Janet Drake's greatest revenge against Bruce is that after she returns all the Robins/Batgirls end up gradually gravitating towards her as "Mom".
So next time Bruce fucks up with one of them (physically/emotionally), they immediately go to her for support.
Kinda like they are divorced parents who hate each other but have to share custody, and the kids clearly have a favorite and it ain't Dad. Because while Dad may have money, Mom is the HBIC who can get shit done regardless of any perceived barriers.
Addendum: Janet is also very protective of the kids. Whenever one of the Rogues seriously injured one of the kids, she will go hunting. However, she is respectful of Bruce's no killing rule in Gotham. Unfortunately for the Rogues, some of Janice non-lethal ways to exact Revenge make them wish they were dead
The single gunshot that echoed through the Cave had the desired effect Janet wanted.
Everything and everyone froze.
The shouting from the increasingly heated accusations and argument between Tim and Bruce over the murder of Captain Boomerang was cut off immediately. Janet felt a twinge of regret for visibly causing Tim to nearly jump out of his skin.
However, causing Bruce to nearly jump out of his skin, even as he was wearing his cowlless Batman uniform didn't bother her in the least. In fact, it made her feel powerful. That feeling only grew as she watched his expression morph from surprise to the start of his infamous batglare before settling on something more shocked as he recognized the face of the woman holding the smoking gun pointed in the air.
Imagine if Tim Drake’s biological mother, Janet Drake, did not die in Haiti.
Imagine, instead, that she faked her own death because she was a CIA black ops agent who had attempted to live a civilian life and had to sacrifice that identity to keep her beloved son safe from enemies she had made overseas who wanted revenge against her.
Also, imagine that Janet has a long and colorful history with Slade “Deathstroke” Wilson, who actually trained Janet in her early CIA agent days and stayed good friends over the years.
Now imagine that she’s been given a reason to re-insert herself into her son’s life after several critical years apart.
That is the the Drakestroke AU.
This is actually a verse that was started several years back by another Tumblr writer LectorEl. We bounced ideas off of one another frequently back then for this verse, and recently I have been revisiting the verse. Originally it was just out of nostalgia, but new dormant plot bunnies have come to life and I’ve been indulging them.
Below is a masterlist of all the writings I’ve got collected in the Drakestroke AU written both by LectorEl and myself. I’m in the process of migrating a lot of my old writing to AO3 as well, so you may find item there as well.
Family, Made by Hand - The main story that gave birth to this AU written by LectorEl
Janet and Slade - a fanart that had been created for LectorEl
Flashback - a short piece I wrote where Red Robin has a flashback while on a Titans misson
Tam and Janet - a piece by LectorEl where Janet and Tam meet before Tim is aware his mother is alive
The Walls Have Ears - a piece I wrote in response to “Tam and Janet” where Tim and Tam talk about Janet
Fancast Jack and Janet - just a post about my ideas for fancasting Jack and Janet Drake
Slade Realizes - a drabble by LectorEl playing with the idea that Slade realizes Janet’s son is Red Robin
Day 1 at the Farm - a drabble by LectorEl about Janet teaching at the CIA training complex
Headcanon: Janet and Ra’s - a headcanon of mine about the relationship between Janet and Ra’s from the past
Headcanon: Janet’s perfume - a headcanon of mine about Tim’s memory about his mother, specifically regarding her perfume
Her Son Shot - a short piece about Janet and Slade’s reaction to Tim being shot by Scarab on live television
Headcanon: Janet and Talia - a headcanon of mine about Janet’s history with Talia al Ghul
Headcanon: Tim, Ra’s, and Janet’s knee-jerk reaction - a headcanon of mine about how Janet reacts when she learns Ra’s has taken an interest in her son.
Reaction to Janet’s knee-jerk reaction to Ra’s Al Ghul - a drabble written by Lectorel where Tim asks Slade about his mother’s history with Ra’s
Slade and Tim - a drabble I wrote where Tim asks Slade a question
Headcanon: When Jack Met Janet - a headcanon of mine on how Jack first met Janet
Headcanon: Ra’s life choices - a headcanon of mine about how Ra’s feels about Tim being Janet’s son
Headcanon: The Assassins Trio Lives - a headcanon of mine about how the Assassins Trio (Z, Owens, Pru) are all alive and integrated with Tim and his family
Headcanon: Janet’s Greatest Revenge & First Meeting w/Jason- a headcanon of mine about Janet’s greatest revenge against Bruce and a tiny scene about how Jason meets Janet
Notes on The Boomerang Incident - some notes on the Boomerang Incident
The Boomerang Incident - In the Cave there is a collision between Bruce and Janet in the aftermath of the death of Captain Boomerang
Janet & other Batfam members - some thoughts on what Janet thinks about other members of the Batfam, and what some members of the Batfam think of Janet
Headcanon: Janet, the CIA, and the Assassination Games - Headcanons about these three specific things
The First Summer Vacation (ongoing): Janet decides to go on vacation with Tim and drag along a couple others on a cross-country road trip. This is still ongoing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... )
---
God this took me longer to organize than I thought it would. I didn’t realize there was so much...
I have a question about Drakestroke verse, if you don't mind: What Janet thinks of rest of "Bats" (besides Tim, Bruce and Jason) and what they think of Janet? (sorry if you mentioned it somewhere and I missed it)
Here's what I have in my head so far:
Dick - Initially, Janet is indifferent to him. In the conflict between Bruce and Janet, he's trying to be Switzerland, so he doesn't stand out. He's definitely not a threat, and she considers it a betrayal when she learned he was the one who took "Robin" away from Tim, so she doesn't have any reason to trust him. She does respect the work he's put into raising Damian, though.
Damian - Janet is conflicted about Damian. On the one hand, he's the spawn of both Bruce and Talia, grandson to Ra's, and has attempted to kill/maim Tim on multiple occasions. On the other hand, he's close to the same age Tim was when Janet faked her death, he has this deep love of animals Janet finds endearing, and he's curious about Janet which means he's been trying to be nicer to Tim in effort to get opportunities to interact with her. With Tim's approval, Janet has been experimenting with showing Damian occasional approval and affection when he exhibits behaviors she likes to see how he reacts.
Cassandra - Janet actually met her years ago when she was a child when she and Slade crossed paths with David Cain years ago on a job. She stuck in Janet's memory because she was close to the same age as Tim. She felt bad Cass had a bastard like Cain for a father, but she wasn't in a position to do anything more than show her a little kindness when she could. Cass remembered her, though, and she immediately hugged Janet when they met again after she reunited with Tim. Janet is honestly happy Tim and Cass consider each other siblings. She will confidently refer to Janet as "Mom" in Bruce's presence (along with Jason), which makes Janet so proud because she knows it bugs Bruce so much.
A week after the Boomerang Incident, Tim is still in a funk. He's still hurting over Bruce's accusations and lack of trust, especially after all the shit he went through to rescue him from the being lost in the time stream.
Janet has been noticing, but was at a loss on how to make him feel better, which had put her in a sour mood too.
Slade notices all of this and he throws out an idea.
"Janie," he says.
"Hmmm?" Janet doesn't even look at him while she's pouring a cup of coffee.
"How long has it been since we've had a cannonball run?" Slade smirks.
Janet's eyes light up. "Tim. You know how to drive a stick shift, right?"
Tim doesn't even look up from some WE paperwork Tam had sent his way, since he was avoiding the actual office like the plague due to Bruce. "Yeah." he says off-handedly.
"Have you ever driven so fast that you've pegged the speedometer but still maintained complete control of the vehicle?"
"A few times for vigilante work." Finally he glanced at his mother, who is smiling like a cat who got the canary along with Slade. Instantly he's on guard. "Why?"
Janet, still grinning like a Cheshire Cat, she takes a seat next to him. "You know what a cannonball run is, right?"
"Um... it's a challenge to drive from New York to California as fast as possible."
"The current world record is around 26 hours in a gasoline powered car. Our personal best is 27 hrs 17 min, and Slade and I always make a race of it." Janet's eyes danced with excitement. "Want to get the hell out of Gotham for a few days and try to break the record?"
Tim is initially reluctant. "I don't know... Tam really needs my help with some Wayne Enterprises business."
"So invite her along."
"What?!"
"She can be on our team. She seems to be a bright girl and can help us monitor for cops and construction along the way. You both have the tech to work remotely, right, though honestly since this is happening over the weekend it shouldn't even affect any work at Wayne Enterprises?"
"Well yeah, but--"
Slade chimed in, faux annoyance on his face. "Bullshit Janie! You're not getting a third on your team unless I do too."
"I haven't even asked Tam--"
"You can get Jason. He should get along well enough with Rose, and he probably needs a break from this fucking city too."
"Wait a min--"
"Hm. That could work. I'll give him a call." Slade wandered off as he pulled out his phone.
"HEY! Don't I get a say in this?!"
Janet sighed. "Ever since Boomerang was taken care of and the night at the Manor, you've been burying yourself in work of one sort or another day and night, barely stopping to eat or sleep. And the work is always either related to Wayne Enterprises or the Bats." She reached out and grabbed Tim's hand. "You NEED a break, Tim, and frankly, I'd like to spend some time with my son that doesn't involve business suits or body armor."
Tim stared at his hand in his mother's for a long moment in silence before sighing himself. "I'll call Tam and see if she's free this weekend."
Janet smiled warmly and stood up to give him a kiss atop his head.
"We'll head out to New York this evening. Slade and I have our cars stashed at a safehouse on an 'abandoned farm' just outside the city limits. You and Tam can help me tune everything up before our run."
About a month after Janet Drake re-enters Tim's life, Captain Boomerang makes the unfortunate life choice to re-visit Gotham City.
He is dead within 24 hrs of entering the city limits.
Then Bruce makes the unfortunate life choice of accusing Tim of Boomerang's murder and attempts to fire him officially from being Red Robin.
Four problems with that:
1. Janet was the one killed Boomerang.
2. Janet is in a default hyper-protective momma crocodile mode when it comes to any perceived threats to her son.
3. Janet despises Bruce.
4. Tim is hurt Bruce accused him of the murder without any solid evidence, and is in no mood to negotiate any sort of peace treaty between Bruce and Janet, but he is the only one who could convince his mother to ease up on her war against Bruce.
A little past midnight Jason was just outside the barn having a cigarette and staring at the stars. That far out in the country, the entire night sky looked like something out of a dream.
It was nice.
And then Slade came out and leaned against the wall next to Jason.
"What do you want?"
Slade lit up his own cigarette. "Just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings."
Jason rolled his eyes. "Course not. Why would there be?"
"Hey."
"What?"
"Look in the barn and tell me what you see."
With a shrug, Jason glanced back into the open door. "Not much. Rose is showing Tam how to use the police scanners and jammers. Tim's with Janet installing the NOS system."
Jason watched as Tim said something to his mother, who started laughing. Her son joined her soon after.
"Tonight's the first night since Janie came back that she and Tim have actually laughed together."
Jason looked back at Slade.
"And I'm pretty sure this is the first time Tim's smiled at all since that fight with the Bat."
Slade took a long drag off his cigarette.
"The foundation of Tim's civilian life is practically rubble at this point and he hasn't even made it eighteen yet. Janie wants to fix that, lay a new foundation and build up from there. But the rubble has to be swept away first and this vacation is part of that. That's why I'm here and that's why you're here."
Jason tried to process this, but one thing kept bugging him. "Why am I here?"
Slade crushed his cigarette under his boot. "Of your 'bat clan', you're the only one Janie trusts not to hurt Tim."
"Cause she terrifies me."
Slade chuckled. "And I think you remind her alot of herself when she was younger... Temperament-wise." He added when Jason gave him an incredulous look. "Plus, Tim brought you to her first when you needed help."
(Context)
"Look. Janie knows Tim's embedded in this vigilante life for the long haul. She's not happy about it, but she's accepted it. However, she needs to know there are others in that aspect of his life who she trusts to watch his back when she can't. Regarding Bats and Gotham, she wants that to be you. Titans she'll address when we reach California."
Jason took a final thoughtful drag of his cigarette. "I'll... Do what I can..."
Drakestroke Idea: The First Summer Vacation (pt 2)
Continuation of this
From the depths of a pitch black bedroom, a persistent demanding ringtone cuts through the comfortable silence as the glow of a cell phone abruptly illuminates the night stand it's on. From a burrow of blankets, a hand emerges and blindly feels for the phone before successfully snagging it and dragging it into the burrow.
"...Hullo?"
"Hood. It's Slade."
"Hmm?"
"Janie's going on vacation with Tim."
"Mm-kay..."
"We're having a cannonball run race to Cali."
"We...?"
"Janie's volunteered you for my team."
"...Teered?... ... ... Team?"
"I'll text you the coordinates for the starting point. Try to be there by 11pm tonight."
"-leven... 'kay... Bye..."
There was a solid thirty seconds of silence in the darkness before the burrow of blankets shifted and Jason Todd sat up with a groan, staring bleary-eyed at his phone in confusion.
