Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandoms:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 17 of Tim Drake AU's
Collections:
Superheroes and Other Heroes, High Quality Extras Fanfiction (Including Crossovers), dc (mostly crossovers), Batfam Fics for the Soul, H_B_I's Fav fics
Stats:
Published:
2020-10-16
Completed:
2021-03-02
Words:
52,327
Chapters:
41/41
Comments:
1,151
Kudos:
3,945
Bookmarks:
858
Hits:
72,585

Bat in a Flash

Chapter 12: Teams and their opinions

Summary:

More bonding with the team. And meanwhile, the team become suspicious.

Notes:

Hey guys. So I know this isn't my regular update schedule. I've been trying to keep to a strict update schedule of Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today is Friday.
But

I was diagnosed with hypotension (low blood pressure), which isn't the worst thing that could have happened but it will require a large change in lifestyle as well as chronic medication and such. It's just a large change that I wasn't prepared for.
So I decided to update this story today because it makes me happy. And it makes you guys happy. And you guys being happy makes me happy.

So in short, please enjoy the chapter even if it is out of schedule.

Chapter Text

Peregrine.
Tim’s been thinking on that name for a while.
Bird theme just like Robin and Nightwing. But new. Speedster based. A whole new identity. Even if Tim can’t completely give up the Bats and their connection. Not quite yet.

However, Tim hadn’t quite gotten as far into the suit design as he would like. He knew he wanted to keep the domino mask style rather than having a cowl. Thought of maybe adding the lightning like the other Flashes. Knew he wanted it to be either dark brown or black with white accents. Maybe incorporate the stripes of an actual peregrine falcon.

Now here he stands, with Cisco at his side, discussing suit design, suit materials and colours.
Cisco really is a blessing. Pointing out fabric and friction and tread for the shoes and all that. Tim can focus on features, colours and design.

Hmmmmm.
Black with white accents. Almost like Flash’s first suit. Dark brown stripes that almost blend into the black. White accents like lightning strikes. A domino type mask to cover his eyes and nose. A bit bigger than Robin’s usual mask, stretching down his cheeks in sharp points, ending in a dark yellow.
Dark orange boots with retractable hooks. Makes it easy to climb things with extra grip.
A hood that covers the back of his head. Eliminating the easy target.
Gloves with extra grip on the insides.
And finally, his symbol. It’s a variant of the Flash symbol and a bird of prey. A textured lightning strike with a diving bird of prey.
Tim is actually. Quite happy with that.

It’s a bit strange. Seeing his suit without much colour when just a bit ago, he’d been a walking talking traffic light.
But Tim isn’t sure it’s bad. Isn’t sure it’s good either. Just new.
He’d always been the sneakiest Robin after all. Even with the colours of Robin working against him.
Black would just make it easier.

“No” Cassie’s voice says from behind him. “Dude, no. We could barely see you before” Bart voices in agreement.
“Isn’t that the point?” Tim asks, smirking and turning to look at them through the new domino mask.
Bart has to hold back a choke when Tim turns, hoping despite hope that Tim is revealing his identity to them.

“The mask is almost as creepy as the suit” Kon says, sounding surprised. Looking directly at the new black lenses.
“Almost? It’s creepier than the suit” Bart argues.
“Nah. Do you see this? This is mega creepy”
“It almost looks like Hawkman’s mask though” Cassie says, ever logical.
“No. Kind of. Maybe if you ignore the absolute scariness factor”
“Can you stop critiquing my new suit now?” Tim interects, the smirk on his lips only turning upward more when the 3 jump, as if they’d forgotten he was there. The new suit really does help.
They both look at each other, as if ready to start arguing again, this time with Tim and each other. Luckily, Barry intervenes.

“So. Peregrine” Barry voices, smiling even wider as the name floats into being.
“Yeah. That name is gonna be too long. You need a nickname” Bart says, already starting to think. Tim has to interrupt before he actually thinks of something.
“The name is fine. There are no nicknames-“
“Ninja. Flash”
“needed” Tim finishes, already resigning himself to the new name. Bart won’t drop it and by the look on Kon’s face, he won’t either.

“Falcon is also fine” Tim says futilely, trying to put up a resistance. But Kon simply gives him a smirk, Cassie shaking her head in the background, mouthing “Blundergirl” with fervour. So, this is revenge.
Tim can respect that.

“so. Ninja Flash. You seem to have the hang of the speed pretty well. But we’d like to do a few tests anyway” Barry says, the traitor. Tim can even see the mischief in his smile. It doesn’t even fade when Tim turns his glare on him. Absolute traitor.
“Tests” Tim reminds him, starting to walk to the main room, where he’d been going every time he’d come here for the last few days.
Lately, he was either at the apartment or here. Luckily, he’d been given some leeway with school since his grades were good and the teachers wanted to give him an adjustment period.

Tim walks onto the treadmill, starting slowly and making his way faster and faster until he can’t run any faster anymore.
Then he slows down once again until he’s standing still.
Immediately, once he stills, Bart appears before him with a sandwich and a glare. Tim, knowing that Bart will not relent, most likely still worried that Tim will drop dead at any moment from starvation. Kon and Cassie (who has been briefed on what happened) will back him up.

Tim does not want the sandwich.
Bart is still holding the sandwich.
Bart will not go away.
Caitlyn is not starting the simulation again.

Tim eats the sandwich.

“Alright, I want you to run that sim again, but I want you to wear this” Caitlyn says, handing him something that looks like a tiara with wires. She connects the tiara to the temples of his head, Tim only twitching slightly as Bruce’s training screams at him for letting someone get so close to a weak area of his body.
Once the nodes are attached, Tim starts running again, starting to avoid obstacles as they pop up in front of him. Many many obstacles.

“Perfect. Alright Tim you can come out now” Caitlyn says, sounding gleeful at the data running across the screen. Tim can’t even understand all of it but he knows that it has to do with brainwaves, adrenaline and reaction speed.

She and Cisco start tittering in jargon that only they can understand, speaking quickly and hunching over the computers. That’s the sight that Joe and Iris walk in on, passing Kon on his way out for dinner with the Kents.
“Have any of you fed the kid?” Joe asks immediately, worry saturating his tone as he looks at the data readouts and Tim.
“I gave him a sandwich right after he finished. And I’m planning on dragging him to dinner” Bart confirms, earning a glare from Tim.
“I am not about to starve to death” Tim says, the resignation in his tone counteracting the force he meant to put behind it.
By the looks on everyone’s faces, they don’t care.
Tim resigns himself to the inevitable dinner to come.

“Maybe we should invite your foster parent” Bart says, confusing Tim because Tim has no foster parent.
“Foster parent?” Tim asks, turning to Bart questioningly.
“Yeah. You know. The person you live with now” Bart explains, gesturing wildly in his confusion.
“Oh. You mean my uncle” Tim realises, thinking about the fake room for his uncle and how minors aren’t really allowed to live alone. Which is why he invented the uncle to begin with.
“Uncle? You never mentioned an uncle” Bart says, already starting to frown to himself.
“Yeah he isn’t really home all that often” Tim excuses, knowing that it isn’t really a lie since his parents were rarely home to start with.
He sees Bart and Barry frown at each other, Joe in the background looking stoic. But Tim can see how Joe is working through police protocol. Even Caitlyn and Cisco seem uncomfortable.

“That isn’t normal, Rob” Cassie says, sounding almost gentle, a reminder.
Tim has to keep from rolling his eyes. Because people are busy. People have work and jobs and a company to run. Well not this uncle. This uncle doesn’t even exist. But. Tim feels the need to justify anyway.
“It’s fine. He’s just really busy, that’s all” Tim repeats, not really wanting them to go snooping and find that his uncle is fake.
Central City’s foster system may be slightly better than Gotham’s. But Tim does not want to end up in a foster home. Or adopted by a bunch of sycophants.

They cannot find out that his uncle is not real.