Chapter Text
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ti~im, happy birthday to you,” The very small crowd that consists of Jack, Dana, and Peter all sing around the unnecessarily fancy birthday cake that Dana had insisted on ordering for him. Sixteen candles were all lit, flickering back and forth before Tim sucks in a large breath and blows them out in a single puff. The smoke rises and curls in the air silently, and everyone claps with smiles that Tim, for once, can’t find anything but genuine happiness in.
It’s… Nice.
He’d invited Peter to come over after taking Spider-Man’s advice, and he’s glad he did. He can’t help but feel it would have been horrific if it were just his dad and stepmom singing him happy birthday.
Before anyone can get to cutting though, there’s a knock on the front door. Tim pauses, and for a moment his blood runs ice cold. It can’t be Ra’s, right? No, he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t show up while everyone was here… (Unless he were planning on killing them all, just to teach Tim a lesson).
That’s a cruel and terrifying thought that Tim doesn’t want to entertain.
He rushes to the door before his dad or Dana can get to it, not wanting to risk anything. He opens it and freezes when he sees the blonde girl standing on the other side. Her hair was shorter than he remembers, cut in almost a pixie, but he recognizes that face. It’s one he’d trusted with his life.
“...Cassie,” Tim breathes out, opening the door wider to allow her to come in. Sure, he was mad at her for abandoning him when he’d needed it most, but with her radio silence, he’d almost begun to truly believe she was dead too.
“Hey, Tim,” She smiles at him with her perfectly straight teeth on a face that has Tim’s guts going she’s special somehow . And of course she was. She was the daughter of Zues.
“What are you doing here?”
“It’s your birthday,” Cassie says simply, as if that explains everything. She’d been gone for nearly a year , that was hardly an explanation. She holds out a small box to him. “...I brought you a present.”
Tim hesitantly takes the box from her. “Thank you,” He looks down at it. It’s simple, wrapped in light blue paper with a silver ribbon around it. He carefully takes the ribbon off, and then opens the box with great care not to rip the paper. He doesn’t see it, but he just knows Cassie is rolling her eyes at him.
Inside the box are some cookies, a letter, and…
“Bart’s ring?” He asks quietly, picking it up with a small frown.
“...Yeah,” Cassie says quietly. “Um. Maybe not the best birthday present, but… I don’t know. I just thought… I thought you might like to have it.”
Tim nods quietly, putting the lid back on the box. He’d read the letter later. “...We were just about to eat cake, if you want some.”
Cassie gives him a small smile. “Yeah, that’d be great.”
Tim nods, leading her back into the kitchen. Peter was twiddling his thumbs awkwardly, and Dana and his dad both immediately lift their eyebrows at Cassie.
“Tim, is this your girlfriend?” His dad asks after a moment, and Tim coughs in surprise.
“No, ” Both of them say sternly at the same time.
“This is Cassie. She’s just a friend,” Tim clears his throat, going for the knife to begin cutting the cake. Hopefully then his dad would be too busy eating to ask questions like that.
Peter extends a hand out to her a moment later, although Tim can tell he’s a bit hesitant with it. “Um, I’m Peter Parker. Nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Tim’s from school.”
“Cassie Sandsmark,” She gives him a warm smile as she shakes his hand. “I’m friends with Tim from his… Old school.”
“In Gotham?” Dana pipes up.
“...Sure,” Cassie nods, taking the plate of cake as Tim holds it in front of her hands, not saying a word. It’s enough to make everyone in the room give Cassie a look of curiosity though, and he doesn’t miss the way his dad’s eyes narrow into slits.
“What are you doing in New York then?” His dad huffs, suddenly no longer looking too pleased about Cassie’s presence.
“It’s Tim’s birthday,” Cassie shrugs, giving him the same answer she’d given Tim at the door before she takes a bite of chocolate cake to avoid answering any other questions for a moment.
Tim hands his dad a plate next, hoping the cake will keep him content and quiet for a few minutes. He didn’t need the man interrogating Cassie. Especially since Cassie… Well, he trusts her with his life, but he knows she’s not one to sugarcoat things, and he’s not sure he wants his dad to have the medicine go down without that spoonful of sugar.
“So, uh, where’ve you been?” He asks after a few minutes, trying to keep his voice quiet.
“...Themyscira,” She answers back in the same hushed tone, glancing around at the other party guests, but none of them were paying any attention. His dad and Dana were talking amongst themselves, and Peter was stuffing his face with chocolate cake with a lot of enthusiasm. “That’s why I wasn’t answering your texts. I’m sorry. I just…”
“You needed time to think,” Tim nods, because he does understand.
Cassie nods sharply. “Yeah. I needed time to think. And… I wanted to have some good sparring matches, too. Can’t get much better than the Amazons for that.”
Cassie means it as a joke, but Tim has no doubt that it’s true. He’s never been to Themyscira, for obvious reasons, but the few Amazons he does know… Well. He just doesn’t doubt it.
“It’s good to have you back, Wonder Girl,” Tim gives her a tight smile.
“It’s good to be back, Robin.”
She’s the first person to call him by that name in a long time, and Tim can’t help but have his chest swell when she mentions it. His smile becomes a bit more genuine, if not a bit broken. He still misses that world. More than anything.
“Hey, Peter, come on,” Tim says after a few more minutes, once everyone’s cake is pretty much gone. He takes Peter’s hand and pulls him up, moving down the hall and to his bedroom, Cassie following along behind them with her head tilted curiously.
He doesn’t have an exact plan, per se, he just didn’t really want to have his parents listening in on his conversations.
They get to his bedroom, and he plops down on the edge of the bed. He glances at Cassie after a minute. “Um, Peter knows about Robin. Just… You know, so you don’t feel like you have to pretend you don’t know.”
Cassie blinks a few times, her mouth opening a bit in surprise. “He does?” She says after a long moment of processing.
“Yeah.”
“But you’re so careful with it.”
“I told him.”
“You didn’t tell me until-” She stops herself, but Tim knows exactly what she was going to say. He hadn’t told Cassie his identity until after both Kon and Bart were dead. He’d pulled off his mask and confessed that his real name wasn’t Alvin Drapper. He’d kept it a secret before because of Bruce, but a large part of him has always regretted that he’d never had the chance to tell Kon or Bart the truth. He’d always wanted to tell them who he really was. They’d been his best friends…
So he’d told Cassie, the third person that he’d always wanted to know the truth. Although he’s still not sure if he told her because of that or if he’d been consumed by guilt at never telling Kon and Bart. It didn’t matter much though. He’d told her. And he’d told Peter.
Slowly, Tim’s eyes meet Cassie’s. “I know,” He says quietly.
Peter slowly leans forward with a small frown on his face. “...I get the feeling there’s something going on that I don’t know about.”
Cassie sucks in a breath. “Sorry. Um. I guess if Tim thinks you’re trustworthy, you must be. I’m Wonder Girl.”
Peter blinks a few times at her. “That explains the biceps.”
Tim snorts, shaking his head. Of course that would be the first thing out of Peter’s mouth. “We used to be on a team together, um… About a year ago.”
He can’t believe it’s been that long.
“And who are you?” Cassie lifts an eyebrow at Peter, placing her hand on her hip.
“Uh, what? I’m nobody. Um. I mean- I’m just Peter. I uh, I’m Tim’s math tutor, if that’s what you're asking,” Peter almost seems to panic at the accusation, which is ridiculous. Tim hadn’t thought he’d get this flustered at meeting Wonder Girl, but he supposes that he is meeting her for the first time. He’d already known Tim for quite a while before he’d confessed to being Robin, he was probably over being star struck by then.
Cassie glances at Tim and then back at Peter, squinting hard. She gains the barest hint of a smile that Tim would have missed if he didn’t know her so well. “Yeah, alright, just Peter. I didn’t know Tim was capable of making friends outside of the mask, that’s all.”
“Hey,” Tim pouts. He was perfectly capable.
“Don’t look at me like that. We both know you’re a total recluse who has to be dragged out of the house,” Cassie nudges him. It’s a completely fair statement, but still, it only causes him to pout harder. “I mean, Kon had to practically drag you out on…” She slows to a stop at the look Tim gets on his face when she mentions Kon’s name. She shifts a bit. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Tim swallows tightly, clenching and unclenching his fists. It’s still a sore spot for him, somehow. He tells himself he should be over it by now. After all, it’d been almost a year.
“...I’m sorry I left,” Cassie says quietly. “I should have stayed. I just- I thought… I didn’t realize you weren’t going to be Robin anymore.”
“I can’t be Robin anymore,” Tim corrects. “My dad found out and he won’t let me go out there. Otherwise, I still would be.”
“Oh.”
Tim shrugs, running a hand through his hair. He suddenly pauses, looking at Cassie as if a light bulb has gone off in his head. “Ra’s doesn’t know who you are.”
“What?” Both Cassie and Peter blurt out at the same time.
“Ra’s has been totally stalking me. But he doesn’t know who you are!” Tim sits up more, eyes a bit wide. “At least, I don’t think he does. But how could he? He knows who Batman and Nightwing are, but… You have no connection to them.”
It’s like he’s just gotten a pawn to the other side of the chess board and traded it in for a queen. “Oh my god, Cassie. You might have just saved my life.”
“What are you talking about, Tim?” Cassie cuts him off, folding her arms over her chest as she gives him a look that’s both confused and curious.
Tim sucks in a breath. “Okay, um. I… May or may not have made a deal with Ra’s Al Ghul.”
“Why would you do that?” Cassie’s voice raises a pitch, her eyebrows scrunching together. “Are you stupid, Tim? The guy’s got a fucking army!”
“He has an army? ” Peter adds, also sounding considerably alarmed. Which is completely fair. Tim may or may not have been leaving out a lot of things when talking to Peter. He didn’t want him to worry too much. “When you said you were in over your head, I didn’t think you were an army in over your head!”
“Okay, listen. I was mad at Bruce and Ra’s just sort of showed up one day offering to train me, and at the time I thought it’d be the perfect way to get back at Bruce and my dad, so I accepted, but then he also told me that it was going to come at a price, and I have no idea what he wants from me. That was months ago, and I’ve just been training with Shiva and trying to think of a way out of it. I can’t call Bruce, because one he’ll be expecting that, and two Bruce will tell my dad . Ra’s knows who Bruce and Dick are, so I can’t be sneaky about it either. I have a feeling he’s probably monitoring my phone calls… I mean, he tried to bug my room, but I found it a long time ago. I don’t know what to do about all of this.”
Cassie stares at him for a long moment before she decks him right on the cheek. He deserves that. “You are an idiot, ” She huffs, frowning at him. Tim rubs his cheek, opening his mouth, but she cuts him off. “What’s the plan then?”
“...You’ll help?”
“Yeah. You’re an idiot, but you’re my best friend. Of course I’ll help,” Cassie rolls her eyes. “Besides, I always love a good fight.”
“Um…” Peter pipes up, raising a hand as if he’s in class. “No offense, but… You don’t want my help fighting this guy, right?”
“Oh, no, Peter, absolutely not,” Tim blinks at him. He expects a sigh of relief to come from him, but he doesn’t get one. Instead it’s a simple nod.
“Okay cool. Uh, another question.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not doing this completely by yourself, right? I mean. You’re going to get help from somebody else too, aren’t you?”
“Like who?” Tim frowns a bit. He wouldn’t turn down extra help, but he’s not really sure where he’d be able to get it.
Peter shifts in the chair for a moment. “Uh, do you know Spider-Man?”
Tim blinks, but then he frowns a bit. “Yeah… The only issue is that Ra’s knows we’ve spoken.”
“He does?” Peter’s eyes widen in surprise.
“Yeah, like I said, he’s a total stalker. He’s seen me talking to him before,” Tim frowns. “But maybe…”
“Oh. Whoa.”
“Yeah… I’ll think about it. Next time we bump into each other on the roof, maybe.”
Cassie hums. “Just let me know when and where you need me, bird brain.”
Tim considers for a moment. “Not yet. I’m going to need a plan first, something Ra’s will never see coming. I think it might actually be a good idea for me to infiltrate his base. I can figure things out from there.”
Cassie’s eyebrows pinch as she gives him a concerned look. “Be careful, alright? The last thing we need is you getting hurt.”
Tim smirks back at her. “Oh please. Undercover work is one of my specialties, remember? I’ll be fine.”
“I can’t believe my life has gotten this weird,” Peter sighs heavily, shaking his head.
“Your life? I’ve been friends with Tim for years. Think about how I feel,” Cassie hums, leaning back in the office chair she was sitting in.
“How am I the weird one? Your father is Zues ,” Tim frowns at her, folding his arms over his chest in indignation.
“Honestly that just makes it worse. I’m a demigod and I think you make my life weird. I know you’re technically human, but you are one weird little dude, Tim.”
Tim rolls his eyes. “I’m not that weird.”
“You don’t even know the list of things I have that would classify you as weird, Tim,” Cassie shakes her head.
“You’re good at hiding the fact that you’re so weird,” Peter hums. “I mean, I knew there was something up with you, but I just thought you were really depressed.”
“I’m not depressed,” Tim scoffs.
Cassie lifts an eyebrow, looking him up and down. “Riiiiight.”
“Okay, maybe a little. But I have every right to be.”
“Hey, I’m not judging,” Peter puts his hands up.
Cassie suddenly gets up, wrapping Tim up in an extremely tight hug. Tim yelps, wriggling a bit. “Gah! Cassie, watch the superstrength-”
“I’ve missed you, Tim.”
“I’ve missed you too,” Tim gasps for breath. “Now watch the superstrength, Shiva keeps breaking my ribs.”
Cassie steps away. “Oh my god, she what?”
“Relax! I’m fine,” Tim brushes the wrinkles out of his shirt. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Tim…”
“ And I’ll make a plan. I’m a bat, it’s what I do best.”
“You said that about stealth.”
“That’s also what I do best.”
“Right before getting spotted.”
“Alright, that’s enough out of you,” Tim huffs. He turns to look at Peter. “Sorry for dragging you into this.”
“Oh, you’re not dragging me into this at all. I am not helping you with whatever thing you’re doing,” Peter hums firmly. “I’ve got asthma, I’m not cut out for the hero life.”
Tim smiles a bit, shaking his head. “Well, thanks for listening anyway. You’re a good friend.”
“Yeah, yeah. I will be completely honest, I was not expecting you to turn out to be Robin. Was not on my bingo card whatsoever.”
“Yeah, well… Thanks anyway. I didn’t know how much I needed you last school year, and I know I’m not always the best at showing it, but I’m really glad you’ve been around.”
Peter gives him a nod and a soft smile. “Yeah, well. You’ll have to kick some assassin butt on my behalf then.”
“It’ll be my honor.”