Another Batsis. Inspired by Penelope Scott's song, Rät!
—
(Y/N) dropped her mug when she finally figured out her father's secrets. From the moment he adopted her, she knew something fishy was going on—something more than just a family of vigilantes. She'd figured that one out early on, after all. Yet, even when she joined the team, they still withheld information from her. They met in secret, or asked her to step out of the room—it annoyed her to no end, and finally, someone convinced her to search deeper.
"You don't really think they're being honest with you, do you? Oh, poor girl. There's so much that you don't know."
The Joker. She shook his words out of her mind, snapping back to reality. He said that to her a very long time ago, but she was only now acting on it. And as it turned out, he was right. After applying all of Tim's decoding techniques, she successfully hacked into the Batcomputer at one in the morning. The rest of the family thought she was already asleep, worn out by a fake cold she told them she had. Her white lies were only the beginning of all the lies she would find.
There were articles on Jason Todd dying, records of all her siblings' deaths, and dates of their resuscitations. She found her eldest brother was a murderer, the killer of the villain they hated most, and her father was that villain's savior even after the man killed his child.
She shut her eyes, trying to escape the horrible nightmare; it couldn't be true, it was much too farfetched, but she could see it. It was all right there, right on the screen.
When Bruce Wayne adopted (Y/N), she made it very clear that she was not a fan of the American Economy. No wealth of your amount is ethical, she would say. She begged him to donate to organizations, and he said he did. But that was a lie, too. Almost all of the money that should have been going to the Wayne Corporation's employees or to the people less fortunate than themselves was being used to fund this whole 'vigilante' routine of his. How could she have been so blind? It was obvious, she should've known these suits and this technology didn't come cheap.
No matter how horrible, though, she could've overlooked everything. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation that she simply hadn't heard yet—maybe the deaths were fake, maybe Bruce needed the money. She would've listened, but something set her way off. On Bruce's computer were in depth descriptions of everyone he'd ever encountered as Batman, including his own children. They were ranked with a pros and cons list. If anyone else ever saw these they'd die, all except Tim. He was contributing to them, too. Anywhere he wrote on had his nerdy signature somewhere around it.
(Y/N) isn't good for us. She's reckless, loud, and irritable. If she doesn't shape up soon, I'm taking matters into my own hands. [REDACTED] won't fire her, but I will.
-Red R.
I'm losing my faith in her. I'm afraid there isn't much time left, and the more time we lose, the more of a distraction she becomes.
Maybe the foster care system would be better for her.
-Batman
She couldn't believe it; they were supposed to be her family. She already lost the last one, now this, too?
She didn't hear the footsteps, and by the time he was standing behind her, it was already too late. At the clattering of an old hospital tray, she turned around to find Alfred examining the screen.
"Miss (Y/N), this isn't what you think—"
"Stop—I've already seen it all. There's nothing you can do. I'm leaving."
"Miss, they wrote these months ago, they didn't mean to hurt you—"
"They didn't mean to hurt me with their deaths, either, did they?"
Alfred fell silent. There's no simple way to tell a teenage girl her family is a lie.
(Y/N) licked her lips, a nervous tick, then said, "Goodbye."
She was out the door before he could even call out to her.
***
"Well, we've been fuckin' mean."
"No shit, asshole," Tim glared back at his predecessor. He went back through everything to study his sister's steps while Jason tried to track down the chip in her suit.
"I can't find anything on her, the last location she has is right outside the cave, but after that the connection's lost. Looks like she broke it or something," he pushed his cuticle back.
The teen ran a hand through his hair, "Let me see."
Jason scoffed as the device was torn from his hands, but he didn't retort. There were a few moments of silence before Tim asked, "How are you so nonchalant about this? (Y/N) is gone, we need all the information we can get."
"Relax, man, I know (Y/N). She's more like me than you all think. She'll go off an have her fun for a night or two, then realize she's being stupid and come home."
"How can you be so sure nothing will attack her before she gets the chance?"
"Tim! For real, she's okay," he put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "She's a smart girl, and we trained her. She's fine."
Tim palmed his forehead, turning away from Jason's grip. He looked back at the screen that showed (Y/N)'s profile.
"I didn't mean for her to see any of this. I wrote it so long ago, but I wanted to keep everything on file," he gingerly touched the screen, "She made it through everything else except that. She made it through our deaths, and still, this was the part that made her leave. I should've never even wrote this. God, I'm so stupid!"
"Leave it alone, there's nothing else we can do," Jason glared as he began putting his suit away, "If she doesn't turn up in two days, then we can go look for her."
"Yeah. Whatever," Tim looked her photo in the eyes, a wide smile on her face.
And he was the one who took it away.
***
A week passed without any sign of (Y/N). At this point, they weren't sure if she was even alive, but Bruce wasn't going to wait to find out. He consumed himself with finding his daughter, so much so that Tim temporarily took over Wayne Enterprises. Bruce told him not to, but he did it in secret anyway. It'd be too suspicious if Bruce suddenly disappeared like that.
Instead, he spent his hours in the Batcave, searching the computer for any leads. Even Dick stayed nearby, jumping from Gotham to any surrounding cities.
Yeah, Blüdhaven wasn't doing too good. Serves it right for being named blood shelter, he thought. Without Nightwing around to protect the city, that was exactly what it became. After a few days, he tried to juggle both his missing sister and his dying home, but even then his focus was always on her.
One particular night, he surveyed the city next to Blüdhaven; it was two cities away from Gotham, but if you really don't want to be found, you're not going to stay near your home nor your brother's home.
He was perched on the tallest structure of a bridge when he saw her. At first he thought it was just some random civilian, but he could see her suit from its distinct (F/C) trim. He choked on the sub sandwich he was munching on and placed it to his side. Knowing the birds would get to it, he hesitated, then rolled his eyes at himself and swung to the ground below.
"Hey—"
"AH!" she pulled a gun on him, then relaxed, "Oh, it's just you."
"Where the hell did you get a gun?" he said with his hands up.
(Y/N) turned her back to the man and continued with what she was doing prior to the encounter, "Stole it from Jay. Relax, I'm not gonna shoot you."
"But you are going to dig through the garbage, huh?"
She gave him a side eye, then said sheepishly, "I need to eat."
"What—Okay, no, I'm not letting you eat garbage food. One sec."
While he grappled to the surface above, she thought about running away, but the promise of food compelled her. When Dick returned, a sandwich in hand, she was already drooling.
"Sorry, it's a little cold now," he shrugged, but she couldn't care less; she tore through the sandwich in under a minute, Dick staring at her with wide eyes.
"Shut up," she retorted.
"I didn't say anything," but he knew his look was enough to say it all.
After she was completely done and sitting on the ledge of a wall, Dick began interrogating her.
"So, when ya' plan on coming home?"
She scoffed, "Never."
"C'mon, (Y/N), you can't survive like this forever. Why are you even out here, anyway?"
(Y/N) stayed silent, trying to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm harshly.
"I know what you saw on that computer," he said.
"Then why are you asking?"
He made a face at her sass, "I was trying to get you to tell me. Look, I don't know exactly what your thinking, but it's pretty obvious it's something like 'my family lied to me, and they don't even want me around. I shouldn't be there,' but that isn't true. You know Tim and you know Bruce, they love you. Yeah, maybe at first they had doubts, but you were kinda difficult when you first joined the family and I know you know that. But they still didn't let that stop them. They love you, I love you, and we want you home."
She paused, and he could see her unraveling, but before she did she ran away again, more figuratively this time. She tore her arm away from his grasp and swiftly paced the other way.
"You're our family now, you can't just leave!" he called.
"Like hell I can't! You guys made me feel so stupid and so used; you only want me 'cause you can't handle your town on your own and you're too stubborn to actually let the police do their job! I don't need jack shit from you, I never have!" she screamed at him, a stray tear or two falling down her face. When she turned to the side, though, she didn't find an open street. She found a family of vigilantes.
"Fuck."
"Watch your mouth," Bruce said.
"I don't suppose you all heard any of that, right?" she laughed nervously, but the multitude of guilty, angry, and uncomfortable expression already gave her the answer. Dick moved to corner her from behind, and rage filled her eyes.
"You ass, you called them, didn't you?"
He blinked, "I thought that was obvious."
"Ugh, shut up! Fine, whatever," she put her hand on the concealed gun, "I don't care. Say what you want. Maybe I'll listen."
Cass's eyes widened, and she pulled the gun away with her grappling hook. (Y/N) hesitated for a second, then lunged for the girl.
"Give. It. Back!" she grunted, wrestling her. Cass didn't say anything, she simply pinned her to the ground and threw the gun towards Tim who hid it in his belt. (Y/N) struggled, but after Damian tag teamed with Cass, she didn't stand a chance. She simply growled and yelled, "I hate you!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bruce's shoe, and then was pulled up, still reprimanded. Bruce faced her eye-to-eye, the others standing behind him.
"No, you don't," Bruce replied.
"What do you know? Of course I hate you!"
"You don't," Jason insisted, and she shut her mouth. She could try to take everyone else here, but not Jason. She had already lost.
Barbara stepped forward, "You're just upset. You saw something back there, something you shouldn't have."
(Y/N) pulled her arms away from her siblings and elbowed them backwards, "So, what, you all were just planning to keep it a secret that you actually hated me?"
"Don't hurt them!" Stephanie commanded.
"Please, they're fine," she rolled her eyes.
Bruce grabbed her shoulder, preventing her from hitting anyone else, "We don't hate you. Do you hear me? We don't hate you."
"Well, you sure did act like it. Foster home? Seriously, B? Fuckin'—why?! Who puts the child they just adopted into a foster home?"
"I'm sorry, I was just upset. I shouldn't have said that."
"Bruce, I loved you! You were powerful, successful—I was convinced I was part of your family, I would be a Wayne. But you lied to me! So if any girl on earth gets to make a call about this it should be me, and as I see it, you're a dick!"
"(Y/N), stop!" Jason interrupted, "Look, I'm not arguing with you, Bruce is a shit dad. But he's the best one you got! Listen to me, I've been where you are, kid! It doesn't work!"
"He's right. You can't stay mad at everyone forever," Tim added.
"You," she blazed, "No, you don't get to say that to me. You don't get to say anything to me!"
(Y/N) tackled him to the ground, the family trying to pull her off, but she kept an iron grip on her brother.
"You call yourself my best friend, then turn around and say that? Fuck you! Fuck your cars," she punched him, but after only one hit the tears blurred her vision, "Fuck your tunnels," another punch, "Fuck your rockets," she lifted her arm to hit again, but let it hang limp, "Fuck your cars again—fuck you!"
She started gasping for air through her tears, and someone took the opportunity to pull her back. They squeezed her tightly into their body and she struggled, pulling her arms out of theirs.
"Stop," Jason said quietly in her ear, "Stop, stop, stop—it's okay. It's fine. It's fine."
"Are you okay, man?" Duke ran over to Tim.
He hissed, touching his cheek, "Yeah, 'm fine. It kinda hurts, but it's nothing bad. She wasn't hitting hard."
(Y/N) reached out for Tim, but still held back by Jason's arms, she couldn't do anything. He pulled her so far back that the family wasn't even close enough to hear her if she wasn't yelling.
"I loved them," she cried.
"I know."
"I feel like I still fucking do."
"I know."
She cried hard until she fainted, suddenly going limp in her brother's arms. Frantic, he shook her and checked her pulse as he muttered curses to himself. He found a pulse after a minute or so, and let out a grateful sigh. Lugging her over his shoulder, he walked back to the family.
"What happened?" Tim asked worriedly.
"Relax, birdbrain, it's just a faint," he glanced at his cheek, "Shouldn't you be hating her right now, anyway?"
"Fuck off, that's my sister," Tim rubbed his cheek, "Hurts like hell, though."
"Let's take her home. She needs to rest," Bruce commanded.
"Got it."
***
When (Y/N) woke up, she found herself back in the cave's hospital-esque room. She let her head fall back, thinking only one thought: fuck. Maybe she could just pretend she didn't remember any of what happened. Then she'll never have to address it, how great!
"Hey, (N/N)," a voice next to her said, and she jumped. It was only Tim, and she put a hand on her heart.
"Jesus, you scared me."
He wasn't wearing his cowl anymore, in fact, he was in his civilian clothes. But that just made it worse. (Y/N) wished he had still been in his suit because now he just looked like a beat up sixteen year-old kid. The bruises were even easier to see against his porcelain white skin.
"Shit," she bit her knuckle, "Listen, I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."
He shrugged, "It's fine. Dick said you hadn't been eating well, so you were probably loopy. It's not like I didn't deserve it anyway."
She rubbed her neck, trying to forget what he said about her on the file. Changing the subject, she said, "Your hair looks like shit."
"Yeah, I've been sitting here for three days," he laughed.
"Christ, dude! Come here," she patted a spot in front of her on the bed. He followed in confusion as she pulled a hairbrush out of a side table.
"How'd you know that was there?"
"I asked Alfred to put it there," she smirked, and he let her fix his hair as he twiddled his thumbs anxiously.
"Hey, uh, about the thing on your file, I didn't mean that. I don't really...know why I said it, hah, it was so long ago. But, yeah. You really are the closest sibling I have now, though."
"Y'know, you should've just told me if you had a problem with me. I know I'm stubborn, but I don't want you to hate me or anything. It's fine now, though. I should've just listened to you and Bruce's explanations instead of freaking out. Sorry, again."
"We're cool," he smiled at her, then the door opened and they both stared at Bruce.
"Oh, good, you're up. Alfred made soup, I figured I should probably give it to you."
"Why?" she asked dramatically in confusion, "Sorry."
He recovered from his poker face with a sigh, "I need to apologize to you. What Tim and I did was wrong and uncalled for, I know. And I'm sorry I, nor anyone else, told you about the other things going on. We thought it would be better if we didn't, but we were wrong. You're a valued member of this team, from now on we'll tell you everything. And, although it pains me to say this, you can donate a large sum of my bank account to whatever charity you want."
"Yes!" she lit up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Bruce!"
"You're welcome, just please, use it wisely."
"I will, I promise! Wait—you're not still holding the soup, are you?"
"Dangerously close to dropping it."
She reflexively pulled away from him, worrying about her clothing before realizing she was wearing a hospital gown. They shared a laugh at her embarrassment before Dick burst in and practically jumped on top of her; he was just glad she was safe again. Cass followed, throwing her legs over Dick's which were thrown horizontally over Tim and (Y/N)'s. Finally, Jason came through and gave an awkward wave. (Y/N) called him a nerd, and thanked him for being the reason she fainted. He almost accepted the 'thanks' before he realized it wasn't actually his fault.
"Fuck off," he teased as he walked over to the bed and leaned on the edge, still playfully arguing with (Y/N).
Bruce smiled as he left the room, making sure Alfred knew that everything was fine.
And then got sent back in to actually deliver the forgotten soup.