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Jason and Cass have settled into a sort of routine, after a few days. She’s still figuring him out, and he’s doing what he can to communicate with her more effectively. He’s making slow progress, but she seems to appreciate the effort, at least. It helps that she already seems to have put her trust in him, and she’s intuitive as always. She’s relaxed a little since coming to Jason’s apartment, so when his phone rings, vibrating against the kitchen table at dinnertime one evening, she doesn’t flinch. She just raises a brow and keeps eating.
“Hi, um there’s a situation?” Little Jay sounds out of breath, and Jason can hear the sounds of chatter and music in the background. “Can you come to the manor?”
“Is Tim alright?” Jason asks, worry creeping through his blood.
“Kinda? He’s having a panic attack. Keeps asking for you.”
“I’m on my way.”
Jason hangs up and waves to Cass, who offers him a knowing look and a nod. He grabs a hoodie on his way out the door—something soft and warm to help ground Tim when he gets there. The drive isn’t too long, not on his motorcycle, and soon enough, Jason’s pulling into the winding drive leading to Wayne Manor. He never thought he’d be back here, but desperate times and all.
He rings Jay’s number again and tells him to bring Tim to the gardens out back, so he can meet up with the two boys without running into anyone who might recognize him. Jason sneaks in and settles down on a secluded bench, hidden by rose bushes next to a meandering stream. He hears footsteps on the gravel path and turns to see Jay with his arm around a teary-eyed Tim, guiding him forward toward the bench.
“Hey Timmy,” Jason calls softly. Tim looks up, breath hitching, and he barrels into Jason, wrapping his scrawny arms around him in a desperate hug. He’s crying—horrible, wracking sobs which shake his whole frame. Jason feels like his heart is cracking into two. Jason rubs circles on his back, shushing him gently.
“What’s going on, kiddo?”
“They left me,” Tim murmurs. “My mom and dad just...left me here. They’re heading straight for the airport to leave again, and they forgot to bring me back. I’m sorry, Jason. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Hey, hey, don’t apologize, okay? I’m glad you had Jay call me. I want to help, and I can’t do that if I don’t know when you need me.” He drops a kiss to the top of Tim’s head, and Tim snuggles closer. “It’s gonna be okay. Let’s go home, yeah?”
“Can we?” Tim asks, voice impossibly small.
“Yeah, we can head back, and I’ll make us some hot chocolate. How’s that sound? You get to meet Cass.”
Tim sniffles and raises his head, dark hair falling into his face, sticking to wet cheeks. He rests his chin on Jason’s chest, looking at him like he wants nothing more than to bury his face in Jason’s shirt and never emerge.
“Do you need anything from your folks’ place?”
“No,” Tim mumbles. Jason thinks he’s probably getting drowsy, now that the adrenaline is wearing off. “I just want to go home.”
Jason’s heart twists in his chest at Tim referring to his crappy apartment as home. This poor kid. The familiar anger bubbles up, but instead of lashing out at the kid in his arms, it coils around Jason’s disdain for the Drakes. Tim deserves so much better. He wishes he’d realized that before he left his own world. He still has a lot to make up for.
Jason guides Tim to his motorcycle and plops a helmet onto the kid’s head. Tim clings to him like a koala the whole ride back, and Jason has a feeling it’s only partially so he doesn’t fall off. He probably needs reassurance that someone is actually here with him. Jason lets Tim ride piggyback as he makes his way back to the apartment.
Cass is waiting on the sofa, and when Jason enters with Tim carefully perched on his back, she offers them a warm smile. Jason sets Tim down next to her and ruffles the kid’s hair, moving into the kitchen to make them a warm drink. He and Cass have been working on sign language in the days since he brought her back with him, and now she’s practicing with Tim. He almost seems back to his normal, chipper self. He chatters excitedly with Cass, hands clumsily signing as he speaks.
Jason comes back into the living room with four mugs, and just as he sets them down on his rickety coffee table, someone knocks at his window. He lets Jay, dressed in civvies with only a domino masking his identity, into the apartment. Jay tumbles in with a yawn and moves to sit next to Tim, who immediately curls closer to the older boy.
It’s sweet—watching those two become brothers in just a few short weeks. Jason wonders how differently things might’ve gone for him if he’d met Tim Drake before he ran off to Ethiopia. He wonders whether or not Tim would’ve been better off, too. He thinks of the too pale, too thin boy back in his world, working himself to the bone and isolating himself from the family he thinks doesn’t want him. Jason understands the kid more than he’d like to.
Jason fetches a weighted blanket to drape around Tim and Jay. The former seems halfway to sleeping already, head drooping against Jay’s shoulder. Jason glances at Cass and catches the soft look on her face, fondness for the boys already winning her over. He hopes she can see that the world doesn’t have to be all fear and pain. There’s kindness and gentleness, sleepy cuddles and hot cocoa.
Honestly, they probably all need that reminder. It isn’t just them, either. Jason knows Damian is out there, and Stephanie, too. Dick and Babs probably need some gentleness in their lives, as well. Maybe he can eventually face Bruce, when he’s ready. Of course, this Bruce hasn’t lost his son, so he’s still the dad Jason remembers, not the Batman he found when he came back.
The boys and Cass drift off on his couch, cozy and safe. They’ve got Jason looking out for them, after all. Their trust in him warms his heart, and he’s determined to keep these kids safe.
He takes the empty mugs to the sink and cleans up as quietly as he can, letting them all sleep. He does have to wake Jay after about an hour, so he can get home before Bruce suspects anything. Jason is almost surprised when Jay wraps his arms around him, smiling impishly before he leaps out the window. He shakes his head and moves to carry Tim to his room. Cass has insisted on sleeping on the couch, for now, but Jason is already looking at some bigger apartments. For now, he just tucks a blanket around her, smiling when she cracks one eye open, only to immediately roll over to go back to sleep.
When he first got dumped into this dimension, he wasn’t expecting to get so entangled in the lives of his alternate-world family members, but he’s grateful. He can’t imagine anything better.