1 - 20 of 59 Works in Batman Comics Story Arc: Battle for the Cowl (2009)
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It's Written in the Stars by flavourless_fiction
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
22 Sep 2025
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It was on the second day of first grade that Tim Drake understood that the pattern of rust-coloured stars on the palm of his hand meant more than just a birthmark.
After a soulmate dies within a year the other half is expected to die or get themselves committed, Tim thought he'd moved past all of it until it was staring him in the face.Series
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“Someone is dead,” she starts.
She can see he wants to interrupt, probably with some joke about how you can’t throw a rock without hitting a corpse in this city. She doesn’t know how to tell him his jokes are bad, so she pushes forward.
“He’s a man I thought I knew well. A man I thought knew me. Who understood what I wanted — who I was trying to be. He was the only one to know me in that way. But now… now he’s gone. And his final words—”
The stranger jolts. His attention is entirely hers.
“They make me wonder if he ever knew me at all. If…”
“… if you’d only fooled yourself into imagining something that wasn’t there.”
Battle for the Cowl Epilogue: Jason + Cass talk about Bruce’s will + their identity issues + don’t deal well with either.
Day 5: Funeral |
Buried Alive| Old Names/MantlesSeries
- Part 2 of vfx_batman's Batfamily Week 2025
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Battle for the Cowl, The Whistle Cut by TheWhistleBlows
Fandoms: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
12 Apr 2025
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"When Bruce Wayne dies, does he take Batman with him?"
Gotham is upended in the worst crime spike in the history of the city. It's vigilantes are scrambling for a way to mend it, leaving a broken Batfamily to answer the question: Whose gonna be Batman, if anyone? Dick doesn't think anyone should take over the mantle, but his brothers don't necessarily agree. Each provide a different solution, some bloodier than others, but the cowl has to go somewhere; someone has to decide.
HeyoOOO first Ao3 fic. Anyway:
This is a rewrite for the Battle for the Cowl storyline, because I was not jazzed with the characterizations. I sincerely hope it is enjoyable, and accomplishes what I feel the original run did not. I did like some aspects of it, so those will be present, but for the most part I wasn't feelin' it.
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Vienna Waits for You by daswortowo
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batgirl (Comics), DCU
20 Jan 2025
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Was she ready?
Was she satisfied?
No. Her mind settled firmly on the answer. Only fools were satisfied.
And she was no fool.
Cassandra slowly learns what the word 'family' means. And along the way, everyone else learns too.
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The Monster in the Mirror by GalaxyOwl13
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics)
07 Jan 2025
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Jason is exposed to fear toxin in the field. And his greatest fear isn’t the Joker, or the coffin, or the League. It’s the monster that he sees when he looks in the mirror.
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- Part 2 of Jason Todd Week 2025
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Going after Jason was a bad idea. Putting on a Batsuit to go after Jason was an even worse idea. Tim pays the price for it, bloody and trapped under Jason with nowhere to go, and unspoken feelings to confront. He was always going to submit to Jason, sooner or later.
or
Tim confronts Jason during Battle for the Cowl, but their fight ends much differently.
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- Part 16 of necrotic nephilim's writings
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the centre cannot hold by centreoftheselights
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics)
23 Jun 2024
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After Bruce’s death, Dick becomes the head of the family.
A triptych on the theme of “not good enough.”
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- Part 3 of something lost, something gained
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Speak of the Devil by blackdragonhellfire
Fandoms: Devil May Cry, Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), DCU
14 May 2024
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When Jason mysteriously goes missing after messaging Nero and Nico, Nero, Nico, and Vergil end up roped in a strange and tumultuous quest to
a. keep Jason's younger brother from dying from sleep deprivation and stress,
b. find out not where, but when Jason's dad ended up after being "killed" by aliens, and
c. get the League of Assassins to kindly (or unkindly) fuck off and leave them all alone while they do all of the above.Series
- Part 2 of D(M)C
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Jason had to give it to him, it was a pretty good imitation, someone who didn’t know Dick or Bruce would be fooled. He clearly had lifts in his boots to make up the height difference and there was extra padding in the suit to hide his gymnasts build and essentially erase what made Dick, Dick. He knew that given enough time, Dick would make sure the extra padding wasn’t needed and would do the work to change his build to fit the suit and not the other way around. And Jason, Jason hated him for it. Hated that he was willing to give up an integral part of himself, the part of himself he’d clung to even after losing his parents, making sure he never lost the skills he’d been born into and the physique it took to do what he did.
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Bruce's death and the arrival of his biological pup sends everyone reeling
JayDick Week 2024: WIP Bash!
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- Part 1 of JayDick Week 2024
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Dick's turning into the one thing he never wanted to be… Bruce. Jason knows it and tries to fix it before Dick's too far gone.
Aka, Tim being 'fired' by Dick made Jason doubt if Bruce really was dead.
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Bruce is dead, but Tim believes that's not true. He's the only one who believes that - or at least, Dick seems to very much not believe him. Dick, for his part, is tired of the arguments, but at least this is the last one.
Written for Febuwhump 2024 Day 23: Presumed dead
Series
- Part 23 of Crow’s Febuwhump 2024
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the gentleness that comes (despite the violence) by cherrystainedknuckles (princesscharmingx)
Fandoms: Batgirl (Comics)
31 Oct 2023
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“I know what it’s like,” Steph said, “not wanting to go home.”
“He does not,” Damian said falteringly, “hurt me. I am safe. I just…” A long pause. “Do not want to.”
He had never sounded more like a child, and Steph thought he knew it too, the way he re-focused on the streets, like if he glared hard enough he could manifest criminal activity.
Steph stared at him for a minute longer. “I’m heading back to my dorm,” she said.
Damian, still sitting on the ground curled up, looked so small. Finally, he said, “I shall… permit you to offer me shelter.”
Steph’s eyebrows flew up. “You shall permit me. Jesus.”
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or; how steph and damian sleepovers became a regular occurrence
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Anyway, Jason was kidnapped by Damian, and all he had was 16 hours before he was murdered.
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At the end of Battle for the Cowl Jason wins, and decides to take the spoils of his victory. Mostly by abusing Dick and bullying children.
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"join me. be my robin."
if asked one week ago – hell, even one day ago – he would have bit back something snarky like, ‘join you? a psychopath killer? sure, why not.’
this was the man that beat him to the brink of death multiple times.
but, bruce was gone. dick didn’t want him. the residents of the wayne household saw him as a crazy man spreading false hope.
tim didn't have anything to lose.
OR battle for the cowl goes differently: dick gave the robin mantle to damian a few days earlier, and tim is doing anything to cling to family.
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I pray heaven knows when to lift you out by Bloodlessmoon22
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types
11 Oct 2022
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Battle for the Cowl AU
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Dick honestly wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he needed to find Tim and get through to Jason.
“You’ve lost it now take me to Tim and I’ll make sure that you get the help that you need.” Dick said blocking a punch from Jason, at least he wasn’t using guns.
“It’s you who need help, Dick. You and all of Gotham , and I’m going to help you all.” Jason shot back. -
your face, a hall of mirrors (how could i tell the difference?) by centreoftheselights
Fandoms: Batman (Comics)
13 Jul 2022
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"The problem with the Batfam is that everyone is a narrative parallel to everyone else. They're all too busy talking to their own reflections or to the ghosts that haunt them to have a real conversation with each other."
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“Have you ever told anyone?” The question is odd, stilted, spoken like Tim already knew the answer but still wanted confirmation.
Dick removes his arms from his abdomen, clutching his hands together harshly. The pinch is a welcome relief from the shame he can feel churning as he tries to formulate a response.
“No,” he whispers, nails biting into his skin. “I never told.”
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‘You miss all the shots you don’t take’ echoes through Jason’s mind in a voice that sounds suspiciously much like Alfred. Jason never misses.
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Battle for the Cowl AU in which Jason takes Dick’s hand and (reluctantly) helps the new Batman spread his wings. In times of hell and high water, it takes a flock of birds to keep the nest afloat.
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This Should (not) Have Been a Love Story, a Prequel: How Dick Found Bruce's Tape for Red Hood
Series
- Part 1 of The Killing Kind