The thing about Tim Drake is that he’s brilliant. The thing about Tim Drake without sleep is that he’s unhinged.
It always starts subtly. A missed night of sleep here, a triple shift there. His words get sharper, his focus becomes razor-edged, and the bats can practically see the neurons in his brain firing like a thousand fireworks.
Then, somewhere around hour 56 of no sleep, Tim crosses the threshold into full-blown megalomania.
He doesn’t just think he’s smart—he knows it. He’ll drop gems like, “Honestly, Gotham’s infrastructure is appalling. If I really wanted to, I could take over the city in 72 hours, tops,” or “Do you think I could reprogram every Bat-computer in the Cave before Bruce notices? Because I can.”
Which—yeah, okay, the family knows he’s capable of it, but it’s terrifying.
When he’s in this state, Tim walks around with the energy of someone who’s cracked the secrets of the universe and is two steps away from becoming a benevolent dictator. His confidence is unsettling. His hyper-awareness is borderline supernatural.
The bats try. Oh, do they try.
“Tim,” Dick says gently, holding out a cup of chamomile tea and a soft blanket. “Maybe you should lie down for a bit.”
Tim doesn’t even glance at him. “Lying down is for the weak, Dick. Also, you left your phone on the counter. Might wanna grab it before someone texts Kori again.”
Dick freezes. He did leave his phone on the counter, and he can only hope Tim didn't do anything with it (Though his comment definitely says otherwise).
“Tim,” Bruce says, the Big Bat Voice in full swing. “You need to rest.”
Tim smirks, flipping through his tablet. “Rest is for the dead, and I’m not in the mood for ghosts tonight. Also, you forgot to update the encryption on your personal server. Again.”
Even Damian tries, but he gets as far as hurling a batarang at Tim’s leg before Tim dodges it without looking. “Tsk tsk, Damian. You’re getting predictable.”
It’s chaos. It’s exhausting.
Enter Danny Fenton.
Danny’s used to Tim’s shenanigans by now. He’s been around for enough of Tim’s sleep-deprivation arcs to know the signs. The sharp eyes, the slightly-too-bright smile, the way he starts muttering plans for world domination like he’s drafting a grocery list.
Danny lets it slide for a while—Tim in hyper-mode is kind of cute, in a “my boyfriend might accidentally take over the world” way. But then he sees the bags under Tim’s eyes, the way his hands tremble just slightly from over-caffeination, and he knows it’s time to intervene.
Danny doesn’t use tea. He doesn’t try reason. He doesn’t even bother with the blanket method.
Instead, Danny steps into the Cave, tilts his head at Tim, and says, “Honey, can we cuddle?”
Tim freezes.
The bats, who have been subjected to hours of Tim’s unrelenting, untouchable brilliance, watch in shock as their insurmountable sibling folds like a deck of cards.
“I—uh—cuddle?” Tim stammers, blinking like a deer in headlights.
Danny smiles, soft and sweet and just shy of smug. “Yeah, I miss you. Come to bed with me?”
Tim’s resolve crumbles. He’s already pulling off his gauntlets. “Yeah, okay. Just for a bit.”
“A bit,” Danny agrees, but he’s already leading Tim upstairs.
The bats are left standing in the Cave, mouths agape.
Jason’s the first to break the silence. “Did we just get out-maneuvered by Tim’s boyfriend? The guy who hangs out with Harley Quinn for fun?”
Dick snorts. “I mean, are we really surprised? Danny’s been handling Tim better than any of us for years.”
Bruce exhales, the tension in his shoulders easing. “As long as Tim’s resting, I don’t care how it happened. Danny’s good for him.”
“Yeah,” Jason agrees with a shrug. “Kid’s weird, but he’s got a good head on his shoulders. And if he can get Replacement to sleep, I’ll send him a damn fruit basket.”
The bats exchange a rare moment of collective relief.
Upstairs, Danny tucks Tim into bed, brushing a stray lock of hair from his face as Tim curls into him. He doesn’t care about strategies or what the bats think. All that matters is Tim, finally at peace in his arms.
"Sleep well, genius," Danny murmurs, pressing a kiss to Tim’s forehead. And for the first time in days, Tim does.
So a bit of a twist on the usual dp x dc trope; Vlad is the one who has come to live in the DC universe for a fresh start after he’s done his redemption thing and is getting therapy and he’s traveling around DC basically starting his company and wealth from scratch but without overshadowing people(still sketchy but what business man isn’t). Vlad happens to be in Gotham when Danny(18 y/o) comes to visit with Dani(Ellie)(5 y/o) and Dan(3 y/o) for a long weekend. Dick, Jason and Damian are the first ones to see the little family in a Batburger Danny dragged Vlad into. The little family is concerning for a number of reasons not because they are obviously(to a trained eye) not human(no nonhuman racism here) but the fact that Vlad and Danny are their usual antagonistic selves(Vlad is in a better place and a better parent then any one including Vlad thought he could be but him and Danny will eternally have beef) Vlad is very familiar with Danny and the obvious age difference between Danny and Vlad(with the kids and their ages added in the picture isn’t looking good). Encounters like this happen with all of the Batfam and Danny, Vlad and the kids behavior and conversation snippets the Batfam hear do nothing to clear up the Batfam’s misunderstandings. It all ends at gala; Danny(looking gorgeous in a ice blue dress with actual ghost ice crystals on it and coming in dramatically in a white fur coat from the Far Frozen) is Vlad’s date(the kids are left at the hotel with their ghost babysitter) and the bats manage to get Danny alone and corner him after the gala and while Batfam has the best of intentions this is quite literally none of their business(and Danny and Vlad were not blind to someone following them all this time) and though Danny was quite capable of taking care of himself he calls for Vlad with his aura and to say Vlad was pissed at what he finds when he answers Danny’s call is an understatement. Danny and Vlad don’t explain anything about the kids or what they are but they do take the Batfam to task for stalking, invasion of privacy, illegal interrogation and overall being nosy assholes who don’t know how to mind their own business. Vlad and Danny then leave and the Batfam are left with a lot to think about(hopefully), when Vlad moves on from Gotham at the end of the weekend Danny takes the kids home until the next vacation to visit Vlad and Vlad stays out of Gotham from then on.
(PS. This is good Fenton parents AU they are trying their best to make up to Danny and Jazz for what their inattention has cost their kids but their friendship with Vlad is firmly over(the only reason they haven’t Ended him is because of their grandkids).)
Listen. Danny is a menace with affectionate nicknames, and Tim is so weak for it.
It starts small, a casual “hey, babe” here, a “thanks, darling” there. Tim thinks he’s fine at first—sure, his heart skips a beat, and yeah, maybe he has to take a moment to compose himself, but he tells himself it’s no big deal.
Except then Danny takes it up a notch, like he’s testing Tim’s self-control.
Honey. Danny calls Tim honey one night and Tim seriously thinks it's game over. He's done for. Finished. Danny could ask him to jump into a Lazarus Pit, and Tim would already be in mid-air. “Hey, honey, can you grab my jacket?” Yes. Yes, he can. He can grab Danny’s jacket, his wallet, his hand in marriage—whatever Danny wants.
And just when Tim thinks he’s adjusted to that, Danny has to go and casually destroy him again.
“Morning, Polaris,” Danny says, voice soft and warm, and Tim nearly drops his coffee mug. Polaris. His chest tightens at the word, at the meaning behind it. The North Star—the one constant in the sky, the guide through uncertainty. That’s how Danny sees him? It’s almost too much. Tim has to physically turn around and pretend to check his phone, hiding the way his face burns and his throat tightens with something dangerously close to tears. Danny doesn’t just say it like it’s some throwaway nickname; he says it like it’s a promise, like he’s quietly reminding Tim just how much he means to him.
But the real killer? The absolute fatality? It’s when Tim overhears Danny talking about him to someone else.
“Oh yeah, Tim’s amazing,” Danny says, casually. “My man’s the smartest guy I know.”
My man.
Tim’s entire world stops. He doesn’t even realize he’s holding his breath until he exhales a few seconds later, completely dazed. My man. It’s not just that Danny’s saying it; it’s the way he says it. The pride in his voice, the casual possessiveness, the ease with which he claims Tim like that—like they’re already this unshakable thing. His. And Tim can’t believe it.
It doesn’t matter that they’ve been together for a while; hearing Danny claim him like that still makes him feel like he’s the luckiest person alive. Every time Danny says it, Tim can feel his heart racing, his head spinning.
And how could he not? He wants to give Danny everything. Every inch of himself, every breath, every dream, every fear. Tim wants to live his life wrapped in Danny’s laugh, stitched into the fabric of his love. If Danny wanted proof, Tim would carve his devotion into the stars themselves, would pluck out his own heart and place it in Danny’s hands as an offering. He’d give up anything, anyone, just to keep Danny smiling like that, to hear him say my man again.
Tim’s in a puddle, utterly lost in the warmth of it. His chest tightens, and he can’t stop the little smile that’s spreading across his face. My man. That’s his Danny. And God, if this is what it feels like to be loved by him, then Tim’s never going back.
And the thing is, Danny knows exactly what he’s doing. The way Tim lights up whenever he calls him something sweet? The soft little smile he tries to hide? Danny lives for it.
“Baby, are you okay?” Danny asks one day when Tim is just staring at him, dazed and lovestruck.
“Yeah,” Tim mumbles, his voice barely audible. “I just… like when you call me that.”
Danny grins, leaning closer. “What, baby?”
Tim nods, face bright red.
And from then on, it’s over. Tim is officially a nickname addict. Sweetheart, baby, honey, love—he eats it all up. It’s his lifeline. His kryptonite. And the best part? Danny never holds back.
From Harry Potter Magic Awakened Game Illustration. ART NOT MINE!!
Dead On Main x Yandere Au
Something people didn’t seem to understand about those touched by death was that their emotions were amplified. When they are happy, they are filled with it. When they are sad, they are filled with it. The same is true for anger and love.
The Pit only further amplified the emotions, making it so Jason was overwhelmed by them. It took time for him to get used to it.(He never fully realized the extent, only thinking the pit amplified the bad emotions.)
The Fentons were all death touched, even if they didn’t realize it. However, Danny was the most. He was both dead and alive, emotions amplified to the nth degree yet still able to think things through, to plan and not allow the emotions to distract him.
Another thing people don’t realize is that those who are fully dead might not rely as much on relationships, but ghosts like Phantom or revenants like Jason? They craved it. They needed attachment.
Which is why, early in Jason’s career as Red Hood, he found himself growing more and more obsessed with his mechanic, Danny.
Neither fully realized how creepy/weird/obsessive their love was.
The resident goons, as well as the rest of Crime Alley?
Well, they just knew the Boss and the Mechanic were obsessed with each other, and head over heels.
They just hoped they steadied each other instead of making each other crazier.(The Mechanic was already one bad day away from being their next rogue.)
It had been a political meeting with the big media, as Vlad had to listen to other citizens talk about their heroes and complain about how they have more supervillains and damage. As a reporter, asked Vlad, the mayor of Amity Park, what he thought about it. He himself didn't talk about villain attacks or similar.
Vlad:" It's not my fault that your heroes are failures."
Yeah Vlad insulted every hero and city just with 1 sentence.
Politician angry from Metropolis:" What the hell are you talking about?"
Vlad:" How many years did your heroes fight their villains in your cities with collateral damage?"
Someone from Gotham said, " Maybe now 20 years maybe more."
Vlad:" The hero in Amity Park only took 1 year to show all his villains the right path, that they dropped being evil, and only once in a while visit to fight the hero without any damage to the city other than that place where they fight."
Vlad had built an Arena for it; it helped both Ghost and Danny fight and train.
Many of them are silent, as if they couldn't believe 1 word to say, " Impossible. Our heroes tried it for so many years."
Vlad:" If your failures did their job, you wouldn't have any villains years ago. So, yes, I don't think your heroes do their jobs."
Vlad then didn't talk anymore about this theme; he got bored of it.
And for the media and politicians, 1 online search and they saw Vlad told the truth... And they were kind of angry and confused. How comes that boy in 1 year fixed all his villain but someone like Superman or Batman wasn't able to do it for years!
In the Danny is Damian’s brother trope what if instead of Damian not telling the family about Danny wasn’t because of grief or shame or any of the more commonly used reasons for his silence. What if it was because he heard about how his father talked about Jason after his death, focusing and exaggerating the negative. That he was violent, angry, never listened to orders but in some iterations and popular fanon is that Jason was a cheerful and studious Robin.
What if while compiling info and researching the former robins during his tumultuous introduction he saw what kind of robin Jason was, good with kids and victims. Talking about his favorite books while on patrol and similar. Reminding Damian of his most Beloved brother.
Then he finds out about how Bruce talked about Jason after he died. Using him as an example as what not to do, erasing his good traits and just using him as a cautionary tale of what happens when you don’t follow orders. Just like what Ra’s said about Danny.
So he didn’t tell the family, not out of guilt or grief. But because his father stripped away Jason’s positive traits after death, the son he chose, adopted and loved. Who when he failed because he was a child led astray by his mother. What would he do to his brother, who loved the stars and excelled in stealth, who was quite in his kills but had no lust for killing.
Whether or not Bruce would do this to Danny’s memory doesn’t matter. B’s actions are gonna affect how Damian views his father even years after the initial actions. Because Damian will protect his brothers memory from being twisted even by their father.
DPXDC inspired by this post by @mokulule
It's probably going to be one long one shot when it goes up on ao3, but here's a little less than 1k of the beginning (by snippet I do mean most of what I have written so far lol)
Phantom had been quiet since he was apprehended.
Silent in a way that someone who needed to breathe, someone with a beating heart, could never be, and Batman could tell it had Superman on edge as he stared through the one way glass into the interrogation room. But then the uncanniness of the young man they had captured was probably a minor stressor compared to the concern of what would happen if Phantom got loose, his arrest had been brutal. Clark shouldn't even be in the observation room, any fight that left him as battered as he was should land him in the Fortress of Solitude's medical facilities, but getting that through to him when Phantom was still present was a losing battle.
So many of the League's heavy hitters, including dipping into Justice League Dark for magical support, and Phantom had danced around them.
The only reason they had been victorious in the end was because-
~~~
After several failed attempts at capture based on power match ups leaving the league member unable to land a meaningful hit, or arriving too late to stop or catch him, an ambush had finally been successful.
The ambush location had been set up for them, pending inspection by their team, based on Phantom's history and pattern of attack.
A pattern that was too aggressive, to recent for Bruce to have time to investigate to his satisfaction before action was needed.
The research facility had been pre-cleared of civilians and intel, the latter of which irked Batman. Every instance of a League member beating Phantom to a facility location ended with Phantom fleeing, if only to return later. So why would the GIW need to clear their servers to the degree they did.
Each member of the ambush team chosen with the utmost care, carefully strategized, every outcome accounted for, and in the end-
The why was unknown, but Phantom couldn't use his intangibility on Captain Marvel, leading to Marvel turning the fight into a one on one grapple despite the close quarters limiting how much help the rest of the team could be.
Phantom had barely made a sound most of the fight, ignoring the team's attempts at communication, he'd barely hissed at the brutal slash Wonder Woman had landed, barely a grunt at Superman's blows, dancing around Green Lantern's constructs, a motley of growing bruises on his skin and seeping wounds. And Phantom had reciprocated in kind, Diana had come out of the fight bruised, but largely unscathed, but Green Lantern was only 'standing' due to his ring and will, and whatever Phantom had done to Superman's ribs wasn't healing without attention, at least Clark Kent calling in sick to the Daily Planet would help his cover.
But Phantom screamed when Captain Marvel called down lightning on him. Broken, and bone chilling even through the comms, the volume deafening. And Marvel had read the seizing muscles followed by going completely limp, the uneven and new breathing, the tears, the presence of any reaction at all as landing a disabling blow.
Phantom took advantage of the lowered guard, but then at their proximity, it probably wouldn't have mattered lowered guard or not. And Phantom reciprocated in kind.
Phantom's eyes shot open, glowing bright in the night sky, energy arcing off of him as he sent Captain Marvel's lightning back through him.
Captain Marvel's cry cuts off sooner than Phantom's had, quickly replaced by Billy's, having been so close to him when he transformed, Phantom catches him quickly, instinctively, as he begins to fall. Cyborg's drones catch Phantom's expression as he processes what just happened clearly, eyes widening, mouth opening slightly, shock shifting to horror as he stares crestfallen at the boy in his arms.
"We're too high up." The first words anyone on the Justice League had heard him say, despite the GIW claiming he had a reputation for chatting nonsense incessantly. "The atmosphere it's, the air is too thin, too cold, he-"
"Phantom." Superman's tone is unyielding, firm, Phantom's eyes dart to him, "hand him over."
Phantom stares at Superman for a long uncomprehending moment before startling into action, "right, of course," drifting closer to Superman he carefully places a stirring Billy in his arms, as soon as Phantom lets go Green Lantern wraps Billy in a force field.
Billy takes a deep breath, eyes shooting open, twisting in Superman's arms his eyes snap past Phantom, but the warning his glance gives the ghost isn't enough.
Cruel, was not a word that could ever apply to Diana. Ruthless however, was an apt description, her lasso wrapping around Phantom's throat, he didn't need to breathe, but it would prevent his sonic attack, and provided her leverage to swing him around like a dog with a chew toy, diving towards the Earth she slams him into the ground, creating a crater at his impact, and holding him still long enough for Zatanna to swoop in from where she lay in wait to contain him.
~~~
Because something wasn't adding up.
The petition for help from the US government had made Phantom out to be a recurring issue, yet hadn't reached out until his most recent attacks.
Research notes going back nearly a decade, tied closely with a branch of the U.S. government none of them had heard of before.
Laser focused on his target unless absolutely forced to shift his attention.
And it took a lot to draw his attention, he displayed a worrying number of powers and abilities, skilled in evasion and combat, he didn't hesitate to match any of the league blow for blow until he-
Phantom's face when Captain Marvel had transformed played over and over again in Bruce's mind.
There was a difference to him in fighting Captain Marvel, the Champion of Magic, Earth's Mightiest Mortal, and Billy Batson, the 14 year old out too late on a school night.
As there should be.
But there wouldn't have been to the menace the GIW had described.
The GIW would be expecting an update soon.
The league didn't have one for them.
Batman refused to have one for them until he had more information.
Unfortunately their greatest source of information was tight lipped and unresponsive.
The translation may be weird..
This was drawn for fun, so it might be a bit weird... 😂
Danny, thanks to a recent invention his parents made found himself as a tiny fucking whisp (Think of Venti's true form from Genshin Impact, he looks like that). Not only that, when his parents were working on something to turn him back to normal, Vlad just had to be a prick and try and capture him.
Safe to say, he was not fucking impressed.
So he ran into the zone, trying to hide out before suddenly being fucking summoned to some random place in front of a bunch of really dressed people who looked like they were going to a Halloween party but fell into a ditch and then got rained on and slipped in the mud trying to get out of said ditch.
Also, it smelt pretty bad.
Then a group of also oddly dressed people burst through the window and beat them up, with one of them screaming at the others to hold them back while he tries and restart the ritual because it obviously failed.
Which, rude.
He's the one that called for him not that other way around. The prick.
Not wanting to go back he sorta just, floated out of whatever they had going on in and standing off the side as the guy gawked at him before getting punched in the face with some kinda, blasty, thing by some guy in a coat.
Said guy who then proceeded to say that the guys who summoned him obviously botched the ritual to summon the ghost king, as it said prince instead.
Which yea, he's the prince so what.
Which they obviously botched too because that's an ice elemental, a rather weak one by the looks of it but an ice elemental nonetheless.
Which. Wow. Danny has never been so fucking insulted in his life.
So he very obviously had the right to freeze the guy's entire body below the head in retaliation before leaving. He unfortunately got caught by magician lady which, cool, but also like let him go.
He just rolled with it honestly when they brought him to their 'hall of justice' or whatever and being stared at by a round table of what he's starting to think are superheroes.
He'll take being stared down over Vlad any day of the year anyways.