Archive of Our Own ^beta

Dick twirls a pen between his fingers as he mulls over the case in front of him, if his theories are right they can wrap this up tonight, and have this guy in jail before Tim’s bedtime. 

As he works he hears soft footsteps behind him, and glances over his shoulder.

Tim had just come into the cave, nervously fiddling with his sleeves, alarm bells are ringing in his head but he ignores them for now. “Hey kiddo how was school?”

“It was fine.” Tim responds with a shrug, eyes suddenly focusing elsewhere. “What’s that?”

“The case?” Dick asks, confused.

“No in your hand.” Tim replies, eyes locked on the pen.

“It’s a pen.” Dick explains, holding the pen out so Tim could better see. “It’s meant for spinning and used for tricks and what not. That’s why it’s shaped like that, it’s weighted so it’s balanced. I like to do something with my hands while I’m working on stuff.”

“Oh, Babs mentioned something about that.” Tim states coming over to the computer. “She said you used to have a bunch of fidgets hidden around the cave.”

Dick snorts. “I wouldn’t say they were hidden, just that I would put them down wherever I happened to be and forget they were there. Drove B nuts.”

“What happened to them?” Tim wonders.

“Well some went-” Dick whistles, and mimes something falling going over a ledge. “And I didn't feel like spelunking to try and find them. Others broke over time, and some I’m fairly certain Jason stole, no idea where he put them, I found this shoved behind some stuff on the equipment bench.”

“Oh.” Tim is thoughtful for a second, eyes still locked on the pen as Dick spins it.

“Did you want to learn how?” Dick offers, holding out the pen.

Tim’s eyes light up and he nods, then stops, eyes widening. “Wait! I wanted to give you something.”

Tim pulls an envelope from his pocket and holds it out to Dick. He takes it and opens it up to see two tickets. “What’s this?”

“There’s an exhibit at the art gallery all about different performance arts. And there’s supposed to be displays dedicated to circus performers and acrobats. I thought you’d like to go, the openings tomorrow…” Tim trails off a little awkwardly, “For your birthday.”

Dick feels like his brain stutters for a second as he processes it, glancing at the date on the computer. March 20th was today, he’d completely forgotten about his birthday, but apparently Tim hadn't.

“I know it’s not actually on your birthday,” Tim had barreled on in his silence, starting to ramble anxiously at his lack of response. “Since that’s today, but I thought you’d enjoy it, and we can still celebrate tonight, Alfred is making a cake and Babs picked me up after school and is staying the night.”

Dick pulls Tim into a hug. “Thank you Tim, it’s perfect.”

Tim relaxes immediately returning the hug. “Happy birthday dad.”

“Still want to learn how to spin a pen?” Dick asks as Tim pulls away.

Tim nods, “Yes please.”

Dick grins hooking the other chair with his foot and pulling it over, Tim takes the hint and sits in the chair.

“Alright so, here’s how you spin a pen.”

“Do you remember the plan?” Babs ask as Tim waits for Dick.

“Yes ma’am!” Tim gives her a cocky grin and mock salutes.

Babs rolls her eyes, swatting at his head. “Alright brat, what is it?”

Tim snickers ducking out of reach. “Keep Dick busy and out of the house while you, Alfred and the Titans set up for the party.”

“And the Kents.” Babs adds, grabbing Tim’s hat and holding it out to him.

Tim scoffs, “Semantics.”

As soon as Tim moves within reach to grab his hat Babs grabs his wrist dragging him into a head lock.

“Babs!” Tim protests between laughs, “Let me go!”

“Not until you tell me the rest of the plan!” Babs states.

“When you're ready you'll text me the signal get Dick to take me home!” Tim states, pushing at Babs arm halfheartedly.

“And the signal is?” Babs prompts.

“You’re going to text me that you found that motherboard we were looking for.” He replies.

“Very good,” Babs lets Tim go, placing his hat on his head and pulling it over his eyes. “Now you’re ready.”

She cups his face, placing a kiss to his forehead.

“Babs!” Tim whines, adjusting his hat, and moving back out of reach sticking his tongue out at her.

She hears footsteps and turns to see Dick entering the foyer.

He looks surprised to see her. “I thought you had to do some work in the cave?”

“I do,” She replies, “Just figured I’d see you off before I locked myself down there.”

“See us off?” Dick raises a brow. “We’re just going to the art gallery, we’re not even going to be gone that long.”

“It doesn’t take the two of you very long to find trouble.” Babs points out.

Dick straightens Tim's hat, absentmindedly. “You could come with us, I’m sure I could get you in.”

“As much as I appreciate the offer, nepo baby.” Babs starts rolling her eyes. “I do want to check and be sure those guys were the only ones selling to the high school."

“M’not a nepo baby.” Dick mumbles, flushing.

“Uh huh, sure whatever you say hunk wonder.” Babs teases.

Dick’s eyes light up, flexing and winking at Babs. “Hunk huh?”

Babs can feel the blood rushing to her face, but she makes a show if rolling her eyes.

“Gross.” Tim’s face scrunches up and he makes a gagging noise, then grabs Dicks arm dragging him towards the door. “Daaad! Let’s go! You’re taking so long!”

Dick grins looking down at Tim, “Alright! Alright we’re going!”

“Bye!” Babs calls as they leave.

“Bye Babs!” Tim calls in response, pausing to wave before continuing to drag Dick away.

“See you when we get home!”

Babs waits a few minutes after they’ve left before she pulls out her phone and shoots off a message to the group chat to let them know Dick had left. Before turning to go to the cave and open the zeta so people could arrive.

Tim sticks to Dick’s side as they navigate the gallery, the whole event doubles as a fundraiser. Raising money to fund art programs in Gotham public schools, and to fund different programs at the community center.

The displays are beautiful, paintings of acrobats flying through the sky, photos of actors on the stage. Tim finds himself lost in the art, fingers itching to pull out his camera when he gets home. Maybe he could convince Dick to let Tim take photos of Dick doing some acrobatics.

“This is Girl on Ball,” Tim finds himself rambling to Dick about some of the different paintings, his parents had an interest in art history, and had passed it along to him. It’s one of the few memories he has of his parents spending time with him for the sake of it. “It was painted in 1905 by Pablo Picasso during his rose period. His paintings during this time often featured circus performers and much lighter subjects than his previous blue period.”

Dick nods along, gesturing to a different painting. “Do you recognize him?”

Tim looks at a painting of a man holding a skull, his face melting and warping in a horrific display. “No.”

“That is a more recent painting, done by a local Gotham artist. It’s based on a teaser image from when Basil Karlo was starring in a local production of Hamlet.” Dick explains. “It was a pretty big deal at the time, after he was disfigured he spoke a lot about being blacklisted due to his appearance. When he became Clayface this painting was made as a commentary on beauty standards in the industry, and how it drives people to do dangerous procedures to try to conform to them."

“Huh, I’ve never seen it before.” Tim states, as they move away from the painting towards the photography. “Oh! That’s a photo of Martha Graham in the ballet Letter to the World taken by Barbara Morgan. It could be considered the most famous photo of an American dancer ever taken.”

“You’re such a little nerd.” Dick teases ruffles Tim’s hair, “It’s like walking around with my own personal tour guide.”

Dick pauses at a photography display of circuses throughout the years.

“Hey I recognize that one.” He says after a second, gesturing to a photograph of an acrobat mid flip. “My mom told me about him.”

“Really?” Tim looks closer at the photo, it’s a beautiful photo, capturing the elegant movements of the man. “Who is he?”

“Richard Grebeta.” Dick answers, “I was actually named after him funnily enough, he’s the first person ever recorded doing the quadruple somersault. My great great great grandfather saw him perform and was so inspired by him he ran off to the circus when he was older. It’s because of him that our family became acrobats in the first place.”

“Cool.” Tim breathes out, Dick places a hand on his back, lightly rubbing his thumb against his neck. “He kinda looks like you.”

“Huh,” Dick cocks his head to the side while studying the photo. “I guess he does, maybe I’m related somehow. Hard to know for sure since he went missing.”

“He did?” Tim asked, surprised.

“Yep, just dropped off the face of the earth, never to perform again.” Dick explains. “Not that it was particularly hard to do that, it was the 1930s. You could just go to any town, give them a random name and no one would really be able to question it.”

“True.” Tim concedes. “Still strange.”

“Maybe,” Dick shrugs. “Or maybe the guy just got tired of the circus lifestyle.”

“Do you miss it?” Tim looks up at Dick, seeing his brow furrow in thought. “The circus lifestyle?”

“That was a long time ago, baby bird.” Dick states, with a sigh. “I think a part of me will always look back at that time with longing, how could I not? It was amazing, but I wouldn’t go back. I built a life, a family, one that I love dearly.”

Tim nods, waiting to see if Dick would continue.

“I’m not that kid anymore.” Dick admits, “He’ll always be a part of me, but I’ve grown past that part of my life. We can’t go back to who we used to be, we can cherish those people, and what they represent, but to go back would be like trying to fit into my clothes from high school."

In a way Tim thinks he understands, he’s changed so much since becoming Robin, he can’t imagine going back to the way things were.

Dick suddenly shakes his head like he’s snapping himself out of some distant memory. “Let’s keep moving, this is making me too introspective, and we’re meant to be having fun.”

Tim takes Dick’s outstretched hand, as he begins navigating towards the exit. 

Tim feels a spike of panic, and debates asking Dick to take another loop through the exhibit. Babs still hadn’t messaged him confirmation yet, even though she’d claimed it shouldn’t take too long.

“How do you feel about getting some lunch before we head home?” Dick asks, solving Tim’s dilemma. “I don’t know about you but the fancy hors-d’oeuvres just don’t cut it.”

“Sounds good.” Tim agrees quickly, stomach growling at the thought of lunch.

They have to go out through small gift shops to get to the exit. It’s stocked with different books about art history, mugs with prints, stickers and different trinkets. They take a moment to browse before leaving, Tim ends up buying a book with prints of some of the photographs, with information about the history and subject.

Dick grabs a small sculpture of an elephant balancing on a ball.

“I should tell you about Zitka.” Dick says as they leave the gallery. “She was my best friend in the circus.”

Dick drives them to a nearby Batburger, he pretends not to notice the way Tim lights up as they pull into the parking lot. Tim had been acting off the entire time they’d been out, Dick couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was an extra nervous energy around him today. He’d been excited about going to the gallery, but had been checking his phone throughout the day, and on the drive to Batburger.

Dick wasn’t sure how to best approach the situation, he didn’t want to make Tim defensive if he asked about it the wrong way.

“Has anything been happening at school?” Dick asks, trying to keep his tone casual.

Tim jumps, putting his phone down. “No? It’s been pretty normal, the new subs great, they haven’t hired a new principal yet. Uh Emma thinks the vice principal will get promoted.”

“Yeah?” Dick nods, watching Tim carefully, his eyes keep flicking down to his phone, but he otherwise seems unbothered. “And the bully? Are they still leaving you alone?”

“Yeah,” Tim nods. “I don’t know what changed, but they’ve mostly backed off.”

“Mostly?” Dick pushes brow raised. “Tim.”

Tim's eyes widen as he realizes he slipped up. “It’s fine! He just says stuff for the most part, he’s not even bumping into me in the hall anymore. It’s really not a big deal.”

“Yes it is a big deal!” Dick rebuts, trying to keep his frustration at bay. “Tim he hurt you, I need you to tell me this stuff so I can talk to the school-”

“Dad please don’t!” Tim interrupts. “I swear he’s backing off! If you go to the principal and he gets in trouble he’ll just be worse!”

“If he’s hurting you he should face consequences.” Dick points out.

“But he’s not hurting me anymore.” Tim defends.

“Can you see how ‘anymore’ isn’t a convincing argument?” Dick pinches the bridge of his nose.

Tim flounders a moment, then flops against the table, pillowing his head in his arms and pouting.

Dick sighs, reaching out and placing a hand on Tim’s arm. “Tim bud, I know you think you need to handle this yourself. But you don’t, it’s my job as your dad to step in, in these situations.”

“I know.” Tim mumbles. “Can we please talk about this later? I want us to have a fun day, not talk about stupid school stuff.”

“Okay.” Dick reluctantly concedes. “We can revisit this conversation later.”

“Thank you.” Tim picks at his fries, then perks up when his phone buzzes.

He checks his phone then deflates, suddenly looking worried, chewing at his lip. He looks up at Dick then quickly schools his expression back to neutral.

“Everything okay?” Dick pushes.

“Yep! Just my friends." Tim chirps, setting his phone back down. “Bern and Darla are playing in our Minecraft world and somehow accidentally blew up part of our base and wrecked the redstone for our door. So now they have to add a second door to get in and out until me or Ives can fix it.”

Dick snorts, “Can’t they fix it?”

“They could.” Tim shrugs. “But they’re busy setting up a villager farm. Plus they don’t like doing stuff with Redstone.”

“Okay then.” Dick shakes his head, as Tim goes back to eating.

 “Uh, but speaking of school, my school shoes are starting to get tight, could I get a new pair today? Since we’re already out.”

“Of course we can bud.” Dick agrees easily. “We should probably get you two pairs of shoes, since the weather's going to start warming up soon, I’m sure your runners are starting to get too small as well. I know you have the Heelys but it’d be good to have a regular pair of sneakers too.”

He’d been planning on taking Tim shoe shopping soon anyway. Dick had noticed a hole forming at the toe, along with the wear of the soles. But there hadn’t been a point in replacing them at the time, the weather had been too cold for running shoes. 

Tim looks surprised but nods.

“The mall’s not too far, we’ll head there.” Dick decides. “Do you have rain boots that fit?”

Tim’s brows furrow, then he shrugs. “I’m not sure, they fit when I last wore them.”

“We’ll get a pair of those too then.” Dick states, “Just to be safe.”

Tim grabs his phone and texts someone, then digs through his Robin meal box, pulling out the toy. “I got Batman!”

Babs is regretting agreeing to let the titans help with decorating.

“It’s still not even Gar!” Vic points out from where he’s leaning over the banister.

Garfield -Beast Boy- makes a sound of protest. “I’m doing my best! You try doing this with bird feet!”

“You don’t have to do this as a bird!”

Babs pinches the bridge of her nose as Gar and Vic hang a banner in the foyer.

The plan was to throw a relatively low key party, something small, easy to set up in the time it would take Tim and Dick to tour the gallery. When the titans had come through the zeta, they had way more decorations than agreed upon, but had promised it wouldn’t take much longer to set up then originally planned.

“Can’t you just turn into a monkey or something and hang off the banister?” Babs suggests, then mutters to herself. “Or ask someone else who can fly to help?”

Both boys pause, looking at each other, before Gar transforms.

“I swear they become dumber when they’re together.”

Babs turns to see Raven entering the room. “And yet are terrifyingly competent out in the field.”

Raven shrugs. “The duality of man I guess.”

“Or the danger of leaving two teenage boys unsupervised.” Babs states.

“Hey Raven!” Gar calls waving. “Does the banner look good?”

“It’s straight.” Raven replies.

Gar and Vic cheer, tying it in place.

“Now we just have to put up the streamers!” Vic states, “I bet we could just throw the roll back and forth to hang it across the ceiling.”

“I’ll keep them from breaking anything.” Raven assures Babs. “You should check on progress in the ballroom.”

“We weren’t using the ballroom.” Babs states, dread pooling in her stomach. “What are they doing?”

“Setting up a bouncy castle.”

Babs puts her head in her hands, and takes a deep breath. “Thanks Raven, I’ll go look.”

She leaves the foyer, crossing her fingers that the youngest titans wouldn’t break anything, heading to the ballroom, and apparently the bouncy castle.

She enters to see Roy and Donna are indeed working together to set up a large bouncy castle, Lian excitedly observing from the side line.

“When did this get here?” She demands, as the castle slowly inflates.

Roy jumps, turning to look at her. “Uh, after you let us in, Wally ran off to grab it, there's plenty of space for them.”

“This wasn’t a part of the plan.” Babs points out.

“Sure, but the kids will love it.” Roy states a shit-eating grin on his face.

Donna snorts. “Forget the kids, Dick will love them.”

Babs sighs. “That may be true, but we’re on a time limit here, and did you say them? As in multiple?”

“Yes?” Roy grin becomes more nervous.

“One’s an obstacle course." Donna adds, unapologetic.

“Oh my god.” Babs groans, head falling. “Tim can’t keep him busy that long.”

“Sure he can!” Roy defends. “He just has to ask Dick to take him shopping or to see a movie.”

“We’re talking about the same kid right?” Babs clarifies, “The kid who up until recently, struggled to ask for basic necessities? That kid?”

“He’ll do it if he thinks he’s helping.” Donna states. “All he has to do is flash those puppy dog eyes and Dick will crumble faster than wet paper."

They’re not wrong, unless it would negatively affect his wellbeing, Dick couldn’t say no to Tim. “I’ll let Tim know this is going to take longer than planned.”

“How do those feel?” Dick asks, as Tim walks down the aisle testing out the pair of shoes.

Tim flexes his toes, they’re good, comfortable with room to grow. “These are good.”

Dick nods, “Did anything else stand out to you? You don’t have to pick the first ones you try on.”

“These are just for school.” Tim replies, tossing them into the cart. “They have to be plain.”

Dick nods, skimming over the different shoes and pulling down a couple pairs of shoes to show Tim. “You like these?”

Tim nods, accepting the shoes to try on, as he does that Dick continues to skim the shelves. Tim’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and he takes a quick peek while Dick isn’t looking.

__

Babs: where r u

The mall getting shoes :You

Have u found it? :You

Babs: no search is taking longer then planned

👍:You

__

Tim sighs, pocketing his phone, glancing up at Dick who’s looking at him, brows furrowed.

“I like the ones with the green shoe laces.” Tim states pointing to a pair on the shelf.

Dick grabs the box, “These ones?”

“Yeah.” Tim confirms, standing to test the pair he had on. “I don’t like the toe on these ones, they feel weird.”

“Take them off and try on the next pair, I’ll put them back.”

Tim tries on a couple more pairs until he finds one he likes, adding them to the cart. It takes less time to find a pair of rain boots, Tim quickly finding a pair of Batman boots he liked. Dick laughs at his choice ruffling his hair.

“I should have guessed.” He says, adding them to the cart. “Anything else you need or are we good?”

“I’m good.” Tim says, “I don’t need any more shoes.”

They go to check out, Tim messaging Babs as Dick pays for the shoes.

__

Babs: no search is taking longer then planned

👍:You

 update? :You

Babs: not yet

K :You

__

Tim notices Dick glancing over, and angles his phone screen away, Dick narrows his eyes, then grabs the bag.

“Come on kiddo, let's get out of here.” Dick says, leading the way to the exit.

Tim frantically tries to think of something else he might need, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe he could ask Dick to stop for milkshakes, or ask to pick up a lighter coat, he already had one that fit though, he’d feel bad buying one when he didn’t need it.

“Are you good to make a quick stop before we head home?” Dick suddenly asks, pulling Tim from his train of thought.

“Yes!” Tim quickly agrees, wincing at how relieved he sounds.

Dick raises a brow but doesn’t comment, instead leading him to a nearby store. He’s not sure what kind of store it is, maybe some kind of hobby shop, but it has a lot of random trinkets lining its shelves.

They head over to a display with what looks like different fidget toys, Dick grabbing a pack of spinner pens. “Figured I’d restock a bit, especially since you liked them.”

Tim nods, grabbing what looks like a butterfly knife, but brightly colored plastic and dull.

“That’s a balisong, it’s a trainer for if you want to learn tricks with a butterfly knife without needing stitches.” Dick explains. “Did you want one? They’re pretty fun.”

Tim flushes, putting it back on the shelf. “No it’s fine.”

As much as he did want it, it felt weird getting stuff on Dicks birthday. His parents had cut his allowance by quite a lot now that he was staying with Dick, saying he didn’t need it anymore. Which was true, he no longer needed to get his own necessities. But meant he was more frugal about getting things for himself, he’d rather save to buy gifts for his friends and families.

Along with making sure he had plenty in his emergency fund.

Dick just grabs the balisong anyway, then grabs a few more toys. “We’ll keep them at the desk for when you’re working on homework. I’ve heard you clicking your pen, and have seen the teeth marks in your pencils.”

“You don’t have to.” Tim mutters he must be red as a tomato. “It’s your birthday.”

“I’ll use them too.” Dick points out. “Plus birthdays aren’t about getting gifts, it’s about doing things that make you happy, this makes me happy.”

Dick keeps a close eye on Tim as they look through the hobby store, every time he looks at his phone he seems more stressed. Dick runs through the list of things that could be causing him to react like that, and can only think of a few things.

One: It was a bully, some one harassing him over text or online.

Two and the most likely: It was his parents, maybe they were extending their trip, or making sure he hadn’t told Dick about their neglect. Tim would hide it if he thought it would ruin Dick’s birthday, it wouldn’t, he cares far more about Tim’s happiness and comfort then any birthday plans.

It might be time to end the trip, go home and try to get Tim to open up.

“Alright bud, let's pay and go.” Dick states, placing a hand on Tim’s back to guide him towards the check out.

Just as before as Dick is paying, Tim is on his phone, brow furrowing. Dick leans to try and get a look at who Tim was messaging, but he suddenly pockets his phone. Dick pushes down his frustration, he wants to ask but he also wants to let Tim come to him.

Dick finishes paying then turns to Tim. “Ready to go home?”

Tim's eyes widen with poorly concealed panic. Odd, why didn’t he want to go home?

“Could we um.” Tim looks around, spotting something and lights up, before he wilts, looking conflicted. “Could we go bowling? I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Tim wouldn’t meet his eyes, guilt radiating off of him, like asking caused him physical pain.

“You’ve never gone bowling?” Dick doesn’t know why that shocked him.

Tim shakes his head, fiddling with his sleeve.

“I’d love to teach you!” Dick exclaims, purposely projecting excitement into his tone. “Come on, we'll play a couple games before leaving.”

His reaction has the desired effect, Tim relaxing at Dick’s excitement.

As they head towards the bowling alley, Dick runs through possible reasons that Tim wouldn’t want to return to the manor.

“Coming through!” Babs glances up at the call, seeing Kon weave around Garth and Kori -who are bringing food to the table- with an arm full of gifts, adding them to the pile.

“Kon!” Lois scolds, as she enters the room Clark and Jon on her heels. “Careful!”

“Sorry mom.” Kon replies sheepishly.

Lois lets out a tired sigh, “Hey Barbara, sorry we’re late, there was a situation in Metropolis.”

“It’s fine,” Babs waves off the apology. “We’re running late in general today.”

Alfred enters the room with a cake, setting it out. 

“I can see that.” Clark comments, looking around the dining room. “I was worried we’d be too late to help.”

“Yeah,” Babs sighs. “The titans decided the party needed to be bigger. There’s bouncy castles now.”

“There’s bouncy castles!” Jon perks up excited, then rushes over to his brother. “Kon there’s bouncy castles!”

“They are in the ballroom.” Kori explains, “They should all be ready now.”

Both boys turn to look at Lois and Clark with pleading eyes.

“It’s fine.” Babs says. “Lian is already playing on them.”

“Okay, just listen for when it's time to surprise Dick.” Lois instructs.

“Yes mom!” Kon chirps then turns to Jon. “Race you there!”

Kon rushes off, Jon scrambling to follow. “No fair!”

“The rest of the guests have arrived, and are on the way up.” Alfred states. “I say we’re about ready to summon the guest of honor home.”

“Thank god.” Babs responds letting her head fall back.

A crash from down the hall startles her, she exchanges a look with Alfred before going to check on the source. Kon and Jon are crowded around a smashed vase in the hall, Jon looks on the verge of tears, as Kon tries to comfort him.

“Are you two okay?” Babs asked, she knows both boys are practically invulnerable, but the question comes naturally.

The boys turn to see their parents, Babs and Alfred, and Jon immediately starts apologizing. “I’m sorry! I tripped and broke the vase, I didn't mean to!”

“It’s all right lad,” Alfred soothes, “It’s hardly the first time a vase has gotten broken in these halls.”

Kon puts an arm around his brother. “Mr. Pennyworth I can sweep it up if you tell me where a broom is.”

“That won’t be necessary lad.” Alfred waves him off. “I will take care of it.”

Lois goes over to the boys checking them over. “I appreciate it Alfred but the boys should clean it up.”

“Very well Mrs. Lois.” Alfred concedes, “I’ll go retrieve a broom.”

“After you sweep this up, you can go to the ballroom.” Clark states. “Maybe just walk this time.”

Just as Alfred returns with a broom, there’s another large bang from back in the dining room.

They rush back to the dining room, leaving the Kent’s to clean up the vase.

As they enter the room they see the cake on the floor. Linda is holding Jai, who has cake fisted in his hand, as Wally fights with a very fast moving Irey who’s screaming in protest.

Linda sees them enter and immediately starts apologizing. “I’m so sorry, Irey managed to get her power dampening bracelet off. She ran off before I could grab her.”

Barbara lets out a heavy sigh. “It’s alright Linda, accidents happen.”

“Oh this is a mess.” Barry comments as he enters the room, then in a flash everything is cleaned up. “There.”

Alfred is starting at the now clean spot, with a haunted expression on his face, and Linda looks like she might cry. Babs feels like she might join her if she does.

“Got it!” Wally exclaims as he gets the bracelet back on Irey. “She shouldn’t be able to get that one off.”

Irey screeches and flails trying to remove the bracelet. “No! No bracelet!”

“Irey, that's a different bracelet look!” Wally points to the bracelet on her wrist. “It has Dora on it!”

She stops, and looks at the bracelet and pokes at it with a sniffle.

“Is that better?” Wally asks, and Irey nods. “Alright you’re going to go with Jai, and sit in a time out.”

She tries to escape from Wally's hold, whining in protest. “Nooo!”

“Yes, you made a mess, and you broke something.” Wally states. “That cake wasn’t yours, and we have to ask to eat things that aren't ours, so you need to sit in time out.”

Wally passes Irey off to Linda, who takes the twins to the hall.

“I’m real sorry about that,” Wally says, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “I have no idea how the chain broke. Mind telling me the flavor? I’ll race off and get a new one from a nice bakery.”

“Yes of course.” Alfred snaps out of his daze, and goes over to Wally, “I shall write it down for you Master Wally.”

“We were almost there.” Babs rubs her face.

Barry pats her shoulder. “Well the guests are all here, and it shouldn’t take Wally very long to get a replacement. We’ll be ready to go in no time at all.”

As he finishes speaking the fire alarm starts blaring, Babs groans letting her head fall back into her hands.

“I might have jinxed that.” Barry admits sheepishly.

“It’s fine!” Roy comes running in, “It’s just smoke there’s no fire!”

“How does Dick deal with you?” Babs mutters, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Barry barks out a laugh. “Reluctantly.”

“You say that as if Dick isn’t equally involved in our chaos.” Roy deafened, looking a little offended.

Babs rolls her eyes. “What caused the smoke?”

“Confetti canon.”

Babs can feel her eye twitching. “No.”

“I’ll relay the message to Vic.” Roy gives a two fingered salute backing out of the room.

“Let me know when we’re ready and I’ll round up the guests.” Barry offers.

“Thanks Barry,” Babs takes a bracing breath. “I’m going to check on things, mind telling me when Wally gets back?”

“Yes ma’am.” Barry salutes.

Babs nods, then leaves the dining room.

His phone feels like a brick in his pocket as they start the second, he doesn’t understand why it's taking so long for them to be ready. It wasn’t meant to be some crazy party. Just the titans, and some of the founding members of the JL, the ones who knew Batman's secret identity.

He doesn’t have any other ideas after this game, if they’re not ready by then the whole surprise will be ruined.

Dick bowls his turn, getting a spare, turning to Tim. “Did you want something to drink? I was going to grab a coke.”

“Sure,” Tim nods, “A coke’s fine.”

Dick eyes narrow slightly before asking. “But do you want a coke? Or do you want something else?”

Tim fidgets, before replying. “Green slushy please.”

Dick gives a smug smile. “That’s what I thought.”

As Dick heads off to get drinks, Tim goes to bowl his turn. He managed to knock down four pins, then got two gutter balls in a row. Tim bites the inside of his cheek trying to tamp down his frustration.

“Not bad Baby Bird.” Dick comments when he returns, setting their drinks down on the table.

“I missed,” Tim states, grabbing his slushy. “Twice.”

Dick shrugs, ruffling his hair, “You’ve never bowled before, you’ll get better.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.” Tim mutters.

Dick raises a brow, head tilting to the side. Tim squirms under Dick’s sharp gaze, inspecting him like a case file.

“Alright, what’s wrong.” Dick finally asks. “Because I know you're not just upset about rolling a gutter ball. You’ve been off all day.”

“I’m fine.” Tim huffs, trying to think of a believable lie.

“Bull.” Dick responds, arms crossed.

“I just-” Tim stumbles over his words, before making a decision, hide the lie with a truth. He shifts his stance looking away from Dick, projecting guilt into his tone. He even summons a few tears. “I feel bad, it’s your birthday, and we just keep doing stuff I suggest.”

It does the trick and Dick’s expression softens. “Sweetheart, I want to do this too, I’m having fun spending time with you. Remember what I told you earlier? This is exactly how I want to spend my birthday.”

Tim lets Dick pull him into a hug, hiding his triumphant grin.

“Now, let's get back to bowling.” Dick suggests, “And I’ll show you a couple tricks so you get less gutter balls.”

Dick keeps replaying the events of the day through his head. He knows Tim wasn’t being entirely truthful, Dick’s the one who taught him to use those crocodile tears, but he couldn’t figure out what the real problem was.

He goes to play his final round as he mulls it over. It has something to do with who ever was texting him. It wasn’t his friends, and he doesn’t think it's a bully. It could be his parents, but Dick can’t imagine them talking to Tim over text for this long. This is a conversation, and the Drakes didn’t often care to have those with their son.

It has something to do with the manor, Tim’s trying to keep him away. Which means something he doesn’t want Dick to know about. Which means it’s someone at the manor, who can tell Tim when he’s safe to go home.

Alfred or Barbara.

Alfred would know what's going on, nothing that happens at the manor happens without him knowing. But this has Babs written all over it, it explains why she was ‘seeing them off.’ Her and Tim were going over the plan.

What’s the reason for the distraction? What are they hiding?

It’s a surprise party.

Dick finishes his game with two pins left, he turns and sees Tim on his phone, looking relieved.

“Your turn kiddo.” Dick calls.

Tim walks up to the lane, pausing to lean against Dick’s side. “Are we going home after this?”

Dick ruffles his hair, looks like they’re finally ready. “Yeah bud, we can go home after this.”

Babs lets out a relieved sigh as she sends out the text letting Tim know they're ready to go. She owes Tim an apology, and an explanation for why this had taken longer than planned.

“They’ll be on the way soon.” Babs says, turning to Alfred.

Alfred nods. “Very good Miss. Barbara. I’ll locate Master Barry and inform him we’re almost ready to go.”

“Thanks Alfred.” She finally lets herself relax. She was never throwing a party with the Titans help again.

As they drive home, Tim feels relaxed for the first time since leaving the gallery. He wishes he knew why things had taken so long, they were supposed to be able to go home after the gallery, or after lunch at the latest.

“Did you have fun?” Dick’s voice breaks his train of thoughts.

Tim nods. “Yeah, did you like the gallery?”

“I did,” Dick confirms. “Thank you for the tickets, bud.”

Tim shrugs, “You’re welcome.”

“Are you going to play some games with your friends when you get home?” Dick asks, “Fix the door.”

Tim’s confused for a moment, before remembering his excuse from earlier. “Ives fixed it already. I want to see if Babs found anything.”

Dick nods, “If she hasn’t I’m sure she’ll appreciate the help.”

Tim nods a bit of excitement building as they get closer to the manor. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Dick’s face when they get home.

Dick has to hold back laughter at how excited Tim looks as they pull up to the manor. He’d seen Tim lie with ease on multiple occasions, to his parents, even to Dick himself. It’s adorable watching him struggle to hide genuine excitement, an air of mischief surrounding him.

Tim grabs his hand, leading him to the door, the lights are off as they enter the foyer.

“Why is it dark?” Dick asks, playing along.

“Surprise! Happy Birthday!” The lights come back on, revealing the Titans, some members of the JL and their families.

Dick jumps back in ‘surprise’ playing the part of an unknowing victim. “Wha-I.”

He looks around the room then looks down at Tim. “So this is why you didn’t want to go home.”

Tim nods, giggling and hugging Dick. “Happy birthday dad.”

Dick returns the hug, “Brat.”

“Happy birthday kitten.” Dick looks up and sees Selina approaching, pulling him into a hug.

“Thanks Selina.” Dick replies.

Selina presses a kiss to his cheek before stepping back. “It feels like yesterday you were just a little kid, chasing me across the roof tops.”

Dick smiled, responding with a quiet laugh, “Time flies.”

“That it does.” Selina slips away to allow the other guests to greet him.

Diana is the next to approach him, clasping his shoulder before pulling him into a quick embrace. “Happy Birthday Dick, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you.”

“I missed you too Aunt Diana.” Dick replies.

“I must admit,” Diana starts, “I’m a bit jealous, I keep hearing about the new Robin from other members of the Justice League, and my sister. And I have yet to meet him.”

Dick sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, he looks around and sees that Tim had slipped away and was talking to Kon. “I haven’t had the chance.”

“I hope you’ll have the chance today.” She responds.

“I promise.” Dick says, as Diana steps away.

Slowly the rest of the guests greet him, wishing him a happy birthday. He’s starting to feel a little overwhelmed when the crowd finally disperses.

“So,” Babs starts as she comes up to him. “How long did it take you to figure out what was going on?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dick denies playfully.

Babs rolls her eyes. “I’ve known you for years man wonder, I know what genuine surprise looks like. How long did it take?”

“I didn’t figure it out until right before we started heading home.” Dick admits. “Tim did a very good job of keeping me distracted. But you know as well as me that our child struggles to ask for things that he perceives will be even the slightest inconvenient. It became obvious he was trying to keep me away from the manor.”

Babs lets out a found sigh, shaking her head. “I had a feeling that might happen. Does he know?”

“No, absolutely not.” Dick states. “He was so excited, he’d have been crushed if I told him.”

She nods in agreement.

“Why’d this take so long?” Dick asks, curious as to what had delayed them.

“Your friends decided the party wasn’t exciting enough.” Babs explains. “There are bouncy castles.”

“Bouncy castles?” Dick tries to hide his excitement. “As in multiple.”

“One’s an obstacle course.” Babs states. “They’re in the ballroom, don’t even pretend you’re not excited, go.”

Dick beams, and hugs her. “You’re the best Babs, thank you.”

“Happy birthday Dick.” Babs places a kiss on his cheek.

Dick knows his face is red when he leaves for the ballroom.

The ballroom is filled with three different bounce houses, two that are more generic and one that is -as Babs had said- an obstacle course. Roy and Connor are racing through the course. Lian is watching with Mia, excitedly cheering on her dad as Mia cheers on Connor.

“Dad!” Tim calls when he sees Dick had entered the ballroom. Hopping off one of the bounce houses where he was playing with Kon and Jon. He comes running over grabbing his hand, dragging him through one of the side doors.

Dick follows Tim into the quiet hallway, Tim turns and gestures for Dick to stop. “Wait here.”

Tim slips through a door emerging with a wrapped box. “I know everyone put their gifts on the table for you to open later, but I…”

Tim trails off clearly struggling to put words to his thoughts, so he just holds out the gift for Dick to take.

“Didn’t you already give me a present?” Dick points out, taking the offered gift.

“I know.” Tim huffs cheeks red as he looks away. “But that was a distraction, and it didn’t feel like enough.”

“Tim, sweetheart, you didn’t have to get me anything.” Dick gently states. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“But I wanted to.” Tim responds, he looks up at Dick with such an earnest expression, Dick feels his heartstrings being plucked.

Dick opens the gift revealing a black case, when he opens it he sees different kinds of fidget toys. Fidgets spinner, magnet sliders, puzzle toys, he picks one spinner up that’s shaped like a batarang.

“Babs helped me put it together.” Tim explains, looking more self conscious.

“I love it.” Dick states setting the case to the side, pulling Tim into a hug. “Thank-you.”

“I love you dad.” Tim says, pressing his face into Dicks shoulder.

“I love you too.” Dick responds, kissing the top of his head. “Shall we go back to the party?”

Tim suddenly jumps back, excited. “Yeah! I want to see you kick uncle Roy's butt on the obstacle course!"

“That’s a promise baby bird.” Dick states, heading back out into the ballroom.

The party is a blast, Dick jumps between groups, catching up with friends he hadn’t seen in months. Eventually he finds himself in the family room, watching as Tim, Kon and Jon all get their asses handed to them by Lian in archery on Wii sports resort.

Clark comes in and joins him leaning against the wall. “This is a pretty fun party.”

Dick grins, “Yeah, thank you.”

Clark laughs, “Oh don’t thank me, I had nothing to do with it, there was a situation and I was too late to help with setting up.”

“Thank you.” Dick repeats, “For coming, for being here, for helping me not just today but since Bruce…”

Clark throws his arm around Dicks shoulder. “We’re family, you don’t have to thank me for that.”

“I want to anyway.” Dick leans into the embrace.

They go quiet for a moment, when Dick glances at Clark's face he looks conflicted, brows furrowed in thought.

“Everything okay Uncle Clark?” Dick asks, pulling away.

Clark lets his arm drop, offering him a resigned smile. “It’s nothing that can’t wait kiddo.”

“We could slip away to talk.” Dick offers, worry beginning to build in his chest.

“No,” Clark waves off the offer. “Enjoy your birthday.”

Dick gives Clark a carefully constructed pleading look, he notices Diana coming over out of the corner of his eye. “But I’ll just keep worrying about this now. It’s more stressful not knowing, I’ll start catastrophizing.”

Dick can see Clark's resolve crumbling, “It’s really not anything to worry about.”

“Then it shouldn’t be an issue to talk about it now.” Dick points out.

“He has a point, Clark.” Diana states, joining the conversation. “We may as well tell him now.”

Dick is surprised Diana knows why Clark looks so guilty, that means it’s likely JL business.

Clark sighs, finally conceding. “Alright, let's go somewhere private.”

“We can use Bruce's study.” Dick offers, heading out of the room.

The three of them go to the study, Dick shutting the door behind him, muffling the sounds of laughter. “What’s going on?”

“Well…” Clark begins, trailing off clearly unsure how to start the conversation.

“There’s a Justice League meeting coming up.” Diana states, stepping in at Clark's hesitance. “Some of the other members are beginning to ask questions about Batman.”

“They want to know why he’s playing hooky.” Dick surmises, feeling suddenly exhausted.

“Yes.” Clark admits. “They know he’s still active, and don’t understand his absence at the watch tower.”

“We’ve told them there were other things that required his attention in Gotham.” Diana explains. “And that he would rejoin us when things had been handled.”

“Let me guess, they’re not satisfied with that answer.” Dick sits in the chair by the desk. “Did you need me to attend the next meeting as Batman?”

“You and Bruce are valuable members of the Justice League.” Diana places a hand on his shoulder. “Both Batman and Nightwing are missed.”

“But,” Clark jumps in. “We don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything.”

“We’ll continue to cover for you as long as you need.” Diana agrees, offering Dick a reassuring smile. “You’ve been through a lot, you deserve time to heal.”

“And you have other responsibilities now.” Clark adds, "Those take priority.”

“I appreciate it.” Dick puts his hand over Diana. “I really do, but it’s not fair of me to ask you to do that, or for me to neglect my responsibilities to the league."

“Dick, taking time to heal is not selfish.” Diana asserts, squeezing his shoulder. “You have asked nothing of us, we are offering, because we care for you.”

“You’re family kiddo.” Clarks reminds him. “We want to help you.”

“And that’s why I want to be able to help you guys too.” Dick insists. “When’s the next meeting? I’ll go over recent missions and files on JL missions so I’m up to date.”

“Don’t make a decision right now.” Clark insists. “Think on it for a couple days then get back to us.”

“Like Clark said, you have other responsibilities.” Diana says. “It’s okay if you’re not ready.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it.” Dick already knows what his answer would be, Batman was a symbol for more than just Gotham.

It had been seven months since Bruce had fallen into a coma, with no signs of improvement. It was time for Dick to stop hiding in the shadows of Gotham, to stop waiting for a miracle that seemed less and less likely with each day that passed. Time for him to fully step into the role of Batman, to stop holding back from fully accepting the mantle.

He’d never stop hoping that Bruce would recover, he couldn’t give up on his father. But until that happened?

He was Batman.