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Chapter Text

Tim wakes to cold water being splashed on his face, coughing and sputtering as he struggles to sit up. His hands are tied behind his back and his feet bound together, he doesn’t recognize the room he’s in nor the people in it.

“How the fuck do we contact your parents!” The man who splashed him demands.

Tim does his best to cringe away, but doesn’t get far with the wall behind him. “I can unlock my phone so you can call them, but they’re not in the country. They might not have a signal right now.”

“We already tried your phone!” The man snaps. “Who else can we call!”

“Clara! She’s their personal assistant.” Tim answers, trying to push down the panic building in his chest. “If she can’t reach them, she can connect you to the board, they can pay a ransom!”

“This better work brat.” The other man in the room grabs a phone, Tim’s phone. Coming over and grabbing Tim’s hand to unlock it.

He scrolls, then puts the phone up to his ear, after a tense moment he angrily hangs up, slamming the phone on the small table in the room. “Voicemail.”

The first man suddenly smashes the glass against the wall by Tim’s head. Shards shower over Tim and the man violently grabs Tim’s collar, getting in his face, Tim can smell the alcohol on him. “I asked you who else we could call!”

“I-I, maybe she’s on a lunch break! Or-” Tim stumbles over his word, his panic overwhelming him. “Or, what time is it? She might have gone home for the day!”

God he hopes she hasn't, he does not want to spend the night with potentially violent men.

“Don’t you have a fucking nanny or something?” The other man asks.

“They’re new, I haven’t put her number in my contacts yet.” Tim lies, eyes starting to sting. “We don’t have a home phone.”

The man grabbing his shirt lets go, instead picking him up by his jaw. “She’d better realize you’re missing soon, or we’ll start sending you back one piece at a time.”

The man shoves Tim back into the wall, his head cracking against it. He falls to the ground, landing on his side in some of the glass. Tim lies still, eyes clenched shut as he wills the room to stop spinning. 

He distantly registers the sound of a door opening and shutting as the men leave the room. Followed by the sound of the lock clicking into place. He knows he should care but all he can think about is how screwed he is.

There is no nanny to notice he’s missing, his parents aren’t due back for a month, and it’s a Friday. So none of his friends or teachers will notice he’s missing until Monday. His best hope is Clara will notice he attempted to call, and will call back soon.

His cheeks are wet with tears, and he can feel stinging all over his body where the glass digs into his skin. His head throbs where it struck the wall, he wants nothing more than to go home.

No one is coming for him, he needs to get up, or he’s going to die here.

He opens his eyes, the room is dim, no lights except what's coming in from outside. It’s not much, but it’s enough for him to make out his backpack in the corner of the room. His phone’s probably a lost cause, but that was okay, he could remotely reset it at home. He probably has saved up enough of his allowance to get a new one.

He sits up, leaning back against the wall as the room spins again. That was probably a bad thing, but he could figure that out when he got out of here.

He tests the rope binding his hands, they’re tight, and he can’t get the knot. He starts to blindly feel around on the ground. If he’s lucky there’s a shard of glass on the ground big enough to use to escape. The smaller pieces of glass cut into his hand as he searches but his luck finally turns around as his hand closes around a shard big enough for his purposes.

It’s hard to get a good grip, the blood slowly coating his hand making it slippery, he nearly drops it twice. But eventually he manages to maneuver it into position, and begins to cut through the ropes.

Every noise causes him to tense, scared that the men would come in and find him attempting to escape. No one does, and the ropes slowly fray, until they finally snap, falling off. He wastes no time untying his ankles, and getting to his feet.

Only to nearly faceplant back down, the room wobbling dangerously. He leans against the wall once more, waiting for the room to still. Finally he pushes off the wall, and makes his way over to his backpack. Much to his surprise, not only is everything in his bag still, but his phone sits on the table where the man slammed it down.

The screen is cracked, but it turns on. He tucks the phone into his pocket and makes his way to the window. Looking outside, it seems he’s in a small rundown neighborhood, on the second floor of an equally rundown house.

Many of the homes look abandoned, windows boarded up and doors hanging open, hanging off broken hinges. There’s no obvious way down, unless he wants to risk sneaking through the house. His best bet would be to climb out the window and drop down.

He tries to recall the recent fire safety talk they had at school. His thoughts are slow and muddled, but he does recall what the fireman said. He hears raucous shouting from down stairs, and the sounds of a tv playing some sports game. Hopefully that will cover up the sounds of his escape.

Tim drops his bag down first, landing on it would risk worse injuries. No one comes out to check out the sound of the bag, so Tim crawls out of the window. He hangs onto the ledge, lowering himself as much as he can.

Then let's go.

He unfortunately lands feet first, and feels his left ankle roll as he hits the ground. He bites his tongue hard to stop a pained yelp from escaping, and the taste of blood fills his mouth. He lies on the ground, completely still, his entire body throbbing. Especially his head and ankle.

Still no one comes outside, so Tim carefully stands, wobbling slightly as the ground shifts beneath him. Slowly he transfers weight over to his injured leg, the pain is intense, but he’s able to stand. Thankfully it’s a sprain instead of a break.

He grabs his bag and tries to get his bearings, the neighborhood is unfamiliar, and he doesn’t know the way home. With how foggy his brain is he doubts he'd be able to figure it out even if it was.

He needs to get away from this area, even if he doesn’t know where it is. He knows it’s most likely somewhere in the East End, and if he can find a bus stop he can get home.

With a rush of determination, he begins to hobble down the sidewalk to find his way home. The sky is darker, clouds heavy with rain beginning to roll in, Tim can hear the distant roar of thunder. He hopes he can make it home before the storm starts. It’s odd Tim could swear it wasn’t calling for rain tonight.

Lightning flashes across the sky, the rain begins to pound against his windshield. With a sigh Dick turns on his wipers, maybe he should have just stayed at the manor tonight. Maybe he would have if Bruce wasn’t being such an overbearing asshole!

His grip tightens on the steering wheel, he takes some deep breaths, trying to focus on the road. It would not be great to spin out on the way home because he was driving distracted.

His phone starts ringing, Dick glances down and sees Jason’s face on the screen. He answers and places it on speaker.

“Hey Jay what's up?” Dick greets, keeping his tone even.

“What’s up!?” Jason sounds offended. “Where are you? I thought you were going to spend the weekend at the manor?”

Dick grimaces. “Sorry Jay, something came up, I’m heading back to Haven.”

“What?!” Dick winces at the sudden increase in volume. “You promised to show me how to do that double twist! Plus I was going to kick your a- butt, I didn't say it! At Mario Kart!”

“Were you now?” Dick can’t help the grin spreading on his face, despite the guilt turning his stomach.

“Yes!” Jason insists defensively. “I’ve been practicing!”

“Maybe another day Little wing.” Dick taps the steering wheel, “Something came up in a case I was working on, I’m already most of the way to my apartment.”

“Next weekend.” Jason insists. “If you don’t I’m coming to Blüd and spending the weekend with you instead. And I will find where you hid the chips, and I’ll eat all of them. The I’ll force you to watch the most annoying movie I can find”

“Can’t you bring your own snacks for once?” Dick asks, pulling to a stop at a red light. “B will buy you snacks if you ask him to.”

“I could, but that’s the fine if you don’t come over next weekend.” Jason explains. “Because now B’s going to be all broody this weekend, and if I have to deal with that two weekends in a row, I get to eat your chips.”

“Alright, fine I’ll come over next weekend if you're so…” Dick trails off as he notices something strange on the sidewalk in front of him. “Jay I’ve got to go, I’ll call you back.”

“Dick, Wha-” Dick hangs up before Jason can finish, he feels bad, but this is more pressing. A small figure is trudging through the storm, occasionally stumbling like they’re injured. Far too tiny to be an adult.

The light turns green, and the car in front of him speeds off, sending a huge wave of dirty water over the kid. Dick feels a surge of anger go through him as the kid stumbles, barely staying on their feet. He pulls over next to them, hoping to offer some help, or figure out what was going on.

He was not in Gotham. He had started to suspect it as he wandered down the street and nothing had become familiar. The thing that had made it clear, was when he found a bus stop, the sign proclaimed it was for the Blüdhaven city bus, not Gotham. Which was a problem for a lot of reasons.

One: Tim was not familiar with Blüdhaven.

Two: He did not have a pass for the Blüdhaven bus.

Three: He did not have cash to pay for a bus fare.

Four: Traveling on the inter city bus alone, would probably look suspicious, since he’s seven.

Five: Even if he took the risk, he has no idea where the station is or how to get there.

Six: He has no idea on how to get back to Gotham otherwise.

Seven: He only knows one person who lives in Blüdhaven.

Eight: He doesn’t know where he lives.

To top it all off, it had started raining, so he was soaked and freezing. His school jacket was too thin to keep him warm during the cool April night. He might be able to come up with a plan, if his head wasn’t pounding, and thinking didn’t feel like trying to swim through molasses.

His only real choices were to call the police, which would be bad, or find somewhere to sleep for the night, and figure out how to get home in the morning.

He’d made it to what seemed like the downtown area, so he could maybe find an unoccupied alley to spend the night in. Maybe one that had a fire exit so he could try and shelter from the rain.

He was on an invisible timer, and he didn’t know how much time was left on it. At some point the men who kidnapped him were going to figure out he escaped, once they figured that out, they’d be looking for him. Tim really did not want to find out what they’d do to him if they found him.

His feet splash through puddles soaking his shoes, he stumbles nearly face planting as a new wave of dizziness goes through him. His entire body throbs, his ankle especially is on fire, tears mix in with the water streaming down his face.

Suddenly a car speeds past, sending a tidal wave of murky water over him, the force of it causing him to nearly lose his balance. That’s probably not good for the cuts. All he wants to do, is to go home, and have a hot shower.

A car pulls over next to him, his heart skips in his chest, he starts edging towards the alley nearby. He may not know the alleyways as well, but he’d rather risk them then getting nabbed again.

“Hey kid, are you okay!?” A concerned voice called from the car, it causes Tim to pause, he recognizes that voice.

He turns and sees Dick Grayson sitting in his car, window rolled down. A sudden wave of relief goes through him, and he almost collapses right there. Desperately he stumbles over to the car.

“M-Mr. Gra-Grayson, M’s-sorry to bother you, b-but could you ta-take me home pl-please?” Tim stutters through his chattering teeth.

“Tim?” Dick exclaims, rushing to get out of his vehicle. “What are you doing here?”

Dick scoops him up, his skin buzzes at the contact, his whole body shuddering as Dick’s warmth begins to seep through his rain and muck soaked clothes.

“I g-got kidnapped.” Tim explains, Dick would understand, he’d been kidnapped plenty of times. “I-I-I got away, I’ll be fine. I j-just want to go h-home.”

“Okay,” Dick agrees, he hears the car door open and Dick slips into the back seat. “Do your parents know where you are?”

“N-no, they’re in Turkey I think.” Tim admits, Dick set him down on the seat next to him, digging through a duffle bag.

“Okay, and your nanny?” Dick pulls out a towel, and wraps it around Tim’s shoulders, Tim grabs the corners on instinct.

“My, my phone's de-dead.” Tim lies, hoping Dick doesn’t check. “I don’t h-have a charger cord.”

“Okay-” Dick pauses brows furrowing as he pulls away the towel, spots red appearing on the white fabric, especially where Tim had grabbed the towel without thinking. Dick grabbed his hands to look at them. “Jesus.”

Dick pulls off his school jacket, Tim winces, he can’t imagine it’s a pretty sight. “One of th-th-the men smashed his glass. I-I used a shard to c-cut my ro-ropes.”

Dick turns on the lights to get a better look, Tim winces at the brightness, a whimper escaping his throat. Dick freezes, then pulls out a tiny flash light.

“Sorry bud this is going to hurt a bit. Look forwards.” Dick flashes the light in his eyes, swearing under his breath.

“New plan,” Dick states. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“What?” Tim exclaims, “I-It’s just some cuts! I have a f-first aid kit at home, pl-please I just want to g-go home.”

“I know Tim,” Dick brushes back his wet bangs. “And you’ll be home before you know it. I’m sure your nannies reported you missing, but I think you have a concussion, and your hand needs stitches.”

“Oh.” Tim responds lamely, panic creeping in as he tries to find an excuse. He’s sure Dick could do the stitches, but that's because he’s Nightwing, which Tim’s not supposed to know. 

Dick hands him a plastic bag. “In case you get nauseous, the hospital's not too far.”

Suddenly Tim is buckled in and Dick is climbing into the front seat.

Oh, oh no. This is bad.

It takes all his self control not to stay at the legal speed limit, Tim is shivering and looking miserable in the back seat. Dick takes a second to crank up the heat, god he should have given Tim his jacket. The sound of retching comes from the back, Dick winces in sympathy, poor kid.

“We’re almost there bud.” Dick tries to reassure him, when he hears him start sniffling. “You’re doing so well little robin.”

“I wanna go home.” Tim sobs pleadingly. “Please Dick, I just wanna go home.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Dick soothes. “You’re being so brave, you’ll get to go home really soon.”

Tim sobs harder, then starts to gag again.

Relief washes through him as the hospital comes into view. He’d stick around until Tim’s nanny shows up, and he’ll probably go check in on Tim next weekend, since he was going to be in Gotham anyway. It’d be a good opportunity to introduce Tim and Jason, he’s sure the two would get along. Besides it’d be a lie if Dick said he didn’t miss babysitting Tim, he was a good kid, even if he could be a little gremlin.

Dick finds a parking space and gets out, heading to the back, unbuckling Tim. He takes off his jacket and wraps it around Tim before scooping him up. Tim curls into him, sniffling as he hides his face in Dick’s neck. Taking the bag and depositing it in a trash can on the way in. The ER is unsurprisingly full, but Dick isn’t worried about Tim having to wait long, his situation of being kidnapped should speed up the process.

Dick walks right up to the reception desk, the nurse looks up with a raised brow.

“Hello ma’am.” Dick greets. “This is Timothy Drake, I found him wandering the street, he says he was kidnapped and brought to Blüdhaven from Gotham. He has multiple injuries from his escape, deep cuts on his arms and hands, bruising around his neck and a possible concussion.”

The nurse stares at him in horror, then quickly pages some one, as suspected it doesn't take long for a nurse to come and take Tim. Tim fights at first clinging to Dicks shirt like velcro.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Dick assures him, trying to get him to let go. “I’ll stick around until your nanny can take you home. You need to go with them so they can check you over. You’ve gotta be brave just a bit longer little robin.”

That does the trick and Tim allows the nurse to take him, but stares at Dick over her shoulder as they go, with wide scared eyes. Dick wants to fight to go with them, give Tim some semblance of comfort, but understands why he can’t. They’re going to want to question Tim away from him, and they’ll definitely be questioning Dick.

It doesn’t take long for the cops to show up, Dick relaxes when he sees them, he recognizes the officers from run ins as Nightwing. Tim will be in good hands.

After a few minutes one of the officers leaves the room approaching him, “Hello I’m Officer Rohrbach.”

Dick takes her extended hand. “Hello Ma’am I’m Richard Grayson.”

“Mr. Grayson, do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?” She asks.

“Not at all.” He hopes once this is done he can talk his way into waiting with Tim until his nanny shows.

“Can you tell me a little bit about what happened tonight?” Officer Rohrbach asks, Dick’s pretty sure her name is Amy.

“I was driving home from visiting my father, when I spotted a kid walking down the sidewalk all alone.” Dick explains. “I pulled over to see if they were okay, since I could see they were struggling. Turns out I know him, he’s my dads neighbor's son, I used to babysit him in high school. He asked me to take him back home, saying he’d been kidnapped. I was going to see if I could contact his parents, but they’re out of the country, and I don’t know who his current nanny is. Since he was obviously injured, I brought him here.”

Amy’s brows furrow. “You say he’s been kidnapped, but there’s no missing person report.”

What? That can’t be right there’s no way his nanny hasn’t made a report yet, unless she was in on it somehow.

“He hasn’t been reported missing yet?” Dick asks, dread filling his stomach. “I can give you his address, and his parents number if you need it.”

“The address would be good,” Amy admits. “Timothy isn’t being very cooperative. With us or the doctors. He’s confirming the kidnapping but won’t give us any contact information. The hospital pulled his records and tried his parents and got nothing.”

“He prefers Tim.” Dick corrects absentmindedly, his head spinning with theories. Abusive nanny? Why isn’t Tim talking to the police?

“Come on Timothy.” One of the doctors tries to coax him into letting him see his hand. “You need to let me look at the cuts, you don’t want to get an infection do you?”

Tim curls up tighter, he could clean up his own hands, at home, where he should be right now. “No.”

“No to getting an infection?” The doctor asks. “Or no to letting me look?”

“No!” Tim snaps, squeezing his hands into fists ignoring the burn. “I want to go home.” 

He doesn’t know what else to do. His head is too foggy to come up with a good plan, it’s only a matter of time until the police figure out what’s going on. That he has no nanny, and that he’s been taking care of himself. Tim is just stalling at this point, hoping for a miracle. He hopes his parents will know he tried as hard as he could. They were already going to be so mad at him.

He wonders if he’ll go into the Blüdhaven foster care system, instead of the Gotham one. Who knows where they’ll stick him, he can’t imagine it’ll be good either way. Maybe he’ll get lucky, and Dick will keep an eye on his case to make sure he ends up in a good one. No matter what happens, his parents are going to send him to boarding school when they get him back. That’ll be it for his night photography.

A hand closes around his wrist, Tim lashes out, biting down on the arm until it lets go. Shouting as he scrambles away. “Don’t touch me!”

He’s not paying enough attention, because he scrambles right off the edge of the bed, hitting the floor hard. Pain radiates anew, his ankle throbbing, but he doesn’t sit still. He backs away from the men in the room until his back hits the wall. Curling back up to block out the bright light, trying to shut out the pounding in his head.

It’s all too much, the way his damp clothes cling to his skin, the sound of people both in the room and out of it, the lights buzzing and flickering above him. He wants to go home, he wants Dick’s coat back, they had taken it to look at his arms. He wants Dick, the only familiar thing in this hospital. He just wants it all to stop, if he could go back in time he would have never gotten out of bed this morning.

There’s a familiar yell from the room where they have Tim then a loud crash. Amy turns to rush into the room, Dick following on instinct. Surprisingly Amy doesn’t try to stop him.

Tim has tucked himself into the corner behind a counter, curled up into a tight ball. The doctor is grasping his arm, looking livid, the nurse is hovering by the doctor. The other officer, Gannon Malloy, If Dick is remembering right. Looks shocked, but is standing in front of Tim somewhat blocking him from the doctor.

Tim is shaking like a leaf, Dick’s jacket is on the counter, and there’s no sign of any bandaging. Dick grabs his jacket and goes to approach Tim, Gannon steps to block his approach.

“Let him.” Amy orders. “Kid knows him.”

Gannon steps aside, as instructed. Dick approaches Tim, sitting down beside him, but not blocking him in.

“Hey bud.” Dick keeps his voice low. “Do you want the jacket back?”

Tim glances over at him, squinting in the light, then nods. Dick drapes the coat over his shoulders, Tim pulls it tight around him, curling up under it.

“This is pretty scary huh?” Dick asks. “Being at the hospital in an unfamiliar city, getting asked all these questions?”

Tim sniffles but doesn’t respond.

“And the fluorescent lights have got to hurt.” Dick states. “I know you really want to go home, and these people are trying to help make that happen. Can we start by letting the doctor check out your injuries? I’ll stay with you the whole time if that makes it easier.”

“You don’t understand.” Tim mumbles, voice quivering.

“What don’t I understand bud?” Dick prompts. “Tell me so I can.”

“They aren't going to let me go home.” No child should ever sound that defeated.

Dick’s stomach drops. “Why not.”

“There’s no one there.” Tim tells him, it feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room. “There’s no nanny, they aren't real,”

“Then who’s taking care of you while your parents are gone?” Dick asks.

“N-no one!” Tim admits through hiccupping sobs. “I take- I can take care of myself!”

Dick feels like he might throw up, as Tim just sobs harder. “Tim, would you like a hug?”

His arms are suddenly full of child, as Tim crawls into his lap, face pressed into Dick’s neck. Dick rubs a hand up and down Tim’s back as the kid violently trembles. Dick feels like he’s suddenly taken a step back in time, to the last time he’d comforted Tim after he had a bad fall off his bike. It’s been over two years since Dick babysat Tim, he should have checked in, made sure he was okay.

“It was very brave of you to tell me that.” Dick informs him, rocking lightly side to side.

“I wanna go home.” Tim repeats defeatedly, hopelessly, cries dying down.

“I’m so sorry Tim.” And Dick is, for so, so many things, for not being there sooner, for the fact Tim’s life is about to change irreparably. “I know this is scary, but you’re going to have to answer more questions.”

A quiet whimper escapes from Tim’s throat.

“We’ll push that off for a little bit.” Dick offers. “But we need to get off the floor, and let the doctor check your hand.”

This time Tim lets out a much louder whine, trying to press closer to Dick.

“They need to clean your cuts.” Dick stands, picking Tim up.

“Can you stay?” Tim quietly asks.

Dick glances up at the doctor, whose expression has softened, and he gives a nod.

“I’ll stay.” Dick assures him, setting him down on the bed, Tim let’s go eye’s screwed shut. Dick sits next to him, making sure Tim knows he’s there, Tim turns to lean his back against Dick’s side. Dick covers his eyes with his hand, and Tim almost immediately relaxes.

“Alright Tim, can you take off your jacket and shirt?” The doctor asks. “So we can check your arms.”

Tim sits up slowly peeling off the jacket and shirts, a shiver running through him, then leans back against Dick. Dick has to hold back a gasp, his right side is cut up, as expected. Unexpectedly Tim’s arms are covered with little scars, littering his body like freckles. Some are almost entirely faded, some are clearly fresh. One scar on his arm is clearly a burn scar. What has been going on at Drake manor?

“I’m sorry I bit you.” Tim mutters.

Is that why the doctor had been holding his arm?

“It’s okay.” The doctor says. “You were scared, I shouldn’t have grabbed your wrist. It was my fault.”

The doctor and nurse get to work, cleaning the cuts, removing shards of glass. They explain what they're doing at each step, but Tim tenses all the same. He needs stitches on his hand, and one cut on his arm does as well. There’s no cuts on his leg, but Dick would bet they’d see scars there too if they looked.

He has a mild concussion, and a moderate sprained ankle, potentially made worse by Tim walking on it. They take Tim for an x-ray, and Dick has to go in with him putting on one of the protective covers. But other than that Tim is cooperative with the doctors.

Finally it’s time for the questions, another person joins them, a CPS worker if Dick had to guess. Dick had a feeling this wasn’t going to go very smoothly.

Tim is grateful the CPS lady doesn’t make Dick leave, he doesn’t think he could do this alone. It might be the last time he sees a familiar face again.

“Hello I’m Heather Leitch, I’m going to be the CPS worker for your case.” She explains. “Now do you prefer Tim or Timothy.”

“Tim.” He answers quietly, fiddling with the hem of Dick’s jacket. He had been allowed to put it on again once the doctor was done with his arm.

“Alright Tim,” the female officer starts, pulling out a note book. “We just have a couple questions, then we’ll figure out the next steps.”

“Okay.” Tim has no energy to fight it anymore, he’s already lost.

“You said your parents were out of the country? Do you know where they are?” She asks.

“Turkey, on an Archaeological dig.” Tim explains. “They arrived there last week, but they’ve been out of the country since February.”

“Do they go on trips often?” She asks. “And are they normally that long?”

“They’re gone more often then they’re home.” Tim admits, holding back tears. “The trips started getting longer shortly after I turned six.”

“Who looks after you when they’re gone.” The male officer asks.

“There’s a house keeper, Mrs. McIlvaine.” Despite the words coming from him, it feels like someone else is talking. “She comes by twice a week to clean and drop off food. I almost never see her, I’m usually at school when she comes by.”

“Is there anyone else?” Officer Rohrbach asks.

“No.” Tim answers. “I’m very smart for my age, so my parents trust me to take care of myself. And I can, I’ve always been fine.”

“I’m sure you can Tim.” Heather assures him. “But just because you're a capable kid, it doesn’t mean your parents can just leave you alone for months at a time.”

“When did they start leaving you alone?” Officer Malloy asks.

“After I turned six.” Tim hears Dick inhale sharply at the confession.

“Thank-you for your honesty Tim.” Officer Rohrbach says, closing her note book.

“Until the courts can talk to your parents, you are being removed from their custody.” Heather explains. “You’ll be put in a foster home. What happens next will depend on the investigation.”

“Do you have a placement for him yet?” Dick asks.

“Not yet, I need to make some calls.” Heather looks tired. “See if someone has space.”

Heather excuses herself from the room, Dick suddenly stands as well, a spike of panic goes through him and he grabs Dick’s sleeve.

“I’ll be right back, bud.” Dick promises, gently removing his hand. “I promise I’m not leaving.”

Tim lets him go, staring at the door waiting for him to come back. 

Dick quickly rushes through the Walmart, grabbing the stuff he’d need for Tim. Heather was getting the placement approved, and suggested he used the time to get some basic necessities for the kid. Dick was grateful because he doubted Tim felt up to going shopping after the night he had.

A couple basic shirts, sweaters, pants, a pack of underwear and socks and some pjs. Enough for a couple days, if they needed more they could go shopping later. Dick also grabs a booster seat, some sunglasses and a cute little frog poncho. Tim’s favorite color is green and it was calling for rain for a good chunk of the week.

He goes through the self-checkout, and installs the booster seat once he’s in the parking lot. It was best to be ready to go as soon as Tim was clear to leave.

It feels like forever until Dick comes back, Tim watches the door the whole time. When he does return Heather with him.

“Alright Tim.” Heather states. “You’ll be going home with Dick tonight.”

Tim looks over at Dick for confirmation, he didn’t know Dick was a registered foster parent.

Dick gives him a reassuring smile and a nod. “Are you ready to blow this joint?”

Tim nods, eyes burning as relief flows through him. He won’t be going to stay with a stranger, Dick had saved him for the second time that night. Tim holds out his hands towards Dick, who obliges, picking him up and setting him on his hip.

Dick heads out to his car, after grabbing some medication for Tim, crutches and instructions for handling a concussion. Dick is already familiar with what to do already, but nods along like he doesn't regularly throw himself headfirst into dangerous situations. 

It takes some prompting to get Tim to take the meds, the kid is clearly drained, and has practically fallen asleep against his shoulder. He gets Tim into the car, glad he chose to install the booster seat before returning to the hospital.

The drive home is quiet, the only noise from passing cars and the odd rumble of thunder in the distance. With Tim halfway to falling asleep, Dick doesn’t even turn on the radio.

This was not how he thought his night was going to go.

He’d have to go shopping later this week, thankfully he was off for the weekend so he wouldn’t have to call into work. He’ll probably have to use some leave anyway, Tim's going to need someone to stay with him while he recovers. He’d also have to figure out child care for when he did have to return to work. He'd need to come up with a plan for Tim's school. He’d have to call the school tp pull him for Monday at least, with the concussion Tim wouldn't be up to going back so soon.

Honestly it might just be best to pull him for the whole week, give Tim some time to process everything.

The week after that is Spring Break, so that would give Dick two weeks to come up with a solid plan.

He really shouldn’t be making long-term plans yet, not until he knew if this would be a long term placement. Or at least until he’d gotten some sleep. They should just take it a day at a time for now.

Heather meets them at the apartment, they go up together, so she can inspect the place.

“Everything looks good.” She says, once she’s done, keeping her voice low, giving Tim was asleep against his shoulder. “I’ll give you a call this weekend, we can discuss the plan going forwards. Just give me a call if anything happens.”

Dick shakes her hand, “I will, have a good night.”

“Thank-you for stepping up.” She says turning to leave. “This was probably the best case scenario here.”

“I couldn’t walk away,” Dick admits. “He's a good kid.”

Heather leaves, and Dick is left in silence once more. His first task is waking Tim up so the kid could get into some clean clothes. Hopefully he likes what Dick bought, if not he could borrow some of Jason's that he’d left here. They’d be too big but they would work in a pinch.

“Timmy?” Dick calls lightly, brushing his cheek lightly. “You have to wake up for a bit bud.”

Tim’s eyes slowly open, blinking as his eyes try to focus. “Wha-” His words are cut off by a yawn. It must be way past his bedtime. Did he even have one? Who would enforce it?

“Come on kiddo, I’m sure you want to get into something clean.” Dick grabs some of the pj’s from the bag and the pack of underwear.

“That will be your room.” Dick gestures to the door to the guestroom as they pass. “I’ll show it to you when you’re done.”

Dick walks out of the room to the bathroom. “This is the bathroom, I’ll grab you a fresh toothbrush.”

Dick sets Tim down on the toilet, and pops out to the closet pulling a fresh towel and a tooth brush. “Did you want a shower? We’ll have to put something over your hand if you do. Or you can just get changed and go to bed. Up to you.”

Tim is quiet, pondering his options. “Shower.”

“Okay, I have some gloves, we can put one on your hand.” Dick starts to go through the cabinet above the sink. “And I should have something for the stitches on your arm. I also have a shower bench, I’ve broken my leg before, I’ll put it in so you can sit.”

He explains how his shower works, then makes sure Tim has what he needs, leaning his crutches by the sink. He leaves the bathroom then collapses onto the couch. He wants to call Bruce, to ask for help, to ask for support. At the same time he wants to keep Bruce as far away as possible. If Bruce tries to insert himself into the situation, to take control, that might scare Tim.

What Tim needed was a calm environment, not Bruce sweeping in to fix everything.

God what was he doing, he was in way over his head.

The water stops running, and Tim hobbles out of the bathroom using the crutches. He looks conflicted about something, and Dick finds himself straightening in alarm.

“Dick, I have something to tell you.” Tim’s voice shakes as he speaks.

“You can tell me anything bud.” Dick pats the couch next to him.

Tim comes and sits next to him, chewing on his lip nervously. “Do you think the police will search my house?”

“They might, they’d have to get a warrant first.” Dick explains. “Why?”

“Would I be able to get stuff from the house first?” Tim asks.

“Probably not.” Dick says slowly, worry only increasing with each question.

“You might need to help me break into my house.” Tim states, like that isn’t an insane thing to ask. “I don’t think they’d find it, but it might be bad if they do.”

“What might they find?” He will keep his voice low, he will not shout.

“I know you’re Nightwing.” Tim states. “And I have photos of you, none of them show your face, and there shouldn't be anything that gives away your identities. But it’s probably better to get them to be safe.”

Dick sputters in shock, struggling to respond. He can barely comprehend the  words that came out of Tim’s mouth.

What the fuck?

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry Tim, did you just say you have photos of Nightwing in your room?” Dick clarifies, because there is no way he just heard that.

“Yes, of Batman and Robin too.” Tim confirms, looking nervous.

“And how did you get those?" Dick asks, was he getting them from the newspaper, printing them out?

“I took them.” Tim says it slowly like it should be obvious.

“And when, exactly, did you take those?" Dick croaks out, he’s definitely failing to keep a cool head right now.

“At night, I follow you on patrol.” Tim states. “I’ve been doing it for over a year.”

“Over a year?!” Right around the time his parents first left him alone, unsupervised. Dick puts his head in his hands. “Why do you think I’m Nightwing?”

“Because you are?” Tim’s brows furrow. “You used to be Robin, and I saw Robin do a quadruple somersault, and you told me only three people alive could do it. Then you moved and Robin disappeared, and Nightwing appeared. Then Jason got adopted and Robin reappeared but different. And once you figure it out it’s not hard to work backwards and find more evidence.”

He’s going to have to tell Bruce about this eventually, their secret has been discovered by a seven-year-old. And Dick’s the one who gave it away.

Fuck, Bruce was right about him showing off.

“Okay if I was to send someone to get your photos, could you explain how to break-in to your house?” Dick asks, no point in trying to deny it, Dick needed those photos. Not just for his own sake but for Tim’s, if the wrong person found them, it could put Tim’s life in danger.

Tim nods, “I could tell someone how to get them.”

“Great.” Dick pulls out his phone, and dials Wally.

It takes a minute but Wally picks up. “Hey Dick, why are you calling so late? Is everything okay? Did something happen? I can be there in a second. Where are you?”

“Wally!” Dick interrupts Wally before he decides to search the whole city for him. “Everything is, well not fine, but there’s no immediate danger. I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure Rob, what do you need?” Wally asks, and Dick is grateful that he’s not pushing for information right now.

“I need you to break into B’s neighbors house and grab something for me.” Dick explains.

“The ones you babysat for?” Wally clarifies.

“Yes.”

“Are you just now realizing you forgot something there?” Wally teases. “Alright I’m here, what am I grabbing?”

“Hang on.” Dick covers the receiver turning to Tim. “How does he get in?”

“I can disable the alarm for the back door.” Tim states, looking around. “Where’s my bag?”

“No screens for you Timmy.” Dick reminds him. “Just tell me the code.”

Tim huffs but nods, “Fine it's 927861, tell him to climb the fence at the corner between Wayne manor and my house, there’s a blind spot there then he can walk to the back.”

Dick nods relaying the instructions to Wally.

“Dick why am I hearing a child? One that is definitely not Jason or Lian.” Wally asks.

“Long story, I’ll explain later.” Dick brushes off the question. He’d rather explain after Tim fell asleep.

“I’m holding you to that.” Wally states. “Alright I’m in the house, where next.”

As Dick finishes relaying Tim’s instructions to his friend, -it has to be Kid Flash- Tim feels his worry building. Dick seemed really upset, Tim hadn’t meant to upset him, he just hadn’t wanted to risk exposing the Wayne family. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything, just pretended to go to sleep, he’s sure Dick wanted to patrol, and he’d already taken up so much time.

There’s a knock on the door, and Dick goes over and opens it. “Hey Wals, thank you so much.”

Tim spots the man through the door, who hands Dick his bag. “It’s no problem Dick.”

Wally catches his eye through the door and waves. “Hey kid, you the reason for all this?”

Tim’s face goes red and he nods.

“Wally!” Dick hisses, disapproving.

“Hey, it’s all good, kid!” Wally tries to reassure him, hand up defensively. “This bozo’s dragged me into way weirder for less. I’m happy to help.”

Dick rolls his eyes, but steps aside to let Wally in. “Wally, this is Tim, I’m fostering him. Tim this is Wally-”

“Kid Flash.” Tim finishes.

“Oh, ookaay.” Wally looks over to Dick who is pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I didn’t tell him.” Dick states, with a deep sigh. “He figured it out, mine too, that’s what the early morning B&E is about.”

Dick hands Tim the bag, “Is this everything?”

Tim opens the bag, the lock box is inside with the rest of his night gear. “Yeah that’s everything.”

“Okay,” Dick picks him up. “It’s late, we can look through stuff in the morning. You need to rest, it was an eventful night.”

Tim objects trying and failing to repress a yawn. “I want to talk to Kid Flash.”

“Well he needs to get back home, and you need to sleep.” Dick responds, walking over to Tim’s temporary room. “I’ll properly introduce you later.”

“Promise?” Tim's eyes droop shut, exhaustion starting to pull at the edges of his consciousness once more.

“Promise.” Dick agrees, pulling the covers back, and setting him down. He tucks Tim in smoothing out the covers. “Goodnight I’ll be periodically checking on you through the night, I’ll try not to wake you.”

“Okay, goodnight Dick.”

Jason fiddles with his phone, Dick still hasn’t responded to his text. He can’t help but run through worst case scenarios as to why Dick had just hung up on him.

“Jay-lad, why are you still up?” Bruce is standing in his doorway, brows pinched.

“Dick still hasn’t responded.” Jason admits. “I’m worried, his voice got all Nightwing, it was serious.”

Bruce lets out a heavy sigh, coming to sit on the bed. “I know you're worried about him, chum, but Dick is a grown adult. He can take care of himself, if he had needed help he’d have told us.”

“I know, but he stopped responding!” Jason points out. “What if he can’t call for help?”

“Jay-lad, Dick is perfectly capable of calling, his phone is still connected, he might just be too busy to check his phone.” Bruce gently guides Jason to lay down.

“Ha! You're worried too!” Jason points out. “You checked his phone.”

“You're my sons, I’m always worried.” Bruce states, a slight crinkle at the corner of his eyes. “But I didn’t check, I get a notification if either of your phones suddenly dies."

“You do?” Jason narrows his eyes. “Does Dick know that?”

Jason doesn’t even want to imagine the fight that would occur if Dick didn’t know.

“Yes, Dick knows about that.” Bruce states. “It’s an extra safety feature, with all the kidnapping attempts.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?” Jason feels slightly offended.

“I did, when I first gave you a phone.” Bruce points out.

Jason flushes a bit. “In my defense, a lot happened that week.”

Bruce snorts, smoothing out the covers. “Sleep Jay-lad.”

“Fine.” Jason relents through a yawn. “If he doesn’t respond soon, I’m going to Blüd to check on him.”

Bruce gives a non committal hum. “Goodnight.”

“Night dad.”

Dick quietly shuts the door to Tim’s room, letting out a tired sigh.

“So,” Dick nearly jumps at Wally’s voice. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dick rubs his face tiredly, going over to collapse onto the couch.

Wally goes to sit next to him, looking at him expectantly. Dick sighs and explains the events of the night. Wally’s face goes from concern to surprise to outraged, as the story continues.

“Jeez dude,” Wally slumps back against the couch. “I’m mentally drained just hearing about it. It’s a good thing you found him, but still, it’s a lot to deal with all at once.”

“Trust me I know.” Dick follows suit slumping back. “I’ve gotta figure out how I’m going to tell B.”

“Oof, I don’t envy you Rob.” Wally nudges his shoulder. “Anything I can do?”

“You’ve already done a lot by grabbing those photos for me.” Dick returns the gesture. “You should get back to your wife and kids.”

“I can stick around for a bit if you want, Linda will understand.” Wally offers.

“Nah,” Dick stands with a stretch. “I’m going to change, then crash on the couch with an alarm, so I can check up on Tim.”

“Alright, if you're sure.” Wally stands as well, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Just let me know if you need anything, me and the rest of the Titans are here for you if you need it.”

“I will, thanks Wals” Dick sends him a grateful smile. “You have a goodnight.”

“Keep me updated.” Wally heads to the door. “Night Rob.”

With that Dick is left once more with the silence, it has been a long night, more early morning now. Dick would normally be getting back from patrol now, and collapsing into bed. Thankfully the guest room had black out curtains, for when Jason stayed over. So Tim wouldn’t be woken up when the sun rose in a few hours.

It was probably a good thing Dick was used to going for long periods of time without sleep. He wouldn’t be getting a lot of that tonight.

Tim groans a little as he wakes, pain radiating from everywhere. He squints as his eyes adjust to the dim lighting, starting when he doesn’t recognize where he is. He sits up ignoring the way his head pounds, trying to get his bearings.

Slowly the events of last night filter in, the kidnapping, the escape and Dick finding him. Tim flops back down hissing as that only causes more pain, pulling the covers over his head. 

He really messed big time, up didn’t he? 

If he had just been paying better attention to his surroundings he wouldn’t be in this mess. His parents wouldn’t be about to get into trouble.

Tim squeezes his eyes shut, trying to block out all the throbbing. He just wants to sleep for the rest of the weekend, pretend this never happened.

A soft knock on the door ruins his plans, “Tim? Are you awake kiddo?”

Tim curls up, not responding, the door opens and footsteps approach his bed.

“Timmy,” There's a soft hand on his shoulder. “C’mon Baby Bird, you need to get up to take some pain meds.”

Tim groans, peaking out from under the covers up at Dick.

“There he is.” Dick brushes his hair out of his face. “Good afternoon, do you want to eat in here, or would you rather come out to the living area?”

Tim’s stomach churns. “Not hungry.”

“I’m sorry bud, but you’ve got to eat something for the meds.” Dick insists. “We’ll keep it light. How does oatmeal sound.”

“Fine.” If he has to eat, oatmeal doesn't sound the worst.

“Alright, bed or couch?” Dick repeats the option.

“I can eat in bed?” Tim asks, his parents never approved of it. “What if I spill?”

“Then I’ll clean it up.” Dick explains patiently.

“You shouldn't have to clean up after me.” Tim’s supposed to clean up after himself now. he's old enough.

“It may come as a shock,” Dick continues to run his fingers through Tim’s hair. “But cleaning up after you is exactly what I signed up for.”

That didn’t make sense, why would he want that. “Why.”

“Because I care about you kiddo.” Dick states, standing. “So, bed or couch?”

“Bed.” Tim watches his face carefully, but there’s no indication that that was the wrong answer.

“Bed it is.” Dick stands to leave. “I’ll be back with your breakfast.”

Dick leaves the room, returning a few moments later holding a tray with a bowl and glass of water on it.

Tim sits up to be able to eat, and Dick settles the tray across his lap. “Eat some oatmeal first, then you can take some of the medication.”

Tim nods, grabbing the spoon, forcing down a few bites. Dick offers him two pills -both cut in half- which Tim takes. He gets a few more bites down, before he can’t eat anymore. He pushes the oatmeal around, but his stomach turns at the thought of eating any more.

“You full?” Dick asks, reaching out to take the tray.

Tim nods, letting him take the food.

“Alright, let me know if you start to feel hungry later.” Dick instructs, “Once the meds kick in you might have more of an appetite.”

Tim nods again, Dick slips out of the room once more, returning with a book in his hand.

“Okay, so since you have a concussion, that means your options for entertainment are limited.” Dick explains. “You could try and sleep more if you want, we could try a board game or I could read to you.”

“Read to me?” Tim looks at the book in Dick’s hand.

“Yep, I have the Hobbit here.” Dick holds up the worn book for Tim to get a better look at.

“You don’t have to,” Tim mutters, it wouldn’t be fair to Dick. “I’m sure you have more important stuff to do.”

“Maybe, but I want to.” Dick sits on the desk chair, facing Tim.

“Oh, would you read please?” Tim asks, he doesn’t think he can focus on anything else.

Dick opens the book and begins to narrate. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

“Is something wrong Master Jason?” Alfred asks, “You’ve barely touched your lunch.”

“I’m fine Alfie.” Jason grumbles, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Is this about Master Dick?” Alfred guesses, a single brow raised.

“He won’t tell me what’s going on!” Jason exclaims. “He just texted ‘everything’s fine talk later.’ Then stopped responding!”

“I’m sure Master Dick is just fine.” Alfred pats his shoulder. “Master Dick is-”

“I know, I know. Dick is perfectly capable of taking care of himself.” Jason huffs slumping in his chair. “I still want to know what's going on.”

“Patience lad,” Alfred soothes. “Master Dick will tell you in his own time.”

“I guess.” Jason mutters, arms crossed.

“Next week is Spring break is it not?” Alfred asks.

“Bit of a non sequitur there Alfie.” Jason states.

“Perhaps.” Alfred grabs Jason’s now empty plate. “I was just wondering what your plans were. Since you’ll have a lot of free time, and Master Bruce will be busy with work.”

Jason perks up, as Alfred goes over to the sink. He could hop the intercity bus and check on Dick. Maybe they could even patrol together.

Tim falls asleep again about halfway through the second chapter, Dick isn’t surprised, the kid had to be exhausted. Dick was exhausted, and his night wasn’t anywhere near as rough.

Dick marks where they’d left off, and sets the book to the side, before carefully adjusting the covers to tuck Tim in better. Dick slips out of the room, closing the door behind him, heading to the kitchen to clear up the dishes from the oatmeal. He’d set the pot to soak already so it’s an easy clean up.

Afterwards Dick collapses boneless onto the couch.

What was he doing? Why did he think he was capable of doing this? He never even went to therapy for his issues, now he's going to try to help a kid through a traumatic situation. What if he just made things worse?

At the same time the thought of Tim going anywhere else made him want to grab Tim and run.

God he was already too attached, he needed to see this through and make sure Tim was safe. He already failed Tim once, by not checking in on him after Dick had stopped babysitting. Dick wasn’t stupid, and this math was easy. 

This all started shortly after Dick left.

His phone buzzes, he blindly slaps at the coffee table to grab it. Another text from Jason. Dick sighs and sets the phone back on the coffee table, letting his eyes drift shut. He feels bad for ignoring his brother, but he’s too tired to think of a good way to explain what was happening. Or to deal with Bruce. Jay would have to be satisfied with his texts saying he was fine.

CRASH

Dick jolts awake to the sound of glass shattering, he whips his head towards the sound, as he scrambled to his feet.

It doesn’t take him long to piece together what’s going on. Tim is standing in the kitchen, broken glass and water surrounds him, how did he even reach the glasses? Without waking Dick either, kid’s sneaky, which really shouldn't surprise him. Given the photos.

Tim looks up at him with wide, scared, eyes. His body shifts, either step back or move forwards, Dick isn’t sure, but it doesn’t matter, his feet are bare.

“Don’t move!” Dick snaps, and Tim freezes, eyes filling with tears. “Just, just give me a sec, stay put.”

Dick grabs the closest pair of shoes and shoves them on, then goes over to the mess. Tim is still frozen, a slight tremor running through his frame. This can’t be bringing up good memories Dick picks him up, and steps over the glass, taking him over to the couch. Setting him down and kneeling in front of him to check his feet for any cuts.

“I’m sorry.” Tim’s voice trembles as he speaks, “I, I was thirsty, and I didn’t want to wake you! I didn’t mean to make a mess, I’ll clean it up!”

“No, it’s fine.” Dick doesn’t find any cuts on Tim’s feet, so he stands to get the broom. “I’ll take care of it.”

Dick cringes internally at how harsh the words sound to his own ears. He quickly cleans the mess in the kitchen, carefully disposing of the broken cup. Then grabs a new cup from the cupboard, and the filtered water from the fridge.

Tim is on the couch valiantly trying to stop the tears streaming down his face. Guilt washes over him, he should have made sure Tim knew he wasn’t upset with him before he cleaned up.

Dick sets the glass down on the coffee table kneeling in front of Tim. “Tim, I’m not upset about the cup. It was an accident, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Tim wipes his face, but the tears keep coming, Dick reaches out cupping Tim’s face.

“The reason I was so harsh is because I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Dick explains. “I should have explained that right away. I’m sorry I didn’t, and I’m sorry that I scared you. Would you like a hug?”

Tim nods, and falls forwards into Dick’s chest. Dick pulls him into his lap, lightly rocking him until the sobbing quieted. Dick can’t blame the kid for his reaction, he’s just been through an emotional whirlwind of a night. His whole life has just been up rooted, with no clear path forwards. That mixed with a concussion, which does not make emotional regulation easy. Dick suspects this will not be the only time he helps Tim through a meltdown.

Once the sobs wind down, Dick shifts Tim so he’s sitting more sideways, then grabs the water. Dick offers him the cup, Tim accepts the glass, taking a few large gulps. Tim’s hand trembles slightly, so Dick keeps his hand by the glass ready to help steady it if needed.

Plastic cups, that should be on the list of things to buy.

“Kiddo, how did you get the glass down?” Dick asks, taking the cup and setting it back on the table. “Did you climb up on the counter?”

Tim flushes but nods.

“Okay, well don’t do that.” Dick has to hold back a laugh as Tim pouts. “I don’t want you to fall. You can ask me to get you one, or you can use a chair or I have a stepstool somewhere. Until your ankle is healed you should ask me. Also I noticed the water jug was still full, so that means you used the tap. Don’t drink from the tap, water in Blüdhaven is not much better than Gotham water.”

“Sorry.” Tim mutters, picking at the hem of his shirt. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You can always wake me up if you need something bud.” Dick assures him. “Even if you think it’s unimportant, I want to help.”

Tim doesn’t look convinced in the slightest, but he nods, so Dick will count it as a win.

“Now what do you say we get up off the floor.” Dick stands with an exaggerated groan, earning a giggle. “I think I have some puzzles shoved in the back of a cupboard. They might be a little easy for you, since you’re a puzzle master. But it’ll have to do for now.”

“Pick a pair of sunglasses.” Dick instructs, holding out a package with three sunglasses. “Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman. I tried to find a Robin pair, but I didn’t see any. Though I was admittedly in a bit of a rush.”

Tim looks at the sunglasses, glancing back up at Dick, before reaching for the Superman glasses. That was Dick’s favorite, if he was remembering correctly.

“Superman it is, good choice.” Dick grins, setting the other pairs on the counter. “Are we ready to go?”

Tim thinks recalling the check list from when Dick would babysit. “Got your wallet?”

Dick pats his pocket. “Check.”

“Phone?”

Dick snags it off the counter. “Check.”

“Keys?”

Dick pulls them out and gives them a shake. “Check.”

Tim remembers Dick mentioning it calling for more rain. “Umbrella?”

Dick grabs a folding umbrella hanging by the door. “Check, you got the list?”

Tim pats his pocket where the folded paper sits. “Check.”

“Alright little Robin, put those glasses on and let’s go.” Dick scoops Tim up grabbing his crutches with his free hand.

He doesn’t really understand why Dick is insistent on going shopping, Dick had already gotten enough clothes to last a few days. As far as Tim was aware this was a temporary thing until his case worker found a better placement. Why Dick wanted to get Tim stuff for what might only be a few more days is beyond him.

Still when he had woken up that morning, Dick had explained that he’d be staying home from school today, and instead they would go pick up some stuff from the store. Tim still isn’t allowed to use his phone, which means he won’t be able to tell his friends what was going on. They’ll be worried when he doesn't show up for school.

“Hey Dick, could you text my friends from my phone?” Tim asks, as they enter the elevator. “Just to let them know I won’t be at school for the week.”

“Sure bud, we can do that when we get home.” Dick agrees. “You can’t tell them anything about your parents just to be clear. The cops don’t want word somehow making its way to your parents.”

“That’s fine, we can just say I got a concussion from gymnastics.” Tim says, “They won’t question it.”

“Sounds like a good plan, baby bird.”  Dick states, they head out to the parking lot, and Dick helps him into the car. 

The car ride to the store is much nicer than the ride to the hospital, or to Dick’s apartment. A lot of the nausea had faded, but Dick had given him some gravol to be safe, so Tim is actually able to look around as they drive.

The architecture in Blüdhaven is much less gothic and oppressive than Gotham’s, though there are still plenty of skyscrapers towering overhead. Tim itches to explore, learn its alleys and rooftops as intimately as he knows Gotham's. He kinda doubts Dick is going to let him run around at night, not with his reaction to finding out about his photography. 

Chances are his next placement will be in Gotham, so he’ll probably never get the chance.

The rain starts to pound against the car, coming down in sheets, Tim shudders as he feels the phantom sensation of his clothes sticking to his skin. He’s glad he reminded Dick to grab an umbrella.

They pull into the parking lot of the store, Dick finds a good parking spot. “Stay in the car. I’ll come around with the umbrella and carry you so you don’t get your feet soaked.”

Dick does as he says, carrying Tim in one arm and holding the umbrella with his other. Tim holds his crutches, pressing closer to Dick when a few stray drops hit his arm. When they get into the building Dick puts him in the cart, and starts to head through the store.

“We’ll head to the clothing section first.” Dick explains, “Then we can look at the shoes, you need something other than your wrecked school shoes, and a pair of rainboots.”

Tim looked down at his shoes, walking through the rain for hours and had not done them any favors. They were already starting to wear down, the shoes had been too tight for awhile, and a hole had formed by his pinkie toe. Now the tread was completely worn away and the mock leather was peeling in some spots.

“If you see something you like, point it out, we’ll aim for about a week's worth.” Dick states. “Just in case we can’t get your stuff from home for a bit.”

It turns out Tim doesn’t have to do much pointing, Dick grabs anything that Tim’s eyes linger on for more than a few seconds. They definitely go over the ‘one week’ quota by the time they head over to the shoes.

“You can try it on at home, see what’s comfortable then I can return any you don’t like.” Dick explains, turning down the kid’s shoes aisle. “Hey, Robin boots.” 

“These should be the right size.” Dick pulls a pair off the shelf, giving him a mischievous smile. “Robin is still your favorite right?”

Tim flushes, shaking his head. “Nightwing's my favorite.”

Dick looks stunned at the admission, then gets a big goofy smile. “Is he now? When’d that change?”

“When the first Robin became Nightwing.” Tim admits, as Dick lifts him out of the cart, setting him down on the bench so he can try on shoes. “The new Robin’s pretty cool though.”

“Eh, I guess he’s alright.” Dick shrugs, handing Tim the boots. “Bit of a dork if you ask me.”

Tim snorts, and returns the knowing smile. The boots fit, and they even find a pair of light up Nightwing shoes. Much to Dick’s surprise. “I almost never see Nightwing stuff, he’s still new.”

Dick gets Tim a couple toys, some lego, a stuffed batbear and some puzzles. Once that’s all done, they go over to the grocery section. “Got the list?”

Tim pulls it out and hands it to Dick. “Want me to read it?”

“Nah, don’t strain your eyes bud.” Dick skims the list then hands it back. “Just hang onto it for me.”

It’s not very busy, Tim supposed a lot of people would be at work right now. Some people give him strange looks, either because of the sunglasses, or because he wasn’t at school. The looks make him uncomfortable, but most people seem content to mind their own business. He does catch Dick glaring at someone.

Finally after what feels like forever, the head to the check-outs, Dick snagging something off a display at the pass. Adding it to the cart before Tim can see.

“What was that?” Tim asks, twisting around to try and see.

“Don’t worry about it.” Dick waves off the questions. “You’ll see it later.”

Tim huffs, unable to see what Dick had grabbed, turning back around as they get into line. Suddenly Dick leans forwards, placing a quick peck on his forehead. Tim freezes at the action, staring wide eyed at Dick, who has already moved on. Too busy unloading the cart onto the belt to be scanned, to notice Tim's inner turmoil.

What’s the appropriate response to that, his parents never showed affection like that. Dick had always been affectionate when he babysat, but that was usually limited to hair ruffles and hugs. Head kisses were only ever given when he was crying, Tim hadn’t been upset, so why’d he’d do that. How could he get him to do it again?

Dick easily chats with the cashier, Tim doesn’t really follow the conversation, to focused on his own thoughts. He almost misses Dick’s question.

“Did you want to wear the shoes right away, bud?” Dick asks, the cashier has a pair of scissors and is cutting off the tags.

Tim nods, “Yes please.”

The cashier hands Dick the shoes so he can put them on Tim.

“Thank you Ma’am.” Tim says, as Dick pulls off his old shoes, tossing them into a nearby trash can.

“You're welcome.” The cashier responds, before turning back to Dick. “You have a cute son sir.”

“Thank-you.” Dick doesn’t miss a beat, not correcting the cashier on her mistake. Tim guesses that makes sense, Dick is technically his foster dad, and correcting her would seem weird.

It’s still pouring when they leave the store, so Dick pulls up the hood on Tim’s poncho. “We’re going to make a run for it, ready?”

Tim nods before he can think better of it, and Dick takes off running towards the car. Tim finds himself laughing despite the rain hitting him as they run. Dick puts Tim in the car before he unloads the cart, and is slightly soaked when he gets into the driver's seat.

“Why didn’t you use the umbrella?” Tim asks, a Dick brushes his wet hair out of his face.

“This was faster.” Dick explains turning around to look at him. “And it was more fun.”

Tim raises a doubtful brow at Dick’s soaked form. “If you say so.”

Dick scoffs, turning back, “Put that brow down mister, next time I’ll walk and let you get soaked to.”

“Or I could just hold the umbrella." Tim suggests.

“If you want to be boring.” Dick dramatically rolls his eye.

“I want to be dry.” Tim defends, muttering. “I don’t want to get soaked again.”

Dick’s expression sobers at that, suddenly looking sad. “Okay bud, you won’t have to.”

Jason stares out the classroom window distractedly, watching as lightning flashes in the distance, it’s been storming on and off all weekend. Bruce had made him stay home from patrol last night thanks to a particularly bad one. Jason had been upset until Bruce had revealed he was also staying home from patrol, suggesting they watch a movie instead.

It was nice, they rarely did stuff like that just the two of them. Sure Bruce made time for Jason, but it didn’t change the fact that Bruce was a busy man, and the CEO of a billion dollar company. Jason treasured the time they spent together.

“Mr. Todd, since you're so interested in it, why don’t you tell me what can cause a thunderstorm?” Jason jumps, ears going red as the class laughs.

“Rapidly rising warm air, caused by an unstable atmosphere, meeting something like a cold front.” Jason fires off, before giving the teacher a sheepish smile. “Sorry Mrs. Cantor.”

“It’s all right Mr. Todd.” She waves off the apology. “I find it hard to focus during a good storm too. But do try and stay here for the rest of the class. I promise today's lesson is just as interesting.”

“Yes ma’am.” Jason nods, trying to focus on the rest of the lesson.

Dick pulls into his parking space, grabbing one thing from the bag next to him, before slipping out into the rain. Tim has already gotten out of his seat by the time Dick opens his door, holding the item out for Tim to take.

“What’s that?” Tim asks skeptically.

Dick pulled the item back and open it, showing off the frog umbrella. “An umbrella for you.”

Tim’s eye’s light up for half a second, before narrowing. “Isn’t that a kids umbrella.”

“Yeah, all the adult umbrellas were boring.” Dick retorts, resisting the urge to point out that Tim is a child. And that he would look adorable with his matching little frog umbrella and poncho. “Green’s your favorite color right?”

Tim takes the umbrella, so Dick can pick him up. 

Dick grabs the grocery bags, waving Tim off when he tries to grab some. “You’ve got stitches in your hand bud, I can make another trip.”

Tim pouts but doesn’t argue, doing his best to help keep Dick dry as well. As Dick balances Tim, his crutches and the bags.

Once they get inside, Tim folds his umbrella hanging it from the cord around his wrist. “I can walk with my crutches now.”

Dick sighs, setting Tim down and handing him is crutches. “Thank you Timmy. Wanna press the button for the elevator?”

Tim nods, going over the elevator and pressing the call button. “We’re floor ten right?”

“Correct.” Dick affirms, shifting the bags to balance them better. “Are you doing okay bud?”

“Yeah, just a little sore.” Tim states, Dick nods, it’s about time for more tylenol anyway.

“Okay, when we get in you can sit and ice your ankle.” Dick instructs. “I’ll bring up the rest of the stuff.”

Tim looks unhappy at the arrangement but doesn’t argue, just pressing the button for the tenth floor when they get into the elevator.

It only takes one more trip to get the rest of the bags. Once he's back in his apartment, Dick puts away the groceries, placing the bags with Tim’s clothes and stuff in his room. They could go through it after lunch, maybe once Tim is feeling better they could look online for stuff to decorate the guest room. It was a little plain for a kids room.

“How does chicken soup sound?” Dick asks, “Or do you want something else?”

Tim had said his nausea was better, but Dick didn’t want to push it either.

“Soup sounds good.” Tim responds, he’s sitting on the couch leg propped up on some pillows with an ice pack. He has the stuffed bear, and is absentmindedly playing with it. 

Dick stops and watches him for a moment, it’s probably the most relaxed Tim has looked since arriving. It's only his third day with Dick, so he wasn't expecting him to feel completely comfortable for a while. Still it's nice to see some progress.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Tim finds himself growing more comfortable, while at the same time mentally preparing for when Heather shows up to take him to his next placement. It is its own kind of torture, the waiting, not knowing when his life will be thrown back into turmoil.

He’d forget sometimes, when Dick and him are spending time together. Dick reads to him, plays games and talks so casually about future plans. It’s hard to remember it’s not permanent, Dick is just being prepared, but it hurts all the same.

He often wakes up at night, a scream caught in his throat, hand clamping over his mouth to silence any noises he can’t suppress. Tim wishes he could use his phone, when he was at home he’d often watch youtube videos on nights where the nightmares got to bad. Tim knows he looks tired, his dark circles growing more prominent with each sleepless night.

When he gets out of bed that morning, hobbling out to the couch, Dick gives him a concerned look. “Did you have trouble sleeping?”

Tim fights off a yawn, “I’m fine.”

“You can tell me if you’re having trouble sleeping, Tim.” Dick says, coming to sit next to him. “We can figure something out to help.”

“I’m fine.” Tim snaps, irritation flaring. “Why do you care?”

Dick looks taken aback by his reaction, but his phone rings before he can respond. Dick checks the caller ID. “Hold on its Heather.”

Tim’s lungs constrict, as Dick slips into his room to take the call. Heather, his case worker, that means it’s probably time to leave. He should ask Dick to keep his photos, he’ll miss them but it's a big risk taking them with him. Maybe he can find a way to get them back later.

Dick looks uneasy when he steps back out. Brows furrowed, clearly debating the best way to break the news. Tim takes a bracing breath, straightening his shoulders.

“We need to talk about something, Tim.” Dick states sitting down next to him. “I just got a call from Heather, your parents were arrested at an airport in Turkey yesterday. When they were arrested their luggage was searched, and it was discovered they were smuggling artifacts in their bags.”

That, was not what Tim was expecting. Tim thinks back to the various artifacts sitting around the manor, wondering how many were illegally taken.

“This is going to make the case both more complicated and less complicated.” Dick explains. “For one, multiple countries might get involved now, depending on how many artifacts are discovered. The authorities raided your house last night, and confiscated several. But that’s not what matters right now, what does is your custody. Right now it’s still temporary, but the courts are moving to permanently remove you from your parents custody.”

Dick is still speaking but his words fade out, ears ringing, as his world narrows down to a single word. Permanent, Tim had just assumed with enough money and time he’d go back to them. A part of him is relieved, even if that makes him a terrible son It was the only thing he was sure of. Now he was truly in the dark.

He feels cold and light headed, he’s glad he’s already sitting, or he might collapse.

A sudden shock of cold against his hand causes him to jolt pack into his body. “Tim, breathe.”

Tim takes a sudden gulp of air lungs burning, he hadn't realized he’d stopped.

“There we go, in and out, deep breaths.” Dick presses something cold into his palm, shutting his hand around it. Tim realizes it’s a piece of ice, Tim blankly watches it melt in his hand.

“Back with me?” Dick asks, Tim gives a jerky nod. “Okay, do you know what triggered you?”

Tim shrugs, his words are jumbled up, speaking to explain feels like an impossible task.

“Do you want a hug?” Dick asks, and Tim flops to the side, leaning against Dick. Dick wraps his arms around him squeezing. And Tim has to admit the pressure feels nice.

He’s not sure how long they sit like that, until he finally feels like he can speak. “Permanent?”

“Yeah bud, I’m sorry.” Dick rubs his arms.

“Were am I going?” Tim asks, he wants to get it over with.

“What do you mean?” Dick prods.

Tim shrugs. “Like after this, where am I going? This was only a temporary placement, so I have to go somewhere.”

“It doesn’t have to be temporary.” Dick tells him, “You can stay, if you want to, you can stay here.”

“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.” Tim snaps, pulling away. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying!” Dick insists, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Please look at me.”

Reluctantly Tim turns around, Dick cups his face with both hands brushing away some stray tears.

“I want you here.” Dick states firmly. “I want you to live here, even the thought of you going somewhere else makes me feel sick. I care about you sweetheart, I have since you were two. If you want to stay here you can, if you don’t I will make sure you end up in a good home.”

“Why?” Tim demands desperately. “Why do you want me, when my parents never did? Why did they leave Dick? What if it’s me?”

“It’s not your fault they left.”

“How do you know?” Tim’s voice breaks. “How can you know? What if you get tired of me too?”

“Never.” Dick insists, hand going to the back of his head and pulling him into a hug again. “I will never get tired of you, or abandon you. I’m staying, I promise you I’m staying.”

“You left before.” Tim points out.

“That wasn’t your fault.” Dick voice trembles, even as it’s filled with conviction. “I was angry at Bruce, so I ran. I would have taken you with me in a heartbeat if I’d known your parents would do this. I’m so sorry baby, I should have checked. I’m not leaving, I promise, never again.”

Tim grabs onto Dick’s shirt, half scared he’ll pull away if he lets go, speaking through sobs. “I want to stay.”

“Then you’re staying.” Dick promises. “I’ll do whatever I need to make it happen.”

Tim nods into his shoulder, let’s himself believe it, because if he’s ever believed in anything it is Dick Grayson.

Jason glances up at Bruce across the table, his brows furrowed as he read the paper. His lips are lightly down turned and he makes a displeased noise in the back of his throat.

Something is very wrong, that was a more dire hmn the usual. “Is something wrong B?”

Bruce glances at Jason over the edge of his paper. “Our neighbors just got arrested two days ago.”

“The Drakes?” Jason confirms, getting a nod from Bruce. “Why’d they get arrested.”

“Child neglect.” Bruce states.

Images fill his head, of a tiny shrimp of a kid his brother used to show him photos of. “Tim? The kid Dick babysat?”

“Yes.” Bruce continues to skim the page. “It says that the authorities found smuggled artifacts in their luggage upon arrest. Their house was raided that night. No mention of what happened to Tim.”

“Maybe he’s staying with a relative.” Jason suggested. “They’re probably keeping it out of the paper for privacy.”

“Maybe.” Bruce agrees absentmindedly, standing up from the table. “I’m going to make some calls.”

“We should let Dickhead know.” Jason suggests. “Before you make any drastic decisions.”

Bruce makes a face. “I’m not making any drastic decisions, I’m just looking for some information. I’ll tell Dick when I have something concrete.”

“Sure, but when Dick gets upset, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Chapter Text

Bruce glowers at the screen, frustration building. He doesn’t know what the Drakes were involved in, but it must have been worse than simply smuggling. 

Someone was hiding Tim, Bruce could not get access to his file, and therefore couldn’t see where he was staying. The files are there, he can see that Tim’s in the system, he’s not being erased. He just can’t read it. 

He knows it’s not the CPS or BPD’s security, Bruce has always been able to access that no problem. No, this was something else.

“This seems serious B.” Jason states after Bruce explains the situation. “Maybe we should tell Dick.”

“We don’t need to tell Dick yet.” Bruce dismisses. “I’ll talk to Barbara and have her take a look at it.”

Jason doesn’t look convinced. “Listen I may not have ever met Tim, but I’ve heard Dick talk about him. He’s not going to be happy about you hiding this.”

Bruce sighs, Jason has a point, Dick would be upset. At the same time, he wanted to be able to show Dick the kid was okay. There wouldn’t be much Dick could do, and it would drive him crazy.

“I’m not hiding this from Dick.” Bruce states firmly. “There’s just nothing to share right now.”

Jason rolls his eyes, “I’m going to work on my English assignment. You have fun with this.”

Bruce hums in acknowledgement, as Jason leaves the cave.

It doesn’t make any sense, Bruce should have gotten an alert once the GCPD got involved in the case. He has programs monitoring for reports involving his neighbors, he should have seen something before the news report.

Dick slips out his bedroom window onto the fire escape, he can still see Tim in the living room through his bedroom door, but this gives him a little privacy. The air is thick, humidity clinging to his skin. Dark clouds sit on the horizon, look’s like they’re in for another storm.

Dick pulls out his phone leaning against the railing, dialing a familiar number . “Come on, come on, pick up.”

“Hello?”

“Hey Babs!” Dick greats. “How’s it going?”

“Dick I’m at work, this better be important.” Babs responds.

“Shit, sorry.” Dick apologizes. “I just need to ask a favor?”

“Is this about our night activities?” Babs asks.

Dick winces, she could read him so well. “Kinda?”

He hears her sigh, then a door shuts. “What does kinda mean?”

“I need you to block Bruce from getting access to something.” Dick explains.

“Block Bruce?” Babs clarifies. “Are you two fighting again?”

“We fought recently, yes, but this is unrelated.” Dick admits. “Mostly.”

“What file?”

“The Drakes got arrested last night.” Dick starts. “For child neglect, I need you to stop Bruce from finding Tim’s foster placement.”

“Why?” Babs suddenly sounds unsure. “Dick what’s going on?”

“He’s safe,” Dick assures, watching as Tim plays with some lego. “Bruce will try to get involved, and Tim needs stability right now.”

“Dick, where's Tim right now?” Babs asks, suspicious. “Don’t lie, because I will find out.”

“He’s with me.” Dick rushes out before he can back track. “I’m fostering him.”

Babs hum’s in understanding. “I see, alright I’ll help. But you know Bruce has a program checking for GCPD reports involving his neighbors.”

“I know, I already disabled that.” Dick states. “But full on blocking him is a little beyond me.”

Babs snorts. “You know he’s going to ask me to help him crack it.”

“I’ll bring you a pastry and coffee from your favorite cafe for a whole week.” Dick promises. “As soon as Tim feels up for a longer drive.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Babs responds. “What are you going to do if he calls you about the case?”

Dick scoffs “If he actually calls me, I’ll tell him.”

Thunder crashes, lighting up his room with a flash of lightning, Tim sits up with a gasp. He stares at his window, the rain pounds against the glass, Tim shudders, slipping out of bed. He hobbles over to the window, shutting the curtains fully, blocking out the storm.

He listens as the storm continues to rage, wind gusting, he hears something outside bang against the ground. He wishes these storms would stop, he’d always had trouble sleeping during storms. They made him nervous, when no one was around, the house was always so quiet normally. Storms raging overhead would wake him up.

His first year living alone he would hide under his bed with a stuffed robin, the bird, creatively named Robin. He was always worried that a tree would fall and smash a window, or the power would go out, and Tim wouldn’t be able to fix it. He’d have to wait for his parents to get home, and they’d be disappointed he couldn't be responsible.

That doesn’t really matter anymore, Tim might never see his parents again. That doesn’t stop the way he flinches at the next crash of thunder, his eyes burning. 

A shout comes from somewhere in the building, followed by a door slamming. Tim whips around to look at his door. His heart pounds but his door remains shut, of course it does, that was just another tenet. Dick had told him his kidnappers had been arrested the same night he’d escaped. No one was coming after him.

Tim limps over to his bed, pulling his pillow and blanket onto the floor, and grabbing the batbear. He carefully lowers himself onto his stomach and shimmies under the bed. This bed is lower to the ground than his old one but he still fits comfortably, and is able to pull the blanket and pillow under with him.

It’s silly and childish, he can’t hide from the storm or the yelling. His dad would say he was acting like a baby. Still when there's a particularly strong gust of wind he pulls the blanket over his head, eyes squeezed shut as he waits for it to pass.

It’s loud enough that he almost misses the sound of his door creaking open. “Tim?”

Tim freezes as footsteps approach his bed, followed by the floorboards creaking as someone kneels down.

“Tim?” Tim peaks out from under his blanket, Dick’s lying on his stomach, concerned expression barely visible in the dim light streaming in from his door. “Why are you under the bed?”

Tim can feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, it’s so silly, he doesn’t want to explain to Dick he was hiding from sounds. He is acting like a baby, how could he explain that to Nightwing of all people? Another crash of thunder has him tensing, eyes snapping shut, clutching his Batbear close.

“Are you scared of the storm?” Dick’s tone holds nothing but understanding, not even a hint of mocking. 

“And the shouting.” Tim admits, voice shaking. “It’s so loud Dick, it was always too quiet before, but now it’s so loud.”

“Is that why you’ve been having trouble sleeping?” Dick asks, reaching out and brushing his thumb under his eye. “Because of all the noise?”

Tim shrugs, that's not the only reason.

“When I first moved to Wayne manor, I had a lot of trouble sleeping.” Dick admits. “I’d have nightmares most nights, and when I didn’t I had the opposite problem. It was too quiet. There was always noise at Haley's, the animals, other performers, and the sound of the city we were in. A constant buzz of activities. I would play music to help me sleep, and Bruce got me a white noise machine. Eventually I got used to it, but I always preferred noise when I slept.”

“I can get you some ear plugs,” Dick suggests. “See if that helps.”

Raucous laughter comes from the hall, Tim accidentally lets out a fearful squeak, then clamps a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound. If he made too much noise they could find him, and they might make good on their promise to send him home in pieces. He might not be able to escape a second time, he barely made it out the first time. His parents can’t pay a ransom in jail, not that they’d want to, with all the trouble he caused.

He can feel the sting of the glass cutting into his arm, smell the stale stench of alcohol and smo-

Cold.

Tim jerks back from the cold sting against the back of his hand, eyes flying open. Dick is there, with a piece of ice in his hand. “Deep breath sweetheart.”

Tim gulps for air chest burning, had he stopped breathing again? He hadn’t even registered Dick leaving and coming back.

“Hold this.” Dick instructs, Tim takes his hand off his mouth, taking the ice cube. “Try to follow my breathing.”

Dick takes some exaggerated breaths, Tim does his best to follow along. “My hand’s going numb.”

“Do you want to hand me what's left of the ice?” Dick asks, holding out his hand.

Tim places the mostly melted ice into Dick’s hand, and he sets onto a towel to finish melting. “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Dick assures him. “You went through something very scary. Sometimes after something scary happens, and we get reminded of it, our brain will react like we’re still in that situation.”

“That’s stupid, I’m with you.” Tim mutters. “I’m safe.”

“You are safe, I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Dick promises. “It can just take time for our bodies to get caught up.”

Tim huffs in frustration, flinching as a door slams.

Dick turns in the general direction of the sound. “Our neighbor is throwing a party, couple of college roommates. Thank god the college's spring break has already passed.”

Dick turns back to him and they both go quiet for a moment.

“Can you come out from under there?” Dick asks, lightly scratching his back.

Tim pulls the blanket a little tighter, Tim’s heart speeds up at the thought of leaving the hiding spot.

“Hey, remember, you're safe with me.” Dick soothes. “I’ll protect you.”

“Cause you’re Nightwing.” Tim states. “And Nightwing protects people.”

“Yes.” Dick agrees. “And I care about you, even if I wasn’t Nightwing I’d protect you.”

“I don’t want to go to sleep yet.” Tim admits, “Would you stay and read for a moment.”

“I won’t go anywhere.” Dick promises.

Tim scoots out from under the bed, keeping batbear close, Dick shifting to give him space. Dick grabs the blanket and pillow, tossing them onto the bed, then picks Tim up. Instead of setting him down onto the bed, Dick grabs the book they were reading, and carries him out of the room. 

They go into Dick’s room, and he pulls back the covers, sitting so Tim is tucked into his side. Tim shifts to get more comfortable, wrapping his arms around Dick stomach. Dick pulls the blanket over both of them.

“Comfy?” Dick asks, combing his fingers through Tim’s hair.

Tim nods, leaning into the touch, Dick lets out a soft laugh. “Why are we in your room?”

“This wouldn’t be as comfortable in your bed.” Dick points out. “It’s too small.”

“But it’s your bed.” Tim states, through a yawn. “I’m supposed to sleep in my bed, not act like a baby.”

“You're not being a baby.” Dick assures. “If you have a nightmare, or if you can’t sleep, you can come wake me. You don’t have to deal with it on your own. I used to sleep in Bruce’s bed all the time.”

“Can I sleep here?” Tim quietly asks, “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Of course you can.” Dick presses a kiss to his head.

“And that's not childish?” Tim sniffles, he’s tired of crying, he almost never cried before. Now he cries all the time.

“It’s not, but Tim you are a child.” Dick states. “You’re allowed to be a child. You’re allowed to ask for affection, to demand it. For hugs, or to cuddle, no reason needed. You’re allowed to want comfort.”

Tim doesn’t respond, he doesn’t know how to respond. His parents weren’t physically affectionate like Dick was, it’s just how they were, and they expected the same from him. They loved him, they weren’t perfect, but they loved him. They just showed it differently.

“Do you still want to read?” Dick asks, holding up the book.

Tim nods, so Dick opens the book to where they left off. Dick's voice washes over him, the tension leaking from his muscle, even as the storm continues to rage. Tim’s eye begging to drift shut, exhaustion and Dicks soothing tenure lulling him to sleep.

Jason absentmindedly drums his fingers against his thigh as the bus rumbles down the road. Bruce was still in the cave trying to locate the Drake's kid, and Dick didn’t come over that weekend like he’d promised. So Jason is going to follow through on his threats, and go break-in to Dick’s apartment.

He could bother Dick for the weekend, let Bruce brood in peace, and maybe go home to foster brother. Jason could recognize a pattern when he saw it. Jason wondered if Tim would find the cave, Bruce had updated the security since Jason had found it, but Dick always said Tim was way too smart for his own good. Jason hopes he finds it, because it would suck trying to keep a secret like that from someone he lived with.

The bus would arrive in Blüd soon, Jason should probably text Dick to give him the heads up. He’d told Alfred he’d get Dick to pick him up from the station, however the sun was setting, and Dick was most likely out on patrol.

It wouldn’t be difficult for Jason to find a place to change into the Robin uniform. Most of it was under his clothes already, then he could grapple over to Dick’s place. Might even bump into him on the way.

They could train surf, and Jason had already picked out some terrible movies to torture Dick with. It was shaping up to be a pretty good night all things considered. They’d probably head back to Gotham tomorrow, Dick would want to help find the Drake kid. Or tonight if Dick was particularly worried. It didn’t really matter Jason could torture him in Gotham too.

The bus pulls to a stop and Jason filters out with the other passengers, weaving through the crowd until he can slip down a side street. Finding a quiet spot to change. He shoves the clothes he was wearing into his bag, then grapples up to the roof, bag slung over his shoulder.

He takes a second to check if Dick’s com was online. No dice, annoying but not unexpected, Dick wasn’t expecting company. Jason checks his suit tracker next, and is surprised to see it still at his apartment. Dick was normally out by now, but maybe he’d just lost track of time, or was working on a case.

Still it was worrying, with the lack of communication, what if something had happened?

Jason starts making his way to Dick’s apartment, his own anxiety spurring him to go faster. He’s not paying very close attention to his surroundings, but still hears the shout for help as he passes over a dark alley.

A group of men have cornered a kid at a dead end, Jason doesn’t hesitate before dropping down into the alley. Dropping his bag onto the roof as he goes.

“Fellas. Fellas!” Jason lands between the kid and the would-be muggers/abductors. “Five against one? That's not very fair.”

“And you think one more brat is going to even the odds?” One goon sneers.

“No,” Jason grins. “The odds are definitely not in your favor.”

Jason throws a bridarang knocking the knife from one mans hand, then launch into a front handspring, landing on another's shoulders. The impact sends the man crumbling to the ground, as Jason rolls out of the way of a swing at his head.

He sweeps the legs out from the man who swung at him, he ducks a swing of the first man, then punches him in the gut. The man doubles over and Jason elbows him in the head, knocking him out cold.

A baseball bat comes flying at his head, and he barely dodges. He ducks a few more swings, before catching the man's wrist and twisting, forcing him to drop the bat. Jason catches the bat then hits the guy in the balls.

“Strike!” Jason snarks, glancing around the alley. “Where’s the fifth guy?”

Jason spots him bolting down the alleyway, and chucks the bat. Throwing his hand up and cheering when it hits him in the head. “Home run!”

There’s a sharp pain in his side, Jason jumps back and sees one of the goons has gotten the knife. Should have kicked it under the dumpster, oh well hid-sight is 20/20.

“Motherfucker!” Jason exclaims, ducking under a second swipe, popping up and jabbing him in the throat.

The goon chokes, suddenly winded, and Jason grabs his arm, twisting it behind his back. Jason slaps a pair of cuffs on him, then delivers a solid hit to the back of the head. The rest of the muggers are writhing in pain, and the kid is long gone, having run off in the chaos.

Jason alerts the BPD, tying up the men for them to pick up, then grapples up the roof

He inspects his side, a long cut runs from just below his arm pit to his hip. It’s not terrible, but it will need stitches in some spots. With a huff Jason pulls out some badges from his utility belt, and does some basic field dressing. Dick’s place isn’t too far, so it will do just fine until he gets there.

The rain starts to pour as Jason continues over to Dick’s apartment, ignoring the painful pull in his side.

Once he reaches the roof of Dick’s place, he lowers himself down to the window Dick’s guest room. Yeah it would be easier to use the window to Dick’s room, but Jason's kinda hoping to scare the crap out of Dick.

The curtains are closed, which is pretty normal. Jason tries the window only to find it’s locked. He huffs, and is just about to start unlocking the window when the curtain slides open, and a child's face peeks out at him.

Oh shit, did he have the wrong window?

The kid stumbles back, falling, and Jason hears a muffled scream. Before Jason can retreat to find the right window, the kids eyes widen, and he scrambles to his feet. Limping over to the window to unlock and open it.

“Robin?” The kid looks amazed, and excited.

“Shi-oot, sorry kid,” Jason rushes to explain, as the kid is ushering him in. “I think I got the wr-”

The kids door bursts open a Dick comes rushing in, escrima stick in hand.

“What the fuck?”

Barbara stares at Bruce in disbelief. “You really want me to hack a CPS file?”

Had he seriously not called Dick?

“Yes.” Bruce confirms. “Normally this would be no issue for me, but for some reason this file has some extra security. I worry someone with more nefarious intent is going after the kid. Potentially to protect his parents.”

“Who’s the kid?” Babs decides to play dumb.

“Timothy Drake.” Bruce explains, “His parents are Jack Drake and Janet Drake.”

“The kid Dick babysat?” Babs confirms. “Have you talked to Dick about it?”

Bruce frowns, “No.”

“Why not?” She pushes. “He might know something.”

“There’s nothing to tell.” Bruce states. “Until I have more concrete information, there's no need to bring him into this.”

Babs sighs, one day, this man will learn how to communicate with his eldest. “I’ll take a look tonight.”

“Thank you Barbara.” Bruce nods, turning back to the Batcomputer. “I’m going to look more into his parents. Something tells me they weren’t working alone.”

Babs puts her cowl on and turns to her bike. “I’m going to start patrol, I have a lead I want to check out for the Zervos case. I’ll get back to you about the Drake kid later.”

Bruce grunts in response, as Babs swings her leg over her bike, speeding out of the cave.

There’s no actual lead on the Zervos case, she’d wrapped that up, and the GCPD had arrested him an hour ago. Instead she starts heading to Blüdhaven, if she’s going to help hide the kid she wants to meet him. Besides Dick isn’t patrolling, she could give him a hand for tonight.

Dick lightly hums to himself as he cooks some dinner, just a basic stir fry. Tim was really starting to get his appetite back, but Dick was still keeping it simple. Tim was in his room, grabbing a puzzle for them to do after dinner, it all felt domestic in a way Dick wasn’t used to.

He’ll have to start planning how to continue patrolling, he has cases he needs to finish, and there’s only so much he can do from home. His first instinct is to give Tim a com to contact him if he needs to, then go out while he sleeps, but he's not sure how long that would work. He worries about Tim sneaking out to follow him, he has a lockbox full of photos as proof that Tim can sneak out without being noticed.

How many times had Tim almost been hurt, or had been hurt, while following them and they never noticed. He hadn’t asked Tim about it yet, he wanted to wait until he was more settled, and the concussion was healed. They’d have to talk about it soon, before he told Bruce about it, but that could wait a little longer. 

Dick still wanted to preserve the sliver of peace they’d found.

Dick turns off the element and sets the pan to the side, he’s about to grab plates from the cupboard when he hears a scream. His heart jumps to his throat, he rushes to grab an escrima stick he’d stashed in the kitchen and rushes to Tim’s room.

The sight he sees stops him in his tracks.

Jason is at the window, soaked with a bloody bandage on his side, staring back at him with wide lenses. Tim is at the window, trying to usher Jason into the room.

Jason's the first to react. “What the fuck?”

“Jay, language!" Dick scolds on instinct, going over to help Jason in. “What happened?”

“I was coming here to make good on my threats,” Jason explains, glancing over at Tim. “When I stumbled onto some guys cornering a kid in an alley. I intervened and someone got a lucky hit. It’s pretty shallow. Who’s the kid?”

“Jason, go to the bathroom, strip off the top of your suit.” Dick instructs, “I’ll grab you a change of clothes then take a look at your side.”

“But-”

“Now Jason.” Dick’s tone leaves no room for argument.

Jason huffs, and stalks out of the room. “Fine.”

Dick slumps, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“Dick?” Tim is looking at him concerned.

“You okay bud?” Dick asks, grabbing Tim’s crutches from by the bed.

Tim nods, accepting the crutches. “I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Dick ruffles his hair. “I’m going to help Jay, then we’ll have dinner.”

Tim nods, “Can I help?”

“Thank you for offering sweetheart, but I’ve got it handled.” Dick states. “Just wait in here or in the living room.”

Tim looks disappointed, but doesn’t argue, heading over to the living room.

Dick goes to his room, grabbing the clothes Jason had left here from his dresser, then goes to the bathroom. Knocking on the door before he opens it. “Jay, I’m coming in.”

Jason is sitting down on the toilet, striped down to the bottom half of his uniform, mask still on and a towel pressed to his side.

“I know you know where the first aid kit is.” Dick states, going to the sink and pulling it out. “Did you have to use a towel?”

Jason grins, “This was easier to grab.”

Rolling his eyes, Dick sets the first aid kit on the sink counter, it wouldn’t be his first time getting blood out of his towels. “Well move it and let me see.”

Jason does as instructed, removing the towel and revealing a long, sluggishly bleeding cut down the length of his side. Jason wasn’t lying about it being shallow, there's a small stretch that would need stitches, but most of it just needed to be bandaged.

Dick pulls on a pair of gloves, then grabs  the tweezers, and the rubbing alcohol and cotton pads. “Alright, you know the drill.”

Jason nods, teeth clenched, hissing when the cotton pad touches his side. 

They’re quiet as Dick removes any scraps of fabric from the wound. Then pulls out the localized, anesthetic jell. He applies it along Jason’s side, before grabbing the sutures.

“So.” Jason finally speaks. “You got a kid?”

“Yeah, I’m fostering him.” Dick explains.

“And he knows our identities?" Jason asks. “Or at least he does now, given you used my name.”

“He’s known for a while.” Dick admits, grimacing. “He figured it out on his own.”

“That’s Tim right? The kid you baby sat.” Jason looks down, brows furrowed.

“Yep.” Dick confirms.

“You know Bruce is looking for him right?” Jason points out. “How long has he been here?”

“I figured as much.” Dick mutters, then more clearly. “He’s been here just over a week.”

“A week!” Jason exclaims, head snapping to glare at Dick. “Why didn’t you say anything!”

“Stay still.” Dick scolds. “I kept it quiet because I wanted to give Tim time to adjust before Bruce-.”

“Before he what?” Jason asks accusingly. “Tried to help? Cared? Why do you keep pushing him away?”

“Jason.” Dick grits his teeth. “Don’t.”

Jason glares at the floor.

“I know Bruce wants to help.” Dick admits with a sigh. “But he can’t always see beyond what he thinks is the right way to do something. There’s no compromise with him, it’s part of the reason I left Gotham. We fought over so much as I got older, and while I love him, he’s shit when it comes to boundaries."

Jason’s shoulders hunch inwards.

“Do you know why I started babysitting Tim?”

Jason shakes his head. “You never said.”

“Bruce made me, he wanted to spy on them.” Dick explains.

“You didn't want to?” Jason looks surprised. “The way you talked about it I thought you liked babysitting the kid.”

“The way you talked about it I thought you liked babysitting the kid.” Jason's voice carries through the bathroom door, Tim slides down the wall, he shouldn’t have eavesdropped.

He doesn’t even know why that hurt so much, to find out Dick didn’t want to babysit him. It makes sense, why would Robin and the son of a billionaire want to baby sit their neighbors bratty kid.

“I did like babysitting him.” Dick’s voice is defensive. “Doesn’t mean it was my idea at first. It was my choice to keep babysitting him after Bruce called it off.”

Oh, Tim pulls his knees to his chest, a sudden flood of warmth replacing the hurt in his chest.

Their voices are quieting down, so Tim has to strain his ears to hear.

“Why did Bruce want you to spy on the Drakes?” Jason asks.

“They had some sketchy friends, some of whom had grudges against the Wayne's.” Dick explains. “Turns out most of those friends were distant acquaintances, and I never found any proof of criminal activities."

“He might have been on to something.” Jason points out.

Tim nods in agreement, his parents did just get arrested.

“We couldn’t find anything at the time.” Dick sounds tired. “Maybe they started after Bruce called off the mission, maybe we were looking in the wrong places. Maybe I just missed it. Whatever the reason, I never found any evidence of criminal behavior.”

A look of guilt takes over Dicks face, but he keeps talking. “Even after Bruce called off the search he’d try to interrogate Tim about his parents whenever they had a conversation. Subtly, but he was so young, I hated it.”

“He was probably worried about the kid.” Jason points out.

“He probably was, but that doesn’t mean he should use a toddler to fish for information.” Dick states. “I’d generally try to keep the two of them separate, until Bruce backed off anyway. If Bruce came here and started pressing Tim about his parents, or found out he knew our identities...”

Jason chews the inside of his cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Dick pauses. “I-”

“I wouldn’t have told Bruce!” Jason insists. “I thought you trusted me?”

“I do Jay!” Dick raises his voice. “I just didn’t know how! It all happened so fast. I just, wanted time, to adjust. For both me and Tim. I’ve only told two people so far.”

Hurt wells up. “Who have you told?”

“Wally and Babs.” Dick admits. “I needed Wally’s help to get something from Tim’s house, and Babs is why Bruce can’t find Tim.”

“I could have gotten the stuff! The Drakes are our neighbors.” Jason points out.

“Without Bruce or Alfred knowing?”

Jason flushes, hating how he had a point.

“I’m sorry Jay.” Dick lets out a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t about trust. I was just trying to do what was best.”

Jason mulls that over, studying Dicks face, he looks tired. Really tired. “Well, next time could you just tell me? Instead of pulling a Bruce's and nabbing a kid off the street with no warning.”

Dick barks out a laugh. “I did not pull a Bruce!”

“You so did!” Jason insists. “That’s why you hung up all serious right? You saw Tim? Did he run away or something?”

“Okay, first off, Tim is not some random kid I picked up out of a dumpster.” Dick states, cleaning up the suture kit and pulling out some bandages. “Second, he didn’t run away, he was kidnapped, and escaped.”

“Nice.” Jason grins. “That’s badass.”

Dick has a sad smile on his face. “Yeah he’s a brave kid.”

“His parents got charged for neglect.” Jason's heart plummeted, a sudden realization coming over him. “They weren’t home, no caretaker…”

Jason trails off in horror.

He had to escape, no one was coming for him. Injured, lost and alone in a strange city.

“He wanted me to drive him home,” Dick’s voice is barely above a whisper. “Said his phone was dead, even though it wasn’t.”

“He was protecting his parents.” Jason understood that he'd lied for his mom plenty of times. Doesn’t make it less horrific to think of an injured kid going home to an empty house.

Dick nods, then stands. “You’re all good, get dressed, I’ll reheat the stir fry for dinner.”

“I brought some movies, not all of them annoying, there in my-” Jason trails off, eyes widening. “My bag! I left it on the roof next to the alley!”

Jason grabs the Robin tunic, he’d have to run and grab it. While it’s unlikely someone would find it, it's not impossible.

“What are you doing?” Dick grabs the tunic, tossing it into the hamper. “I just stitched you up. I’ll go get it, just tell me where it is, then get dressed.”

“I can get it!” Jason argues, “It’s not even that far!”

“You are going to rip your stitches.” Dick looks unmoved. “If it’s close then it won’t take me long. Just get dressed, hang out with Tim and reheat the food.”

Dick slips out of the bathroom, calling over his shoulder. “And take off the mask!”

Tim just makes it back to the couch when the bathroom door opens.

“I need to leave for a sec, Jay forgot his bag on a roof.” Dick states, heading to his room. “Jay is going to heat up dinner, I won’t be long.”

“Okay.”  The door shuts, and Tim is left to mull over what he’d just heard.

He feels guilty that Dick is pushing his family away to protect Tim. He didn’t want to cause Dick any issues by staying here. He’s really not supposed to cause trouble, but that feels like all he’s done since coming here.

At the same time he’s grateful, the idea of Batman trying to interrogate him is scary. Tim has seen Batman interrogate people, while he doubts Mr. Wayne would treat him like a criminal, it still scares him.

The bathroom door opens and Jason walks out, no longer in the Robin suit. They make eye contact, and sheepishly Jason rubs the back of his neck.

“So uh, you’re Tim right?” Jason asks, shifting uncomfortably.

Tim nods.

“Cool, cool.” Jason walks over leaning against the back of the couch. “I’m Jason.”

“I know.” Tim has so many questions, he’d missed a whole week of patrols.

Jason raises a brow. “You know the polite response is, ‘it's nice to meet you.”

Tim shrinks away, cheeks flushing. “Sorry.”

“No, no!” Jason suddenly looks panicked. “It’s fine, I was just- Dickwing made stir fry right? You hungry Timbo?”

Jason heads over to the stove, grabbing the pan. “I’ll heat this up.”

Tim goes over to the table climbing into his chair. Jason comes over with two plates, and utensils.

“Thank you.” Tim accepts his plate and fork and starts to eat.

“No problem, do you want a drink?” Jason asks, heading over to the fridge.

“Juice please.” Tim requests.

“Good choice Timmers.” Jason comes back to the table placing a green plastic cup with orange juice in it. Jason has a red glass that must also have orange juice, because that's the only juice in the fridge right now.

“So, Dick won’t be very long,” Jason starts, shoving a fork full of food into his mouth. “But if we finish eating before he gets back, did you want to do something? Do you like any video games? Or a show?”

“I have restricted screen time, I have a concussion.” Tim explains.

“Oh shi-shoot, that sucks.” Jason shifts awkwardly in his seat. “Concussions are the worst.”

Tim nods. “Yeah, I’m almost better, that's what Dick says. But I still get headaches if I look at a screen too long.”

“Well what have you been doing for fun?” Jason asks, looking more relaxed.

“We were going to do a puzzle after dinner, but I want to do it with Dick too.” Tim states. “I have some lego sets I haven’t built yet. Or you could tell me what happened on patrol last week? I missed it.”

“You what?” Jason’s head snaps over to him. “How did you miss patrol?”

“Uh, no comment.” Tim can feel the color rushing to his cheeks, he hadn’t meant to say that.

“You can’t ‘no comment’ out of this!” Jason exclaims.

Tim shoves a bite of food into his mouth.

“Tim!”

“I followed you on patrol!” Tim blurts out.

“What! How!” Jason looks shocked. “That's impossible! I never saw you! B never saw you!”

“I kept hidden!” Tim defends. “I have photos to prove it!”

“You took photos?” Jason stares baffled. “You ran around Gotham at night, with a camera? Do you know how dangerous that is?”

Tim slides down in his chair. “I was fine.”

“You could have gotten mugged!” Jason points out.

“But I didn’t!” Tim argues, his head was starting to hurt. “I was always careful.”

“You got kidnapped!” Jason states.

Tim scoffs. “That had nothing to do with me following your patrols. That happened on the way home from school.”

“That doesn’t mean it couldn’t have happened on patrol!” Jason snaps. “And I promise you, the people who would have taken you would have done much worse than ransom you!”

“I-” Tim struggles to speak, overwhelmed by Jason's intensity.

“What if you had gotten hurt? Gotten hit by a stray bullet?” Jason demands, looking upset. “We never even knew you were there! We wouldn’t know you needed help! You could have died!”

“Jason!”

Both Tim and Jason jump, turning to look at Dick who must have just gotten back. He’s soaked from the rain, in the Nightwing suit and holding a backpack, a thunderous look on his face.

Dick makes his way over to the table with long strides, depositing Jason's bag on the couch as he passes. Dick comes over to Tim, crouching next to him, cupping his face, and swiping his thumb under his eye. Whipping away tears he hadn’t even known were falling.

Tim pitches forwards, wrapping his arms around Dick’s neck, not caring about the water soaking into his shirt. Dick picks him up, standing up, and lightly bouncing Tim in a soothing motion. “Jason, make sure all your stuff is accounted for.”

“Yep.” Jason goes over to the couch, he’s quiet for a moment before speaking again. “I’m sorry Tim, I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just freaked out that you’ve been following us. I shouldn’t have yelled.”

Tim sniffles, peeking at Jason over Dicks shoulder. “It’s okay.”

They sit in silence for a moment, Dick rubbing his back in soothing motion and Jason going through his stuff.

“Y’know, setting aside how terrifying it is.” Jason starts. “It’s actually pretty impressive you managed to do it without us knowing. Can I, uh, see some of the photos?”

Tim nods enthusiastically, scrubbing his face to remove any leftover tears, squirming to be set down. “They’re in my room, I’ll go get them.”

Dick places him down, “Crutches, you still not supposed to be putting weight on your ankle."

Tim huffs but obediently grabs the crutches. Heading over to his room for the photos.

Chapter Text

Jason shifts awkwardly as he waits for Tim to come back out of his room. Dick is glaring at him, arms crossed. 

“Everything's in my bag.” Jason blurts out, desperately hoping to break the tension.

“That's good.” Dick responds in a clipped tone.

“Are you going to get changed?” Jason asks, sitting on the couch. “You’re dripping water everywhere.”

“Am I? I didn’t notice, thanks Jay.” Dick snaps. “Think you can handle not making my kid cry while I get changed?”

Jason cringes, hunching in on himself. “Yep, I will not freak out again.”

“All you had to do was heat up the food.” Dick hisses, clearly trying to keep his tone quiet.

“How else are you supposed to react,” Jason rebuts, meeting his glare head on. “After finding out a kid has been wandering the streets alone in one of the most dangerous cities in the world! No, actually it’s worse! He wasn’t just wandering, he was purposely following us into danger! He’s seven dude! He looks five!”

“You don’t think I know that?” Dick demands. “But like you said, he’s seven, and just had his whole life turned on its head! We haven’t talked about the stalking yet! I’m waiting until he’s less likely to have a panic attack to do that. So please keep it together when looking at the photos.”

“Have you seen them?” Jason asks.

“Yes.” Dick grumbles. “Felt like I was going to have a panic attack the whole time.”

“I will prepare myself then.” Jason can already feel the stress building.

Dick lets out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, the anger and tension draining out of him.

“Dick!” Tim’s voice calls from his room. “Do I really have to use the crutches?”

“Yes!” Dick calls back, head falling back in exasperation.

Tim is quiet for a moment. “Can you help me?”

“I’ll be right there bud.” Dick calls back, then turns to Jason. “Let Bruce know about your side, and that I’ll bring you home tomorrow." 

That’s not a call Jason wants to deal with right now, that can wait for a bit. Besides, it's not like it’s life threatening or anything.

Dick goes over to Tim’s room, coming out a second later holding a lockbox, Tim following behind.

Tim climbs onto the couch and Dick places the box next to him, leaning over the back of the couch, then dropping a kiss to Tim’s head. Jason can’t help but notice the way Tim lights up when Dick does that, he wonders if Dick even realizes.

“I’m going to go get changed, I’ll be back.” Dick says, turning to leave.

Tim suddenly gets up onto his knees, turning to face Dick. "Aren't you going to patrol?”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Dick states pausing.

“But you haven’t gone out since I started living here.” Tim points out before shrinking into himself looking guiltily away from Dick. “I don’t want you to stop helping people because of me.”

Dick sighs, coming over and cupping Tim’s face. “First, you didn’t make me do anything, it was my choice. Second, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone, at least until your concussion is healed.”

Tim pouts. “But I wouldn’t be alone! Jason’s here!”

Dick gives Jason a dubious look. Which is a little rude, but understandable. Still he has to back up his nephew, he’s already taken a hit to the title of favorite uncle, and there’s going to be some tough competition once the titans meet the kid.

Jason gets to his own knees, and wraps an arm around Tim’s shoulder, giving Dick a wide smile. “Yeah Dickhead, I can watch him while you patrol! Shove some dinner in your mouth and go!”

Tim is giving Dick some pretty impressive puppy dog eyes, and Jason gets the joy of watching Dick’s resolve crumble in real time. “Alright, I’ll go on a quick patrol.”

Dick goes over to the stove grabbing a fork and the pan with what's left of the stir-fry, eating it straight from the pan. Once he's done he drops it into the sink.

He comes back over to the couch dropping another kiss to Tim’s head, ruffling Jason’s hair. “I won’t be long, com me if anything happens okay?”

“Promise.” Jason crosses his heart.

“We’ll be fine.” Tim insists.

Dick still doesn’t look fully convinced, but reluctantly leaves to patrol.

Once he’s gone Tim sits back down and pulls the lock box into his lap. Turning to stare at Jason. Jason shifts uncomfortably under the gaze, does this kid ever blink?

“Do you,” Tim pauses unsure. “Still want to see my photos?”

“Of course I do!” Jason insists, even though it’s kinda the last thing he wants to do. He doesn’t want to see the evidence of how close to death this kid has gotten. “Open up the box.”

Dick leaps from building to building, enjoying the feeling of the wind whipping against his face as he flies across the city, listening to the police scanner for any nearby crimes as he goes. He’ll admit, it’s nice to get out and work through some of his pent up anger. With everything that has happened, he had plenty of aggression waiting to be released.

Jason knew now, which was somewhat of a relief, but also meant he’d have to talk to Bruce soon. Partially because Dick will have to drive Jason home tomorrow, he can’t really have Jason staying at the apartment for more than a night, or Bruce will bust his door down. Especially once the man knows about the cut along Jason’s side.

He’ll have to take the couch tonight, let Jason sleep in his bed, since Tim is now staying in his former guest room. Thankfully his couch is actually pretty comfortable, Dick has fallen asleep on it plenty of times, and generally felt fine in the morning.

God things had just gotten so much more complicated.

He needed to go to Gotham soon anyway, he’d just gotten the go ahead to go to Drake manor and get Tim’s stuff. Dick could drop off Jason, then go to Drake manor with Tim, maybe he could reintroduce Tim to Bruce. There’s no way he could fully avoid Bruce finding out any longer. The man probably has cameras on Drake manor, waiting for someone to show up.

It also meant he had to have a conversation with Tim about the photos, and him knowing their identities.

He’d been putting it off, not wanting to stress Tim out more than necessary, but now it was necessary. If Dick wanted to intercept Bruce and prevent him from interrogating Tim he needed to have answers.

Dick’s attention is pulled by a bike with a familiar driver racing past.

Dick raises her com line. “Hey Batgirl, what are you doing in Haven of all places?”

“Figured you might appreciate some help Boy Wonder.” Babs replies. “I’m surprised to see you out, don’t you have a little bird to look after?”

“Little Wing showed up, and is getting to know Baby Bird.” Dick explains. “Figured I’d make sure Haven's gangs weren’t getting too comfy in my absence.”

“Well two vigilantes will make quick work of things.” Babs states. “What do you say, first to five arrests? Groups don’t count.”

“Oh, you're on Batgirl!”

Bruce exits the batcave, Jason hadn’t come down for patrol like he normally would, and he was worried. He goes to Jason’s room to check on him, only to find he’s not there. He checks both libraries, but Jason is nowhere to be found.

Bruce heads to the kitchen in hopes of finding Alfred, and is in luck. “Hey Alfred, do you know where Jason is?”

“I believe he said he was going to Blüdhaven to visit Master Dick.” Alfred states.

“I see.” Bruce lets out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Of course Master Bruce, it’s my pleasure.” Alfred has an amused lilt to his voice, but is otherwise perfectly composed as always.

Bruce sighs again and leaves, looks like he’ll be patrolling on his own tonight.

He’ll have to give Jason a call, see what he’s told Dick. Most likely the whole story knowing Jason, but it’ll be nice to know how prepared to be for his eldest’s reaction.

The worst part is Bruce has nothing to show for his efforts, still no clue where Tim is or how deep this whole thing goes. Tim might have valuable information about his parents, he might be in danger, or involved in some way against his will. He hopes Barbara gets back to him soon about it, at least then he’ll have some confirmation if the kid is safe.

And perhaps selfishly, he was hoping if Tim came to live in the Manor, Dick might come and visit more often.

While their relationship had improved, it still was often strained. Dick desperate for independence, where Bruce has always struggled to let go of control. He knows he has a habit of overstepping boundaries, he just worries for his sons. Even if Dick is an adult, he’ll always worry about him.

“That’s sick!” Jason exclaims, holding one of the rare photos Tim has gotten of an outside hero. Wonder Woman standing on the edge of a roof, backlit by the Neon lights that glow everywhere in crime alley. “Could I make a copy of this?”

“Sure.” Tim agrees, “You can make copies of whatever you want.”

“Thank Timbo.” Jason chirps ruffling his hair. “How did you get some of these without getting caught?”

“I’m small, and can hide places that adults could never fit.” Tim explains, sorting through his photos. “Plus I’m normally a roof or two away.”

“Okay but this photo.” Jason shows a photo of him and Bruce eating ice cream sitting on the batmobile hood. “I remember where we were, and that roof doesn’t have an external fire escape. How did you get up there.”

Tim brows furrow as he mentally goes over a map of the area. “There’s a building with a fire escape, about four buildings away, that has one. I got up there and jumped roof to roof.”

Jason visibly pales. “That’s impressive.”

Tim shrugs. “I went rock climbing last summer, and now I can get up to way more places. Even if the fire escape doesn’t go all the way to the roof.”

“Oh.” Jason’s voice is strained, holding up another photo of Jason fighting Penguins goons on the dock. “This building was rigged to explode.”

“I wasn’t on the building when it blew up.” Tim points out rolling his eyes. “I left when I saw some goons setting up the bomb. Plus I warned you about the bomb.”

“Wait, you knocked over that plank?” Jason asks. “Those guys would not stop arguing about it!”

“I threw a rock at it.” Tim explains, shrugging.

Jason stares at him like he’s lost his mind. “You’re nuts.”

“You started fighting crime in scaly underwear when you were twelve." Tim points out.

Jason sputters, “Thats- The underwear weren’t my idea! I don’t even wear them anymore!”

“Now you just wear tiny shorts.” Tim rebuts. “I might be nuts, but at least I wear pants.”

Jason grumbles, looking back to the photos. “I look cool.”

“If you say so, but it’s still Gotham!” Tim states. “I’ve gotten cuts from broken glass and I don’t have my legs exposed!”

“Well you can blame Dickhead for that.” Jason says, crossing his arms. “He designed the thing.”

Tim scoffs. “He made it look cool.”

“Isn’t it your bed time or something?” Jason snarks. “You're like five, you shouldn’t be up this late.”

“I’m seven.” Tim corrects, glaring at him, crossing his arms.

“Ooh, big difference.” Jason mocks. “I think it’s baby’s bedtime.”

“I want to be awake when Dick gets home.” Tim insists, pouting. “I want to say goodnight.”

“Well, I guess you don’t have school tomorrow.” Jason concedes. “And Dickwing didn’t tell me to have you in bed by a certain time.”

“You want to build some lego?” Tim offers.

“Sure.”

Babs ties up the robber and sets them to the side, sending an alert to the BPD.

“That’s five.” Babs reports, as she grapples away from the scene

“Damnit!” Dick exclaims, followed by the sound of a grunt and a fist hitting flesh. “I just got these assholes down.”

“Shoulda done it faster wonder boy.” Babs teases. “Think you would have learned something about that, being best friends with a speedster.”

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know the speed force had transitive properties.” Dick snarks. “I’ll have to give KF a call and ask how that works.”

“You should get on that.” Babs replies, watching the BPD from a few roofs away. “Maybe you’ll be able to beat me next time.”

“You’re going to be eating my dust next time, Batgirl.” Dick boasts.

Babs scoffs. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“I’m going to call it a night.” Dick states. “I kinda doubt Robin will manage to wrangle Baby bird to bed at a reasonable time. You gonna stay out a little longer?”

“I’ll head in,” She starts heading to where her bike is parked. “I want to meet Baby Bird before I head back to Gotham.”

“Are you planning on crashing at my place?” Dick asks. “Because I need to rethink some stuff if you are.”

“If you don’t mind.” Babs states throwing her leg over her bike. “But if you don’t have the space I can head back to Gotham.”

“It’s fine I’ll just dig out my air mattress.” He says. “You can send the bike back to Gotham, I need to drive Robin back tomorrow, so I can drop you off too.”

“I was actually going to suggest I stay in Blüd for a couple days.” Babs admits. “Just to cover for you while you're not patrolling. Or to give you the opportunity to patrol if you need it.”

“That would actually be amazing.” Dick admits. “I haven’t figured out a plan for that yet, and I’m a little worried Baby Bird will try to sneak out to follow me.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Babs assures.

She’d been worried for Dick, ever since he told her about fostering Tim. He hadn’t had an opportunity to really think the decision through, or to talk it out. She could hear the building stress in his voice when he called her.

She knows he won’t change his mind about it, and she’d never try to convince him otherwise. What he needs is a chance to talk this out, and figure out what this looks like long term. Because this was going to be a long-term thing. Babs has been following the Drakes case closely, and it’s looking more and more certain they were going to lose custody permanently. 

They’d be lucky to get visitation at this point in time.

She arrives at Dick’s apartment just in time to see Dick slipping in through the window. She hops off her bike, and grabs the duffel bag off the back of her bike. Then grapples up the fire escape, knocking on the window to alert Dick she was coming in.

“You go ahead and shower first.” Dick offers. “You did win the race.”

“I’ll leave you hot water.” Babs promises, slipping out of the room.

Tim and Jason are on the couch playing with some lego, Jason glances over looking shocked to see Babs instead of Dick.

“Hey Babs.” Jason greets.

Tim jumps, turning to look at her, then lights up. “Hi.”

“Hey Jay, Tim” Babs pulls off her cowl. “I’m Barbara, I don’t know if you remember me, we only met a couple times.”

“I remember.” Tim states, suddenly looking shy. “It’s nice to meet you again.”

“No one could ever forget you Babs.” Dick jokes lightly bumping into her shoulder as he passes, going over to the couch and ruffling Tim’s hair. “Hey kiddo.”

Babs rolls her eyes, but otherwise ignores Dick’s antics. “How’s your side Jay.”

“It’s fine.” Jason shrugs. “It wasn’t that deep.”

“Have you told Bruce yet?” She asks.

Jason has a guilty look on his face. “No.”

“Jay.” Dick scolds. “I told you to let him know!”

“Don’t be a hypocrite," Jason scoffs, “You’re hiding a literal child.”

“This is not the same thing Jason!” Dick snaps. “Call Bruce.”

“Fiine.” Jason concedes pulling out his phone, just as it starts to ring. “Oh, he’s calling me… Hey B!”

The room goes quiet as Jason listens to Bruce. “Yeah I’m at Dick’s place… I’m fine, mostly.”

Dick pinches the bridge of his nose, Babs has to suppress a laugh at how similar he looks to Bruce at the moment.

“A mugger got a lucky hit,” Jason winces, and what must be Bruce freaking out. “It’s a shallow but long cut down my side. Only a couple stitches.”

“B!” Jason whines, throwing his head back. “I’m fine you don’t need to come get me… Dick is going to drive me home tomorrow."

Dick looks alarmed, but doesn’t speak.

“B, if it was serious, Dickhead would have called you himself.” Jason points out. “Yeah, yeah I know, you’re just worried… Dad… I’ll see you tomorrow… Night.”

Jason hangs up the phone. “There, he knows.”

“Great, perfect.” Dick scrubbed his face. “Babs, shower, I’ll dig out the air mattress, do you want that or the couch? Jason, you're taking my bed.”

Babs shrugs. “I’ll do the couch.”

“Isn’t the air mattress leaking?” Jason asks, raised brow.

Dick groans. “You’re right, it is, I haven’t repaired it yet. Let me think for a second.”

Tim turns around tapping Dick’s shoulder, gesturing for him to lean down

“Yeah bud?” Dick leans down for Tim, who whispers in his ear, Dicks eye’s widen slightly. “Are you sure?”

Tim nods, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Okay, change of plans.” Dick states. “Babs on the couch, Jason in Tim’s room.”

Babs exchanges a surprised look with Jason, Tim must be settling in well if he’s comfortable suggesting bedsharing with Dick. “Sounds good, I’ll go shower.”

Dick comes out of the shower, hair still damp, dreading the upcoming conversation. He needs to talk to Tim about him knowing their identities, and the stalking, exactly when it all started. He has some guesses but he needs to be certain. Most importantly he needs to make sure Tim is prepared for meeting Bruce.

When he leaves the bathroom, Tim is in between Jason and Babs, showing Babs his photos. Dick sighs, going over to the couch  leaning over the back looking at the photo in Babs hand. A photo of Batgirl, doing something on a computer through a window.

“Alright Baby bird, I think it’s time for bed.” Dick interrupts as Tim puts the photo back, “You can show Babs more photos tomorrow. Get into your pjs then head to bed.”

Tim looks disappointed but nods. “Okay.”

Tim slips off the couch grabbing his crutches and heading into his room, once the door is shut Dick starts to clean up the photos. “I got the okay to go to Drake Manor and gather Tim’s stuff.”

“Sounds good, we could pick some boxes up, then go to Drake manor before you bring me home.” Jason suggests. “Then I could help you pack.”

“I’m going to see what Tim wants to do first.” Dick states, setting the lockbox on the table. “We don’t have to do it tomorrow if he’s not ready.”

“Oh, okay.” Jason nods. “Let me know when you do it then, I can help you guys pack.”

“I will.” Dick agrees, it’d be nice getting help, maybe he can borrow one of Bruce's bigger cars for the boxes if there’s a lot of stuff. He clearly remembers a lot of toys when Dick had babysat.

Tim comes out of his room, pausing outside of Dick’s door. “Goodnight.”

Babs and Jason turn to look at Tim. “Night.”“Night Timbo.”

Tim goes into Dick’s room, shutting the door quietly. Dick grabs the lockbox and heads to his room as well.

“Night guys.” Dick calls over his shoulder, as he heads into his room.

Tim has already crawled under the covers, and looks surprised Dick had decided to call it a night too.

“We need to talk.” Dick says, going over to sit on the bed, setting the lock box between them.

Tim looks worried as he sits up. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going to Gotham tomorrow.” Dick starts. “Which means you’re going to meet Bruce. He’s going to have a lot of questions, so I’d like to talk about a few things before we go.”

Tim nods, holding his batbear to his chest.

“How long have you known our secret identities?” Dick asks.

“I figured it out shortly after I turned six.” Tim answers, pulling the lock box towards himself. “I saw a clip on the news of you doing a quadruple somersault, and I remembered what you told me.”

Tim pulls out a photo and holds it out, a blurry photo of Dick mid flip, about to kick the Penguin in the head. A photo Tim had taken when he was five, after wandering away from a gala after spotting Dick chasing the rogue down. “I remember this. You scared me when I saw you in that alley.”

“You said my name.” Tim explains. “I didn’t think it was weird at the time, but then I saw the video, and it made sense. Of course you knew my name, you were my babysitter.”

Dick sucks in a breath through his teeth. “I’d hoped you didn’t notice that.”

“Sorry.” Tim flushes, hugging his bear.

“Not your fault bud.” Dick assures. “I should have been more careful. When’d you start following us on patrol?”

“Shortly after I figured out your identities.” Tim states. “I used to listen to police scanners and look online for any reported sightings. I missed stuff a lot then, but once I figured out your patrol routes I was able to keep up better.”

“You cracked the algorithm we used to decide our patrol routes?” Dick asks, baffled. Not even their smartest rogues had figured that out. Thank god no one ever caught on about their little shadow. Dick doesn’t even want to think about how that could have ended.

Finally he needed to ask the harder questions. “Did you ever tell anyone about our identities?”

Tim’s eyes widened. “No! I never told anyone! I swear!”

“Okay I believe you.” Dick states, putting away the photos once more and setting them to the side. “When we get to Wayne manor, Bruce doesn’t know you were here, so he’s going to have a lot of questions. You do not have to answer any of them. I’m going to talk with him one on one once we get there. But if he starts being pushy, and you don’t feel comfortable, you tell me. We can leave whenever you want.”

“Don’t you want to visit?” Tim asks, brows furrow.

Dick represses a sigh, he does not want to visit yet, he was hoping for more time. “Your comfort is more important to me.”

Tim looks conflicted, pulling his knees to his chest.

“One more thing.” Dick starts. “I’ve been given the okay to go to Drake manor to get your stuff. Do you want to do that tomorrow?”

“Okay.” Tim’s voice is quiet, eye’s watering.

“We don’t have to.” Dick assures. “It can wait until you’re ready.”

“I am ready!” Tim snaps, then immediately wilts. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Dick opens his arms. “Do you want a hug?”

Tim crawls into Dick’s lap pressing his face into Dick’s chest. Dick holds him tight, rocking him lightly. “I’m tired of crying Dick.”

Dick presses a kiss to the crown of his head. “You’re going through a lot right now, your brain is trying to process it all. It’s okay and expected for you to be upset and cry, I’ll be here whenever you want a hug.”

He feels Tim nod, followed by a yawn. Dick turns off the lights, shifting to lay down, keeping Tim cradled against his chest and pulling the covers over them. “Get some sleep Baby bird.”

“Goodnight Dick.” Tim mummers, then even quieter. “I love you.”

Dick’s eyes suddenly mists over. “I love you too Tim.”

Jason stares up at the large pristine white manor as they approach, carrying the pack of empty boxes. Dick is carrying Tim, and Babs has an empty duffle bag, some boxes and packing tape. There's an officer at the door waiting to let them in, he raises an eyebrow at the group but says nothing, letting them in.

What strikes him first is how sterile the place feels, there aren't photos on the walls or decorations that give a hint at the occupants personalities. There’s a thin layer of dust over everything, probably because whoever the Drakes had hired to clean has been let go.

The entire place feels like a showroom more than a home.

He follows Dick up stairs, down the hall into a room on the right, and it’s not what he was expecting.

A part of him had been expecting to enter a messy room, a room that felt more lived in then the rest of the house. A young kids room, but this room feels just as show room as the rest of the place.

No toys strewn across the floor, dirty clothes are in the hamper, not even a single sock is on the floor. There are framed posters neatly on the wall, built lego sets displayed on shelves, out of reach of Tim unless he climbed the shelves. The only stuff in easy reach are books.

There's a desk opposite to the bed, a camera sits proudly next to the desk top. Finally he starts seeing signs of life. A dirty dish on the desk, and a couple crumpled wrappers next to the trash can. Jason almost feels relieved to see it.

“Do you have a playroom?” Babs asked, having clearly noticed the same thing.

Tim shakes his head. “My parents say I’m too old for toys. We donated them after Christmas, there was a news article about it.”

“You’re seven!” Jason stares at Tim, outraged. “You’re literally the perfect age for toys!”

“What Jason is trying to say.” Dick butts in. “Is you’re never too old for toys. Did your parents let you keep anything?”

“Some lego sets.” Tim gestures to the displayed pieces. “And um, I hid some stuff. I know it was selfish, but they were gifts.”

“It wasn’t selfish of you bud.” Dick assures.

“They’re in the closet, behind the comforters.” Tim says.

Babs goes over to the closet and after a second pulls out a small opaque tote. Dick sets Tim down on the bed and Babs places the tote next to him.

Tim opens the tote, Jason cranes his neck to get a look at what’s in there. A couple action figures, a Robin bear, and a robin the bird, plush. Tim grabs Robin and hugs it close.

It’s clearly the favorite, colors muted with time. He wonders how often Tim sneaks it out when he wants comfort from people who are never around. Tim would never need to again, not with his brother around.

Jason had only seen them interact for a night, and it was clear how much Dick loved the kid. God help the Drakes if his brother ever came face to face with them, it’ll take a miracle to stop him from decking them. 

And if Dick doesn’t Jason will.

“Let’s start with the heavy stuff, we can get the clothes and computer last.” Babs starts putting together a box. “Is there anything not in this room you’d want to take?”

“I have a thermos and some mugs.” Tim admits. “There’s nothing else.”

“We can get those after.” Jason says, pulling some books off the shelf. “Let’s get this stuff packed up!”

Once all of Tim’s stuff is packed into Dick’s car they head to Wayne Manor. The manor feels like it looms over them as they approach, Tim almost wants to ask Dick to just leave once Jason gets out of the car. He’s a little scared of meeting Bruce again, but he doesn’t want to keep Dick away from his family.

Dick parks outside in front of the steps, Jason gets right out of the car grabbing his bag, followed by Babs. Dick takes a deep breath, before exiting and coming around to assist Tim.

Tim sees the manor door open out of the corner of his eye as Dick opens Tim’s door.

“Hey B!” Jason chirps, hopping up the steps. “Look who we found.”

Dick picks Tim up stepping around the car, Bruce is on the landing staring down at them. His eye’s flick from Dick and Tim, to Babs, to Jason then back to them.

Bruce's eyes narrow. “Dick-”

“Not now.” Dick cuts him off, heading up the steps and brushing past Bruce into the house.

Alfred is in the foyer, and stops short upon seeing them, but quickly recovers. “Master Dick welcome back, I see you’ve brought a guest. It’s good to see you again Master Tim.”

“Hi Mr. Pennyworth.” Tim greets, leaning closer to Dick.

“None of that now lad, you can just call me Alfred.” The older man corrects. “I was just going to ask who was staying for lunch.”

Dick sets Tim down, handing him his crutches. “Go with Jason and Babs to the kitchen, me and B are going to talk.”

Tim nods as Babs places a hand on his back, leading him away.

“Dick I’d like to-”

“Later.” Dick cuts Bruce off again. “We need to talk first.”

Dick’s heart is pounding in his chest as he heads down to the cave, he should have dropped Jason off and left. He is not ready to do this.

Dick stops in front of the batcomputer then turns to face Bruce. “Ask.”

“What do-”

“Don’t play dumb,” Dick snaps, he just wants to get this over with. “I know you put it together, ask.” 

Dick can see Bruce's jaw working as he thinks. “How long has he been with you?”

“Over a week.” Dick answers. “I found him wandering the streets on my way home, he’d been kidnapped and escaped. I took to the hospital, then ended up offering to foster him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Bruce asks. “I could have helped.”

“No, you would have taken over.” Dick corrects. “The moment you got the call you would have been calling your lawyers. That’s not what Tim needed at the time, he needed something familiar.”

“The manor is familiar.” Bruce points out.

“But you’re not.” Dick struggles to keep his tone even.

“He knows me-”

“He’s met you.” Dick states. “There’s a difference."

“You could have stayed at the manor with him.” Bruce argues. “Helped him adjust.”

“And then what?” Dick demands. “Abandon him like his parents?”

Bruce sighs. “You wouldn’t be abandoning him.”

“That’s what it would look like!” Dick snaps. “And you know it.”

“What are you going to do about Nightwing?” Bruce’s demands. “How did you explain Jason’s injury?”

“He already knew our identities.” Dick explains.

“He what!?” Bruce turns to leave. “How does he know? Who else did he tell?”

Dick jumps in front of him. “He hasn’t told anyone!”

“How can you know for sure Dick he could be lying!” Bruce tries to shove past.

“You’re not interrogating a seven year old Bruce!” Dick snaps. “He figured it out because of me! He was able to recognize me! Then he just put two and two together.”

“We could be in danger.” Bruce glares at him, arms crossed. “Don’t let your attachment cloud your judgment.”

“Don’t let your paranoia cloud yours!” Dick rebuts. “If you trust me, then trust my judgment here.”

Bruce’s face softens slightly. “Dick I do trust you, and I don’t think Tim is out to get us, but his parents-”

“Weren’t around enough to tell.” Dick interrupts. “Come on B look at their crimes they aren’t evil masterminds, just selfish assholes. The only person Tim ever put in danger was himself.”

Bruce looks taken aback. “What does that mean?”

“Only that he was following us on patrol since he was six.” Dick informs him. “Without us ever noticing.”

Bruce's eyes widened. “How?”

“He was a bored kid, who also happens to be a genius.” Dick states. “He’d follow us using twitter and a police scanner, until he cracked our algorithm for patrols. He would take photos of us, and other heroes who came to Gotham.”

“Do you have the photos?” Bruce asks, clearly having the same worry that drove Tim to tell Dick about them in the first place.

“Not on me.” Dick explains. “Tim told me the night he came to stay with me, and I had Wally get them.”

Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose. “Then you had Barbara help you hide him from me. Why?”

“You were ready to interrogate a seven year old boy, who is recovering from a concussion, after having his entire life flipped on its head.” Dick lists. “And you wonder why I was hesitant about telling you?”

“That’s understandable.” Bruce admits. “But this is a huge responsibility Dick, taking in and raising a kid is a lot of work. Especially a kid as traumatized as Tim is. Not to mention he clearly is comfortable sneaking out. Him coming to stay here would be the best choice.”

“He is not coming to live here.” Dick can feel his temper bubbling up in his throat, he takes a deep calming breath. “Tim is going to continue to stay with me as long as he wants.”

“I understand you care about him chum.” Bruce places a hand on his shoulder. “But you’re young, you’re not ready for this type of responsibility.”

“You weren’t much older than I am when you took me in.” Dick points out.

“And I wasn’t ready!” Bruce exclaims. “I had no idea what I was getting into!”

Dick’s heart freezes, and he steps back from Bruce. “You weren’t ready? Is that why you didn’t adopt me until after you adopted Jason?”

“Dick I-”

“You didn’t think I wanted you to, I know.” Dick snaps, eyes burning. “Didn’t want to make me think you were trying to replace my parents. Well guess what? I still needed you! I still wanted you to be my dad! Instead I spent years wondering if the only reason you cared was because of Robin!”

“I don’t regret it!” Bruce shouts over Dick.

They both freeze, staring at each other before Bruce continues. “I don’t regret taking you in. I regret the pain I’ve caused but, selfishly, I wouldn’t change it. You changed me Dick, every part. I thought I would die young, Batman was a slow suicide. Then I had you and that changed, I suddenly had a reason to care, to want things to change for the better. You're my son, and I don’t regret that.”

Hot tears stream down his face, and Bruce reaches out, Dick let himself fall into Bruce’s arms. Bruce cups a hand around the back of his head, as Dick curls forwards to bury his face in the crooks of Bruce’s neck. “Dad I-”

Bruce shushes him. “I’m sorry Dick, I’m sorry I ever made you doubt that I love you. I know I’m not good with words, and I failed you by not showing it better.”

“I love you.” Dick gasps out.

They stay like that for a moment, until Dick can get his breathing under control, and pulls away. “I know that you want to help, but could you maybe ask me, what I need from you? Rather than just deciding what would be best?”

Bruce's brows furrow, his jaw working again, before he nods. “Alright what do you need?”

“Your support.” Dick states. “I need you to support my choice, and to trust me.”

“I trust you more than anyone Dick.” Bruce insists.

“Then prove it.” Dick challenges. “I’m going to adopt Tim, if he wants me to, I’m going to adopt him. So go up there, meet your grandson. Don’t try to interrogate him about anything, respect my boundaries, and just get to know him.”

“Okay.” Bruce nods. “If you’re sure about this, then I’ll be behind you every step of the way. With the family lawyers at your disposal, if you want them.”

“I am,” Dick confirms, he’s never been more certain of something. “I am sure. Tim’s never going to wonder if he’s wanted, or loved, again. Bruce, if you try to overstep, to push, and make Tim uncomfortable I’ll leave. I’ll take Tim, and you’ll never see either of us again.”

Bruce’s face falls slightly, but he nods. “I won’t.”

Dick clenches and unclenches his fist, then springs forwards, hugging Bruce again. “Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Bruce and Dick head up to the kitchen together. Despite the conversation in the cave, Dick is still nervous about Tim and Bruce meeting. He wants it to go well more than anything, so he plasters a smile on his face and pretends his thoughts aren’t a swirling mix of complicated emotions. Maybe he should consider therapy.

Tim, Jason and Babs are all sitting around the table in the dining nook, sandwiches at various stages of being eaten in front of them. Alfred holds out a plate for Dick and Bruce when they enter. Which they both accept gratefully.

As they pass Alfred gives them both a look that clearly says ‘keep it civil,’ then leaves the kitchen.

Tim is sitting next to Babs, so Dick goes and sits to his other side, as Bruce sits next to Jason. “Jay-lad how's your side?”

Jason rolls his eyes in exasperation. “It’s fine old man, Alfred already checked my stitches.”

Bruce hums in acknowledgement, but the look on his face tells Dick that Jason is going to have to endure another inspection after lunch.

Bruce turns to Tim offering him a polite smile. “Hello Tim, it’s nice to meet you again.”

Tim looks up at Dick uncertainly, Dick gives him a reassuring smile, nodding towards Bruce.

“Hello Mr. Wayne.” Tim replies stiffly, his hand grabbing onto Dick’s sleeve.

“Please, it’s just Bruce.” He insists.

“Don’t you mean Grandpa?” Jason pipes up, a shit eating grin on his face.

Tim gets impossibly more tense, going red, and Bruce’s eyes widen ever so slightly in realization.

Jason suddenly jumps, hissing under his breath, glaring at Babs. “Ow.”

Babs just offers a sickly sweet smile in response. “Is something wrong?”

It’s Jason’s turn to go red, muttering. “No.”

Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose, as Dick tries to hold back his laughter.

“So Tim,” Bruce starts, trying to regain control of the conversation. “Have you been settling in well at Dick’s apartment?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Bruce.” Tim replies with a stiff nod.

Jason makes a noise that sounds like he’s choking, then starts wheezing, unable to suppress his laughter. Babs covers her mouth, shoulders shaking. Dick is torn between feeling sad about how uncomfortable Tim is, and laughing at the look of pure devastation on Bruce’s face.

Dick wraps an arm around Tim, giving him a gentle squeeze, he can feel the tension drain at the contact. “We went to Drake manor to collect Tim’s things before coming here.”

“We’re going to set up my computer when we get home. I can look at screens again for short periods of time, so I’m going to play some games with my friends.” Tim says. “We have a minecraft server, and we're just about to make it to the end.”

“Oh I love minecraft!” Jason exclaims. “We should play while you're here, Dickwing and Babs are both pretty good at it too. We could start our own world.”

Tim looks surprised, but nods. “Oh, okay.”

“What grade are you in?” Bruce asks, redirecting the conversation.

“I’m in third grade.” Tim answers. “I tested out of grade two.”

“Impressive.” Bruce replies stiffly. “You go to Gotham Academy right? The private school?”

Tim nods. “Yes sir.”

“I hear they don’t typically allow kids to skip grades.” Bruce states, brow raised. “How’d your parents manage that?”

“Probably the same way you managed it B.” Dick states, giving Bruce a warning look. “Since I also skipped a grade.”

“Yes, of course.” Bruce clears his throat and nods. “Do you have any hobbies?”

“I like photography, coding, and I do gymnastics and Judo.” Tim answers. “My friend Darla signed up for Taekwondo, and I asked my parents to sign me up for the same lessons. I was supposed to start that next week.”

“You're a busy kid.” Babs comments.

“I had a lot of free time.” Tim shrugs.

“Do you have a plan for school?” Jason asks, “Now that Tim lives in Blüd, is he going to be transferred to a new school?”

“I’ve spoken with his case worker, and with his school.” Dick starts. “I’d like to keep him in the same school, at least until the end of the school year.”

“Will I need to drop out of my extracurriculars?" Tim asks suddenly, looking up at Dick.

“Perhaps,” Bruce starts, “Until the end of the year, for the lessons in Gotham, myself or Alfred could pick Tim up after school and drop him off for his lessons. That way you don’t have to rush back to Blüdhaven for work.”

“That's not a bad idea.” Dick admits, “But we can discuss that more once Tim is cleared to return to that kind of physical activity.”

Bruce nods, humming in agreement.

Tim has started to relax as lunch continues. Dick is, for the first time, hopeful about how this visit will go.

“Tim, since you already know about it, would you like to see the Batcave?” Bruce offers.

Tim lights up at the suggestion, turning to Dick with wide pleading eyes. “Can I please?”

“Yes you can see the batcave.” Dick agrees, exasperated and fond at the same time. “After lunch.”

Tim nods, and practically inhales the rest of his food. Dick can see the corner of Bruce's eyes crinkling, a barely there smile on his face. Dick huffs, finishing his own sandwich.

Tim looks around the Batcave in wide-eyed wonder, it reminds Bruce of the first time Dick and Jason had seen the cave. Like seeing the cave with fresh eyes, noticing the things a young kid would find cool.

Tim goes straight for the batcomputer first, practically drooling. “Can I look at your case files?”

“Maybe another time.” Bruce answers upon seeing Dick shaking his head. Dick had mentioned the kid was recovering from a concussion, and Tim had mentioned limited screen time. “Once you’re cleared for more screen time.”

Tim deflates, but nods, turning away from the computer and instead going to look at the displayed old suits. “You had almost no armor to start.”

Bruce looks at his first Batsuit, made mostly of leather and fabric. “Yeah, I was just starting out and didn’t have as easy access to material.”

He also cared much less about his life before a brightly colored bird came into it.

Tim suddenly gasps and goes over to a different case. “Is that the first Robin suit?”

“Sure is Bud.” Dick confirms, standing next to Tim ruffling his hair. “I grew out of it pretty quick.”

“Cool.” Tim looks around again, already flittering off to the next display. “That’s Jason’s first suit right?”

“Yep, I didn’t grow out of it, I just wanted to change the design.” Jason explains. “I think it was for the better.”

“Hey!” Dick shoves the back of Jason’s head. “That design was classic!”

“I think you mean vintage and gaudy!” Jason rebuts, turning to shove Dick in retaliation.

Dick wraps an arm around Jason’s neck, trapping him to give him a noogie. “You just have no fashion sense.”

Bruce sighs and ignores his son's scuffling. They wouldn’t break anything, probably.

Tim has moved on again and is now looking at Batgirl's first suit, Barbara telling him about it.

“I wanted more armor along the sides, and on my legs.” She explains, “But I wore this for a while until I figured out a better design that wasn't too heavy.”

Tim nods seriously, “Can I see one of the gauntlets? Those holo screens look cool.”

“Sure but you can’t look at the holoscreen for too long.” Babs explains.

Tim huffs. “I know, restricted screen time.”

Dick makes a pained grunt. “Jesus, why are your elbows so pointy?”

“Malnourishment!” Jason squawks as Dick tries to recapture him.

It feels like a hand is squeezing around his throat every time Jason's previous neglect is brought up, even years later. “Jay-lad.”

Both boys pause, turning to look at Bruce. 

Dick snorts. “Nice going Jay you broke B.”

Jason goes red. “Sorry.”

Dick rolls his eyes then shoves Jason towards Bruce. “Go hug him moron.”

Jason goes a deeper shade of scarlet, but wraps his arms around Bruce’s mid section, burying his face in his chest. “Sorry dad.”

Bruce sighs, giving Dick a flat look, returning the embrace. “You don’t need to apologize Jay-lad.”

Dick grins unapologetically, before he goes to join Tim and Barbara.

Jason looks up at Bruce resting his chin on Bruce's chest. “If it makes you feel better I’m not malnourished anymore.”

Bruce lets his head fall back, eyes closing, pondering what he’d done to deserve this as Jason shakes with poorly concealed laughter.

“The first Nightwing suit!” Tim suddenly exclaims, Bruce and Jason turn to see him staring up in awe.

“Pretty cool right?” Dick asks.

Tim nods, “It looked so cool in photos!”

“You actually like it?” Jason asked, surprised.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Tim asks, genuinely confused. “It’s awesome.”

“Ha!” Dick flips off Jason, making sure Tim can’t see it.

“It’s based on some of the flying Grayson's original costumes!” Tim explains. “Making it super eye-catching when he’s flipping.”

It’s Dick’s turn to look surprised. “Oh, no-one's ever noticed before.”

Bruce hadn’t noticed, and from the guilty look on Jason’s face he hadn’t either.

“Oh,” Tim looks self-conscious. “I used to watch videos of them, and you, that’s probably why I noticed.”

Dick ruffles Tim’s hair, “Wanna see the Batmobile?”

“Yes!” Tim exclaims. “Can I go for a ride?”

“No.” Dick denies it immediately.

“Why not?” Tim asks, pouting but not waiting for an answer before continuing. “Could you take me grappling?”

“Also no.” Dick scoops Tim up, setting him on his hip. “Not until you're cleared for physical activity.”

“Fiiine.” Tim groans, resting his head against Dick’s shoulder. “Stupid concussion.”

The rest of the tour goes well, Bruce happily shows Tim the different gadgets, explaining how they work. The kid seems excited, Jason wants to show off the grappling course, but is immediately shot down due to the stitches in his side.

Which is stupid, because he could totally do it without ripping anything, but it is cool to watch Dick and Babs race through the course together. Dick just barely beating Babs to the end. Dick also takes the opportunity to show off on the gymnastics equipment. Tim is practically buzzing with excitement the whole time.

“Are you going to stay for dinner?” Jason asks after Dick gets changed out of his work out gear “I’m sure Tim would like Alfie's spaghetti.”

Dick shrugs glancing over at Tim, who is watching Bruce with rapt attention as he explains how a grapple works. “We could, Tim seems more comfortable now. But we won't be staying much longer, we need to unpack Tim’s stuff, I don’t really want to leave it in the car if we get home late.”

Jason chews the inside of his cheek. “You could spend the night. You have Tim’s clothes, and it’s not like we’re short rooms or anything.”

“Maybe another time Little Wing.” Dick ruffles his hair. “I want Tim to be more settled before we do any sleep overs.”

“Okay, whatever.” Jason mutters.

“Hey.” Dick throws his arm around Jason’s shoulders. “What’s wrong Jay?”

“It’s dumb.” Jason admits. “You’re doing a good thing, but I was really looking forward to patrolling with you.”

Dick rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry Jason, I didn’t intend on flaking on you. Maybe once you're clear for patrol again, if Tim’s comfortable, we’ll come over for a weekend. I’ll steal you from B for the night.”

Jason twists and hugs Dick. “You better, I need to score as many favorite uncle points as I can before you introduce him to the Titans.”

“It’s not a competition.” Dick states with an exasperated huff, returning the hug.

“It one hundred percent is.” Jason insists. “And I’m going to win.”

Dinner is great, as always, Alfred making a large pot of spaghetti and fresh garlic bread. Tim seems much more relaxed around them now, which means conversation flows much easier.

“Tim,” Babs asks, “I have to ask, what made you decide to start following us on patrol?”

Dick gives her a warning look, but she just ignores him, she’s been wondering why ever since she found out. Also how but the why was more interesting.

Tim shrugs. “I don’t know, my parents gave me a camera, and I had just figured out your identities. I always thought you were cool, and I wanted to look at photos and videos, but the quality was terrible.”

Tim pauses taking a bite of his food, “And I thought-”

“Swallow your food before talking bud.” Dick gently scolds.

Tim cheeks flush, but he follows the instructions. “And I thought I could take a way better photo, and so I just did it. It was really cool, it felt like going on patrol with you. I couldn’t follow for very long at first, but the more I went out the longer I could keep up. It was way better than just sitting at home with nothing to do.”

Babs imagines it was, especially after seeing his room. He must have been bored out of his mind, and lonely, following his heroes around would be way more appealing. Who was going to stop him?

“Okay you weren’t just following us from the ground, you were on the roofs too.” Babs points out. “Which is not an easy thing to do, so did you take lessons? Or did you just, start leaping between buildings?”

“I watched a bunch of youtube videos about parkour.” Tim explains, “And I’d practice at home, we had a bunch of foam blocks n’stuff for my gymnastic lessons, so I’d use them to practice. Then when I felt confident enough, I just did it, it was scary but fun scary.”

Dick lets out a heavy sigh. “I forgot you were a little adrenaline junkie.”

Tim shrugs, continuing. “I didn’t just follow you though. On nights I couldn’t follow you, or if I overheard something, I’d take photos of crimes to leave anonymous tips for the GCPD. I figured out how to access the GCPD database so I could track the reports. Then I’d keep leaving tips until it got through to someone who would actually follow through.”

Oh when this kid could look at a screen again. 

“Impressive,” Babs says, “Maybe once you can look at a screen for more than an hour I could teach you some more complicated stuff.”

Tim looks excited at the concept, Dick looks less impressed. She continues to ignore him, he’s delusional if he thinks Tim will stay home and do nothing while Dick patrols. If they could give him something to do, like manning the coms, of digging into stuff from the safety of his room. Well Tim might be willing to stay behind until he’s older.

They head home after dinner, Tim is surprised when Babs gets in the car with them. Dick explains she’s going to help with patrol for a few days while Dick wraps up some open cases. Tim feels guilty, knowing the reason Nightwing has been missing is because of him, because Dick is stuck taking care of him.

It’s hard not to feel like he’s destroyed Dick’s life in some way. Despite Dick’s insistence that he wants to take care of Tim. Things have clearly changed, Dick was avoiding his family, not patrolling, dealing with Tim’s outbursts. And now he was going to commute to Gotham daily to bring Tim to school and pick him up after.

The kind thing to do, the right thing, would be to tell Dick he doesn't want to stay with him anymore. That way he’ll be moved to a new placement, and Dick’s life could return to normal. The selfish part of him, refused to, wanted to cling to this. He’s never had this before, someone who cared enough about him to stop doing what they loved, even for a moment.

He knows, if he was sick or hurt, his parents would still have left to travel to a different country. They had done that exact thing many times. Tim wasn’t under some delusion that he was worth all this, if his own parents wouldn’t stay then why would anyone else? It wasn’t fair to Dick for Tim to ask him to.

Tim heads to bed shortly after they get home, it’s earlier than he’d normally go to bed, but Dick isn’t surprised. It had been a late emotional night, followed by an early morning and a busy day. Tim was probably spent, so Dick simply tucked him in and wished him a good night.

“How’d you want to run patrol tonight?” Babs asks as he leaves Tim’s room. “Do you want to go out tonight? Or would you rather run coms.”

“I’ll stay in, so long as you don’t mind checking out a few leads for me.” Dick decides, grabbing his laptop to pull up a few files. “I’d rather be here if Tim wakes up.”

Babs nods, sitting next to him. “Okay, I can do that. But first we need to talk.”

“About what?” Dick wonders, confused.

“About what your long term plan is.” Babs states like it should be obvious. “This whole flying by the seat of your pants thing is working right now. But if you’re serious about him staying you need a better plan.”

Dick sighs scrubbing his face. “You’re right, I do need a plan.”

“Alright, let’s start. Plan for school?” Babs turns to face him fully.

“Keep him at his current school for the rest of this school year.” Dick explains. “I can drive him there and pick him up before work. A couple coaches bring their kids with them to work, so I’ll probably do that. Tim can do homework in the staff room, or assist with the class. I’ll even sign him up for a class at the gym if he wants to keep taking gymnastics. I’ll take Bruce up on his offer for days he has extracurriculars in Gotham, then pick him up after work.”

“When is he going to return to school as normal?” Babs asks.

“When he feels ready.” Dick states. “We can do online classes until then. I already spoke to his school and case worker about that.”

“And if he doesn’t feel ready before the end of the school year?”

“Then he doesn’t feel ready.” Dick shrugs. “His life has been flipped on his head, and his parents' arrest has been in the news, his classmates are going to have questions about it. I’m not going to push him if he’s not ready. But he misses his friends, so I have a feeling he’ll want to go back.”

“What are your plans for Nightwing?” Babs wonders. “You know he’ll want to follow, it was clearly something he enjoyed doing. How are you keeping him home?”

Dick sighs, he doesn’t have a good answer for that. “Honestly I don’t know, I could place sensors on the windows, and trackers on his stuff. But he’s clearly smart enough to figure out ways around it. I don’t want to stop being Nightwing, but I might have to,”

“I have a suggestion.” Babs says. “Make him a deal, that once Jason is ready to move on, to pass the mantle of Robin to him. Start training him so he’s ready when it happens, and until it does, have him assist by running tech.”

Dick had never even thought about making Tim Robin, but now that Babs is suggesting it, he likes the idea. Passing on his family name to his kid, it feels right. And allowing Tim to run tech, allowing him to be involved while still being safe at home, might prevent him from trying to sneak out. 

There’d have to be rules, strict bed times and limits on training, so Tim doesn’t overwork himself. And a discussion with Jason about it, Robin was Jason’s mantle too, he should get a say in passing it on. But Jason had asked Dick about how he decided on his new identity, had shown off costume designs and name ideas. Dick had a feeling Jason would be ready to spread his own wings sooner than Dick had, and would be happy to pass the mantle to his nephew.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Dick admits. “I’ll have to talk with Tim first, but it could work.”

“Of course it’ll work.” Babs rolls her eyes. “You saw the way he was looking at the Batcave. Plus can you imagine the confusion when Robin becomes Nightwing's sidekick instead of Batman's?”

Dick snorts, “They already don’t know how to react when Jason visits, a second permanent vigilante would certainly throw the criminals for a loop.”

“I’m thinking about moving.” Dick admits, grimacing a little. “Maybe taking advantage of my trust fund.”

Babs looks surprised. “Really?”

“This place isn’t exactly the most secure, and if it was just me I wouldn’t really care.” Dick explains. “But it’s not just me any more. If someone figures out my identity and comes after me, I want a place that could be locked down. I could buy a place, get it set up with its own base for my vigilante work, an area for training. More space for Tim.”

“You’ve been thinking about this for a while.” Babs states, she’s always been able to read him. “How long.”

“Since Tim staying here permanently became an option.” Dick admits. “I’ve had attempted break-ins, I can handle it, but if I’m not home? Or if Bruce is right and the Drakes are involved in a bigger mess then it seems, and someone comes after him. I want something better.”

“That makes sense.” Babs nods, getting off the couch. “Maybe we could look at some listings tomorrow. Get an idea for what you want.”

“That would be nice,” Dick admits. “As much as I don’t want to uproot his life again so soon, it might help him to be somewhere without loud neighbors.”

As if to prove his point a door slams from somewhere deeper in the building.

“He’s probably not used to the noise.” Babs agrees. “Alright, I’m going to change and head out.”

Dick gives her a thumbs up, grabbing a com. “Sounds good, I’m ready when you are.”

Tim jolts awake with a strangled gasp, heart in his throat as he looks around the room trying to get his bearings. He lets out a shuddering breath as the shadows shift into the familiar surroundings of his room, pulling his knees to his chest as he wills himself to stop shaking.

He’s not in danger anymore, in fact he’s safer than he’s ever been in his life. He’s living with Nightwing; there is practically no safer place he could be. So why does his brain insist on torturing him?

He’s so tired he just wants to have one full night's sleep.

The sound of a voice filters in from the main room, he’d thought Dick and Babs had gone on patrol, so it’s strange to hear Dick talking.

Well, Dick has told Tim he could go to him if he had a nightmare, and he didn't want to be alone. Tim slips out of bed, grabbing his crutches and heading to the living area.

Dick is on the couch, focused on a laptop resting on his knees. He doesn’t seem to notice Tim slipping out of his room.

“Alright Batgirl, the area looks clear, but proceed with caution there are blind spots.” Dick goes quiet listening to the response. “Copy.”

Tim’s unsure if he should interrupt, it seemed like something important was happening, maybe he should just go back to his room. Or maybe he could just sit next to Dick, they don’t need to talk, he just doesn’t want to be alone.

“Hey Dad?”

The air feels like it’s been sucked out of the room.

He hadn’t meant to say that, why had he said that? Dick was going to be upset, there’s no way Tim should be calling him that. He was such a bad son, not even two weeks with someone else and he was replacing his parents.

Dick turns to look at him, wide-eyed, and opens his mouth to speak.

“I’m sorry!” Tim blurts out, not wanting to hear his response. “It just slipped out, I didn’t, I don’t know why I said that, I’m sorry!”

Dick sets the laptop aside, and comes to kneel in front of Tim. “Deep breath bud, it’s okay.”

Tim does as instructed, eyes burning, as he tries to calm down. “I’m sorry.”

“Let’s sit down okay?” Dick says, picking Tim up and setting him on the couch.

Tim pulls his knees to his chest, hiding his face as he tries to regulate his breathing the way Dick taught him. “M’sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Dick states, resting a hang on his shoulder.

“I did, I did do something wrong. I’m being a bad kid, I’m being selfish.” The words are falling from Tim’s mouth before he can stop them. “I’m not supposed to be selfish. They need to- they need to leave. They’re helping people, providing for me, and it’s wrong for me to want them to stay. And now I’m stopping you from helping people, and that’s selfish, you need to go. I should go somewhere else, live somewhere else.”

“Do you want to live somewhere else?” Dick asks, he sounds upset, but Tim refuses to look at him.

“No! And that makes me selfish.” Tim admits through a sob. “I’m a-a bad son, my parents love me, and I- I called you dad, they’ve only been gone a week. I shouldn’t- I shouldn’t.”

Dick shushes him. “They’ve been gone so much longer than a week sweetheart.”

“It’s my fault.”

“No it’s not.” Dick firmly rebukes. “You did nothing wrong. The only people at fault are your parents. They did something bad, they were being selfish, choosing to leave you alone.”

“I’m sorry.” Tim sobs, despite his best efforts. “I’m sorry.”

“Tim, can you look at me?” Dick asks, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

Tim shakes his head.

“Please?” Dick places a hand under his chin trying to coax him up.

Tim reluctantly looks up at Dick, there’s no anger in his face, his face is kind always kind.

“It’s okay if you want to call me dad.” Dick states. “It doesn’t mean you're replacing your parents, you can have more than one dad. Or if you’d rather keep calling me Dick that's fine too, whatever makes you more comfortable. I love you all the same. And you are not stopping me from doing anything, I’m choosing to be here for you, because it’s important to me. You are important to me.”

Tim sobs harder, launching himself forwards into Dick’s arms. Dick catches him easily cradling him close.

“You’re not being selfish, you’ve done nothing wrong.” Dick assures him. “You are a child, it’s not a bad thing for you to want your parents to stay. It’s not bad if you want to stay here. It’s not bad for you to be upset and cry, or to want to be hugged and comforted. You are not a bad son. I know you might not believe me, but I’m going to keep saying it until you do.”

“I love you.” Tim’s voice is muffled against Dick’s neck. “I want to stay, please, please, I want to stay.”

“You can stay, I promise you can stay.” Dick promises, kissing his head. “Even if I have to run away and live life as a fugitive, I’m keeping you, your mine now. No take backs.”

Tim giggles, then sniffles as the tears start to slow. “Am I going to have to see them again?”

“Your parents?” Dick clarifies, Tim nods. “Do you want to?”

Does he? He loves them, but he doesn’t really miss them. Maybe he should, but he’s used to them being gone. “I don’t know.”

“That’s okay.” Dick says. “The court might give them visitation rights, but they’ll likely take what you want into account when deciding what they get. Depending on how much jail time they see, if any.”

“Okay.” Tim nods, that makes sense. “Can I stay out here? I don’t want to be alone.”

“Of course you can Baby Bird.” Dick stands up, settling on the couch. “Batgirl status?”

Dick goes quiet as he listens to her response. “Copy, the office should be to your right.”

Tim finds himself being maneuvered so he lays down on the couch, head resting on a pillow in Dick’s lap. The laptop has been set up to the side, so Dick can continue to work while fingers comb through Tim’s hair.

“Try to sleep bud.” Dick encourages, keeping his voice low. “I’ll be right here.”

Tim nods, eyes falling shut, the soothing motion and low tone of Dick’s voice when he speaks lulling him to that grey palace between sleep.

Babs watches from a nearby fire escape as the streets are filled with red and blue lights. Dick had been right about that place doubling as a hideout for one of Blüdhaven's many gangs. The streets would be a little safer tonight now that most of the gang was being led off in cuffs.

“Nightwing the gang has been successfully apprehended.” Babs reports. “I’m going to loop around the block before I head back to base.”

Babs waits for a response but none comes.

“Nightwing do you read?” Babs tries to raise him again, but still no response.

Now that she thought about it, he’d been surprisingly quiet since she’d asked him to alert the BPD. Normally he’d be chattering the whole time they were waiting. Odd.

She decides to ditch her planned loop, and instead heads straight to Dick’s apartment. A bit of worry curling in her gut.

It doesn't take her long to get back to Dick’s apartment, she slips through the window, and goes straight to the living area.

It doesn't take her long to figure out what happened, she covers her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Dick is slumped over at what looks like an uncomfortable angle, but knowing the acrobat probably doesn’t bother him at all. Fast asleep, the laptop precariously balances on his knee and the armrest, com still in his ear. Tim is splayed out on the couch, head pillowed on Dick’s lap, just as dead to the world as his foster dad.

Babs takes the laptop, shutting it down and setting it on the coffee table, then takes the com out of Dick’s ear and puts it away.

She leaves them to sleep, grabbing a change of clothes and going to shower first. She doubts Dick has been getting much sleep as of late, as stressed as he’s been. She’s not surprised he fell asleep like that.

After her shower she heads back out to the living room, and gently shakes Dick’s shoulders.

Dick’s face scrunches up, and he mutters something she can’t make out, eyes fluttering open. His eye’s focus on her face before he yawns, stretching. “Hmm shit, did I fall asleep?”

“Sure did sleeping beauty.” Babs confirms. “And as cute as the two of you are, I’d like to sleep, and you kinda in my bed.”

“You could have taken my bed.” Dick states, gathering Tim up in his arms before standing. “I would have been fine.”

“Only because your bones are made of rubber.” Babs teases.

Dick waggles his eyebrows. “Most people like the fact I’m flexible.”

Babs snorts. “Whatever you say Boy wonder, go get some sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah, night Babs.” Dick nods, heading to his own room with Tim.

“Not putting Tim in his own bed?” Babs asks, curious.

Dick pauses, turning to her, his brows pinched. “No, I don’t think he’s been sleeping through the night much. Nightmares I think, he seems to do better if he sleeps in my bed, but it’s hard to say for sure.”

Babs nods in understanding, it’s not surprising that after everything that’s happened Tim would be struggling with nightmares. At least he’s comfortable falling asleep around Dick. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Dick wakes before Tim does, taking a moment to reflect on the previous night's conversation in the quiet peace of the morning.

His thoughts are a jumble of different emotions. On one hand he’s ecstatic that Tim called him dad, the thought of it floods him with warmth, honey sweet, oozing through every pore. On the other, hearing Tim confess how he sees himself, how his shitty excuses for parents made him feel about himself, filled him with a rage that burned white hot behind his eyes.

He never should have left Gotham.

Not if it meant he’d left Tim alone to deal with that for almost two years.

It’s a guilt that would stay with him for as long as he lived, something that would pop up every time he saw Tim’s tear stained face.

Tim was going to need so much therapy, but Dick worried about pushing him into anything before he was ready. Still he should look into therapists so he has one lined up when he is. He also needs to call Tim’s case worker and report what Tim revealed about his parents, after he talks with Tim about it. He wants to be open to Tim about what he told the case worker. Tim always seemed to do better when he had as much information as possible, hiding stuff only served to stress him out.

Dick’s stomach growls, reminding him that he should get started on breakfast.

He gently brushes his hand along Tim’s cheek, speaking softly to pull him from sleep. “Tim, Baby Bird, it’s time to get up.”

Tim’s face scrunches up adorably, and he shifts towards Dick’s hand. Eventually a pair of cool blue eyes look up to him. “M'rning Dad.”

Dick can feel Tim suddenly tense, eyes widening, and jumps in to prevent another breakdown. “Morning little love, what would you like for breakfast.”

Tim’s face goes bright red, then he turns to bury his face in Dick’s neck, responding in a muffled voice. “Pancakes.”

“Pancakes it is.” Dick agrees, getting out of bed, and taking Tim with him.

Babs is still asleep on the couch, so Dick quietly whispers to Tim. “We need to be quiet while we cook, Babs is grumpy if you wake her up without an offering ready.”

Tim straightens up, nodding seriously, holding a finger to his lips. Dick returns the gesture heading into the kitchen setting Tim on the counter.

The two of them work together to make breakfast, Tim trying very hard to be quiet as he mixes the batter. Dick starts a pot of coffee, the smell of it eventually rousing Babs from her slumber.

“Morning.” Babs greets through a yawn as she sits up.

“Morning!” Dick replies in a singsong voice. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

Babs hums in acknowledgment, coming into the kitchen and ruffling Tim’s hair as she reaches past him for the plates.

Again Dick finds himself surprised at how domestic it all is, he’s so used to spending his mornings working on casework. Just waiting for work, then waiting until he could go on patrol. The only breaks being visiting Gotham or the Titans.

This feels like slow mornings with his parents, on the odd days they didn’t have to perform. His parents made breakfast, letting him help where cooking wasn't involved. His mothers patient hands guiding him, and his fathers joyful laughter filling the room.

The feeling is painful, the feeling is love, in its purest form.

And much like it had once filled his family's trailer, it now filled this apartment, carving out a home from its walls.

Dick knows it isn’t perfect, they’re only at the beginning of a long hard battle. With custody, therapy, and every struggle that comes from family. It’s worth it though, for these moments of peace, to be able to give Tim a family and home filled with warmth, instead of the cold he’d been conditioned to endure.

Dick would burn for his son if it meant he’d never feel the cold again.