what are your guy’s thoughts on ships? what kind would you guys like to see. Some of these ships might be kind of weird but it’s mostly because I think it would be fun to mix it up to see different kinds of dynamics. Riddler bounces between liking Selina and Oswald with a temporary crush on Batman for a time.
Selina uses people she doesn’t really have interest in anybody as much as seeing what they can do for her. When batman is at his lowest point she sees an attack dog that can make smaller gangs kowtow to her. Talia is Bruce’s truest love but after a terrible event she couldn’t be with him anymore.
Joker is just unpredicatable he likes making other people’s lives worse for the hell of it. Because he’ll screw people over on a whim no one wants anything to do with him. He doesn’t feel anything towards anybody except for a mutual intense hatred between him and riddler. Riddler call him an unfunny clown and riddler hates that the media seems to always look at joker with awe.
This scarecrow is actually a massive scaredy cat too nervous to really be friends with anybody. Riddler starts off by feeling pity for the man because he doesn’t like bullies but comes to end up getting intrigued by his mystery and respecting his resourcefulness. Poor guy is forced into action when he gets harassed and nearly killed for his research.
Hush hates everybody especially the rich, Tommy Elliot is a combination of Telltale penguin and batman 2022 Riddler, with a sprinkle of Galvan in his general demenor.
There’s the little outlaws trio, Jason (robin) Lonnie (anarky) and Rose (ravager). when they’re little Jason doesn’t really understand the concept of romance and kinda thinks girls have cooties except rose seems to be the exception because she’s too cool to have cooties she’s probably just immune. Lonnie is the mom friend who has to keep an eye on these two idiots.
decided to draw the boys, Lonnie Machin is Jason’s best friend from when he was living in Crime Alley. He knows Batman’s secret identity and generally acts as a big brother and sort of a ground control/tech support to Jason’s Robin.
still experimenting with art style, here’s the family. Decided that Jason during his robin years deserves a friend, he’s Lonnie Machin (Anarky) another streetkid. There’s also Talia who is Bruce’s main love here.
Bruce saving a couple from a mugging and letting one of the men kick around their now-unconscious attacker (Legends of the Dark Knight #54). I thought this was a fun and amusingly in-character action scene to take up space while Alfred goes on an exposition monologue.
Summery: Dick is trying to make amends and Tim doesn’t know how to feel about that.
In which an unexpected kidnapping might be the exact remedy these brothers need to finally start building bridges.
Chapter: 1/3
Tim didn’t really know what to think or do when he saw his older brother standing by his car; hair all ruffled up, a black bag slung over his shoulder and a sheepish look on his face. Tim stared and stared and wondered why even after three months, meeting any of his family still left him so unbalanced.
“Hey,” Dick said, shuffling in place, lip quirking up slightly. “Can we talk?”
Tim stilled. Why was he here? What did he want? Did Bruce send him? Why would Bruce send him? Why hadn’t Jason warned him about this? He’d just got out of work damn it. He couldn’t deal with this. Not now. Frankly not ever would be just as nice. Why….why was his estranged brother here? Today, in his stupid parking lot looking as warm and kind as he’d always done. Why…..
“Yeah,” he finally managed to force out when the awkward pause got long enough for Dick’s mask to momentarily waver. “Sure. We can talk.”
The answering blooming smile on his brother’s face made his chest tighten. He didn’t like this. He wasn’t prepared for this. Nowhere close. It was unexpected, out of the blue and Tim didn’t like it. But he couldn’t show it. Showing how unwelcome this visit was would only serve to put him on the backfoot of whatever conversation was about to take place. Instead he pulled his lips into what could resemble a smile and nodded slightly. “Your car or mine?”
Dick grinned fully now and Tim found himself clutching his briefcase tight enough to bruise. “Yours I’m afraid,” he answered, nodding to Tim’s car with a chuckle. “I kind of ran here from the train station.”
Eyebrows shooting up, Tim mouth fell upon in confusion. “The train station is nearly ten minutes drive from here.”
“Yup,” Dick said, popping the p with a shrug.
“You ran here?”
“My car crashed mysteriously back at Bludhaven,” the older man said conversationally, making his way to the passenger side of the car. “So I took the train to Gotham a week ago and well,” looking over his shoulder he met Tim’s eyes and something unidentifiable darted over his expression before it vanished. “I guess I finally got that courage to come see you,” he finished lowly. The cheery tone from a moment ago dulling into a quiet hurt and Tim found himself almost by instinct, taking a step back but he stopped himself. It wouldn’t do to react to Dick’s emotions. It would only serve to drag him down into the depths of their shared, untouched grief that he knew he wouldn’t be able to swim against.
“So you decided to run all the way from the station instead of, I don’t know,” Tim said, keeping his voice light as he too made his way around the car, fingers reaching for the door after unlocking it. “Calling a cab or something?”
Snorting, Dick shuffled inside, putting his bag by his feet and immediately reaching up to take the briefcase from Tim who’d without thinking leaned down to hand it over to him before he too climbed into the car.
The minute his action registered in his mind however, his stomach sank and the frustration set in.
Why was he doing this? Why was he driving with Dick to God knows where and why was he falling back on their stupid old habits so quickly. It’s been months. Nearly a year since he realized he would never be part of the Wayne family. Nearly a year since he made peace with the hard facts and taken the first step to moving on with his life. Nearly a year and yet here he was, immediately falling all over himself to accommodate a man who hadn’t been his brother for a very long time now.
Gritting his teeth, he started the car without another word and sensing how the mood had suddenly shifted, Dick elected not to say anything as well. Keeping quiet as they drove down Gotham streets.
They sat in silence for what felt like forever. Dick unwilling to break the heavy atmosphere he must have realized he was the cause of and Tim unable to sort out his wild, disorganized thoughts enough to utter anything else to the man sitting next to him.
So he dug his nails into the wheel and tried to center himself. ‘Dick only wants to talk,’ he told himself, taking a left turn then a right. 'He has something to say that he’s probably been dying to say these past three months, so let him then go home.’
Simple enough.
He could do this.
He didn’t have to be rude or annoyed or lash out. Dick wasn’t a bad person. He just didn’t want Tim around and felt bad about it. That’s why he was probably here. The silence between them had stretched on for too long and his brother had decided he needed to clear the air before the strain on their non existent relationship, choked him to death.
Dick was trying to be a hero and as long as Tim heard him out, he’ll walk right back out of his life feeling better about himself and Tim could go back to living his. And wasn’t that for the best? Wasn’t that the path of least resistance? Wasn’t that what he wanted?
No.
Taking a sharp left, he drove into the nearest parking lot; an abandoned factory as it turned out to be and shut off the engine.'No,’he thought, anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach. He wouldn’t do this anymore.
He’d told himself long time ago that he wouldn’t put the Wayne family’s emotional health before himself and just because his brother had taken him off guard didn’t mean Tim was about to break that promise to himself. Nop, he’d been to too many therapy sessions to reach that conclusion and he refused to throw it away just because his so called brother made sad puppy-dog eyes.
“What do you really want?” he asked, turning in his car to face his surprised older brother whose hands were spread across the dash, knuckles white at the sudden abrupt parking Tim had done out of the blue. “You ambush me outside of the parking lot, you never give me a heads-up and now what? We’re supposed to talk and make up when you’ve been ignoring my existence for forever?”
He didn’t know where the cutting words even came out.
Luke would have been proud.
Tim didn’t really feel proud though. Just tired.
Dick blinked at him. Slow, little stunned and confused, before hurt bled back into his blue eyes and it’s all Tim could do not to look away from the heartbroken gaze. To not just scream and hit something because how the hell was this fair? Dick walking back into his life as if he’d never turned his back on him, expecting Tim to accommodate him once again and then acting all hurt when things didn’t go his way.
And it was worse than that, wasn’t it?
Because Dick Grayson wasn’t acting. He was actually hurt and confused and wanted to talk and…..it made Tim feel sick. Because Dick’s love could be so grand and powerful and all consuming and warm and then in the next second, gone. And Tim was so sick and tired of it. So sick and tired. He’d long lost his brother’s love and he didn’t want it back. He didn’t need it. Not anymore. He had Luke. Wonderful, amazing, kind Luke. Who’d told him in not so uncertain terms he, Tim Drake, didn’t get to put his happiness on hold for others. Luke who laughed at his dry sardonic jokes and refused to let him stay up till the wee hours of the night. Luke who’d thrown his arm over his shoulder the first time they met and declared him a drowned puppy in need of a good homecooked meal.
The Foxes weren’t perfect. Far from it. But they were there. There for the little things and the larger things. There when he went off the radar for two days; worrying and blowing up his phone and then scolding him to kingdom come when he’d come back, nearly bringing him to tears by their familial worry. There when he’d contemplated going back to school; nothing but encouraging and yet making him agree to offload his work and delegate if he wanted to pursue his education. They were there when he was so sick he couldn’t even open his eyes, taking him to the future even when they didn’t fully understand what they were signing themselves up for.
They were there.
His family. His beautiful, beautiful family and Tim refused to let himself be dragged back down again. Made to feel less than, again. No, not this time.
“What do you want, Dick?”
By this point his brother had gathered himself enough from the initial surprise to bore his sad gaze into his own. “I just want to talk, Timmy.”
“Well,” Tim said, staring forward. “I don’t feel like talking anymore. I’ve changed my mind.”
And oh, how freeing that felt to say.
“Tim–”
“Stop,” he cut him off, eyes staring daggers into the dark shadows of the empty factory in front of him. “Just please stop. I can’t do this.”
Sighing softly, Dick shifted in place. “Okay,” he said. “Okay. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just showed up like,” he waved his arm and sighed again. “It was selfish of me. I’m sorry.”
Jerking his head into a stiff nod, Tim kept his eyes away from the defeated looking man next to him. “It’s fine,” he said, trying and failing to keep his voice even. “Let’s go back to Wayne Enterprises. I’m sure you still will have time to catch the last train out of Gotham if we hurry.”
Grabbing the bag resting between his feet, Dick muttered something under his breath before saying a little louder. “Yeah, that sounds good.” The disappointment in his voice was barely detectable but it was still very much there and it twisted Tim’s stomach something painful. “But before we….. I have something for—” Dick’s finger’s tightened around the bag but, before he could finish his sentence a crack against the window startled them both, sending them into high alert. But apparently a little too late.
“Get out of the car Waynes’!”
Bruce would have been disappointed. Would have scolded them extensively for being so unaware of their surroundings and then made them explain in detail what they could have done differently to avoid this very scenario. He would have sighed in disappointment when he looked at him and he would have ignored him for days and Tim…..Tim would have felt less then. Felt so small and hurt and confused and it would have dug at his soul weeks or even months later because Bruce’s approval, Batman’s approval meant everything to him. Once upon a time.
Current Tim found that he really didn’t give a shit what his former guardian thought and wasn’t that the most refreshing revelation to have at this particular, kind of dangerous moment.
He sighed, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Raising his hands and squinting out his door at the two masked men aiming guns at them, he wondered briefly if this was really happening. Of course he would end up getting kidnapped the one time his estranged older brother came to see him. Could his luck be anymore rotten?
“Getting out,” Dick called back, hands also raised as harmless looking as possible. “No need to shoot fellas.”
“Don’t do nothin funny!” The burly man on Tim’s side shouted, waving his gun around threateningly. “If you so much as breathe in a way I don’t like, I’ll shoot. Now get out the car!”
Tim raised an eyebrow at Dick, Dick raised an eyebrow back. Huffing sardonically Tim started to slowly unfasten his seatbelt. “Well, can’t say this night hasn’t been interesting,” he said. Dick laughed lightly. Opening the door and stepping out.
“It hasn’t been uneventful yeah.”
Stepping out as well, Tim barely bit back an exasperated sigh when he was slammed against the car and searched swiftly. Never let it be said even the lowest on the chain of Gotham villains weren’t efficient when it came to kidnapping. “Hands,” Burly ordered and Tim wordlessly folded them behind his back, feeling the zip-tie tighten around his wrists painfully. Then he was being pushed forward alongside Dick towards an ash-gray van.
How had he even missed that thing?
Two cheers for Tim for being so distracted by his brother that he was caught of guard by criminals who apparently; going by how the van was half filled with boxes, not even planning on kidnapping them but rather saw an opportunity while stealing products from Blackmask when two of Gotham’s richest landed on their laps. Because brilliant Tim Drake decided parking in an old abandoned factory was a great idea. In Gotham. When were abandoned factories actually abandoned…….in Gotham.
Fantastic. Tam would never let him live this down.
“Hey!” Dick indignant voice broke him out of his self deprecating thoughts and Tim looked up just in time to see the masked kidnapper on Dick’s side leaning down to grab the bag his brother had been clutching so tightly all night. “careful with that.”
“Or what,” the nasally voice of the man retorted, unzipping the bag in hurried curiosity. “What do you even have here? Money?”
Tim didn’t have to see Dick’s face to know both his eyebrows were reaching far up his forehead in unimpressed annoyance. “Sure man,” he said, voice bright. “Because we rich people love to carry a bag full of money around at all time for security.”
He got the butt of a gun to the temple for his troubles and Tim surged forward only to painfully be dragged back by the elbow. “Don’t move,” Burly hissed at him. “And you,” he snapped at his partner. “We don’t got time for this. Bring the bag and pretty face and let’s go!”
Shoved, Tim started walking, eyes skimming quickly over his brother to asses his state before he was forced into the dark vane and the doors slammed behind them. “You okay,” he hissed.“
The figure across from him shifted in place. "Yeah,” came Dick’s voice, it sounded a little groggy. Tim frowned in concern. “I’m fine. I just…. My bag.”
“Forget about your bag,” Tim said, squinting at his brother’s figure but to no vail. “Do you think you have a concussion?”
“No,” Dick said slowly, his legs hitting his after stretching them out. Tim couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved at the real physical contact. “I don’t think so. But my bag Timmy—”
“Who cares about that stupid bag,” Tim snapped, glaring into the dark. “We’re getting kidnapped.” A pause. “Again.”
A huff of laughter. “How many times does that make?”
Tim’s lip twitched up slightly. “Together or apart?”
“Together of course,” Dick said, leg pressing up against his. “Apart is way too many times to keep track off.”
“Not really,” Tim said. “I’ve been nabbed thirty-one times, you’ve been taken twenty-two and together it’s been twelve times.”
“Oh,” Dick said, voice sounding a little strained. “You keep track of the strangest things, Timbo.”
Tim shrugged, remembered Dick couldn’t see him then muttered. “I guess I do.”
Silence fell between them as the car finally started driving, jostling them both as it drove over bumps and potholes on the road. Tim briefly wondered what would happen to his car. Maybe a tiny Jason would rob his tyres too. He bit back a snort at the thought.
“Something funny?” Dick asked curiously.
“Just thought there is probably a baby Jason out there stealing my tyres right now,” Tim said, lips broadening into a ghost of a smile at Dick’s bark of laughter.
“Look at you following in Bruce’s footsteps.”
Tim stilled and sensing he’d treaded wrong on this one, his older brother stilled too.
Then after a pregnant pause Dick spoke up again, voice soft. “Bruce’ll find us.”
Whatever was left of the good mood from before fully evaporated at that and Tim grimaced. “I’m sure he will,” he said, muscles tensing.
“Tim–”
“Don’t,” he cut him off, leaning back against the van and closing his eyes in exhaustion. “Just don’t.”
“He will find us.”
“I’m sure he will,” he said, voice colder than he’d wanted it to come out. “In eight hours when he realizes you haven’t made it to Bludhaven or when these kidnappers decide to ransom us back to him.”
“He won’t be worried about just me.” Dick’s tone was soft, pleading. Tim really didn’t care.
“I’m sure he is,” he said. Not in the mood to say anything else and thankfully his words must have deterred his estranged brother this time because silence fell between them once more and Tim was grateful.
He briefly wondered when Lucius would notice him missing. When Luke would go out searching for him. If Tanya and Tam would be beside themselves when he didn’t come home for dinner. If Lucius would phone his friends just to realize they were off planet with majority of the Justice League. If he’d feel hopeless enough to pick up the phone to call Bruce Wayne. Gritting his teeth, Tim forced himself not to let his frustration turn into despair.
Why did Dick have to come find him and ruin everything?
