Work Text:
He didn’t remember much about waking up, just pain. He knew he couldn’t breathe and let his instinct take over. He dug and dug and dug till he couldn't anymore. After that, things got a little blurrier and harder to remember. Sometimes he gets flashes of memories he knows happened but placing them in a set timeline is impossible. It was difficult to distinguish what was real and what was the effect of things that occurred to him before. Sometimes he forgot what before was. Most days, he trained so he wouldn’t have to remember. It wasn’t an ideal arrangement but he would choose the training over tea with Ra's.
He knew that Ra's saved him but Tim wasn’t delusional. He knew that the man had a motive. Ra's wouldn’t just save him if he didn’t get anything from it. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to leave, but Tim knew that going back to Gotham right now was out of the question. Ra's updated him on what was happening with Bruce.
Tim knew about the new kid who took his role and as much as he wanted to be mad about it, Tim knew that the kid had nothing to do with it. The role had to be filled it was stupid of him to think that the title of robin would die with him. Batman needed a Robin. Tim knew that. He was only the neighbour, the boy who lived next door and he shouldn’t expect anything more. He wasn't important. Tim stole a place in Bruce’s family and shouldn’t expect anything from the man, but it still hurt. Being replaced sucked. But He was used to being the second choice and being left behind by his parents prepared him for this.
His relationship with Damian was strained and Tim was not going to lie to himself and try to believe that Bruce’s true son actually liked him. He was not that delusional. Damian saw him as someone lesser and he always hated Tim no matter how much he tried. The only person that genuinely looked happy to see him was Alfred. Tim missed Alfred's cooking, even though the league prepared decent meals he still missed the delicious food that came with Wayne's manor.
The room he was in was spacious, it was bigger than the room he had at home or even the guest room where he sometimes stayed at Wayne manor. He hated it, too much open space and too few hiding places. The room was also too bright, too clean, nothing like Gotham. He missed the city. It was dirty and corrupted but it was home and even when Tim didn’t miss Bruce or being Robin he missed the gloomy city. The big wooden door opened and he immediately tensed up. Talia Al Ghul was the last person he would expect to come to him. During the time he was staying here she avoided him like a plague. He didn’t really blame her, Ra made them interact during training sessions and they usually were very tense with Talia trying to kill him again and him doing as much damage as he possibly could.
“Do you know why he brought you back?” As expected she didn’t waste any words and just went straight to the point, it was a rather good change. Ra's al Ghul was a very cryptic man and Tim hated when the man wanted to converse with him.
He stayed silent for a moment Tim knew what was Ra's goal, what he really wanted, everyone knew. Since Damian decided to stay with Bruce and live by his no-kill rule, the league lost its heir. It didn’t matter that Talia existed, the league played by old rules and this meant that if she was not a man she was not in line to become the demon head. “He wants an heir.”
“Yes, and you are the best candidate. At least according to him.” He could hear the bitterness in her words. Tim knew that Talia despised him from the first day he became Robin. Damian still talked with the woman, and somehow she managed to manipulate him even more into hating Tim.
“And I’m sensing that you do not agree with him.” He waited for her reaction, but when nothing happened Tim decided to continue. “Honestly, I can't blame you. I don’t understand why Ra's needs an heir when he has you. All of this is a bit old fashioned for my taste, but what do you want me to do about it?”
She looked a little shocked at his words, but her expression quickly changed, and the blank expressionless mask was back in place. “You can go back to Gotham. As much as it pains me to admit it. I’m sure Bruce would be happy to see you, and I guess Damian would be also glad” Tim wanted to laugh at her words.
He could feel anger slowly clouding his mind. “Your son hates me, and besides I broke the one rule Bruce set.”
Talia sighed. “Damian had a difficult childhood. The league is not kind to children, and I must admit that I did not help with the situation.”
“No, you did not! You made him hate me even more. He left the league, Bruce took him in and he was still a shitty person. I wasn’t even Bruce’s son, just the neighbour's kid and he still treated me as if I was gonna steal something from him.” Green was overtaking his vision and he could see Talia backing away. This wasn’t good. He didn't lose control for so long and now this one little conversation happened and he couldn’t do it. Tim took a deep breath and tried to stay in the moment so the memories would not overtake him.
Talia was still standing in the room looking as Tim tried to fix his composure and stop the Lazarus Pit from taking control. Slowly he came back to himself, his breathing was sharp, and he sounded as if he just finished a marathon. “You don’t wanna stay here, Timothy.”
“It’s Tim. I may not want to stay, but at this point in time, I have nowhere to go. My parents are dead, I was dead and everyone thinks I’m dead. I killed people and therefore broke Bruce’s one and only rule besides he already replaced me. Going back to Gotham is out of the question till I can control these stupid outbursts. This means I have to remember what happened and not just flashes. I have to know everything, and I can’t do it with Ra monitoring my every move.”
She regarded him with a cold calculating stare. Tim knew that he must look pathetic, with his eyes probably still green after the outburst. “I can help with your memories. It won’t be a pleasant experience.”
He blinked at her, surprised. “Why would you help me? You hate me.”
“I know that you are the only person that can stop him, and I’m not willing to see another person being manipulated and used as a pawn in his game. I will help you Tim Drake, but when I will need your help, you will come and help me, not my father.”
“I guess you’ve got yourself a deal. Where do we start?”