a batman-robin duo is insane. two extreme prodigies with preternatural control and understanding of their bodies, their team up moves would be bonkers. I think dick would idolize cass to extremes but struggle with how she just shuts him down regarding his desire for vengeance on his parents' killer rather than really talking him through it.

damian is and stays nightwing when bruce dies, obviously, although while not quite "battle of the cowl" levels he and cass definitely have a knock down drag out verbal argument about it. so he spends a lot of this era sulking in blüdhaven and working with the titans, who include jon kent, yara flor, and irey west. (how is irey here when her dad is a little baby like dick? idk, speedster timestream shenanigans. bart's furious at her for stealing his future time traveller schtick. or maybe the speedster for damian's era could be avery or ace instead? actually yeah, reversing age on the two wallaces makes much more sense lol. anyway.)

duke upgrades from robin to signal and goes haring off across the globe to track bruce through the timestream (possibly taking spoiler!jason with him?). he (and the rest of the robin gang) had taken up the cause in the wake of steph's (and tim's, more on that later) death, when bruce is spiralling and gotham still needs a light ✨ they're so determined that even getting on batman's badside can't stop them, and finally they wear him down. duke (who knows bruce wayne is batman) is the one bruce thinks of as robin, but riko izzy and the gang are still around. (then jason shows up in purple, and he's inducted into the gang for months before bruce finds out there's ANOTHER teenage vigilante running around.)

tim is an oracle equivalent, but this is the one identity I would actually change the name of; I don't know what I would make it, but oracle specifically is deeply connected to babs for me and I'd like to leave it open for her to take up later. (robin IS deeply connected to dick but it's also been given connections to some of the other robins over the years, so I don't think it's unreasonable to keep it in an au like this, especially for how iconic it is. dick of course still gets a really heartbreaking scene connecting this new hero name back to his mother's nickname for him.) (batgirl is open at this point in and time and babs does hit the streets first on her own and then taken under cass's wing while bruce is dead, obviously.) tim doesn't have babs's talent and ability for being a living information nexus but he does have the tech knowledge and the tactical knowledge to still take on a ~big brother~ style hero persona and run a team a la the birds of prey (I would also not actually make them BoP; I would pull the rest of core four young justice + others he pulls in for various jobs); tim's number one advantage as a hero has always been network building and so I would play off that as much as his tech skill. a la steph's faked death in canon, tim's civilian persona is fake dead in this au, and I lean towards making tim an amputee rather than parapalegic, to facilitate interesting conversations between him and babs down the line after she's paralyzed, about what it means to be a disabled hero and how their situations compare and differ.

when steph gets resurrected and eventually takes on the red hood persona, she doesn't know tim is actually alive, because that's juicy. and extra fodder in her vendetta against bruce. tim starts working with the red hood before either him or steph knows who the other is. yes, they have a weird agressive flirtation going on. yes, it only gets worse once they find out. (yes, tim blows up at bruce when he finds out bruce has known/suspected the red hood's identity for a while.) yes, duke, jason, and dick fucking hate working with the two of them because it's super embarassing to listen to their older brother flirt with a mass murderer.

oh, and I'd make charlie gage-radcliffe the bette kane bat-girl equivalent who's like, relatively removed from all of this but also knew and worked with damian when he was a baby robin and has all of the good dirt and they lowkey hate each other but in a, like, frenemies way

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Got some more! :D probably be it until a few days

1: as seen in Nightwing: a new order, Jake had a voltron robot in his room, most likely Dick introduced him to it, do you think dick showed him more of his childhood like how some parents do?

2: since Jake is a fan of basketball both fanon & canon, does he look up basketball stuff? I bet he likes the first space jam movie ;)

3: does the starburst duo like horror movies? If not, what’s their favorite costume to wear on Halloween?

4: if they can dye their hair what colors would they be?

5: when they are older, what would their favorite nostalgic moment between the two of them?

6: what’s their favorite superheroes? both in universe and maybe some heroes from different superhero comics.

7: does Chris have a crush on mar’i when they are older? I can totally see Jake and Chris becoming brother in laws

1. Oh very much he would. It’ll be all the works of what Dick grew up with as a kid. It further contributes to all those times of people, both Titans and Batfam, can look at those just once and make a remark about the Family Resemblance. All that’s missing is that Jake having blue eyes like Dick’s and as Dinah Lance once put it “It’s like Dick somehow became younger while we all got older”

2. Yes he would. Whether it be entire history articles about how the major league teams came to be, the records being held up, etc, It fills up his search engines on all of his devices like there’s no tomorrow. He would also like that movie, whether basketball related or not, at least for the sheer novelty of it, having a good laugh at its plot and select moments of it alongside his friends and loved ones on some movie nights.

3. They want to like them and they’re fascinated by them….the issue lies in the factor that no matter how much they’ve trained and seen all sort of actual in universe terrors throughout basically all their lives, one too many splattering moments and jump scares are enough to send them scurrying straight to their respective parents’ rooms.

As for their preferred costumes on All Hallow’s Eve; Chris designed a custom built rubber monster suit akin to all those Japanese monster movies Conner showed him once. His in particular is very influenced by Godzilla, only instead of dorsal plates and iguanodon arms, his monster design has a frill, velociraptor arms along with toe claws and Carnotaurus horns. Then there’s Jake who basically design a Pokémon trainer outfit with his superhero colors (Basically a Discowing colored version of say Red or even Satoshi/Ash)

4. As once suggested not too long ago by a friend of mine, @spider-jaysart , Chris would have a black streak in otherwise brown hair whilst Jake’s streak in turn would have a red one.

5. Maybe one of the favorite moments they look back in the most would be the time they performed as part of the band (Chris on Bass and Jake on Drums) for Bludhaven Academy’s Last Day of School Dance along with Thara and Meredith (who which they played Rhythm and Leas Guitar respectively) in front of all of those classmates, their parents, staff members, all the while not cracking under the pressure. They still keep photos of that performance and their band group shots in their albums to the very day

6. For the both of them in universe, they both agree on Superman being a strong favorite for many obvious reasons. As for other heroes besides the Big Blue Boyscout, Jake more or less bases his entire hero work on Robins from the past, primarily his Father and (the still current one in my personal preference though I digress) Uncle Tim. For Chris, he also looks up very greatly to Tim Drake as Robin and the only other hero that can come close to that appeal for him would be either Shazam (Billy) or Cyborg.

As for other heroes which aren’t native to the DCU, there’s principally two mains for the both of them: Invincible aka Mark Grayson and Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man

7. Actually (and apologies if I end up disappointing you my friend, sincerely) but Chris Kent and Mar’i Grayson are an example of two friends, boy and girl, that don’t end up in a romance between them. For one thing, Chris is already crushing the aforementioned Thara Ak-Var (Long story Incredibly short, she’s much younger here as Chris’ contemporary, New Krypton coexists and she’s an exchange student at Chris and Jon’s school) while Mar’I, if she lands at date at all, would be with someone outside of the Graysons’ social circle, as in not within any one of the superhero community whatsoever, much to Dick’s overprotective nature of course. In fact, Mar’i actually helps Chris with his strategies for getting closer to Thara.

I how these answers are to your liking @gothicghost2000 . They’re really fun to do. If you have any questions, suggestions or otherwise, reblogging and/or replying would be greatly appreciated.

#chris kent #jake grayson #dick grayson #mari grayson #tim drake #clark kent #halloween #thara ak var #billy batson #victor stone #mark grayson #invincible #peter parker #starburst duo #meredith robinson

[wesavegotham]

@fancyfade and I talked about DC's habit of publishing stories that make Bruce look like a bad father, but them also not really wanting to commit to it and openly blame him, which often leads to weird victim-blaming, non-apologies and sometimes nonsensical retcons to save Bruce's reputation later on.

And I imagine that it put the writers in a very difficult situation when editorial told them to create this very long storyline that was supposed to end with Damian becoming the main villain for 5G. They started this with Justice League: No Justice and the Adam Glass' Teen Titans run in summer/autumn 2018, but Death Metal would only pave the way for 5G in early 2021.

Meaning this wouldn't be a fast fall from grace, but more like tumbling down a very long staircase for over two years.

Batman being too busy to grasp the gravity of the situation and thus blamelessly fail to intervene might have been plausible for one or two short arcs of Damian becoming evil, but this was way too long. They had to acknowledge the conflict eventually, but they also couldn't have Bruce prevent Damian from seperating from the batfamily to turn into a villain.

So they seemed to have settled on "Bruce is in fact concerned about Damian's estrangement from him, but he's also too busy and emotionally constipated to ever actually get off his ass and properly communicate with his son."

It's probably one of the few things in this mess of a storyline that DC has managed to keep somewhat consistent:

Damian and Bruce had an off-panel fight in Justice League: No Justice #4 that seems to have ended with Damian seperating from Bruce to found a new Teen Titans team. Bruce's words indicate that instead of trying to stop his son he has decided to accept this seperation for now.

Damian briefly returns to Wayne Manor in Teen Titans #26 to hack the batcomputer and runs into Alfred who claims that Bruce is concerned for Damian. But it also voluntarily or involuntarily highlights the discrepancy in Bruce's behaviour. He seems to say that he's worried about Damian, but then never acts on that worry. He's not doing anything to resolve their problems. He only shows up about 20 issues later when it's far too late.

Bruce's reluctance to stop this from escalating becomes even more apparent in Detective Comics #996 when Bruce asks Damian to talk and make up, to which Damian agrees.

Too bad it's only part of a simulation:

and while Damian was in fact present at Wayne Manor Bruce chose not to follow the desire to fix his relationship with Damian that he expressed in the simulation and rather chooses to talk about Gotham's crime rate before meeting up with Leslie Thompson to celebrate his birthday with her and Alfred.

Bruce similarly deflects Damian's accusation of showing more care for strange children than him by proclaiming that the city needs him and then guilt-tripping Damian by reminding him of the teenager Bruce wants Damian to look for because he was already busy fighting a gang and didn't have the time to do it himself in Detective Comics #1017.

This, well, let's call it a refusal to face their problems continues in Pennyworth RIP when Damian leaves the wake in tears and Barbara explicitly demands from Bruce to go after Damian. Which he doesn't do and Tim is apparently more interested in telling his Alfred story than in convincing Bruce to get off his ass to comfort a crying child that blames himself thinking he got their beloved grandfather killed.

Bruce's problems with opening his mouth to talk things out with Damian before it's too late might have turned out less catastrophic if Damian wasn't equally emotionally constipated. But Bruce is supposed to be the adult in this relationship and with Alfred dead and Dick calling himself Ric there was nobody to talk with Damian for him anymore.

It took Damian killing Brother Blood (and planning to kill even more) and thus DC completing their destruction of Damian as a hero for DC to allow Bruce to step in since now the worst had already happened:

Of course DC had to make it clear that our world's greatest detective Batman had somehow no clue what brought Damian to do all of this.

Then, still not willing to open his mouth to calm Damian down, Bruce seemed to think that hugging it out with Damian while he went through an episode of murderous rage was somehow a good idea.

Which it wasn't. Who would have thought. But it's enough effort so DC can claim Bruce tried, right?

Bruce even proclaims his love for his son and admits he failed him! Which would have been more believable had this desaster lead to a change in behaviour.

Instead the arc ends with Damian quitting and walking away into a dark alley and Bruce also having already vanished.

DC could have shown us that Bruce learned from his mistakes, but chose not to because they didn't actually want Damian to come back home.

Seriously, Jon:

and even Jason (!) went out to look for Damian:

Bruce...did nothing and waited. Again. I really don't understand why DC thought it was a good idea to make that a recurring trait for Bruce in recent years. Yes, neglect also counts as child abuse, not getting involved doesn't absolve Bruce of blame, DC🤦‍♀️

Like, he canonically sat on ass, probably for several weeks after Damian killed a villain and all the other stuff, thinking Damian would return home and ask for his job back on his own. As if Damian's pride and insecurity would allow him to do that. Of course he chose a more roundabout way to get in contact again🥴

Bruce didn't really seem that eager to see Damian again though and chose to repeatedly postpone looking for him to deal with other things. Again.

Anyway, at the end of the arc Bruce it finally seemed to come to Bruce's attention that it's actually possible to follow someone after they walk away from you:

But of course DC can't end this storyline nobody liked here, so Bruce forgets that lesson two pages later.

Instead Bruce decided to wait until Damian was gone again to...finally make an effort to search for him?

And it only took us almost three years to reach this point!

Anyway, we don't see them meet until one year later in our time, when they ran into each other again in Shadow War Alpha:

But when Ra's was killed Bruce at first couldn't open his mouth to talk:

...and when he did he put his foot in his mouth:

How many times has Bruce let Damian walk away from him at this point? You could make a drinking game out of this.

As I've talked about before, this apology scene could have been good...if they didn't feel the need to retcon the events of City of Bane to make it sound like it was Damian's fault even while Bruce puts the blame on himself.

But we could have moved on. We could have had them back as Batman and Robin!

Damn, I hit tumblr's picture limit. Anyway, we could have moved on! No more Bruce doing nothing while Damian's character gets written badly on purpose! No more Damian walking away while Bruce just stands there! No more punching each other!

But no! They needed to annouce a book called Batman vs Robin! With 100+ variant covers showing them punching each other! Bruce insulting Damian! Damian as one of the antagonists! Potentially partially to blame for a global crisis if Waid doesn't give us a twist! Amazing!

Fucking shoot me, I can't do this anymore.

#damian wayne #bruce wayne

[misstergrayson]

31 Days Of Dick Grayson

🦋☀️🦋

28. What if Dick had adopted Jason Todd instead of Bruce?

Flamebird

I definitely can see Jason becoming Flamebird to Dick Grayson’s Nightwing, I mean there’s not another moniker that would really fit to seal them up as a duo, and he’d succeed Jimmy Olsen and Bette Kane with the mantle. Though it might be awkward Dick Grayson having a teen kid Donna has a tween, so I figure they will just give them more a brotherly relationship anyway, but years down the line retcon if as more father and son, like they did with Dick and Bruce. So Jason is probably gonna get aged down.

He’ll keep his hair red because he only died it for his role as Robin, and he’ll be a generally unlikeable curly haired redhead sidekick with red and yellow themes. Danny Chase would probs never happen, and instead Jason would become a more permanent member but take on Danny’s role since he’s so young. As a new Titans roster starts, he’ll get aged down like Rose and join the likes of Ravager, Impulse, Damage, and Green Lantern.

He’ll probably be the one who’s later retconned onto a team with impulse, superboy, and Wonder Girl instead of Tim, because at this point Tim’s origin story would never happen, although Damian still will because of Talia’s pregnancy and kingdom come. I honestly don’t know if Bruce would take on another Robin, but I think after Barb getting shot by the joker they would include a whole new set of characters to join Batman in his stories because at this point he’s working alone too long.

Jason was never well liked, and I think making him Flamebird instead will still lead to his death, writers will want Dick Grayson to move on with his life and be young, find love, and take on new adventures, so they’d trash him like every other Titan’s child. Garth and his daughter, Donna Troy and Robert Long husband and stepdaughter, Roy Harper and Lian Harper, Wally West and Jai and Irey West.

Since Jason had a costume though, and since Jason came before Danny those two things would set him on a certain path. DC comics kills off babies and children because superheroes having families outside of costumes forces them to have a mundane and nuclear side to the story, and erases thousands of possibilities for their hero. Writing them in is fun and exciting, but they all meet their doom. However, Jason would die in costume, and he’s therefore apart of the mantles history. He’s going to be brought back because his return can be a major plot point.

Second, Jason would take away the role Marv Wolfman wanted for the Titans, Danny Chase, since he appears and even joins the team as Robin before him, as the redheaded fanboy nerd running tech. So like Danny Chase, they would plan out his life according to Danny’s, the Titans would find he actually faked his death and became the Phantasm, then died for real as a villain.

Yet, just like Danny Chase and the other Flamebirds, Bette and Jimmy as Flamebird, he’d probably never make another REAL appearance in the 2000s, fade to obscurity, and become a “what! That actually happened!?!?” Story Like Donna Troy’s stepdaughter and the REAL second robin Lance Bruner.

It’s funny though, no matter what happens he’s still a little kid that dies a hero cause no one likes him, only to be reincarnated as a villain. Poetically Jason would live to be what he’s always loved: a Greek tragedy

#nightwing #dick grayson #31DOD #🦋☀️🦋 #jason todd #red hood

[redjaybathood]

To elaborate on that reblog. Do I have an issue with Titans as a team? Or Young Justice? Fuck no. Kids, teens, get together and save the world, stop the bad guys. It's the shit. Where's the Justice League? I don't care, they're losers.

Bruce picking up Jason when Dick left him, and offering him to become Robin; Tim having to volunteer when he realizes that Dick doesn't want his old job back, but someone needs to do it bc Bruce is going off the rails; Tim quitting because of his dad and Bruce drafting Steph instead - and yeah, she's already been a hero in her own right but Batman doesn't offer to mentor her, supply her with armor, protect her when she needs backup, at any point before or after, he's replacing Tim with her; Bruce firing her like it's a fucking job, but if it's a job, where's hazard pay? Any kind of pay? Child labor laws? Basic fucking respect for a colleague? Then Steph dies, and it's just Tim and the cycle continues again with Damian and Duke. At no point he stops and thinks, hell, if 50% of the kids I am supposedly making safer by partnering with them, die, maybe... It's not as safe as all that.

At least, at no point that he actually makes any change.

However, if you tell me that it's fiction, why so serious? Why bring real life into it? But I'm just working on the conditions set by Universe. Every second Robin dying is the reality for Gotham.

And also, what pisses me off, is how it's very convenient to treat some things (like, can a vigilante or a hero use the deadly force?) but not the others. Like. You know how many meta I've seen making Jason out to be predatory for having Scarlet fill his sidekick role and saying zero on Batman and Robins, when firstly, he's literally mentally unwell at the time, and a villain, whereas Bruce is supposed to be stable and a hero. Plus, if Robins are willing, then what about Sasha? She wasn't? If you call Jason predatory for this, you need to acknowledge that Bruce is repeat offender. Moreover, Dick is, too; secondly, at the very fucking least he did keep her safe and at the end she got money and ability to leave Gotham, because he realized how shitty a life that was for a kid.

People use Jason and Gen O storyline as evidence that Jason didn't care about kids. And, you know, that arc was a shit writing. I ranted how Jason should not be allowed to raise kids, he's bad at parenting. And that's true. But he didn't recruit them, he literally was blackmailed into it by Luthor, and if he didn't become their mentor, someone else would.

But you know what he didn't do in that arc? Hit a kid and then blame him for it. Or showed them what it is, actually, totally okay to go overboard with a criminal if you personally don't like them, and then, when a kid does the same at another occasion, turn around and blame them. He also never verbally dressed them down or made feel like shit, like they don't belong. He didn't do a lot of shitty things that Bruce did. And never, at any point, his mental issues were taken out on them, or him using the kids to cope.

#cleaning up my drafts #i have no idea what's this referring to #but my point still stands

[egglantine23]

DC Titans Part 3

ok so at this point there is a Titans A plot and a very small B plot. the A plot is about the whole team like a brother blood and hive storyline like in the animated tv show. and a Red Hood B plot that starts later in the season and its mostly about Dick, Jason and Tim.

so first change is that when Jason comes back he isn't himself the pit has changed him practically erasing any happy memories from his life so he is somewhere in-between a puppet and a rage filled mess.  second change we have a time skip of around a year because i need batman to in six mouths swear off any new Robins, meet Tim drake(I'm keeping his comics origin), and then have Tim convince Bruce that he needs a Robin, and finale be Robin for around six months.

Titans are now in I think its Jump city like the animated tv show. and the team is tracking down brother blood, Blah blah blah you get the idea. the Red Hood emerges and he attacks Tim causing Bruce to send him to the Titans for his own safety. so the Red Hood stuff happens more in the background of the show with small updates from Bruce, Alfred, and Babs. 

most of the crazy violent stuff that Red Hood does in the show is done by Blood and his group instead, including killing Hank. now we reach where the Red Hood become relevant, he’s had his under the red hood moment and is starting to calm down. we get scenes of him helping street kids, stopping crime, and there is even a sweet reunion between Saoirse and Jason. 

Babs told Saoirse that Jason was alive as soon as she found out.

As Jason calms down Dick decides he needs to talk to Jason about attacking Tim. and there is some closure for Jason and the red hood character. this brings the Batfam to a more cameo/comedic area for the rest of the show. 

for example the titans are breaking into a tech based villains lair being all serious and quiet. when suddenly spoiler(Steph) and robin(Tim) are there with a shopping cart and a list, Steph is absolutely roasting this villain and Tim is acting like a kid in a candy store with all of this stuff.

or

the Batfam hacking into the Titans coms so that Dick can settle a bet in the middle of a fight. The other titans are like what the hell but Dick just answers them and its like “no, Jay is right Tim, the Penguin didn't get plastic surgery, his nose is just like that.”, Jason ”HAHA! See I told you!”, Tim “Oh come on! Thanks a lot Dick!”.

Just the possibilities are endless

#titans #titans jason todd #titans!verse #titans!jason todd #titans au #dc comcis #dc au #jason todd #tim drake #dick grayson #Batfam au #stephanie brown #spoiler dc

[roobylavender]

hello!! :3

you’ve said how much you really dislike the bruce wayne portrayed nowadays in comics and just in general, cold and unfeeling, but what are your thoughts on how tim drake is shown in fandom (specifically fics?) and could you summarize him in a ‘few’ words(or more👀)? because going back and forth between comics and fic, there seems to be some sort of extreme contrast going on😭

how i feel about tim, in more than a few words (copy pasted from some other asks lol i hope that's okay!):

tim is someone who should never become batman. tim enters the scene when bruce is arguably at his worst: in the wake of jason's death. he emerges out of a lonely childhood where his time was spent following the adventures of batman and robin, so he grows up understanding and aspiring to the ideal. he feels the weight of the symbol and what it means for this city. he knows what has to happen when the symbol's foundations threaten to crumble. he has to find robin. he has to bring batman and robin back together. he has to preserve the ideal. and although dick refuses to return to his childhood mantle, tim somehow ends up in the dead robin's shoes instead, not only trying to preserve the ideal he believes to be so important, but also trying not to be stifled under the weight of jason's death. he more or less begins to operate on autopilot. he lives and breathes robin. he does whatever he believes it is that he has to do to keep the machine running, bc without the machine, gotham dies, and gotham can't die. tim is an amalgamation of bruce's worst autopilot tendencies and coping mechanisms. he's a ticking time bomb waiting to happen, and he's only sixteen years old, and it's brutal

what i love about tim so much despite his solo run being one of the worst reading experiences of my life is he's so obv a teenager. like that sounds stupid but i love seeing him have really warped idealistic notions that are sort of beaten into the ground and him getting angry and him being bad with relationships like he's a Disaster and obv so much of dixon's fixation on straight white males living in suburbia contributes to making him feel not all that unique as a character but i somehow still manage to find him endearing bc it feels like a realistic reaction to being in that position and being that age. with dick's era his robin tenure was a bit idealized and then with jason it was so short but tim gets the full display and trivial repercussions of the circumstances and for all of my qualms with dixon i do think it's an interesting exploration into how this isn't an ideal field for a teenager and navigating it is actually difficult and incredibly debilitating despite all of your hopes and dreams for it to be something meaningful

what makes me love him as a character the most though is definitely young justice bc it grounds and humbles him in a way new teen titans fails to with dick. dick is very much an intimidating force within the titans and even if he loves all of them deeply like family they'll rarely stand up to him or believe themselves to be as capable as him bc of how the narrative is written. but i love that young justice allows the other members of the team to regularly push back and stand on equal footing with tim and that it molds him into a good leader and friend even if there are drawbacks in the sense that losing people he loves near irreparably devastates him bc he grounds his entire world in his friends. tim is bossy and at times obv very arrogant but none of the members really bothers to take his bullshit and gives as much as they get from him in the first place even if they have a certain respect for him, and that's very refreshing to read

wrt fanon i feel like i'm lucky in that i haven't really come across much of it so i don't have a concrete idea of what it's actually like. tim is oddly enough the robin whose writing i have the least amount of problems with bc up until the point where i stopped engaging with batman canon i was pretty much satisfied with how he was written: an idealistic teenager steadily being driven into developing a more realistic picture of the work that he does and maybe teetering on the line between that realism and cynicism but ultimately being kept from falling into darkness bc he has his best friends to ground him. i haven't much looked into fics with him bc idk what else i really want to see done with him as an individual (well. aside from him foraying into crime journalism as a civilian career but that's pretty hard to find using standard fic site filters). i know the general gist of what happens to him in the wake of jack, kon, stephanie, and bruce dying and i think it is fairly realistic for him to descend into a level of neuroticism and paranoia that is more or less a desperate attempt to keep intact the remaining threads of his hope and belief in heroism before he falls into utter despair, but at the same time, idk if i actually want that for him. like you said it kinda falls into the same caveats as bruce where we see canon and fanon writers start to explore and invest in misery to the point that it no longer holds actual meaning and is there simply for the sake of being there like a kind of exploitative genre porn, bc they're more interested in the idea of tim being this beaten down baby bird who will never be happy than the idea of him being confronted with the pitfalls of vigilantism and choosing to hold onto hope anyway

ig that's why for all of my problems with the way his romantic relationship with stephanie is written, i still want their relationship to remain an important part of his life, at least as like best friends or something. i want him to always be surrounded by people who may not necessarily know how to blot out his growing cynicism entirely but nonetheless still inspire him towards seeing the merits of continuing to do good. and maintaining those relationships with not just stephanie but with jack and young justice and bruce is critical to that. rather than killing them off and throwing him haphazardly into this dark black hole i want them to be there as the tethers he holds onto so that he can still believe in something and remember that his civilian life is as much worth keeping as is his vigilante one. so ig from what i have heard of the horrors of tim fanon, that might be what separates me from it. i really want him to realize that he doesn't have to carry these ridiculously life-sized burdens on his shoulders as a teenager but that he's also allowed to express a little negativity bc i mean, who in his position wouldn't. the novelty of tim as a character is that he grows up utterly normal. and i feel like that's where the novelty should stick, that he should believe in heroism, sure, but that he should know he doesn't have to lose his entire life to it and that there are other ways to help that will also alleviate the growing cynicism he experiences wrt the world. yj in general is such a good exploration of the members of the team recognizing that vigilantism is what binds their group of friends together but at the same time is never the end-all, be-all of their lives, nor should it be. and it's a shame that the series got cut off so short bc exploring that mindset within their generation would have been very cool had they actually been allowed to move forward as something more than just plot devices for a geobard jawnes run

#does this even make sense towards the end.. idk #i'm so bad at rambling and losing my train of thought and going in a gazillion different directions #i wish i was like this with my academic papers jgkfjdhdlgf #outbox

[thevindicativevordan]

Thoughts on the ongoing Cates Hulk run

Since an issue came out this week (I totally forgot until someone reminded me) let's make this the weekly review post. Huge week for me:

Batman: One Bad Day - Riddler - Disappointing. Riddler is on god mode for most of the story and I couldn't suspend my disbelief. The big moment that took me completely out of the book was when an Arkham guard tries to shoot Riddler, misses at point blank range and hits another guard, and then all the other guards decide to shoot each other instead of Riddler. Way too stupid for me to take seriously, especially in a story that is demanding you take it seriously. I guess King using the Morrison interpretation of TKJ's ending here for how Batman deals with Riddler was cool at least. King hadn't found a Riddler origin he loved and he tried to write one to his taste here. I agree with him that most Riddler origins are lame, but this one is hardly better. His dad spanked him because he was an abusive asshole and that drove him to the point of brutally murdering his teacher (who put riddles in his tests) and becoming the Riddler because he couldn't handle his teacher reporting his cheating on a test to his father. Not a sympathetic enough story for me to feel bad for Eddie, nor petty enough to make me despise him, it's trying to be tragic and ends up being meh.

Nightwing #95 - Hey the pacing has finally improved and progression finally happens! Blockbuster learning Dick's identity is the first time this run has even gestured in the direction of actual stakes. Given how heavily this book guest stars the Titans, why not just give the next Titans relaunch to Taylor? His focus on fanservice and character moments would serve that team well.

Batman/Superman #6 - Enjoyable little epilogue that puts the focus on Dick as a detective.

Flash #785 - I fell off of this run after a while, had to cut back and while this was good it didn't feel essential so I dropped it. Picked it back up for Dark Crisis - good thing too because this is definitely essential to the overall plot - and I really enjoy how Adams juggles the Flash Family. Think I might keep reading if finances allow.

Batman: The Knight #8 - Bruce and Anton driving off into the sunset huh?

Black Adam #3 - Great book, after the first issue's weird dialogue for Malik, he's been fine since. I like him and I really hope he doesn't die, but all the signs make me believe he's a dead man walking. Of course Priest's version of a journey through hell is never what it seems. Hallucinations or fact? Not clear and given it's Priest they might not ever be.

DC vs. Vampires: All Out War #2 - Didn't Lex die? Guess we'll find out if that's a fakeout with regard to him being teased as Baron Cinder.

Aquaman & The Flash: Voidsong #3 - Give the next Aquaman relaunch to Kelly and Lanzig because this was by far the most enjoyable Aquaman story I've read since KSD's run ended. Really this book had a more interesting "event" type foe than boring old Pariah, I thought the concept of a Lovecraftian entity that eats motion/the Speed Force was inspired. Loved Vasco's art too, very Jorge Jimenez reminiscent. Wouldn't have thought a movie cash-in book starring two characters that barely interact usually could be this enjoyable, but even though the differences were played up to make the two better contrasts with each other this was an entertaining read all the same.

Dark Crisis: Young Justice #3 - Continues to suck. I'm only buying this trash because I feel like I'm obligated too on account of it might be affecting Conner's status quo. Minute I learn that's not the case this is getting dropped. If you're going to deconstruct an era at least have the decency to know the details of what it is you're deconstructing. Fitzmartin just gets basic continuity wrong, Cassie was the last leader of PAD YJ not Conner, Conner already knew and made peace with the Cassie/Tim kiss, etc. This is CW tier drama in line with her background as a CW writer and I don't enjoy it. Porter's Superboy mini and PKJ's Superfamily team up can't come soon enough.

X-Men #13 - It's an ok superhero book but that's it. If the Children of the Vault coming out doesn't spice things up I may drop it and stick to Immortal and Red.

A.X.E: Death to the Mutants #1 - I am very interested in where this is going. Could this end with the Celestial modifying how Eternal resurrections works?

Hulk #8 - Guess Hulk won the fight? Pretty underwhelming victory however. Cates run has been basic as expected, but I found myself warming up to it more over time. Knew we weren't getting a run with Ewing's brains but long as I got something entertaining enough I could keep reading Hulk. Thus far, while uninspired, I have been entertained. Let's see if that continues once we get Cates Planet Hulk rehash.

Strange #5 - God Clea rules. I love her, I think I love her more than Strange, which is a testament to MacKay's skill because I didn't know squat about Clea until this run. We all saw that reveal coming but it's a good one and changes the direction of the series. If at the end of this there's a proper Dr. Strange relaunch coming they better keep MacKay on it and have him write the Strange/Clea relationship because he's got me invested in it.

#weekly reviews

[rufusbear]

I posted 1,205 times in 2022

9 posts created (1%)

1,196 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@audreycritter

@sillysunshinesstuff

@nandalorian

@wolfhalls

@serene-quill

I tagged 924 of my posts in 2022

Only 23% of my posts had no tags

#jason todd - 148 posts

#eddie munson - 109 posts

#steve harrington - 104 posts

#tim drake - 94 posts

#steddie - 60 posts

#dick grayson - 54 posts

#stranger things - 42 posts

#battinson - 40 posts

#the mandalorian - 38 posts

#red hood - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 78 characters

#one of the only reasons i can even do it now is because of maturity (old age?)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Listen, I’ve read a lot of stranger things Steve/Eddie fic the last few months. A lot. And I cannot believe the amount of times I’ve read either of them, or the kids, yelling, “Oi!” Just. Stop. I don’t care if you don’t get a beta reader but please, for the love of gob, please get whatever the opposite of a Brit-pick is. Americ-pick? Idk. I can’t take it anymore. American’s don’t say “Oi!” Ever. The equivalent would be “hey!” I can handle “mum” or an extra “u” in a word, but “Oi” is the quickest way to take someone out of a fic. HEY!

0 notes - Posted September 1, 2022

#4

SHARE MY PAIN; Rufus recs

I'm currently suffering from a fic hangover. I slammed this badboy yesterday and cannot get it out of my head. I'm aware this is the worst time to rec anything on tumblr because tags or whatever but I'm doing it anyway. I've thought about sharing more fic recs because I've been reading like crazy lately so here's my first. More to come, probably.

LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL by allacesandeights~87k. Tim Drake/Jason Todd. Jason POV.

Jason always thought that Gotham was hell. Now he has proof. When the God of Death arrives in Gotham, Jason and the Outlaws come up with a plan to take him down. When their plan brings them into contact with the Titans, Jason ends working with his Replacement. As Jason and Tim get closer, Jason has to figure out whether he can ever move past their history.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ IT The pacing is excellent; a great balance of action, story movement without any drag. I could actually follow the fight scenes and visualize what was happening, which is refreshing.

While it is action packed, there are enough breaks that fit naturally and give the boys time together that's needed for their character and relationship growth. I personally really love the characterizations. Jason is an ass without being too much and Tim holds his own. He isn't written in that way that seems to diminish him to the "weaker" one, which I've seen a lot in this pairing.

HURT/COMFORT/WHUMP LEVEL Solid 7: some blood, concussions, broken/sore ribs, one fixing up the other's injuries.

WHITE STREAK Yes, Jason has the white streak in his hair. The Streak is important to me and I shall now track it in fic.

RECCER NOTES I’m guessing one of the reasons this fic doesn’t have thousands of kudos is because it’s RHATO comics instead of post-crisis. I’m still new to this fandom but I think I have a pretty good grasp on the universes/timelines/whatever now. While I agree that post-crisis canon, and thus fic, is superior, don’t let that keep you from reading this story. I’ve only recently started reading RHATO but I think this story captured their team dynamics really well and makes me want to go read more.

The author is from the UK and I don't believe it was beta'd, so there are several UK-isms that can take you out of it. I just ignored them but it was also kind of fun to see Jason yelling "Oi!" at someone... that feels in character in a weird way.

If you can get beyond that, it's worth the read!

0 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

#3

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman (Comics), Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Jason Todd Additional Tags: Arson, Fire, Jason Todd-centric, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, and possibly a fire extinguisher, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, i guess Series: Part 1 of Open Flame Summary:

He wasn’t sure what it was about fire he found fascinating, maybe the possibility to forge something strong and lasting, or the potential to destroy so completely that it was erased from being. Either way, he liked to see how far he could push fire before it bit back.

— Or, the one where Jason likes fire and becomes an arsonist.

2 notes - Posted January 31, 2022

#2

[podfic] falling in love in reverse read by @rufusbear (me!)

part 1 of the let's do the time (loop) again series by @alchemistc

part 2 is now up: [podfic] 35. live like there's no tomorrow

6 notes - Posted November 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Podfic of Steve Harrington's Guide To Planning a Party (Without Blowing Up)

written by @written-mishaps read by @rufusbear (me!)

7 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Fun! #eddie really got up there in the tags #jason’s been around for a while #good job eddie #i love you bb