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Batfam Week Day 5: Legacy
Tim Drake walked around the Batcave, looking at the various items that amounted to memorabilia of Gotham’s enemies. It was like a hall of fame for villains. A Joker playing card, a dinosaur, Penguin’s umbrella. He ran his fingers across the ridges of the giant penny.
“Isn’t it a little morbid to keep trophies? Like a serial killer?” Tim asked his face scrunched in confusion. Alfred stood behind the child’s shoulder, looking at each item.
“You could view it that way, Master Timothy,” he said, resting a hand on the child’s shoulder, “But I see something different. It’s the same as the portraits hanging in the Manor above us. Every item in here has a story, a moment in the life of this family. It’s your legacy.” Tim looked up at him and nodded. He walked over to the case of past uniforms and stopped beside the memorial to Jason Todd, the brother he never knew. He saw his legacy clearly in this display.
_-_-_
Years later, Tim stood before the same display of costumes, his eyes fixed on another memorial—one to his time as Robin. He pulled off his Red Robin mask and stood in front of the case and slowly pressed his forehead to the cool glass. A sadness settled in his gut.
“You almost look like you miss it,” Jason said, stopping beside his younger brother. Tim looked up at him, taking a minute for his eyes to focus on the present again, after losing himself in the past.
“It’s Damian’s now,” he said, “Dick chose him.” Tim walked by his brother without looking back.
_-_-_
Dick woke to the sound of shattering glass, staring down the barrel of a gun.
“Jason, what the hell?”
Jason glared, the mask of the Red Hood off so his brother could see his eyes. “You need to have a talk with Tim.”
“What?” Dick sat up, “You come in here guns blazing to talk about family matters? Seriously, Jason, we need to discuss…”
“No, I talk. You listen. You need to talk to Tim about why you chose Damian to be your Robin.”
“Jay, Tim knows why…”
“You assumed that, but you’re wrong. You hurt him Dick, and now you’re going to fix it.”
_-_-_
Red Robin entered the cave after another rough mission. Damian headed through the cave and straight up to the Manor, already half asleep. Tim turned to see his older brothers, Jason as the Hood and Dick in his version of the Batman cowl exchanging looks. Jason walked over and patted Tim’s shoulder, and then left without a word.
“Hold up a second, Babybird, okay?” Dick said. He walked past Tim to the display of Robin costumes. “This one was mine,” he said, tapping the glass, even though Tim already knew. The younger Wayne boy came over and stood beside him. “It was new with me, not so heavy with expectation. Jason inherited the weight of its experiences. And you, you inherited a darker legacy.” Dick shook his head, “I’ve never once wanted to go back.” He stopped talking and fell silent. “You get why I picked Damian to wear this costume, don’t you?”
Tim felt something inside him shut down. His expression went blank. “Yeah. I need to run a diagnostic on the computer and…”
“Tim.” Dick caught him by the shoulder. “We’re going to talk about this, so settle in.”
“What is there to say?”
“A lot, apparently. A lot of things I thought went unsaid, and that’s my fault, Tim. I assumed you knew where my head was and I never bothered to make sure. I’m sorry, brother.” Dick pulled his cowl off, and Tim could see the concern in his expressive eyes. “For me, Robin was step one, but I grew up. I had to shrug off the legacy and make one of my own. Jay, he got to his new name through a lot more pain, but I believe if he had lived, he would have chosen a new name at some point too.” Dick ran a hand through his hair, “I’m not explaining this well. Tim, I had the choice to become someone new, none of us a had any say in Jason, but with you, I made a mistake. I chose for you.” Tim found himself without words, trying to piece together everything being said. “Robin is like training wheels. Robin is a starting place, it was never meant to be forever.” Dick leaned against the glass. “I know you became Robin because Bruce needed you. You saved his life, kid, and none of us are going to forget that. And, you needed to be Robin too. That brain of yours, running wild in a school system that vastly underestimated you? Bombing in classes because you were bored out of your mind? We’re lucky we snatched you up for the good side because that’s a pretty great villain story in the making.”
Tim rolled his eyes as Dick laughed at his own joke.
“But seriously,” Dick said, “You needed to get out of that place, to find meaning and use for your incredible brain. You needed guidance, you needed to gain confidence. But, Babybird, you don’t need Robin anymore. You’re strong, smart, a capable leader. Look at you with the Titans? You’re a natural leader. You can do this work, Tim. You don’t need your big brother breathing down your neck. Damian does. The kid needs to learn to discipline that temper. He needs to learn to understand people’s emotions and to put others first sometimes. He needs to be Robin, and he needs Batman to guide him. You don’t. It would only hold you back.” Dick laid his hand on his teenage brother’s shoulders, “I would never do that to you. The Robin’s legacy is growing, learning. But it was time for you to forge out and make your own legacy. And I thought you would realize that…” he shook his head, “Sometimes you are so quick, I forget you aren’t just reading my mind. I didn’t explain, and I’m sorry. But I’m not sorry for picking Damian because it has nothing to do with family. I’m not picking one brother over another. I was promoting one brother and training another in the field. But in our family? There is no rank. No one comes first or goes last. I love you, kid.” Tim saw pain in Dick’s eyes. “You get that, right?”
The emotions were closing in Tim’s throat, and he had to look away. Then before he could respond, Dick pulled him into a hug. He felt Dick’s breath ruffle his hair. “I love you, so much, Tim. You’re not the Robin anymore, but you will always be my baby brother.” Tim closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment just to linger in the hug before he found his voice again.
“I love you, Dick.”
As the two brothers hugged, Jason Todd left the dark corner he was standing in and headed as quietly as possible out of the cave.