Hello there! I'm currently into DC fanworks - especially JayTim fics and platonic Batfamily and have even tried my hand at writing some! Shutterbug and Seaglass: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3775465
TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, LGBTQIA+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS & DISABLED RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS! If this seems obvious to you - GOOD! She/They prounouns.
One of those things that I probably put more thought into than the actual writers at the time...
Jason tells Bruce his mother was sick, but he clocked it for what it was- Jason being kind, and not wanting to tarnish his mother's memory, and that her sickness was addiction and the physical symptoms that came along with it.
Given that Bruce met Jason on the anniversary of his parents' murder (June 26th), Bruce had them look up deaths with the last name Todd that had occurred in the last 6 months, and the woman here states Catherine died "last February" I'm pretty sure we're looking at a 4ish month period where Jason was on his own and homeless.
This isn't a whole lot of time, you think at a glance. But in the eyes of a child, 4 months is a very long time. Factor in that he was freshly orphaned and alone, in the roughest neighborhood in Gotham, and most likely started his runaway from social services without a penny to his name... yeah. That 4 months probably felt more like triple that to him.
Then we factor in that even though he was only on his own officially for 4 months, Catherine was on a downward spiral for "over a year". With Jason saying he was pretty much being the adult and taking care of her and everything during that time, the reality is that she was probably really bad for that "over a year", but realistically had a problem for some time before that. Likely stemming from Willis getting into trouble with the law- Jason says he's probably in jail again, when Bruce asks about his father, and then final disappearance.
Meaning he was having a rough go of it for more like a year and a half- he just at least had a living parent and assumedly a normal apartment roof over his head.
We don't get much on either of his parents. But given that Jason was stealing wheels off of cars with ease at his young age, it's probably safe to say that Willis wasn't shy about his happenings, and probably taught Jason what he knew about the cars. We don't know how long Willis was missing officially, but he was clearly long gone by the time Catherine got particularly bad.
We also don't get much of Jason's pre-Bruce life past a quick intro and the Ma Gun plot. But like...
When Bruce finds him 4 months into homelessness, Jason is living in a condemned apartment complex, on on upper floor, which he accesses via the fire escape. His entry apartment isn't the one he lives in, and the outer halls are...scary. It shows people have been there. Graffiti. Booze bottles. Trash. Broken windows. Because he enters via fire escape it's probably safe to say the city sealed the lower floors, and the building has been in this state for quite some time. It's filthy, the plaster is crumbling. There's no working gas or electric, plumbing is likely questionable due to a lack of maintenance but probably running water to avoid burst pipes.
Jason has a lantern rigged up to the remnants of the ceiling fan fixture. He has a ton of canned goods, a bunch of books. A photo of his mother. Some posters and a boom box that's probably battery operated. The mattress and recliner sadly probably pre-exists Jason, and thus under the sheets is in probably less than pristine condition. Between the state of the walls and floor, and the numerous broken and boarded up windows, there's probably black mold. Bed bugs. Roaches. Rats. He's kept a pretty clean apartment with what he had all things considered.
I pass through a rough area of town on my way through to work, and the plethora of condemned buildings are constantly being broken into. Homeless folks during rough temps or rain/snow. Drug users. Gang activity. The taggers. So even though most of the conditions pre-exist him, the fear of people coming in and hurting him had to be a constant worry. Choosing an upper floor helps, but he'd have to have a pretty secure lock to have even the illusion of safety, and he clearly didn't clean the hall- because that would make things look more lived in. He leaves it dirty and whoever sneaks in might think there's nothing to see.
The neighborhood is rough. Crime Alley drastically went downhill since it earned its nickname, and the "East End" as a whole isn't shy about it's happenings. Bruce has had some time to try and help improve the area, but Gotham is a huge 3 island city, and the Alley is a triggering place for him. It hasn't cleaned up a whole lot. Daylight doesn't even make crime shy away.
The streets are dirty. Prostitution is everywhere day and night. The local businesses are pretty much hotels, strip joints, porn theaters, drug stores, small private grocery shops, and food carts.
This is where this poor kid was living. While his mother was still alive, and after when he was homeless.
Like... how can you look at Jason, know his history, and not be amazed? Not understand why he thinks and feels the way that he does?
He survived long enough for Bruce to find him.
Who the hell knows what he saw, what he actually went through during that year and a half? He already knew to a street wise degree how to fight, how to escape. How to break into buildings. Unlatch and climb fire escapes. How to lift cars and steal their wheels- probably other parts as well. Had a system rigged to help him rope pull those wheels up to his floor. Knew what shops he could sell them to, that wouldn't rip him off completely. Either had earned enough money to buy, or shoplifted a bunch of canned goods, books, and cassette tapes. Probably a bit of both.
You ever live in a really rough area? Constant gunshots. The screaming fights. The brawls in the streets. Constant music base blaring from cars making the street vibrate and the windows shake even at 2am. The drug deals blatantly out in the open. Tweakers walking the streets during the day, and thugs at night.
It's amazing he turned out as well as he did. That he survived. That he didn't take the "easy" way out and become a part of the problem like Ma Gunn's boys who were all for the life of crime.
It's no surprise at all that he's particularly sensitive and volatile about the drugs, gangs, or abuse of women at all. He lived smack dab in the middle of it.
And yes, he came back to Gotham. Made a play to seize control, and didn't stop the drug peddling or prostitution, and even became the one in charge of it. Took money from it.
But he fully believed- unlike Bruce, that there was never getting rid of it. There was only manipulating it, keeping it as safe as such things could be. Making sure the drugs weren't sold to kids, and that no one was using the kid to run them. Making sure the pimps weren't abusing the women, or taking advantage of them, by letting them know he'd put a bullet in them without batting a lash. He took money from it all- because he wasn't Bruce. He wasn't wealthy. Talia's funding was done the moment he stepped foot back into Gotham. Ammo, firearms, the sheer amount of explosives he had in UtRH. Missile launchers. Buying companies. The medical supplies he had to have on hand. This all costs an unbelievable amount of money. He also has to eat. Has to have the money to throw around to show he means business, the times he wasn't looking to snuff someone but manipulate them.
He was angry as Robin. Hurt. But he wasn't any more violent than Dick was- he just wasn't polite about it. If you go back and read Dickbin comics he absolutely throttled everyone as a child, in rather unique gremlin esque ways. He too went after the one responsible for his parents deaths. But... the writer and the public also weren't on hate campaigns at the time. Dick's actions weren't made out to be abnormal or negative. Dick was polite, goofy, lovable. He didn't have a foul mouth with an east end accent, or come from the very same background as much of the criminals they were taking down.
Bruce SHOULD have handled it better. He didn't get Jason any counseling. He claimed Jason as Robin after their third time meeting within a couple days, without so much as discussing it first. He claimed Jason as Robin before trying to claim him as a son. So yes... Jason very much thought Bruce's love- his usefulness was tied to the mantle... so it being taken away made him panic and scramble. Made him latch onto a total stranger that gave him away as a baby to his father and his new wife.
You can hate the killing. The manipulating of crime instead of stopping it...
But Jason thinks he's doing the right thing... and you can't blame him for thinking that given everything.
You might think he turned out wrong- that because of Bruce he could have been so much more. But given what he came from- what he lived and experienced, he could have gone down a plethora of worse paths. Because in the real world, that happens far more often than not.
This! Also, as you made a point of separately, even with all this and his actions as Red Hood, Jason as Robin was a kind, silly and shining beacon as a kid. He was angry, but only as angry as Dick, yet he's been dubbed The Angry Robin ever since they tried to bring him back as a villain.
Hint: They are *ALL* (all six of them - because I will always include Stephanie Brown and Duke Thomas now too) The Angry Robin. Just as they are *ALL* The Smart Robin, The Brave Robin, The Robin with the Mouth, The Acrobatic Robin and The Hardworking Robin.
Jason did his best and always has. He thought he was doing his best as Red Hood too and I don't have to agree with his personal choices to understand why he got there. I don't have to assume all he is, was and will ever be is the angry crazy one who was bad from the get-go!
i think being able to identify and deconstruct an irrational feeling should make it go away. i literally solved your riddle puzzle master can u let me OUT the damn TORTURE LABYRINTH
As you know (because I’ve said), they all sound sooo good! It’s really hard to choose. But I definitely don’t want spoilers for your ongoing fics…
So I think I’ll go for your untitled Jaytim where Tim ends up with the LOA!
So, all Post-Crisis up until Flashpoint happens (and Flashpoint doesn't happen).
So it's post Batman & Robin, post Red Robin. Time has gone by- maybe a year? Who knows.
Tim is still working at W.E., he still patrols on his own, but for the most part he does his own thing. Because at the end of the day he loves Dick, but it's still hard to get past having him give Damian Robin without even talking to him first, and to not have believed him. Then Bruce... well, he's been walking on eggshells around the man whenever he's in town, ever since the Boomerang incident.
Damian? Steph? Yeah... it's just- things are simpler on his own.
Besides, he does at least have Pru. She's not as clingy as some, but they hang out on occasion just for the hell of it, and she gladly does the heavy lifting on out of town assignments, while still offering a hand when shit goes down locally.
All in all, it works.
There's no lead up- no fanfare...
One moment it's like every other mundane night. He's patrolling, close to home, because even after all this time the others don't like to venture into the Alley.
The next the comms are blowing up, because the Joker- who has been loose for months without a sighting has been spotted... And it's not particularly far from his area. There's not a lot of reason for the clown to be there- the others are certain he was only passing through, but Tim's not so sure.
He doesn't bother voicing his suspicions, or chiming in at all really. If he's wrong, he'll be mocked endlessly by Damian. He'd have taken Dick's attention off other leads. No, better to handle it himself until/if he ends up needing backup.
But he has suspicions, that Joker is hiding out in the old tunnels. He won't engage if he's correct- he'll trigger the distress beacon, back out, call it in. Keep on high alert for any traps. Not the first time he's been down there before anyway- he's got an edge.
There's no traps. No sign the clown has even been there, but he presses forward. The sighting makes little sense if there's no reason- call it a gut feeling. He's good with those.
Eventually his suspicions are proven correct... but he wishes he were wrong. So much.
He doesn't hit the distress beacon. Doesn't back out. Doesn't call it in. Just experiences a full system meltdown- because the clown is there, having a grand ol' time... but so is Red Hood, Jason, sprawled out on floor in a pool of crimson.
And he's not moving.
He moves on autopilot. Forgets to cling to the shadows, to feather-light his steps. Doesn't register the clown turning to him, or the words cackled his way.
None of them even knew Hood was in town- and why would they?
And Tim- he knows. He already knows...because he's not moving, no weak rise and fall of his chest, the blood is clotted, flaking where it's spread thin.
He's too late- quite possibly was too late already when the report came in hours earlier, and that's just...it's not fair.
How could he? How could he!?
The clown is cackling- taunting. Going on about encore presentations, how Batsy will surely come back to town and stay now.
But Tim's numb. His ears are ringing. Stomach soured, heart caught in his throat. He ignores him- and rather than be upset and insulted over it, Joker clocks it for what it is- genuine traumatic shock, and the laughter just amps up several levels.
He has to be certain of course. He approaches slowly, but without faltering, without hesitation.
No breathing. No pulse. Body firm to the touch...
More under the cut :
Gone.
Just gone.
In that moment, he's immensely grateful- that it's him, not Dick, who's found him this way. Because he knows... knows it would break him, that the man wouldn't come out the other side of this the same. So it's better this way. Better that it's him feeling his heart get clawed out of his chest by blunt talons. Because at least Dick has been been spared this.
Better him than his brother- than Batman.
He registers the clown's keyed up rambling- "two for one special! What a lucky evening!"
And just- he sees red.
His face is blank, mind numb as he stands from the crouch.
Joker looks enthralled, peak excitement as he stomps towards him.
The clown isn't expecting him to smoothly pop the crowbar on the floor just feet away him into his hands, like he's done with his board so many times in the past.
He doesn't expect him to hit so hard. Without hesitation.
But if there's one thing he's adept at, it's swinging a long thin melee weapon...
He doesn't make a sound. Doesn't give the monster the satisfaction of seeing him lose it outwardly. His expression is blank as he swings, and swings, and swings. Listening to the crunch of bone, the splitting of flesh, the clown's gasps and howling laughter.
Doesn't stop until there's far more red across the clown than the ricktus grin he started with, until he's splayed out beneath him gurgling out his laughter, cackling even now.
And the thing is- Harkness wasn't worth it. Killing him would have taken away far more than it would have given him. Would have meant Boomerang would have won in the end, making him break their code for a worthless nobody. He didn't get to take that from him.
But Joker... the reason he had ended up joining Bruce's crusade in the first place? Who paralyzed and tormented Barbara? Who brutally murdered Jason? Again? Who would have surely broken Dick Grayson had it been the man instead of him to find this place?
Another story all together.
He walks away. The Joker titters hysterically. Expects him to be calling for backup, having reeled it in.
He hasn't...isn't.
Tim finds one of Jason's glocks several feet away from his body. It's not empty. Ideal.
He approaches the figure squirming on the floor, and clocks the exact second the clown realizes he's made a grave error. The Joker sputters frantically-
"Now hold up, let's not get carried away! Think of Batsy-"
But he is. Dick- not Bruce, because he knows where this will ultimately have him stand with the elder of the two men. But Dick will be fine. None the wiser of what's happened tonight, what he's lost... and Damian- he'll be safe. Dick will never have to worry about the clown getting his hands on the boy ever again.
He pulls the trigger.
Again...and again...and again.
Until the clip is empty- and he's certain no tricks the Joker has up his sleeve can bring him back from this one.
He wishes he felt...something.
But he's still numb.
Numb, and needs to make sure that the others don't come spilling in, eventually.
His gloves are slick as he fumbles in his belt for his burner. He doesn't want to think about that too hard. The phone rings several times before it's answered- a disgruntled voice on the other end.
"Oi, Red? What's wrong? You never call before texting?"
His lungs seize- and Pru catches the sharp cutoff of breath.
"Tim!"
He squeezes his eyes shut.
"I-I need an extraction..." He chokes out.
"What the hell-"
He rambles off the coordinates-
"- Hood is dead... and I- I've killed the Joker. I need an extraction, a cleanup crew. Come get me. Please..."
Pru manages to get a "Roger that" forced from her lips before Tim hangs up.
The problem of course now is that he's alone... things are catching up with him, and Jason's just...right there, in the room with him and-
It's not fair. Jason shouldn't have had to go through this once, let alone twice. He can't imagine how the man felt, knowing what was going to happen, having already lived through it once. The terror. The resignation... the knowing that no one was coming for him- because no one knew he was even in Gotham.
He drops to his knees next to the body, and pushes the man's hair away from his face.
Tim wishes he had gotten there sooner, somehow.
Wishes it had been him instead. Would have been better that way, he thinks.
He only realizes he's crying when the splish of his tears hitting tacky blood alerts him to it... and once he's started, he can't stop.
It's fucked up- he thinks, as he lets himself just collapse on the floor beside him. Laying in a stretch of cooled blood, staring into the vacant eyes of his predecessor, mourning everything that could have been, and wasn't- wouldn't be. The remorse, the guilt... the childhood crush that had been carved from his throat and beat from his body on the floor of Titans Tower.
He'd done a whole lot of not forgiving- of holding a grudge as stubbornly as Bruce held onto the cowl.
It seemed all so very stupid and pointless now. Because if he had just tried, like those few hints of an attempt Jason had put forth, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Because he would have at least had one of them in his corner.
Pru finds him cried out, laying parallel in pool of blood next to the body, hours later. He worries her by not responding at first, not until her hands are on his shoulder, and he jolts out of his head. He tries not to think about things as the- shadows? start prying the Joker's body off the concrete.
He feels horrible about the look on the woman's face, and how he's put it there. The concern and terror. He can only imagine how everything looks. How he looks.
He supposed he shouldn't be surprised about the Shadows... that Ra's had never quite pulled his presence from Gotham completely, because of him. That Pru would of course call them in for cleanup, for something like this...
But it hits him-
That maybe everything has a reason in the end...
It only takes him a few minutes, Pru fussing over him all the while, to make up his mind.
He's already ruined, after all. Bruce would never forgive him after this- and he would find out, eventually. Better to make the best of it, to have at least one good thing come of it all.
After all, he still had one bargaining chip. One that Ra's sought after, and was worthless to everyone else.
Himself.
"Pru...I need you to contact Ra's. I need you to take- all of this, to Nanda Parbat."
He sees it register immediately, what he wants to do.
"You're out of your mind!" She snarls. "You know what he'll want. You know he wants Todd dead- what the price of such a thing will be. He'll never let you go.
"But I'll have you, right?" He asks-
And she deflates- because she can tell he's made his choices. The proof evident in the mutilated body in the corner that the Shadows are still collecting the blown off pieces of, and how Tim had been laid out beside the man before them, blood seeping into his suit, trapped in his head until she'd roused him.
"Yeah Tim... you'll have me there." She murmurs, resigned, and it hurts how genuine his sad smile is, because she knows that even though he wants this- he doesn't.
She makes the calls. Eventually she must get the right return call, because eventually Pru is hauling him to his feet, to usher him out of the maintenance chambers Joker had been holed up in.
But he doesn't want the Shadows touching Jason- he doesn't trust them, wants eyes on his body at all times, and Pru relents- helps him haul Jason out to the surface herself, the ninja surrounding them- masking them from view, as they steer them towards their transport.
A van ride- then the plane. Tim hardly registers what's going on around him. He lets his brain shut down throughout their trip. Manages to doze off, Pru leaning against his side, his hand fisted in the sheet covering Jason's body.
He doesn't know how much time has passed by the time they arrive in the mountains. It feels simultaneously like forever, and yet like they only just left. He figures that's not a great sign.
Neither is the fact that Ra's awaits them outside the plane.
He panics then of course. In part because of what he's about to do, but also because he realizes that he's going to have to leave the body, and that's just-
Pru puts a hand on his shoulder, grounding him.
"I've got him. Won't let 'im out of my sight. Do what you need to do Tim."
It's comforting- yet not, but it's the best he has to work with.
Ra's looks... disturbed as he approaches. Vaguely it registers that he must be covered in gore, between the clown and laying in the blood. Not that there was much he could have done about that in transit.
His instincts scream at him as he drops to his knees at Ra's' feet.
"Please." He begs. He knows he needs not elaborate
"Tch... On your feet detective. Groveling is unbecoming of you."
He meets the man's eyes, tired, and finds them strangely neutral. Giving nothing away.
He rises.
"I-"
"-Will go bathe and make yourself presentable before we speak." Ra's insists.
He fumbles at that, mouth left agape, knees shaking. He vaguely realizes he can't remember when he last ate, and while that normally wouldn't be much of a problem after everything, shock might be a real concern.
He nods, because he can't force a different response in the moment. He shoots Pru parting glance as the Shadows lead him away
They don't leave him alone. It's probably for the best. He practically clings to the stone wall as water cascades down his shoulders, flushing the blood off his body. He doesn't like the feel of eyes on his nude form, but now wasn't the time to be body shy, and he knows they wouldn't dare touch him.
He nearly goes down when it's time to make his way to the tub, and he ends up scooped up beneath his arms on both sides, and placed gingerly into the large basin.
He doesn't know how long he soaks in the water, letting the warmth and perfume of the incense in the air soothe him for a time. But eventually they haul him to his feet, skin prunned but cleaned, and tuck him into loose linen trousers and a robe.
He's unsurprised when they walk him to Ra's chambers- but is surprised to find him seated at a small table, and to be pressed down into the chair across from him.
Tim's reminded of his earlier shakiness, as Ra's pushes a plate of finger foods at him. Given he hasn't the slightest idea what's in store for him next, he eats, despite not knowing what he's putting into his mouth. At the very least he knows it's unlikely to be poisoned. He's passed the tea next, and he washes down the food with it, feeling sated and oh so very tired in the wake.
"You must recognize that I would not go to such lengths for anyone else, Timothy."
Tim steels himself, and nods.
"When my daughter threw that boy in the pit against my wishes, simply to play her games and attempt to win back Wayne's favor, I have wanted him purged ever since... as she should have done when I requested as much beforehand. The fact that I am willing to entertain his second revival at your behest should be rather telling, yes?"
"Of course..."
"If we proceed, you will not be leaving here and returning back to Gotham. Your role here will be vital- involved. I have already lost two of my heirs to that wretched city and Wayne's interference, I will not take kindly to you backing out. Keep that in mind. What I gift, I have no reservations in taking back. It's by your mercy alone that I allow use of the pit to that man... do not make both of us regret that decision."
"and...and after? What becomes of him? Jason will be allowed to leave, right?" Because if Jason were to become a prisoner... what even was the point?
"Todd will be allowed to do as he wishes." Ra's confirms, jaw tight.
So... Tim surrenders himself to his fate, and whatever comes of it.
Jason will be free- alive. Dick need not know he ever died at all, and even if he does find out it will be water under the bridge as he'll have already come back. And he'll just be... gone.
No one even needs to know why, until they figure it out- probably not even from his end of things, but Joker's. He'll just... digitally send in his resignation to W.E. to Lucius. Send out a message to the Bat computer, outlining his retirement and moving on. He suspects they've half been expecting it for some time anyway.
Tim will just... adapt.
"Not that I suppose it matters in the end...but will I be confined here? Locked up?"
Ra's looks smug.
"Not at all... as I said, you are to become rather important. Not a prisoner. After all, you are here of your own free will, are you not?"
"Yes... I am." But even a massive enclosure is still a cage when his compliance has a life riding on it. No point in saying as such, Ra's already knows he has him- for whatever that entails. "Very well, let's get to it then... I don't exactly know how long he's been gone. I didn't bother to ask. I do have one more request, if you don't mind."
"That would be?"
"Make sure you do whatever you need to, to ensure the clown doesn't come back... as far as what's in our control, let this be the end of him. Finally."
Ra's agrees. Has Tim rise and follow him out. Eventually they come to a stop, and enter the pit chamber. To his surprIse, Pru is already there, standing watch over the body, but so are numerous shadows.
He's not so sure he wants to watch this- but knows he must. In part because Ra's will demand it, but also because he has to know. Has to see Jason claw his way to the surface, alive, and not just a reanimated shell.
He wishes they didn't have to put their hands on him- that they didn't have the manhandle his form, and practically chuck the body, stiff with rigor into the glowing depths...
But he watches all the same. Fists clenched at his sides, holding his breath all the while.
He flinches at the splash when they release his body.
It's a brutal, long drawn out twenty seconds, before the waters start to churn, and the bubbles rise up. Almost just as long before Jason rears up, head cresting the water, while he roars out a garbled scream.
The air punches into his lungs. He watches as Jason flails, eventually gets closer and closer to the edge of the pit, as he finally claws his way up and out with wild eyes.
The Shadows don't give him the opportunity to attack- they hit him with multiple tranque darts from afar.
"Cannot have him slaughtering our men... he may sleep the madness off secured safely within his own chambers. You understand, of course." Ra's breaks the silence, answering unvoiced questions.
He nods.
Wonders if he'll get to rest himself anytime soon, because he's so exhausted by that point, both physically and mentally.
He gets his answer pretty quickly however- much to his shock and horror.
Because Ra's strikes with no warning...
He only has seconds to feel the terror as he falls, unable to catch himself as the palm strike between his shoulder blades sends him careening over the rocky edge of the pit.
Tim drowns in the vat of green.
-x-x-x-
He comes to, unsure of how long has passed. Something akin to a migraine aching behind his eyes. He's long dry, dressed in silk, oils rubbed into his skin. The fact that his everything no longer aches for the first time in years doesn't stanch the horror he feels. Because the pit hadn't been a part of the agreement-
Or perhaps it had, hadn't it?
He'd given himself to Ra's, of his own free will. He supposed it was foolish to have thought he would have say in such matters. He should have expected. His lack of spleen made him weak- susceptible.
He should have known.
Tim lets his fingers ruck up under the bottom hem of his top, and skim over his side. It's smooth, flesh no longer puckered from the scarring caused by the counsel gutting him, and the surgery that followed.
Lets his fingers slide over his throat, searching for the indent left by Jason's first ever attack on him. Gone as well.
He's a blank slate.
Tim's not sure how he feels about that. To some degree, it's a relief, like he can start anew.
But then he remembers where he is, and what he's committed to...and he's certain he's not going to like where things lead.
-x-x-x-
Jason wakes, terrified, angry- because he knows where he is, and what's been done, even if he doesn't know the how or the why.
But being at a League base means he's in danger. He knows that without a doubt, before he even realizes he's in chains.
He screams, panicked, because first the Joker had him bound, beaten, and dead- and now Ra's has him alive, and trapped, in chains... and he'd rather be dead than at his mercy too. It's all too much, and no amount of struggling gives him any purchase to even attempt removal of the cuffs on his wrists and ankles, because there's not enough give to get his limbs anywhere close to one another. Strung up upright, he can only gape in terror as Ra's sweeps into the chamber, in person.
From there on out however, his brain just short circuits.
Because Ra's fills in the gaps from his stint of not occupying his body.
He doesn't even tell him, so much as he shows him- so that he believes. Because of course the clown would be taping him, would want to show Batman every sick vicious moment of it all.
Except, Ra's skips all of that- instead he shows the after.
Tim found him.
And fuck, he's never hated watching something more because he can see what a horrible sight he makes, and if it had to be anyone, it should have been Bruce, not any of the Robins.
And Tim...is clearly very much not okay, having found him.
He screams at Ra's to shut it off, that he doesn't want to see.
But-
"Oh, I think you do."
And he ends up tranfixed- pulse stuttering, because Tim, calm as can be... wails upon the clown on the screen. Smashes him over and over again with the crowbar he'd been killed with.
Until the bastard is laying there, broken and twitching, and he feels- fucking euphoric.
Tim did that. For him. Gave the clown a taste of his own medicine, for once.
It wouldn't take much more... and god, he wished he could reach into the screen, tighten his hands around that throat, and end it-
But Tim picks up his gun.
He holds his breath, feels his pulse hammering, stares with his eyes impossibly wide, and-
Shot, after shot, after shot... Tim unloads the remainder of his clip into the Joker. His head, his chest, major arteries...
For him.
Tim kills the Joker without hesitation, all for him, and-
He calls for help? But not from the Bats.
Ra's speeds the video up.
He watches Tim collapse beside him. Lay there in his blood, stating vacantly across at him. Watches as the woman arrives, and frantically tries to pull Tim back from wherever he's gone inside his head. She's successful, eventually.
The Shadows roll in, start messing with the clown's corpse. Meaning this woman is League...meaning-
"So you see, you have much to thank Timothy for." The man starts, cutting the feed. "He avenged you. Chose you over Wayne. He knows that he cannot go back, now that he's done the unthinkable in the detective's eyes."
"But..why?" He manages to choke out.
He feels faint. His body, unsure of how to proceed. He's livid, distraught. Wants to cry, wants to laugh. To curl up and die- claw the demon's eyes out. Wants to beat some sense into that beautiful idiot, for doing something so stupid for a piece of shit like him. Wants to grab on and never let him go. He feels sick- he's half hard. It's too much.
It's too much.
"He got down on his knees, to beg me for your life. I'm sure my daughter made you well aware that I wished to see you dead. You can imagine, I suspect, the promises he had to make me- the allegiance he has sworn, to see you breathing. Whole. Yet still, despite all of that, he wished to be certain that I would left you go afterwards... free to leave, without pursuit. Thankfully for yourself, that which Timothy offers me far exceeds your worth as a cadaver."
"You sonovabitch!-" he snarls, thrashing forward in his bonds.
"You could of course, of your own free will, stay... I did promise him that you were free to do as you wished. If you are so concerned with his well being, you could always stay and guard him...ensure his safety. After all, he killed for you. Has forsaken Batman for you. What greater act of love could one commit, for someone the likes of yourself? Who else will go to such lengths for you? Not the Bat, certainly."
He slumps in his chains.
It's obvious of course.
"You've been playing us, from the moment that woman called you, haven't you?"
Ra's grins, all teeth.
"I have lived many a lifetimes. I do love a game of chess. The clown did me an unexpected favor, in having filmed his deeds. You never would have reacted so strongly to me simply telling you the tale. Seeing is belief, after all. I never would have dreamed that Timothy, after everything, would become so desperate for anything that he would willingly give himself over to me. I'm not so foolish to think that he will keep his word should you leave. Eventually, like a siren song, he will be drawn to seek you out. If he went to such lengths, he will be unable to give you up for long. If you stay...I need not worry. There is nothing more for him out there otherwise. He is well aware of the bed he has made. They may not yet know of his sins, but I am certain he has no doubts that things shall come to light eventually. Afterall, as the saying goes- three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."
And Jason is stuck- he knows he is. Because Ra's is right- no one has ever done anything like this for him, and it's unlikely anyone else ever will. He can't leave Tim at the man's mercy after all of this, or be the reason Ra's wages war on Tim sometime in the future.
He should be dead. Twice over. But he's not- and he's just been floating around aimlessly for a year now, before he made the mistake of treking back to Gotham, starting all of this.
He can do this, this one thing he's good for, and keep Tim safe. He owes him that much- after absolutely everything.
With this scenario...Ra's is unlikely to kill either of them. At least, not permanently.
Worst comes to worst, he and Tim take the bastard out, once and for all, some point down the line.
For the sake of not going on, and on, and on in an ask and not fic form:
Jason says he'll stay. The shadows are ordered to uncuff him, but he's not permitted to leave the room.
Ra's returns to Tim's chambers, and he of course insists on seeing Jason, so he has proof that he's alive and in one piece.
Ra's brings him to Jason- and to Tim's shock, he gets the entirety of Jason up in his business, curled around him, a living wall between him as Ra's.
He expected anger- vitriol spewed at him for subjecting him to the pit a second time. Instead Jason clings to him, and wants him as far out of Ra's reach as he can manage.
Everything happens fast.
Neither are used to that amount of attention, the devotion, they fall into it hard.
Ra's lays things out for Tim bluntly, what he expects of him, his duties, his role.
He reveals that with Tim secured as his next heir, his next step would be to prune Talia's branch from the bloodline- that he will not relent in regards to his own daughter...but given the circumstances, he's willing to leave the fate of her get in Tim's hands.
Tim of course insists Ra's not so much as touch Damian. They might hate each other, but he doesn't wish him dead, and he certainly would do that to Bruce- to Dick.
Which of course leads into the reveal of Heretic, and all the spare parts clones sitting in vats.
Tim's a special sort of horrified.
Ra's assures him that this was all his daughters doing- after all, the pit was far less crude than growing parts. He expects the pardoning of Heretic, and his mingling into the guard- sentimentality being what it was, and the brute not having the mentality to pose anything more than a physical threat.
He does not however expect Tim to order the clones be spared, for them to be released from their pods, given agency, taught. He warns Tim of the foolishness- but Tim brushes him off.
Ra's worry is misplaced- because Tim treats them with kindness, with care. Like actual children. Assassins- Ra's insists on their training, their utilization as added guard for Tim of course, but children all the same.
And Tim- he doesn't often do things the way Ra's expects him to, but he likes the surprise. Tim keeps him thoroughly entertained.
And Ra's- he eventually drops the posturing. Tim is more adept, more interested in League happenings and projects than Talia or Dusan ever were.
He still has to make the more unsavory calls- Tim still refuses, has reservations, and he's certainly not giving Todd any power. But it's nice to take a step back. Relax. For the first time in ages.
Tim is...confused. But pleasantly surprised? Because once Ra's got what he wanted, the creepiness levels dropped tenfold- no more attempts to sic his relatives on his dick, no more flirtatious undertones to his speech, no more bad touch hands on his shoulders, his arms, his thighs.
Instead it's meals, tea, katas. Games of chess and go. Musing over holdings, League plans, property acquisition.
He wonders perhaps, if after everything, Ra's had just been lonely- yearning for enrichment, intelligent conversation.
Because Tim expected far, far worse when he essentially sold his soul to the man.
Eventually of course, the others would figure out what has happened... But that's a story for another time.
Does anyone remember this one jaytim fic where it was tim joins batfam late technically, he has a night food truck and thats his vigilantism. The waynes have a restaurant business, and the whole fic is like 20 chapters, 100k or some shit, and nearly entirely focused on the politics of food in community??
I love that I share my house with one of the most efficient apex predators millions of years of evolution could produce. I love that two of nature’s most prolific machines met and were like “hmmm. We should lay around and do nothing together”. Now we’re both fat and happy and full of meat. The hedonism of it all
Humans keeping cats and dogs as family members is like three prodigy assassins being introduced in the back of a shady nightclub and 45 minutes later they’re 6 crunchwrap supremes deep passing a blunt in the back of a shag carpeted Volkswagen microbus rating Oreo varietals by fuckability
tumblr users have the unique ability to string together sentences never before seen in all of human history and yet they conjure up such specific visceral imagery that you can’t help but be a little in awe. and i think that’s beautiful
The response to these jumper cuff repairs has been so wonderful. I know visible mending isn’t for everyone, but I think that picking out colours from the rest of the jumper for a more subtle finish has made the idea of a visible repair way more appealing. I guess this is just a reminder to say, visible mending can take whatever form you want it to!
Batstuff I guess?? @blueshadesfandomstuff - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
