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piedpiperart · 10 months

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Phantom in Gotham pt 2

Chapter one

The next week, Tim asked Dick for advice about Danny.

"And he's your age?" Dick frowned, leaning forward on the living room couch to rest his elbows on his knees. He had ha;f a cucumber sandwich in his hand, courtesy of Alfred. Meanwhile Tim was sipping his fourth coffee for the day.

"Yeah," Tim sighed,"I'm just worried about him. He doesn't look like he's eating or sleeping very much, and I don't know. I just want to make sure he's safe at home or something. He’s actually really smart and funny too, I think you’d like him. I just don’t want to freak him out in case Batman hears about this and decides ‘Bruce’ needs to get involved, you know?"

Dick hummed, ruffling Tim's hair. His little brother was so caring, he cooed in his head. "I'll check it out. You said he goes to the library after school a lot of the time?"

Tim nodded. "Steph and I may have followed him once or twice. I asked Barbara if she'd seen him, and apparently he goes to the library after school every day. He does his homework and then usually falls asleep until closing at seven."

Dick frowned at that. It was becoming more obvious that the kid was not in a good situation, or at the least was avoiding home. "I'll tail him when he leaves the library,"Dick reassured. "I know you're busy with the whole ghost stuff going on."

"Thanks,"Tim sighed. He also didn't want to have Danny recognize him somehow as Red Robin. It was unlikely, but not impossible. Plus, getting Dick to look into it would just give him more people on the 'Protect Danny' team. Tim was obviously president, with Steph as Co-president. With Dick on their side they’d be able to gang up on Bruce to get the kid adopted if everything turned out the way he thought it would. Of course, Tim knew it was probably unlikely, but he had to admit someone else in the family that was his age and didn’t want to kill him would be nice.

“You really care about him, huh?” Dick said suddenly.

“Uh, yeah?” Tim said, tilting his head to look at Dick. “He’s only been at school a month or so but he hangs out with Steph and I every day. He’s really into space, and super smart, like I’m pretty sure he’s a genius at physics and engineering.” Tim sut his rambling off, feeling his cheeks flush in embarrassment. Surely Dick didn’t need to know Danny’s hobbies.

“Just a friend?” Dick hummed. Tim narrowed his eyes at Dick’s suddenly mischievous attitude.

“Yeah?” Tim said hesitantly. “”Why?”

“Oh, nothing,”Dick smiled, getting up from the couch to bring his plate to the kitchen.

“Wait no- Dick what do you mean?” Tim stammered, putting his coffee down to follow. “Dick!”

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

Dick had called Barbara about Tim's friend, and even the red haired vigilante was worried about the poor kid. Apparently he was there every night, and Babs was just about to contact him to do something about him. Dick didn't understand what she meant by the ‘new little brother’ joke she'd made until he laid eyes on the kid. He’d nearly laughed when he caught sight of the black hair and blue eyes. Maybe Tim wanted another sibling, one that wouldn't stab or shoot him, Dick mused.

Still, he followed the kid to a convenience store, frowning at the kid's yawn. If the apparent lack of sleep was worrying, the fact that the kid only got a bag of cheetos and a can of strawberry tea was even more concerning. Still, Dick hopped the roofs from afar, hoping the kid would at least have someone home to look out for him.

Dick's hopes were dashed when the kid made his way further towards Crime Alley.

Ignoring the fact that he was potentially infringing on Jason's territory, Nightwing perched on a building across from the old pizzeria, watching the kid skillfully climb the fence around the place with a sinking feeling. Dick sighed. So, apparently Danny was living in the abandoned pizzeria. Great. Jason would definitely want to know about this.

Dick's heart ached for the kid. He hoped Danny was finding ways to get food that wouldn't get him in trouble. Considering that he was still able to afford a spot at Gotham Academy, it seemed he had some sort of savings. Just, maybe not for things outside of school. Dick frowned. How that worked he wasn’t so sure. The school would have to know those things, right? If he was living like that, then how could he be going to such a rich school?

Dick sat back further on the roof, making a note to look into Danny’s spot at the school when he heard heavy footsteps land on the roof. However, Dick's eyes were still on the Pizzeria, hoping that Danny didn't actually live there despite the overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to the contrary. Maybe the kid was passing through. Or it was a clubhouse of sorts.

"Wing," Red Hood grumbled, coming to a stop a few feet away. "Whatcha doin' here?"

"Sorry,"Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. If he had looked up he’d see Jaso towering over him with the iconic red helmet on. "I don't mean to trespass, I was just tailing one of Tim's friends."

"Timbo's friend? What'd the kid do to get Nightwing to follow him all the way to Crime Alley? He in some kind of trouble?" Hood huffed. Or the kid is trouble, Jason thought.

"Not exactly," Nightwing started, glancing back at the building Danny disappeared into. Still nothing. "Tim was worried about him. Kid didn't seem to be eating or sleeping well, and was hanging at Babs' library until close. We thought maybe he was a runaway, but he’s going to Gotham Prep so he has to have some sort of funds, except tonight I followed him until he went into the Pizzeria."

Hood whistled, crouching next to his brother. "Think he's living there? Not really a good place for a kid by himself."

"Yeah," Dick agreed. He paused before adding, "Danny's a good kid. If you could maybe look out for him when you can?"

Hood paused, looking towards the dilapidated building. "Yeah, alright. But you and Tim owe me," Dick huffed a laugh. "Can't be having a kid out here all alone, especially with winter coming up. I'll see if I can talk to him eventually."

"Please don't scare him too much," Dick grinned. If he knew one thing about Jason, it was that he had a soft spot for kids.

"So, what's the kid look like? Because if you say black hair and blue eyes I'm going to shoot you." Hood added. Dick simply smiled mischievously, causing Jason to let out a groan. "Seriously? Get out of here."

“I’m pretty sure Tim might just be looking for a new sibling. That or he has a crush.”Dick laughed, standing up and patting the dust off himself. "You'll still keep an eye out?"

Hood waved him off tiredly. "Yeah yeah, I'll look after the newest brother." He shook his head fondly at the cackle Dick let out as he grappled away.

Looking towards the shoddy Pizza place, Hood sighed. Obviously he wouldn't turn the kid in to CPS, but with winter coming up the kid might need someone looking out for him. There was no way the heating still worked in that place, and Jason was pretty sure one of the walls had a giant bat-sized hole in it. Maybe he’d check out the place while the kid was at school, just to see if he had everything he needed.

Though, Jason grinned, maybe he could have a little fun messing with his future baby brother before Bruce got his hands on him. Scaring the kid out of crime alley and into a shelter would be a good start.

It had been over a month since Danny'd stepped foot in Amity Park. It had just gotten too dangerous for him to stay after... that day. The GIW had been getting more intense, so Danny had already been on edge when the news broke.

His parents were partnering with the GIW. It meant extra funding, equipment, but it also meant Agent K and the others had more access to deadlier weapons- which made his job defending people from ghosts and ghosts from people even harder. Danny had obviously been upset at first, and had called Jazz to come home from college to help him persuade their parents against it.

Jack and Maddie were set on the partnership though, and Danny tried explaining to his parents why it would be a bad idea. Things escalated, and Danny had told them again about how ghosts aren't bad- they're not evil, they're sentient and they have feelings. Jack and Maddie had become eerily suspicious, and started thinking he was possessed. Like the only reason why he’d be advocating for ghosts was because he was one.

Things took a bad turn from there. They’d tried to trap him, which worked since he’d been Danny at the time. His transformation was an accident though, due to one of their crazy inventions activating his rings. Jack and Maddie were shocked, of course, when he'd accidentally revealed he was Phantom. He was terrified of their reactions- had been ever since he'd had the accident a year ago. Jack and Maddie had... not reacted well, to say the least. They hadn't immediately gone for their weapons, though, so Danny had stayed calm, hoping to talk things out. He thought maybe they just needed to hear his side of things. He hoped they'd accept him.

Danny had been wrong.

Waking up strapped to a table in the lab not long after being zapped by the net that had trapped him, he realized there was probably nothing he could do to convince them he was still their son. Danny had to finally admit he was scared of his parents. The realization hurt far worse than the wounds they gave him. Jazz was his only saving grace, and he thanked the Ancients he was able to call her to come home before it all went down.

Jazz hadn't heard from Danny at all after he’d called the first time, so when she'd come home it was to her parents sleeping soundlessly and her brother half-conscious and bleeding out in the basement, strapped to a table like some sort of lab experiment. She was horrified. Nearly crying her eyes out, she struggled to get Danny out of there and patch up his wounds. She did the best she could to stop the bleeding while keeping her eyes away from the various filled jars on the counter. Jazz knew that she and Danny were no longer safe with Jack and Maddie, so she started making plans.

First, she called Tucker and Sam to let them know of the situation, while she took Danny and the Specter Speeder into the Ghost Zone. She knew that was the only place her parents wouldn't be able to follow. Danny had also said before that the Far Frozen had people he could trust, as well as medical equipment that surpassed the human realm. The Yeti, who Jazz had forgotten the name of as soon as he'd said it, was horrified at what had happened, and reassured Jazz he would be well taken care of while she was making arrangements. She’d stayed a few moments to wash the greenish red blood off her hands before pulling herself together. She almost couldn’t bear to leave him alone again, but she knew there were things to get done in the human realm.

Jazz had some of the plans outlined in a worst-case scenario like this, but she'd never thought it would actually happen. Nevertheless, she was grateful that they’d made plans like this. Back in the house, she'd trashed the lab as much as she could, unfortunately, waking her parents in the process. Luckily, she’d destroyed the jars of suspicious green and red liquids before that, and she stormed out before they could say anything. Actually, they might’ve said a lot, but Jazz was not listening. Jazz no longer had anything to say to Jack and Maddie. In her mind, they were a hopeless case. They'd done something irreversible, and she no longer thought of them as her parents. Not after they had... dissected her little brother. The thought made her stomach turn, and she wiped away tears she didn't think she still had in her.

After her third short breakdown, she composed herself and kept going. Someone had to be the adult in this situation, and her little brother needed her. Jazz fought back the memories of Danny- so small, laying on that lab table, so much blood, her baby brother- and got to work. She'd had some of the paperwork filled out before, mostly regarding school records, applications, and personal information, then had contacted Tucker to help with the rest. Such as fake ID, birth certificate, etc.

Jazz knew her parents wouldn't rest until they had Danny back. Them and the GIW both. Thankfully, her parents were dumb enough to think that Phantom-Danny had been a ghost, and had kidnapped their real son, so the secret of Halfas was still safe. She knew Danny wasn't safe in Amity Park, and Danny's friends agreed. Jazz was glad Sam and Tucker hadn’t seen Danny strapped to the table, but judging by their faces, they could imagine. She made a note to talk to them afterwards as a therapist to make sure they were coping well. The three of them had met up at Tucker’s house, tears and blood- in Jazz's case- on all of their faces. After quick hugs and reassurances that Danny was alive and they'd get him when everything was ready, the three of them continued with their plans.

Sam was in charge of a go-bag. Danny would need clothes, food, medical supplies, ghost gear- just in case - and other supplies. Tucker dealt with funds- stealing from Vlad was like taking candy from a baby- fake ID, and other important forgeries. Meanwhile, Jazz got to work on paperwork. She figured schooling was most important, besides housing, and got everything set up from there. A few dozen calls and stolen funds, and Danny would be living in Gotham. Her brother would be renting a small apartment and attending a private school, with plenty of funds in his new bank account. It would be the least likely place for their parents to look for him. They kept Danny as his first name, but combined their own into a fake last name to throw off the trail. They didn't have many options with Manson and Foley, but they were too worried about their friend/brother to get too creative with it. The simpler the better.

Danny would now be Daniel Folson, resident of Gotham for a few months. The three of them figured it would be too difficult to remember a full name change, and the fact that Danny was a pretty common name would work in their favor. No one would look for him around Gotham anyway. Or so they hoped.

Unsure about the extent the GIW or the Fentons would go to to find Danny, they prepared for the worst. That is, if the police got involved, which was likely considering a day after Jazz had dumped Danny in the Ghost Zone, Maddie and Jack had filed a missing persons report on Danny. Since there were no guarantees that Vlad wouldn't get involved either, they had to be thorough. Jazz was not completely confident that Vlad could be convinced to their side, so she didn't bother with telling him anything. The only thing Jazz could trust Vlad to do was to be a fruitloop, and no one needed his smarmy help in anything this serious. Jazz was forever grateful that Tucker was as good with computers as he was, and she made a note to help him get into a good college when he graduated. Though she figured he could probably hack his way into any college he wanted.Either way, Vlad would be none the wiser to his missing funds, and wouldn’t be able to use Technus to track Danny down.

After they'd gotten all the supplies and paperwork ready to send Danny away- no one was happy about it but they knew things were about to spiral down from here- Tucker warned Dani of the situation, telling her not to come back anytime soon, and while she was worried and angry, she agreed. Dani had the task of leaving ecto-signatures in places far from Gotham in order to keep the trail off Danny while he healed. After a month or so of that, Dani would be okay to keep traveling around like usual. They'd keep in contact though, more than before. Jazz and Tucker were setting her and Danny up with weekly check-ins and emergency beacons and things like that. Tucker’s main job was keeping those two safe, and there was no way the two halfas were getting captured on his watch.

The Ghosts had heard what happened from Frostbite, and after a slight kidnapping of Ember, they made sure she warned the ghosts to stay in the zone for as long as possible. In a show of solidarity, Skulker had caused a distraction downtown for the GIW and Fentons while Jazz, Sam and Tucker went to get Danny and explain the plan to him.

Danny was... heartbroken. Traumatized. Weak and still healing. Jazz was surprised to see her brother had mutated even more in his ghost form, and now sported pointier ears, paler skin and sharp fangs. They'd eventually talked Danny into leaving for Gotham- not without many tears and arguments- with the help of Frostbite and a visit from Clockwork. All of them hoped it wouldn't be forever, but with the way things were in Amity, things were unlikely to be resolved so soon. Especially with the Fentons joining the GIW. They’d promise that once he was out and things settled, they’d start to form a plan. If it was possible, they’d try to get into contact with the Justice League again.

Flying alone to Gotham was the hardest thing Danny had ever done, and thought of turning back many times. He didn't. His friends and Jazz would be disappointed and worried out of their minds for him if he did. And he had to admit, they had a plan. He had to protect them and himself. The humming in his chest emanating from his core latched onto the fact that he was protecting everyone by leaving. The ghosts would be safe if they stayed in the zone, and Danny couldn’t stay in Amity or the Zone forever. He couldn’t be Danny Fenton or Phantom in Amity anymore. In Gotham, he could at least be Danny Fenton. Or Folson. He would be alone, but they'd find ways to check in on him when it was safe. He just had to deal with being alone for a while. No big deal. He could do this.

He couldn't.

The first few weeks were the hardest. Danny started school almost immediately, eager for some kind of distraction from the pain of leaving his friends and family behind. Because Jazz was his only family now that his parents were... hunting him. Had hurt him. Jazz was his only family now besides Ellie and he couldn’t even talk to them anymore. No one knew what Technus was up to so communication was only for emergencies and check-ins.

Moving to Gotham would have been fine. It would have been fine, if not for the shabby apartment Jazz had set up for him bursting into flames. Something about a villain from Gotham who liked to torch stuff. Firefly, maybe. Danny wasn't sure, but he'd been able to stake out a place to live in an old building. Danny thought it used to be an old pizza place. He'd been able to stash his stuff in the rickety old attic and set up a meager living space with his sleeping bag and other supplies that Sam packed him. His wounds were still aching a bit, but his advanced healing had helped him a lot. Since he woke up from…that, he’d been able to absorb a lot more ectoplasm than he usually did. It was odd, and since he found out he could absorb ectoplasm from anywhere in the human realm, he didn’t need to eat human food nearly as much as he had before. He was down to maybe one meal a day. He could still eat three if he wanted, but the ectoplasm was more than enough to sustain him. It felt weird to eat so much food he didn’t even need.

There was no way he could contact Jazz about the apartment though, and he knew to use the money in his account sparingly. Danny wasn't sure he'd tell Jazz about his living situation if she'd called anyway. There probably wouldn’t be anything anyone could do at this point. Hacking Vlad’s bank account had been fine the first time, but multiple times would tip the fruitloop off. Danny had rather not have to deal with the fruitloop on his trail too. If everything went to plan, Vlad would be chilling in Wisconsin and not even know about his disappearance until Jack or Maddie called him about it. Given how distracted they were, it should give them a few weeks or so.

The phone he had been given looked old, but it was Tucker approved safe from pretty much anything. Only to be used in case of emergencies for now, since everyone back home was looking into his friends and searching for him. Danny didn’t count being semi-homeless as an emergency. As a Halfa, he didn’t need to sleep as much as a human either, especially not since his strange new mutation, and that was pretty much all he needed a house for. It was weird to think that his second near-death experience caused him to become more like a ghost, and wondered if he’d just lose his human half over time. He really didn’t want to think about that though.

Living at the Pizzeria would be fine. The only thing he worried about was his friends and sisters, because at this point Ellie was more like his sister than anything else. Maybe after everything started to die down Danny would be able to contact them. He’d be able to hear their voices.

He could admit, he missed their voices. Hell, he even missed Dash. So far he'd made a few sort of friends at Gotham Academy; Tim, who drank enough coffee it probably replaced his blood at this point, Steph, who reminded him of if Sam and Star combined into the same person, and Conner, who might or might not be Tim's boyfriend, but he wasn't going to ask. He was pretty sure Conor might also be goth, but he wasn’t sure. It might be weird to ask. Danny thought they were nice, but he didn't want to get close to someone only for him to disappear one day. He didn't want to lose more friends. There was nothing they could do to help him anyways, no ghosts for them to help him catch, no all-meat or vegetarian lunches in the cafeteria to riot about, nothing out of the ordinary. Danny didn’t want to get more people involved in his problems. They might get hurt, and he didn’t want that.

Danny's new place was, for lack of a better word, not ideal. He showered at a nearby gym at night, which was easier because he could turn invisible, and slept in the attic of the abandoned pizzeria. He found it more comfortable to sleep during lunch at school, or at the library, though, so he used the pizzeria for storing his stuff. Since he'd found the library, he'd been going everyday after school to do homework until he fell asleep in one of their comfy bean bags. He was surprised to find he was actually doing well in school now without the constant ghost attacks, or mishaps with his powers. Who knew he was actually pretty smart. Definitely not him. Or Dash. Now that he thought about it, Danny was pretty sure Lancer knew he was wasting his potential. He wondered if his old teacher missed him in class. Probably not.

The Library closed around 7 though, and usually a nice librarian named Barbra would very politely wake him and kick him out. He'd then get a snack for dinner and then wander around in his ghost form invisibly. Danny didn't actually need to eat as much, considering his ghost form just leeched ectoplasm from his surroundings constantly now- something he learned from Frostbite’s lectures. Danny was just glad he wouldn’t have to make trips into the Zone to get the ectoplasm he needed.

Speaking of his ghost form, he wasn't stupid enough to use it in Gotham. Even though Dash would argue otherwise about his smarts, Danny knew having the Gotham vigilante's attention would be a bad thing. The Justice League and affiliates were government approved, so any heroes who were in contact with him would be obligated to turn him in to the GIW according to the Anti-Ecto Act. Anything with ectoplasm was no longer sentient and sadly that included Danny. So, he figured staying invisible as much as possible would work in his favor.

As a ghost, his core obsession to protect people determined his actions a lot more than he wanted it to. At first, he was fine with protecting himself, and staying out of the way. He'd caught glimpses of the vigilantes from afar and was not planning on introducing himself anytime soon. But his core urged him to help. The humming had only gotten stronger, and it made him extremely anxious to not help people every day. After a few days, he was wandering at night, unable to sleep in the dark attic of the Pizzeria- and also not needing as much sleep as a regular person. With no ghost attacks late at night or homework to catch up on, he was more than a little restless.

Danny had stuck to his goal of staying invisible on his nightly trips, but he'd do small things. Trip up a burglar, ice someone’s shoe to the ground, phase a gun out of someone's hand, the small stuff. Danny's core hummed with warmth whenever he managed to help a random citizen and keep the bad guys from doing any harm. He was so used to fighting ghosts, he wasn't sure how to go about fighting regular humans. Danny was very very afraid of going too far or using too much strength. Even on top of the fact that most of his weapons were only effective against ghosts. He couldn't stuff a robber into a thermos.... probably.

So he left actual crime fighting to the Bats. Danny had gotten curious a few times, and tried to follow them across rooftops. It was easier considering he could fly, but he was still in awe at how they effortlessly moved through the shadows and jumped roofs with ease. Danny found himself tagging along more than he planned to, but the way the vigilante's bantered back and forth reminded him of his friends back home. It was… nice. And he’d already learned a lot about crime fighting with actual humans just by watching them. It was interesting to see how different Ghosts were in comparison. Danny himself would stick to small stuff, and leave the rogues to the Bats, but he tailed them as much as possible to help lessen their load or keep an eye on them.

After one close call with a gun and an unaware Robin, Danny figured he could help out a bit and they wouldn’t mind. His core hummed louder around the Bats, and it felt…nice to feel like he was a part of things. He was invisible, and surely they wouldn't notice him knocking a gun astray, or a rock thrown at a random goon for a distraction. Danny was helping, but not getting involved in the big stuff, just like he’d promised. It wasn't like he was a vigilante, just… support from afar. It had taken a shorter amount of time than Danny thought it would for them to notice their apparent 'good luck'.

The Bats had started noticing the small hiccups their villains were having, but didn't know why or where it was coming from, or if it was simply a coincidence. It started with staring. A few times, Danny had to hold back laughter as Red Robin examined a broken flower pot a little too seriously after he'd pushed it off a ledge towards a guy with a gun aimed at the vigilante. He knew he should probably stop following the vigilantes, but he was worried about them. Robin was just so small, and his core hummed happily whenever he protected them in some small way.

Danny fully blamed his obsession for the bat-stalking he'd been doing. Sure, he helped people when the bats weren't around still, but it was less lonely with the group, and his core had latched onto the family. He wasn’t completely sure if it was because he was missing his own family, but Danny felt better around the Bats. He’d give them their secrecy though, and didn’t pursue them anytime they were on their way home. He didn’t care about their identities as long as they more or less let him tag along.

The initial suspicion dissipated after a few weeks, and Danny was amused and appreciative when they started to try to communicate with him. Robin mostly ignored him after telling the empty alleyway seriously that he would not tolerate threats, and if he hurt the other vigilante's in any way, Robin would dispose of him. It was funny, but Danny had no doubt the kid would find some way to do it if the ghost crossed the little kid.

Red Robin, when he was alone, would ask Danny questions. He figured out Danny was willing to communicate by moving objects, and asked questions to confirm some worries. It started with "Why are you helping us?" To which Danny had just kicked an empty can lightly towards the vigilante. From then, Red Robin had figured out a yes or no system that would help get him answers. Danny had fun answering the questions when there was time.

"Okay, uh, kick the can for yes, and the rock for no. Are you going to hurt us?" One kick to the rock.

"Are you... helping us?" Red Robin asked, raising an eyebrow behind the mask, and Danny cheered internally while kicking the can. He hoped the vigilantes would let him continue to help. “I mean, you have been helping us, but you really don’t need to. We’re professionals.”

Danny shrugged, floating a few feet in the air, but Red Robin couldn’t see that. Of course Danny knew they’d be fine without him, but he was, for lack of a better word, bored. And they reminded him of his family back home. Without his ‘nightly job’, he had no doubt that his core would reduce him to an anxious ball of goop.

"Are you…in trouble?" Red Robin said after, and Danny wasn't sure how to respond. He thought for a moment, but before he could do anything, Robin followed up with,"We can help you." to which Danny had kicked the rock in a burst of panic. No, no, no. He didn't want the bats in his business. For his own safety as well as theirs. No telling what the GIW would do.

Red Robin frowned at that, but took a seat in the alley. The vigilante seemed to be thinking of a question, but Danny stayed around, eager for some sort of conversation that wasn't from school. And a part of him felt that, if the vigilantes knew what was happening in Amity they’d help. Even if they had to go against the government. Well, he hoped. Tucker had mentioned trying to contact the Justice League about their issue before. "So you need help, but don't want ours." Danny kicked the can. The vigilante thought for a moment longer, then decided to stop pushing for the time being.

"Are you a ghost?" Danny kicked the can, laughing silently at the incredulous face Red Robin made in response. "What the fuck,"He'd muttered, then froze abruptly. "Are you haunting me?"

Just for laughs, Danny kicked the can. Red Robin paled, belatedly reaching for his comm or a weapon, but Danny kicked the rock after a second, making the kid let out a breath of air. The vigilante looked around the alleyway "That was a joke, right?"

Danny kicked the can, shoulders shaking from trying to contain his laughter. "Very funny, almost gave me a heart attack,"He mumbled. A second later, he stood up, brushing himself off. "You should hang out with Nightwing more, I'm sure he'd love to play pranks with you sometime. As long as they aren't on me,"Red Robin added.

"Are you... older than Eighteen?" Red Robin asked suddenly, and Danny kicked the rock nonchalantly.”Alright, younger then. And you’re a ghost.” After a pause, he asked. "Are you lonely?"

Danny left after kicking the can. He didn't want to talk about it, but figured it would be rude to not answer at least. And he was lonely. Danny missed Jazz, and Sam and Tucker and Ellie. At that point he'd been in Gotham a few weeks and it had been just as long since he'd seen any sign of the ghosts too. He hoped everyone was okay. Danny missed his family so much his core ached. And a part of him hoped Red Robin would talk to him more or let him patrol with them if Red knew he was lonely.

Nightwing was one of his favorite vigilantes to stalk. He'd been a little caught off guard the first few times, but after a while it seemed Nightwing was happy to have someone to chat with. After Danny had phased the gun out of someone's hand, Nightwing had continued fighting without pause, but after all the thugs were tied up he'd put his hands on his hips and looked around for where Danny might be. "Thanks for the assist Casper!" Nightwing had called out. "I don't know if you're still here, but-"

Danny knocked over a tupperware container on the ground, and Nightwing relaxed. "Oh, sweet you’re here. That’s mildly terrifying actually,” He rambled. “You know, I have a few more places to patrol, wanna race?"

And since that time, Nightwing somehow roped him into a bunch of activities to keep his mind off Amity Park. Usually, Danny would find some subtle way to let the vigilantes know he was with one of them for the night, like tap them, or toss a rock in their direction. Physical contact wasn't usually received well, so he didn't do it often. He could tell it really unnerved Batman, but he also didn't follow Batman as much as the others. Danny was a bit intimidated. Okay, he was a lot intimidated.

Same with Robin. He hung around him a lot since the kid was fun to annoy, and he was worried about him going off on his own sometimes. The kid had said on numerous occasions that he was more than capable and did not need assistance from a mere ghost. Danny thought Robin and Batman were pretty similar.

So, Danny avoided touching the vigilantes as much as possible. Except for that time when Nightwing asked him to phase through him. That had been pretty funny. He'd then convinced Danny to do it to Red Robin when they met up with him, and then Robin when the kid showed up asking why they were meeting without him. Nightwing had laughed his ass off, Robin had threatened to exorcize him, and it was hard for Danny to keep quiet. It was times like those he’d go back to the pizzeria with a smile on his face.

From there, they'd sometimes give Danny little tasks to complete, like pass notes back and forth, -or in Nightwing’s case he passed jokes- check in on one of them, or to scope out a building and tell them how many people were inside by using rocks or tapping. It made him feel useful, and it reminded him of his friends back home. Like he was part of a team. It was nice.

Danny was less lonely at night with the vigilantes. He hardly slept in his dingy little crawl space, opting to spend his nighttime with the heroes and get an hour or so of sleep at school or the library. He still didn't need to eat as much as before the lab accident, so the snacks he got in the morning from Tim, lunch at school, and the meal he ate after the library was fine to keep him going. Danny could tell he was worrying Tim a bit, but he figured the guy was just being polite. Even though Danny didn’t need to eat much, he still ate the snacks Tim brought him, to reassure the shorter kid that he wasn’t starving himself. He'd spent a few more hours sleeping before school to make up for it, hoping his eye bags weren't as prominent as they had been lately. As a newly mutated Halfa, he didn’t need to sleep more than four hours a night usually, and if he was avoiding sleep due to nightmares, well, that was for him to know.

A month of doing his not-vigilante but kind of vigilante thing, he was finally getting some sort of rhythm. He'd received a message from Tucker not too long ago detailing that he, Sam Ellie, and Jazz were fine. None of the ghosts had been caught by the GIW and they'd been setting some traps for the guys in white and Danny's parents. He could tell Sam was having a bit of vindictive pleasure with setting the traps to slow them down. Danny was pretty sure he heard something about a scoreboard. Meanwhile, Jazz was still being monitored by the Fentons.The GIW had been told of Danny's ghost-possessing, and the city's police force was still poking their nose around. Tucker had said Vlad had been seen talking to the Fentons, so it was likely the fruitloop- and by proxy Skulker or Technus- would get involved. Technus would be bad for Danny, so Tucker said it might be a while until the next check in and promised to delete anything remotely close to their correspondence. Danny had given a short message in response and a good luck text.

Danny felt his core hum in dismay, fingers twitching with the need to help, but he knew he couldn't go back. He still hated that the three of them had to solve his problems for him but… Part of him was glad he wouldn't have to go back there. Even the thought of the Fenton's basement sent shivers down his spine. So he tried to keep his mind off things, going to school and the library, then supporting the vigilantes at night. Danny sighed, knowing it could always get worse, and that his situation was temporary. He was lucky that his parents hadn't shipped him off to the GIW the moment he’d shown them Phantom. Danny wasn't sure he'd have been able to count on Jazz to get him out if that had happened.

Everything changed when Danny ran into the Red Hood one night.

He'd been following Nightwing, who was heading towards an area they usually stayed away from, when Red Hood showed up with his guns drawn. "I assume there's a reason you're in my territory?"

Danny didn't follow along with their conversation much, too busy trying to figure out why his ghost sense was acting up. He floated around the two, and the closer he got to Red Hood, the more his ghost sense flared. Was Red Hood like him? He passed in front of the red helmet, waving his arms. Danny's arms dropped to his side when he realized Hood couldn't see him like other ghosts could when he was invisible. Soon, when Nightwing jumped gracefully to another roof, Danny decided to follow Red Hood.

Watching him after a while, Danny could tell the Red Hood knew he was there. Or at least, could sense his presence. Danny wasn't sure if Red Hood was a halfa like him, or some kind of meta. It was interesting, because while he couldn’t feel any kind of core, he could still sense ectoplasm on the guy. What caused it? Did Red Hood generate ectoplasm himself? Danny wasn’t sure, no matter how long he stared at him. Either way, he could feel some type of ectoplasm coming off of Hood in small waves. It felt a lot like the ring of rage, and Danny shivered at the memory.

Suddenly, Red Hood drew a gun and pointed it to where Danny's head was. Caught up in his own thoughts, Danny was so startled he'd accidentally dropped his invisibility, letting out a small squeak. "A kid?" He heard Hood mutter, before the guy went into interrogation mode. "Who are you and why have you been following me?"

Danny stared wide eyed, willing himself to respond. "Uh- you, um," Danny stammered, trying to figure out how to explain that Danny was following him because he was possibly a halfa or contaminated with ectoplasm. "You um, you feel like a ghost."

Red Hood froze, and Danny scrambled to explain, floating away from the gun and waving his hands in a panicked way. He made sure to give Hood his space and not look threatening, but he felt like he needed to explain. One of the vigilantes was like him, meaning there was a possibility that they were hiding from the GIW too. Was Red Hood in hiding already? Did he know about the GIW? "I- I mean usually I can sense when another ghost is close by, and you feel like a ghost does. Sort of. I was curious, so I m-may have followed you, but I’m on your side. Obviously, you can sense me or something and I can um, sense you so I mean, I was wondering why you feel like a ghost. Sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?" Red Hood grunted, cutting off Danny’s panicked rambling and holstering his gun, but not relaxing. The glowing green eyes of the ghost kid did nothing to reassure Jason of anything good. "And what the fuck do you mean about ghosts?"

Danny floated closer, squinting at Hood, and getting a feel for the ectoplasm inside him. It felt... corrupted in a way. Like the Ring of Rage."Oh, um. Well, I'm a ghost," Danny said, straightening himself. He didn't offer to shake hands, because he knew the other vigilante's didn't like it. He was way colder in his ghost form and it unsettled a lot of people. Tucker in particular hated it when he shoved his cold ghost hands under the geek’s shirt. "You can call me Phantom."

"Red Hood," The guy grunted, still suspicious, but Danny couldn't blame him. Meeting a ghost for the first time was always kinda disorienting.

"Right, explanation. So, I was haunting Nightwing- which, okay that sounds bad but he uh, he knows about it. Um, I mean he knows about me, sort of," Danny clarified, glancing at the Hood’s stiff posture." We race sometimes. And I don’t haunt him all the time. Um. Only when I see him on the roofs and stuff."

Red Hood crossed his arms, willing the kid- Was he a kid? He looked younger than the Replacement- to get on with the story. He was curious and on edge about how the ghost kid could tell he was.. not fully alive. And the fact that he could escape "Uh, right. So when he met with you I sort of sensed you were sort of like me, so I followed you because I was confused and worried about how you-"

"What do you mean like you?" Red Hood said, stepping forward menacingly, which didn't seem to phase the kid who was floating several feet in the air. Right, he was a ghost. How the heck would he be able to fight a ghost, he wondered. Maybe he’d call up Constantine after this. If he survived.

"I mean it feels like you have ectoplasm in you, but it’s… different. All ghosts and Halfas have a core, but… I don't think you have one," He muttered, squinting at Jason's chest. When he floated closer Jason just took a step back. Danny held up his hands in surrender, backing off before the gun-toting vigilante decided to shoot him. It was just intriguing to meet a sort-of halfa.

"A core?" Jason asked, staring at the kids glowing white hair that moved like he was underwater. He'd started to realize this was just a kid, probably just curious about why Jason felt similar to him. But where did Phantom come from? What was a ghost kid doing haunting Gotham of all places? Actually, Jason could think of a lot of reasons why someone would haunt Gotham. He figured he might as well get some useful information out of the kid, but it was unlikely that the kid meant any harm. Just…a curious kid, Jason decided. Still. It was weird.

"Right,"The kid said, putting a hand to his chin. Jason wondered if he'd ever had to explain this to anyone else before. Did the kid know any other ghosts like him? It was a sad thought. Was this kid all alone in his afterlife? Jason thought maybe Bruce would be happy to adopt a lonely ghost kid to forever haunt the manor. "Um, so every ghost has a core, it’s like their heart. Halfas are like ghosts, because they have a core, but they also have a heart, and stuff like that cuz they're half human. Cores are sustained by ectoplasm. You though, you don't have a core, so you aren't a halfa or a ghost, but you have ectoplasm. I'm not sure why."

Red Hood was silent for a moment before answering,"I do."

“You- you know how you got all that ectoplasm? Cause it's not the good kind," Danny asked with wide eyes, then wrinkled his nose. "It smells angry." He squinted, making Jason snort.

"Yeah." Hood grunted. That’s an understatement. "I died, but was brought back using the Lazarus pits. Basically a pit of toxic green water."

"Huh." Danny shifted, coming closer to examine the angry ectoplasm a bit more. He was in awe of how close Red Hood allowed him to get. He could see a bit of a green tinge in the air around Hood, and poked at it gently, making the Hood stiffen, but the vigilante didn’t move away."The green water- sludge, whatevers, we call it ectoplasm. It um. It can be other things, not just water, but yeah. The stuff around you sounds, and feels, like some form of corrupted ectoplasm. Usually it's all in the Ghost zone- a sort of different dimension for ghosts, but sometimes there's thin spots in the barrier between worlds so some ghosts or ectoplasm can get through."The ghost explained, then added with a thoughtful expression,"I'll have to talk to the ancients about those pits, probably not safe for humans to be falling into it all the time."

The last comment made Jason hum in agreement, silently reeling about a different realm filled with ghosts and lazarus energy, but wondered if giving this kid info about the pits was really a good idea or not. Red Hood kept an eye on the ghost kid the whole time, fingers itching for his guns while the kid scrutinized him. His nerves almost got the best of him a few times with the kid staring at him so intently. Maybe this was a bad idea. He could feel the kid’s presence, and if he was telling the truth then that meant the kid was also a part of the Lazarus pits in some way. His hand went for his gun, when the kid suddenly straightened up. "Well, since you're not a Halfa or anything, want me to get rid of it for you?"

"What," Jason snapped, narrowing his eyes. Get rid of the Pit rage? Could it be that easy? Why now of all times did this tiny ghost kid come along and try to fix all his problems? Was it a trap? Jason thought, considering.

"I mean, I've never done it before, but all ghosts can kind of control ectoplasm to an extent," Phantom said, holding his hand out, which was now glowing with green, as an example. Jason stared at the collection of green in the kid’s hand, and he felt… strangely at ease with it. Unlike the green from the pits, this was lighter somehow. Not angry. And a lighter green. "Mine is not corrupted though, so it probably feels different."

And it did. Jason didn't get that same feeling he got when he encountered anything pit-related. He could tell they were similar, but not. Phantom's green was.. calmer. "I can try to draw out the grumpy ectoplasm-"

“We are not calling it that,"Jason cut in, and the kid smirked at him in a way that reminded him of his brothers. Jason felt taken aback at how easy it was to banter with the weird ghost kid. He shrugged off the weird feelings and went back to business. "No. We’re not. What would you do with it when you have it all?"

That question seemed to stump the kid. Jason squined, half convinced the kid was going to do something dangerous with it but instead of that, the kid just looked as confused as Jason as he started to ramble. "I dunno. It probably would taste pretty gross, but I don’t have a portal to the zone to toss it into either. I mean maybe I could find a natural portal. Maybe put it in a jar? It might get out though. I guess I could freeze it? Ghost ice doesn't melt. You could keep it around as a paperweight or something." Phantom shrugged, and the idea thrown out there that his constant rage could be filtered out of his body to be made into a paperweight was so damn strange that Jason knew there was probably no way this was a trap. Phantom was just a well meaning, too curious, kind of dumb kid.

“A paperweight,”Jason deadpanned.

“I-I mean I can try to make it into a sculpture?” Phantom winced,”I’m not great at making anything other than spheres. I can try though? If you want a.. Prettier paperweight?”

Jason stared at the kid a moment in exasperation. “No. A sphere is. Fine.” Jason huffed. “So you’re taking the pit rage-”

“Grumpy ectoplasm,”Phantom cut in helpfully. Jason ignored him.

“-and freezing it in a sphere of ice that will never melt in order to contain it forever, and giving it to me as a paperweight,”Jason finished, trying to wrap his head around the ridiculousness of everything.

“Yea,” Phantom finger-gunned. Jason sighed.

"Alright,"Jason shrugged, opening his arms a bit. "Do your worst." He said before he had time to regret it. This was probably way against Bat protocol, especially since he didn’t know where the kid came from or anything about him, but Jason was curious. Plus, if Nightwing spent time racing the kid in his freetime then he couldn’t be too bad. Probably. And he may be getting his hopes up a bit. No way would Batman let him exchange trauma for a paperweight in an alley with the ghost of a child. Batman never let him do anything fun.

"Nice! Okay hold still-"Phantom said, dropping to stand the ground, which surprised Jason because he could see the kid actually had legs now. Seeing legs instead of weird wisps of a tail was strange, but oddly made sense, and he noticed the kid was wearing some sort of hazmat suit with absolutely zero protection. He watched with suspicion as he held his palms out to Jason, but not touching, and closed his eyes. The kid took a breath- do ghosts breathe?- before Jason started to see this dark green mist start to waft off of him and collect vaguely in the kid's hands.

Jason startled, about to move away when he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He felt... lighter. The green haze that seemed to always be at the edge of his vision receded, and Jason almost felt... relieved. He didn't realize how suffocating all that rage was until it was gone. It very nearly drove him to tears. For the first time in forever he just felt… calm. Like he was taking a breath of fresh air after a lifetime of pollution.

"Aaand done!" Phantom exclaimed,and Jason had a feeling that Phantom would be doing jazz hands if he wasn’t holding.. Something. The kid was holding a menacing swirling mist of green in between his hands like a giant marble. He focused again for a moment before Jason felt a chill to the air, and suddenly there was a blue sphere in the kids hands, the inside a swirly green color suspense within the sparkling ice.

"Here,"Phantom offered, giving him the sphere of Jason's pit rage before the vigilante could say anything. Jason looked at it a few moments with apprehension before shrugging. He'd have a breakdown about this later, he was sure, and pocketed the now paperweight in one of his pouches. The weight of it was not comforting in the least, and part of him wanted to throw it into the harbor as soon as he got a chance. He didn’t though. Yet. "I think I got all of it, but if you start feeling it again come find me. I’ll probably be around Nightwing or something. You feel okay, right?"

Pushing aside Jason's questions of how the hell was he supposed to find an invisible ghost kid in Gotham of all places, he nodded. "Y-yeah. Thanks."

"No problem," Phantom waved, once again floating into the air, only this time sitting criss-cross applesauce. Jason sort of thought he might be dreaming. Might as well try to get some answers though, he thought. “And it won’t melt or break. Unless, like, I get killed as a ghost or something but it might not melt at that either.”

"Why would you help me? Why would you tell me about any of this at all?" Jason asked, leaning against the wall. He felt exhausted all of a sudden, and elected to ignore Phantom’s comment about something possibly killing him as a ghost. Whether it be from the emotional whiplash or from having ecto-whatever pulled from his body, he didn't know. Still, he didn’t regret letting the kid turn his trauma into a paperweight. He had a passing thought about whether this meant he’d die without the ectoplasm, but honestly didn’t care over the relief of it being gone for good.

"’Cause you seemed like you needed help. And I didn't have any when I became,"Phantom trailed off, and Jason winced when he gestured to himself. "It can be scary,"He continued in a softer tone. "Having to get used to new powers and stuff."

Jason shivered, and felt a pang in his chest that the kid had probably died at that age. Phantom looked younger than Tim, who was fifteen. "You mentioned Halfas? Are they common?" Jason asked, suddenly aware of a possible new threat. People who were more half-dead than Jason and possibly had powers like the ghost in front of him. "How come I haven't heard of them or ghosts like you before?"

"Nah," Phantom said, still quiet. "There's only three Halfas that I know of. And you probably wouldn't know about any of us, since we're all usually in hiding." Especially right now, Danny thought.

"Why? Wouldn't halfas be like metas? They’d have protection." Jason asked, and Phantom could hear concern and confusion in his voice, despite the voice modifier.

Phantom shook his head, white hair swishing gently in the ghostly atmosphere, and Jason noticed pointy ears."Halfas fall under the Anti-ecto Acts according to your government. Anything with ectoplasm isn't classified as human, or sentient, and the Ghost Investigation Ward is able to hunt down and experiment on them,"The ghost shivered. "That's why I was confused about you. And worried, cause exposure to ectoplasm isn’t usually planned and can be difficult to get used to without help from a ghost.. I wasn't sure if you'd be at risk if the GIW found out about you. They have… sort of a way to track ectoplasm. If they knew about you they’d…" Phantom trailed off, but Jason got the picture.

"Oh,"Jason breathed. This went a hell of a lot deeper than he thought it did. And Jason could have just been taken and experimented on at any point before this and it would be legally allowed? Yikes. He needed to do more research on this for sure. "You mentioned a ghost zone?"

"Oh, yeah," Phantom waved nonchalantly. "It’s also called the Infinite Realms. Houses all the ghosts, ruled by the ghost king, blah, blah. It's been a while since I've been back, but the whole thing is made up of ectoplasm. Usually there’s weak spots that can act as a portal between the two worlds, but some ghosts have the ability to create portals. As far as I know only three ghosts in the Zone where I’m from can do that. There’s also man-made portals, where people from this realm sort of…poke holes? Into the Ghost Zone. It’s usually a pretty bad idea."Phantom added, rubbing the back of his neck. "Some ghosts can be kinda dangerous. Or ghosts who want to be left alone fall through and get trapped here. They all have their own obsessions to follow and sometimes humans can get hurt. Or the ghost hunters take the ghosts for experiments, try to kill them, stuff like that."

Jason thought for a moment, letting the info-dump process in his mind a bit before a thought came to mind. "Do you know where the Halfas are? How did they become half-ghosts?" He asked, to which Phantom inclined his head, but said nothing.

"If they're hiding from this shady government organization, I can help,"Jason argued, and Phantom shook his head stiffly. "Isn't there anything you can tell me about them?"

"If you go after the GIW, you might not come back,"Phantom warned. "They don't just exterminate ghosts, they use them to make weapons or power sources. It's dangerous, and they don't know halfas exist yet." Danny hoped so at least. His own parents thought he was just being possessed by Phantom, so there was a good chance they weren't aware of them yet. "I'd like to keep it that way. It’s safer for them if no one knows they exist. They know how to hide. They have protection. They’ll be fine."

Hood sighed, feeling the weight of his rage in his pocket. He was sure he’d have his gun out at this point if he’d still had all that rage inside him. Now he just felt kind of exhausted. He’d look into this shady organization no matter what the kid said though. Even if there were only three half-humans out there, they didn’t deserve to be hunted. Hell, even ghosts like this kid didn’t deserve to be hunted. Maybe if the Bats could get into contact with the ghost king then they can come up with some sort of truce between both realms.

”Alright. Fine,"Jason grumbled. "I'll look into it and see if I can't get it shut down.” Phantom froze up, so Jason quickly added,”Don't worry, I won't mention any of your secrets to anyone. I won't pry about the halfas either,"He sighed again, thinking of how this was probably a job for Batman. It's possible Tim already is semi-aware of it at least, Jason figured.

Jason wondered if Phantom in Gotham meant one or more of the halfas were hiding here, and he was just keeping an eye out for them. Was the kid protecting the halfa’s here? Were there other ghosts around doing the same? It seemed like something the kid might do. "Just, keep the halfas and ghosts safe, and stay out of trouble."

"Aye aye," Phantom saluted, before disappearing into the night. Jason paused, no longer able to feel the ghost's presence when he went invisible. Jason reached into his pocket, feeling the smooth cold surface of the pit rage.

What a weird night, he thought.

Chapter 3

#dpxdc #dcxdp #phantom in gotham #pog #Danny Phantom #tim drake #jason todd

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freshlypizza · 4 months

Note

ik this is so basic but like any chance you could write npmd where max doesn't die? like maybe he's hurt but the group helps him and he eventually goes back to school? thanks!

This one isn't my best, and I'm so sorry for that. And I'm sorry for the long-ish wait aswell!

Happy holidays!

“I.. don't feel a pulse.”

“Pete, you're not checking the right place.”

Pete dropped his hand, and Richie pushed him out of the way. He placed two fingers just under the right of Max’s jaw.

“He's not dead, yet, he still has a pulse,” Richie sounded so relieved, “it's just very slow.”

“Shit, Steph call an ambulance,” Pete turned to her, she was already pulling her phone out.

They don't know how long they waited, but all five let go of the breath they were holding when they heard the sirens from outside. The paramedics ran down to the basement, lifted Max onto a stretcher and ran back out, leaving the nerds and Steph.

“Will he be okay?” Ruth's voice was small.

“He will be fine, Ruth,” Steph placed her hand on Ruth's shoulder, though it sounded more like she was trying to assure herself.

“And if he isn't,” Grace had four eyes turned on her immediately, “it's okay! It's all god's plan.”

Everyone, save Grace, groaned.

Two weeks after the accident was the big game. Hatchetfield vs Clivesdale.

Hatchetfield lost, tragically.

And everybody blamed it on Max’s absence.

Thank god nobody knew why exactly he was in the hospital.

Then, three months later, Max came back to the school. If Pete were to think about it, he probably should have been in the hospital for much longer considering his injuries.

The jock slammed his food tray onto the nerds’ lunch table. It made Pete, Richie and Ruth jump.

“Shit!” Pete hissed.

“What's up, dickwards,” Max slid into the seat next to Steph.

“Uh,” Ruth looked very confused, “hi?”

The jock took a hefty bite out of his cheese sandwich, making himself at home.

Peter stared at him, he didn't trust him. He was going to hurt his friends, Pete knew it. Grace, however, was almost drooling from her mouth and she practically had heart eyes.

“Max?” Steph finally broke the silence that went on for a little too long, “what the fuck are you doing?”

“Eating lunch?” He didn't bother wait to swallow his food before speaking, “the fuck does it look like?”

“Uh, yeah, we know,” Richie fidgeted, itching his arm, “but why are you here? With us?”

Max swallowed his last bit of bread, “because, Shit-lips, I can. Plus, we're friends now, right?”

“What?” Peter almost gave himself whiplash.

Max looked at him like he was dumb, “we are friends, you guys did something so nice for me.”

“We almost killed you,” Richie said quickly.

The jock shrugged, “I don't hold grudges.”

“What about that time in-”

“I don't hold grudges, Flemward!” Max hissed at the girl, who curled into herself.

“Right,” Pete pinched the bridge of his nose, “but you've also been bullying us since elementary, Max.”

“Oh, yeah. I was hoping you guys don't hold grudges either.”

“You've got to be kidding me,” Pete's entire face was in his hands now.

“Oh! Before I forget, again,” Max suddenly went really chipper, “I've got this ‘welcome back Max’ party this Friday, and was hoping if you five would wanna come?”

“My god-”

“We'd love to, Max!” Grace suddenly spoke up, making Richie, who was sitting next to her jump.

“Cool, cool, cool.” Max stood up, “see you nerds there then,” he walked to his usual table.

#nerdy prudes must die #npmd #starkid #hatchetfield #max jagerman #peter spankoffski #grace chasity #stephanie lauter #ruth fleming #richie lipschitz

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obsidianstrawberrymilk · 2 years

Text

AU where Bruce isn’t a billionaire but just you’re regular everyday history teacher. He still has all his martial arts training and stuff because he meets Selina and Talia in college and is like ‘hot women... must be able to keep up with her in a fight...’ and no parents (well Alfred exists but yk), but is otherwise normal. No Batman.

Then he meets small Dick Grayson, recently orphaned in a whole new country, and his adoption senses are like ‘hnggg’.

And small Jason Todd before his mom dies and he winds up on the streets so when Jason goes missing from class he gets worried and finds him and is like ‘hey Dick do you want a new brother’.

Given Tim went to boarding schools I can’t see him meeting him first, so maybe he meets Steph first?? And he notices how no one seems to care where she is etc and is like ‘can I adopt you??’

And THEN Tim’s parents die ig and then Steph’s like ‘yo can you adopt by bestie’.

And then he meets Cass I guess?? Not as a teacher. Maybe she saves him from being mugged or something and his child sense immediately tingles and he’s like ‘child?? With?? No home?? Would you like me to-’

Reiterating he’s a history teacher, so he probably has like a three bedroom apartment and already has five kids.

Then Talia is like ‘hehe soo remember when I said I miscarried well ACTUALLY-’ and Bruce is like ‘wtf this is a. child. Why does child have. Sword.’ And Talia’s like ‘oh I thought you’d use all your martial arts training to go out dressed up as a Bat and beat up bad guys so I could use the terrifying image you cast as a way to train our son more.’ And Bruce like ‘wtf no I have better coping mechanisms than that’ ‘oh - wait why are there so many rats here?’ ‘THOSE ARE MY CHILDREN TALIA-’

Dick still hates Talia because I find that hilarious. Damian is like five, already carting around a sword, and Bruce DOES NOT have exactly one (1) coping mechanism of cage fights in a fursuit so he’s like ‘Okay. Let’s try to work out your aggression is a less violent way’ ‘FATHER I WILL BE YOUR ONE TRUE HEIR’ ‘To what? My teaching job? Okay.’

Then Duke’s parents are Jokerized (bc the Rogues still exist) and he stops showing up to class and Bruce gets worried again and finds this child trying to take on the Joker by himself and is like ‘okay yeah no’.

And then one day he gets Cullen Row in class, and he’s a sweet kid, kind of jumpy, but then he sees some assholes picking on him for being gay and goes all teacher mode and is like ‘do you want me to talk to your parents??’ and Cullen’s like ‘lol my dad would probably give them a medal’ ‘Hmmm okay so can I adopt-’ Naturally Harper is a package deal.

Basically Bruce adopts all his kids but IS NOT a violent furry so he’s a good dad and doesn’t enlist them into his weird ass ‘war on crime’ or whatever he calls it.

Also the kids get to share rooms now and fight over bathrooms-

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mintacle · 1 year

Note

Wait, please go feral and explain! What the similarities between Jason and the other bat kids?

Oh damn. Ok, I don't feel like I'm the best qualified for all of these, so I'll do them for the characters I'm famliar with in the aspects I feel confident in and I hope not to seriously mischaracterize anyone! Anyway additions are welcome and very appreciated.

So for Dick this is relating to the earlier post I reblogged in their almost toxic loyalty to Bruce conflicting with their desire to become independent and criticise Bruce as well. This unhealthy dependency they both have would be soo interesting to explore but dc is a cowwarrd..

For Tim it's that Jason and Tim are both acutely aware of the monstrosity of Batman and how that calling is both Bruce's crutch and his downfall as an unhealthy spiral. Both Tim and Jason could be so interesting to explore in their similarity of understanding Bruce and Batman as two seperate entities and how this mentality affects Bruce.

For Steph it's very on the nose and the fandom does acknowledge how Bruce failed both of them and yet dc does not show us meaningful interactions between the two of them exploring how they both deal with these feelings of betrayal and being blamed for why Bruce abandonned them. (victim blaming)

Damian too is interesting because of how Damian can get excused for the actions the bats dissapprove of but Jason will never be forgiven (even though what exactly the issue is is super vague and only somehow defined as "he doesn't fight crime the way we want him to/ he kills criminals sometimes", even though depending on the run Jason has maybe only killed very few people and the bats have been shown to be completely fine with other people who killed. (Wonderwoman, Damian, Ghostmaker). I feel like Damian and Jason should actually have a relationship where they really understand one another and recognize themselves in the other. Also with how they both have the theme of trying to find family and being rejected by family.

Oh and obviously the big guy himself, Bruce Wayne. Bruce and Jason are both unhealthily obsessed with their own trauma and their mission to prevent somthing similar from ever happening to anyone again. They are both made and tied to Gotham (or really should be, grrrr) and they are both psuperficially coldhearted but just a bit deeper down have a bleeding heart of compassion for the people they wish to protect.

So yeah, regarding Jason and the batfam, they're not that different!! Frustrates me when Jason is only used as a one-dimensional side of "good guy gone bad", when he is actually just conflicted by the complexity of justice as is everyone else in the batfam too. Let's fucking talk about that maybe.

#ok this is just off the top of my head #jason todd #batfam #ask answered #still biting biting biting something though because comics refuse to do this...#thx for the ask!#I did not read this again to check what I wrote. You told me to go feral so I'm going full feral and unedited thought stream on this one #can't think of something smart to say about cass duke or babs

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hintofelation99 · 3 years

Text

Kate Babysits

Bruce: Kate I have an emergency.

Kate: What's up Bruce?

Bruce: A sorcerer put a deaging spell on the kids and-

Kate: And you need my help tracking down the sorcerer? No problem I-

Bruce: Actually I was going to see if you could babysit while I figure this out.

Kate just glares at him: Why can't Alfred babysit? Or your Justice League friends? Or, maybe, just maybe, you could hire a fucking babysitter!

Bruce, sighing: Please Kate, just stay back and babysit, please?

Kate: ...fine, but just remember I have no idea how to entertain kids, so if anything goes wrong it's on you.

Bruce, rolling his eyes: Sure, what's the worst that can happen?

-> 30 minutes later <-

Kate holds a two month old Damian as she looks down at a 4 y/o Duke, 5 y/o Tim, 5 y/o Steph, 6 y/o Cass, 6 y/o Jason, 11 y/o Dick, and 12 y/o Babs.

Kate: Okay kiddos, remember what auntie Katie taught you, no shooting in the house or at eachother.

Hands the kids guns.

Babs: Miss Katie, are you sure this is a good idea?

Kate: Of course it is swe- JASON! You will not try to shoot Tim! And stop chasing him before- Oh no...

Tim falls down the manor stairs, knocks out his front teeth. Kate shifts Damian to one arm and runs to the now crying Tim, picking him up and holding him on her hip, she checks him over.

Kate: Oh fuck! Bruce is gonna kill me!

Steph: Fuck!

Kate slowly turning to look at Steph: ...no

Steph, runs away yelling: FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!

Kate: Shit!

Dick, opens his mouth

Kate: Don't you dare! Go swing from a chandelier or something.

-> 5 minutes later <-

Cass: F- fu- fuck!

Kate: What?! How??

Steph, looking very proud: Cass and I played school and I taught her a new word!

Kate: Why would you-

A loud crash comes from the foyer.

Kate: shitshitshitshit.

Sees Dick on floor, mostly unharmed other than some bruises and a cut on his hand from a sharp metal edge on the chandelier.

Kate: What did you do?!

Dick: You told me to swing from a chandelier!!

Kate: It's called sarcasm!

Babs, sticking her tongue out at Dick: He's only 11, and my dad says that sarcasm is for adults. Like me!

Kate, looking unimpressed: How old are you?

Babs, looking very proud: I'm 12!

Kate: Well, that sucks because sarcasm is for 13 and up.

Babs looks offended and Dick sticks out his tongue at her.

Kate, shoves Damian into Barbara's arms: Take this, Tim I'm gonna need you to let go so I can bandage up Dick's hand.

Tim, now speaking with a lisp: Noooooo! I'm still sad!

Kate: Tim, please.

Tim just sniffles and gives her puppy dog eyes.

Kate: Fine! I can do this one handed.

-> 10 minutes and one bandaged hand later <-

Kate: Okay Dick, this time you stay near me.

Dick immediately treats Kate like a jungle gym and climbs on to her shoulders.

Dick: Okay!

Kate: Oh my god you're heavy, aren't you a little old to be carried?

Dick: But my hand hurts too much to walk!

Kate, rolling her eyes: Okay okay fine. At least I can still hold the baby, now where did Babs go?

Now with Dick on her shoulders, and Tim on her right hip she walks into the study to find the entrance to the batcave open.

Kate: Shit!!

Kate runs into the batcave and sees Cass practicing with all the weapons while Steph runs in circles around her. Damian has been placed on one of the lab tables near several tubes of acid, fear toxin, cuddle pollen, etc. instead of watching Damian Barbara is typing something on the batcomputer. Duke is still yelling fuck, but now he's also playing with a flame thrower.

Kate, picking up Damian with her left arm: Barbara stay away from there! Steph, Cass, come here right now! Duke, do not play with fire! Wait, where's Jason??

Looking around frantically Kate sees a holding cell. She puts Dick and Tim in there while she goes to catch the others.

Tim: Nooooo!!!

Kate: Dick, your brother is sad, give him cuddles!

Dick immediately pulling Tim into a hug and soothing him: Okay!

Kate takes away Duke's flamethrower: Do you know your abc's?

Duke, looking offended: Of course I do! I can write my name and all my abc's and-

Kate, pulling out a pen and a pad of paper: That's great, show me everything you can write.

Duke nods excitedly and Kate ushers him into the holding cell with Dick and Tim. She gives him the pen and paper, Duke starts to slowly write his name and the alphabet. Kate grabs Steph and Cass.

Kate: Hey Stephie?

Steph: Yes Miss Katie?

Kate: Duke is trying to learn how to write big words, and since you're such a good teacher I thought you could help!

Steph nods excitedly and immediately follows Kate into the cell to help. Kate picks up Cass and leaves the cell, locking the door on her way out.

Kate: Okay, Babs, what are you doing?

Barbara: Playing a video game.

Kate looks on the screen and sees that Baba has accessed the watch tower security cameras and is repeatedly turning alarms, lights, weapons systems, etc on and off. Superman and Green Lantern are freaking out while frantically searching for an invader.

Kate, nods looking slightly concerned: Okay, you have fun with that...

Kate runs upstairs to find Jason, after looking for an hour she finds him twirling a gun and reading a book in the library.

Kate: Wow, I guess somethings never change.

Jason looking up: What'd you say?

Kate: Nothing. Hey, where's your old DS?

Jason: Upstairs in-

Kate: Sweet, show me.

Jason: But I'm-

Kate: Show me now and I'll give you cookies.

Jason: hmmm... okay!

-> After grabbing the DS <-

Kate: Okay, grab all the books you want and follow me to the batcave.

They walk down to the cave and Kate puts Jason in the holding cell with Duke, Steph, Tim, and Dick. Jason is completely unphased by the others surrounding him, instead of addressing them he starts reading again.

Kate: Hey Babs, come here!

Babs: I'm in the middle of a game!

Green Lanterns screams can be heard coming from the speakers.

Kate: Wouldn't you rather play Cooking Mama?

Babs turns on all the alarms in the watch tower, turns off all the lights, and activates all major weapons before taking the DS and playing with it in the holding cell.

Kate: Uhhh, okay Cass, what do you like?

Cass looks at her confused. Kate looks around and sees a knife on the table.

Kate: Here, play with this, just keep it away from the others.

Cass happily walks into the cell while twirling the knife. Kate sighs in relief as she locks the door. She starts to sit down when Damian starts screaming.

Kate, rocking him: Shhhhhh, okay, okay. Uhhhh.

Damian starts flailing around, occasionally he's able to pull on a lock of her hair. She holds him at arms length and continues to rock him, this time it's more awkward due to her arms being completely extended. She sets him down a training mat to find something to sooth him. When she looks back on him he's giggling and gnawing at the handle of a sword.

Kate, shrugging: That works

-> 2 hours later <-

Bruce walks into the cave to see Kate asleep on the training mats, 2 month old Damian beside her chewing on a sword, and all of his other kids entertaining themselves in a holding cell that contains several knives and guns.

Bruce: KATE!! Did you give the kids weapons?!

Kate, opening her eyes sleepily: Wha-? Oh, yeah, couldn't find any toys.

Bruce: ...Next time I'm calling Roy.

Kate just shrugs as Bruce opens the cell door. Steph and Duke come running out, chasing eachother. Cass follows the two timidly. Jason keeps reading. Dick awkwardly carries a sleeping Tim. Bruce smiles takes Tim from Dick.

Bruce, as Tim slowly blinks his eyes open and yawns: Hey Timm- What happened to his teeth?!

Kate: ...uhhh, gotta go!

572 notes · View notes

moonlit-imagines · 3 years

Text

Misbehavior (Part 1)

Jason Todd x batkid!reader

warnings:

a/n: tysm anon!!

prompt: anonymous: “Hello Lacey! Hope your doing great! Could I please request a bat family x batsis!reader where the reader is Kind of the middle child (I was thinking older than Damian but younger than Tim) and she’s always forgotten and in the back. Maybe some scenarios can be that no one listens when she talks or they forget to invite her to do stuff. So then one day she acts up in school like maybe punching someone for no good reason because she’s craving attention but instead of Bruce showing up to get her Jason shows up and he sees that she’s actually really sad and starts to question her until she tells him everything and maybe spills some tears and it ends with just Jason comforting her and cheering her up. Just some soft Jason for my soul! Also have a great day and I hope that you feel better and more motivated now after your break! 😘”

part 2

No matter what you did, none of your deeds went unnoticed. Good or bad.

You always heard how Dick was so independent, the one everyone should use as an example.

You always heard how Barbara could do it all, she never failed to impress.

You always heard how Jason was reckless, someone who needed to get his act together.

You always heard how Tim was such a prodigy, he was one of a kind.

You always heard how Steph was so determined, she had such amazing goals.

You always heard that Cass was perfect, they’d never change a thing about her.

You always heard that Duke was so strong, he’d never give up no matter what stood in his way.

You always heard that Damian was dangerous, a kid that needed to be guided.

But what about you? What did they hear about you? Nothing. No one ever spoke of you, they didn’t have the time. It seemed as if you were just unimpressive, there wasn’t one thing that needed to be mentioned. Stuck in the middle of a bunch of bats and birds, no way to stand out in the crowd.

Maybe not in a mask or a cowl, a dress or a suit, behind a computer or among the darkness, but there was one place you couldn’t be ignored...

You sat at your desk, picking at old tape with the tip of your fingernail. The teacher had nothing interesting to say, so what was the point of being here? What made Gotham Academy so special that you just had to attend this place?

The uniform was overkill, the classes went nowhere, the students were too preppy, and you didn’t have a single thing in common with anyone here.

Anger was starting to bubble inside you as you continued your internal self-loathing. Your mind was only focused on the negative, but it was shifting from school back to home.

No one was ever there for you, not even on patrol. You’d called for backup several times on missions and nearly lost it all when you had to go in alone. If it were anyone else, a teammate would have met them in a heartbeat.

Your plans were always overshadowed whenever you tried to set up a mission or even just a day off. You wanted cookies? Too bad, Tim wants brownies. You wanted to watch a movie? Too bad, everyone chose a TV show. It was the little things that irked you the most. Half the time, you never even got the memo.

And what about when you all come back from patrol with all sorts of injuries and Alfred comes to patch you up? Well, not you. He’ll run to check on cuts and scrapes. Meanwhile, you had a broken wrist and a black eye.

You’d finally run out of things to pick at around your desk which resorted in you tapping instead. There was a brief bit of zoning out as you remembered the time that Damian’s plan for evading Killer Croc’s attack was to push you in the way. Or the time that Jason hid his guns in your bed for reasons he didn’t care to explain. Or when Dick drank the last of the milk and didn’t tell you until after you poured your cereal. Or when Tim told you that you weren’t fit for the mission he had been planning. Or when Bruce blatantly ignored the story you told out of pure excitement, giving you nothing but a “sounds like you had fun.”

While you were in a horrible daze, you felt a hand on your shoulder that snapped you out of it faster than the Barry Allen. Without even evaluating the situation, your reflexes caused you to turn and twist your classmates arm backwards as he screamed.

“Hey! Stop, ow, that hurts! Stop! Stop it!” You processed his words too late and knew exactly what was coming next.

“Y/N L/N!” You teacher shouted as you drew your hand back. “Dean’s office. Right now.” Her sharp voice sent a chill down your spine, not even the Joker could do that. You’d be able to explain the situation pretty easily, you just didn’t want to make it worse. But there was one ankle that sent you off the edge. Another student tripped you on your way through the aisles, and that student caught a fist to the face. The audience gasped and shouting from your teacher ensued, but you didn’t listen, you’d take the punishment at this point. So you walked right out and headed for the dean’s office without so much as a hall pass.

“Mx. l/n? What’s this about?” Dean Williams was surprised to say the least, you’d never been sent in for discipline before. Was there a certain way to do this?

“Well, I zoned out and some kid behind me grabbed my shoulder, I accidentally twisted his arm.” You retold your story, the abridged version. “But on my way out I punched a kid in the face because he tripped me. That one’s on me.”

“...Well,” the dean frowned at his obligations, but had to go through with some kind of punishment, “I’m going to have to suspend you for physical contact with a student. I’ll call your father to come pick you up.” You shrugged and slouched back in your chair, giving up on any hope of talking your way out of this. It might as well just happen. You listened to the clicking of the buttons on the dean’s phone as he typed in the Wayne Manor phone number, obviously reaching Alfred almost immediately.

“Wayne Manor.” You eard his faint voice through the speaker.

“Hello, this is Dean Williams from Gotham Academy, may I speak to Mr. Wayne? I have his child in my office.” Your dean explained over the phone, peeking back at your for a split second. You were completely unbothered, it was baffling.

“Is it Damian?” You heard him ask, causing an involuntary eye roll.

“Y/N, actually.” There was a long pause before someone else picked up the phone. “Mr. Wayne, this is Dean Williams at Gotham Academy. I have y/n sitting across from me right now, they seemed to have gotten themself into a physical altercation with two separate students, I have no choice but to suspend them.” You heard a deep sigh over the phone, then the handheld piece was handed to you.

“Bruce?” You asked.

“Really? Fighting at school?” He sounded unimpressed. Nothing new, even when you do something new.

“Something like that. Whoops.” He hung up on you right after that, so you handed the phone back and told your dean, “Guess they’ll get me soon.”

“You call your father by his first name?” Dean Williams had nosily questioned.

“I’m adopted.” He obviously didn’t know you as well as your more troublesome sibling, it was time he just minded his business.

After a good thirty minutes of silent waiting while listening to keyboard clacking and papers flipping by the front desk, the office door opened, and to your surprise, it was one of your brothers.

“I’m here for y/n.” He mumbled, signing the piece of paper and showing his ID.

“Alright, Mr. Harper, I just have to check some paperwork really quick...” The receptionist went into your file and checked for your emergency contacts. “You’re all set. Now, y/n has been suspended for two weeks. I suggest you get to the bottom of their little ‘outburst’ before they’re able to come back to school.” It actually pissed Jason off to hear her say that.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” His sarcasm wasn’t subtle. “Come on, kid.” Your brother gripped your arm and led you out of the office, noticing your bitter expression that he couldn’t even rationalize. Was that normal? “So what happened. Bruce just told me to come get you.”

“Of course he did.” You rolled your eyes on the brink of tears, he didn’t even come to get you himself. Jason opened the car door for you and nudged you inside, slamming it once you were clear.

“You better have a good reason,” he warned as he started the engine, “I was in the middle of a poker game.”

“Oh, yeah, ‘cause I’m such an inconvenience.” You were starting to remind him of himself. That was never a good thing.

“Okay, my bad. I didn’t mean it like that.” Jason began speeding down the block, you’d never once seen him obey a speed limit. You’d think someone with a fake ID and a death certificate would want to avoid any run-ins with the cops, but Gotham was just one of those cities.

“Yeah, right.” You reached for the radio knobs and felt Jason’s hand wrap around your wrist.

“No music until you explain yourself.” You fell back into your seat to pout, muttering some curses under your breath. “I won’t tell Bruce or anyone. I swear.”

“I just zoned out. Reflexes.” You bluntly replied.

“What?” He still didn’t have any context to go off of.

“I twisted someone’s arm backwards. Honest mistake.” Jason knew there was more to this story. “But on my way out of the classroom, I punched this kid who tried to trip me. That was on him.”

“As much as I condone payback, you can’t do that at school.” He sighed. “You’ve never been sent home before. That I know of. So why now?”

“Yeah, you know, maybe that’s the issue? You couldn’t tell me if I’ve ever gotten in trouble before. None of you could. You couldn’t tell me a definitive thing about me. When’s my birthday, Jason?” He was at a loss for words. “That’s what I thought.”

“So this was all for attention?” Jason asked. “There’s a hell of a lot of better ways to go about that.”

“Tried them all, this one barely even worked.” You replied with a crack in your voice. “How come none of you care about me? Why am I always looked over? I’m just like the rest of you. I put on that stupid suit every night and kick ass, I get my job done, I get good grades, I’m resourceful, I’m special—” You’d let that last one slip in your rant to your older brother, it shocked him so bad he stopped the car.

“I know what you mean.” Jason stared straight ahead at the empty road. “I felt the same way when I came back. After everyone was used to me being back, it was like nothing ever happened. Bruce just went back to calling me careless, irresponsible.”

“At least you get noticed, Jason. Your identifiable.” You turned to him with a pained look and he risked his confidence to look you in the eye. Once he did, he couldn’t look away. It hurt him to see someone so familiar to himself have tears running down their face because they felt forgotten. No kid should ever have to feel like that. That was why Bruce took him in. That was how Jason became Robin.

“Fuck this.” Jason hit the gas and turned the car around. “We’re getting ice cream. Do you like ice cream? That’s a serious question.”

“I...I guess.” You were somewhat confused by his sudden literal change in direction.

“Good. You’re my kid for today, all my attention goes to you. I’m sure Bruce won’t notice if you’re gone for a few hours.” Jason’s jaw dropped at his last comment. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, you’re right and you should say it.”

taglist: @thatwaspossession // @ravenmoore14 // @thisetaernallove // @kinoko-kai //

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miraculous-trinity-leo · 3 years

Text

Whacky Gotham, Goofy New York, and Chaotic Paris.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7)

Chapter 5: Then Let The Games Begin

•—–—–·†·–—–—•

Soooo, the Batfam is panicking, Gotham's confused as to why Iron Man is flying over Gotham like a madman, and Maria is with two of Gotham's Sirens (but only Ivy and Harley know this) having a wonderful time playing with Bud and Lou.

Let's start with the Sirens.

Harley is watching over Maria and Tikki as they sleep with Bud and Lou, Ivy walkes over to sit next to Harley, handing her a cup of tea.

"So, what's the diagnosis?" - Ivy

"She has some sort of trauma, has class issues... and handles more than she should, but still does everythin', on top of bein' a hero. She's been through some sh-t Pam." Yeah Harley may have found out Maria's a hero (if the tiny god and magic were anything to go by).

"Is she alone?" - Ivy

"No, thankfully, she has supportive parents, and friends that aren't little sh-ts. I think they're also heroes, she also has a lot, and I a mean A LOT of pent up emotions, she doesn't show anythin' negative, only positive things. She seems to shrink in on herself if she thinks she does somethin' wrong. Pam, we both know there's a limit to how much crap a person can take before they snap, and she's such a sweet kid. There has to be somethin' we can do to help her Ives." Ok she found out alot, but in Marias' defense, they have trustworthy souls, and they were the only other people (besides her friends) that she talked to about it, yes she had her Maman and Uncle to talk about hero stuff, but for the stuff her class does, she only ever vented (without being negative) to her friends.

"Her class is visiting the Botanical Gardens in three days, and it's a 2 part tour, so we can see just what's going on. If it's bad then we scare them a bit, if it's bad bad... they can handle a few slightly poisonous plants right?" - Ivy

"God I love the way ya think Ives, do ya think she can stay with us? I mean look at how cute she is with Bud and Lou... Oh my god, she's cuddlin' dem, and ya gave her a flower crown, how'd I miss that?! Where's the camera?"

Harley took a picture to remind her of this wonderful moment. As Ivy and Harley looked at the picture, they both promised to keep Maria safe, and maybe become sorta kinda-ish parents to her while she's in Gotham.

•—–·Now back to the Bat-Chaos Bat-Cave·–—•

Tim took over the chair and was now searching the possible locations with Jarvis, Damian was sitting on a different chair, trying to act cool, but he wouldn't stop looking over at Tim, to see his progress. Bruce was talking over the comms with Tony. Dick and Jason, weren't helping (they kept feeding each other worse and worse ideas of what could have happened to Maria). Then they heard Jarvis speak.

"I have found the most likely area Ms. Dupain-Cheng would be in. Her phone died about 56 blocks away from her hotel, if we don't count kidnapping, or murder, she would have thought about asking for directions, but may have decided not to considering the city she is in. So that leaves us with a possible 15-25 mile radius from her last known location. I think it best to divide into groups of two, have Oracle stay and update you if anything on security, and or traffic cameras happens. Bruce will be with Tony, Dick will go with Tim, and Jason will go with Damain to search within the area. Stephanie and Cassandra will search around a 5 mile radius near Wayne hotel." as Jarvis continued to explain the other details, the Batfam began to suit up, Batman met up with Iron Man, and they took the North area, Nightwing and Red Robin took the East area, while Red Hood and Robin searched the South. Steph and Cass were on foot in civilian clothes, searching the West area they were assigned.

They searched for the whole day, and came up with nothing. Until Oracle saw a video from a traffic cam around 9pm, 15 blocks away from where her phone died. She called it in and everyone went back to the cave. Once everyone was at the Bat-Computer, Oracle pressed play, the cameras didn't have sound, and it wasn't close enough to see if she was ok.

They watched as she went to an overgrown parking lot and sat down. She was looking down at the ground, and that's when they spotted two figures round the corner and spot her. They watched as the two figures approach Maria, and saw the startled reaction she had. They realized it was Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy that were talking to her, then they saw Maria collapse. They watched as Harley made sure she was ok, looking over to Ivy before looking back to Maria and picking her up. The last thing they saw, was Maria being carried away by two of Gothams' most dangerous rouges, but now they knew where to look next.

•—–· Back to Ivy and Harley ·–—•

Harley continued to take adorable pictures of the children.

"God, they're so f-ckin' cute!" - Harley for the 20th time

As Ivy continued to watch while caring for her plants, Catwoman walked in.

"Hey girls, got the stuff for movie night, so what are we- Holy mother of cats! He adopted another f-cking child didn't he! Where the hell does he keep finding them?! 7 was ment to be the god DAMN LIMIT!!!" - Catwoman

Maria jumped at the sudden shouting and may have accidentally summoned a yo-yo (one made useing creation magic and protection magic) before saying.

"Tikki where's the akuma?! How long was I out?! Forget it Tikki spot-" she then realized she wasn't in Paris, and seeing a new face, she also realized she just spilled her secret to another person within the same day... kinda

"Fffffffffffudge sunday that fell on the pavement!" - Maria shouted in baker profanities

"That's not how ya curse sweetheart. It should go more like-" Harley was cut off by a vine Ivy had summoned.

"Harley, cursing makes the plants sad, you know this." - Ivy said removing the vine

Harley just walked over to Maria and whipsered it in her ear.

"You're supposed to say it more like this, ' ..... .... ... .. ....... .. ... .....' ok?" - Harley ended with a big smile

"... I will never see this world in the same frickin' light ever again." - Maria

"ehh close enough." - Harley

"Can someone please tell me, WTH is going on here, on our special girls day off?!" - Catwoman

"She is a new member of the Sirens as of today, and as a member, she's unda our protection, so effective immediately." - Harley

"Cool." - Maria

"Harley." - Ivy

"Wut... first things first, if she is going to join, she needs to be very flexible, know how to fight, and be incredibly intelligent." - Catwoman

"She beat Ed's @ss with a gun pointed at her, and solved every riddle with ease, so I'm positive she'll be an amazin' addition to the team." - Harley

'God she sounds like a new mother now' "But we don't know how good her flexibility is." - Catwoman

"I know, hey Maria, ya wanna do some tricks with me, of course we need to stretch first, but do ya wanna give it a go?" - Harley

"Sure." - Maria

Ivy and Catwoman sat down on a couch a few feet away from where Maria and Harley stood in the empty part of the building. They started out with stretches, and to Catwoman's surprise (and Harley's delight) Maria copied Harleys streches perfectly.

"Ok, now that that's done, we'll start with some cartwheels, then move on to flips, then handsprings and so on." - Harley

Maria gave Harley a nod... and they were off... literally, Harley did a cartwheel into a handspring, and a few backflips, Maria executed it flawlessly. Harley did some more complicated gymnastics tricks, and Maria did it, Harley did triple backflips going into a cartwheel, into a summersault, and Maria did that perfectly as well. This went on until both Harley and Maria were slightly out of breath, both having massive smiles on their faces.

"Ives, please let her join, she's like a mini me." - Harley then hugged Maria and they somehow both tripled in cuteness as they both did puppy (or Puss In Boots style) eyes at Catwoman and Ivy.

"Sure Harley." - Ivy said walking over to give Harley a small kiss on the cheek.

"Okay... but she doesn't have a costume yet, and she still has to think of a name for herself." - Catwoman

"Is a mouse good, like a mouse themed costume, that or a Turtle themed one. What do you think Harley?" - Maria

"Mmmm, I like that with the mouse you can always toy with Cat, ya know, cat an' mouse stuff, turtle seems... weird even fawh Gotham, so personally I would pick mouse, just because of the cheesy jokes you could do." - Harley

"Very funny, ok then, give me a moment." Maria then reached out her hand, her eyes then started to glow an icy blue, and a small portal opened in front of her, she reached in and pulled out a small pendant necklace. After she put it on a small mouce appeared and greated itself, Marias' eyes going back to normal after closing the portal.

"Hello I'm Mullo, nice to meet you all."

"Omg omg omg, It's soooo f-ckin' CUTE!" - Harley

"Best to assume all of them are extremely cute Harls." - Ivy

"What the Hell did I miss in the week I was gone?!" - Catwoman

"Ehh, not much, oh but Iron Man did fly aroun' Gotham a few times earlier this mornin' like a madman." - Harley

"Oh sh-t." - Maria

"Maria are ya ok? That was ya first official proper curse in my presence." Harley said looking over to the girl.

"He's gonna kill me." - Maria

"Wait, what do you mean Marigold?" - Ivy

"... He's my Uncle, and I never got to text him I was ok, since my phone died before I met you." - Maria

"Hey, I'm sure he'll understand, now what are we watchin'?" - Harley

"I think we have more important matters other than movies at the moment!" - Catwoman

"Ok, Me Myself and Irene it is." - Harley

"No! You basically kidnapped Iron Mans' NIECE!!!" - Catwoman

"Technically, she fainted and us bein' the good Gothamites we are, decided to take her with us, to make sure she was a-okay." - Harley

"I'm ganna need more than just a six pack of soda to get me through this... Just put the movie on already." - Catwoman

Catwoman sat at the far left end of the couch, next to her sat Ivy, then Maria, and then Harley, Bud and Lou by their feet. All of them sharing one big blanket (Becuase if Iron Man did show up, or any of the birds, then Maria was in a protective burrito and they may not see her right away) and they started the movie.

•—–·–—•

"Oh god, the poor cow." - Maria

.........

"Hahahaha, he stuck a whole f-ckin' chicken head in that guys @ss" - Harley

"The poor chicken." - Maria

"Maria you don't want to see this part." - Ivy then lightly covered her eyes for the ehem, chicken extraction.

.........

"Anyone up for another movie?" - Harley

"That depends." - Ivy

"Any suggestions Cat?" - Harley looked across to the other end of the couch to see Catwoman already sleeping.

"She took her cat-nap already? Seriously?" - Harley

"... What about Pirates of The Caribbean?" - Maria

"I'm good with that." - Ivy

And they started the next movie, Maria was happy, it felt like when her maman and papa would sleep with her when she made a pillow fort. It was a loving atmosphere, it felt safe, and nothing could ruin it. Marias' eyes became heavy, and she leaned her head on Harleys' shoulder, falling asleep after a few minutes.

Ivy paused the move looking over to see both Harley and Maria sleeping, soon Ivy also fell asleep in the comfortable silence.

…………………………

Around an hour later Maria woke up in a panic, she had a nightmare, and kept looking around frantically for someone with tears running down her face.

"What's the matter hun?" - Harley said looking around to see if someone had gotten in. When she looked back at Maria she saw that she was crying.

"What happened?" Harley asked in a kind voice that was filled with motherly love.

"I, just *hic* had a bad dream that's *hic* all, I'm fine." - Maira said trying to wipe the tears away.

"You're ok, I promise nothin's goin' to happen to ya as long as Ivy and I are here, ok hun?" - Harley hugged Maria, and she could feel the girl let out a few more sobs, and quick breathes.

"Thanks Maman." Maria didn't even realize what she had said, it just felt natural for her to say it.

"You're welcome hun." 'Omg I'm gonna cry, she called me maman!' Harley rubbed small circles over Marias' back, and began humming until she fell asleep, she continued to hug Maria until she also fell asleep.

•—–· Back to the Chaos Bat-Cave ·–—•

"What do you mean she's with two of Gotham City's Sirens?!" - Tony

"Tony, calm down, I'll call Selina, she can talk to them and get this all sorted out." - Bruce

"Your fiancee is a Gotham Siren too?! Why didn't you tell me?!" - Tony

"Why isn't she picking up? And unlike some people, this family doesn't like outing our secret identities... on live TV." - Bruce

"Oh well excuse me for not keeping my secret identity a SECRET!" - Tony

"I'll try calling her one more time." - Bruce

"Bruce, it's 3am. Who in their right mind ever stays up this late.... aside from this family." - Tim with a giant coffee mug in hand.

"... I'll just call her one more time." Bruce then connected it to the Bat-Computer so everyone could hear.

•—–· Back to the Sirens ·–—•

Catwoman's phone is ringing like crazy, waking everyone up, including a tired, annoyed, and confused Selina.

"Wth does he want at 3 in the morning?!" - Selina

"Just answer it so we can keep sleepin'." - Harley still hugging Maria

"I'm putting it on speaker, so you lot can testify against his @ss in court, for disturbing the peace."

•—–· Over to Batsy ·–—•

"Selina I need to ask-"

"WHAT THE F-CKING HELL DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT A GOOD NIGHTS REST!" - Selina

"Oooooh, she sounds pissed Bruce." - Jason

"I'm sorry to call you at this hour, but we need to find a girl that looks just like every single one of my other kids." - Bruce

"Bruce... I thought we agreed that 7 kids was. the. f-cking. limit." - Selina

•—–· Back to the Sirens ·–—•

Selina looked over to Maria before muting the speaker.

"Do you want them to know you're here Kitten?" - Selina

"... I'm tired, I haven't had coffee, I have no filter, so f-ck it, act like you never saw me today, and let them drown in chaos. " - Maria

"I think I like filter less Maria." - Harley

"Okay." Selina shrugged her shoulders and then un-muted her phone, putting it back on speaker mode.

"Where was she last seen?" - Selina

"She was last seen with Harley and Poison Ivy, I want you to see if she's still with them." - Bruce

Selina looked over to Maria and Harley, both of them shook their heads with mischievous grins.

"I've been with them all day, and I haven't once seen a girl that looks like your kids. Now can I go back to sleep, and forget this ever happened?" - Selina

"WHERE IS MY NIECE!!!" - Tony

"Oh, hey Tony, didn't know you were there, don't know who, or where your niece is, but good luck trying to find her. Oh and Bruce, I'm shutting my phone off so you don't keep calling till the butt crack of dawn. And congrats it's now 4am. you owe me a lunch date, uh-ba-bye." Selina then hung up her phone and turned it off.

"That went pretty well if you ask me, now I'm going back to sleep." - Selina

•—–· Back to Batsy ·–—•

The room was silent for a few minutes before Jason spoke up.

"Does that mean that Pixiepop ran away and is even more lost now?!" - Jason

"Oh god, what do we do, what if she got hurt?!" - Dick

"What if she got kidnapped?!" - Jason

"What if she's with a big time Gotham Villain?!" - Dick

"... What if she got more coffee?" - Tim

"Oh Hell No" - Jason/Dick

"... Lets all go to sleep, and when we wake up, we'll head over to their base and double check. She could've just said that because I called her at 3am." - Bruce

"But my niece is still out there!" - Tony

"You're going to sleep Tony." - Pepper then dragged Tony to his room.

•—–· Back to Maria ·–—•

Selina went to a different part of the building, where Maria assumed the bedrooms were. Ivy had gone to the greenhouse to be with the plants, and now it was just her and Harley left on the couch, and she couldn't sleep.

"... Harley?" - Maria

"Yeah hun?" - Harley

"I can't sleep." - Maria

"Well, watcha wanna do till ya get tired?" Harley asked sitting up a little straighter to get a better look at Maria.

Maria gave a sly smile, and looked Harley in the eyes "Want to go free-running on the rooftops?"

"... Alright, but lets get some coffee, and a snack in us first." - Harley gave her a side hug, before getting up to go make the coffee, and grab some snacks.

After they had their coffee, they climbed to the roof of the base. Harley was in her outfit, bat in hand and ready to do some bonding.

"So, how does ya outfit work?" - Harley

"Like so, ready Mullo?" - Maria

"Yes Maria" - Mullo

"Ok, Mullo, Get Squeaky!" A bright light flashes, and when Harley could see again, Maria was in a dark gray suit, wearing black knee high boots, with a strip of pink at the knee, and black elbow length gloves with the same pink strip at her elbow. Her mask was a slightly lighter gray on the top part, and pink on the bottom. Her hair was pulled into two buns with pink ribbons that faded to gray, and to black at the very tip. Her jump rope around her waist forming a tail going just below the back of her knees.

"Just when I think ya can't get any more adorable. So what should I call ya?" - Harley

"You can call me Multimouse." - Maria

Soon they were racing and doing tricks off different roofs, they were really enjoying themselves. From one of the roofs they heard a commotion in one of the alleys, when they looked down they saw a man holding a woman at gunpoint.

"Not good, seems like he's got issues, probably lost his lover, most likely has additions to drugs and alcohol, and seems to be a little tipsy." - Harley

"I've got a plan." - Multimouse

…………

Multimouse droped a little way behind the guy, grabbing his attention while Harley got the lady to safety.

"You know there's a help center two blocks from here that would be more than willing to help you." - Multimouse

The crook just raised his gun to her trying to keep it steady as he spoke.

"Give me all your money little girl, or else I'll hurt you."

"1. That's not how you hold a gun. 2. That is no way to treat any girl. and 3. Instead of money, I'll give you my jump rope." - Multimouse

"Why the hell would I want your jump rope, that thing looks worthless." the crook lowered his guard enough as Multimouse pretended to hand over her jump rope, only to use it in a quick motion to dismarm the man, as Harley promptly knocked him out with one swing.

"Lets neva have ya at gunpoint again, okay hun? I'm afraid my heart can't take it." - Harley said while tying the crook to a lamppost.

"Sorry, but it was the best idea I could come up with at the moment, besides, any guy with a gun would feel like they have the upper hand if they're facing a random little girl with a jump rope, rather than Gothams' Harley Quinn with a bat." - Multimouse

"Sadly I'm just too popular with the kiddos on the street." - Harley

…………

They continued to stop a few more muggers on the way back to the base, and when they got back they peaked around the corner to see the whole Batfam plus Iron Man talking with Ivy and Selina.

"How much you want to bet we can get back out before they see us?" - Whispering Multimouse

"... Lets try hidin' in the kitchen." - Whispering Harley

As they tried to sneak by (still in their costumes) Selina just walks over and draggs them to the group.

"Here, now let me sleep!" - Selina

"Dang it Selina we wanted tah see just how long we could hide out in the kitchen!" - Harley

Selina did a double take now realizing they both went out.

"... You didn't." - Selina

"We wanted tah go free-runnin'! So what?" - Harley

"She could've gotten hurt Harls." - Ivy

"My suits magic, I am invulnerable to bullets, normal magic, swords, knifes, anything staby staby, and I can withstand any temperature in it." Multimouse said with a slight pout.

"Hold up, is she a magical girl?" - Red Hood in the background

When Selina let go both Harley and Multimouse went behind Ivy for protection.

"We can still make a run for it." - Harley whispered to Multimouse

"... Ok, I'll meet you on the roof." - Whispering Multimouse

Harley gave a nod as she slowly inched her wasy closer to the door that lead to the roof, as she saw Iron Man approach Multimouse.

"Please get out of your suit, we need to talk about why you're here-" - Iron Man

"Multitute!" - Multimouse

Harley then saw Multimouse shrink into dozens of tiny little versions of herself as her clones spread out in all directions, one of which was heading right for her.

"Wth, you never told us she could use magic!" - Red Robin

Harley picked her up, and slipped through the door without anyone noticing.

"That was great, but how do ya get back tuh normal size?" - Harley

"Simple, I just merge back with my clones." As she said this, all her clones came back, and she merged with herself, becoming normal sized again.

"Where to?" - Multimouse

………… So now The Batfam is trying to find many long gone Mini-Multimouses, and Harley seems to have disappeared with her. Harley and Multimouse are now running over the roofs, heading for Wayne Manor.

"So why are we going to Wayne Manor?" - Multimouse

"Because, Batsy will neva think of lookin' for us at his own home, at least not fawh a little while." - Harley

When they arrived at the Manor, Multimouse de-transformed as Harley knocked on the door.

"Ms. Quinn, Ms. Maria, pleasure to see you here, please come in." - Alfred

"Are any of the bat-birds here?" - Harley

"Ms. Barbara, Ms. Stephanie, and Ms. Cassandra are the only ones here at the moment." - Alfred

"Do ya think you can keep us bein' here a secret from Batsy?" - Harley

"Harley? What are you doing here with Maria?" - Barbara

"It seems that Ms. Harley and Ms. Maria are now playing hide and seek with the rest of the family." - Alfred

"Did someone say hide and seek?" - Steph

"Yes, so could we maybe try and keep this a secret from everyone else, please?" - Maria

"Sure, it was starting to get boring around here. We can all hide in the living room no one ever use. Barbara you show them the way, I'll get the food/drinks and boardgames." - Steph

"Is this alright with you Alfred?" Maria

"It's all right Ms. Maria, you can hide out in the old living room." - Alfred

"Thanks Alfie, ya the best." - Harley

"Thank you Alfred." - Maria

"Ok then, follow me." - Barbara

…………

In the old living room, Harley, Maria, Barbara, Steph, and Cass began to formulate a plan.

"Ok, so the best way for them to never find you is to have your phone off, stay away from any and all cameras, and show your face to no one." - Steph

"So, do you have anything in mind that you might want to do?" - Barbara

"Can we put them on a wild goose chase?" - Maria

Cass nodded to Marias' suggestion approvingly.

"I can hack a few traffic cams to help with that." - Barbara

"We can also throw in some useless hints, to throw dem even further off our scent." - Harley

"Good idea Harley." - Barbara

"Thanks, but how long do ya think we should make it last?" - Harley

"As long as Maria wants it to." - Barbara

"Then let the games begin." - Maria.

•—–—–·†·–—–—•

Chapter 5 complete. Hope everyone is stayin' safe, Rockin' those Positive Vibes, and havin' an absolutely wonderful day. BUG-OUT 🐞💮🐞

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sqoiler · 3 years

Text

On the Thursday of the last week of kindergarten, the DVD that Miss Martinez was going to play turns out to be scratched beyond recognition, and so she gets out construction paper, scissors, markers, and glitter glue.

“Father’s Day isn’t for a few more weeks,” she says. “But why don’t we make some cards, just like we did for Mother’s Day, okay?”

The kids all get to work, reaching for the pile of brightly-colored paper. Stephanie Brown, who will be turning six in August, is the last one to get up. She shifts through the leftover colors--black, a pukey shade of green, blue, white. She picks up the black one and takes it back to her desk. She does not want to make a stupid card for her stupid dad. The other kids at her table are enthusiastically chattering about their dads’ favorite colors and jobs and drawing crayon drawings onto the paper. The girl next to her is cutting a snowflake out with safety scissors.

Steph picks up a white crayon and stares at her blank card. Across the room, Dexter raises his hand.

“What if we don’t have a dad?” he asks. Steph remembers from Mother’s Day that Dexter has two moms.

“Make a card for someone else,” Miss Martinez suggests. “Your grandfather, maybe. Or a neighbor, or a hero.”

A hero?

Steph looks at the black card before her, and her white crayon. She smiles.

And she makes a Father’s Day card for Batman.

-----

On the Monday of the last week of first grade, Mrs. Arnold, the art teacher, sits down her class and passes out white paper.

“Father’s Day cards,” she explains. Stephanie Brown, seven in August, considers making her own father a card. She didn’t get him anything last year but he didn’t seem to notice, and she’s not really that mad at him this year. But he didn’t seem to notice, and when Steph thinks about it, she thinks Robin probably doesn’t make Batman a card. Steph could make another card for her own dad at home, and make one for Batman at school.

Mind made up, she reaches for black markers and gets to work.

-----

On the Tuesday of the last week of second grade, Stephanie Brown, almost eight years old, sits down in art class and carefully draws a black blob with pointy ears, and a red and green and yellow stick figure, next to it, and she tries to remember what Nightwing looks like, and when she can’t remember she just draws Robin again but bigger.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, she writes in red marker, and she closes the card.

------

On the Wednesday of the last week of third grade, Mrs. Arnold passes out watercolors in art class with pieces of thick paper, and tells them to make presents for their dads. Stephanie Brown, nearly nine, hasn’t seen her dad in almost four months, and she uses up almost all the black water colors at her table painting a picture of Batman.

------

On the last week of fourth grade, nobody sits down their class to have them make Father’s Day cards.

On the Thursday before Father’s Day, Crystal passes Stephanie Brown, age almost-ten, a card bought from the store and tells her that they’ll mail it to Blackgate the next morning. Happy Father’s Day, the card says. You’re the best dad ever! the card says.

Steph stares at it for a long time.

Then she tears out a piece of notebook paper and folds it in half, taking the rainbow gel pens she got in December and picking up the pink one. She squints at it and sees that it’s nearly run out, so she picks up the purple one instead.

When she’s done drawing Batman and Batgirl and Robin and Nightwing, she decides she likes purple, and she folds the notebook paper inside the card her mother gave her, and she doesn’t mail anything to Blackgate the next day.

-----

On the last day of fifth grade, Mr. Robinson turns on The Great Mouse Detective and sets out a stack of colored paper and scissors. He tells the class they can do whatever they want during the movie and even sets up chips and cookies, then he sits in the back of the classroom and maybe falls asleep. Stephanie Brown, ten-going-on-eleven, wants something to do with her hands, so she takes a black piece of paper and cuts out a batsymbol. She learned how to draw them by sticking her head out her window at night and looking at the sky, and she’s proud of her newfound skill. When she’s done cutting it out, she’s not really sure what to do besides maybe tape it to her shirt, but her dad’s been out for a week now and she thinks he’d be mad if he saw that.

Instead, she folds it in half and writes HAPPY FATHERS DAY across the middle using white-out. Skye, the girl who sits next to her, leans over and asks what she’s doing, and Steph pauses. She’s...she’s not really sure why she keeps making these. To prove a point, maybe. She’s not really sure what point, though.

“Do you think Batman ever gets cards?” she asks in a whisper.

“Yes,” Skye says. “Probably every day.”

“Oh,” Steph says. “Well, I probably won’t send it then.”

“Okay,” Skye says, and then she downs half of her dixie cup of orange juice and turns back to the movie. Steph puts purple glitter glue on her batsymbol.

------

On the first week of April, Stephanie Brown, age seventeen, pulls a plastic bin out from under her desk. There’s a cardboard box beside her, and two other cardboard boxes on her empty mattress, full and taped shut. There’s a full duffel bag of clothes next to her, and her posters from her walls have been taken down and rolled up. All she has to do is finish going through her desk, and then she’s done. The rest of her things will be sold or something, she’s not sure.

She pries off the lid of the bin before her and takes out old school binders and ragged notebooks, paper folders falling apart and ancient art projects. She lifts out a collage she probably made in seventh grade and tries to decipher the meaning behind it. There is a cutout of red heels from Kohls on top of a blue betta fish.

Steph decides it will go in the trash pile and sets it aside, lifting out a yellow plastic folder. She opens it, curious, and lifts out a black paper batsymbol. She gasps when she opens it.

Her Father’s Day cards!

Of course, she had never sent them, so she has all--she counts quickly--six of them. She looks them over, laughing at her kindergarten misspellings and looking at the evolution of her drawing ability fondly. This is--she totally forgot about this. Steph closes the folder reverently and puts it on top of her duffel bag. There’s no way she can get rid of this--especially with the purple cape still in the hidden part of her closet. Especially not with where she’s packing up to move to.

----

On the third Sunday in June, Stephanie Brown, age eighteen-in-August, takes up her yellow plastic folder from where she hid it under her new mattress, and she leaves her room, tucking it under her arm. She gets like four steps down the hall before another door opens, and already an accusing voice says, “What’s that?”

Steph whirls around.

“None of your business,” she says. Tim makes a face at her and she makes the same one back, because she is very mature. To prove her maturity, she slides down the banister on her way to the kitchen.

Dick and Cass are in there, doing the dishes. Steph watches them for a second and then says, “Why do you have dishes at this hour?” ‘This hour’, upon checking, turns out to be almost noon, but nobody wakes up early in this house.

“Breakfast for Alfred,” Cass says.

“You can do that?” Steph asks, thinking that Alfred would get offended if someone tried to cook for him.

“You can today,” Dick says, shrugging, and Steph frowns, realizes that they ganged together to make breakfast on Father’s Day for Alfred and didn’t invite her.

It was probably an accident, she reasons, but then she remembers Tim and turns to face him.

“Why didn’t you make breakfast for Alfred?”

“I was sleeping,” he says.

“He’s impossible to wake up so we called it a lost cause,” Dick says. “We have extra pancakes, though, help yourself.”

Steph is still a little affronted, but she knows that she’s the newest person in the house and she’s only staying here until her mom’s done with rehab and whatever, so they probably didn’t think she’d want to be included, even though Alfred is everyone’s grandpa, even Babs’s. She goes to pick up a pair of pancakes and bites into one, deciding syrup can wait, and she leaves before they can rope her into conversation. Besides, she’s a little scared they’ll start referring to whatever plans they have with Bruce, and she doesn’t know how she’s supposed to react.

She heads to Bruce’s study and pushes open the door, glad to find him in there. She thinks if she had to search for him she’d probably lose her nerve and chicken out. Bruce glances up for like half a second and then looks back at the computer, and she takes a deep breath and steps inside fully.

Now or never, she thinks, and so she marches right up to him and slams the yellow folder on the desk.

“What’s this?” Bruce says, and Steph isn’t really sure how to explain, so she says, “It’s, uh, I found it when I was packing my stuff, and it’s...it’s from a while ago, but I thought you might, um…”

She trails off as he picks up the folder and opens it, raising an eyebrow at the contents from inside. She kinda wants to look at his face, but also totally doesn’t want to do that, so instead she looks at the desk, and opens her dumb mouth back up. “They always used to have us do Father’s Day cards at school or whatever and I never wanted to make one for Arthur so I made those instead ‘cause...well I don’t really remember why but whatever I thought you might want to see them.”

“Stephanie,” Bruce says, and she shuts up and bites her lip, looking up at him. “You...made these?”

“Yeah,” she says. He looks back down at the cards in his hands, all spread out--even the one that was intended for Arthur that Steph never sent. He touches the one from kindergarten. “Um. You can keep them.”

Bruce stands up. Steph isn’t really sure at all what he’s thinking, but he steps away from his chair and wraps his arms around her, holds her tight.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

“Happy Father’s Day,” she says, and when he squeezes her she closes her eyes, exhales, and squeezes him back.

(based on this post x) (ao3 here x)

#(posts fathers day fic in december)#stephanie brown #bruce wayne #brotp: slap #my writing #long post

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awhitehead17 · 3 years

Text

Batfam Alphabet: K - Kryptonian’s

Summary: After noticing how everyone is busy meeting up with someone who is either a Kryptonian or even a Kent that day, Dick notices how he’s the only one in the family that doesn’t have a Kryptonian partner.

Enjoy! :D

“C’mon Damian, let’s go! We’re going to be late!”

Dick pauses from where he’s walking through the foyer and looks up to find Tim shouting for their younger brother as he hurries down the stairs. When he reaches the bottom the teenager rushes to the door and throws it open and impatiently waits in the doorway as he checks his watch every few seconds.

Raising an eyebrow, Dick glances at the top of the stairs but doesn’t find any sign of Damian. He turns back to Tim. “What’s the rush?”

Tim blinks and stares at him for a moment like he’s just noticing Dick’s presence for the first time. With his eyes flicking to and fro Tim huffs in annoyance and taps his foot restlessly. “We’re meeting Conner and Jon at Amusement Mile but we’re running late because a certain someone can’t apparently keep track of the time!”

Dick frowns, suddenly feeling concerned for his brothers’ safety. “Is going there a wise idea?”

With a wave of his hand Tim dismisses his concern. “It’ll be fine. At the end of the day we’re all trained and it’s only a phone call away if anything does happen. Kon and Jon are there so if we do need an emergency evac we can get out of there quickly.”

Before Dick could respond a new voice joins the conversation.

“We have plenty of time Drake, don’t be so impatient.”

Both Dick and Tim look up to find Damian now descending down the stairs at a leisurely pace, obviously not in such a hurry as Tim is. Dick wonders if Damian is doing it purposely to annoy Tim or because they do have a lot of time to spare and Tim is just being overly-cautious.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little early or even on time brat.” Tim snaps at him, glaring as Damian reaches the bottom of the staircase. “Now come on, we’re wasting time.”

Without even so much a goodbye Tim spins around and hurries out the door once Damian approaches. Damian tuts but follows behind Tim saying “Bye Grayson” as he passes Dick on the way out of the door.

It takes Dick a moment to react, his mind catching up with the fact that Damian and Tim are hanging out together, seemingly willingly with one other. He blinks and shouts after them, “don’t kill one another! Stay safe and remember to call if anything happens!”

Neither brother responds to him but Dick rationalises he’s done what he could, if something happens between them he is not to blame. Maybe he should message Conner to ask him to check in and to make sure they behave. The Kryptonian brothers get along unlike Tim and Damian so his caution is reasonable as them two together is certainly a questionable matter. In the end he decides against it, instead choosing to wait and see what the end result of the day looks like.

Eventually he shuts the front door and continues on his way with what he had been doing before the sudden distraction.

------

Dick’s route through the foyer is interrupted again not even an hour later, only this time because of the group of girls gathered there. Dick stops and stares at the scene unsure on how to proceed, should he make his way through them or go around them?

Steph, Cass, Barbara and even Kara are grouped together giggling about something. Seeing three of them together is rather normal but he is surprised to see Kara around.

Before Dick could decide on what action to take he’s spotted by Steph. The blonde waves enthusiastically at him. “Hey Dick! How are things? Don’t mind us we’re moving to the media room now.”

The other girls turn and face him. Cass and Kara give him a smile and a small wave in greeting while Barbara shoots him a bland look. He wouldn’t expect anything else from her.

As Dick is about to move he’s stopped short by Kara addressing him. She points up to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. “Dick, is it true that you used to often climb up there and hang from it?”

Dick glances up and his mind is suddenly ambushed with fond memories of when he was a kid and used to do acrobatics from said chandelier. Alfred used to give him hell for it, particularly after he accidently broke one when he got a bit too bold trying a new move.

He smiles and looks back at Kara nodding. “Yeah, that’s true. More often than you would think believe it or not. I did it less frequently as I got older though.”

Kara snorts with amusement. “I can totally see Jon doing something like that, rao, even Conner would try something like that.”

“Considering who they’re friends with, that doesn’t surprise me.” Steph comments laughing. “Well lets get to it! See you later Dick!”

Steph takes off down the corridor towards the media room with a bounce in her step. Kara sends him one more smile and follows her, Cass comes up to him and stands on her tip toes to place a kiss on his cheek before following them and finally Barbara sends him a wistful smile before trailing behind the girls, clearly also remembering what he used to be like back then.

Once they disappear from view it takes Dick a moment to move, his mind thinking about what just happened. He didn’t even realise they were friends with Kara. He doesn’t even know how they know each other, then again he doesn’t follow every move the girls make, they’ve probably had cases that have crossed over a time or two. Shaking his head he lets it go and continues on with his day.

----

When Dick bumps into Bruce in the kitchen later on that day he feels like there’s a pattern forming.

He’s sat at the kitchen island minding his own business as he eats his lunch and mindlessly going through Facebook, Alfred is pottering about also minding his own business, when Bruce rushes in looking a little frazzled.

Dick watches mollified as Bruce darts about the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards left right and centre clearly looking for something which he doesn’t find straight away. As soon as he came in, Alfred simply stood to the side and allowed Bruce to freely search the place patiently waiting for the inevitable to happen.

After searching every cupboard and draw available Bruce turns to Alfred and before the man could say anything Alfred simply holds out his hand revealing a travel mug. Bruce suddenly looks so relieved and gratefully takes the mug out of the butler’s hand with a breathless “thank you”.

“You are a saint Alfred, there’s no way I’m going to be able to cope today without this.” Bruce determines already taking a sip of the mug’s contents.

Dick blinks, completely lost to what’s happening, especially when all Alfred does is nod as he had been expecting that reaction the entire time.

“What is going on?” He blurts out without meaning too. The two men turn and face him, Alfred looking passive and Bruce looking surprised at his presence. Has Dick become invisible or something? That’s the same reaction Tim had that morning in the foyer.

“Oh, afternoon Dick, I completely missed you sat there.” Bruce says looking a little sheepish, a look that isn’t common on the man though Dick’s seen it more than enough times at this point in his life. “I have a meeting with Clark and the rest of the League members. I’m running a bit behind schedule but not enough to not grab my coffee before heading off. I won’t be back until late, don’t wait for me before going out tonight.”

With that statement Bruce leaves the kitchen with the travel mug clutched tightly in his hands. Dick shoots Alfred a surprised look but the elderly man has already turned around and continued with his task.

Sighing Dick turns his attention back on his half eaten lunch and goes back to scrolling through his Facebook newsfeed. Quickly getting bored of it, he places his phone down and strikes up a conversation with Alfred, the man appears more than happy to converse with him as he works.

After a while Alfred breaks their conversation, sending Dick an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Master Dick but I’m going to have to excuse myself. I have a scheduled phone call to make in a few moments.”

Dick stares, caught off guard by the reason. “What? Who with?” After he says it he realises how bad and how patronizing it sounds. He immediately winces and apologises.

Alfred merely looks amused at his behaviour, thankfully not taking any offense to it. “If you have to know Master Dick, I have a call with Mrs Martha Kent. We’re going to be comparing recipes and giving some recommendations.”

“Okay…”

Alfred leaves the kitchen then, leaving Dick all by himself in the room as his mind reels back over the last hour or so to what’s happened. Is everyone busy today or something?

Finally finishing his lunch, Dick clears his mess up and wanders out of the kitchen trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day.

-----

The next thing to happen which adds to the odd feeling he’s been having throughout the day is when he bumps into Selina in the corridor of the bedrooms wing. He’s heading towards his own room when he notices Selina strutting her way towards him.

His eyes widen as he takes in her outfit. She’s wearing a low cut black blouse paired off with tight leather pants and high heels. She’s wearing a golden necklace with matching bracelets on her wrists and her face done up with perfect looking make-up. The shadowing around her eyes make them stand out along with the boldness of her lipstick which helps define her facial features.

Dick stops in his tracks and watches as she approaches. When she’s close enough she stops and sends him a smile.

“Hot date?” Dick asks with a grin. He can’t help but be curious on why she’s dressed up like that. Bruce isn’t around and there’s no party that he’s aware of happening. Unless she plans on crashing the meeting Bruce happens to be in, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened…

Her smiles turns more devious, “Not quite birdie,” she drawls out. She places her hands on her hips and cocks them to one side. “I’m meeting with Lois Lane. There’s a certain… get together we’re attending and I tend to make a statement.”

Dick’s eyes widen in surprise, he hadn’t been expecting that. He knows that Selina and Lois know one another, he’s seen them interact with each other enough times at gala’s both Bruce and Clark have attended too but he didn’t know they were that close.

After a couple beats he sends her an easy smile. “Well, I’m certain you’re going to make a statement alright.”

“Thank you kitten,” she replies patting his cheek softly, “now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get going.” She saunters past him, continuing down the hallway clearly ready to kick some ass. Selina is the personification of the saying ‘looks can be deceiving’.

“Have fun!” Dick calls out to her retreating form.

As he enters his room Dick is struck by a thought that even Selina is busy that day. It’s really starting to appear that he's the only one without any plans or even someone to meet up with. It suddenly makes him feel lonely, it’s an irrational feeling but he couldn’t help feel it temporarily, maybe it’s jealously of his family all currently hanging out with someone or each other. It’ll soon pass when everyone is back home and skulking around looking for stuff to do out of boredom.

----

Half an hour later and Dick knows he's had enough. It seems like the last straw has been drawn and how the universe has decided to rub salt into the wound.

Dick’s not even out of his bedroom doorway before he’s stopping short at the sight of two beings walking past him. He blinks and looks down the hallway with furrowed eyebrows and seconds later it registers who he’s seeing.

“Jason?”

His brother stops in the middle of the hallway and turns around to face him. He looks surprised for a moment before his expression goes back to neutral. “Oh, hey Dick.”

“What are you doing?” He questions his brother, his gaze slipping to Jason’s companion. Bizarro stands next to Jason, his eyes drifting between the two of them as he watches them interact with a frown.

Jason jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “We’re heading out now as we’re about to meet Artemis.”

Dick runs a hand over his face taking in the new information. “How long has Bizarro been here?”

His brother sends him perplexed look. “Uh, like all day? Did you not know that?”

“No. No I didn’t.”

“Oh,” Jason shrugs, not bothered by his answer, “well whatever. As I said we’re heading out now, so see ya! Say bye bye, Bizarro.”

“Bye bye.” Bizarro calls out to him with a wave of his hand.

Dick half heartedly waves back as he watches them disappear down the hallway. Once they were gone Dick slips back into his room and shuts the door behind him, completely forgetting the original reason why he had been leaving in the first place.

He goes over to his bed and flops down on it with a heavy sigh. Jason, even Jason, is busy and has company. How is it only him who isn’t doing anything? Usually it’s the other way around, where he’s always trying to find time in his schedule to meet up with his friends, family or to have some time for himself.

Burying his face into his pillow he sighs dejectedly, feeling sorry for himself. Dick frowns, maybe that’s not the right term, would jealously be more accurate or maybe loneliness is better suited. Whatever the word is for what he’s feeling, he knows it’s pretty much unwarranted. He should be happy that all of his siblings and extended family are out being sociable, they all have hectic and unpredictable lives, taking any free time a person has to spend it with those they care about is worth it.

Dick shouldn’t be annoyed with his family because he’s the one currently holed up in his bedroom sulking because he doesn’t have anyone to be with. It’s not their fault.

Something else he notices is how everyone seems to have their own Kryptonian, or by extension a Kent.

There's Bruce and Clark, though Bruce will deny their friendship at every opportunity. Tim and Conner, who are best friends (maybe more, Dick’s not quite sure). Damian and Jon, as much as the former is reluctant to admit how much he cares for the younger. Steph, Cass, Barbara and Kara who are all apparently friends. Selina and Lois. Alfred and Mrs Kent. Jason and Bizarro.

He’s the only one without a Kryptonian partner. While he’s worked with Clark a few times and has connected with him, after all Clark’s the one who inspired him to become Nightwing, it’s not the same thing.

After spewing in his thoughts for a while, Dick comes to a conclusion that sleep sounds like the best option right now. If he sleeps then he’s not thinking, and as a bonus at the same time his body is resting and extra rest never hurts anyone.

He shifts on his mattress, getting into a more comfortable position to sleep in, and buries his head further into his pillow. Closing his eyes he tries to force his body into unconsciousness. His eyes snap open only seconds later when his phone pings from it’s place on his bedside table.

Stuck between being excited for a message and dreading it, Dick reaches out and grabs the device. Rolling over onto his back he lifts his phone up in front of his face and reads the notification. Seeing who the message is from, a wide grin stretches across Dick’s face and any dread he had been feeling instantly disappears. It seems like the universe has finally decided to side with him (or that it’s had enough of him moping) because it’s a message from his long time old friend Wally West.

‘Hey man it’s been waaaayyyyyy too long. Are you free to hang out any time soon – we need to catch up bro.’

Dick agrees with the message, it has been too long since they last saw one another. From what Dick heard last is how Wally’s been busy helping out in Central City, his relationship with Linda is progressing smoothly, he’s been helping to train his cousin and how he’s been away on a mission with Jay. Dick had thought Wally was still away, hence why he hadn’t contacted him but obviously he’s wrong about that.

Dick types out a reply to his friend, feeling eager and excited to meet up. ‘I’m free right now if you are. C’mon over to the Manor when you can?’

It takes a few moments for Wally to respond. ‘Absolutely. Though will Bats have my ass if I just show up?’

Dick snorts, of all the things to be concerned about… ‘No. You’re fine. B’s in a meeting.’

‘Okay! I’ll be there in a flash ;D’

It’s stupid but Dick couldn’t help chuckle at the poor joke. No doubts on how Wally’s picked up that behaviour from Barry.

Feeling jittery, Dick rolls off his bed and begins making his way downstairs so he could greet Wally by the door. He doesn’t know what they’ll do other than talk to catch up and possibly raid the kitchen at the same time. Dick doesn’t mind what they do, at least he finally has someone to hang out with!

Just as Dick reaches the bottom of the stairs in the foyer, the doorbell rings alerting him of Wally’s arrival. Dick grins as he approaches the door and it only gets wider when he opens it to reveal his best friend standing there on the front porch.

“Wal-man! How’s it going dude!” He exclaims stepping towards the speedster.

Wally’s gaze snaps to him and an identical grin appears on his face. “Dick, it’s so good to see you man!”

They come together and embrace tightly with a few firm pats on the back. They part after a few beats and then take a moment to observe one another. Dick is pleased to find Wally appearing the same as he did when he last saw him, looking happy and healthy.

“So…” Wally trails off when the silence gets drawn out for too long.

“So.” Dick repeats promptly. Getting himself together, he continues to grin and throws an arm around his friend’s shoulders, using that leverage he guides Wally into the house. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

Wally’s own arm wraps around Dick’s back as they pass through the foyer. “That we do. I can’t even remember when the last time I saw you was.”

With his free hand Dick waves the comment away. “Doesn’t matter, we’re here now. Shall we grab some food and go to my room? I would suggest the media room but the girls are currently inhabiting it, have been all day, alternatively we could go to the conservatory or even outside since it’s dry and warm.”

Wally hums for a moment before answering. “Food is a definite must, you know me – hey has Alfred cooked recently, any chance we could steal some leftovers? And your room sounds fine, at least there’ll be less chance of us being disturbed by one of your millions of siblings.”

Dick rolls his eyes at the comment though he carries on smiling, some days it really does feel like he has a million. Will Bruce ever learn the meaning of ‘no more’?

“I have no idea what Alfred has in the kitchen so we shall see when we get there.” Dick says smiling.

The two of them fall into an easy stream of chatter as they begin catching up with what’s going on in their lives.

As they chat Dick thinks to himself, why was he so bothered that his family members all have their own Kryptonian when he has his own speedster? A couple of them also have a speedster but not everyone so Dick can hold onto this, at least that’s what he’s rationalising to himself. Thinking back on it, Dick realises that it’s stupid, why should he be concerned about it at all? He's now with his best friend, that’s what matters and that’s exactly what he's going to focus on.

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justcourttee · 4 years

Note

Can you do one where all the Wayne’s meet marinette before knowing she’s dating Damian and something happened to her parents and Bruce already has the adoption papers and damiens like no father u can’t adopt my gf

This is so cute and was so much fun to write. Hope this is something like what you had in mind :) @leagrey

Family Dinner

“I would like to apologize in advance. Father and his feral mistakes are very lively people and I fear they will take too much of a liking to you. If it is at all uncomforting, just squeeze my hand and we will leave.”

Marinette glanced over as Damian stared menacingly at the oak doors in front of them. It had only been a year since she had met him, but he had never once mentioned the idea of her meeting his family. Maybe it was because he knew today was special and he knew that meeting them was her only request of him for the longest time.

“Do you feel uncomfortable Damian? If so, please don’t put yourself in this position because of me.”

“Tt, utter nonsense. Me? Uneasy? Now you are just babbling.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth at the sight of the red threatening to overtake his cheeks.

“Well then, I guess there is no point in standing outside all day huh?”

Before her fist even made contact with the door, it flung open. Several curious faces piled in the doorframe, all trying to get a good look at her in case Damian changed his mind in an instant.

“You idiots, back up now or I’m leaving with her.”

A mutter of apologies echoed through the door as Marinette bit back the chuckle. With a great sigh, Damian motioned for her to step through the entrance, his tense body signaling that he was already ready to throw in the towel.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you all, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Her half-wave seemed to send a shock wave through the room as all eyes narrowed in on her, watching her every movement. Cautiously, she lowered her hand. A moment of silence passed and then two. Everyone seemed locked onto her, unsure of what to say and if she was being honest, she had the slightest idea as well.

“Are you all crowding her? Shameful. I thought I told you to wait in the dining room.”

It was as if the heavens had parted and uttered a command. Several bodies darted in different directions and in seconds, the hallway had been cleared save for Marinette, Damian, and an older man with graying hair and a killer smile on his face.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, we are truly honored that Master Damian has allowed you to grace us with your presence for dinner this evening. I apologize for Master Bruce’s charges. They really are all excellent kids, but rare elements such as yourself tend to erase their minds of any manners I worked so hard to instill in them.”

He shook his head in mock disappointment as he offered her his hand.

“Oh please, don’t worry about it, Mr. Alfred. I’m sure they were just as excited as I was.”

Taking his hand, she did her best to give a strong shake. His warm smile seemed so inviting, but the thought that he could clear a room with just a sentence shook her to her core.

“Please, just Alfred is fine. May I escort you to the dining room?”

Marinette nodded as she blindly reached backward for Damian’s hand to drag him along. If the butler had noticed, he made no comment as he led them.

“And here we are, I will return shortly with the first course for tonight. I do hope you enjoy the meal. I have prepared special platers for you and Master Damian to commandeer for your dietary restrictions.”

Before she even had the chance to thank him, he whisked away, leaving her to stand by Damian’s side in front of the largest dining room table she had ever seen.

“Welcome.”

Her eyes darted to the head of the table where a dashing man stood, his eyes kind and welcoming as he motioned to the two empty seats beside him. It all felt so overwhelming, too many sets of eyes for her to count were plastered on her alone. Shuffling along, she managed a small curtsey to the man before allowing Damian to help her into her seat.

A small murmur erupted from the dining room table. Had she done something wrong? Perhaps she had set herself up at the table, but Damian just got so flustered about those sorts of things, insisting he wanted to be a proper gentleman.

“I’ve heard very little about you Ms. Dupain-Cheng, but the little I have been able to wrestle out of my son has been nothing short of blessings.”

Marinette was sure her face was burning as she muttered a small thanks.

“I apologize for the huge turnout. When I mentioned to my oldest that Damian was bringing a friend home for dinner, it seems word spread fast. They all wanted to meet the person who managed to break through to him that wasn’t Jon.”

His smile appeared jokingly as he glanced over the near full table.

“But please, where are my manners? My name is Bruce and please feel comfortable to refer to me like that. The three boys across from you are my oldest Dick, Jason, Tim, and Duke.”

Dick's smile was blinding as he reached over the table to shake her hand vigorously.

“I’m so glad my little boy has made a friend and such a beautiful and well-mannered one as well!”

“Yeah, I wonder how he did that?” Jason, at least that’s what she believed his name was, stroked his chin thoughtfully as he stared down the two. Duke began to stroke his chin as well before he leaned across the table, shielding his mouth from where Damian sat.

“Hey, Marinette, blink twice if he’s threatening you or your family’s lives in any way.”

There was a small thud from under the table as Duke flinched slightly in his seat.

Bruce shook his head as he motioned past the boys and to the girls that sat on the other side of Damian.

“On this side of the table are my daughters in all but paperwork. Barbara, Cassandra, and Stephanie.”

“Uhm, you forgot one pop.”

The girl at the end of the table kicked her feet up onto the table, her mischievous smile poking at Bruce’s patience.

“How could I ever forget you, Harper? I was just saving you for last.”

Harper sent a wink in Marinette’s direction earning a giggle from the girl.

“Miss Harper, I must ask you to refrain from placing your feet on the table as I serve out the first course.”

Instantly she straightened in her seat as Alfred seemingly materialized from behind. The smile on his face as dangerous as ever. Marinette could finally see what Damian was worried about, his family was absolutely wild. Her eyes drifted from each person as they absentmindedly chatted in small groups.

Damian’s hand found hers under the table, giving her a slight reassuring squeeze.

“Marinette, I must apologize for dinner being so late. I had to work over today and even if I got out earlier than usual, I must admit it is not early enough. Please apologize to your parents for my inconsiderate job.”

Marinette swallowed hard as she sat down her fork.

“Oh, uhm, I suppose Damian didn’t tell you. I-uh-live on my own in the city.”

All of the chatter in the room fell silent and once more, she could feel the heat of every stare in the room on her.

“Oh? Are they okay with that? Gotham isn’t exactly known to be the safest at night.” His chuckle was humorless as he watched her bright eyes dull.

“I actually came to Gotham on my own merits, a fresh start if you will. My parents died last year in a bakery fire. Papa tried to find me, thinking I was home, but even as Maman begged him to leave the building, he couldn’t leave believing I was still in there.”

She felt a single hot tear trail down her cheek, but she was quick to wipe it away before any more could follow.

“I apologize, I had no idea.”

Marinette shook her head vigorously as the apologies spewed out of her mouth.

“Please, forget I said anything at all. I one hundred percent overshared. Now dinner will be so awkwardly, please, it’s been a year, I’m okay.”

The conversation started back slowly, but once it did, Marinette couldn’t stop laughing. She shared with them her business and talked about how she and Damian first met. Tim couldn’t wrap his head around the thought that Damian would have actually stopped on the street to comfort her.

“I mean, what are you? A demon tamer? Teach me your ways sensei.”

As Alfred collected the final plates for the evening, Marinette felt better than she had in a long time. When it came time to leave, Bruce offered to escort them back to the front.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, may I ask how old you are?”

“16.”

Bruce’s stare was concerning as he reached out to pick up her hand.

“How do you live in an apartment then?”

“Oh, My grandmother signed the lease. She technically lives with me, but she’s such a free spirit, I couldn’t possibly expect her to stay in one spot. I mostly live there on my own. Honestly, I’m quite jealous of the large family Damian has, he is very lucky.”

Marinette thought she had to be hallucinating. Bruce Wayne almost seemed to be vibrating the more she talked.

“You know Marinette, this manor is quite spacious. If you ever need-”

“Absolutely not.”

In one quick movement, Damian was between them, his glare ready to cut through his own father.

“But Damian-”

“Father I cannot allow you to adopt my girlfriend!”

Bruce’s jaw dropped as he finally noticed the constant contact that the two had initiated all night. At first, he thought it could be just her way of keeping herself grounded, but the more he thought back on it, it did seem quite like how a couple would act.

“Dammit, now I owe Steph $20.”

Marinette peeked behind Bruce where all of Damian’s siblings stood exchanging money, Tim looking especially upset as he handed the blonde a crisp bill. For what felt like the billionth time tonight, Marinette felt her face flush.

“You are all utter buffoons. Father, we will complete this conversation later. As for now, I will escort Marinette back to her apartment and I will be taking the car.”

Damian’s hand intertwined with hers as she allowed herself to be dragged from the manor. A chorus of goodbyes echoed after her, even Alfred waved her goodbye as he graciously shut Bruce’s mouth for him. As she climbed into the car, Marinette leaned over to place a small kiss on Damian’s cheek.

“What was that for?” The stutter in his voice was something she adored, something that only ever appeared when she caught him off guard.

“Thank you for letting me meet your family today. It turned a bad day into a good one.”

“Yeah, whatever,” the red of his cheeks betrayed his indifferent attitude as he shifted the car into drive.

As the manor disappeared in the rearview mirror, only one thought remained on her mind. Just how would the conversation go with Bruce when Damian returned?

The thought alone made her smile.

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#maribat #marinette x damian #daminette

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flaminpumpkin · 3 years

Text

Small treasures

“Five more minutes,” Bruce grumbled as he distantly heard the door open through his sleepy haze.

There was some shuffling sound around the room and then it was flooded with bright morning light as Alfred mercilessly opened the heavy curtains, the rays of sunshine hitting the Bat right in the face, making him scramble for the covers to hide his sensitive eyes.

“Very well, Master Bruce. Breakfast will be ready for you in the kitchen.”

He was so used to Alfred’s barely hidden exasperation after all these years that his words took longer than usual to register with Bruce. A frown appeared on his face as he finally realized what was wrong with the butler’s statement.

Alfred never served breakfast – or any meal for that matter – in the kitchen.

He would rather shoo everyone out with a spatula full off batter than let anyone eat where he cooked. Bruce couldn’t even count the number of times he had seen Dick or Tim appear in the dining room with a sheepish look, a thoroughly exasperated Alfred hot on their heels.

Pushing the sheets away just enough to uncover his head, Bruce peeked over his shoulder at the still open door, eyebrows knitting further in confusion.

“What?”

Something caught his eyes.

There was a piece of yellow paper on the nightstand. An origami bat, he realized after finally deciding to emerge from the sea of sheets and pillows he had buried himself in during his sleep. He reached for it and took the little paper animal gingerly between his fingers, eyes focusing enough to read “unfold me” written in elegant cursive right at its center.

Bruce did as he was told.

Dear Master Bruce,

My words most probably confused you as the kitchen is a place I do not tolerate for anyone to eat in. But, need I remind you, there always has been one peculiar occasion where I allowed you to do so.

Bruce stared at the note, confusion growing.

Oh.

His eyebrows raised a bit, pleasantly amused. There was indeed one occasion Alfred would let him eat in the kitchen while he worked. What did the kids put Alfred to this time?

Led by his curiosity, Bruce climbed off the bed, fully awake now as he put on a shirt, and padded out of the bedroom, towards the kitchen.

No one was there when he arrived, which wasn’t odd per say but he had learned to be cautious over years of attempted surprise parties. There was a plate though, on the little table, with French toasts that smelled like butter and cinnamon and a cup of coffee with probably enough sugar and cream that it didn’t even taste like coffee anymore.

It was a breakfast Alfred had always prepared for him on the morning of his birthday after his parents’ death. He would put the plate on this same table and work silently as Bruce happily ate, the two of them sharing the same space in the simplest way. It wasn’t a grand gesture but it had meant the world to him nonetheless.

Another little origami bat was waiting for him, propped against the cup. A small smile tugged at his lips.

Bruce put it aside before starting to eat, careful not to stain the paper with coffee or grease, only taking it again once he had cleared the table and washed his hands. He unfolded it with the same care as the first.

My happy place.

(Took a piece of bread. Alfred said yes. Thank you.)

Cass

The dance studio on the third floor.

A while back, Bruce had decided to redesign one of the biggest rooms on that floor in a place where Cass could dance that wasn’t the ball room. He had wanted for it to be a place only for her, where she could express herself and spend time however she pleased, without anyone bothering her. His greatest recompense had been the radiant smile on her face before she had locked himself in there and played music until late that night.

The next course of action wasn’t too hard to guess so Bruce quickly folded the paper back into its bat form, slid it in the pocket of his pajama pants, along the first one, and headed for the next place.

As expected, he found another bat in Cass’s dance studio, tucked into the folds of a bright orange knitted scarf. There was a running joke between his kids saying that it was because Bruce always forgot to take a scarf with him during winter that his Batman voice sounded so bad.

One thing was for sure, he would not forget this one.

Hey B, remember that time you told me you were proud of me and then proceeded to suffocate me with your muscles? Just kidding, you give great hugs. Like, super comfy, 10/10. But yeah, go there next.

Steph :p

He huffed at Stephanie’s words, eyes rolling with fondness. He remembered perfectly what she was referring to.

The young woman had been staying in the manor for a few days that time, Alfred being keen on keeping her under careful observation after she had been hit with a new type of fear gas while on patrol with Dick. She had continuously apologized to Bruce, blaming herself for Dick’s injuries.

Until the third day, where he had found her reading in the library, curled up in one of the love seats. Before she could utter a word, he had crouched down and grabbed her hands firmly.

“You do not need to apologize or blame yourself for anything, do you hear me? You managed to drag Dick and yourself out of this building while under the influence of fear gas when most would have stayed frozen in place. I’m sure he will agree that a few scratches and broken bones are far better than what would have awaited him if you hadn’t been there. I’m proud of you, Stephanie Brown. More than you’ll ever know.”

After that, she had thrown herself at him and Bruce had hugged her for the better part of an hour until Alfred had come to fetch her for some blood analysis.

This time, when he walked into the next place of this little treasure hunt, he found a laptop, sitting open on the table next to one of the windows. The windows of the library were wide and high and the spot where the next gift awaited was one of his favorites.

So he let himself sink in the armchairs cushions and started to play the video.

“You better not ruin this, Todd,” Damian was saying, standing next to the piano in the lounge of the west wing, violin already positioned on his shoulder.

Jason was scowling at the piano in front of him, focused.

“Just take the lead, brat. I’ll follow.”

“Could you two focus, please?” Tim said off camera.

The other two huffed with the same affronted look towards the camera.

Then the melody started and both of their faces softened. It was gentle, melancholic. Almost sad if you asked Bruce. But he listened with a smile on his face, bemused at the sight of his two quick tempered sons playing with a soft kind of intensity together, Jason following Damian’s lead flawlessly – probably the result of hours of practice. It was truly beautiful and he knew that the melody was one of Damian’s compositions.

But it was over too soon for Bruce’s taste so he played it a second time, closing his eyes. And then a third as he read the next message, only heading for the next place once it was over.

Blah blah blah, some cute shit about us bonding, blah blah blah. Just get your ass to the garage old man.

Ps: Remember your Aston Martin? I think I scratched it a bit but I’ll blame it on Timmy anyway.

Jay.

Bruce knew exactly which car Jason was talking about (and knew perfectly that he didn't scratch it). An Aston Martin DB5 he had inherited from his father. Nobody had driven it in ages when Jason had brought it up during dinner one evening, not long after he had taken him in.

“Isn’t that James Bond's car?”

“It is. But it’s been so long since the last time I used it, I’ll probably need to pop open the hood before anything else if I want to drive it again.”

“Can I help you fix it?”

Jason’s eyes had been so full of hope and excitement when he had asked Bruce. He had laughed before agreeing. The next day, Alfred had had to come and pry them away from the car for lunch because both of them had forgotten about eating in their eagerness.

He noticed a tape case on the board as he approached, in front of the wheel. Bruce opened the door and climbed in so he could reach for it easily. On the piece of paper tucked between the clear case and the tape, Bruce could see every song scribbled, one in each of his children’s handwriting. He recognized a song by The Clash in Tim’s handwriting – of course – and Midnight Sonata in Damian’s. The other titles and artists were mostly lost on him, except maybe for that Belgian one Cass listened to a lot.

I can’t count the number of times I fell asleep there while you worked and you had to carry me back to my room.

Dick

Bruce couldn’t recount either.

Although he remembered fondly the first time Dick had fallen asleep in his study, curled up in one of the seats across his desk while he worked on some urgent papers for WE. They both had been so young. Bruce being completely new to parenthood, he had seeked out Alfred who had only fixed him with a blank stare before sending him back.

“Don’t you dare wake up this child, Master Bruce.”

He had actually managed to pick up the gangly child without waking him up, even if rather awkwardly, and had carried him all the way to his bedroom uneventfully. Only to trip on one of Dick’s schoolbooks once there, nearly dropping him.

They had both elected not to mention it to Alfred and, to this day, it was still something only the two of them knew about.

When he arrived at his study, another message was waiting for him in the seat Dick used to sleep in, along with a gift card for that 24 hours coffee shop that had opened recently in downtown Gotham. Bruce let out a breathy laugh at that.

I know you always listen when I play, Father. Why do you think I leave my door open when I do?

D. Wayne

And here he thought he had been smooth. However, he should have expected that his son would pick up on his habit of passing by his room while he rehearsed with his violin.

But Bruce couldn’t resist the pull in his chest. Damian was a gifted player, just like Jason, able to translate raw emotions in barely a few notes. It always put his mind at ease, smoothed out his most troubled thoughts even for only a few moments. He had caught everyone at least once, standing outside of his youngest’s door, listening to soft melodies in a rare moment of peace.

It was silent moments shared with everyone, brought together by Damian's deft fingers. Something he had been doing knowingly and willingly apparently. It made it all the more special for Bruce.

There was no gift when he went searching for the next clue in Damian’s room. Or so he thought.

Sitting on his son’s music-stand along with yet another yellow origami bat, was an open partition. It was still in work, Bruce could tell. Notes were hastily written with a pencil, a few stains where some had been erased. Nothing out of the ordinary for Damian and his creative mind. Except for the title.

Ode to Family.

Thankfully, no one was around to witness the shuddering breath that escaped him as he read. He exited the room still unable to breathe normally, heart so full he almost felt like suffocating, and walked towards his next – and probably last – location.

You spent hours trying to teach me how to dance the waltz there after I told you I wanted to take Steph dancing for her birthday. I still don’t know how to dance but we had fun.

Tim

Indeed, Bruce still regularly caught Tim stepping on his partner’s toes during charity galas and other events. But he suspected the young man of going to great lengths to not learn how to dance correctly because it usually dissuaded most people from asking him to dance with them. And god knew how much his son disliked dancing.

That was why it had greatly surprised him when Tim had asked him for help.

“I wasn’t really the best boyfriend to her so I just… I thought I could at least be a good friend and take her dancing? She loves it when Cass takes her in the studio and they dance so I just thought… Yeah…”

Five hours later, Tim had made absolutely no progress. He had known the steps by heart at this point, had it memorized and yet, he couldn’t seem to stop stomping on Bruce’s toes. To both Dick’s and Alfred’s delight.

His eldest son probably still had videos of it, he thought as he entered the vast and empty ballroom. There was nothing out of the ordinary or out of place and Bruce almost expected for his family to sneak up on him and surprise him when he noticed one last, black origami bat on the wooden floor, right in the center of the room.

He crouched down and unfolded it slowly, warily even, some would say.

Terrace on the second floor. You know, the one where I inelegantly asked you to marry me and you just stared for a good five minutes before laughing. (And saying yes, of course.)

It wasn’t signed and even if the message wasn’t telling enough, he would recognize that hasty scribble everywhere.

Bruce took off, climbing stairs two by two and running down hallways. His heart was pounding in his chest.

He had been gone for six months. Six excruciatingly long months of absolutely no contact, of not having any means to make sure his husband-to-be – yes, that idiot had asked him to marry him just before leaving – was still alive and well. Six months of worrying, of his children asking nervously if he had any news of his whereabouts.

Bruce barged through the French doors leading to the wide terrace on the second floor of the manor and, surely enough, everyone was there. Absolutely everyone.

“Happy birthday, Spooky. Half a century, we gotta celebrate,” Hal drawled with an easy grin.

“Someone take the cake away from Hal. Right now, before they ruin it!” Bruce heard someone say distantly and, next thing he knew, he had taken the few steps still separating them and was kissing Hal, holding him close by the lapels on his jacket.

There were groans, cheers and something that sounded a lot like someone telling them to get a room. Hal laughed against his lips, pecked him one last time before pulling away, opening his arms widely with a grin. A clear invitation for everyone to pile up on them which everyone took with great enthusiasm, barreling into them and crushing Bruce and Hal under their combined weight.

#batfam #bruce and his kids #that's it #batlantern #at the end #as a treat #cuz I love these old men #bruce wayne #batman #happy birthday batsy #this was supposed to be a short drabble i don't know what happened #clemwrites

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mochegato · 3 years

Text

Hope on Board

Chapter 12 – Pretending to Be Functional Adults

Chapter 1 Chapter 11

“Oh my God”

“What?” Dick came running out of the bathroom, his hair still dripping from the water in the shower and a towel around his shoulders and waist.

“Did you buy every pregnancy book in the bookstore?” She gave him a teasing smile.

He rubbed the back of his neck before pulling his soaking wet hand away and drying it and his hair with his towel. “Yeah, I um… wanted to be prepared. I’ve only gone through a few.”

“I can’t believe you’ve gone through two already. I haven’t even made it through one.” She made her way over to him and took the towel from him, using it to gently dry his hair for him.

He looked at her adoringly and wrapped his arms around her. “I just want to know what to expect and make sure I’m giving you the support you need.”

“90% of parenting is being there and supporting them. You are going to be a great father,” she assured him gently. “I can see it in the way you interact with your family and talk about the kids you teach, how you interact with Rachel when you visit.”

“I really hope you’re right. And I can’t wait to see you as a mom. I know you’ll be amazing but I still can’t wait to see you rocking our baby and cuddling our baby, putting our baby down for the night before coming to bed…” he pulled her closer and leaned down suggestively as he said it.

Marinette squeaked and covered his face with the towel before he could see the deep blush that settled on her cheeks. She wasn’t fast enough though, judging by the way Dick’s chest rocked with laughter and the way his arms tightened around her. He gave her a peck on the lips before going back to get dressed.

Marinette turned back to his bookshelf with a quiet, “Should have grabbed the other towel too.” To distract herself from her mind going down that road, she continued looking over the books, movies, and cd’s on his shelf.

When he returned a few minutes later, she glanced up at him quickly before looking back at the CDs. “I didn’t realize you had such an extensive Jagged Stone collection. Oh, I still have your shirt too, don’t I? I’ll return it next time I see you.”

“Keep it,” he grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows. “I’d really like to see you in it… and nothing else.”

She blushed and looked down to collect her thoughts. Instead her focus got caught on something else. She started giggling and looked back up to Dick. “Are those your slippers?” She eyed the fuzzy bunny slippers on his feet.

He grinned back. “They are. I love these slippers. They are extremely comfortable. Maybe if you’re really lucky, I’ll get you a pair too.”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Be still my heart. So romantic.” She giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Did you want to go with me to his concert in a few weeks?”

“You have tickets?” He exclaimed louder than he meant to. “I mean, sorry. How did you get tickets? I tried to get tickets but they sold out before I could get to a computer.”

“Yeah, well kind of. I have backstage passes,” she answered shyly. “My friends are coming to visit that week so it would be going with all of us. You’d be meeting my friends at the same time.”

Dick gaped at her. “I’d love to meet your friends, but Marinette, how did you get backstage passes? And you just happen to have an extra one?”

She cocked her head to the side, confusion clear. “I… Tim didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Do you know the name of the artist you liked who does all his album covers and some of his costumes?”

Dick looked at her suspiciously. “Yeah, kind of. I know they go by MDC.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng…” Dick stared at her dumbfounded. “That’s what caught Tim’s attention for the partnership in the first place. I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”

“No. I asked him not to. He did a background check on you before the partnership and…” he cringed as the words left his mouth, “a more thorough one after the pregnancy. Sorry. But I asked them not to tell me anything. I figured we should learn that stuff together.”

She beamed up at him and pulled him down for a quick kiss. She stayed cuddled in his arms and looked up at him with a mischievous smile, “So is this a bad time to mention I was given a full briefing on you and your history after my friend discovered who you were?” Dick looked at her for a few moments unsure how to react.

Marinette giggled. “I’m kidding.” Her face suddenly turned serious. “It was actually two friends, coming from two very different perspectives.” Dick opened his mouth to say something and shut it again, uncertain if she was serious or not. Marinette smiled shyly. “Or at least they wanted to. I had the same reaction you did. I thought it was unfair and we should get to know each other on our own. Although if there was anything I needed to know, they could tell me that.”

Dick nodded. “That makes sense. I’m pretty sure that was the deal with my family too. Even if I didn’t want to know, if there was anything extremely concerning, they would have told me.”

Marinette cocked her head to the side and studied him for a moment. “And my best friend and current roommate’s father being a supervillain terrorist wasn’t considered concerning or you were just waiting for me to mention it?”

Dick furrowed his eyebrows and rested on the arm of the couch, examining her in an attempt to figure out if she was telling the truth this time or teasing him again. But the earnestness and nervousness in her eyes told him it was the truth. “It wouldn’t have been considered concerning unless Adrien showed signs of having helped him. Since nobody mentioned it, I have to assume he didn’t.”

Marinette shook her head frantically, her eyes now pleading. “He didn’t. He… it was a really big blow to him to know his father had done that to not only all of his friends but him… that he cared that little for him.” She looked away as if trying to steel herself for something. Dick tensed in anticipation for what she was going to say.

“That’s one of the reasons I think he is so excited for the baby. He is so excited to be an uncle, to shower our baby with so much love and acceptance. Even before we knew he was Hawkmoth, Gabriel was a crap father. Always judging, always cold, always putting Adrien down. His only value to him was what he could bring to the brand. It was a completely loveless life. He wants to make sure our baby has that. It would kill him if he couldn’t see the baby or if we didn’t trust him around the baby.”

Dick reeled back in realization. That was why she was so nervous. She was afraid when he found out about Adrien’s father, he would ban him from hanging around his child. He smiled gently and pulled Marinette closer until she was standing between his legs and wrapped in his arms. “I would never blame the child for the sins of the parent,” he assured her. “Remind me to tell you about Damian’s mother sometime, when he’s comfortable with me talking about it. And Stephanie. Her father is Cluemaster. He’s one of our rogues. He’s done a lot of damage, responsible for a lot of deaths. I have never thought less of Steph and I won’t of Adrien.” His voice was gentle and comforting.

Marinette looked up at him tears falling out of her eyes, so filled with appreciation, it pushed the tears out. She lunged at him in a desperate hug, causing both of them to fall onto the couch. Dick chuckled affectionately, but kept his arms tight around her. After a few seconds his face became serious again. “Is that… is that why Adrien doesn’t like me?”

Marinette pulled away from him just far enough to cock her head to the side as though confused, but the sudden tension in her frame confirmed his suspicions. “What makes you say that?”

“He just seems slightly hostile toward me. Not really welcoming.” Dick shrugged as though it was a small thing. She could dismiss it if she wanted to, or they could talk. He was letting her decide.

Marinette sighed and leaned her head back on his chest, staring out the window as she started to speak. “He… he takes his role of protector very seriously. During those attacks, we were usually right by each other. We had a main group of four through most of it. Nino took care of Alya, they were dating back then, I mean, they still are, but… yeah, anyway. So that left me and Adrien to watch each other… and for some reason a ridiculous number of akumas targeted either him or me.” She fumbled for the words. She did not want to lie, but she couldn’t exactly tell the truth either so she settled on a half-truth.

“So we watched out for each other. We protected each other. We’ve saved each other’s lives so many times. We died for each other. Him… him more than me… a lot more. And now, he still has that mentality. I’m his family. He needs to protect me like his father never did for him. And you just kind of snuck in. He thought he’d get the chance to have an opinion on my romantic interests and now you’re in my life, our lives for the rest of our lives because of the baby. So it doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, it doesn’t even matter what I think of you, one way or another, you are in our lives forever.

“And he’s just worried about you walking away or being like his father.” She worked her arms under her chest so she could angle her face to look at him. She looked at him, sincerity clear in her eyes. “He doesn’t know you. When he does, he’ll relax. I’m sorry he didn’t make you feel welcome.”

Dick reached up and tucked some hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. “That explains why you understood Damian so well and were so comfortable with his attitude.”

She chuckled and leaned into his hand. “Yeah, a bit of similarities there.”

Dick nodded. “I can accept that. I have to earn his trust. We’ll have to hang out more and maybe you with Damian.”

Marinette smiled and nodded. “I like that idea. Maybe we can make a plan for it while we eat? I’m starving.”

Dick grimaced and looked toward his kitchen. “Yeah… maybe we should go out for breakfast… unless you’re a fan of cereal… but I’m not sure if my milk is still good.”

Marinette blinked a few times. “You have no food in your apartment? How do you… eat… like not even snacks? Last time I was here you had food.”

He shrugged sheepishly. “I asked Steph to bring food over while you were sleeping last time. Probably going to need to change that before the baby comes, huh?”

She pushed off of him to stand up and offered him a hand. “How are you considered a functional adult?” She shook her head affectionately.

“I never made any such claims. That’s on you for assuming.” He grinned at her.

She laughed and pulled him toward the door. “Come on, we’re going to get breakfast then get you some groceries and I’m going to teach you to make at least one dish.”

He grimaced. “I should warn you, I’ve been banned from the kitchen by Alfred more than once. It might not be as easy as you think.”

She gave him a cheeky grin. “I’m a very good teacher. I’ve already taught one hopeless, rich boy to cook, I can teach another. Just make sure to pay attention. There’s a test at the end.”

Dick stopped and pulled her back into his arms. He lowered his head so he was barely a few centimeters from her ear, his warm breath brushing against her ear. “And what do I get if I pass,” he asked huskily.

Marinette took a deep breath and slowly let it out, hoping to calm her thundering heart. It was unfair he could affect her like that with just a few words. She looked up at him from under her lashes. “You get to not starve.” He pouted but quickly morphed into a smile when she pulled him down so her lips were now just centimeters from his lips. “But, if you’re a very good student, I might give you a reward.” She smirked and started walking away.

Dick stared after her in a daze. He waited a few seconds for his heart to calm down. “Okay, but it isn’t the same reward you gave your other student, right?” he called after her. “Right, Mari? Mari?” She giggled and kept walking.

After a few hours of getting to know what Dick liked and might like to try, and buying the essentials for a functioning kitchen, they finally returned back to his place. They had just gotten everything put away when Dick’s phone started ringing with a very distinctive ring. “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “Give me just a second.” He gave her an apologetic look and walked back to his bedroom to talk.

He came back out a few minutes later with a deeply guilty look. “I’m so sorry. Something came up at work, an emergency they need my help with.”

Marinette gave him a concerned look. “On a Saturday? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. No. It’ll be fine. I just need to take care of a few things. I should… I should be done by dinner if you wanted to stay here. I don’t think we have time for a lesson today, but maybe you could do it tomorrow? And tonight we could go out and get something.”

Marinette smiled. “That sounds like fun. Are you sure you’re okay with me staying here while you’re gone?”

“Absolutely,” he assured her.

She nodded and beamed at him. “Okay. I might run home to change though. I wasn’t exactly expecting to spend last night here and might want new clothes.”

He looked down at her clothes, making no secret of him checking her out as he did it. “Or, you could just walk around naked.”

She giggled and pushed his face away. “Not while you’re not here. Where’s the fun in that?”

He nodded in agreement. “Good point. Here,” he rummaged through a drawer in his kitchen and pulled out a key. “Take this. You can run home and come back and hang out here while I’m out.”

She looked between him and the key a few times. “Are you sure.”

He shook his head and pulled her into his arms again. “About you? Absolutely. Now I have to go or I’m going to be late.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and ran out the door.

<><><><><>

He hated the Court of Owls. He hated them. They never made things easy or straightforward. Whatever they were planning was going to be big and it seemed like he and the other Titans couldn’t get any insight into it. Every time they got a hint, something happened. He couldn’t figure out if the Court figured out they knew and backed off that plan or if his information was wrong or if he was just misinterpreting it. They couldn’t get a foothold into it and it was driving him crazy.

He unlocked his door and threw his keys on the counter, freezing at the sight at the table. There was an amazing looking plate of food, probably ice cold by now, waiting for him. “Fuck,” he cursed quietly and ran his hand back and forth through his hair, mentally berating himself for being such an inconsiderate, thoughtless asshole. He had completely forgotten Marinette was going to wait here for him. It looked like she had even made dinner for him before giving up and going home. He was going to have to do something huge to make this up to her. And God, Adrien was going to think he was right about him.

He moved over to the couch to collapse and call Marinette, but found her there instead, fast asleep on his couch, her empty plate of food on the coffee table. At least she hadn’t waited for him, he bitterly mused to himself. That would have made him feel even worse than he already did. He watched her as she laid there in the shirt she had borrowed after their first night together, hand protectively placed over her tiny baby bump. She looked so peaceful and sweet and perfect. He looked down and huffed out a quiet laugh seeing his slippers on her feet.

He lightly traced her cheek and jaw, feeling his heart swell. He still could not believe he was somehow lucky enough for her to come into his life in the first place, but the fact she wanted to be there with him was overwhelming. He furrowed his brow as a thought occurred to him. Whatever the Court was planning, it was going to be big. What if it was something in Gotham? What if Marinette got caught up in it? He didn’t think he could survive losing her and the baby. He had given her his key for a reason. He hadn’t planned on asking for it back. He already couldn’t imagine his life without her there in some capacity. He didn’t know if it was love yet, but he knew she made his days brighter.

He needed to protect them. He needed to work harder. He had to figure out the Court’s plan and end it before they could get started so they would never have the chance to hurt her or the baby. He needed to double his efforts and stop messing around. He needed to… “Dick?” the sleepy mumble brought him from his thoughts.

He gave her a soft, apologetic smile. “Hey, beautiful. I’m so sorry. Things took so much longer than I expected. I should have called. I’m sorry.”

Marinette yawned as she shook her head. “No, it’s… you were working. I’m out later than I expect for work all the time. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. That’s kind of creepy.” She sat up and looked groggily around. Her eyes found his food on the table. “I’m sorry. I meant to put your food somewhere so you could reheat it when you had the chance to eat.”

“Marinette,” he let out a frustrated sigh. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t creepy. I asked you to stay here. It’s fine. You have nothing to apologize for. I do. I let you wait for me without giving you any updates. I’m so sorry.” He looked around quickly, trying to formulate a plan. “Hey, do you want to sleep here again tonight? I can drive you home if you want, but if you want to stay here, we can just cuddle tonight? I need to take a shower and eat something really quickly, but you can go to bed now and I can join you when I’m done?”

Marinette looked at him unsure, her eyes still not completely open. “Are you sure?”

Dick smiled at her and gently ran his thumb over her cheek again. “I would love it. I like having you in my apartment. It makes it feel more like a home. And I love waking up to you. Here,” he picked her up in a bridal hold, “let me carry you so you can go back to sleep quicker.”

Marinette smiled sleepily and snuggled into his chest, resting her head in the crook of his neck. “This is a good way to travel. We should do this more often.”

Dick’s smile widened at the idea. “That’s a promise.”

Chapter 13

Tags:

@dickinette-february @demonicbusiness @ichigorose @iloontjeboontje @ladybug-182 @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @golden-promises @trippingovermyfeet @emimar7 @laurcad123

#maribat #Dickinette February #dickinette #platonic jasonette #platonic adrienette #Hope on Board #Knocked Up AU #prompt - slippers

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