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DC Titans Part 1

Ok so I actually watched Titans a while ago but I’m seeing it a lot more on tik tok and I have been thinking about it quite a bit lately because of it. so before I get into whatever is in my brain

1. I really don't like Titans as a show, I only watched the first season and already I did not like it. like the final “battle” (if you could even call it that) was basically a very boring argument between a girl and her dad.

2. while I wasn't a fan of his character before the show, I am now and I really don't like how Jason Todd is treated in the show.

so now because I have been thinking about this I have been sort of rewriting Titans in my head so I'm here to get those thoughts out. 

ill start with Jason, I cant do much about the first season and frankly I don't know enough about trigon or the story to care, so sadly we are keeping it because i think its a good jumping off point for what i want to do. so when ever Titans stuff is discussed Jason gets really exited and happy him being apert of something gives him joy and yes he can get carried away, he’s a street kid from Gotham probably the only safe place for him was in public spaces and he probably was raised by the prostitutes and homeless people of the area. so I think his motivation is more trying to find a home that doesn't reject him.

so first of all Jason is a HUGE book nerd, his favorite book is Pride & Prejudice for crying out loud, so he didn't know how long he would be staying in San Francisco so he only brought like 7 books. I know that seams like a lot but I headcannon him to be able to read like a long chapter book in like 2 or 3 days. so he doesn't have his normal library with him. now I am going to introduce a OC that I made named Saoirse, she’s a girl he met when he first went to the fancy school in Gotham after getting adopted by Bruce. She was a foreign exchange student from Ireland and ill make a separate post about her after this one.

Jason and Saoirse have been friends for a long time and for his first few months in San Francisco they didn’t talk but after the hole trigon thing he starts to talk to her again. she knows he is Robin and Bruce is kind of ok with it because she is a blue Lantern in training. anyway he talks to her about all the stuff going on in San Francisco and to surprise him she sends a care package with a couple books, snacks, and some bookmarks. Dick sees Jason bring the package into his room and follows him, and because its Titans probably thinking the worst.

Dick sees Jason on a video call with Saoirse and opening the package getting really exited about the new books and she even got him a copy of the book there book club is reading. after the call ends Dick makes his presence known asking who Saoirse is. Jason starts acting defensively trying to get Dick out of his room. it ends with Jason telling him that she’s his friend and even a little bonding moment between the two. in the scene I want to show how smart Jason actually is with questions about books and we start to really get to know Jason.

now I’m still going to go the Deathstrock route because I want drama with Rose and Saoirse. so after Jason almost dies he doesn't talk to Saoirse for a little bit. but after starting his relationship with Rose he calls her and one apologizes for the radio silence he was depressed, she understands and validates his emotions wile still telling him that she is always able to talk to him LIKE A GOOD FREIND WOULD, excitedly he tells her about Rose and how he wishes she where here so he could introduce them. and she informs him that she was planning on flying to San Francisco that night and stay at a friend's place in order to surprise him.

now from my very limited exposure to Titans season 2 I know that the team breaks up at some point and that Rose and Jason are very toxic. so Saoirse arrives before the team breaks up but after the crosses on the mirrors incident. I think when Jason told Rose that Saoirse was coming she made a scene about how he’s never talked about this Saoirse before. I think she does this in front of everyone else and they gang up on him for nothing. he basically stays quiet and says when lunch is and that he need to pick Saoirse up from the airport leaving.

him and Saoirse go to the lunch they had planned and Rose doesn't show up they end up eating anyway and they decide to go back to Titans tower because Jason just assumes Rose wasn't feeling very good. when they get there the team try to confront Jason, its worth noting the Titans don't notice Saoirse there,   saying things like “who is this Saoirse girl”, “why is he keeping secrets”, and I think hank would make some rude remark about Saoirse pretty much based on nothing.

that's when Saoirse makes herself known and introduces herself. now before this we don't see a lot of Saoirse just her voice bit her look has been obscured  so this is sort of a reveal scene. she is a 5 foot tall girl with frizzy bright red hair, cute gold glasses that look strait out of a fantasy book, a brightly colored crochet cardigan over a cottagecore, witchy outfit and red lace up leather boots her grandfather made her.

I think this is when Dick enters the scene and politely invites her in while everyone is getting over the initial shook of the moment. they sit on the couch and talk Saoirse answers questions like how she knows Jason by Gar, I think Dawn would ask her questions that bring up the fact she is a pagan witch, she lives in Ireland buts stays on her grandfathers farm for most of the summer, and her love of crochet and books. Rose shows up Jason introduces her to Saoirse but Rose stays quiet for a little bit before asking about the ring on her finger. Jason is a little alarmed by this and makes a small inoffensive comment about Rose skipping any introduction. Saoirse says its fine revealing her blue lantern ring and showing it to Rose and the group.

Kori probably says something about how she’s heard of a Green and Red Lantern but not a Blue one. this prompts Saoirse into explaining all about the Blue Lanterns, a topic she is very interested in. someone probably asks if she’s a hero and she says something like “No. No. No. No, I could never be a vigilante like any of you guys or Hal or John or... does Guy count, yea he counts. I’d cant use my ring like a green lantern could and even if I could I’d much rather teach than fight bad guys.” now most of the Titans didn’t know Saoirse knew they where vigilantes and the mood sours and she continues “OH! I forgot, yea I know who you guys are, John one of the green Lanterns told me, I hope that's ok.” 

this calms some people down and I think Donna says something like its fine and that Diana trusts John so she will to. after Dinner Saoirse goes back to the place she is staying and there is some talk around Titans about Jason’s friend. Jason probably tries to talk to Rose about what happened but she avoids the topic and it ends in a small fight. Jason and sometimes Gar leave and hangout with Saoirse. Jason invites Rose but she declines overtime, and because i think Jason is actually trying in this relationship he tries to politely confront Rose about this but it always ends in a fight, Rose ignoring the topic, or Rose trying to distract from the topic.

I have more but this is really long so this is part 1

DC Titans Part 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

or

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

Just the possibilities are endless

Batfamily Beauty and the Beast AU where Bruce is the beast and with every child he adopts he becomes slightly more and more human.

He finds Dick in the woods, sobbing over the loss of his parents. A year later, he looks in the mirror and wonders if he's only imagining that he's gotten shorter.

Jason sneaks into the castle and steals a loaf of bread, hungry and desperate. Bruce takes him in and offers him a proper meal. As he's putting his new son to bed one night, he notices that his claws have shrunk.

Tim marches into the castle and demands Bruce take him, knowing the stories of the monster who kidnaps children. Bruce's snout feels flatter than it used to when he presses a kiss to his forehead.

Cassandra lasts a full two weeks before anyone even notices she's there. The fur on Bruce's arms begins to thin as he holds her close, and she smiles up at him.

Tim brings home Stephanie, who loudly insists that she does not need nor want a new father. His skin grows less leathery, and the beginnings of crows feet appear on the corners of his eyes.

Damian is brought to them by Talia, rigid and wary of everything, convinced of his birthright as the Bat's heir. The fangs in Bruce's mouth seem to smooth over as he learns to gentle his speech.

The day Duke joins the family, still reeling from the plague that claimed his parents, something clicks. Bruce steps out, and before them stands a perfectly human man, finally made whole by his love for his children.

Night Culture au, Duke Thomas aka The Signal

Knight of Day

“I serve no kingdom, divine nor human. I’m guardian to those who need my light.”

A guardian of daylight, some say that the Signal mimics the likeliness of man so it doesn’t scare victims. Others say it’s only to lower the guard of its prey. With the ability to carry light and dark in its hands, the Signal is a new creature that haunts the streets of Gotham.

Day is no longer sanctuary to criminals

—————

Yay so happy to finally designs Duke!! His Robin design draws a bit from nightwing so I had to wait :)))

He’s half human and half seraphim!

“The most human like of the creatures, Nightwing, originates from the grimy crevices of the twisted cities Gotham and her sister Bludhaven. It’s been seen in both, mostly residing in streets of Bludhaven.

It’s form is said to be false–a trick–only solid when it wants to come off as presentable. In its anger it’s body will flicker or turn to wisps.”

Night Culture au, Dick Grayson/Nightwing! A sorcerer of Storms

More secret band AU!!!!! With Steph as the drummer and slaying 💅 ✨

These are pretty rough Ngl….. I’ll eventually do a proper coloring lol

I put her in the outfits Victoria from måneskin wear cause she is an idol 👏

Idk I see Steph going ham on the drums and flipping her hair and being an icon. At the end of a showi see her kicking the set to shit and then bowing ( Emerson vibe) catwalks off the stage idk she screams drama and I think it would be funny 😂

Her family doesn’t really react cuz like she is chaos and it’s to be expected

Tim climbing on rafters and hanging from the ceiling as he screams… not so much

The batfam reacting to Tim: 🫢😶👀😳

Tim: P1…. P2…

SKKSJDJDJDJSJAKSUABAIBGJF

DONT GIVE ME IDEAS GUYSS THIS IS TOO GOOD

Head cannon: Jason is scouring Gotham to find out who wrote a bat family Pride and prejudice au fanfic because they made him Elizabeth and he needs to have a word with them.

Batman was Mrs Bennett

AU where early-Nightwing!Dick gets his third date in a row interrupted by the Joker causing so many issues that he had to go back to Gotham to help deal with him so he just calls Deathstroke and places a hit on the Joker. Slade is impressed that he had the balls to do it. Dick is happy to get some peace and quiet.

Bruce has his suspicions but the Titans swear nothing's wrong and Dick doesn't speak to him for two months the first time he insinuates Dick had any idea it even happened before Bruce told him about it

thinking about a prompt where multiverse shenanigans occur and the batfam meet alternate versions of themselves and they're just relatively unfazed about it all, they're vibing and talking with the alternate batfam members so casually UNTIL tim drake's joker junior dramatically enters the room and everyone collectively starts freaking out.

tim is horrified because there's an alternate version of himself that's jokerized of all things. jason can't stop staring at him, shellshocked. dick's trying to comfort tim while also trying to calm himself down and damian. damian is cornering junior with a knife and hissing at him like a feral cat. but junior himself is literally just cracking the worst jokes ever about the whole situation, not even bothered.

meanwhile, bruce is just across the room sitting there like:

thinking about a prompt where multiverse shenanigans occur and the batfam meet alternate versions of themselves and they're just relatively unfazed about it all, they're vibing and talking with the alternate batfam members so casually UNTIL tim drake's joker junior dramatically enters the room and everyone collectively starts freaking out.

tim is horrified because there's an alternate version of himself that's jokerized of all things. jason can't stop staring at him, shellshocked. dick's trying to comfort tim while also trying to calm himself down and damian. damian is cornering junior with a knife and hissing at him like a feral cat. but junior himself is literally just cracking the worst jokes ever about the whole situation, not even bothered.

meanwhile, bruce is just across the room sitting there like:

I had to do a quick brain dump.

Warnings: Some cursing

Now partially edited

Damian logically knew that his father tended to as quoted by Brown ' be a trouble magnet' however with his father retiring as Batman and focusing more on his civilian life that he had neglected for years, Damian along with the rest of his adopted siblings thought that not much else would happen with their father that could shake them.

However Damian was proved wrong when he walked by the manor entrance on his way to the kitchen when he paused to see his father and two younger boys with black hair and suitcases and other bags inside said entrance.

One of Damian's first thoughts was that he missed one of his many adopted siblings having kids, which was unlikely but Damian knew that he could sometimes block out what was happening in other people's lives especially when he took up being Batman.

However his first conclusion was proven wrong when his father spoke:

"Damian I know this might be a bit of a shock but these are your half brothers, Terrence and Matthew. They'll be living with us for now on."

Damian's mind halted and drew a blank. His mind did a full restart like the technology Grayson was complaining about when explaining how much harder being a vigilante was back when he was Robin and how much has changed.

One of Damian's first thoughts, though he wouldn't admit it was: what?

Of course logically he knew that his father was a well know playboy and lady's man for most of his adult life, but he hasn't had that as a persona for almost a decade which was how old the older one was at best. If any other biological children of his father existed out there they would have to be late teenagers at least.

His next though process was something along the lines of shock of possible younger siblings.

'I am no longer the baby?! I can't be an older brother!!'

Damian had older siblings he knew that he was a brat as a kid and a handful at the best of times. How was he going to handle having two younger siblings when it took him most of his adolescence to become a better person.

How was he going to be an older sibling?

'I don't have Grayson's annoying personality or Thomas's patience!! OH GOD, what if I'm like Drake or Todd.'

Not that Drake and Todd were bad siblings but they weren't the most emotionally available people and he knew from the small talk from both sides of his life that children needed to have proper communication. Thomas would be a better older sibling in however these two got into the custody of his father it wouldn't have been an easy letter with a DNA test. There was a story behind it that Thomas was more emotionaly in tune to deal with. Grayson would have given them a hug by now. He was always the more physically affectionate of father's children.

'Should I make some stupid pun to break the ice? Sarcasm?'

Grayson would have done the first, but Todd would have made a comment about children acquiring habits but than had welcomed the two because Todd may be an asshole, but he was kinder to children.

'Why is the older one glaring at me like that?'

'Does he want to FIGHT?!'

No. Damian stopped that thought process. If he was thirteen or even eighteen he might have jumped the older one however he wasn't and hadn't been in a long while so he shakes the thought.

The two have moved from whatever previous life they had before and were now in a big mansion. If they were here and not with other relatives that could speak to possible extended family drama which Brown would want to hear about.

Damian was than struck by a horrible thought.

'What if they hate me at first?'

Damian knew he wasn't a pleasant person, he could mean well but he was still struggling with matters of emotions or connections in general. Children were judgmental and egotistical. Damian didn't know how to handle children all that well and he didn't want to mess up his new younger brothers and make them feel unwelcome just because he didn't connect with people.

'What do kids these days even like to do for fun?'

He sounded old. He would deal with that intrusive thought later, but how was he even going to connect to his younger siblings.

'The last video game I played was five years ago.'

Were video games even a thing children played anymore? Damian had a couple decades on his new younger siblings. Damian was a couple years younger than his least oldest older sibling. They had all met when they were all relatively young and still themselves mostly children. Grayson was the oldest and thrown into acting as Batman soon after Damian arrived which meant proper sibling bonding came after his father came back and most things were settled. Todd had rejoined the family later but still had a solid relationship with some of the family and was on better terms overall with everyone knowing him by that stage. Drake was part of the family when it fell apart and through all of the drama and his younger self's attitude. Thomas came when things were getting better and saw the tail end of repairing relations. Cain was around from what Damian could remember for a while, and he never pinpointed when she exactly came into the picture.

There was no sense of foundation for these two new younger siblings.

'I can't make a bad first impression.'

First impressions matter. While Damian knows logically they can change later on. The first impression will be the jumping off point for most conclusions and connections made with the person. He wouldn't mess this up. He might not know how to older brother but he was going to try because Grayson did for him.

'I need to say something.'

How long had he been silent. Was it for a few seconds or a half hour. He doubted it was a half hour but he couldn't tell. He was worried about this now, and overthinking every possible outcome he didn't want to happen.

'Drake's cursed anxiety must have infected me!!'

He knew that wasn't how it worked, but blaming it, at least mentally because Damian had moved past most verbal jabs, on Drake was the easiest thing to do. He also knew that anxiety was a normal response that should not frowned upon. A hard won lesson in personal and mental health had taught him that.

'Speak!! Do SOMETHING!!!'

He would take falling over at this point.

"Hello."

Okay talking wasn't meant to be that hard. Also a simple hello, Damian knew he could do better than that, but what happened happened, and now he just had to go from here.

Give me all the Terry and Matt moving into Wayne Manor earlier AUs

Batman Stays Dead AU

I want to preface this by saying that this is not completely based in canon yet, and it floating in the weird space between fanon and canon, as I will read the comics that directly lead up to how this idea could exist and the comics at the time this story would branch out. However, I was hit by brain worms that I could not ignore. That being said. This is an outline and by no means should be taken as the final product. That means that some stuff is vague, and some stuff is in detail. And a lot is subject to change as I read more, and expand the idea. If you don’t like please don’t send hate comments. Instead, create your version back on the original post so that others can see it. Thank you and enjoy reading 

The original Idea can be found [here] 

It was created by this person:  @analviel

Word count: 8,000+ 

Warnings: Canon Batman, dysfunctional implied and stated relationships, underage use of substances, and discussions of health, conspiracy. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life for Timothy Drake had gone up in flames multiple times. At this point, he questioned what was left to burn considering the foundation in which his life had become was more than cracked, it was rubble. He was now down three parents, up a murderous adopted older brother, a murderous adopted younger brother, and two dead best friends, and had just been fired from his life’s work by his eldest adopted brother. To say he was probably the only person on earth going through this exact situation said a lot about how much everything had gone to shit. So yes, his life had been more than upended. 

This was why, later when he had sorted through some things and finally gotten his bearings in the new normal, he would claim his breakdown was warranted, and looking back seemed like an underreaction to the whole situation. However, at the moment he wasn’t thinking. He was just doing. 

The sound of glass breaking was when Tim finally started to become fully aware of what was happening around him, and what he was doing. Looking around there was overturned furniture, the sheets had been ripped, and the clothes in the dresser and the closet were in misshaped piles. Some of them were damp from what Tim was sure was a days-old water bottle he brought to his room during one of his research spirals. The glass was from a picture frame he must have recently thrown, considering it had just barely missed a pile of what were supposed to be the curtains on the window, and it was the only object that he could see that would have made the sound. 

He gulps some air while tasting something salty. Tears. His hands are shaking and his body feels numb. 

Giving himself a moment he goes and grabs the picture frame. Making sure to avoid the broken glass, because he doesn’t want to have to go downstairs and deal with a cut. Flipping it over he sees the picture of him and Bruce the day he was officially adopted. 

Was it strange that it felt like decades ago? 

Tim sighs as he looks around. He stands back up, places the broken picture onto a desk that wasn't supposed to be empty and starts surveying the room, looking for where to start. He saw what used to be the contents of his desk on the top of his torn mattress. 

This was going to be a long evening? Morning? Did it matter at this point? Not really. This was just something better to do than allowing himself to think about everything that had happened recently. 

He picks up piles of clothes and heads down the hallway to the clothing shute, slowly stuffing handful after handful of clothes as he counts the varying amount of words he saw on them. He would go down later and start the laundry. This was his mess, and there was no way Alfred would let him get away with the mess he created. 

After cleaning the clothes and sheets out of his room, it felt less stuffy. The room seemed to have grown slightly. It was easier to breathe. Though logically he understood that it was because he could see the floor, and not because magic had suddenly expanded the room a couple of feet. 

Continuing on he cleaned up the trash and the glass. Torn papers, a couple of old letters, and a piece of scratch paper that had a list of numbers he no longer needed. Putting them in the waste bin he would take them down to a main garbage bin later. After that, he put the pencil, pens, notebooks, and folders back into the drawers they had come from. Colour coding them as he went. 

He never did that, but it was another task he could do to keep his mind occupied away from the breakdown it wanted to continue. He debated over the varying shades of purple, starting to think about Steph, when he huffed, clamped his hand over the offending pencil, and had to take a deep breath to remind himself that he has to finish cleaning up the mess he made. 

The pencils had been lined up, and the books had been shelved by the subject. Something Tim hadn’t cared for, but was just another bit of time he could chip away at doing anything but working through his thoughts. 

He then grabbed the trash bag he had collected and took it down to the larger bin. He turned down the hall and made it to the large washing room. He had at least two more hours before Alfred would notice anything, so he started the process of cleaning all of the clothes. Only now realizing the stains that some of them had collected since he got them. 

When back in the hall he grabbed some generic sheets from the hall closet and made his way back into his room, the door clicking shut softly. He may be an absolute mess but he doesn’t want to have to deal with anyone’s ire for waking them up if they had slept through the breakdown he had just been having. Looking at the mattress he counted the holes. Three that wouldn’t impact the functionality of the mattress, so he flipped it over and made his bed. He could worry about the whole situation later when he figured out what to do with everything else. 

By the time everything else was cleaned up, and all the laundry was done he felt worn down enough that he might be able to knock himself out and get some rest. 

The next couple of days are a blur for Tim. He’s lethargic and he can’t do more than wrap the sheets around him any more. He looks at his computer screen and absently scrolls documents he doesn’t even really read. Even though he has done a total sum of nothing, he feels exhausted to his soul and bones. 

Tim had been struggling with sleep for the last couple of days. Having become a creature of nocturnal habit for years going to sleep at a regular time seemed to be as foreign as a stranger. However, he finds that he ends up sleeping at a normal time, albeit a restless sleep. 

It meant that when he woke up, the light of his alarm showed brightly enough that once the world stopped being blurred, it readout three twenty-four. It was well into the time that any patrol would be done for the night, and a couple of hours before anyone would be up and about. It was the perfect sweet spot when one could be alone with their thoughts. 

Exactly the thing that Tim had been avoiding. However, it seemed that he didn’t need the odd hours to start thinking because the second Tim had knocked the rest of sleep away from his system he felt a sudden sense of wrongness. 

He found himself looking around at the darkest corners, at the slightly open closet door, at the window that was still curtainless. He didn’t realize what he was doing until he finished checking everything. He was looking for Bruce, Batman, in those dark corners. As if the points from the cowl or the shine of a wristwatch would appear out of nothing. 

Once he started thinking about Bruce he couldn’t stop. 

He thought about how the cases that were being worked on, the rebuilding that would have been done, the training he was missing out on, and to go on with everything else, he felt the need to go down to the cave and start working on cases that weren’t his. 

He reigned in those thoughts. He wasn’t Robin. Damian the little brat was in the colours. Bruce wasn’t Batman. Dick was The Bat now. He was working on cold cases that had been thrown to the wayside in all the chaos, and helping with research on current cases. He reined in the urge to go and put his Robin suit on, and made his way over to his desk, grabbing his computer and opening up a couple of case files to get his mind off everything. 

Maybe he would be able to solve the Tresent case now that some time had passed. 

It seemed that this wasn’t going to be the case because he realized he pulled up the information on the Omega Beam and the file that had been created on the whole ordeal. Maybe it was his poor impulse control or the fact that he had held the floodgates for too long, but he ended up reading the whole file, and the connecting files like they were a scripture that held the knowledge of a long-forgotten civilization. 

The more he read, the more everything felt off. It just didn’t feel right. Especially everything surrounding Bruce. It just didn’t feel right. The Omega Beam, the casket lowered for Batman. It just wasn’t adding up to Tim. No one knew what the Omega Beam was, or what it did. They just knew that whoever it was appeared to be dead. For all, they knew it could move someone’s soul into some weird pseudoscience/magic containment cell, or be a cloning transport machine. Honestly, the sky had stopped being the limit years ago. Two of his best friends had been a speedster from the future, and a partial clone of Superman. Two things that just didn’t feel possible sometimes. 

So really, the idea that Bruce could be out there somewhere wasn’t farfetched. 

For a brief small moment, he considered how this could fix everything, how he could go running down the hall and exclaim to Dick what he thought. How he could shove all the cold cases to the side, and bring back Batman. How the city would go back to a sense of normal. But just as he was about to get up and go through with it he stopped. 

He had no proof, he had nothing but a hunch and a bad feeling. While as vigilantes they had worked with bad feelings and hunches, most of the time it was small things. Checking an alley again, looking for closed feed cameras, or even investigating a random warehouse. This was not any of these situations. This was exclaiming that someone who people had seen die, was alive, with nothing but a bad feeling. 

If he was wrong, and even if for a brief moment he brought everyone’s hope up again, it would ruin everything all over again. 

He doesn’t tell anyone. Not in the following days. Not as he looks at places that have experienced unusual amounts of energy lately. Not since he had been cataloguing a web of places with old and new energy signatures across the planet. He doesn’t think about how deep it is. He doesn’t bother to realize what he could be sitting on. Not the possibility, not the high chance of disappointment. 

This is the first time in a couple of weeks that he has had the energy to do anything. He is going to ride this motivation, and maybe take it down the halfpipe. 

For everyone else, he locked it up away where it couldn’t be found. This was confidential information, and it was information that he needed to have airtight proof for if he was ever going to do anything about it. 

The more he researched the more everything felt wrong. Like he knew he was walking on an old minefield and was just waiting for one of them to go off. He was waiting for the misstep to come. 

He didn’t like the feeling, and he just seemed to be marching further and further into the field and not away from it. 

He would deal with it later. 

Tim buys a plane ticket to France. He just wants to check something out, get this all out of his system so that maybe he can move on, or find evidence. 

So he packs a civilian suitcase and a more private vigilante case. He makes up some excuse about how he just needs a moment to get away from everything. Spins a story to Dick about he needs a week for himself, but that he isn’t leaving. He needs to be subtle about this trip, he can’t leave with people being suspicious about what he is going to do. 

Dick is still suspicious, but everything has been so crazy that if his younger brother needs this, then he should go do it. 

The next couple of days are filled with working on case backlogs, helping Alfred where he can, and pretending to be working on a new vigilante name. (Something that he does have to work on, but not right now) 

Only a couple of hours before he leaves the Arkham alarm goes off, and it’s all hands on deck when the report comes in that Scarecrow has more or less fumed the whole city in fear toxin. People are fighting each other, buildings are being burnt, and more than half of emergency services are down. 

He doesn’t have a suit, but he needs to be out there, so he takes his Robin suit, doesn’t listen to Damian’s protests exclaiming that he can’t wear the red and black suit, and ruses into the private changing areas. 

The fact that the city is in chaos once again shouldn’t be the worst part, but the worst part is that no one had any sense of teamwork, and the leadership has been changed around.

Dick is now calling the shots while working with his current Robin, Damian, who is still working with the whole stab now, ask questions later mentality, the previous Robin, Tim, is one bad moment from a breakdown, and sitting on possibly the biggest discovery. This would be enough of chaos as is, but then adding in Barbra and Steph and the whole teamwork thing is more of a ‘we have the same goals, therefore we will all tolerate each other’. 

Through investigation, they discover that there are at least fifteen different versions of the fear toxin on the streets, and they also discovered that it was being emitted from multiple forms of air conditioner filters, and multiple local brands of air fresheners. 

While Oracle is tracking down the legal connections to hand over to the Commissioner, Batgirl is working with the hospitals to help move cures around Gotham, Batman and the New Robin are working on tracking down the main cell of Scarecrow and apprehending the rogue. Tim is in charge of tracking down and taking down the side cells, and making sure that there is nothing for them to fall back to and regroup. 

It takes two weeks, and there are multiple fights and scream matches, but they all eventually get the job done. The hospitals are full, but each hour more people are being cured and sent home, the whole operation is busted, and Tim didn’t have time to think about Bruce. 

Over comms, they took to calling him Red Robin, because of the colours of his suit. He doesn’t like it, but it will do for now. 

They end up passed out in one of the least used safehouses in the network. A small apartment that has neighbours and was the last to always be upgraded. That wasn’t to say that it was rundown, but it was the most normal safehouse that could pass it off as a civilian place of living. However, for tonight there were four vigilantes in various states of delirium. 

Tim was passed out on the couch in the living room, Steph had taken the coat in the second room, and Damian and Dick had taken the two beds in the main bedroom. It didn’t matter that no one wanted to talk to each other, that all of them were in various states of fighting, because they were too tired to care. 

In the morning, Dick and Steph end up in the small galley kitchen looking at the contents in the fridge and freezer. They find some condiments, and several mouldy vegetables from whoever used the place last, and in the freezer, they find two full boxes of eggos. 

The toaster in the kitchen was ancient but functional, and Steph was looking around for anything to add to it when she looked out the window and saw a corner store across the street. Quickly putting on a slightly too large pair of boots and grabbing twenty dollars from an emergency pouch in her belt she rushes over to the store. 

She grabs an overly sugary fruit juice, a bottle of syrup, a small bar of butter, and the ripest berries she can find, and heads back over to the apartment. 

Later that morning they find themselves sitting at the small table that had one end shoved against the wall. Dick to the head of the table that faced the wall, Domain took the chair that was between another wall and the table, and Tim and Steph ended up on the other. 

There were three larger plates of waffles, a small bowl of berries, and butter and syrup also present. It was the most nuclear-type breakfast any of them had all together. 

It was silent. Damian wasn’t complaining about the cheap cardboard-like food, Tim wasn’t head slumped over a table in whatever slump of mood he has been in recently, Steph wasn’t talking about something to fill the space, and Dick wasn’t trying to get anyone to do anything other than eat food. 

It was nice. In the weirdest way possible. 

The scraping of forks and knives could be heard along with the early morning noises of the city outside. The upstairs neighbours were arguing about something or another. Muffled enough that they could tell the tone, but muffled enough that they would have to concentrate to get the actual words to get the conversation. 

The silence wasn’t something that they had all agreed upon, not something that they had preestablished before sitting down. It was being held down by the sticky syrup and the sleep deprivation they were all suffering from. 

Tim took a bite of his eggo, it was soggy on one side and burnt on the other. 

If he was actually in school and was being hounded by an English teacher that was exclaiming the deep metaphors and connections the small things made to the overall narrative of the story, he would be under the impression that said, teacher would have a field day with the possible connections an eggo had with his life story and current mental state. 

However, seeing as he wasn’t in school, and didn’t have to think about English teachers outside of when he teamed up with Huntress, this wasn’t what he was thinking about. 

He wasn’t even thinking, he was just eating an eggo. 

If Tim were to do anything at all in these moments he would want to start yelling at every single one of them for various grievances, and issues. Instead, he just eats breakfast and basks in relative silence. 

In the future when they sit down again for a similar breakfast, in the same safe house, they will talk about how this first breakfast was possible in the first place because Bruce wasn’t there. 

Bruce hadn’t been there to make Damina feel like he had to measure up to everyone else, he wasn’t there to make Dick feel like he was a disappointment, he wasn’t there to make Steph feel like she was less than the other vigilantes, and he wasn’t there to make Tim feel like he was being graded for every action that he took. 

It was a breath of fresh air that they needed, and this moment would set the first bit of groundwork that would build the family later. 

The next couple of months sucked. There was no way around it. Tim still didn’t have a new call sign and was being regulated to work consisting of stealth missions, undercover, and receive for if anything went wrong. 

One good thing that came out of the whole ordeal was the last of the backlog of files in the Batcave had been uploaded to the computer, put in special storage, and the number of cold cases had gone down significantly. 

It was all good things that might not have been done, and in the end, they had found twenty-six serial killers and twelve serial arsonists, and some of the information finally moved to the computer came in handy with a recent case. 

It was a net good, so Tim couldn’t find it in himself to hate it all that much. 

What it also meant was that Tim was now going back to high school full-time. There was no No Man’s Land, no Alien Invasion, and to the public Bruce Wayne was alive. So he started going to school, and while he wanted to get it over and done with, after everything it was kind of nice just to be a kid for a bit, someone who shouldn’t have the fate of the world resting in their hands. 

Dick was now an established Batman, and Damian was finally settling into Robin. He still had a long way to go, but without some of the pressure from Bruce, things started to settle down. Tim and Damian could now be left in a room alone, and not start fights with each other. Sure Tim still sometimes wished he could be the Robin to Dick’s Batman, but he’s starting to understand what Dick meant when he said it just wouldn’t work. 

Sure they were all still making mistakes, with each other, their friends, the teams, and on and off the field, but that was just normal when a whole system had to be rebuilt from the ground up. 

Tim hadn’t thought about the possibility of Bruce being around in months. He would later understand that it was because things were going well, and that despite some dysfunctional issues, this was a real family. 

He and Steph started over. They never got to know each other properly, and they needed to start working through their issues. They were finally friends. 

He and Steph start working on missions and cases together. Putting together their combined knowledge and talents. They make an effective team. A team that should have worked together more often far earlier. Batgirl and whatever name Tim will eventually take make a formidable team. One that operates beside and separate from Batman and Robin. 

It wasn’t long after this that Tim stumbled upon the clue to what Bruce has been doing this whole time. 

He’s moving some boxes full of old stuff around, as they start to reorganize the mansion and downsize the amount of stuff they have lying around when he passes several portraits. Portraits that he hasn’t looked at since the last time they had to move stuff around after No Man’s Land. 

He passes an old oil painting which had to be dated back to the pre-revolution era of the American colonies when he does a double take. He sets the box he had down and analyzes the painting in front of him. That was a painting of Bruce. Except it had to be at least three hundred years before Bruce was ever even thought of. 

He stood there trying to make sense of it all when he remembered the conclusions that he had come to months ago had been right. Except he hadn’t considered the idea of a time travel device. 

He was right. 

Bruce was still out there and he was displaced in time. 

He could do something about it. 

Except when he caught himself thinking about that his head turned to look at the box he was moving. A box of decorations that Bruce loved, but no one else was partial to having out. The decision to move them had been a group choice. Something that everyone had sat down and talked about. They had set up a monitor to include Cass in the discussion. 

It was something that wouldn’t have happened if Bruce had been there. It was something that would have been impossible with Bruce there. 

Tim quickly turned back to the task he had been asked to do, and on his way back he removed the painting, putting it in one of the many unused rooms. This part of the manor wouldn’t be rotated until two weeks from now. He had time to figure out what to do, but for now, no one else could know. He didn’t know what they would do, and he didn’t want the pros and cons to not be compared before then. 

He might have been slightly distracted the rest of the day Though everyone else checked it up to how everything seemed to be changing around the manor. 

Later that night while everyone else was out on regular patrol and Tim had been relegated to cold cases again, he made his way to the portrait with a notebook and a bowl of chips. He sat in front of the painting that was leaning against the wall and just started thinking about what he should do. 

He finds in the end that he knew what he was going to do the moment he walked into that room. 

Tim sets up undercover work at the docks over the next couple of days, and throughout the next couple of days he brings over everything he needs, and at the end of the week, he sets up a bonfire. 

He burns the oil painting, the notebook, and several other items that he doesn’t want anymore, and needs to get rid of. As the fire burns for the first time in months he feels a bone-deep sense of relief, as if the weights on his shoulders have disappeared. 

It was the right thing to do. Things had finally started to become better. Everyone was working as a team, and they felt like a proper family. Gotham was under control, and things were looking up. 

Things aren’t perfect but there is only room for upward improvement. 

Ra’s al Ghul makes a move against Gotham, and what's left of the Bats, but it doesn’t work. They all work together, this time with Tim leading them. He helps set everyone into teams and has them all ready to fight back. They come up on top even better, and send Ra’s al Ghul back into the dark corner he came from. 

They come out the other side a true family with all limbs and Organs in tack. 

After everything had been cleaned up from the fight, Dick Tim and Steph end up with a bottle of whatever thousand-dollar bottle of alcohol they found in the manor. Never mind the fact that Tim and Steph shouldn’t be drinking and Dick should be stopping them. But they needed this, and they were safe in the manor to allow themselves to let go for a while. 

They start talking about the past and what they wished they could change, how they were stupid kids in over their heads sometimes, and how they thought they could fight the whole world. 

They talk about memories they had as Robin, before Robin, and the times they weren’t Robin but just Dick, Tim, and Steph. 

They laugh and they cry. They share stories they haven’t told anyone in years, and for the first time, they all talk about Bruce, about the good times, the normal, and the bad. They talk about the things that they have kept to themselves for months, years, and what sometimes felt like lifetimes. 

They all cry. If not for the past, but for what they wished it could be. 

They all realize just how good things have been since Bruce left. 

Cass comes back from Hong Kong two weeks later. She has news about what has been happening and is requesting some help. 

Tim offers to go, but he doesn’t have a name yet, Cass says that it doesn’t matter and that she would be happy for him to come and visit. Steph comes along as well and the three of them leave Gotham in the hands of Batman, Robin, Huntress, and Oracle. 

There is no fighting from each other. They are working as an amazing team. 

They end up taking down a growing organization that was going to start shipping out supplies to multiple other villain groups around the world. They follow through with a report to the heroes in charge of the other villain groups. 

During the trip, Tim and Steph come across another clue to Bruce being stuck in time. This time it's an old scroll that holds the account of a rogue fighter that was going around causing issues for the local authorities. It is the description of the fighter that tips both him and Steph off about the situation. 

Steph had always been good at that sort of thing. Puzzles and Riddles and connecting pieces of things to see the greater picture. 

She asks if Tim knew, and he replies that he did. He knew, and he had already destroyed a piece of evidence before. 

They might have started a fight with each other that Cass becomes a part of. Soon they all give their piece on what they should do, but they all eventually agree to destroy it. 

They burn the piece of history over a small fire in Cass’s apartment and share some food as they toast to a new future. Even if they all feel a little uneasy knowing that there must be more out there and they still deep down have the urge to get Bruce back, if not for varying reasons, they all know that this is right and that things will only continue to get better, 

On their way back, Tim finds the name that he wants to go by Tanager. 

There will be no more referring to him as the Red Robin, and there will be no more being held back as a backup. He is now back to being his vigilante, and his person. 

Things continue from there. Tim is still in high school, and still makes it for Thursday game nights with his friends, and keeps grades that he hasn’t had since before he was Robin. Everything is going well. 

He and Steph discover another clue while they are teaming up with a couple of other heroes on the west coast. It is an old gold rush town, and one of the houses is set up exactly how Bruce would set up a safe house with little resources. They move things around and generally remove any notion that it was Bruce who owned the house. 

If they spend an extra day just exploring, no one was going to tell them no, Bruce wasn’t there to tell them that they were wasting time. 

It has been a year since Bruce has been dead. They all gather together for a family meal. Dick, Tim, Damian, Stephanie, Cass, Barbra and the several animals that they have gotten since then. It’s great and they have an old memorial for him. They won’t speak ill of the dead today, but if the next weekend several pairs can be found bitching about how Bruce was, no one was going to be mad. 

Within the next month, they move their base of operations out of the cave and the manor. That was Bruce, but as they were all aware they would all be more effective if they were in the centre of Gotham. 

They do just that with one of the old buildings that Bruce owned. They fix it up, and they make it the head of operations on the main island of Gotham while using the Clocktower on the South Island as a secondary base, and they are in the process of setting up a base on the northern Island, but that is where Jason is holed up and none of them wants to have to deal with him right now. 

They also don’t sleep in the same base they work in. They separate the two, and it does all of them well for their mental health. 

It is also around this time that they all start seeing therapists start working through their problems. It was something that they needed earlier but that Bruce had refused to let them do. It makes things easier, and they are better heroes and people for it. 

The shadows don’t feel so heavy anymore, and they all gradually stop looking in those shadows for Bruce. Instead, they see nothing but a shadow and a possible vantage point if needed. Not something that was going to breathe down their necks about their mistakes and how they could be doing better. 

Tim starts being a full-time mentor to SDamian and takes him to the next mission of the Teen Titans. 

Damian has calmed down a lot and has learned some of the joys of being a kid. 

The mission was nothing world-shattering or extremely dangerous, but was something to show Damian how they worked as a team, and how working with a diverse team worked. He won’t be joining anytime soon, with him not being a teenager, but he confides in Tim later that he doesn’t want that responsibility right now. That he is still getting used to everything back in Gotham, and he isn’t ready for a complete change yet. 

During the last couple of days of the mission he and Damian come across a crude version of the Cowl and Cape that Batman uses and Damian finds out about the whole Timestream issue because Tim actually tells him. Damian holds the cowl in his hands shaking with silent tears. Time is worried that Damian is going to want to bring Bruce back, but Damian asks what they can use to destroy it so that no one can find it. 

They use one of the chemical acids on hand with the mission, and Damian can be found hugging Tim as Damian seems to come to terms with what is happening. When Tim later asks if Damian ever wanted to bring Bruce back, Damian answers with an honest no. He explains how he finally feels safe with everyone, and he felt like he was always being put under a microscope by his father. 

He states that he might not have seen Tim as a brother if Bruce was still around, because Tim was Bruce’s Robin, but Tim was Dick’s brother which made them brothers. 

Damian now has connections to outside heroes and has the beginning of a larger support system which is what he needed. People outside the family that he can trust. 

Tim and Steph after months of getting professional help, working on themselves outside of each other, and a bit of maturing finally have their official start over. Not dating, but finally being people again without Bruce pushing the toxicity to a different level. 

The first person that Tim tells about the whole situation, and not just letting the situation come up when it does is Helena, because he thinks she will give the most straightforward response on it. 

Tim explains how everyone is doing so much better without Bruce, how Gotham has been doing so much better without Bruce, how he finally has a family, and things are finally starting to look up. How for the first time in a long time it feels like he isn’t waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Helena lets Tim rant for a bit before stating that it sounded like Bruce wasn’t a good dad, that even though at points he might not have meant it, he was being abusive. 

This is the moment where someone finally puts Bruce and abusive together and it just kind of clicks. Every wrong feeling, and every right feeling. The dread, and the holding breath and waiting for disaster. 

It’s a growing moment, and Tim finally has the words to put to the feelings. 

Helena lets the kid cry on her couch for a bit while she grades some papers, and when Tim eventually calms down he thanks Helena for sticking around because they all needed her, and it had just taken most of them far too long to realize that. 

Helena promises not to talk about the Bruce situation until he knows that no one is a flight risk. 

The next, and final person to find out was Dick. 

Tim and Dick don’t work together all that often in a set-up pairing. Sure they worked well together, and they were close, it was just that time undercover and working with Steph that made it so there was a bit of separation between the two that didn’t exist until now. 

They are working on a case that brought them to Australia where on the investigation they found a Batcave that Bruce had set up back in time. When Tim explains everything to Dick they both feel like they are walking on eggshells and are waiting for the other one to say something. 

Dick then asks how many other clues Tim has found, and Tim confesses to the whole thing. 

Dick is mad because he wanted to know why Tim didn’t tell him. Tim states that he didn’t know if Dick would bring Bruce back, and if everything that had become good would disappear. Dick exclaims that if anyone would understand it would be him, and sure in the beginning he would have wanted Bruce back, but he too knows how good things have been going. 

So Dick ends up having the cave upgraded to a base parameters that had been set up and it is now a location that an international team can use as a base when needed. 

When they all get back and meet up for a family meal they finally all hold a discussion about the situation, and they all come to the consensus that Bruce Wayne needs to be laid to rest, and it is time for the world to move on. 

They talk about how they should go about the whole thing, and how it needs to be airtight and conclusive, but not so conclusive that it looks like a cover up. 

In the end they decide on having him die from an accident while on one of his benders abroad. Doing some stupid stunt that would have been ill adviced, and there was already warnings of. Bruce would be labeled as another stupid rich man that didn’t listen to the warnings of those around him and would suffer the consequences of his actions. 

The media would have a field day about it, the public wouldn’t question it, and the family could get by having odd reactions because they themselves would build up the trip and say things about how dangerous it was. 

The plan goes off without a hitch. A couple of weeks before the planned date of death, Tim says some things to his friends, Dick is caught having a loud phone conversation, and the media tracks down the records that have been set up about the trip. Have a couple of convincing fake IDs, a few stand-in people for some pictures and nothing is suspicious at all. 

Set the trip to last a couple of weeks, and have everything go normally except for some weird weather reports and some chatter from the area. Then when teh couple of weeks are over, and Bruce doesn’t show back up everyone starts getting antsy. 

At that point have Tim get picked up early from school during the middle of the day when the press is already on edge, and have a teary moment of realization, and hock line and sinker. 

Only one of the fake IDS makes it barely alive out of the trip and suddenly Bruce is dead on an ill-advised trip, and there is nobody to bring back, but have a funeral anyway. 

During the funeral, they do actually cry, and not just for the press that is hounding their backs but because they are finally closing that chapter of their lives, and can properly move into something better. 

Bruce is now dead to the world, and he is no longer a shadow hanging over everyone else. 

In the will left behind, they find that a lot of the money was being donated to Wayne charities, with a significant amount still being put in personal accounts for Dick, Tim, Damian, and Cass. That the manor and all other Wayne properties were not to be sold. 

They decide as a family that they can do more for Gotham than what Bruce was doing, and they start renovating a lot of the other properties for new housing, and public spaces that people could use. They open up new shelters for people that will be safe, and centres where people can take free classes to help them on the path to GEDs or training for skilled jobs. 

They start putting Wayne's name behind people in the city government and making reforms on a city level. 

Because yes busting up a frug trade and saving kidnap victims work, but it will only continue to happen if people are not given teh opportunities to move up in life. 

The company goes international and starts making waves all around the world by helping many other people. It also serves as a source of information that they would not normally be able to get. 

Everything is getting better. 

Tim graduates high school, something that Tim hadn’t even thought he would do for the longest time. Not because he struggled with school, but compared to everything else that was going on it didn’t seem all that important. True he still didn’t see it as all that important, but he was learning to live his life. Something that he hadn’t been doing for a very long time. 

Sure his grades would never recover from what the classes he missed, the switching of schools, and the effect that No Man’s Land has on someone’s schooling. So to say that Tim wasn’t going to be a Valedictorian was an understatement. However, he pulled through since things have been getting better and he had a decent report card now. Not that it would matter as Tim still wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do after this, but it was nice to be a kid and just have to worry about grades and friends sometimes. Something he didn’t really allow himself to do. 

It’s his graduation. The whole family, his friends, and other people who are important to him show up. When his name gets called he shakes hands with the principal and later throws his hat up into the sky, he can’t help but wish that Bruce was there to congratulate him. Wish that he was there to say how proud of him he was, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. 

He pushes aside the thought and goes to meet up with his family, his significant other, and his friends. 

He takes pictures with multiple different groups of them as they all laugh. Afterwards, it's just the small family group as they make their way to a local family diner and have a good family meal together. 

Two weeks down the line Jason shows up at one of the cases where multiple Bats are working and helps them with the information that he has collected. 

This is the start of Jason coming back. 

It is slow going, and for many of them they aren’t ready to forgive, but Bruce isn’t here to tell any of them that they are doing anything wrong, and because Bruce isn’t here they will all work together to get things done with this case. 

The case takes a while, but Jason is slowly being folded back into the group. 

During that time the manor is finally sold. None of them holds anything with the manor. The original was rebuilt from the quake, and they are ready to move on. The cave has been hidden away and cleaned of anything that would show people were there. The land is turned into a large nature area. 

Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn show up and they can now be found frequenting the area. It is the start of many green and nature building projects that will be soon put into effect around Gotham. Ones that soon start to change the communities for the better. 

Tim and Jason don’t interact much. Mostly because Tim and his therapist have talked and he isn’t mentally ready for that yet, but also because things aren’t stable enough right now for things to go wrong. 

However, they sometimes work together on larger cases, mostly with a third person to be the middle ground just in case something goes wrong. In one of these cases, they come across another thing Bruce has left behind in the Timestream. It’s Stephanie with them this time so he hopes that things don’t go too wrong. 

Jason is mad at first, but they soon start having a discussion that is the most level-headed and emotional in a while. Jason comes to understand the situation and they become brothers. 

Jason is the next one to hang up a mantle that was just prolonging his pain. Red Hood goes into the box, and a new vigilante can be seen on the streets. 

It’s finally a whole family again. It isn’t perfect but they are growing closer and better with every passing day. It isn’t always a good day though. 

There are still nights when they will wake up in the med bay, in their apartment, in a safe house, in the Belfry, in the main house. There are times when they wake up that they cry and look around for Bruce, for Batman. Whether it be as a threat or to look for any form of comfort. 

Sometimes they cry into their hands, the sheets, a pillow, a stuffed animal, and the sleeves of their clothes, and just want things to go back to the way they were. Sometimes they remember that things could go back to the way they were. They know clues are out there waiting to be found. 

But they soon calm down and know they don’t want to. That they have healed, grown, and become better people because of Bruce not being there. As hard as it can be to admit some days. 

So they keep hiding the clues, keep doing family dinners, and inviting friends and their teams over, and Gotham is slowly healing too. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Side Stories: 

A side story on Stephanie and her growth into being the new Batgirl, becoming family with her mom again, interacting with the new normal, and growing up without toxic fathers and mentors holding her back. 

A side story on Jason and what he was doing between the time he was finished with his Batman rampage, his coming back to the family, and his growth as a character and realizing that things are changing. Also Jason’s perspective on the announcement of Bruce Wayne’s death, and the final realization that Bruce won’t be coming back. 

A side story on Damain and adapting to a new culture and place with people he slowly grows to see as family. It would focus on him learning to be a kid and learning to accept the grief he has for the family he won’t get to have, but also growing to love the family that he does have. 

A side story on Cass, and her experiences with the grief of losing Bruce, her time in Hong Kong, and eventually coming back into the family. (I need to do more research before I decide what I want to do with Cass)

A side story on just the way that the media has been handling everything and the articles and news segments that have been coming out on the whole thing. This would focus more on how life in Gotham has changed from an outside perspective. It would cover some of the major events and even have some exclusive stuff like an interview or two that other characters did. 

A side story on Cass and Helena finally having a talk about things when they are forced to team up during their separate cases/missions. Includes a lot of discussion on the morality of killing or letting someone be killed, and the legacy of the Batgirl that was not meant to be and the Batgirl that was chosen to be. 

The Winter (Eggplant) Soldier

This fic was inspired by  @moonquakelake and this post.

She was good. 

 No, Tim corrects himself, she was really good. Like, insanely good. Like, supernaturally goo-

Self preservation skills kicked in, and he quickly ducked to avoid having his head taken off. 

 And nearly got stabbed by the other knife. 

 But this girl, she looked really familiar. If only the mask covering the lower half of her face was gone. 

He stops thinking about that when her hand wrapped around his neck, and then sent him flying back. 

 That mechanical arm of hers is really unfair, he thinks as he flings her to the ground, lunging for his discarded bo staff. Tim felt the smooth surface of his trusty weapon. Success. 

In quick succession he blocks most of the attacks dished out. Moving quickly, he flips her, sending her flying. Her mask hits the ground, and she twists in midair and- 

 That roll! 

His eyes widened. He knew who rolled like that. But it couldn’t be her, she was dea- 

The woman got up, and he straightened, feeling like all the wind has just been knocked out of him.

 He knew that face. He knew those eyes, he knew those lips, he knew that little scar on her chin. He knew that hair, and he knew that person. He knew Stephanie Brown, killed two years ago by Black Mask. And he knew this was her. 

“Steph?” The name slips out of his mouth, breathless. How could she be alive? How could he not recognize her eyes?

His thoughts stutter to a halt as she turns towards him. 

“Who the hell is Steph?“ 

And he could only stare numbly at the spot she had occupied as the smoke cleared, stare as it revealed she was gone. 

Gone.

Write Your Name (Across My Heart)

Stephanie was three years old when her mother lifted her hair up and screamed. 

 She couldn’t tell if it was from delight, surprise, or horror.  

Crystal Brown had shakily smiled, patted her hair down, and told her she was too pretty to wear her hair up. It had taken her another five years to see why her mother was so shaken. 

When Stephanie Brown was eight years old she made her first bun. She turned to appreciate her work and was met with Timothy Drake written neatly across the nape of her neck. 

Later, she searched Timothy Drake up, and was greeted with thousands of results. 

When she was fourteen, she broke up with Dean, because Dean was not Timothy Drake. 

She wondered if Timothy Drake thought of her as much as she thought of him.

When she was fifteen, Spoiler met Robin, and her heart skipped a beat. He was absolutely perfect. She wondered if he was her Timothy Drake. 

She was disappointed to find out he was only Alvin Draper. 

When Stephanie was 16, her Robin stint had come and gone, and Leslie found out about Timothy Drake. 

She didn’t talk to Stephanie for three days. 

When Stephanie Brown was sixteen, she was Batgirl, and Barbara Gordon finds out about Timothy Drake. 

Stephanie had swept her hair to the side, so Barbara could examine a wound when she heard Barbara breathe in sharply. After that, Barbara had stayed quiet, bandaging up her cut. 

Stephanie Brown is 17 and it’s time for the batfamily group training session. It’s going to get sweaty so she tips her head forward for her ponytail and everyone stops talking and what? 

And then Red Robin is in front of her and everyone else is gone and he was pulling his cowl down and he’s pulling up his sleeve and- 

Oh. 

“Hi. I’m Timothy Drake.”

Give Me a P (E-T-T-Y)

(Aka part two of Stephanie Brown and Her Adventurous Adventures of Sass)

Stephanie Brown would like to take this moment to say she is not a petty person at all. She took all things with maturity, so when Damian Wayne commented on her chest one too many times, she did not slap him.

She dumped a layer of itching powder onto the suit he had to wear for the Wayne Gala.

Definitely not childish.

“Is it covered to filth?” She whispers over at Cassandra, whose disguising skills far outpaced her own.

Cassandra only nodded, absentmindedly rubbing more on.

Steph bit back a grin.

Boy, she was so forcing Tim to take her to that gala.

As it turned out, she didn’t even need to force Tim, the sweet little boy already asked her, dress, flowers, and all.

…in her dreams.

He had just grunted at her when she informed him she was coming.

Chivalry was clearly still alive and kicking.

Man really brings her back to her prom.

The prom she never went to, but that’s not the point.

He was even kind enough to let her borrow (steal) his card.

And if her dress was just a tad bit unrealistically expensive, well that’s just because she really like the dress. Not at all because he ticked her off.

And if she accidentally spread some false rumors about him, it was only accidental.

Stephanie bit back laughter as she watched Damian stand ramrod straight, his nails digging into his palms.

Her gala expedition was going quite well actually, she’s been behaving herself. This time, she’s only ticked off three-fourths of the room.

Okay so perhaps if was a little more.

Like three and a half-fourths or something.

Maybe she was taking too much pleasure in this.

“Oh my god,” Dick whispered horrified next to her, shoulders shaking. “What is he doing?”

Nah.

Stephanie had to lift her glass to hide her laughter from seeing an intoxicated man ran around in his date’s heels.

“Steeeeeeph” She turns to see Tim making a (crooked) beeline for her.

Wow. She had no idea her boyfriend had that much to drink.

“Heeeeeeey Steeeeeeph,” he slurs, slumping onto her.

Alright so maybe she spiked his drink.

But only a little bit! How was she supposed to know he was lightweight?

“Hi, sweetie. Had a little too much to drink?”

“There’s a unicorn over there… It’s fur looks so soft… I wanna pet it… Come back!”

Like any good girlfriend, she dragged him back home, tucked him in, and cuddled up next to him.

But not before she documented everything on Snapchat.

God she loved these things. Why did Bruce hate them so much?

“Stephanie?” Tim’s groggy morning voice wrapped itself around her.

God she loved that voice. She loved that voice, she loved the boy, and she loved the ridiculous bedhead that she was busy taking pictures of and sending to Jason.

“Stephanie.” He starts pulling off the covers, and she squeaked, running off.

She’s faster, but he knows the layout better, and he’s quickly on her heels.

Stephanie squeals when she feels arms wrap around her, fingers scrambling to remove the muscled arms around her.

So maybe she didn’t put as much effort into it as possible.

Tim buries his head into her shoulder and sleepily kisses her neck.

“Got you.”

Waltz of Love

I was requested by @accio-fist to write about Stephanie dancing and Tim walking in on it.

Merry Christmas and I hope this lives up to your expectations!

Stephanie first sees it when she’s refining stealth techniques with Damian in the Wayne Manor (read: playing Hide and Seek). She’s in an obscure closet when she sees it, tucked away in the corner.

She wondered if it still worked.

But then Damian barges in and she has to leave it alone.

When she does get to come back, she immediately grabs it and finds the nearest empty room, setting it down. She carefully inserts a record, placing the needle on top of it.

The vinyl starts playing, and Stephanie can feel the music as it washes over her, beckoning her to dance.

And dance she does.

Stephanie doesn’t follow any set pattern, just moves with the beat. She flows with the soft and slow music, leaps with the loud and eccentric songs, and loses herself in the lyrics and rhythm.

Tim has no idea why there’s music coming from one of the older wings of the Manor, but he can’t help but try to seek out its source.

He stops in front of a door he remembers vaguely from his childhood, back when he was curious and tried to map out the entire manor.

Tim carefully opens the door and peeks his head in, expecting to see Cass or Dick or even Jason.

He did not expect to see Steph.

Tim watches with wide eyes as Stephanie dances, body gracefully twisting and turning as she moves, hair swirling around her like a halo.

When could Steph dance?

Tim’s eyes follow her legs as she twirls, one leg flung up as a guitar riff plays in the background. She’s wild and graceful, frenzied and dainty, and so beautiful.

Tim doesn’t know what comes over him but before he can stop himself, his legs carry him to her, hands slipping gently around her waist.

He feels her stiffen before turning around, and they face each other as the music transitions into a slower tune.

Steph places her hands on his shoulders, he wraps his around her waist, and they dance, entrapped in their own world.

They move as one, twirling around the room, stepping in unison. He loves the feeling of her waist under his hands, feeling her muscles flex under his fingertips. He loves looking into her eyes, seeing the peacefulness and concentration shining there. He loves every piece of her, head to toe, as he gently twirls her. Looking at her in front of him, he can’t help but think that he never wants the moment to end.

When the music starts to fade out, he thinks it only feels right to press his lips against hers, bodies melding together as the euphoria fades.

tangled and stretched (but never broken)

Timsteph Soulmate au take 3: the red string of fate

Stephanie remembers the first time she saw the red string. 

 She was six, and her grandma winked at her before making a cats cradle with the string connected to her pinkie, stretching out to the kitchen where her grandpa stood. 

 This, she murmured, placing Stephanie on her lap, is the red string of fate. Those connected by it are destined lovers, and are predetermined to always meet at some point in their lives. It can tangle and stretch, but never break. The one on the other end of the string will always the be the most match. And one day, you will find your other half, my sweet little Stephanie. 

 Stephanie nodded eagerly, imagining the time when she would find her own soulmate, her own love. 

 Bah! Her grandma’s voice suddenly changed. But your mother is stubborn. She insisted on defying the red strings of fate and marrying someone who is not her better half. This marriage will not end well, my little Stephanie. Be careful around that man, my sweet. You will have to face a hard future. 

 Years later, Stephanie can not say she is surprised when her father starts falling deeper into his criminal schemes and when her mother starts embracing her pills more than she ever embraced Stephanie. 

 Still, Stephanie is unprepared for how far her father would go to be recognized, how far her mother would fall down the abyss.

 And she slowly recognizes that she has to stop her father. 

 When she meets Robin, it’s insignificant. 

 Well, as insignificant as hitting someone with a brick. 

 When the brick cracked across his face, Robin and her ring finger jerked and she realized with that the string on her finger, the one that never seemed to end, was connected to the pinky finger of Robin.

She only saw Robin’s shocked face before she ran.

He was her soulmate, she would realize in shock when she got home and could finally think coherently.

My soulmate, she whispers to herself at night. Soulmate, the night would whisper back to her. Soulmate. 

 It took three days for Robin to track her down. (I followed the string, he whispered to her when they’re curled up together on the bed. I would’ve followed it forever to meet you.) 

 They carve out their spaces in each other’s hearts, with soft whispers of love and gentle caresses. They smile at each other under the moon, lost in each other’s warmth. 

 Then he is torn from her. 

 (I am no longer Robin, he says stiffly. And you can not visit me or else my father would grow suspicious.) 

 She becomes Robin. Then she “dies”. 

 She comes back. Then Batman dies. 

 Tim looks at her with betrayal. 

 (Don’t let me catch you in that suit again, he snarls, and her heart breaks as he tries to tear down what she worked to hard to protect.) 

 But then he’s back and she’s Batgirl and he’s Red Robin and Batman’s alive, He exclaims to everyone.

They work on a case together and she can’t help the shiver that runs up her back as his eyes drink her up in her purple dress. 

 But Batman’s back and Tim turns away from her again and she smacks Batman (her!! Stephanie Brown, normal girl who has to scream for her words to be heard.) 

 When everything settled down, she could only look from afar and feel the chasm between them, feel her string burn with an intensity at being in such close proximity with the one who completes her heart. 

Still, with the string, it’s only a matter of time before the found each other again.

 As she stands across from him, she can’t help but to remember that time, ages ago, when she was Spoiler and he was Robin and they were young and in love. Looking across at him, she can’t help but feel exactly she did at the young age of 15, looking shyly across at Tim with a soft smile. Under the moonlight, everything feels new and she feels young and innocent and ready to conquer anything with her love. 

 It doesn’t take much for them to find nirvana in one another, tangled up in sheets whispering sweet nothings to each other, feeling years of separation disappear like nothing as they giggle with each other. 

 They’ve changed but that’s okay because she still fits perfectly under his arm there and he still touches her like that and they’ve changed but they’ve also stayed the same. 

 Grandma, she whispers out to the night. I found him, the one on the other side of my string, can you see? 

 Beside her, Tim shifts and pulls her closer.

Of Christmas Sweaters and Abominations

Timothy Drake would like to shrink into a nearby crevice and never come out. Timothy Drake would like to sink into a lake and never surface. Timothy Drake would like to fight Harley Quinn with one hand tied behind his back. Timothy would like to do anything but have to stand in front of Wayne Enterprise’s associates in an ugly Christmas sweater.

Timothy’s seen some downright ugly things in his life (a drunk Swamp Thing ranks pretty high) but nothing is uglier than the abomination he has been forced into.

The sweater (if it can even be called that) is a horrendous furry green and red explosion with silver tassels flying everywhere and a plump santa leering at everyone.

Tim nearly cried the first time he saw it.

Damian’s having the time of his life, laughing at him in the corner. Tim shoots him a stink eye. It’s just not fair that he weaseled out of this, staying safe in a striped sweater.

Dick skips by him and Tim nearly gags at the Christmas joy radiating off of him. Of course Dick manages to pull of his horrendous light up Christmas sweater and hat. Dick can’t look bad in anything.

Tim is halfway through despairing about the state of humanity and mourning his own ruined social standards when warm arms wrap around him and all his thoughts float away.

Humanity was good and well and prospering. His social status wasn’t completely ruined. Damian Wayne can eat his smirk. Dick Grayson can shove his stupid smile somewhere else.

Because Tim Drake, in all his ugly Christmas sweater glory, had the prettiest girl in all of Gotham hugging him. He can feel a smile tug at his lips as he relaxes into Stephanie’s arms.

“Hey you,” She giggles, “You look dashing.”

Tim grin and neatly turns around.

“Hey yourself,” he says, pressing his forehead against hers.

Never mind the fact that they’re wearing the same sweater, Stephanie looks like a goddess. Tim swears that he’s not biased but he’s convinced that red, green, and silver are her colors.

“You have that ridiculous look on your face again, Drake,” Damian shoots as he slides out to greet Stephanie and only mildly grumbles as she reaches out to ruffle his hair.

“You’re an angel,” he says as Damian moves away to pester Dick. “I have no idea how you deal with him.”

Stephanie laughs and he drinks up every sound, eyes glued to her glowing smile and gleaming eyes.

“Let’s ignore our baby demon and enjoy each other’s company, yeah?”

Timothy hums and wraps his arm around her waist. He could almost forget that this beautiful woman was the reason for his pain in the monstrosity that called itself a sweater-

almost.

“You owe me,” he huffs. “I am suffering in this disgusting example of all of humanity’s failures.”

Stephanie only laughs again, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“You love it,” she says, before leaning up to connect their lips.

“Merry Christmas, boyfriend wonder.”

OH MY GOD I KNEW THIS WAS GIVING ME MANHWA VIBES!!! Fuckkkkk EATING THIS UPP!!

Thinking about how the reveal would go 👀

Tim just gaslighting the batfam, full on leaning into his shitty persona and calling them idiots.

Tim: Why would I want to be associated with you??! Who are you calling little brother 😒 are you an idiot??

(He’s dying inside saying to Cass. His SISTER!!)

Cass: *narrows eyes* not an idiot. You are MY Little Brother.

Tim: *sweating buckets*

Baisically Tim screeching like a caught cat being dragged back into the batfam by Cass and forced to confess his sins of time travel (specifically not reintroducing himself to the batfam and asking for help to get rid of the shadow orgs)

Or full drama where Tim is caught in the crossfire between batfam and super powerful shadow organisation trying to dominate the world. He’s wondering why the bats are here, they shouldn’t have known about the shadow org for a couple more weeks!! Tim was supposed to be weakening the shadow org first enough for the batfam to find the clues he planted and then swoop in to kill them off. But they suddenly appeared while Tim was engaging in battle with the shadow org.

Their sudden appearance throws him off. Terrible timing honestly. Tim is distracted because now he has to keep the bats safe AND fight off the shadow org.

The bats are wondering who is this kid that somehow fights well with them, so fluidly, as if having fought side by side with them for years. Why does he know that move?? Did he somehow get bat training???

Then suddenly, Tim sees Jason about to get stabbed by the enemy. Cue intense flashbacks to the negative impact of Jason’s death. Tim is rushing towards Jason, completely forgets about using code names on the field (to be fair he’s not used to calling Jason’s new vigilante name, cuz he didn’t die or become red hood)

“JASON! MOVE!!” Tim parries the attack meant for Jason and takes the enemy down.

However he sustains some serious injuries. And passes out in the arms of a very confused Jason while the rest of the bats clean up the enemy shadow org.

-

Batfam brings Tim back to the cave and they find his phone filled with plans and endless contingencies on how to take down the shadow org. Plus a checklist of all the batfam’s trauma he mitigated.

Cue interrogation confession session as Tim reveals his persona was just a facade and he actually time traveled and helped his the family and was working on preventing the end of the world. Alone.

Time Travel AU: Timothy "Trash" Drake Edition

Tim, to save his family and the world, travels back to when he was a kid. Considering the super powerful shadow organizations that are trying to take over the world (and to prevent his family from becoming targets [or he doesn't trust them. Your pick]), he elects to take on a persona:

Timothy "Trash" Drake.

Instead of the kind, charming, intelligent kid he used to be, Tim methodically mucks up his reputation. He's an asshole, he's self-important, and he's like a typical Gotham Socialite but worse. By 16, he's practically a drunk idiot who's only passing school by the Drake name. He's like Brucie Wayne, but he's hated instead of being a loveable fool.

In the background, he's subtly saved people from their tragic events in the timeline. Drake industries has been booming (try as he might, he couldn't save his parents and became the CEO at 16 as an emancipated minor), and a lot of their funds goes towards better wages and benefits for their employees. Continually, they spend a lot on Gotham infrastructure and social programs. This doesn't match the CEO's arrogant, asshole, and greedy ways. Most assume he's just a figurehead anyway.

The important part to note is that the Waynes hate interacting with him and have a strong dislike for him. They don't know that his demeanor is a persona. Jason, in particular, hates his frivolous, wasteful guts.

Tim has been somewhat successful in mitigating the shadow organization's plans and stopping the world from ending. He's still got a few plans in the works, but he's overall satisfied by what he's accomplished.

Issues start to arise when the Waynes notice contradictions in Timothy Drake's behavior.

Timothy is an asshole who only cares about himself, so why did he give away his coat to someone in need? Sure, he complained that it was of poor quality and not to his standards, but he could've just thrown it away.

Someone else notices that he crashes into the champagne tower when someone was getting harassed at a gala. It was supposedly an accident, but the person was able to get away from the harassment.

Timothy also slapped a homophoic asshole when he kept going on and on about their prejudice. The kid played it off as him being mad at them for stealing his look, but are all of these incidents coincidences?

The final nail in the coffin? Cass goes to her first gala where Tim in in attendance (he has purposefully avoided anywhere she would be). She takes one glance at him, smiles, and then softly says, "Little Brother."

Safe to say everyone promptly looses their shit.

Anyways, I kind of want to see a Trash of the Count's Family AU with Tim Drake

Jason: I want to be like a caterpillar.  Damian : Explain.  Jason: Eat a lot, sleep for a while, wake up beautiful.  Dick: You know they have a lifespan of a week, right?  Jason: Jason: That's just another highlight