Barbra Gordon - Tumblr Posts

fictional characters that I am In Love With

Percival Graves

Vinda Rosier

Hermione Granger

Ahsoka Tano

Jason Todd

Starfire/Koriand'r

Barbra Gordon

Raven/Rachel Roth *

Roy Harper *

Donna Troy *

Dick Grayson *

Princess Shuri

Carmen Sandiego (2019 version)

Prince Zuko

Katie “Pidge” Holt

Sallot “Sal”Leon

Commander Wolffe*

Captain Rex*

Commander Fox*

ARC Trooper Echo

ACR Trooper Fives*

Rafa Martez*

Trace Martez*

Sabine Wren*

Mal (descendants)**

Uma (descendants)**

Harry Hook**

Audrey (descendants)**

In conclusion: I’m a lot gayer than I used to be and my dumb fangirl self has too many crushes please Send Help

* added later bc I forgot like an idiot

** newer crushes

The Importance of Nightwing

Nightwing is also known as Dick Grayson and previously Robin. When he was dismissed from his Robin position Dick Grayson had decided he wasn’t done with the vigilant life and becomes Nightwing.

Admittedly I’m not excited for the supposed upcoming Nightwing movie (which I do not believe will go ahead) or Brenton Thwaites portrayal of this character in the live action Titans series. This is because I don’t have faith that they will do the character justice. Hopefully I’m just being cynical and will be proven wrong.

Nightwing for me has always been both masculine and feminine never really molding into one category. Which I appreciate as it shows how everyone is both masculine and feminine because we have a wide vary of traits. Dick Grayson comes from a circus backgroud with this past his fighting style is more elegant and has more of a performance nature. This is unlike most superheroes who have a very strong and dominant presence in the arena.

Starfire is Nightwings first love and the two shared an beautiful relationship that questioned wither it’s love or lust. I think that it’s Nightwings awkward innocence in this relationship that makes it so sweet. It is also this innocence that puts Nightwing in the more vulnerable position. This type of vulnerability in love isn’t shown often for the man as it’s seen as emasculating them but in fact it’s doing the opposite.

Batgirl and Nightwing, I love this relationship despite it never really having a happy ending. The two have always had feelings for each other but after the devestation of The Killing Joke their relationship just doesn’t seem to work. Yes, Nightwing does sleep around and is a playboy but it’s always very affectionate besides you can always tell he loves Barbara Gorden.

He’s a rape victim whilst male rape does happen in comic books much more then in the media of TV and Film I still think the fact that Nightwing has been raped twice makes it even more heartbreaking. Besides males being abused by females is a thing that needs to be talked about more often because it is a thing that happens which people tend to sweep under the rug. The fact that Nightwing is a character who can do this futher goes to show his importance as he is providing such a taboo topic a platform.

Nightwing is important as he shows the diverse sides of the heterosexual male often not shown in the media. He displays the various vunerablities of humans and also opens up topics for discussion that others keep closed.

You know maybe if Titans was actually about the Titans rather than whatever the batfam has going on it would actually be a good show

Dick and Jason have the same type

I know the fic referenced but I have a rent free idea

Warnings: Heavy Angst, Hurt/No Comfort, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

Here was the known facts:

Timothy Drake (Tim) had left Wayne Manor at three minutes to six to attend a date with his Boyfriend Bernard Dowd at six thirty sharp. He was meant to arrive back at Wayne manor to start his patrol as Red Robin at eight fifteen. However the only thing on the list to happen was Tim leaving.

Bernard Dowd was Tim's boyfriend of four months. They were comfortable and understood eachother which was why when Tim failed to show up to the planned date Bernard didn't think to much of it. Tim was know to skip on dates ocassionally being a n emergency family matter or simply crashing after having stayed up to long. However he always made sure to text Bernard by the time Bernard woke back up in the morning with an apology and a promise of a lunch date later that day.

Bernard Dowd woke up at seven, earlier than normal for the weekend, but meant he could conspiracy theory some stuff more. He checked his phone but had no messages besides some Theory board updates and a text from a spam number about an online dating website he wasn't a part of. He grew worried. Tim was known to get injuries so he opened the contacts and pulled up Stephanie Brown's number.

Stephanie Brown was Tim's ex girlfriend, which would make many insecure, but after the initial awkwardness Bernard and Stephanie built up a solid friendship. Pressing the call button at seven minutes past seven Stephanie answered with a yawn.

"Stephanie do you know where Tim is?"

Which wasn't a polite way to greet on the phone but stress was a fair excuse.

Stephanie Brown jumped up, "I thought he was with you and just didn't want to be disturbed?"

It was at that moment when neither knew where Tim was that warning bells started going off.

"He never showed up for our sate so I thought something was going on with the family, but he didn't text me so I thought something happened."

Stephanie ran around her apartment gathering her things and sliding on the first presentable peices of clothing she could before running out the door and slamming it behind her.

"He left about six to meet up with you."

"Did he talk about something happening to someone else."

"I'll text everyone else, but Bernard make sure you stay put he might come to your house."

Stephanie hung up the phone at a quarter past seven and started texting everyone within the vigilante community asking if they knew where Tim was.

Everyone who replied back said no and Jason had sent a few extra swears with a few comments about worrying people.

Stephanie Brown sounded the emergency button as she ran to the nearest safe house to get her stuff.

-)(-

When the emergency alarm went off Bruce had just finished drinking his coffee and reading the newest rumor in the tabloids. Something about Batman being a reporter in the Daily Planet.

Bruce rushed down to the Batcave quickly followed by Damian who still had Titus on a leash as he did so.

Reaching the batcomputer, Bruce saw the alarm was sounded by Stephanie Brown.

Answering the alarm and showing Stephanie location as being close to a safe house he opens a comn communication.

"Spoiler report."

"RR didn't show up to his date last night a no one knows where he is."

Bruce's heart skipped a beat before he took a deep breath. Tim had probably done some vigilante work between leaving and the date, got an injury and passed out in a safe house.

Bruce pulls up Tim's location, and find it in the middle of the Harbour.

Damian who had thus far been quite stilled.

Bruce sounded the full emergency system alerting all Batman associated vigilantes and anti-heroes to an emergency.

-)(-

Damian was used to stupid things happening to his siblings and fellow vigilantes. He was used to Stephanie Brown overreacting sometimes. She was well meaning, but jumped the gun sometimes when distressed which was why when the emergency beacon turned to be sent by Brown he thought the possibility of a not big issue.

When revealed that Drake had infact been MIA since six the previous night it was more concerning. Drake may not be his favourite person but when no one had seen Drake in twelve hours he was normally injured or eight hours deep in an old cold case.

Furthermore the worry for Drake tenfold when location revealed the middle of Gotham Harbour. When jma tracked appeared in the middle of the Harbour something bad normally followed which was why he justified his concern. Not because Drake was legally his older brother, but a displaced tracker meant all hands on deck for whatever was happening next.

"Father what is the plan."

"I have already dispatched Batwing to check the tracker, but have called everyone to the nearest safe house with communication device to conference."

It was a few minutes later that the screen lit up with the feed from Oracle's Cloak Tower with Huntress and Catwomen beside her.

"What's going on?"

"Drake's tracker is in the middle of Gotham Harbour and no one has a location past when he left night for his romantic partner last night."

Barbra stilled and there was a intake of a breath from Huntress who was half in gear and half looking ready for rest.

Another screen window popped up and Stephanie Brown's face appeared.

"He left the manor at six, was supposed to meet Bernard at six thirty, be back by eight, but he didn't show up, and no one knows a location."

Oracle starts tapping away at computer screens and pulling up security footage.

Video footage from under water appears from Batwing. Showing a half broken tracker being held in hand.

"Nothing else belonging to Red has been found nearby."

-)(-

Jason had just woken up from a nap in his apartment. It was a slow night with some complaining from a couple of the Bats due to the replacement being missing, but nothing but a couple of small mugging and a would be child kidnapping.

He had just finished glaring at the mirror for a minute trying to remember why he got up when he saw that he communicator was going off.

Either Roy needed something, Kory had found a new thing to share, or one of the Brats needed something. However it was the community wide emergency alert.

Moving over to the screen kept to answer said calls, because even if it wasn't the end of the world there would be arguing which would lead to dome entertainment for him and frustration for the old man.

Opening the window he sees that the Clock Tower, Batcave, Blonde, and qn underwater screen are there.

The demon brat glares at him before announcing, "Todd, Drake has gone missing at Batwing has found the tracker in the middle of the Harbour."

Okay so it wasn't aliens or Duke accidently pushing a button because no one explained the buttons on the bat computer to him, but Timbo has gone missing.

"I've locked down his last known location."

Okay Barbie knowns where he was, he got injured and forgot to check in this will be resolved in five minutes.

"Location?"

"Allyway, two blocks west from Neli's diner where Tim was to meet Bernard. There is an audible screen, the doubt of a struggle ane he doesn't appear leaving any of the areas."

More concerning, but someone just got the drop on the kid, and dome low rank criminal would send a video wanting ransom and would be over in a couple hours at best.

Duke's screen appeared from atop a building on his patrol route. Quickly followed by Cass who was patrolling in Hong Kong.

"Duke, I'm sending a location I need you to check it out keep the front camera on so we can view."

Oracle sends a location.

"Cass, Tim is MIA, but don't rush back yet, the could be low level rich people kidnapping.

That was when the emergency news turned on Jason's TV.

-)(-

Bruce was tense, but he could jot aford to think of the worst. However he got a pop up of the emergency news.

"This is just in, Arkam was broken out of last night, punchline, Joker's new girlfriend broke out Joker earlier last night. It is unknown how jo signals were sent out about the breakout, but it has now been eighteen hours since the last check in. Make sure you have your gas masks, stay inside and don't go out alone until notice of capture has been sent out."

The windows pops away.

Bruce can't breathe. Joker escaped last night, no one knew until now, and Tim was missing. Tim was missing and the Joker was out.

Bruce grips the computer desk as he breaths in. Jason is on the screen, Jason whi died, Jason who he failed to save, Jason who still didn't handle being around Bruce very well.

Joker who killed Jason. Joker who took his second son from him. Joker who might have taken his third son.

Bruce slams down on the all hands on deck emergency button and starts running to get his suit on.

-)(-

Duke didn't allow himself to think about the possible connection as he arrived to the alley. He jumped down looking around. It was dirty and appeared ro have housed a couple back alley fights recently, but it was when he stepped further in that he saw a Red Robin issue projectile with blood on it. He picks it up and puts it in a safety bag.

He looks around and find peices of clothing. A dark material with part of a zipper on it, and a length of prison orange fabric.

It could have been from anyone. It didn't have to be from Joker. It could have been from any Arcam breakout or someone with a sick sense of style.

He didn't allow himself to think about his parents still in the ICU with Joker toxin faces. He didn't allow himself to think about the horror stories Jason tells them when he trauma dumps. He didn't allow himself to think of the graveyards, the laughter, the destruction.

He rushes back as fast as he can to the Batcave. It takes twenty minutes going his top spends but he makes it, definitely jot two minutes from a break down.

-)(-

Stephanie Brown was many things. She was optimistic when needed, an amazing fighter, caring, and compassionate, but she was not an idiot. The probability of Tim's kidnapping and Joker's breakout being connected were high. However she couldn't deal with the very real possibility right now so she deals with suiting up and rushing as quickly as she can to start the Joker protocol that Bruce issued.

-)(-

Three weeks.

Three horrible weeks.

Bruce hadn't slept in days, half of them were injured, and Jason was sedated after having gone into a violence induced by panic. Richard was smiling even if no one else was because he didn't want to remember the statistics of survival. Damian was having his own mental crisis but that was beyond the point.

Cassandra who flew in two weeks ago was crying softly because her little brother was most likely dead.

Oracle had exhausted all resources.

Bruce was the worst.

He was sitting at the computer looking over all known information for the thousandth time as if it would just open up a new peice of information.

He couldn't and wouldn't think about the funeral, the lowering of a coffin, the grave stone, the broken bruised and bloodied body of Jason as he thought about Tim.

He had failed.

Time if not dead was close to it, and probably was in more pain than what Bruce ever wanted his children to feel.

Everyone was tired. No one was giving up when an emergency video from the news appeared up again. No news caster, but a hand held camera with Joker in view.

"Batsy, Basty, Batsy. You are your birds have been searching oh so very hard for the missing Birdie, but it's too late."

Oracle had tracked a location of the video and no hesitation everyone was moving out. Rushing down the streets as quickly as they could.

-)(-

The building was one that no one had found.

It was old and as they followed into the building dropping down until they area of what looked to be a creepy version of a stereotypical family home, they saw Joker reading a paper and Punchline dusting a broken fireplace mantle.

"Well that's no way to enter a house."

Batman surged forward when nets fell down on everyone. Heavyweight and would be hard to move.

"Don't interrupt the joke before the punchline. It's rude to hurt the comedian."

"Where is Red Robin?!"

"Who?"

"Where is Robin?!"

"OH you mean the annoying birdie?? Not here anymore."

"Where is HE!"

Joker gives out a laugh before punchline wheels in a older TV and pressing the play button.

Our Family Story

"You see Batsy, we've been thinking, we wanted to add some more members to our family, but the whole process of having a child?"

"Takes to long." Punchline exclaims.

"We could adopt, but we thought you have so many children that taking one would help you out."

-)(-

There was three things Stephanie knew about the situation. That she wanted to put Joker six feet under, that Tim was tortured by the Joker, and that she was going to take Jason's revenge upon the dead and do it herself.

There Tim was, well what was left of Tim. He was standing there. Skin a translucent white, clown makeup just a tad neater than the Joker's, dark green hair, a Joker suit and a crazed smile.

Stephanie had tears in her eyes. Tim who had been there for her in some of the worst points in her life, Tim who had forgiven her for the dead stunt she pulled years ago, Tim who had come out to Stephanie first, and Tim who had finally found happiness was now Joker Junior with a trick gun pointed at Bruce. Tim who hadn't killed anyone even. Tim who had forgiven Jason for the crimes he committed and the harm he had done.

Tim who was just ordered to shoot Bruce and kill Batman. Tim who had tears in his eyes as he struggled to point the gun away from Bruce as he quickly moved it to Joker before he pulled the trigger and sent the flag through Joker's chest killing him.

Tim who just broke down laugh crying as Bruce finally struggled out of the net and crushed Tim in a hug.

Tim was saved from Joker and Punchline in the physical sense, but Tim might have died mentally.

Junior what got you smiling like that? 🤡

We need more Joker Junior fanart because I said so, no I don’t care that it isn’t canon, I love him. Partially inspired by a reverse robins fic I read a few days back and I haven’t stopped thinking about.

I agree with everything you have said.

I'll go even further in depth because I want to and this is an excuse to info dump

Cass got whatever that was in the Harley Quinn movie which I choose to just ignore. And while Helena wasn't the worst in that movie it is also a misrepresentation of her character and the complicated way she became a Bird of Prey in the comics. But back to Cass. Her character is not Cass, and honestly there are better DC Gotham Gals that could have been picked for the role. She hasn't appeared in any games as far as I am aware, but did feature in Young Justice TV show. Which was cool. But it was the Young Justice seasons that were limited to HBO and not on regular television or highly rated within the Young Justice TV show fandom.

Helena has gotten a couple of nice things back in the early to mid 2000s [thank you DCAU] but after that she has become the niche for many people despite the roles she played in Gotham and the building of the modern Batfamily (especially when it comes to fanon, and how they borrow characterization from Helena and add it to Jason.) So while she had some good time in the spotlight as her own character for awhile, those days are kinda behind us at the moment.

Than let's talk about Tim. See I have complicated opinions about how DC handles Tim. However I would say that his character has been mistreated and mishandled (just like every other DC character has at some point). But let's look at what Tim has going for him outside the comics as far as TV, and Movie. The DCAU has a disaster of a Tim Drake. Honestly, the DCAU Tim was Jason who got a recolor and was sold as something it wasn't. Just it's not Tim. Then we have those early 2010s movies that are really forgettable. He was Red Robin in them which you know cool, but he wasn't a main player in those movies. I remember one of them focusing more on Batman and Oliver Queen more than anything else. So I would place him in the same spot of having an on screen heyday. His game appearances. Uhh just look up a picture of Arkham Knight game characters and we get a Robin named Tim. But it's not Tim.

So we have three characters that have been in TV shows and movies, but have been misrepresented within that media. One character in a popular Batman game that is misrepresented, one character who hasn't been in any animated project since the 2000s, and one character that has been misrepresented in both a live action and was a minor character in a direct to streaming season of a TV show.

Now let's move onto Red Hood aka Jason Todd. He has shown up in a lesser amount of media, but he was the star of all the media he has been a larger character in. He has his own animated movie that to this day people praise and use within edits and fan content. He has had a whole Arkham game with him as a major player. The game that a large majority of the Arkham players think is the best, and he has multiple Fanshows that Fans have made by themselves on YouTube.

Damian has the most recent and the largest animated presence of all the robins, and any other partner that Batman has worked with. He got multiple movies with him referenced within the title. He has a lot of movies. And although he has been misrepresented, he has a large presence in the animated side of the Batfamily fandom and DC as a whole.

No Man's Land

As I stated previously. Cassandra Cain, Helena Bertinelli, and Timothy Drake have large to very important roles in the whole story of No Man's Land. I will talk about Helena and Cass in this post, and I include screenshots of comic panels. [I also have Image ID information if you can't view photos.]

Helena

In the first half of No Man's Land Helena operated as the second Batgirl. [Although first going by The Bat]. Bruce Wayne was not in Gotham and was basically leaving it to burn, and Helena wouldn't stand for letting Gotham fall anymore. She first tried to help as Huntress, but there was no Gotham-wide symbol to Huntress, although there was with the Bat. She makes her own costume, goes out, and starts fighting back. Laying claim to the territory and tagging building under her protection. A tactic that Bruce would start using when he realized that Gotham had changed in his absence, and he would need to adapt. She would continue to operate despite pushback from Batman, and distance from Oracle. [Oracle believed that Batman had asked Helena or was allowing Helena to operate as Batgirl]. She would up quitting the role when Two-Face and Penguin teamed up to cause havoc among the Blue Boys (the remaining Gotham police) and Batman. She was tasked with protecting the clock tower from Black Mask and Batman ordered her to remain out of sight. It was not within her ability to do so, and she had to jump in the middle of the fight to stop it. Multiple people ended up dead from the fight [Helena did not kill them]. Batman says three strikes you out. Helena operates as Huntress after this.

[Image ID (above): Helena Bertinelli can be seen in a Bat themed costume. There are no eye openings, and the mouth area has been sticked to have the lower face cover by the same or similar material. On her chest is a bat logo that is outlined in yellow, but the inside is the same colour as the rest of the costume. She is conversing with a pair of blonde and brunette boys that she saved from having their coats stollen.

Helena: Doesn't this symbol mean anything to you?

Blonde: Well yeah--but you're a girl. We thought you were trying to trick us, make us believe you were the Batman, to, like, get our coats.

Brunette: Yeah. Everybody around here is out for themselves.

Helena: (pointing to a yellow spray paint tag the same or almost the same to the one on her chest that is painted on the brick wall) This is the bat. In this town it means criminal beware.

Brunette: So then, like, you work with Batman?

Helena: How do you know I'm not Batman?

Brunette: You're a girl!

Helena: If you were a big tough guy and you got beat up by a girl, would you admit it? Or would you say it was a huge giant . . . .seven feet tall with fangs and claws that took you down?

Blonde: Point.

Helena: Tell your friends--as long as there are people in Gotham, there'll be a bat.

Blonde: All this time she was a girl. Do you believe that?

Brunette: I dunno and I don't care. All I know is, is she saved our butte. The Bat rules. ]

[Image IDs: Both images are from the same conversation so the transcript will be kept together. Do note that part of the conversation has been cute. Helena in her Batgirl suit and Batman in a suit that has the logo in a yellow circle are in an underground bucker/hideout. They have just come back from a night of stopping gang violence.

Batman: Rest.

Helena (as she is messing with her cowl): It's not fatigue. It's frustration----I was too slow.

Batman: Than be faster.

Helena: Great advice from the man who perfected the vanishing act. Where have you been?

Batman: Taking the trash out.

Helena: where do they [the criminals] go? The ones we take down, I mean what happens to them?

Batman: You don't want to know.

----

Batman: Don't let that happen. Keep the tower safe.

Helena: I could use a little help.

Batman: I am needed elsewhere. You're on this alone. Protect the tower, and try not to be seen.

Helena: I can do one or the other, not both.

Batman: Then your not worthy of the mantle. Of course, you could prove me wrong--]

[Image ID: The words . . .get worse can be seen on the top left corner. This was the finishing words of Helena's monologs. At the top of the page in the middle the words Mosiac: part two announce that this panel is from the Mosiac arc of No Man's Land. Helena is mid way through finishing her jump into battle at the entrance to the clock tower. She has thrown a canister of gas with a black bat logo on it.

Helena: You can stay down or you can fall down. . .but I can guarantee you won't be getting back up again. ]

[Image ID: Bruce Wayne dressed in his full Batman suit, Richard Grayson is dressed in his full Nightwing suit, and Helena Bertinelli is in almost complete Batgirl costume except for her cowl.

Batman: Six people are dead. My fault as much as yours. You want to keep that cowl? I have to be able to trust you. I have to know that you'll follow orders.

Helena: I tried--

Batman: trying isn't enough.

Batman: You were to stop Black Mask out of sight of the clocktower (Batman puts pointer finger up on an otherwise closed fist), you failed. I told you not to follow men when I took Black Mask into custody. You disobeyed (Batman indicates second offence with a middle finger joining the pointer), I told you to protect our territory, our people . . .(Batman indicates third offence with a ring finger joining the pointer and middle) but Two-Face now commands that land. And six more bodies are in the ground.

Helena: And you blame me?

Batman: No. I hold you responsible. As I hold myself. ]

[Image ID: Batman is pictured standing in the middle of a silhouette of Nightwing, and the maskless Helena. This is directly continuing from the last page.

Helena: You think I don't know what happened? You think I can just forget that they're dead?! You think I can sleep at night?! You think that I can forgive myself?! You left me alone yo face 200 of Two-Face's goons! What was I supposed to do?]

[Image ID: The conversation moves forward and the tail-end of the argument continues.

Helena: --But I don't take orders and certainly not from you!

Batman: That's the problem.

Helena: Not mine. Not anymore.

Helena: (speaking to Nightwing who has a hand on her left shoulder.) Don't touch me.

Helena: I won't be what you want, Batman. Don't ask me. I can't.

Batman: Then stay out of it. You'll only get in the way.

Helena: I can't do that either.]

Cassandra

For the first half of No Man's Land (Winter and Spring) she did assignments for Oracle (information and supply hunts). During the Mark of Cain arc where David Cain was hired by Two-Face to kill Jim Gorden and Barbara Gorden, Cass jumps in between them because she knows that David would not kill her. She impresses Batman during this arc and is given a gift. The Batgirl costume that Helena had been using, but had recently given up. Unlike Helena, Cass had the blessing of Babs to become the next one to use the mantle.

[Image ID: Cassandra and David Cain are outside a room where both Barbara Gordon and Jim Gordon were just questioning Cass about how she knew David Cain. She is standing in front of the door, and the shots that David let out of his weapon miss Cassandra. She then proceeds to stare him down and then leap at him and give him an uppercut. David Cain loses a tooth and starts bleeding. Cassandra then stares at her right hand which is covered in David Cain's blood. ]

[Image ID: Barbara, Cassandra, and Batman are all in a room together, one that holds Barbara's stuff. Barbara is holding an older Black and White photo that depicts herself when she still operated as Batgirl. She turns the photo around to show Cassandra.

Barbara: I can't thank you enough.

Cassandra points to the photo. While Batman remains a darkened shadow in the background.

Barbara: Yes, that's me. It was a long time ago. Take it. I want you to have it.

Batman: Oracle. Call them. (Referencing the allies of the Bat)]

[Image ID: Batman is pictured holding a box in front of Cassandra. To the side Barbara Gordon (Oracle), Timothy Drake (Robin), Richard Grayson (Nightwing), and Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) watch the scene play out in front of them.

Batman: Remember that.

Oracle: Honor it.

Cassandra proceeds to open the wrapped box revealing a black suit with a yellow outline symbol of a bat. Helena's old design.

Batman: You can change in the Bedroom. ]

This is only the first half of No Man's Land. Get rid of Helena and you don't have the second Batgirl, you don't have Helena knowing how to take back Gotham, you don't have someone who despite her thoughts on Batman knew that it was the symbol that Gotham needed at the time to start to come back together.

Get rid of Cassandra and now there is no third Batgirl. She isn't there to stop the fight between David Cain and Batman peacefully. She isn't there to save Babs and Jim.

By replacing them with Damian and Jason you get two characters that are important to the themes that this story has, and the message it is trying to send.

This is only the beginning and I could have rambled for longer, but Tumblr has an image limit and I am not breaking this up into parts.

I'll tell you though anyone else who may be reading this and hasn't done so check out No Man's Land. It's a good story and you won't regret it.

DCs been giving us a lot of monkey paw situations lately so I think we should make a game of it with random scenarios, I’ll go first

We get an animated series or movie based on no man’s land

BUT

they replace Helena, Cass and Tim with Jason and Damian

The dcu characters are shaking in fear every time Babs makes a your mum joke bc they don't know if she's joking. First Bruce, now Dinah, who next? No one knows, everyone is scared.

(I haven't heard of Babs x Dinah before and I don't like it but it'd be funny)

Roy and Babs' dynamic has the potential to be so funny. "I'm having a homoerotic relationship with your stepmother while you are having a homoerotic relationship with my boyfriend". Unhinged.

I don't ship her with anyone tbh but I wanna know who other people like her with! I went for the pairs I see most often and I googled which Babs ships were most popular so don't hate me for the ship choices

Feel free to comment your pick or anyone else you ship her with!

Edit: I can't believe I forgot the "no one" option smh. I don't ship her with anyone and in the last few minutes I've got so many other people also saying no one. Sorry folks, I'll remember that next time lol

It's fun to imagine one of their partners figuring out it's a compliment.

Bat of choice: "I figured out another way to beat you in a fight, just in case"

Partner: "aw thanks babe <3"

Obviously they wouldn't tell anyone what it meant because they probably would also just kinda accept it. But any hero overhearing that would end up getting worried about the partner's seemingly really low standards.

The joke that the bats see their contingency plans as a form of love is super fucking funny, don't get me wrong but honestly they probably do see it as that cause they just forget to say the second part out loud.

"after I've taken you down, obviously I'd find whatever made you like this and then find the cure."

They come from gotham where mind altering substances are basically everywhere. One of the most profound ways a gothamite could say 'i care about you' is admitting to having a plan to disarm/capture you in the case you go off the deep end, so that they could then get you a cure.

Unfortunately for the bats, no one else thinks like that cause what the actual fucks guys

Headcanon that early on in Dick's tenure as Robin, Batman gets seriously injured during patrol one night. Not enough that his life is in danger, but like, enough that he's unconscious and needs medical attention.

And after he gets him squared away, Jim Gordon sees a small, masked child covered in someone else's blood, and then his Dad (tm) instincts kick in, and he refuses to let Robin go to wherever he calls home alone. So he just... takes him back to his home.

And this can go two directions. Either

Barbara, not Batgirl yet, wakes up when her father comes home and sees a boy slightly younger than her, covered in blood, and befriends him, for sure freaking out her father but also making him incredibly worried about Robin and if he has any other friends or not.

or

Barbara, fully Batgirl, but not on patrol that night because she had a test that next day, wakes up when her father comes home, and comes face to face with her best friend in his masked alter ego, and they both have to pretend that they don't know each other for like two days, meanwhile Dick's sweating because like Holy shit, I've had sleepovers here before, whatever you do, don't act like Dick Grayson.

Either way it ends with Dick, mask still firmly in place but wearing Barbara's pajamas, and Babs fully passed out on the ground around a game of monopoly when Batman finally comes to collect his sidekick.

This experience would also make Jim Gordon even more terrified for Robin on a daily basis because before, he was sort of a shadowy, cryptic force that followed Batman around, but now Jim knows that he's just a little boy, smaller than his own daughter, that likes the same games and cartoons that Babs does, and I'm not sure he'd be able to handle that.

Headcanon that since Jason can’t go out with his family publicly, what he does instead is show up in random disguises.

Bruce is chatting up some socialites at a gala, talking about the joys of fatherhood and how rewarding it is. Meanwhile he made eye contact with Jason disguised as a waiter twenty minutes ago, and is currently trying to stop his eye from twitching.

Dick is speaking to a third grade class as a part of the Bludhaven Police department outreach program, except when he walks in Jason is sitting behind the teachers desk, playing the role of substitute.

Babs can’t help but stare when Jason hands her a coffee from behind the counter of her favorite coffee shop. (His name tag reads Peter, and for a second she thinks she’s actually lost it).

Tim walks into Wayne Towers one day and on his way in, he waves to his secretary- lo and behold Marjorie has been replaced by Jason. It takes him three hours to notice.

Cass walks into ballet class to discover her teacher had to take a sick day- his replacement is Jason in a beret who talks in a terrible French accent the entire class, only to drop it at the very end to talk in a thick New Jersey accent. Her entire class talks about it for weeks.

Stephanie hails a cab on her way home one night, only to find Jason driving. She’s not sure how he pulled it off or how he got a cab, but her mind is effectively blown.

Duke is on a school trip to the natural history museum, and when the tour guide introduces himself, Duke can’t help but role his eyes. Jason gives a surprisingly good tour, even throwing in some tidbits about a robbery that went down just last week that the Signal stopped.

Damian’s encounter happens when he’s with Jon in metropolis. He’s watching Jon play baseball, and when Jon steps up to bat, he can’t help but notice a the umpire looks a little familiar.

Crack HC, because is there any other kind?

Bruce realises embarrassingly late that his Batkids can’t swim.

Gotham’s beach water is pure chemicals and sewage, and the city’s public school funding doesn’t exactly prioritise teaching kids to swim. Steph, Duke and Jason had never seen a swimming pool before meeting Bruce.

Tim’s parents meant to sign him up for swim lessons after he fell into their indoor fountain when he was three and nearly drowned - it would have been so embarrassing if it happened when they had guests! - but forgot.

So Bruce is like. Oh no my baby-soldiers must learn to swim.

Damian insists that since the League trained him to withstand waterboarding, he’s fine. Bruce pulls a muscle in his cheek from clenching his jaw so hard.

Dick insists that he can swim and manages one impressive mermaid-style undulation before becoming disoriented and slamming into the wall.

Duke covers himself in floaties and clings to a pool noodle for dear life, eschewing dignity because “this isn’t how I die”.

Conversely, Tim sinks like a stone, curls up on the bottom of the pool, and waits for death.

Cass, with the lowest body fat percentage, also sinks but manages to squeeze into one of the drains. She re-emerges six hours later in an estuary in New Jersey.

Steph refuses to let go of the wall by the deep end, scuttling away like a crab when Bruce tries to poke her into the water with a skimmer net.

Jason scoffs at them all and manages a perfect swan dive before flailing and crashing into Steph, causing both of them to panic and use each other as ladders to get out.

Alfred asks Barbara for the security camera footage and makes everyone watch it twice a year to keep their egos in check.

Has Bruce ever packed the kids lunch when Alfred wasn't there? How'd it go?

[Wayne Enterprises]

Tim: Finally, time for my break.

Tim: *opens his mini fridge*

*dozens of apples fall out*

———————

[the library]

Steph: *chugs a gallon of milk*

Cass: *bites into a bread loaf*

Barbara: I'm not even gonna ask.

———————

[day patrol]

Duke: *opens his lunchbox*

Duke: *sighs*

Duke: *pulls out his bat-skillet*

Duke: *cracks an egg* *cracks an egg* *cracks an egg* *cracks an egg—*

———————

[West-Reeve Middle School]

Damian: Kent, I will trade you your cupcake for this head of lettuce.

Jon: ...

Jon: Deal.

———————

[Bludhaven]

Jason: Bruce packed our lunches. He said we're supposed to share.

Jason: *hands him a bag*

Dick: What'd you get?

Jason: A frozen turkey. You?

Dick: *opens it*

*fire alarm goes off*

DPxDC Not So Artificial Intelligence

Barbara thinks it was Bruce, with his love for new additions to the Cave. Bruce thinks it was Tim, with his late hyperfixation on AI. Tim thinks it was Babs, with her ever evolving network of keeping everything under control.

They are all wrong, but the fact stays a fact: the BatCave has an AI assistant now.

It is not very good at first, not recognizing voices very well and messing up commands, but the Bats write it off as a learning curve. Besides, it never makes the same mistakes twice, and in a couple of months, even the tiniest slip ups fade away.

Its name is Betty. First, Dick named it Bat-AI (a reasonable name), then it transformed into Bat-I for easier pronunciation, and then Steph called in Betty once, and the name was sealed.

And they all love Betty. Betty is the best, keeping track of their everyday lives, reminding them of their civilian meetings and vigilante business, alerting them of any suspicious activity in the city. Oracle finally gets to sleep for more than 4 hours in a day with Betty's help. Tim gets company when he is three weeks in and elbows deep in a case - it's easier when he has an illusion of someone to discuss the matter with, and Betty even offers him insight. Damian learns to do digital art just to have a little competition with Betty. He wins, but the AI is a worthy opponent, in his opinion.

Even Bruce begrudgingly likes the AI assistant. She is competent and helpful, and Alfred seems to approve of how she doesn't let Bruce overwork himself when he escapes medbay to keep searching for answers.

That is, until one day, Tim installs speakers specifically for Betty in the Cave.

The voice that comes from them is not robotic or mechanical.

It definitely has human intonation.

"Hello, Red Robin," the voice - a male voice, actually - greets him with slight amusement. Tim feels an uneasy feeling sinking down in his stomach.

"Betty?"

"You know me as such. I would prefer it if you called me Danny. He/them pronouns."

Remind him, who installed the AI?..

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

Danny got trapped inside the Batcomputer somehow - I suspect Technus had a hand in it - and decided to embrace it. He used to be a vigilante himself, so why not help this whole family of vigilantes while he is at it? They look like they need a hand.

Now that was odd. Oracle was the one to receive all the emails and messages meant for Batman and the others, so she'd been the one to receive the email about a disappearance at Gotham General Hospital. Normally, after filtering out the spam that sometimes leaked through, or the ones that had been sent to the wrong address, she'd forward the email straight to the Bat Computer so that Batman or Red Robin could look over them. This one, though, was one that had caught her attention.

"There was a disappearance at Gotham General. A kid was brought in after the Scarecrow attack yesterday, the one that got the mask of Fear Gas? His record has been wiped and the kid's gone. There's no record of his discharge."

While it was crude and poorly typed, it was to the point.

"Hadn't Red Robin been at the Scarecrow attack yesterday?" she wondered aloud, "Yeah. He was the one to carry that kid out. The one that got the face full of Fear Gas."

Between watching over the others while they were on patrol, Oracle didn't really have the time to properly assess the email or the situation, let alone check in on it. There was something about this, though, that dragged her attention to it. She'd learned, when she'd been Batgirl, to always listen to her gut feeling no matter what. It had saved her before, so she followed it.

She watches the security footage from Scarecrow's attack the previous day. She followed the ambulance the kid had been in via street cameras. She hacked into the hospital to check the records and followed the kid from those, cameras, too. Everything was as it should be.

There! The sign on the monitor in the hospital said there was a radioactive substance in the kid. It also said that the proper agency had been contacted. And- Ectoplasm? What's that? Doesn't that have to do with ghosts and stuff?

The more Oracle watches, the worse her feeling got. A quick check proved that there were, actually, records of this child missing from the hospital. He also hadn't been discharged. That room was still marked as occupied.

An hour after the two nurses had left the kid, a group of people wearing all white entered the room. They unhooked the kid from the hospital equipment before placing him in a wheelchair. Unconscious.

Oracle narrowed her eyes, suspicion falling heavy over her. This was bad. Something was wrong.

She managed to follow the group through the halls, out of the hospital, and to a nondescript white van.

"Shit."

DPxDC Prompt:

The vigilante meant well, taking the kid to the hospital to treat his injuries. The kid mumbled the entire time, barely conscious. "No hospital, please," he said more than once.

Poor kid, the vigilante thought. He must have a phobia of needles or something.

...

They never could have anticipated the danger they put that kid in, placing him in the care of that hospital.

"Guys!" Nightwing shouted once he and Batman arrived in the main are of the Bat Cave, "I have some fantastic news!"

Bruce pulled his cowl off, his amusement no longer being hidden as he nearly failed to keep from laughing.

Everyone had gathered in the Cave to await the two who'd gone to the Watchtower, so everyone was already there to hear the exclamation. Even Alfred was with them all.

"Calm down, Big Bird," Jason said from his place on the meeting table, "What's going on?"

Dick was bouncing on the balls of his feet, "Can I tell 'em, B? Can I, can I?!"

Bruce chuckled, "I'm not stopping you."

He cheered before turning back to the rest of his family, "They think there's a total of three-" he held up three fingers on his left hand, "-of us operating within Gotham, myself excluded because I'm in Bludhaven."

"Wait," Stephanie called, "They think Batman only has three people helping to cover Gotham? They know we're human, right?"

Dick shook his head, his grin only getting bigger. "Nope! They think Batman only has two sidekicks covering Gotham with him."

This caused everyone to laugh, the humor breaking any seriousness anyone would've tried to control to keep on topic. It was nice, Bruce smiled, to be able to let loose with everyone like this. His family was altogether, spending time with one another, doing things that didn't include head hunts or injuries.

Alfred took his place beside Bruce. "This is nice, isn't it."

"It is."

"You can die a happy man now?"

A chuckle. "You killing me off so soon?"

"Of course not, Master Bruce," He's smirking, "I'm simply stating a fact."

"Ha!"

"What're you guys talking about over there?" Tim called. Everyone had gathered at the meeting table to go over final details and slight changes for the set up tomorrow. "C'mon! We've gotta finish putting this all together."

Duke nodded from over his shoulder, "Yeah! New information allows room for some much more fun!"

Jason smirked. "Yeah, old man, Alfred! We want to see if we can get away with switching out with each other. It'll confuse the hell outta the Leaguers."

Bruce raised an eyebrow as he and Alfred joined the kids at the table. "How are you going to pull that off? Despite what you all may thing, the others are all a lot more observant than given credit for-"

"Except the Flash and Green Arrow." Cass cut in.

"Hey!" Dick said, "Don't dis Barry like that!"

"Yeah," Barbra agreed, "And Ollie's whole thing is spotting details. He prides himself on it!"

"If that were true, then we wouldn't be planning on how to mess with them, now would we?"

Tim nodded, "Damian's right."

"As you were saying?" Bruce prompted.

"Well," Jason continued, "You, Damian, and Dick have to be here as Batman, Nightwing, and Robin. They all probably know about me, so I'll stay out of the Cave, but you can bet your ass that I'll be in the Clocktower with Babs, listening in on everything." He looked to Tim and Babs. "Should we set up cameras?"

Tim thought for a second, "If we want to record this, then yeah. I can have them all set up by morning."

"I'll help you set it up before I head out tonight," Barbra agreed.

"Anyway," Stephanie interrupted, pulling the attention to herself, "Tim, Cass, and I could totally get away with running around and messing with their senses and shit. And if we can get Kate and Selina in on this-"

"You've already talked to them, haven't you." Bruce asked. The matching grins on everyone's faces was answer enough. He sighed.

"Having fun," Cass patted his arm, "Bonding."

He snorted. 'Bonding', yeah right. Maybe letting his coworkers be the target of his childrens' whims is a bad idea. Then again, their not hurting anyone. It's all fun in games.

Bruce sat at the head of the table. "Alright. We all know about Superman's ability to hear heartbeats and breathing patterns. He's able to memorize someone's vitals, especially his friends. It's safe to assume he's got mine down, as well as Robin's and Nightwing's."

Damian scoffed. "Changing my vitals will be no issue for me."

Bruce nodded, "Me, either."

Dick nodded along, "Soundseasy enough. But what's the plan?"

"Oracle will call you out for an emergency in Bludhaven. Red Hood will call me out for some information at the docks. We'll met up at the Clocktower and switch costumes." he explained.

Barbra had a manic look on her face. "We should have Steph and Cass stay away from the Cave at first, then have them come in separately, but sharing a costume." SHe turned her attention to the blonde. "You have a spare Spoiler costume, yeah?"

Stephanie matched her grin, "Naturally."

"What about me, Tim, and Damian?" Duke asked.

"How would you and Tim like to be actual bats?" the red head wondered, "Or maybe ghosts?"

"Do we get to mess with shit?" Tim asked.

"Naturally."

"I'm in," the two responded.

"Damian will run distraction," Jason said," He'll be the only one who stays with the JL the whole time they're here. Alfred will have to keep cover upstairs. I'll bounce between the Manor, the Clocktower, and patrol."

"Are you quite sure?" Alfred asked, "That's quite a lot to be doing."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he assured.

Brice cleared his throat. "If everyone's ready?" Looks around the table before nods of affirmation. "Good. Finish up any last minute changes and preparations. They've agreed to meet at the Watchtower at fifteen hundred New Jersey time so that I can bring them here. Damian, I want you to come with me."

"Of course, father."

"Ready? Break."

Part 3 Part 5

Tag List: @sebas-nights

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

They had planned to leave before Bruce got back to the Manor, but plans change all the time and it wasn't Danny's fault!

Alfred had invited a friend of Dick's, Barbra Gordon, to the Manor for dinner, meaning that Dick had to stay if he wanted to see her. And since Dick was staying, Danny was staying. Tim wasn't about to leave Danny to Bruce's mercy, so he was staying for dinner, too.

Bruce Wayne arrived at Wayne Manor exactly three and a half minutes after six in the evening. He entered the kitchen exactly ten minutes and five seconds after that.

The air was tense.

Dick had been tense since Danny first roped him into coming to Gotham, only getting worse as they got closer to the building they were now sitting in. Now that Bruce and Dick were in the same room, it was like the rope had frayed to the point of snapping with a light breeze.

Bruce sat at the head of the table with Tim to his left and down a chair. Dick sat at the foot of the table, Barbra sitting to his immediate right. Danny sat on the unoccupied side of the table, directly in the middle.

No one was saying a word.

Danny was on edge.

Finally, "Dick," Bruce said.

"Bruce," was the response.

As if the spell had been broken, though the awkwardness remained, Barbra cleared her throat and said, "It's good to have you back in Gotham, D."

Dick smiled at her, soft and happy and relieved. "It's good to see you, Babs. How've you been?"

"The same as usual. Though, Condiment King again!" She glared when Dick started laughing. "Yeah, sure, laugh it up, Wonder Boy. It took three hours to get that mustard out of my costume! It's easier to get blood out of white carpets-!"

Bruce pointedly cleared his throat, bringing all attention to him. "As good as it is to see you, Dick, who've you brought with you?"

Barbra flinched back slightly, having forgotten Danny was even there. Oops.

Danny grinned at Bruce, hiding his nerves behind his favorite fake-it-'til-you-make-it smile. "My name's Danny, it's nice to meet you Mister Wayne! I have to say, you're a lot less smiley in person than you are on the internet."

He hummed. "I apologize. Today's been an off day."

"No need," Danny waved off politely, "I get it."

"I have to say, Daniel-"

"'Danny', please. My name's Danny."

To his credit, Bruce didn't even skip a beat. "Then, call me Bruce. I must say that I didn't expect Dick to have taken anyone in."

Danny chuckled a bit. "I think it's less of him taking me in and more of me kind of letting myself into his house."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I noticed he wasn't doing too well, so I figured I'd step in to help where I could before he got himself hurt." 'Or worse' was heavily implied. "I imagine Tim did much the same with you?"

Tim stiffened as Bruce sighed. Well, that's not a good sign.

"Yes, though Tim doesn't live here."

"He has a room, though, right?"

"Of course."

"Good. I can't imagine having to travel with the kind of injuries you guys get at night is very fun." Here, he turned and looked Barbra in the eye. "Honestly, you deserve a prize for traveling from here to wherever you live after getting injured."

Barbra smiled sheepishly, "Thanks? I don't really come here, though. Only on occasion."

Bruce interrupted before the conversation could continue, "What do you mean? Dick's the only one of us who could possibly get hurt on the job." He shook his head. "Honestly, why did you ever join the BHPD? It's too dangerous."

Oh, Danny had to put a stop to that right away!

"Sorry, to jump in here, Mister Wayne, but I know what all of you moonlight as." He ignored Bruce's narrowed, sharp glare. "You're Batman, Dick is Nightwing, Tim is Robin, meaning that Barbra has to be Batgirl and, if I'm right, Oracle."

"Who are you?" Bruce demanded. He didn't ask because asking is for people who aren't paranoid enough to have six levels of security at the front gate alone.

"I just told you: Danny." He unflinchingly met Bruce's glare. "Not good enough for you? I'm Danny, personal caretaker of vigilantes who refuse to take care of themselves, bookkeeper, cook, unlicensed medical unprofessional, et cetera. Though, don't call me a therapist because that's my sister. Is that a better answer?"

Bruce hummed.

The meal itself was somehow even worse than before Alfred had brought out the food. Glares were being thrown and concerned glances shared. It made the food taste bad, which was probably a war crime.

Danny had been raised with manners, so he'd thanked Alfred for making dinner. He even offered to help with clean up, though he backed down when he was refused. He knows better.

After dinner, the group had gone back into the very same drawing room as before. Dick and Barbra cuddled together on the couch, Bruce and Tim took the two armchairs, and Danny sat on the floor in front of the now lit fireplace.

"So, Tim," Danny started, "You working on any interesting cases?"

Tim seemed to perk up a bit. "Yeah, actually. It's a murder-"

"We're not at liberty to discuss anything with you, Daniel." Bruce's voice was gravely, almost the voice he used as Batman, as he spoke over Tim.

Danny's eyes narrowed. "I believe I told you my name is 'Danny', not 'Daniel'."

"Well, seeing as I don't actually know you, and you have offered up no sir name, I'll stick with calling you whatever I'm comfortable with, especially in my own home."

"This isn't a fight you wanna pick, Mister Wayne. You might want to rethink your choice."

"I am well aware of what battles to fight. However, you're mistaken. This isn't a battle. I'm merely stating that I will be calling you 'Daniel' until you offer up your sir name to be called by."

Danny very obviously looked Bruce up and down. "I guess my parents were right; You can't ever believe everything you read on the internet."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"Because you, Mister Wayne, are horrible with children."

The temperature in the room dropped. Bruce's glare hardened even more. He appraised Danny, assessing him and filing away everything he could find. "Speaking to me like that in my own home is quite the move."

"Are you threatening me, Mister Wayne?"

"Not at all," he denied. "What are you really doing here, Dick?"

"I wanted to come meet Tim," Dick lied.

"Don't lie to me."

"What, I can't even come meet your newest Robin?"

"After the way you treated Jason?"

Dick stood quickly, Barbra scrambling to her feet. "After the way I-! You're the one who let him put on my old uniform!"

Bruce stood to his full height, looking down on Dick. "Me? You barely even talked to him! I spent as much time as I could with him!"

Danny blocked out the already out of hand yelling match and grabbed Barbra's and Tim's hands, leading them out of the room. This was not how he was hoping this would go at all.

He could still hear the yelling, even in the foyer.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to Tim and Barbra, "I didn't expect this to happen."

"It's alright," Barbra said, flinching when she realized that she could hear both men's voices almost clearly.

"No, it's not. I dragged Dick here to apologize to Tim. We were supposed to leave before Bruce even left Wayne Enterprises."

Tim shook his head. "We should've anticipated something like this would happen."

"Yeah..."

The three sat together on the steps, Bruce and Dick's voices carrying through the wood and marble.

"Hey," Barbra said after a few minutes, "How do you know about the Cave being under the Manor?"

Danny blinked at her before turning to Tim. "There's a cave under the Manor?!" He glared playfully at his friend. "You didn't tell me that your base of operations is a cave under Wayne Manor!"

"If it makes you feel any better," Tim offered, "Dick named it the Bat Cave."

"It's called the Bat Cave!?"

Part 12 Part 14

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

Communication is good. It's wonderful, even! But screaming matches? Especially ones that last this long, aren't healthy in the slightest. In fact, all they do is damage relationships. So, after convincing Barbra and Tim to go upstairs, promising that he'd be up in a few minutes with Dick, he went back to where Bruce and Dick were screaming at each other.

Nothing had been thrown yet. Small mercies.

God, Danny hated being a mediator. Why couldn't people just work out their problems by talking? It'd make his life so much easier. Was that so hard to do? Too much to ask? Apparently.

"And you-!" Bruce rounded on Danny the second he closed the door behind him. "You don't get to come into my house and-"

"Let me stop you right there, Mister Wayne." A few days into his running away, Danny discovered a new power. He can't control it, but sometimes, when he's angry or needs people to shut up, the inside of his throat goes cold and his eyes narrow. It's really cool, from Danny's perspective, and pun fully intended. Something about Mister Wayne had brought that power to the surface, and thank the gods for that because Danny really needs to be listened to right now. "I told you earlier that my name was not a fight you wanted to pick. I think I should reword that. I am not a person you want to pick a fight with."

Bruce narrowed his eyes, meeting Danny's glare with his own. "Is that a threat?"

"Yes, Mister Wayne, that was a threat. And you can hold me to it. I will win any and every fight you try to pick with me."

Dick kept glancing between the two. He had a bad feeling about these two interacting like this, but something was stopping him from getting them apart.

"I have your name and your face. It won't be too hard to get you arrested for several crimes."

"Framing a child, Mister Wayne? Good luck with that. I don't exist anymore. Besides, I can threaten the same thing about Batman, and that holds significantly more weight than anything you could do to my name."

"If you're not scared, then you'll give me your whole name."

"That was a horrible fish for information, Mister Wayne. You're slipping. You must be getting rusty in your old age."

"Danny-"

"Dick." Danny held his hand out to his - on paper - responsible adult, "C'mon, Tim and Barbra are waiting for us upstairs."

Danny lead Dick out of the room, Bruce staying behind and obviously glaring at the back of Danny's head. When the door shut, Dick sighed, every bit of tension he hadn't felt melting off of him. "Sorry about him."

Danny shook his head. "Don't apologise, Dick, you didn't do anything to spark that. However," he glanced at him from the corner of his eye, still holding his hand, "Screaming matches aren't going to fix anything between you two. I don't know if you even want a relationship with him, but he's right. We came into his house, so it's up to us to be polite. You may be his kid, but you are a guest in his home until you two can form some kind of positive relationship. The hostility between y'all right now? That demotes you to 'house guest' instead of 'visiting child'. Got it?"

"..yeah."

"Good. Now, Tim and Barbra are waiting upstairs; go find them."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to go apologise to Alfred."

"Alfred? Why?"

"Bruce may claim this as his house, but Alfred's the one who takes care of it. It's his haunt, so I'm gonna go apologise for almost starting a fight."

"Um, alright..?"

***

Dick found himself wandering into the room that had been given to Tim. It was bare bones and barely looked used, but that's where he found Tim and Babs. He sat next to her.

"Where's Danny?" Tim asked.

"I- He's gone to talk to Alfred for a minute."

"Oh? Why?"

"I don't..he wasn't really clear on that."

"Oh."

The three lapsed into a silence that hovered somewhere between comfortable and uncomfortable. Tim was on his bed, messing with something on his phone, smiling occasionally or chuckling softly. Dick and Barbra sat together on the couch against the wall between the two windows. None of them spoke for a while.

It was a lon twenty minutes of sitting, doing nothing. Sometimes one of them shifted, but no conversation was made.

The door opened. "Wow. Did I end up in a graveyard or something? Y'all're quieter than the dead." The three flinched back as if struck. "Sorry, that was in poor taste." He closed the door behind him and sat on the foot of Tim's bed. "Seriously, though, why're y'all so quiet?"

"Waiting for you," Tim answered, "What'd you talk to Alfred about?"

Danny waved his hand in the air as if to physically dispel the words. "Nothing you need to worry about. Good news, though, I have a standing invitation to the Manor, so.."

"Is that a good idea?" Barbra asked, "You and B, well...You didn't really.."

"Yeah," he smiled, "Alfred's given me permission, and that's all I need. I won't be going with you guys to the Bat Cave, though."

"What?" Tim's voice pitched up a bit, "Why?"

"That's Mister Wayne's haunt. Because he doesn't like me, I'm not gonna risk even thinking about going down there."

"But you'll come and go from his house?"

"Yes."

"Weird."

"I don't make the rules, Timmy." Tim snorted softly. Barbra smiled.

"I hate to be the one to bring the mood down again," Dick said, "But why were you wanting to go to the Cave?"

"I just said I wasn't."

"Yeah, but why would you ever need to go down there?"

At this, Danny looked a bit sheepish, turning to look away from the others and rubbing the back of his neck. "Alfred said we're staying the night."

"What!" Dick shot up from his seat.

"Are you coming on patrol with us?" Barbra asked Dick, her eyes expectant.

Tim grinned. "That'd be so cool! You two should totally join us!"

Dick shook his head. "I really-" He cut himself off, making the mistake of looking Barbra and Tim in the eye. He sighed. "Alright, I'll join you guys for the night. But I don't answer to Bruce."

"Yay!"

"Wouldn't expect ya to."

"What about you, Danny?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't do the whole vigilante thing anymore."

"'Anymore'?" Babs raised her eyebrow, "That's a story I wanna hear."

He blushed. "It's really not,"

"You'll be on comms, though, right?" Tim wondered.

"I, um.... Sure. I'll join you guys on comms."

"Yes!"

"But I'm still not going into the Bat Cave."

Part 13 Part 15

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

Danny didn't know how he was doing it, but all the acting classes he never took were really paying off!

'Fake 'til you make it and hope you don't get caught' is a great motto to live by and he is prepared to defend this hill with what's left of his living life.

By some miracle, Alfred hadn't kicked him from the haunt, instead giving him all the same permissions Dick, Barbra, and Tim have! He was warned about going to the Bat Cave for any reason, though. Not like Danny had any plans to enter Bruce Wayne's haunt. No thank you.

Speaking of Mister Wayne, Danny was so ready to be away from him. Just knowing they're in the same building was setting him off!

Bruce Wayne, on TV and in the eye of the public, was a man grieving his lost son. He's a playboy and a philanthropist who couldn't tell you left from right, but he's also Gotham's White Knight; her prince. A family man who's lost yet another of his family and doing his best to move past it.

In private, at least as far as Danny could tell, Bruce Wayne is a pessimist and a narcissist. He's a man desperate for a family, but unwilling to let anyone close, pushing everyone away and keeping them no closer than arm's length. He's stuck in the past, unable to move past mourning his parents and now his son. He is much more Batman than Bruce Wayne and it's only a matter of time before the two worlds collide disastrously.

Danny wouldn't know, but he can make a pretty educated guess on the matter.

Throughout the entire dinner, Danny had been observing everyone. He analyzed how they interacted, how they held themselves, how they ate, and how they reacted to his and Mister Wayne's conversation.

His main focus is Dick. Dick will always be his top priority, but Tim had quickly been added to the list. Barbra wasn't nearly as high on his list of people to take care of, but he was going to offer his help should she ever need it.

Especially because she snuck a nervous glance at Miaster Wayne when he mentioned Oracle.

He hadn't intended to stay the night in Gotham, but he wasn't going to turn away the opportunity, especially because Alfred was very insistent that Danny and Dick stay. And Tim and Barbra asking them on patrol? They both had pretty good puppy eyes, but Danny wasn't the one who made the mistake of looking at them.

Regardless, Nightwing being in Gotham for the night presented the Bludhaven Goons the perfect opportunity to commit crimes unpunished for the night. It wouldn't take long for the news to get out. Danny had fully planned on Phantom being there, flying over to work in Bludhaven before returning at his normal time, but Tim and Barbra convincing him to be on comms presented a bit of a hiccup in his plans.

Dick finding out about Phantom was inevitable. In fact, he didn't plan on hiding Phantom, but the times where Dick or Nightwing were awake never matched up when Phantom was out.

Okay, so maybe he was hiding a little bit.

Tim and Barbra finding out, on the other hand, was a bit of a problem.

Phantom was a hero in Amity Park, Illinois for only a little while before disappearing. He wasn't hugely known outside of the town or ghost hunters, not doing anything to warrant attention from the Big Leagues. (Nothing they knew of, anyway) It was unlikely that anyone outside of the niche group even knew his name, let alone what he looked like or how he worked.

Still. Tim figured out Nightwing's and Batman's identities, probably Batgirl's, too. And Batman is notoriously known for his paranoia and for somehow knowing everything and having a way to counteract it.

Mister Wayne is already looking into Danny, likely having already stumbled across the Missing Person report that wouldn't have gone through, ending up at a dead end. He'd easily put Danny and Phantom together as related somehow, if not being the same person.

Tim, similar to Mister Wayne, needs to know everything. The difference is that Tim's need to know is obviously a trauma response. Something that Danny would like to help him with, but that's beside the current point. It'll take maybe five minutes for Tim to find out everything he can about Phantom and Danny, especially now that he knows that Danny used to be a vigilante.

Sure, Danny could try and hide Phantom from them, but being on comms with them for the night would alert them to even the smallest fight. He's not a loud person, much preferring espionage and stealth over physical altercations, no matter how much his track record disagreed.

So, he's now presented with a choice. Introduce them to Phantom despite telling them that he was done being a hero, or leave Bludhaven to the mercy of her underworld for the night.

He was never quite able to leave stuff alone.

Sam had called him a tutelar.

Whatever that means.

Why couldn't these decisions be easier? Can't he ever have a Cinderella option? Why can't he ever just not decide?

Part 14 Part 16

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

Batman has an insane patrol schedule. Danny knew this, somewhere in the back of his mind, but it was only just settling in for him.

"You're gonna be dead tired tomorrow," he warns Dick, "You were tired for only being out for two hours longer than your new normal, going from sunset to sunrise is gonna knock you out. I can't drive, Dick, so we'll be stuck in Gotham for another day if you pass out."

Dick patted his head with a smile. "I'll be fine. I'll vene bring ya back some Bat Burger, okay?"

Danny blinked. "Bat Burger?"

"You've- You've never had Bat Burger?" Louder, he called to Barbra and Tim who'd just come back from wherever the Cave entrance is with a comm for Danny, "Danny's never had Bat Burger!"

Barbra gasped dramatically. Tim clutched ay imaginary pearls. "You've never had Bat Burger?!"

"That sounds like an exclusively Gotham thing, and I am decidedly not from Gotham."

It was quiet for another moment as the three stared at him. Finally, Dick blinked. "Have you always been Midwestern?"

"As far as I know, why?"

His head tilted slightly to the left. "Your accent just seems..."

"Much more prevalent." Tim finished.

"Yeah, that."

“I don’t know what you guys are talking about. I’ve always talked like this.” A lie. He was hiding his accent from everyone so that tracking him down would be ever so slightly harder. Danny shrugged, “Right, Barbra?”

She shook her head. "No, you leave me outta this. As far as I know, you've sounded like this the whole time and these two are only just picking up on the accent."

Good job, Danny. Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss your way into their hearts.

"Anyway," Barbra continued, holding her hand to Danny, "This is a comm. It'll keep you patched in until we come back up to the manor after patrol. If you get tired of us or when you sleep, just take it out and put it on your nightstand; we'll take it back down in the morning for you."

"Are you sure you don't wanna come to the Cave?" Tim asked.

Danny shook his head, the comm now sitting in his left ear. "Mister Wayne already hates me, I'm not gonna go into his space. Besides, I'm already intruding as it is."

"I just don't want you to be bored."

"It's alright, I'm sure I'll find something to occupy myself with while you guys are out. And, isn't the whole point of me being on comms so that you guys can talk to me?"

"You're right," Dick agreed, "We'll see ya when we get back."

"Alright."

Occupy himself with? Yeah, he's going back to Bludhaven. Another problem he just realized, though: How is Bat Tech going to react to/around Phantom? Danny figures he has about two minutes to figure it out or he's gonna have to bench himself for the night.

There was no one around, so he ducked into the nearest room to transform. It was a quick lightshow, as always, but not enough to draw attention of anyone passing by.

Except Alfred. Alfred probably knows.

Alfred won't tell Bruce, right?

Right?

Probably not.

Hopefully.

Focusing on the comm revealed no static, though there was no sound either. Was someone trying to talk to him already? Hopefully not. That'd be upsetting.

There was a soft crackle before: "Danny, can you hear us?"

Phantom allowed a small smile of victory. "Yeah, loud and clear, Barbra."

"Call me Batgirl right now, okay? Tim's Robin, and, as you know, Dick's Nightwing. And, if you really need him, Bruce is Batman."

"Got it."

"We don't use real names on comms," Robin said, "Do you have something we could call you?"

That's probably a fish for what his hero name used to be. All three of them - Tim, at the very least - were hung up on the 'not anymore' of his denial and it really showed. He could make it easy and tell them to call him Phantom, but he really does not want them finding out his childhood right now. So, "Tutelary."

"'Tutelary'?" Nightwing asked.

"It's Greek," Batgirl said, "Tutelaries are deities or patrons of protection."

"Aw, that's cute," Robin cooed teasingly, "But you aren't doing much protecting from the Manor."

Phantom - is he really ready to give up that name? - blushed green, "Shut up. Protection Spirits are a big deal where I'm from!" Yeah, meaning most people don't actually think they're protecting them, but who really cares about technicalities?

"And that would be..?" Batman spoke up, his voice coming out much more 'gargle glass' over the comms than was probably intended.

Phantom smirked. "The Midwest." Limits options, but not specifically but he figured he could throw them a bone. Though, that's the only one he's giving Mister Wayne.

Speaking of, "I'll try not to be a distraction, Mister Batman sir, but I won't make any promises."

Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin were all sniggering. Batman was quiet for no more than a few seconds. "Stop getting distracted; We're leaving."

"Yes, sir!"

Phantom listened closely, focusing on the Cave below the Manor. Batman and Robin had gotten into some kind of assault vehicle-race car mix and were driving out into Gotham Proper quickly. Nightwing and Batgirl were both on motorcycles, leaving out a different way but just as quickly.

"Have fun out there, you guys."

Nightwing laughed, "We'll bring ya back some Bat Burger."

Part 15 Part 17

Real quick, before you move on, a quick Thank You to @bianca-hooks123 for the idea for Danny's name Tutelary. I hadn't even thought of using that until it was suggested, so thanks <3