Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The weather had been uncharacteristically nice for this time of year. Instead of the usual flash freezes and nasty thunderstorms typical of Gotham in March, the weather had been relatively clear. The occasional light rain. A bit chillier than what the average citizen would be comfortable walking around in, but refreshing for those of them who wandered around in alternating layers of leather and kevlar.

It was pissing Bruce off.

The winds should have been whipping past them hard enough to burn. The temperature should have been cold enough to turn their lips blue. The harbor should have been raging, crashing up against the sea wall with the wrath of hell. Anything but this… pleasantness. 

Didn’t the sky know that his son was gone? Wasn’t the universe aware that his whole life was shaking on its foundations?

It felt like a spit in the face, this nice weather. It was the kind of weather Tim would have loved. A sign of the coming Summer. Tim hated Winter. He always complained that his body just wasn’t built for the freezing rain and incessant flurries the cold months brought. He would stick hand warmers in the toes of his boots and beg Alfred to make hot chocolate every time they got back from patrol. Every time the thermometer dropped below 20° he swore up and down that he was going to switch out the cowl for a helmet like Jason’s so his lips would stop getting so chapped.

It had been 47 days since Tim had disappeared.

47 days since Tim dropped into an alley just out of view of the nearest security camera and never came out.

Bruce looked down at his watch, counting seven little blinking dots scattered about a tiny map of Gotham. The closest:

Purple. Stephanie sitting in the waiting room of Gotham General with a teenager while they waited for her parents to show up.

Pink. Cass doing reconnaissance near Chinatown even though no one had found anything the last 19 times it had been scouted over.

Yellow. Duke back at the manor. Sleeping, hopefully. None of them were getting much sleep these days.

Red. Jason in Park Row. His dot hadn’t moved in a couple hours, but Bruce knew there wasn’t a chance it was because he was sleeping.

Gray. Barbara working diligently from her apartment, directing traffic and following up on every lead that was mentioned in passing, even though none of them ever went anywhere.

Blue. Dick, recently returned from a debriefing with the Titans and burning a trail down 31st St closely followed by-

Orange. Damian. By day 23 everyone was whipped into a frenzy by Tim’s disappearance and the complete lack of evidence related to the mystery. All his adult children were too stubborn to agree to a buddy system, but Damian was never alone. It was something all of them seemed to have agreed on without having to talk about it.

Smothering their youngest bat wouldn’t bring Tim back, but it gave them something to do; it made them feel a little better.

Tim’s disappearance had opened a dam of regret and guilt, a festering virus that fed on unspoken apologies and old conflicts that had never been truly resolved. Everyone had something to say to Tim and was terrified they’d never get the chance to say it.

Bruce counted the dots again, in lieu of anything else to do. Crime was scarce the past couple weeks, what with every active vigilante roaming the streets and annihilating any whiff of injustice in a vain attempt to feel useful, to work out their frustration, to chase away the creeping grief.

It was something Bruce refused to feel. Grief. There had been no body, no blood. No evidence of foul play. No evidence of anything, and that made him seethe, made him want to cry and scream and rip the city to pieces, wanted to curse the universe for taking something so wonderful and precious away from him like this, just when everything was starting to feel safe again.

But no evidence of anything included no evidence of death. Bruce held onto that knowledge as his lifeline.

The little dots blinked; small comforts. What he wouldn’t give to see Tim’s green speck reappear on the screen just as easily as it had vanished, there one second, gone the next. A lost signal. 13 seconds after Tim dropped into the alleyway and out of their lives.

Barbara had been the first to notice it, tapping into a comm line filled with nothing but static before alerting Batman and Robin to the location Red Robin had last been seen in. Bruce had expected to find a smashed tracker, signs pointing to an abduction maybe. 

They had found nothing but litter and dread.

Technically, Conner had actually been the first person to notice Tim’s disappearance. He’d appeared at the mouth of the alley maybe a minute after Bruce and Damian had, hair wild and eyes wilder. 

“Where is he?” Conner had demanded, on the verge of a panic attack. His pajamas were damp, probably from flying through clouds on his way here. The moment he’d appeared, frazzled and distraught, his eyes darting to and fro, Bruce’s stomach dropped.

“Where is he?!” Conner asked again, almost shouting.

“We don’t know,” Damian had snapped back, obviously distressed about the situation, but trying to hide it.

“Why did you come here?” Bruce asked Conner. He already knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.

Conner’s hands were buried in his hair, tugging at the locks and turning in circles like he was looking for something important he’d lost.

“His heart stopped,” Conner answered after a moment.

Everything went cold.

“Everything was fine, but then it just stopped,” He continued. “Where is he?” But it sounded more like a plea than a question. “We have to find him.” On that, at least, they all agreed.

They cased the entire block. They combed through the security footage, then checked it for tampering and combed through it again. They ran every trace, sketched every potential path through the blind spots of CCTVs, tracked down every vehicle caught on camera in a 5 mile radius. They ran tests to uncover any secret bunkers or basements or anywhere large enough a kidnapped 20 year old could be stashed in. Then they inquired about the current whereabouts of every known adversary with a possible interest in holding a bat hostage. When none of that bore fruit, they hacked into Tim’s laptop and scoured every shred of data there for clues.

By day 4, every member of the family had been informed.

By day 6, Bruce was desperate.

On day 7, Stephanie suggested that Tim had left on purpose, dropping off the map for some kind of covert mission that no one could know about, for some reason. Every person at the meeting agreed unanimously that that theory was unlikely. There was nothing to support it. There were dirty dishes in Tim’s bedroom and open cases he’d been working and a planner full of lunch dates and meetings and deadlines. And it didn’t explain why Conner couldn’t hear his heartbeat anymore. Besides, none of them wanted to believe that Tim had dropped off the face of the Earth without telling a single soul a crumb of information, not even to let them know not to look for him.

By day 12, they were on the verge of a mental group breakdown. It wasn’t so much the amount of time Tim had been gone so much as the fact that even with close to a dozen highly trained detectives pouring all their resources into this, they had found absolutely nothing.

By day 17, the Justice League had been involved. Bruce was a proud man, but he would have gotten on his knees if it meant someone - anyone - would find his son.

It was maddening working on other people’s timelines when it came to something like this, but Bruce couldn’t force any of his colleagues to work on this any faster.

The only person outside of the family who seemed appropriately freaked out about the whole situation was Conner. His visits were so frequent, he even had his own tiny green star on the map that popped up whenever he crossed city limits.

Even before the whole ordeal, Bruce had begrudgingly accepted Conner’s consistent presence. He tolerated the alerts of a foreign presence zipping into Gotham and the notifications of a window being opened on the second story shortly after. He even tolerated Conner’s intermittent attendance of family brunches, mostly because Bruce liked the fact that Tim still lived at home and didn’t want to test his independence. 

After almost 3 years, Bruce had to come to terms with the fact that Conner was probably going to be in his life for a very long time.

It was strange though, being around someone so unaccustomed to losing a loved one. Bruce had wondered, watching Conner these past few weeks, if that had been what it was like for everyone else after Jason had died.

Beep. 

Speak of the devil.

Bruce saw the little green star only moments before the wind sent his cape fluttering and suddenly there was someone else on the roof with him.

Conner looked manic in the dim light of the moon. He was dressed in full uniform - jumpsuit and jacket and big, black boots - the way he always was these days, always out looking.

“Where is he?” Conner asked, breathless; Bruce knew it had nothing to do with whatever distance he’d traveled to get here.

“What do you mean?” Bruce replied, full attention suddenly zeroed in on the young man in front of him. There were few reasons Conner would ask a question like that. Something that felt dangerously like hope filled his chest.

“ Tim,” Conner said, sounding desperate. “His heart, I-I can hear it, it started again-”

“Where?” Bruce demanded.

“ Close, I don’t know, it’s-”

Suddenly, Cassandra’s voice filled his ear, and even from several feet away he knew Conner could hear it too.

“ Red Robin spotted at my location, on Locust and 14th, approaching now.”

Like a shot, Conner was off, Bruce not far behind. On his wrist, five dots and a star began closing in.

***

Kon felt like he was going insane.

The day Tim's heart had stopped, he’d understood all of a sudden why Tim had spent several months trying to clone him.

There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to get Tim back.

He’d been in Metropolis harassing Clark about contacting some deep space allies when it had started again.

There were a few things Kon kept constant watch over. Cassie and Bart. Ma and Pa.

And Tim.

For weeks, his soul had suffered a boyfriend shaped hole carved into it. There’d been a deafening quiet spot in the back of his brain gathering dust in Tim’s absence, a space left empty without the comforting cadence of Tim’s heartbeat.

And then, in a moment, that space was full again. Tim’s pulse was a little faster than normal, but strong and steady and there. For a second, he almost hadn’t believed it.

Faster than Clark could say “Think about this rationally,” Kon was across the bay, skull rattling with the force of Tim’s heartbeat. It drowned everything else out. The proximity scrambled him, focusing on the sound so intently he was having trouble zeroing in on where exactly it was located.

He saw Batman lurking on the ledge of a high rise and struggled not to crash through the roof in his haste to figure out what was going on.

Then he’d heard Locust and 14th and he was gone again.

And then.

Then.

There was Tim. Alive and breathing and alive. His vision tunneled with Tim at the center, a world warped around him with one thing is focus. One person in focus.

At the back of the alley, Tim stood tall in his Red Robin uniform, just like when he’d disappeared, though now it looked in desperate need of a wash. Two black bags were slung over his shoulders, one on his back and the other on his front. 

For a moment, Kon was caught suspended in the air several stories above the alleyway, so overcharged with relief and longing that he could do nothing but stare as Tim took a tentative step forward, taking in his dismal surroundings. One arm was wrapped around the bag on his front, keeping it secure against his person.

It was Cass who moved first, a shadow dropping from a nearby roof onto the asphalt several yards from Tim. Suddenly, Kon was overcome with an undeniable need to hold him and he dropped like a rock, cracking the ground underfoot to Cass’s right.

But before either of them could move forward or speak Tim was holding up the hand not pressed to the bag palm out at them.

“Stop,” Tim ordered and Kon could have fallen to his knees just at hearing Tim’s voice again. His head was filled with the drum of Tim’s heart and the rush of his lungs filling and the weight of the unbearable loss that had haunted him for weeks. “What day is it?”

Kon blinked. His neurons sparked weakly, refusing to comprehend the question. It didn’t feel like there was room in him for questions anymore, only pleas.

Please be real please don’t leave me again please be okay please let me hold you again please please please

Fortunately, Cass didn’t miss a beat before she answered, “March twenty-second.”

“When was I last seen?” Tim asked next, his tone all business, shoulders tight like he was bracing for bad news. Kon muddled through all the emotions engulfing his higher reasoning capabilities to try and understand the conversation going on. The hyper-concentration faded a bit allowing the rest of the world to seep back in.

Wind whistled between the high walls of the buildings on either side. Cass was so still her apprehension was only betrayed by the racing of her heart. Voices flooded through her comm, demands for updates, answers, anything. It wouldn’t be long before all of them were here.

“February third, ten fifty-four PM,” Cass replied. “You disappeared on patrol. Gone, no trace.” There was a hint of strain in her voice, a sliver of the urge she was no doubt feeling to sweep forward and hold onto Tim and never let go. Kon was feeling it too.

At that answer, something in Tim loosened. His shoulders dropped. The hand held up moved to join the other supporting his bag. “Okay. Okay, good.” His voice was weaker now, showing a bit of his exhaustion. Now that his higher brain functions were returning in the wake of Tim’s appearance, his mind flooded with questions and possibilities, theories on where Tim had gone and what had happened and why his first question was about what day it was. 

“That means this is probably the right Earth.”

The puzzle pieces clicked together.

That means this is probably the right Earth. 

That had been one of the leading theories for the past several weeks and the reason the JLA had gotten involved. It explained a lot.

Tim’s tension, his uncertainty. His entire being vanishing without a warning and without a trace, then materializing just as quickly. 

“You got sent to another universe,” Kon spoke for the first time. “That’s what happened, you- why we couldn’t find you.” Tim’s head didn’t move but he knew what that gaze felt like when it was fixed on him. Without thinking about it, Kon x-rayed straight through the flimsy barrier of Tim’s domino so he could see his eyes.

Oh, how he’d missed those eyes. 

Relief and yearning hung in the wetness clumping his eyelashes together. He looked at Kon, really looked at him for the first time and something broke and something else stitched back together.

“Yeah,” Tim whispered.

“You’re okay.” He wasn’t sure if he was asking or telling or reassuring himself.

Tim nodded. “I’m okay. I’m here.”

The pressure broke. Kon surged forward, taking just enough care not to body slam Tim into the concrete. A noise escaped him when their bodies connected, maybe a sob, maybe a gasp, maybe a sigh, it didn’t matter he didn’t care because Tim was here and he was alive and he was okay and Kon would never let him go ever again. The bags were lumpy and the bulk of their uniforms got in the way and someone was crying then Cass was throwing herself around them too, a little bundle of people deliriously relieved to see each other again.

They stood there like that long enough for Kon to hear the thwip of a grapple line releasing and boots pounding the pavement. Bruce pried them apart just enough to get his hands on either side of Tim’s face, tilting it up to get a good look at the watery smile there.

An emotional “Oh,” was all Bruce managed to breathe out before they were all crushed together again in a big hug with Tim trapped in the middle.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Bruce murmured into Tim’s hair. Kon knew Batman had a reputation for being detached and even downright cold, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember why. Not when a wealth of bursting emotions sung from every line of his body as the lot of them rocked gently back and forth. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?”

Tim took in a breath to answer and that’s when Kon felt it.

Squished this close together, he felt every move Tim made. But this was something… else.

The bag on Tim’s front, the lumpy sack pinned between their abdomens, started to move.

Kon felt it wiggle against his stomach. He felt stupid for not noticing it earlier. The extra warmth, the supple but firm weight of something other that definitely wasn’t clothes or equipment. The quieter heartbeat that had been drowned out by Tim’s.

He took a step back and Bruce seemed to notice it just after he did.

“Got something there?” Bruce asked, fond and amused and so, so tender. They all knew about Tim’s tendency to pick up strays, whether he was out as Red Robin or as Tim Drake. Too many times to count, Tim had smuggled some small animal into the folds of his clothes or one of his bags to deliver to Damian for care and tending. 

The bundle squirmed back and forth while Tim struggled to get a good grip on it from the outside. Kon waited for the inevitable paw or tail to peak out, some unwitting critter transferred across time and space after getting caught up in Tim’s adventure.

Then a head popped out of the bag and that-

That was definitely not an animal.

That-

That was a baby. 

Nestled into what Kon saw now was more of a sling than a bag was an entire human child with a head full of mussed black curls and chubby cheeks. They fussed a bit, no doubt disturbed by the affectionate reunion, until Tim rubbed at their back through the fabric of the sling and cooed, “ Shh, sh, it’s okay, baby, everything’s okay now.” 

“Who’s this?” Kon asked, eyebrows raised. Bringing an abandoned kitten or sickly baby squirrel from another Earth for rehabilitation was one thing, but never had Tim acquired a whole entire fucking human child. 

“Umm,” Tim hesitated, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. “Our son?”

Chapter Text

What little momentum Kon had managed to gather in regards to his mental processes came to a screeching halt.

“Our what?” Kon croaked, mouth feeling extraordinarily dry.

“Your what?” Bruce echoed, sounding equally stunned.

“Baby?” Cass inquired, pulling the edge of the sling back so she could get a good look. A tiny fist drifted towards her hand, wrapping around one of her fingers. “ Oh,” She exhaled, almost too soft to catch.

Kon felt like he was about to pass out.

In the silence of their communal astonishment, the voices on the comms were deafening, a racket of assorted shouts all clamoring for precedence. Kon didn’t know how Bruce and Cass could stand it. He didn’t even have an actual comm in his ear, and already the cacophony of it pulled at his patience, distracting him from his ongoing crisis.

And Kon had had a lot of crises in his life. Identity, sexuality, conscience. 

But holy fuck.

The love of his life had been missing for the better part of two months, leaving Kon shattered. Now, by some miracle, Tim was back, alive and healthy, and Kon wanted nothing more than to squirrel him away and chain him to a radiator to be observed 24/7 while Kon worked through the lingering trauma this whole ordeal had caused.

Except there was a variable there that none of his fantasies of Tim returning had accounted for.

There was a baby. 

A child that apparently belonged to Kon somehow. He had a baby. Through circumstances he didn’t understand, he and Tim had become parents overnight. Kon was a dad.

The whirlwind of conflicting emotions battering his synapses was so distracting, Kon didn’t even register Stephanie approaching until she was flying past him, hurtling straight for Tim. And subsequently, their baby.

If Kryptonians could have aneurysms, Kon was bursting one.

Cass dodged out of the way while Tim angled his body so his side would take the brunt of the impact to avoid the collision resulting in an infant pancake. But just as soon as she was hugging him, she was reeling back to slug him in the arm.

“Where the hell have you been?” She demanded. “We’ve all been worried sick about you!”

“Alright, alright,” Tim said, holding a hand up placatingly. “Look, I’ll explain everything, I promise.” That part was spoken to the whole group, an acknowledgment of all the other unanswered questions floating around. “But, umm, maybe not…here?”

Bruce was the first to kick it into gear. “Of course,” He said, laying a reassuring hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Let’s gather everyone back at home and you can debrief us all there.” He turned to Stephanie. “Batgirl, contact Red Hood and update him on the situation.” She nodded, taking a few steps to the side before digging a phone out of a pocket on her thigh. Bruce lifted a hand to his ear next. “Nightwing and Robin, reroute to the batmobile and bring it to our location.”

Kon could hear Dick’s voice, breathless and frustrated. “ B, what the hell is going on-”

“We’re regrouping back at base,” Bruce cut him off. “Bring the batmobile to our location. We’ll get everything else figured out later.” Kon heard Dick’s irritated huff, but there were no further comments.

Bruce let out a slow breath before addressing Tim. “They’ll be here soon.”

Tim nodded. He faced Bruce, but Kon could see how his eyes kept flicking back towards himself.

Cass, as though sensing Tim’s apprehension, stepped forward, tugging at the edge of Bruce’s cape. “Alfred,” She prompted. He nodded in agreement, that strange silent communication all the bats seemed capable of. 

“Oracle, put me in touch with Agent A.”

The two of them wandered a few feet away, and then it was just Kon and Tim.

Kon blinked. Tim blinked back.

In the background, he was aware of Stephanie and Jason yelling at each other over the phone, Bruce off to the side instructing Alfred to prepare for guests, the distant rush of traffic, thousands of people turning over in their sleep.

The tiny heartbeat slowed, safe in the cradle of Tim’s arms.

“Hi,” Tim said, barely above a whisper.

“Hi,” Kon replied lamely.

“How’re you doing?” 

The question felt like a tentative offering, a prod against the weird tension hanging taut between them. Kon kind of wanted to laugh, but he was sure if he did, it would come out sounding hysterical.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

Tim shrugged, then moved to readjust the straps across his shoulders. Kon wondered if they were heavy. He didn’t know what the past several weeks had been like for Tim, but he had to be exhausted.

He thought about offering to take Tim’s bag at the very least, then thought about the contents of the sling across his front. Suddenly, he was overcome with the urge to shuffle forwards and sneak a peek, get a good look at the chubby cheeked little mystery swaddled up there. He wanted to get a better look and maybe find a clue in the form of a tiny fist wrapped around his finger. He wanted to hold the baby. He wanted to hold both of them.

Kon was just about to step forward, mouth open to ask “ Can I see him?” when Stephanie came stomping over.

“He wants to talk to you,” She said, shoving the phone in Tim’s direction.

Tim accepted the device, holding it up to his ear. “Hello?”

Jason’s voice came through soft on the other end of the line, uncharacteristically hesitant when he said “ Tim?” almost as though he couldn’t believe it was real.

“Yeah,” Tim said, tender in the face of Jason’s uncertainty. “I’m here.”

“ Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Then Jason’s attitude flipped like a switch, any trace of vulnerability gone, replaced by white hot rage.

“ You motherfucker!” Tim jerked the phone an inch away from his ear, startled by the sheer volume with which Jason began hurling obscenities. “ Where the fuck have you been? Do you have any idea how worried everyone’s been? I swear to god, next time I see you I’m gonna goon your ass! It’s a good thing you haven’t managed to die in the past few weeks because I’m gonna fucking kill you!” 

Inexplicably, Tim grinned.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” He said, voice dripping with mock disappointment. “Don’t you wanna meet your new nephew?”

There was a loud crashing noise on the other end of the phone.

“ My fucking what ? What did you just say?” 

“‘Kay, I’ll see you soon, bye,” Tim said, lowering the phone and hanging up before Jason had the chance to respond.

“What was that about?” Stephanie asked, accepting the proffered cell phone back.

Tim brought a baby back from the alternate universe he’s been trapped in for the past several weeks and apparently that baby is my son somehow even though he isn’t even from this Earth which is crazy because I haven’t even met him yet and I probably won’t get to while we keep standing around in this fucking alley, Kon thought.

“Nothing,” Tim said.

All of a sudden, Kon was feeling antsy. Sitting around waiting for the batmobile to arrive so they could all pack in, and then sitting through the ride back to the manor only to wait for everyone to finish bombarding Tim with questions seemed an insurmountable task. Kon wanted to scoop the both of them up and make off with them, and would have already if he didn’t know that 8 very aggressive bats all vying for Tim Time would immediately hunt him down.

Still, Kon felt he deserved priority access. Baby daddies had special privileges, right?

“Why don’t I just fly you to the manor now?” He suggested. “It’ll give you a chance to settle in while we wait for everyone else to arrive.” And it’ll give me a chance to interrogate you about our mystery love child without your family nosing in, he didn’t add.

Tim nodded. “Good idea.”

“Wing is gonna be peeved if he gets here and you’re already at the manor,” Stephanie chimed in.

“Sounds like his problem,” Tim said, and Kon preened at the implication that Tim was willing to blow everyone else off for a bit to catch a ride with him.

Tim stepped closer, and even though they’d been pressed together just a couple minutes before, the proximity was like static electricity making goosebumps break out all over his body. It took all of his self control not to snatch him up and zoom off into the night. 

Tim lifted the other black bag from his shoulders, holding it out for Kon to carry, and as he took it, he lifted it up, testing the weight.

“Any babies in this one I should know about?” He teased.

The corner of Tim’s mouth quirked up. “I’m actually having the rest of them delivered. I was only allowed one carry-on baby on the interdimensional boom-tube.”

“Shipping must be a nightmare,” Kon played along, allowing the tension between them to melt away. God, he’d missed this. The banter, Tim’s quick wit, the way it put him instantly at ease. Naively, he hoped that his rollercoaster of emotions was approaching the end of the ride, but he knew the night was only beginning. 

“Costs a fortune,” Tim quipped as Kon slung the bag over his own back so it wouldn’t get in the way during the flight. He held out his arms and Tim stepped readily into them, one arm hooked around his neck and the other keeping the much more fragile package held steady against him as he was lifted with great care into a bridal carry.

From this angle, Kon could see straight down into the sling, and at the sight awaiting him his breath caught in his throat.

The baby was asleep, one tiny cheek squished up on Tim’s chest. He was so close it taunted him. Just a few more inches and there would be a tiny knee prodding his ribs, tiny knuckles brushing his sternum, tiny black curls tickling the fabric of his suit. Kon almost wished he was awake so he could see his eyes.

“Babies?” Stephanie asked. “What are you guys talking about?”

“You’ll find out later,” Tim said in lieu of an actual explanation.

Just as Kon was about to lift off, Bruce’s voice cut through the air.

“Where are you two going?”

“Home,” Tim answered.

“The car is almost here”

“Flying is faster.”

“The car is safer,” Bruce countered, and indignation sparked in Kon’s chest at the implication that he couldn’t safely transport his own family and- woah, Kon was already thinking of the three of them as a family.

“Flying is safe,” Tim responded, unperturbed. “Besides, it's not like the batmobile has a carseat.” The hand behind his shoulders tapped twice. “Up, up, and away,” Tim instructed him.

And that was all the encouragement Kon needed to rise into the air, ignoring the sound of Bruce’s teeth grinding at the brush off. He decided to forget Bruce’s comment in light of his understanding that the older man was feeling just as on edge and overprotective as he was.

As they sailed over the expanse of Gotham below them, Kon almost subconsciously wrapped his two passengers in a layer of TTK, an invisible barrier softening the scrape of the wind and adding extra support to every part of Tim’s body he couldn’t get his hands on. In his totally not biased opinion, Kon thought flying was probably even safer than the batmobile would be. The odds of getting t-boned in traffic were much lower.

They didn’t talk, ears filled with the rush of the wind in the scant amount of time it took to travel past downtown and into the suburbs.

All too soon, the mouth of the batcave swallowed them whole, open sky replaced by stone and stalactites. Kon kept flying until the glow of the computers filled his vision, illuminating two figures waiting with baited breath for them to touch down.

“Tim!” Duke called out brightly, stumbling forward in his pajamas with a blanket around his shoulders; he must have just gotten out of bed. Tim held a finger to his lips, the universal sign for keep your voice down as his feet hit the ground, heading for the other two. Kon immediately mourned the loss, but took solace in the happy reunion taking place before him.

Duke’s brow furrowed in confusion, but he didn’t let it stop him from accepting Tim’s embrace, soon joined by Alfred.

“I’m glad to see you home safe,” Alfred murmured, running a hand over the back of Tim’s head.

“We missed you,” Duke whispered.

“I missed you guys, too,” Tim whispered back, his head tucked into the groove where Alfred and Duke’s shoulders met.

“Why are we whispering?” Duke asked. At that, Tim leaned back just far enough to pull the sling out so the two men could see inside. From where he stood behind Tim, Kon couldn’t catch another glance at the contents, but he saw Duke’s eyebrows shoot up. “Is that-”

“A baby?” Tim interrupted. “Yeah.”

“Ah,” Alfred said, nothing in his face or voice betraying any thoughts. “I see the warning Master Bruce gave me was not one of his infamous jokes.”

“Why do you have a baby?” Duke asked.

“I’ll explain everything once everyone is here. Probably best to put him down first, though,” Tim said, nodding down at the baby in his arms.

“Of course,” Alfred responded. “I’ve yet to have the opportunity to set up a suitable room for our newest guest.”

“Oh, we can just set up something for him in my room,” Tim reassured him. A slight quirk of his brow was the only thing Alfred gave away.

“As you wish, Master Timothy.”

***

By the time an ancient crib was dug from the depths of the manor’s storage, properly dedustified, and deemed sufficient for use, Kon was feeling that itch to whisk Tim away again. As glad as he was to see Tim reunited with his family and everyone’s anxieties alleviated, he kept picking up on the not-so-subtle tension, the unspoken words hovering around them, the confession that wouldn’t happen until they were alone.

Fortunately, Alfred seemed to pick up on those vibes too, and as soon as the furniture was settled he was whisking a yawning Duke from the room with excuses of preparing enough coffee to supply all the sleep deprived bats about to flood the premises.

While Tim soothed the fussing infant who had woken up upon being removed from the warmth of his sling, Kon sat on the floor and pawed through the second bag in an attempt to seem like he wasn’t staring as Tim murmured sweet platitudes, one hand rubbing over the chest and stomach of the baby in the crib.

It was entrancing, the loving lilt to Tim’s voice. Kon had seen him comfort survivors and victims a million times, but this was different from that kind of obligatory consolation. Devotion was written in every line of his body, in every soft noise that slipped from between his lips. And when Tim finally stepped away from the crib, Kon could tell it wasn’t easy. 

He peeled his mask off, discarding it on the bedside table, and Kon sat up at attention.

When Tim walked towards the door motioning for Kon to follow with nothing more than a tip of his head, he was on his feet in a flash, contents of the second bag forgotten.

The sound of the door clicking shut seemed to cut Tim’s strings, a heavy sigh escaping his lungs, his shoulders dropping with exhaustion.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” Tim said.

“ Finally,” Kon exhaled, crowding Tim up against the wall of the dark hallway they were loitering in. “I would really like to know where the baby came from.”

“Oh.” Tim blinked. “I didn’t mean about that.”

Kon resisted the urge to shake Tim back and forth like a bobblehead. “What else could you possibly want to talk about right now?”

“Well, I mean it’s kind of about that. I mean, related to that, but that’s not, like, the main thing that I’m- it’s-” Tim’s hands flitted around him, a physical manifestation of his nerves. “Look, I know this is all kind of a mess right now, and I promise I’ll explain everything later, but I just- I need to get this out first.”

Kon waited patiently for him to go on. Tim took a deep breath, eyes closed and fists pressed to Kon’s chest between them. Any trace of uncertainty or distress disappeared from his face, replaced by a mask of stony conviction. It was the look Tim got when he was bracing for bad news. It was the face he made when he didn’t want anyone else to see how affected he was.

Kon hated that look.

“Regardless of where he came from or why he’s here,” Tim began. “He’s my kid now. He’s my number one priority. And I know I said he was our son, which is-” Tim waved a hand through the air. “-complicated. But I made this decision on my own, without you. I know that you didn’t sign up for this. I decided to become a father basically overnight and it was a decision I made for myself, because it was what I wanted to do. If you don’t want this, or if you aren’t ready, I’ll- I’ll understand. I wouldn’t hold you to a commitment you never made.” The words were practiced, steady. The façade was betrayed only by the painful sounding hammer of Tim’s heart. “Before this goes any further, I want you to know that you have options.”

Kon struggled to make sense of the words coming out of Tim’s mouth. “So you’re saying….”

Tim squared his shoulders. “I’m giving you an out.”

“I don’t understand.”

Tim let out a huff like Kon was the one being difficult right now. “You’re really gonna make me say it?”

“Say what?” 

Those lovely blue eyes rolled up to lock onto the ceiling, and anyone else would have interpreted it as a sign of irritation, but he knew it was just what Tim did when he was trying to keep the tears from leaking out. Desperately, he wanted to comfort Tim, but he couldn’t do that if he didn’t really understand what was wrong.

Tim took a sharp breath before continuing. “I’m saying it’s okay if you want to break up, if- if you don’t want to be involved with me or with this whole situation anymore. No one would hold it against you if you don’t want to be a father. Or, not like this, anyway.”

For a moment, Kon felt strangely disoriented, almost like the two of them were having completely different conversations. But then the reality of Tim’s words - if you don’t want this and a commitment you never made and you have options - started to make a sick sort of sense. 

Tim was telling him it was okay to leave. Tim was telling him he didn’t have to be a part of this, if the commitment was too much. Tim thought Kon might not want him now, might not want their child. 

This time Kon gave in to the urge to shake Tim.

“Are you serious?!” He demanded as Tim’s head rocked from the force of his jostling. “Are you being real right now? You honestly think I’m gonna break up with you? You really think I’m going to leave you when I’ve just got you back? And because of- of, what, you bringing back a surprise baby from god knows where for us to raise together, which I already expected you to end up doing someday anyway?” Kon paused in his efforts to rattle some sense into Tim’s brains. “If you think I’m giving up a golden opportunity to be a dad, you must’ve gotten really knocked around on that interdimensional boom-tube.”

Tim stared at him, flabbergasted. Whatever he had expected Kon to say, this clearly wasn’t it.

“I didn’t know you- you really- you want-” The rest of Tim’s sentence dissolved, unable to comprehend what Kon had just admitted.

Kon’s grip on Tim’s biceps loosened, cowed by Tim’s wide-eyed look. 

“Well… yeah.” Despite his sincerity, Kon felt his cheeks warm at the confession. “I know it’s not something we’ve talked about much, but… yeah. I want this. I’ve wanted it since the scientists at Cadmus uploaded the first episode of Full House into my brain.” 

It felt silly saying it out loud, but it was the truth. The second Kon had understood what a family was, he’d wanted one. He loved Kara, Ma and Pa, Clark and Lois and Jon, but, in a way, he had always felt more like an attachable add-on than an irreplaceable, foundational member of the family. 

It was overwhelming, the intensity with which he craved a family to call his own, something he had created, something no one else could take away from him. It hit him like a punch to the gut every time someone commented on how much Jon looked like his father, or he walked past the baby supply section in the grocery store, or he reunited a lost child with a distressed parent, watching them run towards each other, arms open wide.

Kon tried to steady his racing heart before going on, injecting every ounce of earnestness he had into his voice. “I want the picket fence and the games of catch and the parent teacher conferences and everything else that goes along with it. Granted, I didn’t expect it to happen now or like this, but… I want a family. With you. I’m all in.”

Tim looked at him like he was afraid to believe him. “You don’t have to decide now. We’re both running high on emotions. This is a big commitment and you should think about it, sleep on it.”

Kon shook his head. “I don’t need to think about it. I’ve already thought about it. I think about it all the time. I’ve thought about it every single day for the past two months.” Now, Kon’s grip migrated from Tim’s shoulder to his face, one hand cupping his jaw. His thumb brushed the dark skin under one eye and Tim leaned into the touch, blinking up at him with those big blue eyes.

“ Tim,” He said, forcing the name around the emotion clogging his throat. “When you disappeared, I couldn’t hear your heartbeat anymore and I- I thought you were dead, you don’t-” He had to stop himself before he said You don’t know what it’s like. Tim did know what it was like. Tim had lived through the deaths of almost everyone he cared about. And unlike Kon, Tim had had no reason to hope. He had faced the corpses of his friends, of his family, and somehow had pushed forward. This wonderful, bright, kind person in front of him had endured more than most people could imagine, and here he was, prepared for one more loss, one more rejection.

Kon leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Tim’s and closing his eyes so he wouldn’t be able to see the tears gathering there. 

“I have spent the past forty-seven days not knowing what happened to you or if I would ever see you again, and I never want to spend a single day of the rest of my life not knowing where you are. I am never leaving you ever again. And I’m sure as hell not leaving my son, no matter what freaky dimension he came from-”

A tear hit Kon’s thumb less than a second before Tim’s lips were crashing into his. It was hard and messy and desperate and maybe the best kiss they’d ever had because it was a promise. 

Tim pulled back after a minute, the front of Kon’s suit scrunched up in his grip. “Do you really mean all that?” He asked, voice filled with something dangerously close to hope.

Something halfway between a laugh and a sob jumped out of Kon’s throat. “All that and more.” He started pressing kisses all over Tim’s face, over his wet cheeks and red nose and his eyebrows and temples and trembling lower lip. “We’re gonna raise our son together and someday I am going to marry you so hard and then I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you and loving any random babies you bring home because you can’t get rid of me now, I love you so much, Tim, I love you-”

When their lips met again, it wasn’t any softer than the first time, but this time it was filled with life and faith and gasping breaths, Tim’s hair gnarled around his fingers, and it tasted salty from their tears and Kon didn’t even care that they were still in a hallway. Nothing mattered except for Kon’s tiny, perfect family.

Their chests heaved after they broke apart, standing there breathing each other’s air in. Distantly, the batmobile rumbled, growing closer to the manor followed by a couple other, smaller vehicles.

“Your family is almost here,” Kon informed him, disappointed that his one-on-one time was already over. 

That was okay. Kon would have the rest of his life to monopolize Tim’s attention.

“Do I have time to change before they storm the castle?” Tim asked.

Kon nodded. “You should try to squeeze in a shower, too. You really do stink.”

“Just for that, you don’t get an invite.”

“Wait, I take it back, I didn’t mean it, Tim-”

Chapter Text

Tim felt about two pounds lighter stepping out of the shower, free from seven weeks worth of grime, gunk, and constant low-level anxiety.

Technically, he’d bathed on a semi-regular basis (life threatening crises permitting) in the time he’d been gone, but he never felt clean. His every moment, both waking and unconscious, had been plagued by that inescapable just-a-little-bit-to-the-left feeling, a symptom of being stuck in a universe he didn’t belong in, of vibrating at a frequency just slightly faster than the people around him.

The people who were near-perfect reflections of the family he ached for more and more as the weeks wore on.

He stepped over the heap of his discarded uniform, making his way out of the bathroom and into his bedroom wrapped in a fluffy towel and a bone deep sense of relief. The bedroom was dark, lit only by the bathroom light spilling past the doorway. He could just make out the shape of Kon knelt by the crib, except his version of kneeling included hovering a foot above the carpet. A swell of warm affection bloomed in Tim’s chest at the sight.

It didn’t quite feel real yet. Everything had happened so fast. The paranoid voice in the back of his head whispered that maybe this happy ending was too good to be true, that his addled mind was just formulating some blissful, Hallmark-movie ending as a form of self-soothing after the fresh trauma he’d endured and none of this was actually happening so it was only a matter of time before the dream ended and all this precious stability, this priceless reconciliation would slip right through his fingers-

Tim hit the brakes on his mental spiral.

He would run the gambit of physical and psychological tests later to confirm he was in the right place, just in case, but pushing all the doubt and disquiet from his mind, Tim knew deep in his gut that he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Kon didn’t turn to look at him as he crossed the room, still captivated by the sight of the newest addition to the family in the crib. 

Tim could relate. As surreal as everything else felt, he was more sure of this one thing than he’d been about maybe anything in his life. Kai was his rock, his gravity, his one certainty.

His son.

Tim didn’t bother with real clothes, instead opting for pajamas on account of the fact that he planned to crash the second he wasn’t being held at knifepoint for answers. Kon’s suit was folded neatly on top of the dresser - Mrs. Kent would have been proud - and his boots were lined up against the wall, exchanged for fuzzy socks, basketball shorts, and a t-shirt with a logo too faded to read anymore; all of it sourced from the half of the dresser that unofficially belonged to Kon.

Unofficially because Tim assumed ownership of any and all articles of clothing that happened to end up in his clutches.

Once he was finished getting dressed, Tim crossed the room and took up his place next to Kon by the crib. His hand fell to one shoulder, feeling the rise and fall of Kon’s quiet breaths. Kai was out cold, splayed out on his stomach in his little footie pajamas. He was going to get eaten alive the moment the rest of the family met him.

Kon let out an almost inaudible sigh. “We should probably head down,” he whispered. “They’re getting ready to riot.”

“Yeah,” Tim agreed, but they spent another moment there, just looking.

Eventually, Kon floated back to his feet. 

They turned to look at each other. 

They’re fingers tangled together.

“Okay,” Kon whispered.

“Okay,” Tim whispered back.

***

To say the rest of the family was about to riot was an understatement. The living room was in pandemonium. No part of Wayne Manor could be described as small, designed with the kind of obscene opulence typical of Gotham’s wealthiest. But with all the bodies buzzing back and forth like they couldn’t stand to hold still longer than a moment, the space felt positively cramped.

Everyone was there. Alfred, Jason, and Duke were juggling tea kettles and coffee pots around the stove; Cass was perched on the back of the couch listening to Damian rant about something, hands gesturing wildly; Stephanie was shuttling mugs to their intended recipients, Barbara was stationed at the kitchen table glaring holes through the screen of her laptop, and Bruce was busy wearing holes in the carpet with his pacing. The lot of them were in various states of dress, some of them fully changed and others only half out of their suits, capes and belts and chest plates scattering every available surface.

Usually, Alfred was uncompromising in keeping the happenings of the cave and the home separate, but Tim guessed he’d made concessions given how agitated the flock was at the moment.

Tim looked around. The only person missing was-

“ TIM!” 

He didn’t get the chance to actually see Dick before he was seized from behind and squeezed so hard he made a noise like a squeaky toy. That got everyone’s attention and all of sudden Tim couldn’t see much of anything other than a blur of arms and shoulders and teary eyes. Kon’s hand had lost his in the scuffle.

“ Finally,” Steph exclaimed. “I was about to drag your scrawny ass out of the shower myself.”

“Let me at ‘im!” Jason hollered from the back of the pack. “I wanna wring his neck!”

“ Timmy,” Dick said, grabbing his shoulders and forcibly spinning him around. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“I-” Tim didn’t even get the chance to finish his sentence before his face was crushed into Dick’s chest.

“I was so worried about you,” Dick murmured into his hair. He sounded on the verge of tears. 

They pulled apart after a long embrace and Tim pretended not to notice him wipe at his eyes.

Tim looked around the group and caught the eye of Damian hovering awkwardly at the edges. 

“Timothy,” he offered, stilted. “I am glad to see you home unharmed.”

He grabbed a fistful of Damian’s shirt and hauled him in for a weakly protested but enthusiastically returned hug of his own. I was ridiculous to think that Damian had had a growth spurt significant enough to notice in less than two months but holding his little brother in his arms, 7 weeks suddenly felt an impossibly long time to have been gone.

By the time the necessary number of hugs had been dispensed (plus a few extra) and the group relocated to the ring of couches and armchairs in the living room, Kon reappeared at his side bearing two mugs. 

Tim had never loved him more.

He sipped at his coffee as he waited for everyone else to get situated, sandwiched between Duke and his- his boyfriend? partner? co-parent? fiance ? - Kon. 

“Alright, spill,” Barbara ordered.

Tim had spoken at assemblies, made announcements at press conferences, been on live TV, and done some really sick tricks at the skatepark, but never before had he felt such intensity from eye contact alone. The feeling of 10 pairs of hyper focused eyeballs picking apart his every micro adjustment wasn’t unsimilar to the time he’d gotten trapped in a sewer by the Ratcatcher as Robin and been put under the surveillance of several dozen rodents.

“Okay.” Tim swallowed. “I guess I’ll start at the beginning.

“So, I was on patrol and everything was normal, but halfway through my usual route, I saw this weird kinda vortex thing open up in that alley next to the place with the really good soup dumplings on fourteenth street, so I go to check it out right?

“And the vortex looked kinda familiar? Like your average interdimensional boom tube, ya know? But the freaky thing was that the person who came out of it was me.”

It hadn’t been the first time Tim had met a version of him from an alternate universe. It wasn’t even the first time Tim had met an alternate version of himself who had specifically come looking for him. But from the moment they made eye contact, something had felt… off. The other Tim had looked desperate and frayed around the edges and he looked at Tim a little too intensely.

It reminded him of every time he’d looked in a mirror the year Bruce was missing.

“So anyway,” he continued. “This other me was flipping out and going on about how he needed help with something, needed another me- him- us- whatever-

‘Two minds are better than one, especially when both of them are mine,’ were his exact words.

“-so I had to go with him to wherever he came from and help him fix whatever was wrong-”

“And you simply went with him without acquiring more information and consulting with us first?” Damian interrupted. 

“Well I didn’t go with him so much as he yanked me through the portal before I had the chance to analyze the situation,” Tim defended. “It all happened really fast.

“ Anyway, he yanks me through this portal and we come out the other end in this underground bunker. I found out later that it was an abandoned Cadmus laboratory in Pennsylvania.”

Tim could still picture it so clearly in his mind. A labyrinth of dilapidated hallways and rooms, an arbitrary selection of doors locked. For the first two weeks he’d been there, Tim had been confined to a small section deep in the bowels of the bunker, provided with meals and a cot and an array of advanced technology that stood in stark contrast to the cracked floors and flickering fluorescence, all of it brought in from somewhere beyond the concrete walls.

It wasn’t until weeks later that he’d seen the rest of the facility in passing during his escape. A vast, commune-like web of a living space, not nearly as uninhabited as he’d been led to believe. An open space as large as a warehouse buried several stories below the Appalachian Mountain range, populated with dozens of massive glass tubes, many of them dark with condensation building on the inside of the glass, but more of them emanating a soft glow that displayed their occupants. 

That place would haunt his dreams.

Tim took a shaky breath. Atop where their thighs were pressed together, Kon’s hand found his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He pushed on.

“When we got there, the other Tim explained that he needed me to help find the Bruce from their world. As far as I can tell, he got lost in the time stream the same as ours did.”

At this, Bruce leaned forward, elbows on his knees and brow furrowed. “Interesting. So the other Earth’s timeline is three years behind ours?”

Tim shook his head. “No. I think the other Earth’s timeline is actually only a few hours behind ours.”

“Then when-”

“The other Bruce went missing around the same time that you did,” Tim interrupted. “That doesn’t mean the other Tim realized he was still alive as quickly as I did you.”

Duke’s head swiveled back and forth like their verbal exchange was a tennis match. He’d been the only one not there to witness the aftermath of Bruce’s supposed death. He’d been the only one not present to observe Tim’s supposed descent into madness or his subsequent disappearance. He hadn’t been there to watch Bruce return home emaciated and half-alive after less than a year adrift in the timestream. He hadn’t been there, but he’d heard the stories. He knew enough to understand what it meant that the other Bruce had been gone so much longer.

“So what changed?” Bruce asked.

“Well, I did some research while I was there and I think the point of divergence was the Superboy-Prime attack. I don’t really know how that works considering the Superboy-Prime that attacked us was already from another universe and specifically not the one I was taken to, but the multiverse basically got mashed up like playdough when that happened so there are a million reasons the other Earth could have come out the way it did, though I have a theory that that Earth developed spontaneously at the point of divergence as a result of multiple-”

“Tim,” Stephanie cut him off. “Love ya, buddy. If you could get back to the story?”

“Right, yeah, sorry.” Tim took a sip of his coffee. “As I was saying, the other Tim had found some evidence that his Bruce had never actually died and wanted my help finding him. I agreed. I did it before, I figured I could do it again.”

What Tim decided not to say was that, while the other Tim had never actually said, “You can’t go home until we find Bruce,” that was definitely the vibe he got, based off the way the other Tim was stingy with both information unrelated to the case and freedom, along with a slight air of mild derangement.

“I spent the next two weeks basically doing a condensed version of what I did the year Bruce was missing, minus the League of Assassins. Any chance I got where the other Tim wasn’t breathing down my neck, I tried to investigate the rest of the other Earth and the facility.

“One night about two weeks in, I got away long enough to pick the lock on one of the doors.” A door Tim had chosen specifically after hearing a series of muffled noises on the other side, which was suspicious considering the other Tim had told him they were the only two people there. “And behind it I found-” My dead mother brought back to life, but almost different enough to be someone else entirely? A baby with suspiciously recognizable blue eyes? Strangers wearing the faces of some of the people I’ve cared most about in my life? “-the others.”

A soggy marshmallow flew through the air and plastered itself to his cheek.

“ Wh-” 

“Stop being cryptic, it’s annoying,” Jason said, fishing another marshmallow out of his hot chocolate and popping it in his mouth. “What the hell does ‘the others’ mean? This isn’t a horror movie, we’re not playing the pronoun game.”

“I was getting to that part,” Tim grumbled, prying the glob of sugar off his cheek. Fingertips brushed his jaw, turning him to face Kon, who licked his thumb and wiped the rest of the goop from his skin. His breath smelled like lemon and ginger from his tea. He was overdue for a haircut.

Just looking at him leeched the tension from his body.

Another marshmallow flew through the air and hit Kon on the nose.

“Stop being gross,” Jason said. “Get back to the story.”

Tim turned to yell at him, but Dick beat him to it. A spoon dripping coffee smacked Jason in the forehead before ricocheting onto the carpet. 

“Stop throwing things,” Dick scolded.

“I have a lot of questions!” Jason defended. “I wanna get this show on the road!”

“So do the rest of us,” Damian chimed in. “If you’re done acting like children, can we continue?”

“Seconded,” Barbara added.

All eyes turned back to Tim.

“Right.” He swallowed. “Where was I?”

“Investigating. Locked door. Others,” Cass prompted.

“Right. Okay. So, you guys remember my whole, uh, cloning phase?” Tim said, cringing internally.

“Yeah,” Dick said.

“No,” Duke said.

“How is that continuing the story?” Jason asked.

Tim looked at the ceiling and prayed for patience. “Long story short, during the year from hell following the Superboy-Prime attack here, I went a little off the rails and tried to make a clone of Kon after he died, which is relevant because,” Tim looked pointedly at Jason, “the other Tim did too. Except, remember when I said the divergence point was the Superboy-Prime attack? Well, as bad as that battle was for us, it was worse over there. More casualties.

“One of them was Cass - Wonder Girl Cass,” he clarified. “Here, she was the one to talk me off the ledge, but obviously she wasn’t there to do the same for the other Tim. So he- he never stopped. He kept going and he… succeeded.” 

The word was sour in his mouth. No part of what either of them had gone through could be called a success. 

Tim finding the clones had been a confusing jumble of them thinking he was their Tim and him thinking he was talking to the original versions of them from that world and all the puzzle pieces were barely starting to click together when the other Tim had found him and promptly lost his marbles.

After that had been a lot of rambling and rationalizing and half-baked explanations. How he’d managed to make copies of Kon, Bart, and Cassie. How he tried to do the same for Stephanie and found out she had never died in the worst way possible. How he’d dug up his own mother’s coffin in a desperate attempt to find comfort, but her body was too decayed to get all the DNA he needed, so he’d also dug up his grandparents and scraped together a few extra samples to finish the job, resulting in a woman who looked hauntingly like his mother, but just not quite.

And then the baby. Kai. His son.

For the rest of his life, Tim would never forget the tortured look in the other man’s eyes when he had whispered, “ I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I thought I could bring them back, but it- it wasn’t them. Not really. So I- I- I thought I could make something new, but I didn’t- I couldn’t- I’m not- I’m- I’m- it was a mistake. ”

It was like looking in a funhouse mirror, seeing the most warped version of himself and knowing how easily that could be the real him.

A soft squeeze on his knee brought him out of his spiral. It wasn’t until he was taking in Kon’s concerned expression that he realized how fast his heart was rabbiting. He focused on the warmth emanating from Kon’s palm and took a deep breath.

“That was how the other Tim figured out that his Bruce’s corpse wasn’t real. He recognized irregularities in the DNA unique to clones.”

Kon leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Does my DNA have irregularities?”

“Don’t worry,” Tim whispered back. “I’ve taken samples and you have beautiful genes.”

“Cool. Wait, when did you take samples of my DNA?”

Tim turned back to address the group again. “After I discovered the clones, the other Tim found us and freaked out about the fact that I knew. He was convinced I was planning to run away and turn him into the authorities-” which he had been, but if Tim could lie to Batman, he could lie to himself, “-but I managed to convince him I wasn’t going to do that. Or I thought I did, until he sedated me in my sleep and I woke up three weeks later in a liquid suspension chamber.” Turns out it’s a little harder to lie to someone who, quite literally, knows exactly how you think.

“It’s finally getting good,” Stephanie murmured, leaning forward. Cass smacked her on the shoulder.

“It was Bart - or well, the clone of Bart - who let me out and helped me escape.”

“Wow,” Kon muttered next to him. “Even when it’s a cloned version from an alternate universe, the guy still has an unwavering moral compass.”

“Once I got out,” Tim continued, “I went straight to Gotham to find the rest of the family. Which I did. I found Batman and Robin who were still-” Tim gestured towards his oldest and youngest brothers in turn, “-you know. I went to them for help. Then Robin stabbed me. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to get stabbed by Damian.”

Damian nodded approvingly.

“And then they helped you?” Dick asked hopefully.

“No. They arrested me. Then Robin hit me over the head with a stick and I woke up in a cell in the batcave.”

Jason snorted. “Sounds about right.”

“Well, I don’t really blame them,” Tim replied. “They only did it because they thought I was the other Tim. Turns out unethical cloning practices were not his only crime.”

Jason leaned forward looking far too intrigued. “No kidding. What else did he do?”

“Well, there’s the minor stuff; trespassing, theft, money laundering, grave robbing, potentially murder depending on what he did to the clones that didn’t turn out the way he wanted, though arguably that could qualify as abortion depending on how developed they were when it happened. Oh, and tax evasion.”

“ Murder?” Bruce exclaimed.

“Why are alternate versions of you always evil?” Kon sighed.

“Wait.” Damian said. “You said those were the other Timothy’s minor crimes. What were his major ones?”

Tim scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. “I don’t know all the details, but later on when the Dick from that universe figured out I wasn’t his Tim and took me to the Watchtower, I heard some rumors. Some of the other members of the League referred to him as Dr. Frankenstein, though I think that was a joke.”

“Not very original, but still kind of badass. Definitely cooler than Red Robin,” Stephanie commented.

“Thanks, Steph,” Tim replied flatly.

“It doesn’t seem a very fitting moniker given that typical cloning methods are much more refined than cutting up bodies and stitching them together,” Damian observed.

“Well…” Tim’s voice came out higher pitched than he meant for it too. “He kind of did that part, too. You guys remember Inertia, Bart’s evil clone who Wally froze and put on display in the Flash museum? The other Tim stole him from the museum and more or less cut him up to use for parts when he was cloning Bart. Arguably not as terrible a fate as what Wally did to Inertia, but pretty fucked up nonetheless. Definitely qualifies as murder.”

“That’s it?” Jason said, thumping back into the couch cushions. “Stealing, exercising the right to choose, and a little bit of murder?”

Tim shrugged. “There was more, but I didn’t have clearance for the files.”

“Okay, we get it,” Stephanie said, waving her hand flippantly. “Alternate you is a freak. What next?”

“I told the JLA everything I knew about what was going on in the facility, where it was, and my research on their missing Batman, and soon after that they did a raid on the lab. They wouldn’t let me go with them, but from what I saw after, it…did not go well. Like, multiple casualties. The other Tim was one of them.”

Tim took a fortifying breath.

“That’s where the baby comes in.”

In unison, Bruce, Cass, Jason, Duke, and Alfred all leaned in with rapt attention. Damian looked around at them skeptically.

“Okay, what baby?” Stephanie demanded. She threw her arms out and coffee would have sloshed over the rim of her mug if it weren’t for Cass deftly stopping its momentum and confiscating it from Stephanie’s gesticulating hands. “You were saying something about FedExing babies earlier and then you said something about Jason’s nephew? Why do I feel like there’s something I’m missing?”

“You haven’t seen the baby?” Duke asked her.

“ What baby?” Stephanie almost shouted.

“Umm-” Dick raised a hand, “- whose baby?”

“Mine,” Tim said.

“ Ours,” Kon corrected.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Stephanie made more wild hand gestures. “When did you get a baby?”

“About two days ago,” Tim answered.

“And, pray tell, where is this baby right now?”

“Upstairs.”

Stephanie looked at him flabbergasted. “What, did you and Kon stop at USPS on your way here to pick it up?”

“Him,” Kon piped in. “Not ‘it.’”

Stephanie waved a dismissive hand at him. “Whatever.”

“Actually, he came through the portal with me,” Tim said.

That earned him a disbelieving scoff. 

“I was there right after you came through the portal. If you’d had a baby with you, I think I would have noticed.” She looked at Cass. “Right?”

Cass made a so-so gesture.

“Hold on,” Dick interrupted, “The baby is upstairs right now? Can we meet him?”

“He’s sleeping,” Tim responded in a way that was an uncompromising ‘ No’. “That reminds me, how long have we been down here?”

“About fifteen minutes,” Bruce answered. “Why?”

Tim chewed on his lip. “I should go check on him.” He set his mug on the table and moved to stand up before Kon’s voice stopped him.

“He’s okay.” His voice was soft. Everyone could hear what he was saying, but his words were only for Tim. “I’m listening for him and I’ll let you know if he wakes up.”

A tight feeling he hadn’t even noticed loosened in his chest. Tim had been a single father for all of 48 hours and even in that short amount of time he’d been plagued with a special kind of anxiety - and Tim had become intimately familiar with a lot of different kinds of anxiety in his life. Knowing he wasn’t in it alone, that there was someone else, both immeasurably powerful and unbelievably devoted looking after the most precious thing in his life - and that that person also happened to be the love of his life?

It felt like that moment right after jumping off a building, when the grapple anchored in place and the line held strong and you knew you’d land on your feet.

Slowly, Tim relaxed back into Kon’s side.

“You’ve yet to explain how you acquired this infant,” Damian pointed out.

“He was one of the clones the other Tim made. After the raid, everything at the tower was a mess. Injuries, bodies, people with nowhere to go.”

To call it a mess was an understatement. It was pandemonium. Screams and accusations revolving around the fact that the person they arrested had once been one of their own, distress and fury from the clones whose entire world had come crumbling down. And in the middle of it all, the wails of a scared child.

It was a memory that would live in the space between his heart and his left lung until the day he died: Wally in his Flash suit trying and failing to calm down the infant in his arms. At a rickety table in the corner of the kitchen, Tim was just an observer. 

And then, their eyes met, his and the child’s. Just as quickly, the misery turned to desperation, Wally scrambling to hold onto the baby who’s singular goal was to get to the one person he recognized.

Something like magnetism or primal instinct pulled Tim to his feet and towards the child who had grabby hands extended out to him. A point of pressure pricked in his stomach and grew and grew with each step until he was breathless, and just when it was almost too great to bear, he was there.

“I’ve got him,” He’d whispered to Wally, not breaking the child’s teary stare. 

After a moment of hesitation, he handed the child over, and that pressure in Tim’s stomach broke, releasing a flood of warmth in his bones.

Tiny hands fisted in the front of his suit. Cries tapered off into heavy breaths that he could barely feel through the fabric.

There was a child in his arms and then his son was in his arms. Just like that, despite all rationality, despite every common sense that said it was insane or dangerous or mind control or just plain stupid, Tim knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would do anything to take care of his baby.

Tim shook himself out of his thoughts. He had a story to finish.

“Anyway, umm, I volunteered to adopt him. That’s pretty much it. We ironed out some details and a they scheduled me a ride on the next available boom tube a couple days later.”

“The Justice League just…let you take him?” Bruce asked, disbelieving.

“I mean, no one loved it, but no one else was jumping at the chance to adopt him either. I let Martian Manhunter root through my brain a little bit to make sure my intentions were pure, and my case was helped by the fact that I was the only one who could get him to calm down.”

“Whelp,” Dick clapped Bruce on the shoulder, “Good to know that Tim has inherited your penchant for picking up strays.”

“You know, I really didn’t think Tim would be the first one of us to have a kid,” Barbara said. “I was betting on Dick having a bastard love child come out of the woodworks, Damian-style.”

Damian and Dick made twin offended noises.

“I figured Jason would finally shack up with Roy and make Lian Bruce’s first official grandchild,” Duke chimed in.

Jason sputtered. “Roy and I aren’t even living together!”

“Yet,” Cass said.

“There’s something else,” Tim blurted out before that train of conversation could take off. All eyes turned to him. Again. He was starting to get sick of it. “In light of recent events, I have decided that…I will be retiring from field work. Indefinitely.”

There was a moment of deafening silence.

And then-

“Woah, woah, woah-”

“Are you serious right-”

“-just because you have a kid now, that doesn’t mean-”

“-importance of thinking things like this through-”

“-mazel tov!”

Tim held up his hands to silence everyone, which didn’t actually work, but after a solid minute, everyone realized they wouldn’t be getting any answers until they all stopped talking over each other.

Once they were all - well, not calmed down , but quieter, he continued.

“I know this is kind of a bombshell and you all have a million questions which I will be delighted to answer when I am running on more than a single cup of coffee and sheer willpower. Tomorrow I will provide all the gritty details and write an excruciatingly thorough report on the entire time I was gone, but I am ready to go to bed. I just figured you guys should know about my retirement in case there’s an Arkham breakout between now and whenever I wake up. Thank you and goodnight.”

A host of complaints ranging from disappointed to homicidal blossomed around him, but that didn’t stop Tim from grabbing Kon’s hand and weaving out of the living room, blowing kisses over his shoulder as he went.

Together, the two of them climbed the stairs and crept back into the bedroom, making a detour by Kai’s crib on the way to the bed.

Tim could see the questions swimming in Kon’s eyes, but they didn’t say another word as they climbed beneath the covers. They didn’t need to. There would be plenty of time for talking in the morning.

Nestled under the comforter, Kon curled around his body from behind, keeping an arm around his waist to hold him close. Slotted together, both of them slept better than either of them had for the past 47 nights.

Chapter Text

KE-0

Log 001: Testing begins tomorrow. I’ll have to acquire supplies as I go given how difficult it is to get what I need to make this work. KE’s genetic makeup is complicated. He was practically built from scratch after all. But the records on his development from CADMUS are extensive, and I’ve acquired hair, skin, nail, and semen samples from his bedroom. It shouldn’t be long before I have my best friend back.

KE-17

Log 001: Binding the protein strands together is proving more difficult than initially anticipated. Getting the embryo to continue developing past fertilization is a challenge I should have seen coming. I may need to acquire stem cells from an outside source to encourage the process, but the contamination risk is high. Note to self: refer to document KY-189 from the LexCorp database for further research.

KE-42

Log 008: The subject has survived to 52 hours, which is officially the highest record to date, and by a significant margin. Manual polynucleotide chain reconstruction has shown to have the greatest rate of success.

KE-42

Log 009: Massive degeneration at 54 hours.

SUBJECT: DECEASED

KE-71

Log 015: I’ve hit a wall with the protein links. I may have to risk hacking into the Watchtower’s network to further my knowledge on the topic. It’s dangerous. If they find out what I’m doing they’ll try to put a stop to it. But I can’t quit now.

KE-78

Log 001: Cells failing to regenerate. Attempt unsuccessful

SUBJECT: DECEASED

KE-91

Log 031: Protein links are falling apart again.

SUBJECT: DECEASED

KE-98

Log 014: Protein link failure. Death at 72 hours.

SUBJECT: DECEASED

KE-99

Log 002: Genome gaps detected.

SUBJECT: TERMINATED

KE-111

Log 001: The Kryptonian DNA is refusing to fuse with the human DNA. I need a stabilizer but I can’t risk adding third party donor DNA again. I tried that in the beginning and the results were too far from what I’m trying to achieve. I don’t know how much longer I can do this.

KE-112

Log 004: I could really use a DNA sample from Luthor. Too bad he doesn’t have any hair.

SUBJECT: DECEASED.

KE-114

Log 017: Failure of essential organs to develop properly.

SUBJECT: DECEASED.

KE-129

Log 002: Another fucking protein link failure.

SUBJECT: DECEASED

KE-134

Log 097: I think this one is going to make it.

KE-134

Log-200: Growth is consistent. If the subject remains stable, I’’ll be able to begin memory implants soon. I’ll need to observe the subject closely for the next few days, but…I think this is the one.

Kon woke the same way he’d fallen asleep: with Tim’s back pressed firmly against his chest, a palm over his beating heart, feeling the same soft rhythm that thumped in the back of his head. And right next to it, thrumming like a hummingbird perched on his shoulder, was the pulse of his son’s heartbeat.

It took a moment for him to realize that what had woken him was the feeling of eyes on him. 

Kon pried his eyelids open. They’d forgotten to close the blinds before bed, so the room was filled with the watery, gray light typical of Gotham no matter what time of day it was. The door was still shut. Then, in the center of the room, he saw the source of the being-stared-at sensation.

The baby was wide awake in his crib, stood up and gripping the wooden bars like a teeny tiny prisoner in a lavender prison jumpsuit. He peered over the top of the crib, not crying or doing much of anything really, just looking at them.

“Tim,” Kon whispered.

No response. 

“ Tim,” he hissed a little sharper, punctuating his call for assistance with a firm shake of Tim’s shoulder.

Tim jerked awake, looking around the room for the threat. “What, what is it?” His voice was thick with sleep, but he propped himself up on an elbow to get a better look around.

“The baby’s awake.”

Tim was quiet for a moment, processing what Kon had just said.

Then he slumped back into the pillows, tension draining from his body. “Well, go and get him then,” he told Kon.

Go and get him. “Right.” How hard could it be? He was just picking up a baby. Parents for millions of years had been caring for their young without the aid of prior experience or instructional pamphlets. Kon could figure it out.

After a moment's hesitation, he slid out of bed and approached the crib. Luckily, the baby seemed quicker on the uptake than Kon was and raised his arms expectantly.

Kon picked the baby up. It seemed only natural to fit the baby against his side, tiny legs on either side of his hip.

Distantly, he remembered something Dawn from down the road in Smallville had said once while she sat in a rocking chair on Ma and Pa’s porch, showing off pictures of her newest granddaughter.

“A woman becomes the mother the second she knows she’s pregnant, but a man becomes a father the first time he holds his child.”

Later on, Ma had scoffed at the comment. “What a load of hooey. You become a parent when you decide to be a parent. Ain’t nothin’ to do with bein’ pregnant about it.”

Thinking on that moment, it was strange to hold his child for the first time and instead know himself capable of unspeakable violence. He’d already committed heart and soul to being the baby’s father, of course, but it was during that first occurrence of physical touch that Kon realized he would kill anyone, destroy anything if it meant protecting his baby. His little-

Hmm.

“Hey,” he said, turning to face Tim. “What’s his name?”

Tim looked at the two of them, a smile playing at his lips. His hair was mussed and there was a red line on his cheek from the pillow. Kon couldn’t help but think that if it wasn’t for the baby, they probably would have spent the morning in a very different way.

“His name is Kai.”

The baby - Kai - looked at Tim in response to hearing his name.

“Kai.” Big blue eyes turned towards him this time. He turned the single syllable over in his mind, feeling it in his mouth. “Kai. How do you spell that? Like, K-I, or K-A-I, or K-Y?”

“Umm, K-A-I, I think? I’m not actually a hundred percent sure. Why?”

“Nothing, I just knew a few guys in Hawaii with that name. It means ‘ocean.’”

Tim shifted around a bit, a crease appearing between his brows. “I mean, I guess we could change it if you wanted, but I figured he already responds to it, so…”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s got a nice ring to it, actually.” Kon flipped Kai around in his arms so his spine was pressed to Kon’s sternum, an arm under his thighs as a makeshift seat. “Kai-El, son of Kon-El.”

Tim’s face split into a wide, toothy grin, the kind that lit up the whole bedroom. He rolled onto his back and stretched out his arms, making grabby hands. “Alright Kon-El, bring me my baby.”

Kon complied, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. Kai almost tumbled right out of his arms in his eagerness to get to Tim. The joy on Tim’s face as Kai spilled onto his stomach was pure and immense. He seemed older and younger at the same time. 

“Theoretically,” Kon said, watching them, “Just out of curiosity, would it be possible for you to make another baby like Kai?”

Tim looked at him for a moment, lips slightly parted as Kai clambered off his chest, wobbling on the uneven surface of the mattress. Then his mouth stretched into a shit eating grin. “Wow. You’ve been a dad for less than twelve hours and you already want another one?”

“Are you kidding?” Kon responded as Kai grabbed onto his proffered hand for leverage. His whole little fist barely fit around Kon’s thumb. “I’d like a dozen more of these, please.”

Tim’s grin softened into something fond and amused. “So you’re not having second thoughts?”

“The only thing I’m having second thoughts about is agreeing to raise my kid in Gotham.”

“It’s not that bad,” Tim defended.

“It’s literally called the Crime Capital of the U.S.” Kon pointed out.

“We can get a place a little farther upstate, on the mainland,” Tim offered. “Close enough to commute but technically out of city limits. How about that?”

Kon chewed on his lip. “And we’ll get a real house? With a yard?”

Tim’s voice was soft when he said, “Yeah.”

Kon’s voice was soft too. “Good. Kids need yards.”

A contemplative silence stretched between them. Kai continued to crawl around, exploring the pillows and blankets. 

“Did you mean what you said last night?” Kon asked, breaking the silence at last. “About retiring?”

“Yes,” Tim said, and there was not a trace of doubt or hesitance in that single word.

“Just like that?”

Tim thought for a moment.

“Do you remember a few years ago, way back when we first started Young Justice and we had that camping trip with Bart and Cassie and Cissie and Greta?”

The comment seemed so far out of left field, it took a moment for him to process it, and drag up distant memories of s’mores and smoke and party games. It was a recollection of a different time, when Kon was a different person, and the idea of growing older and having a family was only a far-fetched dream.

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember what I said during that game of truth or dare when Cissie asked me if I would ever give up being a hero and go back to a normal life?”

“You said you’d do it in a heartbeat,” Kon recalled, “Because if you could quit, that would mean there wasn’t any crime or evil left in the world.”

Tim nodded. “That was a long time ago. Before my dad died. Before Jason came back. Before a lot of things happened. Back then, fighting crime and protecting Gotham was my number one priority, and I was the only one who could do what I was doing. Batman needed a Robin. But a lot has changed since then. There are a dozen different vigilantes in Gotham alone. But Kai doesn’t have a dozen other parents. He needs me, more than anyone else does. 

“I mean, I’m not planning on going full civilian, I’ll still be available to help on comms and do patch jobs and develop equipment and stuff, but…I want to retire. I wanna be there to see my kid grow up. I’m already working full time at the company, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do everything. I loved my parents and I know they loved me, but they missed a lot of important stuff while they were away. Bruce too. I don’t want to do that. I want this .”

Kon took a shaky breath, willing himself not to cry. “Have I mentioned lately how in love I am with you?”

The corner of Tim’s mouth quirked up. “I could stand to hear it more often.”

He leaned down and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. Tim’s lips were chapped and warm and Kon was prevented from enjoying them by a little hand gripping his ear. Kon broke off with a huff of laughter, laying his head down on Tim’s chest.

“Breakfast?” Kai said when they were both looking at him, but in his little baby voice it came out more like ‘ beck-fiss?’

“I don’t know why, but I kind of thought he didn’t talk,” Kon said.

“He knows a few words. Up, down, yes, no. Apple.”

“Apple?” Kai repeated, pronouncing it like ‘ app-poe?’

Kon had never been a baby, obviously, so he had no clue if Kai resembled him in his infancy, but Ma and Pa’s house was peppered with pictures of Clark from when he was little.

In Kon’s totally not biased opinion, Kai was way cuter than Clark had been as a baby. In fact, he didn’t think it was an over exaggeration to say that he was quite possibly the cutest baby on the planet.

“He is so stinkin’ cute.”

“Yeah,” Tim agreed. “He gets that from you.”

“Breakfast,” Kai said again, but this time it wasn’t a question.

“Bossy, too,” Kon observed. “He gets that from you.”

Tim pinched his side. “Brat. Come on, let's get the little man his food.”

“And maybe a bath. He stinks.”

Kon rolled out of the bed and gathered Kai up once again, waiting for Tim to stand up before heading towards the door. Halfway there, he caught sight of himself in the full length mirror affixed to the wall and stopped.

“Holy shit,” he said softly.

Tim came up on his other side and Kon wrapped an arm around him without looking away from their reflection.

They made a beautiful family.

“I’m a dad,” he said, awed. “We’re dads.” 

“Yeah.” Tim leaned his head on Kon’s shoulder. “We are.”

BA-0

Log 001: Bart’s speedster metabolism presents a unique challenge in developing a clone. I tried to obtain samples from the corpse but it has already completely disappeared, likely due to rapid cellular degeneration triggered by his death. Kind of like how when he was born he aged to pubescence in the first 2 years of his life. His father is buried in the 31st century and his mother hasn’t been seen in years. I may have to look elsewhere for samples.

BA-0

Log 004: After thorough research, I’ve deduced that the best course of action is to obtain DNA from Thaddeus Thawne. His body is technically still alive which makes it prime for testing. He won’t pose a threat to me since he is incapable of moving. The trouble comes with trying to enter and interact with an exhibit under such tight security in the hometown of the current Flash. If I get caught, I don’t know what I’ll do.

BA-2

Log 005: Every time I try to interact with one of the samples, it falls apart. I’m concerned about finding an abnormality in a subject and not having the materials available to fix it. If this keeps up, I’ll have to go back to the Flash Museum and get more samples.

BA-3

Log 007: I ran out of samples and there’s no way I can keep going without more. I already got what I needed once, I can do it again. Right?

SUBJECT: TERMINATED

BA-4

Log 020: It’s too risky to keep going back to the Flash Museum the way I am. But the DNA samples are fighting me every step of the way. In one experiment they resist any catalysts or growth, in the next I somehow manage to trigger rapid degeneration. I need more. I’m going to have to bring him here.

BA-18

Log 064: Now that I have Thaddeus Thawne here, I’m debating the merits of just reprogramming his brain as opposed to growing Bart from scratch. After all, they are biologically indistinguishable. And it’s not like anyone would miss him.

BA-24

Log 001: After a lot of deliberation, I’ve come to the conclusion that reprogramming an already developed human brain isn’t feasible. I’m brilliant, but I’m not a neuroscientist. The odds of me being able to wipe out the bad stuff completely without causing irreparable damage are basically zero. However, I could use certain parts to speed along the process. Bone marrow, some spinal nerves, maybe a few lymph nodes. Nothing vital.

BA-24

Log 044: I’ve decided to transplant TT’s pituitary gland into the subject. It will be an excellent catalyst.

BA-24

Log 072: Transplant of the thyroid gland was successful. Hormone levels have stabilized. 

BA-24

Log 123: Remaining materials harvested from TT will be moved to bio-storage. Life support will no longer be necessary.

CS-9

Log 107: Cloning Cassie is so much easier than the other two were. Granted, she won’t have her powers, but those can be added at a later date. She wasn’t born with them anyway. The priority is getting her out of the tube. Cass was always the spine of the group, our rock. I could use a rock right now.

SB-0

Log 001: The casket was empty. I couldn’t find a single trace of DNA in the whole thing, which means the body was secretly transported somewhere else before burial or there was never a body at all.

JtD-15

Log 016: Too many gaps in the DNA sequences. Mom has been dead too long, her corpse has decayed too much. It seems redundant, but if I can track down her parents’ graves I may be able to scrape together just enough to fill in the blanks. In other news, Inertia’s disappearance from the Flash Museum has raised too many flags. They’re searching for the culprit. We may have to find somewhere else to continue our work. To continue our family.

Half an hour later, Tim and Kon made their way downstairs with one squeaky clean baby wearing a onesie that simply read ‘ chunky.’ on the front, fished from the depths of the duffel bag Tim had brought back with them.

The trio found Bruce and Alfred in the kitchen, the makings of a large breakfast in the works. 

“Good morning, sirs,” Alfred greeted from his place at the stove.

“Morning, Alf,” Tim said, making his way to the table where Bruce was sat with his laptop, dressed for a day at the office. There was already a high chair procured from god knew where set up at the table. “Morning, B. Going into WE today?” He slid into his usual chair, keeping Kai in his lap for the time being, and Kon wandered over to help Alfred with the meal prep.

Bruce had paused in his typing to observe the pair. His response was pointed towards Tim, but his eyes locked onto the baby reaching futilely for the flower display at the center of the table. “That’s the plan. Have you thought about how you’d like to move forward in regards to the company? If you have, I can get the paperwork started while I’m there today.”

Tim began to bounce his knee and it jostled a goofy vibrating-humming noise out of Kai. He moved a fork out of reach of sticky fingers. “I’m assuming you went with the usual sabbatical excuse during my disappearance?”

Bruce hummed in confirmation.

“I was planning on going back to work sometime next week maybe?”

Bruce’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure? You can take more time if you need it. You don’t have to go back at all if you don’t want to. I know you have bigger things on your plate right now.” A small smile graced his face as the baby made a wild grab for a vulnerable spoon. “Or should I say littler things?”

The corner of Tim’s mouth quirked up. “Was that a joke?”

“I’ve been known to make them on occasion.”

Tim hummed. “I do want to go back. It’ll probably take a couple weeks to figure everything out - our cover story, an explanation for where Kai came from, all of that. He can’t be much more than a year old, so it’ll be cake to falsify a birth certificate and everything. But once we get all that sorted out, I would like to go back to work.”

The crease in Bruce’s brow deepened. “You’re not sure how old he is?”

Tim shook his head. “There’s a hard drive I brought back that has all the information I could find, but I haven’t had the chance to go through it yet. I’ll upload all of that to the system today so it's on file.”

Bruce moved to close his laptop and Kai’s attention was caught by the glitter of his wristwatch. The spoon was abandoned in favor of examining the new, sparkling artifact. Kai made an intrigued gurgling noise and Bruce slid his hand closer for easier inspection. Little fingerprints were smudged all over the watch face and Tim could tell that Bruce didn’t care a bit.

“Do you want to hold him?”

The look that question earned was not dissimilar to that of a deer in the headlights.

“C’mon, he doesn’t bite,” Tim encouraged, ignoring the way Kon and Alfred were not-so-subtly staring. “I think.” He lifted Kai over the table and Bruce held out his hands to receive him with no small amount of trepidation. 

There was a brief moment of uncertainty as Kai found his footing on Bruce’s thighs, then the tension leaked from his shoulders.

Tim planted an elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. “Congratulations. You’re a grandpa.”

In a breath, a series of emotions flitted across Bruce’s face; fondness and panic, befuddlement and curiosity. It settled on something like awe. He wrapped an arm that looked comically large around Kai’s waist to steady him.

“He’s so… small ,” Bruce said almost reverently. 

Tim hadn’t heard Kon come over, but suddenly there were hands resting on his shoulders.

“Right?” Kon said to Bruce. “It’s like holding a stuffed animal. You just wanna squeeze him until his head pops off.”

Bruce hummed in agreement. “God help you when Stephanie gets ahold of him.”

“Speaking of,” Tim said, “Where is everyone?”

“Barbara and Jason went back to their own homes last night. Damian’s already left for school and Duke is in the library attending one of his online courses. Stephanie, Cassandra, and Dick have yet to be seen.”

“Master Timothy,” Alfred spoke up. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the typical diet of infants. What would the little master like for breakfast?”

“Umm, he can eat most regular food as long as it's cut up into little pieces and not too hard. Scrambled eggs, banana, oatmeal, toast. Apples.”

“Apple?” Kai parroted.

“Very good, little sir,” Alfred replied, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement.

“That reminds me-” Tim tipped his head back to look up at Kon, “-we should go shopping today for baby supplies.”

Kon nodded in agreement. “Definitely. If Ma were here, she’d-” Abruptly, Kon’s face fell and he stared into the distance with a vaguely horrified expression. “Oh my god. I have to call my parents. We have to call my parents. We have to call everybody.”

Tim’s palm met his forehead with a smack. “I knew there was something I was forgetting! Bruce, have you told anyone I’m back yet?”

“I marked your case as closed in the system, but I haven’t informed anyone directly,” Bruce said, bouncing Kai in his lap. “I can contact the Justice League, you should contact your friends.”

“Right.”

Kon walked into the adjoining room as he tapped on his cellphone. “Hey, Ma. Yeah, no, everything is fine. Is Pa there? Cool. You guys might want to sit down.” His voice grew quieter as he walked farther away until Tim couldn’t make anything out.

Fuck. In all of the rush of everything, Tim had completely forgotten about all the other people who had been looking for him. As desperate as he’d been to return home, a lot of really wonderful people wanted him to return home just as badly. 

Kai giggled as Bruce lifted him up in the air.

It sounded cheesy just to think, but having a child had taught Tim love he hadn’t known himself capable of. Not just for his son, but for the rest of his family, too. All of them had been truly and devastatingly alone at one point or another, and Tim never wanted Kai to know what that felt like. He wanted all those wonderful people who loved him to be a part of his son’s life if - god forbid - anything ever happened to him and Kon.

He fished his cellphone out of his pocket. It had been left behind at the manor the night he’d been abducted and every single app had a little 99+ notification bubble at the top. He clicked into the groupchat with the most people.

Me: Hey guys. Surprise! I’m not dead

Tim hit send before he could think better of it.

He expected to get a fresh barrage of messages demanding answers. He expected his phone to buzz right off the table. He did not expect to hear a knock on the front door 5 seconds later.

“I’ve got it!” Kon hollered from the adjacent room.

Tim looked at Bruce, confused. “Are we expecting someone?”

Bruce shook his head. His pinched expression was in comical juxtaposition to Kai’s lighthearted babbling.

Tim got as far as standing up from his chair before - for the second time in less than 12 hours - he was seized from behind and squeezed like a human bagpipe, with a wheezing gasp to match. 

“ Tim!” Despite being borderline body slammed faster than he could blink, Tim knew he wasn’t in any danger. That chipper voice and clinging grip could only belong to one person.

“Hey, Bart,” Tim greeted. “You gonna let me go long enough to turn around so I can hug you back?”

The octopus grip loosened just enough for him to turn around, then it tightened again, wiry arms clutching him close. Wild red hair tickled his nose. Bart smelled like rain and artificial strawberry and mud in the best way. There wasn’t a scrap of bleach or stale air or the cloying scent of nutrient-dense suspension liquid.

Tim melted into the hug.

“I missed you,” he muttered into Bart’s shoulder.

“Dude,” Bart replied without letting go, “Everyone has been looking for you! When did you get back?”

“Just last night.”

“Cassie’s gonna be peeved you didn’t let us know right away.”

“I think she’ll understand.” Tim leaned back from the hug, but didn’t leave Bart’s arms completely. “It’s been…kind of crazy.”

“What do you-”

Bart’s question was cut off by a stream of delighted shrieks as Kai seemed to realize who exactly the newcomer was. Or more accurately, who the newcomer resembled.

Both of them turned to see him flapping his arms and bouncing in Bruce’s lap.

Bart pointed at Kai. “That’s a baby. Whose baby is that?”

“Mine,” Tim answered.

“Ours.” Tim looked around and caught sight of Kon reentering the kitchen, making a beeline for the two of them.

Bart looked from Tim to Kai to Kon then back to Tim then back to Kon. “...I didn’t know you were pregnant.”

Tim blinked. “Wh- no, he’s not- he’s a cloned tube baby from an alternate Earth.”

“Oh.” Bart nodded. “That makes more sense.” There was not a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Bot! Bot!”

It took a second for Tim to realize that Kai’s excited rambling was an attempt at pronouncing Bart’s name. 

“Down,” Kai ordered Bruce, who shot Tim a baffled look before complying.

The second he touched the ground, Kai was off like a shot, the soles of his bare feet slapping against the tile as he toddled at full speed until he was clinging to Bart’s shin.

“My,” Alfred’s voice drifted over. When Tim looked towards the sound of his voice, he saw the older man pressing a hand over his heart. “It has been a very long time since I have heard the pitter-patter of little feet in this home.”

“Up! Up!”

Bart scooped Kai right up, not hesitating to bounce him around, spinning and zipping through the kitchen until the toddler was shrieking with laughter. The sound filled the whole room with glee, like sunshine spilling through a window.

“You know,” Bart said, twirling past Tim, “If you’re looking for a godparent, you should know I’m great with kids.”

“You don’t even know his name,” Kon pointed out, slinging an arm over Tim’s shoulders.

“He knows mine.”

“That’s because you have the same face as a clone of a version of you from another timeline,” Tim pointed out.

“Semantics.”

Tim considered the proposition. He hadn’t had the chance to think about anything like picking a godparent. He hadn’t had the chance to think about much at all other than the immediate, pressing details. Sure, Tim had read a library’s worth of books on early childhood development when Stephanie had been pregnant, but none of them contained instructions for handling clone babies smuggled across universes. He was gonna need all the help he could get.

“Hey, Bart,” Tim said, leaning into Kon’s side, “Wanna come grocery shopping with us?”

***

TIM DRAKE-WAYNE SPOTTED WITH BEAU AND MYSTERY BABY

By Laurel Davis

Fans of the elusive and eccentric Wayne family may be familiar with Tim Drake’s main squeeze, Conner Kent, who has been spotted on a number of romantic outings over the past 2 years with the most eligible bachelor on the east coast. But admirers of the young Wayne Enterprises CEO might be disappointed (or delighted!) to hear that the lovebirds were spotted earlier today shopping for diapers with a bubbling baby boy! 

Currently, it is unknown where this baby came from or who exactly it belongs to, but even the untrained eye can detect the uncanny resemblance the boy bears to both older men. One has to wonder if this new chubby chickadee is related to Tim Drake’s recent ‘sabbatical’ from WE.

Is there a new addition to the Wayne family? Which beauteous beau is the baby daddy? Is Tim Drake officially off the market? Follow @GCTea to see all the salacious updates and hear the freshest news on the island.

Tim sighed and leaned back against the headboard as he added another pair of tiny socks to the growing pile of folded laundry on top of the bed. The photos weren’t particularly damning and the source was far from credible, but it was still inconvenient to deal with when they were still figuring everything out.

He’d been responding to the dozens of missed calls and text messages clogging up his inbox when Barbara had sent him the link to the post.

Bart, Stephanie, and Cass had been flitting around, but all of the shoddy, obviously-taken-from-a-cell phone pictures featured Kai in Tim or Kon’s arms, Tim or Kon loading diapers and fish crackers into a cart, Tim handing his credit card over to the cashier, Tim and Kon and Kai, and Kon and Kai, and Kai and Tim-

Just enough evidence to raise some questions.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag,” Kon said, dropping a tiny pair of folded pants onto the duvet.

“Not necessarily,” Tim replied. “There are a lot of potential explanations we could give to make this go away.”

Selfishly, Tim was glad Dick had had to go back to Bludhaven for work, otherwise the rumors probably would have spread to inquiring whether Dick Grayson took after his adoptive father in producing bastard children.

“Do you want to?” Kon asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Make this go away?”

Tim chewed on his lip.

Did he? Tim didn’t want Kai growing up under the scrutiny of the public eye like the rest of them had. And all the people who really mattered already knew the truth about Kai. It would be easier to lie and deny, or at the very least, put off dealing with the situation for a while.

But Tim also wanted a real life with a real family. He didn’t want to treat his son like a dirty little secret. He didn’t want to have to worry about what the gossip rags might say every time he took his kid to the park. 

Kai was his, and he didn’t want anyone else thinking otherwise.

“No,” Tim finally said. “I don’t want to make this go away.”

He picked up his phone and began drafting an email.

New Message

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Press Conference Regarding Newest Member of Wayne Family

Mx. Cavanaugh,

I am contacting you in regards to recent rumors of an infant belonging to myself and/or my partner, Conner Kent. I can confirm

***

“-that there is not only one, but two new additions to the Wayne family.”

The reporters packing the conference room from wall to wall shifted and murmured restlessly. Another camera flash went off and Kai fussed in his lap. Unfortunately, Kon had discovered that his son’s amiable nature did not extend to being stuffed in a toddler sized tux and touted out for the press. Tragic considering how freakin’ adorable he looked with his teeny tiny pocket square.

“Although we’ve never made our relationship official to the public,” Tim continued, unruffled by all the sharks sniffing out blood in the water, “I’m sure many of you have suspected it for well over a year now. It might seem obvious at this point, but I can confirm those suspicions are correct. Conner Kent and I are, and have been for quite some time, in a serious relationship. In fact-” Tim turned his head to look at Kon, and his gaze felt a thousand times more intense than the dozens of beady eyes picking him apart. “-I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with him.”

A chorus of awww! s blew through the room like a warm wind. More clicks and shutters built a static in the background.

Kai of course chose that moment to make an unhappy noise, drawing Kon’s attention.

He shushed him gently, turning Kai around in his lap away from the reporters, and cupping the side of his face, in part to shield him from the assault of bright lights. Kai settled and leaned into the touch, blinking up at Kon with his big blue eyes, and the action was so entirely Tim that it punched the air out of his lungs.

They might have been sitting in a conference room spinning tall tales about an imaginary biological mother for the tabloids to eat up, but no story could change the fact that Tim and Kon were Kai’s parents, 100%.

“But moving on to the person at this table you’re all actually interested in,” Tim went on, tone flawlessly playful, “Members of the press, It is my great pleasure to introduce the newest addition to the family: Kai.”

All eyes turned to the baby trying to hide himself in Kon’s suit jacket.

“Kai here is Mr. Kent’s biological son, the product of a one night stand from before the two of us were in an exclusive relationship. Mr. Kent wasn’t informed of Kai’s existence until two months ago, when his biological mother sought Mr. Kent out. She revealed that she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and wanted Conner to take in Kai so he wouldn’t be left to the mercy of the foster care system. She has since passed, and out of respect for her grieving loved ones, no further personal information will be given about her.”

The scratching of pens skittered through the rows of onlookers.

“Mr. Kent is now the legal guardian of Kai. As for me, well, I already consider him my son. And I have every intention of formally adopting him when the time is right. We will now be taking questions.”

The room exploded.

“Mr. Drake-!”

“Mr. Kent-!”

“-are you feeling about-”

“What would you say in response-”

“-will Kai be-”

Tim simply raised his hand, wordlessly calling for quiet. Arms stretched up towards the ceiling in a forest of frantic appeals for the chance to interrogate them. Tim pointed to a woman in a pantsuit indistinguishable from all the others.

“Mr. Kent-”

Kon’s head snapped up, shoulders straightening at the attention.

“How have the rest of the Waynes reacted to the discovery of your son?”

“Umm, they’ve all been great.” There was a moment of awkward silence before Kon realized he should probably elaborate on that. “Uh, everyone has been…nothing but supportive. I mean, I’ve known the Waynes for years now, so they’re basically already family. Besides,” Kon peeled back the lapel of his jacket a bit, exposing Kai’s feathery curls, “Who could resist this face?”

That won him a few endeared chuckles from the audience. Kon released the breath he’d been unconsciously holding.

Kon: 1

Journalists: 0

The hands went back up and Tim pointed at another random person.

“Mr. Drake, given what you’ve said about Mr. Kent’s and your relationship, is it safe to assume we’ll be hearing wedding bells soon?”

Tim leaned forward, giving the crowd an impish grin. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see if you get an invitation in the mail.”

Kon’s heart skipped a beat. Sure, Tim had said he planned to spend the rest of his life with him 2 minutes ago, and sure Kon had made it pretty clear he intended on tying the knot at some point or another, and sure, they were raising a child together, but it still made his stomach flutter to hear it alluded to, and in front of so many witnesses.

He didn’t have time to process it before the next question came.

“Mr. Kent, why didn’t the family members of your son’s late biological mother take over guardianship of Kai? And how do they feel about your relationship with such a high profile public figure?”

“Umm…” He looked at Tim, at a loss for how to respond to that.

“As I said before,” Tim came to his rescue, “No personal information about the other parties involved will be provided, out of respect for their privacy. I will add that no other relatives were in a position to take custody of Kai and therefore Mr. Kent is the sole legal guardian.”

Hands shot up like fireworks. The long-suffering sigh that Tim breathed out was only audible to Kon.

One voice rose above the clamor. “Mr. Drake! Is this development related to your recent sabbatical from Wayne Enterprises?”

“Yes, I decided to take some time away to focus on the people that matter most to me. Bruce Wayne stepped up in my absence, but now that I’ve returned, I plan to resume my position as CEO of Wayne Enterprises.”

“Mr. Drake! What would you say to those who might call your recent behavior reckless and premature?”

Kai wiggled in his lap, agitated. He wondered if Kai could pick up on Tim’s stress the way that Kon could. 

Tim took a breath.

“From the moment I took over control of Wayne Enterprises following my adoptive father’s presumed death, many have called into question my dependability, credibility, and decision making skills. And for good reason! I’d be concerned if the other board members, and members of the public, weren’t at least a little bit wary of a teenage high school dropout leading one of the largest conglomerates on the east coast. Furthermore, I understand why some might be wary about an unmarried twenty year old committing to adopting a baby. But I can assure you, one thing I have never been is reckless. There is no decision I have ever made regarding my family or my company that has not been painstakingly deliberated. This is not a commitment I would have made if I hadn’t considered every possible way it could go wrong, and prepared for those possibilities.

“Now, I don’t expect everyone to just take my word on that. All I ask for is the opportunity to prove that I can be relied on. As CEO…and as a father.”

Tim's eyes fell to where Kai laid half asleep against Kon’s stomach. He reached out and rested his hand on a teeny tiny leg. Kai blinked his big eyes open and squirmed, reaching out for Tim. Obligingly, Kon passed him over into Tim’s waiting arms. Tim held him close and dropped a kiss onto the top of his head. Dozens of people looked on, but not one bit of it was for their viewing pleasure.

The flurry of shutters clicking reminded Kon of the hum of cicadas in the summer.

“Plus,” Tim added after a moment, “If I ever do find myself in over my head, I have the former CEO and Gotham’s foremost expert on adopting strays on speed dial.” A scattering of laughter followed that comment. “Now, if you'll excuse us, I think it’s naptime.”

Tim rose to his feet, Kai in tow, and Kon followed suit. 

All the reporters jumped up, clambering for another comment, but the three of them kept walking.

They had naps to take.

K(?)-0

Log 001: In the relocation, I have discovered an embryo from early KE cloning trials that has somehow, despite all odds, managed to survive. Quick analysis indicates that it may have entered some kind of stasis or altered hibernation to avoid cellular decay. Curiously, this persistent little embryo is one of only 11 experiments in which my own DNA was combined with that of KE to attempt to stabilize it. To the best of my knowledge, none of the others have survived.

K-0

Log 002: Attempts to study the embryo have disrupted it’s delicate state of equilibrium and resulted in rapid degeneration. Odds that it will survive longer than a few more hours are low.

K-0

Log 003: SUBJECT: DECEASED

K-1

Log 001: I’ve decided to continue researching the phenomena present in K-0. Its ability to self regulate was unique and has vast potential for treatment of degenerative diseases. I’ve never seen anything like it. I made something…new. And I want to do it again.

K-7

Log 006: Out of control cell reproduction present on the secondary lobe, identical to cancerous cells.

SUBJECT: TERMINATED

K-12

Log 012: Failure to thrive in subject. If growth halts at any point in the process, chances are low it will ever develop into a self-sufficient organism.

SUBJECT: TERMINATED

K-20

Log 017: An unidentified mutation compromised the subjects ability to process nutrients. It died while I was asleep. I don’t know when it started feeling so important to be there when they die.

SUBJECT: DECEASED

K-21

Log 001: After a short hiatus, I have resumed this project. At some point around K-8’s termination my goals strayed from their origins. I’m still not sure what the goal is, but this experiment has yielded valuable data and I have no doubt pursuing it further will yield more. Additionally, subject JkD has recently been experiencing some mild cognitive disorder, exhibiting short term memory loss, mood swings, and hot/cold flashes. None of the others have ever experienced anything similar to this past the middle stages of development in vitro. The K project might hold the answers I need to help him.

K-41

Log 049: It’s a fetus. I don’t know how I’ve missed that for the past several weeks. While the final forms of clones can be made to almost perfectly mirror their donors, their early stages of development are vastly different from that of a natural born organism. I guess I’ve been distracted with subject JkD. Or maybe I’ve just been looking at it too closely, not observing the bigger picture. Rookie mistake. So far, it seems to be healthy and growing normally as per natural born human standards. In vivo, a doctor would probably say K-41 is about 6 weeks old. I think I made an oopsie baby.

K-41

Log 057: It’s a boy!

K-41

Log 313: I think I fucked up. I mean, the ast sevral years of my life have been one fuck up after another just a constamt string of irreparable choices but holy fuck. He’s supposed to come out of suspension stomorrow. Hes gonna be born. How can i raise a kid? Im a mess this whole thing is a maess i wish bruce was here i wish anyone was here but now theyre all looking to me for the answers. I just didnt want to be alone anymore and i wanted to bring them back but it wasnt them and i became obsessed with this and now im going to be a father. What did i do what did i do what did i do wh

K-41

Log 315: 8 lbs. 6 oz. Black hair. Head circumference: 35 cm. Blood type: KY+

He has Kon’s eyes.

BW-0

Log 002: I’ve spent the past 4 years of my life dedicating nearly every day to the study and production of clones. I know what they look like from the inside out, everything from haploid cells to diploid cells to mitosis and all the way to an independent organism. I know clones. And I know that the thing in Bruce’s grave is one. I don’t know who put it there or when. Considering that Bruce’s real body isn’t in the casket, I have to wonder if it’s possible that Bruce might not be dead at all.

Chapter Text

The weather was significantly nicer in Tim’s neighborhood than what Bruce was used to. Despite having been in the area for close to half an hour, it still felt like his eyes were adjusting to all the light, though he was uncertain whether that was because the mainland was actually that much nicer than the island or if the unique gloom of Gotham just made everywhere else seem excessively sunny in comparison.

Or it might have just been the general atmosphere in the house that made the weather seem so genial.

Laughter and chatting voices carried in from the backyard all the way to where Bruce was planted in the living room. Just around the corner, the patio doors had been thrown open, and friends and family milled about salivating at the smell of grilled meat and cooing over the little ones.

Kai wasn’t the only kid around, though he was the youngest. A pair of rambunctious five year old twins that belonged to one of Tim’s old friends were running around. Lian had arrived with Jason and Roy bearing a small stack of her old, well-loved children's books as a housewarming gift.

Not that the house needed much warming; despite the young family having only moved in a couple weeks previously, it already felt cozy and lived in. Giant floor-to-ceiling windows poured natural light into all the nooks and crannies, colorful toys were piled into a basket by the TV, every outlet, table corner, and cabinet had been baby-proofed. There was even a mysterious stain already set into the carpet by the coffee table.

It was so different from the manor. Instead of antiques and ornate carvings there were plush rugs and crocheted blankets. Instead of fine china and wood paneling, there was pastel paint and plastic cutlery. Wayne Manor stood imposing on the top of a hill whereas the Wayne-Kent household was tucked into a grove of trees far back from the road, almost impossible to find if you didn’t already know where it was.

Where the manor was dark and opulent and old-fashioned, this place was luminous and welcoming and new.

It was a home.

The proof of that sat a foot from Bruce’s face on the mantel; a cluster of photographs cluttering the shelf. Digital prints, polaroids, and developed film alike stood side by side, illustrating the intimate experiences of a young family.

A trilogy of pictures were the farthest on the left; the first showing Conner laying on his back on the floor, Kai held above him, both grinning at each other; in the next, Kai had been tossed up, caught on camera in midair shrieking in delight while Conner’s arms stretched up to catch him; in the last, Kai was back in Conner’s arms and both were looking just past the camera, having caught their onlooker. Another photo showed the two at the Gotham City Farmer’s Market, Kai perched upon Conner’s shoulders.

Most of the photos were of Kai and Conner, courtesy of Tim’s proclivity for hiding behind the camera, but there were a handful that had been taken by Conner which was apparent by their noticeably lower quality. Those were the most recent. Tim sat in his home office pointing at his computer screen, caught mid word explaining something no doubt incomprehensibly advanced to the toddler in his lap. A glittery frame surrounded an image of Tim and Kai curled up in an armchair, both passed out cold with a picture book abandoned halfway through.

There was one photograph that stood out from the candid moments, a clipping from a magazine printed the morning after the press conference where Kai had his first and only public appearance. In it, the trio were dressed in matching suits, Conner with a lopsided grin while Tim and Kai wore identical serious expressions.

It was strange to think that from there on out, more pictures would be taken in the new house than in the one Bruce had raised his family in. Almost all of his birds had left the nest.

The soft pad of footsteps coaxed Bruce from his contemplation.

“Avoiding social interaction?” Tim teased, coming to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Bruce.

“Avoiding all the sunshine,” Bruce replied. “I don’t know how you stand it.”

“Perils of living with solar-powered aliens. You wouldn’t believe how much sunscreen I go through.”

“Hm.” Bruce couldn’t help but smile as he caught sight of a polaroid of Kai clutching a whisk with flour smudges over his chubby cheeks. ‘ Baby’s First Muffin Baking Lesson,’ it was labeled.

“Have you seen the rest of the house? You know, now that there’s actual furniture and stuff,” Tim asked.

“I have. It’s lovely.”

It really was. The kitchen had been modified to Alfred’s recommendations. There was a small base of operations in the basement, designed more for research than active duty. The master bedroom and Kai’s bedroom were located on the second floor, along with two spare rooms.

Room to grow, Tim had said back when they first saw it.

“If only it wasn’t so far away,” Bruce added after a moment.

Tim bumped their shoulders together, and when he spoke, Bruce could hear the smile in his voice. “Stop being dramatic, it’s half an hour from Bristol. And we literally work in the same office.”

“Hn. Is Conner going back to school at the start of the semester?”

“He hasn’t decided yet. He’s thinking about just taking a couple classes online so he can stay home with Kai. Takes care of the whole ‘what if my kid starts exhibiting superpowers in the middle of daycare’ conundrum.”

“Well, if you ever need someone who’s prepared for that to watch Kai during the day, you’ve got plenty of options,” Bruce pointed out.

Tim snorted. “No kidding. I’m gonna have to set my baby up on a timeshare so everyone gets a piece.”

Before Bruce could request partial ownership in that timeshare agreement, a knock on the nearby window captured their attention.

On the other side of the glass, Dick stood waving his arms around, pointing at something out of their line of sight, and shouting inaudibly.

“I think he wants us to go outside,” Tim observed, unhurried.

Dick made more exaggerated pointing motions.

“Well, I guess we shouldn’t keep him waiting then.”

Side by side, they made their way through the house at a leisurely pace.

“Damian’s been complaining about you patrolling less lately,” Tim commented. There was no accusation or concern in his tone, only friendly curiosity.

“He complains to you about me?” Bruce couldn’t help but ask.

“We all complain to each other about you.”

“Hmph. What can I say? I’m getting too old to run around like I used to. Haven’t you heard? I’m a grandfather now.”

Tim snorted as they passed through the patio doors. “Careful, B. People might think you’re going soft.”

The chatting and laughing and sizzling swelled to a comforting roar. Everyone who wasn’t otherwise occupied was there, a big, beautiful, patchwork quilt of a family. Stephanie and Bart sat in the grass playing peekaboo with Kai while Titus frolicked around them. Lian sat in Jason’s lap weaving a flower crown while Damian offered various botanical supplies. Roy was nearby being used as a human jungle gym by the twins while a few of Tim’s friends laughed at him. Helena and Harper were heckling Conner about his cliche Kiss the Cook apron. Cass and Kate were hauling deck chairs around at Alfred’s instruction. Lois, Clark, and Jon were en route. Even Selina was there, sipping a margarita with Barbara under the awning.

More were likely to show up at some point. The West clan, a few members of the Titans, the whole Fox family.

Bruce wondered when he’d gone from being completely and totally alone to having enough friends and family to fill a stadium.

“Tim! Kon!” From across the yard, Roy lifted one child laden arm and waved them over. “C’mere! I’ve got something for you! Jay! Get the thing!”

Several attendees migrated over, waiting to see what the fuss was about.

Tim sighed, planting himself in front of the red head. “Roy, I swear, if you brought another gift to the gathering where we specifically requested no gifts, I’m-”

“Okay, first of all,” Roy interrupted, heaving one of the twins into the waiting arms of one of Tim’s friends - Anita, Bruce recalled - before continuing, “The books were a gift from Lian, not me an’ Jay, so that doesn’t count. Second, you’re gonna like this one.”

“What’s all the fuss about?” Kon asked, padding over, spatula in hand.

“Go get your baby,” Roy ordered.

Conner shot Tim a skeptical look before turning around and shouting, “Steph! Bring Kai over here!”

Once everyone was properly assembled, including Jason with an elephant patterned gift bag in hand, Roy addressed Kon and Tim. “Okay. Open it.”

Conner accepted the gift bag and pushed the tissue paper aside to grab the contents and reveal-

A teeny tiny toddler sized leather jacket that was a perfect replica of Conner’s.

“Oh. My. God,” Conner said.

“Oh my god,” Tim echoed.

“Put it on ‘im!” Roy insisted, taking Kai from Stephanie and approaching Tim.

With assistance from three different people, they managed to get the thing on Kai, and Bruce had to admit - it was adorable. 

“Oh, he’s so cute I just want to eat him,” Dick exclaimed.

Tim flapped his hands like he just couldn’t contain whatever emotion he was feeling. “Oh my god. I have to go get my camera!” Then he turned and fled back to the house at full speed.

“Grab my jacket too so we can match!” Conner called after him, tugging at the little lapels on Kai’s jacket.

Everybody laughed and cooed and pulled out their phones for pictures too. There was nothing but pure joy all around them. 

It had been 134 days since his son had come home, bringing Bruce’s grandson with him.

The sun was warm and the clouds were fluffy. The breeze was free of pollution or harshness. His family was happy and healthy and whole.

It was a beautiful day.