Prompt Post - Part Nine [CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS]
THIS PART IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN CONTINUE POSTING FILLS, BUT PLEASE PROMPT ALL NEW THINGS HERE.
Part one here!
Part two here!
Part three here!
Part four here!
Part five here!
Part six here!
Part seven here!
Part eight here!
Feel free to reprompt posts from previous parts once. If you do so, I'd recommend leaving a link to your fill on the original prompt, ( Read more... )
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Alfred Pennyworth was not a man to be underestimated, yet many people misjudged the British man, assuming him to be just the butler, nothing more. It said something about Thomas and Martha's trust in him that, following their untimely deaths, he was made the legal guardian of Bruce. It was a position that caused many headaches, for he suddenly found himself sole carer of a young, traumatized child. As it were, he was happy to accept help that was offered with good intentions.
Upon research, he came to the conclusion that Dick Grayson's offer was genuine. Years ago Haley's Circus had come to Gotham, which had resulted in the murder of two acrobats. Young Dick, then eight, had stayed with the circus and become a star in his own right. But unexpectedly at the age of nineteen he had left the circus and enrolled at a police academy, and upon graduation joined nearby Bludhaven's police force. Around five years ago he had transferred to Gotham, quickly becoming a trusted officer under the command of then-Lieutenant Gordon.
(Alfred also drew his own circumstantial, unsupported conclusions on other matters, but as stated they were circumstantial and unsupported, and he wasn't going to assume.)
Given Mr. Grayson's own experience, it was with good feelings that Alfred forced Bruce to take him up on his offer. And it worked wonderfully; as time passed, bit by bit the person Bruce had been began to come out of hiding. Alfred doubted that things would ever be the same even if given all the time in the world, but even just a little bit was enough.
Of course, being entrusted with Bruce' safekeeping as he was, Alfred was going to notice when things really began to change. It quite frankly amazed him that Bruce thought he could fool him, but it was entirely possible that Bruce just wasn't thinking straight. The haze of grief still clouded his mind, as much as he had started trying to hide it.
The finances were the first clue. A small army of accountants kept track of the Wayne fortune, but every now and then Alfred liked to perform a spot-check, just in case someone thought a little boy's vast amount of money would be an easy target. On one such check he discovered that money was being funneled on an irregular basis to an unknown bank account via a complicated set of movements that a lesser man would have lost track of. There had been an initial large deposit, then a series of smaller deposits of varying size.
The trail however, whichever winding route was taken, always led back to Bruce, or something that could theoretically have been initiated by Bruce. So Alfred left well enough alone, his only action being to keep an even closer look on the finances.
Then there was the day that he had come back to the Manor from grocery shopping to find Bruce and Dick fighting in the garden in the rain. He had run up to the two of them, absolutely filthy and looking like they were going to kill each other, shouting at them to stop.
“Dick is teaching me how to defend myself,” Bruce had countered as Alfred opened his mouth to chastise them loudly.
Alfred gave Bruce his best 'I know you're just covering' look, then turned his furious glare on Dick. “It was just a little harmless roughhousing,” Dick quailed, putting his hands up in a 'don't hurt me' gesture.
Alfred had ordered them both to take care of the mess they'd made of one of the flowerbeds, then to get cleaned up because he wasn't having Bruce walking around looking like he lost a fight with a pig sty. He had met them at the back door with the garden hose, then stripped them of their damp clothes and provided towels so that they would not drip too terribly on the way to showers. Fortunately there was a spare change at hand for Dick, who had taken to occasionally spending the night.
Once he had gotten out of the shower and dressed, Alfred had registered his very vocal disapproval about the whole thing with Dick, who had been appropriately sheepish and terrified. Alfred had considered the matter settled, and took no further action.
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Ever since his parents' murder, Bruce had been suffering from terrible nightmares. In the early days Alfred regularly awoke to Bruce screaming for them in his sleep, and as the months passed he could still hear quiet whimpering on an almost nightly basis as he made his own way to bed. But then they ceased being a regular thing, and Alfred breathed easy up until the night he checked up on Bruce, just in case, and found the bed empty.
He initially assumed that Bruce had gone to the bathroom, or to get a glass of milk. But he kept finding an empty bed, and became more and more concerned for his charge. Bruce continued to emerge from his bedroom in the morning, tired but whole, and Alfred had only a very alarming idea of what to think.
It was only through much effort that he was finally able to catch Bruce in the act of sneaking out the window. “And just where do you think you're going, Master Bruce?”
At that moment, Alfred wished for a camera in order to capture Bruce's deer in the headlights look. “Running away,” Bruce answered, voice quavering only a tiny bit.
“And you come back every morning just so you can do it again the next night,” Alfred responded dryly.
Bruce tried on an angry, 'go away' glare for size, and it fit like a childish pout. “I like going outside at night, okay?”
“And you can't use the door like normal people because...?”
“Because you'd catch me and make me go back to bed.”
“Indeed, Master Bruce.” Alfred walked from the doorway and grabbed the backpack Bruce was wearing, forcing him to either abandon his precious cargo or stay. He unzipped it and pulled out a handful of costume, confirming his feared suspicions. “I do, after all, only have your best interests at heart.”
Bruce reached around and tugged at the costume, ineffectively trying to regain it from Alfred's grip. “It's not what you think!”
Alfred held fast. “It is exactly what I think. I will let you go out tonight, but I will be waiting up and upon the return of both yourself and Mr. Grayson, we will be having a talk.”
“Yes Alfred,” Bruce answered quietly.
Having effectively put the fear of Alfred back into his ward, Alfred pushed the costume back into the backpack and zipped it back up. He put a hand on Bruce's shoulder. “Be careful.”
“It's not me that needs worrying about.” With that said, Bruce climbed up onto the windowsill, leapt into a nearby tree, then shimmied down the trunk. Alfred had to be impressed by the performance, watching as Bruce ran from the house to the front gate where, if he looked closely, he could see a pair of headlights waiting.
Oh, he was going to talk to Dick Grayson all right.
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At seven in the morning, he called Dick. The other man sounded tired and harried on the other end of the line. “Hello, Dick Grayson.”
“Mr. Grayson, this is Alfred at Wayne Manor.”
“Shit,” Dick cursed under his breath, just loud enough for Alfred to make out. “I knew I was forgetting something, I'm so sorry... I'm so, so sorry.”
“Mr. Grayson, I assume Master Bruce told you about my condition for letting him go out with you last night.”
“Yes Alfred, he did, first thing. God, I should have called. I can't believe it slipped my mind.”
“And where is Master Bruce on this fine morning?”
“I'm so sorry Alfred, this is all my fault. I should have stopped him, the Commissioner was worried and he was right, oh god this is all my fault...”
Alfred sensed that his conversation-mate was slipping into panicked hysteria. “Mr. Grayson, slow down and tell me what happened,” he commanded, trying to break through.
“It's bad, Alfred. Two-Face, he... It's really bad. I was so stupid, letting him do this.” Alfred sensed the hint of tears on the other end of the line. “I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry. This will not be happening again.”
“What will not be happening again?” Alfred demanded.
He heard Dick sigh on the other end of the line, a world-weary sigh laden with more responsibility than any one man should have. “Bruce was injured really badly. It was a trap, and the two of us fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I tried to stop it Alfred, really I did. I'm so sorry I brought this upon Bruce and yourself. I never should have endangered him like that.”
Alfred tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach, icy yet red-hot, the worry and fear that had been gnawing at him the closer it got to morning blossoming with new life. “How is Master Bruce now, Mr. Grayson?” he asked, voice betraying him with the faintest of a waver.
“We're at Leslie Thompkins' clinic, she's taking care of him now,” Dick answered. “Given time, he'll recover. Which is more than I can say for Two-Face once I get my hands on him.”
“I will be there momentarily,” Alfred responded. He couldn't hang up the phone and put his coat on fast enough.
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After two days of convalescence at the Manor, Dick Grayson came to visit. He came to say one thing, and one thing only: Robin was dead. No more would Bruce roam the streets with him. Bruce objected vehemently; as Robin, he was doing something. He was making a difference. As Robin, he could help people in a way that he couldn't otherwise.
Alfred stood by, face blank, not offering a word of his own. Dick ignored all protests, and left as soon as he had finished delivering his decision.
Under Alfred's watchful care, Bruce took to recovery with a vengeance. But there was a morosity, a lack of drive to his actions that had previously vanished when his parents were murdered, only to return in the past few months. Now it was gone again, and Alfred was worried for his young charge.
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Alfred raised an eyebrow at the boy. “Bruce,” he chastised, which did nothing for the surly look on Bruce's face. “Go back to bed, now.”
Wrinkling his nose in an expression of extreme distaste, Bruce stomped through the door and into the house, making his displeasure known all the way up to his room. Batman turned to go. “Wait,” Alfred stopped him. “If there's nothing immediately requiring your attention, I'd like a word with you.”
Wordlessly, Batman swooped into the manor, and Alfred shut the door. He led Dick to the kitchen where he poured two cups of tea, then placed one in front of his guest and sat down at the breakfast bar alongside him. “Bruce had been acting differently as of late.”
“I'm sorry,” Batman apologized.
“As well you should be,” Alfred agreed. “You gave him hope. You gave him what he felt was the only meaningful thing he could do, and then you took it away from him. How is he supposed to act after something like that? He was recovering slowly after the death of his parents. True change, true life, only started to truly make a comeback when Robin appeared on the scene. And now that you have taken Robin from him, he is falling back into his old habits of lethargy and depression.”
Dick pulled down the cowl and gave Alfred a sorrowful look. “There is no more Robin. I've put an end to his vigilante activities, apologized, explained why. What more do you want me to do?”
“Take him back.”
Dick's face betrayed his shock. “But... Two-Face... Alfred, he nearly died, and you condone the activities that led to it?”
Alfred snorted. “Bruce made a mistake, and was badly injured because of it. You can't possibly expect me to believe you've never done the same thing. But you learned from your mistakes, and so will Bruce, so long as you give him the chance to do so. I am not saying I condone vigilante activities being performed by an eight-year-old boy, but it has been helping him to recover from his parents' death, and I am wholly in support of that.”
Dick stared at the counter, mulling over what Alfred had said. He took a long, slow sip of his tea. “I suppose... You're right. As I have come to learn you always are. But there will have to be new rules. Better defined ones. He needs to follow my orders more strictly. If I tell him to stay out of something and go home, he must do so without question. Do you think you can do that, Bruce?” he called over his shoulder.
A sheepish Bruce, hope in his eyes and a stubborn set to his chin, poked his head in the kitchen. “How long did you know I was there?”
“The whole time,” Dick answered seriously, though there was a hint of mirth to his mouth and in his eyes.
“Do you really mean it? You'll take me back as Robin?”
“Will you accept my terms?”
Bruce nodded emphatically.
Dick held out a hand; Bruce shook it. “Then welcome back, partner.”
Alfred smiled. “Now then, will you two be heading back out tonight, or would you like to celebrate by taking an early night?”
Dick and Bruce's eyes met, and Dick grinned. “Naaaww. Your costume's ready and waiting at my apartment, if you want to go pick it up. It's been cleaned and repaired and such.”
Alfred raised an eyebrow. “Your apartment? Not very fitting, is it? No lair, or cave, or even storage unit.”
Dick shrugged as he and Bruce strolled out of the kitchen. “Hey, cop's salary. Bruce has been funneling money out of his funds for me to use, but I've spent most of it on gear.”
“I've noticed,” Alfred responded dryly, and stored the thought away.
For Christmas that year, at Alfred's suggestion, Bruce gave Dick a Batcave. It turned out to be a big year for presents, as Dick's present in return was offering to adopt Bruce. (Which initially blew up in his face, but eventually Bruce came to think about the idea in a better light.)
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I am very interested as to know how exactly the adoption blew up in his face. I'm guessing Bruce was all, 'You'll never replace my Mom and Dad!' and Dick was all, 'Too soon?' It does seem a little rushed, though, as Dick waited one year and Bruce waited roughly ten.
Damn, Bruce is a regular child genius. Does he still hack? And how does Dick acrobat in that suit? Did Bruce make any modifications to the traditional Robin costume? How did Dick become Batman if he never went off to go train in the mountains or whatever? Upon suggesting to form Young Justice, did Dick did squeal and go, 'You're finally making friends, I'm so proud of you! :DDDDDD'? So many questions!
And, somehow, the idea of Bruce sneaking over to Dick's and putting on the costume in his apartment is infinitely amusing. It's like the low-budget movie version of Batman's life.
Oh, oh, and instead of everyone being surprised at how bright and cheery Robin is in comparison to Batman, everyone's surprised that Robin's so mean and grouchy, and asked Dick how he raised such a grouchy kid. And Bruce is convinced that Dick's his sidekick, not the other way around. He funds him, doesn't he?
THIS AU IS SO MUCH FUN.
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It was probably more of, "A batcave? Bruce that's so thoughtful! But it's here, under your house. I should just adopt you and move in! /half joking" *BRUCE FLIPS TABLE, LOSES SHIT* And then he eventually calmed down and thought about it a bit, and ended up agonizing over a half-joke for eons before awkwardly approaching Dick about it. TBH, WOKE UP THIS MORNING WITH THE IDEA TO TIE THE ADOPTION INTO MISPLACED.
Because that's one of the big problems with this fic, really. We've got all these upper class people taking in young orphans, but the other way around is really awkward and more than a little odd. That's going to be a big part of Ollie and Roy, how from the public's perspective Roy suddenly hanging out with billionaire orphan Ollie and then abandoning him looks really skeevy.
OH HELL I DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF CAPTAIN MARVEL. There's no way I'm going to be able to reverse everyone, he's probably going to have to be one of the ones who stays the same. Because an adult turning into a kid to fight crime? Not a whole lot of sense.
I didn't even think of Black Canary in that role. Honestly though, it would feel wrong to have Bruce and Clark but no Diana. But she's got Donna, so I can totally throw them in as a sidekick-mentor pair on the side. She is getting that speaking role coming up, so maybe that'll give me ideas.
I haven't been thinking about the Batman and Robin reasons because my current ideas end at "OOGA BOOGA IT JUST HAPPENS *WAVY HANDS*." I don't know at all. Dick could have been thinking that he needs to be properly terrifying, but from there to Batman I dunno. And Robin's YJ costume isn't too bright. It's rather black compared to other Robins. The red could symbolize blood, but I dunno about the yellow. And then Dick looked at Bruce's design and was all, "Hey, that looks a bit like a robin! Let's call you that!"
By the time the team is formed, Bruce isn't quite as much in denial about his close relationship with Dick and how much he looks up to him. He still has problems saying it aloud, but in his head he's more or less come to terms with it.
AND I HAVE JUST COME UP WITH J'ONN'S NAME: RAY STARKILLER.
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Please don't tell me Roy runs off on Ollie. That makes no sense and is so unbelievably skeevy. Roy was doing the whole teenage rebellion thing. You can't do the teenage rebellion thing if you're an adult. Have Ollie run off on him, instead. Or maybe instead have Roy putting a lot of effort into the relationship and then Ollie just blowing him off by going to work with Artemis instead. Ollie always took Roy for granted and until he hurt Roy by really casually betraying him for Artemis, he didn't realize how much he depended on him and wants Roy back. And Artemis is just kinda stuck in the middle of a big drama she really doesn't deserve to be in. So now Ollie's running around and trying to make it up to Roy and Roy's just, 'Okay, whatever. Meanie.' I imagine Ollie just basically saying, 'Yeah, it's been great working with you I'm going to go hang out with Artemis now' totally showed how little he cared for their relationship. Like the teen to the adult instead of the adult to teen version of Roy doing drugs. It was only after that that Ollie realized he was a terrible parent. Maybe something like that. I know I should probably stop trying to write these things for you but they are way too much fun.
My theory? Bruce took one look at Dick's original Batman costume, and was like, 'Bitch plz this is so impractical' (Whether or not it resembled the Disco Nightwing suit is up to you) and totally redesigned it to be totally pimping. And then Dick gets his revenge by dressing Bruce up in a kitschy outfit and calling him Robin. It all works out! (Also, this is where Bruce's affinity for prank wars comes from. It's all Dick.)
That doesn't change the fact that Batman is Robin's sidekick. Fact: Bruce is constantly trying to get people to say 'Robin and Batman' but nobody's buying it. He's 13 in the little ways, and that's all that counts.
THAT NAME IS SO AMAZING. THE BEST PART IS THAT NOBODY ACTUALLY CALLS HIM RAY STARKILLER BECAUSE IT'S TOO CORNY. THEY ALL JUST CALL HIM J'ONN LIKE IN JL AND HE'S LIKE, 'BITCH MY NAME IS RAY STARKILLER' AND HIS TEAM IS JUST LIKE, 'LOL WHATEVER J'ONN'
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But yeah, Roy has Important Superhero Reasons for running off, but he can't exactly broadcast it so he gets martyred by public opinion. Ollie meanwhile had indeed started spending time with Artemis who he met through Wally, so Roy figures Ollie doesn't need him and he can go hang with Cheshire do important superhero things...
Your ideas are making me want to go in directions that don't match up with what I've already written. Gah, my easy-out "This is how Barry found out about the Flash" is coming back to bite me.
AFTER SCHOOL SPECIALS ARE TO M'GANN WHAT CAMP SCI-FI IS TO J'ONN. HE TOTES WANTED TO USE THE NAME ALISTAIR GORDON LETHBRIDGE-STEWART FOR HIS CIVILIAN ID, BUT M'GANN BUT A STOP TO THAT.
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I could have sworn I saw Lian somewhere. This is good. You should keep doing it.
I probably shouldn't be making up more ideas for your fic than you, but this AU is really, really fun to think about. And I'm glad I'm influencing the fic itself, because then we get awesome names like Ray Starkiller.
Also, I'm totally head-writing Bruce's long and somewhat fruitful courtship of Diana. When she's 17 and he's 13. And everyone else on the Team absolutely thinks that he can't pull it off and Ollie's holding a pool on how badly she'll turn him down, but they all underestimate his mad lady charmer skills. And Dick is such a proud daddy.
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All the Birds have a thing for older women. It's canon. Everyone Dick's ever hooked up with was older than him (Barbara is, even in YJ, at least three years older than Dick), Jason definitely had a crush on Donna, and then there's Stephanie, Lucius Fox's daughter whose name I forgot, and that villainess whose name I also forgot, who're all older than Tim).
Bruce is a Bird now. HE MUST FOLLOW THE RULE!
Dick has to be proud. He set the trend, no?
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But they don't know that! Bruce is technically the first Robin, (Never thought I'd be saying that in my life) and thus there is no precedent. Well, except for Dick. Who totally has hooked up with Kory, Babs, and Wally. Let's just point to him as a bad influence, and from this day on the Justice League can snicker at what a bad influence Dick is on Bruce.
But still, Bruce is now officially the first playa Robin. At 13 years old. Which makes it somewhat awkward with his really kinky taste in women. It's rather unfortunate, though, that Dick never saw fit to tell him that it's a bad idea juggling three women.
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Well. Dick had to go wrong somewhere. It's the most basic foundation of parenthood.
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But Dick has no excuse. It is Dick's god given right as a parent to hug Bruce every single day.
Every. Day.
Bruce would hate it, but it would be glorious. And good for him!
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