Chapter Text
Tim’s school has a memorial wall, full of pictures of teenagers, students who died during their time at school. His school was a private boarding school outside Gotham, but most kids still came from the city and lived there when school was out or, like Tim, lived close enough to commute every day. A significant number of those deaths were caused by rogue attacks.
Directly – Zahra Merar was a year ahead of him and died in a house fire caused by Firefly a year ago. Marlena Laurie, who was a year below him, took her own life after her parents were poisoned by the aggressive Joker toxin, and she had to protect herself from them. Rogue-related deaths were common, but there were other causes too. Rama Lashmi, Tim’s classmate, died of a brain tumor that was diagnosed too late. Tim found him after PE in the bathroom.
Every day, when going to Mr. Brunner’s history class, he walks by the wall. And every day, he says "Hello" and "Bye" to the pictures. It felt right. It was right for him.
When he walked by the day after his Batman revelation, he stopped. Jason didn’t have a picture here. Of course, he didn’t. Jason wasn’t a student here. He went to Gotham High. Did Gotham High have a memorial wall? Tim actually didn’t know. He had seen the school from outside multiple times while following Batman and Robin and on outings with his friends. Did Jason have a place on a memorial wall?
Tim knew some people didn’t like having pictures of dead family members at home; his father was one of them. Most pictures at Drake Manor were of animals or of artists his parents met during their travels. Tim had only found a handful of old, long-forgotten family pictures in his mother’s study. Was Wayne Manor the same? Those questions stayed with him for the rest of the school day. No one knew Robin was dead. So, Robin wouldn’t be on any memorial wall. And even if someone said Robin was dead, people would treat it as a joke or conspiracy theory. And Jason was 'just' a regular dead teenager to the public. Of course, Bruce Wayne is a beloved public figure, and Jason was his son, but in the end, no one knew about his vigilantism.
Making a memorial page or something similar for a teen you’ve never met? That would be weird.
During the drive back to Drake Manor, he texted his friend Bernard: “What would happen if Robin died?” Bernard loved such 'what if' questions and conspiracy theories. They had met in an online forum discussing the theory whether WE were funding Batman. When WE announced they were the main funders of the Justice League, Bernard and Tim were happy and stayed in touch, building a friendship based on weird headcanons and Game Theory videos. Tim liked this friendship a lot. Bernard would never say “That’s unrealistic” or “That’s a dumb idea.” And just like that, Bernard answered him: “Which one? The current one? The old one? “
That’s why Tim liked Bernard.
When Tim arrived at Drake Manor, he took one of the scented candles and a lighter from Mrs. Mac’s supplies. She lit them after cleaning a room because Tim’s mother didn’t like the smell of the cleaning products. With them, he went into the garden and as close as possible to the property line of Wayne Manor. He stopped at a tree, circling it and searching for a safe place to put the candle. After securing the candle from all sides, making sure the flame didn’t get too close to the tree or that it could fall over, he carefully lit the candle and just stood before it for a few seconds.
Tim was never religious. He believed his mother’s mother – his grandmother – was Jewish, but his parents never really talked about it. When Tim was younger, he tried using any celebration or holiday he learned about in school to get his parents’ home. After two years, a handful of celebrations evolved into Drake family days without any religious meaning, but his parents made sure to be there.
Tim also didn’t know if Jason was religious. And he didn’t want to be an asshole. So Tim sat down by the candle and just watched. After a few minutes, he slowly began to talk.
“This is for you, Jason. If you don’t have a memorial wall-at least I can give you this.” Tim started to play with his shoes. “You’re my favorite hero, you know? Richard is cool and all, but you’re different, like a star. Something you can wish on and feel safe with even if it’s far away. I loved watching you. I convinced my parents to sign me up for Jujitsu classes because of you! I have the green-black belt now. My father was really proud when I got it! Mother wasn’t that happy about me starting, and she wanted me to keep doing classical dance. But you can only be perfect at those, and my father agreed with me and said, 'It will keep him safe, we live in Gotham after all!'“ Tim laughed at himself at the memory.
“I don’t know how you trained. Probably privately with Mr.Wayne. Maybe even with Richard? His gymnastics are on another level! It would be really cool to train with him! He seems like a nice person too. Is Mr. Wayne a good teacher? I don’t know what to make of him. At events, he plays that Brucie Wayne persona, which my parents don’t really like. And as Batman he is...” Tim gestured with his hands, as if hiding in a cape. “Batman. What’s the real difference between the two personas? How is he as a mentor? A leader? A parent?” Tim sighed and pulled his legs close. “I guess he’s hurting a lot since your death. I’m worried about him.”
After talking to the candle -to Jason- for some time, he said his goodbyes and made his way back to Drake Manor. Relived that Jason has at least one place to be remembered at.