Chapter Text
Chapter 11: Family matters
Bruce Dick and Jason sat quietly listening as Tim told them everything. He told them how long he was left alone by his parents growing up, about the lies they had him tell to keep teachers from noticing. He cried as he told them about the cold treatment and harsh words he was given when they were home, the screaming and fighting, the throwing things and locked doors.
They listened as he told them that his parents didn’t love him. That they never had. That all he ever wanted was to make them happy and proud and that nothing he did was ever good enough.
“It’s my fault… It’s all my fault. I-If I was better they wouldn’t want to leave all the time.. They would want me if I wasn’t so stupid and- “
“Tim, look at me.” Bruce cut the boy off, kneeling by the side of his bed. “The way your parents have treated you is not at all your fault. They are supposed to be here with you and love you no matter what.. You are wonderful and brilliant and no one your age should have had to deal with any of the things that your parents did to you. Do you understand? They were not good people and nothing you did caused that. It is just how they are.”
“You are the best kid I know Timmy. No one is as smart as you are! They are fucking stupid to not realize how awsome their kid is. But that their fucking loss. They don’t get to treat my little brother like that anymore. Right B?”
Bruce smiled gently at Jason before turning his gaze back to Tims tear filled eyes. “Right. We are going to do everything we can to make sure Tim comes home with us.. If you are alright with that arrangement of course.”
“You.. you mean I can .. I can stay with you?”
“If that would make you happy then yes Tim. We would love to have you be a part of our family.”
~~~~~~
“I don’t care how rich you are Wayne, you cannot tell us we can’t see our son.” Jack seethed as he paced the private waiting room Bruce had managed to get them to meet him in. “You have no authority to tell us what to do. We can have you arrested for this I’m sure. Janet call the police!”
“Yes Janet. Call the police. We have a lot to discuss with them.” Bruce leaned forward in his seat. “I’m sure they will be interested to hear about you two and you’re parenting skills.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
“Well Jack, leaving an eleven year old alone for months at a time is considered criminal neglect. And beating them is abuse. Not to mention you hired the man that abused, drugged and raped your son. You left him in the hands of a monster and not once did you come and check on them. While you might be able to worm your way out of blame for that one legally, I will be meeting with every reporter in the country to smear that blatant disregard of your sons safety to everyone that will write the story. You will be ruined by the end of the weak if you aren’t already behind bars by then.”
Jack was sputtering, red in the face with fury, but was cut off quickly by his wife.
“What do you want?” She asked, voice cold and detached.
“Tim. I want you to sign over custody of him to me. I don’t want to put him through the stress of court. I want you to pack your things, or whatever Haris left you that is, and I want you out of Gotham. I want you to cut all ties you have to this city and to Tim. I want you to disappear and for him to never see you again.”
“Why don’t you take the deed to Drake Industries while you're at it!” Jack exclaimed.
“Oh that’s hardly necessary Jack. I don’t need your pennies. Nothing you have is worth anything to me. All I want is Tim and you to be as far away from him as possible.”
“And if we refuse?”
Bruce sighed and stood slowly, looming over Janet “Well Janet, that changes very little. I will be taking Tim. And I will tear you, and everything you have, apart.”
~~~~~~~
Tim pulled his blanket tighter around his shoulders and leaned back into the pillows he was nestled in on the sofa in Wayne's sun room. It had only been a few days since he was officially signed into Bruce’s custody and released from the hospital and he was slowly starting to settle into his new normal. His parents hadn’t put up a fuss and had moved out of the Drake Estate while he was still in recovery, they didn’t ask to see him and he didn’t ask for them to come. There was too much to say to them.. But no words for any of it. None that they would hear, understand or care about anyway… So he let them go. Dick and Alfred had brought over all of his things and had his bedroom set up for him when he was finally brought to the Manor. While it was a definite adjustment to have people hovering over him all the time, he had to admit it was nice to be worried over and cared for. Though it was nice to have breaks like this too.
He had managed to slip into the sun room undetected while Alfred was busy preparing dinner. The old butler was determined to get Tim’s weight and appetite up by any means necessary, meaning he spent most of the day in the kitchen or hovering over Tim monitoring his eating. It.. it wasn’t that Tim didn’t want to eat.. It was just that his body was so used to having to reject whatever he put in it he found himself still throwing up most of what he ate. He had tried to hide it at first, not wanting to worry or offend Alfred but he only made it four meals into living at the Manor before Dick found him throwing up breakfast in his bathroom. After the tears were dried and Tim was cleaned up and calmed down Dick had taken him down to talk to Alfred and Bruce, much to Tim’s dismay. But neither of them were upset with him, worried yes, but not mad. Alfred started making new meal plans just for him, and started making meal replacement shakes and smoothies for him. And Bruce called his doctor friend who got Tim an IV set up for when he wasn’t able to keep things down. At first it was all overwhelming, all the extra steps that Tim was putting Bruce and Alfred through just to keep him fed, but seeing how happy they looked when he was able to keep down a cookie yesterday made him feel like maybe.. Maybe it was worth the hassle.. Maybe he was worth the hassle.
Jason and Tim had both started therapy with a woman named Dinah, It had been Jason who suggested it, which surprised everyone including Bruce. It wasn’t easy to talk about his parents and Haris.. Tim had barely brought them up at all during their sessions, focusing more on talking about his progress with his eating and how he was feeling while living with the Waynes. Dinah was a great listener and told him often how proud every one was of his progress, even if he wasn’t. She coached him through breathing exercises to do when he was overwhelmed and how to ask for space or set boundaries with people, and had even had Dick come in on one of their sessions to practice saying no to a hug or asking for someone to stop touching him.
Things were definitely different.. They were getting better but they were different. There was hovering where once there was no one. There were alot of hushed whispers then they thought he was out of ear shot, and a lot of worried looks when they thought he wasn’t looking. Jason would get a cold distant look in his eyes sometimes and disappear for hours.. And then there was the matter of their night jobs.. Tim had told them that Haris knew about their identities, that he had never ever in a million years meant to let him find out and how he had done everything he was told to make sure Haris didn’t tell. Bruce wasn’t mad like Tim thought he was going to be. He had assured Tim that he was going to take care of it, and had even thanked him for protecting them. If Tim hadn’t been so tired he might have even seen the tears in Bruce’s eyes as he was pulled into a hug. That had been the only time it was talked about, Tim wasn’t exactly sure what they did about Haris, but no announcement had been made on the news about Bruce Wayne being the Dark Knight so he was pretty sure Bruce had handled it.
“Tim?” Bruce called gently, startling Tim out of his thoughts. “Mind if I join you?”
Tim smiled a bit and shuffled over, making room for the larger man on the couch.
Bruce smiled back as he eased himself down next to Tim, letting the boy scooch closer to him as he settled into the cushions.
“How are you feeling today? Alfred said you finished a smoothie in one sitting today, that's really good.”
“I’m.. I think I'm okay.” Tim answered honestly. “I didn’t throw up which is really good.. I’m happy about that.”
“I’m so proud of you Tim..”
“It’s just a smoothie… it’s not that big a deal.”
“I know. I’m proud of you for that though. And for everything else. You are doing so well Tim.. I’m so proud of how strong you have been. I .. I’m not the greatest at showing how I’m feeling or at asking for help, I know how hard that can be.. And I can only imagine how hard all these changes have been but you are handling them all so incredibly well.”
“I.. I don’t feel like I am..”
“Why is that?” Bruce offered Tim his hand, which the boy accepted, holding it tightly as he leaned into the older mans side.
“I.. I still have nightmares.. About him.. And my parents… I .. I still feel like hes watching me.. Like I’m gonna wake up back in his room.. I.. I feel dirty .. no matter how many showers I take I just.. I feel bad in my skin.” Tears were starting to well up in his eyes “I just.. I wanna feel normal again Bruce.. I want to feel like myself again”
Bruce gently pulled him into a hug “I know… I can’t begin to imagine how you are feeling right now Tim.. But you are not dirty, or broke, and he is never going to come near you ever again. You are safe here and we are all here for you. We will always be here for you kiddo. You can come to any of us after a nightmare or if you are feeling anxious. Even if we are gone on patrol or at work or school you can call or text us or Dinah. We will make sure you are okay, alright?” He held the boy closer as he nodded into his chest. “We love you so much Tim.. nothing will ever change that.”
Bruce held Tim until he cried himself to sleep in his arms, then carried him up to his room. He gently tucked him into bed, leaving his door open a crack before heading to his study.
“Hey B?”
“Yes Jay?” Bruce paused in the doorway of his office and smiled at his son. “Everything okay?”
“Can.. can we talk please?”
“Of course kiddo. Of course.” Bruce let Jason lead him down to the library where they got settled in Jason’s favorite spot in front of the large fireplace. “What do you want to talk about?”
Jason held out an envelope shakily. “Dinah helped me.. We.. we found the names of as many of them as we could.. I.. it’s not all of them.. I .. I can’t remember all of them. There were too many of them and they didn’t always use the same names or drive their own cars.. But .. but these are the ones I could remember.”
Bruce took the envelope gently. “I will make sure every single person on this list is punished. I promise.”
“It’s … It’s not going to make it better.. Ya know? It’s .. it’s not gonna undo it or make me forget what they did.. What I let them do.. But.. but if they are in jail then they can’t do it to someone else.” A tear slipped down his cheek “N-no one else will have to let them touch them or… or hurt them. You … we won't let them do it again .. Right?”
“Right.. No they won’t hurt anyone like that ever again..” Bruce opened his arms, letting his son crawl into his lap, holding him close. “No one is going to hurt you like that ever again”
“.....Haris almost did.”
It was said so quietly Bruce almost missed it..
“I know.. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to stop it..”
“I .. I was gonna let him.. I was gonna let him dad.. C-cuz he was gonna hurt Tim.. a-and… and I thought I.. I’m stronger than Tim. I had to protect him. I had to be brave but. .but I was so scared dad I was so scared I couldn’t move.. I couldn’t.. I couldn’t breathe I-”
“Shh shh it’s okay now.. It's over” Bruce held his sobbing son close, fighting to keep his own tears at bay. “You were so brave Jason.. You are the bravest person I have ever met… but that will never happen again.. You will never be.. I will never let anyone touch you or your brothers like that.. Not ever again.” He held Jason close, rocking him gently.
It killed a part of Bruce knowing that two of his sons had been hurt so deeply and that there was nothing he could do to take the hurt away. No matter what he did they would always carry the scars from these horrible wounds left on their souls. But that wasn’t going to stop him from doing everything in his power to keep them safe from as much of the world's evil from here on out.
~~~~~~
Tim had once been content living alone, but now? He couldn’t imagine going home and finding an empty kitchen. Now he came home to a warm hug from Alfred and a plate of his favorite cookies, he now had Jason sitting across the table from his every night helping him with homework. He had a cool big brother that showed up at school to take him and Jason to batburger and to the skate park. He had Bruce who would ruffle his hair and ask him about his day.
Gone were the days of living in an empty home, and the nights of following his heroes from a distance, watching them through the lens of a camera. Now he watched Robin and Nightwing fill the pockets of Batman's utility belt with glitter. Now he sat with Alfred on nights they were on patrol offering them back up from the Cave. Now he was learning how to throw a punch and wield a bo staff. Now he was happy. Not just content.
The past would always linger.. A man in a brown tweed jacket might always hide in the back of Tim’s mind.. In the corner of his eye just barely out of sight. The fear of disappointing his parents might weight on his heart when he says or does something wrong. He may never fully move on from what happened .. but thats okay. None of that matters.
Tim nestles himself into Bruce’s side as his brothers bicker over the movie selection for the night, smiling as Alfred scolds the two of them gently.
Nothing but this matters.
Just Tim and his family laughing, and loving each other behind closed doors.