#batfic

[bribats]

Seasons - The Whole Fam, I guess?

Birthdays brought baggage for the Waynes:

For Bruce, whose parents were gone, and whose children were scattered like dandelion seeds adrift on the wind.  

For Dick Grayson, who had too many families to manage between Gotham and Bludhaven, the Titans, and more. Too much love, for far too many.

For Jason Todd, whose family was small, and far, and he hoped smart enough to realize he’d never reach out on his own.

And Tim Drake, who only wanted his after it was gone.

Even for Damian Wayne, who only wished for a single slice of cake and an annoying butler. 

[bribats]

Myth - Damian Wayne

Damian Wayne grew up surrounded by the sort of history most men called myths. Dragons, and assassins. Ninjas and warriors.  Resurrection.  Even demons. Both the kind with an uppercase D and lower.

He was raised on the impossible.  So when Alfred walked through the front gate of the newly-rebuilt Wayne Manor, dressed as impeccably as always, he wanted to believe it was real.  He wanted to let himself – for just a moment – believe that Alfred had, miraculously, found his way home.

And why not? Todd had been spared from death. Father, too.

Unfortunately, The imposter didn’t give him the chance.

[bribats]

Sea - Tim Drake

The alley awash in blood, thick and raising higher as the city’s drainage system and the onslaught of rainwater refused to wash it away.

Still the bodies came, hungry, clawing, forcing him to fight back in ways he’d never wanted to.

His bo staff hissed through the air, sending a small girl – and more blood – sailing.

This was how he died? Alone, in an alley, surrounded by zombies?  This was going to be the thing that finally broke him?

No.  Tim Drake refused the notion. After all, if he didn’t survive – didn’t find a cure – all of humanity was lost.

[bribats]

Throne - Damian Wayne

Damian Wayne had a build made for sitting on thrones.  He was neither large, nor imposing, but compact and deadly as an asp, or his mother. His muscles stayed lean and tight along his length   Not delicate – far too deadly for delicate – but refined. Perfected.

Regal.

“You will rule the world, my son,” his mother had promised.

Sliding into his seat at Wayne Enterprise, waiting for yet another insufficient board meeting in a room of insufficient beings, he couldn’t help but wonder how he’d fallen so far off the mark. How he’d gone from a throne to an office chair.

[bribats]

Sentimental - Jason Todd

Bruce was the sentimental one.  Or so Jason tried to tell himself as he tiptoed through the manor, as quiet as he could manage with all his unfortunate bulk.

He was the one who needed the grand gestures.  The vintage watches restored, the photo albums updated on the sly.  He was the one who cared.

Jason was simply indulging the old man.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t let go. That he still wanted to belong in the family photos. That he needed proof that he’d mattered once.

It was pity, that was it.

Pity, because Bruce was a lonely man.

[bribats]

Necklace - Tim Drake

His mother unearthed the ruby on a dig, fat and glossy, with a depth that made him dizzy if he stared into it too long.

His father had it set in gold and adorned with diamonds.  Fancy.  No, not fancy – the name for that over-done style his was something else.

Ah! Baroque.  Gaudy, but historically accurate.

It was supposed to be pretty, but it had a funny feel to it, like it was looking into his head. Like it was reading him.

“That’s not a toy, Champ,” his father clucked, pulling the stone from his hand. “Now, go get dressed.”  

[moviequotesthatdontexist]

AU where Dick never gets fired as Robin.

He ends up dying the same way Jason would have. Joker->warehouse->bomb even though its not in Ethiopia. (Maybe something related to Haly’s)

Bruce gets reckless and violent. Tim Drake is too young to help. Batman dies alone without back up.

Batgirl never recovers from her fatal shot to the spine. Jim sometimes thinks she died of a broken heart.

Jason Todd grows up in Crime Alley. He’s so angry and so kind. He ends up taking over Two-Faces gang (Harvey turns himself in after hearing about Bruce’s death). The Red Gang is vengeance and justice without mercy.

Tim Drake is alone without many people close to him. He builds a computer network with informants and cameras surrounding the city. He calls himself Red Robin to honor the people he admires most.

Damian never comes to Gotham as Talia sees no reason to send him to that Godforsaken place.

[bribats]

Passion - Dick Grayson

Dick Grayson sat at a small table in a small coffee shop, clutching a drink that might as well have been all but a thimble, feeling as small as the drink.

Yeah, so he’d been impulsive.  Had chased down his own desires instead of thinking about other people’s feelings.

Perhaps selfish.

But hadn’t he earned that? Hadn’t he earned the right to be a little selfish?

To spread his wings, figure out what really made him happy?

To chase a passion that had nothing to do with Bruce, or Batman, or his family tragedy?

Didn’t he get to live, too?