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Tim was beginning to rethink his life choices.
It was no secret that none of the Wayne family kids enjoyed charity benefits. Bruce didn’t like them either, but he was more used to them than any of his adoptive children. Plus, everyone at the benefits worshipped the ground he walked on. Sure, he had a bit of a reputation as a ditzy himbo, but that was on purpose. No one ever said anything harmful to his face, and everyone was desperate to please him. His kids? Not so much. Each of them had something that the rich people just couldn’t get past.
For Dick and Damian, it was their heritages. Bruce had worked hard to eliminate any outright racists from his guest lists, but even he could never stop the occasional microaggression from occurring. Dick had won over most of the elite crowd over the years from just being his ray-of-sunshine self, but he still endured comments about how brave he was for “overcoming the innate poverty and delinquency of his people.” People were much more subtle with Damian because, unlike Dick, Damian had zero restraint when it came to calling people out on their bullshit.
“Oh, how excited you must be to live in America!” Tim remembered an old lady’s comment from one of Damian’s first outings. “I’ll bet you don’t have big cities like Gotham where you’re from.”
Damian had huffed disapprovingly. “We have cities in Pakistan. Mountains, too. Beautiful mountains that are perfect for climbing. Though, I don’t suppose you would know anything about mountain climbing. You look like you could barely handle a staircase.”
As much as Tim and his little brother didn’t get along, he couldn’t help but respect the kid for that comment.
Jason, out of all of them, got the best deal. Being legally dead meant he didn’t have to suffer with the rest of them. Although, his name still got thrown around once in a while. Mostly old ladies lamenting to Bruce that he never got to finish his “project.” Because that’s what Jason was to them. An unfinished project that tragically died before he got his full Pygmalion moment.
Cass rarely had to go to these events. But when she was forced to participate, she stuck by Tim or Dick. She just couldn’t communicate well with such shallow people. People who valued words over everything, whether they were sincere or not. Cass said what she meant and meant what she said. No more, no less. Her refusal to participate in the word games of the elite made her appear aloof, and, therefore, they mostly ignored her.
Tim wished they would ignore him, but things had only gotten worse since he took over Wayne Enterprises. Everyone wanted a piece of Gotham City’s teenage CEO. Even Bruce’s miraculous return wasn’t enough to draw the attention away from him. Of course, Tim’s struggles underneath the media’s microscope paled in comparison to his siblings’. The elite didn’t turn their noses up at him because of his ethnicity or socioeconomic status or something else he couldn’t control. He chose to become CEO.
“Ah, Mr. Drake-Wayne!”
Tim put on his best fake smile and took the man’s outstretched hand. “Mr. Eastmon, how are you?”
“Just fine, my boy. I saw WE was up four points on Tuesday. Very impressive. You’re definitely not the average high school dropout, eh?”
There it was. Tim had gotten used to such comments, but it didn’t mean they didn’t sting at least a little bit. Tim had busted his ass to keep WE afloat while Bruce was gone. Running WE was something Tim was actually good at. One of the few things he was confident in. Bruce may not have chosen him for Robin, but he chose him for this. He could worry about his GED later.
“Yeah, well, running a multi-billionaire corporation doesn’t leave much time for math class,” Tim returned, hoping he sounded lighthearted.
Mr. Eastmon nodded. “But surely, you know the importance of good education? You know, if you could get your GED, I have some pull at Gotham University’s business department. I could-”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Gary.”
Tim felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Bruce smiling at John. At least, his mouth was smiling. Bruce’s eyes, on the other hand, stared piercingly into Eastmon’s soul.
“You see, my son, Tim, here has an IQ of over 180. And, WE has seen more growth in the short time since he took over than in my entire tenure as CEO. All at the age of seventeen. To be quite frank, Gotham University is simply beneath his pay grade. And even if he wanted to go to college, I’m sure he would have his pick of all the nation’s universities without any help from anyone.”
Mr. Eastmon almost looked as flabbergasted as Tim felt. He couldn’t remember anyone ever defending him like that before. Things like this didn’t matter. It wasn’t like he was in danger or anything. But still, it felt good. He knew Bruce supported him, but it was different hearing him defend Tim to someone else.
“O-Of course, Mr. Wayne,” Mr. Eastmon stuttered. “I was only trying to help the boy reach his full potential.”
“Well, perhaps your efforts would be better spent on helping your company reach its full potential. That failed clinical trial really did a number on your stock values, didn’t it?”
Mr. Eastmon just blinked at them in disbelief.
Bruce continued, “Now, if you’ll please excuse us, I would like to speak with my son. Have a pleasant rest of your night, Gary.”
Tim followed Bruce out of the room and onto the venue’s balcony. It was empty of other patrons, which allowed them both to relax a bit.
Tim took a deep breath. “You didn’t have to do that, Bruce. I could have handled it. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Bruce rested his arms on the railing. “I know, but it was a big deal to me. When I took over the company, I was a mess. Running a company as big as ours is a full-time job. One that I haven’t always taken as seriously as I should have. I didn’t know how to balance the two lives I was living. When I wasn’t training, I threw all of my energy into partying and sleeping around to maintain an image instead of doing my job. If it hadn’t been for Lucius I would have lost everything many times over. But you, Tim, you’re something else. You’ve managed to not only keep the company stable but thriving while also being fully committed to your extracurriculars. I know I’m not good with words, but I want you to know I’m proud of you. And I am always going to defend my children, no matter how small of an issue it may seem to you all. Got it?”
Tim nodded. “Thanks, Bruce. You’re a pretty good dad when you wanna be, you know that?”
Bruce smirked and ruffled Tim’s hair. “Do me a favor and tell Jason that next time you see him. Now, how would you like to sneak out of here and go grab some dinner? I don’t know about you, but those little hors d’oeuvres never do it for me.”
For the first time that night, Tim’s smile was 100% genuine. “Deal.”