Work Text:
There was an old desk that sat in the corner of Cass’s bedroom. Prior to that it had spent most of its time abandoned on the third floor collecting dust with the other antique furniture. It was a lovely Mahogany desk with ornate carvings and many little drawers for storage.
Cass loved all the little drawers, though she didn’t have many belongings to put in them.
One of the drawers only opened a couple of inches. Her hand could barely fit through it, so she ignored it.
Until one day when her curiosity got the best of her.
Cass opened the drawer and slowly maneuvered her hand inside. She felt around for an obstruction and pushed it down. Finally she was able to fully open the drawer.
Inside she found what looked like a well-worn, extensively written in journal. She flipped through the pages and immediately recognized the writing. It was Tim’s untidy scrawl. Some of the words were legible, others were not.
There were some journal entries, sketches of schematics, formulas and equations, and some coding. Two pages stood out in contrast to the rest of the journal:
Bruce is alive. I’m going to prove it. Bruce is alive. I’m going to prove it. Bruce is alive. I’m going to prove it.
It was written in jagged letters of all sizes. Every line and free space of those two pages was filled with those two sentences. There was something unsettling about the words. An obsessiveness she wasn’t quite familiar with when it came to Tim. She knew Tim was dedicated to his work, and poured all he had into every aspect of getting a case finished. But this was different.
Having the journal and reading its contents suddenly felt wrong in a way she couldn’t explain. The only way to make this right and remove this heavy feeling in her chest was to return it to Tim.
Cass clutched the journal in her hands and made her way to Tim’s room and knocked.
“Come in. Oh hey, Cass. I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of hours. What’s up?”
“Found this.” Cass held up the journal and instantly Tim’s smile faded.
She looked at him, observing every muscle and tendon. His body language spoke volumes to her. His shoulders slumped, his gaze shifted to the floor, and the muscles in his jaw clenched. He was upset, ashamed, and angry.
“Did you read it?” Tim whispered, keeping his eyes on the floor.
“Just this,” she answered, showing him the pages of the two startling sentences.
Tim took the proffered journal in his hands and shook his head.
“Everyone thought I was crazy to think he was still alive.” Tim recounted, thumbing through the pages. “But I could feel it somehow that he wasn’t dead. I knew he was out there somewhere. I just had to find the proof, but no one would help me because no one believed me.”
“Mad.” It wasn’t a question. She was okay that he was upset with her reading his journal. It was clearly something that he had wanted to remain private.
“What? No.”
Cass tilted her head questioningly. She didn’t believe him. She could read the contempt all over his body.
“You are mad. I am sorry,” Cass apologized. She turned to leave the room. She hated herself for upsetting her brother; for breaking his trust; invading his privacy.
“Cass, wait. I’m not mad at you. I promise,” Tim sighed. “It was just a bad time for me…back then.” He tossed the journal carelessly onto the bed. “It’s just a reminder that I wasn’t in a good place, so I hid it.”
She crossed further into the bedroom and sat on his bed to give him her full attention.
“Bruce was gone. Dick was Batman and had made Damian his Robin. I was angry at everyone.”
Cass nodded for him to continue.
“I had reached a low point in my investigation to find Bruce. I was tired of trying to convince people that he was still alive and I snapped.”
“I’m sorry.”
Tim shrugged. “It’s in the past. In the end I was right. He was alive.”
Cass crossed over to Tim and embraced him in a hug.
She could feel the tension release in Tim’s shoulders and upon breaking the embrace she gave him a smile.
“Good place now?”
Tim smiled at her, a genuine smile that reached his eyes and brought out his dimples.
“Yes, I’m in a good place now.”