Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Not many people knew what happened in the year Bruce had sent Tim abroad to train, and he'd been rather hoping to keep it that way. 

"Timothy" Lady Shiva greeted, completely at ease as the entire Bat Clan surrounded her. 

The infamous assassin had led the Bats on a merry chase across Gotham the last three days, which led to Red Robin, Nightwing, Batman, and Robin surrounding her on a random rooftop. 

She was alone, the five of them were intimidating enough to make humans, metas, and aliens alike nervous. Even Clark got nervous when he knew more than 1 Bat was pissed at him.

Shiva, on the other hand, was as baseline human as any of them, and she looked like she'd taken a midnight stroll and happened to run into them.  

No doubt she had some sort of failsafe ensuring we'd be forced to let her go, there was no way she was stupid enough to come here without one. 

This knowledge was also what had Bruce holding the others back, while Tim had already moved into a neutral position before he could be beckoned. 

However, just because they couldn't risk attacking her until they knew what kind of crazy she was packing today, didn't mean she couldn't fuck things up for Tim. 

Not a single one of his family took their eyes off Shiva, but he could feel their attention on him like an uncomfortable second skin. 

"What do you want?" Tim demanded, when no one else moved forwards, and Shiva's lips twisted in amusement. 

"What? No warm wishes for your old teacher?" Shiva smirked, and the focus on Tim in creased tenfold. 

"Not at the moment" Tim said dryly, and she looked amused for a minute before her face was schooled into a look of cold boredom. 

"I need to talk to you. Alone." Shiva said, and Bruce's posture turned to stone, and the change from Bruce to Batman was almost tangible. 

"No." Batman growled, the wrath and violence emanating from his tone was enough to warm Tim's cold dead heart. 

"If you wanted to speak to me, there are easier ways, and you know it" Tim said, raking his eyes along her, the gears in his brain twisting and turning. 

"Excuse me?" Dick glowered, his body language still fully overprotective brother, his eyes darting to Tim.

The levels of 'you talk to this crazy assassin master, what is wrong with you?!' in his tone was insulting and hypocritical. 

This coming from the man who'd been trained by Deathstroke himself, Tim internally scoffed. 

"True, but this was more fun" Shiva agreed, but Tim could see straight through her. 

"Kon, I need you in Gotham" Tim said in fluent kryptonian, letting the rhythm of his heart build, while keeping his face completely impassive. 

Even if Conner wasn't paying attention to his voice, the half kryptonian couldn't keep a secret from Tim if his life depended on it, which is why Kon hadn't even tried. He'd told Tim that he'd been keeping an eye on his heartbeat since he came back, and that he didn't intend to stop, any more than Tim intended to stop bugging his shit. 

(That conversation was one of the few times Kon had ever seen him blush, and it took considerable blackmail to make sure that information wouldn't make it past them)

"Kryptonian?" Batman asked, his accent slightly choppy, and Tim smiled sharply at Shiva. 

"Agent A" Tim responded, and Bruce grudgingly untensed. 

"Well, this has been fun, but let's get down to business" Shiva gave a two finger salute, then stepped back, there was a sharp crack, and Tim barely had time to activated the sound dampeners in his cowl before most of his family hit the ground, dazed and groaning. 

"Red Robin, do not-" Batman growled, but Red didn't listen, taking off after the assassin, alone, just like she'd wanted.

The resulting chase ended in 7 saved civilians, 3 explosions, 4 cut grapple lines, and she'd shattered his bo staff, which he was rather ticked about. 

Unlike his siblings, he didn't fly into a fiery rage when angry, if anything he got calmer, his rage was cold as ice and twice as deadly. 

So when Shiva led him into a warehouse (what a cliché), he was prepared for the sight of a small private jet, ready for take off. There were two chairs and a small table beside it on the tarmac.

Ah, and about two dozen ninjas.

How accommodating. And completely not her style.

How to approach this? Timothy or Red Robin? 

"Why all the dramatics? You know a simple email could have sufficed" Red Robin said, calmly crossing his legs, observing Shiva over the table, and she smirked. 

"Ra's Al Gul speaks highly of you, Red Robin, but I had to be certain" Shiva said, her voice cold as ice. 

"What do you need from me?" Red asked, and Shiva leant back in her chair. 

"What else? Information" Shiva said, and Red struggled not to roll his eyes. 

As if all his value came from his network, Red scoffed, he'd expected better from someone who'd personally trained him. 

"Who? And why would I help you?" Red asked, and Shiva accepted a file from one of the ninjas and placed it on the table. 

"Because you love my daughter" Shiva said, and Red warily opened the folder, and found himself looking at a headshot of David Cain. 

Timothy it was, Tim seethed, ice spreading through his veins, and Tim knew the expression his face must have taken. Tilted chin, shoulders back, lips tensed, jaw clenched, and eyes the color of ice chips, pale, cold and sharp enough to peel the skin from someone's bones.

He'd seen it on his mother more times than he'd wish to remember.

Shiva couldn't see his eyes, but she recognized the cold rage that had settled over him, and Tim resented the smug look on her face as he pulled the file closer to himself. 

"David promised Cassandra to Ra's, and he doesn't forget. Neither does David" Shiva said, and Tim idly flipped through the file, absorbing the information provided. 

"And what do you want from me? I assume you don't expect me to take on the League alone, so why isolate me?" Tim asked, and Shiva studied him carefully. 

"David has contracted a meta with... long term persuasive abilities," Shiva said delicately, while Tim's mind filled in the blank with 'mind control', "David merely needs to acquire sufficient payment for services rendered" Shiva explained, and Tim flicked his fingers, a sharp grin curving his lips. 

"And what is this payment?" Tim asked, and Shiva shrugged. 

"I'm not sure. This particular meta isn't swayed by money, blackmail or threats, and no one knows their true identity" Shiva said, and Tim realized what this was about. 

"You want me to find out who they are" Tim declared, and Shiva nodded sharply. 

"I'm confident Cassandra can handle both David and Ra's, but this individual is dangerous" Shiva said, and Tim leant back in his chair as they stared each other down for several minutes. 

"I'll need everything you have on them, and I'm taking the jet" Tim said, knowing his time was probably short. 

There was no way Bruce would let Tim do this, so he'd have to slip away before he could stop him. 

"Everything you need is in the jet, but why do you need the jet?" Shiva asked, her posture straightening slightly, obviously caught off guard, and trying to hide it.

"Because my network is compromised. If you want me to do this, I need the jet, and you'll have to keep the Bats busy for about 12 hours. No killing or maiming" Tim levelled her with a glare, and she nodded in agreement. 

"Alright. Your price?" Shiva asked, and Tim pursed his lips. 

"You're going to make sure that David Cain stays away from Cassandra; how you choose to do so is up to you. Also, make sure to mention that I refused to kill when under your tutelage, and we haven't had contact since. I don't need the Bats all in my business when I return" Tim said, smoothly standing up, as his earpiece gave a quiet beep, and Superboy crashed through the ceiling and landed about twenty feet from us. 

All the ninjas tensed, and Shiva's hand strayed to her pocket, where she probably held a lead lined case, but Tim slipped between the two groups, taking quick strides to Kon's side. 

"Is the jet rigged to blow?" Tim asked Kon, who had both relaxed and tensed up, his face wary as he looked at Shiva and her collection of ninjas. 

"No" Kon said, his jaw tensed, and Tim placed a hand on his arm, calming Kon slightly as Tim felt his TTK skim over his skin. 

It was only Tim's extensive training that kept Tim from blushing when that ghostly touch skimmed over his hips and thighs, but not even he could help the slight uptick in his heartbeat. 

Kon's gaze grew warm, his lips twitching, but he kept a professional face in front of Shiva. 

"I need to go dark for 12 hours" Tim said, and a small breath escaped Kon's lips as he looked over Tim carefully. 

"Pretend kidnapping?" Kon asked resignedly, and Tim's lips curved into a small smile. 

"You know me so well" Tim teased, and Kon rolled his eyes. 

"Come back safely" Kon said sternly, and Tim moved in quick, pressing a kiss against his cheek, then danced away as his face turned crimson. 

"I'll do my best" Tim promised, then he stepped into the jet, and made his way to the cockpit.

It wasn't the exact same as the Bat Plane, but Tim had training in flying everything from a helicopter or small aircraft to alien spaceships, so getting the plane into the air was fairly simple. Once he was in the sky, Tim set the plane to autopilot, and left the cockpit in search of the boxes Shiva had mentioned.

Besides, Tim was secure in knowing Kon would keep him from being shot out of the sky, at least until he was out of Gotham. 

This was going to be a long 12 hours. 

Tim was in Paris in 6 hours thanks to the jets enhanced technology, and it was simple work to blend into the crowds on early morning Paris. 

If there was one benefit to being 5'6 and 140 pounds, he was the only one out of his brothers that could play a woman with just the right clothes, a wig, and a little bit of makeup. Some of that was thanks to his androgynous features, courtesy of his mothers Asian background, but he digressed. 

Even Damien, only 14 years old and he was one good growth spurt from outpacing Tim, even if he was able to pull off moving like a woman. 

Red Robin disappeared into the sewers, and an hour later, a beautiful girl with long blonde hair, a flowy white sundress, oversized sunglasses, kitten heels, and a small satin purse, walked into a crowd. Within twenty feet, she disappeared, suddenly just one of many beautiful tourists  

An hour later, a girl with choppy red hair, hipster glasses, high waisted jean shorts, a crop top, and high tops stepped into one of Paris' many alleyways, and vanished.

Tim stepped through the hidden door to one of his old safehouses from his world tour to find Bruce. The equipment was a bit dusty, but with a little bit of time, Tim was about to make the computers purr for him. 

"Alright, Djinn, lets find out who you are" Tim murmured as he followed the crumbs Shiva had given him. 

It was quickly approaching his deadline when he hit his first break. 

This was no meta, he wasn't an alien, and he wasn't using magic. 

Which made them something... Unexpected. 

"No way" Tim murmured, almost unbelieving what he'd found. 

This 'meta' was an actual djinn, an astral being from a different dimension, but he had a master.

In comparison, finding the master was child's play.

Amanda Waller and her fucking suicide squad, Tim grit his teeth as he creeped his way through her systems, searching for what he needed, and collecting mountains of blackmail in the process.

"Red Robin, you're about to have company" Kon said into his com, the strain in his voice made the edges of Tim's vision darken. 

"Code Green?" Tim demanded, and Kon didn't reply. 

If Bruce broke out the Special K to interrogate Kon over this, Tim was going to make his life a living hell. 

Still, Tim spent precious minutes pulling out of Waller's systems and initiating Melt Down.

By the time Tim was standing up, the single surviving hard drive in his hand, the wall outside exploded, and a figure in all black stepped through the hole. 

Tim barely had enough time to meet vivid orange eyes, and think 'djinn' before the figure was opening his mouth.

"Sleep" the figure declared, and Tim barely managed to hit the Scatter Protocol on his glasses before his vision went dark.

"Wake" a voice commanded, and Tim was pulled harshly back to the land of the living. 

"Sit her up" Waller demanded, and Tim grit his teeth as two pairs of hands dragged him from the floor, a gun placed at the small of his back, urging him forwards. 

"Who are you?" Tim asked, suddenly grateful that nothing in that bunker had been connected to Red Robin or the Bats. 

Hopefully his disguise held up, because if Tim Wayne was about to be arrested for terrorism, this was going to make his meeting on Friday awkward. 

"Compel him to tell the truth" Waller told the djinn, and Tim's mind whirled. 

"Tell the truth" the djinn said, and Tim didn't feel anything, but knew that didn't mean anything. 

"Are you a hero?" Waller demanded, and Tim had barely a second to consider his answer. 

"No" Tim decided, thinking that he'd never been much of a hero, he'd become Robin because Gotham needed a Batman, and things had just grown from there. 

But there was nothing particularly heroic about Tim. 

"How did you get through my firewalls?" another voice asked, a man in the corner, and Waller tilted her head back, allowing the question. 

"I developed a program that allowed me to piggyback your coding to the source" Tim said, and Waller looked interested for a moment. 

"What were you looking for?" Waller asked, and Tim was conflicted for a moment. 

"Blackmail" Tim said simply, and Waller looked smug. 

"Well, that turned out well for you, didn't it?" Waller smirked, and his eyes caught the time on her watch. 

"That depends on how long I was out" Tim smirked back, and her eyes narrowed.

"What is that supposed to-" she began when a man in civilian clothes ran into the room, to the surprise to everyone else. 

"Mrs. Waller, you have to see this, it, it just-I swear I didn't know-" the man stuttered, and Waller stormed out of the room with half the guards and her hacker.

"You know she's probably gonna kill you, right?" the guard holding him asked, looking bored, and Tim smirked as he slipped out of his hold and stabbed his taser pen into the guards neck. 

"She can try" Tim said nonchalantly, then danced around the remaining guards as they swarmed him.

"Little bitch" one guard growled when Tim stabbed him in the hand with a poisoned needle, then, like dynamos, they all slumped to the ground, with little pinpricks bleeding sluggishly on each of them. 

Tim snatched a pair of keys and a keycard from each of them, gave the djinn a two finger salute, then slipped from the room. 

Instead of making his way towards the door, Tim moved further into the compound. 

Tim found the first computer he could, and within minutes he had complete control over the compounds security. 

More importantly, he had the access codes to the vault holding the djinn's lamp. 

He wasn't an expert, but from what he remembered from the JL's database, a djinn was bound to whoever held the lamp last.

With the entire system down, sneaking his way towards lowest levels was a cakewalk.

If Tim chose to cause a bit of havoc on his way down? Well, no one had to know. 

Tim was in the vaults, a duffle bag in hand, and he was shoving dangerous weapons into it, when a wall of muscle slammed into him. 

"Ugh, Jay, get the hell off" Tim growled as the behemoth above him froze, then Tim was flipped onto his back, and Red Hood stared down at him. 

"You fucking idiot, the others are worried sick about you" Jason growled, his shoulders tensed, and Tim jumped to his feet, and grabbed his duffle bag, and kept going. 

"Just watch the door" Tim said, sliding the strap around his chest, and made his way towards the vault. 

A 20 digit code was inputted, and Tim stepped into the room warily, watching for traps as he made his way towards the lamp. 

Half way there, Tim heard shots ring out, and he picked up the pace as he heard Jason curse. 

Tim snatched the lamp right as Waller and two dozen guards made their way into the vault, Jason held between about six of them. 

"Djinn, bring Red Hood behind me" Tim said, and Tim didn't need to see Jason's face to know the incredulous look he was getting. 

At least until a five foot figure in black spandex appeared between them, and as suddenly as he had appeared, Jason was behind Tim. 

"Bring us to the landing bay" Tim told him, and suddenly they were standing in the bay, where Black Bat stood in a ring of unconscious guards. 

"What the hell?" Jason ground out, and Tim hummed thoughtfully. 

"I wish for you to go home and never return" Tim declared, then tossed the lamp to the shocked djinn, but with a grateful smile, the djinn vanished. 

"I'm gonna kill you" Jason growled, and Tim ignored him. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Tim asked Cass, and she studied him carefully. 

"Others looking for you. Nanda Parbat. Oracle sensed beacon here" Cassandra shrugged, and Tim hummed. 

"Well, this has been a ride, but I got what I'm after" Tim said, holding up the duffle bag, and Cassandra didn't look entirely convinced, but didn't say anything. 

"Hey Bats, we found-" Jason started, when Tim slapped him upside the head. 

"They don't know who I am, I'd like to keep it that way" Tim declared, and Jason grumbled. 

"We found your runaway" Jason said snidely, and Tim rolled his eyes as he walked towards one of the helicopters. 

 "This'll work" Tim decided, then powered the helicopter up, and the bay doors opened just as every electronic in the compound began a countdown from 1 minute. 

"What's that?" Jason demanded, and Tim smirked at him. 

"It seems the self destruct protocol has been activated" Tim hummed, and his siblings exchanged shocked looks as Tim flew them out of the hanger. 

But Tim wasn't an idiot. 

If David Cain went to Amanda Waller to get the djinn to force Cassandra back under his thumb, he would need massive leverage.

Like, perchance, borrowing said mind controlled assassin, and maybe even the identities of the rest of Tim's family. 

His mother had always told him to be clear in his demands, he's sure Waller will not target the Bats again.

And if she hadn't gotten the message... Tim would be happy to teach her again. 

 It was her fault anyway, she should have known not to underestimate someone capable of hacking her supposedly impenetrable systems.

Chapter Text

Tim was pushing 52 hours and he was on his third coffee that night when Kon's stepped through the balcony doors.

"Did you forget?" Kon asked, the resigned disappointment in his voice made Tim's stomach curdle, and he slowly looked up at Kon, who was leaning against the couch, dressed in nice jeans, a crisp button up, and a blazer, which was about as fancy as Kon could get. 

Shit, Tim thought to himself, looking down at his tattered sweats and oversized hoodie, then the lineup of coffee cups beside him, and the pile of work still beside him. 

"No, I remembered, I just lost track of time" Tim lied, closing his screens, and turning his chair to face Kon, who was already shrugging out of the blazer and tossing it on Tim's couch. 

"Its okay, Tim" Kon smiled, and disappeared into Tim's room to change. 

With a muffled groan, Tim pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, and tried to remember what they were supposed to do. 

One look at the calendar, and the curdling in his stomach turned into rocks. 

July 7th 2014.

It was Kon's 7th birthday, but legally it was his 22nd birthday.

Tim had promised to take him out to dinner, anywhere he wanted, then they would come back to his place and watch all the Wendy the Werewolf Stalker Kon wanted. 

He'd promised him at least 12 hours of his time.

Especially because in the four years since Kon had come back from the dead, they had never managed to meet up for his birthday. 

Tim had promised that this time nothing short of an alien invasion would stop them. 

He'd put the fear of Red Robin into the Rouge Gallery, had Cass cover his patrol, and warned the Titans that they were unavailable. 

But he hadn't told Tam, who had dropped a stack of paperwork into his arms three days ago, which, between an Arkham breakout (Two Face was going to regret that), his usual caseload, and shuffling patrol with Cass, meant he'd completely lost track of the days.

"I am officially the worst friend in history" Tim muttered, only for a hair of warm hands to card themselves through Tim's hair, tilting his face up to look at Kon, now dressed in a pair of sweats and one of Tim's his discarded Superboy shirts.

"Tim, its okay," Kon smiled, gently tugging Tim up and urging him towards his bedroom, "now, go get some rest" Kon insisted, and bullied Tim into bed, laying beside him until Tim drifted off. 

Tim was truly the worst. 

When Tim woke up, his apartment had been cleaned, his files were organized according to his personal system, with the completed paperwork dropped off to Tam, via the Superboy Express, and there was pizza keeping warm in the oven. 

It was Canadian bacon, artichoke hearts, and onion. His favorite. 

"I'm sorry" Tim said, feeling even worse that Kon was being so nice to him, but Kon just grinned at him. 

"Dude, its fine. You know I don't care what we do, as long as we're together" Kon said, stealing a slice from the box and taking a bite. 

Tim watched Kon valiantly try not to make a face at the flavor, and Tim stepped closer, resting his head against Kon's chest, who had started to rub his back soothingly. 

"I will make it up to you" Tim promised, guilt choking him, and Kon huffed in exasperation. 

"Okay" Kon rolled his eyes, then directed them to the couch, where, as promised, Wendy the Werewolf Stalker had been queued up. 

At least Kon would get part of his gift, Tim sulked, and let Kon arrange them however he wanted on the couch. 

Absolutely no one would believe that Superboy, all 6'2 and 250 pounds of muscle, wearer of leather jackets, and flirter of anything with breasts, was a total softy. 

But gradually, Kon had broken down Tim's resistance to physical affection, and now was liable to drape himself across Tim at all times, but espeically when watching tv. 

(Kon claimed he did it because Tim was touch starved and refused to admit it, but Tim called bullshit. He'd survived most his life with minimal physical contact, and he definitely did not melt into Kon's touch)

"Happy Birthday" Tim whispered, and Kon grinned against his hair. 

"Thank you" Kon said, then the two of them relaxed into each other. 

They got three episodes in when the clock hit 0700, and his phone started to ring.

You have got to be kidding me, Tim glowered at it, and Kon just gave an amused chuckle. 

"I guess I better go before Bruce comes to chase me out" Kon gave him a grin, and Tim reluctantly let him untangle their limbs. 

He felt zero guilt for ignoring the phone as he walked Kon to the balcony.

"Will you be at the Tower this weekend?" Kon asked, a flash of something fragile in his eyes, and Tim resolved that nothing would keep him away. 

"Yes" Tim said firmly, his jaw clenching in determination, and Kon shot him a warm grin. 

"I'll see you then" Kon said, wrapping Tim in a short hug, then he floated up, and slipped out of the balcony doors. 

"This had better be good" Tim said as he answer his phone.

"Good morning to you, too, Princess" Tam said dryly, and Tim massaged his temples.

He was going to need coffee for this, he could already tell. 

Later that night, Tim was flagged down by a ninja, who held out a creamy white envelope, with the word Detective written on it in elegant writing. 

Ah, it must be that type of night, Tim thought in resignation, and warily took the invitation, opening it to find a handwritten dinner reservation, with two surveillance photos of a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair, and a little girl with pigtails. 

"Are you my chauffer? Or just the messenger?" Tim asked, and the ninja gestured towards the waterfront, and Tim opening rolled his eyes. 

Of course. Because nothing says 'this is totally not a clandestine meeting/creepy come on' like the docks. 

"I need better villain's" Tim sighed, but made his way towards the dock, the ninja following from the shadows. 

Little did he know, he wasn't the only one. 

Tim strolled up to the pier, where Ra's stood on a deck of a ostentatious yacht, his hands braced on the railing as he looked down at Tim. 

What a tool. 

Tim shot his grapple at the rim of the yacht, and flipped over the railing, coming up leaning against the bar, the photos held up between two fingers. 

"Who are they?" Tim asked, and Ra's smirked. 

"He is a politician" Ra's said, and Tim could fill in the rest. 

"What do you need from me?" Tim asked, and Ra's tsked. 

"Its always business with you," Ra's gestured for the candle lit table behind them, "join me" he said, and Tim barely refrained from stomping as he took a seat.

"You know my terms" Tim said, unmovable as Ra's tried to offer him wine. 

"A man can dream" Ra's purred, and the look he gave Tim made his skin crawl. 

"What do you want, Ra's, I don't have all night" Tim said shortly, and Ra's sighed dramatically. 

"How is your mandarin coming along?" Ra's asked, and Tim grit his teeth. 

"You tell me" Tim said drily in mandarin, and Ra's tilted his head. 

"Passable" Ra's said dismissively, and Tim rolled his eyes at the obvious manipulation tactic. 

"What is it this time? Poison? Bombs?" Tim snorted, and Ra's leant back in his chair. 

"Information" Ra's said, and Tim's interest was piqued. 

It was rare Ra's took a break of their little game, where Ra's tried to groom Tim to be his heir, and Tim pretended to pretend that he wasn't pretending to pretend it was working. 

"Well, don't keep me in suspense. What do you want to know?" Tim asked, picking up his wine glass, slipping a capsule into it, and observing Ra's over the rim. 

"During your little arrangement with Shiva, you took out Djinn, but failed to disclose who they were" Ra's said, and Tim hummed in acknowledgment as he took a sip of the wine, once the capsule didn't break, meaning it wasn't poisoned.

Damn, why did the evil bastards always have the best taste, Tim internally whined, allowing a flash of his enjoyment to peek through, much to Ra's enjoyment. 

"Yes" Tim said, smiling serenely as he took another sip of his wine. 

"Who was it?" Ra's asked, and Tim considered his options. 

"Who's the politician?" Tim asked, and Ra's didn't say anything as he stared Tim down. 

"He's a land developer whose gotten too close to my interests" Ra's said, and Tim hummed thoughtfully. 

"And the girl? She's not his daughter" Tim declared, and Ra's lips thinned. 

"She's no one" Ra's said, and Tim was silent as he studied him. 

Either she was important and Ra's didn't want him to know, so he was hiding her in plain sight, or she was just a random girl they connected to this politician to make him more attractive to Tim's morals. 

"She's branded" Tim smiled coldly, and Ra's eyes jumped to the picture instinctively, showing his hand, and he knew it from the way he clenched his jaw. 

"You vex me, Detective" Ra's glowered, and Tim gave him a coy smile over the rim of his glass. 

"I know" Tim nodded, and Ra's leant back in his chair. 

"She's a Trojan, she belongs to one of my associates" Ra's admitted, and Tim studied the picture. 

The girl looked to be about 6 or 7, middle eastern, with tanned skin, dark hair and pale eyes. 

"Give the politician a warning shot, then deal with him however you want. The girl, on the other hand, is mine" Tim said, and watched Ra's every move to see how he reacted. 

"She's worth a great deal more than him" Ra's glared at him, and Tim smirked. 

"So is the information your after" Tim said, and Ra's was silent for several minutes as Tim sipped on his wine. 

"I'll tell you where she is, getting to her is up to you, but that's all I'm willing to offer" Ra's said, and Tim studied him. 

"If I or one of my associates take her within 48 hours, neither you nor your associates will ever attempt to reclaim her" Tim said, and Ra's eyes turned cold. 

"Fine" Ra's said, and Tim pulled a USB from his gauntlet. 

"The Djinn was an actual djinn, I don't know how he came to be here, but he was controlled by Amanda Waller, until I liberated him. This is all the information I gathered about him" Tim said, and Ra's took the drive, his eyes eager. 

"An actual djinn" Ra's mused, and Tim drained the last of his wine.

"And the girl?" Tim asked, waiting as Ra's studied him. 

"She'll be in the Turkey base until the end of the week" Ra's said, smoothly getting to his feet, and Tim copied him. 

"Lets not do this for a while" Tim said blithely, then hopped up onto the rail, balancing as he pulled out his grapple.

"Goodbye, Detective" Ra's said, and Tim ignored him as he fired, and was pulled into the sky. 

He has some work to do for his casework, and in the morning he had some arrangements to set up for Kon's present before his party at the Tower this weekend. Something that somehow makes up for Tim forgetting his best friends birthday, despite numerous promises that this time, he would make time for him.

Little did he know, Damien was about to throw a wrench in those plans... And he would deeply regret this action. 

Tim had just returned from patrol and was entering his report, when Barbara crashes his systems.

He had barely a few seconds to react before Robin had burst through the room and thrown a knockout capsule into the room. 

Tim flipped his coffee table, where he kept an emergency kit, and pressed the rebreather on as he extended his bo staff, just in time to knock a knife out of the air. 

30 seconds after his systems crashed, all his screens, currently reduced to Oracle's signature green, flickered as everything in the building glitched for several seconds.

As fast as it had happened, the lights came back on, and Tim barely kept himself from smirking at the thought of Barbara's face that someone was able to force her out.

(That's not to say Oracle wasn't the gold standard for hacking, but she should really remember who learnt with her) 

"Code Orphan, Countermeasure: PYTHON commencing, Countermeasure: LAZARUS commencing, Countermeasure: TITANS commencing-" Tim's systems drone, and he cursed as he threw Robin to the ground.

"Terminate Titans, commence Red K" Tim called, blocking another strike from Robin and the little twerp barely avoided having his clavicle shattered by Tim's bo. 

"Access denied" the computer chimed, and Tim was so shocked that Robin nearing skewered Tim on his katana. 

"What?" Tim demanded, and, cursing himself, he didn't notice another figure enter the room until Batman had him in a chokehold. 

For a bare moment he considered if he was about to die by his adopted fathers hands, but then a figure was slamming through Tim's windows, and Batman had dropped him to face the kryptonian head on. 

"Superboy, he's compromised, stay out of this" Batman ordered, his hand reaching for his belt, and Tim could have slipped away. 

But there wasn't a chance in hell he was leaving Kon with them. 

Tim rolled to the side as Robin leapt for him, now unwilling to play nice, not with Kon's life possibly on the line.

"Stay away from him!" Tim growled, throwing Robin head over heels into Batman, as Kon began to writhe on the ground from the kryptonite in Batman's hand.

"Tim, go!" Kon grunted, as Batman and Robin stood between us, but Tim didn't budge.

"Red Robin, come quietly" Batman growled, and Tim leaped forwards, letting Batman get several painful hits in until he was able to flip them around, so Tim's back was to Kon. 

"Kon, go long" Tim said under his breath, and tossed Batman a Red Robin smirk, and held up a detonator, as sixteen concussive grenades blinked, and then all four of them were diving out the window. 

Two with grapples, one could fly, and Tim, the last, currently falling to his death.

The entire building shook, glass shattered, biting into Tim's skin, and his head swam with a fast approaching concussion, right as strong arms wrapped around Tim's waist, and they were lifted into the sky.

Not Kon, Tim's brain shouted, even before he felt cuffs wrap around his wrist, but then the arms holding him jerked in surprise as a ray of lasers nearly singled all the hair off Tim's arms, and then he was falling again.

New arms caught him, and this time his brain gave a groggy snuggle, and Tim's head fell back onto Kon's shoulder as they continued falling to the ground. 

"Nice catch" Tim gasped, his voice breathy, and Kon's arms tightened as they made a sharp turn. 

"Tim, please focus, how do I loose them" Kon shook him slightly, and Tim's eyebrows furrowed as made another dip as two more figures moved into view. 

"Lets play hot potato" Tim said, smirking slightly, and Kon shook his head in exasperation.

"Your plans suck when your concussed" Kon grumbled, but at their next sharp turn, he pretended to loose his grip, and Tim fell several feet before someone was catching him, while Kon focused on who Tim blurrily saw was Batman and Black Bat. 

"Sorry, Timmy" Nightwing muttered, landing on a roof with Red Hood, who was cursing up a storm.

"And we're trusting the demon brats word that Timmers is evil now? This is such bullshit" Red Hood grumbled, and Nightwing shrugged.

"Do you really wanna take the chance? Tim's scary enough when he doesn't want to kill us" Nightwing asked, and then he jerked in surprise, looking down at what he thought was an unconscious brother, and finds sharp blue eyes on him, and a tranq dart in his neck.

"Shit" Red Hood pulled out a gun, and Tim rolled to his feet, stumbling slightly as he faced the vigilante.

"Last time we did this, it wasn't on a roof" Tim smirked, and Red Hood hesitated slightly. 

"Look, Tim, the Demon Brat is convinced your working for Ra's, so just-" Jason started, and then Tim lunged forwards. 

He let Jason throw him to the ground, felt that oppressive strength press him into the asphalt, gravel digging into his already bleeding back, then he lifted his leg above his head and kicked his brother in the neck. 

Tim rolled them over, and nerve strikes him while he was dazed, then rolled off his chest and threw himself off the roof, his stumbling exaggerated. 

Batgirl slammed into him like a train, and Tim groaned as they grappled in the air.

Right as they were about to hit a skyscraper, Black Bat swooped in, ice encrusting her suit, and Tim slammed his fist into Batgirls head, let himself go limp. 

The two of them plummeted, Batgirl unconscious, and Tim without a grapple, and Black Bat barely hesitated as she dove for Batgirl. 

"Superboy!" Tim called, and a second later, Kon had caught him bridal style. 

"I took out Robin, but Batman is pissed" Kon said, his tone a tad higher than normal, and Tim bit back a smile.

"Nightwing. Red Hood. Batgirl. And I diverted Black Bat" Tim said, and Kon gave him an incredulous look. 

"Your concussed and don't have your suit" Kon said, and Tim gave a bleary smile. 

"The' und'es'mated me" Tim slurred, letting himself lean into Kon's arms.

And then Tim promptly passed the fuck out.

Chapter Text

When Tim woke up, he could feel the sun on his skin, followed by the sound of waves and the smell of salt water. 

Before he even opened his eyes, he knew that they were in Hawaii.

"Hey, take it easy" Kon was suddenly at his side, holding his hand as Tim tried to sit up, his head pounding like someone had used it for batting practice. 

(Unfortunately, Tim was intimately familiar with what a baseball bat to the head felt like, and this wasn't far off)

"I don't have time for this" Tim groaned, and Kon huffed as he gently helped Tim sit up. 

"Somewhere you need to be?" Kon asked, and Tim touched his head gingerly, feeling a bandage on his temple.

"I have to save that little girl that Ra's traded me" Tim said, his tongue a little looser due to the pain and Kon's Kon-ness. 

"So the Demon Brat did see you with Ra's, but why didn't you just tell them about the girl?" Kon asked, and Tim winced as the memories came back to him with increasing clarity. 

"At first I thought they were being mind controlled, then I was concussed and running on instinct. I'll worry about my family later, I've only got until midnight on Friday to find the girl" Tim said, and Kon looked surprised. 

"Well, that's in 12 hours" Kon said, and Tim cursed as he stumbled to his feet. 

"On the bright side, if Bruce thinks I've joined Ra's, he'll head to Nanda Parbat next. They'll provide a good distraction, and I can find the girl" Tim said, thinking out loud as he checked his meager supplies. 

(Which were worryingly sparse)

"I think you mean we" Kon gave him a sunny smile, and Tim scowled.

For all that the Bats were known for being exceptionally stubborn, the Super's were not exactly known for standing on the sidelines. Tim wouldn't be able to keep Kon out of this, not on a time limit, and not without hurting him, and Tim didn't want to do that. 

"Alright, fine. We'll need to stop in one of my safehouses for supplies" Tim said, and Kon held his arms open. 

"All aboard Air Kon" Kon winked, and Tim rolled his eyes, grudgingly affectionate as he stepped into Kon's arms, their bodies lining up perfectly. Tim did a small hop, shimmy, and swing, and found himself with his legs locked around Kon's waist, having climbed Kon like a tree. 

In this position, Tim was looking down at Kon, elbows propped on his shoulders, hands behind Kon's neck, as Kon starred at him in shocked awe. 

"I only fly First Class" Tim gave Kon a devilish smile, and Kon's face went red. 

Yeah, that's right, Tim thought amusedly, I can play this game, too. 

Tim wasn't an idiot, he knew Kon had feelings for him, Kon knew Tim returned those feelings. The big brute was just waiting for a signal from Tim saying he was ready for their relationship to go beyond flirting and the occasional I-Can't-Believe-We-Lived make out sessions. 

But Tim had lost his fucking mind when Kon had died, and that was when they were best friends. What if Tim lost him again? Tim wasn't afraid of much, but he didn't want to see what he became without Kon.

There was a reason his family had panicked at the possibility that Tim had been turned evil. Bats do not panic, but the thought of fighting one of their own, who knows all their protocols, their fighting styles, secrets and weak spots? Yeah, Tim understood, and he wasn't holding a grudge.

Much. 

(Okay, maybe a little-They could have at least talked to him first) 

"Tim, unless you want me to fly into a mountain, you'll need to tone it back" Kon said, a flush crawling up his neck, and Tim rolled his eyes, but tucked his head against Kon's shoulder. 

"Business first, Clone Boy" Tim chastised, and Kon's flight was a tad jerkier than usual as he took to the air, his TK forming a shield around Tim to protect him from the chill and pressure as they took off. 

"Does that mean we have non-business things to discuss later?" Kon finally burst, close to 20 minutes later, unable to keep the thoughts to himself. 

Tim bit back a smile and thought of the plans he'd had for Kon's birthday, once again ruined, but maybe... 

"Well, I am now short a birthday present. I'm sure I can think of something... sufficient... by then" Tim said coyly, and Kon's neck turned red again, his hands on Tim's back jerking in surprise. 

"I'll keep that in mind" Kon cleared his throat and fell silent. 

Tim bit back a smirk, knowing if he shifted down a few more inches, he would feel the sudden hardening in Kon's impractically tight jeans. 

They made a quick stop in one of his old stashes near Nanda Parbat, where Tim had unashamedly stripped down, pulling on his new armor. He had a spare Red Robin suit, but he passed it aside, choosing instead to don a spare League uniform, which Tim had been 'gifted' by Ra's back when he'd been searching for Bruce. 

The layers of the robes hid his utility belt and assorted weapons well, disguised his face, and would allow him to move unnoticed through the League.

(Though, this would be particularly difficult to explain to his family if they should run into him like this)

"I don't like it" Kon wrinkled his nose cutely (though Tim knew the Kryptonian would protest the usage of the term cute in association of his anything), and Tim pushed the hood back. 

"Please don't fight me on this, Kon" Tim sighed, and Kon scowled at him, the sulkiness exuding from his pores. 

"I said that we would save this girl, Tim, not that I would be your taxi" Kon grumbled, and Tim cupped his cheeks, guiding Kon to look at him. 

"I love you, Clone Boy, but you're not exactly covert. Please just wait for my call, the less time they know your here, the less time they have to retrieve Kryptonite. Plus, you're my only ride home" Tim coaxed, and Kon glared at him, knowing him too well not to see what Tim was doing. 

"Fine" Kon sighed, and Tim smiled, leaning up to press a chaste kiss to Kon's lips, feeling as the clone's body turned ramrod straight. 

"Trust me?" Tim asked, and Kon nodded woodenly. 

"Call for me when you need me. Don't die" Kon said, giving him a shaky smile, and Tim gave him one last kiss. 

"I'll do my best" Tim promised, then he slipped away, disappearing into the labyrinth of caves, which crept below the compound. 

Tim had spent months in this compound, he'd infiltrated Ra's servers so completely, the immortal would be a fool to think Tim didn't remember, or hadn't taken note of several security flaws.

As if Tim would waste all his tricks on blowing up Ra's bases, as if he hadn't expected Ra's to survive to become a thorn in Tim's side, and hadn't had back up plan on top of back up plan.

Ra's would regret underestimating him. 

And he would especially regret sic'ing Damien on him right as Ra's had summoned him for a meeting, causing this misunderstanding with his family. Coincidentally, if his family had successfully detained him, there was no way Tim would have been able to keep his deadline, and the girl Ra's had dangled in front of him would have slipped away)

(Yeah, he wasn't stupid. As soon as Tim had all the pieces, he knew what Ra's had done. Bastard)

The Turkey base was a small underground base, mainly used as a training base and weapons depot, it usually operated with anywhere between 30 and 40 ninjas on any given day. Its security was good, but there was no Lazarus pit here, so it wasn't on the same level as some of the others. 

Today, there was close to 80 ninjas rushing around, as close to a headless chicken impression as they got, which Tim felt vaguely flattered about. 

"This should be interesting" Tim mused as he looked at the entrance to one of the tunnels.

The base had nine entrances, the others had at least 4 ninja guards, but this one only had 1, and it was someone Ra's knew Tim wouldn't mind taking a chunk out of. 

David Cain, we meet again. 

"Isn't that-" Kon breathed, and made a choked sound, but didn't follow as Tim darted from the corner and rushed the assassin. 

Cain looked bored as he stepped forwards, not pulling out his sword, and not bothering to alert the command hub that there was an intruder. 

Tim let Cain grab a hold of him, and expelled the air from his lungs before Cain body slammed him against the rock.

Tim reached his legs up to lock them around his neck, keeping him from getting close, the armored platting of his leggings protecting him from the nerve strike. Cain lifted him bodily, trying to body slam him again, but as soon as Tim was upright, he broke Cain's collarbone with the palm of his hand. 

The two of them tussled, rolling across the ground, as Tim methodically broke every bone in his arms, and then beat his skull into the ground. 

"Red, are you done yet?" Kon asked, and Tim blew out a sigh as he gave Cain's head one last bounce against the rock. 

"One second" Tim said, pulling a syringe from his vest, and stabbing Cain in the base of his skull, then recapped the syringe, and slid it back into his vest. 

The nanites in the serum would ensure that if Cain ever got within a 100 miles of Gotham, he would deeply regret it. 

Tim might be lightly disappointed in Cass right now, but she was still one of his favorite people, so her dirtbag father wasn't ever going to get his hands on her again.

(But really? Oh all people, Cass should have been able to read him to know he wasn't turning to the dark side; she should have at least expected that he was undercover)

"Every time I think you cant scare me anymore, you prove me wrong" Kon said as he extended a hand to help Tim off the incapacitated master assassin.

Tim shot him a toothy grin as he accepted the hand, running his blood soaked hand up the center of Kon's chest to cup the back of his neck. 

"Big strong guy like you afraid of little old me?" Tim smiled, and Kon gave a shiver that was decidedly not caused by fear. 

The action caused warmth to pool in Tim's chest; as much as he liked to tease Kon, he never wanted the Kryptonian to be scared of him. Tim would never hurt Kon, just like he would never seriously hurt any of the people closest to him. 

Oh, Tim would get his revenge on the Demon Brat when he was finished, but nothing permanent. His baby brother was a consistent pain in his ass, but he was still family, so Tim preferred to methods that were more inconvenient than painful. 

"Never" Kon murmured, his face moving in slowly, and Tim was so tempted to close his eyes and let it happen. 

With a deep sigh, Tim tightened his grip on Kon's neck, and Kon stopped, his eyes closing as his hands falling from where they had migrated to Tim's hips. 

"Not like this" Tim said, pulling his hand back and wiggling blood soaked gloves, and Kon's lips twitched. 

"Later, then" Kon promised, then swooped under Tim's defenses and pressed a light kiss to his cheek, then vanished with a small gust of wind. 

"Later" Tim promised, then he turned to the entrance, shifting his hood to shadow his face more, Tim shed personas like skin, and the Detective entered the base on silent feet. 

The Detective had only spent a few days in the Turkey base before this, but his memory of the layout hadn't changed much. 

The base had five levels, each of which could only be accessed by certain staircases on certain floors; most of them were trapped, some lead to no where, or were regularly patrolled by hidden ninjas. 

The second floor could only be accessed on the fourth floor, and had the highest security in the entire base, despite the second floor only being the training floor. The al Ghul quarters were actually on the fourth floor, which could be accessed only by the main staircase on the fifth floor, and the corridor itself was hidden. 

Navigating the base was neigh impossible without in-depth knowledge of the layout, and, even then, often it took years of experience before you could manage it with any skill. 

That is, if you don't know about the servants passageways, which aren't on the layout, and don't have an eidetic memory. 

There was a spot where the second and fourth floor staircases intersected, right above an antechamber leading to the servants quarter which lead to the kitchens, which another servants quarter lead to the al Ghul quarters. 

The Detective had figured out who the girl was on the flight over, and he knew that if he head for the dungeons or the barracks, he would be spotted immediately, and the girl would slip away. 

32 minutes after entering the base, The Detective knocked on a door, and came face to face with a young girl with dark hair and clear blue eyes. 

"Hello, Athanasia" Tim smiled, pushing his hood back, and the girl eyed him shrewdly. 

"Grandfather told me you would be coming" Athanasia al Ghul-Wayne said, and opened the door to allow him in.

Chapter Text

Convincing Athanasia to come with him was probably the hardest part of this whole shitshow.

And that was saying something considering the 6 year old girl had already packed her bags. 

“Grandfather told me you were exceptional” Athanasia said primly, a simple black backpack sitting at her feet, and dressed in floral leggings and an oversized Wonder Woman hoodie. She wouldn't look out of place walking beside someone who looked enough like her to be an older brother or cousin. 

"Did you alert the guards?" Tim asked, and she raised a single eyebrow in a dry look that had all sorts of implications about his intelligence. 

It's funny, Tim mused, how Alfred's mannerisms had bred true even without a drop of shared blood or having ever even met his most recent grandchild.

"Why would I do that?" Athanasia asked mildly, and Tim sighed. 

That wasn't a no. 

Unsurprising, considering this was the flesh and blood of both Bruce and Damian, that she would be determined to take his measure herself, rather than relying on biased accounts of Ra's, even if it put her in danger. 

"Well, lets go before they break down the door" Tim sighed, and lead the child assassin through the hallways, many of which she'd probably never seen despite likely growing up in this base. 

Tim hadn't been able to figure it out before, why would Ra's risk revealing Athanasia to Tim the way he had? It was stupid, and Ra's was many things but he wasn't stupid. 

But it made more sense now that he thought about it. 

Ra's was immortal, he had no use for heirs, he'd only been interested in Damian as a body double for when his body finally kicked it, but he was too prideful and misogynistic to use a female body as a host.

He had no use for her as a heir, or a body, and at 6 years old she should have been conditioned to attempt to slit his throat, no matter how many stories Ra's told her about him, but she hadn't. Tim was a pretty good judge of character, and he knew Athanasia would kill him if he attacked her, but she didn't have the feral edge that Talia or Damian had. 

She wasn't a killer, she was a survivor, and so she had little use for Ra's as a weapon. 

But she made a very good test for Tim. 

Ra's knew that Tim was still in his systems, but he wanted to know if Tim could still get in and out, with an extra body no less, if he threw everything he had at Tim. 

He was about to be disappointed. 

They encountered 3 ambushes, 7 traps, and, in one case, they'd collapsed one of the escape tunnels while they'd still been inside, which had taken some careful application of his smallest explosives. 

By the time they existed the base, Athanasia was reluctantly impressed, and willingly gotten into the RV that he'd hotwired.

"Do you understand why Ra's let me take you?" Tim asked her, and her face tightened, and she looked out the window as they passed the remnants of one of the waiting ambushes, now all unconscious, their ears bloody after their coms had emitted an ear piercing sound, and all 6 of them slumped unconscious.  

"He doesn't care if he loses me" Athanasia shrugged, her face carefully blank, but Tim could read the hurt in the way she held herself. 

"Not bad, but your body gives you away. If your going to lie, you have to do it with your full body, not just your face" Tim said, and she shot him a mulish glare that wouldn't be out of place on Damian's face. 

"Grandfather doesn't like that I have a brain, he prefers him minions to obey blindly, which is why it makes no sense that he likes you" she said poisonously, and Tim's lips curled into a ruthless smile. 

"He doesn't like me, Petal, he wants to own me because I disobey him. I represent what he can't have, so he wishes to take it for himself and destroy it. If he ever did gain my obedience, he would be bored and dissatisfied, and toss me aside in a second" Tim explained patiently, and she stared at him quietly so a few seconds. 

"Why? Why throw you away?" why throw me away, her eyes said, and Tim gave her a grim look.

"Because he's a man drunk on his own power, he's never been challenged by someone the way I challenge him. He can only see the big picture, and he'd forgotten that all masterpieces started a few tiny brushstrokes on a canvas. He doesn't have the patience for cultivating brilliance, he wants it served to him on a silver platter, but he'll learn" Tim shrugged, taking a sharp right at the sand dunes. 

"And you?" Athanasia asked quietly, and Tim shrugged. 

"I live for the little details, its the Detective in me" Tim said, and Athanasia was silent for the rest of the drive. 

"Will you help me show him? That he was a fool to reject me? That I could have been his masterpiece" Athanasia asked him as they pulled to a stop a few feet away from a pacing Kon. 

"With pleasure" Tim smirked at her, and looked up innocently as Kon nearly yanked his door off the RV. 

"Its been 6 hours!" Kon sulked, and Tim smiled up at him, affection and love swirling in his chest like a kaleidoscope. 

"Sorry, love, they didn't have the soap I like at the store-I had to make a detour" Tim grinned, and Kon sighed loudly, his gestures wide and dramatic as he peered past Tim to Athanasia. 

"She doesn't look like soap" Kon said suspiciously, and Athanasia rolled her eyes, and got out of the RV. 

"I need you to take her to Titan Tower and bring me something" Tim grinned, and Kon eyed him suspiciously. 

"Oh?" Kon asked, and Tim gave him a mischievous little smile, and Kon's eyes lit up with mirth. 

"We teaching your family a lesson?" Kon asked, and Tim's smile was more a bearing of teeth than anything resembling jolly. 

"Without a doubt. Bring me the duffle bag under the third stair on the Oceanview" Tim said, and Kon turned his attention to an impatiently waiting Athanasia. 

"Well, all aboard Air Superboy" Kon held out his hands, and the suspicious little girl glared at him darkly for several seconds. 

"I guess you'll do," she grumbled, and let Kon pick her up, "though if I find out you've mistreated by brother, I still have my grandfathers krypronite source" Athanasia said before they drifted too far away from his hearing. 

As soon as they were gone, Tim leaned forewords, pressed his forehead against the steering wheel, and laughed until he was wheezing. 

Tim had a feeling that Kon was getting the shovel talk of his life. Tim didn't envy him, and he had an appointment with a squadron of assassins and one cranky immortal that was annoyed none of his traps had sprung closed on him.

Tim definitely had the better end of the deal. 

Tim didn't fight when his escort showed up, and followed the assassins onto the waiting private jet. It was only a 3 hour flight to Nanda Parbat, Kon would have already been to the Tower and back, but Tim knew he would find him. 

Tim stepped off the tarmac to discover Ra's and Bruce in a stalemate, and the rest of his siblings currently beating the snot out of the best the League of Assassins had to offer. 

Pitiful.

"Red Robin!" Batman called, his voice like steel, and Tim didn't spare him a glance as he waltzed out of his circle of assassins and made his way towards Ra's. 

"Did you do it?" Ra's asked, his eyes practically caressing Tim in his pilfered League garb, much to the dramatic retching of his siblings-

and possibly the genuine retching of Damian, Tim realized, but for once didn't rebuff the immortal, and instead stepped closer, only a few feet away as the immortal continued to tangle with Bruce, whose actions had gained an edge of parental fury. 

"Would I be here if I hadn't?" Tim purred, and there was a couple more genuine retching, and Tim felt a soft pulsing against his finger as Kon signaled his arrival. 

"You do live to torment me" Ra's smirked at him over his shoulder, and Tim gave an airy sigh, lifting a hand to plaster it against his chest on a overdramatic portrayal of innocence. 

"Only if you ask nicely" Tim said, the words like ash in his mouth, and Bruce made a choked sound as one of Ra's sword thrusts penetrated his defense and nearly took off his hand. 

"Please be mind control. Please be mind control. Please be mind control" Dick was muttering to himself like a prayer as he plowed through assassins. 

"Well then, by all means, I'm asking" Ra's purred back, and Tim gave a devious smile. 

"With pleasure" Tim raised his hand, Kon upended the duffle bag over the area, his TTK throwing them like artillery fire, and not a drop of the contents touched Tim as Ra's, Bruce, the ninjas, and his siblings were all drenched in psychedelic purple glitter paint. 

"Holy shit" Kon was wheezing as he swooped down to the carnage and scooped Tim up bridal style. 

"Come, minion, I have world domination to plan" Tim gave an over the top villain cackle, and Cassandra gave a quiet aggrieved sigh as she picked as a strand of the gooey glitter paint that was hardening like cement against her suit. 

"Little brothers" she grumbled, and turned on her heel, stomping back towards the Batplane.  

"Serves them right for thinking I'd go evil for that turd" Tim huffed, and Kon just continued to laugh.

"God, I love you" Kon wheezed, and the half kryptonian nearly dropped them out of the sky when Tim twisted his body, wrapping his legs around his hips, and sliding his degloved hands into thick dark hair. 

"I love you too" Tim murmured, and sealed his mouth over his. 

Chapter Text

Before Shiva, King Snake, Rahul Lama, Batman, Nightwing, Oracle, and Ra's, Tim's first teacher had been Janet.

The lessons she taught him weren't about how best to dislocate a persons kneecaps, hack the pentagon, backflip off a moving vehicle, or survive for days in the desert, but they were lessons that would follow him for the rest of his life. 

The first lesson Tim remembers her giving him had been when he was only 2 years old. 

Too young for most people to remember more than vague flashes, but by then Tim had already proven himself to be exceptionally clever. While Jack had been wholly disinterested in a son that he couldn't share 'manly' interests with, or brag about to his 'friends', Janet had been Tim's entire world for the first 4 years of his life. 

Janet Drake nee was Korean-American, her family had been middle class, and she had came to America for university through a hefty scholarship. 

She’d met Jack during her second year of school, and then were married before she graduated. Despite many a enterprising journalist trying to dig up a scandal on Janet’s past, nothing ever surfaced, but the whispers that Janet had used Jack for a green card and American citizenship would follow her for years.

Truthfully, Tim didn’t disagree with them, but if they thought Janet would have settled for just a my American, they had severely underestimated her cunning. 

Janet was beautiful, smart, ruthless and ambitious. 

When they met, Drake Industries was on the verge of bankruptcy. Janet dragged the company out of the sewer, was the iron fist behind her husband, hiding behind pretty smiles and extravagant dresses.

But she was a shark. 

Ironically, the only person she’s never hid from was Tim. 

And it started in this moment. 

"Why did you fire Marie?" Timmy had looked up at his mom, dressed immaculately in a flowing red dress, her dark hair pulled up in an elaborate updo, pinned with a pair of chopsticks. 

"She tried to take something from me, Darling" Janet's voice had held an undercurrent of satisfaction that Timmy found fascinating, his little prodigy brain turning over her words. 

"Was it daddy? I saw them kissing when Marie thought I had gone to bed" Tim disclosed, and Janet's eyes snapped to him, her gaze calculating. 

"Oh? Did they catch you?" Janet asked, and Tim gave a small giggle and shook his head. 

"No, they didn't notice me because I'm small" Tim said proudly, and Janet's eyes were calculating as she looked at him. 

"Do you know why that is?" Janet asked, and Timmy pursed his lips as he turned the question over in his head. 

"I'm young, so they think I'll forget" Tim decided, and Janet smiled, her eyes dark as she looked at Tim like she'd never seen him before. 

"That's part of it, yes," her eyes darted to the doorway, "but yes, I fired Marie because she was sleeping with your father" Janet shrugged, and Tim's eyebrows crinkled as he thought about that. 

"But you don't even like daddy, so why?" Tim asked, and Janet's smile widened. 

"Its not about if I wanted him, or even if your father is stupid enough to try and leave me, its the fact that she tried to take him. If people think they can take things from you, they will. The key is to convince them that either they don't want what you have, or the price of taking it is too expensive" Janet cooed, pressing a red kiss against Timmy's cheek, making him squirm. 

"... I think I get it," Timmy told his mom as she leaned over to tuck him in, "if Marie knew you would fire her, I don't think she could have kissed daddy. And now none of the maids will try it either" Timmy explained, and Janet looked at him quietly for a moment. 

"That's my smart boy," Janet pressed a softer kiss to his forehead, quickly wiping the smudge of lipstick off with her thumb. 

"What about daddy? He kissed Marie" Tim murmured, his young body on the edge of sleep. 

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Janet gave a small laugh, her voice low and husky, "he'll get what's coming to him in time. Betrayal must always be answered, Darling, but only a fool reaches for immediate satisfaction when everyone knows that wine tastes better once its been aged" Janet winked at him, then stood and closed the door behind her as she left Tim to sleep.

But he never forgot. 

"Your beautiful, Darling, its up to you if you use it or let it languish" Janet had chided him once, while she had been freshing up her makeup before the small family of 3 went out for dinner, when Tim had barged in, full of childish indignation, at five years old, that the boys in his class had made fun of him for 'looking like a girl'.

"How do you know I'll like boys?" Tim, who had always been very smart, had asked, and she'd just smiled like the question was cute. 

"Who said anything about like? Men have power, you want power, and men notoriously are loose lipped about a pretty face. What does your own preferences have to do with it, if it means you get what you want? If you do get some enjoyment from the act, all the better, but its really rather irrelevant" Janet had explained, and Tim had beamed up at her. 

"Is that why you married dad? Power?" Tim had asked, and his mother had caught his chin in her hand, pulling his eyes to face her, and studied him carefully for a moment before giving him a small proud smile. 

"Very good, Timothy," Janet leaned back, patting her lap gently for Timmy to climb up, which he did eagerly, "I certainly didn't marry your father for his intellect or his ability to please me in bed, but he has his uses" Janet mused, running a single red painted nail down his cheek, "he gave me you after all" Timmy grinned at her reflection in the mirror, her makeup spread out in front of them. 

Even at 5 years old, Tim knew she wasn't saying this out of the goodness of her heart. Oh, Tim was certain his mother loved him in her own way, but her affection was quiet, a proud look, a small smile, a hand on his shoulder or cheek. Very rarely she would pull him onto her lap like this, but it was getting rarer the older he got.

She was playing on his age and inexperience to create a sense of loyalty in him, so that Tim would be disinclined to betray her and easier to control, but also she was glad to have him. She was glad he was like her, that he was smarter than the other boys in his classes, that he picked up little secrets and brought them back to her, and that he picked up her lessons so quickly. 

"I love you, too, mommy" Tim grinned, and Janet's eyes shone as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

"You look beautiful, mother" Tim complimented at 6 years old, standing in the doorway of her beauty parlor while she got finished getting ready for tonight's gala.

“Thank you, Darling,” Janet smiled at him in the mirror, then began to apply her lipstick. 

“Why do you wear all this? You’re already beautiful” Time had asked, tilting his head as he looked at the assortment of products on the table. 

Janet only smiled devilishly at him.

"Because to eschew societal norms would mean to make a spectacle of myself. Now, this can be a good thing if done correctly, but never underestimate the value of tradition. High society has been run by men for centuries. They like to think they hold all the cards, that the world will conform to the their expectations of what a woman ‘ought to be’, and so they see a pretty face and they forget that even the prettiest smile can hide fangs. Sometimes better to be underestimated, Timothy, to work from the shadows mean that those who prefer the light won't see you move" Janet tapped powder onto his nose gently, and added a touch of lip gloss to his lips, just enough to tint his lips a few shades darker. 

"I thought you said that power is useless if no one knows you have it?” Tim stated, and Janet gave him another proud look. 

“Correct. It’s a balancing act, making sure enough people know you have power, but not enough to invite opposition. Some healthy competition is good, it keeps you sharp, but constant attacks grow tiresome” Janet explained, and Tim nodded slowly.

“Like the Johnsons” Tim realized, remembering the sharp barbs his mothers and Mrs Johnson had shared during the last gala. 

“Oh, no, not at all. Leila Johnson is harmless, I could destroy her with a few phone calls before breakfast. If you want to challenge yourself, you find someone your size or bigger, not someone smaller than you” Janet explained, and Tim frowned.

”Then why… Mrs. John’s on doesn’t realize you’re bigger than her” Tim realize, and his mother nodded. 

“She thinks she’s clever, but I could talk circles around her for days. She’s amusing, in a way, that she thinks so highly of herself, and yet true power will forever be out of reach” Janet laughed, and Tim was silent as he considered that. 

Years later, Tim would hold a similar view of many of Gotham’s ‘intellectual’ Rouges, who were thrilled to find an ‘intellectual equal’ in Red Robin, and yet continue to be perplexed how he manages to outsmart them every single time without fail… Never realizing that then were never truly his equal. 

In that moment, Tim would remember his moment, and realize how alike Tim was to his mother.

Because she was right: it was pretty funny.

Tim was 7 the first time he realized his mother was a con artist and a thief, and he remembers being disappointed with her for the first time in his life - not because she was a con artist and a thief, but rather that she was so bad at it that she was caught by her 7 year old son, who hadn't seen her in person in 6 months. 

(Years later, he'd share this with Kon, who would roll his eyes fondly and tell him that he hadn't been just any 7 year old, he'd discovered Batman's identity at 9 after all) 

"Really?" Tim had asked dryly, and Janet's lip had curled in condensation as she looked at him, the first time she'd directed such a look at him. 

"Don't tell me you have some moral dilemma over some long forgotten artefact" Janet sneered, and Tim rolled his eyes with all the attitude of a genius 7 year old learning politics at the knee of Janet Drake. 

"Don't be ridiculous-I'm not disappointed in your little hobbies, I'm disappointed that your 7 year old son has to tell you that a drop of discretion is worth a pound of gold" Tim crossed his arms across his chest, and Janet laughed, the sound sharp and half feral. 

"That, my Dear, is because I'm not hiding from you," she snorted, "I'm not worried about you betraying me, not now, not ever" Janet's eyes were dark as she looked at him, and Tim considered her.

"What makes you so certain?" Tim asked, and Janet smiled. 

"The only good liability is one you've crippled, Darling. If you turned on me now, you'd be in a group home before the night was through, and Gotham's foster system is so... notorious, isn't it? it would be a shame if something untoward happened... And later? Well, I've taught you all you know, but that doesn't mean you know all my tricks" Janet laughed, and Tim studied his mother, evaluating how he felt about her threat to... kill him? Was that what was happening? Tim didn't think so, his mother wasn't exactly the type to give threats, she merely delivered punishments as she saw fit. 

"I think I understand: I'm yours, so you don't need to hide" Tim mused, and Janet's lips twitched. 

"Yes. Love doesn't excuse treachery, so its important the people closest to you know they wont be spared" Janet said, and Tim absorbed that. 

Ironically, this was the lesson Tim had always struggled most with... Tim loved deeply and wholly, so when someone betrayed him, it blindsided him. As much as he tried, he'd never been able to severe those bonds as thoroughly as Janet would have liked: he was too forgiving.

He struggled with hurting the people he loved, though that wasn't to say he didn't partake in a little harmless revenge and phycological warfare... But he would never be as ruthless as his mother would have liked. 

("That's a good thing, Rob, as sexy as your dark side is, its not why I fell in love with you" Kon would whisper in his ear when Tim confided this weakness to him) 

 When Tim was 9 years old, his father hit him for the first and only time, and it was the memory of the icy rage and promise of vengeance on Janet’s face that Tim channeled when Red Robin’s legendary even temper snapped, and the normally quiet Robin turned terrifying. It was a look that his friends and family had come to fear as much as the criminals and various other rouge's.

"You will never do that again" Janet's face was terrible as she looked at Jack. 

Jack, who had never claimed to be a great intellect, blustered, raising his hand threateningly to Janet, "Don't you fucking talk to me like that, you bitch! I'm the man of this house!" Jack yelled, and Janet simply raised a thin eyebrow at him. 

"You'll be a dead man in this house if you ever put your hands on me or my son" Janet said it casually, with zero regret, and while Jack rolled his eyes at her 'dramatics' and continued to make an ass of himself, Tim met his mothers eyes and he knew. 

She wasn't joking. 

"Timothy, go to your room. Your father and I need to have a talk" Janet gracefully took a seat in one of the armchairs, and Tim stood and started to leave the room. 

"I didn't dismiss you, you little shit! Get back here!" Jack yelled, reaching for Tim's arm, but Tim was faster and ducked out of the room as Janet drew Jack's ire. 

Jack's yelling echoed into the hallway, before suddenly cutting out, Tim managed to catch a quite mumble of Janet's voice, then there wasn't another sound as Tim ascended the stairs to his bedroom. 

Later, when Janet visited his room to check on him, Tim was sitting up in his bed. 

"Why did you help me?" Tim tilted his head in confusion, and Janet's face was perfectly neutral as she looked at him, Tim saw her considering to use some emotional 'because your my son' excuse, but she must have recognized the futility in it. 

"Because you're like me," Janet smiled coldly, "it never stops with a slap, Darling, and I have no desire to be caught in the crossfire of whatever punishment you would dish out" Janet's eyes shone, and Tim's lips twitched as he looked at his mom.

For all her faults, Tim knew that his mom cared about him in her own way.

"When training a man out of bad behavior, its important to hit hard and fast, before any nasty little habits begin to form. Your father doesn't think I'm serious, but he will" Janet promised, and Tim considered her options. 

"What if he retaliates?" Tim asked, and Janet grinned, an expression of mirth and devilish enjoyment light up her hazel eyes. 

"I hope he does, Darling. After all, half the fun of gaining power is getting to use it," Janet let out a breathy laugh, her hands reaching up to cup his cheeks, "its important to remember that no matter how much you love someone, no matter how much you pay them, what favors you give them, they will all turn on you. Never let yourself be blinded by love, Darling, and never walk into a relationship without enough dirt to bury someone should they be foolish enough to try" Janet patted him gently on the cheek, and having imparted her piece of wisdom, she left the room without another word, her hips swaying and skirts swishing as she moved. 

Awesome. 

At 12 years old, Tim wondered for the first time if there was something wrong with him. 

He knew he wasn't like other kids, but he was sure he was supposed to be feeling something... else. 

His mother was dead. 

True, she wasn't a particularly good mother, but she was the only one he'd had. 

Tim was certain he was doing this wrong. 

At 22 years old, Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne stepped off a plane in Venezuela, and vanished among the crowd. 

Sometime later, a beautiful blonde woman in a sharp business suit, understated gold jewelry, and old money elegance took a seat in a cafe. Across from her sat a preppy red haired girl in a bright yellow sundress, long legs and mile high heels. To outside observers, they looked vaguely similar, enough to perhaps be aunt and niece or even cousins. 

“Hello, mother” Tim greeted, picking up his coffee, and looking at her through heavy lidded eyes. 

“How did you find me?” Janet sighed, looking annoyed and bothered, and Tim gave her a small secretive smile over the rim of his cup.

He had learnt so much from Janet Drake, but at the end of the day, even she had underestimated him. Honestly, thinking she could fake her death and Tim would never figure it out...

”Oh, Ra’s dropped enough hints to sink the titanic, I think he was hoping to unsettle me with the news you faked your death. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings by telling him I already knew” Tim shrugged, and Janet observed him, currently her, over her own cup of coffee. 

“And why seek me out now? Don’t tell me you came all this way looking for some motherly advice” Janet smiled sharply, and Tim laughed, the sound crisp and clear as bells, the sound not unexpected form a teenage girl. 

“No, no, nothing so ridiculous,” the two of then shared a commiserating look, both knowing neither of them was the touchy-feely type, “I came for business” Tim grinned, and Janet leaned back, raising an eyebrow at him.

”Don’t tell me Bruce has finally figured out who switched out his mothers pearls during the Winter Wayne Gala of 2007” Janet teased, and Tim rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, I led that man on a very long chase to reclaim said pearls before I’d even started wearing tights. The fact that while he was sniffing around the ports, a sizeable transport of the Drake estate flew out of the country is just… a coincidence” Tim teased back, and the skin around Janet’s eyes tightened. 

“You moved the shipment” Janet realized, and Tim gave a drawn out sigh. They were speaking about all the artefacts and money that she had ‘requisitioned’ during her 20 odd years as Janet Drake, birth from the upper echelons of Gotham, or during her and Jack’s archeological digs. The very shipment that had nearly been busted by Batman, sparking a hastily made bargain with Ra’s, a fake kidnapping (at least on her part, Jack had definitely been kidnapped) and her ‘death’… Only for Tim to reveal that he’d moved the stash out of the city under the Big Bats nose. 

“You always were so clever” Janet remarked, and Tim hummed thoughtfully. 

“And I didn’t even have to kill myself to do it” Tim mused.

”Is that what this is? You want revenge for my abandonment?” Janet’s laugh was cold and mocking, her expression curdled in disappointment, dismay dripping from her lips like poison, and Tim couldn’t help laughing. 

“Gods no,” Tim laughed, the sounds a tad too deep for his current guise, “no, your death was the best thing that could have happened to me. Bruce took me in, as you expected. I’ve taken over Wayne Enterprises with very few road blocks. Drake Industries is gone, sadly I wasn’t able to curtail Jack’s incompetence as much as I would have liked, but I still squeezed them for everything I was owed,” Tim’s eyes flashed, and Janet disguised a small smile by taking a sip of coffee, “and I’ve found… new people. Some of them will take some work to cultivate, but the bones are there” Tim shrugged, and Janet made a small pleased sound. 

“So, what do you need with me?” She asked, her eyes sharp, and Tim studied her.

"Tell me about Antonia Sharpe" Tim demanded, referring to the woman who had helped 'arrange' Janet Drake's life, including her scholarship, putting Jack Drake on her path, the many political and corporate enemies she'd made disappear, and the fencing of many of the artefacts she’d sold. 

Janet's eyes shone in malice and remembered satisfaction, "you won't like it" Janet warned him, and Tim shrugged. 

"Irrelevant" Tim dismissed, and her lips twitched, before she started her tale. 

Tim waited several minutes after Janet had left before he pressed the button on the side of his watch.

Kon eased out of the crowd and took the seat Janet had just vacated, his eyes wide and face pale from the conversation he’d just heard. 

“Your mom is an actual dragon” Kon told him, and Tim smiled fondly. 

“Yeah” Tim agreed, and Kon shook his head in amusement. 

“How are you feeling about what you learnt?” Kon asked warily, and Tim let out a tired sigh.

”This was never going to be a warm-hugs-and-kisses reunion, that’s just not who we are… It was nice to see her, though” Tim admitted, and Kon studied him. 

"Did you get everything you needed?" Kon asked, and Tim drained his coffee mug. 

"Yeah, I'm done" Tim decided, pinning a couple twenties beneath the mug, and accepted Kon's arm wrapped around his waist as they left the cafe, looking like any other lovesick wealthy tourists.