Tell Me
Batfam x Assassin! Daughter! Reader
Tw: neglect, poor mental health, blood, death, guns, reader is stabbed and shot, argument, reader gets slapped once, everyone gets called out on their shit, reader’s on the dark side, assassination, etc…
Synopsis: Ever since coming to the Manor you never felt truly at home, nobody gave you the time of day no matter how hard you tried to be good and perfect. It takes a toll and in the end you find a dangerous outlet for all these negative emotions. You’ve reached your boiling point and now not even your estranged family could pull you from this darkness but what would they do? Could they really lock you away like the other villains after they were the ones to allow you to stray from the path of Justice?
Children were often the reflection of their parents, what they saw growing up is what molded them, what influenced their parents in turn influenced them. From a young age you knew you were not special, you were a weapon, raised by the Al Ghul’s and treated like a souless object for destruction. You weren’t used to kindness or happiness so it didn’t surprise you that your new family failed to treat you like an actual family member. You were the youngest Wayne now, but to everyone you were just another kid Bruce took in out of pity. Damian recognized you as soon as you’d been abandoned on the steps of the Manor but he did not treat you warmly. You were an obstacle, a challenge his mother had sent to destroy his peaceful life but all you wanted was to be loved.
The mansion was nothing more than a pretty bird cage, Bruce welcomed you with open arms but hardly gave you the time of day. Most of the other family members followed in his example, they were kind to you but rarely interacted with you and often times did their best to avoid you. At the very least you thought Damian would support you but seeing his emerald eyes shrink into a deathly cold glare was enough to make you give up on making a connection. All your life those cruel green eyes always mocked and ridiculed your existence, once it was your mother and now it was your brother. Within the span of a year you felt like a ghost in what was supposed to be your home. Your older siblings avoided you, and your “father” often ignored your presence despite your best efforts.
The only one who was kind to you was Alfred, the family butler, he always remembered your favorites and always lent you an ear to listen to you vent your sorrows. Sadly the attention and affection of one wonderful old man was not enough to ease the pain in your shattered heart. You tried to be good, you tried to follow all the rules and be a model daughter and student but what was the point? There was nothing nice in Gotham, it was cruel to the poor and the rich, so maybe you should use that pent up frustration to make a difference in this miserable city? After all you were trained by Ra’s Al-Ghul, you were never very good at pretending to be someone you’re not but maybe holding back wasn’t the answer. Maybe you were sent to Gotham to do what your dear brother failed to do! There was no point letting all those years of torturous training go to waste, not when there was a whole city of targets to take out and destroy. You could make Gotham a better place with your own two hands!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce was troubled, more and more news articles were popping up about the sudden deaths of crooked politicians or cops throughout the past few months. Gangsters and common crooks were also being targeted by some unknown entity and it was driving the Bat Family wild. These weren’t just random targets, with each individual killed their dirty secrets were revealed to the entire world. Opinions became mixed about their deaths but in the end a mass murderer was on loose and Batman had to bring them to justice.
“Staying up late again Master Bruce?”, Alfred hummed, setting a plate of food down.
Alfred looked up and read over the screen, a sad frown pulled at his lips and a heavy sigh soon followed.
“It’s a shame really, even the worst of people deserve a second chance.”, Alfred sighed.
Bruce could only hum in response, “The whole family is out tonight, everyone is in pairs to ensure their safety. Tonight will be the night we capture this murderer, I just know it.”, Bruce growled pulling his cowl over his head.
Without saying another word Bruce stormed into the Batmobile and sped off into the night for patrol. Alfred could only sigh and stared back at the extra plate of food, he always made you dinner even though you’d left the manor months ago. Deep down he wishes he could’ve done more, he wishes he could’ve scolded the family into treating you better but it was far to late for that. Nobody was aware you were even gone, just the poor old man that kept you company and accepted you for who you were.
The night is still young, crime is always at its peak at these ungodly hours. Its no surprise thst everyone is out on patrol tonight but Damian is livid, something about these murders seems so familar that it’s driving him insane. He wants to do something, he wants to lock away the madman that’s been doing this but nobody knows what they look like! All they have to go on is a scratchy voice recording that’s been altered and a blurry image of the culprit.
“Yo look alive Boy Blunder, looks like we found him.”, Red Hood chuckled.
Damian quickly reacted replacing his green mask over his eyes as he rushed to the rooftop ledge, Red Hood pointed to the strange individual silently stalking into the heavily guarded building. Robin couldn’t help but scoff, he researched every possible target that this fiend would possibly try to attack tonight. He wouldn’t allow anymore deaths, tonight was the night that this assassin faces justice.
“Let’s go, there’s plenty of targets that this idiot can hit.”, Robin growled, launching his grappling hook and swinging down to the building below.
Red Hood chuckled and followed behind his little brother, soon enough the two vigilantes were inside searching for their elusive prey. A drug deal was going on between two lead dealers in Gotham, the two vigilantes were itching to arrest both but they had to wait for their target.
“Our best bet is to protect the two leaders, without a doubt they’re the targets.”, Robin whispered, watching closely for anyone acting out of ranks.
The tension in the room was thick, everyone was ready to fire rounds off at the drop of a hat but not even the heroes could see it coming. They were focused on the wrong targets and in a chilling instance a bullet was silently fired and pierced through the skull of one of the dealer’s right hand men. Before the body could hit the floor everyone drew guns and began firing away without a care in the world. Amidst the chaos Red Hood managed to hear a distorted giggle, his eyes focused in on the raptures of the warehouse and that’s when he finally found their target.
“You’re not getting away this time.”, Red Hood growled, launching his grappling hook just above the assassin and swinging towards them.
It was far to late before they realized they’d been found, Red Hood tackled them from the raptures and both crashed down onto the table below. The sudden breaking of the table silenced everyone and the gunfire stopped but that didn’t mean anyone was safe. The two vigilantes were disoriented from the impact and the thugs took it as the perfect chance to kill them both. Robin swooped in to save his brother setting off several smoke bombs to hide their escape. Red Hood clung to the assassin with a vice like grip, grappling his way up to a nearby rooftop as the shooting continued.
“Alright you fucking idiot! Now you’re gonna be going to prison for the rest of your-“
A huge explosion roared behind the small group, the building had erupted into a huge fire with all those men still inside. Again a distorted giggle sounded from the stranger behind them, “Watch and learn ladies!”, the voice cheered, racing off the rooftop and falling down to the ground below.
Robin and Red Hood both shouted in frustration, now they’d have to deal with two threats at the same time. The assassin rushed to a nearby water tower near the flaming building and destroyed the supports with small explosives they had on hand. The toppling tower crushed part of the warehouse but doused the fires out with all the water inside. Many of the men were flushed out with the water, many still alive but casualties were present. Several more lives had been lost in the gunfire and so many more were injured.
“Oh Bat’s gonna love this damage control.”, Red Hood sighed.
He wasn’t even aware that Robin had already left his side to track down the runaway assassin, they giggled in amusement to chaos before them blissfully unaware of the nearby danger. Robin began attacking them, slicing their arm with the tip of his blade before they realized he was there. They tumble to the ground, clutching their bleeding arm in pain before Robin jumps down to cuff them. A distorted groan sounds from the mask but Robin could care less, the sounds of police sirens are growing closer and now the assassin is beginning to panic. Red Hood soon joins his brother and the mocking tone he has is almost enough to trigger the young assassin.
“You’re going away for a long time freak.”, he hums.
The police sirens grow closer before an agitated sigh spills from the masked assassin, Robin and Red Hood watch in horror as the assassin slams their face repeatedly into the concrete ground below. After the third hit Robin grabs the hood and pulls the assasin up noticing their mask now gone. Jason and Damian are both shocked to see who’s under the hood and realize that they can’t let the police take away this assassin. The three vigilantes disappear into the night, rushing back to the Bat Cave to inform the family of what they’ve found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your thigh hurts, your arm hurts, your back hurts, your face hurts, everything is burning and going numb from the pain all while your siblings silently glare at you in shock. You don’t say a word blissfully lost in the thoughts of your own head while you play with the cuffs around your wrists. Surprisingly enough your siblings had cuffed your hands behind your back and seated you in a chair until Batman could get back to deal with the issue at hand.
“I can’t believe the person behind the murders was you!”, Dick finally speaks up, frustrated to know that the youngest Wayne had been killing people.
You scoff at him and turn your head to look away from him. He gets more upset when you do so, “(Y/n) do you understand what you’ve done? We don’t kill people!”, Dick continues, his words falling onto deaf ears.
“Don’t be a hypocrite, Damian was killing earlier than I was and none of you ever scolded him for it.”, you snapped back.
Your brother’s face scrunches up in disgust, he knows he has no room to speak but he has changed. You ignore their voices as your eyes catch sight of the lights in the cave, the roaring engine of the Batmobile echoed in the distance. Great now things were really gonna get interesting, you huffed in frustration and get comfortable knowing you’ll be getting an ear full for your actions.
“Can you make this quick, I’ve gotta get home and walk my dog.”, you huff, opening your eyes to see Batman glaring down at you in disgust.
“Explain yourself.”, he simply growls.
You roll your eyes and cross one leg over the other, “I’m simply putting my skills to good use.”
The answer is simple and straightforward, nothing is untrue about the words you’ve spoken but it does draw mixed reactions from the family members.
“We don’t kill. You’re a murderer (y/n), your hands are stained with blood and you’re dragging down the family name with each kill.”, Bruce removes his cowl to get a better look at you.
You sigh and look down at your lap, “Tell me when was I ever officially renamed a Wayne?”, you ask glaring up into Bruce’s masked eyes, “Who gives a rat’s ass? I was raised by the League of Assassins, you should be grateful I have my own independence and don’t follow in my grandfather’s footsteps. Bedsides I’m making the Al-Ghul family proud.”
Bruce grows red with frustration at that comment, he doesn’t mean to but his hand moves on its own to slap you across the face. The boys all gasp and push Bruce back, Barbara and Steph rush to your side to help you, blood begins pouring from your broken nose again but you hiss at them to not touch you.
“You are a member of this family, you live under my roof which means you follow my rules. I should have you locked up in Arkham for what you’ve done!”, Bruce begins yelling at you but you are a woman with nothing to lose now.
“I am an Al-Ghul! I don’t even live here anymore! None of you ever cared about me, nobody ever helped me when I needed it! I was a ghost here until I decided to leave and make a name for myself, I’m an assassin get used to it!”, you roared back, your outburst shocked everyone.
They were so used to the quiet shy girl from before that your newfound voice sent chills down their spines. Bruce’s heart sank to the floor hearing your sad words, it made him think. Suddenly he realized that he knew nothing about you and he could barely remember the last time he’d seen you in the manor.
“I-I…that’s not true. If I’d known you were so lonely I would’ve done something…I-“
“Just save it. You people never gave a crap about me, I’ve been on my own for the past seven months and I bet none of you even noticed. What’s my favorite color? When’s my birthday? Who went to my school concert? None of you know right? Don’t suddenly act like you care!”, you chuckled darkly watching everyone’s faces suddenly pale at the realization of your words.
“B-But I thought you just locked yourself in your room? Alfred always made an extra plate of food…was he never taking it to you?”, Tim asked, guilt suddenly eating away at him when he tried to recall the last time he’d see you.
“I always thought you’d left early to school…I would’ve taken you but you were always gone.”, Jason added, he looks miserable but you don’t offer him any sympathy.
“I checked myself out of school months ago, I don’t even go to Gotham Academy anymore.”, you chuckled, enjoying the growing shock melting over everyone’s faces.
Everyone was too stunned to speak, even more so when you suddenly stood up from the chair with your wrists freed from the cuffs. Dick and Steph both quickly noticed you popping your dislocated thumbs back into place. Everyone was cautious of your movements but none could speak a word as the gravity of the situation slowly sunk in. You limped to the nearby exam table and grabbed tweezers to pull out the stray bullet that had lodged itself into your leg during the shoot out. While you bled over the exam table everyone watched just how unbothered you were by an injury that should’ve been painful.
“D-Did you get shot in the warehouse?”, Damian asked, inching closer to you with the intent to help you.
“I sure did. The slash I got from your sword hurts alot worse though, I can take care of it when I get home.”, you hummed, cleaning the bleeding wound.
Bruce joined Damian by your side and suddenly looked apologetic, “(Y/n) this is your home…I-I’m sorry if we failed to communicate that. Just stay here, Alfred can clean your wounds and we’ll talk things through. I’m sure there’s some way for you to atone for what you’ve don-“
An obnoxious ringtone blared from your pocket and you growled, muttering under your breath as you took the call. Nobody was sure what was going on but your body language became rigid and your face was stuck in a permanent scowl. Damian’s body mimicked yours once his ears caught on to a familiar voice sounding on the other end of the phone.
“Have you been talking to Mother?”, Damian questions you but you ignore him to continue the call.
You nod your head and let out a heavy sigh, “I’ll take on the task tomorrow, if that’s to long for you find someone else.”, you end the call and begin grabbing your things.
Bruce immediately gets in front of you trying to stop you from leaving, he’s delusional thinking he can repair the bond between you. You only offer him a dead glare and a frown, “Get out of my way.”
Bruce insists that you stay as do several of your “siblings” but to you these are just strangers. You don’t care for their opinions or words of wisdom, you needed them months ago not now. Your resolve was absolute and no one would stop you.
“(Y/n) if you walk out of this mansion than you will be a criminal. I won’t help you and neither will anybody in this room, if we meet on the field you will be arrested and taken to Arkham Asylum.”, Bruce warns hoping to scare you straight.
A light giggle falls from your lips eventually erupting into a hearty laugh, “Oh please do, I’ll just kill all your problems in one go. Mother’s been wanting to kill Joker for a while now. I bet the paparazzi would love to see me defaming the Wayne name like you said. Once everyone finds out who I am I’m sure they’ll put together who all of you are.”, your voice is cold and sinister as you continue to mock him, “Batman arrests his own daughter. Bruce Wayne is Batman. Family of vigilantes unmasked. Wayne family murderer. It’ll be a grand spectacle to read all of those articles.”
Bruce is appalled suddenly realizing that his hands are tied in this situation. Barbara speaks up, trying to descalate the situation, “(Y/n) please give us a chance. If we don’t arrest you than a Justice League member will. You won’t win against metahumans.”
“Do you think I’m stupid? I’ve been down here alone while you were all on patrol hundreds of times, all I could do was read to keep myself entertained and guess what I found all the contingency plans for each league, Titan, and family member. I downloaded those files before I left and if you keep threatening me I’ll be sure to sell that info to the highest bidder.”
Everyone suddenly seems more panicked than before, that information could destroy the world if it landed in the wrong hands. Barbara stayed quiet and pulled away knowing that there was no changing you mind. Damian tried to speak up, trying to speak some words of wisdom to you.
“(Y/n), sister please, I know growing up in the league made us abnormal. We thought we were weapons but I learned that I’m not. You can too. Just give us a chance to show you.”
You can barely smile anymore, listening to him lie through his teeth just to keep others safe from you made the cracks between you even bigger.
“I gave you a year. A whole year! I chose the path I could follow based on what I know, you failed. All of you failed! Go to hell, if any of you get in my way I will utilize all the information I have on you, the league, and the Titans.”, you warned.
This time nobody stopped you, you grabbed your things and walked away without once looking back. You were an assassin, this is what you were born to do. They had their chance to make things right and help you heal from your trauma but it was to late. There were unquantifiable corpses burdening your weak soul but even that wasn’t going to stop you, you had a mission tomorrow which meant you had less then 24 hours to heal and recover from tonight.
~~~~~~~~~~
The manor seemed lifeless after you left, suddenly everyone found themselves reflecting on how they mistreated you and grew disgusted with themselves. Alfred returned from his vacation only to find everyone wallowing in their own self pity. He knew of your suffering, he knew that you left as he was the only one you said goodbye to, and he was the one to withdraw you from school. Alfred did everything he could to support you until finally you pushed him away to take on your lonely path in life.
“You only have yourselves to blame, at the very least be courteous enough to bury her in the family cemetery when she’s killed.”, Alfred scoffed, returning to the kitchen to cook away his rage.
This only makes the family more miserable, the idea of you passing and them not knowing until its to late begins to haunt them. They’re scared and although they’re all together they’ve never felt more torn apart. Bruce sighs and stares at the empty windowsill where Damian usually sits during family meeting in the living room, he knows that Damian is taking this the hardest.
Damian slept in your room that night with Titus, looking for anything to hold onto of his sister. He never treated you well, he hardly knew you as you were both separated at young ages for training but even still the feint bond was the only hope he could hold onto. Being an assassin was a dangerous job and a lonely one at that, you would never know peace and it’s because he failed you. He was you brother, he was the one person that should have welcomed you and helped you earn your place in the family. He found your journal, a book you’d often write in and vent to, he read each entry and actually began to cry as each entry became sadder than the last. They’d missed your school orchestra concert, they’d missed your entire season of volleyball, and even forgot your birthday. It was through this journal that Damian even learned when your birthday was, it hurt so much. You deserved better, they all should’ve done better…you were alone and trapped in a pretty cage. You were like a hawk in a tiny cage, dangerous and searching for a way to escape and be free.
“Whatcha got there D?”, Dick asked noticing Damian with the book in his hand.
“(Y/n)’s journal.”
Everyone suddenly fell silent, they all wanted a chance to read through it and learn a bit more about you but Damian wasn’t done with it. He needed to know what he could do to fix this, he had to know what that phrase meant.
‘Tell me…’
‘Tell me what to do to make you see me’
‘Tell me why I’m not like them…why aren’t I special like them’
‘Tell me what did I do to be hated?’
‘Tell me why I’m alone….tell me why I’m angry!’
“Tell me why my version of justice feels so good? Why did assassinating that man feel right?’
‘Tell me was my mother right all along, if I have the power to change the world like this should I take it?’
‘Tell me what would you do if I suddenly became a part of the problem? Tell me what I have to lose if I follow the path of the demon!’
“Tell me what I have to do to bring you home (y/n).”
