darling, can you dance a waltz in five?

Because we get this panel:

And then the immediate next two are:

The yellow narration box is Gordon talking. And we know the man in these next two panels is Gordon because the trenchcoat is the same.

But the use of “we” when the only two characters that have been shown for this entire scene are Dick and Gordon implies that the hooker is Dick. There’s also no other person that shows up later. The only two relevant people are Dick and Gordon.

The comment on the prosthetics adds to that, as well as the choice of mask. It is clearly mimicking the Robin/Nightwing facial mask, which could be a reference or a callback.

Am I tripping? I’ve been re-reading this for like 10 minutes now and I cannot find a hint of anything that implies otherwise.

Last year was easily the most eventful (in a good way) years of my life so I read less fic than I have in the past, but I will not let that stop me from annual tradition of celebrating my fav fics of the year! You can also check out my 2023 and 2024 lists. As always, this is a way to express gratitude to fandom creators, so please leave a kudos and kind comment if you enjoy any of these fics! There are thousand of Batfam fics that came out in 2025 (literally 25k fics in the batman fandom) and I of course only read a small fraction of them, so I am definitely leaving many greats off this list. But here are some Batfam fics completed in 2025 that I especially adored. Tried to include a range of characters but Tim is my fav so he will be popping up a lot. Be mindful of the tags (although rest assured all have a hopeful or happy ending) and happy reading!

I Frew Up by @princessmossy (1k, dick-centric, dick goes to bruce when he has a nightmare while bruce is with the justice league, the league takes it in stride)

Truth by @byrambles (2k, tim & bruce, dick doesn’t understand why tim is convinced bruce doesn’t love him) (unofficial sequel to one of my fav one shots that hurts so good)

a new hope to live long and prosper by @iselsis (3k, tim & bruce & dick, tim is transported to a strange universe where batman isn’t evil and abusive, ft misunderstandings and Star Wars)

We Are Who We Choose to Be by @sohotthateveryonedied (4k, dick & bruce, baby talon dick goes after bruce on his first solo mission)

Brood Patch by @sunflowersandink (4k, damian & jason, reverse robins, jason has an accident and damian is kinder than expected)

The Best Cold Case in the Whole World by @xautunno (9k, bruce & tim, bruce learns of a horrific crime scene right next door and all signs to point to the neighbor’s kid being dead) (way less dark than it sounds)

Running Under The Radar by @quotidian-oblivion (10k, damian & tim & jason, reverse robins, damian and jason are stuck with the villain who tortured jason but not all is as it seems)

survival instincts by @civilbores (12k, damian & tim, tim is benched and damian finds there’s a lot more to the boy than he ever realized) *READ THE TAGS, heavy mental health topics but does have a happy/hopeful ending

Round Two by @remarcely (14k, bruce & his kids, bruce wakes up in the past before jason’s resurrection and proceeds to save all of his kids)

don’t wanna be alone (when these bones decay) by @mercuryisrobin (15k, tim & jason, jason realizes he has a stalker and tim joins the batfam early) (whole series is amazing but does have some rip-your-heart-out angst so be prepared. The series as is does not technically have a happy ending but is still a WIP and def worth the read)

Knee scrapes and stab wounds by @mentallyunawareofpapaya (16k, jason & damian + tim pov, batfam is alarmed to find out damian has a brother from the league in Gotham and it’s red hood)

Red Hood’s Shelter for Feral Kids by @dandelionlily (20k, tim & jason, red hood protects crime alley, so does alvin draper, this causes problems when jason attacks robin aka alvin aka tim)

Nine Yards by @muddells (21k, tim & damian, tim cannot standby when he finds his brother held hostage at school, it does not go great)

hand in unloveable hand by kitfornow (22k, tim & damian, damian starts to notice how different tim’s relationship with the family is than everyone else’s and has a hard time dealing with it) (most likely will have more chapters)

Words Like Poison by nightwalker (35k, tim & damian & dick, tim is more chill about damian poisoning his coffee than he probably should be and everyone is doing their best to be a good sibling)

We’re All Dead Here by @wingedflight (46k, tim & jason, reverse robins, red hood kidnaps jason and everyone has a bad time) (can you tell I got really into reverse robins this year)

I’m Still Alive (when everyone who loves me has died) by @shortandsnappyfics (52k, tim-centric, tim joins the batfam late, tim is a badass CEO detective but he’s also 16 and needs help when he discovers shady business at his company)

Identity Theft by @taralaurel (93k, tim-centric, tim cosplays too close to the sun and ends up joining the batfam early)

Wayne Family (And Tim!) Christmas Extravaganza by @pinkparagram (105k, tim & bruce & batbros, soooo fluffy, tim goes to his neighbor for help and ends up spending christmas with the waynes, none of the kids know bruce is batman and bruce is The Dad of all time)

buy back the secrets by @vinelark (113k, tim/kon, Batfam is also there, five times superboy saves tim and one time tim saves superboy) (timkon fic but batfam is heavily featured and this fic is phenomenal so I had to include it)

+5 WIP I’d love to see more of in 2026!

Fractured by @selkienight60 (14k, tim-centric, tim is being pinballed between alternate universes and just wants to go home, ft. mob boss bruce in the first chapter with more AUs in store (hopefully))

the worlds not perfect (but its not that bad) by @shutupkayle2 (29k, tim & jason, tim keeps hiring goons to kidnap so he can be saved by nightwing, but batman and robin keep getting in the way)

Seeking Shelter From the Storm by @auxchord (34k, tim & jason, jason saves tim in a blizzard, tim brings him home) READ THE TAGS, overall very fluffy but does have heavy themes

The Demon’s Head’s Treasures by @millytsworld (39k, damian-centric, dick dies in damian’s arms and damian will do anything to bring him back) (everyone is very protective and possessive, this is basically platonic yandere lol)

Something is Not the Same by @theskeptileptic (44k, tim-centric, tim is kidnapped and brainwashed by Dr. Oz and then dropped off in a gotham he doesn’t recognize; it’s been 6 months for him, it’s been 10 years for the batfam) *READ THE TAGS lots of funny and lighthearted moments but there is also major whump… this author loves to torture tim (and I love them for it)

1) Gets kidnapped. Looks absolutely furious in his ransom photo, which would be understandable were it not for future context.

2) Becomes Plucky McGee as soon as Bruce shows up. There are guns trained on his goofy ass and he’s flashing the dimples LMAO.

3) The side eye and the “Shall we begin?”. Like, okay bucko.

4) Breaks out. Note that there have been no changes to his status since before Bruce showed up, meaning he had the ability to escape whether or not Bruce came.

Conclusion: Not only was Dick fine, I’m pretty sure this was just an opportunity for Dick to say hi to Bruce and get out of college.