Chapter Text
Tim often thought about the first time he met Dick Grayson. It was one of the only times his parents had ever taken him to do something fun. He’d found out later it was because Bruce Wayne had been attending the circus that same night and the Drakes had wanted the potential opportunity to network, but at the time he had hoped it meant that they wanted to spend more time with him. Even though his parents spent the evening acting like their aloof selves, he was still happy for the chance to see the Flying Graysons perform live. He had seen clips on youtube that his nanny had shown him, but the almost unearthly grace with which they moved through the air couldn’t properly be captured with a video camera. When the colorful acrobat child had asked if he wanted a photo he had been nearly ecstatic just to be acknowledged by someone so cool, and when he had scooped him up like he weighed nothing into the warmest hug he had ever received he had felt for a moment perfectly happy. He had almost started crying like a complete baby, and wouldn’t his parents have been thrilled if that had happened, but Dick Grayson had seemed to sense his tears and just pressed him closer into his arms.
“Don’t worry Timmy” he had whispered into his hair, “You’re mine now. I’ll do a special trick just for you.”
He hadn’t gotten the chance. Later that evening the tent that the Flying Graysons were preparing to perform in caught fire, trapping Dick’s parents inside. The city had ruled it a tragic accident, but Tim knew better now. After all, fire was a reliable way to kill a vampire without being too obvious about the fact that you were trying to kill a vampire. Unfortunately for the hunters that had murdered the Graysons, Bruce Wayne had not been fooled.
Tim shook himself out of his reverie in time to get a beautiful action shot of Nightwing in the midst of a quadruple flip. He might not have gotten a chance to see Dick Grayson’s special trick on that night, but he’d seen it plenty of times now. He was really glad that the old myth about vampires not appearing on camera wasn’t true. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he hadn’t been able to photograph Wayne Coven’s nightly exploits.
Nightwing has moved past his perch now and he began the mildly precarious scramble to get off the gargoyle he had set up his camera on. He winced slightly as the rough stone scraped across the palms of his hands, breaking the skin. At least this had happened after he had decided to call it quits for the evening. He would go straight home and put antiseptic on it right away, Gotham was not a clean city. He had just finished putting his camera back in its case when he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He spun around to see Nightwing materializing out of the shadows on the edge of the roof.
“Are you alright kid? What are you doing up here in the middle of the-”
The vigilante paused, seeming to scent the air before the white lenses of his domino fixed intently on Tim’s face. Any response Tim might have made to these questions was cut off by an oomph as he found himself suddenly pulled into a very encompassing hug. He tried to resist the urge to melt into the vampire’s arms as Nightwing seemed to be… sniffing his hair? Little weird but maybe it's a vampire thing, not like Tim can ask without revealing a whole slew of other issues. Dick’s arms tightened a smidge around him and he made a muffled squeak.
“Hold on tight kiddo, I’m gonna set us back down on street level.”
Tim felt a moment of weightlessness as Dick leaped off the edge of the building, still cradling him in his arms. The night air rushed past his ears for a moment before what he guessed was Dick’s vampiric powers of flight kicked in and slowed their descent into a gentle hover. That was a bit odd, the Bats generally weren’t this open about using their powers when patrolling. He felt a small jolt as Dick’s feet presumably met concrete and wriggled his way out of the arms that were still wrapped around him.
“Wow um thanks for the lift Mr. Nightwing sir! I really need to be getting back home now, so my parents won’t worry! Thanks again though sir!”
The masked vigilante cocked his head like he was listening to something before giving Tim a toothy grin. Tim tried to quell his nerves, burying his bleeding hands deeper into his pockets. He was pretty sure the Waynes didn’t feed on civilians, one of the reasons he had figured out they were vampires was because he noticed that they kept getting regular deliveries from a local blood bank, but he was starting to wish that he carried holy water as a precaution.
“Just Nightwing is fine kid, do you need help getting home? I don’t mind taking you!”
Yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen. In no universe did Tim want to answer questions as to why the heir to Drake Industries was running around Gotham at night with a camera.
“That’s okay I live near here! I’ll see you later- well actually no I probably won’t um, bye! Thank you again!”
He turned and started walking swiftly up the street away from the costumed vigilante. He made it all the way to the end of the street before succumbing to the urge to toss a quick glance over his shoulder, only to find the street empty. Still, he couldn’t shake the inexplicable feeling of being watched and decided to take a more circuitous route home. Just in case.
…
Dick watched as Timmy power walked his way up the street and resisted the urge to swoop down and bundle his tiny human back to the manor right away. He couldn’t believe he’d finally found him, perched precariously on a rooftop of all places. He shifted his weight and leaped silently into the air, transforming into a bat before beginning to trail Timmy back to his house. As much as he wanted to grab his little human now, he knew that he should probably wait until he was in civies. As far as Timmy was aware, this was the first time he’d ever met Nightwing and he didn’t want to scare the kid. Still, the smell of his injured human was testing his willpower. He just wanted to take him home and bandage up those hands! He’d also need to alert Alfred that Timmy could use some proper feeding, human kids his age really shouldn’t be so small!
He couldn’t help cooing a little as he looked down at his human. Timmy kept circling back along his route, backtracking a few times and taking what looked like the most indirect path to wherever he was going that he could. He was clearly trying to throw off any tail that he might have picked up before going home. Timmy was going to fit in so well with the rest of Dick’s coven! He frowned a little at the thought of Timmy’s current living situation. He’d been able to hear his heartbeat quicken when he’d said that his parents would be worried about him if he wasn’t home. He also remembered how lonely and sad Timmy had smelled when Dick had met him at the circus all those years ago. Timmy’s parents clearly didn’t deserve him and the Wayne coven would take much better care of him anyway. It was also a little strange that Timmy’s heart rate had increased when he said he probably wouldn’t see Nightwing again. He hoped Timmy wasn’t involved in any crimes.
Dick tilted his head curiously as Timmy crossed over the bridge into Bristol. Was he laying another false trail, or had he really been this close the whole time? His wonderment grew as Timmy trekked closer and closer to Wayne Manor, turning up the driveway right before theirs. Timmy had been living next door this entire time? He almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity. How had they missed that? Also, wait, that meant Timmy was Timothy Drake! Weren’t the Drakes supposed to be at an archeological dig in South America right now? He alighted on the roof of Drake Manor and listened intently. There were no sounds of life coming from the house besides Timmy struggling with the keys at the front door. Had they left his tiny baby human here alone?
Tim entered the house, shutting the door behind him as Dick transformed back into his more human-like form, pressing the com in his ear.
“B do you copy? I finally found my baby bird. Can you ask Agent A to get his room ready? I think I’ll be able to have him over by tomorrow night.”
“Copy that Nightwing,” came Bruce’s rough Batman voice, “We’ll have everything ready for him. Would you like Robin to bring you some civies?”
“That would be great! Have him run them over to Drake Manor.”
Dick beamed. Jason must be making excellent strides in controlling his blood lust if B was willing to let him out to run errands. He knew that being cooped up while he adjusted to life as a vampire was driving his little brother crazy. There was a rush of displaced air as Jason appeared next to him in a burst of vampiric speed, holding a duffle bag.
“Timmy in there Wing?” he gestured towards the dark manor.
“Yes Jay, listen, you can hear his heartbeat.”
Jason stilled, head cocked adorably before his face lit up.
“I can! Wait, are we sure that’s Timmy? I can’t hear anyone else in the house.”
Dick repressed a grumble as he pulled on a shirt.
“I think he’s alone in there. They left my tiny human alone all night and he got hurt! He’s lucky I found him, his parents clearly aren’t taking good enough care of him!”
Jason was still tilting his head towards the manor, sniffing occasionally, before cutting into Dick’s rant.
“Dickie I think they might have left him home alone a lot longer than a night, I can only smell one other scent on the property that isn’t stale as shit, and that one ain’t exactly fresh either.”
Dick took in a quick lungful of air to find that Jason was right, the only other scent that lingered on the property was overlaid with the smell of cleaning solution, probably a maid or a housekeeper, and several days old. That wouldn’t do at all. Jason let out a snort.
“I can already tell that Timbo is gonna get absolutely smothered by cuddles once you get him back to the manor. Look, just approach him gently okay? The whole vampire claiming thing can be a lot to take in at first.”
Dick took in his slumped posture before pulling him into a hug, burying his nose into his little brother’s hair.
“Thank you Little Wing, I know that these have been a rough couple of months for you. I’m here if you ever just want to talk, and I know B feels the same way.”
Jason melted into his hug for a few moments before pulling away.
“Yeah, yeah, I love you too. Enough mushy stuff! I’m gonna head back home to help B set up Timmy’s room, if we leave him to do it alone he’ll end up filling it with sticks and hoops, or whatever passed for toys when he was a kid. You just focus on grabbing the baby bird, yeah?”
Dick ruffled his hair before watching him dart back through the trees towards Wayne Manor. He shifted back into his bat form and settled into the tree outside of Timmy’s window. Tomorrow his human would finally be home.