[underthe-redhood]

our last chance

- synopsis\\ you watch as dick runs off after batman betrays him for the last time, causing the family to fall apart. after an explosion and a time machine, with a speedster to help you, you have one last chance to stop history from repeating itself.

~~~

• pairings\\ batsis! reader, bart allen x fem! reader

• genre\\ angst, fluff, nothing very mature

• warnings\\ if angst isn’t your thing, you probably won’t enjoy this for the most part!, cheating, killing joke story line, some violence, let me know if i need to add anything!

• click here to join the taglist!\\ tags will be in the replies rather than on the post, so that people won’t have to scroll through it <3

part 1~ my memories? there they are!

part 2~ wake him up!

part 3~ oh no! oh yes?

part 4~ act normal

part 5~ out of sparks

part 6~ medium fries

part 7~ step one: arm’s length

part 8~ blueberry icing

part 9~ step two: pants on fire

part 10~

+…

[underthe-redhood]

i promise i’m still alive and working on OLC if anyone’s even still reading it

[batfamquotes]

stephanie brown: “Strap in ladies, it’s going to be a bumpy ride,” I say as I put on my extra supportive sports bra before my workout.

[sweetdragonartisanlawyer]

More Dick Grayson doodles because why not

[watu2ka]

I feel like there has to be fanart of Bruce Wayne on the cover of Vogue or something somewhere

And not Batman brooding Bruce Wayne, I'm talking Brucie persona Playboy

[reibub]

he is so fun to draw

[batfamquotes]

bruce wayne: *visibly angry* You’re damn right I’m calm. You bet your ass I’m acting like a normal person.

[rmymm13]

brucie wayne with his bat tramp stamp 🦇

[batfamquotes]

tim drake: You know, when we actually work together, we're a pretty great team. damian wayne: Mm-hm. It's a shame I'm always trying to murder you.

[underthe-redhood]

at long last a new chapter is up! pls dm or send an ask if something is wrong with the taglist!!

[underthe-redhood]

our last chance

- a/n: it's mentioned that the reader is the daughter of bruce and selina, but it's never mentioned that she's biologically related, so you could definitely interpret it as her being adopted by them!

9. step 2: pants on fire

- synopsis\\ you watch as dick runs off after batman betrays him for the last time, causing the family to fall apart. after an explosion, and a time machine, with a speedster to help you, you have one last chance to stop history from repeating itself.

• word count: 1,372

• masterlist

you were back in detroit with bart, though this time you two had picked a diner that served fries and milkshakes. “okay step two sort of builds off step one, we need to create distance between them by subtly lying to them about the other’s availability.”

“wouldn’t easily be able to figure that out though?” bart questioned. you ever so slightly frowned and responded with,

“that’s just the thing, barbara is already starting to communicate less and less with dick. all we have to do is speed up the process; it’ll be like the donut shop, barbara will jump at the chance to have alone time especially if she thinks dick is already going to be busy.”

“i just don’t get how dick isn’t noticing these changes,” bart said. “they’re not exactly subtle.”

“that’s the thing about love, you’ll interpret everything however you need to in order to make sure everything is okay. he’s blind to barbara’s changes because he’s too in love with her to see that she just doesn’t feel the same anymore,” you answered.

“okay but then why doesn’t barbara just break up with him, why avoid him and drag this on,” he continued.

“same rules apply,” you said. “barbara is so used to being in a relationship that used to mean everything to her, i think she’s just not ready yet to accept that it’s over.”

that confused bart even more, “so then how does she end up having an affair with batman if all of this stems from her not wanting things to change yet.”

you frowned even more, “my guess is that it was a combination of two things, in four months she’s going to be far different, emotionally speaking. adding to that, my dad probably couldn’t keep it in his pants and barbara was vulnerable, so one thing led to another.”

“you really think batman would betray dick over lust? just like that?” bart asked. you paused, and pushed your fries slightly forward having lost your appetite.

“i mean, he technically already has. hasn’t he?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

you walked into the library that barbara worked at. you walked through the aisles, looking through all your favorite genres. she was sitting at the front desk, helping people check out books and movies. you wanted a smooth reason to go up and talk to her, it’s true you were practically family but it wasn’t often that you came to the library to visit her and you didn’t want to raise suspicions this early. after only a few minutes, you picked out a few different books making sure they weren’t from the same aisle.

you went up to where she was and began to check out the books. as you did so, you also took the chance to start talking to her. “hey babs, how’s work going?”

“not bad, we’re a little understaffed though and it’s kind of overwhelming to be honest.” for some reason, hearing her say that frustrated you. not that you didn’t understand why she was overwhelmed. yeah, people think of calm and quiet when they think of libraries but you understood that all jobs had their hardships. that’s what makes all jobs important in their own way. but, you were all overwhelmed when dick left. again, sure it was her who got pregnant and lost her fiance but you lost your brother for something that wasn’t even your fault.

“maybe you could pick up some more shifts? extra cash plus maybe you can get some stuff done faster than it can build back up. then the rest of your shifts for a while will hopefully be more relaxed,” you suggested.

“i thought about it,” she opened up. and then she said, “but bruce asked me for some help around the batcave and i think i should probably prioritize him right now.” what a strange way to word that. she wasn’t going to ‘prioritize that’ she was going to ‘prioritize him’. and it filled you with the dread of 'what if you’re closer to her cheating than you originally thought?’ because in truth you had no idea how long her affair with bruce might have been going on before she actually got pregnant and finally got caught. in fact, for all you knew the affair had already started and the ‘help’ your father wanted around the help wasn’t all that innocent. how had this not hit you before? “y/n?” she asked in a lightly concerned tone. “you’re spacing out, is everything okay?”

you quickly snapped out of it, “oh, i was just thinking about how unfair that is to you! you know? i mean my dad is always making you do so much! let me handle whatever it is that he wants, afterall the library could lead to a great career for you. don’t let your nighttime routine consume your life like he lets his be consumed.” it sounded really sincere, and in another universe it probably would have been. but in this universe, in this timeline that you were stuck in, your ulterior motive was not as sincere to barbara as it was to dick.

“isn’t dick going to be upset if i pick up more shifts? it would take away from our time together,” she worried. and while it might have sounded nice on the surface, it was becoming increasingly clear she didn’t actually care about spending time with him. if anything, she should be happy to have a legit reason to see him less. really, it sounded like she was disappointed she wouldn’t be able to spend more time with bruce.

“he’ll understand,” you told her. “he’s always gonna want what’s best for you.” you thought you had convinced her. originally, the plan was to lie to her about dick being busy so that she wouldn’t push herself to make plans with him. thinking he was busy was supposed to allow her to avoid him without guilt. you had no way of knowing this interaction would go much smoother but you weren’t complaining. at the time, it seemed like you’d succeeded in keeping them apart in a far more legit manner. unfortunately, you ended up learning from dick a week later that things didn’t go quite as smoothly as you had hoped.

~~~

“i think babs is lying to me,” dick confided in you one night. you were helping your dad organize some recent case files and relevant papers that he’d acquired in the last couple weeks or so and dick was down there just offering his presence.

“what makes you say that?” and this time you were once again genuinely lost. everything was supposed to have worked out. you were helping your dad out with the work he was hoping barbara would do, which meant it was innocent work at least this time. and barbara had a genuine excuse to not see dick because she was at the library. there was no sign of cheating or any foul play yet, so what was dick worried about?

“well she said she was going to be picking up more shifts down at the library to make up for them being so understaffed right now,” he started. “i think she’s making up excuses because she doesn’t wanna see me, but i can’t figure out why.” he couldn’t seem to lift his gaze up from the floor.

you still thought he was being paranoid for the most part, so you didn’t stop what you were doing as you tried to ease his nerves. “i was just at the library the other week talking to her, she told me about the extra shifts too but i encouraged it because i didn’t think it’d bother you this much,” you weren’t being totally honest but it wasn’t a complete lie.

“well see that’s just the thing, i’ve been talking to her coworkers and she hasn’t actually picked up any extra shifts yet but she keeps insisting overtime is why she’s been so busy,” he elaborated. and if it were anyone else in any other situation you would have first assumed a reasonable explanation. but, knowing where this was heading your heart dropped. you were even helping out in the batcave so that babs wouldn’t have to, so where was she?

@elarimard @missmystic-vampirebarbie @rowena-ravenclaws-diadem @slitheringss @fruittiest-of-loops @froggityer @neptunesxlover @purpleflower777 @fake-id-69 @ceridwyn3 @btzams @venomsvl-reblog @soobsdior @akuri-shinsou @xingqiusliegee @xxrougefangxx

[underthe-redhood]

Aaaaaa!!!!! You're back!! We're so happy to see you again! Take your time with the chapters and try not to take on too much

I am so sorry to constantly hound you with these songs but I had more songs that reminded me of your story and I could not be silenced.

(also, side note; I hope you know that 'Our Last Chance' takes place in the same universe as @/dickmedowndc 's 'Future Worries' & 'Future Comforts' in my mind)

Sonfs that make me think of Bart and BlueJay's romance (BartJay? Blue Allen? BluePulse?):

Daylight (Taylor Swift)

- look I'm a swift centralist but

- "once believed love would be black and white but it's golden like daylight"

- Bluejays examples of love being their parents (both black coloured costumes) & Barbara and dick (who's love was itself black and white, and the whole thing that brought Bart and them together was trying to fix it). Then to say love is golden bc gold is Bart's colour!!! To say it's daylight bc they live in Gothamn and work at night and even when it's day it's usually cloudy and he brings them daylight!!

You matter to me (Sara Bareilles)

- just thinking thoughts about being a hero and willingly stretching yourself thin and constantly sacrificing yourself for the better good

- "I could find the whole meaning of life in those sad eyes, they've seen things that you'll never quite say but I hear, come out of hiding I'm right here beside you, and I'll stay there as long as you'll let me"

- thinking about how Bluejay is of a lot of different kids and their definitely loved but it's easy to get lost and just be your role in the family instead of just yourself. They didn't have the best models of how to be emotionally mature so they probably hide their feelings and opinions for the greater good of their city and so they don't burden their family. But Bart sees them and they feel they can be themself with him

- "it's addictive the minute you let yourself think, the things that I say just might matter to someone, all of this time been keeping my mind on the running away, and for the first time I think I'd consider the stay"

- thinking about Bart painting himself as the funny one for the sake of others and he is of course more and thought of & loved as more but it can get into your head that you're not really considered or taken seriously, and it's hard to let yourself be vulnerable. And then Bluejay who takes him so seriously and genuinely admires him as a hero and as a person and values his input so fiercely

At my back (Madds Buckley)

- "if you're the rain, I don't wanna be the stormy weather clouds you leap from when you touch the ground I'd rather splash with you"

- Gotham is rainy & stormy, and Bart doesn't want to be the city they serve but the one that catches them when they need to escape from it all

- also the literal interpretation of Bluejay jumping off a building and Bart running up the side to catch them

- "when you're near, rain is gone and skies are clear, who needs the sun to shine when you can smile wider than the sky?"

- I am really into this metaphor of Bart being the sun in Bluejays cloudy Gotham sky, alright?

- "but if you're the left shoe, I can't be the right, I'm just another pair that's just a little tight when I get moody" :'(

Smitten (Leanna Firestone):

- I have no reason other than the vibes

- "you smiled and it was the most beautiful thing that I'd ever seen and, then you apologised, and you covered your mouth because you're insecure about your crooked teeth, but - can I just say this? I'm kinda glad that you never got braces, because I like your smile just the way it is"

God and the government (Leanna Firestone)

- ThisonethisonethisonethisoneTHISONE

- Listen I am a diehard Leanna Firestone fan until I die so I may be biased but this is THEM.

- "I'll paint the pocket fence white, put it up myself, say 'i can do it alone', you'll tell me 'you know' but you'll still help" - Bluejay trying to salvage their family after Nightwing left & wanting to do it alone but Bart doesn't let them, not because he doubts them but because he loves them!!!:

Grow as we go (Ben Platt)

Strawberry Mentos (Leanna Firestone)

Helicopter (Maisie Peters)

Running home to you (Grant Gustin)

I choose you (Sara Bareilles)

Songs for Nightwing and Bluejay:

Sign of the times (Harry Styles):

- time theming

- "you can't bribe the door on your way to the sky" Bluejay trying to fix something through extreme means

- "we never learn we've been here before" Nightwing and Batmans relationship being constantly strained

- "stop your crying, baby, it will be alright" Nightwing trying to comfort Bluejay and Bluejay trying to protect Nightwing from crying

Running up that hill (Kate Bush):

- "it's you and me, you won't be unhappy"

- "let me steal this moment from you now"

- Bluejay trying to help Nightwing be happy but doesn't realise that it's by (in their mind) taking away a moment that hurt him, but doesn't realise they're stealing a moment that isn't theirs to decide if he needs or not

- "if I only could, I'd make a deal with god, and I'd get him to swap our places"

- Bluejay is making a deal with the universe trying to fix everything. In doing so they're swapping places with Nightwing as the emotional labourer of the family supporting everyone else at their own expense. Because they grew up with Dick and they know that the family needs a Nightwing

Here I am (The Crane Wives):

- "they ask why I bother, the answer is simple, my father, his father" (my brother, my father or my mother, my father)

Who we are (Hozier):

- "hold me like water" Bluejay trying to hold onto everything for Nightwing, and therefore trying to hold onto Nightwing, feeling like it's futile and it's all slipping away

- "or christ hold me like a knife" hold me as a weapon if it means you'll hold me, but hold me at a distance because you know I could hurt you on accident. I can't put into words how it would work for them yet but believe me I will find a way

- "were born at night, so much of our lives, is just carving through the dark, to get so far, and the hardest part, is who we are, it's who we are"

- "you and I burned out our steam, chasing someone else's dream" Nightwing who was the first to become robin and first to leave it, who spent so much of his life accompanying Batman and changing his persona to fit what Batman didn't have, as a hero and as a father to his children. Bluejay who is trying to chase Nightwings happiness

True blue (boy genius):

-"when you moved to Chicago, you were spinning out, when you don't know who you are, you fuck around and find out... You were happy, and I wasn't surprised" Nightwing becoming Nightwing and moving to Boudhaven and being happy finding himself

- "it feels good to be known so well, I can't hide from you like I hide from myself"

- "I remember who I am when I'm with you, your love is tough your love is tried and true blue"

- 🐌

you sent this so long ago i’m so sorry i’m just now answering it 😭😭 i think part of me felt bad posting about the story before i had something concrete more to post you know? i am genuinely back on my game now though,trust 🫡🫡

okay first piece of business, i think we have a winner with “bluepulse”!! it clicks for me and i love it omg

alright second off, i’m gonna read those fics this weekend and i will get back to you with my thoughts but my interest is so piqued! nothing gets my fire going like connecting universes between fanfics

i love when you give me song quotes so much!! i love that life isn’t grey but love is golden it’s just beautiful wording. blue jay needs to start spending more time in literally any other city with literally any other super couple 😭😭

reading the sad eyes quote immediately got me thinking of dick. like, bluejay may be finding most of her hope through bart but she’ll be damned if doesn’t catch a little spirit from knowing she’s helping dick and her family. she might always be worried about being a burden but at the end of the day she almost likes the feeling of being burdened herself as weird or sad as that might sound? because at least it gives her an important role. and that applies to bart too, i mean he came here for one specific reason but he’s slowly finding more reasons to stay

bart being blue jay’s sunshine is so real though, like who even cares if it’s raining as long as i’m here with you. hell, maybe we’ll even see a rainbow because you just shine that bright. and if the city can’t be her escape then they’ll be each other’s escape, i love this interpretation!!

bart being smitten over bluejay is a top tier vibe i fully understand you here

tell me why god and the government is basically my plot in song form omg. if i ever make an official playlist for this story just KNOW that song is going on it for sure

GRANT GUSTIN MENTIONED !!!! i recently got his autograph at galaxycon, best $120 ever spent

harry styles will always have the best quotes i love him, i feel like bluejay would totally get caught listening to these same songs in universe

“let me steal this moment from” in a positive way is bluejay’s whole mood throughout this yes!!! and you are so 100% right bluejay would switch places in a heartbeat if she could

i LOVE LOVE LOVE the crane wives hell yeah!! i haven’t heard that song yet but i can guarantee i will be listening to it tonight

i love hozier too so i love the songs you’re picking here 💪🏼💪🏼 “you and i burned out our dream, chasing someone else’s dream” is my favorite pick from those quotes i think

“it feels good to be known so well, i can’t hide from you like i hide from myself” i imagine that’s what bluejay would say if she had actually managed to find dick after he ran off to bludhaven

once again thank you for enabling me on this rollercaoster journey of me trying to write a full fanfic 🫡🫡

[underthe-redhood]

i’m struggling to piece together my most up to date tag list omg 😭

[underthe-redhood]

CHAPTER IS DONE 🥳🥳 now i just gotta format and post

[underthe-redhood]

okay okay next chapter is being posted tomorrow night sorry for the ridiculous delay 😭

[rlyehtaxidermist]

the only reliable, effective way of "protecting children" is education. but people don't want to hear that because they don't actually care about protecting children, they care about protecting a mythologised ideal of innocence

[underthe-redhood]

Bart: I have a crush on someone, but I'm scared to tell you, because I know you won't like it

Tim: just rip the bandaid off

Bart: It's Bluejay.

Tim: put the bandaid back on.

- 🐌

i actually laughed out loud at this omg 😭 you know tim would spend the rest of the day trying to convince himself he misheard bart while also planning how to make bart disappear 😭😭