Chapter Text
“Red Robin to any Bats, I need assistance at the docks.” Tim hissed out as he forced himself into a shipping container, he took a deep breath and began to shiver uncontrollably. His comm began to furiously beep allowing him to know he was being tracked. Tim pressed his arm against his abdomen and began to meditate. He sighed, losing too much blood too quickly. Someone would come save him. He was a Robin, right?
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Tim abruptly sat up, his body ran cold at the dream. He scratched the back of his neck and checked the alarm. 5:14 am. Great. Tim stood up and stumbled to the bathroom, he walked into the bathroom, the room may have been a nice master bedroom but some days the walk was simply too long, luckily today was a good day. Tim stared at his face in the mirror. His hair had grown long from months of just plain ignoring it. On the right side, a small braid remained from when Cass had last visited. He smiled and smoothed the bed head out with his hand. Reaching for a toothbrush Tim flinched at how his fingers twitched before grabbing it. The scars on his body, new and old, seemed to ache today. Tim watched in the shower, hoping the warm water could ease the tension out of his body.
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“Hey there, Wonder-boy.” Tim flinched as a voice called him out of his thoughts. Stephanie smirked at him from outside the bathroom door. Her hair had been buzzed short once Kate had passed down Batwoman to her. Tim swore he could see the ghost of a frown when he turned around, it was quickly covered when she began to cackle.
“Seriously? When does Batman wear Batman underwear?” She grabbed her knees and began to laugh louder. Tim gave her a soft smile and rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Steph… You know where D went?” He whispered, walking closer to the door. Steph straightened back up and rolled her shoulders. She gave him a shrug and cleared her voice before answering.
“Think he wanted to surprise you or something, he’s really mad about being cooped up.” Steph looked at Tim softly before continuing. “You know Tim, we’re only 25, the kid just turned 18… We could go on a vacation, leave Gotham to Babs and the Birds for a weekend.” Tim paused, he felt his body tense for a second before he took a short breath. “Stephanie… “ Steph’s eyes hardened and she took a step forward to meet him. “Don’t you ‘Stephanie’ me,” she mocked his voice, he almost felt himself being pushed into memories before she grabbed his shoulders. “Cass, Babs, Damian, and you and me are the only Bats left Timothy. We survived because we knew when to give up. You know we can’t pretend that the others didn’t die, we are human Tim.” Stephanie pushed herself in his face, he watched as her features softened and she stepped back. “I’m taking Damian to Disneyland, I know you wanna watch the kid go on Space Mountain, so let's take a break?”
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Tim eased himself out of the shower, he watched as Steph’s silhouette floated out of his memory and put him back into the present. That’s right, this is what the day was. Tim smiled as he saw Ace slowly walk into the room. His service dog dragged a food dish and wagged his tail and Tim walked out of the bathroom. The manor was cold when nobody was around to take care of it. Tim felt the ghost of a busy and full manor whisper in his ear. Tim grabbed the nearest photo off the wall and smiled at the picture as he followed Ace. It was a picture of him, Steph, and Damian at Disneyland. A year ago today he went on a vacation with Steph and Damian. A year ago today Ra’s Al Ghul launched the first ever public attack and became the most wanted criminal. A year ago today Damian Wayne was put in a coma and Stephanie Brown had been killed in a fight with Talia Al Ghul.
Tim felt his breath hitch as Ace knocked the food dish against the cupboard. Tim smiled slightly and pet the dog before filling the dish. Tim watched as Ace began to eat. Tim pushed his hair behind his ear before walking to the batcave. He stumbled to the elevator without Ace to help steady his left side. Slowly Tim descended to the cave, his fingers twitched idly as the elevator opened to allow Tim in the cave. Tim walked to his workbench, his fingers ghosted over the others as he walked by. Bruce’s… God he missed Bruce, he felt regret as his fingers paused to grab the cowl... Dick’s… Tim felt his heart lurch as he remembered Dick, he hoped that they could’ve finally just talked it out, all the space between them... Jason’s… Tim smiled as he remembered Jason, the man was good at that, making people forget... Steph, Duke, (oh god they went too quickly-) Kate, Cass, (he could have done something if only he had-) Damian, Bab’s, (more time-) and finally he stopped at his. Tim grabbed the leggings off the desk and began to slip them over his boxers. He sighed in relief as he felt the leggings compress and force the ache out of his left side. Tim walked to the batcomputer and slowly began to search through the news, his programs filtering between useless and important. Tim pulled his tunic over his head and pushed a domino against his face, he smiled at his reflection. He hadn’t really aged since 19, and even then when the masks were on Tim could’ve walked straight out of the Uternet. Tim yawned as the information flew in front of his eyes and he allowed them to flutter shut.
Tim jumped awake as Ace began to loudly bark, he was about to begin to swear at Alfred through the cave, just let a man leave the dog for one nig- Tim felt his blood run cold as he heard someone shush Ace. Tim grabbed his bo. He silently flicked it to full length. He pushed himself into the shadows and watched as the intruders wandered through *his* batcave. He smiled as they tried to look for him, the biggest of the bunch tried to check the shadows, Tim nearly laughed as he confidently walked through the shadows. He was Batman. The intruders tried to look for someone, it was cute. Tim tilted as one of the intruders walked closer to him, while remaining a safe distance the intruder raised an arm and pointed a gun near Tim.
“Come out, hands up, and I might not shoot ya.” Tim bristled as he heard the static of a voice modulator. The setting was on “Shit-RedHood-Static” level. He lowered himself into a fighting stance and felt his blood rise as he analyzed the silhouettes. All were mockeries of the Batfamily, he watched as a Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and Blackbat fan out behind the Redhood. Tim heard the gun cock and he rushed at them. Nightwing was the first to engage, escrima sticks and all. Tim swung his staff underneath Wing’s feet. As the man jumped up to avoid the obvious sweep Tim swung his hand up and felt his palm hit the man’s jaw. As Wing hit the ground the other members of the Clan attacked. The fake family fought the same way, Tim felt himself fill cold as the family mocked his own family. X block. Break. Sweep. Flip. Dodge. Strike. Repeat. Tim watched as the family slowly came closer to him. Nightwing connected a hit to his left shoulder and Tim felt the bo drop from his hand. Batgirl and Blackbat had managed to separate themselves from the fight and began to make quick work of the batcomputer, opening up his files. He watched Jason drop the gun to launch himself at Tim. Tim grabbed the gun, he forced it to the side of the nearest family member. He grabbed Robin and felt the intruder stiffen. Tim watched the family skid to a half and Tim took a deep breath, he pushed Robin away and watched the intruder fall into the arms of the family. Knowing he was circled Tim steeled himself for a fight. Tim pointed the gun around until the lights flashed on. As bright lights flicked on throughout the cave Tim watched as the intruders flinched at the light. Tim scanned each detail of the costumes, he was almost impressed by the accuracy before he heard a voice ring through the cave.
“Drake?” Tim’s eyes moved down to Robin. The boy’s (Damian? No he can’t he’s-) eyes narrowed through the domino and Tim watched as the other intruders (no it couldn’t be it doesn’t make sense it can’t-) soften. Redhood removed the helmet and Tim watched in shock as Jason Todd smirked at him. “Oh thank god, sorry for the point and shoot Babybird but it didn’t seem like you traveled ala ‘asshole portal’ with the rest of us, ya know?” Jason narrowed his eyes and walked closer, the others began to look Tim over, “Hey, weren’t ya just callin’ us over the comms? Askin’ for a pickup? Ya don’t look like ya need a pickup right now, dontcha?” Jason walked into Tim, pushing the man into the wall. Tim allowed it as he stared back into Jason’s eyes, bright green. Nightwing pulled Jason away from Tim rolled his eyes through the domino.
“Hood, it’s pretty obvious that this isn’t our Tim,” Nightwing- Dick- turned to Tim and shot him a quick a finger pistol before moving back towards Jason, “In fact, it seems-”
“Dimensional travel.” Batman (Bruce?) finished, he pulled the cowl off of his head and gestured for the rest of the batfamily to go back to Bruce. Tim almost laughed as he watched Stephanie and Cass moved away from Tim’s various gadgets. Damian frowned and walked back to Bruce away from Ace (Of course it was Damian that got Ace to stop barking, that traitor dog always liked him more-) Bruce frowned and tapped his foot.
“Tim, you are presumably the only one in the cave?” Bruce asked, Tim, broke out of his stupor and felt a manic grin build upon his face, he rubbed his eye and straightened up. “Yeah, it’s uh, just me…” Tim scratched the back of his head. Bruce shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Can you get in contact with your version of me, or the Justice League, perhaps.” Tim felt shame rise in his gut as he broke eye contact with the family. He bit his lip and resisted the urge to follow Bruce’s orders (Just like you used too-). Tim shrugged and looked at Bruce, slowly removing his domino. “Actually I, uh, can’t?” Tim watched as Bruce’s eyes narrowed, Dick began to walk closer and held his hand out, as if to calm an animal. Tim stepped closer and watched as the family began to speak in hushed whispers before continuing. “I’m the Batman of this universe- uh dimension- and it’s a bit to get into contact with corpses, you know?” Tim finished sheepishly. He covered a laugh as he watched Steph and Cass quickly cover Jason’s mouth. Dick walked over to Tim and put a hand on his shoulder, Tim looked up at him and gave him a small smile.
“Drake you are not Batman you cannot be-” Damian began to speak, Cass walked behind him and pressed a hand to his shoulder, Damian spun around to protest and Steph began to read from a file.
“Current year: 2026, April 19th. Operatives with Access to the cave are Batman (Timothy Drake) and Catwoman (Tamara Fox). All other operatives include Luke Fox (retired) and Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe (Maternity leave). System management under Agent A. Other members of Batclan has passed away. BATMAN: Tim Drake, 25. Spleenless, weaknesses include various toxins and fast acting illnesses, left side experiences paralysis. Triggers include-” Steph cut off and looked at the rest of the family, her eyes filled with pity. Tim felt his stomach grow cold, he rushed to the computer and shut his file down. He turned to face the rest of the family.
“I will help you all get back to your dimension.” He turned back the computer and began to quickly input information, “I’ll have RR find your dimension and begin specs for bringing you all back.” He paused to type, “Babybird-” Tim spun back around and pushed his hands through his hair. “You all will have to stay here for a bit so-” Tim sighed and stood up. “Follow me, Alf can you turn the heat on upstairs?” Tim shouted upstairs, he pretended to ignore how Damian’s face scrunched in disgust at Tim’s tone. Tim snapped his fingers and Ace ran up to Tim, pushing against his left leg. Tim gestured at the rest to follow him. Tim waited in the elevator as the rest of the batfamily followed him, the elevator trip was slow. As the door opened revealing the Manor. Tim smiled as heat rushed to meet his face, he smirked and cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, “THANKS ALF!” He felt the others flinch from behind him and he just shrugged. “He’s excited to see you guys… “ Tim said, exiting the elevator, Ace pressed against his side.
“What do you mean, ‘hasn’t come out’, Drake,” Damian asked, he walked out of the elevator and slowly looked around the first floor. Tim patted Ace and turned to face Damian, “He hasn’t cleaned up since Dami and Steph died.” Tim flinched when he realized what he said, he slowly began to focus on moving closer to the staircase. “He’s gotten really overprotective since it’s just been him and me…” Tim clarified and gestured to the staircase, quickly changing subjects. “Okay, so you all follow me and I’ll show you to your rooms. I promise Alfred has definitely put clothes out because he’s like that.” Tim said getting progressively louder. He grinned as he heard rumbling coming from upstairs. Tim looked down at the family, schooling his face back into neutrality, “Take a shower and relax, dinner is at 6:00 and Alfred will get angry if you miss it.” Tim frowned and looked upstairs, “You all should get home tomorrow, I have RR working on it.” He finished his face softening up. He began to walk upstairs and smiled as the rest of the family followed him.