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“Bruce please. I can't stay here anymore. Please let me go back to my apartment.”
“Tim you know I can't just-”
“But they're killing me! They're actually killing me. Jason knows I'm not allowed to leave so he’s being even more annoying than usual and Dick is smothering me and won't let me work and Damian, well he actually hasn't done that much yet, but that's even more suspicious! I'm sure he's plotting something!” Bruce sighed. A few weeks ago Tim had gotten into some trouble on patrol and had broken four ribs and his right leg. Alfred gave strict orders that he was to be supervised while he healed so he was currently staying at the manor. His inability to blow off steam on patrol was clearly affecting his mood and seemed to be making him more paranoid than usual.
"I know I’m not supposed to be alone but if I don't get away from them soon then I actually might end up killing one of them. I'm serious Bruce. I'll do it. I already have the plans drafted.” The intensity in Tim’s stare told Bruce that he did indeed have ideas about how to murder his brothers.
“Tim please. I know you don't want to be here right now but it's just for a few more weeks. Can't you just put up with them for a little longer?”
“No. I absolutely can not.” Bruce forgot, sometimes, how serious his third son could be. He came off as sarcastic a lot of the time when in reality he’s just being brutally honest. What was he supposed to do here? Tim shouldn't have to take care of himself when he's this hurt but he's clearly unhappy with the attention he's receiving at the manor.
“Wait,” Tim said, interrupting Bruce's thoughts. “What if I go to the Watchtower with you.” Ah, yes. Bruce was supposed to spend the next two weeks at the Watchtower to help plan for a couple upcoming missions. It was serious business. Definitely not the place for a teenager.
“I don't think-”
“It’ll be great. I'll even help out if you need me to. I'll be the best unpaid intern the Justice League has ever had,” Tim declared. “I'll go pack.” He grabbed his crutches and left the room before Bruce could say anything else.
* * * * *
“Where’s Batman? He’s never late.” Barry said, glancing around the room.
“Yeah, that's normally your thing,” Hal teased, nudging his friend's foot with his own.
“Oh haha. Seriously though, I can't be here all day. I have a pair of superpowered toddlers at home and my wife will kill me if she has to handle them by herself all day.”
“Batman is taking longer than usual but I'm sure he has a reason for it,” Clark said, taking his seat next to Diana.
“Or he's just slacking off,” Oliver muttered.
“When has Bruce ever slacked off on anything?” Dinah sighed.
“He- well, there's a first time for everything,” Oliver decided, crossing his arms. Luckily they didn't have to wait much longer as the zeta tube powered up. The League perked up as Batman entered but immediately froze upon seeing the teenager following him. He was on crutches, wearing a red and black uniform with a domino mask to match it. He stood next to Batman, giving off the heir of professionalism that the League had only ever seen from Batman himself. The older of the pair began speaking.
“This is Red-”
“Holy shit it's you!” Barry yelled, jumping out of his seat.
“You know this boy?” Diana asked, glancing between the teen and the hero.
“Yeah, he broke in a few months ago and updated our security. Batman asked us not to say anything but he’s Bruce’s so-”
“This is Red Robin,” Bruce interrupted loudly. “He’ll be staying here for a while.”
“It's nice to officially meet you all. It's an honor, really,” Red Robin said with a smile. It was a strange juxtaposition, the serious, almost displeased face of Batman next to the hesitant smile of the young man beside him.
“It's nice to see you again,” Clark said, offering a smile of his own.
“Yeah, you too. I-”
“Wait a minute, you broke into the Watchtower?” Oliver interrupted.
“Well, yeah?” Red Robin said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “Just for some security updates. Everything’s been working properly, right?” He scanned the faces of the Justice League before looking to Batman who gave a small nod. Red smiled again. “Great. Well, I know you all have a meeting to get to so I’ll make myself busy somewhere else for now. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.” He made his way to the exit, pausing before he left the room. “Thanks, B.” Batman nodded again.
“Get some rest, Red.” He said more gently then any of the League had heard before. Once Red Robin left Batman swept across the room, taking his seat next to Superman. “Shall we begin?”
“I- Sorry, are we just gonna pretend that didn't just happen?” Oliver asked. Batman stared at him in silence.
“If Batman would rather not talk about it then he has a right to his privacy,” J’onn said slowly.
“But He never talks about his personal life and how often do we get to talk to Batman's son?” Hal asked incredulously.
“He is your child?” Diana perked up, suddenly even more curious about their visitor. Bruce, for his part, seemed to be increasingly uncomfortable.
“I thought you only had two kids,” Oliver said.
“You knew he had kids?”
“Well, yeah. Roy is friends with them. He goes on missions with Bruce's second son, Jason, all the time. But I didn't know you had another one!”
“Can we please start the meeting? You can talk to him later if you must but it should be known that he came here to get away from his brothers and to be somewhere quiet so he can finish healing. Please don't bother him too much.” The rest of the league glanced at each other before asking more questions. Bruce sighed. This meeting was not going well.
* * * * *
Tim had left Bruce and the League to their meeting a little over an hour ago. He had found a spot on a comfy couch in the common room and had been drifting in and out of sleep when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He sat up and grabbed a batarang and his bow staff, and waited for the intruder to enter. As he readied himself to fight he froze when several members of the Justice League tumbled through the door. Right. He was in the Watchtower. He didn't need to worry about being attacked by league assassins and annoying brothers here.
“Hey,” Tim said, running a hand through his hair. “How was the meeting”
“Unproductive.” The League jumped, not having heard Batman follow in behind them. Bruce crossed the room, sitting down next to his son.
“Well, yeah!” Barry said, dropping into an armchair on the other side of Tim. “You randomly bring one of your kids here and you expect us to be focused?” Tim frowned.
“Sorry, I didn't mean to be distracting, I-”
“It's not your fault,” Dinah said as the rest of the group settled into their seats. “If anything it's Bruce’s for never telling us anything about his personal life.”
“You already know my identity, what more do you want?” Bruce muttered. There was now a hint of a smile on Tim’s face.
“You didn't google him when you found out? There's a lot out there on Brucie Wayne.”
“We prefer when our teammates choose to share information about themselves voluntarily,” Diana explained. Tim raised an eyebrow and glanced at Bruce.
“So,” Oliver said, “I knew about Dick and Jason, but I didn't know Bruce had three kids.” Tim laughed.
“Three? There are more than just three of us.”
“More? How many children does Bruce have?” Diana asked.
“Biologically, legally, or emotionally?”
“Tim.”
“It's a valid question, Bruce!” They spent the next minute just staring at each other, daring the other to say something else. Finally, Bruce sighed.
“Did you just wake up?”
“Yes. Speaking of which can I have-“
“No. I know you didn't sleep much last night and you've already had five cups today and it’s barely past noon. Either survive without coffee or go back to sleep.”
“You’re a cruel man.”
“You need to sleep more.” Seeing that this was going to lead to an argument Oliver decided to change the subject.
“How’s Jason? Has he talked to Roy recently?”
“They’ve been doing a lot more than just talking,” Tim muttered.
“What?”
“What.”
“Tim! Please don't spread rumors about your brother's personal life,” Bruce sighed.
“Is it really a rumor if I know it's true?” Bruce gave his son a look that clearly said to stop talking.
“Oh come on! He deserves it after torturing me for the last four weeks.”
“Don't be spiteful Tim.” The boy scoffs.
“It's like you don't know me at all. I run on spite, coffee, and the crippling need to please everyone around me. You should be aware of this by now.” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. Why? Why did his child have to lose all filters when he was tired?
“Your boys are-“
“They’re dating!?” Oliver asked. He looked slightly horrified as he understood the implications of what Tim had just said and realized how close he was to learning way too much about his son’s sex life.
“You didn’t know? Well, I guess that’s fair. It took B four months to realize it. World's greatest detective my ass.”
“Tim,” Bruce interrupted once again. “Let’s go get you a coffee.” He pulled Tim off the couch and towards the door.
“But you said-“
“I changed my mind.”
*****
Overall, Tim’s time as the Watchtower had been going well. The League members were all friendly and he had gotten a ton of work done. He had even gotten to help out with a couple league cases. The only downside was Bruce's hovering. It wasn't super obvious to those around them, but Tim was a bat. He could tell when someone was watching and listening to all of his conversations. Bruce tried to play it off as being worried about his injuries, which was partially true, but Tim deducted that he was hovering for two main reasons: A) he was worried that Tim would say something to embarrass him in front of his team or B) he was worried the League would say something to embarrass him in front of Tim. After the Jason/Roy dating reveal incident Bruce was being a lot more careful. In order to keep a more vigilant eye on him, Bruce had set up a workspace for Tim in the meeting room. It had been going well so far. Tim finished up all of his casework and was quietly following along with the Leagues presentation while filtering through some of the other private cases that the heroes had.
“So if we can get the Camiki to help us and distract them then the Rema won’t have the time or resources for their invasion.”
“That won't work.”
“What?” The League looked over to where Tim was sitting at his makeshift work desk. He pushed off the wall, sliding his chair to be beside his father. He opened his tablet, projecting the Rema file to the League.
“How did you get the file-”
“The Rema value intelligence and courage. If you follow through with that plan then you'll just end up offending them and making them think we deserve to be eradicated. It would be better if--” Tim paused, skimming the file again before looking at Batman. “Actually, can I just handle this? It'll take like twenty minutes.” Bruce looked tired but he nodded.
“Please don't start any wars.” Tim grinned and slid himself over to the main computer. Slipping on a headset he started trying to make contact with the Rema ship.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Clark asked.
“Red Robin is an excellent negotiator. I’m sure he’ll work something out. We can move on to the next topic.” The League moved on, discussing the group of metas that were causing trouble as they slowly crossed the country.
“Yes, of course. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Please let me know if you need anything in the future. Have a safe trip home,” Tim pulled his head set off and rolled his chair back over beside Bruce. “What's next?”
“You're done already?” Hal asked.
“Yeah. It was pretty easy to convince them that we were worth keeping around. I drafted a trading agreement so they might contact you again in a few weeks to work out the terms of the contract, but they won't be invading.” The League stared at the kid. Clark noted that Bruce looked vaguely smug and . . . proud? Is that what his proud face looks like? Most of the League members hadn't seen that look before.
“So what are we working on now?” Tim folded his hands in front of him.
“You don't have other work to do?” Bruce asked.
“I finished all of my casework and I'm all caught up at WE. I did some of Nightwings cases too but he can stop being lazy and do the rest himself. I also looked into some of your cases. . . and the Flash’s and Superman’s too. . .”
“You what?”
“And I already sent my team to deal with some of the smaller ones. So basically I'm totally free.” Tim looked at Bruce and paused. “Unless there's something else you need me on. . .” Bruce put his hand on his son’s head.
“You can stay.”
“Cool.” Tim pulled his tablet back out and started skimming through the meeting’s agenda.
*****
“Bart? What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Gramps! Tim called me. Do you know where he is?”
“I think he’s in the kitchen?” Barry barely finished his sentence before Impulse was zipping down the hall. He followed, needing to make sure the young speedster wasn't causing trouble.
“Tim!” Bart called as he crashed into his friend.
“Hey, Bart.” Tim patted Bart’s hair as Barry, Clark, and Bruce watched in confusion. What was Bart doing here? How did he even get in? Bart grinned as he pulled back from the hug.
“I come bearing gifts!” He sat down, practically vibrating in his seat as he pulled a variety of treats from his bag and set down a cup of coffee in front of Tim. “It's from that place in Costa Rica that you like.”
“See, this is why you're my favorite,” Tim said, taking a sip from the to-go cup.
“Tim, what is he doing here?” Bruce finally asked. Barry crossed the room taking a seat next to Clark, further down the table from the two boys.
“I'm helping Tim with a mission! He’s been giving me a lot of really helpful information lately so it's the least I can do.”
“The Rema mentioned that there's gonna be some new tech released a few solar systems over in a couple weeks so we have to plan our trip.” Barry’s eyes widened. Oh, that could not go well. Tim had clearly established himself as a genius and a great leader and Bart, well, Bart had literally built his own time machine to come save his grandfather's life and stop an impending apocalypse. Those two mixed with alien tech? Yeah, probably not something that their guardians would be able to deal with.
“You’re. . . leaving the solar system?” Clark asked. “How?”
“Bart has a ship,” Tim said simply as his friend nods.
“Where did you get a spaceship!?” How had Barry not realized that one of the kids in his care had a freaking space vessel?
“Tim, you can‘t go to space.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can't knowingly send my seventeen year old into space with his friends unsupervised,” Bruce said, rubbing his eyes.
“I'm emancipated.”
“You need to stop using that as an excuse every time I say something you don't like.”
“He’s emancipated?”
“I- I was lost in time. There was nothing I could do,” Bruce sighed. “It was for business purposes anyway.”
“Cassie is eighteen now. She’ll be our adult supervision.”
“Tim.”
“Plus Kon will be there,” Bart jumped in. “He’s our official Mom friend so he won't let anything too bad happen.”
“Not that we expect anything bad to happen. This is strictly a shopping/trading trip. No missions, no fighting unless necessary. I promise.” Barry and Clark glanced at each other while Bruce starred as his son.
“I'm not so sure-” Clark started.
“You can't go!” Barry said, looking slightly panicked. “Batman, tell them they can't go!”
“You will check in twice a day,” Bruce finally announced.
“What!?”
“I can agree to that,” Tim nodded. “But you can't trail us.” Batman nodded and shook Tim’s hand. Tim then stood, grabbing his crutches.
“Come on Bart, we can plan this in my room.” The heroes watched as the boys left the room, chatting happily about their upcoming trip.
“You're letting our children go to space,” Barry said in disbelief, still watching the now empty doorway.
“Well, it wouldn't be the first time they went. At least they'll be checking in.”
“What do you mean it's not the first time!?”
* * * * *
The two weeks of work that the League had done had gone well. Many of the members were surprised at how much work had gotten done (no doubt in part thanks to Tim). Tomorrow the team would be returning to their regular schedules where they didn't have to spend so much at the tower. They were in the meeting room listening to Batman’s report on the previous weeks when the tower's communicator started beeping.
“It’s from the cave, B,” Tim said. Bruce sighed.
“Go ahead and answer it.” On the screen appeared a young man dressed in all black except for the bright blue bird across his chest.
“B! Hi, how are you?”
“I'm busy right now Dick. What do you need?”
“Oh you're no fun,” the man, Dick, pouted. “When are you and Timmy coming back?” Tim sighed. How many times did he have to tell Dick to stop calling him that?
“Is there a problem?”
“Well, not really? Damian pissed off Babs and she said she’s not helping us anymore until he apologies, but we both know how likely that is.” Dick rolled his eyes. “I could use some help with that before he ends up doing something even more stupid than antagonizing the person who knows literally everything about this city.”
“Move, Grayson!” A young face filled the screen. “Father! I find it unacceptable that Drake has gotten to spend this much time in the Watchtower. I am the blood son. If anyone should be there it should be me-” He was cut off by a hand pushing his face out of the way and an older boy taking his place.
“Tim! I know you like to take my clothes but did you really have to bring all of my sweatshirts with you? It's fucking cold in the cave, man, I need those.”
“Dick,” Bruce interrupted. The League watched as the first man came back on screen. “We’ll be home tomorrow.”
“Awesome-” he was cut off by a loud crash followed by an “I WILL KILL YOU TODD!”
“Sorry,” Dick said, wincing. “I’ve gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow.” The video shut off and the League was left staring at Batman who looked ten times more tired than he did before answering the call.
“And you tried to force me to stay with them for two more weeks.”