Meanwhile...
The world was green, swirling and consuming and...familiar. The portal's color was reminiscent of the toxic green of the lazarus pits.
At the comparrison Dick clutched his precious little brother closer to his chest. Tim was motionless and soundless and...fuck didn't that scare the shit out of Dick as he continued to whisper reassurances to his brother.
The swirling green got brighter and brighter, leading Dick to screw his eyes shut as he shielded Tim's closed eyes from the blinding light.
"I've got ya, little brother," Dick whispered over and over again, holding Tim close, "I've got ya."
Dick's eyes snapped open suddenly when he felt a hand curl around his bicep.
He was...there was danger. He was getting yanked through the portal but not out of it. Looks like he'd have to take back his repetitions of 'I've got you.'
"I'll find my way back to you," Dick hissed emphatically, pressing his lips to the top of Tim's head...before he was letting his brother go.
Dick's heart broke as he managed to make out the way Tim's body subconsciously jerked, reaching out for him...but Dick was already gone.
Dick had never felt pain...like that before. The emotional turmoil of his brother needing him and him not being there combines with the physical feeling of being yanked out of the coiling walls of the portal; it burned but not the kind of burn from fire it was...it was almost like the walls of the portal were so cold they burned, it was agony, it was frigid freezing heat and electricity sparking through his body...and then there was nothing.
Dick heaved and panted on his hands and knees before faltering and snapping to attention when he realized he was on solid ground. He was crouched low to the ground, wielding his bo staffs threateningly, glaring behind his domino mask at his surroundings.
He was...in a dark cave, flaming candles and wax covering just about everything. What the fu...? This place looked super gender and the vibes were on point but also? Where the fuck was he?
Dick crept silently through the cave and rounded a natural corner of the cave coming upon the sight of a distantly familiar figure. Cloaked in purple, hovering cross-legged over the ground, surrounded by levitating candles was a familiar figure.
"Raven..." Dick breathed out, eyes immediately softening.
Her gaze snapped to him immediately, all but falling to the ground, managing to land gracefully on her feet.
"You...know me," The girl frowned, she seemed perturbed and suspicious.
"You..." Dick paused and took the time to study her.
She was curled in on herself, eyes narrowed, form defensive. Her fair skin seemed paler than normal with an unhealtyh flush, beads of sweat on her brow. She...there was no familiarity in her eyes and she honestly looked younger than the Raven he'd seen only the weekend prior to his trip through a portal.
"You don't know me," He realized, "This...is another world, right?"
His life was so crazy it was honestly believable, besides if alternate timelines were a thing who's to say alternate realities couldn't be?
"This has always been my world but to you yes," Raven frowned at him, "This would be another reality to you."
"Alright, this might as well happen," Dick sighed heavily, "So you...brought me and my siblings here?"
"There are more of you?" She bristled in surprise, "More people in the wrong reality?"
"I mean, I've gotta assume so," Dick said thoughtfully, "But if you didn't make the portal, if you only pulled me out of it they...they might not even be in this world," He faltered, "Why did you pull me from the portal?"
"I was weak, my powers drained," She admitted, "There was a corrupted, demonic, powerful energy so I...reached out and...started siphoning the power?" She winced, "And then...next thing I know I'm grabbing something and just pulling on it and that thing-"
"Was me," Dick nodded, deep in thought.
This was...worrisome. He could rule out only two entities as having created the portal, Raven herself and her father; Dick knew that if she knew Trigun was the one who made the portal she wouldn't have gotten remotely close to it or his Raven wouldn't have but then again this wasnt his Raven so maybe she was close with her dad-
"I am not," Raven said firmly, sounding only a little miffed.
"Ah, I was saying that out loud," Dick sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
"You...really do seem close with the version of me in your reality," She noted, "Enough to know about my father."
"I like to think of you as a sister," Dick beamed.
"A...sister?" She repeated.
"Family," Dick's words were more of a promise to her than a clarification.
"Family..." Her voice broke...and then she was leaping forward, throwing her arms around Dick.
He wasn't at all startled, though, his own arms immediately coming up around her, holding her close. This Raven was so much younger than his and she was consequently so much younger than him, she seemed to be Tim's age, only fourteen...only a kid. Kids need affection and if Dick could provide Raven with some...how could he not?
batfam ages in my au world
- alfred: 63
- bruce: 33
- barbara: 20
- dick: 20
- jason: 17
- cass: 17
- steph: 14
- tim: 14
- duke: 14
- damian: 10
batfam ages in young justice
- alfred: 61
- bruce: 31
- barbara: 19
- dick: 18
- jason: 16
- cass: 16
- steph: 14
- tim: 14
- duke: 13
- damian: 6 months
"I...sorry," Raven pulled away after a few more moments of Dick holding her close.
"I don't mind at all," He said softly.
"So...what do we do now?" Raven frowned, "How do we get you home? Back...back to your Raven and your world?"
"I..." Dick pursed his lips in thought, "First things first is finding out what's different between our worlds, I need to see if I can trust some of the people I'd usually trust to help me find a way home."
"How do we do that?"
"...Why were your powers in need of recharging?"
"There were these aliens, the Reech," Raven said, "They finally left this world but they activated hundreds of bombs I...helped in the dismantling of them I'm too weak to help out with the final one."
"You mean there's a final bomb still threatening this world?" Dick reared back.
"Um...yeah?"
"Let's start there," He decided.
She shrugged and a portal formed before the both of them. Dick held out his hand to Raven who accepted it with a miniscule smile, the duo stepping through the portal together.
This portal was unlike the green one Dick had been pulled into, this onw wasn't like a tunnel through time and space it was just...a vertical plane that he stepped into and stepped out of.
Dick barely twitched at the sudden change of scenery. Moments before he was in that cave but now they were in an area blanketed in snow. In the distance he could make out three blurs running around a funnel of light...in particular he saw one of the blurs almost glitching out of existence.
"That's definitely not normal blur behavior," Dick commented casually.
"What...do we do?" Raven looked to him for guidance.
Dick hummed in contemplation before bending down, balling up some of the snow before raising to his full height, winding back his arm...and chucking the snowball at the blur. The blur turned out to not be a blur as a figure stumbled and rolled across the ground, Dick cocking his head to the side as he studied the blur, now identifiable as a speedster. He didn't know a speedster who wore that uniform though so that was more confirmation this wasn't his world.
Moments later more heroes were arriving including himself and then the funnel of light was dissipating and the danger posed towards the world was gone.
"Welp, no more danger!" Dick chirped, "We should probably go, though, don't wanna go worrying my alternate self with my presence. If he's anything like me he'd probably think I was a hallucination there to torment him for his failings."
"Um," Raven looked perturbed, "Alright? Where do we go now?"
"This world has a version of me," Dick said, "And one of my brothers," He noted the Robin besides Nightwing, "Which leads me to believe the rest of my siblings, at least some version of them, exists in this world."
"Alright," Raven softened, "Let's go find them, where do we start?"
"Gotham," Dick said, "Gotham City."
Raven nodded and conjured a new portal, duo holding hands as they approached it.
҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉
from the au world the batfam members will be called by their names from the canon-ish young justice world people will be called by their hero names
Back at the Watchtower, not that the dimension hoppers had figured out that's exactly where they were just yet, Jason and Duke had only just finished wrenching Damian away from Tim, the boy still snarling ferally at his brother who wasn't helping the situation much as he stuck his tongue out at him.
"Damian," Cass' tone was warning.
"I am calm now, Cain," Damian lied.
"Damian," Barbara said sternly.
"I will refrain from attacking anyone else for a while," Damian said this time.
"Good enough, I guess," Steph shrugged.
"So...how do we find Grayson?" Damian asked not so casually.
"We could sacrifice you for answers?" Tim suggested, scratching his cheek absentmindedly.
Damian dug his feet into the ground and bent his knees slightly. In an instant Jason reached out and hauled Damian off the floor by the back of his uniform.
"The replacement doesn't need this other replacement," Jason huffed.
The onlookers reared back in shock at the nicknames.
"It's totally fine!" Tim hastily reassured the onlookers, "I mean, in the beninging he called me that as like a genuine hatred thing but now it's really a term of endearment."
"Did..." Nightwing faltered, "I'm sorry, did you just say 'beh-neen-ging?'"
"Uh, yeah? Gotta problem with that?"
"Is that...a reference or something from your world?" Impulse couldn't help but ask.
"I guess," Tim shrugged.
"Tim's also just kinda weird," Barbara shrugged.
"Wait, pause," Steph held up her hands, "Babs if you came through the portal...why didn't Agent A and B come through too?"
"Oh, well, I doubt I could see as well as Duke could in the portal," Barbara said casually, "But I could tell it began to close as I came through, even as B threw away all rationality and ran towards the portal, presumably to follow us."
Batman pointedly looked away.
"At least B and Agent A are okay," Cass murmured.
"Yeah but if the portal's closed on our end how are we gonna get back?" Tim asked, "Easy, Zatanna will figure somethin' out," He answered.
"Why'd you ask if you were just gonna answer yourself, dork?" Steph rose a brow.
"Wow, leave me and my thought process alone, me and my lack of a spleen don't need this from you of all people," Tim scoffed, ignoring the horrified looks on the alternate versions faces.
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Steph looked apalled.
"I mean," He made a show of looking her up and down, "Purple and black? Puh-lease," He sassed, "Talk about a fashion faux pas. Just call yourself a Raven kinnie and be done."
Steph reared back in horror, gasping dramatically.
"You're one to talk Mr. Full Headed Cowl 'Cause I'm Emo, telling me I'm a fashion faux pas!"
"You talkin' shit 'bout my uniform?!" Tim shrieked in offense.
"Don't dish out whatcha can't take!" Steph snapped.
"Can you two stop bickering like siblings for fucks sake?" Jason snapped.
"We are siblings!" Steph snapped before she could stop herself.
"Ah!" Duke exclaimed, pointing a finger at Steph, "You finally accepted yourself as part of the family!"
"The hell I did!" She snapped but she looked distinctly flustered and bashful.
"I'm sorry!" Nightwing cut in, "Can we get some...introductions?"
"Right!" Tim nodded, "I'm Tim Drake, Red Robin."
"Jason Todd, Red Hood," Jason said.
"Damian Wayne, Robin," Damian said coolly.
"Stephanie Brown, Spoiler," The girl's smile was strained as she threw up a peace sign.
"Duke Thomas, Signal," He smiled brightly.
"Cassandra Cain, Black Bat."
"And Barbara Gordan, Oracle," The young woman smiled.
"Then of course there's Dick Grayson, Nightwing but he's currently missing nd might be presumed dead," Tim hummed casually.
"And...you know us?" Impulse asked.
"More or less," Tim shrugged, "Like Kon looks different but mostly you guys are easily identifiable."
"Wait, which one is supposed to be Kon?" Barbara squinted at the group.
"Me?" Superboy awkwardly rose his hand.
"Oh my god he's more himbo than twink in this reality," Jason commented.
"Excuse me?!" Superboy flushed brightly in embarassment.
"Oh, calm down, kid," Jason waved him off, "Now then, what're we gonna do about the Dick situation?" Jason grunted.
"Circumcision," Cass muttered immediately.
Her siblings immediately wheezed except Damian who gave a dry snort and amused shake of his head.
"Cass droppin' banger one-liners!" Steph shrieked with delight.
"One-worders?" Duke corrected.
"One-worders," Steph nodded sagely.
"If your brother is anything like mine and he's...y'know free I'm sure he'll find his way here," Robin piped up.
"Mmm yeah but how many people will he hook up with between then and now?" Barbara sighed heavily.
Nightwing squawked in offense.
"Hey, he's not so much of a whore anymore," Tim defended, "Besides, I talked about him with Harls a couple times and she diagnosed his oversexualized behavior as a response to-"
"Hello!" Nightwing exclaimed.
"Oh, right, sorry," Tim winced, smiling sheepishly, "I guess Dick's dirty laundry might kinda be yours too, huh?"
"Also!" Nightwing choked, "You shouldn't talk about other people's problems in your therapy sessions."
Tim faltered, "Then what am I supposed to talk about?"
"I dunno maybe the dead parents and the missing spleen thing?!" Robin exclaimed.
"I'm kinda okay about my parents death and the spleen thing isn't the worst thing that's happened to me, though," Tim said.
"Y'know, you don't have to talk about the worst things that happened to you," Barbara said gently, "Just stuff in general. Like, my first session with Harls we just talked about girl stuff and got comfortable with each other and eventually we tackled the deep stuff. Harls would say that you talking about Dick instead of yourself is evidence of your symbiotic codependent relationship and how you've been unhealthily attached to Dick since he was eight and you were four."
"Okay, Barbara I came here to have a good time and now, honestly, I'm feeling a little attacked."
"You guys are...messed up," Robin said.
"Well duh, we're Bats," Jason rolled his eyes.
"Ah!" Steph's tone was accusatory, "Jason just accepted himself as part of the family! That should be the focus of tonight!"
"You think...instead of focusing on this new world," Tim rose a brow, "And instead of focusing on your acceptance of this family...we should be focused on Jason's?"
"I'll have you know," Jason looked miffed, "This isn't that groundbreaking, I've come a long way from the pits."
"Pits?" Batman repeated.
"Lazarus Pits?" Jason rose a brow, "I mean, come on, just how did you think I was resurrected?"
"Also, Barbara, it's perfectly normal to be super attached to your brother, bordering on posessive and clingy," Tim said.
"It's really not," Miss Martian piped up.
"Mind your business," The Bats all said simultaneously.
"But the green chick has a point," Jason drawled, "It's not normal."
"You're in no place to talk!" Tim said.
"Well yeah, but at least I can admit my relationship with Dick's not super healthy."
"I can confidentally say I have the healthiest relationship with him," Duke puffed out his chest in pride.
"False, that spots probably mine," Steph said.
"Only 'cause you're unhealthy sibling bond is with Cass," Duke said.
"I...no comment."
"My relationship with Grayson is normal," Damian crossed his arms.
The Bats fell silent before they burst into laughter.
"Be fucking for real, Dami," Tim wheezed, "He's more of a dad to you than a brother."
"And...that is not normal?" Damian's brows furrowed.
His siblings only laughed more.