Damian who was raised by Jason to love Shakespeare and the classics, he quotes them often in everyday life, very few catch the references but he doesn’t mind. He doesn’t mind that only Jason can understand certain parts of him.
Damian who realized his love language is physical touch through Dick. His head rests on his shoulder during breakfast, his legs thrown over Dick’s lap during movie night, his head rests on Dick’s stomach after nightmares he dare not speak off whilst a soft hand cards through his hair.
Damian who measures his success through his father’s smiles. How full and real they are when Damian gives him a hug, how soft and loving they are when Damian gives a birthday gift. How unintentional and natural they seem whenever he looks in his youngest’s direction. The instinct in his heart to feel joy when he looks at his son. That’s what Damian strives for, he hopes the smile he gets is different than the ones his siblings receive.
Damian who learns to grow through Tim. He learns to let go of his past and shine a new when the other Robin teaches him to skateboard. Old scars from dark pasts get covered by scraps from pavements and tree climbs. His eyes trained to track his prey now look through camera lenses and telescopes and discover beauties he’d never appreciated before today. His formerly blood stained hands now multicoloured with oil and acrylic paints. He stares at his paintings of Gotham’s skyline, painting based on the first photograph Tim had him take on his precious camera, and the shackles of his past lose most of their weight.
Damian who discovered his appreciation for quiet when with Cassandra. His siblings, he loves them of course. They are always so loud, but when he sits in the corner of his sisters ballet studio built into the manor, he feels the peace and tranquility of the quiet room, save for the soft patters of Cassandra’s pointe shoes. The quiet allows his heart to slow down and his mind to relax. He also thinks Cassandra isn’t a half bad dancer.
Damian who laughs without restraint with Stephanie. She reads his mind like it’s her favourite novel. She knows when something is wrong before anyone (including himself sometimes) can notice. She knows what makes him tick, how to make him giggle like an idiot, how to make him let go of his deepest darkness and let himself feel the release of the life he formerly knew. He doesn’t remember the world can be cold with her, when all she does is bring warmth every step she goes.
Damian who learns to be humble through Duke, someone who can easily understand his point of view whilst also telling him to get his head out of his ass. “I am a prince-“ to which Duke cuts him off “you’re no prince here, Lil D, go do the dishes.” As the studs bubble on his skin, he hands Duke the plate to dry, and the normalcy of life begins to wash over him again.
Damian who learns to care through Alfred. Not to care as in human emotions, to care for someone else, despite his emotional inadequacy. He learns what teas are best for what illnesses and that scenting a warn hand towel with eucalyptus oil or lavender oil helps the family relax more when sick. He learns every one of his family members prefers a different soup and home remedies for their own illnesses.
Damian who is completely unrecognizable to the boy he was when he moved to the manor. And he believes that to be a good thing.
In the Danny is Damian’s brother trope what if instead of Damian not telling the family about Danny wasn’t because of grief or shame or any of the more commonly used reasons for his silence. What if it was because he heard about how his father talked about Jason after his death, focusing and exaggerating the negative. That he was violent, angry, never listened to orders but in some iterations and popular fanon is that Jason was a cheerful and studious Robin.
What if while compiling info and researching the former robins during his tumultuous introduction he saw what kind of robin Jason was, good with kids and victims. Talking about his favorite books while on patrol and similar. Reminding Damian of his most Beloved brother.
Then he finds out about how Bruce talked about Jason after he died. Using him as an example as what not to do, erasing his good traits and just using him as a cautionary tale of what happens when you don’t follow orders. Just like what Ra’s said about Danny.
So he didn’t tell the family, not out of guilt or grief. But because his father stripped away Jason’s positive traits after death, the son he chose, adopted and loved. Who when he failed because he was a child led astray by his mother. What would he do to his brother, who loved the stars and excelled in stealth, who was quite in his kills but had no lust for killing.
Whether or not Bruce would do this to Danny’s memory doesn’t matter. B’s actions are gonna affect how Damian views his father even years after the initial actions. Because Damian will protect his brothers memory from being twisted even by their father.
This!!! That’s could be a reason as to why Damian is so continuously antagonistic to Tim! But I have more thoughts now!!!!
————
“Todd how do you not find it distasteful?”
Jason looked up from his book at the kid who hadn’t even looked at him since arriving, “what do I not find ‘distasteful’?”
“How this farce of a ‘family’ treats the memory of the dead? You may have been resurrected, but their disrespect of your past even still is heinous.”
Marking the page and setting the book down on his lap, Jason took a deep breath willing the Lazarus pit to the back of his head. What ever bothered the kid so much to come to him out of anyone in the manor must mean something, “What are you on about kid?”
“Drake,” Damian spat like it was nasty on his toung, “ spoke of you as if you were some usurper to the greatness of Grayson, that you were a horrible Robin. How Father,” he spoke the title with the same amount of venom, “acted as if you were some delinquent he was forced to leash, who died during an attempt on your life at the hands of your birth mother and a mad man. How they treat you death as temporary it may have been as your fault for being a failure instead of…” Damian paused.
If Jason didn’t know how prideful Damian was how closed off he was he would think Damian was holding back tears.
“Instead of a child trusting his mother to do right by him.”
Oh shit those were tears. Damian and him had hardly interacted for the month Damian was here. What made Damian care so much about someone he didn’t know… unless it wasn’t about Jason or at least not entirely.
Trying to sound as soft and understanding as he could Jason asked, “Damian what is this really about? You were raised by Ra’s and Talia I doubt they taught you about respecting the dead. So what are you actually talking about?”
Damian seemed to pause emotions flickering across his face as he thought about what he was going to say.
“Swear on your life that what I say will never be told to anyone else.”
Well not what Jason was expecting but like hell he was gonna discourage the kid from actually expressing himself. “I swear on my life Damian, nothing will leave this room and it’ll stay between us.”
Damian nodded and stiffly took a seat on an armchair near the couch Jason was sitting on.
It took Damian a moment to start speaking, in a quiet voice so different from the one he used as he declared himself the blood son, “I had a twin brother-“
No other sentece could metaphorically knock Jason on his ass like that one did.
“-the two of us were given the honor of watching grandfather rejuvenate himself in the Lazarus Pit, mother… Danyal… and I were farther away from the pits incase grandfather resurfaced with madness. He came out screaming, he killed the servants at the edge of the pit then came at us. Guards attempted to pull the three of us back but grandfather already had Danyal by the throat. I tried to get to him but the guards held me back, and I watched. I watched as He held him up and choked him before slamming him the the floor. And began beating him.
“I don’t know how long it took for grandfather to stop. For Danyal to stop fighting back. And mother did nothing. Just watched with indifference. Grandfather left to clean himself of the blood. Mother put my brother in the pit to heal him. He sank into the water.
He didn’t come back out.”
Jason and Damian sat in silence.
“Grandfather said he was weak, that he couldn’t fight back against him was disgraceful, that the pit took as a sacrifice, so at least he was useful. Mother said he cared too much about his flights of fancy than training, that he was unfocused, and wouldn’t have survived much longer, he was a failure in every aspect and that I should be nothing like him.
“But he learned faster than I was. He was creative, solving problems quicker and in a different fashion each time, he loved the stars and we would climb to the rooftops together and he would tell me the stories of the stars, he gave scraps of meat to the vultures he encountered on the roofs. He knew more languages than I do. He could hide in the shadows better than anyone I knew, he killed without mercy but was never casually violent. In quiet moments he was gentle, gentle to the birds at are window, gentle with me. He excelled at everything he did and Mother wiped it all away, Grandfather said he was undeserving of the Al Ghul name.”
Jason connected the dots the way Bruce, Dick, and everyone else treated him and his death.
Only useful as a sacrifice to the pits.
A soldier to Batman’s crusade.
Jason moved to crouch in front of where Damian sat. Telegraphing his movements as he pulled Damian into his lap.
“Your brother, Danyal, right? He sounds wonderful.”
Damian sobbed, a quiet strangled sound proceeded by ugly wet ones into Jason’s chest.
Damian was afraid that the rest of the bats would do the same thing that Ra’s and Talia did, the something the bats did to Jason.
“Thank you for telling me Damian. I won’t tell anyone about Danyal but if you ever want to talk about him more I would be honored to listen.”
Welp. This is in my brain now. For better or for worse. So here you go.
———
A little while after his conversation with Damian Jason starts standing up for himself. Not physically, but verbally. And if he’s defending someone else too, someone they don’t even know, then that’s just between him and his youngest brother.
“I was just a kid you know.” It’s an off the wall statement made after one of the increasingly more common shared patrols. And is has the rest of the Bat Clan looking at Jason in confusion. Jason, for his part, is standing by his motorcycle, looking down at the helmet he’d just pulled off with a frown.
“What?” And that’s Dick, confused, but prompting. Always wanting to be there when one of their siblings open up.
“I was just a kid,” Jason repeats, looking up from his helmet to frown at them. “I’ve heard about what you lot said about me before I came back, and I’ve heard plenty from all of you now, but before all of this—before The Joker—I was just a kid from a bad home in a bad part of town. I didn’t really care about being a vigilante. No big goal or vengeance planned like Dick Wing had when he became Robin. I was just a kid that wanted his new dad to pay love him. To pay attention to him. And since all his time and focus went into being Batman then the best idea I could think of to get that attention was to become a part of that world.
“So I did. And it worked great! At least until it didn’t.” He looked back at his helmet. “I wasn’t ever a very good Robin. Too much Crime Alley in me I guess. So when an awful guy died on my watch well—” he shrugged and met Batman’s eyes then “It didn’t matter if it was on purpose or not. Because my dad wasn’t interested in listening to my explanation. He was convinced it was a sign I was too violent. Too volatile. So I was benched. I wasn’t good enough to be Robin. Too dark. Too dangerous. Too much of a kid from Crime Alley.”
Batman-no Bruce, the cowl is off and the man looks stricken, but Jason shakes his head sharply.
“Maybe that’s not what you meant it to be. But I was fifteen. That’s how I took it. So when I found out I still had a mother out there—someone who was supposed to love me no matter what— can you really blame me for running off to meet her? Sure it was dumb, but kids do dumb things all the time! Angry and hurt kids especially. So I ran away from home to find her. And was brutally murdered for my troubles. For daring to reach out for the person who *should* have cared about me above all others.” He sighed, placing his helmet ok the handles of his bike. “Just something to keep in mind.”
“What-what brought all this on?” Tim sounded a bit lost, but he seemed better off than Bruce or Dick at least. Jason shrugged.
“Like I said. I’ve heard plenty about the things you and Bruce here said about me while I was gone. And Signal’s never been quiet about what he thought about me. So I figured I’d make sure you had your facts straight. I wasn’t some cautionary tale. Or some jerk rebel who ran off and ignored orders to cause trouble. I was just a kid.”
And with that, he turned and started upstairs, leaving a floundering family behind him. All but one. In the emotional chaos the others almost missed his their youngest darted up the stairs to fall into step beside the young crime lord. Walking close enough to brush arms.
Almost. Well. That might answer how he knew about some of the things that were said.
No one said anything about Jason's death for a week. Not in passing, not as a caution. It had been bad when they skirted around the topic before, only bringing up what he 'did wrong' when they needed a lesson taught. Now, though, it was like they couldn't look Jason in the eye.
He knew staying in the manor for so long was a bad idea. When the weekend came around, he was up at dawn. He knew Damian would be up this early, so he took a gamble and climbed to the roof.
"Hey, kid."
"Todd."
Neither spoke as the sun rose, lighting the sky first pink, then orange, the yellow, then blue. When the sky was fully covered in the blue of a new day, Jason spoke.
"I remember when I came back to Gotham," His voice was barely louder than a whisper. "I set up in Crime Alley as soon as I could, getting a safe house put together. You wanna know the first thing I did, though?"
Damian didn't ask, but he did raise an eyebrow, looking at his older brother from the corner of his eye.
"The first thing I did was sit on the roof of the clocktower and watch the sunrise."
He knew Jason was a sap at heart, but even this was a bit much in that picture. "Oh? Why?"
"It felt, I guess, like a new beginning? I don't know, really, how to explain outside of that."
"So don't." the child said.
Again, the two lapsed into silence. Again, it was Jason who broke it. "Come on, I've got a surprise for you."
Following his brother off of the roof, Damian asked, "Now? What is it?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it? And, yes, now. I'm kidnapping you for the day."
"This is hardly a proper kidnapping if you're giving me the option."
"Not an option, actually," he smirked, "Let's go tell Alfred so he doesn't skin me when we come back."
"Don't ever go into the kidnapping business, Todd, you'd get caught before you could begin."
Yeah, that was fair. Regardless, a quick relay to Alfred in the kitchen saw the two boys headed to the motorcycle Jason had left in the garage. A one seater, but Damian was small enough to fit on with him. Tossing the boy a helmet with instructions to hold on tight, the two sped off to Gotham Proper.
Under an hour later, because speed laws are suggestions not rules, Jason stopped outside a fairly decent apartment building. Decent by Crime Alley standards, but decent nonetheless.
"Why are we here, Todd?" Damian asked, watching his brother throw a dusty tarp over the bike that he'd hid in a dark corner behind a dumpster.
"I told you," he took the lead up the stairs, "It's a surprise."
Damian did not roll his eyes because that would be uncouth of him. He didn't groan or sigh, either. He did, however, quietly note that he was too old for surprises.
Jason's heart broke a little. Damian isn't even eleven yet. He should be given surprises all the time! This was just another reason why adults couldn't be trusted. They turn children into soldiers instead of letting them be kids.
The top floor of every apartment building in Gotham was empty because of the vigilantes that ran around at night. No one liked to be woken up at two in the morning to footsteps on their roof. So, Jason's apartment sat on the floor just below that in the corner apartment. There was no one directly below him and caution tape covered the door next to him. Ideal for sneaking in and out without nosey neighbors to worry about.
The apartment itself was simply decorated, but lived in. A couch and an armchair sitting in one corner with a coffee table. A broken TV on a stand opposite those with a bookshelf beside it.
The most eye-catching thing in the room, however, was a stool that sat centered on the window between the armchair and the bookshelf. Just enough room on either side for someone to climb through the window without disrupting it.
The stool had a black and white cloth over it, hanging halfway down the legs. On top of that were two candles on either side of an empty picture frame, a vase of carnations, and three cookies.
Rarely was Damian at a loss for words. "What-what is-?"
"From what I understand," Jason explained, not moving from behind and slightly to the left of his youngest brother, "Danyal wasn't laid to rest properly." he risked a glance over, "I don't think you even got to your properly. I know you don't want the others to know, and I know it's not much, but-"
"Congratulations, Jason," Damian didn't turn to look at his brother, "You're my new favorite brother." Jason smiled. "Thank you."
If they shared a hug, or if Damian cried, that was no one's business.
Danny's never had a grave. Not when he died in the lab. Not when he died because of his grandfather. Graves were sacred to ghosts. It was a sign that they were someone before. It was the anchor that kept them from losing themselves to their obsessions. Danny only lasted so long because of his human side acting as his anchor.
Graves, no matter the size shape, type, form, no matter if they're was a burial, a cremation, a funeral, a casket, or even just a memorial with a picture. As long as there was physical proof that someone alive was remembering the deceased, it counted.
Danny never got a grave. Not from his friends or sister who mentally won't accept that he died and still remains, in some capacity, dead. Not from his parents whether because they don't know like his adopted pair, or because they don't care like his bio mom. Not even his twin because his grandfather would have forbidden it because Danny was weak. It would not surprise him if the mere mention of him warranted punishment.
Danny knew he was unlikely to relieve a grave, not until he died a third time and hopefully stayed dead long enough for it to be acknowledged. So he could not help but gasp out loud when he felt a connection form with his soul. It was warm and it brought a sense of joy that Danny never felt before. He didn't know what it was, just that it was the cause of the happy tears streaming down his face. It wouldn't be until he flew to find Frostbite to ask about what it was that he knew that someone made a grave for him. Someone alive was acknowledging his death and remembering him. It wasn't anyone in Amity. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were the only ones who knew and they still won't face the truth so it had to be someone else.
Danny only knew one person outside of Amity that knew of him. Of his life and first death. Someone who was just introduced as the newest son of Bruce Wayne last week. His brother got out of the league and Danny plans.
I want Jason to just come home one night to find a slightly glowy Danny kneeling or floating in front of his little shrine, wistful and sad and grateful.
Danny probably didn't intend on being seen. Its still weeks, maybe even months before hes ready to see Damien. He just wanted to see his grave, follow the comforting little tugs, take in the serenity that is this display that he was is cared for. Isnt that what most ghosts would want?
This was the third time someone unnerving was in his apartment when Jason got home. The third time climbing the stairs filled him with an uneasy sense of dread. The third time Jason’s hand turned the knob slowly instead of just bursting into his own home.
But this was the first time he actually saw someone behind the door instead of an empty room.
A faint figure, clothed in grays of a similar cut to Damian’s assassin uniform. White hair wisping gently back and forth in the still air. Jason could still see the wall and windowsill through them, and questions of them being something not human immediately flooded his mind.
But then they… then he realized Jason was there, and the small lad’s head turned, and Jason was met with Damian’s face. The hair was the wrong color, and the eyes were a brilliant lazarus green instead of Damian’s emerald. But the nose was the same, and the rich skin, and curved jawline.
Danyal.
It was hard to mistake him now, especially when Jason noticed Danyal was sitting in front of the memorial he had made for him.
He hadn’t meant to summon Danyal with the gesture of respect, but Jason wasn’t mad.
“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to linger so long.”
Danyal spoke first, and white Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that he was faced with something incredibly dangerous, he also couldn’t help remember what Damian had said before about his brother.
In quiet moments he was gentle, gentle to the birds at our window, gentle with me.
Suddenly this figure wasn’t quite as intimidating as before.
Danyal continued before Jason could respond.
“This place is just… comfortable. It’s nice, and I… I just needed some time. I’ve never had a grave before. No one… No one ever made one. You’re Jason, yeah? At first I thought it was Dami that made it, but it was actually you, wasn’t it?... Thank you…? I don’t know how you know me, but… Thank you. It means a lot.”
“Don’t mention it,” Jason finally found his own voice and dropped his keys in their place. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you.” It was a statement. That sensation was too distinct.
“Oh? You noticed me before today? I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”
Danyal responded, but Jason didn’t like how it sounded and more memories of what Damian had said came to his mind.
Mother said he cared too much about his flights of fancy than training, that he was unfocused, and wouldn’t have survived much longer, he was a failure in every aspect and that I should be nothing like him.
“Don’t,” Jason almost scolded. Danyal didn’t need to do better at hiding. He didn’t need to be a better assassin. He wasn’t a toy soldier. “You’re welcome here anytime. Don’t worry about hiding.”
Danyal looked surprised, and confused. But eventually a pained smile softened the eyes once more. “... Thank you.”
________________________
ugly confused honks * 8'D I don't go here, but my sis reblogged this chain, and I like reading the lil DP+BatFam stuff she reposts, and this time the comment from @thenightwolf51 just wedged into my head too vivid for me to ignore.
I know Danny Phantom, but I don't know anything about DC other than the random stuff my sis reblogs and tells me about, and a few bits of the Wayne Family Adventures comic she shows me. She my bad if the charas are a bit off |D
When Danny's core cracks while escaping into gothams, he doesn't disappeared or dies, but accidentally split his personalities
He accidentally multiples into tiny misshaped pieces of his own personalities that became tiny lil baby ghostlings the size of a toddler.
Which they all scattered and ran, spreading around gotham like they were running from the devil(GIW) themselves were after him.
While main piece human formed danny with barely his conscious left is stuck with the only piece of his core as his main personality.
The feral back off if you love your fingers and I will beat you into the grave while i spew comback puns at you personality.
Not even 7 minutes in gotham, he already attacked 39 strange strangers, fourteen people in clown masked, torn some messed up rejected clown apart, a guy in a green suit and ? Staff, ate some buffguy ectoplasmic injectors tanks, only to now being held by the scuff of his itsy bitsy white and red nasa shirt by a bat furry man in black, who had several bite marks dents all over his suit, arms and torn on his cape while he still biting the bat shaped metal thingy. .
Meanwhile near crime alley, red hood had found 3 tiny white haired toddlers, one paranoid then tim himself, one clingy onto him saying I love you, and another one follow around crying a lot calling out for someone named jazz..?
Normal ghost cores are straightforward. They function as the center of a ghosts form. Their heart, brain, lungs, soul. One reason ghosts are so resilient is because their form isn't really there, just a shell or projection of a ghosts core self. This means that cores have a similar function to gems in Steven Universe, and if you force a ghost to retreat into their core, they can't re-emerge until they reimangine themselves. This also means that breaking a core breaks the ghost. No one has survived a core shattering.
But Halfas still have human bodies. They still have lungs and a brain and liver and everything else that keeps a person alive. If the core breaks, the body still lives, leaving room for things to mend and heal that other beings never get the chance to. That doesn't mean they're unaffected, though. See, a core IS a ghost, so while the body might be whole, the psyche? Not so much. And a halfa core breaking? No one's ever seen that before. No one knows what will happen.
What happens is that each piece of core holds a fragment of the self, which then functions as its own miniature ghost whose primary drive is self-preservation. After all, they can tell they're not supposed to be like this, that what happened to them should have killed them. So, each piece of core flees to where they think they'll be safest. But because each piece holds different facets of Danny's personality, they all have different ideas about where 'safe' is.
One piece finds Barbara and hides under her wheelchair and won't stop calling her 'Jazz'. One piece finds Nightwing during patrol and, upon hearing his puns, decides to follow him around giggling and cracking jokes all the while. One piece finds Damian tending to his animals and is reminded of Sam and hovers around his shoulders like a curious cat.(Damian treats him like one too and is rewarded with ghost purrs.) One part is rescued by Jason who mistook him for a toddler and broke the assailants kneecaps, and now has a ghost glued to his back, shivering in fear. One fragment makes its way into the Batcave and sees Tim on the computer. Etc. And Bruce?
Bruce finds Danny's physical body wandering around the back alleys, stumbling around. Fist fighting muggers and Rogues with snarky one-liners, but periodically spacing out as his body struggles to run with so little of its core personality left. Bruce is violently reminded of what Jason described his time on the Gotham streets were like when he first came back to life and bundles up the feral kid to get him treatment. The amount of swears coming out of his mouth is truly impressive. As are the canines that try to sink into his arms.
Jason startles as a stranger on the streets of Gotham takes one look at him, looks at him in absolute horror, and then runs to the closest dumpster and vomits into it.
Jason is mildly offended. He doesn’t look that bad does he?
—
Danny glances back to look at the undead staring at him on the sidewalk and nearly vomits again. His soul is shattered. It’s like looking at a human after being hit by a car at 60mph who’s acting like they’re perfectly fine as they walk towards you.
—
Jason approaches the stranger, one hand hovering over the shoulder of the guy and asks; “Hey man what’s your problem? What's the deal w-”
The once retching passerby moves imperceptibly quick. His hands go through Jason’s chest and before he can even react he feels something snap back into place.
Jason can barely remember screaming as he near instantly blacks out from the pain.
Danny panics as the man whose soul he just snapped the main fragments together is lying unconscious on the dirty alley ground.
Shit. Shit. Why the fuck did he do that?
It was impulsive and instinctual, everything in his core screamed at him to help this man.
His soul is still shattered, looking at him now it’s like seeing a man in the process of being treated by EMTs after getting hit by a car at 60mph.
Hundreds of tiny shards of fragmented soul still carefully swirl around the newly healed pieces like a malformed planet and its many warped moons.
Danny can see the shards gravitate closer together. Good. He managed to stabilize the core and its now going to start the long arduous process of healing itself. With the amount of damage that was done, he can’t even imagine the pain that he was already in much less the pain he will feel as the shards stitch themselves back together.
Movement shocks him out of his thoughts.
The man is starting to wake.
Shit. He needs to get out of here but he can’t just leave this man be.
Danny grabs a piece of cardboard out of the recycling bin that he thankfully didn’t throw up in. With shaking hands he snatched one of the barely concealed knives from the man he knocked unconscious because of his stupid stupid actions, and scratched “if you need answers” and his phone number into the mildly stained cardboard.
Danny placed the note on top of the guy and bolted, turning into the nearest alley and vanished, flying back to his apartment as fast as possible.
All he wanted to do was life a (semi) normal life here. Guess that all changes now.
(#danny mends jason's shattered soul and shit goes down.#bones writes#and the thick plotens#can you imagine how fucking painful it would be for each tiny piece of your soul to mend back together?#and how much more coherent and clear everything would be?#consider: Jason running to Tim or Dick thinking he got poisoned but whenever a part of his soul clicks into place#his eyes glow a bright toxic green. not Lazarus green. it’s less murky and muddy colored. it’s purer almost#the first few nights are rough. his brother watches as he screams and howls in pain as his soul hungrily fits itself back together.#each piece clicking into place feeling both like a chronic pain you’ve felt for years is finally gone#and that same pain hitting you all at once increasing forever in magnitude. it’s hell. it’s the best thing he’s ever felt. it’s torture.#it’s like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and he can finally breathe. it’s pure agony.#he’s never felt better but the process couldn’t hurt worse#what happens when his soul fully mends? he did die previously so does that unlock any abilities? that’s for y’all to write ;)#bones writes in the tags)
With each piece that clicks into place, he gets a new sensation that hits and feels differently than the last. Some are more intense than others, and some just make him feel winded for a few seconds.
Signal finds Jason writhing in pain on the outskirts of Crime Alley. He immediately calls for backup, and they get him back to the caves medical unit.
They do everything they can to ease Jason's pain. Tox screen came back negative for any poison that might have caused his condition, and painkillers have seemingly no effect. A second tox screen indicates that he is burning through the pain medication at almost speedster levels. So they get him on a heavy morphine drip and an epidural for good measure. Which seemed to help short-term during the worst of the pain bouts but made him loopy and incoherent in between.
While that is going on, the Bats have all hands on deck looking for clues on who hurt one of their own. They find the cardboard message and phone number close to where Jason was found and traced it to an apartment a few blocks away. When night falls, they will have their answers, one way or another.
Jason's soul shattered when Superboy punched reality. It simultaneously brought him back to life and irreparably broke him. The reason he stumbled around as a zombie was because of his shattered core, working on pure instinct because that's what the biggest central 'shard' had. The Lazarus pit acted as a glue that helped a few of the pieces stick together to give Jason consciousness again, but none of those pieces were supposed to 'go together l' so to speak. Like sticking a puzzle piece in the wrong spot, it left Jason/Hood unable to fully reform as some of his soul pieces will never be able to fit back together properly.
Here's the thing about mending souls. It is HARD! Danny as the Ghost King has a small bit of instinctual knowledge that allows him to break and mend a tiny part of the mess that is Jason's soul, but he's only started the process of healing. Here's the other thing. Souls aren't meant to shatter. They're a whole piece. Shattering would normally straight up kill you. The fact that Jason didn't die is because he was already dead when it happened.
Healing a soul is nigh unheard of. Only a few people have done it, and it was ALWAYS immediately after the soul had been broken. The fact that Jason has lived so long with that train wreck of a soul is nothing short of a miracle. And Danny healing it? Even more impossible than that. And infinitely more complicated. Jason has lived with his soul patched together for years at this point. Things have grown. Sharp Edges have smoothed. Tiny, disparate pieces have clumped together and fused into knobbly, frankenstein bigger pieces. His soul will never be exactly as it was before he died. It will be a horror show of scars and cobbled together parts. But by the end it will be better than it WAS.
Not that the Batfam have any idea of this. They just know that half the time Jason is screaming in pain, while the other half he cycles through grief stricken tears, homicidal rage at Bruce, Dick, and every other member(even Alfred, although this always devolves into Jason sobbing that he doesn't mean it), and giddy euphoria when the pain finally abates for a moment and he feels better than he has since that fateful night. The euphoria is always the worst for them because Jason always acts so like his former self. He ACCEPTS HUGS and laughs and talks about the magic of Robin, and it never lasts. Dick is ready to kill whoever did this to Jason. Yes, they've all watched the footage from the alley. Yes, they've cleaned up the video enough to see the blank horror on the young man's face right before he plunges his hand into Jason's chest(obviously some sort of meta). They all can tell this wasn't planned. The boy just wanted to help. But that doesn't change the fact that he's not dealing with the fallout of Jason swinging through every emotion as his soul pieces itself together piece by agonizing piece. Every single one of them wants to put the fear of GOD(Or just the Batman) into him.
Do the Bats call in a magic user to take a look at Jason when all the toxicology comes back negative? If they do, do any of them realize that Jason's soul is finally healing? Does Danny ever try to check up on Jason? Sure, the initial intervention was instinctual, but he'd want to check up on his 'patient' eventually. Maybe Danny can even help speed up his recovery! Yeah! That's what he'll do!
It isn't until Nightwing almost decapitated him that he remembers he's being hunted by the Batfam.
For one reason or another, Danny is now living in Gotham and working in a coffeeshop. For one reason or another, Tim frequents the same coffeeshop.
Now, both of them are honest to god messes who treat sleep like a grave enemy. Meaning they both survive on coffee, spite, energy drinks, and their respective hyperfocuses.
They don't even talk, really, they just see each other from time to time: Tim knows the barista who looks like he's been dead for weeks is named Danny, and Danny knows how to make Tim's Death Wish with his eyes closed, but other than that, they are just strangers who largely don't care about each other.
That is, until one time after his patrol, Tim comes to the said coffeeshop in his Red Robin gear. He doesn't even think about it, he simply needs coffee. He comes to the counter. He orders. His voice is tired and emotionless. He just wants his coffee and maybe stare at a wall for a few hours until his brain reboots. Danny takes his order without even looking at him. He has been sitting and staring at a wall for a few hours, night shifts are literally killing him.
They are both so done.
Red Robin waits for his coffee. Danny makes it almost automatically, his mind elsewhere. The coffeeshop is empty, save for them two. It's four in the morning. Nothing feels real.
Danny sets the cup on the counter.
"One Death Wish for Tim," he says out of a habit, not fully registering they are alone, and he doesn't need to do that.
Tim takes the coffee without thinking, nods a silent 'thank you'. Brings the cup up to his mouth-
And notices a glove on his own hand.
He is in Red Robin get up.
He freezes and looks at the barista, who is cleaning the coffeemachine. Danny, noticing him looking, also looks back at him. Did he make the wrong order? He knows Tim's soul, he's seen it a lot, he couldn't have mistaken him for anyone else, but maybe he forgot to add syrup?..
There's a domino mask on Tim's face. A vigilante domino mask.
They stare at each other. No one moves. No one blinks. The sun is rising somewhere over the city.
Tim takes a sip of his coffee. Danny goes back to cleaning the coffeemachine.
They never speak of this again, but Tim becomes a regular here in both of his personas.
one of the reasons i dislike fanon jason calling tim "replacement" because it doesn't have the same drama as canon Jason calling him "The pretender." For those who don't know UK history, the pretenders are the false claimants to the throne, James III/VIII and Charles III who were the son and grandson of the exiled James II. Both tried to place themselves as the monarchs of the UK but flopped in battle. So Jason calling tim the pretender is so so petty and definitely intentional from the writers. Its less of "you replaced me" and more of "you can try to replace me but everyone knows ur not the shit."
Which kid is gonna cost Bruce the most in legal fees when they get caught? Everyone has a different suspect, but Bruce has set a considerable retainer aside for Babs due to all the illegal shit she gets up to, which occasionally involves foreign governments and the CIA. She also only bothers to update him once a blue moon, so Bruce's imagination runs wild as he patiently waits for and dreads the arrest warrant and subpoenas.
Kate Kane makes an impromptu visit to talk to her favorite cousin, Bruce Wayne... While he's on a date with Selina Kyle. Isn't she so considerate? (excerpt for future chapter about them going to bar mitzvah):
Kate casually walks past the tables of a high end restaurant, a few patrons noticing hee unkempt attire. She makes her way to Bruce's table.
Kate: Cuzzo, you won't-
Bruce: How did you get in?
Kate: I told the guy up front I was your disgruntled mistress and I'd stab him if he stopped me from confronting you.
Kate and her cousin look at the nervous reservation man.
Bruce let's out a long sigh, covering his face with his hands.
Selina: So I'm not the other woman? Cool.
Selina takes a sip of her wine.
Kate: Love your dress, Selina. You dumping him soon?
Selina laughs.
Selina: You're not my type.
Kate: He is?
Bruce: Hey, so why are you actually here? To embarrass me? Because it's not going to work.
Kate: I have to try harder, well anyways I got a few things wrong about our cousin Linda's son's son BAR not Bat mitzvah. First, I got the name wrong, apparently the girls have a bat mitzvah.
Selina: Linda was the one who stabbed her husband with a poker from the fireplace?
Kate takes Bruce's wine glass and sips from it.
Kate: No, that was our great aunt Susanna, Linda was the one who hit her husband with a car.
Selina: After he slept with her sister?
Kate: That's the one. Wow, cuzzo she's a good listener.
Bruce has his head buried in his hands.
Bruce: She said she'd do the same to me.
Selina: I said it was on a list if you ever betray me.
Kate: I love you a little bit more every time you say something like that.
Selina: Aww thanks.
Bruce: Can you just say why you're here!
People from nearby tables stare at the three with Bruce blushing in embarrassment.
Kate: Right, okay so the BAR not bat mitzvah is going to be at that event hall that's near the lake you took Damien to for the summer, the color for the outfits are blue because Linda, crazy woman she is, demanded it and her son is terrified of her, so get a blue suit and what else... Oh Lenny will be there and he's a vocal batman truther.
Selina: Batman truther?
Bruce: They think Batman is a mystical entity and that's why he- not me- is always lurking in the night.
Selina giggles, sipping from her wine.
Bruce: It's not funny because he won't shut up about it.
Kate: It's pretty funny. Hey, Sel, you should go with us. Then cousin Linda will ask you a bunch of evasive questions about your criminal past, it's a good laugh once you realize she's... Batshit insane.
Selina: I am free-
Bruce: No, no, you are not coming. Kate leave. Thank you for the information but I need you to go!
Kate: I think I successfully embarrassed you and you're welcome. Remember in two weeks we go to synagogue. I know churches scare you because you're a baby, but at least try to step foot in this one.
Bruce blinks with contained anger not responding.
Selina: That means he'll do that.
Kate: Good and it's at 3, but we'll be arriving late. I'll take this steak from ya as well.
Kate takes the plate Bruce was in the middle of eating. He accepts it with a disgruntled look.
Kate: Oh and this-
Kate slaps her cousin against the face with enough force he falls to the ground.
Bruce: What the fuck!
Kate: I LOVED YOU, YOU BASTARD! YOU CAN HAVE HIM, HE'S BROUGHT ME NOTHING BUT GRIEF!
Selina (playing along): Yes get out of here, he's mine.
Kate: Good riddance.
Kate dramatically leaves as Bruce recovers and sits back at the table. The patrons look on with different reactions, some shocked, some disgusted with Bruce Wayne being a cheater and about two old men nodding in approval.
Batman watches from a distance as Dick Grayson (10 years old) aka Robin at the time punches killer moth and insults at him in Romani.
Robin (Romani): Tu bi-laćho, ćororo, nasul manuš! Nikada na phen godo pa miri dej! (You worthless, stupid, ugly man! Don't ever say that about my mom!)
Batman: Do... Do you need any help?
Killer Moth attempts to punch the young boy, but screams as Dick bites his arm.
Batman: Yeah, let me step in.
Batman walks over and grabs the young boy as the kid flails his arms.
Batman: Robin? Robin? Robin?!
Robin (blinking as he calms down): Yes?
Batman: Go wait in the batmobile. You're not in trouble, but I can cuff Killer Moth from here.
Robin: Hm... Okay!
Robin is placed on the ground and runs to the batmobile. Batman sighs happily.
Batman: Usually I'd tell him to reign it in, but I'm proud of him.
He looks down at the twitching and cowering Killer Moth.
Batman: Maybe don't insult someone's mother, especially when they're my sidekick. Asshole.
Anyways obviously the only correct way to have Deadpool in the spiderverse is if there's just one Deadpool. And he keeps ending up in different universes causing shenanigans but it's always the same Deadpool. He switches art styles/appearance depending on universe. The go-home machine can't figure out if he even has a home universe. (Believe me Miguel has tried.) He hits on most age-appropriate spideys and then hits on their MJs too. Villains in most universes seem to inexplicably know him, or at least know of him. He keeps getting kicked out of HQ. He's 100% aware that all this logic only works because it's an epic crossover and the writers wanted it that way.
time travel fanfic idea where Jason comes back to before he was adopted, him and Batman still meet and he still ends up being adopted by Bruce Wayne, but he just refuses to acknowledge Batman and Robin, he acts like a civilian boy, he has over thirteen extracurriculars that Bruce does his best to keep up with. He regularly works out and trains all the fighting he's learned over the years, he goes on a gap year before college to recuperate the all blades and pretends to be the civilian in a family of crime fighting vigilantes.
He's doing pre-med and keeps nagging his siblings to go to college too (Cass, Tim), Duke is the one who spends more time with him bc everyone else is nocturnal and sleep through the day, but Jason likes to drive Duke to his classes and pick him up so they can have lunch together, Damian had a hard time at first, because Jason speaks every language that he speaks and all bat related things have to stay at the cave, his league training didn't prepare him for a civilian brother.
During an attempted kidnapping during one of the Wayne galas, Jason's whole plan almost gets blow up because one of the guys has taken a woman hostage and his Red Hood fried brain just pounced on the dude with all his might, wrestled him for the gun and kept him stuck under his boot with the gun pointed between the guys brows.
He had to pretend to be scared when Batman came to the rescue and act like he didn't know how to handle a gun.
+ Alfred 100% thinks Jason was on a children gang and that's why he's so good with knives, guns and rifles, but who's he to say anything about people's past
pixelskylines
areudirty
