Chapter Text
Tim holds back a wince as he looks between his little sister and Bruce. He knew that the man didn’t really want to leave for a League mission. Especially one that would likely take at least a week, but it’s not like they could just say that to Marinette. She was still too young to know about the whole vigilante thing. Or, that’s what Bruce said at least. What he did know, however, was his sister wasn’t actually mad at Bruce. He could see the hurt in her eyes as she stared the man down.
“Marinette, please-” Bruce tries again, but Marinette just shakes her head.
“No! You said you wouldn’t leave me. And now you’re gonna leave me! It’s not fair!” She yells, stomping her foot. Marinette never threw tantrums. It just wasn’t who she was. But on the other hand, her parents hadn’t even been gone an entire year. And Bruce was trying to leave now, too. Even if it would just be for a mission, Marinette clearly didn’t know that.
“Sweetheart, it’s just for work.” Bruce sighs. Marinette crosses her arms and turns her head, refusing to look at B.
“Okay, that’s enough of that. B, have a good trip, we’ll see you when you get back. C’mere, Pixie.” Jason says, scooping Marinette up and turning her towards B. “Tell him bye, kiddo.” He says. Marinette shakes her head and turns the other way. Bruce flinches and Jason sighs, taking the youngest member of their family out of the room. The older man had decided to stay at the manor while Bruce was gone since Alfred was still gone on his yearly trip to England.
“You should tell her.” Damian says flatly. Tim raises an eyebrow. Damian was extremely overprotective of Marinette and definitely the last one he expected to think that she should be in on the family secret. Bruce sighs, dragging a hand over his face.
“Damian, I can’t. I-” He starts, but then just shakes his head. “I won’t. Take care of each other. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He says, shoulders slightly slumped as he turns and makes his way towards the Cave. Tim frowns.
“Father is making a mistake. This is, eventually, going to have consequences.” Damian declares before marching away. Tim sighs. Why was the entire family so dramatic?
---
Tim stops on a roof, taking a minute to look at the few stars he could see. The sky was clearer in Bristol, but the smog was low enough tonight that he could see a few stars even all the way in downtown Gotham.
“This is Robin, requesting all hands on deck immediately.” Damian’s voice buzzes in his comm, and Tim stiffens. Damian had been put on Marinette duty for the night, which meant he was only supposed to be on comms if something was wrong with their little sister.
“Where’s M?” Jason asks immediately, the muted sounds of a fight in the background.
“Robin, report.” Dick commands, his voice sounding more like Bruce than it ever had before.
“I checked on her shortly after you all left for patrol and she was asleep. I decided to read in the library while waiting for patrol to be done. Approximately seven minutes ago, I went to check on her again. I had checked in occasionally over the past couple of hours, so I did not expect anything to be amiss. However, something just looked wrong so I went in to do a more thorough check. Her bed was empty.” Damian says, and Tim can’t deny the obvious panic in the kid’s voice. “There were no signs of a forced entry, I did not hear anything or anyone unusual I- I am unsure what to do.”
“Red Robin, you’re closest to the manor. Head back immediately and start searching for clues. Robin, check some of her favorite hiding spots. I’m going to check and see if any of her trackers are online. Red Hood-” Dick instructs until Jason cuts him off. Tim lets their voices fade into background noise as he swings towards his bike. He needed to get to the manor as quickly as possible.
“I’ll check some of her favorite spots around town. See if maybe she tried to head to my place before I head to the manor. I’ll also let Arsenal know.” Jason says, the worry clear in his voice. Tim jumps onto his bike and heads off, pressing it to go as fast as he can without flipping it. Pulling into the Cave, he changes as quickly as he can before rushing upstairs to look for clues. Walking into his little sister’s room, his eyes are immediately drawn to the window. It wasn’t locked. Damian must have missed that in his panic.
“Her window is unlocked.” Tim says, reactivating his comm. He barely hears his brothers’ reactions, instead trying to focus. Suddenly, a memory slams forward. The first time Jason had gone on a mission since Marinette joined the family.
---
As Tim passes his little sister’s room, he pauses. Frowning, he leans closer to her door, heart breaking at the soft sniffles on the other side. He reaches up and gently knocks on the door.
“Hey, Peanut, it’s me. Can I come in?” He asks softly. There’s another sniffle, before he hears:
“Okay.” Gently pushing the door open, Tim walks in, then pauses, unsure what to do. He wasn’t really the cuddly sibling. That was Dick’s job. And Marinette was clearly upset, but he wasn’t sure if he was the one she’d want to talk to. And could he even talk to her the right way? She was still a little kid, what if he said something but he said it wrong and then she hated him because he was a bad brother? What if-
“Is Jayjay ever coming back?” She asks quietly, pulling Tim’s focus back. He’s suddenly hit with the reminder that Marinette has lost people. Recently. It’s not like her parents meant to leave her, but the kid is only seven. It’s not like it’s an easy differentiation to make. Taking a deep breath, Tim nods, giving her a small smile.
“Of course he is, Peanut. He just has work stuff right now.” He says. Her lower lip still trembles, and Tim feels lost. He was not the brother to go to for an emotional discussion, but he was the only one there. Bruce, Dick, and Damian were all out on patrol. And Alfred was helping out on comms. Tim’s stupid sprained ankle was the only reason he wasn’t out with them. Glancing towards his little sister’s window, an idea springs into his head. “Do you like star gazing?” He asks. Marinette blinks.
“What?” She asks. Tim smiles.
“Star gazing? Like, looking at all of the constellations.” He says. Marinette shrugs. Tim glances around the room and grabs her Wonder Woman blanket (definitely Jason’s) before holding out his hand. “Do you trust me?” He asks.
“Yeah.” She sighs, grabbing his hand. Tim grins and squeezes it lightly before tugging her over to the window. Pushing it open, he climbs out onto the roof before reaching in and helping his little sister follow. “Is this safe?” She asks, her blue eyes wide as she clings onto his arm. Tim gives her a reassuring nod before carefully walking over to a flat part of the roof. When Bruce had first taken him in after his parents’ accident, he’d spent a lot of time up here. Just staring at the sky as he tried to make sense of his thoughts.
“It’s safe, don’t worry. But you probably shouldn’t come up here without me, okay?” He says. She nods and he sits down, gently tugging her to sit next to him. Wrapping Jasons’ blanket over her tiny shoulders, Tim starts pointing out the constellations. He wasn’t Jason, or Dick, or Damian, but maybe he could still help their little sister.
---
Not waiting for a different order, Tim rushes forward and throws the window open. Scrambling out of it, he quickly moves towards the spot he’d taken Marinette several times. Times where he was up and heard her crying, but didn’t know how to help. Spotting her with the familiar Wonder Woman blanket, he lets his shoulders slump in relief.
“Found her.” He says quietly, ignoring the way the comm practically explodes with questions. “She’s at the manor, she appears to be safe. I’m gonna talk to her.” Tim adds, leaving his line open but turning the volume down as he moves towards Marinette.
“I don’t wanna go.” She says, glancing at him before turning her attention back to the stars. Tim frowns, sitting next to her, but leaving space since she was visibly upset.
“Go where?” He asks. She sighs.
“Inside.”
“Why don’t you wanna go inside, Peanut? It’s much warmer inside. Plus, it’s late-” Tim starts.
“Because of the nightmares.” She blurts, glaring at him. Tim’s eyebrows shoot up, and she shrinks in on herself. “Nothing.” Tim frowns. She’d had awful nightmares when she’d first come to live with them, but he’d been pretty sure that they were gone. She’d seemed much more rested, and he hadn’t heard her wake up screaming or crying in forever. So why- Bruce.
“You know Bruce is coming back, right?” He prompts. Marinette’s lower lip begins to tremble as she shrugs, pulling the blanket closer around her.
“He’s never left me before.” She says, her voice shaking.
“And he really didn’t wanna leave now, either, Mari. Trust me. He asked if someone else could handle it, but work said that they really, really needed him.” Tim says. And he wasn’t lying. He’d never seen Bruce so against going on a League mission. But the man had argued with Clark until finally agreeing to go. Marinette doesn’t say anything for a while. He’s just about to ask her if she’s ready to go back inside, when she speaks.
“What’s the story of that star?” She asks, pointing towards the sky. Tim gives her a small smile before launching into an explanation of the constellation that the star she’d chosen was included in.
---
A few days later, loud squeals and laughs in the hallway wake him up. He sits up and rubs his eyes, trying not to be cranky (since he was 99% sure that the noise was all coming from his little sister). Rolling out of bed, he yanks his door open just in time for a bundle of energy to launch at him and knock him to the ground.
“Oomph.” He groans, wincing as he’s knocked to the ground.
“Sorry!” Marinette apologizes, her voice slightly muffled with the tightness of the hug she was giving him. Tim blinks in slight confusion before reaching up and hugging her back. She scoots back and gives him a wide smile, her bright blue eyes sparkling with happiness. “You were right.” She says. Tim, still half asleep, nods slowly, not quite understanding what she meant, until Bruce steps towards the door, shaking his head but smiling.
“Come on sweetheart, let’s go down to breakfast. Your brother hasn’t had his coffee yet.” He says, reaching a hand out for Marinette. She immediately jumps up and raises her arms up, a silent demand to be carried. Tim raises an eyebrow. While Marinette wasn’t opposed to hugs, he’d never really seen her want to be carried around. She’d always been super independent. But Bruce smiles and picks her up before holding a hand out to help him stand. Tim does.
“I’ll meet you guys down there.” He says, and Bruce nods, walking away with Marinette waving back at him.
“She has been attached to Father since he checked on her when he got home and she was awake.” Damian says, appearing out of nowhere. Tim jumps slightly, glaring at his younger brother.
“Don’t do that.” He snaps, before frowning. “When’d B get home?” He adds.
“Around four this morning.” Damian says. Tim winces. At first, he’d been sure their talk and his stories about the constellations had been helping. He’d thought she’d been sleeping. Apparently he was wrong and he was still failing at this whole big brother thing and-
“Whatever idiotic thought spiral you have fallen down, stop. Marinette obviously still cares for you. She would not have attacked you in a Grayson style hug if she did not.” Damian says firmly before turning and walking away. Tim raises an eyebrow. Okay. So maybe he wasn’t an awful brother after all. Maybe he could do something right.