so this. this would be one of the nightwing longfics. the long, character-driven fic that I wish I had time to write but alas.
the crux of this fic is when Tim goes to ask Dick to return to save Batman from his grief, Dick agrees.
Nightwing coming back to Gotham. fighting, every day, to keep Bruce from self-destructing in a manor so full of grief that sometimes he sits in empty rooms and cries. Dick that can’t visit Jason’s grave, it’s too painful, but sometimes he sleeps on the couch in the library and pretends like his little brother is sitting on the other couch and reading. and Nightwing also needs to deal with this precocious twelve-year-old who might not be Robin but thinks that it is perfectly reasonable to stalk them around Gotham.
it’s hard. it’s so, so hard. Dick losing pieces of himself, bit by bit. he sees hallucinations of Jason and eventually, the hallucinations are the only things he talks to truthfully. he has to keep Bruce sane while Bruce keeps lashing out at him. Alfred’s not getting younger. Barbara’s furious and upset and grieving what happened to her. Tim has no parental supervision, what the fuck is going on with this kid, Dick needs to watch out for him too.
it’s slow, but the pressure just keeps piling on.
meanwhile, the people he’s helping start to get better. Bruce notices their baby stalker, figures out Tim’s situation, and puts in immediate paperwork to get temporary guardianship. (Dick still hasn’t been adopted. it’s fine. he doesn’t care. he doesn’t.) Barbara recovers and becomes Oracle, a saving grace to the wider caped community. (she’s so busy. Dick just wants a friend to talk to. please.) Tim is introduced to the Titans and makes fast friends with them. (the Titans were Dick’s first but they’re gone, all gone, why does everyone keep leaving him.)
and then there’s a mention of a new crime lord on the scene, Red Hood, who’s looking to shake things up.
things build and build and build, Hood taunting them and Bruce’s suspicions and Tim’s stalking, until it reaches a breaking point.
a warehouse. Batman and Red Hood and Tim and Dick. everyone is shouting at each other, yelling at each other, accusations flying, emotional barbs thrown. Dick trying to keep the peace and failing.
maybe someone snaps something that wounds. maybe Dick just collapses under his own exhaustion. either way, he gives up. he walks away. he can’t do this anymore.
no one notices him leave.
Dick leaves his suit in the Cave and writes a short note explaining that he’s quitting.
he’s done.
this world--Gotham and Batman and all the heroes and villains--has taken too much from him. he’s barely twenty-one and yet he’s lived lifetimes. he’s shouldered the weight of the entire world on his shoulders for so long he cannot remember what it feels like to fly without a net.
he returns to the first place he called home. there’s a Flying Grayson at Haley’s Circus again.
166 notes
·
View notes
i know tim was right for stopping dick when he was trying to beat bruce to death; bruce is clearly mentally ill and dick would carry a lot of regret/guilt if he killed his surrogate father. but like also…timmy, sweetheart, we could’ve ended this shitty fucking arc if you just dropped the morals for a hot sec and let dick have a lil murder as a treat.
This is the second time tim has tried to get in the way of dick righteous fury honestly he needs to learn when it's okay to just stand back and let Dick make his own decisions
241 notes
·
View notes
dp x dc prompt: "never ever let a fenton drive", or team phantom's dimension-hopping adventure
danny inherited the abysmal driving skills of his parents. the people in amity park are used to it though so this wouldn't be such a problem if he hadn't started learning to create portals recently, as seen when he opened a portal under his car while driving to avoid crashing into someone else while pursued by the GIW (sue him, it was a stressful situation). jazz is passed out right next to him, sam and tucker are screaming in the backseat while dani's cackling between them, adrenaline junkie that she is. the car is falling into the ghost zone and right out of another natural portal. they land right in front of a group of weirdos dressed in colourful costumes.
"... the only reason why i'm not killing you a second time is because this city looks super goth," says sam, waving the fenton thermos threateningly.
"there's nothing stopping me," mutters tucker, eyeing the costumed people warily.
danny squirms. "well, at least the GIW can't get us there?"
457 notes
·
View notes
after watching s06e08 i was totally right- cameron leaving house is her jane eyre leaving thornfield post-bertha reveal moment....see when you marry your boss's protege bc you're in love with said boss and then get upset when your husband acts like your boss...and then your proxy marriage dissolves bc you can't get over your husband's (boss's) actions but you're still so in love with your boss despite everything that it's literally impossible for you to be in the same room together but oops you're working together again so you have to leave so you can look at yourself in the mirror and desperately cling to some appearance of morality but it's already too late and he's irreversibly changed you for the worse
44 notes
·
View notes