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I'm not crying YOU'RE crying, Superheroes and Other Heroes, Tim Drake and Red Robin Stories, sleep deprivation never bothered me anyway or whatever elsa said, Lady Owl's Extras Library, S.T.I.L.L.
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2021-06-19
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2021-06-19
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2/2
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Sick

Summary:

Tim’s never quite figured out the proper behavior for someone who’s sick. Instead of resting, he often makes his way to the Watchtower.

Chapter 1

Notes:

I still love Tim meeting members of the Justice League fics so here's another one. I hope you enjoy :)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It was one of those rare quiet days at the Watchtower. Unless an emergency came up, the heroes pretty much had a free day aside from a late afternoon meeting. Some were using the day to catch up on casework but most were just relaxing in their free time. This didn't happen often and they all wanted to enjoy it.

Barry and Hal were lounging on the couch in the common room when the door creaked open. A boy shuffled in and gave a hesitant look around. Dark hair highlighted a pale face. A red nose poked out from under his black domino mask. He wore the Robin uniform.

There had been rumors that a new Robin had taken his place beside Batman, but no one in the League knew for sure. Robin had always been a sort of urban legend in Gotham, so getting any real news on the young hero was hard. The League had noticed that Batman had gone through a period of unnecessary violence, not that anyone could really blame him for that after what happened to Jason still weighed heavily on everyone's mind. Recently though, Batman had regained his control, reigning in the violence, and many suspected it was because of the rumored new Robin. No one dared to ask though.

Upon seeing the heroes, Robin gave a little wave. Barry took a deep breath. He could do this, he's had a sidekick before.

“Hey, kid,” he said, standing and approaching this short hero. “You looking for Batman?”

“No,” The boy said. His voice was quiet, like being any louder would hurt, and nasally. A cold? “Can I use your computer?”

“The computer?” Barry asked slowly. Didn't the bats have like, a giant computer in their cave? “Sure, I guess that's okay.”

Robin nodded and shuffled across the room to the computer. He twisted the chair back and forth and he typed in an access code.

“Aren't those classified cases? You shouldn't be going through those. Did Spooky give you the code?” Hal asked, walking up behind Robin and Barry.

“I have a note,” the boy said, not looking away from the screen but holding up a little piece of paper. Barry took the note and unfolded it. In tall messy writing, it said “Robin Privileges -Nightwing” with a little winky face.

Hal leaned over Barry’s shoulder to read it and raised an eyebrow.

“Seems real official.” He said sarcastically.

“Mhmm.” Robin took the note back and continued scrolling through the files. Hal and Barry winced as Robin opened one with particularly gory crime scene photos.

“Robin, you shouldn't be looking at this stuff. You're what, twelve?” Barry said. He didn't even like it when Wally did cases like this and he was twenty-two now.

“I'll be fourteen in a couple months.” Like that helps. They watched as Robin filtered through the photos and jotted down notes. He paused.

“If you two are busy then you don't have to stay. I'm fine on my own. I'll lock the system when I'm done.” It was clearly a polite way of saying leave me alone. The heroes glanced at each other.

“Okay, if you need us for anything we’ll just be right over here,” Barry said. He and Hal made their way back to their spots on the couch, quietly watching the little bird.

“Should we call Batman?” Barry whispered.

“He said he wasn't here for him,” Hal shrugged. “I'm sure Bats knows he’s here.”

So Barry and Hal continued their previous activities. Hal, surfing the web on his phone, Barry, trying to finish his book. He couldn't wait to talk about this one with Iris. The only distraction was an occasional sniffle or cough from the little bird perched at the computer.

The three of them sat in silence for about half an hour until Barry heard Bruce and Clark coming.

“I thought your plans couldn't get worse than when you said you would just push the Earth out of the way of an asteroid, but you're really outdoing yours-” Batman fell silent, frozen in the doorway. His gaze was focused on the boy at the computer. It seems Bruce did not know that his little Robin was here and Hal suddenly felt the urge to make popcorn.

“Robin. What are you doing here?” The boy spun his chair to face Batman for a moment before going back to work.

“I had a breakthrough on that cold case you gave me and I needed some more info,” Robin said, pulling out his own laptop and plugging it into the main computer.

“I gave you the day off.” Batman walked across the room to stand behind the boy's chair.

“Exactly. That means I can spend it however I want and I want to finish this case.” Robin glared at the screen.

“Tim, you’re sick-”

“‘m not sick.” Bruce spun the chair around to face him.

“You should be resting.” It was obviously true. Tim was pale and he had a slight tremor in his hands. Barry had found it hard to ignore the little sniffles that he had been hearing since the boy entered the room. He had been actively suppressing his worried new parent instincts the whole time.

“I'm fine. Agent A said I'm not contagious,” Tim shrugged

“That's not the point. The point is that you went on patrol last night despite being sick and proceeded to collapse in the middle of the cave the minute we got back.”

“Exactly, I waited till we got home like a responsible person.” Batman pinched the bridge of his nose.

“How did you even get here? I thought you said your parents were coming home today and would be there to take care of you.”

“I lied.”

“You- Tim. We talked about this. I would have had you stay in the manor if-”

“I'm fine, B. I can take care of myself. Besides, I wouldn't want to impose.” Bruce frowned, tired, and sad, and almost mournful. He crouched down so he was eye level with Tim and placed his hands on his shoulders.

“You're never an imposition, Tim, and you're always welcome in my home. Especially when you're not feeling well. I know you can take care of yourself, but that doesn't mean you should have to.”

“It’s fine,” Tim said quietly and Bruce just sighed. He stood back up to his full height and suddenly embodied a weird combination of Batman and a dad.

“You're going to take a nap.” An order. Tim blinked at him.

“But the case-”

“Will still be there when you wake up.” When Tim looked like he was going to ignore him, Bruce lifted the boy out of his chair, whipped off his cape, and effectively swaddled the struggling child until he was in a tight cocoon. Barry and Hal struggled not to laugh while Clark just facepalmed.

“This is demeaning.” Tim pouted, wiggling in an unsuccessful attempt to get his arms free.

“Start taking care of yourself and we won't have this issue.”

“Bruce, please-” But Bruce was carrying him across the room until he was standing in front of the couch. Barry and Hal were then on the end of a very intimidating Batglare. They glanced at each other before vacating their seats.

Bruce laid the boy on the couch, placing his head on his lap where he could pet his hand through Robin's hair.

“This isn't going to work,” Robin glared up at his mentor as the other heroes in the room took their places in the surrounding chairs.

Bruce just hummed, continuing to run his hand through Tim’s hair.

The boy was asleep within minutes.

Notes:

Bruce is forever a tired dad because his children don't understand the concept of selfcare. The other members of the League are also concerned by this and their worry only grows as the batkids get older (coming soon in chapter two)

Also Barry and Iris totally do book club together

Chapter 2

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Barry’s eyes widened when he saw who walked through the door. He elbowed Hal hard in the side.

“Ow, what the hell was that for-” Hal went silent as his eyes fell on the teenager striding across the room. It was no secret that Red Robin had had a bad year. Barry had been concerned when Tim went off on his own. Bart had died, which was heartbreaking for Barry. Not only that, but he had lost a great teammate and friend when Bruce ‘died’, but Tim had lost his biological father, Bart, Kon, Stephanie, and his dad all within such a short period of time. The entire League had been concerned for Tim’s mental state when he left and they were all ashamed that they hadn't checked in on the boy. He hadn't been seen at the Watchtower for over sixteen months, preferring now to operate off of his own systems.

The Tim they were seeing now was so different from that little boy they had met on Tim’s first visit. Everything about him seemed darker, more serious, more tired. He sat down at the computer, not bothering to greet the other heroes in the room. His shoulders were straight and stiff. It made Barry miss the Tim that would come and spin around in the chair.

They watched as Tim stared blankly at the file he had just opened. Neither knew what to say and were too shocked to do anything but stare at Tim’s back. They barely even noticed when Batman walked through the door.

“Tim,” Bruce breathed, making it obvious that he hadn't seen his son in a while either. Red Robin glanced over his shoulder but continued working. Batman crossed the room in an instant. His footsteps were loud in a very un-batlike way that broadcasted his movement. Tim’s body only got stiffer as Batman approached. Bruce placed a hand on the back of his chair. Tim didn't acknowledge him.

“You haven't been around much,” Bruce said awkwardly.

“Been busy,” Tim replied shortly, his voice quiet and rough and strained. Bruce frowned.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“I'm fine.” The slits in Tim’s cowl narrowed as he squinted at the computer. Bruce grabbed the arm of the chair and spun it around. Tim's glare transferred easily from the screen to his father. Bruce didn't react to it. Instead, he reached a hand under Tim's cowl and pulled it back to reveal a familiar sickly pale face and red nose. Tim blinked at him while Bruce left one hand on his cheek and brought the other up to feel his forehead. Tim’s glazed-over, dazed eyes made his attempted batglare very ineffective.

“You have a fever,” Bruce said finally, bringing his hands down to his son's shoulders.

“I'm fine.”

“Come on, I'll bring you back to the manor and Alfred can keep an eye-”

“Bruce, I'm fine-”

“You don't have a spleen. You're not fine and you should be resting.” He didn't have a spleen? Since when didn't he have a spleen? Once again, Barry was left hating himself for leaving Tim on his own for the past year.

“I’m not gonna bother Alfred for a little cold. I can take care of myself.”

“You can but you don't.” Barry cringed at the wording. They all knew by now that it was a bad idea to cast any doubt upon Tim’s ability to do anything. The two bats entered a glaring match, both giving the other a look that any of the Justice League would be fearful to be on the receiving end of. Finally Tim conceded, looking to the floor in defeat.

“I don't want to go to the manor,” he muttered. “‘M not safe there.”

Barry froze. Out of all of Tim’s excuses to not go to the manor over the years (I don’t want to be a bother; Dick’s home, you should spend some one on one time with him; you guys are too busy to have to take care of me) feeling unsafe had never been one of them. The fact that Tim felt that way now made Barry’s protective instincts kick in because none of their kids should ever feel unsafe at home. If Bruce didn’t do something to fix this then Barry might end up doing something he would regret.

Bruce winced.

“Damian won’t bother you while you’re sick. We can keep him away from you.” Tim continued to stare at the ground. “Okay. That's fine. You can sleep here. Please, just rest. I'll help you with your case when you wake up.” Bruce helped Tim up, wrapping a supportive arm around the boy's waist.

“I don't need help.”

“I know you don't,” Bruce conceded dolefully.

Now that they could see his face it was obvious how tired Tim truly was as he took a stumbling step forward. Tim grabbed the back of the couch as his knees buckled beneath him. His body shook in its effort to keep him upright. Bruce quickly compensated, lifting his son off his feet.

“Stop it. I'm not a kid anymore,” Tim said, his voice becoming much more of a whine than he intended. Bruce moved around the couch, waiting for Barry and Hal to vacate their seats. He pressed a kiss into Tim’s temple as he sat down, ignoring his son's eye roll as he laid him on the couch. Barry almost laughed because this was just classic Bruce. As much as Batman hated his kids getting sick or hurt, he always loved the fact that it gave him an excuse to hover and dote on them. The League had seen this time and time again as the Robin’s aged. He even still did it to Dick even though he was twenty-five now and “Bruce please stop, I'm an adult and a hero and you're embarrassing me in front of the team.”

Bruce pulled off his cape to tuck it around Tim, and Hal and Barry shared a smile, happy to be back in familiar territory.

“You’re horrible,” Tim sniffed as he curled into the cape. Bruce hummed and started to run his fingers through Tim’s hair.

The group fell into silence as Tim started to drift off, all happy to have the third Robin sleeping on their couch where they could make sure he was okay. It wouldn’t make up for their neglect and absence over the past year, but it was a start.

Notes:

Tim's usual not afraid to fight Damian but he doesn't really want to deal with that staby child when he feels this sick and tired.

Bruce puts in more effort to work on Damian's behavioral problems because Tim is supposed to feel safe at home and the fact that he doesn't really upsets Bruce. He had to work on Tim for years to get him to be okay with others taking care of him and he doesn’t want that progress to go down the drain.

Damian wouldn’t have really been an issue anyway though, because he cares about Tim more than he let's any of them know but still doesn’t really know how to emotion properly. Months later when Red Robin and Robin have to patrol together, Tim sneezes and ends up with the Robin cape forcefully wrapped around him and a little brother mumbling about how stupid he is for not taking better care of himself.