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Hospitals scared Jason. The reeked of death and brokenness. But he was here. He wasn’t hurt and he wasn’t here to see Dick or Bruce, but to bring his little brother home. Just two weeks earlier, Tim Drake was found home alone, passed out from a fever way too high for an eleven year old, and mumbling in pain. The school had called the cops and CPS after no one could contact Mr. or Mrs. Drake and they realized that the nanny that they had on file had actually been fired two weeks into the school year, seven months earlier. Tim was swept away in a flurry of cops and ambulances and social workers, only to be released into a foster home until the problems with his parents were resolved. Two days later, someone finally managed to get in contact with the Drakes and they insisted on finishing the last day of their dig before returning home. Hospital staff, cops and citizens alike were shocked when the story broke loose. To the outside world, the Drake’s looked like model citizens. But their true colors were revealed and unfortunately the young Tim Drake was swept up in the fallout. For weeks, reporters hounded the hospital, not leaving until Bruce Wayne stepped up and decided to foster Timothy Drake once he was discharged. Reporters finally left once money was thrown at the problem.
Which brings Jason to now. He was at the hospital, looking sorely out of place with his giant muscular body. If the hospital staff knew he was Red Hood, they would probably glare and spit at him for doubling their workload by pointlessly injuring any petty criminal in order to control his territory. As he walked through the halls, intent on bringing his newest little brother home, he frowned and hunched in on himself at the sterile white walls.
He found Tim Drake by his fathers bedside, where he had refused to leave for the last week and a half. On the way home from their archeological dig in Peru, the Drakes plane was hijacked and the two CEOs of Drake Industries were taken hostage. Batman was not able to rescue them in time and Janet Drake died before he got there and Jack Drake had been in a coma ever since. Jason arrived at the room where Jack Drake remained. Even though Jack was not a good dad, Tim tried defending him and his actions, but even Jason could see that his excuses for the man's behavior were running thin. As Jason stood outside the door, he heard talking which was odd since Jack was comatose and Tim had been mute since Bruce had taken him home and broken the news of his mothers death and his fathers injuries.
Jason pressed closer to the door in order to hear better. The voice was not one he recognized and he quietly opened the door in order to peek inside. Timothy Drake was sitting in a hospital chair leaning onto the bed where his father laid. The young boy held Jack’s hand and talked to him like he was still awake. “Even though you are right next to me, it still feels like you're miles away. Only this time it's not Peru or Germany or some other part of the world. Please wake up dad. I know I have been a bad son and I was supposed to take care of myself, and I will accept my punishment, just please wake up.” As if Jack heard the boy, the machines started to beep and go crazy. The elder Drake was flatlining. “Dad? Dad?! DAD?! NONONONO! Dad, please don’t leave me.” Tim cried and tried to hug his father. Nurses and doctors rushed in and tried to move past Tim who was clinging to his last parent. Jason rushed in to help and pulled Tim out of the room, giving the nurses space to work.
As Jason held the boy close in the hall and listened to his cries, Jason began to gently sing. He sang a Romani lullaby that Dick had sung for him and that his mother had sung for him. After a while Tim calmed down and fell asleep, curled up in Jason’s arms.
The doctor came out to the waiting room twenty minutes later and found them. “Unfortunately Jack Drakes injuries were to severe and we were not able to save him. I will explain more of this to Timothy with his social worker after I call her.” Jason nodded and told the doctor he would call Bruce who had wanted to be there but couldn't because of a meeting with CPS over Tim’s situation. Jason made the decision to not wake the young boy in his arms and instead decided to text bruce and dick, making sure that Tim stayed asleep. About twenty minutes later both Dick and Bruce rushed into the hospital, frantically looking around for the younger boys. Once they spotted them, they ran over and stopped once they saw that tim was asleep.
The three decided to tell Tim before the social worker arrived that way he knew that he would still have a home with the Wayne’s. Dick shook Tim awake and waited for the young boy to look up at them. Once he realized what had happened, he sat up quickly, apologizing for falling asleep.
“Timmy, it’s ok. Calm down. I’m glad that you got some sleep, you haven’t had enough lately. But there is something we need to talk about.” Tim stiffened up in worry, anxious that he had done something wrong. “You did nothing wrong sweetheart. It’s about your dad,” Bruce took the pause in his words to pull Tim close. “Unfortunately, his injuries were to great and he passed away. I am so sorry. But please know that you will always have a home with us. Ok?” Bruce held Tim and watched as the words registered themselves into Tim’s brain.
“He’s…dead?” Tim asked cautiously.
Bruce nodded and hugged Tim. “But it is going to be ok, we will be with you through everything.”
Tim nodded, silent tears slipping down his cheeks. “I can’t believe that the one time they actually come home for me, they die. I killed them. I killed my parents.” Tim started to become frantic and tossing and turning and doing anything he could to get out of the eldest Wayne’s grip. Eventually panicked squirming turned into hysterical screaming as Tim desperately tried to get away. He begged and pleaded, promising he didn’t mean to kill his parents. After a few moments of listening to Tim scream, a nurse ran out with a sedative and with Bruce’s permission, slipped it into his neck. The screams died down to whimpers and the whimpers to soft hitches in his breath. And it was in that perfect moment that Tim’s social worker walked in. Jason picked up the listless teen and carried him to an empty hospital bed the nurse who gave them the sedative directed him to.
Bruce met with the social workers regarding Tim’s living situation and ended up getting permission to take the new orphan home. After leaving the meeting, Bruce picked up Dick, Jason and Tim who was still asleep on his way out and corralled them out to the car. As Bruce got into the car, he looked into the rear view mirror at his boys in the back. One was passed out, resting in the arms of his older brother. The eldest of the three was curled protectively around his two little brothers, making Bruce smile at the care that they have for each other. And the middle child, the prodigal son, holding his baby brother close, wiping the tears from his pale face. Bruce smiled one last time at the three boys and drove off. They had lots to do within the next few days in order to keep Tim with them.