Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He knew it was a dream from the moment he looked down at his gloved arms and saw red. Tim hadn’t worn that much color on his uniform in years. Which meant this was a dream from before. One specific dream, or more of a nightmare, really. The one that haunted him the most lately. Tim lifted his head, and sure enough, the muted outline of one of Gotham’s rougher streets stretched out before him, the shapes around him liquid and shifting, as they only could be in a dream.

Somewhere ahead of him, the majority of Gotham’s protectors were trying to subdue a new magic user that had shown up in the city and had started to wreak havoc with volatile powers he barely had control over. Tim rushed to reach and help them, just as he had done then, after falling behind to aid a couple to get out of harm’s way.

By the time he got there, the scene was already a disaster. Cass and Steph were busy trying to save civilians from falling rubble and stray energy blasts. Tim could hear Jason shouting through the comms but he couldn’t actually see where he was. Batman and Nightwing were closest to the magic user trying to take him out, followed closely by Robin, who could never be one to stay out of the heart of the battle. Then that moment came.

This far away from the fight, Tim was the only one who saw it.

One energy blast, a thing of dark purple energy and black particles, heading towards Robin’s back, towards Damian. Before he even knew it, Tim was there, pushing Damian out of the way so hard he stumbled and taking the brunt of the blast.

Things in the dream get blurry after that, shapes disintegrating in sharp purple lights and black spots, senses lost in a vortex of blinding pain, similar to how it had happened in real life.

One of the last things he remembers is Damian’s stunned expression, bleeding on his face even through the domino mask - swords slack in his arms, as if he couldn’t believe Tim had actually done that. Which, yeah.

And the last thing Tim saw was Dick’s hand. An electric blue stripe in his fading vision reaching out, always reaching out to him, and Tim had reached back, Tim reaches back now, but it’s pointless.

Dick’s fingers slip through his own like mist and a purple nothingness envelops him. Tim is no more. He is falling. He is —

-

Tim jerked awake — covered in cold sweat and every muscle in his body tight as a bowstring. He counted his breaths until his pulse felt less like he had just jumped from the rooftop of a thirty feet tall building. Usually dreams didn’t affect him that much, but no matter how many times he dreamt a variation of this nightmare, it never failed to get to him.

The funny thing was, the dream in itself was not that bad, it was what came after it — waking up in the real nightmare.

Tim reached out an arm and blindly searched for his phone, buried somewhere in the mess on the nightstand next to his bed. He found it, and the screen lit up the entire room in artificial blue light, the numbers on it reading 04:47 in the morning.

Tim huffed and ran a hand through his hair. It was way too early, but he knew that it was pointless to try and go back to sleep. He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Through the thin walls of the house could hear the drunk snoring of his Uncle — and wasn’t that a surprise when he first got here. Tim, after coming out of the shock he was still alive and realizing he had landed in an Alternate Earth, learned that this version had more differences than similarities with his original one, but when there were similarities, they often ended up bizarre.

By all means, this was a completely ordinary world; no superheroes, no magic, no aliens. Cities like Gotham, Metropolis, and Bludhaven didn’t exist, and people like Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Clark Kent and so on, also didn’t.

For some strange reason, archeologists Jack and Janet Drake, along with their son, Timothy, existed. Though this version of his parents' lives were quite a bit different from Tim’s own, they weren’t particularly wealthy for one, but their fate was ultimately the same even if it happened differently — death. Janet and Jack Drake perished during an accident on their camp while on an archeological dig, leaving a thirteen year old Timothy in the care of his paternal uncle, Eddie Drake.

And, who could guess that the fake uncle Tim had created once upon a time in a complicated scheme to temporarily avoid getting adopted by Bruce(which he fell for), actually existed on another earth?

Tim certainly couldn’t have guessed - which is why it was such a fun surprise when, after getting hit with a mysterious energy blast and feeling his body disintegrating, he woke up in a small room that was decidedly not his, in a city that was definitely not Gotham, with an unfamiliar man shouting his name at him through the door. And in addition, because the situation wasn’t bad enough already, Tim woke up in a body that was at least two years younger, making him fifteen.

Around a year and something had passed since that day, and Tim had been tirelessly trying to find a way home, but this world was significantly less advanced in terms of technology, making it nearly impossible for him to make any kind of progress.

Still, he hasn’t given up.

After a quick shower, Tim got ready for his day to start early. He grabbed his bag and headed towards the kitchen, bypassing his uncle who was passed out on the couch in the living room. The contents of their cupboards were a sad thing that could make Alfred cry. It was mostly pre-packaged meals which required minimal preparation, leftovers from takeout, and of course, alcohol. The only real food they had was from when Tim was the one to buy groceries and cook proper meals.

Turns out, Tim wasn’t missing out much with his previously non-existent uncle. He was a dour guy with an addiction problem, who survived mostly on disability. He had absolutely no interest in what his nephew was doing as long as he stayed out of his way, and this situation suited Tim just fine.

Tim grabbed a sandwich and headed outside. He checked the time again; 05:11.

One of the most annoying things about being stranded here is that Tim had to go to school again. He briefly considered quitting, to fully commit his attention on finding a way home, but he doesn’t actually know what happened to this universe’s version of himself. Maybe they switched places, maybe it was another complicated multiverse travel nonsense, but Tim didn’t want to risk ruining his counterpart’s life in any case, so school it was.

Not that his school started for another two hours, but he could kill one hour in a paced run towards the building, and another one hiding in the empty library.

His day dragged slowly from that point onwards, from waiting for school to start, to going through his classes while barely paying attention to them because he already knew the material, and finally heading to the school stadium for the only thing that made him feel a little bit more alive while maintaining this tedious routine — Exy.

In the beginning, Exy was just another obligation Tim had to participate into. It was a particularly annoying one, considering he knew nothing about the sport, but was expected to play like he had years of experience, because the version of Tim here did. It would be kind to call the first couple of weeks that he actually bothered to show up for practice a disaster. His Coach couldn’t believe how Tim, in the span of a month, managed to go from one of her star players to someone who didn’t know basic rules of the game.

Tim considered quitting altogether, but he persisted for the sole reason that the sport offered a good way to exercise his growing frustration with the situation he was stuck in. And now, two years later, he was actually pretty decent, and he had come to enjoy playing to a degree he hadn’t expected he would.

Today was maybe the last game of the season, depending on the outcome of it. Tim did his usual routine of rushing to change before everybody and getting out on the court without bothering to interact much with his teammates. He hadn’t tried to make any friends since he got here and his alternate self was apparently a loner. After around an hour of the teams getting ready, the game started.

Tim played as if the game was a fight.

Avoiding the players trying to tackle him with lightning-quick predictions based on body language, holding himself steady against stick checks that should have made a normal player’s arms shake and fail, and hurling the ball towards the goal with a trajectory calculated before it even left his racquet. He was letting a little bit of his training leak into his playing style, and while this was something he absolutely would have never allowed himself to do if he was back home, here nobody trying to connect Tim Drake to a secret identity existed. Exy was a brutal sport and Tim let himself embrace its rougher aspects.

By the end of the game Tim had scored six out of the nine points his team had, but the opposing team had twelve. He wasn’t that disappointed with the loss as he cared more about the way his muscles burned and the pleasant exhaustion that he felt after every game. Back in the changing room his teammates were taking their time, the disappointment with the game’s result clear by their moodiness. Tim, like every time, hung back to use the showers only after everyone had left.

One of the reasons he didn’t think that he simply switched places with his counterpart was the fact that although he had woken up in a younger version of his body, he still had his scars. There was no way the Tim here had accumulated such a collection of scars without spending half of his life crime-fighting. And besides the scars there were other small strange things, like the color of his eyes being more gray than blue than he remembered, and his hair being a significantly lighter shade.

Tim rushed through the shower and getting changed into his normal clothes. Even if he still had scars that would definitely raise some suspicion, he also had a lifetime practice hiding them. Just as he was about to leave a call from his coach stopped him.

‘’Tim, I have something I need to discuss with you before you go. Please, come to my office.’’

Tim had no idea what Coach Hill wanted with him especially now with their season over, but he followed her to the room. Inside waiting for them was a broad, middle-aged man with tribal flame tattoos visible on his exposed forearms and a folder open in his hands. He looked up at their entrance but didn’t immediately say anything. His gaze was firmly settled on Tim, almost if he was studying him. Finally Coach Hill broke the silence.

‘’Tim, this is what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you said you weren’t interested, but I couldn’t at least not try. This is Coach Wymack, he is from a university team.’’

Tim should have guessed what this was going to be about. His Coach had tried countless times to talk to him about continuing to play after graduation, and Tim had cut short that conversation down every time. He liked playing Exy, but he couldn’t afford it to be more than a temporary distraction. Still, it seems like Coach Hill hadn’t given up and he was a little annoyed that she had gone and done this.

‘’I’m not interested,’’ Tim said in a polite but firm tone.

‘’So I’ve been informed, but you could at least give me two minutes to listen to my offer since I’m already here. It was a good game today.’’

So he had been here long enough to watch the game as well. Tim vaguely recalls seeing somebody with similar appearance watching the game from the first line of seats.

‘’We lost.’’

‘’Yes, but not because of you. Not to say your team was bad, but It’s not often I see someone putting so much of themselves in every step, every throw, every moment of the game. That’s the kind of player I want on my team.’’

‘I appreciate the offer, but compliments won’t change my mind.’’

Wymack huffed out a dry laugh.

‘’Believe me, kid, I’m not the kind of guy to give compliments to people, what I said was simply the truth.’’

Tim wondered why Wymack was putting so much effort and time in trying to recruit him. His stats weren’t that bad, but they definitely could have been better. Wymack didn’t exactly come off as desperate for new players, but there was something about him that Tim couldn't quite place.

‘’I’m sure you have other impressive possible recruits, why waste so much effort for somebody you knew from the beginning wasn’t interested?’’ Tim inquired.

At that, Coach Hill, who for the most part had stayed quiet, got a strange look on her face. She started to say something but cut herself off and instead ended with, “I’ll leave you two alone to discuss things.” And then she left the room.

Wymack watched her retreat before turning towards Tim again.

‘’Look, you have real potential, I’m offering you a chance to turn that potential into something real, something that can get you out of here.’’

The phrasing of his last sentence was strange.

‘’What that’s supposed to mean?’’

Wymack looked at him for a second, as if trying to decide something, before finally asking.

‘’Have you heard anything about my team, the Palmetto State Foxes?’’

‘’I don’t keep up with sports news,’’ Tim didn’t keep up much with news in general these days, in this world.

Wymack hummed thoughtfully.

‘’That makes sense then. I have certain standards for my recruits that are a bit unorthodox, It usually narrows my choices considerably. But your Coach sent me your file along with some notes and I have a feeling you fit that criteria, as well as being an incredible athlete. That’s why I’m here.’’

‘’What kind of standards exactly?’’

Wymack stalled answering for a second, seemingly to consider exactly how to word his response.

‘’I recruit those who no one else would under normal circumstances — people who’ve been given up on and people who have given up on themselves. I try to give a second chance to those who need it.’’

Whatever Tim had been expecting him to say, this was so far away from it that it startled a surprised huff from him. What kind of recruiting practices were these, and how would the management of a professional team would allow them?

‘’And how exactly do I fit this criteria?’’

‘’Your Coach says she has seen you come to practice with bruises, and you never change around others, or interact with your teammates in general.’’ Wymack’s tone, despite the context of what he was saying, remained even and unobothered.

And, Tim should have been more careful. It’s not like since he had gotten here he has been purposely letting his guard down as much as he was just…tired. The bruises Wymack was referring to were from the occasional times Tim still went out through the night. In this world, where vigilantes weren’t common, every time he went out was a risk for unwanted attention, but some nights Tim just couldn’t sit around and do nothing — his body humming with unused energy and mind unable to focus on anything in particular for more than a few minutes.

That he hadn’t bothered to cover up the aftermath of those nights as he usually did was carelessness, and he shouldn’t have been surprised his Coach came to such conclusions.

‘’My Coach doesn’t know how to mind her business, and neither do you apparently. You both know nothing about me,’’ Tim returned.

‘’Maybe, I do know something else though. Remember when I said I rarely see a player putting so much of themselves in the game, the truth is I didn’t see someone trying to win a game, I saw someone trying to drown themselves in it.’’

And to that Tim didn’t have an immediate response.

Because Wymack wasn’t necessarily wrong. Tim had been using Exy as a distraction, something to lose himself in for a couple of hours a day. Mind focused entirely on only one thing, and body running itself ragged with exhaustion. He didn’t like it that Wymack had seen through him so easily.

Tim took the following silence to really consider Wymack’s offer.

Would it really be that bad if he accepted it? As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was stuck here. His attempts and research to get back home hadn’t been very successful, so far. Would it be that disastrous if he took some time away, took a momentary break to go to college and play a sport he liked? To experience the normal kind of life his Dad wanted him to have, before he passed. Singing didn’t have to mean he was giving up, just taking a little bit of time.

Before he could decide anything though, he needed more information. So to Wymack he turned not with an answer, but a request.

‘’Can I have time to think about it?’’

Wymack checked something on his phone before answering.

‘’My flight doesn’t leave until 12:00 pm tomorrow. If an early hour isn’t a problem for you, we can meet again in the morning to discuss further details.’’

Tim agreed and took the folder with documents Wymack handed him before leaving, even though he hadn’t agreed to anything yet. Outside the office, Coach Hill was waiting for him with a hopeful expression that only grew when she spotted the folder in his hands, but Tim spared her only a couple of words, and then he was gone.

-

When he got home, the first thing Tim did was to open his laptop and search up the Palmetto State Foxes.

To say the results were a lot would be an understatement. Tim spent the next couple of hours digging through the internet for any information regarding the Foxes, and the more he found, the more he was simultaneously intrigued and surprised that such a team existed in this supposedly normal, peaceful Earth. Deaths, overdoses, charges of murder, and so much more, all centred around a team that didn’t have more than fifteen players. It seemed like Wymack’s idea to form a team that functioned as a halfway house of sorts, achieved both bad and great results, given that they won the championship last year, despite everything that’s happened to them.

But above everything, the thing that most caught Tim’s interest was the team accidentally recruiting the son of a notorious gangster. That, and them getting themselves involved in what he suspects is a conflict against a person affiliated with a branch of the Japanese Mafia.

After processing that bit of information, he had to take a break and reassure himself that — yes, he was still stuck here, and not back home where the news that a college sports team got involved with the mafia would not be that out of the ordinary.

By the time he was done researching, Tim thought that playing for the Foxes could turn out to be a lot more interesting than he first imagined.

-

The next morning, Tim met up with Wymack in a cafe nearby the school. The first five minutes after they sat down consisted of complete silence while Wymack went through a large cup of coffee at a borderline unhealthy speed. Finally, Tim broke the spell by taking out the signed contract from his backpack and placing it on the table between them.

Wymack glanced at it, something like satisfaction passing through his expression, before taking the piece of paper in his own hands to examine it.

‘’Good. Now, we only have to settle a couple of more things. Your information tells me that your eighteenth birthday is still a couple of months away?’’

In reality, Tim was already nineteen, turning on twenty, but there was no way he could explain that so he went along with what was written in his file.

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Is parental consent going to be an issue?’’

Tim assumed he was likely asking because of the unfortunate speculations Coach Hill had come to about his home life and passed them on so he could qualify for the team. Again, Tim couldn’t correct him, but he also didn’t want to leave the impression that there was any truth to them.

‘’It’s not a problem.’’

Wymack regarded him for a second, and Tim had a feeling he didn’t fully believe him, but he didn’t press the issue.

‘'Alright, one last thing. I’m saying this to you because I offer the same opportunities to every new Fox. If you want to move in early or need a place to stay, you can crash in with either our team nurse or me.’’

Tim was about to automatically refuse, but he stopped himself at the last second. While he didn’t need to move in early, maybe going there a week or two in advance to survey his future situation and how things worked before everybody moved back in wasn’t a bad idea. He liked to know his surroundings. And it wasn’t like since he got stuck here he had a lot of funds to spend them on a hotel room.

‘’I may need to come in a couple of weeks early, if it's not a problem.’’

‘’Wasn’t going to offer it if it was, kid.’’ Wymack returned in his usual tone, but Tim could tell that his admittance of wanting to move early didn’t leave him entirely unaffected.

With no more things left to discuss, there wasn’t a reason for them to linger anymore in the cafe. Tim was walking towards the door, when just before he went out of earshot he heard Wymack saying.

‘’Welcome to the line.’’

Chapter Text

The first time Tim meets another Fox is when they are breaking into Wymack's apartment at 02:15 in the night.

It has been three days since Wymack picked him from the airport and drove him to the place where he would be residing for the next two weeks. He had gotten used to the small and rather messy space quickly, used to crashing in weird places and not having that much baggage. Wymack had warily eyed the three bags Tim came with, a backpack for his laptop and related equipment, a bag for his clothes, and a compact suitcase. Since then, they have settled in an odd routine where Wymack would be in his office until lunch and then out for work related reasons, and Tim would be out for most of the day. The only time they really ran into each other was during dinner time. Well, during dinner and the odd hours before sunrise.

Wymack, Tim had come to learn, kept a routine of starting his day at 04:00 am in the morning. His routine and Tim’s own inconsistent sleep schedule, courtesy of spending nearly half his life being semi-nocturnal, meant that usually this was the most time they spent in each other’s presence. The first night it happened, Wymack had gone into the kitchen to start his day by making coffee, only to see the dark silhouette of Tim on the kitchen table, the only light in the room coming from the laptop in front of him. He had paused, more perplexed than surprised, grumbled something inaudible under his breath, then crossed the room to flick the light’s switch, before saying,

‘’You’ll ruin your eyesight.’’

And that had been that. Wymack hadn’t said anything about his odd sleeping hours and continued on as if everything was normal.

But now, Tim, having been awakened by the sound of the apartment door closing, knew the noises coming from the kitchen weren’t from the coach. Wymack’s footsteps were heavy and deliberate, but whoever was currently in the kitchen moved lightly, almost completely silent, if not for the rest of the noise they were making. Opening and shutting doors and drawers none too gently, either because of carelessness or deliberateness.

Tim didn’t think that a burglar would be making so much noise, unless they were spectacularly bad at their job — and he had met a few of those — but doubted this was the case here. He went to investigate.

When he entered the kitchen he found Andrew Minyard, the Foxes’s short but talented goalkeeper, and one of their more controversial members. He was perched upon a kitchen countertop, one hand loosely holding a newly opened whiskey bottle that likely belonged to Wymack, and the other supporting his weight behind his back. He looked up when Tim entered the room, not surprised by his appearance, but his gaze slid away after studying him for a few seconds in disinterest, focusing on a random wall.

Tim had been informed by Wymack, that probably the only reason he hadn’t been dragged to the court on his first day here, was because the group staying here for the summer went away to Columbia for the weekends. So, Tim had expected to finally meet some of his new teammates on Monday, but he didn’t expect for it to happen so early in the day, or in such unusual circumstances, and he considered how to proceed.

Judging by the casualness, this wasn’t the first time Andrew had broken into Wymack’s place. Tim was curious just how much the Foxes’ Coach let them get away with, especially as he went further into the room and got a good look at what Andrew was wearing. Specifically, not his clothing, but the black armbands along his arms. There were a lot of speculations about them online, but when Andrew raised his arm to drink from the bottle Tim saw their purpose — if you knew what to look for, you could see through the dark fabric the slight outlines of sheaths beneath it.

Perhaps the knowledge that one of his teammates openly carried knives on a regular basis should have taken him aback more, but Tim didn’t have it in him to feel it considering he hung around Jason, and he carried a bomb on his head. His only concern was how often Andrew was prone to use the knives he carried, because in Tim’s experience people who made it a habit to carry weapons didn’t do it only for show.

Andrew, having catched where Tim’s eyes went, made a dismissive motion with his free hand and said.

‘’Run along. Not in the mood to deal with the new charity case he’s scrounged up.’’

His tone was bored, but it carried an edge that didn’t leave room for disagreement.

Tim bit back an involuntary smile at being addressed as a charity case. It wasn’t the first time that he’s been called that. Back in Gotham, the various media outlets liked to dub Bruce adopting kids as just one more side of his charity and funding activities, and even if Tim ignored all the connotations that carried, he still didn’t like the term. So, instead of going away like he probably should have, Tim went to the sink to fill a glass of water, ignoring Andrew’s presence behind him. When he turned, the only visible shift in Andrew’s posture was him tightening his fist a fraction around the bottle of whiskey. What he may or may not have not said further was lost when the second door to the kitchen opened with a thud, and Wymack strode in, scowling.

‘’Minyard, what have I said about you breaking in my apartment in the middle of the night?’’

Wymack scolded Andrew, but Tim could tell there wasn’t any real heat into his words. Then Wymack registered Tim’s presence in the room, and his expression shifted again.

‘’And not only that, but are you trying to traumatize the rookie already?’’

Both of Wymack’s questions went unanswered, but it seemed he had already been expecting that. Personally, Tim thought it was funny that Wymack thought he could be traumatized. After a couple of seconds of uncomfortable silence, the coach ran a hand through his hair before turning to him.

‘’You can go on, Tim. I’ll deal with him.’’

Not seeing a reason to stay any longer in what was probably going to turn into a more personal territory between Andrew and Wymack, Tim left the kitchen. After around fifteen minutes, the main door could be heard opening and closing again, signaling Andrew’s exit. While turning the brief interaction over in his head, Tim tried to go back to sleep.

-

The next day started and continued as usual right until the moment Tim was about to leave the apartment. He and Wymack were in the kitchen when the front door opened and in walked Kevin Day and Nicky Hemmick.

‘’Good morning,’’ Wymack said to them in a greeting, without bothering to raise his head from the pile of scattered documents on the table in front of him.

‘’Morning, Coach,’’ Nicky chirped back. ‘’We’re here to steal the new guy.’’

Tim assumed this was going to be the alleged ’getting dragged to the court’ thing that Wymack warned him about.

‘’Guessed as much,’’ responded Wymack. ‘’Return him in one piece, Hemmick.’’

Nicky laughed. ‘’You know we’ll try, Coach, but no promises. Kevin has been itchy to get his hands on him the entire weekend—’’

Before Nicky could even finish the last sentence, Kevin elbowed him — ignored the startled ’Ow’ — and went to stand behind Wymack. The Coach finally raised his head to look at him, and the two of them had some strange interaction consisting of a wordless conversation and nodding, that Tim couldn’t decipher even if he tried.

‘’Don’t I have a say in this? ‘’ Tim asked, more so for conversation’s sake, than actual refusal.

Kevin turned to look at him, face devoid of any of the usual politeness present in his pictures and interviews, and said curtly.

‘’No.’’

Then turned around and walked out of the room, fully expecting for them to follow him.

‘’Hey, Tim, right? it’s nice to meet you,’’ Nicky said, turning to address him.’’I know this is kind of abrupt, but it’s better if we go after him. The more time we take, the more unbearable he’ll be.’’

Resigning himself to the current unfolding of events, Tim nodded in agreement and set to gather his things. After they got out of the apartment building, Nicky led them to an expensive looking car in the parking lot. Leaning against the driver’s door was Andrew, and next to him was Neil Josten, the two of them passing back and forth a cigarette. Kevin was presumably already in the car. Tim wondered if Andrew would protest to him getting in what was obviously his car, but he didn’t even spare him a glance.

The first few minutes while they all got into the car and pulled up on the already familiar road to the court were spent in complete silence. Tim noted that, although Wymack had told him that all the cousins plus Kevin and Neil stayed here for the summer, Aaron Minyard was currently missing from their group. It wasn’t until they were halfway through the way that Nicky tried to start a conversation, and Tim was surprised it had taken him this long — he seemed like a guy who had a hard time staying silent — but the radio of the car got turned to a volume that made his attempts impossible.

Finally, they got to the parking lot of the court. Tim followed the group, even though he already knew the layout of the massive building. It wasn’t until Nicky started explaining how things stood and worked to him that he stopped him.

‘’I’ve been here already, I borrowed keys from Wymack and explored the stadium.’’

‘’Then we don’t need to waste anymore time, let’s play,’’ cut in Kevin.

And so they went to the locker room to change. The entirety of Tim’s gear was already in his locker, and he briefly considered the number given to him on his uniform before changing into it. Last year, The Foxes had the numbers from 1-10, and now that they’ve nearly doubled their line, they expanded to 1-17, with Tim getting the 17. Of course.

With all of them ready, sans Andrew who got lost somewhere before they even reached the locker rooms, they spilled onto the court. Kevin started them on some drills that were unfamiliar to Tim, but not so much to the others. In the next thirty minutes, Tim came to see Kevin’s true nature on the court — a relentless and impossible to be satisfied by anything perfectionist (asshole). He didn’t want to be that harsh towards someone he had just met, but after the third time Kevin tore into him about incorrectly executing a tricky pass, Tim considered the idea of sending the next ball towards his helmet. He didn’t, but it was tempting.

When they finally took a break, Nicky, sweaty and clearly exhausted but still smiling, approached him first.

‘’It’s funny isn’t it, how fast your impression of ‘Kevin Day - the star of Exy’ changes once you get on the court with him.’’

Tim, who didn’t know who Kevin was until a couple of months ago, and didn’t like forming his opinion on people solely on their media presence, said nothing. Nicky, not deterred by the lack of an answer, continued on, telling him about the first few practices Kevin attended as an assistant coach, and what a disaster they were. At some point he stopped in the middle of a sentence, and Tim turned to see the reason why — Neil approaching them.

‘’You are using a heavy, right?’’ Neil nodded towards Tim’s racquet. ‘’Why? I mean, I know the advantages, but I’ve never met anyone who started using them while still in high school.’’

Indeed, Tim’s counterpart was using lighter racquets for playing, but Tim, having been used to the steady weight of a bō staff for years, found that he was much more comfortable and proficient with heavier racquets, so he switched to them.

‘’The weight has never been an issue for me, and I like how much more power you can put in your shots with them.’’ Tim answered him.

‘’At least that’s one thing you won’t have to unlearn and relearn,’’ remarked Kevin, who had also joined them.

And then Neil and Kevin fell in a conversation about the benefits and disadvantages each racquet type had.

Shortly after, they resumed practice. The first few minutes proceeded normally, but then the court’s door opened, and Andrew walked in full gear, sans the helmet. He took up his position by the goal and started tapping his racquet against the floor. Judging by the surprised reactions of everyone around him, Tim assumed that nobody had expected him to participate in more than driving them to the stadium. Nonetheless, Kevin quickly changed their drills, so they could use the role of the goalkeeper.

After fifteen minutes of playing, Tim could tell that Andrew was targeting him. No matter who shot at the goal, Andrew always deflected it towards Tim, either towards his ankles trying to trip him up, or towards the gaps of his armor. Kevin and Neil quickly caught on to what he was doing, but didn’t say anything beyond their slightly grim expressions, which led Tim to think this wasn’t particularly unusual behavior for Andrew.

In the end, it was Nicky who said something, shouting over the distance.

‘’Come on, Andrew, there’s no need to take it out on the new guy. He hasn’t done anything.’’

Andrew’s response was to send the next ball to Nicky’s shins, which he dodged with a squawk.

Deciding that enough was enough, Tim said loudly, ‘’It’s fine.’’

Then, on the next returned shot, Tim caught the ball, calculated his steps and took in account all the information he got from the previous times Andrew defended the goal, and let the ball fly. It missed the goalie’s racquet by a centimeter, and went in to light up the goal red.

The following silence on the court was more deafening than any possible sound could be. Nicky was nearly gaping at him, while Kevin and Neil were still looking towards the goal. Andrew himself was blankly staring at the space where his racquet should have stopped the ball. He didn’t look like he particularly cared about it, just like he didn’t seem to care about the game at all, but something like an unwelcome surprise went through his expression for all of a second before it was gone.

The quietness was broken only by Nicky’s ‘’Did that just happen?’’

And that went unanswered. After a couple of seconds, things began to move. They finished whatever was left of their impromptu practice, albeit at a slightly more awkward pace, and went through the aftermath of showers and changing. When they finally dropped Tim off at Wymack’s building, the atmosphere was slightly less strained than before, but there was still a notion of tension in the air.

Tim ignored it, and said to them that it had been a good practice.

Chapter Text

The next two weeks went by quickly, with the early practices Tim got roped into taking quite a good amount of that time. Before he realized, June 9th had come, and all the Foxes were moving back in for the start of the summer practice.

When he was faced with the fact of moving to the dorms, and the even graver aspect — roommates — Tim reconsidered his entire decision to come here. It wasn’t like he didn’t know he was going to share a dorm, he knew, but knowing things were going to happen and they actually happening were two different things. Tim should know, he was a master of knowing a lot of information and ignoring it right until the moment it came back to bite him in the ass. It was just that, without counting crashing at Wymack’s palace, Tim had gotten used to being alone for a very long time now. Even before he got stuck here, he had just gotten back to Gotham after searching around the world for Bruce, and that was one of the loneliest and most miserable months of his life. And now he had share his living space with two other people in a tiny college dorm.

The last time he remembered having roommates was when his father shipped him off to Brentwood Academy at fifteen, hoping to raise his grades. Tim was glad that at least this time there was a small chance of one of his roommates ending up a member of a snake cult.

He was supposed to share a dorm with the upperclassmen Matt Boyd and Aaron Minyard. Having the advantage of being here before them, with Matt away for the summer and Aaron spending the last two weeks of it with his girlfriend, Nicky had informed him, Tim moved into the Fox Tower first. The dorm was just slightly above his expectations of what it was going to be like. Moving his things and finding them a place was easy, since he didn’t have a lot. Tim had purposely been keeping both his possessions and presence low in this place, he had no intention of staying here forever. His clothes went into drawers, and the backpack with his laptop on the desk, and finally the most important thing — his suitcase.

Despite the fact that when Tim woke up on this Earth he was in a younger body, he still had his Red Robin uniform on. Or, at least whatever remained of it. At places it was charred and burnt, and at others the material had completely disintegrated, leaving strange patterns around it, but the entirety of the suit was preserved. If he had to guess, the damage was from the ominous magic blast he got hit with. His belt, on the other hand, was intact besides some scratches. Tim was happy to report to Bruce, once he returned, that while the material of their suits wasn’t dimensional-travel-friendly, their gadgets were. Since then, he had restored what he could in the suit, replaced the color in places so it garnered less attention when he still went out in it, and found a compatible and easy suitcase to store all of his gear.

And that suitcase he stuffed in one of the drawers under the singular bed. He wasn’t worried about somebody finding it, because even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to open it. The outer shell of it was titanium alloy, the inner layer kevlar, and it had a digital lock. Even if somebody brought a sledge hammer, they still wouldn’t have been able to open it, only damage its contents slightly. It was a pricey investment, but it was worth it. Tim just hoped his roommates wouldn’t mind that he was taking the only singular bed.

After that he went to settle on the table in the living room, taking out an overflowing journal. It was here that Tim wrote everything he knew about traveling between parallel Earths and dimensions, and tried to outline solutions and ideas on how to get back. He focused on his research to pass the time, and this was how one of his future roommates found him, half an hour later.

The door opened without a knock, and a guy with a spiky haircut, whom he recognized from pictures online as Matt, walked in, carrying way too many boxes at once.

Upon registering his presence, Matt’s expression brightened, and he extended a hand for a handshake after setting down the boxes.

‘’Hey, you must be Tim, right? I’m Matt, it’s nice to meet you!’’

Tim returned the handshake and the greeting, at least one of his roommates was going to be easy-going.

Matt looked around the room before asking, ‘’Have you unpacked already?’’

‘’Yeah, I didn’t have that much stuff.’’

‘’Really,’’ Matt remarked, then continued, ‘’Well, I wish I could say the same, but I’ve got to make at least seven more trips to the parking lot and back.’’

‘’Do you want help?’’ Tim didn’t have anything specific that he had to do at the moment, and making a good first impression never hurt.

‘’I won’t decline if you’re offering.‘’

And so the two of them started bringing things back to the apartment, while making small talk. During this time Tim had the opportunity to shake the dust of his people skills. It wasn’t like the last two weeks he hadn’t spoken with the rest of his teammates, he did, but it was mostly about Exy, and of course there was Nicky, but with him he was doing more listening than talking.

‘’So, how have the Monsters been treating you since you’ve been here?’’ Matt asked him, while they were carrying a big box up the stairs.

‘’The Monsters?’’ Tim asked back, with a raised eyebrow.

‘’Andrew’s group,’’ he clarified. ’’We all know how they can be, trust me, and last year they didn’t exactly welcome Neil with open arms, even if things got better after that.’’

Tim could see why some people would have conflicted opinions about the group, with Andrew’s actions and history, Kevin’s character, and Neil’s family history, but he thought the nickname Monsters was more than a little overboard. Maybe it was because his idea of a monster was so much worse than a college student with a history of violence and a shitty attitude.

‘’They were fine,’’ he answered.

Matt didn’t bother hiding his skepticism, ‘’Are you sure?’’

‘’I’m sure.’’

‘’Well, if you say so.’’ He still didn’t sound convinced, but dropped the matter.

After twenty minutes they were done with carrying all the things upstairs, and took a break before the unpacking started. It was at this time that the door opened once more and another person walked in.

Matt smiled at the newcomer and greeted him just as warmly as he had Tim.

‘’Welcome back, Aaron! How was your summer?’’

Aaron Minyard paused upon seeing them, and Tim took the time to observe him. For all that they nearly looked identical, Andrew and his brother couldn’t have carried themselves more differently. Andrew’s body language was blank, trying to suppress every single emotion and intent, but never completely at ease. Aaron, on the other hand, came across as cautious but not closed off, he made no effort to hide what he was feeling, and dared anyone to call him on it.

‘’Good.’’ Aaron answered. His gaze was stuck on Tim, and it wasn’t particularly friendly.

Matt saw where he was looking and introduced them. ‘’This is Tim, he helped me bring my stuff up.’’

‘’Why are we the only ones who got stuck with a freshman?’’

‘’Come on, don’t be like that, dude.’’ Matt responded, and his tone told Tim that this wasn’t the first time they were having this conversation. ‘’You know there wasn’t enough room with the other freshmen, and Tim’s nice.’’

Aaron muttered out a disinterested whatever, before disappearing into the bedroom.

‘’Don’t pay him attention, it takes him time to get used to people.’’ Matt turned to address Tim.

Tim just nodded, he really didn’t care if Aaron liked him or not.

After that they fell into relative silence while Matt worked on unpacking his things. It wasn’t until a while later that quietness was broken again.

‘’By the way, I promised Abby to give you a lift to the stadium before I go pick up the girls, for your physical. You know about that right?’’

Indeed, he knew. Tim did a thorough research on everything that playing for the Foxes would entail, before he signed the contract. He can’t say he was looking forward to being poked by an unfamiliar medical professional, but there was no way around it if he wanted to play. May as well get it over with.

Fifteen minutes later, Matt dropped him off at the parking lot in the stadium. Tim headed directly towards Abby Winfield’s office, letting himself in after knocking on the door and receiving an answer.

‘’Hello, Tim. I assume you’re here for your physical?’’ Abby greeted him from behind her desk.

This wasn’t the first time that they met, Abby often dropped by Wymack’s palace for one reason or another. Tim’s read of her was a kind and genuine person who loved doing her job.

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Okay, let’s begin then.’’

Abby did a variety of basic stuff like taking his weight, height, blood, and texting his reflexes. All things considering, it was less invasive than the tests they had to run regularly back at the cave. Tim thought they were done, but Abby stopped him.

‘’One last thing, take your shirt off please.’’

Tim stared at her. It wasn’t hard to figure out the reason why this was part of the exam, with a team like the Foxes it wasn’t surprising that some of its members would be involved with drugs. Still, it wasn’t like Tim could just take off his shirt. Years of crime fighting had turned his body into a map of violence that had no beginning or end, and while he had long accepted that as a part of the job, he knew that a normal person would definitely have questions. He toyed with the edge of his shirt, thinking about how to proceed.

Abby, seeing his hesitance, tried to reassure him.

‘’Tim, whatever happens in this room stays here. I just want help, and make sure you healthy.’’

He had already come all this way, done all kinds of things that he probably shouldn’t have. What was one more?

‘’Just don’t… panic. It looks worse than it is.’’ Tim tried to prepare her at least a little bit.

And then, fully realizing that this was probably going to end up being a mistake, he took off his shirt.

The following silence, while completely expected, was still awkward as hell. Tim fidgeted with the shirt in his hand while Abby’s shocked expression swept over his body. Any competent medical practitioner could recognize a scar from a bullet wound, and besides those, Tim had plenty of other strange ones, courtesy of numerous fights with metahumans and people who liked to use very strange things as weapons.

So, he was taking a gamble here, either she would keep this to herself, or not, and then he would have to deal with consequences. Suddenly, for a second he was glad Bruce wasn’t here, he would have been not pleased with reckless choices Tim had been making lately.

Finally, Abby tore her gaze from his body.

‘’Tim,’’ she began, then stopped, as if expecting him to interrupt her.

‘’Yes?’’

Several complicated emotions went through her expression before she asked.

‘’Are you in danger?’’

Not an unreasonable assumption considering everything, but still not the question he expected.

‘’No.’’

Clearly, she didn’t believe him.

‘’These,’’ Abby said, motioning towards his scars, her voice strained, ‘’weren’t accidents.’’

‘’No,’’ he agreed, deciding it was pointless to come up with some ridiculous excuse that she wouldn’t believe anyway. ’’But they also aren’t your concern. They’ve got nothing to do with whether or not I can play Exy.’’

And at that he showed her his forearms, clearly devoid of the track marks she wanted to check for. She looked like she wanted to continue the conversation, but decided against it.

The rest of the exam went by quickly. Before he left the office, Abby called out to him.

‘’I want you to know, if you are in trouble, if you need help with anything, we are here. Me, Coach Wymack, Dr Dobson, and we will do anything within our power to help.’’

‘’I’ll keep that in mind.’’ He responded, but didn’t mean it. Tim wouldn’t willingly ask for help even if he was actively being held at gunpoint.

After leaving the stadium, he didn’t immediately head towards the dorms, and instead took off in a random direction. By the time he got home, it was a little bit after ten. He exchanged a couple words with Matt, before heading to the bedroom crash in his bed. Sleep, for once, came to him easy.

Chapter Text

The next morning found Tim at 08:05 at the lounge in the stadium, sipping a coffee and waiting for the rest of the team to gather.

Technically, there was still half an hour before the first official gathering of the team started, so the only other people there beside him were Wymack and Dan. This was the first time Tim had the opportunity to meet with the Foxes’ captain, and they had a short conversation before Wymack called her away to discuss something.

Tim was looking forward to seeing how she led an unruly team like the Foxes.

Slowly, the team gathered. The cousins’ group came together, followed by Matt with Allison and Renee, the only other upperclassmen. Finally, the last of the new members dragged themselves to the lounge, and the meeting started.

‘’Listen up, Foxes, because we have a lot to get through, and I won’t be repeating myself. First, we have a lot of new faces this year.’’ Wymack began.

Then he proceeded to list the names and positions of all the new additions to the team, asking after each one if they wanted to say something or introduce themselves. Most of them declined, including Tim.

‘’Second, as you all may or may not know, last year we had a lot of accidents on campus, so all the protective measures and increased security are still in effect. Before the semester starts, we’ll go over everything you should and shouldn’t do, and no, you can’t skip it just because you’ve heard the lecture already.’’

There was some complaining at that, mainly from Nicky and Allison.

‘’And last, Abby tells me that you all have somewhat managed to get through your physicals before our meeting, which is a first, so we don’t have to waste today with that. Good job, I guess. So, does anybody have questions, comments, or concerns?

Wymack looked around the room, waiting to see if someone would speak up, but it was clear everyone on the team would rather get outside and play already than stay here and talk more.

‘’Alright then. Change and hit the court.’’

The team began to disperse, with everyone heading towards their respective locker rooms. Tim moved to follow, but was stopped by Wymack’s call.

‘’Tim, wait up a little bit.’’

His teammates gave him curious looks as they passed him by, but didn’t say anything. In Tim’s experience, It was never good news when someone got singled out. His first thought, of course, was that it was about his physical exam, that Abby had betrayed his confidence and talked. An assumption that only got stronger with the nurse’s presence next to the coach.

‘’Is there a problem, coach?’’ Tim asked.

Abby was the one who answered.

‘’Not necessarily a problem, but the results from your blood test showed some unusual information.’’ She explained with a clear and professional tone, all the tension and worry from yesterday nonexistent. ’’Your platelet count is a bit too high. Now, this on its own isn’t a serious issue, but I’d like to run a few more tests to make sure there isn’t a more dangerous underlying condition behind it.’’

Tim was proven wrong, Abby had kept her word, but the subject of this conversation was almost worse. This wasn’t a thing he even thought about yesterday, nevermind mention it, but of course it would show up in his test results. Now, he had no choice if he wanted to avoid subjecting himself to more tests, and possibly getting held back from playing.

‘’There’s no need for more tests. I know what the cause is.’’

If Abby was surprised by the fact, she didn’t show it. ’’Oh, okay then. Can you tell us the reason?’’

Tim tried to think of a way his confession wouldn’t sound too bad, then gave up and just said.

‘’I don’t have a spleen.’’

This was one of those things that surprised Tim, when he learned it. He had assumed, with waking up in a younger, and supposedly not his, body, that at least this particular injury wouldn’t be present, but just as with the scars, this wasn’t the case. He had run tests of his own, under a fake name in a local hospital, a few weeks after he got here.

It was a good few seconds before anybody reacted.

From Abby came a startled, ‘’I’m sorry?’’

Wymack’s response was, ‘’The fuck do you mean you don’t have a spleen?’’

Tim, feeling uncomfortable under the intensity of their attention, shrugged.

‘’I lost it.’’

‘’This isn’t your freaking wallet, kid, it's not something you can just loose.’’ Wymack was pacing the room now, his tone was the one he used when he thought one of his Foxes had done something particularly stupid. This was the first time it was directed at Tim.

Abby’s expression had gone a shade paler, and she launched into questioning him.

‘’Tim, why didn’t you mention that yesterday? This isn’t a thing you should hide from me, it’s a very serious condition. When did it happen? How?’’

‘’It slipped my mind, I’m sorry,’’ Tim tried to calm the situation.’’I got injured years ago, and I’m fine now. I have been informed of all the dangers and complications I’m exposed to, and I’ve been taking all the necessary protective measures.’’ Well, most of them.

At the word injured, Abby’s expression went grim, probably thinking about how it wasn’t a one time thing that happened. Still, she didn’t mention any of that and instead said.

‘’That’s good, but again, I need to know these things, Tim.’’ Her tone had gone from shocked to nearly scolding at her last words. ‘’I would need to add it to your file. Do you have any medical notes from your doctor about the surgery and aftercare? Any prescriptions about antibiotics?’’

Tim didn’t have any documents or information he could provide regarding the splenectomy he underwent because:

A) He isn’t on his own Earth.
B) Even if he was, the surgery was performed by a ninja in a cave in the middle of the desert.

‘’Yes, but they are at my Uncle’s house. I’ll tell him to send them, but it may take some time.’’

Which in reality meant that Tim had a couple of days to forge said documents.

‘’Please do. Now, on the matter of you playing, I would feel better If I had all of your medical history before letting you do.’’

This was what Tim had expected Abby would say once she learned, so since the beginning of the conversation he had been preparing the arguments in his mind.

‘’Yesterday you declared me healthy and able to play.’’

‘’Yes, but yesterday I didn’t know you had a condition that makes you immuno-compromised. You know how easy it is to get injured on the court, and all it takes is one infection.’’

‘’I’ve been playing Exy for years. I’ve gotten hurt, but it has never gotten infected. I know what I’m doing, please.’’ None of that was exactly true, but she definitely didn’t need to know that.

Abby bit her lip, as she considered him. Perhaps she knew this fight would be more pointless than fruitful, because she finally sighed and agreed.

‘’Fine, but on one condition. If I decide you need to stop, you stop, no questions, no arguments.’’

He hadn’t been expecting any less.

‘’Deal.’’

Wymack, who had been watching the entire exchange silently, spoke up.

‘’You better mean that, because if you don’t, I’ll haul you off the field myself.‘’

Tim didn’t say, you can try, and instead nodded.

‘’Go now, you’re free.’’

And Tim went. With everyone already on the court, he had the locker room to himself and the process of changing clothes was easier and faster. By the time Tim walked out on the court, a good twenty minutes had passed since the beginning of the practice. He easily joined the lines of his teammates who were running laps to warm up.

After the laps and exercises, the team split off in groups and they started doing drills. Tim watched as Jack, the other new striker, went from following Kevin’s every movement with star-struck like expression, to audibly clenching his teeth every time Kevin opened his mouth to shout at him for doing a drill wrong, in the span of thirty minutes. Nicky was right, it was a little impressive. Tim had been training with Kevin for weeks now, so he was used to his attitude, but he didn’t think Jack would take much more before he snapped. And It really didn’t help that besides barking orders and criticism at the rookies, Kevin spared more attention on Neil, who Jack apparently hated for no other reason than simply existing.

After Jack correctly executed a pass, and Kevin saw it but didn’t otherwise react, the hot-headed striker threw a ball into the plexiglass wall and stalked forward.

‘’Fuck this. Why should I even bother?’’

Kevin looked back at him impassively.

‘’What do you want me to do, cheer and clap every time you correctly do something you should have learnt yesterday?’’

The two got locked in a glaring contest, before Jack cursed again and stalked off the court.

‘’He’s a child, he’ll come back.’’ Kevin wasn’t even looking at his departure.

He did come back, but only a handful of minutes before practice ended. Wymack blew his whistle to signal the end and they all headed towards the showers and locker rooms. Tim was drenched in sweat, but there was truly nothing more disgusting than sweating in kevlar, especially when it was raining, or when you were covered in vomit, so it didn’t bother him that much. After he was done, he thought he could catch a ride with Matt, but once again got cornered by Abby, who apparently wasn’t done with him — she just thought that Tim would be more cooperative after practice. Tim had to admit, even if he was annoyed at someone prying this much in his business, it was obvious it was because Abby cared about her job and was good at it. He spent the next thirty minutes in her office, answering her questions and sitting through a lecture. Matt and the girls were kind enough to wait for him. It wasn’t until they were seated at some pizza place, that their curiosity won and Allison asked him.

‘’So, are you going to tell us what that was about?’’

Tim took a sip of his iced tea, in an act of casualness before answering.

‘’It was nothing, the results from my bloodwork had something strange about them so she wanted to run them again.’’ Not quite a truth, not quite a lie.

The next day, while Abby was giving a thorough lecture about the importance of not hiding any injuries and the dangers of infections, Tim was trying to avoid the looks pointed his way by looking at the wall.

Matt, seated next to him, whispered with a laugh.

‘’Nothing, huh?’’

After that, not wanting to receive another lecture about what was healthy by a man who was obsessed with Exy to a psychologically worrying degree, Tim tried to avoid Kevin for the entirety of the following practice, only to run in Dan.

-

The next few weeks passed by quickly as the team tried to work out the dynamics between the new and old players. The key word being tried. Tim didn’t know if it was because of the seven new additions to an otherwise small team, or if the Foxes had always been like this, but there was more fighting than playing on the court. Tim had been part of dysfunctional teams before, namely the Teen Titans, where there were so many contrary members, and during the times of a world-ending crisis, where multiple people who couldn’t stand to be in the same room with each other had to work together. But this was something else, Tim didn’t know how the team had managed to win the championships last year. He certainly didn’t envy Dan for her position. Maybe it was because with other superheroes and vigilanties, all of them had the same goal in the end — helping people.

Here the goal was playing Exy? Honestly, he wasn’t sure anymore, some of his teammates played as if they couldn’t care less about it.

It was clear from the beginning that within the team there were groups. The cousins with Neil and Kevin; Dan, Renee, Allison and Matt; sometimes Neil and Nicky with Matt and the girls. As the weeks went by, groups formed within the new members too. The always moody striker Jack and Sheena, a backliner, formed a tight and very loud and disruptive duo. Silas and Lyle, a backliner and defensive dealer respectively, were another duo, sometimes joined by Mara, the offensive dealer. Aaliyah, the goalie recruit, kept mostly to herself, just like Tim. But when faced with the older members of the team, all of the freshmen were a united front, save for Tim. He couldn’t blame them, you could see that even though not all of the upperclassmen got along, they all shared some sort of unspoken trust that they didn’t extend to the new members.

Before he knew it, it was July 19th, his birthday.

Tim found himself beginning the day by sitting at the rooftop of the Fox Tower at 01:15 in the morning.

This wasn’t the first time he wound up here in the middle of the night. His chaotic sleep schedule meant he was often awake while his roommates were asleep, so to not bother them, he often ended up here. He sat on the edge of the rooftop, his legs swinging in the air, as he looked towards the scenery in front of him.

He turned twenty today. Except in this place he was turning eighteen.

Eighteen. That age once seemed so impossible for him to reach once. Being seventeen felt like an entire decade. It felt like no matter how many disastrous things happened, no matter how many people he lost, he was never going to escape it. He would be just Tim Drake-Wayne, seventeen for an eternity.

But then he had turned eighteen, and it had been such an anti-claimactic event, and he was an entire dimension away from anybody who might have cared about it.

The time since then in comparison has been empty and felt like quicksand.

Tim lifted one hand in front of his face to stare at it. He had that dream again yesterday, the one of Dick reaching out to take his hand. Only if he had reached it.

Suddenly, he heard the door to the rooftop moving. It was an old and broken thing, so it was impossible to not to make noise when you opened it. Tim knew that other people came here as well, the evidence being the cigarette ash he sometimes found on the floor before it got swept by the wind, but he had never run into anyone. It looked like that was about the change.

Before he could turn around a voice called out.

‘’What are you doing?’’ There was a note of alarm in the question.

Tim recognized the voice and relaxed, it was just Neil. By this point, both of them had had numerous conversations, even if most of them revolved around Exy. He wasn’t surprised it was him up here, Tim had seen him and Andrew share cigarettes more than a few times.

‘’Stargazing,’’ Tim replied after turning to face him.

Neil raised a disbelieving brow at him. ‘’From the edge of the rooftop?’’

Tim knew what a scene like this could look like to somebody, and he lightly shook his head at the thought, an involuntary smile coming up on his face.

‘’I won’t fall.’’ He told Neil with certainty. Bruce may have been the first one to teach him how to use a grapple hook and jump between buildings, but Dick was the one who taught him how to fly.

Besides, even if he did fall, there were at least six places on the way down from this building where he could catch himself before gravity dislocated his shoulders.

‘’Can’t say I’m sorry that I don’t believe you. Any tendencies I should report to Wymack about?’’

‘’Isn’t this technically more of Dr Dobson’s territory?’’ Tim referred to the Foxes’ mandatory psychiatrist, a person he was decidedly trying to not think about.

Neil made an unpleasant expression at the name and ignored his question.

‘’You know, you can also stargaze a meter away from the quite possible chance of falling.’’

Tim’s smart response to that was, ‘’I like heights.’’

‘’Really,’’ was the flat statement he got.

Tim’s mouth twitched up,’’It’s an acquired taste, I know. My brother passed it to me.’’ He didn’t know why he said that last part.

Neil’s face was neutral as he spoke,’’I didn’t know you had a brother.’’

A flash of hurt, sudden and sharp, seized him at that. Yeah, he wouldn't because Tim didn’t talk about himself. Part of it was an inconvenience, he couldn’t talk much about people who didn’t exist here before it got complicated. The other part though… Tim didn’t know. The pain was gone in seconds but the taste of it lingered as he answered.

‘’It’s complicated.’’

Neil did a strange nod at that, as if to say It always is.

Tim didn’t say, I’ve never seen anybody else more comfortable at twenty feet in the air than on solid ground, or, he was a boy that should have been born a bird, about Dick. No, he instead took the silence that followed to turn the questioning towards Neil.

‘’Anyway, what are you doing here so late?’’

Neil shifted at that, remembering his original purpose for coming here before he got distracted.

‘’I was coming back from night practice, before I realized I had lost one of my keys. This is the place where I was earlier.’’

So the key had been his. Tim had noticed it when he first came here, the metal weakly reflecting the moonlight on the ground, and put it in his pocket. He was going to ask around the dorm for its owner tomorrow. Now he dug it out and threw it at Neil.

He caught it. ‘’Thanks.’’

Then Tim asked, ‘’Night practice?’’

Neil nodded and explained with a single word, ‘’Kevin.’’

Tim grimaced at that, yeah that was definitely healthy. Though, he didn’t really have the right to say that, considering how he spent, or used to spend, his nights.

‘’Practising three times a day, when do you sleep?’’

‘’I could ask you the same thing.’’

Tim shrugged at that, ‘’Fair.’’

Neil looked towards the door, then at Tim, before saying, ‘’I’m going to go.’’

‘’See you tomorrow.’’

And then the rooftop door creaked once more, and Tim was alone again.

It was a few more hours before he decided to go back to his dorm.

Once he let himself in with the key and turned to lock the door again, a startled yell came from behind him.

‘’Shit! Tim, dude, i like you, but please make some more noise when you are walking!’’ Matt exclaimed behind him, startled.

Tim was surprised to see him awake at such a late, or early really, hour.

‘’Sorry,’’ he offered.

‘’It’s fine,’’ Matt sighed.

They didn’t speak much after that. Matt didn’t ask him why he was awake at this time, or where he was. That’s a thing Tim liked about him, he respected boundaries.

Tim headed directly towards his bed, hoping to catch the few hours of sleep he had left before practice tomorrow.

-

Despite it being his birthday, his day started and continued as normal. And why wouldn’t it, it’s not like he told anyone. It wasn’t until they were done with practice for the day, that he noticed something was amiss. Usually, he and Neil were either the last or first ones to be done with showering and chaining out of their uniforms, due to the refusal to do it around others. This time Tim was the last one, but when he got to the locker room it was completely empty, it was highly unlikely that everyone had left already, so he headed towards the lounge.
When he entered, somebody cheered.

‘’Surprise!’’

In front of him, the majority of the team was gathered, minus few of the freshmen and cousins. Matt, standing in the center, was holding a cupcake with a stick decoration spelling out Happy Birthday! poked into it. A part of the team, most likely the organizers of this, wore warm expressions and were smiling, but Tim could detect some nervousness, probably about his reaction.

Dan, standing next to Matt, started speaking first. ‘’First, Happy birthday, Tim! Second, I’m sorry we did this without asking you, I know you might have not wanted anything, and it’s completely fine if that’s the case. I just knew the date of your birthday from your file, and we wanted to at least do something small.‘’

Tim didn’t know how to react. He looked at them for a few seconds, before realizing they probably will think he was unhappy about this, so he moved to accept the cupcake and say,

‘’It’s fine. Thank you.’’

If his response was a little bit off, nobody said anything about it.

Instead Allison came forward with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

‘’We were talking about going to a pub tonight. You are coming, right?’’ She asked her question like she already had decided his answer.

A refusal was at the top of his tongue, but he stopped himself at the last moment. Would it really be that bad? This was the first time he had anybody to even acknowledge his birthday since he got stuck, and he was going to refuse the opportunity to what? Be alone and brood all evening. He already had plenty of time to do that.

‘’Yes, I’ll come.’’

An hour later, they were at a half-pizza, half-pub joint near campus. The team around him didn’t make him the center of attention, or dragged him in conversation he showed no interest in. They chatted, and some drank, but the atmosphere was light and pleasant.

Chapter Text

Before Tim realized, the start of the semester was right around the corner, and with that came the first mandatory therapy appointment for the entire team with the Foxes’ psychiatrist, Betsy Dobson.

Or in other words, a thing Tim has been trying very hard to not think about.

The week before the semester started, Wymack paired each freshman with an upperclassman — first, to ensure they wouldn’t get lost, and second, to ensure they wouldn't try to skip — and sent the pairs one by one during practice hours. Tim somehow got paired with Allison, and the ride to Reddin Medical Centre was nothing if not interesting.

She kept asking him a variety of questions, some of which purposely bordered on inappropriate, and when he either deflected or his answer was deemed unsatisfactory, she only tried harder. Any other time, Tim wouldn’t have appreciated this conversation, but right now this was better than what was about to follow. When they finally reached the building, Allison led them directly to Dr Dobson’s office. After she knocked, a middle-aged woman emerged.

On first look, she looked friendly enough, with a warm smile on her face, and appearance quite different from the usual psychiatrists and the like Tim had met over the years. Granted, most of them were criminals, so the difference was to be expected.

She greeted them,

‘’Hello, Allison! And you must be Timothy, It’s very nice to meet you.’’

‘’Just Tim,’’ he answered her, while returning the handshake.

‘’Alright. Which one of you wants to go first?

Tim looked back at Allison who she shook her head.

‘’What, I’ll go in first and leave you here, giving you the chance to disappear? No chance, you going in first, rookie.’’

And this is how he found himself in Dobson’s office, sitting on a couch and drinking hot cocoa of all things, while he considered the person before him.

Tim had an ingrained distrust for people possessing a psychology degree that had grown in him over the years, on account of how many times one of them had tried to kill him.

He knew it wasn’t a wholly rational belief, but he couldn’t help it. Every time he was in a room with one such person, be it a trained school counselor or a deranged psychopath, and they started talking, he got goosebumps. It wasn’t fear, more like just preservational instincts. And it wasn’t like he thought Betsy Dobson was going to turn out to be the next Harley Quinn or Hugo Strange, but still, you never know.

The first five minutes after they sat down were spent in silence while they nursed their drinks, until Betsy finally decided to break it.

‘’As you know, this isn’t a formal session. Today we are here just to get to know each other, so you don’t have to worry about what you say. Have you seen a counselor before?’’

Tim has, when he was forced to see one by his school for his bad grades, falling asleep in class, and skipping, but he didn’t say any of that to her. Instead what came out of his mouth was,

‘’I feel like I lost a bet.’’

Because this is what it felt like. It wasn’t exactly a novelty that Tim, and by proxy his entire family, may have benefited from some sort of therapy over the years. And it really wasn’t a surprise, that any of them would rather get shot in the foot than ever admit that, never mind actually do it. Alfred had tried with Bruce, when he was little, and look how that ended up. So being here, and doing this, even if he had no choice, felt like he was losing an unspoken bet on who out of their family would first subject themselves to therapy.

‘’Oh, can I ask why would you feel like that?’’

Yeah, Tim was definitely never going to mention any of this when he got back.

‘’It doesn’t matter.’’ He shook his head at her question.

‘’Okay,’’ Betsy didn’t press on the matter. ‘’Tell me a bit about yourself, Tim. Where are you from?’’

Tim smiled at that question, ‘’You wouldn’t have heard of it.’’

‘’I admit I’m not the best with places, so I’ll take your word for it. Are you excited for the start of the season?’’

Very generic, harmless questions to begin building some kind of rapport. Maybe Betsy really just wanted to do her job and help the various Foxes with whatever problems they decided to trust her with, but Tim had no intention of doing that. He was here because he had to be, but at least he could try and get something out of this. After all, this was one of the three people who worked closely with the team, and he wondered if he could get some kind of information from her that would confirm his suspicions about what really happened last year.

‘’I am, but I’m also apprehensive about it.’’

‘’That’s normal, excitement and fear often go together. What worries you the most?’’

Tim chose his words carefully.

‘’Well, obviously last year the Foxes won the championship, and I believe we can do it again, but there were so many accidents and even fatalities. This year the team is probably going to be under even more of the spotlight, and I’m worried about what’s going to happen.’’

While Tim was researching the Foxes, he found out it was impossible to not look into the Ravens too, and the things he discovered were more than a little concerning. Everything about the Edgar Allan’s Exy team was by design, and it was done with such precision that it was obvious somebody with considerable wealth and influence was behind it. The obvious answer was Tetsuji Moriyama, one of the creators of Exy, but even he didn’t have the power to arrange some of the shadier things Tim found about the team. That led him to Tetsuji’s brother, the late Kengo Moriyama, and this is where things got really interesting.

Kengo Moriyama’s company, now operated by his son, was a textbook example of a front for a criminal enterprise. One very successful at that, Tim found little evidence present digitally, but what he found was enough. The signs were obvious to somebody who knew what to look for.

That is why he thought that the Moriyama family might be connected to the Japanese Mafia, and all the things the Foxes experienced last year might have not been simply accidents. Riko Moriyama, even though he was a second son and therefore of the branch family, would have had enough pull to make that happen. And judging his character by the few interviews Tim had watched of him, he probably did.

If the Foxes knew all about that, it may explain the distance between them and the freshmen, and the awkward silence that always followed after somebody asked about the events of last year.

Betsy hummed thoughtfully at his answer.

‘’These are valid concerns. While we can’t always guarantee what is going to happen, I think it’s important to keep a hopeful outlook for the future. I have a hunch that this year our luck will be better.’’

Even if Dobson knew something, Tim didn’t expect to get a direct answer from her, but her reactions would be telling enough.

He decided to push a bit.

‘’Is it because Riko is dead?’’

Betsy shifted in her seat, the gaze in her eyes becoming more perceptive as she looked at him.

‘’Why would you assume that?’’ There was genuine curiosity in her tone.

‘’Because he was the source of many of the Foxes’ troubles. All the vandalism and hate they received, all the pressure they were put under, it might have not happened if Riko didn’t decide to change districts and establish a rivalry against the Foxes.’’

Betsy hummed again.

‘’A good observation. Certainly a lot of things might have happened differently if Edgar Allan didn’t change districts, but I don’t know if we can contribute this decision solely to him. There must have been other factors to consider for the ERC to accept the change, after all I can't imagine a single player’s wishes having that much influence.’’

Tim smiled.

‘’You’re right. They shouldn’t, should they?’’

Betsy looked at him for a second, then chuckled.

‘’You are very perceptive, Tim. I’m afraid we’ve reached the limit of my understanding about how Exy functions. Would you like to talk about something else?‘’

‘’Sure,’’ Tim let the change of topic happen easily, he wasn’t going to get anything more from her.

‘’How are you feeling about the start of classes approaching? I know how stressful managing both studies and practice can become.’’

‘’I’m sure I’ll figure something out.’’ He had managed school life alongside vigilantism for years. How hard could it be when he had to focus on only one?

‘’What are you studying?’’

‘’Physics.’’

That was something he had put thought into. He could have gone with something like computer science for convenience, but he decided to expand his knowledge in other areas. Specifically, ones that might help him figure out a way to go home.

‘’That’s impressive. Your family must be proud of you.’’

It was a good minute before he answered.

Who knows?

‘’Yeah, they probably are.’’

After trading a few more basic questions and answers the session ended. Tim said It was nice to meet you when exiting the office, and tried to mean it. It wasn’t the worst thing he had experienced by far, and while that was probably due to it being a first, and introductory session, he wasn’t looking to repeat the experience. At least they only needed to do this once a semester.

-

The next week classes started, and the only good thing about it was that now everyone was too busy and tired to fight all the time during practice.

Tim didn’t expect it to last long, especially with the excitement of their first game coming up next Tuesday, so he tried to enjoy it as much as he could. His first day of classes went as normal as it could be, with Wymack releasing them early from morning practice after a lecture about safety measures, and spending the rest of the day moving from class to class. It was almost too normal, which in turn made Tim feel strange. He always knew he wanted to give university a shot at some point, but now that he was actually doing it, albeit under unusual circumstances, it almost felt unreal.

Which is why maybe it was a good thing that something slightly strange happened on his third day.

Tim was on his way out of the Fox Tower, where he stopped after class to drop off books, and ran into a hurried athlete at the exit. The guy, one of the soccer team maybe, cursed as his belongings spilled on the floor from his half-open backpack, and hastily set to gather them. Before Tim could even say sorry, or try to help him, the person was gone. Tim crouched to retrieve the small nondescript packet the athlete had missed on the ground, and would have pursued this further if Matt wasn’t waiting for him in the parking lott. Not eager to be late for Afternoon practice, he stashed the packet in his own bag and resolved to come back to it at a later date.

With their first game mere days away, they were training harder than ever. The first three hours were spent in drills and exercises, and the last two on analyzing their opponent’s games and strategy, the Belmonte Terrapins. By the time Tuesday actually came, the anticipation, both within the team and within the campus itself, was through the roof.

It was a Home game, so they were all gathered in the lounge as Wymack went over the strategy one last time before they stepped out on the court.

‘’Starters: Kevin, Neil, Dan, Matt, Aaron, Renee. And don’t think that just because this year we have more subs you should start more fights or risk injuring yourself doing a stupid play.’’

A series of yes, coach chorused through the room.

‘’I’ll believe it when I see it. Now, get your asses out on the court and show them who we are.’’

The half an hour they had for warm-up drills felt more like ten minutes, and after that everyone got led out of the court. The announcers started listing the players, and both captains met for the coin toss.

As Tim watched Dan go, he thought about how coin tosses for games hadn’t been a thing in Gotham for years.

Finally, the game began.

Tim, from behind the plexiglass wall, watched the scene unfolding before him with complete focus. This was Exy on an entire different level. The first fifteen minutes were a brutal fight for the ball. Kevin managed to get his hands on the ball only to be stopped by his mark, he passed to Dan who passed to Neil, but before he could even try anything he was tackled and the ball flew away. Again and again the possession of the ball changed within seconds while the Terrapins and Foxes fought with each other. At the twenty-minute mark, Neil managed to score the first goal, and the audience exploded with cheers. Two minutes later followed the first yellow card, one of the Terrapin strikers doing an illegal check on Aaron. Aaron was subbed with Nicky and the game continued.

At halftime the score was 4-5, in favor of their opponents. Every goal was fought for with tooth and nail, and the outcome of the game was unclear for everyone.

Shortly after the beginning of the second half, Kevin got injured, and Jack was sent in his place. In reality, Tim was a better player than Jack, a fact the other striker detested since it meant he got more attention from Kevin. But because Abby still had some residual concerns about his health condition, Wymack would send him to play only in no other choice situation. A decision Tim had protested, and was still trying to figure out a way to change their minds.

With Neil and Jack on the court, two people who famously didn’t get along, their offensive line faltered. It wasn’t long before Jack was more intent on fighting with Neil than their opponents, and the only reason the Terrapins didn’t manage to rack up points was because Andrew was guarding the goal. Wymack repeatedly banged on the wall for them to cut it out, and Kevin looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

Halfway through the second half, Neil got tackled into a wall, and when managed to get up, he was limping.

The score was 7-8, Terrapins' favour.

Wymack’s unpleasant expression became worse. He scanned his subs, his gaze moving from Kevin, who was still injured, to Dan, who was too exhausted, to Mara, too inexperienced to play as a striker. Finally, he gave up and turned to Tim.

‘’Tim, you’re going in for Neil. Don’t do anything stupid.’’

There was an uttered finally from Kevin, who didn’t know why Wymack hadn’t already sent him in.

Tim nodded, and swiftly headed towards the court door, racquet steadily clutched in his hand. By the time he was in his place on the court and the announcer called out his name for the swap, his pulse was racing.

The buzzer sounded above them and the game continued.

Tim ran. Four minutes in he managed to snatch the ball out of the air as the opposing striker tried to pass it to a backliner. He deftly avoided his mark, and before someone else tried to tackle him, passed the ball to Allsion. She passed it to Jack, who in turn managed to get through the defence, thanks to Matt, and scored.

The following cheer was deafening, the score was even.

The next minutes were brutal and vicious. With so little time left, everyone on the court tried thrice as hard to land a goal and tip the score in their favour. A Terrapin backliner got himself red-cardded, and Nicky had to be subbed out. Tim was going to be bruised tomorrow from how many times he got shoved and tackled.

Less than ten minutes remained when Tim finally managed to get ahold of the ball again, and keep it for more than two seconds. He was sprinting towards the goal, when at the last moment a backliner got in his way, but instead of trying to tackle him, he dropped to his knees. Tim’s mind recognized the move from a game Kevin had made them watch — Neil, dropping to his knees to trip a player larger than him, last year.

The backliner was risking both of their well-being just so he could stop him.

Tim was going too fast, he couldn’t avoid him or stop.

The noise all around him faded to nothing, he didn’t think, he just acted.

He threw the ball from his racquet in a high arc towards the plexiglass wall. When he reached the backliner, instead of crashing, Tim extended a hand and used his opponent’s back as a pivot point, jumping over him. He let the momentum carry him as he fell on the ground and rolled once, his body used to absorbing the impact, before he stopped himself from rolling a second time and was standing up in seconds. The ball bounced off the wall and fell right into the net of his racquet.

Tim was running towards the goal.

The other players around him, still processing what happened, were too late to react and he bypassed them entirely.

The Terrapin’s goalie just barely managed to lift his racquet before the ball went in to light the goal red.

Tim stopped to look at the score, his heart racing in his chest, and a smile on his face.

9-8

It was a good few seconds before there was any sound. Then the stadium exploded in cheers and shouting so loud that it drowned out Tim’s heartbeat in his ears.

Things moved very quickly after that. Terrapins, realizing that they lost, cursed and stalked off the court. Some of them tried to start fights, but were stopped by either teammates or referees. Matt ran up to him and clapped him enthusiastically on the shoulder.

‘’Holy shit, that was amazing! How did you do that?!’’

The rest of the Foxes gathered around him. Everything was nonstop noise and chatter and cheering. When they reached the court doors, they were greeted with more of the same from the rest of their teammates.

Wymack, though, didn’t look nearly as happy. He pulled Tim towards the first chance he got.

‘’What the fuck was that?’’

The hubbub around them quieted a little.

Yeah, Tim thought he might have a different opinion on what had happened.

‘’I scored.’’ It probably wasn’t the smartest answer, but Wymack carried on like he didn’t even hear it.

‘’Please, tell me how me saying don’t do anything stupid, translates to you trying to break your neck off the first chance you get?’’

‘’I didn’t break my neck, I’m fine —’’ and apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Wymack’s eyes only darkened more so Tim changed his words mid sentence.

‘’I knew what I was doing. I’ve done it before, and have the experience. I wouldn't have risked it if I wasn’t completely sure I would come away unscathed.’’

Wymack looked at him, as if trying to discern the truth from his words.

Kevin took the silence as an opportunity for him to tear into Tim.

‘’That was one of the most reckless and idiotic plays I have ever seen. What the fuck were you thinking?! What does it even mean you have the experience? The experience of what, trying to break your bones?!’’

Tim got that they were worried and were expressing it in perhaps not the best way, but that didn’t mean he was just going to sit and take it. He dodged the hand Kevin aimed his way to take a hold of his uniform, and spoke again.

‘’Acrobatics. I knew exactly what I was doing, and I don’t even have a scratch on me.’’ He motioned towards himself at the last words, to prove his point.

Kevin looked like he wanted to argue further, but Wymack shut him up with a raised hand.

‘’Enough. Tim, along with everybody else who got injured in this game, march toward Abby’s office. Once she clears you we will meet in the lounge. Everybody else, hit the showers, and don’t worry about the press tonight, the vultures will get their full another time.’’

Everyone started moving along their given instructions. Despite the brief confrontation, the mood was still energetic and cheerful, they had won after all, and fighting wasn’t anything new to the Foxes. Tim endured his check-up with Abby, who predictably wasn’t too happy with him, but didn’t scold him much once she realized he really didn’t have any serious injuries. The meeting after the game wasn’t as bad as he expected.

‘’First,’’ Wymack began, a small, satisfied smile on his face, ‘’Good job, Foxes. We’ve officially won our first game of the season. Keep it up.’’

There was a chorus of cheers at that.

‘’Second, and I’ll keep it short, I know how tired you all must be. Despite us winning the game, there were still a lot of mistakes made, and we will need to work on that, but not tonight. Go home, celebrate, or do whatever you want, just be on time for tomorrow’s practice, where we will discuss shit more.’’

Wymack dismissed them after that, but it still took a long time for the team to completely clear out. By the time Tim had showered and dressed in his normal clothes, most people had already left. Matt, as usual, was waiting for him to drive them back to their dorm. Tim was headed towards him in the parking lot, when he noticed something unusual. The cousins’ car was still here, and more than that, Andrew was out and leaning on it while smoking, and looking directly towards him.

After Tim’s very first practice, where Andrew had targeted him for some reason, they had never really interacted again. Now, Tim approached him, not knowing what to expect from the volatile goalie.

Andrew said only two short sentences.

‘’Friday, nine, we’ll pick you up. Wear something appropriate.’’

And then he was gone, disappearing into his car without waiting for any kind of answer.

Tim stared at the retreating vehicle with equal amounts of confusion and amusement.

Just what was he supposed to get from that vague statement?

Chapter Text

Over the course of the next few days Tim had to deal with the consequences of his flashy performance at the game.

First, the morning practice and the lecture that followed. Predictably, even despite the fact that Tim hadn't injured himself besides the unavoidable scrapes and bruises that came with every game, Wymack and Abby weren't too happy with him. By now, Tim had had to sit through so many talks with them, it really was losing its effect. Besides, he had years worth of experience enduring similar lectures, courtesy of Alfred, and his were considerably more imperative. Especially when they were accompanied by the not-so-impossable threat of light sedation.

The second thing he had to deal with was the attention. Perhaps, he really should have thought more before doing his stunt yesterday. All day while he went to his classes, there were the looks of people following him, and some even tried to start a conversation. It seemed like his playing yesterday garnered much more attention than he thought it would, and Tim could only hope it wouldn’t last long.

Worse than the attention from college students, was the attention he got from the sport news and media.

Palmetto’s New Striker - A Fox That Flies

That was the headline of the most popular sports article about him and his performance that circulated the internet.

Tim had tried hard to keep a composed face, while Matt read some parts of it out loud.

The irony of the situation was not lost on him. The reason Tim had figured out Batman and Robin’s identity was because of Dick’s somersault, and yet here he was pulling almost the same thing. Had he really gotten that careless in the amount of time he has been here?

Regardless, what was done was done. This was simply one of the things that went into the they are never going to learn about this box, that Tim mentally kept. Dick would never let him forget it and tease him for an eternity, and Bruce would kill him.

The final thing that came out as a result of his performance at the game was Andrew’s statement.

Tim contemplated the words in his head, but there was little information to gain from them. Obviously, Andrew, or rather his group, intended to take him somewhere on Friday — most likely Columbia — since that was where the cousins went to escape for the weekends. Though, where exactly in Columbia, and how was Tim supposed to dress appropriately for it if he didn’t know the place they were going, he had no idea.

Tim hadn’t interacted much with the group beyond Exy related activities, and it didn’t make sense for them to invite him out of the blue. If you could even call Andrew’s words an invitation. He didn’t know what they wanted with him.

He got a little bit more information on Thursday when Nicky caught up to him after practice.

‘’Tim, wait up!’’

Tim stopped and waited for Nicky to reach him.

For once, the backliner’s usual bright expression and cheerful attitude were gone. They were replaced with nervousness and an unsure smile.

‘’So, Andrew mentioned you’ll be coming with us on Friday,’’ he began.

‘’I haven’t agreed to anything,’’ Tim interrupted him.

Nicky grimaced, ‘’Yeah, Andrew isn’t exactly asking. We’ll be going to a club so dress for a party. And it’s probably going to be a long night so get rest before that.’’

‘’What if I don’t go with you?’’

‘’That’s not really an option, ‘’ Nicky’s tone was almost apologetic. He looked uncomfortable with the whole situation, and his behavior made Tim think that this was going to be more than a simple night out.

A myriad of emotions went through Nicky's expression. He looked like he was contemplating whether to say something or not. Finally, he sighed and spoke.

‘’Look, this is going to go so much easier if you don’t resist. Andrew just wants to talk with you. Give him what he wants and he’ll leave you alone.’’

It was an interesting wording. Tim wasn’t blind to the effect Andrew had on the team. The upperclassmen kept their distance from him save for the occasional, and usually unsuccessful, attempt to include him in some team activity. Most of the freshmen were either afraid of him, or at the very least uneasy. Even the mouthy striker Jack didn’t push his luck too far with him, though he probably would some day. The only expectations seemed to be Neil and Renee.

The point was that Andrew had a presence in the team. And judging by Nicky’s words it was better to not be under his attention.

Tim didn’t particularly care about any of that, but it looked like he wasn’t given much of a choice. At least his evening could turn out to be more interesting than usual.

‘’Alright, I’ll come.’’

Nicky didn't really look pleased by the agreement, but tried to act it.

‘’Good, we’ll pick you up at about nine. Be ready before that.’’

And with that they parted ways.

-

Friday night found Tim being squished between bodies in the back of Andrew’s car.

Instead of waiting for someone to get him, Tim went out earlier and waited for the group in the parking lot. After they got there, it was a question of how to sort out the seating arrangements. Fitting six people in a fifth seat car was an act of defiance in physics, and it was far from comfortable but they somehow managed it. It helped that Aaron was pint sized.

The following ride took about an hour. The radio, much like the first time Tim rode with the group, was turned at a volume to not allow any conversations without shouting. The ride from Wymack’s apartment to the stadium wasn’t very long, so this was the first time he experienced Andrew’s questionable driving skills. Tim had been a part of more than one high-speed chases and other cases of reckless driving, and the fact that Andrew was coming a little bit too close to that in terms of driving technique was definitely something.

Finally, they reached the club.

Eden’s Twilight looked like most nightclubs Tim had been to over the years, for one reason or another, save for the fashion of the patrons, which bordered one being BDSM-like style. He was a little surprised this was the place where the group went. They didn’t have to wait in the line, so the cousins probably had some kind of relations with the staff. Then, they split into two, Kevin, Aaron and Nicky went to find a table, and Tim got stuck with the group getting drinks.

‘’Do you drink?’’ Neil asked him as they waited for a bartender.

‘’Wouldn’t it be illegal?’’

Tim did drink, but mostly when the situation required it. Some undercover op or a gala, the latter often being impossible to go through without at least one glass.

Neil stared at him like the question was stupid. Which wasn’t wrong. Technically, Nicky and Kevin were the only ones legally allowed to drink, but this clearly was a place where nobody cared about that.

‘’Yeah, I do.’’ Tim answered. He had a feeling this would be a long night.

With the tray of drinks ready, they headed back towards their table. The arrival of the beverages was welcomed enthusiastically. The majority of the group drank like they were competing in a contest, but Tim nursed his drink slowly. After the tray was almost emptied, Aaron and Kevin disappeared somewhere in the crowd. Nicky, after a hesitant look towards their table, went to follow them.

That left Tim, Neil and Andrew.

Despite being the instigator for this whole thing, Andrew hadn’t said anything or even spared Tim a single look through the whole drive here.

He was looking at Tim now.

Nicky’s words Andrew just wants to talk flashed through Tim’s mind as he considered the weight of the stare he was put under, and found their validity to be an understatement. Tim had been under this kind of attention before, a lot of times really, and they rarely ended in just talking.

Finally, the purpose of his presence here became clear.

This was threat assessment.

Andrew’s gaze meticulously swept over his figure, not even attempting to hide the fact that he was analyzing him. At last, he spoke.

‘’Timothy Drake.’’

The tone of his words was bored as he sounded out Tim’s name, but it carried an edge.

‘’Who are you?’’

Well, it seemed like they would begin this by playing twenty questions.

‘’Is that supposed to be a rhetorical question?’’ Tim didn’t plan to play dumb, because that never worked out, but he wanted to see how far he could push.

‘’It’s supposed to mean you should answer when I ask something, and I won’t take bullshit answers. Now, let's try again. Timothy Drake, striker from middle of nowhere New Jersey, that was quite a stunt you pulled Tuesday.’’

‘’There wasn’t a question in that sentence.’’

Andrew reached out a hand, but it wasn’t towards Tim. He pushed a half-full glass on the table, causing it to fall but not break. Tim had to quickly get up from his seat to avoid the spilled liquid coming towards him.

They had gone from twenty questions to petty tricks in less than five minutes. The pace of this interaction’s progression was promising.

Only after Tim sat down again and shot an unimpressed look back did Andrew speak again.

‘’Stop playing dumb. You suck at it. I know you’ve seen these. ‘’ At that, he motioned towards one of his armbands. ‘’ I won’t hesitate to use them If I think you are wasting my time.’’

And Tim could add threats to the under five minute mark.

‘’All right then. What do you want from me?’’

‘’I want to know how a somebody like you managed to pull the move you did without breaking your neck.’’

Tim was correct in his assumption that his performance at the game was what prompted this.

‘’I’ve already answered that to Coach. Acrobatics.’’

‘’Acrobatics,’’ Andrew echoed the word mockingly. ‘’You say that, but you see, our resident Exy addict, Kevin, checked you out. And he’s like a dog with a bone if something catches his interest, he dug up everything there is about you and your career. There wasn’t one single mention of the word acrobatics in there.’’

Andrew wasn’t wrong. Tim’s counterpart had a long, and decently successful, history of playing Exy, starting from the age of ten, and some of it was recorded in local news articles and interviews. There was no mention of any other practiced sport or activities because he didn’t do anything else, Tim did.

‘’It’s a hobby. I’ve never really said anything about it.’’ And then, because Neil was here, Tim added,’’My brother taught me.’’

Tim wasn’t particularly keen on giving any kind of real information about himself, but this was something he had already mentioned to Neil that night on the roof, and if he knew, chances were so did Andrew. And if he didn’t know, Neil could confirm it, giving some credibility to Tim’s words.

Not even five seconds after Tim finished speaking Neil did just that.

‘’He’s not lying,’’ he said, though it wasn’t in English, but Russian. ‘’He said something about that to me the night I lost my key.’’

This was a thing this group was fond of doing. Speaking in other languages when they didn’t want to be overheard. Nicky, the twins and Neil often slipped into German, Neil and Andrew spoke Russian only to each other, though it was clear they were still learning it, and Kevin and Neil sometimes had conversations in French. Tim might have been fluent in only two or three languages, but he recognized both basic and some specific words in over eleven. It was a part of Bruce’s training. Often speed was crucial in their cases, and missing something because they didn’t understand the language, or had to waste time translating, was less than ideal.

Tim had heard his teammates speak in other languages before, but hadn’t cared about it. It was mostly banter, or more personal things he tuned out. Tonight, the fact that they didn’t know he could understand them could be useful.

Andrew looked towards Neil for a split second, but otherwise didn’t make any indication he had heard anything.

‘’Weren’t you a single child, tragically orphaned in middle school?’’

His tone was the farthest thing from the considerate one these kinds of topics usually were spoken with, and if Andrew had directed it at a normal person, he probably would have gotten himself a swing. Which was maybe the point.

Kevin had really done his job well, even if Tim didn't know what that information could tell him about his playing. The only mention of ‘’his’’ parents’ death here was a small mention about the unfortunate accident in an old newspaper.

Tim didn't even have to stop and think about his answer.

‘’Is blood the only thing that makes someone a family?’’

Andrew flicked a hand in a dismissive gesture.

‘’Family is a play pretend belief for children who know nothing of the world. That’s not all there is to you.”

‘’I don’t know what you mean.’’

‘’I don’t like the way you look.’’

Somehow Tim had the feeling Andrew wasn’t talking about his physical appearance. Before he had a chance to answer something, Andrew continued.

‘’I don’t like the way you walk. I don’t like the way you talk.’’

‘’Statistically, a person dislikes the majority of the people they meet in their life. Why should I care about your opinion?’’

In the next moment Andrew lunged across the table to grab the collar of Tim’s shirt. With his other hand he reached towards one of his armbands and had a knife pressed against Tim’s sternum in seconds, the blade discreetly hidden in his sleeve.

‘’This is why.’’

Tim let himself be pulled. The knife was pressed into him with just enough force for you to feel the sting of the blade, but not be actually cut by it. Andrew had an impressive reach for someone so short.

‘’I don’t like you. And unless you give me a good reason, you’ll be packing your bags.’’

Tim didn’t even bother to glance at the knife pointed at him, choosing instead to look directly at Andrew.

‘’I don’t think it’s your place to decide that.’’

Just as Andrew threatened to increase the pressure on the blade, they were interrupted by the return of the others.

‘’Hey,’’ Nicky began, but then cut himself off as he noticed the atmosphere around the table.

By now, Andrew had returned to his seat, and there was no trace of the knife he just held under Tim’s neck. Still, Nicky looked at them apprehensively and asked,

‘’What are guys you doing?’’

Tim pointedly looked around the table before answering, ‘’Just talking.’’

‘’Right,’’ Nicky said flatly.

He then he switched to German and continued,’’Andrew, you said this wouldn't be like last year.’’

While Andrew didn’t even bother to acknowledge his cousin’s words, Tim paid them attention.

The knowledge that this wasn’t the first time Andrew was doing this didn’t surprise him much. Figuring who he had done it to last year also wasn’t hard. Neil was the only new Fox last season, and given his history, it made sense he would fall under Andrew’s attention even before anything about his past became public.

Aaron, unconcerned with the whole situation before him, bowled past Nicky, who was in his way, to reach the table. Upon seeing all the empty glasses he made a face.

‘’Haven’t you gone for seconds yet?’’

‘’Instead of bitching about it why, for once, don’t you go and do it?’’ Neil answered him.

Aaron took a step in Neil’s direction, and Neil made one too, but before anything could happen Andrew passed between the two of them, not so much handing as slamming the tray with empty glasses he held in Aaron’s chest. Aaron fumbled to catch it properly, one glass on the edge fell and shattered, but Andrew didn’t give him much time to recover as he started for the bar without turning back.

Aaron cursed at him but went to follow.

By the time the twins returned with the alcohol, the previous quarrels were forgotten. The group downed their drinks and again half of them dispersed somewhere in the club. This time though, after a shared look between Neil and Andrew, Neil said,

‘’I’ll go babysit Kevin.’’

And disappeared in the crowd as well, leaving Tim alone with Andrew.

Now things could get interesting.

They spent the next few minutes in tense silence until it became clear Andrew wouldn’t break it first.

‘’What do you honestly want from me?’’ Tim decided to ask the most straightforward question.

‘’I don’t like repeating myself.’’ Andrew was playing with his glass now, barely holding it with the tips of his fingers, and entirely looking like he hadn’t threatened Tim with a knife fifteen minutes ago.

‘’You said you wanted a reason, but what exactly?’’

Tim was considering whether to continue playing Andrew’s game or not. On one hand, he didn’t owe him anything, much less what he was asking. On the other, Andrew made it pretty clear he wouldn’t just leave Tim alone, and showed no hesitation to use violence to achieve his goal. Tim didn’t think getting into a real fight and potentially injuring each other was a good way to start the third week of their official season.

‘’A truth.’’

‘’A truth about what?’’

‘’Who are you?’’ And here was the question from the beginning again.

One that clearly demanded more than generic, surface information. Andrew already knew a decent amount about him, thanks to Kevin, and still wasn’t satisfied. Tim knew he had done some stupid things since he’s been here, but he didn’t think he was being that obvious to garner such level of suspicion. It was more likely that Andrew was simply too observant.

He was looking for something to try and connect Tim with the information he knew about, technically, another person. Of course things wouldn’t add up.

It was a question Tim absolutely couldn’t answer.

For one, he wouldn’t believe it. Andrew might try to stab him for real if Tim started talking about parallel universes. And second, telling the truth about this particular topic would be an antithesis to everything Bruce had taught him about hiding and lying to protect their identities.

Tim didn’t bother thinking about the fact that there may be a third reason he couldn’t answer that question. It being that he himself didn’t know who he was anymore. He was Robin, then not, then RR, and now he was no one.

Instead, he said to Andrew,

‘’Didn’t you mention how Kevin had researched me. You know who I am.’’

‘’Do I? Appearances can be misleading.’’

‘’I don’t owe you my life story.’’

‘’You do If you want to stay here.’’

And here they were going in circles.

Tim sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He went to take a sip from his drink but realized the glass was empty. He looked towards the tray to take a new one and stopped.

The ordered drinks were the same as the first time, and they were even placed in almost the same way, which meant it was probably done by the same bartender, but that’s not what caught his attention. In one of the glasses, though it was miniscule, there was residue. Most likely it was sediment from the ice, but it still made Tim pause and wonder.

Tim’s choice of drink was the same as Aaron’s, and there were four of those ordered. He remembered Aaron downing two before leaving, specifically the ones placed on the outer side of the tray. That alone could have been nothing, but coupled with the presence of something in one of the drinks, it made Tim suspicious.

After all, Tim hadn’t been there to watch his drink from the beginning, and that was the most common mistake you could make in a nightclub. He just hadn't thought the group would go as far as to try to drug him, it seemed a bit overboard for the situation. Clearly, he had to reconsider how far exactly Andrew was willing to go.

When he thought about it a little further, Andrew’s behaviour since the others left made more sense. Tim had expected more threats and violence, but that wasn’t the case, despite their conversation still going nowhere. Andrew had been waiting for him to finish his drink and take one of the new ones, both of them likely being fixed.

Tim decided to test his theory.

He took one of the glasses and brought it to his lips, but didn’t take a sip. Instead he said,

‘’Question, do I have to pay for my share of the drinks? If yes, then can we skip tipping the bartender? I don’t like my drinks spiked.’’

Andrew’s fingers that were rhythmically taping against his glass stilled. Something heavy settled in his gaze and he hummed thoughtfully.

‘’And here he’s not as oblivious as he pretends to be.’’

‘’Did you really expect me to drink from something that I haven’t been keeping an eye on through the whole time?’’ Tim asked rhetorically.’’We are in a nightclub, this is like the first rule of what you shouldn’t do.’’

‘’You never know, people have done stupider things.’’

Yeah, they have. Tim wondered how Andrew would proceed now that his plan didn’t work out. He didn’t think he would be content to just go back to playing twenty questions.

‘’You are acting awfully unconcerned about the fact someone just tried to drug you,’’ remarked Andrew.

‘’I’m pissed about it, trust me,’’ Tim answered with a wry smile.

‘’Are you?’’ Andrew, asked him mockingly. He then leaned over the table on his elbows, coming to stand just shy of invading Tim’s personal space. There was clear tension in his body language, and the look in his eyes promised violence. ‘’You say that you’re pissed, but you act the farthest thing from it. You say there’s nothing more to you, yet everything you do says otherwise. You say that I know who you are, yet when I compare the information I know about you with what’s in front of me, I’m looking at two completely different people.’’

He stopped for a second, as if to let the meaning of his words really settle in, then continued.

‘’Here’s what I think.’’ Andrew began in a low voice, like he was sharing a secret.’’ Since the beginning of the night you haven’t said a single thing you’ve actually meant. Not lying exactly, just deflecting and hoping it will do the trick. Unfortunately for you, you haven’t done anything to change my opinion of you, and your time has run out.’

‘’And what is your opinion about me?’’ Tim asked, even though he could guess the answer.

‘’I think you are a threat, and I don’t let threats remain on the team.’’

Andrew spoke in a tone that conveyed just how serious he was about what he was saying.

And this was the moment Tim knew would come since the beginning of their conversation, after the others left them the first time. Andrew wouldn’t be convinced without something he decides is truthful, and Tim doesn’t have any truths he can give him.

The only way was to give him a lie that he can mistake for the truth. Which was easier said than done.

Tim had a plan, though it was a stupid one, it may be the only way Andrew would believe what he says.

‘’You say you want a truth from me, and simultaneously don’t believe a word I say. How is this supposed to work?’’

‘’You figure it out.’’

I have, but I’m sure I’ll regret it.

Then, Tim changed the topic abruptly.

‘’What was put in those drinks earlier?’’

Andrew paused for a moment, likely trying to figure out why he was asking. At last he answered,

‘’Crackers.’’

Although Andrew’s body language wasn’t the easiest to read, Tim knew he wasn’t lying now.

Cass had explained to him once, no matter how trained someone is, no matter how expressionless, they always had a tell when they lied. Lying wasn’t a single brain to mouth function, but a whole body process, and nobody could control every atom of their being.

Andrew wasn’t lying, but his answer didn’t help Tim much. He had never heard of this type of drug before, and Tim was probably better at alphabetically listing drugs than countries. It must have been an Alternate Earth thing.

After seeing his lack of recognition, and maybe because he wanted to see where Tim was going with this, Andrew further added.

‘’Cracker dust. It gives you a rush, but you won’t find yourself choking on your vomit.’’

So, on the weaker side of party drugs then. It wasn’t ideal, Tim would have preferred it to be a drug he was familiar with, but it would have to do.

He knew his plan was far from his brightest ones, but he thought it had a good chance of working out. Tim’s tolerance for drugs and the like was an interesting thing. Build up over the years from the various times he got exposed to Fear Gas, got drugged, and had to get antidotes for when he got drugged with something particular, it was a significantly higher tolerance than the normal person had. Losing his spleen definitely fucked with it a bit, but he had gotten drugged since then, one or two times, and it was still better than the average person.

Tim was reasonably confident that he would be in control of his actions, but if he acted right, Andrew wouldn’t know it.

There were a dozen things that could get wrong, he knew that, but there always were. This seemed like the most effective solution that didn’t involve Andrew pulling a knife on him again.

With that in mind, Tim raised the spiked drink to his mouth and said,

‘’I hope you’ll know I’m saying the truth after this.’’

Andrew, who had finally figured out Tim’s intention, looked back at him with something that was hard to describe.

Tim ignored him, and proceeded to do a thing he would most likely regret — downing half of the glass.

-

‘’You are a fucking idiot.’’

These words were the first thing that came out of Andrew’s mouth, after he had to watch what had to be one of the stupidest things someone had done in front of him.

Not the most, Neil has firmly taken up that position multiple times, but definitely in the I possess a negative amount of brain cells category.

Said Idiot, further showing he deserved the epithet, laughed at that for some reason. ‘’Not the first time I’ve been accused of that.’’

This was the first thing he said and Andrew thought he actually meant this night. Everything else had been generic answers and deflections — a carefully played out act.

And the thing is, this wasn’t how Andrew planned for the evening to go.

He hadn’t cared about the new batch of charity cases Wymack added to their line. Most of the time he barely paid attention to the fact they existed. But then there was this one, Timothy Jackson Drake.

When somebody managed to figure out he carried knives in his armbrands in less than two minutes since meeting him, Andrew couldn’t not pay attention.

So he watched him, and he proved to be a possible problem.

It wasn’t anything big, not like Neil’s behaviour last year that practically screamed there’s something up about me, no matter he tried to act the opposite. No, it was little things, the ones that Drake — and wasn’t that name a coincidence, but Andrew wasn’t going to call him something as stupid as Timothy — didn’t bother enough to hide.

For one, his physique. Everyone had to be at a certain level of fitness to play the sport, but this was beyond that. He had a lean build and most of the time wore looser clothing, but Andrew's seen how easy he lifts heavy weights in their practice at the fitness. He’s seen him barely out of breath after grueling laps around the court, rivaling Neil’s own stamina. Doing an improvised somersault in the middle of a game like it’s a child’s play.

More telling than his physical condition was how he held himself. Not tense, but never completely at ease. He tried to not act like it, hiding behind a lazy sort of confidence, but Andrew didn’t miss how every time Drake entered a room he automatically analyzed what was in it, and then relaxed a fraction. It was similar to how Neil entered a room, similar to how Renee did, similar to Andrew. He knew the former had also picked up on it.

That was another thing, Andrew wasn’t entirely alone in his suspensions. And while Renee thought it was not their business, Neil, by nature, was wary.

Drake’s behaviour while interacting with the others, although less so, was also telling. He tried to be friendly, but not overtly so. He never started conflicts, never involved himself in them, even when goaded, and barely even snapped at Kevin — and this really told Andrew he was tailoring his behavior, it took a great amount of effort to not snap at Kevin.

Not really a funny thing, but perhaps slightly entertaining, was how almost everyone hesitated sometimes whether to use his first or last name. Even Wymack had avoided using his surname like he does with everyone else. Probably thinking that shouting the word Drake across the stadium could get a little awkward for the team. Andrew didn’t bother explaining he couldn’t care less, it was just a fucking name.

So, Drake tried to act like there was nothing particular about him, but sometimes he would not so much slip as just…stop. Sometimes when he thinks no one is paying attention to him, his faux easygoingness would melt away, leaving behind profound bleakness. The lines on his face got sharper, and the look in his eyes had depth to it that was uncanny.

Perhaps, though he won’t admit it, the thing Andrew most detested about his teammate was how, when in one of those moments, he would walk in a room, and his footsteps wouldn’t make any sound.

It was more than just walking quietly, It was like he forgot to make sounds. Then, a second later he will remember, and his presence could be felt back in the room again.

It was a thing that set not only Andrew on edge, and he was getting tired of it.

So, there were a lot of small things, a lot of reasons to pay attention to him, but nothing big enough for Andrew to take action yet.

And then the game on Tuesday was the tipping point.

Andrew decided he would take him to Columbia, and see who he really was. His decision was met with some resistance. Nicky and Kevin, wary from last year, really didn’t want a repeat. Aaron didn’t give a fuck about thier teammate, but he didn’t want to endure another lecture from Wymack and Wilds. Neil was the only one who understood why Andrew was doing this, but even he argued with him, when the two of them were alone, for this to not be a complete repeat of last year.

Andrew pointed out to him that both Wilds and Renee returned from their trips to Columiba without a scratch on them. The problem decided the solution, and if Drake proved to not be one, he’ll be fine.

So, Andrew decided to take him to Eden’s, but he didn’t plan to drug him.

Not until Andrew held a knife directly against his chest after his bullshit answers, and Drake didn’t even blink.

He didn’t try to defend himself, didn’t even jerk back when Andrew grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and let him feel the sting of the blade. Instead, he looked back at him and responded back as if nothing was happening.

That wasn’t a normal response to being threatened with a potentially lethal weapon. Either he had a death wish, was fucking stupid, or something else. And that something else would make him a problem with a capital P.

So, this wasn’t how Andrew planned for the evening to go, but he had to figure which one of the three was Drake.

The current situation was leaning in favour of option two.

Less than five minutes had passed since Drake had downed half of the spiked drink, but there were already signs. He had loosened the collar of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, obviously sweating, and he was squinting irregularly at the lights above them.

When he noticed the judgment of Andrew’s stare, he raised his shoulders defensively.

‘’You said to figure out a way for you to would believe me.’’

‘’And drugging yourself was the first option that came to your mind?’’ Andrew didn’t bother hiding the sarcasm in his words.

Smart enough to catch when someone has spiked his drink, but dumb enough to still drink it.

Maybe Andrew was wasting his time with this one.

Still, he couldn’t pass this opportunity to get some actual answers.

Before he had the opportunity to say something, Andrew asked him another question.

‘’And you are still insisting there’s nothing more to you than the average college student?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Curious. As far as I know the average student doesn’t usually have a military grade safe in the form of a suitcase stuffed under their bed.’’

Drake’s smile was a thin thing.

‘’You went through my stuff. That’s not very polite.’’

‘’If by now you haven’t noticed I don’t give a shit, you are a lost cause.’’

He sighed.

‘’Yeah, I do have a safe under my bed. What does this prove? That I’m very protective of my belongings?’’

‘’It proves you have something to hide, and hide it good.’’

‘’Who doesn’t have something to hide?’’ Drake reached out a hand towards the crowd around in emphasis. He’s been more physically expressive since the drug took effect.’’Look, you said you wanted a truth from me, right?’’

Andrew motioned him to go on.

‘’Here it is. I don’t actually have any kind of truth to give you that you’ll believe.’’

He spoke slowly and carefully, as if to show that he really meant it, and Andrew didn’t think he was lying. But still, this wasn’t enough.

After seeing that Andrew wouldn’t say anything, he continued.

‘’I’m not a threat to you, or the team. I can promise you that.’’

It would seem like whether he was drugged or not, it didn’t matter. Talking wouldn’t work here, and Andrew has given it way to many chances already.

To Drake he bit out,

‘’Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.’’

And stood up from the table. He stalked off in a direction, confident that he’ll be followed.

-

Tim tried to keep up with Andrew in the crowd, but it wasn’t easy.

There were too many people, and everyone was pushing and shoving. The goalie’s short figure and the fact he wore entirely black also wasn’t helping. He didn’t even want to think about the other things.

He was too hot. The lights were killing him. He felt light-headed.

Tim’s plan hadn’t quite gone the way he planned. The Cracker Dust hadn’t affected him too much, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t at all. He thinks Andrew believed him, but it still wasn’t enough. At this point he was genuinely considering mentioning something about a parallel universe, just to see how he would react. Though, that probably was the drugs talking.

Why had he done this again?

Right, believable answers.

As Tim had to dodge yet another elbow in the face, he thought that a knife fight might have been preferable to this.

One guy, seeing his probably sorry appearance and how Tim leaned on the wall for a second, came up to supposedly help him.

‘’Hey! You don’t look so good, man. I can help you outside if you wa—’’

Tim didn’t even wait for him to finish his sentence. He pretended to fall, tripped him, and slammed an elbow in his solar plexus. He went down easy, and Tim slipped in the crowd before anybody noticed what happened. Tim was pretty sure nobody needed help from a guy like that.

Finally, he reached the place where Andrew was waiting for him.

Before he had a chance to say anything, Andrew started walking again. They went down a hallway that was clearly meant for the staff and nobody stopped them, and then entered what had to be an unused storage room.

Maybe it was because of the sudden change of scenery, from pounding music and blinding lights to muffled sounds and a darker room, but Tim didn’t manage to avoid Andrew slamming him in the wall.

‘’I gave you a chance to do this the easy way,’’ Andrew spoke in a low tone, a knife already out and pressed firmly against the lower side of his neck.

This time, there was no warning strike beforehand and no one to interrupt them, the blade broke skin. It wasn’t deep, just enough to sting and show Andrew was done playing around.

‘’Now, let’s try again. Who the fuck are you?’’ And then Andrew increased the pressure slightly when Tim tried to say something.

’’And think very carefully about your answer. You might want to consider the fact that even now, when I have a knife to your throat, you still look at me like you don’t have the common sense to be concerned, before claiming to be normal again.’’

The next time Andrew didn’t stop him from speaking.

Tim, at this point, was beyond caring about what Andrew wanted.

‘’Fuck you. You want me to what, be afraid of you?’’ He ended the sentence with a short and sharp laugh, even though that only pushed the knife further.

It was an answer that undoubtedly would have pushed Andrew in the opposite direction of peacefulness, but before he even had the chance to react, Tim kneed him in the stomach.

He stumbled backwards, and Tim took the moment to check the damage to his neck. The cut was long, but not bleeding profusely, and therefore can be ignored.

In the next moment Andrew was coming at him, attempting a punch to the solar plexus, just like Tim had done earlier. At least the goalie wasn’t trying to skewer him, which meant he had enough sense to want Tim beaten, but not seriously injured. You never knew.

Tim neatly dodged the punch, though he himself stumbled with the quickness of the action and the room suddenly spinning around him. Fighting while drugged was a bitch, but he didn’t have anyone but himself to blame.

Andrew managed to score two quick hits to the jaw and stomach while he recovered. On the next one, Tim waited almost until the time of impact before sidestepping him, and using Andrew’s own momentum to slam him in the wall.

Tim ripped the knife from Andrew’s hands and sent it sliding across the floor. When Andrew quickly produced another one from his other armband, Tim fought him for it, and despite cutting his hand across the palm, he won. He brought the knife to Andrew’s neck, in an imitation like he had done earlier, but Tim was holding it by the blade part, so there wasn’t a chance for him to accidentally cut Andrew.

‘’Be careful with these, you might end up really hurting someone.’’ He said, not actually mocking, despite the situation. Even what seemed like shallow wounds made by knives often could end up serious.

Andrew tried to kick him in the stomach, and succeeded, but Tim didn’t budge despite the pain. Then, Andrew snarled,

‘’Get the fuck off me!’’

Tim, having made his point, let him go.

Andrew fell to the ground and took a few seconds to recover. When he did, he asked mockingly,

‘’’I suppose your brother taught you how to fight too?’’

Tim smiled, ‘’A little bit.’’

Then, the two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was probably a couple of minutes. Finally, Tim decided to break the moment. He handed the knife back to Andrew, who accepted it, but looked at him like he was stupid for giving it away for no reason.

Tim ignored that look and said,

‘’If you want we can go again, but I don’t think there’s much point to it.’’

Andrew didn’t agree with him, but he also didn’t attack him again, despite having retrieved all of his knives already.

Both of them weren’t exactly in their perfect condition, Andrew from drinking, and Tim from one normal drink and one spiked. A significant amount of time had passed since they left the table, and the others would likely be searching for them soon.

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this”— Andrew gestured across the room, though he clearly meant their whole interaction — “means I’m done with you.”

Tim was tired, he just really wanted a bed to sleep off the effects of the drugs.

‘’I wouldn’t dream of it,’’ he answered with a grimace as he looked at his wounds.

They weren’t deep, but blood had already gotten on his clothes, and he really needed to clean and take care of them soon if he didn’t want to risk an infection.

Afterwards, in a tense silence, they walked back to their table. The others from the group had indeed returned already, and upon seeing the state Tim was in, reacted in various, but mostly loud, ways. Andrew drowned out all their questions, and announced they were leaving. There were some protests from Nicky and Aaron at having to leave so early, but they were ignored.

Tim questioned if they were going to drive back to the dorms again, but after they got in the car, Nicky told him about their house in Columbia.

Tim let his head hit the seat behind him and closed his eyes.

At least it was going to be a shorter ride.

Chapter Text

The following ride, predictably, wasn’t exactly relaxed.

Even though Tim hadn’t bothered to open his eyes since he got in the car, and had an arm thrown over them to shield him from the glare of the passing street lamps, he could practically feel the looks sent his way. For once, the radio wasn’t turned on, but the grave silence in the car prevented anybody from speaking. He knew that his appearance wasn’t the only thing causing the tense atmosphere. Probably, Andrew’s mood had more to do with the reason why nobody tried to say or do anything.

Finally, after eighteen minutes and thirty four seconds — Tim had to do something to keep his mind alert and away from the tempting possibility of sleep — they arrived at the house.

The moment the engine of the car died, there was a shift. All the tension that had gathered over the course of the ride changed, going from trapped to free. Andrew was the first one out of the car, slamming the door of the vehicle and disappearing in the house within a negative amount of time. Neil was after him in seconds.

Kevin, after both of his attempts at calling their names went completely unacknowledged, was cursing up a storm in French while he climbed the stairs to the door.

The only person who hadn’t hurried to get out of the car was Tim, not wanting to deal with the group of agitated college students trying to go into the house all at once. When he got to the entrance, Nicky was waiting in front of it with an anxious expression.

‘’Are you alright?’’ He asked.

Tim waved his not injured hand in what he hoped to be a reassuring gesture.

‘’Why wouldn’t I be?’’ The tone of his answer was purposely nonchalant, as if Tim couldn't imagine why Nicky was asking him that.

Even a more dismayed emotion passed through the backliner’s face, and it wasn’t long before he started talking again.

‘’Listen, Tim, I don't know what happened, but things weren’t supposed to go like this. I’m— ‘’

‘’Do you have a bathroom?’’ Tim cut him off. He had a feeling that if he let Nicky talk now, they would be here for a while, and he didn’t really have the patience for that now.

‘’Bathroom? I- Yeah, of course we have one. First left room on the second floor.’’ Nicky got confused by the sudden change of topic, but he answered nonetheless.

‘’Can I use it?’’

‘’Of course, but—’’

Tim was going past Nicky before he even got the affirmative answer. After he entered the house, the sound of a loud conversation coming from what had to be the kitchen, was easily detected.

‘’What the hell happened, Andrew! He’s bleeding!’’ That was Kevin’s voice.’’I thought we talked about this?!’’

‘’What did he do to piss you off that much?’’ Aaron’s question was curiosity instead of outrage, but there was the slightest trace of an edge to it.

It seemed like everyone thought that Andrew had purposely tried to injure him, despite Tim technically winning that altercation, even if he was the one who ended up in a worse shape. He couldn’t blame them for coming to that conclusion considering how it looked, and Andrew wasn’t saying anything to the contrary, or answering their questions in general. The lack of response didn’t deter anyone.

‘’And you cut his hand! What were you thinking? What if there’s permanent da—’’

Tim quietly walked through the hall, getting out of earshot. He would deal with their misguided concern, or whatever is it that they were feeling, later. Now, he had a more important task to do. The first thing Tim did after entering the unfamiliar bathroom was look at himself in the mirror.

Unsurprisingly, he looked like shit.

His hair was damp and sticking to his face from all the sweating, and his clothes had gotten disheveled because of the fight. His expression was paler than usual, though that wasn't saying much, and his shirt had dried blood around the collar. Washing blood off clothes was an annoying enough activity, never mind doing it in a shared college dorm, so it was a lost cause.

Tim washed his hands and face, before starting to search through the bathroom cabinets. One of the most common places people kept their first aid medical supplies was here, and indeed, his search quickly produced a medkit.

It was decently stoked, more than the average person would really need, and by the looks of it, new. Tim checked out his injuries more carefully, now that he had the chance. Both of the cuts were shallow enough to not warrant any real trouble, though it would take them a couple of weeks to heal. The one on his hand was shallower and had long stopped bleeding, but the one on his neck was still sluggishly producing red lines. Tim cleaned and bandaged them. Even in this well stocked medical kit there wouldn’t be any of the specific medications Tim needed, so he will have to wait until tomorrow when they presumably would get back to the dorms.

He wasn’t looking forward to explaining any of this to Abby.

After swallowing one painkiller, and pocketing another for the headache he would undoubtedly have in the morning, he headed downstairs. By now, the previous conversation had died down. There was no sign of Andrew, but since Tim hadn't heard the car starting again, he must have been somewhere around the house. The rest of the group was still gathered in the kitchen, more trading complicated looks than actually talking.

Kevin wasn’t the first person that saw him coming, but he was the first one to jump from his seat and come towards him. Before Tim even had a chance to say something Kevin had taken his hand in his own and was inspecting it.

After letting him do it for a few seconds, Tim ripped his hand away and ignored the look Kevin gave him for it.

‘’It’s fine. Just a superficial cut.”

“You can't know that for sure. There might be damage to the tendons or nerves.”

Kevin’s concern would have been nice, if not for the fact that he was only doing this because he cared about whether or not Tim could still play Exy. Case in point, he went for the injury on his hand, rather than the on the neck, despite the latter typically being considered more serious and even possibly fatal.

“It's fine,” Tim repeated in a tone that meant he wasn't going to discuss this further.

Before Kevin had the chance to say something else, Neil spoke up.

‘’What happened?’’

Out of everyone's reactions to everything that had happened Neil's was the least telling. He had stayed calm, quietly observing the situation, but now there was purposefulness to his tone.

“You’ve got quite the number for making new people feel welcome to the team.” Tim remarked instead of answering.

Neil stared back at him impassively in response. He didn’t offer any explanations, justification or an apology, but Tim hadn’t expected any. It was clear that everyone was aware of Andrew’s plan for the evening, and nobody had a problem with it until the end result that was this situation. And even now, the group wasn’t really concerned about him. Aaron didn’t care, Kevin cared only about whether or not he’ll be able to play, and while Nicky was worried, he was probably more concerned about the Andrew part of the situation than the Tim one.

And Neil, the reason he was asking what happened was because out of everyone, he seemed to be the only one who recognized Andrew’s plan for the evening hadn’t quite gone as it was supposed to.

Tim sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The pain in his head was growing stronger, and only half of it was because of the drugs.

‘’Look, I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. You all should learn how to mind your business.”

Neil didn’t blink. ‘’Not very good at that.’’

‘’Yeah, I’m starting to notice.’’

Sometimes, the path of least resistance was the better choice.

‘’We talked. He didn’t like what I had to say. The rest was this.’’ Tim gave up and gave him an overly simplified version of the events. At the end of his sentence he gestured towards his injuries to signify the fight.

‘’You must have said something he really didn’t like for him to go this far.’’ Neil observed.

Tim had done a remarkably bad job at making himself less of the threat Andrew thought he was, and now he was starting to get Neil suspicious too. Great.

‘’Or maybe your boyfriend has a flair for the dramatic and blowing things out of proportions.’’

There was a choked off laugh that turned into a cough from Nicky in the background.

Neil’s lips twitched into a smile. It wasn’t a nice one.

‘’He’s not my boyfriend.’’

Tim didn’t know how Neil could say that considering the looks the two gave each other, but it wasn’t really his business.

‘’Your, whatever he is to you, has a flair for the dramatic and blowing things out of proportions.

‘’And you seem to have a lacking sense of self-preservation.’’

The hint of a threat wasn’t subtle, but Kevin’s muttered Coming from you in French kind of ruined the effect.

The two of them stared at each other for a prolonged period of time, and Tim didn’t intend to back down first. Whatever Neil found on his face made him pause, a note of curiosity slipping amidst the suspicion. Maybe Neil had expected for him to turn away quickly, either because of his intense and unnerving gaze, and Tim had to admit that the chilly shade of blue in his eyes was effective, or because of the scars on his face. It wasn’t hard to imagine that a normal person would have a hard time looking at Neil for long without feeling uncomfortable and wanting to turn away, especially if he looked at you like this. Knowing his history also probably wouldn’t help, so it made sense that Neil would expect for most people to be unable to hold his gaze.

Nicky took the following silence as an opportunity to try and break up the tension in the room a little bit.

‘’Hey—uh, Neil, are you sure this is the right time for this? I mean, look at the state he’s in.’’

Neil looked back at Nicky, then returned his attention to Tim.

‘’He seems fine to me.’’

‘’Neil, I know we have different definitions for the word fine, but as a general rule, people who are bleeding, or have bled in the near twenty minutes, aren’t considered that.’’

‘’Yet, he’s holding himself remarkably well, despite getting injured and drugged in the near twenty minutes. Curious. Build up tolerance, perhaps.’’

To which one of the two, went unsaid, but it was subtly implied. Or both.

‘’I didn’t get drugged,’’ Tim felt the need to point that out.

“But you…” Nicky made a noise of confusion and pointed towards his general appearance.

“I kind of did that to myself.”

Everyone in the room turned their looks towards Tim.

‘’Why?’’ Aaron asked.

‘’I was trying to prove a point.’’

Aaron laughed sharply, ‘’ You are a fucking idiot.’’

The reactions of the group differed a little bit from person to person. Nicky’s expression was disbelieving, Kevin looked like he was choosing to pretend he hadn’t heard anything, and Neil. His eyes had narrowed, and that searching and dangerous glint in them from before had only intensified.

Tim idly wondered if it would be a good idea for him to stay here. Searching for a motel or a place to crash, or even just finding a way to go back to the dorms now, was going to be mildly annoying considering everything, but he could do it. With Andrew and Neil’s suspicion and animosity, and everyone else's unsureness and slightly less hostile suspicion, it probably would be for the best if Tim left.

With his decision made, he started heading towards the door. It wasn’t until he was going to reach for the doorknob that somebody stopped him.

‘’Where are you going?’’ Nicky asked him, alarmed.

‘’Leaving.’’ Tim answered flatly.

‘’But you just… left in the middle of the conversation. I thought you were just going to sit or something like that.’’

‘’As far as I gathered manners aren't a priority around here, and I don’t need your permission. So yeah, I’m leaving .’’

‘’You can't seriously be thinking of going out like this in the middle of the night. What if something happened to you?’’

Tim didn’t bother pointing out the irony of that statement.

‘’Thanks for the concern. I can take care of myself.’’

‘’Don’t be an Idiot.’’ Kevin said.

Tim ignored him, and turned to Nicky.

‘’Look, I’ve done basically everything you wanted of me this evening. I came with you to the place you wanted me to, and I played your little game. Now, I’m done.’’

And without waiting for an answer Tim turned back to the door. Again, he was interrupted. This time, instead of only talking, Nicky hurried to physically block the access to the exit by placing himself in front of it.

‘’Nope, nope, no’’ He was saying quickly. ’’We are so not doing this again. For all I know you’ll hitchhike your way back to the dorms, or do something equally dangerous and stupid. I’m not going to let that happen.’’

Tim had no intent to push Nicky away, but he was also getting tired of playing around.

‘’Nicky, get out of the way.’’ He said calmly, but didn’t bother with any kind of politeness.

Nicky faltered. He threw a look towards the rest of the group in a hope for some kind of support. Kevin didn’t look happy about it, but he didn’t say anything. Aaron was looking at his phone, apparently having stopped paying attention or care to the conversation. Neil shrugged.

‘’If he wants to go, let him.’’

The backliner sighed in disappointment, but moved out of the way.

Tim left the house.

Outside, not necessarily waiting for him, was Andrew’s figure. Leaning against the car and apparently chainsmoking.

Tim thought Andrew would just ignore him as he passed by, but he was proven wrong.

‘’We are not done.’’

Most of the tension from earlier had bled out of Andrew, leaving back his classic expressionless mask and attitude. Now, he hadn’t bothered to look in Tim’s direction, just pointing his cigarette vaguely towards him as he spoke.

Tim didn’t bother arguing.

‘’Okay.’’

He answered, and that should have been the end of it, but just as Tim was about to go past the car, Andrew slipped out one of his knives in hand. He didn’t point it towards him. On the contrary, he held it by the blade and towards himself in a perfect imitation to how Tim had done it earlier. After a few seconds he dropped it and it harmlessly clattered on the ground in front of Tim’s feet.

Tim looked back at him bemused.

‘’What I am supposed to do with this?’’

Andrew didn’t answer him, just went back to finishing his cigarette.

Finally, Tim picked up the knife and examined it. It wasn’t the best quality, but it was clearly taken care of well, and had more than a couple of years of use to it. At the very bottom of the handle there was something small that was carved. Three shaky lines that could have been the letter N. Tim was looking at it as Andrew spoke again.

‘’Spar with me.’’

Spar. Not fight. Still, Tim didn’t think sparring with Andrew would be any less intense or demanding than a real fight.

‘’I think we have done enough fighting for the day.’’

‘’Thursday. After classes’’

Tim felt a sense of deja vu. Wasn’t this how the interaction they had last Tuesday went? And look how that ended up.

He offered the knife back.

‘’Not really my choice of weapon.’’

‘’Just fists then.’’ Andrew answered as he slipped the blade back inside his armband.

Tim could have argued further, but really, what was the point? Andrew was telling him, not asking. If he was so intent on fighting him again he would do it regardless if Tim played along or not, so it was better to do it in a more controlled setting.
Tim wordlessly nodded.

Again, Tim expected for this to be the end of it but Andrew surprised him yet again.

‘’Nearest thing resembling a motel is more than thirty minutes walk from this neighborhood, and no sane person would let someone with blood on them in middle of the night without calling the pigs first.’’

Tim mulled over the words.

‘’I know you aren’t worried or give a shit about what happens to me. So, why are you telling me this?’’

‘’Tonight, you managed to sneak out with us without anybody noticing. Tomorrow, If we return and you aren’t there, the busybodies will start putting one and one together.’’

Of course, Andrew was just trying to not inconvenience himself. But that still shouldn’t have been enough for him to offer Tim to stay here, in his house with his family, considering he made it pretty clear what he thought of Tim.

What was his goal here?

‘’Didn’t you make it quite clear you saw me as a threat, and you wouldn’t let those stay on the team, much less in your house?’’

Andrew cut him a glare as cold as steel.

‘’Don’t think I won’t kill you if you try anything.’’

‘’This is like, the most discouraging offer that somebody could make.’’

Andrew didn’t answer. Just put out his cigarette into the ground and tossed it before heading inside, apparently deciding the conversation was over.

Tim sighed and looked at the collar of his shirt. He had optimistically worn light grey. Andrew wasn’t wrong about how he looked right now.

He turned and headed back towards the house, but instead of going inside, he sat at the stairs leading up the door. He stayed there for a long time, breathing in and out in a pattern to pass the time. A kind of light meditation Bruce had taught him.

Breathe out. Don’t forget to breathe back in.

Despite everything, or maybe in spite of it, Tim couldn’t deny this has been one of the most interesting days he’s had in a long time. And wasn’t that something — he felt better after a night spent being repeatedly threatened and even cut with a knife than he did after an average day?

After spending more than two hours outside, Tim went into the house.

He expected everyone to be asleep by now, but bumped into Neil in the kitchen.

The glass with water in his hand was an obvious indication about what Neil was doing there. If Neil was surprised to see him, he didn’t show it. Just looked at Tim for a few seconds before asking.

‘’Who are you really?’’

Tim was tired of that question.

‘’Who fucking knows anymore?’’ He answered with more honesty than he planned, but it didn’t matter.

Neil stared at him. Clearly he wasn’t impressed with the answer, but after a moment, he let it go. He nodded, accepting at least the honesty of the words, before turning to leave the room.

Tim stared at him go. Then he went into the living room and dropped on the couch.

If Andrew tried to kill him in his sleep, he would wake up.

Chapter Text

Tim woke up a little bit before seven.

He thought he would be the only one up at this hour, the others not missing the opportunity to sleep in on a day they didn't have morning practice, but as he was searching around the kitchen for something light to pass as breakfast, Kevin entered the room. He was dressed in athletic gear and sweaty, probably returning after a run. It was a little bit interesting that Neil wasn't with him, considering how the two of them were.

Kevin downed half of his water bottle while watching what Tim was doing.

“You want one?”

Tim asked him, referring to the protein shake he was currently making. The contents of the kitchen were contradictory, half of it was junk food with an obnoxious amount of sweets in the mix, and the other half was healthy shit. It wasn’t hard to guess which half was who’s. Tim had decided on a shake, seeing as the necessary ingredients for one were there.

Kevin looked slightly unsure at the prospect, but after seeing what Tim was putting in the blender, he nodded.

For a while, the two of them existed in silence. Tim handed Kevin his shake when it was ready. Kevin looked at it warily — and seriously, did he think that Tim poisoned it or something — before taking a sip.

‘’It’s good.’’ He commented after a few seconds.

Tim knew it was. Bruce had mastered the art of making a shake with the maximum nutrients and protein one could put into it. He would have tried to practically live on them, if not for Alfred’s dismay and intervention. Still, hearing a positive remark coming from Kevin Day, even if the subject wasn’t Exy, felt surreal. Was he trying to make small talk?

‘’Thanks,’’ Tim responded.

After a few minutes, Kevin broke the silence again.

“How are you?” The question came sounding like someone was forcing him to ask it, even though he was doing this by his own volition.

Tim had a feeling that Kevin was asking about his overall condition, considering everything that happened last night, but he decided to ignore that and answer as if he meant his hand.

“It’s fine.”

And to further prove his statement, Tim took an apple from the counter with his injured hand to throw it in the air and catch it.

Kevin’s eyes narrowed slightly at the display, but he didn't clarify what he really meant, or said anything else.

Tim took this as a chance for him to ask a question.

“Why did you research me?”

“What?”

“I mean, I get looking up my stats and plays before recruiting me, and even the other tidbits that make me qualified for the team. But what Andrew said you researched and knew about me goes beyond that.”

Understanding downed on Kevin’s face. It took him a few seconds to decide on an answer.

‘’You have potential.’’

This was far from what Tim had expected to hear. For one, it didn't really answer his question, and two, this was the second positive thing Kevin had said in the span of ten minutes. Tim couldn't remember him saying anything of the sort in the last months.

“At Exy? And that is enough for you to do a whole background check?”

“That is everything,’’ Kevin stated. ‘’I needed to know who you are. Any factors that may affect your playing, anything you were doing that might jeopardize it.’’

His last words were clearly implying something with their wording. It wasn’t hard to guess what — Neil’s comment from last night about Tim having a build up tolerance.

Kevin’s obsession with Exy, and the lengths he was willing to go for it, was something else entirely. In the beginning, Tim thought it was just a byproduct of his upbringing. His mother was one of the founders of the sport, and after her death he grew up in a literal Exy stadium. It would be hard to have this kind of background without ending up either completely loving or hating the sport. But since Tim’s been here he’s seen that there’s something more than that. The levels of Kevin’s passion about Exy were more than borderline unhealthy.

In a strange way, Tim could almost compare Kevin’s obsession with Bruce’s obsession about justice. And that thought was whole another can of worms Tim wasn’t sure he wanted to open.

The point was, you didn’t get to this kind of obsession because of anything good.

‘’I’m not, or have ever, done drugs.’’ Tim didn’t have to explain himself to Kevin, but he knew that if he didn’t say anything about this particular topic, he wouldn’t hear the end of it for a while. ‘’And even if I was, it wouldn’t be any of your business.’’

‘’It is my business.’’

‘’It’s really not.’’

Tim gave up arguing and just stared at Kevin. He dropped it, but after a minute or two, started another topic.

‘’Andrew has his reasons for doing this. It would be a favour to us all if you stopped doing whatever is it that made him suspicious of you, and stop wasting our time. ’’

Tim was quite sure it wouldn’t be that simple, especially not after yesterday.

‘’Stop doing what exactly, being myself? I don’t care about Andrew’s reasoning or actions. He’s the one with a problem, not me.’’

Tim responded back, but Kevin ignored the last two sentences he said and only answered the first one.

‘’Yes.’’

And really, what had Tim expected. It seemed like talking with anybody from this group was going to end up equally productive.

‘’Fine, whatever.’’ Tim conceded for now. Arguing this much in the morning after the night he had was just going to give him another headache, and he preferred that it didn't happen. Besides, he already had plans to ask something of Kevin, so he used this not-really-a-truce as a chance.

‘’By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. Can you lend me a shirt? I’d like to avoid going back to the dorms looking like this.’’

Not only Kevin’s physique was the most similar to Tim, even if he was taller, but he also was the most neutral choice out of everyone to ask.

Kevin, after taking in Tim’s appearance — and really, he didn’t need to look that disgusted; it was just a little bit of dried blood — gave a jerky nod. He walked over to a drawer in the living room that didn’t look like it was supposed to be used for clothes, but evidently was, and started looking.

‘’Preferably something with a longer neck.’’ Tim called out.

Kevin stopped rifling through the clothes and gave him a strange look.

Tim huffed. ‘’Don’t think I’m doing this to cover for you. I don’t want anyone of the team in my business anymore than you do.’’

Kevin accepted that as an answer and went back to his task. Finally, he produced a black turtleneck which he threw in Tim’s direction. He caught it, and went upstairs to the bathroom to change. The bloodied shirt he folded and tucked under his arm, he had listened to enough of Bruce’s lectures about disposing of potential biohazard objects to throw it somewhere in the thrash. When he got back down, Aaron was in the kitchen. It probably wouldn’t be long before the others also woke up and wandered downstairs, so much like last night, Tim went outside to wait until the drive back to the dorms, not wanting to deal with the eternity of the group.

-

The ride back was uneventful.

Everyone started heading back to their respective dorms after the car was parked, but Tim walked off in another direction.

For one, if he and Aaron got back at the same time, Matt may start putting things together.
And two, Tim had to deal with Abby sooner or later, since he couldn’t really hide the wound on his hand, so it was better to get it done. He entered her number in his phone and pressed call. He knew that on the days the team didn’t have practice Abby’s schedule was varying, so there was a chance she wasn’t in her office.

She picked up on the third ring.

‘’Hello, Tim! I was surprised to see you calling. Has something happened?’’

Her greeting was light and casual. Tim doubted it would stay that way for long.

‘’Yes, actually. Nothing too serious but I figured you’d want to know.’’

As expected, there was a pause on the other end of the phone, like Abby had muffled the speaker and moved to a quieter location. When she spoke again her tone was more concerned.

‘’What happened? Are you okay?’’

‘’Yes, I’m fine. I just cut myself on some glass last night. It’s a superficial cut, but I thought you’d want to check it out anyway.’’

‘’You are right to have thought so. Where are you right now?’’

‘’On my way to the stadium.’’

‘’Okay, wait for me at my office. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.’’

And with that the call ended.

Tim reached the stadium soon after, and headed towards the locker rooms first. He stuffed the bloodied shirt in the back of his locker to deal with later. Thankfully, nobody else seemed to be here, so Tim waited in peace for Abby to arrive.

When she got here it was the usual worrying glances and routine questions. Abby quickly set him up in her office to remove the bandages and look at his hand. While she was inspecting she asked,

‘’How did this happen?’’

‘’I was out drinking with some athletes from the dorm and cut myself when I tried to remove a broken glass from the table. I should have been more careful, I know.’’ Tim smiled apologetically and raised his other hand to scratch at his neck in an act of embarrassment.

The best way to lie about something was to tell a part of the truth.

Usually, a cut from a knife should have been more linear and smooth than one from a broken glass, but due to the struggle with which the injury was caused, it was slightly jagged, and therefore believable.

‘’Yes, you should have been,’’ Abby reiterated his words.’’ Why did you wait until the morning to call me? You know I would answered even if it was late.’’

‘’I didn’t want to bother you. And really, the cut was nothing. I cleaned it and bandaged it immediately. Besides, uh—I didn’t exactly go home right away afterwards.’’

Abby’s gaze went to his neck. Tim gave her a sheepish smile.

Alluding to how he supposedly spent his night wasn’t his favorite excuse to use, but really, how many convincing reasons can someone come up with for covering up their neck?

Got a spontaneous tattoo? Walked into a glass door and cut my neck? A vampire bit me?

Tim couldn’t let her know about the injury on his neck, because while a cut on the hand was explainable as an accident, a cut along the throat wasn’t.

Thankfully, Abby didn’t say anything and turned her attention back to his hand. After she re-bandaged it and gave him a course of low-grade antibiotics she gave him instructions for future care.

‘’I’m not going to bench you just yet, but you need to check in with me again before next practice. And in the meantime, if you start feeling unusual pain, fatigue, or any other symptoms, come find me immediately.’’

There was something almost humorous about the fact that Abby was worrying and overacting this much for a simple cut. Tim wondered how she would react if she knew even a fraction of the things he’s done and the injuries he’s had since losing his spleen.

He dismissed that thought, and gave her a verbal confirmation. After that he was free to leave.

While he was going back to the dorms, he considered the possibility of maybe, finally getting a car. Tim had purposely been keeping his possessions low in this place, and a car would be a big one, but in a situation like yesterday it really would have been useful. Maybe getting a shitty one temporarily, it’s not like he was overflowing with money at the moment. And whatever money he had, mostly made from writing up a few slightly advanced computer programs for this world and selling them, he preferred to invest in finding a way back home.

-

His week dragged on slowly.

Nobody found out about how and where Tim had spent his Friday night, so that was one less situation he had to deal with. He went to his classes and tried to ignore the hushed whispers and stray looks that sometimes followed him from fellow classmates. He really hoped that would stop at some point. Exy practices were mostly normal, if you can call what passed as practice for the Foxes normal.

Hiding the wound on his throat was slightly tricky, but since it was on the lower side of his neck, a well placed neckguard during practice, and a shirt with slightly higher neck during the rest of the time did the trick.

Finally, Thursday came.

Andrew had specified nothing but a day and vague time, and even that wasn’t useful considering he had said after classes, but they had afternoon practice after that. It seemed being vague as fuck on purpose was also a part of his dramatic act.

Tim didn’t bother wondering about the details of their supposed sparring season, or whatever disaster it turned out to be. If Andrew bothered to tell him where to go and when, he would, if he didn’t, Tim wouldn't. He wasn’t a mind reader.

After his classes, Tim went back to his dorm before practice because he had a little bit of free time. There, on his desk and slipped between a textbook, was a small piece of paper with a room and a building number, and a specified hour.

Andrew had broken back into their dorm again. The possibility of him asking Aaron about a key seemed unlikely.

Tim, while annoyed, wasn’t surprised. After their conversation at the nightclub he had been keeping the most important things with him anyway. Like his laptop, which definitely had some things that would raise questions, though you’d need to get through his defenses first and have a good understanding of computers for that to happen. And his journal, where he had poured his entire knowledge of time and dimension travel. That would be significantly more incriminating if someone were to see it.

His suitcase Andrew already knew about, but since he couldn’t open it, Tim wasn’t worried about it.

Tim memorized the numbers on the paper and crumpled it in a ball before throwing it in the thrash.

-

The information Andrew gave him had Tim wandering the halls of one of the more scarcely used buildings. At this time, a little after ten, there was a small chance for anybody to be around. Eventually, Tim found the room written on the paper. He went inside.

For some reason, Renee was there.

Tim stopped. He got the feeling that she was equally surprised to see him, but didn’t react in a way that showed it, and instead greeted him casually.

‘’Hello, Tim! This is a surprise.’’

Yeah, it was. He looked questionably around the room, but Andrew wasn’t anywhere in sight. Renee seemed to pick up on what he was wondering about.

‘’I believe Andrew will be a little bit late. I’d like to say he’s just running late, but I think he did this one purpose.’’

‘’Did he now?’’ Tim voiced rhetorically.

Renee smiled back at him.

‘’Andrew did hint that today things are going to be a little bit different, but I hadn’t imagined that meant somebody would join us.’’

‘’Join you for what?’’

Even though Tim could take a guess, he wanted to see how Renee would describe it.

‘’Our sparring sessions.’’

So, Andrew had been truthful about that part. There was always the chance he just wanted to fight with Tim again, so he lured him somewhere remote. Tim had been prepared for either possibility coming here, but he couldn’t deny he was a little bit surprised that it was the first one.

‘’You don’t seem surprised by my presence here.’’ Renee remarked.

Tim was confused by what she meant by that, considering the fact, he was.

‘’In general, I was given very little information about what to expect, but I assumed there wouldn’t be anybody else.’’

‘’I meant me specifically,’’ She clarified. ‘’Most people would have a hard time believing what I just said without follow up questions.’’

And Tim did get what she meant then. Renee, to most people, probably did look like the farthest thing from a fighter. But Tim wasn’t really most people.

‘’Appearances can rarely tell you all there is about somebody,’’ he offered.

Renee gave him an acknowledging nod, and then commented on what he had said earlier.

‘’He does tend to be rather laconic.’’

‘’Don’t say.’’

‘’I find it refreshing. So many people talk a lot, but say very little. Andrew says what he considers is most vital.’’

‘’Or, he sometimes likes to be as vague as he can on purpose for the sheer effect of it all.’’

Renee actually chuckled at that.

‘’I know we must have had different experiences with him, but Andrew has a reason for the things he does.’’

‘’Just like he has a reason for being late.’’

Renee nodded. ‘’I believe he wanted me to form my opinion about you one on one.’’

Tim had guessed as much. Putting on a confident slash lazy smile that was all Dick Grayson, he asked,

‘’So, how’d I do?’’

She paused for a second at his sudden and brief change of attitude, then simply said,

‘’We’ll see.’’

On one side, Tim now had two people who distrusted him and were going to analyze him. On the other, Renee seemed more reasonable, so hopefully this wouldn’t escalate as much as Friday night had.

It was another couple of minutes before Andrew joined them.

He didn’t say anything, just came to stand at a reasonable distance before Tim, but the look in his eyes conveyed enough. It seemed like the two of them would go first.

Tim had just finished wrapping his hands.

‘’Any rules?’’ he asked.

‘’No visible marks on the face. Don’t pin me.’’

Tim nodded, and when Andrew waited for him to say his conditions, he returned,

‘’Same for the face.’’

And then without the usual waiting to see who would make the first move, Tim lunged.

They went at it for a while, trading hits back and forth. Getting a feel for the other person’s style. This wasn’t the rushed and fierce fighting from the nightclub. Now, there were much more calculated maneuvers and a steadily progressing pace.

Tim didn’t do anything too fancy. He stuck to parring and evading with the occasional kick here and there.

Andrew was quick and brutal. He aimed a sharp elbow towards his ribs. Tim evaded it and caught him by the forearm to pull him off balance. He recovered fast and tried to hook his ankle around Tim’s to trip him. Tim pretended it worked and used it as a way to dodge the next punch aimed at the underside of his jaw.

By the time the two of them took a momentary break, Andrew had managed to score three solid hits, two to Tim’s ribs — and he definitely was going to be bruised tomorrow — and one to his thigh. Tim had one, a slammed elbow in Andrew’s side he used to get out of his grip.

‘’If you think holding back is going to do you any favors you’re wrong.’’

Tim said nothing.

The next time Andrew lunged for his jaw, Tim dropped down and used a leg to sweep his legs, neatly bringing him to the ground.

‘’You like this better?’’ Tim asked, and then laughed through the pain from the punch he got for stopping to talk.

The two of them went without a real break for longer than Tim had anticipated. Andrew didn’t pull back his punches, and they were always intended for vital places. He had technique, but it wasn’t anything polished, and the longer they went on, the easier it became to guess his next moves.

It was fast and brutal, the kind of style you developed from having to fight with your life on the line, the flight or fight instinct working at its finest. But that meant it wasn’t really suited for a fight that lasted longer.

By the time they broke off for an actual break, a good portion of Tim’s body was pleasantly sore. Some of it was from punches, the other was simply exertion. He could easily feel his pulse thrumming like the wings of a hummingbird. If you didn’t count the short altercation last Friday, it has been a long time since Tim has had a proper fight with anyone.

To say that he had missed it, that his body had missed it, would be an understatement. And maybe there was something concerning about the fact that he felt more grounded in his own skin when it was hurting, but he didn’t care.

After around ten minutes, Tim spoke up.

‘’Round two?’’

Andrew looked at him, but didn’t say anything. He was likely itching for a smoke break, and waiting for his body and lungs to be able to handle it.

Renee, who until then had calmly watched them, stepped up.

‘’I think it’s my turn,’’ she said politely.

Tim waited for her as she took off her jacket, revealing a slightly more modern and maneuverable outfit than the ones she usually wore.

Within the first three minutes of the spar, it became clear Renee had more experience than Andrew.

Both of their styles were brutal and aiming for the maximum amount of damage in the minimum amount of time, but Renee’s technique was more varied, and it was undeniably dirty. It was the kind of thing you’d pick by being in a gang. Learned from someone who knew sort of how to fight, who learnt from somebody else who sort of knew how to fight.

Tim had to use a little more effort in keeping his evading and redirecting.

Renee didn’t comment about him keeping on the defensive, or holding back. Which he clearly was at some level, because while both Andrew and Renee were more than a little good, Tim simply had more experience.

Eventually though, Renee made him slip.

She had been leading him around with precise hits for a good minute, and finally managed to make him take the wrong step. Tim saw the fist coming for his jaw, but it was too fast to dodge, and had too much force behind it to risk enduring. He made a split second decision.

Before she reached him, Tim leaned in her space and used two fingers to do a quick nerve strike on the side of her neck.

Her arm failed. It took her a second to realize it, and her other hand went to support the numb one.

‘’Oh,’’ Renee said.’’ I don’t like you.’’

Tim smiled back apologetically.

He knew that he wasn’t going to be making friends today.

Pretending he couldn’t fight that well was an option, but Andrew wouldn’t have let it go on for long. Not when he knew the opposite from last Friday, and it would have likely escalated things. Showing that he could fight, and do it well, would just raise more questions and make him look more suspicious.

There was no avoiding it.

But at least this way Tim hoped to convey something.

I can fight you. I’m not fighting you.

Whether that was enough to make Andrew back off or not, it remained to be seen.

‘’You have training,’’ Renee observed more than asked.

Tim nodded.

‘’Martial arts.’’

There was no point in lying about that since it was clear from his stance alone.

‘’Your supposed brother again?’’ Andrew joined in.

‘’Amongst others,’’

‘’And is this another one of your mysterious hobbies or just a special hidden talent.’’

Family tradition.

‘’You’d be surprised at the amount of calories Muay Thai burns.’’

The look Andrew sent him made Tim glad he wasn’t wearing the armbands with his knives today. He didn’t think Abby would believe him that he accidentally cut himself a second time in the span of one week.

‘’Feeling chatty today, are we.’’ Andrew finally said, with a tone that was too mild to be anything but dangerous.

Tim smiled back at him.

‘’Somebody complained about my personality last week. Something about it being too ingenuine. Be careful what you wish for and all that.’’

Renee stepped between them. She didn’t say anything, just stood there, but it seemed to make enough of a point for Andrew.

For Tim it was unnecessary, he wasn’t planning to start a fight again.

The tense atmosphere remained while Tim started to gather his things in preparation to leave. Before he did though, he called out,

‘’I’m not a threat to you Andrew. You, or anybody here.’’

Andrew scoffed.

Then, an idea spawned in Tim’s mind. It wasn’t a smart one, but when has he been making smart decisions lately?

‘’You aren’t the kind of people I go after.’’

There. A single fragment of the truth that was vague enough.

Tim left the room before either Renee or Andrew had a chance to react to his statement.

When Tim finally went to bed that night, after spending an hour or so on a rooftop that wasn’t the Fox Tower’s, he fell asleep more easily than he had in a long time. He still dreamed about Dick reaching out a hand, and he reached back, like always, and then Tim was falling.

Chapter Text

Tim watched as the ball flew from Dan to Allison, to Matt who managed to steal it, to Kevin.

From player to player, to player until it finally came his turn. He caught the pass, did all of his allowed steps and dodged his assigned backliner, and took a shot at the goal, even though it was pointless. The ball effortlessly sailed through the air and lit the goal red. Next to him, Kevin gave a heavy and disappointed sigh. Tim thought he should have expected the result by now. After all, Andrew hadn’t bothered to block or return a shot coming from him all week.

Since their little spar last Thursday, things have been weird.

Andrew hadn’t abandoned his efforts in figuring out Tim, he merely changed how he went about it. He saw Tim fight and figured out the chances of besting him in a fight weren’t that good, and Tim was sure this was one more bad point for him, and changed tactics. His current strategy seemed to be that, if he couldn’t physically overwhelm him, he was going to do it mentally, by annoying the fuck out of him.

And it was a group effort too.

So this past week has been all the drills that included Tim and Andrew being entirely pointless. Neil’s brief but sharp comments when Tim got near during a play. Aaron’s rougher than usual checks. Nicky roping him in a conversation at every possibility and asking a ton of probing questions at lighting speed. Kevin was the only one who didn’t participate, and on the contrary, he looked quite pained by it all. Probably because it was interfering with their playing.

Around him, Tim’s teammates moved into position to restart the play, and he was a second too slow to follow.

During the break, as Tim was drinking from his water bottle, Dan approached him.

‘’Hey, Tim. Good job on getting around your mark earlier.’’

‘’Thanks.’’

A few seconds of silence passed.

‘’By the way, has something happened recently?’’ Dan asked. Her tone was light and not too probing, but this was definitely more of her captain voice than her usual one.

‘’What do you mean?’’

Tim knew what she meant.

‘’It could be just nothing, but I’ve been noticing some…strange energy between you, and Andrew and the others.’’

It wasn’t surprising that Dan had noticed, and she probably wasn’t the only one, since the way the group went about subtlety with their antics was that they didn’t.

‘’Nothing has happened,’’ Tim assured her.’’It’s probably just them being, well, them.’’

She looked back at him skeptical.

“Are you sure? Because if something has happened, you can tell me. It’s my job as a captain to manage these things if someone goes too far. And this particular group has been known to do this, more than once.”

‘’I’m sure.’’

Dan wasn’t entirely convinced, but she left him after a reminder that he could talk to her anytime.

Practice resumed, and with it came the new wave of trying to get under Tim’s skin.

After Andrew hadn’t bothered to raise his racquet yet again against his shot, Jack, who had also been a part of the play, was muttering angrily.

‘’All that praise he gets from commentators about what a talented freaking goalie he is, and yet he can’t even bother to raise his racquet to block an easy throw. What a fucking joke.’’

Tim should have let it go. Jack wasn’t even talking about him.

Tim shouldn’t have said anything, not breaking character, but for months he had been subjected to the hotheaded striker’s bullshit and endless remarks, and he kind of had enough.

‘’You are one to talk.’’

Jack abruptly turned towards him.

‘’What did you just say?’’

Tim shook his head and turned away from him, he shouldn’t have spoken. But Jack came closer and he wasn’t done.

‘’Yeah, that’s what I thought. Must have been an auditory hallucination, since the guy who has as much presence on the team as a stain on a wall, couldn’t possibly have had the courage to say shit to me.’’

This guy was really something, wasn’t he?

Maybe the team having a mandatory psychiatrist wasn’t that bad of an idea, if only for her to help members work out their complexes.

‘’I said,’’ Tim in answer to his previous question,’’That you are one to talk. Since you know, you complain about people not playing properly just because they don’t feel like it, then turn around and throw a temper tantrum every time you are paired with Josten.’’

Jack took a step forward and tried to grab him by the collar, but Tim evaded him.

‘’You—’’

‘’That’s enough.’’

Tim hadn’t even noticed when Wymack came back on the court. Last he saw him, some older guy had personally come here to find him, and the two went to the coach’s office.

‘’Wright, go back to your position unless you want to stay behind after practice to run laps. Tim, follow me to my office.’’

Was Wymack really going to call him away for something so small? Tim had barely said anything, and Jack had been the main instigator.

Still, Tim followed after the coach.

Once the two of them had entered the room, Wymack turned around to face him and asked,

‘’Do you know a Kyle Summers?’’

Tim was thrown off by the question. But then, after taking a few seconds to think about it, he remembered why the name sounded similar.

Kyle Summers, the guy from the soccer team that Tim bumped into on his way out of the Fox Tower, his first week of classes. The one who dropped that packet, which unsurprisingly turned out to be drugs, in his haste to get away.

Tim had pulled the list of all athletes residing in the dorm, identified the guy, and had written his coach an anonymous email that just said to watch this particular player of his better. The pills he dumped in the toilet, and hadn’t thought much about it past that.

‘’Not really. He was a guy I ran into, quite literally, on the way out of the dorms the day classes started. I think he was from the soccer team, or something.’’

‘’Have you ever met him before or after that?’’

Tim had a feeling he wasn’t going to like where this was going.

‘’No.’’

‘’Alright, here’s the situation. Kyle Summers is in the hospital, an overdose. He’s claiming to his coach that he got the drugs from you. So, I have to ask you, is that true?’’

‘’No,’’ Tim answered again.’’I have no idea what are you talking about.’’

And he really didn’t. Besides that one time they ran into each other, they had never interacted again.

Wymack nodded.

‘’I believe you. But Coach Lewis is convinced that there’s some truth to Summers’ words, and apparently there’s some video as evidence.’’

‘’A video?’’

‘’From the time you just told me the two of you ran into each other. A recording from the security camera at the entrance of the building. You can see both of you bumping into each other, and you reaching a hand towards something, but it’s not clear what due to the angle of the camera.’’

Honestly, how did he get into these situations? Tim had done nothing besides get rid of the pills and write an email, and here he was getting accused.

‘’When Summers ran into me his backpack was open, and his things fell on the ground. I reached to give him back some packet, but he was gone before I could even say anything. Inside it was pills.’’ Tim explained.

‘’What did you do with them?’’

‘’Threw them out the moment I recognized what they were.’’

‘’Good. Any idea why would he be accusing you?’’

‘’Other than the obvious?’’ Tim said.’’He got caught doing drugs, and he’s looking for someone to pass some of the blame and heat. And since he can’t give up his buddies or dealer, Summers is blaming me because of the time we ran into each other, operating on the assumptions that I took his pills.’’

Wymack seemed like he agreed with the explanation, but he still massaged his temple, looking like he could feel the beginning of a headache coming on. Tim could relate.

‘’So, I presume you are the one who sent Coach Lewis that email?’’

There was no point in lying about that.

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Why didn’t you just come to me? I could have talked to him directly and avoided this mess altogether.’’

Honestly, Tim hadn’t even thought about that possibility. It probably would have been the better option, but he simply wasn’t used to relying on others for such things. Not since he’s been stuck here anyway.

Wymack seemed to get the answer from his face alone. He sighed.

‘’Alright. The email should be some evidence to show that not only Summers didn’t get anything from you, but that you also tried to do something to resolve the situation, even if you didn’t go about it the best way.’’

Tim just hoped this didn’t evolve to a situation where the police got involved.

‘’Go back to practice, and don’t worry about this. I’m not going to let anybody get away with falsely accusing one of my players.’’

Tim went back to join the others on the court, but his mind wasn’t in anything that he was doing.

It wasn’t Andrew’s actions that was getting to him, not really. Nor the ridiculous situation that Wymack informed him of.

It was everything else.

Thursday had been equal parts good and bad. Getting a taste of a real fight, however brief and controlled it was, had been good. But it also left him with a bitter reminder of what he didn’t have anymore. Of activities from a life that seemed so far away now.

He refused to believe it was completely lost to him. He would never allow himself to even think about such a possibility while his heart was still beating.

If there’s a will, there's a way.

It wasn’t something Bruce had ever said. There wasn’t need to, he had proved it by his actions alone over a hundred times. And it wasn’t only him.

Though, none of this helped much with how he felt right now.

The truth was, Tim was stuck.

He felt like a bird trapped in its enclosure, flying straight into a closed window again and again, trying to reach a sky that was an entire dimension away.

There was a permanent itch in his entire body that was keeping him restless. An unused energy buzzing under his skin with the need to move, to do something. It was distracting and leaking in everything he was doing. Like this practice he spent the majority of spacing in and out.

He had to do something about it, before he lost his mind.

-

Tim was sitting in the cafeteria between classes. On one side of the table before him there was an abandoned tray with half a yogurt and the remnants of a salad, and on the other was his journal. He was going through all the possibilities for a way back that he had written down.

The option, where he arranged the circumstances for him to be hit by lightning and hope it made him a speedster, was slowly becoming more and more enticing.

He was engrossed enough by his work, that the presence of someone coming closer didn’t register until they were dropping in the opposite seat with a slam of a new tray against the table.

It was Andrew.

Which was somewhat surprising, because beside his antics during and around practice, Andrew hadn’t personally bothered to seek him out since Thursday.

Tim snapped his journal shut and put it back in his backpack, and took out a normal notebook to focus on, pretending he didn’t feel Andrew’s gaze following his movements.

He pointedly ignored the goalkeeper’s presence.

‘’Keeping track of your future drug deals to unsuspecting soccer players in there?’’

‘’Oh, fuck you.’’

He had eavesdropped. Of course, Andrew had snuck off the field to eavesdrop on Tim and Wymack.

‘’Don’t you ever get tired from not minding your own business all time?’’ Tim asked back.

Andrew hummed thoughtfully, acting like he was trying hard to come up with an answer.

‘’I do mind my business.’’

‘’And that includes me?’’ Tim muttered skeptically.

‘’It includes anyone who is being a thorn in my side. And that includes you.’’

‘’I’m literally doing nothing to you.’’

‘’Apparently you are selling drugs to athletes in the dorm. That’s something I don’t like.’’

What was up with everyone in this group thinking he was doing, or selling drugs?

‘’Since I know you bothered to eavesdrop on us, I’m sure you heard the part where I said I didn’t do any of that, and that Wymack believed me.’’

‘’I don’t care about the naive opinion of someone manages to see something good even in the most obvious, hopeless cases.’’

‘’Don’t you?’’ Tim asked, though he didn’t expect a serious reply.

Andrew stared back at him with a steel cold stare, but didn’t answer. He started tearing his food in little pieces and eating it. Tim wasn’t sure where he had even gotten it from, considering they were in the cafeteria meant for athletes, and the food on Andrew’s tray was anything but that.

Tim knew that hoping for this to be the last of their conversation was pointless, so he decided to take initiative.

‘’I’m not doing, or selling drugs to anyone, Andrew.’’ Tim stated flatly.

‘’You sure do have a good tolerance for them though.’’

This again.

‘’Let me rephrase that a bit. I have never been voluntarily under the influence of drugs.’’

Slipping a sliver of truth seemed to be the only way to make Andrew consider what he was saying seriously.

Andrew raised an eyebrow. Tim got what he meant even without words.

‘’That hardly counts, because if you somehow forgot, I wasn’t the one who spiked my drink at Eden’s.’’

‘’Yet you drank it anyway.’’

‘’I only did that to throw you off. Though I see that my efforts have been completely pointless, since you are still standing here.’’

‘’C minus for the effort. Try again.’’

Tim pursed his lips. He idly toyed with the idea of throwing the cup with remnants of his yogurt at Andrew, just to see if he would go away, or try and stab Tim in the middle of the cafeteria. It would be an incredibly childish display, so he dismissed the notion, but the urge to do something remained. Andrew had held a literal knife to his neck two weeks ago, so surely this was justifiable.

Tim sighed. This kind of thinking wasn’t useful for the current situation.

‘’Look, Andrew, if you are that concerned about someone selling drugs in the dorm, why don’t you go and find the person that is actually doing that?’’

Andrew turned his head a single centimeter towards him, Tim had caught his attention.

‘’Instead of wasting your time with me, we’ll go and find out who the guy is, and tell Wymack so he can handle it.’’

Tim had a feeling that Andrew didn’t seriously believe what he was being accused of. More likely, the information he gained by eavesdropping was simply more ammunition for Andrew to try and use to get under Tim’s skin.

Andrew dryly repeated,’’We.’’

‘’How else I’m going to prove to you that I’m telling the truth?’’

‘’And how exactly are we going to do this?’’

In reality, Tim kind of already had plans for resolving this particular situation from the moment he got out of Wymack’s office. But now that he was including Andrew in them, he had to change things a little bit, and the person who just walked in the cafeteria was an ideal opportunity for that.

“Socialising,” he answered Andrew. Then Tim got up from his seat and walked across the room.

He knew that Andrew was following him, albeit at a slower and more distant pace.

Tim stopped at a table near the back wall. It was occupied by a single person who had just sat down with his food, and Tim waited for him to look up.

“Oh, hey, Tim. What’s up?” asked Declan Ross, a guy Tim had shared a couple of classes with. They had spoken only a handful of times, and most of them had been Ross asking Tim about his notes, whenever he missed a lecture. He was also, coincidentally, on the soccer team.

‘’Hey, I was wondering if you had finished that assignment Vaughn gave us yet?’’

Ross made a face at his question.

‘’I have barely started it, nevermind finishing it. I swear, that guy just likes torturing us!’’

Tim nodded in agreement.

‘’Yeah, I get that feeling from him too. By the way, I’m sorry about your game yesterday. It really seemed like you were going to win until the end.’’

‘’’Thanks, man, I didn’t know you were interested in soccer. And we definitely would have won if it weren’t for…’’ He trailed off, a sour expression settling on his face.

Tim sat down next to him after he got an affirmative nod, and leaned slightly towards Ross, acting very interested in what he had to say.

‘’We got screwed,’’ Ross finally said. And Tim knew he would, since the guy loved to talk. ‘’One of my bright teammates did something stupid and got himself pulled out, screwing our lineup in the last possible minute.’’

‘’That sucks.’’

Ross laughed sharply.’’Yeah, it does. Honestly, I’m just glad that it was only him. There’s a bunch of more idiots on our team that are doing the same crap as him, and I don’t know how are we going to last the season.’’

‘’Doesn’t your coach know about this?’’

Ross pursed his lips. ‘’He’s biased. He can’t believe that his star players are sneaking out of campus during the middle of the night and are doing, well, I’m sure you can guess.’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Tim affirmed.’’I can. Still, isn’t regularly sneaking out of campus pushing their luck?’’

‘’Well, they gather in some shitty bar near campus, but I don’t know much more than that. Me and the rest of the guys try to keep our distance outside practice. I’m sure you know how it is, with you being on the Exy team and all.’’

‘’Yes,’’ Tim agreed, choosing to let the dig at his team’s reputation go.’’Well, it’s been nice talking to you, but my next class starts in a bit. I hope things work out for you.’’

And with that their conversation was done. Andrew, who had been silently observing the whole thing from enough distance to not be noticed, joined Tim as he was making his way out of the cafeteria.

‘’What are the chances we’ll find whoever is distributing the drugs at this bar?’’ Tim said more than asked, knowing the factual answer.

Andrew stayed silent. It was only when Tim stopped and turned to him that he spoke.

‘’You were fishing for information.’’

Tim shrugged.

‘’Is it really fishing, if they give it away so freely?’’

‘’Since the moment I pulled a knife on you at Eden’s, you’ve been making an astonishingly negative amount of progress on disproving my opinion of you.’’

Tim laughed.

‘’I know. Are we doing this or not? Because I don’t need you to do it.’’

‘’When?’’

It was impressive how Andrew managed to make a question not sound like one at all.

‘’Tonight.’’ And then because Tim saw the goalie’s expression, he added.’’It’s Friday. They’ve just lost a game yesterday.’’

‘’You do realize that there are more than one bars near campus.’’

‘’Let me worry about that. Just meet in the parking lot at say, ten.’’

Andrew walked off without responding, but Tim knew he would probably be there. He wouldn’t have stuck around for so long if he didn’t plan to actually do this.

Tim started walking in the direction of the dorms. He really had a class, but now he also had a job to figure out the place where they would be going tonight.

-

Andrew appeared in the parking lot eighteen minutes later than they had agreed, and just a moment before Tim gave up waiting for him.

The two of them didn’t say anything as they got in the car, save for Tim mentioning the address of the place they had to go to. The entire ride passed in not tense, but definitely not relaxed either, silent atmosphere. It wasn’t until they were parking a few blocks away from the actual place, and Tim was lowering the hood of his jacket, that Andrew turned to him and gave him a look.

‘’I don’t know for sure if anybody knows how I look like,’’ Tim began explaining.’’But since you know, their friend is accusing me of being their dealer, somebody might have an idea.’’

What he was referring to was his appearance, which was quite different from how he dressed and looked usually. He had even used a bit of makeup to subtly make some of the features on his face appear different. It had helped that Tim had the dorm to himself, with both Matt and Aaron being out on dates with their respective girlfriends.

Andrew didn’t say anything, just started heading towards the bar without waiting for him.

Inside wasn’t overly crowded. The main clientele definitely appeared to be made up mostly of students, but there were the occasional random people. Tim and Andrew settled at a table at the back which had a good view of the entire room, and ordered something for the sake of blending in.

After that, it was a matter of waiting and observing.

It seemed like luck was on their side today, since the group of soccer players were already there. Tim had memorised the faces of the entire team, and three members of it were currently present. They were joined by another two guys who weren’t on the team, but also looked like they were athletes.

They had to wait almost an hour before something happened. Andrew had just returned from a smoke break.

A new guy approached the group of soccer players, but instead of joining them, one of the members, Sidney Lynch, went to meet him alone. The two of them started heading towards an exit.

Tim had been hoping to catch the guys using, but now they could maybe even catch as Lynch got the drugs from his dealer.

Andrew shot a bored look at Tim.

Now what?

Tim started walking towards a door in the back meant for the staff. After checking that nobody was looking, he went in, with Andrew following closely behind. In the following hallway they quickly went left once, and ended up at a metal door. One that led to the staircase for the rooftop, Tim knew, because he pulled the plans of the building and studied them.

Lynch and his dealer were going outside, probably in the back alley behind the bar, and wasn’t that original, but the space was small and dark, and it didn’t have cameras. Tim was pretty sure that was by design.

Directly following them outside was too risky, so hoping to catch them from the not too tall rooftop it was.

Tim went to the edge and crouched, and sure enough, he could see them. He quickly got out his phone and discreetly took a few pictures. They were a little dark, but he could enhance them so the faces would be recognizable.

When Tim turned around, Andrew, who had just walked over, looked back at him unimpressed.

Is that it? His expression practically spoke.

Tim whispered, ‘’What did you expect us to do? Confront them?’’

There were other ways to handle this, sure, but since not only Tim didn’t fully have the advantage of anonymity, but also had Andrew to include in his plans, this was the most simple way.

But apparently, his last question was the wrong thing to say, since after he did, Andrew turned around and headed back the way they came, with determination present in his body language.

Tim cursed him in his mind, and hurried to follow.

However, he had to stop. Andrew had managed to get back out of the staff area unseen, but by the time Tim pried the metal door open, there were two employees chatting in the hallway. Tim couldn’t wait for them to go away, he went back to the rooftop.

Now, Lynch had disappeared already, but his dealer was still there, apparently smoking a cigarette. Tim had just reached the edge of the roof to see Andrew appear in the alley, and slam the guy in a wall.

No doubt he had already pulled one of his knives with the move, but Tim didn’t stick around to watch. He was busy finding how to get down.

Since the building wasn’t very tall, the fire escape was a singular, dingy looking ladder that didn’t quite reach the ground. It was enough.

Tim hopped down the ladder once, and then he was on the ground.

Just in time to hear the end of a quite creative threat about what would happen to the dealer, if he ever sold drugs to an athlete attending PSU again.

His descend alerted both parties, but before they could really react, Tim grabbed Andrew’s sleeve and pulled the hand that was holding a knife away.

‘’That’s enough,’’ he said.

The guy used this as an opportunity to run away, and Andrew let him, too busy glaring daggers at Tim.

Tim held up his hand. Not here.

And then he was briskly walking out of the alley and towards the car a few blocks away, without stopping to check if Andrew was following him or not. Eventually, they both reached the car, and Tim turned around to face him and said,

‘’That wasn’t necessary.’’

Andrew didn’t answer him, but the look in his eyes told him he, in fact, thought it absolutely was.

‘’Now he’s seen both of our faces. What’s going to happen if he reports you?’’

‘’He won’t,’’ were Andrew’s first spoken words for the night.

‘’Chances that a guy like that would go to the police are slim, yes, but they aren’t zero! What about if he just recognizes us, and reports it to his buddy, Sydney Lynch?’’

‘’Unfortane for you.’’

‘’Bad for both of us! Just because I’m the one involved in this situation, it doesn’t mean you’ll get away with no consequences, especially after the stunt you pulled.’’

Tim can’t say he was surprised that Andrew had reacted this way, but he had hoped Andrew would be a little bit more careful and foressing.

‘’If you hadn’t stopped me, the possibility for him to tell someone wouldn’t even cross his mind.’’

‘’If I hadn’t stopped you, you probably would have stabbed him.’’

Andrew raised an eyebrow, completely uncaring about the fact.

Tim shook his head.

‘’The pictures would have been enough. This didn’t need to get this complicated.’’

‘’How did you know about the roof?’’ Andrew changed the topic.

Tim thought he might mention this. ‘’I found the plans for the building beforehand.’’

‘’And you knew who was going to be here.’’

‘’I didn’t know who was going to be here, I just looked up the entire soccer team before coming here.’’ Tim corrected him. Then,’’You probably did the same thing, or would have if you cared enough about this.’’

The two of them stared at each other for a long time. Tim knew they probably should have been going away by now, but he also knew that it was better to not cut this conversation short.

Finally, Andrew commented,

‘’So, Is this the kind of people you go after?’’

His tone was more than a little mocking as he repeated Tim’s statement from last week, but there was something undeniably heavy and dangerous about it.

Tim, deciding to forgo further explanations, simply said,

‘’Yes.’’

He waited see if Andrew was going to say something else, but he just continued studying him, so Tim spoke again,

‘’You asked me who I was. You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you the truth, so I’m not going to. Instead, I’m going to show you that I’m not the kind problem you think I am.’’

Andrew stared at him for a few more seconds, then turned away. All he said is,

‘’You are a problem.’’

Then he got in his car.

It took Tim a few seconds to follow.

You are a problem.

But the heat that usually accompanied his accusations was missing. This was simply an acknowledgment, with focus on the a part of the sentence. Not his, at least not anymore, and unless Tim did something to the contrary.

It’s as much as a truce they would ever get to.

Tim knew better than to assume that after this, all of Andrew’s issues, and those of the rest of the group, with him would be resolved, but for now, it was a start.

-

The ride back to the dorms passed faster than the previous one.

After Andrew parked the car, the two of them went in their respective directions without saying anything. In minutes, Tim was back in his dorm, letting the tension disperse from his body. It was well past midnight, but both Matt and Aaron had plans to spend their night elsewhere, so Tim had the whole space to himself.

He went to the bathroom to get out of his outfit, and to begin removing the light amount of makeup he had on his face.

‘’Tim, you still awake yet?’’

There was the sound of the front door opening and then Matt’s voice.

What was he doing here?

As far as Tim knew, he and Dan were going to some kind of restaurant, and then spending the night somewhere where they could be alone.

‘’Have you seen my ID anywhere? I think it fell out of my wallet, and they wouldn’t let us in without it, so I’m really hoping it’s somewhere around here.’’

Tim barely had time to put on a t-shirt before Matt appeared in front of the door to the bathroom, which wasn’t closed all the way.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You were changing’’ Matt backed out of the doorway, giving him privacy.

‘’It’s fine,’’ Tim replied, after getting out of the bathroom. ‘’I don’t think I’ve seen your ID.’’

“Alright, I’ll try looking in the—” Suddenly, Matt cut himself off.

Tim looked back at him questioningly.

‘’Tim,’’ his voice was uncertain. ‘’What is that on your neck?’’

Shit.

In his haste to get dressed, Tim had put on a shirt with a low neckline. The cut on his throat was almost healed, but the key word here was almost.

‘’It’s nothing. I cut myself while shaving.’’

But Matt didn’t seem to hear him, and instead came closer.

‘’Is that? That looks like—’’ Mat was talking with a frown, but it was more to himself. ’’That looks…deliberate.’’

Tim itched to go put on a jacket or change again, but acting like that was too defensive, so he resisted.

‘’It’s nothing, Matt,’’ he said in a reassuring tone.

“Tim,” he said, and there was definite worry in his voice now. “Did somebody do this to you?”

Tim shook his head, but Matt was backing away. He was heading towards the front door, apparently to call for Dan, who was waiting outside.

Great, more company. Just what he needed for this.

Tim stayed in his place, preparing to navigate this situation.

He really couldn’t catch a break, could he?

Chapter Text

Tim waited in place as Matt went to get Dan.

Several possibilities flashed through his mind on what exactly to say to them, but none of them were quite good enough. Denying what Matt clearly recognized, and Dan probably will as well, as a not accidental injury was pointless. Lying about the circumstances of how it happened could backfire if they figured out the truth, and cause them to trust anything he said after that less. Playing the situation off as not what it looks like was somewhat hard, when it looked like someone tried to cut his throat.

His time for figuring out a response ended when Dan appeared in the hallway. Her overall manner was that of a slight confusion, no doubt caused by Matt’s anxious behaviour, but she still tried to give a casual greeting. That greeting died halfway through when she spotted his neck.

‘’What the fuck.’’

Tim winced.

‘’It’s not that bad.’’

And it really wasn’t. The wound was nearly healed and now it looked more like a long, deep scratch. But then again, Dan was probably reacting to the whole concept of it, and not merely its appearance.

‘’What—who did this to you, Tim?!’’ She took a step closer to him, as if to inspect it from a closer distance, but Tim calmly took half a step back.

‘’It doesn’t matter. It’s been handled, you don’t have to worry about it.’’

‘’How can it not—’’ Dan began, but then cut herself off. Tim could practically hear the dots connecting in her head, the gears turning. When she spoke again, her voice was a careful mixture of anger and disbelief. ‘’Did Andrew did this to you?’’

‘’Did he what?’’ Matt exclaimed.

‘’I knew something was going on when they kept treating you like that during practice, but this. I’m going to kill them. I’m going to kill him. When will they learn—’’

‘’Dan,’’ Tim interrupted her tirade. ‘’I don’t know what you think happened, but it's fi—.’’

‘’It’s not fine!’’ She cut him off sharply. And yeah, maybe Tim shouldn’t have tried to use that word exactly, he had noticed it brought some acute reactions. ‘’He can’t just keep pulling this shit every year and except to get away with it!’’

‘’You don’t even know what happened,’’ Tim interjected.

‘’What,’’ She began with fury in her tone, though it was clear it wasn’t directed at him. ‘’Happened?’’

Tim hesitated on an answer, telling her the truth would be just adding more fuel to the fire, but not telling her anything left her to her own assumptions, and that could be worse.

‘’Technically speaking, yes, Andrew did this. But it wasn’t as one-sided as you are making it sound. We disagreed about something, we fought, and he didn’t get away from the fight unscathed either.’’

‘’You fought?’’ Dan echoed, like she had a hard time believing it.

‘’When did this happen?’’ Matt asked.

‘’Two weeks ago.’’

‘’Here?’’ Matt asked again, though this time he sounded like he could guess the answer.

‘’No, at some club in Columbia.’’

Matt cursed, and Dan’s expression got worse.

For a moment, there was more worry than anger in Matt’s demeanor. ‘’Tim, are you alright?’’

‘’Why wouldn’t I be?’’

“It’s just that Andrew, and everyone they take to Columbia, it usually doesn’t end well. It doesn’t end well at all.”

Now, Tim was curious. He had learned that last year Neil had been on the receiving end of a similar treatment to the one he was subjected to, but the way Matt was speaking about it, it almost seemed personal. It looked like Andrew had a habit of inviting people he had a problem with to his own territory to deal with them. Which would explain why Dan was so angry about this.

“I can’t say I had a particularly good time,” Tim began. “But, as I mentioned before, I handled it. You don't have to worry about that." ’

‘’The hell we don’t! Whatever disagreement it is that you two had, it doesn’t justify injuring you like this.’’

Then Dan, looking full of determination, turned and headed for the front door. Her destination was obvious.

Tim intercepted her.

‘’Is this really the best time to pick up a fight? It’s the middle of the night, and I think everybody else dislikes us enough already without waking them at this hour.’’

‘’They can deal with it. This is more important.’’

She wasn’t budging. But neither was Tim.

‘’Dan, please drop it.’’ And this time, the tone of his words was cool and final.

Dan did stop, only to look back at him with an expression that was half disbelief, half genuine confusion.

‘’Why are you defending him? He hurt you, and don’t try to minimize that, because cutting someone across the throat like this isn’t a small thing at all!’’

‘’I’m not.’’ And he wasn’t. If it was somebody else Andrew had done this to, Tim would have let Dan handle it. But it was him, not anybody else.

‘’I know you are worried and I appreciate what you are trying to do, I really do, but this simply isn’t any of your business.’’

She shook her head.

‘’I’m the captain of this team, Tim. It’s my responsibility to do something if someone crosses the line. I told you that.’’

It’s not like Tim couldn’t understand where she was coming from, but this was a more complicated situation than what she envisioned, because Dan didn’t have all the facts. And she couldn’t have them. He had just gotten the barest outlines of truce between him and Andrew earlier that night, and getting Dan, and everyone else involved, was threatening to undo it all.

‘’Yes, but what happened between me and Andrew has nothing to do with the team. It was personal disagreements.’’

‘’It’s not personal if it interferes with your playing.’’

It was a weak argument, and Tim knew she knew it.

‘’Eighty percent of our team doesn’t like each other, and they let it affect our playing all the time. You don’t get involved in most instances.’’

But Dan shook her head again with pursed lips. ‘’This is different. I’m sorry, Tim, but I can’t let this go.’’

And then she left their dorm. Tim didn’t bother trying to stop her again. Clearly, and unfortunately enough for him, this wasn’t something she was willing to let go without doing something about it first.

Matt, as expected, followed Dan instantly. Tim took his time, he put on a zip up hoodie that provided enough coverage, and gave up hope for the night to end anytime soon.

By the time he arrived at the place of the developing conflict, Nicky had already popped his head out of the door — no doubt because of Dan’s incessant knocking that even Tim was able to hear from afar — and was confusedly trying to keep up with her accusations.

‘’Wait, wait,’’ he waved an arm, face still cloudy with unfocusedness and the remnants of sleep. ‘’What are you talking about?’’

Dan jerked a pointed finger at Tim, who was standing a little farther away from the rest of the gathered people, without turning to look back and said,

‘’Him. Did you really think we wouldn’t find out you took him to Columiba?’’

A myriad of expressions went through Nicky’s face. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, with nothing coming out, until finally, it did.

‘’Look, you know I’m not the one who decides these things. Honestly, I didn’t want to bring him there, but once Andrew is convinced of something…’’

‘’Where is he?’’ Dan asked him with steel in her voice, and she didn’t need to clarify who.

Nicky grimaced. ‘’I don't think that's a good idea, not right now, anyway. Maybe come back in the morning?’’

‘’I don’t care, Hemmick. Either you tell him to get his ass out here, or I’ll come and personally ensure that he does.’’

‘’All right, all right. Jeez. ‘’ Nicky backed out of the doorway with raised hands. He didn’t bother closing the door, though it wasn’t open more than a few inches, so the happenings behind it remained hidden.

Dan agitatedly tapped with her foot against the floor, and next to her Matt stayed in place stiff and upright, almost as if preparing for a fight. Bits of a conversation could be heard coming from beyond the door, but who exactly was talking and when was unclear.

Finally, Andrew emerged alone from the room.

Since Tim saw him last, and it was less than an hour ago, he had only changed from a long sleeved shirt to a black t-shirt. Nearly the same shade as his armbands, who were on full display, and personally, Tim thought this was the slightest of statements.

Though Dan, and Tim had to assume she knew Andrew carried knives there because she made the connection to him so quickly, either didn’t pick up on it, or wasn’t impressed.

‘’You,’’ She began, and took a step in his direction. ‘’How many times are we going to have this conversation? You can’t injure of fuck up one of our teammates just becasue you don’t like them!’’

Tim wanted to protest, Andrew hadn’t exactly done either of those things in his opinion, though there was an attempt, but decided staying silent was wiser right now.

Andrew just stared back at her, looking bored.

‘’Nothing to say, huh?’’

He didn’t respond.

‘’Figured,’’ Dan spat out, and she made it sound almost like an insult. ‘’Here is what’s going to happen. If you aren’t at Wymack’s apartment in the next twenty minutes, I swear, you are going to be benched for every game until I graduate!’’

Tim wasn’t sure how effective that threat was, considering Andrew didn’t care much for Exy. Still, instead of verbally tearing into him, like Tim had expected her to do here, it seemed like Dan had another plan. One involving Wymack — and wasn’t this getting better by the minute?

Matt and Dan headed for the parking lot, but not before she informed Tim that they would drive him there, his participation in the unfolding events apparently decided. Tim, nonetheless, nodded in agreement, but didn’t immediately set out to follow them.

He waited for the couple to get out of earshot before saying,

‘’I didn’t tell them anything.’’

Andrew was still in the hallway.

‘’Don’t remember asking.’’

‘’I know.’’

And then Tim was turning away before Andrew went into his dorm and slammed the door shut.

Tim knew that even if Andrew believed him, it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. But still, he wanted to say what actually happened.

-

The drive to Wymack’s place was tense, but not overly so.

Matt turned the radio on low volume, the fingers on his right hand irregularly tapping at the steering wheel. Dan, sitting next to him in the front, dug her phone out of her purse before the engine of the car had even started. She brought it to her ear, and the full minute it took for her call to get answered made Tim think that Wymack was sleeping, but that wasn’t the case.

‘’Hey, Coach. Yes, there’s a reason I’m calling at this time. Did we wake you up?’’

What Wymack answered wasn’t audible, but Dan’s expression in the review mirror shifted to show slight surprise.

‘’Oh, sorry for interrupting you two then, but this is important.’’ Dan huffed,’’ No, nobody is dying, but it still can’t really wait until the morning.’’

In the meanwhile, Tim had sunk back into his seat, pretending to be a part of the interior of the car. There were very few people Wymack would be having over at this time of the night, or at his apartment in general, and all of them weren’t good options. It was most likely Abby. Which wasn’t good.

Matt saw his reflection in the mirror and gave him a questioning look. Tim waved him off, it looked like this night he would have to deal with disastrous conversation after a disastrous conversation.

‘’It’s about Andrew,’’ Dan said, and her tone must have conveyed enough, because the call ended seconds after that.

They arrived at the place a few minutes after.

Wymack greeted them with a flat expression. He walked them through the door and to his kitchen, before turning to face them with both hands on his hips and asking,

‘’So, what couldn’t wait until the morning?’’

Nobody answered immediately. Tim didn’t really pay attention to the reason why, he was too focused on looking at Wymack’s guest. He had guessed it would be Abby, but this was so much worse.

Dr Dobson was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of unknown beverage in front of her, and an empty paper plate. Upon noticing the attention she was subjected to, she raised her hand to do a small wave.

‘’Hello! What brings you here at this hour?’’

Dan didn’t seem surprised, likely she knew who was here because of her conversation with Wymack, but Matt stopped.

‘’Betsy! What are you doing here?’’

Betsy Dobson chuckled, one of those gestures that was done more for the effect of the action rather than its sincerity. ‘’We were discussing some topics with David and the time got away from us. I can leave if you would prefer to talk with him alone.’’

Matt hesitated. ‘’Actually, it may be a good thing that you are here.’’

Tim very much disagreed. He couldn’t think of a person he wanted less to be present for this conversation, or any conversation really. He was about to protest but got cut off.

‘’So?’’ Wymack brought the attention back to him by impatiently repeating a part of his question.

Dan first looked at Tim before turning to face the coach, and started with what she thought was most important: ‘’Andrew took Tim to Columbia.’’

Wymack swore.

He brought a hand up to rub the bridge of his nose and asked,‘’When did this happen?’’

Another look at Tim. ‘’Apparently, two weeks ago.’’

Wymack turned to him with an incredulous expression.

‘’After our first game? Why didn’t you tell anyone?’’

Tim ignored the impulse to snap Because it’s none of your business, and answered,

‘’I didn’t think it was such a big deal.’’

‘’Not a big deal,’’ Dan echoed like she couldn’t believe him. She gestured towards his neck and asked, ’’How can this not be a big deal?!’’

Wymack followed the direction of what she was pointing at, but without the knowledge of what exactly she was referring to, he was lost. Tim got the feeling Dan and Matt wanted him to show his injury, but he had no intention of doing that. This was their fight, one he tried to convince them wasn’t needed, and he wasn’t going to help them with it.

After realizing Tim wouldn’t reveal what Andrew did, Dan put it into words. ‘’Andrew not only took him to Eden’s, and did who knows what else, but he used his knives on Tim. He literary cut his neck.’’

Tim was kind of getting tired of the constant repeating of Andrew did this to him, Andrew did that. Like Tim was this passive participant in the whole thing and everything was either done, or happened to him. He knew they didn’t have all the details of what happened, and that was on purpose, but getting perceived as a victim in this whole situation was annoying.

Wymack’s expression got more dismayed with every spoken word. After Dan was done, he asked Tim,

‘’Does Abby know about this?’’

‘’Not really.’’

She probably would, come morning.

‘’Why?’’

‘’I know how to use a bandaid.’’

The look Wymack gave Tim conveyed exactly how not impressed he was with that answer.

‘’Good for you. That’s entirely not the fucking point I’m making. She told me the cut on your hand was from a glass.’’

The last sentence was phrased more as a statement than a question, but Tim still answered it.

‘’Because that’s what I told her.’’

‘’And you accidentally omitted the part where the glass cut your neck too.’’

Tim gave him a thin-lipped smile.

‘’I told Abby about the cut on my hand, and she administered the appropriate treatment. The quantity of the injuries was insignificant to the situation.’’ He chose his words deliberately, mindful of the company they had around them.

After Wymack and Abby had learned about his health condition, they wanted to inform the rest of the team. Tim had refused, and hadn’t budged from his stance. He knew that the point Wymack was trying to make wasn’t only about the injuries themselves, but the threat of infection too. But Dan and Matt were here too, and they didn’t know anything about that. Whether Dobson knew, or not, was a fifty-fifty chance. On one hand, Tim’s physical health concerned Abby, not her, but on the other, she still was a person responsible for the care of the Foxes, and some information came with that.

‘’Insignificant, yeah sure. And when you collapsed in heap of pathetic limbs from all blood loss that your bandaid couldn’t stop, then what were you planning to do?’’

Tim didn’t bother pointing out the obvious fact that Wymack’s scenario didn’t realize itself.

‘’Well, you would have found out about it then, wouldn't have you?’’

The look Wymack gave him made Tim almost pity him. Almost.

The coach ran a hand through his hair and shifted the topic in another direction.

‘’Where’s Andrew?’’

Dan, who had stayed mostly silent during the time Wymack was interrogating Tim, save for some murmuring back and forth with Matt, spoke up.

‘’I told him to meet us here, but it's been more than enough time for him to arrive.’’ The tone of her next words were more than a little bitter. ‘’As usual, he’s doing whatever he fucking wants.’’

Wymack gave a short and weary sigh. Then, he pulled out his phone. It took three tries for his call to connect.

‘’Minyard, I’m going to say this only once. Get your ass here or you are done.’’

They lapsed in a slightly awkward silence as they waited. After around six minutes, the front door of the apartment opened, which was something, since the ride from the dorms to here took longer. Either Andrew had already been on his way here intending to be purposely late, or was already here and loitering in the parking lot.

He walked in the room with a stride, but paused upon seeing Dobson’s presence.

‘’Hello, Bee. Isn’t it past your bedtime.’’

Betsy smiled, a board and seemingly genuine thing. ‘’Yes, I suppose it is. But time seems to be running away from me today.’’

‘’I have to say,’’ Andrew began, and this time it wasn’t addressed to Dobson, though he hadn’t looked away from her, ‘’If you think inviting her to this little dinner party would achieve anything, you are exceptionally moronic.’’

‘’You—’’ Matt began hotly, but was cut off by Wymack.

‘’Hold on to your horses, Minyard. I’m not that dumb to ever try that shit with you. Betsy’s been here since seven, we were having a very nice dinner if you even care, before it was interrupted by all you.’’

‘’By me,’’ Andrew pointed at himself after looking around the room. ‘’But, Coach, I wasn’t the one that initiated this lame get-together.’’

Wymack’s mouth twitched.

‘’I don’t have time for your word games today, Andrew. It’s ass o’clock, and I want to sleep. Why did you take him’’ — Wymack jerked a thumb in Tim’s direction — ‘’to Columbia?’’

‘’You tell me.’’

‘’Did you hear anything I just said? I don’t have the patience to deal with—’’’

‘’Then don’t, Coach. Let’s all go home now.’’ Andrew finally turned away from Betsy to level a look at Tim.’’I’m sure he would prefer that too.’’

Tim fought an internal battle within himself. He didn’t want to side with either Andrew, or Matt, Dan and Wymack, but one of them was a quicker option to resolve this.

‘’He isn’t wrong,’’ Tim joined the conversation. ‘’I don’t particularly want to do this either.’’

Wymack gave both of them long and heavy looks.

‘’Your wishes have been noted, but I can’t let this go so easily. Not when one of you has apparently been wearing a scarlet necklace around their throat.’’

‘’Oh, so hyperbolic. It was but a scratch.’’

‘’It sure as fuck didn’t look like a scratch to me!’’ Dan interjected. ‘’And this is after two weeks. You are so full of it. ’’

‘’I think,’’ Betsy Dobson, who had been playing a silent observer until now, spoke up. ‘’It may be for the best, if both of the directly affected people discussed this between them. We haven’t been there to witness the details and reasons for this conflict, and interfering in it may not be beneficial.’’

Dan looked like she wanted to argue, but ultimately, Dobson’s point wasn’t wrong, and the decision wasn’t entirely hers to make. She looked to Wymack who looked to Andrew and Tim. Andrew didn’t seem interested in answering, just inclined his head in a vaguely affirmative way.

‘’Since the beginning I've been saying that this isn't really anyone else's business,’’ Tim said.

Reluctantly, Dan and Matt agreed to leave, though they didn’t look happy about it. With them also went Dobson, who said it had been getting very late anyway.

This left Tim and Andrew under Wymack’s scrutiny.

‘’So, I’ll ask again. Why did you take him to Columiba, Andrew? You can’t just keep dragging people there every year and do whatever you want to them.’’

‘’This isn’t a repeat.’’

‘’This is exactly what you said last year, and yet, here we are again!’’

‘’You keep bringing in the shadiest, most questionable people to the team, Coach.’’

Wymack huffed.

‘’So this is my fault now?’’

‘’Yes.’’

Wymack crossed his hands and gestured towards Tim with his head. ‘’What’s the deal with him then?’’

‘’You ask him.’’

Andrew didn’t sound like he seriously meant that, but Wymack turned towards Tim anyway.

‘’Okay, let’s speedrun this. Your parents have any ties to the mafia, or any criminal organizations?’’

‘’They were archaeologists.’’

Wymack didn’t note the use of the past tense, and asked his next questions.

‘’You have any shady past that’s going to come back and cause problems for us?’’

Tim wished it could come back.

‘’None that concerns you.’’

Wymack uncrossed his arms to point one at Tim and look at Andrew in a Are you satisfied manner. Andrew didn’t answer the coach, and instead asked Tim a question.

‘’Any other notable hobbies you are yet to demonstrate?’’

Tim gave him a faux smile.

‘’Yes, actually.’’

Andrew wasn’t impressed with his answer, and Tim knew he shouldn’t have been saying things that could be provoking if he wanted to end this faster, but he decided to not lie about this part.

‘’If we are done playing twenty questions, let’s move on to another topic.’’ Wymack said. He pointedly looked at both of them and asked, ‘’Can I trust you two to not try to kill each other the moment you get out of my sight.’’

Tim wasn’t completely sure if he could promise that yet. He meant to do so anyway, but Wymack must have managed to read something from both Tim and Andrew’s expressions.

‘’Oh, give me a break.’’

‘’It’s alright, Coach—’’ Tim began, but was cut off.

‘’Don’t alright me! You know you shouldn’t be doing any of this, especially considering—’’

Wymack catched himself at the last second, but the damage was done. Andrew had picked up on the way the coach emphasized Tim, and an inquisitive gleam appeared in his gaze as he turned to look at him. Tim stood still, resisting the urge to turn away and act defensive. Like he had something to hide.

‘’Okay, here’s what’s going to happen.’’ Wymack began speaking again.’’I’m not asking this time, I’m telling you. There isn’t going to be any more fighting. He’s off limits, Andrew. And I swear, If I find out you didn’t listen…’’

Wymack let his threat trail off, probably hoping for greater effect.

Tim wondered what the coach would say if he found out that technically, Andrew and Tim had already fought since Columbia. It was wisest to omit that detail.

‘’Why?’’ Andrew asked, trying to act he didn’t care for the answer.

‘’None of your damn business why. Just don’t do it.’’

‘’I don’t need protection from him, or anybody else.’’ Tim protested, not liking how he was made out to be this passive participant in everything again.

Wymack’s gaze pointedly stopped first at his hand, then at his neck, nonverbally making his point.

Tim pressed his lips in a thin line, debating. ‘’Sure, I’m the one who came away with more injuries, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t win the fight.’’

Wymack didn’t look like he believed him. He turned to Andrew, who didn’t say anything, and in turn, didn’t deny it. Disbelief bloomed across Wymack’s face, and Tim used the moment of realization.

‘’As I said, I don’t need protection. I can handle myself just fine.’’

The coach pinched the bridge of his nose. Finally, he said,

‘’Fine. I still don’t want my players maiming each other though.’’

Tim nodded.

‘’Now, are we done here, or is there something else?’’

Tim was sure Wymack asked it more figuratively than literally, but there was actually something else he had planned to do tonight.

Tim pulled out his phone, found the pictures, and handed it. It was accepted without questioning, and Wymack stared at it for a few good minutes before saying,

‘’What am I looking at?’’

‘’Proof.’’ Tim answered. ‘’About Summers’ accusations. That’s his teammate in the picture.’’

‘’And why do you have this?’’

‘’You said you wanted me to go to you for help with this situation. I’m doing it.’’

‘’Let me rephrase. How do you have this?’’

Tim stared at him. ‘’Do you actually want to know that?’’

Wymack seemed to think about it a bit. ‘’Will I be getting a call from any authorities in the near future?’’

‘’No.’’

‘’Then, no. I don’t’’

After that, the question from earlier.

‘’Is there something else?’’

Nobody said anything.

‘’Good. Then get out of my house.’’

They did.

Tim thought that with how things turned out, he had ended up with no ride back to the dorms, but as he exited the building, he saw that Matt and Dan had waited for him. He spent the drive fending off their questions and concerns, and trying to convince them that things had been resolved.

After they got back to the dorms, Tim didn’t immediately go back to their room. Matt asked where he was going, but since Tim’s tendency to disappear at random times in the night wasn’t exactly a new thing, he was easily appeased.

Tim ended up on the roof.

He didn’t sit or anything, just stood close to the edge and let himself embrace the familiar feeling of being at a high place.

‘’Are you planning on jumping?’’

Andrew’s voice cut through the cold silence of the night. Tim hadn’t been expecting him, not really, yet he wasn’t surprised by his presence.

‘’You wish.’’

Tim turned away from the view to face him.

‘’You know, standing so close to the edge,’’ Andrew mused. ‘’I could just push you.’’

‘’And I can, one, tackle you to the ground and your head’s going to get real familiar with the concrete; two, evade you, and your momentum is going to carry you over the edge; or three, take you with me, and both of us are going to end up as mangled, twitching red dots on the pavement.’’

‘’Or, I could just push you.’’

‘’Yes, or that.’’

‘’Quite the description,’’ Andrew commented on the last part of his sentence. ‘’Speaking from experience?’’

Tim wasn’t sure if the question was serious, but he answered anyway.

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Really.’’

He didn’t care if Andrew believed him, or not. He had asked.

Tim had seen it a few times in his life, but he knew that if he closed his eyes right now, the one scene he shouldn’t have been able to still remember will come up.

‘’The screaming’s worse than the view.’’

The silence after that continued for a long enough time that Tim assumed Andrew would just leave, but he didn’t.

‘’What did Wymack mean?’’

Tim smiled to himself.

That question he predicted would come.

‘’I’m not feeling that honest.’’

Andrew lit up another cigarette.

‘’Worth a try. Were you the one who pushed them?’’

It was a morbid kind of curiosity, but it also was meant to poke at Tim, and he didn’t feel like talking about this at all, so he didn’t answer anything.

After a few more minutes, he decided this was enough. Tim started heading towards the door. When he got his hand on the handle, Andrew called out.

‘’I’ll figure it out.’’

Referring to his question before last.

‘’Get a hobby, Andrew.’’

And with that Tim went away.