At present, it is complete. However, I'm thinking about a project where young heroines end up falling in love with older heroes- through no fault of their own. At present, the only ones on the board are:
Jason Todd/Helena Wayne
Tony Stark/ Torunn Thorsdottir
Amara Todd (timeshifted daughter of Jason and Atalanta)/Damian Wayne
YES, I'M OBSESSED WITH JASON. GET OVER IT, HE'S HOT. For, you know, a comic character.
When Dick Grayson was seventeen, he caught a glimpse of another world. He landed with a thump at the feet of a young girl in a purple costume. Arms crossed over her chest, the five-year-old stared down at him and his teammates, scattered over the floor of the Batcave, and she screeched
"Help!"
A lanky teenage boy, dressed in a grey suit with a red bat on his chest, a red domino mask on his face and a leather jacket hanging from his shoulders, dashed into the Cave, followed by Batman and Catwoman. Another Nightwing dropped from the rafters as two Robins- one in red, a black cape down his back, the other in green and black with a yellow cape- came barrelling in from the Batmobile entrance.
The first boy swooped in to grab the girl, scowling fiercely as he settled the toddler on an angular hip. She clasped his neck and pointed
"They scared me!" Bats growled
"Take her." The boy nodded, replying
"Understood." Before dashing away, tailed by the two Robins. The blue and black man watched carefully as the new Nightwing crumpled, staring after the eldest of the disappearing children.
"J-Jason?" Batman twitched, then barked
"How old are you, Nightwing?" Dick choked out
"Se-seventeen. Jason, he-" Catwoman clucked her tongue and said warningly
"He's known as Red Hawk here." Dick gasped for air before he blurted
"He died, where we come from." A frown on Nightwing's face, before he told his counterpart gently
"He died here too. There's hope for you though, because he rose from his grave, he didn't die and get resuscItated. Your Jason is out there somewhere." Dick nodded, cursing when he felt the same anomaly that had deposited him at the feet of Bruce's daughter roll through him again.
Batman said pointedly
"If we meet again, I will ask you about your Jason."
The words are significant, he knows, but for the life of him, Dick can't realize why too dizzy to do more than tell Bruce what happened before he passes out.
ELSEWHERE
After Wally has been rescued from the Speed Force, and while Bruce is trying to figure out how to bring home Jason and integrate newly found Helena into the family, another Batman is plopped onto the table in the Watchtower meeting room.
Nightwing tilts his head and asks the grumbling man
"Batman?" The new Batman, different from this one only by the fact he is clutching a leather jacket in his hand, looks up to ask
"Jason?" Nightwing's lenses widen and he reports
"Known, alive, and disagreeing about if he has a home." Batman groaned, rolling off the table before he stretches, and introduces himself to the other Leaguers idly
"Batman of a universe where I married Catwoman." Dick notices Diana staring and asks his mentors' counterpart
"Uh, Bats, got any tips for-" He pauses when the other man flicks his gaze around, locking on Zatanna and Babs, smirking, the Batman teases
"I thought I had it bad when my daughter fell in love with my ward." Dick chokes on air, calculating the possibilities before Batman advised in a low voice
"Stay single until you know who you need to your dying breath. It's a Bat maneuver, but it works."
That… Makes Dick wonder. Who could Bruce's daughter- obviously their Helena- have fallen in love with? Not Damian, because he had said 'ward', so that left him, Tim and Jason.
Helena's fourteen. Tim's twenty, Jason is twenty-four and he's just passed twenty-eight. So, probably not him. Tim's pretty serious about Cass, since Stephanie had left Gotham after a mutual break up. Jason?
Nightwing goes beet red when he realizes he voiced the question. Bruce side-eyes him, and Batman sighs, before saying tiredly
"From my estimate, we're two years ahead of you, timeline wise. Jason's been home for about a year and half, and he didn't come home until after Helena got a dose of Poison Ivy's ugliest pollen and needed his help to recover. He almost left when she was better, but she convinced him to stay. He's refusing to stay full time until she's older, though."
Bruce and Dick both wince. Deadly horniness is nothing to laugh at. Clearing his throat, Bruce asks
"She's happy, though?" Batman rolled his shoulders and muttered
"They're trying to do it for real, which is good, but I could do without her pouting about what he will and won't do." Bruce and Dick go green with nausea and relief.
Jason won't hurt Helena, if they begin something in this universe, but she'll whine about him doing the right thing. And Jason and Helena and a bed… No. No, no, no, no, no, NO! Not fucking going there.
Shaking his head and wishing for brain bleach, Dick sees that Batman's body is wavering. He notes casually
"I guess your time is up." Batman shrugged and replied
"Nearly. I think someone's trying to tell you something."
That, Bruce dismisses.
A few months later, he wishes he hadn't.
ELSEWHERE
Helena and Bruce were arguing in the Cave, while Damian sat at the computer and and muttered under his breath in Arabic. Tim and Dick were fiddling with their equipment while Jason lounged insolently as Alfred patched up grazes on his chest. It was a rare moment when they were all together, except Catwoman, and Helena was arguing over whether she should return to patrol.
It was as he mused that Helena was pissed that Jason was hurt that Dick felt a ripple in his gut. Shit. As Jason opened his mouth, the floor fell away to drop them in the sitting room of Wayne Manor, a yelp of surprise and the tinkling of crashing china alerting them to a presence.
Dick felt his hackles lower when he saw it was a slightly older Helena, then rise again when he realized she was heavily pregnant, like full term . Before he could do anymore, a man rushed into the room, oblivious to the visitors as he landed on his knees beside Helena, barely clear of the shards of the teacup she'd been holding.
That man… was the reason the description 'built like a brick shithouse' had been invented. He was tall, broad and black haired, blue-green eyes flashing as he took in the Bat Clan and their butler. Dressed in loose grey pants, barefoot with his feet and wrists taped, twenty-eight-year-old Jason Todd is much more intimidating than Red Hood in all his leathery glory.
"Give me a reason not to fucking eviscerate you for scaring her." Words rasped out in a gritty voice, a large hand sliding over future-Helena's much-distended abdomen. She leaned her head against his shoulder and murmured
"Jason." Eyes softening, future-Jason called over his shoulder
"Oi, get in here!" Older versions of the Bat Clan, and Alfred strolled in, grimacing as they took in their younger alternates. Future-Bruce pinched his nose, nodding when Jason seated Helena, making a face when she squirmed into Jason's lap. Future-Alfred tidied up, asking Helena a few questions before smiling reassuringly at a worried Jason.
Future-Bruce waved the others away from the trio, taunting his younger self jovially
"Guess someone really wants you to get the message across." Helena winced before she asked
"How- Why-" Future-Helena called tiredly
"You know how. You can't be a teenager in Gotham and not. As for why-" She grimaced, turning her face into Jason's neck, whimpering when her belly rippled. He spoke in a low, calm voice, rubbing her back gently. Future-Helena explained
"Braxton-Hicks, they get worse as the baby gets bigger. As I was saying, the why has been confusing all Gotham. See, Jason had to go undercover to get the drop on a crime ring, so he went back to being the Red Hood. I told him before he went, that, uh-" She paused as another contraction ripped through her body. She panted through the contraction, not seeing the way future-Jason hung his head against her shoulder. Future-Helena sighed and huffed
"I hate false labor!" She grumbled at the man holding her before she finished her explanation
"Setting myself up for the Red Hood as Huntress bought him some cred, but not enough. I told him that if he needed something else, he could abduct my civilian persona, because I did- and do- trust him with my life. I knew what he'd have to do, so I made preparations, but they didn't hold up, which is why I ended up like this." Helena approached carefully, looking awed.
"You knew what could happen, and you still did it?" Future-Helena gripped future-Jason's hand and nodded, quipping
"I knew the kid was going to be huge, too, but I couldn't let it go." Helena squeaked
"Huge? How big-" Future-Helena grinned, eyes softening when future-Jason buried his face in her neck. Still smiling, the eighteen year old confided
"Jason's nearly as big as Dad, so I was pretty sure the kid would be at least nine pounds, but we're looking at closer to eleven." Helena was wide eyed, watching as future-Jason pulled her future self closer still. Carefully, future-Helena looked her younger counterpart in the eye and levered herself out of future-Jason's lap, standing to rest her hands on the other girl's shoulders and speak firmly
"Hey. I knew what I was I doing, knew what the possible consequences would be. I made the decision that if Jason was willing to do something so risky, I could risk my own neck. I was aware that there was probably going to be problems, that Jason couldn't remain with me at all times, that my precautions might not do what I needed them to. I made the decision to keep the kid when I realized I was pregnant, in the window I had to get rid of it. You aren't me, and the Jason you know isn't the one who I gave myself to. You have your own decisions to make, and I don't know who thinks showing you one of infinite futures is a good idea, but know this: Jason is worth it." Damian snorted, glaring when his future self elbowed him. Future-Helena switched her gaze from her younger counterpart to the younger Jason and repeated
"Worth every moment, Jason. No matter the world you inhabit." Future-Jason rose on heavy feet, scooping future-Helena into his arms before shooting over his shoulder as he walked away
"She can be a brat, but she's right. She's worth every moment, especially for gutter rats like us."
Bruce watched in a daze as his second son carted away his daughter, trying in vain to process what he'd seen when the floor wavered again. With a muttered curse, he fell through the floor again, this time into his own Manor sitting room.
Jason was still shellshocked, so when Helena put her hands on her hips and demanded
"What did he mean, gutter rats? You're Jason, not a rat!" The poor man collapsed into laughter, wincing when he pulled his stitches. Shaking his head, Bruce walked away to consider what he'd seen. Would something like this happen again?
ELSEWHERE
It did, by the by. Jason and Helena's sons met up on parallel missions ten years after the one on this side was born, freaking out everyone but both Damian's, the team leaders.
I'm trying to reach 100,000 words by December. Prompts, ideas, trivia?