𝔊

— 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒊 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅ˎˊ˗

[spotgeedoll]

Hii I just wanted to pop in and day that I LOVE your neglected reader series. I was just wondering if you’d ever write about other characters

💕✨😊

yesss, I will write, but I choose to write one at a time because otherwise I get lost in the stories and lose my focus/what I had decided on for the story. I have several ideas for one-shots with other characters and even with the Bat-Fam for later!

[spotgeedoll]

Blue as can be

#002

Platonic!Batfam × Terminally ill!Neglected!Reader

"You're a big girl now."

synopsis: you're dying and you're okay with that, but the family that's been ignoring you since ever isn't.

warnings (tags): f!reader, angst, neglect, smoking, Dick is delusional, idk just tell me if a miss something, not reviewed work may have wrong grammar.

You leave the hospital with a thousand thoughts swirling in the gears of your brain. Variations of imaginary scenes of you telling your family about being sick make your stomach churn.

Cold hands quickly reach into one of the smaller pockets of your bag and take out a loose cigarette that a friend gave you before heading home, lighting it with a match that you always carry with you and which is almost finished.

Ben never met your father in person, so it would be easy for you to just hire a man with blue eyes and black hair and say that the media puts filters on photos before posting them or maybe just say its an uncle of yours on your mother's side — Why are you trying so hard to keep your family from finding out?

You take long drags of your cigarette as you walk briskly to the bus stop. Gotham at night isn't as fun as you'd hoped and you can already feel eyes on you, not from paparazzi though.

Somewhat you're grateful that your father wasn't very fond of you, ever since the media realized that, they haven't scrutinized your life or followed you everywhere you went. You can just do silly teenage things without worrying about someone taking pictures or telling your father.

Otherwise, feeling eyes on you in this city that weren't paparazzi could only mean that something worse was. You're used to it; the goosebumps of walking through the streets alone.

The bus arrives quickly, thank God. You get on the bus and sit near the door, putting your headphones on low volume, never completely blocking your hearing and prevent people from talking to you; it's a habit. You hate not knowing what's going on around you.

Carefully, you observe the people getting on and off the bus until you reach your stop, which isn't that far from the manor, just a few minutes' walk. With each step bringing you closer to home, your heart beats harder against your ribs and anxiety courses through your body.

You hope you're not smelling like cigs or fear, you don't know which is worse in this house, that thought alone makes you decide to go all the way around the yard to enter through the staff door that leads to the end of the kitchen.

The light is on but there's no one around so you go to the sink to rub the tips of your fingers, silently rehearsing what you're going to say to your father.

"Are you staying for dinner tonight, young master?" A sudden voice makes you jump slightly, stealing a 'Jesus!' from you. You glance around the kitchen and find Alfred standing in the doorway with folded cloths that appear clean.

"Who is around today?" You answer his question with another question, which means your answer depends on his answer.

"Master Tim and Master Damian are in their respective rooms, Master Duke is finishing the patrol report from which he just returned, and your father and Master Dick are in the study." He places folded cloths on the counter and smooths them out without much else to do while informing you.

"Dick is here? Did something happened?"

"I do not know, young master. Will you stay for dinner? " Alfred repeats the question, with one decibel less of patience. Sheesh, he must be upset about something.

"...I already ate with my friends." You speak in an attempt not to irritate him further; you wanted to ask if your father and brother will be going to study but as soon as you open your mouth, he does to and when you don't keep going he takes is as a permission to continue.

"You’re always eating out – why not have a meal at home? Maybe you should start having dinner here. It’s healthier. "

"If you think I'm getting fat just say so." You try, miserably, to make a joke that is met with a raised eyebrow and not even a slightest smile. You awkwardly just leave the kitchen and go to your room.

As you walk through the corridors of the mansion, you enjoy observing the details of the traditional gothic decor that makes everything seem somewhat old but with small touches of modernity, you must say, whoever designed this house deserves an award.

Upstairs, where the bedrooms are located, all the doors are closed—except, surprisingly, for the door to Dick’s old room, whose owner —that rarely returned to— would emerge with a few papers in hand. He double glanced at you before nodding with a 'Hey'.

Looking at him, you realize that even though he's adopted, he has some similarities to Bruce, both physically and in personality. And he was of legal age. And in Gotham City.

You hate thinking about it, you hate even considering the idea, but it's definitely better than sitting down and asking Bruce 'always busy' Wayne for something. You bite the dry skin of your lips as he walks past without looking at you. You know that if you take too long to do something, you end up giving up so you just blurt out.

"Are you free tomorrow?"

He stops at the head of the stairs and looks back confused, must have thought he was hearing things. When his eyes land on you and fall on your fingers, that are nervously fidgeting, he clears his throat.

"Damian and I have plans after lunch."

"Are you going to spend the night?" You point towards his room with your eyes. Your heart was pounding too hard for a conversation with your own brother.

"Yeah."

"Can you come with me to the doctor tomorrow morning?"

He stared at you in silence, he seemed to be pondering as if it had some strategy behind it. — Is it really that difficult to decide to take your younger sister to the doctor? — You stifle a laugh when you think about it; what a strange hero.

"Aren't you a big girl now? Ask Bruce to sign one of those permissions and go alone."

Oh.

This made you more annoyed than it should have been; you inhale enough air to make your chest rise and your tongue run over your teeth, when the air came out Dick was almost certain that red smoke came out of your nostrils.

"I've already tried, Dick, and I still need to go with someone."

This time, Dick was certain that the word being spoken wasn't his name, he unconsciously swallowed hard. It was new for him to see you angry and he clearly doesn't want to see it again, the way you were looking at him just now made his heart skip a beat. He didn't like that one bit.

"Okay, fine. I'll take you." He felt slightly embarrassed for almost stuttering in the face of a teenager's anger. And you weren't even that scary, he just didn't like the way you... were treating him?

He thought you would feel uncomfortable going to the doctor with him and asked just because... he doesn't know, he doesn't know why would you ask him to go with you other than you wanting him there.

"Thank you." Your voice comes out without much emotion other than irritation, Dick's hand moved on its own toward you while his brain struggled to form a sentence or a word to reach you before the door of your room was slammed shut.

Dick didn't know why he wanted to reach you. You are his sister, yes, but you were never really close. He always thought you were shy and cute as a child, but he was so focused on his grief and dead parents at that time, he didn't want you to get hurt because of him, so he decided to create a barrier that neither of you bothered to break later.

Maybe you just wanted to break that damn barrier now but you're so shy you didn't know how to approach him, deciding to take him to a place that you thought would show him that you trust him and that you see him as a brother.

And he almost let it slip because he's an idiot.

A young voice takes him away from his delirious daydreams.

"What are you doing standing there?" Tim asks, coming down the steps and overtaking Dick.

"I was- I mean, she..." He takes a deep breath and shakes his head before following Tim. "I came to pick up some reports from Bludhaven to show father."

"Cool, can I take a look?" Tim grabs the papers from Dick's hand, following without even realizing the sequence of paintings on the wall that led towards the study while ignoring his older brother's pleas to 'give them back'.

On the other hand, you were trying to drown out the noises that the headache was bringing to your ears, noises so loud that they were affecting the labyrinth, making you dizzy.

Stumbling over shoes thrown on the floor, you make a mental note to put in place later, you try to get to the bathroom where you keep small bottles of naratriptan tablets that you got through a forged prescription from Ben.

It broke your heart doing it, but he didn't want to give you the pills, and you learned to forge signatures as soon as you realized Bruce wouldn't remember to sign permission slips for school trips.

You take just one pill this time with tap water, try taking a hot shower to lessen the pain and make your body nice and soft, perfect for melting into bed and sleeping until the pain goes away.

It feels like it's a blink of an eye when you lie down in bed, a second later the sun's rays pierce through the window which curtain you forgot to close, hitting your body, you must look like a corpse the way you threw yourself in bed last night.

The clock beside you marks seven in the morning, great. You look at the ceiling and go over what you have to do this saturday, the agonizing memory of having to introduce Dick to Ben floods your brain.

Ugh. Something bitter, that is not morning breath, settles in your mouth.

Pondering whether or not to take a pill to prevent the headache you know you're going to have, you brush your teeth leaning against the bathroom door. You realize you can't decide and stuff the bottle in your sweatshirt pocket.

You just swap your sweatpants for cargo jeans and put on the same sneakers from yesterday, not forgetting to spray cologne and deodorant. You grew up surrounded by males who slink around in Gotham's sewers mixed with the hormonal odor of puberty; you hate stench more than anything in the world.

Outside your room it's quiet as always, sounds only start to appear near the dining room where everyone who slept in the manor gathers for breakfast.

On a normal Saturday you'd sneak out the front door to have coffee with the Reillys, spend the day playing board games or watching old movies with Ben, or exploring new shops and cafes with Cat.

But this isn't a normal saturday, it's a hellish saturday. One where you pray to be the only one you have to do this.

Don't get it wrong, you don't hate your family. It's just uncomfortable; you are not close.

You walk into the dining room and the conversation continues as if you weren't even there. The only people there are Tim, Damian, Duke and Dick. You don't see Bruce, last night must've been rough.

Titus, Damian's dog, is the only one to greet you every morning waiting for a hidden treat until Dick sets his eyes on you; you can feel nervous sweat trickling down your back.

"Good morning." He smiles; he always smiles—it's almost as if the enraged boy you once knew is buried beneath those smiles.

The bad thing about that smile is that everyone at the table now looks at you. In silence. Why.

"Did you sleep well?" Even with headphones on, after noticing the bags under your eyes, Duke was the next to greet you.

"Morning and yes, I did." You don't even sit down, you just grab an apple. "Let's go."

"I'm having breakfast." Dick shoves a piece of pancake into his mouth and you struggle not to roll your eyes. "You should too, that apple won't hold you until lunch."

"Where are we going?" Damian cuts through the conversation like a truck with a newspaper laid out on the table so he can eat and read at the same time.

"We?" Your eyebrows, furrowed in confusion, force an reaction from your older brother. "Dick!" Your voice grows louder, complaining, annoyed.

"What? I was thinking of including you in our afternoon plans, you never hang out with us."

It's not like you guys call me, you think, not daring to say. "I have plans with my friends." Bullshit, a bullshit they do not need to know.

"You're always with your friends." Tim somehow thinks he's involved in the conversation.

"Because I have friends."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tim grimaced, offended.

Why are they so determined to annoy you today? Why are you so annoyed today?

You take a deep breath, thinking about staying calm. You then tug lightly at the sleeve of Dick's shirt and lower your voice.

"I really want it to be just you and me. It's a very...personal thing."

...

"Okay, let's go. Damian, wait here, I'll pick you up later." Dick barely finishes chewing the rest of the pancake, standing up so quickly that even you are a little startled.

"That was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen, and you do a lot of pathetic things, Grayson." Damian doesn't take his eyes off the newspaper for a second, scoffing with raised eyebrows. An exact copy of his father.

Dick didn't seem to care about the child's words and gestured for you to follow him. The car he took you in was one of your father's many, ridiculously low and small.

The first few minutes were relatively good, the music on the radio was nice, and the apple you were eating was sweet.

"How's school?" Dick lowers the radio volume; you almost curse him, it was a new pop hit song. It was rare to hear one of those on Gotham radio stations.

"Fine." You don't really look at him, preferring to gaze at the gloomy buildings along with the workers who wake up early on weekends.

"You're in your senior year and you say it's just 'fine'? Come on, I know there's more than that."

"It's not like I'm going to tell you that there is a science fair and you are going to show up."

A moment of silence is broken by Dick's awkward laugh and an 'ouch' under his breath.

"It's not like that, I know you are busy and have your own life and that's why you don't show up, I'm not blaming you."

"No, it's fine, I know I haven't been the best brother to you, I deserve it."

You don't know how to answer that, just stay quiet, for the best you think. Dick thinks completely the opposite when he realizes that the address on the GPS isn't the same as the one he's used to seeing.

"Why don't you just go to Dr. Thompson?"

"Didn't want to waste her time and make father worry for nothing."

"You know dad wouldn't mind."

"Who knows." You shrug.

"I know that.You know that."

"Yeah, sure."

His breathing becomes different; is he mad about it? You wonder why while the rest of the ride is accompanied only by the sound of music from the radio among with nonstop drumming from Dick's fingers on the steering wheel.

Relief fills your lungs when the hospital appears and you can finally get out of that car that seemed to get smaller with every meter it drove.

As you pass through the automatic doors, familiar faces of receptionists break into smiles upon seeing you, you whisper for Dick to sit in the waiting room while you confirm the appointment time at the counter.

"Miss Wayne, so early today."

"Hey, Jude." You smile at the receptionist with blond hair and notice his hands, a big shining ring on his finger. "Oh, Nick proposed? I thought it was next week."

"You knew?" Jude's smile grows a little more.

"Of course I knew, I helped him buy the ring." You wink, holding his hands. Jude and you, actually Ben's team and you, have known each other since you started going to the hospital. Ben and Cat would have small get-togethers at their house with wine and cheese at the end of the month so the team could relax, you were invited after you started having sleepovers there and naturally became close to everyone. "Is Ben here yet?"

"Yes, he scheduled the first appointment for you." He types quickly on the computer before confirming to you—that can't hold back a murmur of 'of course he did'.

Jude's eyes keep returning to Dick, even if unconsciously; the thoughts in his head are perceptible.

"My older brother."

"Oh wow, I thought it was you-know-who."

"He wishes to be that young again." Jude's laugh makes Dick snap his eyes from a magazine he found under a chair and frown. A wave is all it takes for him to get up and follow you down the hospital corridors.

"How long have you known these people?" Dick asks after about three employees greet you in the elevator.

"Ever since I started coming here for medical porpuses."

"Like since...?"

"A while." You shrug before opening the door of the last office in the hallway. "Morning, sunshine."

Ben is hunched over the computer, squinting even though he's wearing glasses. Both you and Cat have already told him to see an ophthalmologist to get a new prescription, but he stubbornly refuses.

"Hello, young lady." He says before taking his eyes off the monitor. As soon as he turns to you and his gaze falls on the man beside you, both eyebrows rise and he stands up from his chair with a polite smile on his lips. "I didn't know Mr. Wayne was so young."

"I'm the older brother, Dick Grayson." Dick smiles at Ben's little joke before they shake hands.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Grayson, I'm Doctor Ben Reilly." Ben sits down; you notice he's wearing the tie you gave him for his birthday last year and a suit that Cat said made him look younger. His hair was perfectly combed, and your nose caught the scent of cologne. "May I ask why isn't your legal guardian here, young lady?"

"He was busy, Dick is his right-hand man so anything you say to him will eventually reach my father." Dick frowns, you both know that is Alfred still you avoid the question marks over his head as much as you can.

"Is that so?" Ben's tone was slightly passive-aggressive.

"I'm sorry, it seems our father's presence was required here, is there something that he should know?" Dick could hear the moment you swallow hard when Ben's eyes lay on you.

"You didn't tell him?" Ben asks rhetorically, taking his glasses off.

"I didn't know how." You defend yourself even though you know Ben is incapable of being truly angry with you.

"Tell what?" Dick's voice caused you and Ben to turn your necks, you downwards and Ben towards Dick. Ben turns the monitor towards Dick.

"A few years ago we discovered unknown masses all over your sister's body. We performed biopsies, and they were all malignant." Ben pointed out the tumors on various parts of your body with a pen; they were quite ugly.

Dick's body leaned forward, his eyes passed frantically through the screen, absorbing as much information as he could.

"Luck must have seen our desperation and paid us a visit; overnight all the tumors were gone. Everything was clean." Ben opens new images, this time it's all clean, your body completely healthy. "Then the symptoms reappeared." Ben opened new images and there were tumors again on the screen, larger and darker. "I would like you and the people who live around her to start paying attention to the symptoms, and if they worsen, they should also seek treatment."

Dick's hands cover yours, comforting you even if you're not distressed. Ben continued. "Some of the symptoms may include sudden seizures, weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, loss of consciousness and acute mental confusion due to the brain tumor; the rest of the body may experience nausea and severe pain in the bones, joints, and muscles."

"It seems advanced."

"It must have undergone some kind of mutation, getting used to whatever took it away the first time."

"Chemotherapy should be immediate, shouldn't it?" Your brother seems like a real adult now. He takes over the conversation, and you decide to drift off into your own thoughts, wondering what to do with the little time you have left.

You know they're talking about treatments but you don't listen to anything, you see Ben pulling out pamphlets about potential nursing homes if nothing else works out; Dick's hands squeeze yours lightly once the pamphlets are slid to him. Everything seems to be in slow motion.

You know Ben would never let them take you to a nursing home, he's just following medical protocol, but your heart aches just the same at the possibility of him abandoning you to die far away from him and Cat.

Time passes, and you only realize the conversation is over when you're already back at the car.

You don't remember saying bye to Ben or Jude, what if you were rude? You hate being unintentionally rude. The memory loss was the worst part of the brain cancer—besides the dying part—your memories get jumbled, disappear, then come back. It's agonizing not knowing what's happening or what has happened.

"You knew you were sick and didn't tell anyone?"

Oh boy.

"I knew how to solve it, I didn't see why I should tell anyone."

"And how did you solve it?" It looked like an interrogation and you were on bad terms with the police officer.

"I went to Talia Al-Ghul."

"What." The car stops so forcefully that you almost hit your head on the side of the car door. "You did what?"

taglist: @lettucel0ver @littlepotaaatosimp @junimosa @siharasand @xoxoangellll @chatidekanymore @am-110 @theflowersoughtbythecrimsonrain @asparagushaerin @dustybustyy @marcelemry @kwrtig @swiftfissurearchivist @zekesilvertl @esposadomd @fanficlover2902 @luminence @thesweethoneygirl @schwi2u @sarah-luz @faceless-creature @absolutelystunning23 @neverending-animelove @depressed-but-make-it-cute @potterhead0928 @prongs-moon @k-tsuyuri @emoidtee @baileybae05 (I tried my best, but some accounts say it doesn't exist even without typos. I'm sorry to those who didn't receive a notification.)

authors note: I honestly don't know if this chapter is long or short; it felt a bit rushed, but I couldn't find another way to write it. I also need to expand my English vocabulary; I feel like I'm repeating the same words over and over again, and it annoys me. I'm sorry; I'll try harder in the next one. <3 I saw a lot of people in the comments saying that the best option would be Alfred, and I realized it really was when I was writing, but I already had a whole script of Dick finding out about it, and I wouldn't know how to continue without that part of the story. I think the relationship with each of them will be described in due time, and if it doesn't develop as much within the main story, I can create side stories because I'm not going to leave anyone in this family out. Sorry for the delay too, this chapter was supposed to come out over the weekend but suddenly my liver decided it was my time and I was in and out of the hospital all week and I'm a bit of a perfectionist freak who rereads the same paragraph two hundred times looking for the tiniest mistakes, which I must have missed and you'll probably find. Thank you for the support in the last chapter, I really thought only I and two other people would end up reading it but many people came to this encounter. Thank you once again for reading this chapter. Let me know if you liked it and what you think will happen next! See you soon <3

[spotgeedoll]

Blue as can be

#001

Platonic!Batfam × Terminally ill!Neglected!Reader synopsis: you're dying and you're okay with that, but the family that's been ignoring you since ever isn't.

warnings (tags): f!reader, angst, neglect, found family, idk first fic ever just tell me if a miss something, not reviewed work may have wrong grammar, it is kind of long (don't know many words).

You've been sick for a while now, three years or so. It all started with a migraine that never ended so you went to the doctor. Not Dr.Thompkins, a doctor who did not have any involvement with the Wayne family, someone who couldn't contact any of your siblings or father, and like an angel Dr.Reilly showed up.

A grumpy old man, he was surprised when he noticed that you were very independent for your age, your father signing papers for you to go to medical appointments alone. He thought that because you're rich, you would be spoiled and annoying, then he opened to you like a flower in a couple of days after seeing how much of a smart person you are.

It was just a migraine, you needed the pills for the pain so you could go back to school and not bother anyone in between that.

But of course it couldn't be that easy. Dr. Reilly didn't want to give strong pills to a fourteen-year-old, so he tried some treatments for stress and anxiety. None worked, and other problems began to emerge: extreme fatigue, constant vomiting, rambling, memory and weight loss, emotional lability.

When the results came in, it was everywhere; brain, lungs, liver, and right femur. Dr. Reilly gave you a death sentence, six months, a year if you're lucky. He looked at you like he was ready to mourn you, he felt sorry for you.

Honestly, three months and he's become more attached to you than he should have. After all, you appeared to him as a teenager with headaches, questionable friends, and family problems you didn't talk much about. A smart girl with a bright future ahead of her.

"Don't worry, I will be just fine." Was what you told him. He didn't know the great ace up your sleeve you had; your next step was to visit Talia Al-Ghul. Damian's mother.

The visit was quick, a brief exchange of 'how are you?'s and chit chat about Bruce and Damian before getting to the main point. "I'm dying, of cancer. Can I use the Lazarus Pit?"

Talia's eyes widened; even though you tried to appear calm, the mere fact that you had resorted to the pit showed how desperate you were to live. She eventually allowed it, giving the excuse that she's only doing it because you're taking good care of Damian and you're Bruce's daughter and she is afraid of what he can do if he loses another kid.

Oh, only if she knew.

You thanked her anyway.

After the pit, your eyes turned a certain shade of green but only lasted a couple of hours. You repeat the tests, and the following month you go back to the Dr.Reily and you're hugged by a miracle; you don't have cancer anymore and a bonus, you seem younger!

"What did you do kid, a pact with the devil or something?" Dr. Reilly jokes, delighted by the test results; he's happier than any doctor would be for a patient.

"Or something." You smile back before noticing the way he hesitates slightly, as if gathering courage to say something.

"We should celebrate that. My wife really wants to meet you, do you want to have dinner at my house tonight? Cat makes the best salmon gratin, if you like that sort of thing."

He pretends indifference but he is obviously anxious when you take a few seconds to answer, when you accept, his cheeks turn slightly pink and a relieved smile spreads across his face. He tells you to wait until the end of his shift so he can take you home; you try to convince him to at least let you change clothes to look 'presentable' for his wife. He answers that 'there is no need, because you're already perfect.'

Not in that weird way, the way fathers talk to their daughters. The way your father never talked to you.

The ride was fun, he put on music that you said you liked, and sang along with you even though he didn't know the lyrics very well. And when you called him 'Doc' he said 'Oh, just call me Ben.'

His house was the american dream kind of house, white fences and rose garden. A big dog waited at the doorstep and almost knocked Ben over at the entrance; a delicious smell of homemade food filled your nose as soon as you finished playing with 'Buddy'.

"Oh my, so you are the girl Ben talks about so much." An elegant woman steps out of the kitchen. In her hand a big shining diamond and her neck in a pearl necklace. "I am Cat Hardy" She quickly shakes her head. "I mean, Cat Reilly. Still trying to catch on the new name."

Ben gives Cat a quick kiss, whispering a small 'I missed you,' they're a cute couple. Newlyweds, apparently, which surprised you. Ben seemed such a bitter man at first, now he's more of a sweet, wrinkled, happy man.

"Both of you, wash your hands before sitting at the table." She points to Ben and you going back to the stoven.

"Yes, ma'am." Ben salutes before showing you where the restroom is.

"So, Ben talks about me." It's the first thing you tease Ben about when you sit down at the table, which is laden with food: salads, corn, rice, grilled salmon, french fries, juice and a lot of other things.

"You have no idea, when your test results came back he spoke with all his oncologist colleagues and stayed up all night searching for researchs to help you." Cat reached for Ben's hand when she noticed his ears had turned red, giving him a proud smile.

"Well, it is my job as your doctor to find any ways to help you! But I wasn't of much use since you healed yourself." He timidly explains himself before quickly changing the subject to how delicious the food was and that they should eat it before it got cold.

The rest of the night is filled with stories from both of them, from before they met each other, and how it seemed 'fate' for them to end up together. You listened attentively to every sentence while stuffing your mouth with food, hoping that moment would never end.

It did though, you needed to go back to the manor before someone called you, which was unlikely but not impossible. You know how much of paranoid your crazy family is.

Dinner nights at the Reilly's house, however, continued to happen, more frequent each night.

One of those nights got too late to go home through the dangerous streets of Gotham, so Cat asks you to stay the night. When she shows you the supposed guest room, it's decorated with things you like. The color you like, changes of clothes in the style you wear, even full of DVDs of your favorite artists.

These sleepovers are also becoming more frequent; you always text Alfred 'spending the night at a friend's house, no need for dinner.' so he doesn't worry and you come back to the manor the next night after going shopping with Cat.

You didn't want to admit it, but it was too nice hanging out with her. She gave you so much advice about clothes, boys or slash and girls, about college and the future as well. It was like having a mom.

When you're not with Cat and Ben, you're with your friends. A group of five, you guys got close in school, having similar problems, you helped each other however you could. Most of the time it meant getting drunk with cheap wine in an abandoned park after school, venting — often crying — about your problems and seeking advice. Everyone doing their best to stay away from home for as long as possible.

Talking about home, the manor never really was a 'home', for you, it was just a place to shower, sleep and change clothes.

Your biological mother left you at The Wayne Manor gates when you were just a few months old, with a letter saying 'I'm not in a position to take care of her right now. Since she's also yours, do a good job and raise her well until I get back.'

But Bruce really didn't want anything to do with children at that moment; he was training to become Batman. But his soft heart couldn't resist, he heard your baby noises when Alfred picked you up after the paternity test came back positive and told him 'Buy her a crib'.

After that, your father never had a conversation longer than five minutes with you. He put you in school as soon as he could and left you to stay in between the shelfs on the hallways of the manor, occasionally picking you up to show you off at galas.

You never really blamed him for not giving you much attention; in fact, he was 'forced' to take care of you at a relatively young age, and he didn't really want to have children at that time.

Alfred was a nice guy, he cleaned you and dressed you until you could do it yourself, but he was never a 'father,' much less affectionate. He was more interested in Bruce and his purpose, and that you wouldn't interrupt or get in his way. So, for you, the loving old man that your future siblings considered family, Alfred Pennyworth, was just an employee who slept in the downstairs room, a nanny.

Then your brother, Richard 'Dick' Grayson, arrived. The perfect one, the wonder boy. Bruce's greatest blessing, he saw himself in Dick. Dick was older than you, smatter than you, better than you.

He was usually angry, and you tried your best to be friendly. Come on, you had gained an older brother! You should look out for each other; you're family. But his focus was elsewhere, he was Bruce's partner, not yours. So gradually you just became polite to each other, waving from time to time.

After he left, you sent him invitations to your school plays and science fairs in case he felt like it, but he never showed up or replied to any messages. Like, ever.

Bruce, however, couldn't stay alone for long, and since you weren't good enough for him, he brought a boy off the street, Jason Todd. Oh, you adored him. He was this ball of happiness, jumping around and helping you to do your homework. He is your brother.

You hated when Bruce grounded him for, as you say, not acting like Dick enough. Was he reckless? Absolutely, but he always did the right thing. He was just a kid, a good kid; Bruce was the idiotic one for expecting maturity from him.

Then he died. He left you alone in that damn cold house with a sad inconsolable Bruce, that, as the great father he is, left you to rot in that place alone, going through grief completely unsupported, only to show up 'some time later' with a new, improved version of Robin.

When Tim came, you got so mad. He let Jason die and wants to drag another child to a similar fate just because he's smart? Well, what can you expect from someone who let them put 'Good soldier' on his own child's tombstone.

You understood the purpose of Batman and Robin's work, and that's why you hated yourself for being upset at your father for giving it more attention, but how could he be so cruel? They were all a bunch of kids.

Even hating the situation, you couldn't bring yourself to be mean to Tim. Always following the rules of good neighborliness even when he blatantly ignored your presence.

You didn't know how to react when Tim showed up with a weird girlfriend, Stephanie Brown. You always thought he would end up on the other way, but you were happy to see a girl around. When they broke up she still hanged around for a while and showed up sometimes, you two never really talked so you don't have thoughts on her.

To be honest, you thought your father ignored you because misogyny, unfortunately, is still deeply rooted in society, and he thought you weren't good enough because you were a woman, but after Cassandra appeared, you realized the problem was only you. He didn't wanted you to be his daughter, so after that you stoped trying so much for him to feel like your father or getting irritaded because he doesn't want to act like a father to you.

They seemed to have a stupid bond between them, understood each other type of shit. Good for them. None of them talked to you very much. You read a little about her past in Bruce's files in the Batcave and felt sorry for Cass enough to know that she needed time to become comfortable, learning to express herself through words. You always smiled at her, though; she was kind of cute and your new sister. She wasn't obligated to reciprocate your feelings, but the least you could do was be kind to her.

You've heard Jason is back under the name Red Hood and is a criminal, your brother who was sunshine is now a crime lord who's returned from the dead. And he didn't even think to visit you or call and say 'I'm alive and well sis, don't worry.'

You were right to feel selfish towards him, after all he was all you had, but you also couldn't blame him, he was tortured and killed and then brought back to life, he had the right to be in his rebellious and cruel era.

Afther a while a breaking news happened and you couldn't hold back the 'You should start using protection, you know, it's the first thing you learn after the human reproduction chapter in school' when Bruce showed up with Damian, which elicited a tired sigh from him. Wow, minimal interaction in almost five months, a new record.

Damian looked you up and down and decided you weren't relevant enough for him to speak to you, so you also decided he wasn't relevant enough. Over time, you had some small discussions about inheritance and who is worthy of what. You didn't engage much because if you stop applauding a crazy person, they'll leave, but this little gremlin never leaved.

So annoying, but still, your brother, a child who grew up with assassins and has Bruce Wayne's blood that explained that way of his. You eventually forgave him mentally for being unbearable and having weird thoughts about heritage, even though your father is alive and healthy...ish.

Then your father disappeared and came back, and—get ready for the surprise—he brought another boy to the manor. This time a metahuman. Duke Thomas was nice and polite, waved "good morning" when you were going to school, and always asked if you were okay when you came home, made small talk from time to time. The only person in that family who had the knowledge to socialize with other people who were now his family. You liked him; he made you feel at least a little seen in that manor.

None of them knew much about you, and you also made little effort to find out about their lives; you understood that everyone had their own reasons and traumas for being the way they are, so you didn't interfere or cross lines.

Getting upset because people don't look at you when everyone else's life is miserable is just childish. You were rich and intelligent in a world where people starve to death from poverty; you were going to survive being ignored.

You never told any of them when you got sick because you knew the quickest way to solve the problem. It was just cancer, nothing too serious. You either died or survived, there is no in between that.

Three, almost four years later, Ben still makes sure you're healthy; makes you eat vegetables and fruits, keep up with your checkups, and even exercise with him so you can motivate each other. So you hated it when he called you to his office with a sad face after you vaguely said you were feeling big headache again.

He shows you new imaging tests and it is back. You think you repeated the question 'what?' more than five times already. It isn't possible. The pit should have saved you, cured the damn cancer.

"I know you've always handled everything on your own, and honestly..." Ben sighed; you could feel the indignation and exhaustion trying to leave his body. "I held back a lot from reporting your father for negligence because you asked me not to."

He types some things on the computer and turns the monitor towards you. "The first time you got sick, I did some research on your situation and found some good new procedures that at the time were just ideas, but now can really help you."

You nodd along; his words seems to go in one ear and out the other. You are still wondering what the hell went wrong in the pit. That thing is pure magic; how did that strange mass manage to defeat fucking magic?

"But you need an adult guardian preferably who is a family member to accompany you." That alone snapps you from your internal questioning, your eyes quickly meeting his. You wrinkle your nose in denial and cross your arms. "Don't give me that look, these treatments are expensive and not very well known, and you're still a minor."

"Only for a week. Besides we can pretend we are father and daughter, we did it before." You shrugg, anything would be better than informing your family that you were sick.

"Your name ends with Wayne in it, and where would I get four million dollars a month from?" The side eye he gives you is almost offensive.

He quickly relaxes his facial muscles and returns to the worried Ben from the beginning of the conversation. "I already told you they're expensive. You know I wouldn't ask to see your stupid father for nothing."

"I'm not doing it, let me die already." You throw your head back dramatically, hoping Ben to at least chuckle.

"If you don't call someone responsible for you, you won't be having dinner or sleeping at my house anymore. And no shopping with Cat."

"What?! That's so unfair! I have cancer, you can't deny a cancer girl anything!" You almost jump out of your chair, accidentally hitting the table too hard. Ben just gives you a look, and you sit back down and murmur a small 'sorry'.

"The cancer card doesn't work for me, young lady. Bring that man here tomorrow; the sooner he knows, the faster we can get treatment and the faster you'll be cured."

You groan in irritation and stomp out of the office; it's late afternoon and the sun is setting. You should get home soon. Who the hell are you going to call?

Fuck.

Authors note: Hii Gee here, I had this idea a while ago and it's the first time I'm writing it down for everyone to see, forgive my english it is not my first language. I recently became obsessed with the Batfamily and I love angst and the neglected!reader trope, so I brought my version! Tell me if you liked it, but please don't tell me if you didn't. Don't know how tumblr works but i like it here, be kind!