alien! batsib! reader headcannons
content batfam & alien! Reader, bruce adopts reader, gn! reader, mantis-like powers (guardians of the galaxy), platonic batfamily x reader, fluff, mild hurt/comfort, sunshine reader, starfire-inspired reader, adoption, homesickness, grief/trauma references (mild), jason's death/trauma implied, bruce's childhood trauma implied, mild mentions of violence/crime
characters bruce wayne, dick grayson, jason todd, tim drake, damian wayne, duke thomas, stephanie brown, cassandra cain, clark kent
masterlist
Wc 4k
bruce finds you after a justice league incident where you crash-land in gotham, immediately touch his arm, gasp, and say, “You are very sad and have not slept since the age of eight.”
you are painfully sincere, extremely emotionally perceptive, and have no idea how earth customs work.
you tell people their “internal weather” is gloomy. you call lying “verbal camouflage.” you think handshakes are strange because humans “briefly trap each other’s fingers to prove they are not enemies.”
bruce wayne
Bruce acts calm about adopting an alien child, but internally, he is absolutely spiralling.
He reads every alien biology file the Justice League has. He makes contingency plans, dietary charts, safe-room protocols, emotional support protocols, and probably a binder titled “Alien Child: Unknown Customs, Known Needs.”
You call him “Father Bruce” very formally at first. Then “Bat-Father.” Then “Dark Dad.”
Then, after watching him brood on a rooftop, “My beloved nocturnal tree of sadness.”
Bruce pretends not to like this.
He loves it.
You can sense his emotions, so his whole “I’m fine” act collapses immediately.
Bruce: “I’m fine.”
You, touching his sleeve: “You are experiencing grief, guilt, back pain, and the emotional flavour of wet stone.”
Bruce: “...”
You: “Also hunger.”
Alfred: “At last. Someone useful.”
Bruce is extremely protective of you because you’re new to Earth, but you’re also weirdly powerful, so half the time he’s protecting Gotham from your enthusiasm.
You once accidentally levitate during a charity gala because someone complimented your outfit, and your joy “became too large for gravity.”
Bruce calmly puts a hand on your shoulder and says, “Feet on the floor.”
You beam. “Yes, Father Bruce.”
The press loves you because you answer questions too honestly.
Reporter: “What’s Bruce Wayne like as a father?”
You: “He is very loving but pretends to be furniture.”
Bruce nearly chokes.
dick grayson
Dick immediately decides he is your emotional support human.
You adore him because his emotions are bright, warm, and acrobatic.
You call him “Brother of Flips.”
Dick: “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever called me.”
He teaches you slang. This is a mistake. You start saying things like, “That villain’s vibes are rancid,” and “Father Bruce, your coping mechanisms are not slay.”
Dick is so proud.
He also teaches you hugs, high-fives, fist bumps, and dramatic entrances.
You love hugs. You become terrifyingly good at them. Like, emotionally healing bear traps.
Dick notices you can sense when people are hiding sadness, so he gently teaches you boundaries.
“Sometimes people aren’t ready to be read,” he tells you.
You take this very seriously and start asking, “May I perceive you?”
Dick cries laughing the first time.
You become one of the only people who can get Dick to admit when he’s overwhelmed.
You simply sit beside him and say, “Your smile is doing too much work today.”
That gets him every time.
jason todd
Jason does not trust you at first.
Not because you’re an alien. Gotham has weirder things on Tuesdays. He doesn’t trust you because you’re too sweet, too open, and too good at seeing through him.
You touch his hand once by accident and freeze.
Jason immediately pulls away. “What?”
You stare at him with huge, sad eyes. “You are very angry. But underneath it is a small boy holding a crowbar-shaped shadow.”
The room goes silent.
Jason: “Don’t do that.”
You: “I am sorry. I did not mean to open your sorrow cabinet.”
He avoids you for three days.
Then you show up at his apartment with soup because you sensed he was “emotionally crunchy.”
He tells you to leave.
You ask if that is “a real leave” or “a wounded animal leave.”
Jason hates that you’re know the difference.
Eventually, he becomes one of your fiercest protectors.
He teaches you swear words and then gets offended when you use them incorrectly.
You: “This soup is bitchin’ with despair.”
Jason: “Close enough.”
You think Jason’s helmet is wonderful.
You call him “Red Bucket Warrior.”
Jason: “Do not call me that in public.”
You, immediately at a Justice League meeting: “Red Bucket Warrior has arrived!”
Clark loses it. Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose. Jason considers exile.
Secretly, Jason loves that you’re never scared of him.
You once tell him, “Your anger is loud, but it does not make you monstrous. It is only pain wearing armour.”
Jason leaves the room.
Later, he brings you a book and says, “You might like this.”
That’s Jason for I love you, kid.
tim drake
You are fascinated by Tim. You think he is “small, fragile, and powered by forbidden bean water.”
Tim says he’s not fragile. Then he passes out standing up.
You scream because you think he has “entered death mode.”
Tim becomes your Earth Culture Tutor, which is deeply ironic because he’s barely functioning as an Earth citizen himself.
He explains memes to you. You misunderstand them constantly.
Tim: “So ‘no thoughts, head empty’ means—”
You: “Ah. Like when Father Bruce attends a social event.”
Tim: “Exactly.”
You and Tim become dangerous together because he has plans and you have zero impulse control.
Tim: “We need a distraction.”
You: “I will scream in seventeen languages.”
Tim: “That could work.”
Bruce, over comms: “No.”
You adore Tim’s detective brain. You call him “Brother of Many Tabs.”
Tim pretends to hate it, but he changes your contact name to Alien Gremlin and yours for him is Sleep-Deprived Oracle Bird.
You can sense when Tim is anxious before he says anything. You’ll quietly hand him a weighted blanket, coffee, or sit beside him without touching.
He appreciates that you learn not to pry.
One night, Tim asks, “What do I feel like?”
You think carefully and say, “Like a candle pretending to be a lighthouse.”
Tim is silent for a long time.
Then he says, “That’s actually devastating. Thanks.”
damian wayne
Damian declares you suspicious immediately. “You are not human.”
You gasp. “You noticed! You are very clever.”
Damian does not know what to do with sincere praise. It disarms him more effectively than any weapon.
At first, he sees you as an intruder.
You see him as “small blade brother.”
Damian: “I am not small.”
You: “You are emotionally small in a way that bites.”
Damian: “Tt.”
You adore his animals. Titus loves you instantly. Alfred the cat tolerates you (which is high praise). Bat-Cow accepts you as kin after you solemnly bow and call her “Honoured Milk Beast.”
Damian pretends not to like you, but he starts teaching you about Earth animals.
You take everything literally.
Damian: “This is a robin.”
You: “Like Brother Dick? Was he once bird-shaped?”
Damian: “Unfortunately, no.”
You are one of the few people who can make Damian laugh accidentally.
You once ask if murder is considered “bad manners” or “illegal seasoning.”
Damian laughs so hard he has to leave the room.
Eventually, Damian becomes quietly possessive of you as a sibling. If anyone insults your alien habits, Damian appears like a tiny storm cloud with a sword.
“They are adapting. You are merely stupid.”
You cry because that is the nicest thing Damian has ever said to you.
He panics. “Do not leak from your face. I defended you adequately.”
duke thomas
Duke is one of the easiest people for you to be around. His energy feels steady, bright, and grounded.
You call him “Sun Brother.”
Duke actually loves it.
He helps you adjust to Gotham because he knows what it’s like to enter the Batfamily later and feel like everyone else already knows the choreography.
He tells you, “You don’t have to become like them to belong here.”
That hits you hard.
You ask, “Even if I am strange?”
Duke smiles. “Especially then. This family runs on strange.”
You and Duke bond over light. Your alien biology reacts to certain kinds of sunlight or starlight, and Duke’s powers feel comforting to you.
Sometimes when you’re homesick, he sits with you at sunrise.
No big speech. Just warmth.
You tell him his light feels “like a door remembering it can open.”
Duke gets quiet. Then he says, “That’s beautiful.”
You grin. “I am very wise before breakfast.”
stephanie brown
Steph adopts you emotionally within five seconds.
She calls you “space bestie.” You call her “Purple Joy Warrior.”
She teaches you about waffles, glitter, sarcasm, prank wars, and reality TV.
This is catastrophic. You become addicted to makeover shows and start rating villains by “emotional renovation potential.”
Joker: “Why so serious?”
You: “Because your aura is mouldy and your outfit lacks narrative cohesion.”
Steph falls over laughing.
You and Steph prank the entire Manor. Nothing harmful. Mostly glitter, googly eyes, and changing Bruce’s ringtone to dramatic opera.
Bruce: “Who did this?”
You, glowing faintly with pride: “I participated in bonding crime.”
Steph: “Snitches get stitches, bestie.”
You: “I do not want stitches.”
Steph teaches you that sometimes “crime” means “family fun with plausible deniability.”
Bruce bans this lesson immediately.
It does not work.
cassandra cain
Cass understands you better than almost anyone.
You read emotions through touch. Cass reads bodies like poetry. The two of you can communicate without words almost immediately.
You sit together often, shoulder to shoulder, watching people move through the Manor.
You call Cass “Quiet Star.”
Cass smiles every time.
She likes that you do not expect her to speak. You like that she understands feelings without needing them explained.
The first time you touch her hand, you feel calm, discipline, grief, love, and a deep, deep loneliness.
You simply squeeze her fingers and say, “You are not empty. You are full of quiet light.”
Cass hugs you.
Everyone pretends not to cry.
You and Cass become terrifying in combat together. She moves like shadow; you float, dodge, and occasionally knock enemies over by accidentally blasting them with emotional energy.
You once shout, “Your hostile feelings are unpleasant!” before launching a goon into a dumpster.
Cass gives you a thumbs-up.
That’s basically a standing ovation from her.
clark kent
Clark is delighted by you.
He gives off such warm, golden energy that you immediately trust him.
You touch his hand once and gasp. “You are made of kindness and solar explosions.”
Clark blushes.
Bruce: “Don’t encourage him.”
Clark becomes your guide to being alien on Earth.
He understands the homesickness, the loneliness, the weirdness of learning human customs while everyone assumes you’re fine because you look mostly okay.
You ask him if he ever feels “too not-from-here.”
Clark gets very soft.
“All the time,” he says. “But Earth became home anyway.”
You think about that for days.
You also adore his cape.
You ask if it is a “formal blanket of heroism.”
Clark says yes. Bruce says no.
You believe Clark.
You and Clark sometimes float together above the Kent farm and look at the stars. He tells you about Krypton. You tell him about your planet.
Neither of you has to pretend not to miss what you lost.
Clark is also the one who gently explains that Bruce adopting strays is basically his love language.
You ask, “So he collects wounded beings and gives them bedrooms?”
Clark: “Pretty much.”
You: “That is beautiful and concerning.”
Clark: “That’s Bruce.”
extra
You struggle with Earth sometimes. The food is strange. The customs are stranger. Gotham is loud and wet and full of fear.
Some nights you sit on the roof of Wayne Manor staring at stars that do not form the constellations you know.
Bruce finds you there.
You tell him, “I am happy here. But I am also sad there is no here that contains everything I miss.”
Bruce sits beside you.
For once, he doesn’t try to fix it. He just says, “I know.”
You lean against him.
He lets you.
After a while, you whisper, “Your sadness is quieter tonight.”
Bruce says, “So is yours.”
That becomes your thing. Sitting together. Saying nothing. Letting the night hold both of you.
Because somehow, impossibly, the alien child with too much heart and the human father with too many ghosts learn how to be family.
Not perfectly. Not easily.
But fiercely.