Chapter Text
Bruce Wayne is eight years old. He watches The Mark of Zorro . His parents will die later that night.
Richard John Grayson is eight years old. He swings from a trapeze and reaches for his parents. They each grab a hand and flip him around. He flies. His parents will be dead in a week’s time.
Jason Todd is eight years old. His father has yet to return. His step-mother sits in the other room, shooting up. She will die of an overdose later that night.
Damian Wayne is eight years old. He passes another test - the successful assassination of a traitor to the League of Assassins. His mother claims pride in him. He knows she lies.
Stephanie Brown is eight years old. She overhears a phone-call. Her father is the Cluemaster, and he has kidnapped ten people to ‘test’ the Batman. He will be sent to Arkham Asylum later that night.
Tim Drake is eight years old. He and his parents sit on the couch and watch reruns of The Gray Ghost . It is Tim’s favorite show.
Tim Drake is thirteen years old. He is Robin. His parents are kidnapped for a ritualistic sacrifice. Left without water for days, they desperately chug the first morsel of liquid they’re given - a deadly poison. Janet Drake is dead.
Tim Drake is fifteen years old. He is Robin. His home is invaded by Captain Boomerang. His father moves to defend himself, shooting the Captain. A boomerang is lodged in his chest. Captain Boomerang is dead. Jack Drake is dead.
Batman and Robin. Orphans.
**
Tim Drake was seventeen years old.
He was Robin.
He'd been Red Robin.
He'd been Drake. (Though we don't talk about that.)
He'd gone back to Robin not too long after.
Life hadn’t been normal for Tim.
Not in a long time.
He crouched over the edge. The giant T-shaped tower - he was at the very end of it, watching the setting sun cast a halo around the horizon. Pastel pinks danced with glowing yellows as the star made its descent past the metropolitan buildings of Jump City. It was the self-described “City of Tomorrow.” Almost perfect. But Gotham was home, and he had to go back.
“Yo, Tim!” Conner Kent, his best friend in the whole world, called to him. Nevertheless, hearing his civilian name felt dissonant, like an out of place note. He was Robin. He'd been Robin all summer.
“Hey.” Tim said, still staring off into the distance. Jump City - it was an oasis. Gotham was lead, it was poison. It had eaten him alive.
“You down for some Smash Bros ? Bart finally got the T.V. set back up and I’m ready to absolutely body him.” Conner smirked and cracked his knuckles. Conner, in a way, was Jump City. He was a Titan - the Boy of Tomorrow. Under his round sunglasses, he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as he could be, even with his bouts of teenage angst.
“Not right now.” Tim replied.
“Hey, bro. C’mon. You know we all hate it when you get broody like this - it’s too… Batmanny. Summer’s almost over, Tim, c’mon. You’re really telling me you don’t wanna see me kick Bart’s ass?” Conner reached out to his friend, but Tim turned, walking away from the ledge.
“I'll be in my room.” Tim said.
Conner didn't follow him. Instead, he flew back into the Titans Tower’s living room. A storey-high television was the centrepiece of the space - in front of it a U-shaped couch upon which sat Bart Allen, practically vibrating in anticipation.
“Conner! Ti… No Tim?” Bart’s excitement waned slightly.
“Sorry, buddy.” Conner rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't ashamed, Tim wasn't his responsibility. But his head was held slightly lower as he floated towards the couch and sat next to Bart.
“It's cool, mi amigo. I've got backups anyways.” Bart snapped back, unshaken as he reached for a remote next to him. Conner assumed it was a TV remote, but the giant ‘T’ on the back connected the dots. Bart was calling in backup.
“Attention all reserve Titans (operating out of Jump City!)” Bart put on a faux Batman voice, “We have six controllers and a bag of chips. Report to Titans Tower immediately, and bring soda.”
Tim’s room was scarce. All of his stuff remained in Gotham. Wayne Manor was home. As much as he treasured it, Jump City was temporary. The Titans were temporary. He had to go back. He had to face her. He had to face him .
He flopped into bed, still clad in his Robin costume. He'd hardly changed out of it the whole time he'd been in Jump City. He'd never needed to - sleepless nights and restless days. He always had to be on.
He stared at his blank wall and let out a heavy sigh. He had only days left before this whole place was a pleasant memory, yet he couldn't bring himself to leave the unpleasantness of his mind to make the memory. Whatever he did made it worse. Step in front of the mirror? There was his Robin suit - reminding him of him . Look out the window? Be flooded with memories of her .
The present was painful. The past? A painful nostalgia, dull yet serrated. Better still than the present. He remembered his Father. His mother. How before they grew distant, they would sit in his cosy, dimly lit living room and watch The Gray Ghost . It was his father's favorite show.
A loud crash from the living room knocked him out of his stupor. He rushed out of his room, bo staff in hand. Titans Tower was no stranger to attacks, even having been destroyed multiple times. If this was another try? Some villain with a point to prove? He was ready for it. He was Robin.
But it wasn't danger. It wasn't an attack. Instead, Tim saw a group of costumed teenagers laughing.
Bart Allen, Conner Kent, Cassie Sandsmark. His best friends. But with them were three others - the Blue Beetle, Bunker, and Roundhouse. All friends, of course, but a very random selection. He saw the cause of the laughter before even having to ask - Conner had launched his controller through the floor, or rather, through several floors, leaving a controller-shaped hole in the ground.
“Hey, buddy! Glad you could make it!” Bart ran up to Tim at super-speed, offering him a controller like a loyal squire.
“Y’know what? Yeah, I’ll -” Tim reached for the controller for just a moment before reeling back. The dark clouds in his head swirled like a raging typhoon when he saw her. Stephanie Brown walked into the living room, and Tim turned and walked away. “Nevermind, Bart. I’m not feeling great.” His cape flowed as he turned, making the only sound anyone would hear from him for the rest of the night.
Tim had met Stephanie Brown years ago. She was everything he wasn’t - reckless, to-the-point, impulsive. Blonde. He was smitten instantly. They were the very image of high school sweethearts, sharing everything. Their secret identities, familial traumas, and now, she was hanging out with his best friends.
His breakup with Stephanie was sudden. The details didn’t matter to him at the time, but his life had changed. He felt different. Not about her, but about himself. He told her he’d just needed some time to figure himself out - and it wasn’t a lie. He’d been confused. As much as he was happy with Steph, something had come up. It could have been perfect, were it not for
him
.
But Tim wasn’t with Stephanie - he was on a train back to Gotham. Not just any train, but a Waynetech monorail that covered Coast City, Gotham, Metropolis, even Keystone. Nobody on the train knew that Tim had a hand in developing it. They probably never would. Because when he got off of the train, Tim Drake: Teenage CEO of Wayne Enterprises was to become Tim Drake: Student of Gotham Academy.
His headphones drowned out any noise - he preferred it that way. Not that he didn’t like talking, but he didn’t particularly like talking to strangers. It also made it all the easier to gaze out the window, at rural towns and massive patches of farmland that flew by in seconds. It was as relaxing as it was distressing. How fast they were going, miles a second - it was almost like a very cushy Batmobile. Of course. Gotham was the last thing he wanted to think about, but he couldn’t get it off of his mind.
Not that it could be helped, as the city itself poked him on the shoulder.
“Tim? Tim Drake?” Was barely audible above the distorted beats blasting his eardrums. But he removed his headphones and turned his head to see Gotham. Everything he’d been avoiding. He was Gotham City, and his name was Bernard.
Bernard was an old friend of Tim’s. He was smart, capable… Blonde. He’d just re-entered Tim’s life that summer, not long after he and Steph had broken things off. Tim wasn’t sure if it was the cute hoodie he had on or the way he did his hair that day, but Bernard was enough to finally put all the puzzle pieces into place.
“Bernard! You’re going back to Gotham? I thought--” Tim was on high alert. Every muscle was in revolt, every nerve on edge. He’d faced down the worst of the worst, literal demons, yet Bernard was the scariest thing to him. He was beautiful.
“Yeah, plans ended up changing. Can I sit?” Bernard asked politely. It was only then Tim saw the many bags Bernard was awkwardly holding. “I ended up getting on at the Dakota City stop, it was super last minute. Not that I can say I’m bummed, though. You’re here!”
“Yeah, take a seat!” Tim sat back as Bernard took a seat opposite him and unloaded his bags between them. “So, what happened?”
“My parents decided that Jump City wasn’t the ‘right move’ for me at the last second and pulled me out. They said something about Simon Stagg and the Teen Titans, but you know that superhero stuff doesn’t interest me.” Bernard explained. He was vague, but Tim didn’t sense deception. Though he assumed that even if Bernard was tricking him, he’d have no idea, for Tim Drake was trying his best to not to throw up.
“Well, it's nice. That you're coming back, I mean.” Tim stumbled over himself. Bernard wasn't anywhere close to the top of the list of reasons that Tim didn't want to go back.
In fact, if you'd allowed Tim to list fifty reasons why he didn't want to return to Gotham City (and boy could he give you fifty,) Bernard wouldn't have even made the cut. Every single member of his family made the cut. Except Cass.
“Thanks, man. I'm glad I caught you here. I can't stand train rides alone.” Bernard smiled. Tim couldn't have agreed less, but he supposed if he was going to sit and talk to anyone, it might as well have been Bernard.
“Yeah, I'm glad.” Tim smiled.
“So, the Teen Titans and Stagg, huh ?” Tim asked. He was a Teen Titan and had no idea what was up with Simon Stagg.
“Yeah, I heard they fought him. But I don't buy it, you know all of those superheroes are in the pockets of the shadow government. Anti big-business, y'know?” For all of the good things about Bernard, he was the child of rich parents. Rich parents with an agenda - an anti-superhero agenda. And he bought into it all.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Tim deflected. It was all he could say. What could he really do? ‘ Hey Bernard, I'm Robin and you're wrong. ’
Thankfully, the subject of superheroes evaded them for the rest of the train ride. They joked and chatted until the train arrived in Gotham City. Bernard Dowd was comfort, and it slipped away as they were forced to go their separate ways.
Tim Drake had to go home.