Chapter Text
Tim remembered that he made the call. That’s why he wasn’t surprised when Jason pulled up outside of the convince store. What Tim couldn’t remember was how he got there in the first place. It was still the middle of the day. He should have still been in school for at least another few hours.
He watched Jason park the bike and very nearly jump off. It was kind of funny. Several months before the sight of Jason Todd rushing at him would have been terrifying. But right then Tim just stayed where he was leaning up against the building.
“Tim, what the hell’s going on?”
Weirdly, Jason didn’t sound angry. He should have been. Tim had called him out in the early afternoon for... something. Everyone in the family knew not to bother Jason unless it was an emergency. He didn’t seem angry though. More worried than anything.
When Jason got close enough he reached out and put a hand on Tim’s arm. It shook him a bit and rattled something loose. He trembled as his chest tightened. Slowly he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. When it unlocked the article stared back at him. The bright red “Breaking News” banner felt so aggressive as Tim looked at it.
“Um, I think my... my parents might be... dead,” he sputtered breath catching in his throat.
———
With very little effort Jason was able to get Tim on the bike. The kid was moving on auto-pilot. Jason hadn’t read the article Tim had held up. Just glimpsed the headline about an explosion on a boat believed to belong to Jack and Janet Drake. Standing on the street wasn’t the place to try and figure out if that were true. Especially not when Tim was in a bit of shock.
Not only that but Jason had some experience with what was going to happen as rumors got out. Willis had died in prison not long after Jason moved into the manor. The press had gone insane when the story broke. Jason, Bruce, and Alfred hadn’t been able to go anywhere without people following them for weeks. Reporters, if you could even call them that, had even tracked Dick down in Bludhaven to try and get information from him. He and Bruce hadn’t even been speaking at the time but Dick had ended up staying at the manor for a while to avoid the media storm. It had been a nightmare.
Back then the story had just been sensational. A good piece of gossip. With Tim, it would be so much worse. The Drakes were insanely wealthy and Tim was their sole heir. Even if they ended up not being dead the media was going to go into an absolute frenzy until that was confirmed. Getting Tim behind manor gates and the Wayne PR team was the best way to protect him from all of that.
“Tim, you ready?” Jason asked.
He felt Tim’s grip tighten around his waist and took that as a yes. As they rode out of Gotham Jason’s mind turned to practical things. He chose to operate under the worst assumption that the Drakes were dead. They would need to let Bruce know what was going on. With any luck, he wasn’t out of the country like the last time Jason had needed to bring Tim home. But he might be. That was about the only reasonable explanation Jason could think of for Tim calling him instead of Bruce.
Jason was fairly sure Tim had mentioned Bruce being his legal guardian. That would keep CPS out of the mix hopefully. It would put a good buffer between Tim and the vultures that would soon be descending. Dick could probably deal with the Titans since Robin would be out of commission at least for a little while. Bruce would probably bench him for a bit even if Tim wanted to go out. That’s what he’d done when Willis had died and Jason still tried to patrol. It had pissed Jason off to no end at the time. In retrospect, it had been the right call. As much as Jason hated to admit it.
Jason must have been speeding without realizing it because they reached the manor gates in record time.
“Put your code in,” Jason said.
“Yours still works,” Tim told him.
A cold weight dropped into Jason’s stomach. Hesitantly he reached out and punched in his mother’s birthday. The light flashed green and the gates swung open for him. Not knowing what to do with that he shoved it to the back of his mind and drove on towards the manor.
By the time they make it up the long ass drive, Alfred was there waiting for them. A twinge of something shot through Jason that he tried to ignore. There were other things to focus on. Like Roy. He would need to let Roy know where he was and what was going on. Kon would need to know too. That... that might end up being a mess. Jason knew the kid well enough to confidently say he would want to be with Tim while he was going through it. Which wouldn’t be easy considering almost no one knew Kon and Tim were a couple.
Jason stashed that concern too. Focusing on getting Tim inside. He put down the kickstand on the bike and waited for Tim to let go of him.
“Master Jason, Master Tim what in the world is going on?” Alfred asks his voice showing the concern his face doesn’t.
Tim got off the bike and started walking towards Alfred.
“There was an incident. My parents may have been killed. I’m going to need to contact their lawyers. The Board of Directors will need to be informed as well if they haven’t been already. I should also...”
“Tim,” Jason said sharply cutting off what was turning into a ramble, “we don’t know anything for sure yet. Maybe, call Kon, yeah?”
Turning to him Tim looked a little surprised and lost. After a second he nodded and reached for his phone. Jason did the same. He needed to get Bruce and maybe even Dick there to deal with Tim. He didn’t know the kid well enough to handle whatever was going to happen.
Before he could even get the phone out it started ringing. The screen showed Bruce’s name. Jason sighed, speak of the devil and all that.
“Bruce.”
“Jason, have you heard anything from Tim?” Bruce sounded near panicked, for Bruce that is.
“He’s with me. I just got him back to the manor. He ah, called me to come get him.”
There was an audible sigh on the other end of the line. When Bruce spoke again he was calmer. “That makes sense.”
It did? Because Jason would have appreciated someone explaining that to him. He should have been the last person on Tim’s emotional distress call list. Should have been the last person to ask to house his boyfriend too but Jason was far less concerned with that one anymore.
“Yeah, sure,” Jason muttered glancing up to make sure Tim was out of earshot. “You heard about the Drakes I take?”
“I did. Things are still inconclusive but it doesn’t look promising. Witnesses place Jack and Janet on the boat before the explosion and no survivors have been found so far. I was heading to the school to get Tim but I’ll be out to the manor as soon as I can.” There was a brief pause. “Will you stay with Tim at least until I get there?”
There was a hint of pleading to the question that didn’t sit well with Jason. “Sure, I was planning on it anyways.”
“Thank you, I’ll be there soon.”
They hung up and Jason turned his attention back to Tim. He was still standing him the driveway talking on the phone. It seemed right to give him some space so Jason turned to Alfred. Another twinge of nervousness hit him and it was much harder to ignore. It didn’t feel right standing there, almost certainly about to head into the manor. Bruce had asked him to stay but it felt like trespassing. Even more, than being in the cave. That had been for any emergency and it was a work thing, Being at the manor proper couldn’t be anything but personal.
“B’s on his way,” Jason told Alfred. “Said he’ll be here as soon as he can.”
“Very good. I should go contact Miss Cassandra and let her know to return home.”
That was probably a good idea. Jason didn’t know Cass almost at all but could imagine she might be the one person who hated media attention more than he had. If she was out somewhere she might not handle getting blindsided all that well.
“I’ll herd Tim inside when he’s done with his call.”
Alfred gave him a quick smile and nodded before turning to head back into the house. Jason didn’t have to wait very long. After Tim hung up from his call he looked back at Jason, clearly nervous.
“Um, so Kon and Dick are both on their way,” Tim called shuffling toward.
“Oh, together?”
“They were both at the tower and Kon wanted to be with me.” Tim’s voice dropped a little. “I want him here too.”
Of course, he did. Jason would have wanted Roy if he were in Tim’s position. Actually, he wanted Roy there with him anyway. Whether that would do much to distract him from the mounting nervousness he wasn’t sure but there would be someone he could cling to.
“I should let Roy we’re all going to be out here.”
Something flashed in Tim’s eyes. “Yeah, if he wants he should come over too. If everyone else is going to be here.”
Jason wondered for a moment if Tim was a mind reader or if he was just that transparent. Or maybe Tim wanted Roy there too. They were friends in a weird tech nerd kind of way.
“I’ll see if he’s up for it. But let’s get inside first.”
———
Kon had barely said a word since he’d handed his phone over to Dick. He was too trapped in his thoughts. It was a mix of worrying about Tim and worrying about what was going to happen while at the manor. On the phone, Tim had sounded so raw that Kon just want to hold him and make everything better. But if he did that in front of Tim’s family then they would know something was up. The last thing Kon wanted to do was make things worse. He’d been to the manor before but only for short visits where he and Tim kept to themselves. Keeping the chances of him screwing up to a minimum.
“I’m glad you’re coming,” Dick said once the Batplane took off.
The sudden break in their silence almost made Kon jump. He looked over almost sheepishly at Dick. Almost everything the man said sounded sincere. That seemed statistically impossible to Kon. Which had made him doubt a lot of the nice things Dick said to him.
“Yeah?” Kon asked cautiously.
“Yeah, you know Tim in a way that we don’t. That’s always helpful to have around.”
“Oh, I mean I’m just trying to be a good friend.”
Kon hadn’t expected those words to hurt but they did. Almost like a knife to the chest, he imagined. It must have been the wrong thing to say too because Dick frowned.
“Look this isn’t how I wanted you or Tim to find out but I uh, already know about you two being a couple.”
Dick glanced overlooking apologetically. Kon suddenly felt his heart hammering in his chest. Dick knew? It had been bad enough finding out he know about Kon living with Jason and Roy. Kon wanted to curl up into a ball and vanish.
“It’s fine,” Kon huffed defensively. “Everyone’s gonna find out anyway.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone, Kon. I would never...” Dick sighed. “I just don’t want you two thinking you need to hide stuff around me. I’ve been there and know how much it sucks. Well, I take that back. There’s some stuff I don’t want to know you two are doing.”
“What? No, we’re not, I mean,” Kon tried to compose himself but failed miserably. “We have yet, I swear.”
To Kon’s dismay, Dick burst out laughing. It wasn’t cruel or anything but not what he needed to hear at the moment. Death felt like it might have been a mercy at the moment. Dick seemed to notice Kon’s reaction, punching a few buttons before turning fully to face him.
“Shouldn’t you be paying attention?” Kon gaped.
“Nah, the autopilot will get us almost the whole way there. And I’m sorry. I’m not trying to embarrass you or anything.” No, Kon was doing a perfectly good job of that on his own. “I haven’t had to do this before so probably screwing it up. Maybe we should just stick to the part where I’m you’re coming to be with Tim. I don’t know how this is going to turn out but it's going to be messy one way or another. I don’t know how much he’s said to you about his parents.”
“He’s vented a lot. I kind of met them in passing once too.”
“Right, the fundraiser in Metropolis,” Dick said with a knowing smirk.
Even with Dick looking at him it was impossible for Kon not to smile thinking about that night. The first time he met Tim, the first time they kissed. How sure Tim had been that Kon deserved good things even though he’d really only been Experiment 13 at the time, one of the many weapons in Lex’s arsenal. That night would always mean the world to Kon. But yes, it had also been his only run in with Jack and Janet Drake. Who had not left a good impression on him.
“They were assholes.”
The smirk on Dick’s face quickly faded and was replaced with something much more grim. “I couldn't agree more. That doesn't change the fact that they were his parents and I just don’t know how he’ll react to this.”
“I’ve never dealt with anything like this,” Kon admitted. “I mean there were those training presentations about how to interact with people in the field but this is different.”
“Yeah, it is. There isn’t really a right way to go about it. At least for me, the biggest thing to remember is you can’t fix things. You just need to be there or at least be available.”
Kon took the advice to heart. He liked to think he was already pretty good at being there for Tim. The circumstances would just be different. And Tim would have family around that loved him too. It might suck but they would all help Tim get through it.
———
Jason stayed by Tim who was about ready to start climbing the walls. It was a relief when people started arriving. Bruce was the first one to get there. By the time he found Jason and Tim in the family living room Bruce was like Jason had never seen him. After fussing over Tim and making sure he was at least physically alright Bruce switched over to something more stoic.
“I’ve contacted some friends to look into what happened. They should be able to get reliable answers faster than the usual authorities.”
Tim and Jason’s both eyes widened at that. Friends meant the Justice League and Jason hadn’t expected Bruce to get them involved in a personal matter. That was... good though. They would get answers and ones that would stay out of official reports and the media. Bruce was right too that they would also be faster.
“I’m going to need to deal with the lawyers and,” Tim started on his ramble from before.
Bruce placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to have as much of that possible go through me. It’s not fair but a lot of people are going to try and take advantage of the situation until things are resolved. People who will think you especially vulnerable because of your age.”
“That’s their mistake to make,” Tim muttered.
“Trust me I know. I pity anyone who underestimates you, Tim. But you shouldn’t have to deal with it at all and I’m certainly not going to let you deal with it alone.” Bruce took a deep breath. “You’re not alone in any of this, alright.”
The words rung in Jason’s ears. When Willis had died Bruce had told Jason the same thing. Not that Jason had believed him at the time. He had been alone when Catherine died and then on the street when he realized how unsafe foster care was. Jason hadn’t thought that living in the manor was going to change having to deal with stuff on his own. At least in that instance, he’d been wrong. Bruce, Alfred, and even Dick had been there for him. Tim was going to have even more people there supporting and protecting him.
Behind Tim, Jason snagged Bruce’s attention. Once Bruce was looking Jason mouthed, hug him. There was a brief look of bewilderment on Bruce’s face but he got over it and pulled Tim into a tight hug. At first, Tim tensed up but quickly relaxed hugging Bruce back.
Roy got to the manor next. It was clear he had left straight from the workshop, clothes stained and burned in places. Bruce was obviously surprised to see him but welcomed Roy anyway. Once Roy was there tension in Jason’s shoulders, that he hadn’t noticed building, released. When they had space Roy turned to Jason.
“Are you doing okay?”
“It weird being here,” Jason told him, “but I’m fine.”
Without warning, Roy took Jason’s hand. “Hey, don’t lie to me. If you told want to or can’t talk about it right now that’s fine. But we don’t lie to each other.
Someone calling him out like that would have usually pissed Jason off to no end. Roy was allowed to do that though. It was one of the things that made their relationship work. That and the fact that they had agreed early on not to lie about how they were feeling. Both of them were prone to stuffing things down and coping in deeply unhealthy ways.
“This is just bringing some stuff up for me. Things we haven’t exactly talked about yet.”
“Do you want to leave?”
While that may have been a good idea when Jason thought about leaving there was the unmistakable sting of guilt. Tim had called him for help and the idea of taking off felt shitty. Even if there were other people around for the kid.
“No, as long as no one is trying to kick me out I’ll stay. Besides Kon’s on his way. I don’t want to leave him here.”
“Probably should keep an eye on that,” Roy agreed. “If you need a break something though, take it.”
“I will,’ Jason promised.
Dick and Kon arrived a little while later. With Dick rushing into the room still dressed as Nightwing and Kon slinking in behind him. Dick only did a quick check-in with Tim before stepping back to give a clear line of sight between Tim and Kon. For the first time since Jason had found him, Tim smiled when he caught sight of Kon. The smile was returned by Kon albeit nervously. Kon went over to Tim and whispered something in his ear. The look on Tim’s face went to shocked-horror and then anger. Jason and Roy both watched this with deep fascination.
“Fuck damn it, Dick!” Tim snapped. “Have you been spying on us?’
Dick grinned. “No need, Baby Bird. I’m a trained detective and a master of sneaking around with guys, well one guy. I’m sorry but you never stood a chance.”
While Tim very clearly bristled at that as Bruce came back into the room. He had wandered off somewhere to ‘make some calls.’ A common euphemism of his that could have meant any number of things. At first Bruce’s face twisted in a way that Jason had never seen before. It looked unpleasant but Bruce quickly regained his composure. He regarded the two new arrivals still dressed in their costumes.
“You two should go get changed. Tim, maybe you could find Kon something to wear.”
Taking the out Tim grabbed Kon’s wrist and dragged him from the room. On the way, Kon managed to get out a “Hello, Mr. Wayne,” before he and Tim were gone.
When they were gone Bruce looked at the three remaining men in the room. “Anything I need to know?”
“Not that’s our place to tell you,” Dick said with a shrug.
If he’d been closer Jason would have gladly taken a swipe at him. As it was Jason just glared at him. Bruce just seemed confused and let the subject drop. Then he again told Dick to go get changed. Unless things had changed from Jason’s time walking around the manor in costume was very against the rules. Dick grinned apologetically before disappearing as well.
“Any news?” Jason asked.
“Not yet. Maybe not for a while,” Bruce suddenly glanced away shyly. “I wanted to thank you, Jason, for getting Tim. You think I wouldn’t have but I panicked a bit when the school couldn’t find him. Just don’t tell you’re brothers okay?”
“Sure, B.”
Jason managed to get the words out smoothly. Not betraying the sudden racing of his heart at Bruce including in the family. Next to him Roy smiled and gave Jason’s hand a squeeze.
———
Tim couldn’t get out of the living room fast enough. He was glad Kon didn’t put up any resistance. There was no way to move him if Kon didn’t want to be moved. It had not escaped Tim’s notice that Kon always let himself get dragged around. By Tim at the very least.
“Slow down. No one is chasing us,” Kon laughed as they headed upstairs.
Tim felt his face warm. The sound of Kon laughing tended to have that effect in general but it was much more to do with Dick knowing about them. It wasn’t that big of a deal but it felt weird to think that Dick had already known before Tim came out to him. Not saying anything until Tim did was a very Dick thing to do but that didn’t make it any less annoying or embarrassing.
“I just can’t believe Dick knew and didn’t say anything for who knows how long. And then he told you first!”
“I don’t think it was planned. It sort of just happened.”
Tim rolled his eyes. “What else did you talk about?”
They reached Tim’s room and went in. Tim was rooting through his clothes for something Kon could wear. Only as he was pulling out a pair of sweatpants did he notice Kon had gone unusually quiet. When he turned around he saw his boyfriend looking very embarrassed.
“Kon-El, what else did you two talk about.”
“I, just, the conversation got awkward and,” Kon’s face nearly matched the S on his suit, “I might have accidentally told him we haven’t had sex yet.”
“Oh geez,” Tim groaned.
“I know! I’m so sorry and I know you don’t need this right now. But it was an accident I swear.”
Before responding Tim playfully chucked clothes at Kon. Then made his way over to the blushing boy.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Tim assured him. “It happens. Dick didn't threaten you if you break my heart or anything did he?”
“No, nothing like that. He was really nice actually. It was just me embarrassing myself.”
Tim chuckled as he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Kon's lips. He was very adorable when embarrassed.
“Go get changed. Then we’ll have to go downstairs.”
Kon gave him a quick smile before he started to change. Giving him some space Tim stepped away to check his phone.
Texts, calls, and emails had already started coming in. There was a nagging bit of anxiety Tim got from staring at the notifications. The sense that he was being irresponsible in not dealing with it and childish for letting Bruce handle things.
He tossed his phone at the bed and turned to change out of his school uniform. The jacket and tie had been discarded downstairs but the shirt and slacks remained. As he changed into clothes that were more him, including a band t-shirt Dick had given him as a birthday present, Tim felt the anxiety ebb.
“I hate them,” Tim said into his closet.
“What?” Kon asked.
“My parents, I hate them. I have for a while.”
The thoughts that came with his anxiety weren't his. They were his parents and all the shit they had said to him over the years. Never mind any inheritance mentioned in the wills, that was what they had really left him.
“I hate them so much but I don’t...,” his eyes started to sting with tears, “I don’t want them to be dead.”
In an instant, Kon was behind him wrapping Tim into a tight hug. Tim sucked in a few breaths that quickly turned into small sobs. It felt so stupid to be crying over them. They didn’t deserve it and might not even actually be dead. Taking a few more breaths Tim tried to settle himself down. He focused on Kon’s arms holding him and the warm body pressed against his back. A grounding presence if ever there was one.
Tim sniffed and wiped at his face. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize. I don’t know much about this kind of stuff but I’m pretty sure you’re allowed to cry and say how you feel.”
“Okay, well,” Tim shifted so that he was facing Kon, “how about, thank you for being here.”
“Even if I told your brother way too much about our sex life?”
“Yes, even with that,” Tim assured him with a breathy laugh.
Kon quirked his head to one side. “Someone coming in the front door.”
“Probably Cass. We should head downstairs before someone comes looking for us. Besides we should be with family.”
With a nod, Kon started to pull his arms away and step back. Instantly Tim missed it. If they went downstairs they were going to have to pretend to be just friends. Which in light of everything else going on seemed unacceptable. Tim reached out and took Kon’s hand, winding their fingers together. Kon gave him a strange look.
“Half the people down there already know about us,” was all Tim said.
“You sure?”
Tim nodded. Not to say he wasn’t nervous but he also didn’t think he could keep pretending. “As long as you’re alright with it.”
The smile Kon gave him was a little shy but undeniably happy. Tim smiled back and pulled him toward the hallway. For a brief moment, Tim thought about his phone still lying on the bed. He decided to just leave it there.