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"I'm going." Tim says, determination shining is his big blue eyes as he stares up at her.
"Really, now? And how will you get there?" Selina asks, amused at this turn of events. "I already got the plane ticket, and I'm getting a taxi to the airport." Tim explains, as if she should know this already, and she can't help blinking in surprise.
"Tim, hon, as much as I love you, I am not letting you go to China on your own." Selina declares firmly, but that only seems to make his determination grow. "But Selina! I can't just stay here! They're killing cats!" He yells, his eyes already becoming misty, and she sighs softly as she kneels in front of him.
"I know, kitten. I know. But what are you going to do when you get there? How are you going to get an entire country to stop?" She asks, pulling the shaky boy into a hug as she mentally berates herself for letting him watch that cat documentary. At his silence, though, she continues on. "It's not like everyone does it, too. In fact, a lot of people are trying to put a stop to it forever. When you're bigger and old enough, maybe you'll join them. But for now, you just need to stay here and protect the cats in Gotham. Okay?" She tells him gently, and at his quick nod a soft smile comes to her lips.
This boy was a good one.
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"You expect me to watch him." Batman says, and it's not even a question.
"What, do you want me to leave a seven year old home by himself? Besides, it's only for a couple of days. No big deal." Catwoman tells him, quirking an eyebrow as he continues to stare her down emotionlessly. She knows when he accepts defeat, though, because she can see it in the slight sag of his shoulders.
"Alright, kitten, you can come out now." Selina calls, and suddenly a boy comes out from behind the stairwell exit. Wide, anxious eyes peer up at Batman through thick lashes, and for a moment the man is caught by how fragile this boy looks.
"Okay Tim, I'll see you in a few days. Behave- actually, no. Don't behave, you do that too much. Oh, I'm gonna miss you." Selina tells him, kneeling down to wrap her arms around him, and he hastily returns the hug, mumbling something that the dark knight wasn't able to catch, but it made the woman laugh.
"I will, don't worry." She replies, and the boy gives a nod into her shoulder before Selina pulls back to look him in the eyes. "I love you, kitten. Just don't get into any dangerous situations, okay? No crossing the ocean. Or Gotham's boarders." She says, and he nods, furiously wiping at his tears. The woman just gives a soft smile before rising to her feet, lifting him up with her so he can rest on her hip.
"He's in bed by ten every night, make sure he has his Batman plushie when he is, and he has an allergy to mushrooms." Selina says, handing Tim over to the Batman as she talks, who just rests the too-small boy on his hip like Selina did. "This has his clothes, shampoo, and vitamins. Make sure he takes them every day, and there's a yoga routine he does an hour after lunch, so make sure he has a mat and water. Also, makes sure he's wearing pajamas until after breakfast. And no, kitten, it's summer. No getting dressed as soon as you're up if you're just gonna stay home." She says pointedly, sending a look in the boy's direction and handing the duffel bag over as the boy opens his mouth to protest.
"Now, let's see. I didn't forget anything, right, Tim?" She asks, and at his negative head shake, Selina grins. "Goodbye, kitten. I love you. When I get back, we'll go to that bakery and get anything you want, 'kay?" She asks, and he nods, a smile coming to his face as she kisses his forehead. "I love you too." He whispers to her, and her smile only grows at the response.
Though, she doesn't miss the opportunity to lean up and peck Batman on the lips, a mischievous look in her eyes as a sudden sense of domesticity hits her. With one last grin the woman takes off, crossing over rooftops before eventually dropping out of sight.
Batman only sighs before turning his head to look at the boy he's been assigned to watch over. Electric blue eyes stare back up at him, holding an abundance of nervousness and curiosity within.
Turning, he walks to the edge of the roof and drops down onto the fire escape, arm holding the boy in a firm grip as he does so. It takes a bit before they get to the bottom, and once they do Tim spots the thing hidden in the shadows.
An excited grin comes to the boy's lips as he's placed inside the vehicle and buckled in, eyes wide with wonder at the entire situation. The dark knight only places the dark purple bag in the leg area before moving around to get in the driver's seat and taking off.
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"B, have you seen my-" Dick starts, walking into the batcave with a spring in with step, but cuts himself off in surprise when he spots said man holding a small child.
Tilting his head in curiosity, he quickly runs down the steps to investigate further.
"Dick," Bruce starts, setting the boy down, "This is Tim, Selina's son. We'll be watching him for a few days while she's gone on business." The man says, gesturing to the boy-Tim- who's now staring at Dick in an awestruck wonder.
"You're Dick Grayson." Tim blurts suddenly, and said boy raises an eyebrow, curiosity rising. "That would be me." Dick replies, a smile coming to his face as the child's face seems to get brighter. "I saw your show once. We-we took a picture." Tim says, though he hesitates a bit as memories of what happened that night come back to him.
Dick pauses for a moment as it suddenly clicks into place what show that was. A sense of sadness and longing fill him for a moment, memories of happy times surging forward, but he just grins and rushes forward to envelope Tim into a hug. "Oh yeah! Awww, you were so little- actually, you're still pretty little. Still small enough to kidnap. Bruce, I'm kidnapping- wait." Dick suddenly cuts off, eyes widening as he realizes where they are, and then he registers that Bruce's mask is pulled down.
"Does he-?" Dick asks, and the man seems to understand his thoughts because he nods. "He figured it out." Bruce says, and to anyone who knows him it's impossible to miss that he's impressed. "Oh. Cool. Nice, okay, moving on with the kidnapping!" The boy yells, re-adjusting the seven-year old in his grip before taking off.
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"Tim." A familiar voice calls, and said boy tilts his head to see Jason standing there, clad in his Red Hood outfit.
"Jaybird. It's been so long." Tim purrs, gracefully sliding off his perch on the roof of an abandoned car. "What're you doing here?" The man snaps, eying the way the teen boy slinks closer.
"Visiting you, of course. You've been causing a lot of chaos lately, but I guess you've always thrived from the saying 'go big or go home.'" The black-leather clad boy hums, tail swishing gracefully at his command.
The comment, though, only seems to agitate Jason further. "Oh, so you've come to lecture me? Is that how this is going to go? Because newflash, I-" The hooded boy starts, but cuts himself off when the teen before him just sighs and drags his goggles up and off his head. It wasn't the action that startled Jason. No, it was the exhaustion and sadness etched onto the normally happy and mischievous face before him.
"Do you really think I came to lecture you? Or, wait, let me guess, I don't have the right to talk to you. Well let me tell you, Jason, you're not the only one hurting!" Tim bursts, desperation and anger and guilt and just pure pain suddenly lighting up in his eyes. "You were-are- my brother! I have a right to talk to you about you suddenly coming back from the dead! If only to let you know you're not alone!" He continues, and that statement seems to take Jason by surprise.
"Look," Tim sighs, taking deep breaths, "I'm not gonna say I understand what you're going through, 'cause I don't. But I just wish you wouldn't force yourself to go through it alone." The thief finishes, eyes downcast and glistening.
And for the first time since the pit, Jason doesn't feel so angry. The betrayal and the horror becomes dulled and distant, and it leaves him feeling... Sad.
Jason's sad that he died.
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"We really must stop meeting like this." A voice purrs into her ear, and she can't help jolting in surprise.
Quickly spinning around, Stephanie comes face to face with a grinning Stray. Narrowing her eyes, she gives a huff of annoyance. "What the heck!? How did you even manage to sneak up on me?!" She yells, face burning in embarrassment despite her annoyance.
"It was simple, really. You just make it so easy, especially when you're staring off into space. I hope you were at least thinking of me in your daydreams." The boy says, an amused lilt to his tone, and that only makes her face heat up even further.
"Shut up. You hadn't even crossed my mind before you suddenly showed up." She declares, glaring daggers at the thief who only hums happily because even though he wasn't a bat he was way too good at detecting lies.
"Really, Ro? Are you sure I didn't? Not even once?" He questions, taking another step forward, face leaning down so that his forehead is leaning on hers. "That would make me so sad." He breathes, his breath smelling of mint as it ghosts against her lips, and she can't help the shudder that runs up her spine.
At his soft laughter, though, she suddenly gets ahold of herself and pushes him away. "That's not funny! And actually, yes. You did cross my mind. I was thinking of good targets to practice on!" She yells furiously, and is rewarded by his laughter dying out, but his grins stays in place.
"You called me a good target. But what are you practicing? Because I can help you in quite a few things." He tells her, a finger coming to rest on his bottom lip as his amused grin morphs into a coy smile, an alluring look coming across his features.
With a groan, Stephenie throws her hands into the air before spinning around to face away from him. What he was doing now is exactly why she was thinking of him, and how she didn't want to run into him. The boy knew how to flirt, and whenever in her presence, he would do so excessively. She knew that he only did it because he liked embarrassing her, and even though she knew that, she couldn't help falling for the thief.
If Batman knew, she would be grounded for life.
Hands grabbing her head is what breaks her out of her thoughts, but she allows the person behind her to tilt her head back so that she's looking up into his eyes. Stray used his height advantage well in his flirtation, and to Steph it was just one more thing that added to his beauty.
"Now I'm sure that pretty little head of yours is thinking of me. The new question is, though, what kind of thoughts are they?" He hums, playfully curious, and the girl only sighs before tilting her head back up to stand straight.
"I was thinking," she starts, a devious tone to her voice as she reaches for her birdarangs, "That a live target is better than a dead one."
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Bruce really had no idea how it happened.
It wasn't technically a bad thing, but his protectiveness over one of Gotham's criminals still baffles him sometimes. Said boy is currently laying on a bed in front of him, eyes unfocused and slow as the pain medication take effect.
It had been a nasty run-in with Scarecrow, and the man managed to spray Tim with a toxin and stab him before Batman could descend to deliver punishment.
And now Tim's just laying in a daze as Dick fusses over him.
If Bruce thought about it, the protectiveness he felt for Tim reminded him of how he felt about his own sons. Which was strange, because he definitely did not adopt the boy, but instead had been there while he was growing up.
Did he think of Tim as one of his sons?
Once he posed the question to himself, the automatic answer was yes, he did think of Tim that way. It was only natural, he figured, since Selina used to drop the boy off for babysitting when she would go to steal from other cities.
With a sigh, he leans forward to run a hand through Tim's hair, smiling when the boy's eyes drift to him as he leans into the touch. "Where... Where's mama?" Tim asks, and Bruce just smiles reassuringly. "She's on her way, don't worry." He replies, and the young thief hums in happiness.
Yes, he has come to think of this boy as family. And, if the way Jason just broke into the window and Dick and Alfred's worrying was any indicator, everyone else did too.
Stephanie, though, was another story.