Chapter Text
The hallway in the cramped apartment building was entirely empty, devoid of any decorations or color to make the sad, peeling beige walls more bearable to walk through. No one else seemed to be up at 5 a.m. alongside Tim, leaving him to scan the numbers on the doors in silence as he passed, one hand thumbing over two nearly identical bands looped through a chain around his neck.
The only sound in the hall was the quiet jingle every time his keys, scuffed and grimy things, clanked against one another. The were clenched between his hand that swung at his side, clammy palms preventing them from making too much noise beyond an occasionally muffled ring. He couldn’t decide if he preferred the lack of noice or not.
It was an effort not to cringe when he finally reached the door labeled 305. There was some kind of stain on the bottom corner of the door, with paint cracked and split all over the door itself. He found himself staring silently, taking it in and wondering if he would ever gather the energy it would take to clean it up.
A deep, shaky breath pulled its way out of his lungs before he finally moved, shoving the key into the lock and twisting it with a bit of effort to get the door to swing open.
The interior of the apartment was as sad as the outside. Peeling paint, warped flooring, and spotted stains covering both in the small corners of the room.
His shoulders drooped as he stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him with a solid thud. The echo of his footsteps in the empty room were unsettlingly loud, a horrible contrast from the silent footfall against carpet he had managed in the hall. It did nothing to ease the tension that had been slowly carving itself into his spine ever since he grabbed the keys from the building manager last night.
This was a new start. An abrupt, very new start for him. Despite the uncomfortable uncertainty around him, he still wanted to believe this was for the best.
The small duffle he had strapped over his shoulder slid down his arm and into the middle of the floor with little sound as he turned around on the balls of his feet, eyes glazing over the messy state of the apartment he would now be occupying. The main room was small, maybe enough to fit either a couch and coffee table, or a small dining table. The kitchen wasn’t much better, with no counter space, and even less storage space for whatever plates or cups he would eventually acquire. The open door leading to his bedroom revealed much the same as everywhere else as far as he could see, only in a much more compact than the main space.
A small, traitorous part of him mind mused that if Conner were here, he would cringing even more than Tim at the state of the place, probably already pulling out his phone to call Ma and Pa Kent to complain about the TLC they would have to do. Probably complaining to Tim about his lack of patience in trying to find somewhere new to live, saying how their house on the outskirts of Gotham was perfectly fine still-
He stamped that train of thought out as quickly as it came.
Frustration bubbled and died in his throat repeatedly as he looking around, his shoulders sagging in what felt like a mixture of defeat and exhaustion.
Tim could have chosen better. That went without a doubt. He could have spent more time vetting the offers, and more time touring the potential options he had. A large, stubborn part of him reared its ugly head despite that. He had had to get out of that house as soon as possible. Staying any longer than he already had would surely be Tim’s breaking point. Not to mention, the recent break out fiasco at Blackgate certainly hadn’t given him the time he could have taken to look in the first place.
That was only an excuse, though.
At least the rent would be cheap, a small single bedroom apartment in the Narrows was bound to be one of, if not the, cheapest option in Gotham. Tim wouldn’t be digging into any emergency savings accounts anytime soon, not that that had really been a concern for him in the first place.
Tim briefly considered what the others would think when the found out where he had moved.The thought of what the media would do when they found out the young CEO of Wayne Enterprises had not only moved from his comfortable home on the edges of the city, but moved into this mess of an apartment was certainly not a thought he wanted to entertain anytime soon. He was almost certain his families reaction wouldn’t be much better… Alfred would probably combust at the seams when he found out.
Tim shook the concern for later away, sliding down to sit next to his duffle with his legs crossed beneath him.
Sitting down, in the center of a dingy apartment on the floor all by himself was both a relief and a misery. It had been a long week of patrols going well into the morning, and a long week of trying to avoid talking about anything other than the breakout.
Tears were already beginning to sting at his eyes as he reached back up to the thin chain hanging from his neck, a hand closing gently around the bands.
His thumb ran along the larger of the two twin bands, a whirling mess of dread and sadness swelling in his throat as he pulled the pair away from his chest to look down at them.
Twin gold bands shone brightly beside one another, the disuse after being tucked away in little boxes since they had been purchased leaving them polished and free of any scratched or wear. Small grooves adorned both in elegant spirals and twists, his name buried within the swirls of the larger with Conners hidden on the smaller.
It was his own fault he was here, sitting alone on the floor of an empty apartment.
He could have gone to the manor, Dick had practically begged him to just stay for a day or two. Even Jason had messaged him, asking if he’d at least swing by the cave to get checked by Alfred after their long string of patrols. Yet, here he sat. Entirely alone in the small, cramped apartment he had impulsively began renting just that morning because even the thought of being around anyone that wasn’t him right now was unbearable.
If he had been faster, maybe he wouldn’t be here. He could have made it to that lone rooftop, he could have stopped Conner from being alone at the very least. Could have saved him, or been with him till the very end. It was cruel, yet fitting, that Tim was now more alone than he had ever been.
He wondered if fate was laughing at the cruel twist of irony.
Another shaky breathe, and Tim was looking up to stare at the ceiling, away from the bands still clutched in his hand.
It wasn’t going to do him any good dwelling on it, especially not here. He had done this for himself, to put distance between him at the sharp, stabbing guilt and grief that hung over his head every time he walked through their empty house. Tim still needed to order furniture, still needed to look into getting some new utensils and plates-
A short yet loud thud broke the silence of the dingy apartment, followed by a low, mumbled string of curses.
Tim jolted, his spine straightening in an instant as he looked in the direction of the sole room just down the hall. Surely that hadn’t been in the apartment? He hadn’t seen anyone when he walked in, and even if he hadn’t walked into the room he was almost certain he wouldn’t have missed a whole person occupying the space… Unless they had slipped through the window while he had been deep enough in thought to have no noticed?
He slowly slipped his feet back under himself, rising as silently as he could to stand as he kept his gaze locked onto the bedroom.
Just as he neared, leaning his torso over to peer just past the frame, the thud sounded again, just as loud and near as before. This time it was accompanied by a low, almost inaudible groan. The sound had Tim tensing up all over, completely stilling where he had been leaning moments prior.
There was no doubt in his mind that that was in the apartment, but how had someone gotten in without his notice? Even distracted, Tim was certain he would have heard the squealing door, or any of the window latches clicking open. Besides, Tim didn’t have anything around to steal yet, unless one counted the duffle bag under him, and that was something he was going to guard as fiercely ass his own life seeing as his laptop was in it. One of the very few things he had decided was important enough to bring with him when he left.
He slowly moved towards the open doorway, hearing nothing else until he was right beside it, the low, mumbled curses starting up again from whoever was on the other side.
The deeper cadence of the voice nearly had Tim’s shoulders relaxing, the sound tricking his brain into momentarily relaxing when it mistook it for a familiar voice.
Even grieving, he was upset that his mind had the audacity to mistake a strangers voice for Conners.
“You’d think being able to fly for nearly a decade would make this easier- Fuck!” The whispered-shout was a lot more clear this time than any of the previous mumbling.
This time, Tim couldn’t just write off the cadence of the strangers tone. It sounded exactly how Tim remembered Conner, and he couldn’t decide if it was some sort of sick coincidence, or his imagination as he finally moved into the door frame to look inside.
A robber would have been easier to handle than the mix of emotions that rose as quickly as a tsunami through his mind when Conner Kent appeared to be floating in the middle of his new bedroom, ghastly and nearly completely see-through, rubbing a hand across his forehead with the very same pout he remembered so fondly.