Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To say Tim was confused would be an understatement, Tim Drake was very confused. Being confused irritated him because the young detective didn’t do the whole being confused thing.

It was two days after their training session led by a certain Green Lantern, overall it had been… decent. Just a regular session to begin with, until Tim decided to pair with Bart.

He did not expect the speedster to practically match his hand to hand skills. He had been training under Batman for the past five years as Robin, usually the only ones who could take him were other Bats. Yet somehow, he’d found himself pinned under the speedster, that freckled face grinning down at him as if he knew he’d just blown Tim’s mind.

A part of him was amazed at the other teen’s skill set.

In all honesty the spar had left Tim on a high, it had felt like an eternity since he’d really been challenged. Recently Bats and Wing had been occupied with their super secret mission, one that left no trace (probably to keep Tim out of it), so he’d been starving for a good old fashioned fight- and Bart had provided.

However, Tim’s amazement quickly turned sour when Bruce discovered what exactly happened in that session.

He’d been writing up his notes for the latest case- a classic “Gotham villain breaks out of Arkham… again”- when Bruce cleared his throat somewhere to his right. Turning slightly revealed his mentor fully decked out in his armour, cowl pulled over his head.

“Hey, B,” he’d greeted.

“I saw the footage of your sparring session with Kid Flash,” Tim felt a spike of nervous energy coil in his gut, he did his best not to outwardly show it.

“Oh…” was all he could reply with.

“Wally was never able to beat Dick,” was the last thing Batman said before he spun towards the armoury, his cape sweeping behind him as he went. 

That simple statement made him feel sick to his very core, he didn’t even finish up his notes as he bolted towards the cave’s exit. If anyone found out he’d shed a few tears onto his pillow that night, he’d deny it at all costs.

So now, whenever Tim thought of his fight with Bart, his guts seemed to vanish into the floor below. And of course the only way he could think to redeem himself was… a rematch!

Which was how he found himself pacing his way through the Watchtower, his cape fluttering behind him as he hunted down the speedster. With every step his rage only grew. Logically he knew he wasn’t upset with Bart- he was angry at Bruce’s wording, at Bruce only picking up on Tim failures, at Bruce comparing him to Dick.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t really be mad with Bruce, that never ended well for Robins. So, he got mad at Bart instead (the obvious alternative). He wasn’t sure what he’d do when he found Kid Flash, challenge him to a duel like a knight? Chew him out? Skip a few steps and just jump him? Attack him in his sleep? None of those options sounded good so he opted to do whatever came natural at the time.

However, all of Tim’s thoughts were thrown into the vacuum of space when he finally found the speedster- he didn’t expect to find him sat cross legged in front of a holographic memorial. Wally West to be specific.

The memorial room was always a peaceful place, the trees and shrubbery created an idyllic atmosphere “perfect for grieving” as Artemis put it. In Tim’s opinion it needed a little waterfall to make it complete, but he doubted the League was looking for interior design tips. 

From where he stood (in the doorway like a creep) he had a clear view of Bart’s back. He was dressed in his civvies, the usual jeans and two-sizes-too-big jumper combo. He sat slouched over, his hands hidden in his lap- Tim noted the other boy was sat stock still, an impressive feet for a speedster.

Tim began to move towards the other boy, he had no clue why, but eventually he found himself sat next to Bart. Being so close allowed him to see more of his body language.

His eyes seemed to stare through Wally’s hologram at the stars beyond. Bart’s nails quickly picked at his cuticles, Tim didn’t miss how a few were already bleeding but he knew they would be all healed up in a few minutes. Or at least they would if Bart gave them a chance, instead he kept picking. Adding to the wounds before the skin had a chance to knit itself together.

Throwing caution to the wind Tim reached out and placed a hand over the intertwined hands, halting the picking instantly.

Bart subtly jumped as his eyes flicked over to meet the lenses of his domino mask.

“Oh… Hi,” he muttered, he started cracking his knuckles seeing as picking was suddenly off the table.

“Hi,” Tim replied. The two sat in silence for a while, Bart staring through Wally as Tim’s gaze flicked over to Jason’s hologram. A flash of pain pinched his heart as he looked at the fallen bird.

Bart’s gaze followed his, “how do you do it?” He asked.

“Do what?” The two looked at each other for a moment.

“Be the… replacement…” A sad sheen took over the speedster’s eyes. “I can’t seem to stop being the new Kid Flash. Both of our predecessors died, we replaced them, yet no one calls you the new Robin.” He said the last bit with venom in his voice.

Tim slowly nodded before answering, “I guess it’s easier ‘cos I'm the third one… I imagine Jason had a harder time adjusting to the roll. Plus, everyone loved Wally… Jason was more of a bat bird, he didn’t have a lot to do with the team.”

“I get you, I wish I never accepted the title,” Bart stated glumly.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do, I miss Impulse. Impulse was mine , I didn’t have any shoes to fill. Now I feel like the shoes are so big they’re weighing me down…” 

“I feel that in my soul…” Tim muttered, Bart chuckled softly and the Robin counted that as a win. The two fell back into a comfortable silence.

Maybe ten minutes had passed by the time Bart spoke again, “can I... tell you something?”

“Sure.”

“I miss my family,” Bart’s gaze never left the stars.

“What were they like?” His curiosity got the better of him.

Finally those green eyes met his mask, somehow Bart’s stare made him feel like a mouse in front of a cat. “Can I trust you, Tim?” He narrowed his eyes. 

“Yes, without a doubt.” He elected to ignore the use of his name. Bart kept staring and wordlessly held up a hand, fist clenched with his pinky finger extended.

Tim met the gesture, a bare hand and a kevlar covered one intertwined. A silent promise was made between the two heroes.

With a nod Bart continued, “they were amazing… They were the best.”

“They sound great.”

“They really were… Look, I know you're gonna ask-”

“Wanna rematch?” Tim interrupted. Bart’s grin was the only answer he needed.

xXx

“Ah shit!” Bart yelped as he yanked his arm away from Tim, clutching it to his chest as he glared at his attacker. “That hurt!”

“It’s meant to,” he chuckled before repositioning himself on the mat. After a minute of whining and shaking his arm Bart rejoined him and the two set off on their next round of sparring. The duo exchanged punches, kicks, swipes and even bites on one occasion ( Bart ).

Eventually the two vigilanties found themselves sprawled across the mat like a pair of starfish head to toe style. Bart had his head pillowed on Tim’s thigh as they heaved for air. Their faces were flushed and their hair was slicked with sweat, to put it nicely- they looked like absolute messes.

“Good fight,” Tim stated.

“Indeed my dear Watson!” Bart tried to yell, but it came out as more of a wheeze as his lungs struggled.

“Really? I’m Watson?” Tim peered down his body at the speedster using him as a pillow, Bart really did his best not to laugh at Robin's double chin.

“Look… You’re the real life detective, let me have the fake Sherlock title.” Bart reasoned.

“Okay that’s fair,” he huffed back. He really had no decent comeback to that, he moved his hand to block out the gym’s lights… Only for his muscles to give up and his arm to fall onto his face, smothering him in the process.

“You want some water?”

“Definitely,” was his muffled reply. Bart reluctantly rose with a wheezy laugh, his auburn hair stuck up in every direction before he did his best to tame it (and majorly failed).

“I’ll be back in a flash!” He moved to run towards the kitchen before suddenly halting, “okay… I’ve possibly pulled a muscle so I’ll walk, give it a minute to heal… Back in a minute!” He shuffled towards the door.

“That’s not as catchy!” Tim yelled to the retreating form, Bart just showed him the bird without turning to face him.

And suddenly, Tim was left alone in the gym. He moved his arm and let his vision go blurry as he stared at the ceiling, the fluorescent lights stinging his eyes slightly. The black ceiling joists stood out against the light grey walls, he knew for a fact those joists provided a decent hiding spot if the higher lights were out of action- he figured that was a serious design flaw.

With a sigh the third Robin hauled himself up, whipped his brow with the end of his cape and started dragging the mat back over to the storage pile. Until he saw how the other mats had been stacked- it looked like a gorilla had done it.

Probably Garfield then.

Tim quickly realised he would have to sort the pile out if he didn’t want to be thinking about the mess all night (he thought this like his room wasn’t a complete mess). So, he got to work.

He was half way through the mats when the air pressure seemed to change.

His reflexes kicked in and he spun on his toes, bringing an arm up just in time to block a fist aimed for his head.

A boot sailed towards his stomach, he pushed it aside as he hopped backwards to put some distance between him and his attacker.

His assailant was a man around Dick’s height with a strong build. He wore black cargo pants tucked into heavy looking combat boots (he was so glad he dodged that kick), his torso was clad in a flexible looking armour with some sort of red symbol haphazardly scrawled across his chest. An open black and red jacket hugged his figure as Tim spied several weapons strapped to the stranger- from a dagger and a pistol on his thigh holster, to throwing knives along his ribs.

What stood out the most was the red helmet.

“Wha-” Tim started, only to be interrupted.

“I can’t believe you’re the replacement,” the voice had a mechanical tint to it, “what does he see in you ?” He kept his face neutral as his attacker ranted, “ya know… He had to convince the Bat to let him try the whole Robin gig out, you just swanned in and took it. You’re nothing, you're no Robin, all the other idiots go easy on ya… but me? No freakin’ way!”

Suddenly, Tim’s muscles were working without consulting his mind. He dodged blows, weaved under kicks and kept hopping away from the mystery man. 

“Who are you?” He yelled as he pushed a fist aside again.

“Ya know,” he continued as if Tim had never even spoken, “no one was surprised when Jason died…”

Hearing his deceased predecessor’s name stole the air from his lungs, it felt like a cannonball had been shot into his stomach. His attacker used the split second of hesitation to grab Tim’s wrist before flinging the new Robin over his shoulder. The impact with the floor shook him from his shock, but it wasn’t soon enough as he felt a heavy boot dig into his shoulder- effectively pinning him down.

“No one was surprised when little Jason failed .” The boot smashed into his nose, his vision swam as his head smacked into the floor. “Yet here I am… Beating pathetic little Timothy Drake. ” His name was spat like poison.

“Wha-” The boot smashed into his face again, he could feel a steady stream of blood pour down his jaw as it pooled beneath him. His vision felt like it would never be straight again, his head pounded and it felt like he was underwater as he thought he heard his attacker chuckle at his misery.

He felt a hand press over his heart, before he thought he heard kevlar ripping

Then he heard the distinct clicking of a gun and a shadowy figure hover over him, Tim could do nothing to stop the inevitable. 

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and mentally said goodbye to the team.

He felt so stupid, he couldn’t even stop one man. The man was right… He was no Robin.

Then, several things happened at once. His attacker grunted (in shock?) as a gunshot echoed around the room. Tim’s left shoulder exploded in pain, he couldn’t hold back the scream as more blood pooled around him. Peeling his eyes open felt as hard as climbing a mountain but he forced himself to do it. 

The first thing he saw was a head of fluffy auburn hair as someone knelt next to him. Then, a freckled face came into view.

“Bart!” He grunted, the metallic taste of blood polluted his mouth.

“Hi! It’s me!” Somehow Bart managed to give him a reassuring smile, “I’m just gonna-” He cut himself off as he held Tim’s cape to the wound. “You’re gonna be okay! Trust me!”

“How do you kn-”

“Just trust me okay? You’re gonna be fine, and that’s a spoiler,” the speedster winked and Tim could only nod slightly. Soon the darkness that crept along the sides of his vision took over and he fell into unconsciousness.

xXx

The first sense that came online was his sense of smell, it told him he must have been in an infirmary- if the anti-septic scent was anything to go off.

Next was his hearing, the steady beep of a heart monitor quickly started to get on his nerves. It jumped slightly as his body waking up translated over to the machine.

Finally, he managed to peel his eyes open. He was grateful to see the lights had been dimmed, just enough to provide enough light to work, but dark enough to shroud the corners in shadows. Turning his head to the right revealed an unnamed League Doctor, a slim woman with a bun tight enough Tim could feel his headache getting worse. She looked over at him, smiled slightly, jotted something down before looking over Tim.

He followed her line of sight to reveal a set of bright green eyes staring back at him.

“Hi,” Bart said gently, he slumped his seat. His legs spread out in front of him as he leaned his elbow on the arm rest with his cheek on his closed fist.

Tim just squinted back at him, his throat felt too raw.

“I’ll go fetch some ice chips,” the Doctor lady said. Tim paid her no mind as she left the room.

“I told you you’d be fine.” Tim just nodded. “Bullet wound to the left shoulder, just above the heart. Broken nose, fractured eye socket, concussion and a twisted ankle.” Bart listed off his injuries like he’d been studying his chart.

With a pained grimace Tim forced out a garbled sentence, “do you… know who…”

“Yes,” Bart took pity on him and interrupted, “no talky talky, Doc’s orders!” He shuffled his chair closer and leaned his elbows on the edge of the mattress, “I’ll explain when I can, that’s a promise…”

He trailed off as the Doctor came back and fed Tim a few heavenly ice chips.

xXx

He hadn’t told Bruce anything about the incident in the gym, Tim figured he watched the CCTV of it all. He’d only watched the footage recently.

To put it bluntly- Bart was the sole reason he was alive.

When Tim had been sprawled on the floor like a bird with a broken wing, with a wolf standing over it, the speedster had bolted in just in the nick of time. Lightning had flickered around the attacker’s boots before a blur whipped him out. Lightning spread along the floor like ivy as the man pulled the trigger, but was thrown into the opposing wall at an intimidating speed. Tim observed as Bart stopped the bleeding with his cape, and kept talking to him (even after Tim’d head had lolled to the side).

Kid Flash never left his side as the stranger stumbled towards the door, the Robin insignia from his uniform clutched in his fist. Bart's eyes tracked the man as he hobbled, yet he made no move to stop him from escaping.

Bart never left him, not even when he was safe in the infirmary.

He wasn’t sure what to think about that. 

He’d watched the footage over and over again, he’d quickly realised how pathetic he’d looked, he couldn’t even take one person! One man!

It was probably why Batman didn’t talk to him about it.

Dick had come to visit him, he’d reassured the “situation was being handled” and that he’d told the team he’d been injured on patrol, so instead of training he spent his days cooped up in his room at the Drake mansion (thankfully his parents were somewhere in South Africa on a business trip… again). 

Not even the Bats wanted the team to know how easily he’d fallen. Thinking about it all made him feel sick.

As for Bart… Not a lot had changed. He’d explained exactly nothing to him. However, Tim had a feeling he would have to wait for the details. The time traveler had always been secretive about his past (and their future), but now he’d changed the timeline Tim didn’t see many reasons to keep it a secret.

He figured he just had to place his trust in the speedster, he could do that. It would take time for Tim to trust Bart… and probably even longer for the trust to go both ways but they’d get there.

Trust is a two way street, and Tim was determined to make it work.

Tim had made a promise after all...

Chapter Text

A whole week had passed since Tim had been allowed back on the team, his wounded eye was still painted a light purple (which was thankfully hidden under his mask), his shoulder made him wince if he tried to roll it too quickly and his ankle twitched whenever he went down stairs.

It also felt like he’d got a frying pan to the face… but he’d never tell anyone that.

He was practically fully recovered… By Bat standards anyway. Now he was back to having free range of the Watchtower he had his sights set on one thing… Well, one person. Bartholomew Allen.

To put it lightly- Tim was bored, and the other teen was the only one he could stand the thought of talking to.

A quick five minutes on the Batcomputer told him the speedster was spread out over a couch in the communal area, a book perched on his chest as he read. Tim’s neck got sore just looking at how his neck was crushed against the arm rest.

That was how he found himself walking (well, hobbling) towards the other teen.

That was until his comm rang in his ear.

“ All available members please report to the War Room, ” Dick’s stupid cheery voice chirped. With a sigh he turned and headed away from Kid Flash, hopefully he would have a chance to corner him later. Tim was just happy he was already in his freshly repaired uniform.

xXx

When he got to the room there were surprisingly few heroes to greet him. Then he remembered a lot of schools were off for the week, which meant a lot of families wanted to go on holiday, and it wasn’t like they could say “sorry I’ve gotta be here in case there’s a national emergency”. Secret identities were so fun .

Nightwing and Tigress stood shoulder to shoulder at the head of the table, his brother smiled slightly at him in greeting. Garfield, M’gann, Virgil and Bart all sat spread around the table. All slumping in their chairs like it was three in the morning rather than midday.

“Hey,” Virgil waved at him and Tim just nodded back. He took a seat between the speedster and the electrokinetic. He did his best not to zone out as the adults in the room explained their mission.

He may be a Bat but he was still a teenager with the attention span of a tennis ball.

xXx

Three hours later Tim found himself crouched behind a pile of crates that looked like they could topple over at any given second.

“Remember- Charlie will fry the generators as Alpha takes the West side, Beta on the East. Delta will infiltrate the basement. Rondevu at the basement entrance when your task is complete. Any questions?” Nightwing’s voice floated over the mindlink.

“No, Nightwing,” Tim replied, sounding like the exasperated brother he was.

“You’ve told them like, ten times. If they don’t have it by now they’ll never have it,” Tigress added. Nightwing didn’t reply over the link so he probably did it in person.

Robin took a second to look over a Kid Flash, his fellow Beta team member mirrored his posture as he stayed hidden. The sounds of boots walking past them could be heard as the goons muttered between them. It was all held together by the steady whistle of the wind running past the building- turned out having a HQ on a cliff face meant dealing with the weather that came with it.

They heard the telltale crackle of electricity and the lights flickered, suddenly they were drowned in darkness.

It was go time.

The room was filled with confused yells and grunts as the duo effectively took down the goons. Not one shot was fired and by the time the lights flickered back to life the unconscious henchmen were neatly tied to a pole, their weapons all unloaded in a neat pile. Bart stood in the middle looking proud of himself.

“East is clear,” he mentally said as he made sure the goons wouldn’t be able to use their radios to call for help.

“Took you long enough,” Nightwing teased.

“Screw you,” he grumbled as Kid Flash followed him through the empty corridors towards the basement door. Bart chuckled behind him and he turned to glare at him- the traitor.

His brother and Tigress rounded the corner ahead of them, Static on their heels.

“Shall we?” Tigress asked out loud, gesturing towards the staircase.

“Ladies first!” Nightwing bowed, the blonde smacked his shoulder as she waltzed past them, disappearing down the stairs.

The team followed.

It didn’t take long for them to spot a huge green gorilla stacking unconscious bodies in the corner.

“Hey BB!” Static said, the gorilla waved before morphing back into the Beast Boy they know and love. Miss Martian was hovering in the centre of the room, staring at the floor with a thoughtful expression on her face. Nightwing strode past her towards the console as he started to steal the data they needed.

The room was small, just enough room for it to act as a meeting room for generic villain plotting. The table and chairs had been shoved to the side, opposite the staircase stood the console Nightwing was fiddling with. Beside his brother was a small window showing the sea as it crashed against the cliff face below them.

“You okay?” Nightwing’s question was directed at Miss M, her eyes flicked up to him.

“Something feels… off.” She replied mentally.

“Like what?”

A flashing light to his left caught his eye, apparently Bart spotted it as he rushed to Robin’s side. He threw him to the ground by his waist as he yelled, “get down!”

The explosion deafened them.

Beast Boy changed back into a silverback gorilla and hunched over Tigress and Static. Miss Martian curled into a ball and dropped to the floor, the force of the blast travelled straight over her. Nightwing ducked behind the console, effectively protected. Robin grunted as his injured shoulder rammed into the floor, he pushed past it to curl up and mirror Miss Martian.

Kid Flash wasn’t so lucky.

The blast hit his side full on, charring the kevlar as he was sent towards the opposing wall… and straight through the basement window. 

He counted his lucky stars as he saw the speedster catch his hand on the windowsill.

Robin could make out Kid’s fingers as they held onto the ledge like a lifeline. He moved before he could think, bolting towards his teammate, ignoring the way his ankle tried to give up on him as he moved and the way his ears rang.

He got there just in time as Kid’s fingers slipped. He threw himself on the windowsill and balanced himself on his stomach, his legs weighing him down. His hand gripped Kid’s wrist as his falling friend copied him.

He didn’t miss how his hand was bleeding from holding onto the broken glass.

Bart’s gaze met his,the  other teen’s eyes showed nothing but pure fear . The waves crashed against the rocks beneath them.

“I’ve got you!” He yelled, his voice was nearly drowned out by the combination of wind, waves and blood pounding in his ears.

The speedster’s eyes widened as Robin’s grip got tighter, “you’ve got me…”

“Yes! Don’t you fucking dare let go!” He tried pulling Kid closer but his wounded shoulder went numb with the effort, he quickly figured staying still would be safer.

“You’ve got me, you’ve got me, you’ve got me-” Kid chanted, mostly to himself. Robin could only nod to try and reassure him.

After an eternity he felt hands grasp his leg shoulders, hauling him back into the room. Tigress forced herself into his space as she grabbed Kid’s other wrist, helping him through the window as Nightwing held him close to his chest, Robin’s face mashed into the blue symbol on his chest. He couldn’t take his eyes off Bart as his older sister figure held his face between her hands and spoke to him softly.

“Robin, you’re bleeding,” his brother said in his ear. Looking down revealed several lacerations along his stomach- turned out putting all his weight on broken glass wasn’t a great idea.

“So is Kid,” was all he could say, gesturing to his teammates' bleeding hand.

“He’ll heal faster than you, c’mon, let's get you back to the Bioship. We’ve got everything we came for.” Nightwing’s tone left no room for arguments as he was escorted back to the ship.

xXx

The ride back to base was… painful. Not because of his new injuries, but because of the bickering going on between the adults. M’gann was trying her best to pilot the ship whilst Dick and Artemis verbally spared over… not a lot really. Mostly just “how did we not know about a damn C4?!” Tim didn’t miss the tears in the Martian’s eyes whilst a green squirrel curled tightly around the nape of her neck, offering a comforting presence.

She probably blamed herself.

Virgil had practically passed out across several seats the minute he touched them.

Nightwing had disinfected Robin’s wounds before securely bandaging them, thankfully they weren’t deep enough to justify stitches. However, Bart had just got a quick bandage tied around his hand. He was pretty sure there was still glass wedged in the speedster’s palm if the way he was picking at the wound was anything to go by.

“Come here,” he muttered as he patted the seat next to him. Bart didn’t argue as he shuffled over, exhaustion showing in his every movement. “Hand,” was all he said as he held his own palm out.

Bart obeyed and soon he found himself picking tiny shards of glass from his teammates hand. The nerd in him was fascinated when he saw the flesh knitting together in front of him, the friend in him was concerned when it became a race to dig the glass out before the healing skin sealed it in.

It didn’t take long for the hand to look like new, the only evidence was the torn uniform and the red stains along his forearm. It took even less time for the speedster to fall asleep slumped against him, his head firmly resting on his shoulder.

Tim rested his own temple against the auburn’s head as he allowed himself to doze off, the sound of bickering as his white noise.

xXx

It was four hours after the mission, two hours after they’d been released from the debrief, when he heard a knock at his Watchtower room’s door. His room at the space station was a lot calmer than either of his manor rooms. The Drake mansion was too quiet, the silence was deafening. The Wayne manor came with Dick, which usually wasn’t an issue apart from the fact Tim wasn’t feeling hugs that night.

He made sure his domino mask was secure before he greeted his visitor.

He hadn’t expected Bart to be there, the speedster looked dishevelled. His hair stuck in every direction, the edges of his jumper were rumpled like he’d been worrying at the seams, he had a frazzled look in his eyes as he stared into Tim’s soul.

“Hello…” he greeted.

“Hey, can I come in?” 

“Sure,” Tim stepped aside as the speedster shuffled in. He opted to throw his mask on the bed, Bart knew all their identities anyway. When those green eyes met his own blue ones Bart’s face morphed into shock.

“He really got you good, didn’t he?” He motioned to the bruising flowering along Tim’s face.

“That kinda happens when someone kicks you in the nose, not all of us have super healing,” he tried to joke but Bart didn’t laugh at all, just started scratching his nails along the palm that was bleeding only a few hours ago. Tim couldn’t help but feel the stone of worry building in his gut, “what’s up?”

The speedster didn’t miss a beat as he replied, “you caught me.”

“Yes…” He nodded slowly, Kid’s body language screamed I’m a deer caught in headlights and I don’t know if I need to run or fight.

“You caught me… I can trust you…” Bart stared at him like Tim had just shown him the meaning of life.

“I told you, you can trust me without a doubt.”

“I know but…” he threw himself on the bed, bouncing slightly where he sat. Tim joined him, “where I come from people have to prove it with actions, words don’t mean a lot.”

Tim nodded, “I’m glad you feel like you can trust me, I’m sure Miss M would’ve caught you if I didn’t...”

“Yeah but she didn’t… I owe you an explanation, about the red helmet dude.” Tim didn’t move, “actually I should fill you in on some other stuff for it all to make sense.”

The Drake heir moved to face his teammate, his legs crossed as he gave Bart his full attention. Bart copied him, leaving the boys sitting with their knees touching.

Without another thought (thinking would leave room for hesitation) Bart started explaining his story, Tim gave him his full attention.

xXx

“Now, bear in mind that’s not all the details…” Bart finished. Tim just nodded, taking a second to absorb all that information and trying to decide what to say.

“That sounds awful!” He settled on.

“Yeah, it wasn’t great,” Bart chuckled.

“How’re you still here?”

The speedster opposite him adopted a confused expression, “what do you mean?”

“That all sounded… horrific! The invasion, the death… the slavery! I think I would’ve killed myself!” His teammate gained a far away look in his eyes and a stone of anxiety formed in Tim’s gut.

“I had a family to keep me sane…”

“They sound great.”

“They really were… But anyway!” Bart’s mood seemed to go from depressed to chirpy in a split second, “we’re not here to talk about me, we’re here to discuss Red Hood!”

“Red Hood? What kind of name is that?” Tim just thought it sounded a bit… literal.

“You’re one to talk,” Bart muttered before seeming to panic and backtrack, “I mean… umm… spoilers!”

Tim took pity on Kid and ignored the slipup, “so what about my lovely attacker?” Just mentioning the man made his face throb and his shoulder twitch.

“Just promise me something?” Tim raised an eyebrow, “you’ll listen to the whole story before you react?”

Every instinct told Tim to not agree to that. “I promise,” he said instead.

Bart shuffled where he sat before he began to explain. “When Bruce Wayne held a funeral for Jason Todd… Jason wasn’t in the casket.” Tim was frozen in shock, his mind running a mile a minute as he tried to process that. The previous Robin, who he’d looked up to for so long , was alive?! Apparently he’d been still for too long as Bart said quickly, “I said you can’t react but you can ask questions!”

That kick started Tim’s lagging mind, “bu- but Bruce checked! He- it- what?!”

“It wasn’t him, it was some other poor kid’s smoked remains. If Bruce had thoroughly checked he would have noticed the body was an inch too tall and had a birthmark on his ankle that Jason doesn’t… His body snatchers heavily relied on Bruce being too grief stricken to be a hundred percent accurate.”

“Oh my god… Who-”

“Noone knows who exactly snatched him from the morgue,” Bart interrupted, “but, we do know it was Rhas al Ghul who ordered it. They threw him in the Lazarus pit to bring him back to brainwash as their minion- a perfect assassin who would be able to bring Batman down on a personal level.”

“He didn’t even look like Jason!”

“Yeah… the helmet kinda got in the way,” Bart gestured to his own face to highlight the point.

Tim felt like smacking the teen in front of him, “no! He was bigger! Faster! More… Brutal!” His mind flicked back to that night, his first thought had been how aggressive the man had been. His movements were tinted with anger, his body language screaming HATE .

Tim felt sick, “oh my god… Jason hates me!”

“No.” Bart immediately shot him down, “that’s a result of something called ‘Pit Madness’”. He highlighted the phrase with finger quotation marks, “the pit can bring people back to life, but at a cost. The influence of the pit... heightens your already existing emotions.”

“So he does hate me on some level,” Tim hated how he could his eyes burning with repressed tears.

“I don’t think so, I think he’s resentful to Bruce that he left the Joker alive and kicking after what he did. Unfortunately the big bad Bat is a bit too hard to take down alone, plus I think he saw some poetic justice in one Robin taking down another.” Bart’s eyes didn’t show pity, which Tim was incredibly grateful for, “he doesn’t hate you Tim… He hates how easy Bruce is willing to give the Robin mantle away. Sadly for us that, combined with the Pit Madness, created a murderous baby that was hell bent on seeing you dead.”

“Does he… get better?” God, he sounded like a pathetic child.

“Eventually yes, it’s not quick or easy but, after a while he joins the family again.”

“So, let me get this straight. My predecessor, who was beaten and blown up by the Joker, died. His body was snatched and thrown into the Lazarus Pit where they resurrected him to act as the League of Shadow’s personal assassin aimed at Batman. He escaped and came for me?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Bart flopped back to lean against the pillows, he threw his legs out so his ankles sat on either side of Tim’s hips. The raven haired teen was too preoccupied with the whole “predecessor being resurrected” thing to move him.

“So he does hate me on some level!” Tim suddenly exploded, causing Bart to jump. “You said the Pit builds on emotions you already feel so he must hate me to some degree! Oh my g-”

“Wally hated me,” Bart interrupted, it caused Tim’s jaw to snap shut as he stared at the teen below him.

“What? No! Wally was lovely! He-”

“Hated me.” The speedster’s face was far too calm for that kind of statement, “I was the new puppy in the Flash family, he thought I was stealing his limelight.”

“I don’t-”

“Here’s an idea,” Bart pulled himself up so he was sitting facing Tim, his ankles still around the raven haired teen. “I believe that Wally didn’t hate me, even though he totally did, if you don’t cling to this idea of Jason hating you... Because it will pass.”

Tim paused for a minute, the speedster opposite him was staring at him with a dead serious expression. “Deal,” he finally agreed.

They even shake on it.

Their meeting was interrupted when the door suddenly opened, “hey Timmy, could you- oh, hey Bart!” Dick Grayson stood in the doorway, his gaze flicking between the two teens. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Nope!” Bart chirped as he hopped up off the bed and moved to shimmy passed the team leader, “I was just going, see ya Timmy !”

And just like that he was gone.

“Okay… Anyway, B wants us at the Cave. We’ve gotta talk about the person who cornered you in the gym.” Tim didn’t miss the wording, not even Dick would admit a Robin had been taken down so easily.

“Yeah sure, do you know who it was?” Dick just nodded at his question.

Well then, time to act surprised!

Chapter Text

A whole two months had passed since he’d found out about Jason, both officially and unofficially. He’d remembered how Lady Luck had taken him under her wing that day. Arkham had a breakout (something which he definitely shouldn’t be happy about) which meant Batman had been called away… Leaving Dick to fill him in.

His brother was so much easier to lie to, technically it wasn’t lying but he felt like acting shocked was some sort of lying sub genre.

He’d started off with the whole “Timmy sit down” set up, like he was about to tell him their dog had died. They didn’t even have a dog.

Then he’d moved onto actually explaining Jason was alive. Tim hadn’t even needed to say anything, just nod. Dick’s eyes remained firmly on his boots (like he couldn’t bring himself to look at Tim) and Dick mistook his silence for shock… All in all it worked out perfectly.

They’d spent a week tracking their wayward brother down, another week of Dick acting like a peacekeeper between the Bat and his lost son whilst Tim sat on the sidelines. The third week had been spent “Jason proofing” the manor, a process that was also known as “Tim spends as little time at Wayne Manor as physically possible” even though Jason had made it clear he wouldn’t be living there.

No-one had told him to get out… but Tim didn’t want to die. He also didn’t trust the Pit Madness had completely worn off, especially when he caught his eyes flickering green when he stared at Tim for too long.

For once, Drake Manor felt safer.

Unfortunately, it had all gone downhill from there, and it didn’t even have anything to do with Jason.

Long story short- it had all led to Tim standing on Jay Garrick’s lawn at two in the morning in the pouring rain. He surprisingly wasn’t cold… or maybe he was so cold he’d gone numb, that was better than feeling it though.

With a shaky breath he shuffled up the porch stairs, the sound of the wood straining was drowned out by the rain, before he knocked lightly on the door. Ringing the bell would risk waking Jay up, he didn’t want to disturb the older man. 

There was some shuffling from within the house as the hall light flicked on, then the door opened to reveal just the person he wanted. Bart stood there in sweatpants and an oversized long sleeve top adorned with a worn down Flash symbol, his hair was disheveled and he spent a split second blinking the sleep from his eyes.

“Tim? Are you okay? No, of course you’re not okay, come here!” As the speedster spoke he gradually woke up, he didn’t hesitate to grab Tim’s wrist before pulling him into the house. The warmth hit him like a brick wall, his bones started to thaw and his muscles began to spasm as they finally registered his temperature.

He felt hands cup his cheeks and he was forced to look into Bart’s eyes, “what happened?!” Tim couldn’t seem to answer, any words he tried to say got lodged in his throat as his teeth insisted on chattering. “You know what, that can wait. Follow me,” he wasn’t given much choice as Bart led him by his wrist through the house.

Somehow Tim found himself in a bathroom, Bart fiddled with the shower and soon the room was starting to steam up.

“You are going to have a shower to warm up, do you need help getting undressed?” Tim could feel hands on his upper arms keeping him stable. In all honesty he felt like he’d fall over if Bart let him go.

Tim could only nod as his vision went blurry. Soon he found himself stripped down to his boxers, his soaked clothes piled in the corner, as Bart lowered him so he was sat in the shower. 

“Okay, you stay there for a minute and warm up. I'll go get you some new clothes, ermm… Don’t drown?” Was the last thing he said before he left in a blur.

Tim just curled tighter into a ball as he savoured the warmth, like a lizard on a sun kissed rock.

He couldn’t miss when Bart stumbled back in, a pile of fluffy looking clothes in his arms. He dumped them by the sink before crouching by Tim’s abandoned clothes pile, eventually standing up holding Tim’s very wet phone.

“Warmed up?” Tim hummed as a reply, Bart took that as a yes. “Alright, I’m gonna put your clothes in the washing machine so they’re wearable tomorrow. When you’re ready my room is to the right, you can’t miss it. If you’re not out in ten minutes I’ll come and check, okay?”

And just like that, he was gone again.

xXx

After what felt like an eternity of towelling himself off and pulling the borrowed clothes on, it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes as he wasn’t disturbed, Tim made his way to Bart’s room. It was the only room to the right with the door left slightly ajar, his awesome detective skills told him that was the place to go.

Bart’s room was… sparse to say the least. It kind of reminded him of his room at Wayne Manor, the barest of items so he felt like he wasn’t trespassing on anyone- even though that room was one of many spares Alfred took care of.

Blank walls, minimal decoration, all the furniture stuffed against the walls- it was a setup Tim was familiar with.

Bart was sitting on his bed, under the duvet with an extra blanket around his head, making him look like a little Russian babushka. The speedster was fiddling with his laptop as the blue light illuminated his face in the otherwise dark room. If Tim was being perfectly honest he looked like something out of an indie horror film.

“Hey,” Tim muttered, effectively announcing his presence.

“Hey!” Bart chirped in response, way too awake for nearly three in the morning, “come over here.” He pulled back the duvet to reveal a hot water bottle keeping the spot beside him warm.

Tim couldn’t move fast enough to slot himself beside the other teen. He practically melted into the warmth, if the shower hadn’t thawed him then the hot water bottle definitely would’ve done the job.

Also, he quickly noticed how Bart was like a furnace- Dick hadn’t been lying, speedsters do run hot. He didn’t waste a second as he snuggled his way into Bart’s side, forcing the other teen’s arm around his shoulder as he wedged his head into the crook of his neck, with the duvet tugged up to his chin.

To put it simply... Tim was in heaven.

His mind was wonderfully blank as he just absorbed the warmth, for a second he could pretend like his life wasn’t falling apart. He could pretend everything was okay.

“What happened, Tim?” Bart muttered, his voice barely audible as he scrolled through Netflix.

Seems like he wasn’t going to be allowed to pretend for too long.

“My dad’s dead.”

“... Well, shit.” That made Tim chuckle, “that makes a lotta sense now. I’d ask if you’re okay but I think finding you on our porch in the pouring rain is a good enough answer.”

“I’m sorry,” was all he could mutter as he tried his best to hold back his tears.

“Don’t be, seriously. I wasn’t sleeping anyway,” a wet chuckle escaped the vigilante. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

For some reason that broke the dam holding Tim’s tears at bay. Ugly sobs wracked his body as the speedster held him close, he did his best not to get Bart’s top wet and snotty but failed miserably. The other teen just murmured “it’s alright, I don’t mind” as Tim laid his heart out on a silver platter and chopped it up.

It didn’t take long for Tim’s second mental dam to break and he soon started blabbering. 

“I wasn’t f-fast enough…” 

“I-I-I should've been f-faster!”

“I failed hi-im!”

“He’s g-gone! Oh my god he’s gone!”

His crazed blabbering was cut up by uncontrollable stuttering and hiccups. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed by the time his tears had run dry, his head was thrumming with a slight headache and his eyes were sore .

Bart had held him close the entire time, no matter how gross Tim was being.

“It’ll be okay, it might not feel like it but it’ll be okay eventually.” Bart murmured when Tim had been reduced to sniffling.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry…” Even his voice felt raw and broken.

“Seriously, don’t be… I get it.”

That made Tim peel his face from Bart’s disgusting top, “you get it?”

“Yeah… I’ve been in a similar situation, my… person survived but… at a price,” Bart gained that all too familiar far away look in his eyes.

Usually, Tim wouldn’t be one to pry… Ah, fuck it he thought, “tell me about it… Please,” he added as an afterthought. Bart looked thoughtful for a minute, as time ticked by dread started growing in his gut.

“Alright,” the speedster beneath him finally said, he shuffled to get more comfortable as he started explaining. “There was… this person -”

“Name? I don’t think a name is gonna make the timeline explode…”

“Okay, Mr Bossy. His name was Jackson, and he was… Amazing. Considering his family tree he turned out great,” he broke off with a chuckle, obviously remembering something about this mysterious Jackson person. Tim listened intently, “there was this other person… They took inspiration from a serial killer that will pop up soonish- feel free to ask me about that when they pop up, the key word is Jigsaw .”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Tim muttered, mentally filing that slither of info away. 

“This other person… took Jackson, I can sometimes still hear the others screaming as they dragged him away. They drugged him… It was the only reason he didn’t fight back, he always fought. It hurt to see him so… Helpless .”

“I get that, whenever Dick gets sick or hurt I feel like that… It feels wrong to see the people that are usually strong get beaten down.”

“It sucks ass. Anyway, this person put this device thing on his head. Said it was ‘cos he should be like their dad, it was a fucked up concept.” 

“Their dad?” Tim inquired.

“Yeah… Jackson and this other person were half siblings, same dad. Same fucked up family tree,” he spat the last few words. “Our friend’s dad eventually found his location, so I-” Bart tugged the collar of his top down, revealing a silver scar that slithered along the base of his throat, just under the several dots that told tales of an inhibitor collar. “-ripped the collar off too fast, the metal pins that sit on your skin got caught. I didn’t care… I just ran towards Jackson.”

“You said you saved him…”

“I did, kind of. When I got there he’d wedged his head between some bars… stopping the head thing from doing its job, but it left some nasty scars.” He gestured around his mouth, giving Tim an idea of what kind of damage had been left. “I got it off and held his face together as the others got there… I should’ve been faster.”

“But you saved him!” Tim tried to reason.

“Yes, but at a cost.” Bart looked like he should be crying, but his tears had dried up. It was then he turned to look down at the Robin curled into his side, “you’re only human Tim, I’ve got superspeed and even I wasn’t fast enough… It’s shit but you’re only human.”

The duo lapsed into a comfortable silence, the laptop screen providing the only light in the dark room.

“I’m gonna get a new top, you pick something you like,” he nudged the laptop onto Tim’s knee before maneuvering his way out of the bed.

Bart seemed to fade into the shadows that clung to the corner of the room, but Tim could still make out the rough shape of the speedster. The third Robin couldn’t stop his eyes from widening in shock when Bart pulled his top over his head, in the shadows he could easily see silver scars slither their way all the way down his back. The most obvious one was the thick line of tissue that made its way down his spine- the perfect line was too straight to be accidental, it was definitely on purpose.

The thought made bile rise in Tim’s throat.

Tim had his fair share of scars, humans scared so easily so being a vigilante meant it was unfortunately part of the deal. However, he didn’t have any that looked so clinical .

“Does anyone know you’re here?” Bart’s voice interrupted Tim’s messed up line of thought, “just ‘cos when I put your phone on charge it exploded with so many messages, I didn’t read them but I imagine a good chunk of them were from Dick.”

Finally the speedster turned around in a new long sleeved top with a faded Aquaman logo on the front.

“I’ll answer them tomorrow…” He just wanted to be a regular teen for a little longer, being an orphan could wait a few more hours.

Without another word Bart got back into bed with the grace of a baby giraffe. They spent the next few hours watching Bob’s Burgers until they eventually dozed off.

xXx

Jay Garrick may be old but he wasn’t stupid, and he definetly didn’t miss Bart bringing someone in the house in the small hours of the morning. He only left it alone because his knee was giving him trouble, in the morning however, it would be a different story.

Morning rolled around too quickly, and with the rising sun came the need to talk to the teenager living under his roof. The kid may be seventeen (and technically legal) but the thought of him doing that made him feel weird. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to see the kid with anyone, he wasn’t able to think about Bart as anything but a hyperactive thirteen year old that wormed his way onto the team.

He’d expected someone to be in the room with the kid, he’d even barged in, if Bart felt like it was alright to smuggle people in then he lost the right to knock.

Yet somehow he was still slightly shocked to see Bart sat up in his bed with a tuft of raven hair snuggled up to his side, and the kid had the audacity to smile and wave at him. 

He nodded to tell the kid get your ass out here right now , he maneuvered his way around the mystery raven before joining Jay in the hall. His back to his door as he looked at the older man with a look of pure innocence.

“ Who is that ?!” Jay whispered, not wanting to wake their visitor up.

“ It’s Tim, you know… Robin… ” Bart explained slowly, just as quietly.

“ Alright… ” His mind was thrown back to when Wally would sneak Dick in, thinking no one noticed when they definitely did. Those kids weren’t subtle, he was sure they were an item until the speedster of the team started dating Artemis. “ That doesn’t explain why you smuggled him in last night! ”

“ His dad died, he didn’t know where else to go… and I couldn’t leave him in the rain! ” 

“ His dad di- okay... Where’s Bruce and Dick? ”

“ He came straight here I think, I think seeing them would make it all… real, ya know? I just got him in, warmed him up, and made sure he got a decent sleep… ” Bart finished with a shrug.

“ Dammit kid, they’ll be here for him soon ya know?” 

“ Yeah, I know. I’m gonna get us some breakfast, make sure his clothes are dry and… I don't know!” He whined, acting like the thirteen year old he’d first met all those years ago.

xXx

It took a whole two hours for the doorbell to ring, Jay quickly answered it revealing Barry, Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne standing on his porch. He didn’t hesitate to usher them in, the last thing he needed was to be the centre of the neighbourhood gossip. He could see it now- sweet old Jay knows the Waynes?

The thought alone made him tired.

“Mr Garrick!” Dick chirped, the kid was just as happy as he remembered. 

“Dick, Bruce,” he nodded to them respectively before offering Barry a quick hug.

“Is he here?” Was Bruce’s greeting.

“Yeah, they’re in the living room. What’re you doing here? You’re not meant to be here until tomorrow,” he aimed his question towards Barry.

“I’m back up, in case things get… tricky,” the taller man explained, glancing between the bats.

With a sigh Jay nodded, “alright… this way,” he waved for the duo to follow as he led them towards the teens.

“You are so wrong!” They heard Tim’s voice through the door, Jay saw Dick relax at the sound of his brother’s voice. 

“No I’m not! Azula can’t be redeemed!” Bart argued back. 

Jay, Dick and Barry stood outside the closed door, letting the boys finish their bickering. Bruce, on the other hand, had no such plans and didn’t waste any time as he threw the door open, making Bart jump in his seat. Each teen had their head on either side of the sofa, their legs tangled in the middle as Avatar played on the TV.

Tim’s eyes went as wide as sauce pans when he saw Bruce.

“Hey, Timmy!” Dick shoved past his mentor and borderline wrestled his way between his sibling and the arm of the sofa. The younger boy relaxed back into his brother, his legs still tangled with Bart’s.

“Hey!” Tim tried to sound as chirpy as Dick but didn’t quite get there.

“How you holdin’ up?” Dick enquired, his voice taking on a softer tone.

However, before Tim could answer, Bruce butted in. “Tim, we should go. You need to get settled in the manor.”

“Bruce-” Dick started.

“Yeah... you’re right, let's go.” Tim interrupted. He rose from the sofa before grabbing his phone off the coffee table, “thanks for having me…” His eyes flickered between Bart and Jay.

“It’s no problemo!” The youngest speedster hopped up to join the raven haired boy, “I’ll see ya when I see ya!” The duo hugged before Tim headed for the door, Dick followed. When they were gone Bart’s happy demeanor shifted as he stared Bruce down.

Jay thought his glare was nearly as intimidating as the bats.

“Are we done here?” He asked, never breaking eye contact. Bruce just nodded once before turning to follow his sons, he somehow managed to leave a shadow over the room even in his absence.

“You okay?” Barry asked the older man, Jay simply nodded before turning to face Bart.

“Don’t you have homework to do?” Bart simply smiled and then he was gone in a blur.

He couldn’t help but sigh, that kid was somehow simultaneously the easiest kid in the world, and a huge handful- Jay didn’t know how he managed it.

Chapter Text

Tim. Was. Exhausted.

That was nothing new, Tim spent eighty percent of his life running on fumes, but this type of exhaustion was bone deep- it was the type that made its home in your skeleton and refused to leave. 

He’d just finished unpacking his suitcase, he’d packed enough things to last a few days until the truck brought over the rest of his stuff. When he was finally done Tim sat cross legged on the bed, not really sure what to do with himself. He had spent plenty of nights at Wayne Manor, but knowing it was now a permanent living situation left him feeling… out of place.

A knock at his door snapped him from his daydreaming.

It took him a second to remember he had to give them permission, “come in!” He tried to yell, but his voice cracked pathetically half way through. He’d expected it to be Dick, or maybe Alfred. 

He did not expect Bruce to enter.

“Hey bud,” the older man closed his door and moved to sit on the edge of his bed. Tim didn’t think he would ever see Batman look so uncomfortable.

“Hey…”

“How are you holding up?”

“I-I’m okay,” he added a little smile to try and make the statement believable- there’s a good chance he didn’t succeed.

“That’s good to hear,” thankfully Bruce let the lie go. “We need to talk about… that night.”

“What about it?” Bruce’s eyes stayed firmly looking at the floor.

“You should have waited for Dick, Alfred or myself to show up. Running off like that helped no one,” Tim couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

“I’m sorry, I’d just found my dad’s murdered corpse with a boomerang sticking out of him, so maybe hanging around wasn’t the first thing on my mind!”

“As Robin I trained you to think rationally-”

“I wasn’t Robin!” Tim exploded, he’d had enough of Bruce’s condescending talk, “I was a kid who’d just lost his dad! I was Tim Drake! The newly made orphan!” he glared at the back of Bruce’s skull.

“That doesn’t explain why you ran to Kid Flash of all people,” the way Bruce kept his voice so calm just made Tim’s anger levels spike.

“He’s my friend! I knew he wouldn’t pity me or- or look at me like I was being pathetic!”

“You should have waited.” Bruce’s steely voice made Tim’s heart stutter.

“Get out.”

“Tim-”

“Out!” He yelled, finally letting his anger get the better of him for once, he was fed up with the Bat’s determination to not listen. Bruce just huffed before retreating from the hurting boy.

And just like that, Tim was alone again.

He felt like he had electricity buzzing under his skin, he felt antsy. Like he needed to do something. His hands unconsciously drifted to his phone, before he knew it he’d pulled up his texts with Bart.

He sent a message before he thought better of it.

Bat Boi- Hey.

Sonic- Heyyyyyyy.

Bat Boi- Wyd?

Sonic- Nm… rewatching Avatar and realising I was right, Azula 100% cannot be redeemed.

Bat Boi- Fuck you, you’re wrong.

Sonic- Someone's sensitive 2nite.

Sonic- U ok?

Tim’s fingers hovered over the screen, he thought fuck it and sent the message.

Bat Boi- Had a fight with Bruce…

Sonic- Damn… u ok??

Bat Boi- Not really, feeling antsy.

Sonic- Wanna come over??

Bat Boi- Maybe not a great idea. B thinks I have a tendency to run from my problems.

Sonic- U totally do tho.

Bat Boi- No, not you too!

Sonic- Every bat does tho!!!

Bat Boi- Why did I message you?

Sonic- Cos u had a fight and ur lonely… but I’m not allowed over??

Bat Boi- I never said you couldn’t come here...

Sonic- Say no more!

Tim spent the next minute in a blind panic as he shoved discarded clothes under his bed (he said he’d unpacked, he never said he did it neatly), stacking the various mugs and bowls in a semi neat pile, and making his desk look a bit less like a nerdy bomb site.

Jeez, he’d been officially moved in for six hours and he’d already turned his room into a pig sty.

He’d just managed to shove his laptop charger in the drawer when he heard a small “tink” come from his window. After grabbing a batarang he shuffled over to the window and peered out.

Bart was standing on the gravel under his second story window, he held a handful of pebbles as he grinned up at Tim.

“Hey!” The speedster whisper-yelled as he fiddled with his pebble collection.

“... That was quick,” was all Tim managed, Bart held his arms out and gave him a look that said the fuck did you expect ? “C’mon!” He held his arm out and before he knew it he had an armful of speedster that he had to drag through the window. They both winced as they hit the floor with a thud. If anyone came knocking he’d just say he dropped something… probably his textbook, no one would believe he would drop his precious laptop.

“So…” Bart leapt onto the bed and flopped like a starfish, “what did ya fight about?”

With a sigh Tim joined him, “he wasn’t happy I didn’t wait for him after… that night. I think he’s upset I went to your place instead…”

“Your dad just died, you weren’t exactly thinking straight!”

“I said all that, you know B, he’s not great at listening…”

“Bats isn’t exactly known for his interpersonal skills,” Bart muttered as he swept some hair from his eyes. “Anyway you said you wanted to do something? Netflix? We could start Legend of Kora?”

“Nah… I’m not in the mood to watch something.” he stared at his ceiling as he contemplated their options, “could we talk? Like, I don’t know… do you have any funny stories?”

Bart blew out a puff of air, “I saw Garfield fall from the rafters and instead of changing into, ya know, something that can fly he changed into a dolphin… that was pretty amusing. He hit the floor with a hefty smack,” he chuckled to himself, obviously mentally replaying the memory.

“Dick told me about that, it sounded funny, painful but funny. But that’s not what I meant! Any future stories?”

The speedster hummed with a thoughtful look on his face, “there’s some… I’m not sure you’d find them funny though…” He trailed off, looking at Tim warily.

“Hit me,” Tim had more of a sense of humour than people gave him credit for.

“Alright,” he rolled onto his stomach so his legs could kick in the air, Tim copied him so they probably looked like two eleven year olds gossiping about their crushes. “You remember Jackson?” Tim nodded, “his best friend was another great guy-”

“Name?” Tim borderline demanded.

“You’re persistent on names, ain’t ya?”

“Well… if you think about it you’ve changed the timeline, meaning these people technically may never be born!” He explained.

“Oh my god…” Bart’s eyes took on a glassy look.

“Oh shit no Bart, I didn’t mean-”

“No, no… you’re right, they might not be born…” His voice was wispy as he starred ahead. Suddenly, it was like a switch was flipped as a happier smile took over his face. “Well! That’s why I should tell you stories about them!”

“You really don't have to,” Tim attempted to steer the conversation away from the slightly morbid topic.

“No! You're right! His name was Kaleb- he was awesome.” Bart got that far away look in his eyes again for a split second before it was gone. “Anyway we were out exploring and we came across this abandoned lab, the door was left open so we strolled in.”

“That sounds like the worst idea,” Tim commented.

“It really was!” He laughed, Tim didn’t quite see the humour yet, “anyway… we found this autopsy room thing, complete with its own body!” He looked far too happy at that.

“Decomposing?”

“Nah, the lab was on the side of a cliff and the sun wasn’t really around so the place was freezing . Plus the room was sealed before we came along... so I think that all helped keep the body nice and fresh for us to fuck with.”

“Fuck with?!” Tim’s voice took on a desturbed tone.

“Well… yeah. A bunch of teenagers in the apocalypse didn’t leave a lot of room for entertainment, so a corpse was like a gold mine for a crash time!” He noticed the look on Tim’s face and went to reassure him, “not in like… a weird way!”

“How can you fuck with a corpse in a way that isn’t weird?!”

“Like… pose it?”

“Oh my god…” He mushed his face into his hands, trying to process whatever Bart just told him. 

“But anyway! There was like… this table over the corpse,” he flailed a hand out to mimic a table. “We called the body Suzie, and Kaleb leaned on the table… it broke and he fell onto Suzie, his hand went straight… into… her stomach! Ohmegosh!” He struggled to get the sentence out through his giggles, midway through he hid his face in his hands, muffling his laughter.

Tim couldn’t help his own giggles escape, that mental image was just too good.

“So his hand was just-”

“So far in her guts, he said he could feel Suzie’s spine!” He moved his hands and looked directly at Tim, “his face was just pure shock, I’ll never forget it, the shocked silence in the room was golden.” The two teens let their laughter die down, only for them to lock gazes again… and their giggling started all over again.

Tim curled onto his side, clutching his stomach as he laughed. He could feel how red his face must be and the tears started to roll down his face- he didn’t care, it was the most fun he’d had in a while.

“Any more?” He asked when he was finally able to say words again.

“Oh my god, you’re a real story whore tonight.”

“Don’t make me hurt you, Allen.”

“You wouldn’t dare, hurting me would be like kicking a puppy- I’m too cute!” He did his best to show Tim his “puppy eyes” only for him to look slightly crazed instead. “But, to answer your question- I may  have a few more stories…”

“Spill,” he demanded.

“Alright, alright.” The raven winced at the auburn haired boy as he thoughtfully stared at the ceiling. “There was this other time when we came across a door for the first time…”

That made Tim’s brain screech to a stop, “excuse me, what?”

“Well, ya know… in our home base there weren't really any doors. We didn’t have a lotta power so my friend’s dad took them all out, the Reach were big on the whole slidey door aesthetic, so an actual door was something we hadn’t come across before.”

Tim nodded slowly, “I hate those slidey doors, they always take too long to open.”

“Now you sound like a speedster,” Bart retorted with a snort. Tim just slapped his arm in retaliation. “So anyway, my other friend- Kelsey- decided she really wanted to open a proper door-”

“It’s not that big of a deal… it’s just a door…”

“Hey! It meant a lot to us, our friend’s dad compared us to British evacuees seeing a cow for the first time.” That statement stole a choked laugh from the robin. “But apparently what she actually wanted to do was kick the door open, which she did… I think she put her whole soul into that kick.”

“Naturally,” Tim commented dryly.

“However, what she neglected to consider was the fact that doors usually bounce back after they hit the wall, so-”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes, she got a solid wooden door to the face! I’ll never forget the noise of that slab of oak slapping her skull,” he trailed off with a chuckle.

“How did she not break her nose?”

“She did,” Bart commented casually, “the bruising spread all around her eyes like a shitty domino mask. She was moded for a while…”

“A broken nose… yikes.”

“It was hilarious though…” The two fell into silence for a second, until they locked gazes again which triggered a whole new round of giggles.

Tim’s lungs were really starting to hurt, at least it wasn’t from a goon landing a lucky shot this time. It took a while for him to get the ache in his ribs to die down but eventually it did, the two lay in silence, the only noise being their heavy breathing.

“Thank you,” Tim muttered after a while, his voice seemed to echo around the room- effectively breaking the silence.

“It’s really no prob-”

“No, it is. You came here at the drop of a hat to cheer me up, it means a lot…”

“Look Tim, I’ve lived a life of people getting hurt and taken away… I wanna keep people happy, doing that makes me happy. Ya know?”

“I-” Tim had to pause for a second to straighten out his thoughts. If he looked at it from Robin’s perspective he understood why Kid Flash would care, keeping your teammates happy would increase the chances of a successful mission. However, the concept confused the last Drake, he’d never really had someone keeping an eye out for him so… willingly. 

His parents had been absent a lot of the time, Bruce made sure he was alive because not doing so would be illegal, Alfred did it because he was paid to, and Dick probably craved a busy family home (like the circus). It was only Jason that didn't actively try to “baby” him… for some reason it made him like the homicidal man more.

“I get you, I think,” he settled on. Bart seemed happy enough as he nodded and returned to his relaxed ceiling staring. “Do you miss them?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Every day…”

xXx

The duo stayed like that for at least another hour, the sun was starting to set in the real world. Their little slice of heaven was only interrupted when a knock came from his door.

“Hey Timmy, I heard you had an argument with Bruce, I told you that was my thing,” Dick tried to joke through the door, “… wanna talk about it?”

With a sigh Tim forced himself to yell a quick “one minute!” before nudging Bart towards the window.

“Sorry about this,” he caught his teammate when the speedster nearly fell head first onto the gravel below.

“Don’t worry about it,” he paused with his legs braced against the wall as he clung to the windowsill, “hey Timmy?”

Tim hummed.

“You should grow your hair out, you’d suit it!” The raven felt a hand tug his short hair and then Bart was gone in a blur. The only sign he’d been there was the bush blowing against the wind as a body passed through it.

The raven was left a confused mess as he scrambled to let Dick in.

xXx

“So you’re sure you’re okay?” Dick asked, his face was contorted with concern as he looked at his little brother.

“For the millionth time- yes!” He resisted the urge to literally kick the elder robin off the bed. “I’m all sorted until the van gets here with the bulk of my stuff… there’s nothing more to do!”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Timmy…”

With a sigh he turned to fully face the gymnast, “I-I’m getting there… dad wasn’t around much anyway so it’s not like a lot has changed really,” he finished with a shrug.

“You know you’ll crash eventually.”

“Dickie, we’re talking about grieving, not my crippling caffeine addiction.” He attempted to joke, only for it to fall flat. Dick did at least take pity on him and offered a small smile.

“At least you’re acknowledging your addiction, that’s the first step to recovery ya know!”

“Oh my god! Fuck off!” He shoved the first robin off the bed.

“Language!” Came the muffled yell from the floor, his face was too busy being mushed into carpet. Tim just smiled smugly at his fallen brother, long live the king and all that jazz. The older Wayne heir hauled himself up to his knees and sat with his cheek resting on his crossed arms as he stared at Tim. “You and Bart are close,” he stated out of the blue.

“Yeah…” Tim answered, even though it wasn’t a question.

“I’m glad you have someone to talk to, Timmy… I’d like to think you could talk to me but I know it’s not that easy. He’s the Kid Flash to your Robin!” 

That made something twitch uncomfortably in Tim, “No… it’s nothing like that…”

Dick looked slightly shocked, those electric blue eyes were trained on him, “sure it is! You’re-”

“No,” Tim stated, his tone left no room for argument. “You loved Wally!”

The older man scoffed, “no I didn’t, I-”

“Loved him, everyone could see it!” That made Dick’s whole demeanor turn tense and guarded.

“He was my best friend-”

“Who you loved with all your hea-”

“Tim! Enough! I’m not talking to you about this!”

“Why not? It’s been four years, you gotta move on.”

The gymnast pushed himself up so he could pace the length of the room, “I dated Babs!”

“And why did you break up?” Tim enquired, already knowing the answer.

“Cos we had different interests!” He paused mid-step, slowly turned to the third robin on the bed before his face morphed into a mixture of shock and sadness, “oh my god…” He squeaked.

Tim simply patted the bed next to him as an invite for the last Flying Grayson to take, which he did. The two sat in silence for a while. Tim laid a comforting hand on Dick’s arm which he assumed the elder appreciated seeing as he didn’t shrug him off.

“I was in love with my best friend…” He muttered.

“I’m so sorry Dickie.” Was all he could offer, he laid his temple against the man’s shoulder- he knew Dick’s love language was physical contact.

“Don’t be sorry Timmy, it’s not your fault. It’s just… a lot, god… I came in here to comfort you!”

“Oh how the turn tables,” he quoted the Vine with none of the emotion, it did the job when Dick gave him a light chuckle. Suspiciously wiping his eyes as he did so.

That wasn’t how Tim had expected his first day of official Wayne Manor living to go at all.

Chapter Text

Tim wasn’t one to get angry, he liked to think he was a pretty chill guy. Like a stone at the bottom of a river, letting the water flow over him. But dear god, at that very moment Tim was angry. 

Oh no no no… Tim was pissed.

With his hands stuffed in his jumper pockets and shoulders hunched over he trudged his way through the Watchtower. His path was set towards a certain speedster’s room.

When he finally got there he couldn’t kick the door open like he desperately wanted, instead he had to push the door panel and stand there seething as it slowly slid open. It really put a dampener on his already sour mood.

After hours of waiting (maybe he was being a little dramatic but who cares) he marched through Bart’s door and immediately spotted the auburn haired teen sitting cross legged on his bed, his laptop perched on his lap.

“Oh please, come in!” The sarcasm in Bart’s voice rang loud, Tim ignored it.

“Damian?!” Tim simply squawked, the way Bart just smiled and nodded only made the raven haired boy angrier. “You knew and didn’t tell me?!”

“Of course I knew!” Bart reasoned but that stupid grin never left his face.

“And you didn’t tell me Bruce has a biological child… with Talia al Ghul of all people?!”

“Not gonna lie… I kinda forgot, but-” He held up a hand before Tim could interrupt, “this is a good thing!”

“How?!” Tim flopped on the bed, making the laptop jump slightly in Bart’s lap. “He hates me!”

“At this point he hates everyone… including his own dad. If I’m remembering right he’s a little demonic ball of hatred and anger right now so…” He trailed off, not really finishing his sentence.

Tim stayed quiet as he stared at the ceiling, the ten year old in him wanted to plaster some glow in the dark stars up there.

“He hates me… my little brother hates me.”

“Pretty sure he’d hate me too,” Bart offered.

“You don’t live with him.”

“You might as well not live with him, I know how big Wayne Manor is. So, I’m guessing you’re upset about something more than Dami’s general hatred of the world, which includes you.” The speedster never took his eyes off the screen as Tim thought over his next words.

“Bruce let him get a dog…”

“Oh? What breed?”

“Really? That’s all you have to say about that? It’s a Great Dane… of all the breeds! They’re fucking huge!”

“Ah yes, Titus.” 

“Oh my god,” was all he could say. Bart just slowly nodded like he’d heard a poem and not just heard about the creature that was actively chewing it’s way through Tim’s sock drawer.

“So you don’t like the new dog in the house… why?” Tim turned his head to see Bart now looking at him, the laptop seemingly forgotten.

“I- I always wanted a pet, not necessarily a dog but maybe like… a cat?” He spent a second reminiscing on the times when his parents would be stuck in meetings and he was forced to sit in the reception waiting for them. He’d spent his time fantasising about a little pet to play with, a puppy to walk or a kitten to curl up in his hoodie. The older he got the more he realised that was an impossible dream.

“If it helps any animals in the future were either dead, had mange and no fur, had rabies, or the radiation caused them to have weird abnormalities.”

“That literally did not help in the slightest.”

With a chuckle Bart shut his laptop, slid it under his pillow and made his way to the door, “c’mon!” Was all he said before he vanished around the corner.

Tim barely had any time to process what was happening before he was following the speedster to the Zeta Tubes.

“Where-”

“Just c’mon!” He waved for Tim to follow, the vigilante shuffled behind him. He didn’t miss how Bart typed in the coordinates for Central City, before he knew it they were standing in an alley that looked far cleaner than the average Gotham apartment.

xXx

“Dude, seriously… where are we going?” He asked as he trailed after the auburn haired teen. He was trying his best not to get lost in the crowds, he didn’t know Central as well as he knew his home city.

“Here!” Bart took a sharp right through a set of open gates.

Tim took a second to take in the scene in front of him, it was an average looking Central City building- clean, nicely coloured and not covered in smog. The thing that made his eyes narrow was the blue and white sign sat just above the old mahogany door.

Central City Animal Rescue Centre.

“Bart… why-” The other teenager just hopped up the steps and left the door open for Tim as he disappeared inside. With a sigh he followed.

“Oh, hello Bart! You weren’t meant to get here for another hour,” the little old lady behind the reception desk greeted Bart as he scribbled something on a clipboard.

“I know but I remembered Katie couldn’t come in today so came early...” The two kept the conversation going but for Tim it became background noise as he took in his surroundings.

The reception area was small with a cozy atmosphere, to his right there was a small area that looked like a meeting area- there were two sofas (that were begging to be sat on) with a coffee table in the middle. He could hear the faint sound of barking coming from the door to his left, the sign read “This way to meet our available rescues!”  

“-and this is Tim!” Hearing his name snapped him back to the present and he saw the lady and Bart looking at him.

“Have you come to help, dear?” She asked, already grabbing some paperwork.

“Yes?” He winced when it came out as more of a question.

“That’s lovely! I just need you to fill out these,” she slid the papers onto the clipboard before handing them over, “and then Bart can show you the ropes.” 

xXx

For the next few hours the duo were kept busy. 

Their main task was cleaning the kennels out, a task Tim didn’t find as bad as he thought he would- as long as he remembered he’d had to swim through a literal pool of guts and blood once, then dealing with some dog poop really wasn’t that bad. It helped that they were all adorable, especially the baby German Shepherd that felt the need to try and eat his shoe laces.

The next job was feeding them, it was mostly Bart weighing out the bowls as Tim stacked them. Meanwhile the speedster rattled off facts about the kibble, how it wasn’t good for the dogs (he’d even gone as far as to drag out the bag to show him the ingredients). Apparently the salt content was through the roof but it was all the kennels could afford.

Tim could only nod- he didn’t know enough on the topic to comment.

Finally they reached the senior dog’s area- six kennels, three on each side. Each contained old, greying dogs that didn’t have the energy to greet them like the younger, more energetic, dogs did.

It didn’t take too long for them to reach the last kennel, Tim gave Bart a questioning look when the speedster stole his bucket.

“I’m gonna clean this one, you’re gonna sit and keep Mable company!” With that he unlocked the door and shuffled in, waving for Tim to follow. “This is Mable,” Bart nodded to the bed wedged in the corner.

It held an elderly German Shepherd, her fur was a beautiful black and tan but a grey mask covered her face and trickled down her neck. Tim could see obvious clumps of matts in her fluff, especially around her chest and hind legs. Her eyes were surrounded with crust and her ears were held flat against her skull.

She didn’t even twitch an ear at them, her head stayed firmly tucked into her side. Tim’s heart cracked a bit.

“Is she depressed?” He asked, his eyes never left Mable.

“Yeah, can’t blame her. She was overbred and her puppies were taken from her too soon. She was saved when a neighbour complained about the smell from her kennel. The puppy you saw before, the shoelace eater, is the only puppy from her final litter that survived.” Bart explained as he started wiping the walls down.

Tim moved very slowly as he sat on the bed beside Mable, her nose twitched but that was it, “how old is she?”

“Would you believe me if I said only eight? She’s been through a lot and it shows.”

“Jeez… why can’t her puppy be with her?”

Bart started sweeping the floor, “he’s a puppy, which means he bites and has no manners… she may want her baby but she’s too tired to deal with his shit. I can’t blame her,” he finished with a chuckle.

Then, a thought came to Tim’s mind. “What if they were supervised?”

The speedster propped his broom against the wall as he turned to him, “what do you have in mind Mr Drake?”

xXx

Tim wasn’t a dad, that would be impossible (unless the virgin Mary thing could work for dudes too) so he didn’t have a parental connection with anything, except for maybe his laptop- that was his baby.

However, when he saw how Mable’s eyes lit up at the sight of her puppy made him nearly understand it.

The centre had a field out back, it was more of a converted quad area but it was as good as they could get in a busy city environment. Bart had cleared Tim’s master plan with the receptionist lady (Mrs Garcia he reminded himself), so that was how Tim found himself carrying a fully grown German Shepherd towards the field.

“Why did you get the puppy?” His words were nearly drowned out by a mouthful of fur.

“This was your idea!” Tim did his best to glare at the other teen as Bart nearly tripped over the pup’s lead as it zig zagged in front of him- someone needed to teach that creature manners.

When they finally got there Bart went left to let the unnamed puppy sniff around as Tim lowered Mable to the ground, his arms screamed in relief when they were free of the dog. Tim couldn’t resist flopping to the ground, Mable stayed in the exact same position he’d left her in.

“Incoming!” Was all the warning he got before a puppy hit his stomach with the force of a Kryptonian. He could hear Bart cackling as he wheezed, the puppy was merciless as it licked and nibbled his face.

Then the puppy spotted the other dog, he probably didn’t even realise that was his mother, and his energy was converted into snuggling under her fluff. Which left Tim free to recover as Bart came and sat next to him.

They spent a few minutes in a comfortable silence as they watched the mother and son duo hobble and skip around the field. Mable did her best to play but her creaky joints held her back, the puppy seemed to appreciate her efforts though.

“So… how’s living at the manor full time?” Bart asked to break the silence.

“It’s erm… different. It’s a lot louder, the Drake Manor cleaner didn’t really have a habit of screaming or vaulting off the banisters like Dick does,” he explained as he shuffled to the left to avoid the hurricane of fluff that ran by them.

“I imagine it’s hard getting used to a dog in the house too.”

“Oh definitely, I just love finding shit around the house- thankfully Damian is responsible enough to tidy it up. I think that was one of Bruce’s terms to get the damn thing,” he had to admit the three weeks after the demon had arrived were… interesting. It was mostly filled with threats to Tim’s life as Dick tried to tame him with cuddles- he had no clue how his older brother was still alive. Then the month after the arrival of Titus the child assassin was definitely more subdued, his time was spent training and exercising the Dane instead. It was an effective way of redirecting the kid’s energy.

It was just unfortunate it came with the side effect of a dog that ran around the house like an octopus on roller skates. Turns out a Great Dane puppy and polished wooden flooring didn’t mix well.

“Trust me, dogs grow on you even when you didn’t want them to begin with,” Bart stated like he was a professional.

“Dude, you don’t even have a dog!”

“I babysit Brucely sometimes!” The speedster retorted.

“Not the same thing!”

“Yes it is-” Bart was promptly cut off when a hyperactive ball of fluff wiped him out like a wrecking ball, Tim could help the bark of laughter that escaped him as Bart did his best to wrestle himself free. Tim was pretty sure the puppy was trying to nibble the speedster’s nose off.

His attention was stolen when he felt something gently knock into his side, looking down revealed something that made his breath stop for a second.

Mable was lying by his side, leaning onto him. Her head was resting on his thigh as she watched the puppy murder Bart, her ears twitched whenever the victim screamed. With slow movements he started scratching her head, he kept it gentle as she leaned into his touch.

Tim felt like the Chosen One.

He looked back over to the auburn haired teen, he grunted as the puppy used his stomach as a starting block before he sprinted across the field. Bart looked like he’d gone half a round with Bane.

“You okay?” He asked, keeping his voice light as he tried to hold back his chuckles.

Bart glared at him, “thanks for the assist!”

“I was kinda busy,” he gestured to Mable with his free hand. The speedster just stared at the elderly dog with a soft look in his eye, he began to coo at the sight…

Until he was cut off as the puppy tackled him for a round two.

xXx

It was three days later when Dick found himself being dragged down a random Central street, it felt like a millennia since he’d walked around the Flash’s city as a civilian. Nightwing jumped the rooves every now and again if the speedsters were otherwise indisposed, but there wasn’t much need for Dick Grayson in Central, not since-

He abruptly cut off that train of thought, he was still feeling emotionally vulnerable after the revelation he had in Timmy’s room.

Speaking of Timmy… he tried to keep an eye on his little brother as he meandered his way through the pedestrians. The last Drake wasn’t difficult to track, the bright red hoodie and shaggy black hair stood out against the business people bustling around them. 

To say Dick had been a little shocked when Tim cancelled his haircut would be an understatement, it was odd at first to see the usually well styled teen let his hair go… but Dick had to admit now it was grown out, he was rocking that longer look.

“Nearly there!” Tim called back to him, effectively breaking the gymnast from his thoughts.

“Tim, where are-” before he could finish the robin took a sudden right and disappeared into a building, Dick was about to blindly follow when he saw the sign above the door.

Why had Tim dragged him to a rescue centre? Was this a plan to rehome Titus? If it was, he desperately needed to have a conversation with the kid about manners.

With a sigh he trudged up the stairs to find his little brother.

xXx

It was a week later, it had been an… eventful week.#

The past seven days had been filled with a lot of sneaking Mrs Garcia in the manor without the lady actually knowing she was being smuggled around like an illegal package.

And also without Bruce, Jason or Damian finding out… that was the hardest part. They’d given up keeping Alfred out of it, especially when the man had appeared out of nowhere when the brothers (and company) barely got five steps into the foyer.

Titus also knew… but thankfully dogs can’t talk!

It was a Friday night when Dick and Tim had excused themselves from dinner, giving the rest of the family (including Jason) strict instructions to stay put. Dick practically had to wrestle Damian back into his chair but it gave them enough time to execute their plans.

Thankfully, for Tim, Dick offered to carry Mable. The car journey had stressed her out so she’d tucked all her legs in as a reflex, her ears were pressed flat against her skull as she kept her eyes firmly on Tim. Apparently a tense dog gained, like, a hundred pounds.

Meanwhile, the younger brother was busy wrestling the nameless puppy as he did his best to get to the massive front lawn. His eyes were wide with wonder, like a kid seeing santa.

The dining room was silent when they entered, even Alfred had paused his chore of collecting plates when they entered with the new family members. The butler’s gaze flicked between the dogs, Bruce and a shell shocked Damian.

“Dick, Tim… what-” Bruce started.

“Okay! Wait! Before you get all judgy, let me just-” Dick cut himself off as he lowered Mable onto the beanbag wedged in the corner. She instantly sank into it and tucked her face into her tail like a fox. “This was Tim’s idea,” he was a good brother… but he was still perfectly happy to throw Tim under the bus.

All eyes turned to the third robin, all he could do was stare back as he clutched the puppy to his chest. The poor thing had an equally startled look on his face at the sudden attention.

“I- okay, it was my idea… but!” he interrupted when he saw Bruce try to speak, “this is Mable,” he waved a hand at the elderly dog. Her face was still buried as she made herself as small as possible, “she’s old now… they took her to the vets before we picked her up and they diagnosed her with a tumour somewhere in her lungs...” He looked to Dick for help and thankfully the older man took pity on him.

“It’s cancerous, they said she’s old so treatment would probably do more harm than good. They recommended keeping her comfortable in her final days… They gave her around three months.” Dick finished, everyone’s gazes turned to Mable as they looked at her with pity in their eyes, the dog was clueless as she snuggled deeper into the bean bag.

“Okay…” Bruce started, “I’m happy to keep… Mable here,” he said her name slowly like he wasn’t sure it was right. “However, what about the puppy?” 

Once again all eyes were on Tim. To everyone's surprise it was Damian who spoke up, “the manor is big enough for three dogs, father!”

“Are we all happy with these two new additions?” Noone spoke up and everyone nodded (some more enthusiastically than others), this was probably the first thing the Bat Family had ever unanimously agreed on. “Very well then, seeing as all of the humans of the house agree there’s only one more thing to approve… Titus?”

The Great Dane puppy poked his head out from behind Damian’s chair, eyeing the thing in Tim’s arms with a wary stare. The Shepherd stared back, just as confused at the other puppy. With slow movements Tim lowered the baby to the floor, chuckling slightly when he shuffled back to sit firmly on Tim’s feet. Titus stalked closer, looking very much like the wolf within him. 

In theory they were only a few months apart in age, the newcomer being the younger of the two, however their size difference made it seem like Titus could swallow the shepherd whole.

Titus took another step, his head bowed low and his ears pricked forward.

Another step… and another step.

Then suddenly the newcomer moved so fast Tim didn’t have time to stop him, he placed a firm slap on Titus’s head. Effectively freezing the Dane in place for a second.

Then all hell broke loose, the two babies ran around the dining room like a pair of rabbits on a coffee high.

“Well!” Jason yelled over the sound of nails clacking against the floor and happy yaps, “I guess that answers that!”

Tim’s phone buzzed in his pocket, he made sure everyone was distracted when he checked.

Sonic- How’s it going???

Bat Boi- Couldn’t have gone better.

Sonic- Titus?

Bat Boi- I think he’s made a new friend.

The third raven knelt down and grabbed a quick snap of the two puppies skidding around the corner of the table, they were nothing more than blurs as they ran… he figured Bart would appreciate the speed.

Sonic- Omg… he looks so happy.

Sonic- I’m gonna cry omfg.

Bat Boi- Please don't…

Sonic- Too late :’)

Sonic- Mable?

Instead of replying he sent a quick picture of the old lady snuggled in the bean bag.

“Hey Bruce,” Dick chirped, ripping Tim’s attention away from his phone. He looked up just in time to see the gymnast scoop the Shepherd up, his legs flailed as Titus whined at the loss of his new friend. Dick dumped the newcomer in Bruce’s lap. “You can name the new baby!” 

The infamous Batman looked shell shocked for a brief second before holding the puppy like he was made of porcelain. He stared down at the black and tan creature, until a tiny tongue licked his chin, Bruce’s whole body jolted like he’d been restarted.

“Ace,” he suddenly stated, holding the puppy up to look him in the eyes, “his name is Ace.” He put the newly named baby back on the floor- something Titus was incredibly happy about.

Damian nodded as he watched the duo, “a good choice father, Ace is a suitable name.” The youngest brother approved before returning to his food, trying to act like he didn’t care… The others in the room could see the way he kept spying the dogs out of the corner of his eye.

Relief flooded Tim’s system, he’d been a ball of anxiety on the car ride back… that probably hadn’t helped Mable’s worries but he hadn’t been able to help it. Thankfully his worries had been for nothing, Ace and Mable hadn’t hesitated to worm their way into the Wayne family’s hearts.

They finished eating with only a few more disasters (mostly the puppies running into chair legs or Alfred’s legs). By the end of the meal the two babies were snuggled up to Mable on the beanbag, their noses buried in her fur as she simply huffed at the inconvenience (Tim was ninety percent sure she secretly loved the attention).

At that very moment, Tim couldn’t be happier.

xXx

It was a week later when Damian came skidding into the kitchen one morning, Dick was just trying to eat his cereal when his little brother (plus two puppies) ran in like a hurricane, a tablet tucked to the boy’s chest.

“Where’s Drake?” The tiny assassin demanded.

“Well, hello Dick… how are you Dick?” He replied sarcastically.

“I don’t have time for this, Grayson!”

Dick huffed, “what do you want him for? I thought we’d got past the whole attempted murder thing!”

“I-I just wish to talk to him…” Dick was suspicious, Damian very rarely stuttered.

“I think he’s gone to the Watchtower, he should be back for dinner tonight… Now, what’s the real reason?”

“I wish to… thank him…” he muttered before sliding his tablet across the kitchen island, Dick had to grab it before it slid over the edge. When he was distracted Damian shuffled out, Titus and Ace on his heels.

Dick peered down at the screen, curious about what Damian was so worked up about… he wasn’t expecting it to be a news article.

Drake heir, Timothy Drake, has pledged 30% will be split between various animal rescues. Including a few in Central City.

Dick couldn’t help his smile, god he loved his little brothers.

Chapter Text

Two months passed with very little happening, they’d gone on a few missions (none of which ended up being eventful… for the first time in forever their stealth missions stayed as stealth missions). The most interesting thing was when Nightwing’s grapple had failed mid mission, causing the elder to nearly fall face first into a particularly villainous meeting. His brother’s face one of pure shock as he clung to the rafters, doing his best to go unnoticed by the group below.

Tim made it his duty, as a good brother, to rub the mistake in Dick’s face at every given opportunity. In return Dick made sure to ensure Tim would fall flat on his face at least once every patrol.

It hurt... but seeing the usually calm gymnast getting ticked off by his teasing made it so worth it.

So, when he was commed to the Tower he assumed it was for a usual “get in, get the info, get out” mission- He’d been a bit wrong with that assumption. 

That was how he found himself herding a group of metahumans through a decrepit hallway, the crowd ranged from ten to eighteen years old- so it was more like a group of meta-teens. From his vantage point the crowd was a mix of all sorts of colours, sizes, and shapes of people as they shuffled towards the open double doors.

The League members were waiting to sort them into groups, they’d all be sent to centres to help them with their brand new powers, but sadly they couldn’t all go to the same place.

The mission had been a hit on one of the many underground metahuman trafficking rings. They typically snatched kids up (ideally ones that wouldn’t be missed), put their bodies under extreme stress to try and trigger their meta-gene. Once their powers came to light they would be sorted into groups, have a price tag slapped on them and sold to whoever wanted them. This ring was no different.

Tim internally shivered at the thought of what happened to those who didn’t have the gene.

His eye caught a familiar head of blonde hair in the crowd- he spied Cassie as she walked in the centre of the group, casually chatting to a reptilian looking boy. Logically Tim knew she was doing her part to keep the rattled teens calm, what they’d been through was awful… however, an awful part of him twinged with jealousy. Maybe he wasn’t as “over” the blonde as he originally thought.

It was in that moment a gravelly voice chimed over the mindlink.

“One available team member is needed in the West side laboratory,” Batman’s painfully monotone voice echoed through their skulls. A quick glance around confirmed his presence wouldn’t be missed.

“On my way,” he replied as he headed West.

xXx

The laboratory was just as trashy as the rest of the place, the equipment was obviously second hand (most of it was cracked or charred), the walls were made up of boards nailed together and it was in desperate need for a clean. This particular smuggling ring was relatively new and it showed.

Batman stood directly ahead of the door in the centre of the room, his back was to Robin as he stalked in.

“Hey,” he mentally greeted, “what’s the si-” his line of thought scattered when he saw what his mentor was looking at. At the back of the lab was a generic looking table shoved against the wall, it was solid looking and covered in scratches.

What shocked him was what was under the table.

A kid… maybe eleven or twelve. He was small, his cheeks were sunken and his eyes had dark shadows under them, shadows too big for any child that young- they would look more at home on Tim’s own face. His short hair was spiked up in every direction as his clothes hung from his frame, clothing was probably a generous description… they were more like rags with how torn and mucky they were.

The part that hurt Tim’s soul the most was the look in the kid’s eyes, they held a wild look that told tales of unimaginable trauma. The way he was tightly curled in on himself told him the kid held no trust towards the two heroes standing before him.

The unnamed kid was also a Meta if the collar clamped around his neck was anything to go by.

“He won’t come out,” Batman stated.

“He’s scared, can’t really blame him…” Tim trailed off. With very slow movements Robin lowered himself to the floor so he was kneeling. “Hey…” he said out loud, making sure to keep his voice cheery.

The kid just held his knees tighter to his chest, those brown eyes flicked between them like a scared animal.

“I’ll call for Martian Manhunter, we don’t have time to wait for him to come out if he won’t do so consciously,” Batman stated as he turned towards the door.

“No,” Robin stopped his mentor in his tracks. The Dark Knight turned very slowly to look at his protégé.

“No?” He asked, Tim had to force himself to remain calm.

“We’ll never gain his trust if we just knock him out when his trauma inconveniences us!” He could feel the kid’s gaze stare at his caped back, to him their conversation probably looked like an overly intense staring contest.

“Robin,” he grumbled aloud, his gravelly voice seemed to echo around the room, “we do not have time for-” he was interrupted by a familiar woosh from the doorway.

Tim looked around Batman’s shoulder just in time to see lightning crackle along the frame as a friendly face stood looking at them.

“Hey!” Kid Flash chirped, “what’s in here?” He moved to step in the lab as Batman spoke up.

“Kid Flash-”

“There’s a kid,” Tim waved to the bundle of tense muscles, completely ignoring his mentor as the man glared directly into his soul.

Kid ventured further into the lab, carefully zipping past the Bat before he came to a stop at Robin’s side. “He’s scared…”

“Of us,” Robin finished as Bart waved at the kid, the poor thing just tucked his face further into his knees- his gaze never leaving them.

He looked over at the youngest Flash and For the first time since they’d arrived Tim got a good look at the other teen. He immediately saw a streak of dirt smeared down Bart’s face, “you’ve got…” he waved a hand at Kid’s face.

He got a look of confusion before he was gone in a streak of colour… only to return whipping his face with a damp rag, effectively ridding himself of the dirt.

Robin didn’t miss the way the kid perked up at the show of Bart’s powers.

“He likes your powers,” he stated aloud. Bart threw the rag over his shoulder and wiped his hands on his thighs before zipping forward to sit cross legged in front of the kid. The unnamed Meta stared at Bart with a look of awe.

“Hey!” Bart waved and the kid shrunk back again. “What don’t you like? Is it the masks? Yeah, I’m not overly keen on masks either… they’re good, I promise!” He made sure to keep his hands visible as he picked at his gloves.

When the kid didn’t move Bart sighed and grasped the edge of his goggles, “how about this?” He pushed his tinted goggles into his hair, revealing his bright green eyes.

Both Robin and Kid Flash ignored Batman when he barked the speedster’s alias. The kid raised his head as he stared straight into the speedster’s eyes.

“You’re scared… Why?” Bart asked in a soft tone.

To everyone’s shock, the kid spoke up. “ Me llevarás lejos…” His voice cracked as he spoke.

When Bart looked back at him with a slightly startled look Robin took mercy on him and translated, “he’s worried we’ll take him away?” It came out as more of a question.

“Don’t you want to leave?” Bart looked back at the kid, he got a shake of the head as an answer. “Why not?”

“¡Mi hermano!” The kid tried to yell, only for it to come out as a squeak.

Bart may not be fluent in Spanish but he knew enough to decode basic statements, “where’s your brother?” When the kid didn’t reply he tried again, “if we’re gonna help him we need to know where he is…”

The kid stayed silent.

Behind them Batman was standing in the corner brooding, probably relaying what was happening to the other League members.

“I had a brother… a twin actually,” Bart’s voice snapped them out of their thoughts, he could sense his mentor perking up at Kid’s admission. “We were inseparable, our mom always said if he didn’t have blonde hair she’d have to write our names on our foreheads to tell us apart…” He trailed off with a sad chuckle. 

When the kid lowered his legs and leaned forward Bart soldiered on, “we both had superspeed, I was faster but he always said it was him… I was older so I saw it as my big brotherly duty to let him believe that.”

There was a tense moment when no one spoke, until the kid broke the silence. “Cuanto mayor?”

Tim translated and Bart nodded before answering, “I was a whole fourteen minutes older! Something I was immensely proud of… Are you older than your brother?”

The kid hesitated before shaking his head, “¿Lo que le sucedió?”

“He wants to know what happened to your brother,” Robin said before Bart could look to him for help.

“He died…” The speedster trailed off, it didn’t seem like he was planning on elaborating until he looked directly in the kid’s eyes, “I lost my brother… I don’t want you to lose yours too, so we need to know where he is…” he spoke slowly and the kid looked conflicted for a second.

What he said next threw Robin through a loop as he rushed to translate to his teammate, “when our raid started his brother shoved him under there… Told him to stay still before the ‘mean people’ took him away, apparently they took him to a basement?” Batman was already pulling up several holo-maps as he updated the team, they could only guess how many more metas could be squirreled away, waiting to be sold… hoping to be saved.

With a firm nod Bart turned back to the kid as Bats left the lab, his cape fluttering around his ankles dramatically. “What’s your name?”

The kid shuffled forward a bit, his skin looking an unhealthy shade of white under the fluorescent lighting. “¿M-Menos? Me llamaron Menos…”

“Menos! That’s an interesting name, I like it!” Bart chirped, it earned a small smile from him, “what about your brother?”

“Mas!” Menos was a lot happier talking about his brother. Tim relayed the info to the team, they were looking for a young hispanic boy called Mas.

“Do you want to come with me?” Bart asked, opening his arms as a universal sign of I ain’t gonna hurt ya. Much to Tim’s shock Menos scrambled forwards, latching onto Bart like a baby koala. With a chuckle the speedster rose to his feet with Robin’s help, standing with a literal child wrapped around your chest wasn’t the easiest thing to achieve.

The trio were soon winding their way through the disgusting hallways, Bart was in front with Menos’s legs wrapped around his waist and his chin propped on the auburn’s shoulder. The kid stared at Robin as he trailed behind them, his bo staff clutched in his hand- always ready for an attack.

“¿Pájaro?” He directed his question at Tim.

“Casi un petirrojo… Robin en inglés,” he explained.

“Ro-Rob-in?” Menos said his name slowly, like the word felt wrong to say.

“¡Perfecto!” It was Bart who congratulated the kid, Menos giggled and buried his face in Bart’s shoulder. Tim couldn’t help but smile at the sight as he brushed his hair from his face.

Dammit the kid was cute.

xXx

It wasn’t long before the trio found themselves walking up to the group of heroes gathered by several buses stuffed full with metas. Menos clung to Bart tighter when he saw the crowd they were approaching, the closer they got the louder it was… that wasn’t surprising considering there was a decent amount of rowdy teenagers not too far from them.

“Hey!” Jaime greeted as he emerged from the crowd. “Who’s this?” The beetle pointed at Menos who’s grip turned iron.

Thankfully Tim answered for him, “we found him hidden under a table… He says there’s possibly a basement of more metas.”

“That must be where Nightwing took some of the others…” 

Suddenly Traci burst from behind her boyfriend, “oh my gosh! Who’s this cute little guy?” She moved to ruffle his hair, only for Menos to immediately tense up and hide his face in Bart’s neck.

The speedster simply glared at the girl as he turned away, muttering something into the kid’s ear. Tim simply stared at the couple before moving to wrestle his way through the crowd.

Miss Martian was his target.

xXx

The Bioship was a lot quieter, it acted like a natural noise cancelling chamber- It turned out all Menos needed to calm down was a bit of quiet.

“Wanna grab something to eat after this?” Tim asked as he glanced over at Bart.

“Absolutely,” the speedster muttered. He moved to tiredly rub his eyes, being careful about not disturbing the kid sleeping in his lap. Bart looked as tired as Tim felt, and he felt like he wanted to sleep like the dead for a century at least.

He was broken from his daydreaming when his comm crackled to life.

“Robin!” Nightwing sang, he winced at the high pitch tone, “we’ve got Mas!”

He peered up at that, Bart gave him a wary side eye as he replied, “can you bring him to the Bioship?”

“Be there in five.” With that, the line cut out.

xXx

The kid that walked up the ramp behind Nightwing looked exactly like Menos… huh, so they were twins…

The newcomer’s clothes were just as abused as his twins’ however, his skin was twice as dirty. Robin hadn’t gone with the sub team to find the last few metas, but he could imagine the basement wasn’t the cleanest of places. The bruising making its way around his temple stood out against his sickly pale skin.

When Mas saw his twin his eyes lit up like it was christmas, he scooted past their team leader and rushed to Kid Flash’s side. His expression was one of pure concern as he eyed the snoozing speedster warily, his hand twitched like he wanted to reach out for his other half, but thought better of it.

“Está bien, solo dormido.” Tim explained in a hushed tone, making sure not to wake them. Mas seemed to calm slightly at the sound of his mother tongue, he simply perched on the seat beside Bart, his eyes never leaving his twin as the ship descended into silence.

His brother came to sit next to him, they stayed in silence for a whole minute until the motormouth gymnast broke it, “Bats cleared it for these two to stay in here… the buses are full so it makes sense,” he explained. Copying Tim’s hushed tone.

“Thank you,” he murmured, resting his head on his brother’s shoulder. Nightwing rattled off what had been in the basement but Tim wasn’t overly bothered, he was just tired.

xXx

The ride back to the Tower was quiet for once, everyone kept their chatting (more like gossiping) to a minimum whilst all orders were given over the mindlink. Tim didn’t miss the way Batman would keep glancing towards Bart and the kids, Mas now snuggled up to the sleeping speedster’s side.

He could tell his mentor was pissed about Bart uncovering his face in front of an unknown meta.

Tim couldn’t care less… which surprised him a bit. When he first confronted Bruce about knowing his identity he’d looked up to the man like he was some sort of deity. However, now the whole hero worshipping had worn off- leaving behind a Robin who knew Bruce was all bark no bite. The worst he’d do would be suspending Bart (and maybe Tim) for a week or two.

While some time without Robin would suck ass… Tim was used to doing nothing. That was what he’d done all his childhood when his parents were on business trips after all.

A hand near his thigh twitched and the third Robin’s attention was stolen by the speedster waking up next to him.

Bart woke up slowly, his muscles twitched and his face scrunched up like a grumpy cat. Those bright emerald eyes flickered open as he took a millisecond to take in his situation, he mugged Menos closer as he shuffled slightly to sit straighter.

That was when they noticed Mas had woken up, he was staring at Bart with those massive eyes from where he was still snuggled up to his side.

“Mas?” The speedster whispered, the kid nodded. “That’s crash, I’m Bart,” he waved as well as he could with a child occupying his arms. Mas nodded once and snuggled deeper into his side.

Tim caught Bart’s eye, the speedster gave him a simple thumbs up before settling down to nod off again, Tim copied him- they had another two hours of waiting to do after all.

xXx

It was a few hours later when the duo found themselves in a generic Central fast food restaurant, Tim was busy munching on his wrap and fries as Bart polished off his second burger. 

It had only been half an hour since they’d dropped the twins off at the Meta-Human Youth Center, but it felt like hours since the speedster had to pull Menos’s tiny hands off his suit- the kid was determined to keep him around. They’d eventually managed to convince them that Ed was a good guy and he was there to help.

The parting hadn’t been without some tears on behalf of Menos though.

Tim was finishing off his milkshake (chocolate of course) when Bart’s phone buzzed, a quick glance over made the speedster’s face contort in confusion.

“Huh,” he muttered.

“What’s up?”

“Mas and Menos… they’re speedsters…” 

That took Tim by surprise, “didn’t see that coming… why didn’t Mas’s bruise heal though?” He thought back to the colourful injury painted on the kid’s face.

“Apparently it’s only when they’re touching? Like-” He flailed his hand around, “magnets or something?”

The raven nodded slowly, “that’s a new one…” Bart hummed as he went back to his meal. “Just a heads up, B is gonna want to talk to you at some point.”

“Not right now, I’m too busy eating,” he made a big show of taking an exaggerated bite. He couldn’t help but chuckle when a blob of ketchup fell on the speedster’s phone, Bart’s panicked face was something to behold.

He’d ask him about his mysterious brother on another day, for now the duo were content.