#patrick dugan

Stargirl was excited! Captain Marvel had just offered to let her fight crime with him in Fawcett. The man was like a big brother to everyone. That included her. He was super nice, was normally the person who first stepped up to diffuse a situation, and overall just a big teddy bear of a man. So it was a little bit a of a surprise when she saw him snap a rapist’s neck like a twig.

Marvel: *drops the body, muttering something about paperwork*

Stargirl: *gobsmacked*

Marvel: *looks over to her for a second before doing a double take* “Oh my gods I forgot you were here!” *sounds horrified*

Stargirl: “You just killed a man!”

Marvel: “I know- I know!” *leads her away from the body* “I’m so sorry you had to see that.” *sounds completely ashamed*

Stargirl: “There’s nothing to be sorry about. You killed a rapist. That’s one less evil in the world, but my question is how are you gonna get away with this?! Cap, you’re gonna go to jail!”

Marvel: “Ah… Well, no. I have a license to kill.”

Stargirl: “Wait, you can actually have one of those?”

Marvel: “Yeah, uh me, and most of the other Fawcett heroes have one. We’ve all had them since the sixties and had to get them renewed a while back. It’s not a bad thing to have for situations like this.”

Stargirl: “…Can I have one?”

Marvel: “Yes? No? I don’t know? You should in my opinion. It’s a good safety net for if you accidentally kill a villain. You just fill out some paperwork and you’ll be safe. Do you want one…?”

Stargirl: “Yes.” *immediate answer*

Marvel: “Are you sure? I mean, you’re a teenager, so you might need a parent to sign or something.”

Stargirl: “Well, I don’t have a parent right now, but I do technically have a temporary guardian at the moment.” *eyes him*

Marvel: “No… you’re not seriously suggesting…?”

And that’s how Marvel ended up taking Stargirl to a secret government base so she could get a kill license. Stargirl got a stellar recommendation from the Captain and passed with flying colors.

As they’re leaving the base…

Marvel: “Okay, so we need to lay some ground rules.”

Stargirl: “Ground rules?”

Marvel: “Yeah, ground rules. Now I know you’re not the type of kid to go around killing people all willy-nilly, but I’ll say it just in case, don’t go killing people all willy-nilly.”

Stargirl: “Well, duh, I’m not dumb.”

Marvel: “I know you aren’t. And now onto the actually important rule. Under any circumstances, do not kill around other heroes. That’s how Huntress got kicked out of the Justice League after all.”

Stargirl: “I can’t even do it around you?”

Marvel: “Well, I guess you could. And I guess you could do it around the other Fawcett heroes, but just make sure not to do it around heroes who don’t have a license, okay? I don’t wanna get in trouble, and I doubt you wanna get in trouble too.”

Stargirl: “Gotcha.”

Marvel: “Nice. Now that that’s out of the way, wanna go for victory ice cream since you got your license?”

A solid four months passed after this incident. The two forgot about it. They were chilling. Then, Courtney forgot that her stepdad didn’t know that she could legally kill a villain, fill out some paperwork, and face no repercussions.

S.T.R.I.P.E.: “YOU TOOK MY STEPDAUGHTER OUT TO GET A KILL LICENSE?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Marvel: “Nothing! I didn’t think it was a bad thing!”

S.T.R.I.P.E.: “She’s sixteen. She sliced a man’s head off. CLEAN. With practiced precision. She doesn’t even have a drivers license! What in hell would make you think it’s a good idea to give her a kill license?!”

Marvel: “Okay, her slicing off someone’s head isn’t my fault. I didn’t teach her that, and the guys who gave her the license didn’t either.”

S.T.R.I.P.E.: “Then who did??”

Marvel: “I don’t know! Maybe she’s just bloodthirsty?”

Stargirl: “No I’m not?” *sounds slightly offended*

Marvel: *ignores her* “Look, the point is, I’m sorry for not telling you but please, please, pretty please don’t tell Batman.”

S.T.R.I.P.E.: “Why?”

Marvel: “Oh come on. He’s super anti-kill. If you told him he’d have me removed from the Justice League almost instantly.”

S.T.R.I.P.E.: “Maybe you should be removed! You don’t just give a kid the okay to kill someone.”

Marvel: “I’m not giving her an okay to do anything. I only wanted her to have it as a safety net. I promise.”

It took a lot of convincing for Pat not to squeal to Batman, but thankfully, they got it in the end. Though, the man still ended up chewing the two out.

(set during stargirl 2x06) “Pat?” Barb called from the pitstop entrance, a note of worry in her voice. Blue Valley was supposed to be safe, but the sky overhead was heavy with clouds, and apparently there were Even More Villains running around, threatening her family--Artemis Crock had broken Beth’s phone and some other child with powers and a grudge had threatened Yolanda. She wanted nothing more than to rent a moving van and pack everyone she loved up and flee the state. Since that was both illegal and out of the question, she’d settle for knowing where everyone was at all times. Only Pat wasn’t answering his texts, and neither was Mike. She saw the scrap first. A bit of red enamel on a sheared off bit of metal lay on the floor near an oil spot. Barb was no expert on cars or machinery, but she wasn’t blind. It was some piece of STRIPE. She crouched to pick it up and went still. Not oil. Blood.

STRIPE is one of the most advanced weapons on the planet considering Pat made it out of cars, some of the most sophisticated technology to exist. And Pat? He taught himself that. Pat never went to college, he doesn't have an engineering or electronics degree, the most he has is maybe a trade school diploma for fixing engines and body damage. More than that, his education is from the thirties at the latest. When he arrived in the future, cars had evolved in ways that would be incomprehensible to pretty much anyone from his time. But not only did he figure them out completely on his own, he took it twenty steps further and built STRIPE out of those modern cars. Sure, maybe he isn't hacking the Pentagon or taking over the Watchtower canon by remote control, but his mechanical smarts are unparalleled. He invented a theoretical science and used it to make what could be used as a weapon of mass destruction.

What, do you think I'm exagerating? Well, get this; in the Gods and Monsters universe, Pat Dugan was recruited for Project Fair Play, which was created to create weapons to stand against that world's version of the Justice League. To defeat them. He was on a team with some of the smartest minds in DC- Ray Palmer, Silas Stone, Michael fucking Holt- meaning that he is, in some way, on their level brain-wise, and that he bought to the team something that the others would not be able to do as perfectly as he could. Some of the smartest people ALIVE were in Project Fair Play, and Pat was right there next to them as their equal. Pat helped create weapons that would have destroyed the Justice League had Luthor not talked the military down.

Pat Dugan is one of the greatest minds in the DC universe, in the same list as names like Michael Holt, Ray Palmer, John Henry Irons- AKA, he's on the list in the top fifteen.

Outfit for Pat Dugan “Stripesy / S.T.R.I.P.E.”