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He was searching through the rubble for any potential bodies when a sudden high pitched cry comes from his left. Whipping his head around in that direction he starts to gravitate towards it, climbing over large bits of debris as he does so.
Moments later he comes across a clearing and the crying intensifies. Looking ahead he sees a small lump covered in cloths underneath a low table. The lump continues to wail and Tim rushes forward, before freeing the baby from underneath the table he looks at the surrounding area and finds another body just meters away.
Unlike the baby, which was miraculously untouched by any of the rubble thanks to the table protecting it, this body he found wasn’t as fortunate. It was a young woman who was half buried underneath a lot of debris from the chest downwards. She was lying on side with one arm stretched out towards the baby and the other buried beneath the rubble. Tim tries to not wince as he sees the slowly growing puddle of blood underneath her body from where she was lying
Despite what he’s seeing he reaches forward and presses his fingers to her neck, there was a pulse but it was very weak and Tim knew he didn’t have much time. He jerks his hand back when she suddenly starts coughing and gasping for breath.
“Hey, hey, easy, I need you to try and relax okay.” Tim says as soothingly as he can, he reaches for her hand that’s stretched out and grips it gently as he reaches for his communicator with his other hand. The baby was still crying behind him but he needs to call the paramedics to his location to try and save this woman.
A weak tug on his hand stops him from doing so and the woman next to him breathes out an “Andrew…” He winces when she starts coughing up blood and begins to gasp desperately for air.
He grips her hand harder, “Try and not talk okay, I’m going to call the medics and get them here.”
He reaches for his communicator again but this time the woman begins to weakly shake her head as she tugs at his hand which causes Tim to frown.
“Don’t.” She says quietly. “It’s too late for me, but Andrew… my baby… please…” She somehow manages to look up at him with wide, fear filled green eyes, “Save him please….”
Her voice is drowned out by the baby still crying behind him, he really ought to go and grab the baby but he just couldn’t leave this woman right now, not when she’s looking at him like that.
“Take my baby… make sure he’s safe… please… please…” She’s begging him now and Tim’s heart begins to break as her eyes begin to close.
“No, stay awake, please stay awake for me, for Andrew, he needs you. Please stay awake.” He couldn’t help the desperation that leaks into his voice as he watches this young mother slowly fade away.
“Find him a good home…”
With that sentence she breathes her last breath and goes limp and Tim feels his heart shatter. He swallows the lump that’s formed in his throat and tries his best to control his emotions. Looking up at the rubble that’s on top of the woman he glares at it, there’s no way he would have been able to move it himself if he tried to, the blood that’s spilled from her body was just too much, there just wasn’t anything he could do even if he wanted to.
Well, that’s what he’s telling himself. He’ll analysis it later on whether it’s actually true or not.
He’s suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he remembers her last sentence and whips around to face where the baby was. It was still crying and Tim rushes over to gently scoop it up into his arms, he begins to rock to try and sooth it. As he does so he uncovers it from the cloth it’s wrapped in to reveal small load of black fluffy hair, a tiny button nose, clenched fists, eyes that are clenched shut, and flushed cheeks.
Tim makes shushing sounds as he rocks and eventually the baby starts to settle down, it opens up its eyes and looks up at him with wonder. Probably wondering who the strange masked man was that was now holding him. Tim was silently hoping that it wouldn’t start crying and was surprised when suddenly the baby started to grin up at him and made a sort of giggling sound. Without permission a smile makes its way onto his face and he coos at the baby now in his arms.
The smile quickly disappears as he’s faced with reality again once he glances at the warm corpse of the young woman half buried underneath the rubble.
Andrew.
She had called him. Andrew is – was – her son. Her son who she wanted Tim to find a good home for now that she wasn’t here to provide it herself. It makes him wonder about the father, she wouldn’t have asked Tim with her dying breath to find him a good home if he was in the picture would she? Well he could be wrong but it doesn’t seem likely.
He looks back down to find Andrew now asleep in his arms. The baby’s head as resting against his chest as he slumbered, completely oblivious to everything going on around them. Tim looks away from the child again to his surroundings, he needs to continue doing his sweep as there still may be people trapped within the rubble.
Keeping Andrew close to his chest Tim works his way through the rest of the building. He finishes it within 20 minutes and finds no one else. After that he works his way from the collapsed building, still holding a sleeping Andrew in his arms and heads towards where the other Titans were searching other collapsed buildings for any survivors.
The Titans had been called in to help with clean up from a town that had suffered from an earthquake just hours ago. There wasn’t a lot they really could do so they were just helping to remove some major rubble, helping to find survivors within collapsed buildings, helping the injured to the medical areas and helping to set up temporary homes for those who had lost theirs. They’ve been there for about three hours now.
“Rob!”
Tim stops and turns around at the sound of his old nickname. Only two people still call him it despite being Red Robin for nearly six years now. A smile makes a way onto his face when he sees Kon floating just above the ground opposite him.
“Hey,” He responds, “What’s the status on your side?”
Kon shrugs, “Not a lot to report really. There was thankfully no one trapped in any buildings I scanned, Cassie and I cleared away some debris so ambulances and other vehicles can get to the people.”
Tim nods, that makes sense and sounds all good.
“Is that a baby?” Kon asks suddenly looking down at the bundle within Tim’s arms.
Tim shifts slightly, he glances down at Andrew who was still asleep and nods after looking back at Kon, “Yeah, I found him in the building I just finished searching. He was under a table crying his eyes out.”
Kon looks up at him, “Okay… then why do you have him? Where’s his parents?”
Tim looks away from Kon feeling a bubble form in his throat from remembering what had happened just moments before. It’s all fresh in his mind about how Andrew’s mother looked when she was pleading him to make sure that her son was safe and to make sure he finds a good home to go to.
Something must have been showing on his face because Kon’s hands land on his shoulders and they give him a light squeeze. “Sorry, I didn’t realise.” His boyfriend says quietly.
Tim swallows, “It’s okay, you didn’t know. I just… she was right there Kon and I didn’t do anything to help her.” He says painfully looking up at his boyfriend. “With her dying breath she begged me to make sure he was safe. I… I was useless.”
Kon shakes his head, “Hey, no none of that man. It wasn’t your fault okay.”
Tim wants to protest but the look Kon was giving him makes him think differently. It just won’t be worth the effort because he knows Kon will be adamant that it wasn’t his fault and how there wasn’t anything he could have done to save her but in the back of his mind he knows that there would have been something he could have done to try and help her.
“So what you doing with him then?” His boyfriend asks as he lets go of Tim, he was once again watching the baby sleep in his arms.
Tim shrugs, “I guess I’ll just have to take him to where they’ve put all the kids. Maybe we could find a relative for him, I don’t believe the father is in the picture because she asked me to find him a home.”
After that they lap into silence. Well they were silent, everything else around them was not. Names were being screamed out, people were still crying, there was some yelling and there were still sirens being sounded out in the distance. Despite all that all Tim could focus on was the baby in his arms. He makes a little noise in distress and Tim immediately shushes him and starts to sway slightly, trying to ease him back into a state of unconscious.
It’s bizarre he thinks. It’s bizarre that this tiny human’s life is in his hands right now. If he hadn’t searched that building then Andrew would have cried and cried with no one to come to him and then… well he really rather not think about the alternative. Chances were that someone else would have probably found this child but whether they would have been on time or not is just another mystery that has no answer, nor will it because Tim had found him, Tim had picked him and now he’s been tasked by Andrew’s birth mother to find him a good home.
“We should probably get going.”
Kon’s voice brings him out of his thoughts, he eyes his boyfriend to find Kon looking straight at him with a soft expression on his face. Tim raises an eyebrow at him for the look but doesn’t question him on it. “Gimme a lift?” He asks instead.
Kon smiles at that and scoops him up, Tim grips Andrew to his chest more tightly and Kon allows him to make sure the baby is safe and secure in his arms before taking off to where they’ve set up the refuge for kids.
They get there in a matter of minutes and touch down several feet away. The scene was chaos as kids all different ages were running around, some were crying, others were sleeping on blankets that were hazardously laid out over the solid floor.
Tim unintentionally clutches Andrew tighter to his chest, suddenly feeling uneasy. There was just something in the back of his mind telling him that leaving Andrew here wouldn’t be the best option for him. Her promised Andrew’s mother that he would find her son a good home and with how chaotic this town has gone into it seemed like finding him a stable home would take a while in this area.
Next to him Kon seems to notice his hesitance. “You okay dude? Is there something wrong with Andrew?”
It takes Tim a moment to answer, he has to swallow the lump that’s suddenly formed in his throat first before trying to get his emotions under control. What was wrong with him? Why was he feeling like this?
“No…” His voice comes out shaky and he tires again, this time making it sound more normal. “No. he’s fine, still sleeping believe it or not. Now come on.”
They go over to where a desk had been set up, a couple girls were sat it rapidly going through lots of bits of paper. After a moment they notice Tim and Kon standing there, they send them a tired smile. “How can we help you guys?”
“I found this baby a few blocks down, his mother unfortunately didn’t make it.” Tim tells them, gesturing to Andrew in his arms.
“I’m from this area, where did you find them?” One of the girls ask frowning.
Tim perks up at that, maybe she could help find some of Andrew’s relatives. He rattles off a rough address to her and immediately she looks devastated.
“That’s Annie’s address. Is that Andrew in your arms?” Tim nods and the girl wipes at her eyes. “Annie didn’t make it. That’s… Jesus, I don’t even know. Thank god that you managed to save Andrew though, at least that’s another life saved.”
“Is there anyone you can contact about Andrew?” Kon asks stepping up beside Tim.
The girl shakes her head with a disappointed frown. “Annie was a single mother, the father was never in the picture. She was also an only child, and her parents passed years ago, there’s no one left in the family who could take him.”
Tim feels his heart drop, that’s horrible. This little baby is all on his own and now will never have the chance to connect with any blood-relatives.
“Well what can we do with him? Where are guys housing babies and infants?” Kon questions her gently.
Again she shakes her head, “Fortunately we haven’t had many homeless babies or young children be brought to us, only slightly older ones which we can manage around here with help of volunteers. Any infants that have been brought to us have already been sorted out a temporary home until we can sort out either foster parents or adoptive parents.”
Andrew starts fussing in his arms and Tim is mildly aware of his boyfriend trying arrange something with the girl about a temporary home as he deals with the baby. He sways and gently shushes him until he relaxes again but Tim knew he was pushing his now, soon enough Andrew will wake up hungry and will begin crying and Tim wouldn’t be able to help him while they’re still here.
That’s when he gets an idea. It’s probably a terrible idea that really shouldn’t happen but he ignores the feeling inside of him and calls Kon over to the side so they could talk privately.
“What if we take him back to the Tower with us. We could be his temporary home for the time being.”
Kon stares at him and doesn’t say anything for a long time. Tim forces himself to not fidget underneath the meta’s gaze.
“With the Titan’s? We sure that’s a good idea?”
Tim shrugs uselessly. “I don’t know, probably not but Kon, at least we know that he’s being looked after then. It’d be a short while, we could manage it, the girls will help out.” He’s not entirely sure who’s he’s trying convince anymore.
Kon stares at him once again, obviously trying to work out what on earth is going on with him. Honestly, Tim has no idea himself. He has no idea on why he feels strongly about Andrew. He’s really never been one for kids but now he’s suddenly offering to look after one. Strange indeed.
“Okay.” Kon agrees eventually. “Yeah, sure, we can handle it.”
Tim watches as his boyfriend walks back over to the girls and as he tells them that they’ll take Andrew for the time being. The girl looks kinda dubious about it at first but after glancing his way she seems to change her mind and starts to nod and smile.
Kon comes back over to him and after making sure that there’s nothing else for them to do Kon carries Tim and Andrew back to the Tower. Tim tells the rest of their team of their status and tells them all to head back when they’re ready.
That night was crazy. There were a lot of questions on why Tim had brought a baby back to the Tower, Tim couldn’t even answer them with an honest answer because he didn’t know why. It had really been stressing him out until Kon turned around to them all and told them all to shut up about it. From then everyone was practically cooing at the baby and basically looking after him. Cassie fed and burped him, Bart and Gar played with him, Kori and Cassie went shopping for clothes for him, Tim was the one elected to change him and Kon bathed him.
At the end of the night when Andrew was settled down in a cot (Bart went and got one and built it within minutes) in Tim’s bedroom and Tim was watching over him. The baby was now in a fresh blue baby grow and was covered in clean fluffy blankets and was clutching onto a stuffed bear.
The mixture of emotions were still stirring inside of him and he still couldn’t understand them. Why did he bring this baby back? Why did he feel so connected and somewhat protective over this kid? Kon had been giving him strange looks all night long, like he couldn’t work out Tim’s motives behind his actions. Thankfully his boyfriend never questioned him on it and just went with the flow of everything. Tim was grateful for that.
He’s brought out of his thoughts when his phone starts ringing. He picks it up and answers it without looking.
“Hey Timmy!” Dick’s chirpy voice speaks through the speakers. “How’s it going little bro?”
Tim grunts, “It’s fine. What do you want Dick?” He doesn’t care that he’s being a bit blunt, that tone of voice Dick was using means he’s after something and Tim has an idea on what that something is.
“Okay mister grouchy.” Tim could imagine him pouting on the other side. His voice then hardens up as he goes serious. “I was phoning up to see how you were doing because I’ve heard what’s been happening and I wanted to talk to you myself.”
“It was Kori wasn’t it?”
“She’s very fond of the baby.”
Tim sighs and rubs his hand across his face. “Dick I don’t know okay. I don’t know why I brought Andrew back with me to the Tower, I don’t get this feeling inside of me that made me do it. The Titan’s wouldn’t stop questioning me about it and Kon keeps giving me strange looks but I can’t give them an answer because I don’t know! Why did I do it Dick? Why did I bring this baby back when I should have handed him over to someone else who actually knows how to look after kids!”
He knows he sounds desperate and panicked but he secretly hopes that his brother could give him the answers to this mystery he can’t work out. He’s supposed to be a detective but when it comes to his own emotions he’s useless.
“Tell me what happened.” Dick says.
Tim wants to yell at him but instead he does what he’s been asked to and relays the entire thing back to his brother. At the end of it he hears Dick humming like he’s worked out the answer to Tim’s problem.
“Well Timmy the only answer I can think of for the reasons behind your actions is because you’ve grown attached.”
“Attached? Dick how the hell can I be attached to this kid? I don’t even know the family, why the hell would I randomly take a kid to look after without any real thought behind it. The only reason it’s worked tonight is because of the Titan’s, they’ve practically done everything to do with him!”
There’s a pause between them before Dick starts speaking again. “Tim sometimes in life we do things without thinking about it. Sometimes those things turn out terrible while some things turn out to be the best thing ever. Just because-”
“That’s great Dick,” Tim cuts him off, “That’s great and all, but I don’t need your deep life analysis right now.”
Dick huffs, though it sounds more amused than annoyed. “Okay, look, there’s someone else who you could really talk to about this. Someone who’s been in your shoes before, who’s gone through what you’re currently going through. I know that you haven’t agreed to take this kid in permanently but he may be able to help in some way.”
It hits Tim like a slap to the face. “Bruce. You’re on about Bruce.”
“Got it in one. I know he’s not the best at showing or even talking about emotions but he may be able to help you Tim. He spontaneously took in a nine year old acrobat from the circus, he took in a child off the streets that tried to rob him. Both of which were out of the blue and raised a lot of eyebrows and questions.”
Tim couldn’t really argue against that now could he? “You have a point.” He admits.
“So give Bruce a call and explain your situation. He may be able to help, he probably won’t lets be honest but it’s worth a shot.”
He nods despite Dick not being able to see it, “Yeah I guess. Thanks Dick.”
“It’s no problem, if he doesn’t help at all, give me another call and I’ll see what I can do alright.”
“Yeah thanks again Dick.”
Tim hangs up and glances at Andrew who was still asleep in his cot. Warmth spreads inside of him as he takes in the baby’s sleeping form, it’s knowing that he’s safe that allows him to relax. Looking back at his phone he goes to his contacts and brings up Bruce’s name.
He’ll just have to see how this all goes, fingers crossed the man can help him out in some way.
His adoptive father picks up on the third ring and Tim takes a deep breath before talking into it. “Hey Bruce, there’s a situation and I was wondering…”