Chapter Text
Dr. Leland had mentioned that Tim and JJ might not be the only two people in Tim’s system, but Bruce hadn’t expected to discover his son’s third alter like… like this.
Bruce was tied up, some new villain in town was spouting some nonsense he didn’t care to pay attention to—he was more worried about Dick and Steph, who the villain had tied up next to him, and Tim, who the villain hadn’t realized was behind him.
Knowing Tim, knowing how his mind worked, Bruce had expected him to take a defensive position—to work on freeing him, Dick, and Steph without the villain’s knowledge, so that they could all work to apprehend the criminal in a way that was the least risky and most efficient.
Never in a million years would Bruce expect Tim to take the villain straight on, let alone take them straight on and win almost instantaneously.
No one in the bats was unfamiliar with the moments in which Tim seemed to act a bit less concerned about others, a bit more cold, a bit more detached, and in some ways, a bit more confident, but with the recent discovery of Tim having Dissociative Identity Disorder, these behavioral changes seemed to shine under a new light.
This was Tim’s first mission since he had started seeing Dr. Leland regularly three months ago—Bruce had allowed him to help Barbara and work on gathering intel, of course, but fighting had been off limits until Bruce was sure both he and JJ would be able to handle it—and therefore it was the first time Bruce could observe this vigilante-centric side of Tim with the knowledge of his son that he now possessed.
And it was odd. Odd, because the process of discovering Tim’s DID and JJ’s existence had been so hard. Odd, because JJ needed a lot of help, a lot of support. But the new alter seemed so immensely capable… perhaps even more capable than Tim himself.
“Nice work, Red Robin,” Stephanie said, the three of them observing the villain who was on the ground, unconscious and in cuffs, Tim standing over him. The young man’s lips were pressed into a thin line, and he responded to Stephanie’s praise with an indifferent hum. He stepped over the restrained criminal, moving to untie the ropes holding them all hostage.
Bruce rubbed his wrists as they were freed, hesitating as he stood back up.
“Batman, Nightwing, Spoiler, Red Robin, what’s your status?” Barbara asked over comms.
“Red Robin apprehended the villain,” Bruce answered, “We’re all okay.”
Bruce didn't say anything as they traveled back to the Batcave. Nor did he say anything once they were all home and showered and up in the living room. But Bruce kept an eye on this mysterious third alter, watching ‘Tim,’ noting all the ways he was acting differently, holding himself differently.
“That's my job.”
Bruce nearly jumped as Cass appeared behind him, leaning against the back of the armchair in which Bruce sat.
“What?”
“You're analyzing the new Not-Tim,” she said in a hushed voice, “That's my job.”
Bruce let out a puff of air that was somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle. “So you noticed too. I'm glad to know I haven't just had a few too many hits to the head today.”
“I wouldn't rule out that possibility,” Cass teased flatly, “but yes. I see. That's not Tim. And it's not JJ.”
“Well, since it's ‘your job,’ why don't you tell me what you're picking up on?”
Cass hummed, her eyes tracing over Not-Tim as he sat on the other side of the room, listening to Stephanie talk. Bruce followed her gaze, wishing that he could see through her eyes.
“His posture is different. Straighter. But less open. He's sitting with his legs crossed, and they're pointed away from Steph. He doesn't want to talk to her.” Cass began, Bruce nodding along. “He's still. Not fidgety like Tim or shaky like JJ. His hands are steady. And he's not bouncing his leg like Tim would.”
Bruce took in her words, each one serving to confirm his growing suspicion. He had noticed the steadiness and the straighter posture, but what Cass said about his body language suggesting he didn't want to be talking to Stephanie was something he had completely missed.
Bruce knew Cass’ ability to read body language was something she saw as a curse, but by god did Bruce find it incredible.
“So he doesn't want to talk to Steph. That explains why he hasn't said a single word since she started talking to him,” Bruce said, putting a hand to his chin in thought. “I wonder why he wouldn't just get up and walk away, end the conversation.”
“He doesn't want us to know he’s not Tim,” Cass said. “He's better at hiding it than JJ.”
“Ah, right. I forgot that it's a covert disorder. I guess I'm just too used to having Tim and JJ be so much more open about it now that we know.”
“I’ve noticed him for a while,” Cass said, as if it should have been obvious. “Usually in missions. But the change wasn’t as drastic as with JJ. I didn’t think to bring it up.”
Of course Cass had noticed for a while. Bruce felt dumb for not asking Cass if she’d noticed anything the minute Dr. Leland had suggested the presence of a third alter. Bruce found himself feeling dumb a lot lately.
“Whatcha guys talking about?”
Bruce jumped again. For someone usually so good at being aware of his surroundings, he was really letting his children get the better of him today.
He watched as Jason walked in front of him, collapsing down onto the couch. He seemed a little out of breath, a few patched scrapes on his face.
“You’re looking worse for wear,” Bruce changed the subject, “What happened?”
“Got in a little scuffle with some low level goons. There were like fifty of them—a good workout, but damn, exhausting after a while– Hey, wait, don’t change the subject.”
Bruce remained quiet, as did Cass. But damn, Jason was able to follow their gaze.
“Tim?” Jason asked. Bruce nodded. “What’s up this time? Don’t tell me he’s got the son of another villain living in his brain.”
Bruce grimaced at Jason’s words, his jaw tightening.
“Right, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
Bruce sighed, turning to meet Jason’s gaze. “What scares me, Jay, is that you could be right.”
“What?” Jason exclaimed, louder than intended. Bruce quickly put his hand up, looking over to make sure ‘Tim’ and Stephanie hadn’t noticed Jason’s outburst. Fortunately, it appeared they hadn’t.
“Keep your voice down,” Bruce said, holding his hands up. “What I mean is just… we think ‘Tim’ isn’t… well he’s not ‘Tim’ right now. Cass says he seems different, and I’ve noticed the same things too. But it just occurred to me that… we have no idea who this third alter could be.”
“I’m not sure I’m following you, B,” Jason said. Bruce sighed again, running a hand through his hair as he tried to figure out a better way to explain.
“We know JJ formed because of…” he gestured with his hand, knowing that Jason would know what he was talking about. He didn’t want to say it out loud, though, fearing it could potentially be triggering for Jason.
“Right, yeah,” Jason said in affirmation.
“Think of how many villains we’ve fought since then. People like the Jervis Tetch or Jonathan Crane. Even Nygma’s put us all through a lot of trauma.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is, if Tim’s mind was already broken before all those events, isn’t it possible any one of them could have been bad enough to cause another split in his mind?”
Bruce could see the understanding forming in Jason’s gaze.
“I don’t know, B. That sounds like a Dr. Leland question to me.”
“Third alter? Oh, you must mean RR.”
Bruce stared at Dr. Leland from the chair across from her desk, positively flabbergasted. RR? Dr. Leland already knew about Tim’s third alter—and she hadn’t told him?
“You– You know who they are?” he asked, mouth open in shock and eyes wide like a deer in headlights—or a bat in headlights.
“Well, I’ve never spoken to him,” she said, nonchalantly flipping through some files that likely had nothing to do with their topic of conversation. “But JJ talks about him a lot. I think he views him a bit like an older brother. He talks about him that way, at least.”
Bruce had a million questions. Maybe even more than a million. He was silent for a few moments, trying to decide which one to begin with, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to form words.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, Tim’s my patient,” Dr. Leland said, fixing Bruce with a stern look. “Even given the special circumstances, patient confidentiality applies. But, during last week's session, I did happen to ask JJ if he wouldn’t mind me telling you about RR, and lucky for you, he said it was fine.”
“But Tim’s my son.”
“Yes, your
adult
son, Bruce. You’re no more entitled to his information than anyone else is.”
Right. Bruce could sometimes forget that most of his adopted children were adults now, he had taken them all in so young.
“Does Tim know about…” Bruce trailed off.
“About RR?” Dr. Leland finished for him. “ Patient confidentiality , Bruce. But… I have told Tim about RR, that much I can tell you.”
Bruce hummed, pressing his lips together in a thin line. He could tell by the look Dr. Leland was giving him that he wasn’t going to be getting much else out of her.
“You know, Bruce, might I suggest you talk to Tim or JJ themselves about these kinds of things?”
He sighed, looking down at his hands. He absently tapped his thumbs together. He knew Dr. Leland could tell that he was avoiding her gaze, but that didn’t stop him from doing so.
“What if I push too hard? I don’t want to overwhelm them.”
“Well, the solution to that is simple.”
Bruce looked up at Dr. Leland like a disciple looking up at a prophet.
“If they say they don’t want to talk about it, then drop the subject.”
Right. Bruce felt dumb again.