Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

If working with Batman had taught the league one thing it would be to not ask questions that aren’t relevant to a mission, the chances of getting an answer are next to zero so it’s best not to bother. But Hal found that today the oversized Bat was pushing it. Standing next to the man was not only one but two robins, both equipped with swords and looking like they’d be happy to stab anyone.  

“Spooky, say why exactly did you clone your youngest ?”, Hal dared to ask. He was answered by a ''tt'' from the Robin on the left and a batglare™ by the one on the right. The bat himself just ignored the question in favor of reading over the documents in front of him.   

“I was not cloned Jordan and I am not the youngest either.”, the short haired Robin stated snidely, Hal’s brain blue screened for a moment before he found his composure in a corner of his mind.   

“Then where did that one come from ?” the lantern questioned while pointing at the new Robin, who was only discernible from the other by the shoulder long hair tied into a small ponytail, “And wait, did you just say you’re not the youngest anymore ?”  

The child vigilante tsked at Hal again and gave him a look as if he couldn’t believe how stupid the hero was. “This is my twin sister, Robin.”  

“Well that’s not confusing at all,” Oliver deadpanned from the side and received twin Batglares™.  

“You also didn’t answer my second question, you’re not the youngest anymore ? How ? And since when did you have a twin I thought we met the whole Batclan ?” Hal questioned, he was increasingly confused.  

The boy Robin actually snorted at him, a thing Hal thought was impossible for the kid. “No one ever said I was the youngest. Also you’re a fool if you think you’ve met the whole of our family.”  

“Yup not sure even we know who is part of that whole mess called the Batclan anymore,” Red Robin chimed in from the door way. His sudden appearance startled about half the league and finally caught Batman’s attention. The man looked up from the documents he had been studying, absolutely trying to avoide getting involved in the conversation.   

“Red Robin, you’re not supposed to be here.”, he stated more than asked.

“Yeah well, I was send to request back up.” The teen’s statement got the attention of all the leaguers present, they immediately exploded in questions of what kind of emergency or threat had occurred for the Batclan to need back up.  

Red Robin motioned for them to calm down with one hand while he carded the other  through his messy hair and sighed heavily. “The Mini won’t stop crying and we aren’t able to figure out why and we didn’t want to bother Agent-A on his vacation.” 

“So you decided to bother me in my important league meeting instead ?”, Batman asked his son and after said son raised a single eyebrow at the man he continued, “Good choice, I’ll be with you right away.”  

The man instantly stood up and gathered together the bundle of files he had prepared for their mission briefing before turning around and giving them to the short haired Robin, the Robin they had known for longer.  

Hal had half a mind to scream that there were too many Robins but he stopped himself. He really hoped there weren’t more going to appear but he was less than optimistic. He could only imagine what Red Robin had meant by ‘The Mini’. Batman promptly left the meeting room with the third Robin. 

Before the lantern could think about asking anymore questions, Robin slammed the stack of papers he had been handed only moments before onto the meeting table. “Well then, father has given me the responsibility to lead the briefing of the up coming mission. I do hope you’ve all read the E-mail that had been send out before.”  

Groans erupted all around the table, they would have to simply accept being briefed by a child as no one was particularly looking to be stabbed today.   

The quiet Robin, Hal really hoped she’d get her own vigilante name soon, perched herself on the top of Batman’s chair. She was observing everyone with critical eyes that translated despite the whiteout lenses of her domino. Anytime one of the heroes present started to lose attention they would receive a paper ball between their eyes. It was just paper but it somehow hurt about as much as a pebble would.  

Unsurprisingly the method was successful and for the first time in a long time no one, not even Barry, had follow up questions. Hal had to admit it was impressive but he wasn’t happy about the small bruise he now had on his face. 

After the meeting Hal observed how Robin typed a quick report on how the meeting had gone, quick by Bat standard, so a message so detailed yet short that it seemed like it was written in a different language all together. Hal mused that it probably was.  

Slowly the league members filtered out of the meeting room, most of them looking exhausted from having to actually pay attention for once. To Hal’s surprise one of the few not looking exhausted was Wally who had joined as speedsters were deemed extremely crucial to the up coming mission. Curious how Wally came out looking almost refreshed while Barry looked absolutely wrecked, Hal approached the young hero. 

“How the fuck do you look like you just slept 8 hours and didn’t sit in a meeting led by a child for the past two hours ?” Hal asked, his tone incredulous. 

“May I remind you who the leads the titans ?”, Wally returned with a raised eyebrow. “The thing I don’t get is how B lets you guys get away with not paying attention.” The speedster shook his head in disbelief.  

“So you’re telling me they’re all like this ? They’re actually worse than their father ?”, Hal sputtered.  

“Oh no, B is much worse. He’s just given up with you guys I think.”, Wally laughed, absolutely amused by the offended look on Hal’s face.  

“How do you get along so well with the Bats anyway ?”, Hal asked, his exhaustion clearly leaking into his voice.  

“I don’t know, I think marrying one of them helped.” Wally keeled over laughing at Hal’s look of absolute shock.  

“You married one of them ?!”, he half screamed.  

“Nah, I was kidding,”, Wally hummed, “I am engaged to Nightwing though.”

Hal’s brain blue screened for the second time today at the admissions. As Wally looked at him worried and waved a hand in front of Hal’s face he snapped back to reality.  

“Does Barry know ?!”, Was the first thing that made it out. 

Wally sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “We might’ve forgotten to tell him. Or anyone really.” Wally turned a bright shade of red. “It happened on a mission we did just the two of us. Kinda slipped out, non of that getting down on one knee and asking, just sharing a moment and realizing that we wanna spend the rest of time together.”, Wally recounted, his eyes glistening fondly. “Don’t even have a ring, he did get me a really cool souvenir from that mission though.”  

“Congratulations you love struck bird.”, Hal joked though he meant the congratulations.  

Wally grinned a toothy smile and pulled out his phone, he showed Hal pictures of his engagement souvenir and Hal had to admit that an ancient magical sword was a pretty amazing replacement for a ring.

—————oOoO🌑OoOo—————

Tim gently pulled his domino off of  his face as Bruce pulled off his cowl. The teen was already dressed in comfortable clothes so he rushed up the stairs of the Batcave to the manor. Bruce was right behind him, though the man was still half dressed as a giant bat.  

They had barely entered the manor when Tim could already hear the screaming again. His ears cursed him for returning but he had to. No way he could just dip when one of his siblings was in distress. Bruce and Tim turned the corner into the living room and almost ran over Terry who had the source of the siren like wails in his arms. The small boy had been pacing around the room, desperately trying to calm his little brother down. Bruce didn't hesitate and reached out his arms for Terry to give the toddler to him. There was a slight hesitation from the eight year old, still not quite able to trust the man that was apparently his father, Tim was well versed in recognizing the look. He had worn it for quite a few years himself.  

Tim just watched as it all happened, Bruce gently cradling the small child after Terry placed Matt into his arms, gingerly bopping him up and down and quietly humming a melody Tim thought he distantly recognized. The caped crusader paced around the room until the batling finally calmed down. The man then lowered himself onto the couch, careful not to disturb the toddler.   

Tim's eyes wandered from the domestic scene in front of him to Terry. The boy looked very troubled and it was obvious to Tim why. He stepped next to the boy. Their eyes met for just a moment before they both turned to keep watching the man in front of them.  

''He got Matty to calm down so easily.'' Terry mumbled after a long moment, a hint of envy and chagrin in his voice.  

Tim hesitated to answer, he turned the words over in his head a few times before he spoke, ''B has a lot of experience with little ones, more than one would expect.''  

The boy looked up at him and seemed to search his face for a sign of a lie. He didn't find one though, as Tim was telling the truth. The big scary bat was great at calming children. Where he had acquired that skill ? Tim didn't know. Maybe it came from raising a bunch of kids.  

''You did well.'' Tim spoke softly. He gently ruffled the hair of the, for now, smaller boy. Terry tensed under the touch but hesitantly accepted it. He averted his gaze though, seemingly studying the floor intensely.  

''You're just saying that.'' he almost whispered and Tim pretended that he couldn't hear how the boy's voice broke as he spoke. 

''I am not, I promise you Terry.'' Tim's voice was similarly quiet but he made sure that it still sounded assertive. He placed a hand on Terry's shoulder and lightly squeezed it before joining Bruce on the couch. He sat down with enough space for exactly one eight year old between them. Tim pulled out his laptop from where he had stored it under the coffee table. After a handful of minutes, as he was typing he felt how the space he left was filled. With a well hidden glance he saw how a quite tense Terry was watching the now sleeping Matt with deep fondness and a protectiveness worthy of a bat.   

He watched as Bruce very carefully placed Matt in Terry's arms again, a small smile spread over the boys features. Tim more felt than saw all the tension leave the kids body. A fond smile took residence on the teens face too as he simply returned his attention to his laptop. Working on a case while simultaneously answering E-mails from the executives of Wayne Enterprises. 

—————oOoO🌑OoOo—————

Tim could still remember the day they had found Terry and Matt. It had been a slow patrol when a bright flash lit up half of Crime Alley. It only took a moment for all the bats that were out that night to converge at the site. The tension was high as they realized where the light had come from exactly.   

The Gotham vigilantes had shared a quiet conversation, all very glad that Bruce was off world and not with them. Though the man is adamant about denying it, they all now that he avoids this particular alley as much as possible. The one right next to the monarch theater, the place were Bruce’s live changed irreversibly.   

As they peered down into the alley there was still a bright glimmer left but strong enough to obscure their vision somewhat. Then the light suddenly disappeared as quick as it had appeared. It left only a small and dark bundle of something behind. The something, the bats quickly realized,  was a child. As the small thing quietly groaned and moved ever so slightly to the side before stilling again they noticed that the kid was holding a toddler in his arms. Holding on tight despite not being conscious.   

Though Bruce would’ve scolded them for it, the bats moved swiftly towards the children, with Dick right at the front and Jason right behind him. Tim took it upon himself to survey the surroundings, though he too wasn’t far behind his brothers. Steph was next to him, she was reporting everything to Oracle. Tim watched with split attention as Dick carefully lowered himself next to the two children, he looked harmless and like his guard was down but Tim knew that his oldest brother couldn’t be more alert and ready right now. On top of that Jason stood right behind Dick, guns not drawn but his hands hovering next to them. One might say they were overly cautious but in their line of work, well in this world in general you had to expect everything. A world were logic tended to leave the room more often than not.   

“Hey, kid,” Dick addressed the older of the two children gently, not yet touching either child, “Can you hear me ?”  

All the man got was a groan from the older boy. Just as Dick was about to reach out to touch the kid, the toddler the boy was clinging to blinked open his eyes. Then it took only half a second before the alley was filled with an impressive cry and only half a second more before the older boy snapped awake and instinctively started to soothe the child. It took until the toddler stopped crying before the boy noticed the eight eyes on him. As the kid went rigid with tension and pressed the toddler closer to his side, Tim was reminded how terrifying they must be.  

He cleared his throat, “You’re awake, good.” At his words the boy flinched hard and Dick send him an incredulous look. Tim threw back a look that said ‘What did I do wrong ?!’   

“Way to open Replacement. Couldn’t have chosen a more typical villian line ?” Jason chimed in, his tone light and joking. Although it barely translated through his helmets voice modulator.   

“Well at least I said something. You guys just stared into the kids soul.” Tim declared, crossing his arms and puffing his chest out in played offense.  

The boy’s eyes were darting between the bats with an impressive alertness. Dick was about to say something but before he could add to the banter Steph cut in, “Anyone else think the kiddo looks weirdly familiar ?” 

The purple bats comment made them all go quiet and all eyes returned to look at the children. Tim studied their every feature intensely. Before he could stop it an idea popped into his mind. The location, the weirdly familiar looking child. The only thing out of place was the toddler.   

‘Oh god, don’t tell me…‘ he thought to himself, or that was at least what he had wanted to do. The eyes that suddenly snapped to look at him told him he hadn’t succeeded in that, he must’ve spoken aloud.  

“Red, what is going on in that brain of yours ?”, Steph asked next to him, clearly not looking forward to his answer.  

“It’s just, the bright light, the location, his looks… I don’t wanna jinx anything but…” he trailed of at the end but he could easily tell that his siblings had found themselves at the same conclusion.  

“Shit.” Was all Jason added.   

“Shit indeed.” Dick hummed in agreement.   

After that quite the ordeal had broken out as they tried to not scare away the kid while at the same time trying to get him to follow them to the Batcave. In the end the promise of food and new diapers had convinced the boy to come with them.   

On the drive back Dick had tried to get some kind of information out of the boy but he had been tight lipped. At some point Tim and Dick shared a silent conversation and the car went quiet. If Tim’s theory was right these two just went through possibly the worst thing one could imagine. Tim grimaced slightly at Dick’s expression. His brother knew first hand what the small boy was going through and being unable to do anything for the kid must’ve been torture.  

Back at the Batcave, they did the usual tests, expecting their fears to be confirmed the cave was unusually quiet. 

But reality proved to be much more confusing than their theories. Because the kid in front of them wasn’t a young Bruce from an alternate universe in which the Wayne’s had had another son. The kids were of Wayne blood but not in the way they thought.  

“The gremlin is gonna hate this.” Jason stated, an amused smile plastered on his face despite the shock, clearly visible now that he had taken of his helmet.  

The kids in front of them were apparently Bruce’s children. By blood. To Tim’s surprise the shock was not only visible in his siblings but also in the boys face himself.  

“That can’t be right…” the kid mumbled so quietly Tim would’ve missed it if he hadn’t  stood so close to the boy.  

“Why can’t it be ?” He probed, though he wasn’t really expecting to get an answer. 

“I- that man is not my father.” The kid stated surprisingly loudly, though his voice broke slightly at the end as tears started to well up in his eyes.   

“Well the test is pretty damn accurate, so at least in this universe, he is.” Jason fired back.  

“This universe ?” The boy asked clearly confused, tears still threatening to fall.   

“We are currently working under the assumption that you are from another universe. It would at least be the least complicated explanation.” Tim added, his brain having slipped back into detective mode as he tried to piece together the few things they knew.   

“Leaving everything aside for a moment, what’s you name kiddo ?“ Dick threw in. “And your brothers name would be lovely to know too.” He gestured vaguely at the small bundle the boy was still clutching to himself. Surprisingly the toddler had fallen asleep at some point and was yet to wake up again.  

The kid hesitated for so long Tim was almost sure he wouldn’t answer at all, “My name is Terry McGinnis.” He put extra emphasis on his last name. Terry paused again before he continued a bit softer, “And this is my brother Matt.” 

—————oOoO🌑OoOo—————

It took the bats a few weeks to finally feel like they had a grasp on the McGinnis situation. Thanks to Zatanna and Constantine they could confirm that Terry and Matt were indeed from another universe and they could also confirm that sending them back would not be possible without risking massive consequences.   

Terry didn’t look happy about having to stay but he also didn’t outright complain. Tim was afraid the kid would run away the first chance he got but Terry stayed. Despite him avoiding Bruce like the plague as much as he could. Jason said that the kid was probably staying for his little brothers sake and Tim had to agree. 

It had taken months to get to a point where Terry was comfortable leaving Matt alone with anyone besides Alfred, because of course the kid had almost instantly trusted the butler. No one had been surprised in the slightest. Over all no one had been very surprised that another two children had been added to the family. Not even Damian showed much annoyance or anger. Maybe that was because they shared blood or maybe it was the fact that this had been the second time now another biological child of Bruce had appeared. The last having been Athanasia, just a couple of weeks before Terry and Matt had appeared.   

Talia had just suddenly visited with a young girl in tow. She introduced her and when she left the girl had stayed behind. Used to their constantly growing family they had just accepted her without much fuss. 

Bruce had tried his best to prevent it but the girl had insisted that she too wants to be a vigilante but as she had undergone the same training and upbringing as Damian, Athanasia was on the murder happy side too. It gave Bruce quite the headache to deal with yet another child that refused to follow his most important rule. Not that any of the other not Assassin raised children did, all of them viewed it more as a suggestion and a standard rather than a hard rule. 

Dick had then suggested that Athanasia could spend some time as Robin until she had learned the bat way. Bruce had easily agreed to the idea as it had worked miraculously well for the current Robin but Damian had been less than happy, luckily he agreed to settle it with a duel.  

Funnily enough the fuel between the twins had ended in a draw. The two of them, raised to acknowledge strength, had then easily bonded. Now Gotham was under the protection of two Robins, at least until Athanasia or Damian would decide on a new moniker. 

Tim was broken out of his reminiscing by somebody suddenly leaning on his arm. He looked to find that Terry had nodded off, Matt still held tightly in the small boys arms. 

Tim’s heart just about melted at the show of trust, even if it was only subconsciously. The teen looked up to where Bruce had sat, only to find him gone. He must’ve left at some point while Tim was lost in thought. 

Tim closed his laptop and fully took in his two current newest little brothers. Not that he was expecting it to be that way for long, Jason had texted them all a few days ago that operation: ‘Make Batson a Bat son’ was a go. It had taken a bit to get everything ready but Tim was sure that it now was only a matter of when Billy would sign the papers not if.  

Tim felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, Dick had sent a message into their siblings-only group chat. It was a selfie of the oldest bat brother sitting on the ledge of a building dressed in his Nightwing suit, sitting next to him one could see Billy. The boy wasn’t looking at the camera and it was clearly a covertly taken picture. Then a message popped up, it read ‘first approach went well ! Even though it was unplanned lol’. 

Tim lightly chuckled to himself. He quickly checked their schedule but he wouldn’t need to head to Fawcett till the next morning. Since Bruce handed Billy the papers about three weeks ago there had always been at least one bat stationed in Fawcett to keep watch over Billy and try and gather information to help them make operation M.B.A.B.S. a success. It had also become a game between the bats to see how obviously they could hide without Billy noticing them. The whole thing was also a secret from Bruce and Alfred. All though Tim was pretty sure Alfred had already found out and just hadn’t said anything.  

Tim closed his phone and stuffed it back into his pocket. He moved the laptop from his lap onto the couch pillow next to him. The warmth from Terry, who was still sleeping on his arm, was dangerous as it reminded Tim that he hadn’t slept in a few (48) hours. Tim had half a mind to get up to grab some coffee as Alfred walked into the room. The butler looked fondly at the boys for a moment before he moved towards them. Alfred skillfully extracted Matt from Terry’s arms without waking the toddler or the boy and send Tim a loaded look. The teen pouted a little but let his body settle back into the couch. Terry stirred lightly and now, that his arms were free, fully clung to Tim’s arm. The teen carefully pulled his arm from his little brothers clutch and used it to instead pull the smaller body into his side. He wrapped his arm around the boy which grumbled a little displeased in his sleep before he settled into Tim’s side. 

Tim too let his body settle and he stopped fighting his exhaustion. He didn’t need to wait long before he felt his consciousness drift as his body gladly fell asleep. 

Soon after Tim was out, a picture was send into a certain family group chat. It would later be framed by a certain dark knight and added to the many family pictures that decorated the manor.

Chapter Text

School was tiring in and of itself but school without sleeping before hand was not something Billy recommended. Usually he was fine even if he hadn't slept the night before but for some reason today just was a lot more exhausting then usual. The first lesson had started with a pop quiz no one had been ready for, directly followed by a lecture from their teacher about how they should know the answers in their sleep. The second lesson hadn't been any better as if was math and Billy just didn't have the energy to solve his exercise books problems for it. The thing should really develop some logic. Billy doubted he would ever be buying a hundred watermelons or any other fruits in questionable amounts. 

The third lesson had been the worst as it was just a way too long history lesson about his teacher's current family drama. He would've much rather written another pop quiz. The fourth lesson had been PE and had been much more fun but not any less exhausting. 

Now it was Lunch time and Billy was just about ready to fall asleep. He had opted out of eating in the cafeteria with Freddy and Mary as he wasn't very hungry. He had settled underneath an old oak that was just barely still within the fences of his school. Billy had his head leaned back and was looking up towards the foliage of the tree. It rustled in the wind in a very relaxing manner and Billy felt his eye lids grow heavier with every breeze. He was about to give in to the calls of sleep when he was startled by a sound. It sounded like someone or something had hit the tree trunk. Billy looked around, trying to mask the panic that was starting to bubble up. 

His eyes darted all over the place, until he spotted a cup. One of those reusable coffee cups that had been in the trend lately. It was a muted red color, the original color washed out from use. Then Billy noticed a post-it stuck to the top of it. He carefully approached the cup to read it. He was quite stumped as it just read: 'Drink this, -T.' 

The cryptic message unsettled Billy a little but now that he was closer to the cup he could smell the unmistakable smell of fresh coffee. He wondered where the cup could've come from but his brain wasn't braining because of the exhaustion that was still very much present. Billy reached out and grabbed the red cup. He took off the lid and sniffed the caramel colored liquid. The warmth of the beverage didn't escape Billy's notice. Quite honestly what happened next wasn't one of Billy's proudest moments, he hesitated for a short moment before shrugging and chugging the coffee. 

As he lowered the now empty cup, Billy could've sworn he heard a low, impressed sounding whistle from one of the thick tree branches. His eyes snapped up but he couldn't spot anything or anyone. The only thing he spotted was a very round pigeon. Billy squinted at the bird with suspicion, then he shook his head. He doubted a pigeon would be able to buy a coffee, the language barrier would be too big.

Billy decided to drop the topic and to simply accept that a cryptid had gifted him coffee. Then Billy had a thought, the caffeine kicking in, maybe the cup had been given to him by his stalker(s). After all when he concentrated he could definitely feel the unsettling but protective gaze. He really wondered who they might be. All of his attempts to find out had been unsuccessful thus far. Billy sighed and then with a last look up towards the crown of the old oak he headed towards the cafeteria. Leaving the seemingly well loved red cup behind. 

''The craziest thing just happened !'' Billy called out as he approached his friends. 

Freddy lowered his fork, ''Crazy as in we need to evacuate crazy ? 'Cause I'd really like to finish my food before we do, if possible.'' He deadpanned. 

''Crazy as in a cup of coffee just magically appeared in front of me.'' Billy had an excited grin on his face as he sat down next to Freddy. 

''Please tell me you didn't drink it.'' Mary chided, though her face said 'I already know you did.'

''It tasted really good and it was still fresh.'' Billy admitted hesitantly. He shrunk a bit in on himself as Mary glared at him with a mix of disappointment and anger only an older sister could hold. She held it for a few seconds before she just shook her head and went back to eating. 

''Any idea who could've given you the coffee ?'' Freddy asked, his fork now placed on his tray, his food completely forgotten in favor of stilling his curiosity. 

''There was a post-it stuck to the top, it said 'Drink this,' and then just the letter T.'' Billy recounted, he started to search his mind for everyone he knew whose first or last name started with a T. 

''That is such a passive aggressive message wow.'' Freddy let out a small giggle, ''But T huh ?'' The brunet seemed to think too. They stayed in silence for a moment but neither of the two could think of anyone. Billy didn't mention the possibility of the stalker(s) being the ones to leave the cup as he hadn't told neither Freddy nor Mary about them. 

''Well I guess we won't find out for now,'' Billy broke the contemplative silence while shrugging, a faked nonchalance in his tone, ''I'm fine, so they probably meant well.'' 

''I guess so,'' Freddy agreed, although he seemed reluctant. The brunet picked up his fork again and started to poke at his food, ''If you start feeling weird you have to tell us though.'' 

''I will.'' 

''Sure you will,'' Mary chimed in again, her tone disbelieving, she rolled her eyes at Billy's offended pout. She was right but he didn't have to agree with her. 

Then Freddy struck up a conversation about their up coming English exam and with that the 'coffee-incident' was pushed to the back of Billy's mind. 

—————oOoO🌑OoOo—————

As the school day finally ended the three foster siblings found themselves in a predicament. Their fosters had just texted Mary that they would be working late and that the three of them could eat take out or any leftovers in the fridge. 

''Do they realize that we don't have any money to get take out ?'' Freddy asked, anger lacing his voice. The brunet crossed his arms over his chest. 

''You know they don't.'' Billy's face was set in a scowl. Their fosters weren't bad people, they just weren't really meant to take care of anything living. The two adults were workaholics and their heads were often stuck at work. At least they weren't physically abusive or anything like that, just unintentionally neglectful from time to time. 

''So,'' Freddy dragged out the sound, ''Leftovers today ?'' 

''If we had any. I don't think we have enough for three people.'' Mary said, her brain seeming to go a mile a minute as she searched for a way to feed her little brothers and herself. 

Billy could hear Freddy's stomach growl, the other boy scratched his neck sheepishly at being caught. ''We'll have to go diving then.'' Billy stated, already moving towards the closest restaurant. There usually was something edible in their dumpsters. 

He was about to turn into an alley next to a nice looking thai place when somebody bumped into him. The guy, a dark skinned teen in a bright yellow hoodie, called a 'sorry bro' over his shoulder before he kept going. The teen was gone before Billy had time to register what had just happened.

''You alright Billy ?'' Freddy called out as he rushed to Billy's side as quick as he could with his crutches. Mary right beside him. 

''I'm good. Just a little bump, nothing to worry about.'' Billy dusted of his shoulder in played confidence. Then he turned back towards the dumpster he was suspecting held their dinner. As he walked he put his hands in his jacket's pockets. 

He paused suddenly as he felt something in the pockets that wasn’t there before. “Why did you stop ? Everything alright Billy ?” Mary called from behind him, she sounded worried.

“It’s nothing just-“ Billy pulled the something out and as he spotted what it was his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He slowly turned around towards his siblings and held out his hand to show them. 

“Is- Is that a hundred dollar bill ?!” Freddy almost screeched. “Where did you get that from ?” He asked in a whisper as if Billy had stolen the money. 

Billy’s face twisted in thought, he carefully studied the bill. He turned it and inspected it for signs of being fake but he didn’t spot any, instead he found a note scribbled on one side of the bill. It read: ‘Eat smth good, -D’

Billy read the small message a few times. “It’s the same as the coffee cup.” He then stated his tone contemplative. He looked up at Freddy and Mary and showed them the message. “This time it’s the letter D though and not T.” 

Mary stepped closer and took the money from Billy. She studied the message as well before she looked back up at Billy with a steely gaze. “I feel like you have an idea who this might be from. Am I wrong ?” She asked pointedly. 

Billy looked away, afraid to meet her eyes. He sheepishly rubbed his arm. “I- What do you guys wanna eat ? I’m kinda feeling Pizza.” He tried to deflect. He tried to turn around and walk away in hopes that the question would be dropped but he should've known better. Mary is not one to drop a topic, if she wants answers, she’ll get them. She grabbed Billy’s arm and made sure to glare at him with her best glare. Billy sighed knowing that he wouldn’t get out of this. 

“I- Fine. I think I know who it is but I also don’t ?” He more asked than stated. Mary didn’t look impressed and Freddy just looked straight up confused. 

“Elaborate.” Mary demanded and Billy did.

“Okay, so for a few weeks now I’ve had this feeling that I’m being followed. Like 24/7.” He began to explain and as he saw Mary worriedly glancing all over the place and Freddy’s face fill with panic he hurriedly continued, “They’re not here to hurt me I think. They don’t feel dangerous, quite the opposite actually. I just don’t know who they are or how many there are.” 

“So you’re telling me they’ve been stalking you for how ever many weeks and you didn’t think that was worth mentioning ?!” Mary exclaimed, throwing her hands up, clearly exasperated.

“Well they didn’t do anything until now and I’m not even sure it’s them. Also-“ he held the hundred dollar bill up and pointed at it for emphasis- “they gave us a hundred dollars, like, that’s pretty much the opposite of harmful. Right ?” He turned to look at Freddy hoping to find support but the brunet looked concerned as well. 

“Well they might just be trying to get you to trust them. To let your guard down.” She sighed heavily, “I just don’t like this Billy.” Mary shook her head in defeat and worry. 

“You really have no idea who it could be ?” Freddy asked although a bit hesitant. 

“Not really.” He sighed. “Can we maybe talk about this later ? It’s getting late and we should really get something to eat.” Billy was surprised at his own snappish tone, he just really didn’t want to be questioned about something he had no idea about. He pushed past Mary and Freddy and started to walk away. After a few steps he turned and looked at them, a few moments passed before they followed him, neither of them looked very happy to put a lid on the topic.

As the three of them walked in uncomfortable silence Billy could swear he heard chirping. Fawcett wasn’t void of birds so it wasn’t unusual to hear a bird chirp, but this didn’t sound like a noise an actual bird would make. Something about it wasn’t quite right. Billy glanced all over the place but as he saw nothing he dropped it for the time being, telling himself it might just be a bird he hasn’t heard before. Bird sounds can be quite weird. 

Looking back he should’ve definitely investigated. Though he honestly doubts it would’ve done anything. 

—————oOoO🌑OoOo—————

Later that night, Billy had successfully wormed his way out of talking about his stalkers by some miracle. Though it was probably just because Mary knew he’d tell her sooner or later. Just there wasn’t much to tell as he didn’t know anything about the people watching him. The only thing he now knows, if the coffee and the money really came from them, was that there were at least two of them and that their names started with T and D. 

Billy tossed and turned in his bed. He couldn’t get his thoughts to settle. His brain wouldn’t stop speculating. Mary’s word still loomed heavily over his head,

‘Well they might just be trying to get you to trust them. To let your guard down.’

Billy turned around and looked at Freddy’s bed across from his. In the dark he could just barely make out the slow rise and fall of the other boys chest. Then another thought forced itself to the forefront of his brain. He hadn’t been out as Shazam in a while. He tried hard not to think about what all probably happened that he could’ve taken care of. All the people he should’ve protected instead of being stuck in his own head just because the whole hero society now knew he was actually just a child. 

Billy sighed heavily before he sat up in bed. He slowly stood, careful not to wake Freddy. Just as he was about to go and change he heard a small tapping from his window. He stilled in his movements before he warily made his way to the old window. They were on the first floor and there was nothing outside it to stand on so Billy was ready to chalk the small sound up to an insect or something like that hitting the glass. 

He peered outside but he didn’t see anything unusual. He also couldn’t hear anything but his instincts told him that something was amiss. He carefully slid the window up and before he had the chance to look outside again, something small flew at him. He reacted just barely in time and caught the thing. He stared at it perplexed for a while. It was a small bat plushy. He turned it in his hands and inspected it. It was about two hands tall and looked to be handmade. 

Around its neck a ribbon was tied and a rolled up piece of paper was held in place by it. Billy took the piece of paper before gingerly placing the plushy on his bed. He unrolled it and clicked on his desk lamp. He then read the very neat handwriting. It read: ‘Don’t worry about Fawcett little brother. We will keep it safe for you. -C” 

A shiver went down Billy’s back as, at the same time, warmth bloomed in his stomach. He knew exactly who his stalkers were now. He dropped the letter as the realization hit him hard. There was only one group of people that had the skill and numbers required to follow him undetected 24/7. There was also only one group of people that would be able to know what he was worried about even though he hadn’t told anyone. And only one group of people, besides Freddy and Mary, who would call him little brother. 

Billy sat down heavily on his bed. He was now hyper aware of the papers stored beneath him. 

He could barely believe it. The Bats had been following and watching out for him since Batman had made the offer about three weeks ago. But why ? Why would they go through the hassle ? 
Billy picked up the Letter again and read it over a few more times. His eyes always getting stuck on the ''Little Brother''. Would they actually want him to be that ? A part of their family ? Billy shook his head. There was no way they actually wanted that. 

Right ?

He hesitantly slid of his bed onto his shacking feet, he then got on his knees and pulled out the unassuming cardboard box. He gingerly opened it and stared at the white that glared back. He sat there for a long while, stuck somewhere in his mind as his thoughts spiralled out of control. His eyes reading the letters on the cover page many times , yet his brain didn’t seem to register any of them. 

A gentle hand startled Billy out of his trance. He looked up at the owner of the hand, Freddy. He had half a mind to hide the papers again but Freddy already knew about them anyway. There had been a time where he had excitedly told him and Mary about them, before the reality of everything had set in. The other boy sat down next to him and wrapped Billy in a side hug. They like that for a long moment. Neither of them uttering a word. 

''It's them isn't it ?'' Freddy broke the quiet with his question. 

Billy looked at the brunet before sighing, ''I think so. I- I just don't know what to do or think.'' 

''No one said you had to do either right now. If it's really them they're looking out for you on their own terms. Don't let that influence you too do anything.'' Freddy pulled Billy tighter into the side hug before both boys turned a little to be able to fully hug. They sat there in companionable silence for a good while, until Billy yawned. 

''It's late, we should sleep.'' Freddy stated and Billy found himself simply nodding. Suddenly too tired for words. Freddy closed the box again and pushed it back in its spot. Billy then dragged himself up into his bed and sleep welcomed him as soon as his head hit the pillow. His arm unconsciously wrapping itself around the bat plushy that had still been sitting on the bed. 

Chapter Text

The hasty flapping of wings echoed above them as the last stragglers arrived. A cup of coffee was poured and everyone's attention was on the one that had called them down into the cave.

“I thank you all for gathering here. I did so as I think it is about time we start phase 3 of M.B.A.B.S.'' Tim steepled his hands and leaned forward as he spoke, his expression serious. Jason couldn’t help but smile a little at his brother’s dramatics. After all, he knew how to appreciate a good performance. 

“So how do we go about initiating phase 3 ?” Duke asked, his tone carefully excited, you never knew with Tim’s plans. They could be extremely simple or exceptionally unhinged, sometime both, sometimes neither. The important part was that they usually worked. 

Tim leaned back and petted Alfred the cat who had claimed the teen's lap. A big, amused and toothy grin spread on his face. His little brother was always one step away from becoming a super villain and Jason couldn't help but feel proud and terrified at the same time. He let his eyes wander over everyone present, Tim, in the bat chair that made him look even smaller than he already was (which did not help the image the teen was trying to project). Terry perched on the desk to the left of Tim, slightly hidden by the backrest of the bat chair. Jason had noticed that the two of them seemed a lot closer as of late, he did not dare point it out though or they would notice that he cared much more than he tried to let on.

His eyes kept wandering, they fell on Dick, who was standing opposite of Tim, his hands twitchy as they usually were if the acrobat had to stand still for too long (read: a few minutes). Next to Dickwing stood Duke who looked ready to fall asleep, he had just returned from patrol after all. Cass was seated on a close by work bench. She looked slightly curious but her eyes sparkled with burning excitement. Jason was sure that there was a 70% chance that if M.B.A.B.S. didn't work out she would just go and grab poor Billy. That kid had accepted Cass' handmade plushy after all.  

Harper was sitting on the floor in front of Cass. Opposite of them stood Babs, Jason still wasn't quite used to the red head not being bound to her wheelchair. It had already been a year since they had found a doctor who had actually managed to perform a handful of surgeries to give the former Batgirl back her legs. She had yet to re-debut but Jason couldn't wait to see the look on the criminals faces as Oracle, rumored to be the bats AI assistant and not an actual human, kicked their faces in. 

just past Barbie, Jason could see the Robins (still plural) training, Damian and Athanasia were a sight to behold when they trained together for sure. It looked as if they were dancing with a mirror image. 

Jason was pulled back into the conversation as an elbow suddenly connected with his stomach. ''Fucker ! What did you do that for ?!'' 

''You weren't listening.'' Was all Tim gave for an explanation before continuing, ''Again, your job is to lure them in with food. You're the only one in this whole room allowed to be alone in Alfred's kitchen after all.''

''I mean that's true. And what was the saying again... the way to a man's heart is through his stomach ?'' Harper chimed in from the side, she was splitting her attention between a gadget she was dismantling and the conversation at hand. Jason would like to note the hypocrisy as she didn't get elbowed even a little for only giving Tim half her attention. Damned nerds sticking together. Pure favoritism. 

He just barely dodged another elbow aimed at him.  He send an annoyed glare at the sleep deprived teen next to him and got a deadpan look back. Then Tim started talking again, “Like I was saying, I think we’ve almost got him so it’s also about time we actually show ourselves and it’s time for him to get to know who we are. So I say-” He paused for dramatic effect, taking a long sip from his coffee- “we invite the three of them to family dinner next weekend.” 

There was a contemplative silence in the room as everyone considered the teen’s words. 

“Wouldn’t that be a bit much ?” Duke asked from his spot beside Dick who had been suspiciously quiet. 

As if he read Jason’s mind, the eldest declared with excitement, “It’s the best way to just get it over with right ? I mean it would take forever to meet everyone otherwise.” 

''That may be true but they would know no one there. That does not sound like the best way to get them to want to be part of the family.'' Barbara pointed out, she, like always was the voice of reason. 

''Then we just have to let them get to know us over the next week.'' Jason decided to cut in. He stood from where he had leaned against the desk on the right side of Tim and walked towards where his bike was parked in the cave. 

''Where are you going ?'' Tim called, his face incredulous. 

''Grocery Shopping.'' Jason called over his shoulder as he grabbed his padded bike jacket and shrugged it on, now in full biking gear, as he got to the cave in full gear and only took of his helmet and jacket. He put on his dark red helmet and swung himself on his civilian bike. It was an old machine he had refurbished a while ago. He was quite proud of it.  

He swiftly pulled out of the cave, through the waterfall and then he was on the road. Just moments later another biker settled in next to him, he recognized the machine and the biker right away. With a tap to his helmet's side he opened up the comm line to his little brother, ''You need something from the store baby bird ?'' 

''Nah, just thought you might need some supervision Mr. ''Ex'' Crime lord. By the way we all know your organisation is still up and running.'' Tim sassed him back. 

''Whatever gave you the impression I stopped or wanted you to think I did ?'' Jason asked as they took a sharp turn. 

''But you told Bruce-'' Tim started but Jason quickly cut him off. 

''You're not Bruce, are you Timbellina ?'' He asked in a lighthearted and mocking tone. 

''Huh.'' Was all the teen answered, they stayed mostly silent as they drove towards the city.  

——————————————Meanwhile in the Watchtower——————————————

Barry was not payed enough for this. Well he wasn’t payed at all to be part of the Justice League but you get what he means. He had just wanted to grab a snack or twelve and then head over to Wally’s place. His nephew had texted him with the words ‘I need to tell you something’ and if that didn’t inspire Barry’s imagination to go wild what would. 

Yet he wasn’t moving but frozen in place, staring at a woman with short black hair, dressed in a fluffy, wine red pullover and, now that the speedster actually looked closer, a black domino mask plastered on her face. She was sat on the common rooms couch as if it was natural. Barry briefly wondered if it might be, maybe he had missed her inauguration. It wouldn’t be the first time, the League had grown a lot in the past few years. 

All those speculations went out the window when he noticed that the woman wasn’t alone. On her lap sat a toddler, face covered with- 
with a knitted Batcowl.

Barry swore under his breath, another two bats, and one of them was a literal baby. Barry hoped the kid wasn’t a vigilante already. He doubted it but you never know, after all for all he knows that toddler is actually a hundred years old or some kind of alien, maybe even both. 

“Red !” The toddler suddenly called out and with it she brought Barry back to reality. The woman was looking at him with a bemused smile and Barry could feel his face heat up. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and gave the two unknown bats a smile. 

“G- good day,” he stumbled out, wanting to avoid an awkward silence, “I am sadly not aware who you two are, would you mind telling me ?” He asked carefully, he wasn’t really expecting a proper answer but he needed at least something to call them by. 

“You’re one polite man.” The woman hid a chuckle as she spoke, she was clearly amused with the speedster and he didn’t know if he liked that. “Proper introductions will have to wait until my fiancé finally takes the stick out of his a- butt and gets past his chronic paranoia,” she said with a joking tone, Barry did also noted how fond the woman sounded, “For now you can call me by my moniker-“ she reached a hand out and Barry quickly shook it- “Catwoman, nice to meet you.” 

Barry froze again, wasn’t Catwoman one of Gotham’s rogues ? Batman, out of all the JL was in a serious, baby having, relationship with a rogue ?

The speedster’s mind spun out of control as he desperately tried to make it make sense. Bat ‘Follow the rules’ Man and a rogue ? It didn’t seem plausible, yet here she was. With a toddler in her lap no less. 

“-you fried his brain. Oh wait I think he’s back with us now.” Barry just barely caught the tail end of a conversation as he managed to push his spiraling thoughts to the side. He looked to his right and almost jumped, at some point another bat had joined them. The purple one, Spoiler, his brain thankfully supplied. 

For a few seconds Barry tried to stammer out something but his thoughts were completely scrambled. “She’s a rogue.” He ended up almost whispering. 

“Yup and B has a thing for the criminally inclined.” He couldn’t see it because of the mask covering the lower half of her face but her eyes told him that the teen was grinning. 

“I never would’ve thought- I mean he’s Batman ?” 

“And ?” Spoiler inclined her head at him. 

Barry hesitated before he answered her, “I don’t know, just never thought he’d be the type.” He paused for a moment before addressing Catwoman again, “Anyway, what brings you up here. Batman isn’t around,'' he paused before he quickly added,''which you probably know.” 

“It’s about time you asked-“ Catwoman stood up and walked towards Barry with the baby bat in her arms, once she stood before him she placed the toddler in his arms- “everyone is busy and I need someone to look after Chickadee here. And what better place to leave her then a Superhero HQ, right ?” 

Barry opened his mouth to object but before any words could come out of his mouth he was interrupted by the (hopefully) former rogue, “Me and Spoiler are off on a mission then, you’ll probably be fine. B or one of the boys will pick her up in a few hours.'' She smiled at him, clearly finding the speedster's reaction funny. Catwoman stepped closer and pressed a gentle kiss on the toddler's forehead, ''Be good for mommy,'' She hummed, then she addressed Barry. All prior lightness was gone and the hero felt a cold shiver run down his spine, ''If she is harmed in any way, believe me when I say that I will rain hell down upon you. Do you copy?'' She smiled dangerously at him as she spoke the last sentence.  

Barry nodded so quickly his head became nothing more than a red blur. When he stopped nodding both Catwoman and Spoiler were gone, the only hint of them ever being there was the distant giggle the speedster heard disappearing towards the Zetas and the toddler in his arms. 

Before he could stop himself he cursed under his breath, with horror he looked down at the baby bat in his arms- Chickadee his brain supplied him quickly. That's what her mother had called her. 

Chickadee just looked up at him with the white lenses sown into the knitted batcowl she was wearing. She blew a raspberry towards him as their eyes met. Right she is a bat, even if she's just a baby right now. He took a deep breath before placing the toddler down on the common room's couch. 

''Want up !'' Chickadee called out immediately while raising her arms, her mouth twisted into a tiny pout. 

''In a second, ok ? I need to call back up. There is no way you're gonna be easy to take care off.'' Barry said in a light tone even though he meant every word. He clicked on his comm and turned around. Letting the baby bat out of his sight for just a moment. 

''Hey guys, I need some non urgent back up in the Watch Tower's common room,'' he spoke with a light and joking tone, hoping his teammates would pick up on it. He chuckled lightly as he turned back around. As his eyes found the couch and the spot where he had sat down the baby bat his heart dropped to the core of the earth and hell seemed to freeze over.

Chickadee was gone.

Barry could feel the blood drain from his face as he became slightly dizzy. He was dead, officially dead. Batman would break his one rule because of him. 

''What's up Barry, why did- HOLY ! Are you alright ?'' Hal had strolled into the common room, his tone quickly switching from light and joking to filled with horror. The lantern rushed over to the uncharacteristically static speedster. Barry could feel himself be shaken but it took Hal giving him a slap to the face for him to come back to the present. 

''I AM DEAD !'' Was the first thing that exploded out of the hero. 

''Dead ? Why ? What happened Barry ? How can I help ? Can I help?'' Hal questioned in rapid fire. 

''I lost her...'' Barry mumbled out now so quiet it was almost lost to the world, Put his head in his hands in a display of his pure despair. 

''Lost who ?'' Hal asked, now in full hero mode. 

''The baby bat-'' Barry grabbed Hal's arms and starred him right into the soul to make sure the gravity of his situation was understood- ''I was entrusted with a Baby. Bat. And I lost her.'' 

He knew Hal finally understood as dread settled onto the lantern's face. ''Shit. Fuck ! That's not good at all. She can't have come far right ?'' Hal asked as his eyes frantically searched the room. ''Ah fuck what am I saying it's a bat. They could be capable of teleportation for all we know.'' 

''OhGodOhGodOhGod,'' Barry's voice was high and on the brink of breaking as he spoke, ''What do we do now ?!'' 

''We call the rest of the team ! Not spooky though, for obvious reasons.'' Hal paused for a moment, ''What does this baby bat look like by the way ?'' 

''Last I saw her she was wearing an black, knitted bat cowl and a black baby romper with the bat symbol on it in yellow. She goes by Chickadee.'' 

''Chickadee ? Right Batlings tend to go by bird names.'' Hal raised his hand to his ear and spoke something in his comm. It was rushed and Barry couldn't hear it as he started passing fast enough to become a red blur. 

Just moments later Clark, Oliver and Arthur rushed into the room. the archer ran up to Barry, he grabbed and shook him as he spoke, ''How can you loose Batsy's baby ?!'' 

''I just turned around for one second I swear !'' Barry cried out in defense. 

''Let's not fight team. We need to find this kid or we're all dead.'' Clark said in a steeled stone. 

Agreement rushed through the room. Very quickly the limited description was shared between the present league members. Then the search started. 

Every piece of furniture was turned over, every pillow flipped. Soon other league members that had come for various reasons joined the search, yet Chickadee remained missing. As hour three passed a sense of dread settled over the search party. As hour four passed the group sat down on the various seats and the floor of the common room. They had accepted their fate, as well as the shame and guilt of loosing a toddler. They were heroes, they should be capable of finding a three year old. Yet here they were.

The distant sound of the zeta tubes alerted the group of someone arriving, Barry held his breath as they waited for the person to enter the room, for Batman to come and behead them. 

But around the corner came Nightwing. There was a breath of relief among the people present. But Barry and Hal shared a look, they knew better, Batman might've beaten them to a pulp but Nightwing, he would actually kill them. Barry still vividly remembers the night they had ''helped'' Red Robin, Red Hood and Nightwing rescue Robin. He still recalls the warnings and the fear he had felt as he had met the eldest bat child for the first time. Everyone knew him as the friendly and open bat since he had joined but they hadn't met him when one of his family members was in danger.  

The speedster mentally resigned himself to his fate. He had been the one to loose Chickadee after all. He would take the full responsibility and make sure only he would suffer. 

''What's with the somber mood everyone ? Did someone die ?'' Nightwing asked in a carefully light tone. 

''We are about to,'' Barry said under his breath, he then louder addressed the vigilante as the words exploded out of him, ''Iamsosorrybut I lostChickadee. Wetriedtofindherbut-'' 

Nightwing raised his hand in a motion that told the speedster to shut up, ''Breath, Barry, kinda need you to stick around for Walls so no killing you. But what is that about Chickadee missing ?'' 

''You understood him ?'' One of the people present cut in.

''I did, and I don't understand why you're all so worried. She's right there.'' Nightwing pointed up towards the vent. A giggle came out of it and soon after the vent cover opened and a little bat face looked down at them upside down. Then she leaned forward until she was falling. With a start many of the members rushed to catch her but there was no need to as Barry had already caught her. Carefully he handed her to her oldest brother. The young vigilante grinned at him, ''Thank you, you're gonna be a great grandpa, Walls was right. Best in-law I could've asked for.'' 

While Barry blue screened Hal stepped forward with a question everyone was eager to have an answer to deciding to ask it in favor of ignoring the yet again frozen speedster, ''How did she, a baby, get up into the vents ? Can she teleport ?'' 

For point two seconds Nightwing managed to hold a serious expression before he almost doubled over with laughter, the only thing stopping him was Chickadee who he was holding with much care. 

''Baby-Grapple-Gun.'' Was all he said. 

''Baby-Grapple-Gun ?!'' Clark asked incredulous.

''Baby-Grapple-Gun.'' Nightwing confirmed with a nod before simply turning around and exiting the room, leaving behind a blue screening Barry and a stunned bunch of heroes. 

Chapter Text

Gentle raven black feathers swayed him to a gently chirped lullaby. They engulfed him in soft and protective darkness. All around him, there was the soft smell of fresh linen, green apples and cereal. From somewhere came the soft rumble of a voice that spoke sweet, unintelligible words. Everything was a blur, a good kind of haze. 
He was alright. He was safe. 

Then he was falling, ripped from his safe nest of plume. The lullaby exchanged for screaming silence, the dark replaced by empty, stark white. That tried to swallow him.
He wanted to reach for his slowly fading nest, now far above him, crawl back into that guarded cocoon of warmth and calm- yet he was unable to move his body, as if he was paralyzed. He could only watch as his save haven faded in the distance. 

His eyes jumped to look at the thing that had plucked him from his nest. He couldn't control were they looked. Wrapped around his torso were the muscular arms of a stranger–

no, they weren’t the arms of another, they were his own. In horror and resignation he watched as his body morphed, as his skin convulsed and moved. A current ran through his frame. He felt his bones break, his muscles rip, his tendons tear and his blood boil. He watched himself turn into a mountain of a man. 

He opened his mouth to scream but nothing escaped him. He was simply left gasping like a dying fish. He felt like one too, like a deep sea creature taken from its natural habitat, brought to the surface where they suffocate and are deformed into something unrecognizable, into something unlovable. 

Everything started to bleed into one another. His face felt wet, his eyes burned. From a distant place, that he couldn’t make out, a voice called his name, it was much more vivid than anything else, much clearer than the soup he had been falling in, drowning in. Was he still falling ? He couldn’t tell anymore. The white murk he was stuck in slowly strangled him the more he tried to think about it. He didn't want to think anymore. Maybe never again. 
.....
....
...
..
.

It was then that he opened his eyes, the bright light was traded for a softly lit ceiling and Billy realized that he had simply been dreaming. Though the voice that had called out his name had been real, it spoke again and this time, he new who and where it came from.

“Are you okay ?” Freddy asked from beside him. His tone was careful and laced with worry. 

Billy took a moment longer than he wanted to, to answer his foster brother. With a strained voice he finally spoke, quite relieved that he could make noise again, “I– I am alright.” 
His throat was painfully dry and it hurt to speak. 

“You sure ?” Freddy asked hesitantly, “You’re crying, you know ?” 

 That explained the wet feeling on his face and the taste of salt in the corners of his mouth. 
Quickly, Billy raised his arm to wipe away the tears but he instead just dropped it over his eyes, hiding his face from the world, his body felt weird and stiff. “I– I am not crying.” He croaked.

“Yeah sure.” Freddy sighed as he turned away from the bed, “If you don’t wanna talk about it that’s fine…” A long pause followed, the other boy clearly wanted to say something more
but he seemed to decide against it. He sighed again before turning slightly towards Billy, “Breakfast is almost done, come down when you're ready.” He smiled softly, but his eyes stayed worried. He hesitated for another breath, then the boy limped out of the room. Billy slightly raised his arm to watch Freddy leave the room. He felt bad that he had made the him worry so badly. 
Once he was alone in their bedroom he slowly sat up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, they felt heavy and numb. Billy reached for the tissues on his bedside table. Skin wasn’t really effective in getting rid of liquids so his face was still wet. 
He dried his eyes and blew his nose, then- 

Then he just sat there for a while. He stared at his hands and the tissue in them. A million thoughts wanted to rush into his head but none actually came to be. 

Billy has had quite a few nightmares in his life. Since he became a hero they had always been plenty. Always filled with the horrors he saw during his patrols. Always ready to remind him of his failures. Having superpowers meant he still wasn’t absolutely useless at times.  

This nightmare though, it felt different. It wasn’t just his brain digesting what he had seen,. No, this one felt much more meaningful. Billy knew it, but as he tried to recall the details of his dream, he found himself unable to. 
The only thing left from it was the, now distant, feeling of his body morphing in horrendous ways. A shiver went down his spine as he  recalled the feeling. 
Dreams were always fleeting when one wanted to remember them. Maybe that was for the better. After all he always wished his nightmares left him as easily as the few good dreams he had. 

Billy took a deep breath, crushing the tissue in his fist, before dropping it on his bed side table. Then he slowly got up and walked to the closet. He grabbed a new t-shirt. He looked at it as he held it in his hands, it was a simple grey batman shirt. He couldn't recall owning a shirt like that. Not wanting to acknowledge the implications of a batman T-shirt appearing out of nowhere, he elected to simply not think about it. He tugged the shirt on. 
The soft fabric felt nice against his skin. He traced the bat symbol on his chest a few times, it calmed his heart and almost managed to distract him from his numb limbs and his thoughts. 
He stared at the himself through the mirror on the closet door. He felt disconnected from what he saw. His eyes traced his mirrored self. Always ending at the bat symbol, Billy wasn't sure what he should feel or think. His fingers itched to do something and so he hugged himself. He felt silly but it grounded him, brought him back to reality. He didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. 

A deep, shaky sigh escaped him. It almost turned into a sob but he just barely stopped it. 
Suddenly he slapped his cheeks to get himself out of it. Right now, he decided, was not the time for him to wallow in sadness and self pity. He gave himself a long look in the mirror and murmured a quiet ''You got this.'' Decidedly not voicing the words of doubt that wanted to follow immediately after. 

Quickly Billy got dressed the rest of the way, his favorite red hoodie, a random pair of pants and two socks that couldn't be more different from one another. With fast steps he rushed out of the room, slowing down as he went down the stairs. 

From the kitchen he could hear plates clinking and a pan sizzling. As he rounded the corner he was immediately greeted with tension, thick enough, you'd need garden scissors to cut it. He let his eyes wander and took in the scene before him. Mrs. Moore, their foster 'mother' stood at the stove, her back turned to the table behind her, at which Freddy and Mary were sat. Freddy was clearly trying to make himself disappear while writing, what Billy guessed, was their homework that was due later in the day. Mary on the other hand was angrily taking sips from her beloved wonder woman cup, probably filled with her usual chocolate milk. 

''Morning,'' Billy decided to say, although hesitant and with a still scratchy voice. 

''Good Morning Billy,'' Mrs. Moore called from the stove. She started to turn around but as she saw Mary's glare she quickly returned her attention to the eggs that were sizzling loudly in the tense quiet of the room. 

Billy sat down in the chair opposite of Freddy. ''What happened ? Why does Mary look ready to murder Mrs. Moore ?'' He whispered to his brother.

Freddy paused his writing before quietly answering him, ''Mrs. and Mr. Moore will leave on a business trip this afternoon. Some big opportunity to work with Wayne Enterprises or whoever. They hired a babysitter because they don't wanna leave us alone for a week.' 

''But they're barely home already. Why do we suddenly need to be babysat ?'' Billy asked, he was quite perplexed. 

''Probably so they won't get in trouble when someone comes to check in, I don't really know either,'' Freddy answered while shrugging.  

''Adults are a mystery,'' Billy mused, his brother nodding in agreement. 

''A mystery I'd love explained,'' Mary suddenly cut in, ''but I won't, will I ?'' 

''Not from either of us at least,'' Freddy said while shrugging again. 

Quiet fell over the kitchen as Mrs. Moore brought over their breakfast. She didn't join them this time, an apologetic look cemented on her face. The small blond woman excused herself as she left the room. 

The three foster siblings ate in silence, only occasionally exchanging a few words.  
Just as they were finishing up, the door bell rang. Unable to quench his curiosity Billy got up and wagered a look towards the front door from the kitchen entrance. At first, Mrs. Moore blocked his view of the person that had just entered the apartment. He could only make out some abused and dirty white sneakers. Then Mrs. Moore stepped to the side and led the person towards the kitchen. The person who looked to be a teen. His hair was raven black and unruly. His eyes were hidden by thick black frames, yet their piercing blue still peeked through clear as day. His clothes weren't ironed and they had seen better days, much like Billy's. His posture was bad and he was hunched in on himself, nervously fiddling with his hoodie strings. As much as this teens appearance screamed that he was just a harmless, nervous mess of a guy, Billy still felt a suspicion grow in his chest. Something wasn't quite right with this teen, but he didn't know what. 

He was ripped from his thoughts by Mrs. Moore calling the three of them over. Billy hesitated for just a moment but as Mary promptly walked past him he quickly joined her side. 

''Kids, meet Conan Vespertilio. He'll look after you while we're on our business trip.'' 

''H- Hey there,'' Conan stuttered, he pushed his glasses back on his nose with his index finger and tried for a shaky smile. 

''Nice to meet you,'' Billy answered him as he stepped forward in front of his siblings, his voice laced with his suspicion towards the teen. They weren't helped by the small seemingly proud smile that hushed over Conan's face at Billy's words. It was gone so quickly that he was almost sure he had just imagined it. 

An awkward pause stretched itself over them. It lingered for a long breath until it was interrupted by Mr. Moore. The lean man came down the stairs with two suitcases. He joined the group and slapped Conan on the back hard enough to send the teen stumbling a bit. Mr. Moore laughed, fully ignorant to the tense air in the room. Or maybe he chose to simply ignore it. 

''I see you've met the kids,'' he said towards the teen, ''you should be able to get along with them swimmingly.'' Mr. Moore turned to address the whole group, ''It's about time you kids get on your way to school, no ? Conan, you said you had a car, so could you drive these three ?'' 

''Absolutely sir !'' Conan exclaimed, he then quickly span around to address the siblings, seemingly wanting to get away from Mr. Moore as quickly as possible. ''Please grab everything you need, I'll wait downstairs by my car for you.'' 

Conan stumbled over his own feet as he walked outside, just barely catching himself before having an impromptu meeting with the floor boards. With a look from Mr. Moore, Billy, Freddy and Mary started to rush to grab their school stuff. 

Just as they were about to leave, Mrs. Moore stopped them. ''When you get back we'll be on our trip. We won't see each other till next week.'' She awkwardly stated, she then paused for a long time. It was clear she was hoping for a hug or something similarly intimate but neither of the three felt up to entertain her wishes. 

''Have fun,'' was all Mary said as she simply walked past the woman, Billy and Freddy quickly following her. 

--————

Downstairs it wasn't hard to spot Conan's car. It was an old, beat up, silver Toyota that looked about ready to retire. It fit it's driver perfectly. Almost too perfectly, a small voice in the back of Billy's head whispered. 

''It's gonna be a bit tight but everyone should fit,'' Conan determined, again a shaky and nervous smile dancing across his face. Another awkward pause, then Conan nodded determinedly once. He then quickly moved to the back of the car and opened the trunk. ''Best you put your bags in here so you have a bit more space.'' 

Reluctantly the three of them followed the teen's suggestion. After having done so, they got into the car, although very hesitantly. 
The drive was silent. The only thing making sound the car's radio. Hushed, it played some quiet songs. Luckily the drive was soon over, although to Billy it felt like it took hours. He let out an audible sigh of relief as Conan pulled into the drop off zone. 

''I'll pick you up after school. Have fun !'' He simply said before he drove off. Billy assumed that he too was not a fan of the awkward air between them. 

The three siblings were left standing on the sidewalk. They shared a wordless conversation between each other, agreeing unanimously that that had been an awful drive. The honk of a car behind them reminded them where they were and they slowly started walking towards the shoddy school building. Bubbly children were all around them. 

''Do you trust him ?'' Freddy suddenly asked, after they had almost reached the steps to the entrance. 

''Not one bit, I don't know what it is but he seems weird. I think he's hiding something,'' Billy answered. 

''Maybe he's one of your dear stalkers,'' Mary deadpanned from the side. 

Billy tripped over his own feat as her words registered in his head. If she was serious, Billy couldn't tell but he did consider it for a bit, turning the possibility over in his head a few times. 
There was no way one of them would try and insert themselves into his life this way, right ? The bats had to be incredibly busy with how high the crime rate was in Gotham. Then again they had apparently spend a good three weeks stalking him and protecting his city for him. Was Billy really worth all that effort ? Maybe they just wanted Shazam, he would probably be useful in keeping Gotham's rogue gallery at bay. Then again did they really need him ? They seemed to have managed just fine so far. 

Slowly Billy's thoughts started to spiral. They went all over the place. They rushed through his mind like a hurricane and at the end, as he was shaken back to reality by Freddy, he couldn't recall what he had thought about. All his thoughts were gone with the wind. Unreachable like a helium balloon he hadn't held onto properly. Floating far above him, the only evidence of it's existence the tiny red dot enveloped by clouds. 

Blankly Billy stared at the checkered paper that had at some point been placed in front of him. He could neither recall entering the school nor sitting down. The squares on the paper danced in his vision and blurred as they intertwined. They moved to a tune that eluded him, he guessed it was to one of the songs he had heard from the car radio that morning but there was no way to be sure. The squares' dance seemed inviting. They were good dancers, so elegant so-
Suddenly a jolt went through Billy's body and he was *actually* back in the here and now of his math exam. He found himself disappointed that the squares were actually just squares. Squares he was supposed to fill with numbers. A quiet whine escaped him at the thought of having to use his brain, it hadn't been the most reliable today. Billy had completely forgotten about the math exam. It had been announced a bit over three weeks ago. As to why he forgot about it, one can easily guess.

He scrambled to answer whatever he could (which wasn't a lot) and then just put his head onto his arms. He stayed that way for a good while before he angled his head slightly and absentmindedly pushed his pencil back and forth. 
Waiting for everyone to finish the exam was always especially boring but today it was almost painful. The room was filled with the sound of pens and pencils on paper. Writing down the knowledge that was supposed to be in Billy's head too. First period was a cruel time for a math exam. Billy turned his head to look in the other direction. He stared at the blank whiteboard to his right. He counted all the smudges on it twice. The clock ticked away from it's place on the wall, next to the teacher's desk. He tapped his finger along to its ticking. 

Billy spend most of the school day unable to form a thought. Until lunch finally rolled around. The cafeteria was lively as always. The three siblings just barely found a table to sit at. Their trays filled with their meager school lunch of chicken nuggets and mushy peas. 

''Soo...'' Freddy broke their silence. 

''So what ?'' Mary asked. 

''So what are we going to do about that weird Conan guy ?'' 

''There isn't much we can do about him.'' Mary sighed, ''It's not like we really have any base for him being a suspicion person, just vibes.'' 

''We'll just have to keep an eye out, I guess,'' Billy joined the conversation. He was not at all happy at a stranger looking after them, neither of the three were.

''Are you sure he's not one your stalkers ?'' Mary asked again, this time it was clearly a genuine question, maybe even a little hopeful. After all the bats aren't technically strangers, at least to him.

Billy's brain threatened to freeze over again. If he was one of them... He felt panic rise at the prospect of someone officially wanting him to be part of their family. He took a deep breath and pushed the stampede of thoughts back into their box in his brain. ''I-'' he sighed- ''I don't know.'' He quickly reached up to wipe away a tear that was starting to form. Not knowing for sure was hell for him. Even the ''fact'' that his stalkers were the bats was in the end only a well placed speculation. There was no confirmation yet. For some reason he just held onto the possibility. Maybe it was all just wishful thinking but he had to admit that he liked to hope. 
Billy shook his head and brought himself back to the conversation, he didn't want to keep getting stuck in his head. 

''Let's just see what the day will bring. Worst case we have you.'' Freddy decided for them. For once he was the voice of reason in place of Mary. ''I just hope he can cook,'' the boy then joked, while poking the weirdly green-grey mush of what was supposedly peas. 

A laugh escaped Billy. With shock he realised that he hadn't really laughed in a good few days. He smiled as he said, ''Yeah he better be a good cook.'' 

------------------------------------------------

As the end of the school day rolled around Billy found himself quite nervous. He was internally prepping for the very awkward ride back home. As the three of them stood in the drop off area again, Billy realized that they never told Conan when their school day ended. They also didn't have his number to ask him if and when he was coming. A hint of panic bloomed in Billy but it was quickly stomped to death by the sound of an old raggedy Toyota pulling up in front of them. 

The speakers were playing some 2000s music that Billy recognized but didn't remember the lyrics of as they opened the doors of the car. They again dropped their stuff in the trunk before getting in. Conan greeted them with a nervous smile. He looked a lot more tired than he did when they last saw him. A red, reusable cup of coffee was sitting in the cup holder of the driver's seat, it did smell like fresh coffee but something was a bit off about it. Like something was mixed in there that wasn't meant to be mixed with coffee. Billy decided to just chalk it up to the teen having weird tastes. 

''How was school ?'' Conan asked, bringing Billy's attention to him. 

''Quite alright,'' Mary answered curtly for all of them. 

''Well except for the math class in first period,'' Freddy grumbled, it was so quiet that Billy almost didn't hear him over the, this time, somewhat loud music. As if Conan could read Billy's mind he turned down said music while answering Freddy, ''Well that is just plain torture. I like math, but an exam in first period is diabolical.'' 

Billy was surprised by the answer, he hadn't expected for the nervous mess of a teen to speak like that. Maybe he was getting more comfortable around them. 

''You like math ?'' Freddy cut into Billy's thoughts. 

''I'd be lying if I said I didn't. I am a proud nerd. Alone because it annoys my brothers that they can't tease me about that. Although they're all nerds in their own right.'' Conan laughed and Billy found himself chuckling along. The teen was much easier to talk to this time around. As if his personality just had to thaw. Maybe he wasn't actually a suspicion person, maybe Billy's gut just jumped to conclusions too quickly. 

The rest of the car drive was filled with light and comfortable chatter. It didn't take them long until they arrived back home and settled down at the dinner table to do their homework. Conan just sat with them, typing something on his laptop. He seemed slightly annoyed at something and after a sixth sigh and a twelfth irritated sip of his weird coffee, he stood up and left the room. Billy moved next to the door frame of the kitchen to listen in on what the teen was doing. He told himself it was because Conan was not yet out of the water and might still be a dangerous guy but it was more so because he didn't want to do his homework. 

It was quiet for a bit, then Conan spoke, ''Hey there, you send me incomplete files you know ? I can't work with what you send. It's like you gave me a single puzzle piece and told me to go fish.'' It was quiet again, the person on the other end was probably answering the teen. 

''Yeah, no. That's not gonna fly, if you want me to do your dirty work then forget me ever helping you again. I am too busy for this shit.'' 

Billy dared a peek into the room, Conan was tapping his foot in annoyance. He had taken off his glasses and his hair looked like he had combed through it a few times with his hand. It laid almost flat where as before it was just a wild mess. He looked much more tired but also a lot more competent and intimidating. He didn't at all look like the nervous mess they had gotten to know him as. The teen that had left the room to make a call was gone. He quite literally looked like a different person. 

''That's fine, just- I've been over this with your boss. Can't be that everything goes to shit when he's on vacation.'' With those words Conan took his phone of his ear and tapped the screen to end the call. Immediately his eyes landed on Billy who was still peeking around the corner. Quickly Billy tried to duck out of sight again but it was clear that Conan had seen him. His heart was beating rapidly as he heard the teens footsteps walk towards the kitchen.

''Never help unappreciative people I tell you.'' The teen said while shaking his head. He gave Billy a glance and a reassuring smile. ''I am hungry, are you hungry ?'' He then asked into the room.  

''You can cook ?'' Freddy asked excitedly. 

''Nah but if he didn't forget and *he* wouldn't...'' Conan trailed of at the end of his sentence as he walked towards the fridge. He opened it to reveal that it was filled with colorful tupperware. Tupperware Billy didn't recognize. Swiftly and as if he did it very regularly, Conan pulled out a few of the containers and started warming it up. It immediately filled the kitchen with heavenly smells of, what must be gourmet level mac and cheese. Billy felt water gather in his mouth and he almost started drooling like a cartoon character. 

''He keeps getting better it but I ain't complaining. As long as he let's me eat it at least,'' Conan mused as he plated up the food. The food that didn't survive very long as it was almost gone as soon as it was placed down. Billy felt a bit bad about inhaling it but Conan gave him a very understanding look. 

''Fho mafe fhif ?'' Freddy asked, his mouth stuffed full. (''Who made this ?'')

''A crime boss,'' Conan said, a mischievous grin on his face that looked right at home. 

''Who are you really ?'', Billy finally decided to ask. The Conan they had met that morning was completely gone now. The guy hadn't even bothered to put the glasses back on. 

There was a second of silence before 'Conan' spoke, ''You're a smart kid. Well I knew you were but it's fun to be right.'' 'Conan' looked at Billy with a proud glint in his eyes. 

''You didn't answer my question.'' 

''Mhh..'' The teen hummed, contemplating what to say next. ''Well let's start with that you're right, my name isn't actually Conan Vespertilio.'' The teen paused. It looked like he was winding up for a big reveal. ''My actual name is Tim Drake.'' Tim, raised his hands in a 'tada' motion. Silence.

''Who ?'' Marry asked. Her face mirroring Freddy and Billy's confusion. Tim deflated a bit. It was clear that he had expected them to recognize the name. 

''I don't know if I should be happy that you guys don't know me or if I should be sad my big reveal crashed before it grew wings.'' He crossed his arms and twisted his head from side to side, overplaying his thinking clearly trying to make the situation less awkward. 

''Welp, the name change and disguise were more for your parents anyway.''

''Foster Parents.'' Billy corrected without much thought. 

''Of course, Forster Parents.'' Tim agreed while nodding hard. He then smiled big before he took another sip of his coffee mixture.'' 

''So who is Tim Drake ?'', Freddy asked. 

''Well that's quite the question. You wanna give me an existential crisis ?'' Tim joked, ''Why don't you goggle it ? Feels like I would be gloating if I told you myself.'' 

A beat of silence as Billy typed the name into the search engine. Then chaos.

''Holy Shit ! You're fucking rich !'' 

''Language!'' 

''This is swearing level money, I can say those words.'' Billy chided jokingly. 

''I guess, not like I have any right to lecture about the usage of the English language. Man Jay would be proud of me, encouraging the youth to use the whole dictionary.'' Tim swiped away a nonexistent tear and laid his hands on his hard as if he was a widow remembering her late husband. 

''I don't know who Jay is but I feel like he probably wouldn't,'' Mary threw in from the side. 

''Then you really have no idea who he is.'' Tim said, a mischievous grin on his face. 

The four of them fell into a comfortable conversation about all kinds of things. Tim told them about his job as a CEO and stories about a few of his many siblings. Soon neither of the kids could continue ignoring the time. Their young bodies demanded sleep. Not wanting to head to bed yet Billy reached out for the red coffee cup that had been tempting him for the past hour, they had been listening to the wild stories. At some point Tim had refilled it. The smell of fresh coffee kept climbing into Billy's nose and he just couldn't fight it any longer. His fingertips just barely grazed it before Tim picked it up and away from him. He let out a small whine without thinking. 

''You shouldn't drink form this. It's not made for human consumption.'' Tim said, a hint of seriousness in his words. 

''But you're drinking it and you're human.'' Billy protested. 

''I’m built different.” Tim answered, a pleased smile on his lips. 

“Built different how ?” Freddy asked, his tone actually curious.

“I drank Gotham tab water as a kid.” Tim conceded as if it was something utterly shocking. Again there was no big reaction from the three siblings. Just confusion. Tim sighed, “You guys need to travel more or something.” 

“We’re still kids.” 

“Not my fault if that stops you, it never stopped me.” His tone was light hearted. He was about to say something as Tim’s phone rang. The teen suddenly looked annoyed. 

“You guys should go to bed, I need to take this and I’m afraid that’ll take time.” He sighed as he got up, he ruffled Billy’s hair as he walked past him. As the three siblings passed him on their way to their rooms the teen looked quite annoyed but there was also an unmistakable worry in his eyes. He mouthed a ‘good night’ to them as they passed him. Billy couldn’t help himself and tried to listen in to the conversation after he turned around the corner but Tim seemed to notice and simply switched to another language. Defeated Billy joined Freddy in their room. The two of them chatted a bit until they both fell asleep, any worries they had pushed to the back of their mind. The possibility of Tim being a bat joined those worries, Billy’s heart was not ready to progress what it would mean. Yet he felt a sense of protection while falling asleep that brought back with it the memories of his dream of the night before.

And again he was engulfed in dark plume. The lullaby was being hummed from somewhere and he again smelled the soft smell of fresh linen, green apples and cereal. But this time there was also the smell of fresh coffee and printer ink. Another chirped melody joined the former but they weren't out of tune despite being so distinct from one another. They talked but he couldn't understand them, everything was blurry again, a good blurry, a comforting blurry.

This time, he stayed in his cocoon of feathers. He stayed in it's safety and he stayed himself. He felt protected and he felt at home. He hadn’t slept this well in a long while.

Chapter Text

He was embarrassed. So very deeply embarrassed. One small mistake that *he* of all people shouldn't have made and now he was under the judging eye of Drake of all people. It had been a simple robbery. Everyday stuff in Gotham, yet Damian had taken a hit. Cut somewhat deep by a blade. He pushed the fault to being unfamiliar with Fawcett. To most people there wouldn't be much of a difference between the two cities, but everything was different. How the people moved, how they reacted, even the shadows weren't right. In Gotham the shadows felt as familiar and safe as his mother's embrace, but in Fawcett they felt like strangers that wanted him gone. It evoked something in Damian that he had been fighting with for the past few weeks or rather months. He had somewhat easily agreed to share the moniker of Robin with his twin. He had to acknowledge her strength, she must've been trained by their mother during the time Damian was trained by their Father. Another reason why he had agreed to share the name, was that he felt he couldn't refuse in the end. Faced with the hopeful face of Richard after the duel he just couldn't say no. After all what claim did he really have to decide who is allowed to use the title ? It didn't even matter much that they were both of the same blood, every Robin before him had at some point passed on the title, willingly or not. Even if they now sometimes joke about regretting it, Damian knows that in the end they probably don't actually mean it, at least not anymore. All of his siblings seem to have accepted that life had happened and had taken Robin from them. So how could he dare to try and hold onto it still. 
Admittedly he had decided to go to Fawcett without Athanasia to be alone. To be the only Robin again even if just for a night. Yet his mind couldn't let him enjoy it. Constantly he thought about what he should do next. If he should take on a new moniker. If he should ask his sister to change her moniker. He was split between feeling like a baby bird, pushed out of the nest too early falling towards the ground and being the cuckoo– the unwanted parasite that would push the other baby bird out of the nest.
He wanted to be neither. But he felt flightless– trapped by his own feelings and fears. He was unsure who he was without *Robin*, unsure if he ever wanted to find out. 

Damian winced as Drake tightly wrapped a bandage around his wound, suddenly ripped from his thoughts. He felt his cheeks flush even redder then they had already been as he realized that he had let them get a hold of him again. 

''No need to be embarrassed, everyone gets hurt. You've gotten hurt before,'' Drake hummed. Damian looked away from him, he really regretted not just using the closest Zeta to get back to the cave. 

''I am not embarrassed, Drake,'' he hissed.

''Sure. keep telling yourself that.'' Drake rolled his eyes. As much as Damian wanted to act tough, knife wounds always hurt, and so did his own thoughts. Damian let his eyes wander over the room, trying to find a distraction. There wasn't much worth noting. The only thing that kept his gaze for longer was the big print of a painting by John Constable. 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds' was its title. Damian knew it as he quite liked how the artist had depicted the cows grazing in front of the cathedral. The way the cathedral was bathing in sunlight and framed by the foliage in the foreground, he liked it so much he had tried to paint a version of it with Wayne Manor and Batcow. Unfortunately the Manor seemed dark even on the sunniest of days. He had still finished it, he was not one to quit, and had gifted it to Richard for his birthday. The first gift he had given him. His brother had smiled brighter than the sun had shone on the days he had painted. Just remembering it made Damian's heart swell a bit with pride. He knew that Richard had hung it in his living room in his apartment in Blüdhaven, as if it was the most important thing in there. It was only out done by the wall of pictures of all kinds of people, going back years and years. Even to years long before Damian had been born. He wouldn't admit it but he loved looking at them. Seeing how Richard smiled when he was around his loved ones. As much as he loved it, it did always leave a certain bitterness in his throat. To smile like that was something Damian was unable to do. Even if he felt that he should, his mouth just never got the message. He was glad that he had met Jon who despite that always seemed to know when Damian was the happiest. 

With one last tug, to tie the bandage together, Drake finished. Quickly Damian returned from his trail of thoughts. ''Are you finally done, Drake ?'' He tried to taunt– but there was no heat behind his words. It was obvious that Drake had also caught the lack of malice as their eyes met and the teen looked at him with a hint of surprise. The eye contact lasted for a bit to long. Quickly Damian averted his eyes with a mumbled, ''thank you...'' 

Drake knew to not say anything, he just nodded and gave Damian a slight smile. ''Do you want me to drive you to the zeta tube ?'' He asked instead. 

Damian let the offer run through his mind for a moment before he answered, ''I think I'd rather stay here,'' he surprised himself with his answer. Quickly he added, ''To make sure you're not failing your part of our mission. Obviously.''  He felt how he automatically suppressed rubbing his arm nervously. 

''Obviously,'' Drake gave him a knowing look but didn't press the matter. “It’s late, best that you go and sleep. I’ll do one last sweep of the city.” 

He was hesitant as he spoke, much softer than he wanted to, “you don’t have to, I just did one. Remember ?” He raised his arm slightly, bandage sticking out against the colors of his skin. 

“Yeah I know, but still.” Drake gave him an annoying grin before suddenly tugging a t-shirt over Damian's head. He was not proud about the tiny squawk that escaped him. The t-shirt was two sizes too big, black with his eldest brother’s blue insignia printed on the front. A smell reached his nose, gunpowder and cigarettes permeated through the smell of laundry detergent. “This shirt belongs to Todd, it stinks,” he stated with a grimace.

“I can grab you a different one,” Drake offered, he had already moved over to where Damian guessed he had stashed his suit. 

“It’s fine,” he surprised himself again with his words. His gaze averted from Drake, yet he still heard the soft chuckle. Feeling a wave of embarrassment, Damian decided to quickly change the topic, ''where may I lay down to rest Drake ? This couch is not adequate for someone such as myself.'' It was a very old couch and he had sustained a few bruises he had decided to not inform Drake about. 

Drake rolled his eyes, but he didn't seem annoyed at the demand. ''Upstairs and down the hall, last door on the left. It's the master bedroom, you can sleep there. I'll just take the couch if I sleep after patrolling.'' 

*'If* ' Damian thought to himself. He quickly mumbled a ''night Timothy'' under his breath before he made his way upstairs, stopping only for a second to watch his brother effortlessly climb out of the window. 

✩°｡⋆———————————————————————oOoO🌑OoOo———————————————————————⋆｡°✩

Fawcett was much calmer at night compared to Gotham, then again pretty much every city was. With quick steps Red Robin made his way over the roof tops, one ear open for any signs of crime, the other filled with the comm line to Oracle. Barbara was giving Tim a run down of what was going on in Gotham at the moment. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual array of small misdemeanours to a few felonies. Jason was having a field day with some wannabe up and coming crime lords that had moved all the way from Tacoma, Washington to Gotham to make a name for themselves. Apparently foregoing any and all types of information gathering about the city. Tim was trying his hardest not to laugh about the whole thing as he swung from one building to the next. He really wished he was there to witness the whole thing. Barbara had promised to send him pictures of their various expressions as they realized how fucked they were. 

Tim had already spend about an hour patrolling when he came across a shady group of people in an alley next to a bar. Silently he landed on the fire escape above them. Crouched, he listened in on their conversation. Something was up with these guys, his intuition told him as much. Luckily they didn't seem to care who overheard them as Tim could easily understand them. 

''Ya know my cousin is a coward. He kept goin' on an' on about how he got his ass handed to him by that Robin brat but he was nothing compared to Superman.'' The man laughed, full of himself. It didn't take a master detective to figure out who these guys were– *what* they had done. Tim tired to regulate his breathing. In- out- calm- collected. Then another guy joined the bragging and a third pulled out a knife. As the blade glinted red in the low light. Tim's body moved. Near silently he landed at the mouth of the alley. Moving through the shadow, approaching the group of men. They kept bragging and talking loudly, easily covering up any sound, if a Tim had made a sound. ''That's a nice blade,'' he then half whispered into the ear of the man that was holding it. Said man quickly dropped the mentioned knife in shock. He whirled around, eager to find out where the voice had come from but he would have to wait till he woke up again to find out. Before the guy could even turn around halfway, Tim had already planted his staff deep into the men's liver. Instant Knockout. The guy hit the ground hard. Bruce would've send Tim a disapproving look, at least normally. But these guys had stabbed Robin. They had to pay five fold at least. Bruce would agree, even if he wouldn't admit it with words. Actions spoke louder anyway. 

''What the-'' One of the others barely got out before he too dropped instantly from a hit to the chin. The rest of them went down just as quick. Tim ducked under a desperate punch and returned the favor with a boot to the kidney. He swiftly used his staff to block a hit aimed at his back. Then as he turned around, bo-staff whirling around his wrist he planted it between the guys eyes. ''Sneak attacks are a cowards favourite move, I expected more from you,'' Tim quipped but there was no humour in his voice.  

''What did we even do to you ?! Costumed freak !'' One of the last men standing exclaimed as he tried his go at Red Robin. Tim, tapping into his best Batman growl impression grabbed the guy buy his collar and pulled him to be eye level with him. ''You stabbed a little birdy very dear to me. That's more then enough reason to end you. You're lucky you *only* stabbed him,'' Tim growled. Realization set on the man's face. It was clear that he realized that they had fucked up, majorly. 

After that the fight was over with just a few swings of Tim's bo-staff. He stood there for a moment, surrounded by six unconscious bodies. His body relaxing from a tension he didn't realize he had held. He couldn't really believe that these guys had managed to hurt Damian. It must've been a real lucky shot. Then suddenly his body tensed again as a door inside of the alley opened and a head came poking out of it. They looked at each other for a long breath. Carefully the new person opened the door wider with their foot, hands raised in a placative manner, clearly not wanting to fight. Tim easily fell into a seemingly relaxed stance. The woman, a server from the bar Tim assumed by her uniform, looked around the alley. Scanning each of the limp bodies. ''They're not- dead are they ?'' She then asked hesitantly. 

''Nah, I got rules I have to follow,'' Tim answered nonchalantly, leaning on his staff now to emphasize his tone. He catalogued the way the server moved as she walked over to one of the guys, a tall brunet with an overall rugged look. She squatted down next to his head and carefully felt for a pulse. On one hand Tim felt offended that she hadn't believed him  on the other he was impressed with her distrust. It seemed like she found what she had looked for as she nodded and got back up. ''Not gonna check the others ?'' Tim tested. 

''The others aren't my bosses nephews.'' She shook her head with clear exhaustion. ''He'd kill me if that guy died next to the bar on my first night as manager.'' 

''Glad I held back then.'' Tim let a small smile grace his lips. 

''You're not from Fawcett,'' she stated. The underlying question of 'what are you doing here' wasn't lost on Tim. 

''You got that right. These guys are lucky we're not in Gotham. All the smog and chemicals in the air make it easy to forget codes and rules.'' A dangerous grin settled on Tim's face, a threat and a promise. 

''I believe it. Went there for Uni and that was enough. Never got to see one of the Bats while I was there. Kinda funny I'm meeting one now. Are you- '' She squinted as she gave it her best guess, ''Robin ?'' 

Tim's face relaxed into a friendlier expression. ''Red Robin, Robin has more colors.'' He looked at his costume before he added, ''Robin has green too, think traffic light. And a sword.'' 

''A sword ? Didn't he use a staff ? Kinda like yours.'' She pointed at Tim's, still extended, bo-staff. 

''Oh he did but that was a while ago. Now Robin has a sword.'' Tim retracted the bo-staff and holstered it again. His posture relaxed for real now. This bar manager seemed to really be just a normal citizen. Sure now that all threats were eliminated Tim decided it was time to move on in his patrol. He raised his hand as if to check his watch for the time. He then pointed at his empty wrist, ''It's time for me to keep going. Can I leave the clean up to you ?'' 

''Sure, I just need to call the cops, no ? Or is it different in Gotham, do I call the bat clean-up crew ?'' She asked jokingly. 

A small chuckle escaped Tim before he gave the manager a playful two-finger-salute and pulled out his grappling gun. She glanced away and he was gone. From the fire escape he had started out on he watched as the manager looked down at the nephew of her boss. After a short moment she kicked him in the stomach, ''Stupid Jackass.'' She then pulled out her phone and seemed to call the police. As Tim left he heard her tell the operator, ''My idiot *ex* boyfriend and his friends started a fight with a customer and lost, badly. They're uncon-'' That was all he heard. So not just her boss's nephew huh ?

The rest of the night was calm. Red Robin stopped a few more petty crimes, made a pit stop at a big belly burger for a second dinner and then settled down on a roof top to eat. He tapped his comm as he unwrapped his burger, ''Good evening Belfry ! Anything interesting happening on your end ?'' 

''Hey there Red! Nothing really interesting, just the usual. It's pretty calm without you here,'' Barbara joked. 

''What's that supposed to mean ?'' Tim asked even though he knew what she meant. 

''I could send you the list of incidents you instigated and or participated in from the last month. It's a big file though.'' Barbara's smile was audible through her voice. 

''No thank you, my laptop is already full enough with stuff I need to do for WE. So much stuff. I think they want to work me to death. When was the last time we did a big background check on the WE employees ? I think an assassin might've slipped in.'' Tim joked. With a bemused smile on his lips, he took a bite of his burger. It was no Batburger but it did satisfy his need for calories. He chatted for a while longer with Barbara, then with some of his other siblings until he had finished eating. He gathered his trash and after throwing it away he made his way back to the apartment. 
Swiftly moving over unfamiliar rooftops, always vigilant. But the quietness of the night was fuel to the fire of overthinking. So he did what he always did when his thoughts tried to swallow him: 
He called Kon. 
The phone rung once before the familiar and calming voice flowed through the speaker. He missed him. But they were both stuck on their respective missions for a while longer. Although Tim had to move up the schedule for operation M.B.A.B.S.. It seemed Billy had either already figured out who Tim was or he was at the cusp of finding out. Now that Damian was at the apartment as well, the planning he had done was pretty much worthless anyway. He brainstormed with Kon what to do next. In his mind, Tim had already given up on slowly introducing Billy, Freddy and Marry to the whole of the Batfamily until the big family dinner on Sunday. Yet just dropping the bomb of a bus worth of family members on the three kids seemed very wrong as well. It was so much information that even Tim sometimes felt lost. Especially now that more and more of his siblings, and other relatives were finding partners and kids of their own. At this point their family growing was more a law of nature. Like a colony of Bats can be made up of 20 to 2000 animals, depending on the species. A colony of Bats and Birds and everything in between, alien or from parallel universes, raised from the dead and redeemed- there were all kinds of flavors of backstories. The only thing that mattered was that they were there for one another. Their colony getting along was the best for human- and alienkind, really, at least Kon always said so. Tim tended to agree.