Chapter Text
During all his years as Robin, Damian had fought against the most brutal villainous individuals, yet here he was struggling to fight an oversized clock head of a man. How did he even see with that giant clock on his head?
The self proclaimed Time Turner continued to use the smaller clock on his chest to pause and slow down time, using his technology to gain the advantage on him and Batman. Damian glared at the coward. He wouldn’t last five seconds against them without his toys. Especially with the stupid clock concealing his head. That thing had to be heavy and wasting strength for aesthetic reasons was just plain stupid.
He dodged a hit from Batman by freezing time and lunged at Robin. Since Robin wasn’t a speedster, his mind couldn’t comprehend movements behind the speed of time. He didn’t realize that Time Turner had dragged him to the other side of the warehouse, until he was already there. Damian cursed himself for not being better prepared.
“Why don’t we send your little birdies on a trip through time!” Time Turner laughed and twisted the giant clock on his chest. “I wonder how far this baby will go into the future.”
Birdies? Damian was not sure what he meant. Clearly he was the only Robin present, including those the title no longer belonged to.
He then removed the contraption and attached it to Damian. It let off an eerie beeping sound too similar to a bomb to be anything good. He was careless, however, allowing Robin to get a hit on him. He kicked him right in the groin and Time Turner let go of him completely, using his hands instead to cradle his junk in an attempt to ease the pain. Damian smirked at his achievement and attempted to remove the clock. This however, only resulted in the ticking getting louder and faster.
For once Damian did something he thought he’d never do on a mission. He panicked. Robin can’t panic. Damian desperately tugged on the clock, only making it louder and faster the more he did it.
“Robin Stop!” Bruce yelled, running past Time Turners goons in an attempt to get to his son, getting more brutal by the minute when any tried to challenge him. He couldn’t lose him. Not again.
Damian froze upon hearing his father's frightened shout, but it was too late. Just as Bruce reached for his youngest son, Damian was consumed by a bright beaming light, disappearing before his father's very eyes.
“Guess you ran out of time,” Time Turner grinned behind the bulky clock mask. This sent Bruce into a blinded rage.
Before he could even blink, Batman had him by the throat and slammed his head against the wall. Shards of glass barely missed the man’s eyes as he struggled in the Bat’s grip.
“Where’s Robin?!” Bruce practically spit in the man’s face.
“Don’t you mean when?” Time Turner giggled. Big mistake. This landed him a fist in the face and glass down his throat.
“Don’t make me ask again!”
“Alright, Alright. Just stop hurting me please!” He pleaded with the bat. Bruce threw him on the floor for good measure. Turner winced as he limped to the clock where Damian used to reside. Once he was done tinkering with it, he tossed it at Batman with a grin. “If you wanna know where your little birdy has flown off to, why don’t I show you?”
On impulse Bruce caught it and was immediately filled with regret. The clock maniac then proceeded to pull out what appeared to be a detonator.
The last thing he saw before being engulfed in a familiar blinding light was his own shocked face reflecting where Time Turner's eyes were supposed to be under the clock mask and his exposed shit eating grin dripping with his own blood.
The day had barely begun, and already Jason knew it would change his life forever. In his hands he held three different brands of pregnancy tests, all three of which screamed positive. Jason Peter Todd was pregnant and it scared the shit out of him. How the hell was he going to raise a baby? He lived with Roy and Kori in a fucking safe house for Christ sake! And yet there they were taking care of Lian...who was barely six. Did Roy even want another kid? Better yet, did Jason even want one?
“Okay Jason, breathe. You’re overthinking this,” he sighed. When Roy woke up he would tell him and they’d figure it out together. For once in a long time he wasn’t alone. He had to remember that.
He washed his hands, put the tests in the sink, and opened the door to join Roy in bed. Except that’s not what happened when he opened the door. Instead he was greeted by a vivid light that consumed him and everything around him. He shielded his eyes only for him to realize that when he opened them, he would be in a different place entirely.
Tim was on his fifth cup of coffee that morning, with an entire Kettle by his desk ready to be used. He rubbed at his tired eyes and continued to stare at his computer screen. He had multiple tabs open from school work to crime research. His body was starting to regret going to college while still being Red Robin, but his presence was still needed and he wouldn’t stop until it wasn’t. If it killed him, so be it.
He sighed and slapped his cheeks. He had to focus. He could sleep when he finished his case file and the three essays due by the end of the week. He wouldn’t have time to help Bruce if he put off his school work.
He continued shifting between the tabs, updating them as ideas popped in his head and multitasking like his life depended on it. Tim sighed in relief as he finished the case file. He let out a big yawn and stretched his arms above his head, popping his back in the process.
Tim reread the report, squinting as the letters blurred together. The screen seemed to be brighter than usual, which confused him. Before he could even think to check the brightness setting on his computer, however, he was consumed by that same bright light.
Dick had never thought he’d have to come home to an empty apartment, but last night he had. All trace of Barbara gone, save for the rejected engagement ring lying sadly in the key tray.
She told him it would never work, that they were too young. She said She loved him, but that they needed to end this for both of their sakes. He didn’t understand, but he didn’t argue with her. He instead lowered his gaze to keep the tears from falling and listened to her. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life together with him. Who was he to argue?
Dick wasn’t able to sleep that night, her scent still strongly gripped her side of the bed. He could clean the sheets, but that would take away the only sign of her presence in his life and he wasn’t ready to let go just yet. He didn’t know if he ever would be.
He reluctantly dragged himself out of bed to their -no, his- bathroom to brush his teeth. He looked like an awful mess. Despite his tan completion, the bags under his eyes were an ugly dark purple. His hair also showed the multiple tossing and turning during his failed attempts to sleep.
Dick let out a tired grown and reached for his makeup but stopped. Heh, makeup. Barbara had gotten him into it, saying it was vital to conceal any indication of their night jobs. He didn’t mind. It reminded him of when his mother would apply some on him and his dad before they performed. It comforted him.
Only now it reminded him of Barbara.
He put the makeup back and finished brushing his teeth. His coworkers would find out one way or another, considering he already hyped the engagement to them.
He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his bathroom mirror, not able to realize when he opened them he’d be somewhere else entirely.