Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Damian tried to kill him. Damian just tried to kill him, but all that runs through Tim's mind is this:

"I am not Batman's son" Tim growls "Do not ever insinuate otherwise. I have gone through too much fucking shit to not be adopted for people to still mess up this simple, simple fact. He is not my dad, he is my mentor . I am Robin not because of–" He lets out an annoyed huff, eyeing the way Damian is frozen in shock, then continues lowly "I am not Robin because of some sort of familial connection or whatever bullshit you're spouting. I am Robin because I am skilled. I am Robin because I am stubborn enough to out stubborn the Bat and precocious enough to call him out when he's being dumb as fuck. I will not fucking stand for my years of hard work getting reduced down to oh, he's his son, of course he's Robin. Because that's not true and I'm not his fucking son, the only people I'm the son of are Jack and Janet Drake, and they're dead "

As Tim comes to the end of his impromptu rant, breathing a bit heavily not from the murder attempt but from anger, Damian pulls out of his shock and puffs up, giving him a glare "Is that you insulting him?" he hisses in a way that would be scary on anyone else but on Damian he just kind of looks like an angry kitten.

Tim barks out a laugh "Fuck no! He is one of very few people I genuinely admire, but I am a Drake and I will be a Drake until the end of time— I would know, I've been there— and, quite frankly, it's insulting that he thinks I need to be adopted. I am perfectly fine on my own, actually, and I'd like if someone acknowledged that for once instead of going oh, tragic orphan, he must be looking for someone to adopt him, and since clearly no one's offered yet, he must need me— no mind that I'm turning down adoption offers from the most powerful people on the planet on the regular! Seriously, I got my first offer when I was eight, my parents were alive back then!"

Damian looks… genuinely confused, lowering his sword slowly "It is not just Father who wishes to adopt you?"

Tim snorts "I wish " he tilts his head consideringly, taking a glance around "You disabled the cameras, right?"

Damian scoffs "Of course, what do you take me for, an amateur?"

"I take you as someone who wouldn't realize you had to hide the murder attempt" Tim corrects, before remarking with sarcasm and a tinge of bitterness "No mind that I've been the emotional support teenager of this family for years, clearly no one would mind"

Damian's brow furrows "The…? Why were you asking?"

Tim lights up "Right! I haven't told anyone the full list and I don't particularly want them finding out through me being dumb enough to spill with the cameras on." Damian narrows his eyes, but silently implores Tim to go on "Okay, first was Lex Luthor—"

"Lex Luthor!?" Damian shrieks "The CEO of Lexcorp and arch nemesis of Superman??"

"—Yeah, he's been offering for ages, I'm just lucky he stopped when I started dating Kon, that would've been awkward" Damian makes an inarticulate sound of distress "Anyway, I think next was Catwoman? Or was it Poison Ivy…" He hums consideringly, oblivious to Damian bluescreening in the background "Oh! No, it wasn't Catwoman, it was my Kidnapper of the Month. Actually, most of my kidnappers have offered, now that I think about it. I know Harley's offered before, but I think she only started after I became Robin, which means she asked after Lady Shiva. I think… Hm, I think Deathstroke noticed me a few years after I become Robin, but for the record I've only gotten offers as Tim Drake, apparently people are too afraid of Batman to ask Robin. Uh, who else, basically all the Gotham Rogues, I think even the Joker tried once… Something about Harley paying too much attention to me and wanting to use me to entrap her back in their relationship? Whatever, who cares—"

He continues running down a list of prominent figures, ending with "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised how few heroes offered, though that may just be because I live in Gotham" he muses

Tim's so lucky that Dick enters the Batcave only after he finishes, and before Damian reboots. Dick looks between the two of them, and asks, concerned, "What happened?"

Tim sends a reassuring smile, expertly hiding the stab wound Damian gave him "Nothing to be worried about, apparently Damian thought Bruce adopted me" he chuckles lightly

Dick relaxes, clearly assuming Damian was blue screening because of that and not the long list of past attempted adoptions. "Do either of you know why the cameras shorted?"

Tim fakes confusion like the best of them "The cameras shorted? Oh, is that why you're here?"

"Yeah" Dick replies, sending a smile his way "I'll be at the Batcomputer figuring that out, then, if you don't know"

Tim nods and says "Good luck" just as Damian's spluttering upgrades from internal to external.

"You— The—" Tim sends him a look that promises consequences if Damian speaks about the interaction they just had to anyone else. He gets the feeling that Damian wouldn't normally listen to that, but here he just snaps his mouth shut.

"I'll leave you to process that" Tim says, still in that pleasant tone of voice he uses pretty much any time he's around the Waynes. Based on Damian's stunned blinking, it's quite a doozy immediately after his rant voice. Kon and Bart have also told him this, but they also giggle every time he curses because he curses in a Crime Alley accent. Blame Jason, he learned curse words by following Robin II around.

Tim waves goodbye, slipping out so he can stitch up the aforementioned stab wound before he bleeds out, or worse, stops being able to hide it from Dick. He's so lucky Damian got him in a not immediately visible spot.

Chapter Text

The place he goes to get medical care is, of course, one of his Gotham-adjacent Young Justice safehouses where he can call one of the others. He chooses Kon for this particular injury because Cassie and Bart are both busy and he doesn't really want to bother any of the non-core Young Justice members for a mild stab wound. They're retired, it'd be rude to interrupt their civilian lives for anything less than a world-ending catastrophe. He'd just stitch it up himself, but unfortunately the downside of it being in a not immediately visible spot is that Tim can't see it well enough to tend to it properly on his own. Therefore, Kon.

(Leslie is obviously not an option because she actually reports his injuries to the others and the whole point of this is not letting anyone know.)

Kon arrives quickly and begins fussing over the injury.

"How'd you get stabbed?" Kon asks, knowing that if it had happened during patrol Tim would've been forced to let the Bats do the medical care.

Tim huffs "Damian had some misunderstandings on my relationship with B"

"And he stabbed you?" Kon asks, eyes darkening with protective rage.

"And he stabbed me" Tim agrees, fairly certain that the only thing stopping Kon from going to confront the brat was the fact he was in the middle of dressing Tim's stab wound. "He was under the impression that I was B's son and he had to kill me to take his 'rightful place as Father's heir', which is kind of dumb"

"Very" Kon nods, finishing off his care. Tim grabs him before he can fly off "Don't confront him about it, please. I corrected him and I'm pretty sure he won't try again, and I really don't want to have to deal with the Bats reacting to the whole ordeal"

Kon pouts but acquiesces "Fine, I won't, but only 'cause I can't be the one to reveal the whole medical care thing"

Tim giggles. Kon, Cassie, Bart, and Tim have an ongoing bet over how the Bats will find out that Tim's been sneaking off to get medical care from Young Justice. Tim bet that the Bats would only find out if they purposefully told them, Kon bet that Tim would forget to remove a bug due to his injuries and the Bats would find out through listening to that, Cassie bet that Kon would reveal it in a fit of anger, and Bart bet that they'd only find out after Tim either dies or goes non-contact. "Can't let Cassie win the bet" he agrees.

Kon kisses him, something quick— more like Bart's usual kisses than anything Kon does regularly, which Tim finds amusing— and goes to the window to leave. Tim, aware that he'll probably be busy in Gotham for the next few days, snatches another kiss with a "Give Bart a kiss for me, yeah?"

"Of course" Kon replies, lovesick grin on his face, "You'll be busy, then?"

"Unfortunately" Tim groans "I should still be able to make the weekly meetup, though"

Still grinning, Kon nods in acknowledgement "See you then, rose"

"See you then, sunflower" Tim teases in return.

As soon as Kon's gone, he sighs and gets going back to Gotham proper.

Damian corners him alone the next day, desperate for an explanation. Tim shrugs, he doesn't really understand people's obsession with adopting him either.

"Why are you Robin?" Damian asks and that, Tim can actually answer.

"I'm Robin because it was neccesary" Tim explains "B really wasn't taking Jason's death well, and was being far more violent than the actual crimes necessitated. Not only that, he was also putting himself in needless danger. I saw this, and realized that Batman needs a Robin. And, well, Jason was dead and Dick said no to becoming Robin again— and yes, I did ask— so basically the only option was that I become Robin because, well, I was there and already knew their identities anyway"

Damian absorbs this with wide eyes, brow furrowing at the end "What was your relationship to them at this point?"

Tim smiles "A stranger, really, just a random kid who happens to be their neighbor. A random kid with a lot of knowledge about them, yeah, but still a random kid."

"Then why…" Damian starts and stops a few times as he figures out what to ask "Why did you know their identities? Why did they trust you?"

Tim chuckles "They didn't trust me. I figured out their identities when I was 9 because I saw Robin do a quadruple somersault, something I knew very few people could do, meaning Robin was Dick Grayson and therefore Batman was Bruce Wayne."

Damian looks confused and skeptical "When you were 9? "

Tim rolls his eyes "You're literally 10, you can't act like that's unreasonable"

"Fine" Damian huffs "Why did Bruce let you be Robin?"

"Ehhhh" Tim makes a so-so motion "I didn't really make it a choice? "

"What."

"I mean. I knew their identities" Tim hedges "The media would love that…"

Damian blinks in shock "You blackmailed Batman? Why didn't he just dispose of you?"

"Okay, kinda, I wouldn't put it like that—" Tim ignores Damian's unimpressed look "—but first of all, no kill rule. Second of all, this was back when he thought I had parents who would miss me. Third of all, it's just kind of weird to keep a random child in your basement and it's not like he can put me in jail without a reason and if he says I know his identity then I could just spread his ID in jail"

Damian nods approvingly "So he didn't have a choice. Would you have really spread his ID, though?"

"Ehh, probably not?" Tim shrugs "But the important part isn't whether I'd actually do it, it's whether they think I would. And, like, obviously I'm not going to spill the first time he denies me. I'm not a coward "

"Did he?" Damian asks curiously "Deny you, that is?"

Tim snorts "Of course he did. But Alfred was on my side, he stood no chance."

"Alfred was on your side?" Damian inquires

Tim nods "He noticed the same things I did and thought I had a better chance at helping than he did. He was right, to be fair"

Damian blinks, impressed "Bruce is better now, though. Why are you still Robin?"

"Fair question" Tim allows "It's just really hard to quit vigilantism. Not like physically, just… mentally. After you've been a vigilante for a while, you can't really turn off that need to help. Trust me, I've tried."

"Wait, what?"

Tim blinks "Did no one tell you that? I quit Robin for a while. I mean, there were extenuating circumstances, but I did honestly try. I think you can tell how that went."

"You quit" Damian echoes incredulously, looking at Tim like he was a particularly tricky puzzle.

Tim shrugs "Yeah, I mean, Robin's nice but it was always supposed to be temporary, y'know? I don't think I really realized there was a no returns policy until I tried"

Damian opens and closes his mouth a few times as he reboots "Does Todd know all this?"

Tim snorts "Not from me. If he wants to be a prissy baby, I'm not correcting his false assumptions. He can deal with feeling replaced."

Based on Damian's expression, Tim might've put a little bit too much venom and spite into that. Oops. Actually, no, Jason deserves it. Besides, that was a lot less venom and spite than Kon or Bart or Cassie would've put.

Chapter Text

People often ask why Tim is so loyal to his parents when they left him home alone as often as they did. Sometimes, secretly, he wonders this himself. But the truth is that it's more about Janet than Jack. That's not to say Tim doesn't love his dad, but where Jack's presence was often grating in long periods, Janet was a nice cool blade against his flesh.

What people fail to understand is this: For Janet, distance is love.

She knows she's dangerous, she can't help but nudge people, manipulating as easy as breathing. You know she loves you because she stays away for your health but comes back for your presence. She teaches you everything she knows in those short windows, she is the reason you are who you are. She gets drawn in by love and then leaves because she cares.

In contrast, Jack leaves because he doesn't know what he's doing. He leaves with Janet like a dog following at the heels of its owner. He fumbles, a lovesick fool who just wants to be a normal dad but has no idea how. So he leaves. He leaves because Tim is better at raising himself than Jack is at raising Tim.  He stays by Janet because he is already too damaged to get any worse by staying in her orbit.

And Tim loves them. They make mistakes, but so has everyone else. They raised him, albeit distantly. More care, more overwhelming care, is not a good thing. The same hands that tenderly caress also break his bones. Bruce didn't care until he did. Lex and all the Rogues harm those Tim holds dear and would not stop for him. Shiva was the one he was closest to accepting, she's not much of a mother. She reminds him of Janet. But he doesn't want a new Janet. He doesn't need a new Janet.

He has two dead parents and he's happy that way.

Damian doesn't tell anyone any of the things Tim revealed to him. The only sign that anything happened is that he's quieted his insults slightly, a bit of respect in his voice when he mentions Tim. Damian tries to stab Tim and in return Tim allows himself to actually fight back. Not hard, not using his training from Lady Shiva, just enough to make Damian aware that Tim is letting him attack him. Tim grins at the modicum of shock that Damian tries to hide, and none of the others even notice what just happened.

This is why he doesn't trust the Bats. Someone stabbed him literally in the same room as them and they either didn't notice or didn't care. Maybe both.

Damian flocks after Tim with questions on the tip of his tongue that Tim parries with expert precision. Damian didn't care until he almost killed Tim. Why should Tim answer his questions?

Tim is a forgiving person. But he does not forget.

Surprisingly, Damian stops asking after a few days. Instead, he watches. Tim feels Damian's eyes on him more than he's ever felt before. Damian quiets, circling from above. Does he want to hunt or to imitate? He has not tried to attack Tim in several days. He may just be waiting for an opportunity. Either way, Damian now sees Tim as a threat. The only question is if his response to that is recruitment or elimination.

Tim could deal with either, but it's important to know which.

He focuses on his case, but keeps Damian in view. And then, on the last day before Tim can run off for his Young Justice meeting, Damian confronts him.

"Drake" Damian starts. Tim jolts, he's been working on the batcomputer and hadn't noticed him. He turns around and very quickly notices that they're alone in the cave. Did he really not notice Dick leaving? "You confuse me."

"What?" Tim asks, thoughts still half on his case but panic very quickly settling into his bones.

Damian sniffs "I don't get you. You subsist almost entirely on sodas and energy drinks and yet are seemingly somewhat competent? Your self care is abysmal. How are you alive, let alone pulling adoption requests? Why do people want you?"

Is Damian crying? Or— not crying, but his eyes look strangely watery right now. The panic from earlier is now for a very different reason.

"Um."

"I have looked into your records" Damian declares "You didn't train until you were 13. Why did people want you before you could even fight? What could you do? Is it because you had good stealth? But why would they know that? What did you do to make Father want you?"

Oh. Oh.

"Damian" Tim starts hesitantly, not even entirely sure what he's saying. He hasn't slept in like 2 days and ran out of his Zesti an hour ago. "I honestly couldn't tell you. I don't know why people like me. But I think they saw my intelligence and were impressed. Lex wanted me as an intern before he ever asked me to be his son. Bruce… Honestly, I'm still not entirely sure he wants me. Maybe he just feels obligated." Tim awkwardly shrugs "I just kind of appeared and didn't let him chase me off."

Damian's eyebrows furrow, and he helplessly repeats "I don't get it"

Tim softens his voice "I wish I could help you get it"

"Teach me" Damian puffs up

"Huh?"

"Tt. Teach me, you dolt" Damian insists "Teach me your skills so that we may analyze what makes them so appealing. So I may surpass you."

"Oh" Tim blinks a few times, then breaks out into a grin "Yeah. Sure."

He's pretty sure that was a compliment. From Damian.

Damian turns away, trying to wipe his eyes without Tim noticing and failing "Training begins tomorrow. Sleep."

"Uh" Tim says, blinking after Damian "Wait, I have a meeting with my team tomorrow."

"Can you not reschedule it?" Damian asks, throwing a look over his shoulder.

"Not really" Tim replies helplessly.

"Tt." Damian scoffs "The day after, then."

He seems… disappointed.

Tim's brain doesn't reboot until after Damian's fully left the Batcave.

After a moment or two of processing, Tim spins around and makes sure to loop over that portion of the footage. Wouldn't want people to know about their last conversation, after all.

After he does that, he logs off and goes back to Drake Manor to sleep. He needs it if that conversation was anything to go by. Besides, if he shows up to the YJ meetup sleep deprived, his boyfriends will bully him into sleeping through it and he won't get to hang out with them. That'd be truly unacceptable.