Okay but listen to me-
by this post
peter parker in gotham au where he runs a red robin fanpage and posts oddly close photos of red robin in action. no one believes tim for a while but once they realize it's true all of the robins (+ batgirls and duke) start teasing him & asking how it feels to be on the opposite end.
AKA "inspired by that one post about Danny being a flerken and living with the Batfam" idea! Except he looks pants-shitting, "oh dear god, what is that" terrifying.
I just love slightly feral animal-like Danny in a... shape. It's not immediately identifiable as a cat or dog, maybe he has a few too many legs that kind of look like a tail at one point? And when he skitters up walls like a particularly small dog-sized tarantula, it's terrifying enough to make seasoned criminals squeal.
Let's imagine Danny had some sort of accident with a portal and was Wizard-of-Oz'd into Gotham, a literal hellmouth of a city with so many curses that it'd make John Constantine start to sweat. And this city also has... weird Ecto. (In my brain, there's a connection between the Lazarus Pit and ectoplasm, like pit waters are the sewers of ectoplasm or something.) It's enough for Danny to still exist but he can't seem to stay human-shaped. It's better than being a Blob Ghost, but not by much. His fur-scales-feathers-skin-something look dark as the midnight sky.
And who should stumble on this weird-looking Thing aside from Damian, secret animal-whisperer and passionate Pokemon collector? Damian, who known what a scared feral animal looks like and who can coax it into his arms? It doesn't matter that Danny has maybe five or six limbs. He can make himself slightly smaller at will (not in a Magical-Girl-Transformation way, mind you. When he changes shape, there's the distinct snap of bones breaking and wet, fleshy sounds of his organs, muscles, ligaments, tendons, everything shifting).
Damian has literally been trained by the League of Assassins under the Demon Head. He's likely seen more people's insides than an ER surgeon; he's killed more than enough people in incredibly grotesque and violent ways to be totally unphased by Danny changing shapes. Maybe he'll actually be sort of touched, a bit pleased, that his new Thing pet would change itself so violently so Damian could hold it.
What would Damian name it? He's outwardly violent and aggressive towards others, but pretty passionate and heartfelt once he cares for someone. Alfred the Cat comes to mind. So maybe Damian takes one look at this supposedly scary Thing and thinks, "It looks like Father."
As in, Dark as Night? A shadow inspiring fear amongst criminals? Spoken about in whispers, sometimes laughed off as a joke but still cautiously reverent, just in case?
Danny's new name is Batman.
Of course, this causes some confusion when Damian comes home to Wayne Manor and says, "Batman and I will retire to my room." In front of Bruce, who naturally and kind-of-correctly assumes his son picked up another animal while on patrol. Bruce had a hard time explaining this to a very concerned Dick, who was holding up a wooden stake and a bible (Dick totally wasn't going to kill Bruce if he turned out to be a vampire but it's always good to be prepared!), after Damian apparently made a wayward comment that "Batman refuses to eat anything besides raw meat."
And Danny is having a great time!! Sure, Damian treats him like a pet, but he gets affectionate pats on the head, incredibly expensive steak, and a soft place to sleep. He awkwardly dragged several blankets from the living room to Damian's room to make a bed in the kid's closet. (Alfred watched from behind the couch as this six-legged hairy-ish catlike Thing determinedly waddled with three blankets in its mouth, occasionally tripping on its own legs. He went back to dusting the crown moulding silently. So, that's why Master Damian requested uncooked sirloin steak twelve times in last few days. Hm.)
So, the Batfam accept there is another Batman in the family. Except they haven't actually seen Danny (aside from Alfred and Damian).
Until Dick needs to talk to Damian and goes into the boy's room. But it's empty?? He could've sworn he heard somebody talking or something in here, but maybe not? He turns to leave and then hears it again: a soft kind of thump coming from Damian's armoire. A shit-eating grin spreads across his face as his Older Brother Instincts kick in. Jason used to hide in closets and try to scare Dick when he was little; Damian, despite being a child soldier and trained assassin, was still a little kid at heart, right? The kid's clearly hiding from Dick to scare him or something.
(Damian was in the Batcave, studiously typing "Google, what non-Earth animals reside in Gotham, please?" into the Batcomputer. I like to think that Damian uses the internet like a 85-year old man who thinks a Google employee personally replies to each question.)
So, Dick creeps forward and abruptly slams open the armoire doors!! Only to let out an unholy shriek of terror as Danny, who was taking a nap, frantically skitters out of the closet looking like a Frankenstein cat-dog with bat wings. He crawls under Damian's bed as Dick scrambles into the hallway.
The cat-dog-Thing is out of the bag now. Damian looks utterly deadpan as he explains that Batman is his pet and not to concern themselves with it; Bruce, Tim, Jason, and a white-faced Dick disagreed. They need to see it to make sure the Thing won't harm anybody, especially considering it's fucking living with them!! How do they know it won't try to eat them in their sleep??
"Batman does not eat raw human meat, Todd. Why are you concerned now? It has resided with us for two months now."
"Two months?" Dick nearly faints (again).
"Yes, Batman is very well-behaved, Master Dick." Alfred, who's been feeding Danny for the last two months and has seen all the little quirks the Thing has, offers a consoling half-smile.
Ultimately, the Batfam decide to keep Batman in exchange for scary dog privileges. They'll have to think of another name for Danny considering having two Batmans in Gotham would be pretty confusing (especially if one of them decided they did, in fact, like raw human flesh).
Amnesiac Danny is wondering around the streets of Gotham and when Bruce comes across him, he thinks it's Jason; first as a hallucination and then after he manages to touch him, as some trick someone was trying to pull on him. Except… Danny even has the right clothes on! All muddy and dirty… Alas, when they check Jason's grave, there isn't anyone inside, leaving them with the wrong conclusion that Danny/Jason must have broken out of his grave.
DNA analysis is inconclusive. Every sample comes back as corrupted. Danny and Jason DO look the same and the similarities are convincingly enough to fool Alfred as well. Dick wasn't around too much, so at this point he also thinks Danny could be Jason.
Could, but the situation is… odd. Everyone is left standing wrong-footed. This Jason has no answers and all they have are a bunch of… hypothesis that they cannot test.
Even so, Bruce cannot help himself and tries to make Danny "remember". Eventually this leads to Danny thinking of himself as Jason, pointedly not thinking about how some things don't add up after he starts living in Wayne Manor.
And then enters Tim Drake, whose first act after being introduced is to say that Danny is a fake.
Jason was acting strange.
Bruce was worried. It had started when the batfam investigated the hideout of a new gang in Gotham. They had attacked Jason earlier that week with strange weapons, so Batman, Nightwing and Red Hood followed them to a warehouse. They saw the men in white suits with the weapons, several vans and some sort of powersource they called a core. Batman and Nightwing were making a plan when one of the men activated the machine housing the core.
Suddenly Red Hood had gone ballistic! He attacked them recklessly, with much more force than neccesary. Nightwing had to sto him from beating one of them to death! Batman was furious. They left the men for commisioner Gordon and took some evidence to the cave. When they arrived, Jason looked shaken. Bruce wanted to scold him, but the look on Jason's face made him pause. He needed to focus on the case, but he knew he couldn't bring Jason along. So he 'benched' Jason. Thats what the Robins called it, anyway. But someone needed to guard the evidence, they had no idea what this power core even was.
He expected Jason to protest. To insult him to complain. But when Bruce told Jason to look after the core, he instead looked suprised. Really? Jason had asked. Then Jason had told Bruce he could count on him. Red flag number 1. This had confused Bruce, but if it kept Jason from following then it was fine.
Then Jason had started carrying the core everywhere. He held it in his hand, close to his chest. He stayed in the manor, wich was red flag number 2. Damian had caught him talking to the thing numerous times. Alfred had heard Jason in the library, reading a children's book out loud. Tim noticed whenever they discussed the gang of men in white suits that Jason would leave, instead of listening. Dick had even caught Jason singing softly to it! Too many red flags to count.
Bruce was worried about him. He was starting to worry about mind control! But when he had tried to confront Jason, he had cut him off. Jason told Bruce that he knew he had messed up at the warehouse, that he had gone too far. So he was really happy that Bruce had trusted him with this. After that Bruce had been too stunned to say anything about it. But they knew the problem had to be adressed. During dinner, the whole family where going to discuss this matter with Jason.
That was before the core transformed into a glowing, white haired child.
Richard "Dick" Grayson is the golden child. In the eyes of the public, and in the eyes of the league. Dick is a sweet, caring son, a man who went from being a sidekick to being a hero. The pipeline from Robin to Nightwing had many people applauding his dedication to keeping Gotham safe.
No one knew the full story, not truly. No one but Bruce Wayne himself. And maybe a certain butler. Many don't know that Dick only became Robin to stop him from hunting down and killing the man who killed his parents.
No one really knows about the harsh fights and arguments he has had with Bruce. The times when Dick would find himself cut off from the Wayne name for a week or so. No one knows that the first person Dick warmed up to was Alfred. Having been bribed with cookies.
Things weren't always this good, trusting, happy relationship between Bruce and Dick. It had been a rough ride, a complicated one. But that was okay, because it got better.
Dick stopped being so moody and angsty. He grew up, he learned, and he changed. He became an older brother, found people that needed him. Needed him in a way that the citizens of Gotham didn't need him.
His brothers like to call him annoying. A goody two shoes who Bruce trusted more than everyone else. They couldn't fathom how someone like Dick could be so stupid and bubbly at all times.
All times, except when shit hits the fans. Despite the name calling, despite coining Dick as the stupid Wayne. They all knew better. They knew that when it mattered, Dick Grayson always pulled through. He was a force to be reckoned with when needed.
The whole Wayne family was a force to be reckoned with when called for. It didn't have to be under the guise of costumes and vigilante acts. Whether he was Officer Grayson or Nightwing, Dick was a man with his morals and values.
One night on patrol as Officer Grayson, Dick found someone who needed that force. A force willing to protect and care for the innocent. The hurt. The damaged, yet still good.
It started like any other night. A call of shots fired by an empty warehouse. There was no sighting or knowledge of any rouges being there, so Dick took the call. Told the team he'll contact them if it seems more than just a civilian incident.
The warehouse was dark, reeked of copper and oil. It didn't take long for Dick to find the trail. The liquid he found looked like the person had been dragged before walking. There was a clear struggle, even with the mess and emptiness that was the warehouse.
That wasn't Dick's biggest concern. The concern lay in just how much blood there was. Too much for any normal person to lose and still manage to stumble through the warehouse.
It wasn't just blood. It wasn't that much, but Dick could spot the strangeness in the liquid. The mixed in green that had an eerily similar color and glow as a certain pit.
Without thinking, Dick followed the trail. Barely remembering to make contact with his family. Give them an update on what he found. Words telling him to stay put for backup went in one ear and out the other.
Something in Dick's gut was telling him he couldn't wait. He needed to find the source. Whoever was currently bleeding out in this warehouse. He silenced the comm, moving further through the dimly lit building.
Then Dick found it. Or more so, he found him. It was just a boy. A boy that reminded Dick too much of the youngest Wayne. A boy sat against a wall, looking pale and weak.
Red and green coated the front of the boy's shirt, arms wrapped tightly around his middle. An attempt to stem the bleeding. A puddle had already started to form beneath the boy, and Dick moved without thinking once again.
He quickly found himself kneeling beside the boy, hands carefully reaching out. Before Dick even touched him, the boy flinched. Eyelids suddenly opened, wide and terrified blue eyes landed on Dick's.
In just that one look, Dick knew what he had to do. The haunting, terrified, and pained look in the boy's eyes told Dick everything he needed to know. The boy was in danger. Someone had hurt this kid, and it was clear it wasn't the first time.
The boy struggled weakly against Dick's touch, terrified whimpers, and barely coherent pleas spilled from the kid's lips. It had Dick's heart aching, clear as day the poor kid has been through hell and back.
It took a lot of reassurance, gentle touches, and promises of help before the kid let Dick take a look at the bleeding wound. A promise on Dick's soul had been the final thing that earned him any semblance of trust. A strange promise, but Dick was willing to make it.
That concern turned to pure anger the moment Dick managed to pull the sticky shirt away from the wound. The sight of a Y-incision cut perfectly into the skin, stitches tight on the skin, but blood still leaking heavily from the wound.
It didn't take long for Dick to realize why. Despite the perfect surgical care of the wound, a good couple of stitches had broken. Leaving gaping spots for that red and green liquid to pour out of.
The boy was deathly silent, tears streaking down his cheek as wide blue eyes stayed trained on Dick. In that moment, Dick knew he had to help. Had to get the kid to safety, patch him up, and find out what kind of monster would do this.
It didn't matter if the kid was human or not. It didn't matter if the kid had special abilities or not. No one, absolutely no one, deserved to be vivisected.
The kid was shrouded in mystery, but that mystery only seemed to grow and become clearer when Bruce had entered the scene. The boy had tensed, eyes flashing a bright glowing green.
Lazarus pit green.
It set a pit of dread in Dick's gut. His mind brings forward memories of Jason. Jason, after his revival, after his dip in that cursed pit. The same flash that his brother would get if he got too angry. Too emotional.
As much as Dick wanted to focus on finding who did this, if it had any connection to Ra's al Ghul. He couldn't. Not when the kid tried to get up, to pull away as Bruce and the others made their way closer.
Right now, Dick only cared about making sure the boy was okay. Fixing those stitches, getting him a meal, and a warm bed.
He needed to get this kid someplace where he felt safe and secure. Comfortable and protected. Dick wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the promise he had made, but he wasn't letting anyone get to the kid.
That included his family. As strange as it seemed, Dick put himself between the others and the kid. Shooting them all a glare that they had only ever seen a handful of times.
Dick lifted the poor boy up in his arms, cradling the crying child close as he led the way out of the warehouse. Ignoring the questions or confusion coming from Bruce and the others. As Dick walked, feeling the trembling boy clinging to him, he made a rather obvious realization.
Maybe the eldest son really was more like Bruce than he expected. Just a few short moments the the boy, a boy that Dick didn't know his name, and he was ready to pull out adoption papers. To give the boy a safety he so desperately needs.
Give him the chance that Bruce had given him all those years ago.
A failed prank attempt because Tim Drake is already a horror show.
DP x DC Writing Prompt
For whatever reason, Tim hires Danny as a bodyguard/assistant (unaware of the ghost powers until later). Tim only did it for appearances but hey, Danny is actually really good at his job and understands completely that sometimes, Tim just needs to disappear for a bit and that it just happens to coincide with there being a problem in Gotham. Danny even lets Tim drink all the heavily caffeinated coffee he wants and doesn’t try to limit it like Tam tries to do (considering Danny drinks just about the same amount… (Tam tried to have an intervention, it did not work)). It’s going great…
… then Tim realizes that Danny has been bodyguarding him and secretly assisting him while Tim is out as Red Robin (how does Danny know Tim is Red Robin? Who knows). Eventually, Tim learns to accept it and you know what? Danny is a great partner to have… on the field… behind the scenes, that is definitely what Tim meant…
Then one day, while Tim is drinking the coffee Danny prepared for the both of them, he realizes where they both are and has just one question:
“When did Danny become his roommate?”
I'm in a silly goofy mood so screw it, let's make younger brother Danny ideas for all the batbros. Heck! I might even do some of the other batfam members. We'll see. I'll make them all separate posts with one lighthearted and one angsty scenario similar to the Damian post.
Anyway with the set up out of the way let's take care of Dick first!
Jason Tim Damian Cass
Around the time Danny is born, Haly's Circus is experiencing hard times. Because of this, Mary and John give him up for adoption in hopes of him experiencing a better life. Danny grows up to be super athletic and flexible. He also looks like the carbon copy of Dick. When Danny's class takes a field trip to Gotham, a batfam member spots him and believes he's a clone. Cue the batfam scrambling to figure out this clone's origin and purpose. Danny for his part, is absolutely confused why the Wayne's have such an interest in him until Tucker points out he fits the Wayne adoption bill. This results in him panicking and when Dick approaches him the next day he yells 'I've already been adopted once so no thanks!' and runs away. This peaks Dick's curiosity so he does something none of the other family members considered to do. He does his research. After a while of digging he finds out Danny was adopted in xyz place around xyz date that matches with the time his parents put his little brother up for adoption. Could it be?
Danny is reborn as the youngest son of the flying graysons. The night their parents died Danny was in one of the trailers and not watching the performance. Therefore when everything went down, while Dick was being comforted by Bruce, the talons were able to kidnap him without anyone knowing. He is trained as the most prized talon of the court of owls. Eventually Batman proves to be a pain in the court's side so Danny is sent to take care of him. Batman doesn't want to admit it but he's having a lot of trouble with this particular assassin so he calls in Nightwing to help. Together, they manage to knock off the talon's mask. Dick sees his precious little brother's face that was once so full of life now devoid of all emotion and that makes him hesitate. This gives Danny enough time to make a tactical retreat. When Bruce finds out why Dick hesitated, he tries to bench him. The former Robin is having none of that though. He's getting his brother back.
It started with a video.
Tim had been scrolling through social media, as one did when procrastinating doing boring paperwork for Wayne Enterprises. He found himself going down the rabbit hole and somehow ended up going down the Unreality/ARG path.
He had to appreciate the dedication to bringing these stories together, some of the stories could actually happen given all the shit he'd seen in his hero career. Anyway this ended in him getting fed back to back Not Real videos. At least that was until he found The Video.
The caption on the screen was the first thing that popped up in front of the face of a latina teen who was trying not to laugh; Imagine getting wrecked by a twink
The camera flipped two buff guys wearing red and white Leatherman jackets, one was on the grass with his head tilted to the side and a basketball next to him, the blonde guy was looking at his friend with tears in his eyes before turning red and turning to the side and yelling out.
"You're dead Weston!"
"I said sorry!"
The camera then did a sharp turn to zoom in on a lanky ginger teen. It looked as though the blonde was about to go beat the shit out of the guy before the ground shook and the sky turned momentarily green.
"Ah shit, must be Skullker"
The audio began to glitch before the cameragirl began to run, the blonde could be seen carrying his companion, the ginger guy running besides them. A sudden cry came from behind as they could hear what seemed to be a girl trip.
"Star!"
The video started to glitch again and the camera fell from the girl's hand. As the girl picked up her phone the video showed that the ground where the blonde fell was now charred. When the girl panned to the side he could see that the ginger guy had tackled her.
"Are you guys okay?" her slightly accented voice could be heard with a weird echo, the ginger guy had his head back to the camera as he helped the girl up.
"Ugh Skullker's the worst, I still can't believe Ember dates him" the girl groaned. She looked up;
Kara?
"At least Phantom's already on it" the ginger guy turned around.
Wally?
The video ended and Tim found himself rewatching it over and over again--- There was no doubt that those two were Kara and Wally. Sure they looked younger but it was them.
There had to be more to this, was this really some sort of ARG? The explosions and the weird glitches, was that just all some part of a gimmick? Also why were there two younger versions of prominent heroes? Were they clones? Was Cadmus involved?
If it was clones then Cadmus was definitely involved.
He clicked on the girl's profile--- PaulinaxPhantom<3
Most of it was blank, not in a 'She doesn't really post much' sort of way, like her photos and video were whited off. He could see a sporadic picture and video here and there but they were divided by blank pictures that never loaded or video that crashed without ever showing anything.
He knew it had nothing to do with his connection so what the hell was going on. Could it be something with the site?
On a recent picture it was a selfie of herself with 'Star'/Kara with a link to 'Star's' profile.
Same thing as Paulina; pictures and videos surrounded by never loading and permanently whited out.
He checked the blonde jock's, Dash, and had the same result. Apparently the guy he’d been carrying was named Kwan—
Was that Garth? Sure he was a lot bulkier but he had an uncanny resemblance to the Atlantean.
Then he found 'Wally' again, or Wes apparently; Wally West and Wes Weston? It wasn't giving him much hope.
Wes was apparently part of Casper High's journalism club given his video about trying to meet the deadline and ranting about how annoying 'Boxie' had been, having trashed their clubroom and making them pick up after him.
"Stop complaining and actually pick up the slack Weston" a female voice spoke up from behind him.
"Yes, yes Chief Editor Manson"
Raven!?
Another video had him in a local food joint where the waitress was taking an order from a black haired customer, scowling as she noted the camera on her and flipped him off as the camera zoomed in on her, which was a dick move on the guy's part (as if service industry workers didn't have to deal with shit customers in the first place). The customer she was helping didn't even look back and also flipped him off.
"Get a life Weston"
Karen?
Oh holy hell bats! Was that Dick!?
Oh crap. Oh motherhecking heck!
This was bad.
Fumbling off of his bed and out of his room with a single drive to get to the Batcave, where he knew Bruce would be at the time and be able to assemble an Emergency Meeting with the League, he only had one thing in mind.
Why the hell would they hide clones in the middle of bumfuck Nowhere Illinois?
Listen. I need you to imagine this: Tim and Danny as the chaotic Anna and Elsa of the DC Universe. Because brainrot. Let’s go:
————
Danny? ICE CORE. WHITE HAIR. Ghost powers he didn’t ask for? Absolutely. Dude pulls an Elsa-level isolation arc, locking himself away in the Ghost Zone like, “I’m dangerous! Stay away!” Meanwhile, Tim’s just standing there, pounding on the portal like:
Tim: “DANNY, OPEN THIS PORTAL OR I SWEAR TO EVERY ANCIENT SPIRIT—”
Danny: phasing through the wall “Tim, leave.”
Tim: “DO YOU WANNA BUILD A WEAPONIZED SNOWMAN?!”
————
Tim? Pure, unfiltered, chaos-goblin-Anna energy. This man will not be stopped. Danny’s trying to brood? Too bad. Tim’s already there with a 40-step plan to drag him back to reality.
• Danny: accidentally freezes half of Amity Park
• Tim, covered in ice but unfazed: “So, anyway, we’re going out for coffee.”
• Danny: “Tim, I can’t—”
• Tim: “NOT. A. REQUEST.”
————
The Batfam? Losing their collective minds.
• Bruce: “Who turned the Batcave into a snow globe?”
• Tim: building a snow fort “Team-building exercise.”
• Jason: “Why is the Replacement singing ‘Let It Go’ like he’s on Broadway?”
• Damian: deadpan “He has lost control of his life.”
————
Meanwhile, Danny’s trying to deal with ghost stuff quietly, but Tim? Not a chance.
• Danny: mid-battle with ghostly chaos
• Tim: kicking down a door he didn’t need to kick down “HEY, BRO, NEED BACKUP?”
• Danny: “I HAD THIS UNDER CONTROL!”
• Tim: “AND I’M HERE TO UN-CONTROL IT!”
————
Then, there’s the inevitable ice-breakdown™️ moment. Danny, tears in his eyes, freezing everything, trying to protect everyone from himself. And Tim? Unmoved. Standing there in the middle of a blizzard like:
• Danny: “I DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU!”
• Tim: “I’LL TAKE MY CHANCES.”
————
Jazz? She’s just over here trying to be the responsible one.
• Jazz: “You two need therapy.”
• Tim: “I HAVE A MISSION.”
• Danny: “I’M LITERALLY DEAD.”
————
Oh, and Damian? He’s the terrifying version of Olaf.
• Damian, following Danny around: “Can you make sentient snow golems to fight enemies?”
• Danny: “That’s not how it works.”
• Damian: “Weak.”
————
Jason? He’s the sarcastic Sven equivalent, muttering from the sidelines, “Is this a twin thing? This feels like a twin thing.”
————
TL;DR: Tim refuses to let Danny have his broody Ghost Zone isolation arc, Danny’s one meltdown away from turning Gotham into the next Ice Age, and the Batfam is scared but too confused to ask questions.