Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“This is Dick checking in! How's it hanging everyone?” Dicks chipper voice sounded through the com links.

The Bats were spread out this weekend, Bruce was off-world doing JLA stuff with Superman and Green Lantern, Dick was on a trip to California for a police conference which Cass and Steph had tagged along with so they could spend the week at the beach. Duke and Babs were in DC together for a lecture that they both were interested in hearing.Jay had gone off on a mission with Roy in Mexico, and Damion was in Boston for a class trip that Alfred was chaperoning so even the butler was out of the house for the next few days. 

Leaving one Bat left in the cave. 

“Doing great! Staying busy all that stuff gotta run though! Check in in a bit!!” Tim called shutting off his coms before the others heard the gunshots fired at him. 

‘Quiet night my ass!’ He thought to himself as he flipped through the air out of the line of fire. Bruce had promised all the big name villains were locked up before they all took off leaving him with “Quiet patrols”. Or at least that's what it was supposed to be. Turns out the common crooks of Gotham were opportunists. Whether they knew the rest of the Bats were gone or not, they were out in full swing. Tim had stopped four drug deals, four robberies, two muggings, one attempted kidnapping and a carjacking already. And it wasn’t even 2am yet. 

Now he was under heavy fire having heard a tip about an illegal weapons shipment being dropped off at the docks, which he interrupted, and was not in a fuck ton of shit for. But he had it under control! He was Red Robin the smartest of the Robins! He had survived murder attemtps from two other Robins and can run two muliti million dollar companies while passing highschool honors classes! He could totally handle this! 

He .. He was very wrong… 

So.. so very wrong. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“Things are getting wrapped up here, I’ll be back on world in a day or two. How are things going so far?” 

“Things are well father. I have established my superiority and knowledge of the American revolution to my peers. They were intimidated of course.” 

“What master Damion means to say,” Alfred sighed. “Is that while he may have gotten the most answers correct he is now not well liked among his classmates. Or by the docents he argued with in the museum.” 

“If they did not wish to be questioned they should not have put up a sign that said ‘Ask here’. They should be educated on the battle strategies and surgical techniques if they are to be educating others.” 

A collective sigh echoed through the com line. 

“Well Duke and I will be having dinner at the train station before we head back to Gotham. The lecture was great. We learned a lot. Tim, you should consider coming with us next time. I think you would have liked the speaker.” 

  …. 

“Hey Timmy you there?” Dick called, “Has anyone touched base with him since friday night?” 

“No, Babs and I  were in the lecture pretty late. I thought you would have called him. You’re always calling us when you leave.” 

“Dick was busy teaching Cass and I how to surf yesterday. I texted Tim pics of some beach animals we saw though! He liked one of the pictures but didn’t really respond other than that. I figured he was busy.” Steph hadn’t really though much of it at the time, Tim was really shitty at texting so it wasn’t unusual for him not to say anything.

“I’m not getting any responses from his direct line sir.” 

“Drake isn’t responding to my texts. Even when I called him a-” 

“Who can get to Gotham the fastest? I’m heading to the Watch tower now.” Bruce cut in. 

“Babs and my train won't be here for hours, we can get a cab but that's gonna take just as long or longer with DC traffic.” Duke responded “we are looking for any other train arrival times.” 

“Me and the girls are getting the first plane tickets home now. We will keep you updated on our eta.” 

“Master Damion and in route now, we are five hours away. We will continue to try to make contact with Master Timothy.” 

“Barbra can you get into the manor security feed?” 

“Already working on it B. He's not in the cave or the main levels or library from what I can see.” 

“Is there any sign of a break in? Did any alarms get tripped while we were gone?” Dick asked

“No alarms were tripped or we would have all gotten the signal. No obvious signs of a break in.. just a lot of mess.” 

“Drake has never been one to keep tidy.” 

“I don’t know man.. “ Dukes voice wavered “this seems pretty extreme even for Tim. Bab’s is sending you mages now B.” 

“Received.” 

“M tryin ta sleep you fuckasses take me off the fucking line.” A groggy voice cut in. 

“Jason, where are you!?” 

“My bed dickface I just said I was trying to sleep-”

“Jason something is wrong with Tim he might be hurt.” 

“....Fuck where?” 

“We aren’t sure. Are you in Gotham?”

“Yea just got back, I’m greeting dressed now, where was his last known location? “ 

“The docks Friday night. Potentially the Manor since then. Alfred is on route now with Damion; they will be there in a few hours.” 

“I’ll head to the manor now. I’ll keep you posted.”

Jason put his helmet on and took off on his bike towards the manor. ‘This kid better be fucking alive when I get there. I am not awake enough for this shit.’ Jason thought as he sped through the dark streets of Gotham, keeping an eye for a red cowl moving on the roof tops. He hadn’t realized the whole damn family was going to leave after he took off to Mexico for the drug cartel job with Roy. He would have brought the kid along with them if he had known the rest of the family was going to ditch him. He and Roy definitely could use the extra brain cells on a mission. 

Soon he was skidding to a stop in the driveway, and running inside through the big doors. The first thing he noticed was the mess. Case files were all over the coffee table. Along with coffee mugs, energy drinks, and a lot of bandages. That was not a good sign.

“Tim? TIMBO YOU HERE !?” Jason yelled into the silent house while he started looking around the living room. He jogged up the stairs still calling for his brother rushing to Tim’s bedroom, swinging the door open. “Tim?? Kid are you here?! Bruce do you read me?” He called into his com link. 

“I read you, is he there? “ 

Jason could hear the stress in his dad’s voice. “I’m in the house and I’m not seeing him here. I’m heading down to the cave but there's alot of first aid stuff out.”

“Fuck.. so he’s hurt.”

“Probably. No idea what we are looking at though. Could be a paper cut ot something stupid like tha- oh fuck..” 

“What? Jason what is it?!” 

“Fucking shit there’s a lot of fucking blood down here and I’m not seeing him B the whole fucking med wing looks like its part of a horror film. TIM!?” 

“Jason I need you to take a breath okay. Look for any clues that we can use. Can you do that?”

“Y-Yea yea there's a lot of blood.. Up stuff for stitches, shit.. Shit there's like five bloody bullets B where the fuck is he?? He’s not here hes not in the fucking house so where is he?!” 

“Keep looking in the house make sure you’ve checked every room okay? Check the whole cave Ill be there soon. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fist thing that came into Tim’s mind as we woke up was ‘Ow. very very ow’ Everything was hurting as stiff and horrible. Tim groaned weakly as he shifted a little bit biting back a whimper as his shoulder popped under him. ‘Well that's what you get for passing out on the floor dumbass.’ He thought to himself as he looked around in a daze. He was still curled up under the big desk in Bruce's study. He had managed to get the bullets out on his own, only passing out twice in the process, then took waaay too many painkillers and slept all Saturday. By the time he woke up he had already missed his patrol and check in times and realized some what panicked, that he hadn’t gotten any of the case work or paper work he had promised to do for Bruce done. He wasn’t really sure why that scared him as bad as it did, maybe he was just upset cuz he slept all day and still felt awful. Either way he managed to stager up the stair and got himself settled with coffee and paperwork, ignoring how the words blurred and moved around the page, and how the coffee made his stomach twist and churn. Eventually he had to stagger over to one of the potted plants to vomit, knowing he’d absolutely not make it to a sink or trash can in time. He managed to pull stitches while heaving into the plant, but by the time he felt the blood seeping through his shirt he was too exhausted to redo the stitches completely and opted to just throw more bandages on top of it. 

After a little while of just laying on the living room floor in agony, Tim decided he needed to go to bed. So he dragged himself up the stairs, blinking away black spots out of his vision. He tried to find his bedroom but after finding himself in the wrong room for the third time he gave up, not able to stay standing any longer, Tim did what any young adult in crisis would do. He crawled under the big desk curling up in his hoodie, and cried himself to sleep. 

Now he was awake and regretted every decision that brought him to this moment deeply. His whole body hurt and felt sticky and hot. He could feel the sweat dripping down the back of his neck and cheeks…well..maybe those were tears.. But he really couldn’t tell the difference at this point. He just wanted all of it to stop. He wanted to be in his bed and for all those voices to stop talking and- 

Wait, who was talking? No one was supposed to be home right? He had been alone when he passed out. Dread washed over him, did someone follow him from the docks? He thought he got them all but what if one had slipped away and managed to follow him back here? And now hes here with others so they can kill him. Tim tried to roll over onto his hands and knees but was hit with a wave of blinding pain so quickly he didn’t have time to bite back the pained cry that tore its way out of him as he collapsed on his stomach gasping. He was pretty sure he was going to throw up, and he couldn’t tell if the voices had stopped over that loud ringing in his ears. He wanted Bruce. 

Tears started streaming down his cheeks. He really fucking wanted Bruce but Bruce wasn’t even on earth and Tim didn’t know where his phone or com went. He just wanted Bruce to come in and scoop him up and make it better. Hell he’d be grateful to listen to the long lecture he was bound to get when someone found him… if.. If they found him. Tim was vaguely aware of how bad this situation actually was. And if he didn’t die from all this hurting and unbearable heat, whoever had broken in was bound to kill him. 

He didn’t try to choke back the sobs that wracked his body. It all hurt too much to care at this point. He should have fucking called Bruce when things got bad at the docks.. But Bruce was so sure that he was going to be able to handle things in Gotham by himself he just … he didn’t want to disappoint him. He just wanted him to come home and see how well Tim did by himself.

“I just want a dad to be proud of me.. J-just.. Just once ..” He sobbed to himself. He just wanted to get things right this time but he fucked it up so much and- 

The study door swung open causing a much more frantic sob force its way out of him. 

“Father!! Father quickly!” 

There was suddenly too much noise, there were loud footsteps and yelling and hands on him. Hands on him. There were hands on him and it hurt . Tim screamed and sobbed as he was pulled out from the dark sanctuary under the desk and into the harsh light of the study. He thrashed around frantically, he was Robin god damn it and he wasn’t going down without a fight! 

“Tim TIm please it’s okay Tim calm down you’re hurting yourself ALFRED! I NEED A SEDATIVE FAST!” Bruce yelled to the Butler who was already rushing down to the cave to get the medical wing ready. Bruce ran down the hidden staircase cradling his second youngest in his arms. Tim was shaking violently and burning up, but was still trying to get out of his fathers grip, clearly delusional. 

Bruce had arrived 8 hours ago, having zetaed to the cave from the Watchtower. Jason had already searched the whole cave for clues and was tearing apart the manor when he got upstairs. They both searched it, they looked everywhere, or at least had thought they had, before rushing out in the batmobile and on bike to search the streets. Bruce had called Selina who had already started searching the city with Harley by the time Damion and Alfred had arrived. Damion had joined them in the city immediately as Alfred searched for any clues as to where he might be on the batcomputer. Barbra and Duke got there next, Barbra went to her apartment to start checking police reports and Duke started reaching out to Kon Bart and all of Tim's friends, both super hero and civilian. Dick and the others had only just landed when they went back to the Manor to regroup. There were no leads, no clues, nothing. Just a massive amount of blood, bullets and paperwork. It was like Tim had vanished. 

It was Damion who heard something on his way back down stairs from his bedroom, he had just gotten off the phone with Dick who was assuring him that Tim would be found. He dropped his phone immediately, straining his ears to try to find where the sound had come from. There was the sound again. Damion rushed upstairs. 

“Drake?? Drake come out immediately. This game is not funny in the slightest!” Daimion opened the door to one of his fathers more private studies, “Drake are you-” Damion gagged. The smell of blood and vomit was overwhelming in the small space. He rushed over to the other side of the desk, where Tim was curled up sobbing. Under normal circumstances Damion would have relished this blatant show of weakness, but now all he felt as sick. Tim was curled up drenched in sweat and blood, hunched over a puddle of vomit under their fathers desk. 

“Father! Father quickly! I found him!” Damion dropped to his knees, he heard his father and Todd’s footsteps thundering up the stairs. He gently touched his brothers shoulder, “Drake? Can you hear- “ Then Tim started screaming. 

Bruce rushed in pushing Damion out of the way and quickly pulling him into his arms. And now TIm was being laid carefully onto the operating table as Alfred carefully cut the blood soaked bandages off of the boy. 

Bruce stood by helping as much as he could. There were five bullet wounds in total, two in his thigh, one in his side that went straight through him, one in his shoulder that clearly had been cut open sloppily to cut the bullet out and one in his bicep. All of them were swollen from lack of proper care. The ones in his thigh were the cleanest but it was all downhill  from there. Tim was burning up from the infection and was mumbling barely conscious. Bruce didn’t know what he was asking for but whatever it was he was going to get it as soon as he was awake and well. He was going to get anything he wanted. 

“We looked in every room we checked everywhere, how did we miss him!? How did we miss him he was there the whole fucking time we were gone looking for him in the city we could have gotten him help hours ago!” 

“I don’t know Jay but we have him now. He’s going to be alright.” Bruce prayed he was right about that. He lost one son already; he wasn't letting a second die in the cave because they hadn’t checked under a desk in their frantic search. “Someone call Dick let him know we have him.” 

The next few hours were a frantic blur. Bruce and Alfred had to open and drain all of the wounds and check for other injuries on the unconscious boy. Tim had broken several ribs and had a nasty concussion, a fractured cheek bone, and sprained ankle. Those were luckily easy to treat, the hard part was getting his fever down. The infection in his wounds had already set in, especially in his side and shoulder, which meant he was at risk for going septic. After hours of working though Alfred finally announced that he was certain they were in the clear. Tim was now sleeping soundly, Wounds treated, fever down and on heavy painkillers and antibiotics. As long as he rested and kept the wounds clean he would be just fine. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim woke up and immediately wished he hadn’t. His head felt like it had been cut open and filled with hot sand. Everything felt too heavy and hot..or cold..? He was cold now he was pretty sure. He wanted a blanket. Where were his blankets? Did the goblin child take his fucking blankets again? 

Tim opened his eyes slowly groaning weakly, why was his room so bright?

“Tim? Hey kiddo you with me?” 

Tim let his head lull to the side, looking through half opened eyes at Bruce who was leaning forward in a chair close to the bed he was laying in, which Tim had come to the conclusion was not in fact his bed. 

“B..? M i in space.. ?” 

Bruce let out a small laugh, “No kiddo no you’re in the cave. You scared us pretty bad. Are you feeling okay? Does anything hurt?” 

“Everything..?” 

“I'm sorry…” Tim didn’t like how upset Bruce sounded suddenly. “I’m so sorry Tim I’m so sorry this happened. You should never have had to deal with this alone. Someone should have been here with you, we should never have left you to take care of all of these things alone.” 

Tears welled up in Tim’s eyes. Bruce was upset.. He had messed up being home alone again and his dad was mad at him. 

“I.. I’m sorry.. I’m sorry I.. I tried I was..I had it under control.. I … I should have had it under control. I'm sorry B.” Tim was shaking and tears were falling and everything hurt and Bruce was mad and was gonna take Robin from him he was going to lose being Robin again and ..and Bruce was hugging him..? 

Tim blinked as he found himself being gently scooped up out of bed and into the arms of his dad. 

“Tim, you have nothing to be sorry for.. I wish you would have called for help when you got hurt.. Or for back up when things got out of hand but I’m not mad at you. I could never be mad at you for trying your best.. You did exactly what I asked.. I just asked for too much and that’s my fault.. Not yours.” 

More tears fell. “B-but I .. I should.. I should have ….And… I didn’t.. I failed..” 

Bruce gently places a hand on his cheek, “Tim look at me.. You did so well.. You tried so hard and yes.. Things didn’t go as well as we had planned.. But that is on everyone. Not just you. You were doing your best and needed help. We should have been here to help you. Okay? Next time there will be someone to help you. You don’t have to do everything alone kiddo. I promise.” 

Tim sniffled and curled up in Bruce's arms shaking, eyes slowly shutting. Bruce kept saying nice and gentle things even when Tim stopped listening, letting himself fall asleep again in his fathers warm embrace. 

~~~~~~~~ 

“Father! Father, come quick!!” 

Tim groaned and let himself fall back into the bed he had just been trying to escape. 

“Why do you hate me gremlin? ”

“Don’t flatter yourself Drake I’m simply fulfilling my role as caregiver for the day. You are still on bed rest, therefore you must lay in bed and rest.” 

“It’s been a week, Damion. A week of laying around doing nothing. I need to get up, now tell me where you put my crutches.” 

“Alfred has forbidden you to use them and you know this. I can bring you a wheelchair and bring you to the balcony where you can sit and get fresh air. Or I can get Grayson and Todd to carry you down stairs to sit on the couch where you can rest there. Or you can continue to lay there and I can have Duke help me bring new forms of entertainment that have no correlation to your work.” 

Tim groaned again. This was torture. He knew they were just worried and they had a kinda good reason to be tTim had to admit. Dick was the one in the room when he had woken up for the first time when his fever had broken, two days after they had found him curled up under a desk. Dick had told him how frantic everyone had been while trying to find him and how they had thought they were going to lose him even once they had him in the med wing. 

Damion had found him apparently, which Tim was certain at the time would be used against him, but he wasn’t so sure now. Damion had actually been pretty attached to him over the course of the week and had been the first to volunteer to sleep in his room when he was finally cleared to leave the cave. Alfred had insisted that someone stay with him to make sure he had help if he needed anything and to make sure he didn’t try to get up or do anything strenuous. He of course had protested but was glad they insisted when he found himself being supported by the smaller boy as he vomited into the bucket that was being held in his lap for him. Damion hadn't even made fun of him for it.

Jason had also decided to hang around the manor for the time being and made frequent appearances in Tim’s room to check in. Often Tim would wake and find his older brother reading by his bed or dozing off in the chair next to him. Once he even woke up to Jason holding his hand, not that he’d ever tell anyone that. 

Dick and Bruce came and went a lot as well. Bruce still had to take care of Batman stuff but had taken the last week off of Wayne enterprise work to make sure Tim was okay, which had only added to the growing guilt Tim was feeling. He hadn’t had the chance to talk to Bruce about what had happened and was waiting anxiously for the lecture. He wasn’t sure if he was just waiting for them to be alone or if he was trying to make Tim’s blood pressure go through the roof. But either way Tim couldn’t help but feel at least briefly relieved when Bruce sat down on the foot of his bed after Damion was called away to walk his dog. 

“How are you feeling?” 

Tim laughed weakly “Would you believe me if I said I felt great?” 

“Not even a little bit. Does anything hurt worse than it should?” 

“No.. no I’m really just sore ya know? And tired I guess but really all things considered it could be worse.” 

“...” Bruce had that look that always made Tim sweat. That worried disappointed dad look. “Tim you could have died..” 

“B-but I didn’t … so that’s-” 

“Tim, you could have died. We nearly lost you. I.. What happened..? Why didn’t you call for backup? Or tell someone you got hurt? We would have come, someone would have come to help you.”  Bruce’s voice waiver just slightly. 

“I .. I had it under control… It was supposed to be a quick thing.. Just a little weapons bust.. I … I didn’t know there would be so many.. And by the time I realised how fucked I was I was already shot. You wouldn’t have gotten there in time.. You were all..You all had things you were doing. I got out and.. I.. B I messed up. They got away with the weapons and I just … I couldn’t call… I couldn’t I .. I was getting blood everywhere and .. and I.. “ He could feel tears stinging his eyes as he fought to keep them from falling. “I was .. I was going to report in the morning.. I swear… I was going to call but I just slept I didn’t wake up until late and I missed meetings and there was so much to do I tried to get it all done so I’d have some good news to tell you when I called but I .. it hurt and I threw up and I couldn’t find my bed and I’m sorry I’m sorry I swear I’ll do better next time I’ll get betting intel and get all the work done B i swear I-” 

Bruce was pulling him into a tight hug, mindful of his bandages. 

“Tim.. Kiddo I don’t care that they got away. Jason and the others will deal with it, I’m just glad you were able to get out of there alive. Nothing else matters Tim. When we realized no one had heard from you we dropped everything to get back here to find you, not because we were worried you  had messed something up, but because we were scared for you. You are my son, our family and we should have never let this happen. We should have made sure someone had been able to reach you.. This will never happen again. But Tim this… Kiddo this scares me alot.. I’m ..I’m not mad at you, not at all.. But you needed to have called. As soon as things went south you should have called. And not knowing if you will call for help scares me alot. It scares everyone bud…” 

Tears were streaming freely now. This was so much worse than getting yelled at.. The look on Bruces face was.. He looked so disappointed in him.. Tim had worried them all and that's the last thing he had wanted to do! He just wanted to show them he could take care of things.. He should be able to take care of things.. He had been taking care of things and himself since he was a kid! This should have been the easiest thing in the world for him to do.. But somehow he managed to mess it all up and now Bruce was worried and upset..  

“Am… am I gonna get it back.. ?” He managed to croak out quietly 

“I .. Get what back kiddo? “ 

“Robin.. Or.. or Red Robin I guess.. Do…am I gonna get it back? Can I earn it back or.. Or is it.. A-am I done..? F-for good.. ?” 

Bruce looked taken aback which only made the tears fall harder, He shouldn’t have asked he should have just handed over the mask and let Bruce offer it back if and when he thought he was ready. 

“I-I’m sorry I’ll just.. I- you can have my mask I-I’ll give you my gear when I’m allowed back in the cave again- “ Tim paled even more “U-unless you don't want me back in there at all.. I won’t .. I .. .I can get my things packed and I.. I’ll stay in the manor. I won't talk about it. '' His ears were ringing now, air seemed stuck in his lungs, and he could see Bruce’s expression change again. Oh.. Oh my god he wasn’t just losing his mask was he.. He was losing everything he was in so much trouble.. He was going back to the Drake estate he was going back to empty rooms and dark cold halls and

“-im Tim, breathe! Timothy you need to breathe you aren’t going anywhere no one is sending you away.” Bruce was holding him close and rocking him has he gently talked him through breathing exercises. 

“Kiddo I don’t know where you got the idea that anything is going to be taken from you but that is not ever going to happen.. You are family, do you hear me?” 

“The old man’s right. You are stuck with us Timbo and there’s nothing that’s going to change that.” Jason was leaning in the doorway with Dick as Damion and Steph pushed their way past them and into the room darting to the bed. 

“You scared us but that’s cuz we love you Timmy” Steph wrapped her arms around him curling up against him in bed. 

“We wouldn’t be able to adequately keep you out of trouble if we sent you away, Drake. That would completely defeat the purpose of all the work we put into keeping you alive.” 

“What Dami means to say is that there is no way we are sending you anywhere. We gotta look out for family tight? You always have our back and we have yours.” Dick smiled gently sitting by Bruce at the foot of the bed. 

“Little brothers need to be looked after.” Cass said simply. 

“Even I know there’s no way out of this family once they’ve got ya Tim.” Duke smiled awkwardly. 

Tim rubbed tears from his eyes. “Y..you mean you aren’t going to take Red Robin from me?” 

“No Tim.. Never..” Bruce took his hand gently. “You aren’t losing anything Red Robin is and always will be yours.. No one can take that from you. There .. There might be some adjustments on how we run things though.. Not as a punishment but as a precaution.” 

“like..Like what..?” 

“Well.. no more solo patrols. For anyone. We go in as a team and we always have means of getting back up if needed. No one will be left to run things while the others are gone. We will call in favors with other heroes if needed but no one will be running Gotham alone. We are also going to go over your workload just the two of us when you are up for it. We need to make sure you aren’t spread too thin alright? Especially during your recovery. Does that sound fair?” 

Tim nodded weakly, it..it sounded very fair.. Maybe not to the others that would rather handle things on their own, like Jason. But.. but he got to keep his cape and …and he wouldn’t have to worry about being alone? 

“That sounds great dad”

Chapter Text

Dick

   Bruce Wayne was well known as an eccentric man, he threw big parties, bought fancy cars and all the newest tech for his company and family. Batman was also a bit eccentric.. Aside from the obvious cape crusader shtick he was the JLA’s personal piggy bank. There were very few issues that Bruce or Batman weren’t able to solve by throwing a little money at it 

   That being said Bruce as a dad did have a hard time figuring out what called for that money throwing. When Dick had first come into his life Bruce was more than a little excited to spoil this little boy and bought him everything his heart could desire in order to make his transition into his new life a little easier. Of course there were things that money couldn’t fix.. The hurt of losing his parents would always be there. But Bruce went to bed every night grateful he was able to provide as much as he could for that little boy. 

   It did take a while for Dick to grow comfortable enough around Bruce to make requests for more than what would be considered necessities though. The boy was content shadowing Bruce or Alfred or entertaining himself with the many toys that Bruce bought upon his arrival, never complaining or asking for something else. So when Dick timidly came to Bruce with a request one Saturday morning a few months after he came to live in the manor Bruce was elated. 

   “B?” The small 8 year old asked one morning over breakfast. 

   “Yes kiddo?” Bruce looked up from his newspaper.

   “Do you like to go to the zoo…?” 

   Bruce smiled gently at the little boy across from him, who was timidly spinning his spoon around his cereal bowl as he looked up at Bruce with hopeful eyes. 

   “You know I used to love going to the zoo. It was one of my favorite places to visit. I haven’t gone in some time though… Do you like to go to the zoo?” 

   “I dunno.. I’ve never been to one. But I like elephants. They are my favorite animals. And zoos have them.” 

   “They do indeed. Would you like to go to the zoo sometime Dick?” 

   Dicks face lit up. “Could we? Could we really go and see the elephants?”

   Bruce would have bought him an elephant on the spot if he thought Alfred would let him get away with it. But taking him to see them would definitely be the next best thing. 

   “Of course! Tell you what, if you finish your breakfast and get dressed I’ll get us tickets to go today if you’d like?” 

   “Really?! Alfred, we are going to the zoo!” Dick looked up to the butler who had just come in with a pitcher of orange juice. 

   “Is that so? Well you and master Bruce will have to take pictures of all the animals” Alfred smiled down at Dick.

   “You’ll come too right? Alfred can come too?” 

   “If Alfred would like to come and join us he is more than welcome to.” Bruce’s heart swelled as Dick cheered and proceeded to cartwheel around the room before scarfing down his breakfast and darting up to his room to get ready. 

   “The young master seems very enthused” Alfred smiled at Bruce “This will be very good for the boy if I do say so myself. Just try to remember to not over do it… He is still adjusting. Take things slow.” 

   “I will, I will. I just want him to have something to wake up looking forward to.. I know how hard this time can be. I don’t want to replace his parents, I don;t think i could even if I tried but I don’t want him missing out on thing’s kid’s his age should have either. I don’t want him growing up feeling like he lost a childhood as well as his parents…” Bruce new Alfred understood. Of all the people inn the world Alfred would understand why this was so important to him. Its the same reason he was so adamant on bringing Dick home in the first place. When he saw Dick he was a little bit of himself.. The part of himself he lost the night he lost his parents. The young innocents and joy that faded from him so quickly.. And Bruce would be damned if he let that joy leave this little boy like it left him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   “Bruce Bruce look, do you see the monkeys?! I’ve never seen ones like that before! They are so cool! Did you see how they were jumping around? They are lemurs B that's what the sign says!” 

   Bruce smiled as Dick ran back and forth in front of the lemur’s exhibit trying to keep pace with the exuberant primates on the other side of the glass. Dick was holding a small disposable camera Alfred had picked up from the gift shop on their way in which Dick had very excitedly accepted and immediately got to work snapping pictures of all the animals they had seen so far. As well as several pictures of himself, Bruce and Alfred. They saw the giraffes lions and primates so far Bruce was thrilled to see how happy Dick was. He talked to anyone that would listen and asked the zoo keepers about all the animals eagerly listening to all the stories the keepers had to tell. He had gotten his hands on the map of the zoo pretty quickly and had plotted the most direct course to the elephants, but had insisted the stop at all the animals on the way there. 

   Bruce happily let Dick set the pace, watching him chatter happily to the zoo keepers as Alfred stood by Bruce’s side smiling with just as much pride as Bruce was feeling. 

   “Hey! Aren’t you that Grayson kid?” 

   Dicks smile faltered as a young man interrupted his conversation with the lemurs keeper, stepping between Dick and the bench Bruce was sitting on. 

   “Yea..” He answered hesitantly, stepping to the side to try to get back closer to Bruce. 

   “Are you really living with Bruce Wayne now?? Is he your new dad now? Is he here with you?”

   Dick shifted nervously, feeling his breathing start to get a little faster. The man kept shooting more and more questions at him, not giving him the chance to respond to any of them. He didn’t want to talk to him about any of this. 

   “I-I should go-” 

   “Wait hold on kid just a second,” The man grabbed Dicks wrist, keeping him from walking away. “I just want to talk to you. Why don’t you tell me about your parents? Is Bruce anything like them? Is he treating you nicely or-” 

   “Get your hands off my kid now.” 

   “Come master Richard Master Bruce will be meeting us by the elephants shortly.” Alfred gently hurried Dick away from the man who was now backing away quickly from a very angry looking Bruce.

   Dick held onto Alfred's hand tightly and blinked away tears as they made their way through the crowd of people. He didn;t really understand what that guy wanted from him.. Why did he care if he lived with Bruce? What was he asking him about his parents for? That was none of his business and he didn’t want to talk about his mom and dad to a stranger at the zoo. 

   Tears were dripping down his cheeks by the time they stopped. Alfred knelt in front of him and gently wiped the tears from his face with a handkerchief. 

   “Are you hurt at all lad?” 

   Dick shook his head. The man had had a tight grip but it hadn’t hurt him really, just scared him. “N-no..no I.. He was asking about my mom… He .. I didn’t know him and he was asking me and I didn’t want to talk to him, I dunno why he was talking to me at all!” More tears streamed down his cheeks. 

   “That was a terrible thing for him to do lad and I’m so sorry he did that. He should have never approached you like that and certainly never laid a hand on you.. Master Bruce is dealing with it now though. It will be alright now okay? He won't bother you again. You have my word-” 

   Dick flung himself into the butler's arms hugging him tightly, crying into his chest. 

   “Its alright lad.. It’s alright.. Why don’t we sit for a moment and wait for master Bruce to come and find us? Here’s a bench with a nice view of the elephants.. You can look at them when you’re ready if you’d like.” Alfred scooped up the boy gently and carried him to a shaded bench with a nice view of the elephant enclosure. He sat Dick down next to him, keeping an arm wrapped around him gently. 

   Dick sniffled and cried into the butlers sleeve for a few more minutes before curling into his side peeking out at the enclosure, eyes red and cheeks tear stained and puffy. By the time Bruce got there Dick was seated comfortably in Alfred’s lap quietly telling him about his favorite elephant from the circus. 

   “Hey there kiddo, you doing okay?” Bruce knelt by him, quickly scanning him for injuries or other signs of distress. 

   “I'm okay.. We found the elephants.” 

    “You sure did,” Bruce smiled gently. “The man that scared you was kicked out of the zoo and isn’t allowed back now so he won’t bother you here ever again. Do you want to keep going and see more things? Or are you done for the day?” 

   Dick took a minute to think it over before his shoulders slumped a bit. “I.. I think I want to be done…” More tears welled up in his eyes and Bruce could hear the heartbreak in the boy's voice. “I.. I wanna go home B.. I wanna go home.. “

   “I know you do Dick.. If there was a way for me to make that happen I promise you I would.. But I .. There’s nothing I can do kiddo… I’m so sorry..” Bruce's heart shattered as the boy broke down in tears, sobbing into Alfreds chest. He wanted so badly to take Dick into his arms to hold him and make this all better.. But there was nothing he could do.. He couldn’t take Dick back to his home. He couldn’t bring back his parents.. All he could do was watch his Butler rock him as he cried himself to sleep, then take him and carry him back to the car and drive him to the manor, that hopefully someday he would consider a home of sorts.  

~~~~~~~~~

   The next few weeks were rough for the Wayne manor residence. Dick was going back and forth between being exceptionally clingy and shutting himself in his room and refusing to come out. Bruce felt terrible every time he had to leave the house to go to work and would alway try to find dick to tell him goodbye before going to Wayne enterprise for the day. He tried to work from home as much as possible but there were just some things he had to be in the office for. But he had been working on a few personal projects as well, which he had just finished. 

   “I think today is a great day for another try at a day at the zoo. What do you think Dick? I took the day off and everything. I bet we can get Alfred to let us get popcorn and icecream.” Bruce was struggling to keep his grin at bay, he had managed to pull some strings with the zoo, so they would have the entire zoo to themselves.

   “You.. You took the whole day off.. ? For the zoo?” Dick asked, looking up from the book he was reading on the big sofa he was curled up on. 

   “Sure did kiddo. There's a new exhibit I thought you might like. But only if you want to. We can just stay here if you want. That's just fine too.” 

   “I think.. I think I’d like to go back to the zoo. Cuz.. Cuz that man won’t be there this time right?”

   “Right. It will be just us.” 

   Dick smiled a bit, “Okay.. Okay lets go to the zoo!” 

~~~~~~

   Bruce would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous to see what Dick was going to think of the surprise. So far he was having a blast, all the zookeeper's were able to give him their undivided attention and even let him help them feed some of the animals. They were almost to the main part of the surprise and Bruce was sweating bullets. He had pulled a lot of strings to make this happen. Both as Bruce Wayne and as Batman. He really didn’t know what he was going to do if Dick hated it. Clark had said it was too much.. But really what did Smallville know? 

   Dick rounded the corner and stopped, eyes wide and jaw lax as he took in what he was looking at. The indoor viewing building for the elephant exhibit had been completely rebuilt. What used to be a standard gray building meant to simply shelter patrons of the zoo from the heat or rain was now a bright red with gold stripes and flags at the points of the building. The smell of popcorn and peanuts wafted from inside the building. A big sign over the entrance read ‘Elephant Home` 

   Bruce watched his expression closely. He saw the shine in Dicks eyes and watched the boys lips pull into a big smile. 

   “Did.. Did you.. Is this.. H-How..?” Dick looked up at Bruce in awe.

   “I know how important the circus is to you kiddo. I can’t bring you back there but.. But I can bring a little bit of it here. So now whenever you want to see your elephant friends you can feel a little bit more at home.. Do.. Do you like it? You don't have to like it. I don’t know how fast I can take it down but I-” Bruce was cut off by Dick flinging himself into his arms hugging him tightly. 

   “This is the best present I ever had! Thank you!!” 

   “Of course kiddo.. Of course.” Bruce smiled as Dick took his hand and pulled him into the building to look around. He stood back as Dick ran around taking it all in, leaning against the back wall facing the elephants. “Your son is one incredible kid.. You should be proud,” He looked up at the brass plaque on the wall. “I can never even hope to be close to the parents you were… to the parents you would have been. But I swear to you.. Your son is going to be loved. I will love him and care for him and give him everything I can. I promise you…” 

   The Flying Grayson’s looked on. Eyes fixed on the small boy in front of them, smiling at him with all the love and pride Bruce felt for the son he now shared with their memory.

Chapter Text

Wumptober prompt one 

A little out of the ordinary/adverse side effect 

Jason hadn’t been living with the Wayne’s long when they discovered his allergy. It had never been an issue before, growing up in Crime Alley ment he never tasted real shrimp before. He was lucky to get his hands on the off brand chicken ramen cups from the dollar store. Then he was homeless and learned quickly to never trust any meat found in the trash. So when he was handed a plate full of white pasta with little pink shrimp he had no reason to think twice about digging in. 

Jason had been reminded twice to slow down and chew his food before shoveling more into his mouth, and maybe if he had listened to Bruce he would have noticed the itching in the back of his throat before he reached the bottom of the bowl. He cleared his throat a bit as he reached for his glass of water, trying to get rid of the tight feeling that was growing. 

“Everything okay Jay? Swallow wrong?” Dick asked, helping himself to a second serving of the pasta. 

“D..Dunno..” Jason frowned at his raspy voice “M-my .. my throat feels funny.” 

Bruce looked up from his food, brow furrowed in concern. “Are you feeling okay? You look flushed…” 

Jason tried to clear his throat again, this time making a strangled wheezing sound “c..cc’nt… b..”  he looked up at Bruce, eyes wide and panicked as he grabbed at his throat. 

Bruce was out of his seat and by Jason’s side in a heartbeat, quickly opening his mouth and shining a pen light down his throat. “Shit Dick get an EpiPen from the cave now! Jason look at me it's okay, you’ll be alright you are having an allergic reaction to something you ate. You’ll be alright, we are going to take care of this. Just stay calm okay?” 

Jason was clinging to Bruce’s arm now as tears streamed down his now flushed cheeks. He couldn’t breath, his throat felt like it was made of sandpaper and his tongue felt huge and heavy. 

“I got it!” Dick yelled as ran into the room, rushing to Jason’s other side. “It’s okay little wing it’s okay this is gonna sting but its gonna help.” 

Jason barely felt the needle pierce his leg, he was too busy trying to clear the spots from his vision. 

“Its okay Jaylad it’s alright… 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jason can you here me?” 

Jason groaned and batted the hand away from his face. “Go away.. M sleeping” He grumbled, pulling the blanket on him over his head. 

Bruce smiled gently and ruffled his younger son’s hair. “You scared us there kiddo. Can you sit up? I’d like to check your throat for swelling.” Bruce pulled out his pen light while Jason kicked off the blankets over him and sat up, rubbing his eyes aggressively. Once he was satisfied that the swelling was gone he passed Jason a large glass of water.

“What happened?” He asked after gulping down half the glass. 

“Well.. we learned you have a pretty severe allergy to shrimp. Dick got the EpiPen in time thank god.. But your throat closed up and it gave you a pretty nasty rash. You seem to be okay now, but we have an appointment to get you allergy tested later this week. Are you feeling okay?” 

“I-I think so.. Just sorta scratchy I guess… I’m sorry.. I didn’t know the food would make me sick like that..” 

“Oh kiddo you didn’t know. I’m just glad you are okay now. I should have thought to get you allergy tested as soon as you moved in just to be safe.” Bruce pulled his son gently into his arms. “But its okay now.. You are alright..” 

“Yea” Jason smiles sleepily, leaning into his dad’s arms. “I’m alright”

Chapter Text

Prompt no where to run

The cold concrete would have felt nice if his head wasn’t being bashed into it. Tim bit back a whimper as his cheek hit the hard ground for countless times that night. He had been tracking down a new drug ring taking up shop in Gotham harbor the last few weeks and had thought he was going to get the drop on them. But nothing could ever go according to his plan now could it. 

He hadn’t even made it to the building before he realized this was a trap. The well aimed shot to his left thigh was his first clue in, the even better aimed crow bar to the head was his second clue. When he woke up he was on the ground in a dark warehouse with his hands tied behind his back and his leg bleeding sluggishly. 

“Come on little birdy tell us how to get the Bat down here. We’ve been dying to meet the city’s Dark Knight for ages. We were hoping he’d be the one making an appearance tonight .. but you just made things a bit sweeter. There’s no way he won’t come if his darling little bird calls.” 

Tim grimaced as he was pulled up to face the ring leader. He had to admit though, them thinking he was the Batman while he was tracking them? That was flattering, or it would have been had they not proceeded to shoot and beat him. He could call Batman. He knew logically he probably should call Bats at this point. Even if he could get out of his restraints on his own there was no way he’d make it out of this warehouse with a bullet lodged in his leg. But he definitely didn't want to lead Batman into a trap. If he called, Bats would come. If he didn’t call all the Bat’s would come and they’d already be assuming the worst and be ready to fight. So he’d wait until any member of his paranoid vigilante family tried to contact him, get no reply, and find him. Easy peasy. 

“I don’t have all night, kid. Call Batman. Now.” 

“Look as much as I’d live to, really.. Really I would. Batman has standards. And unfortunately you guys just haven’t made the cut. If he was interested in you he would have dealt with you already. But you just aren’t on his radar yet. Keep trying though. I’m sure one day you'll make it into the big leagues-” The leader grabbed his throat squeezing it tightly 

“You better choose your next words wisely.” He growled into Tim’s ear, putting his free hand over the still bleeding bullet wound in his thigh “Or this is going to be a very very painful night for you.” 

Tim screamed as  the man's gloved thumb pressed into the open wound. His vision blurred and he was pretty damn sure he was going to black out again. The hand moved off his leg before he fully lost consciousness and was gripping his chin tightly, forcing him to look up into his captors face. 

“Ah ah ah you need to stay awake Birdy. I’d hate for you to miss any of this.” 

~~~~~~~~~~

Both legs were broken now, Tim was sure of it. The sickening snapping of his left shin was still ringing in his ears, mixed with his broken screams. It had been hours now. Hours of threats screaming and pain. But he hadn’t broken, he hadn’t answered a single question. He didn’t call Batman or give them anything they wanted. But.. he was fading fast. The thugs had left him alone now, giving him a short break and most likely discussing there next plan to get him to break. They didn’t even bother tying him back up. Knowing damn well there was no way he could move let alone escape in his condition. If he wasn’t so fucking tiered he’d be insulted. 

But now all he could manage to do was try to keep his eyes open and his breathing steady.. Both of which were getting harder and harder to do. He felt his eyes getting heavier.. He was pretty sure he was hearing things to.. There was muffled yelling…maybe some gunshots… someone was calling for him though .. but everything sounded far away. Like it was underwater or something. 

“Red!? Batman he's in here! Fuck we need medical asap!! Red, can you hear me?” 

Tim couldn’t get his eye’s to open. He knew that voice though. He knew that voice meant everything was okay now. He didn’t need to stay awake anymore. He was going to be fine. 

Batman ran into the room dropping to his knees next to Nightwing who was already administering what first aid he could. Fury boiled in his blood as he saw the state of his younger son. TIm’s face was covered in darke bruises, nose clearly broken and bleeding sluggishly. His throat was encased in dark handprints and has a long shallow cut across it. But most noticeable would be the bullet wound in his right thigh and the horribly unnatural bend in his left shin. 

“Please tell me Hood is dealing with them.” 

“Red hood has them all subdued. Violently.” 

“Good. Help me get him into the batmobile. Agent A has the cave ready for him.” 

Quickly they got Tim loaded into the batmobile and rushed him to the cave where Alfred and Lesliey were waiting. Tim was already in surgery when Jason rolled in, covered in blood. 

“How is he?” 

“He’s in surgery now.. Broken ribs, concussion, broken nose, bullet to the thigh and his left shin is badly broken … but he's going to be alright. He’s stable.” Bruce rubbed his face, taking a shaky breath’ “We found him in time..” 

“Fucking barely..” 

“Lets not think about that Jay.. he’s here.. Hes safe now..” 

“Hes resting now” Alfred cut in coming into the room “And is in bed now where he wll be staying for the rest of his long recovery.” 

~~~~~

Tim woke up to the soft beeping of a heart monitor and gentle snoring of his two older brothers at his side. 

“They haven't left you’re side since you got out of surgery. Haven’t even started fighting.” 

Tim looked over at his other side, smiling sleepily at his father. Who was keeping a loose hold on his hand. “You found me” 

“Of course we did.. I’m so ..so sorry it took so long..” 

“Not.. not your fault.. Didn’t call.. Didn’t want.. You to.. Fall into their.. T-trap.. “ 

“.. we will talk about that later.. For now.. Just get some rest kiddo.. You earned it.. “ 

“Mkay… night dad..” 

“Goodnight little bird.. Rest up

Chapter Text

Wumptober prompt 3 gun to temple 

“Don’t do it Grayson. Do not give them the satisfaction–” Damian hissed in pain as his arm was twisted more behind his back. He and Dick had been on their way from the movies, something Dick had insisted they do together at least once a month to get Damian out of the house and doing something some one his age might enjoy. And while normally Damian scoffed at such activities, he had actually found himself enjoying this outing. Until some thugs in a white van grabbed them both on their way out of the theater towards their car. Now had they been in masks Robin and Nightwing would have made short work of these kidnappers, but they weren’t Nightwing and Robin. They were the sons of billionaire Bruce Wayne. One quick look from Dick told Damian they were to play along and not put up a fight, but now he was starting to wonder if that had been a mistake seeing as now they were trapped in some sort of basement with no idea where they were and their captors seemed to be loosing their patience.

\

“I’m going to ask you both one more time before I loose my temper. Tell me the code to Wayne Enterprise’s main computer system and then you can walk free.” 

“Look I really hate to be there bearer of bad news here fellas but you have the wrong people for that. Why would Bruce tell us of all people that kind of information?” Dick asked from the chair he was tied to across the room. Blood was dripping down his face from a bloody nose and gash across his forehead.

“You’re the eldest kid! Why wouldn’t you know!?” 

“Uh well for one I don’t work with or for his company! He’s not handing out those codes and passwords at our birthdays you, know that’s company business. I don’t handle any of that and Damian is a child! He obviously wouldn’t have access to anything as important as that!” 

Had this situation been any different Damian would have cursed Dick out for that comment. But watching the shadow cloud over the thug holding his arms face Damian knew now wasn’t a great time to mouth off. 

“He’s right.. You took the wrong kids. Neither of us have worked in the offices hardly at all… If you call my father I’m sure he will reason with you-”

“Shut the fuck up! I'm not stupid I know the second I make a phone call the cops are going to track it!” The thug tightened his grip on Damian's arm and pulled something from his jacket, slamming the cold metal into the side of Damian’s head. “I don’t care what you tell me but you better start giving me something useful or I shoot the kid in the head!” 

Dick’s heart started trying to claw it’s way up his throat as soon as he saw the guy reach for his coat. Now he was trapped watching a desperate man who’s grand plan was falling apart hold a gun to his baby brother’s head. 

“P-please please put the gun down, we can talk this out without that. I don’t have anything to do with our father’s company. I don't know what I can offer you but if you just call our dad we can work something out.” Dick tried to keep his voice even and calm while he tried reasoning with the man. 

“I’m not calling him! I’ve seen this before! I call and cops swoop in guns blazing to save the day! No no I’m getting what I want! You are going to give me what I want! “ The man’s finger was on the trigger and Damian could feel his whole body quivering as he held him.” 

“Please I don’t know what you want me to tell you I don’t know anythin-” 

Bang!

Dick couldn’t stop the scream that tore its way from his throat as the gun went off. Damian was still standing pinned in the man's arms. His face now very pale as he stared at the bullet hole in the wall across the room, ears ringing from the gun going off next to his head.

“D-don’t shoot him please I’ll do anything I’ll get you how ever much money you want just let him go please-” 

Bang!

Dick was in tears now and shaking violently, struggling to break out of his bonds. 

“LET HIM GO PLEASE!” 

Damian was just frozen, blood was dripping down his cheek from where the last bullet grazed him. Even if he was Robin he wouldn’t be able to get out of this hold. Not with the gun to his head. His ears were ringing, his heart was pounding so hard he felt it behind his eyes, and his vision was starting to spot. 

“You have one more chance to tell me how to access Wayne Enterprise!” 

“I DON’T KNOW!!” 

Bang Bang Bang! 

Damian hit the ground, head smacking against the concrete hard. He could feel hot blood start to spread onto his shirt. He couldn’t breathe.. He couldn’t breathe! 

“Damian! Kid hey look at me! Look at me its okay!” 

A huge weight was pushed off his chest and air flooded his lungs as two strong arms pulled him into a tight hug. 

“There we go there we go deep breath’s deep breaths.” Red Hood quickly carried Damian away from the corpse of his kidnapper bringing him over to where Red Robin was untying Dick. “He’s okay Dick he's just shaken up but he’s okay… “

                                                            ~~~~~~~~~

“Grayson…?” 

Dick sat up in bed quickly, clicking on the lamp on his bedside table. Jason and Tim had gotten them both to the cave where Alfred checked them over quickly before sending them both to bed to get some rest. Damian hadn’t said a single thing the whole ride there and had disappeared as soon as they were cleared to leave the cave. 

“Hey little wing..” Dick moved to make room in his bed and patted the mattress gently inviting his brother to sit. “You okay?” 

Damian quickly climbed into bed beside Dick curling up against him. 

“Dami? Kiddo are you alright?” 

“I.. I’m .. I’m sorry ..” 

“Sorry? For what?” 

“For .. for reacting in such a disgraceful manner… I-I was.. I should have kept a better composure -”

“Damian, you had a gun to your head.. You … Kiddo you are allowed to be scared in situations like that, fuck Dami you shouldn’t have to ever be in situations like that let alone be expected to keep any sort of composure.. I don’t care what we do in masks.. Or what you mother and grandfather taught you.. You are a child. I know you hate it but it’s true and even if you were a grown up dami what happened was scary … You are allowed to be scared by shit like that.. I .. Damian I was terrified ..” 

Damian looked up at his older brother. “You were?”

“I was so scared Damian .. I can’t begin to tell you how scared I was.. I thought I was going to watch you get… I …” Tears were streaming down Dicks face freely “I thought I was going to lose my baby brother..” 

Damian hugged him tightly, curling up into his arms and burying his face into his chest.

“I am here Grayson.. I’m here.”

Dick held him tightly. “I know.. And I’m not going to let anything happen to you…”

Chapter Text

Wumptober prompt 4 dead on your feet 

“Tim what happened back there?” Batman demanded as soon as Tim got off his bike in the Batcave. 

“Nothing.” 

“Nothing? Letting three low level thugs like that get the jump on you is not nothing. Where was you head tonight? You compromised the mission Tim.You were late to the meeting point, Jason could have been hurt or killed tonight had Batgirl not shown up when she did. This was not nothing. So what. Happened.” 

“I messed up. Just like you said. I let them get a drop on me. That’s all. Just bench me and move on.” Tim tried to walk past Bruce, not making eye contact with the older man. 

Bruce reached out to grab Tim’s arm. “This conversation isn’t over Tim.” Tim tensed under Bruce's grip, nearly flinching away. Bruce narrowed his eyes. “Did they hurt you? Are you injured?” 

“Don’t change tactics. I’m fine they didn’t hurt me. I’m fine. Just let me go shower.” 

“Let the kid rinse off B.” Jason tossed his helmet onto a bench as he walked into the cave. “We can talk more when he’s had a minute.” 

Tim didn’t wait for Bruce to respond before tearing his arm out of his grip and rushing into the locker room. Bruce rubbed his face and let out a frustrated sigh. 

“He and I weren’t done Jason.” 

“He looked like he was going to pass out Bruce. Look I’m not happy about how the mission went down, but we made it out in one piece. Sometimes we just have bad nights, okay? The kid doesn’t need to have you hounding his ass. He already feels like shit. He fucking looks like shit too. Just let him get cleaned up and get some sleep and we can go over what happened in the morning.” 

“Wow Jaybird if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were going soft for Timmy. I was late for chili dogs last week and you wouldn’t stop bitching about it.” Dick grinned and ducked away from Jasons elbow. 

“Oh shut it. I just know the kid is already hard on himself as it is. And it’s not like he makes mistakes like this often.” 

“That was my whole point Jason. Tim doesn't let low level thugs get the drop on him. Something is going on and I want to know what it is before it compromises anyone else’s safety.” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not mad about the mission not going smoothly. I’m worried there is something going on with Tim.” 

“What ever it is I’m sure he will come to us once he’s gotten some rest B. Try not to worry.” Dick smiled gently. “Lets get some food before it’s too late okay? We can resume the brooding in the morning.” 

“I wasn’t brooding..” 

“Sure you weren’t” 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason wandered down into the cave rubbing his eyes sleepily, Alfred had insisted he stay the night which oddly enough he wasn’t overly opposed to. He had woken up a while ago to take a leek and had peeked into Tim’s room on his way back to his bedroom, not because he was worried. No no obviously not. He just didn’t want the kid to give Bruce something else to bitch about in the morning if he wasn’t sleeping. Which of course he wasn’t. The kid wasn’t even in the Manor meaning he was back in the cave working on something like the little insomniac workaholic he is. 

He made his way down into the cave expecting to find his brother hunched over a cup of coffee staring at the man screens of the batcomputer or working on some piece of tech for their gear, but there was no visible sign of the kid in the main parts of the cave either. Weird.. He hadn’t seen him on any of the couches in the manor, and not even Tim at his moodiest would be stupid enough to leave the Manor and cave completely with out at least telling Alfred or Dick that he was going. Especially after a bad mission. 

Jason was about to go back upstairs to sweep the Manor one last time before waking Dick up when he realized there was the sound of running water coming from the locker rooms. Did the kid seriously come all the way down here to shower again.. ? 

“Tim? Are you decent?” He called into the locker room but was met with no reply. “Tim?” 

“Alright I’m coming in.” He called, as he walked into the locker room and immediately felt his heart skip a beat. “Sh-shit! BRUCE! ALFRED!!” Jason shut off the frigid water and pulled Tim’s pale limp form into his arms, rushing him into the med wing of the cave. Tim was ghostly pale, and his skin was cold and clammy to the touch. But aside from the complete lack of response Jason was most concerned about the massive swollen gash across his brother's shoulder blade. They gash was clearly badly infected, puss and blood was still slowly oozing out it as he laid him down on his side on the medical cot. 

“You mother fucking little dumbass!” He cursed as he frantically hit one of the Caves' many panic buttons to get Bruce and Alfred down there and he started frantically pulling out antiseptic wipes and gauze pads. He had just thrown a blanket over Tims form when Bruce and Alfred ran in with Dick at their heels. 

“What’s wrong, what happened?!” Bruce rushed over, checking Tim’s puls quickly. 

“He fucking passed out in the shower. He never came upstairs he was fucked bleeding out slowly for the last three fucking hours!” 

“Where is he bleeding?” 

“Shoulder, it's infected. Alfred, we need antibiotics. Dick get a heated blanket hes fucking freezing.” Jason barked as he started cleaning the wound. 

“How could an injury get infected in just a few hours?” Dick asked as he pulled the heated blanket out and laid it over his pale little brother. 

“This has been here a lot longer than a few hours. It’s already been stitched shut at least once.. “ Bruce couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice. 

“You mean he fucking went on patrol with a six inch gash in his shoulder and didn’t fucking tell anyone he was hurt?” Jason was going to strangle this kid as soon as they got him patched up. 

“It appears so.. I have it well in hand from here. Go get master Timothy warm clothes and set up the space heaters in his room. I want him up stairs in bed on the iv as soon as I’m done with his stitches.” Alfred herded Jason and Dick out of the medical wing before getting back to work. “Now that they are distracted… Look under the blanket on Timothy’s left side.” Alfred spared a glance at Bruce as he continued his work stitching the cleaned wound.

Bruce immediately rounded the bed and pulled back the blanket, concerned quickly morphing in to mortification. “Alfred is that.. ?” 

“I will be checking it more thoroughly momentarily, but that is certainly surgical and is most definitely not in our medical records.” 

~~~~~~

“I’m sorry.. He doesn’t have a WHAT?!” 

“A spleen. It… it appears to have been removed.. From the look of the scar on his side it had to have happened within the last year..I’d .. I’d assume it happened while I was..” Bruce trailed off, looking at his son, now sleeping soundly bundled under blankets in his bed. 

“While you were dead. On top of all the other shit he went through and did.. He lost his.. But who could have even done it? Its not on any of his medical records, we would have found out about it if it was!” 

Dick was realling. He knew things had gone to shit while Bruce was gone, especially with Tim. And he knew he fucked up alot, and that Tim defienetly kept alot of what happened in that time to himself. But he had no idea that he had fucked up so bad that his own brother would hide something as major as an organ removal! 

“We will talk to him and get all the necessary information about it as soon as he is able to explain himself. But for now all we can do is make sure he stays in bed and rests while he fights off this infection… which is a lot more serious now that we know about his condition. But Alfred is reaching out to Doctor Tompkins and is getting him the proper medication to keep him as healthy as possible.” 

“Bruce are we.. Can he even patrol like this? Now that we know about his spleen being who knows where, can he really be taking the kinds of risks like this? We are getting cut on nasty as metal and shot at all the time! And clearly he can’t be trusted to tell us if there is an issue! He could have died from an infection like that and he had to have fucking known that!” 

“Jay, we can't just take this from him. We can’t make him hang up his cape for good-” 

“Like hell we can’t! He could have fucking died! So many time he could have fucked Dick! How many time’s has he gone to his shit hole appartment after patrol? How many times could he have been hiding an injury or been sick!? We have no way of fucking knowing Dick!”

“I KNOW!” Tears were streaming down Dick’s cheeks uncontrollably. “I know Jason I know and that is terrifying but I can’t..I don’t know what to do we can’t just make him stop he won’t just stop being a hero he will just leave like last time! Which is why this even happened! I took Robin from him. I drove him away. I'm the reason he didn’t tell us this happened in the first place!’ 

“I..I didn’t tell… you ..cuz I .. Didn’t want.. Damian .. T-to find out..” 

All three heads whipped around to face Tim who was trying to prop himself up onto the pillows. 

“Hey hey take it easy kiddo” Bruce rushed over to his son's side and helped him sit up carefully, making sure he was settled before seating himself on the edge of his bed. “Tim I .. I understand you and Damian don’t always see eye to eye.. But hiding things like major surgeries is-”

“It’s fucking stupid Tim. What's the kid going to do? Rub it in that he has more organs than you?” Jason snapped glaring at Tim from across the room. He tried not to feel guilty as the boy sunk down into the pillows, dropping his gaze to his lap to avoid Jason’s eyes. 

“It’s .. It’s more complicated than that,..” 

“Then explain it to us. Please tell us what happened.” Bruce took his hand gently in his own. “We just want to make sure you are okay Tim.. We .. We aren’t mad at you. We are upset that this happened.. And we want to know what we can do from here. But we can’t do that until we know what happened in the first place.” 

Tim took a shaky breath. “When.. when you were gone.. I left Gotham to look for you. I ..didn’t really have back up so I found an ally that I trusted to not kill me .. at least until we got you back.. Ra’s believed me .. and he helped me get you back.. But in the process we..we got attacked and I almost died. I was bleeding out in the desert and Ra’s men found me and brought me back to some cave where I had emergency surgery. My spleen was too damaged to.. They took it out. I lived, I brought you back and it was all fine. I.. I was going to tell you.. But… I didn’t know what you’d think of me teaming up with them in the first place.. And… and I did a lot of shit in that time that I didn’t want to think about let alone talk to you about. And every time I thought about telling someone.. I just.. I thought of Damian.. How he’d feel if he knew what his grandfather did to me.. And all the shit I did to him and the league .. I didn’t want him to be caught up in the crossfire from all that… So I didn’t bring it up. and.. I didn’t want to be seen as a loose cannon.. Or a liability. I.. I didn’t want to lose anything else or.. Or end up in Arkham.. “ Tim broke down in tears by the end of his rambling version of events. Sobbing into his knees. After months of carefully hiding it all, pretending that none of it happened. That everything was just peachy just like it was before Bruce disappeared, they knew. They knew he was broken and a liability. He was going to lose everything. 

Strong arms pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts and into a warm tight hold. 

“I’m so.. So sorry Tim I’m so so sorry.” Bruce held him tightly, tears streaking down his own cheeks. “I'm so sorry I wasn’t there to stop this… I’m so sorry..” 

“We all are.. Tim I fucked up so much.. I should have never left you to deal with all that on your own.. I.. I'm so sorry..” 

Tim just sniffled and reached out to his older brother who immediately joined them on the bed, pulling him carefully into a shaky hug. 

“I.. I never blamed you.. I .. I was hurt.. But I never blamed any of you.. I just.. I was scared to tell you..” 

“We can talk more about it later Baby Bird.. We will all sit down and talk this shit out.. And we will all do better as a family. But now just rest. You fucking earned it.” Jason sat at the foot of the bed, placing a hand on his brother's knee. “We will all be here when you wake up. I promise. “

Tim nodded weakly, curling up in the arms of his father. 

He was hurt. That probably wouldn’t change for a while. But he .. he was safe now he was safe and home with his family.. And they could fix everything else later.

Chapter Text

Thank you for reading thus far! more chapters will be added soon! I'm sorry wumptober ended up being a bust last month was shit for me and I had to put my energy elsewhere. I'm going to keep adding one shots, some might be tagged as wumptober but for the most part I'm just going to be posting what ever comes to mind. Please feel free to make suggestions in the comments! If you haven't already please check out my other work, Behind Closed Doors, its a Tim centric work and is updated more regularly (In theory)

Thank you!

Chapter Text

No Time To Give A Shit 

It had been over two months since Tim felt like he could breathe. Bruce had been away on JLA business off world leaving Gotham in the capable hands of his large family, and Wayne enterprise in the hands of Tim. Tim had been working as CEO for a while now and was pretty used to the workload, but that was while he was a drop out. Now, thanks to Jason’s peer pressure and guilt tripping he had taken his GED and started college classes on top of running a Multi million dollar company, and running around in a cape all night getting the shit beaten out of him. 

Tim took pride in his ability to work under pressure. He did his best work on tight timelines most of the time. But right now? He felt like he was drowning. He had several projects he was the lead on coming to their deadlines for WE and was far behind his planned schedule on all but one. He had three papers to write that he hadn’t even started due in a week, two labs, a group project, a board meeting, and a series of gruesome homicides he was working on. All demanding his undivided attention simultaneously.

Sure he could make a few cuts, maybe bribe Jason to help him with his homework, or ask Barbra to help take over his homicide case. But that was never Tim’s style. He was the one they went to when they were in a pinch and needed an extra pair of hands or a fresh set of eyes. And He had promised Bruce he could handle it all. He could do it all he just had to get through the next few days, then everything would be done. Bruce would be home and could take the brunt of things again and Tim would have time to breathe again! He just had to tough it out a little longer. 

Or at least that was the plan…. 

“Red you alright? You don’t look so hot..” 

Tim was hunched over leaning against a wall holding his stomach and breathing hard when Stephaine had swung onto his roof top during patrol.

“Y-yep.. Yea just a.. A cramp…” He grit out between gasps. 

“Aww you here that Nightwing? Baby Bird is getting his first period! We gotta call B, I dunno if he’s given the princess here the talk yet.” Jason cackled on the com link. 

“Be nice-” 

“Do you require pads Drake? Or tampons?” Damian's deadpan question left Jason howling and Dick smothering his own giggles.

Tim was going to say something snarky, it would have been perfectly executed if he didn’t choose that moment to collapse with a strangled cry of pain as a piercing pain shot through his middle. Steph was at his side in an instant and the com line was a mess of voices. 

“Shit shit Red are you okay? Are you injured?”

“Fuck Batgirl stay where you are I’m on the way” 

“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling good, Baby Bird, you could have stayed at the cave.” 

Tim sunk back against the wall shaking, he really hadn’t felt bad leaving. Tired sure but not sick or in pain.. But as suddenly as the pain had come on it faded… not vanishing entirely but dulling to a small ache. 

“I’m fine..” he said both to Stephanie and into the coms “I’m fine just a .. a really bad cramp or something. Might be an old injury flare up …” 

Steph gave him a critical once over, pressing her hand against his forehead. 

“Are you sure? That looked like more than just a cramp there …” 

“I’m sure. I’m fine I can finish up patrol-” 

“No no , absolutely not!” Dick cut in. “If it's an old flare up then you need to get that checked out and rest. And if it was a cramp then take a hot bath and get some potassium in you. Hood is on the way so he can drive you to the cave.” 

“I don’t need a ride, I can take my bike back to my place. It’s closer anyways.” 

“Alright.. Just be careful and call in when you get there. And get some rest.” 

“Roger that.” 

~~~~~~~~~~

He really had planned on getting some sleep. Truly he did! As soon as he got some work done at the office. He had stopped long enough to get some painkillers coffee and change into something significantly more comfortable before he settled in in his office at the WE building. He was sure to text Dick from his apartment though, he wasn’t stupid. Now he was on his second pot of coffee and had finished two of the papers he had due and was going over some spreadsheets that where left for him over lunch earlier that day. He had already told himself this was the last thing he’d look at before heading back to his place for the night when the dull ache suddenly flared, leaving him hunched over gasping in pain. 

Tim wasn’t ashamed to say this was one of the most intense gut wrenching pains he had ever experienced in his life. And that's saying a lot considering .. well.. His life. He let himself slump over his desk, focusing on keeping his breathing steady as he ran through a mental check of what could be causing this level of pain. Injury? No he hadn’t sustained abdominal blows in the last few fights. Illness? He knew he wasn’t running a fever and other than being exhausted he felt functional which wouldn’t be the case if he was sick due to his lack of spleen. Maybe he just needed to eat? He couldn’t quite seem to remember when his last meal was.. What was open now? He shifted his gaze to the clock on the wall. It read 4:42 AM. Shit.. His first meeting of the day started in less than two hours.. So not enough time to go home …. Though driving probably wouldn’t work out too well.. 

With a small defeated whimper Tim lowered himself to the ground, texting his assistant his breakfast and coffee order for the morning, then started the most excruciatingly painful stretches in hopes of alleviating some of the discomfort… It was shaping up to be a  very long day. 

~~~~~~~~~

Jason was not a mother hen. He didn’t give a shit if his brothers wore their jackets or gloves when it was cold because he was worried about them, he nagged them about it because it pissed him off to know he had once been cold because he couldn’t get warm things, and they were just choosing to be stupid. He didn’t give a shit if they got sick or whatever.. 

But it didn’t hurt to stop in and check in on them while they were sick.. Just to make fun of them of course. 

Which is why he was standing at Tim’s apartment with a bag of soup he had made the night before and pancakes he had made that morning.He had been knocking long enough the neighbor had poked their head out to tell him to give it a rest. He didn’t. But now he was starting to wonder if the damn kid was even in there at all. Naturally he broke in to check.  

“Timbit? You here?” He called as he dumped the food onto the counter and looked around the apartment. It was a mess as usual, paper work covering every surface, school books left open filled with note cards, empty coffee cups covered the counter. Jason never understood how the kid lived in this kind of mess all the time. He wandered through the apartment picking up trash and laundry as we went, barging into the bedroom or, what he had thought was Tim’s bedroom. He looked around the room slowly. The bed was shoved to the side of the room with the mattress stood up on its side, the underside of it was covered in graphic crime scene photos and notes from a recent series of homicides. The floor was completely cleared other then chalk outlines of a body, replicating the last murder. There were red splatters of paint replicating the blood on the scene and a line of the potential murder weapons at the edge of the room. 

Honestly Jason had to give the kid props. It wasn’t often Jason found himself at a total loss for words.. Yet here he was… speechless. Concerned. And slightly disturbed. 

And there was absolutely no sign of Tim. It didn’t look like he had left recently either. If it wasn’t for the Red Robin suit tucking into its hiding spot Jason wouldn’t have thought he had been there at all last night. Which meant the kid either felt worse and went to the manor and no one told him, or the idiot was at the office or Cave working and not resting like he was told. He pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text to Dick. 

‘Did Tim come to the manor last night?’ 

‘No? Why?’ 

‘Im at his apartment and he’s definitely not here. Popped in long enough to change and leave a gps ping here. Didn’t sleep here that’s for sure.’ 

‘Damn it. I’ll call him. I’m already on my way to work though, can you check WE? He probably went there and fell asleep at his office again.’ 

‘Heading there now.’ 

Jason headed straight to Tims office. He had been in enough times dragging Tim out to get some actual sleep or to feed him, the staff let him walk in now. Tim was slumped over his desk, face hidden in the crook of his arm. If it wasn’t for the white knuckle grip on the coffee mug in his hand he would have thought the kid was asleep. 

“Hey dip shit, when Dick said to rest he ment in a bed.” 

Tim didn’t even have the decency to flip him off. Or move.. 

“Timberly? ..Tim what’s wrong are you okay?” Jason knelt next to him trying to look him over.

“M..m fine…” Tim mumbled barely loud enough to be heard. 

“Yea you don’t sound fine. What’s wrong with you?”

“Just.. Just a stomach ache… Its… It’s fine..” There was a definite pained wine to His voice. 

“Are you sick? Have you been taking your antibiotics?” 

“Mmhm..” 

“Tim, I need you to look at me. Do we need to go to the hospital?” 

“I have two more meetings.. I can go after.” Tim mumbled, still not looking up. 

“Are you kidding me? I didn’t ask for your work schedule, dumbass I asked if you need to go to the hospital. Meetings can be rescheduled, medical emergencies can’t be. You already are running on less organs than is recommended.” 

Tim finally lifted his head to look at his brother, eyes bloodshot and cheeks tear stained. 

“It hurts alot Jay.” 

Jason was not a mother hen. But he was a damn good big brother, who had Tim in his arms in a heartbeat and was carrying him down to the garage where Tim’s car was. Tim made a few weak protests about being carried but most were drowned out by the pained whimpers that were making Jason’s heart clench. There were a million horrible possibilities of what could be wrong running though his mind as he sped to the hospital. 

He was not a mother hen, watching the hospital staff whisk his little brother away on a gurney would make anyone pace the waiting room restlessly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m sorry he’s What?! ” 

“Your brother is severely constipated. Based on his pain level and from what we can see we would say it's been at least two weeks since his last bowel movement.” 

“So .. I'm sorry I just… You mean to tell me he collapsed because hes literally full of shit?” 

“Well .. to put it bluntly .. yes.” 

Tim was certain this was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He was watching the little demon and angel on Jason's shoulders fight over whether he could laugh or not. At least he had the decency to wait until after the nurse had finished her explanation of the procedure they would be doing.to help his ..condition. 

“We looked at his emergency contact list and tried to reach out to his adoptive father, but were unable to get into contact with him. Is there anyone else we can contact?” 

“Our dad is out of town on a business trip, I’m his older brother and I can stay with him.” 

“Perfect. The procedure is a quick one, we will just keep him here after to make sure he wakes up a;right and is able to pass gas.” 

Tim sunk down farther into the blankets as Jason cackled. At this point losing another organ sounded a lot better than this. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

“So .. The doctor was telling me about this whole constipation thing.. She said it was stressed induced, most likely stress induced.” Jason was sitting next to Tim’s bed post procedure while they waited from him to be discharged. 

“Please .. Jay I don’t want to talk about it.. “ 

“No we are going to talk about why we are in a hospital room waiting for you to fart. Kid you didn’t shit for weeks and you didn’t think that that maybe wasn’t good?” 

“I was busy.”  

“You were too busy to literally give a shit? Don’t lie to me Tim, have you been sleeping at all since Bruce left? How many meals are you eating a day?” 

“I.. I don’t know.. I don’t have the time right now. I was going to rest when Bruce was back..” 

“Timbit you know you can’t do this shit to yourself..” 

“I don’t have a choice! You think I like this!? You think I like staying up days on end working non-stop on a million things? I can’t  just not do my job, I’m the CEO and I have responsibilities to the company to Bruce! And I have my night job. I have a case to solve Jason people are being killed and that won't stop until I figure out who's doing it. I have homework too now! I have papers to write and research to do and projects to work I don’t have enough time to sleep or eat or fucking keep track of the last time I took a shit! I have too much to do Jason! I have too much of it.. It's too much!” Tim was fighting back tears by the end of his outburst. He hadn’t meant to yell at Jason.. It wasn’t his fault Tim wasn’t able to properly handle himself and his work load.

Jason had an unreadable expression on as he moved from his chair to the bed, sliding in next to tim and pulling him gently into a hug. 

“Kid.. you don’t have to do everything… You have to know when to stop to take care of yourself.. Okay? This stuff isn’t more important than your health. Dick and Cass will take over your case. Bruce is on his way back now and he is going to finish taking care of the meetings and projects for WE. I already started proofing your homework and sent an email to your professors asking for an extension due to medical emergencies. We can work through them together while you rest at the manor under Alfred and Burces supervision to keep you out of the cave and away from anything that could be work related. You need to rest. Do you hear me? Actual real rest this time.” 

Tim sniffled. “O-okay…” 

“Atta boy..” Jason smiled and ruffled Tim's hair gently “It's time you learn to give a shit about yourself kiddo.” 

“I know..” The younger boy yawned, leaning into Jason's chest “Thank you.. For giving a shit..” 

“Of course Tim.. Of course.”