Your gateway to endless inspiration
(Originally posted on AO3 by me/aka user CrashCityCentral)
The last thief was knocked out with a swift knee to his face and he fell limp. The distant sirens caught the vigilante’s attention and he let go of the KOd criminal's hair, dropping him to the ground then slumped into the shadows, hoisting himself up a fire escape and to the rooftop overlooking the dark alleyway where the fight took place. He peered over the edge to the carnage he left behind; a group of 8, 6 men and 2 women, unconsciously strewed across the alley floor, all petty thefts and wanna-be big shots. He left once he made sure none of them woke back up and the police were close enough. He never bothered staying around for these moments, the police were looking for him too. He didn’t always keep his opponents alive. But, like any other corny romance novel, he met someone and they changed him. For the better, which he honestly thought was impossible until that point. He didn’t look back again and instead traveled through the city by rooftop. It was just about time to hang up his helmet for the night.
He jumped from building to building, the close proximity of the cities structures making it perfect for travel. Once he was close enough to his current safe house, he dropped down to the streets and ducked into a darker part of the backend allies where he pulled a bag from a hidden spot. He opened it, stripping his chest plate off and stuffing it inside. He then reached around his head to press two switches on either side of his helmet and slowly pull it off revealing his face. Jason Todd.
Jason slung the bag over his shoulders, now casually dressed in a tank-top and his suit pants, walking back to the main roads and towards the direction of his safe house, acting as casual as ever. This had been his constant routine. Once at the door, he pulled his keys out and unlocked a padlock that kept a latch shut. When the latch was opened he entered a six-digit code the door clicked and was pushed open. From where his warehouse was there was a glimpse of moonlight shining through the windows and now open the door, with only his shadow blocking out the only source of light in the dark room. Jason closed the door again slowly and tried not to make a sound as he locked it once more and put his keys on a nearby table. The room was a deafening silence, almost making his ears ring. It wasn’t always this quiet. He moved to hang up his gear and walked further into the house. His movements were slow, and he couldn’t tell if it was because he was tired or sore from fighting. It could be both. He let out an exhausted sigh before reaching the bedroom, moving the door handle slowly so the creaking wouldn’t disrupt the silence. There was a figure on the bed, laying there and waiting for him. It didn’t move when he came fully into the room and shut the door or took off his boots. It didn’t move until he walked over and was hovering over the bed and sat on the edge.
“Hey, Bart,” Jason said without even bothering to look at the boy laying down beside him.
“Welcome home, Jay,” Bart replied, with his usual animated grin. Though it was dark, Jason could practically see that smile. Something about the way he says it now makes it sound rehearsed. It was the same reply Jason got every time he came back, followed by the usual questions asked at rapid-fire. “How did it go? Did you kick ass? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m not hurt,” Jason said, his reply just as practiced. He didn’t bother answering the other two. He couldn’t. He just stared at the same place he zoned into when he sat down.
“You seem sad. What’s wrong?” Bart asked. Though he didn’t hear it, Jason could feel Bart move closer.
“You know what’s wrong.” The silence was too much. It was all wrong. All of it.
“What do you mean, Jay?” Bart’s voice still feigned the innocent confusion it always had.
Jason loved that about him. He loved how confused Bart got sometimes. When Bart gets too confused he gets frustrated and makes this cute pouty face and his leg bounces more violently the longer he thinks. It was just so him .
“Please don’t act like you don’t know.” Jason’s tone was nothing but pain. His voice was leveled but his mind was anything but. It’s been a long night.
“What’s wrong?” There he goes again. Those same routine lines. Those same replayed words. Those same concerned eyes.
Jason refused to look at those eyes. He knew if he did he’d cave and just accept this. But he couldn’t.
“You need to leave, Bart.” He swallowed hard, regretting the words but not taking them back either. This needed to happen. For both of them.
“I don’t understand.” the smile in Bart’s voice was gone. What was left was just concern. Jason cried.
The first few tears slipped out unannounced until they all just started pouring out. Tears and broken sobs. He wiped them away quickly, eyes screwed shut. There was a tingling sensation like someone had grazed their fingers lightly, over his cheek. His hand was so cold.
“Don’t cry, Jaybird.” Bart soothed. Jason reminded himself he couldn’t look. If he looked it became real.
“Please stop, Bart. Just go.” He rubbed his eyes. The ear-ringing silence came back. In the back of his mind, Jason knew he’d be back, just like he always is. But he was alone for now, his thoughts leaving him in peace until the next time. He opened his eyes.
Jason felt like crying again. He didn’t want to push him away, he didn’t want to tell Bart to leave. He wanted nothing more than to cave in and just collapse, letting Bart’s words soothe everything away and kiss him until he didn’t feel anything but loved. To listen to his rambles again and be praised with every villain he didn’t kill.
He wanted all of that back, he wanted his speedster.
Whatever his mind was doing to him was sick. Bart was dead. He has been for some time.
I've been writing so many fanfics lately. All of which have mostly been about Bart. And also mostly BartJay cause I will nEvEr give it up... Anywho, I have one that I'm SUUUPER excited for! It's about Bart being on the side of the villains, even though he's a mutual, and the relationships he'd have if he were on the otherside. Exclusivley, Uncle Snart, Brother Thad, Brother Owen, "Grandpa" Thawne (even though he really doesn't care), and all in all rogue shinanigans. It's also angsty, but I'm happy about it!
OH! And there's another that I'm happy about too! Bart basically makes a paradox where he never met any of his family or friends or becomes close to them, so he's forced to be a lone hero until (spoiler) He joins the outsiders. (Yes this is a JayBart fic don't @ me)
Jason and Bart's dynamic is literally just
"Someone will die."
"Of fun!"
That's it. That's all they are.
Dick: You little shit.
Jason: They just like me better!
Dick: Right, and how much did you have to blackmail them to believe that you little gremlin.
Bruce: What's going on here?
Dick: Jason stole one of my best friends and Ex girlfriend!
Jason: I plead the fifth! Can't steal what you never had!
Dick: Why you-
Bruce: Dick, maybe consider that they do like Jason for his... personality.
Jason: Why you gotta say it like that?
Dick: This is ridiculous. *storms off all dramatically*
Bruce: Maybe for future reference, don't steal any of Dick's friends.
Jason: Fine, I won't steal any more of Dick's best friends. Yeesh.
[One week later]
Jason: *casually sitting on a seat enjoying hot cocoa*
Tim: *slams the door open* YOU BITCH!
Jason: *smirking* Hi, Timmy.
Tim: DoN'T Hi TiMmY mE, YoU tOoK BaRt FrOm Me hOw CoUlD yOU!
Bruce: Jason, this isn't what I meant when I said don't steal any more of Dick's friends.
Jason: You should have specified.
Jason obviously has things he's ashamed of, even though he's this ass-kicking God we all love, he still has his demons. One of those demons being certain scars. Ever Hero, vigilante, and Villain has those certain scars that they don't want people to see or know of. For Jason, it's the ones from the Laz pit and when he died. He hates them, wishes he could get rid of them, but they're a part of him.
Bart has scars of his own, one's he wishes to never show. That being, all of them. He shows people his outter shell, this fun, party loving speedster that's always quick with a joke. In reality he hides most his pain behind that mask because no one expects the outgoing one to be the most damaged, but that's just what he is. Damaged. So damaged he fears peoples reactions to his real self and became his character "impulse". The scars from the future, from being enslaved and tortured, from fighting back and losing so much. He hardly looks at himself because of them. He may be quick to heal but the scars run deep.
Jason and Bart find a mutual understanding in not wanting to share the scars stories and be complacent in showing them, but not showing off. It's better that way.
Jason doesn't like metas or people with abnormal capabilities too much because they rely on their powers, but Bart doesn't.
Bart grew up in virtual reality, being constantly experimented on and watched by scientist assholes without his knowledge. He also grew up in the Apocalypse, or what was considered one. So he knew what it was like to be completely powerless and live normal, or as normal as you can get in a back-water, end of the world, totalitarianism planet. Even when he was rescued by his mom and Iris plus sent back in time to keep him safe, he was trained by all of LAPD and Tim Drake in combat, on the chance that he lost his speed again. It came in handy later on when he did lose his speed in the battle against the Rouges and his clone, Thad. And then his mentor Max Mercury taught him to slow things down and live in the present, that not everything is about speed and how fast you can do something, but how well you do it. So as you can assume, Bart is always alert. Probably why he's so jumpy. He never knows what to expect and thus he expects everything, cause with his powers he's able to predict every possible outcome in a situation. He also uses it to his advantage and He's memorized the complete human nervous system (talk about Crash).
That's probably why Jason likes him so much; even with his powers, Bart expects to be jumped any moment. (Likes in headcanon, of course, but c'mon you can't tell me he wouldn't)
Okay, listen, because this is like hella important:
Jason Todd dies when he's still a young robin, he gets yeeted into the dirty regen bath and returns with a vengence that just hits different
Bart Allen dies as Impulse, Flash, and Kid Flash (I'll explain those in a bit) and comes back then continues to pretend like nothing happened, cause he doesn't wanna talk about it. He never does, that's just him.
So These two are already like peas in a pod-ish, but I feel like they'd have this amazing dynamic.
Bart likes to talk a lot, Jay is pretty sassy and quick to comment but not too talkative, so I feel like they'd have good discussions. Plus, Jay loves liturature and Bart is a stickler for facts about lit and science. They'd have plenty of intellectual conversations.
Jason would see past Bart's persona facade pretty easy, Bart feels more comfortable around him cause they've been through similar stuff and it takes a while but they help each other open up.
Bart would be a great outsider. He's a time anomaly, angsty speedster with way too much internalised pain from all his experiences. (Yj really didn't do him justice, pun intended) Also, he's a great drawer.
I have so much more but Im running out of rant energy rn so I'll continue in another post sometime.