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It all started the fall after Timothy Jackson Drake’s ninth birthday. Or perhaps it would be smarter to say that it all started two years before the boy was even born. The day that Janet Drake, only a year into her marriage to Jack Drake, decided that she wanted to try for a child. Unable to say no to his new wife, and her stubborn personality, Jack agreed.

Their troubles started there. After months of trying and no changes to the barren outcome, they turned to the medical field. They both got tested for the known factors and in the end, they discovered that, while Janet was perfectly healthy, Jack had been rendered sterile by things that had happened in his earlier life.

The two were broken hearted to learn this, but their hope was revived when the doctor suggested the use of a sperm bank. Janet started to look into obtaining ‘the perfect match’ in order to be assured that the child she would have from the procedure would be healthy. She discovered a cozy little clinic in northern Montana, sequestered snugly on the border of Canada. She spent another couple of months in contact with the clinic until she was able to lock in an appointment that satisfied both Jack and the doctors at the clinic.

Online and over the phone the clinic had seemed like the best bet and at first, in person it had also passed both Drake’s suspicions. The procedure was quick, but it took a lot of talking and excuses for the clinic to release Janet to go home. In the end, the happy couple was given their donor’s basic health information and let go after being promised that the two would keep in contact as the pregnancy progressed.

Then the two flew back to Gotham and life continued until nine months later. Janet Drake gave birth to Timothy Drake, a beautiful baby boy with a dark head of hair and blue eyes that matched his mother’s. Even though they didn’t show it, both parents were relieved that the boy could pass easily as Jack’s son, since neither had wanted to admit needing help.

As Tim grew older and more curious of everything around him, Janet realized that she had liked the idea of a child and now that she had to be a mother, it wasn’t as appealing. It wasn’t hard for her to convince Jack to leave Tim with a nanny and resume their travels. It burned every time she left, because her son would just stare at her with a sad, knowing look. And little did they both know at the time, but when they eventually figured out their love for their son, it would be too late.

But enough of the backstory of the kid’s parents. We don’t care about them. They’re the typical ‘work before anything else’ types and don’t deserve Tim. Ahem, back to the story.

The weeks after Tim turned nine were filled with agony and the smell of sickness as the boy had come down with what seemed to be a late summer flu. Luckily his nanny had been present when he had first come down with the illness because his parents hadn’t even bothered to come home for his birthday this year. Tim had experienced that disappointment enough over his short life that he wasn’t mad about that. No, he was more upset with the fact that he couldn’t go out and explore with the brand-new camera his absent parents had sent him.

Tim barely remembered anything from those two weeks, other than wishing he wouldn’t wake up to another day of hacking out a lung. Then it was like a switch was flipped and one morning he was perfectly fine. He was covered in sweat like his fever had broken during the night, but his lungs sounded clear, and he could breathe evenly. He was still too young to realize that normally, a child coming out of a two weeklong flu would need time to readjust and regain strength. Instead, he felt ready to hit the roofs of Gotham’s nights.

The moment his nanny left him for the week, Tim calibrated his camera and slipped into some dark clothes and took off into the darkness of Gotham. He pulled out a small radio and a pair of headphones and scanned for mentions of the ones he wanted to photograph. He caught a small snippet of something happening at the Iceberg lounge and made his way there. He arrived at the tail end of the fight and made sure to turn his flash off as he took as many photos as he could of Batman and Robin.

Then he watched in shock as Robin completed a quadruple somersault and was blasted back into his memories.

‘Hey kiddo! I’ll dedicate this performance for you!’

‘Now introducing! THE FLYING GRAYSONS! The only humans in the world to ever complete their signature QUADRUPLE SOMERSAULT!’

‘Oh my god! Jack! Cover his eyes!’

Tim shook himself out of the flashback and pressed himself into the shadows of the water tower on the roof. He stared at the camera in his hands and tried to calm himself down. His mind worked overtime and clicked puzzle pieces together. He quickly slipped his camera back in its bag and took off towards the safety of his home. He was frazzled enough that he slipped at one point and felt a searing he shoot through his calf, but the pain faded as adrenaline raced through his veins and he didn’t stop to think about it until he was in his room.

He looked down at his ripped pant leg and winced when he saw the blood around the tear. He grabbed his med kit from under his bed and opened it before pulling his pant leg up, only to freeze. He grabbed a wet towel and wiped the blood away, expecting to feel pain from a wound that should be there. Instead, he cleaned the red away from smooth and unmarked skin. He sucked in a breath as his world halted around him.

He had learned three things that night. The first being that Robin had completed a flawless quad-somersault, which meant that he was Dick Grayson. The second followed the first, because if Robin was Dick, then Batman had to be Bruce Wayne. And the third, and most terrible discovery, especially for a kid growing up in Gotham, was that he was a Meta.

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Tim stared at the results on the blood test he had snuck through Drake Industries in confusion. It had taken him a couple of months of laying low and teaching himself how to hack well enough to get into the systems of his parents’ company. But once he was comfortable enough with his abilities, he finagled a blood test to confirm the presence of the meta gene in his DNA.

But the paper in his hands showed no presence of any such gene. Which, for all intents and purposes, meant he wasn’t a Meta. But that didn’t explain how he was able to heal from a cut that should have needed stitches in the time he had made it home. Or the tapetum lucidum in his eyes, along with the heightened senses. He tossed the paper in the fireplace and headed to his computer, eager to get to the bottom of the newest mystery. As he searched, he came across multiple articles by an anthropologist who had cross studied in genetics. He skimmed through the man’s articles and realized that the man’s ‘theories’ of mutations were true. In one of the articles the man, a Professor Charles Xavier, wrote that while the Meta gene could be documented and traced through a lineage until an ancestor that was affected by an incident from an outside means, the ‘X’ gene popped up in those with no outside interference.

Meaning that, according to the professor, Metas were the results of a bloodline being enhanced by the likes of aliens, like Superman; gods, like Wonder Woman; or by scientific mishaps, like the Flash. Those that possessed the ‘X’ genome instead, were considered mutants, or the result of the world’s natural progression.

As he read, Tim realized that the biggest reason he hadn’t heard about mutants was because, other than the articles, most information had been scrubbed from the internet or blocked from being seen by the average person. He rubbed his knuckles to ease the stiffness that had come from typing and shut the computer down.

In a fit of childishness, that would have gotten him scolded if he hadn’t been home alone, Tim ran to his room and ducked under his covers. He wanted nothing more than to go back to when he was normal. Anger flushed through him, and he punched his pillow only to gasp in shock as feathers exploded everywhere. He looked down at his hands and stared in shocked horror at the gore-covered bone spike that was protruding from in between the knuckles of his ring finger and middle finger.

As he watched it retracted and he felt it nestle next to his bones and the wound it had caused healed instantly. He stared at his hands in shock and squeezed his hands into fists only to jerk back in shock as the spike sprouted out in a flash. He looked at them with a curious gleam in his eyes and noticed that they were more like claws than simple spikes. He looked at one and with a small thought it retracted, and he poked the other one with his now free hand.

He yelped slightly as it sliced through the skin on his finger. He stuck the bloody finger in his mouth and felt it heal. He retracted the other claw and put his head in his hands. He was only nine years old, the weird smart kid at school and now a freak of nature. He glared at his knees and came to a decision.

(>>>)

Tim spent the next two and a half years learning the ins and outs of his new abilities and how to hide them. He learned that with enough willpower he could slow his healing to a more normal level that could be explained away with normal child quickness. Which helped keep inquiries down when he started self-defense courses. He also sped through his studies and kept going out to stalk the vigilantes of Gotham while jumping grades in school. He watched in interest as Dick Grayson became Nightwing after a fight with Batman and left Gotham. He also watched as Bruce Wayne gained another ward in the form of Jason Todd.

One of his worse discoveries during that time was when his parents sat him down and explained that Jack wasn’t his biological father. They only told him this news because they thought he was old enough and due to his advancement in school, mature enough to understand. It just added another mystery that was his genetic makeup. He did ask them if they had the profile of the donor they used and even with the file in hand it didn’t help. The only name that was on the paper was ‘Subject X’ and basic physical information. It told him a lot and nothing at all. And when he looked into the clinic they had used it had vanished, as if it had never existed. Even any sign of them on the web had been scrubbed, so he hit another dead end.

He spent the rest of his time before he turned thirteen following the newest Robin and watching Batman change from dark and brooding to a loving father that blessed his Robin with small smiles. He took more pictures of Jason Todd as Robin than he ever did of Dick Grayson. But while he spent most of his time in Gotham following the dynamic duo, he also made visits to Bludhaven to take pictures of Nightwing in action. He was also able to catch a very rare photo of the three of them being civil and acting like a family, which was few and far between.

Then the worse thing happened a few months before he could turn thirteen. The Joker killed the second Robin and Gotham started to descend into madness as rage overshadowed the Dark Knight. As Tim watched Bruce fall further and further into his self-destructive spiral, he concluded that no one else was going to help the man. So, in all his soon-to-be teenage wisdom, he decided that it had to be him.

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It took months of Tim stalking the big bad Bat and heckling him to get help, and a couple of sporadic visits to Bludhaven to basically harass Nightwing into coming back to Gotham. Neither man was listening to him. He ended up at the Wayne manor most nights in order to help Alfred with things around the mansion and wait for Bruce to show back up for another lecture from Tim. That was most nights, but not this time.

This time, the moment Tim crawled through the window and snuck his way down to the Batcave, which he had found by both casing the house and following his nose to notice that the clock was a passageway, Alfred was flitting about in as close to panic as the unflappable Brit could get. Tim rushed over to the desk and looked over the readings as Alfred explained what was going on.

Apparently, Batman had been caught by Two-Face and even though Nightwing had attempted to rescue him, the first boy wonder had been caught in the same trap as Batman. Tim was trying to figure out a way to save both men before time ran out when a bundle of clothes was pushed into his hands. He looked at the Robin colors in his hands and then up at Alfred. The butler had a grim look on his face as he held his hand on top of the suit.

“They need you, Master Tim. And as much as I do not want to see another child in that suit, I know that you will do it justice. Even if Master Bruce does not want to see it.” The British man said with a slight waver in his otherwise steady voice.

Tim took a deep breath in and quickly went to change. As he stepped back out, Alfred motioned to a tray that held a utility belt. Tim slipped it on and then picked the mask up before plastering it to his face and looking at a suddenly teary-eyed Alfred. The other man shook his head and led the boy to the Bat Mobile.

“I’ve programed it to take you near the building, after that I will lead you via earpiece to the others.” He explained and Tim steeled himself a got into the car.

(>>>)

Tim bit back a curse as he dodged the attack from the taller woman. If he had known what was in store for him while he was insisting Batman needed a Robin, he would have never continued his pursuit. He rolled under the next sweep of the other’s weapon. When asked later on in life how he’d been taken under the wings of Lady Shiva, he’d sarcastically say that it was forcibly.

He had been sent away from Gotham by Batman in order to train and while he was helping a DEA officer fight off the gang headed by King Snake, he had somehow garnered Shiva’s attention. Which considering the woman was one of the top assassins in the world, was terrifying in itself. That was before she had grabbed his chin and stared at his features before a frightening smile spread over her lips.

It was then she whipped a knife out of hiding and sliced his arm open. The attack was startling enough that the wound closed before Tim could slow it. He gripped his arm in fear as he stared up at her smirking visage. She then told him something he didn’t see coming. Apparently, she knew his biological father. He couldn’t stop himself from asking and all he received in return was a promise to tell him if he could defeat her.

She trained him to the best of her abilities and forced him to learn how to fight with his claws. Though the training with his claws was agonizing, seeing as though they hurt every time that he let them out. There was also the ‘test’ that Shiva performed by breaking his claws off when he got them stuck while fighting her. From what he could remember from after his brain went fuzzy and his instincts took over, he had attacked Shiva in a rage, and she had to knock him out.

By the end of his tenure as her student he had become proficient in bo-justu and was able to ignore the pain of letting out his claws. He had also managed to beat Shiva in an all-out fight, attacking with everything she had taught him and moves that he had improvised. In the end he floored her and had his bo across her chest, one fist pressing against her throat and the other under her chest. He let his claws out a bit to emphasize the fact that he could kill her if he wanted to.

She was slightly disappointed in his seeming unwillingness to kill but she nodded her acceptance of defeat. She then told him that she had pulled some strings to get him trained by another efficient instructor. The only problem was that he would have to leave behind the Robin colors and wear a different mask. When he asked her who she was passing him off to, she just gave him a sinister smile as she forced him into a all-black ensemble. She also handed his a plain black domino and he plastered it on with a quick hand.

“Let me just say that if you survive then I will definitely owe you the identity of your father.” Shiva said before leading him onto a helicopter. It was a very tempting bait that she had dangled in front of him, and he couldn’t find a reason to say no. Surely by now Batman knew who he was training with and if he had a problem with it, he would have retrieved Tim. What he didn’t know was that Bruce was still under the impression that Tim was still training under his former teacher, and not off gallivanting as Shiva’s apprentice.

Tim pulled at his sleeve a bit as the aircraft landed. Once off the helicopter he noticed the red insignia on the clothes of those that met them at the pad. He recognized the symbol but was stumped for half a second about the origin. As it clicked in his head his ears caught the sound of heavy bootsteps, the left side sounding heavier. He looked up, carefully hiding his horror as he stared at the now identified soldiers.

Shiva placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear with a cruel smile, “Little bird, meet the Winter Soldier. He’ll take over your training from here.” She must have felt the stiffness in his shoulders, and she reassured him that the Soldier was only there to train him, and the HYDRA troopers knew better than to cross her. And be assured, if they tried anything against her apprentice, it would spell death for them.

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Tim spent the next month and a half pushed to the absolute limits of what he was physically capable of, and then further. If he had been anyone else, he would have lost track of time due to the harsh training. He kept quiet for the most part and only answered in short sentences when asked questions directly, not wanting to give the HYDRA soldiers any reason to remember him beyond being trained by the Soldier. He also watched the interactions between the Soldier and the others and was slightly confused to see that the assassin scared those on his side even more.

Shiva had told him on the way to his drop-off point that she hadn’t told any of the squad about his mutation, but the Soldier seemed to know that Tim had heightened senses. But that might have been since Tim had been able to catch every attempt at spontaneous drug training. Once the Soldier discovered that, and had already beaten his training into the boy, he turned his attention to tracking. And he wasn’t satisfied until Tim could use a week-old scent to track down a target, make out individual words of a conversation two floors away and track even the smallest of tells in a fight.

The boy had expected to be required to remain with the group until the end of the second month mark, but that assumption was ruined with Shiva showed up randomly one day. Tim sensed her before she appeared in the room and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She was giving off the vibe that she was on edge and in a hurry. She turned to the Soldier and whipped into a fast-paced conversation in Russian. Tim was able to make out the words for ‘necessary’, ‘search’, ‘return’ and a single English word, ‘Batman’, that let Tim know the gist of what was happening. He was told to pack his belongings, and he held up his bag that he had never truly unpacked.

Shiva nodded at him and spun on heel to stride towards the stairwell to the helipad. As Tim went to follow her, the Soldier stopped him and handed him a package wrapped in butcher paper. The boy locked eyes with the Soldier and could have sworn that for a split-second, there was life behind the icy exterior. Then it was gone, and the Soldier was shoving him to follow his teacher. He hurried after the impatiently waiting assassin and as soon as they were strapped in, he opened the package. It was a sleek knife made of a dark material and placed into a sheath that was easily hidden.

Shiva explained in short words that Batman had found out that Tim was no longer with his original trainer and was searching for him. Tim was confused because Batman shouldn’t have been expecting him back for at least another month but was horrified when Shiva explained why the Bat had been informed. His parents had been kidnapped and held for ransom by an individual called Obeah Man. That was when he learned that his mother had been murdered by the villain’s poison and his father was in a coma. It wasn’t any surprise that after learning this, Tim forgot the promise Shiva had made to reveal the identity of his biological father.

(>>>)

After he was returned to Batman, and given the bullet points of his training, leaving out the interactions with HYDRA and the Winter Soldier, a lot of things seemed to happen in the shortest amount of time possible. It was quite possibly the worse year of Tim’s life, so far. He finally became Robin and was settling into his role nicely, when his father woke up. Once Jack had been informed of his wife’s passing, he seemed to flip his own script and focused more on being a good dad instead of his business. Whether that was due to him now being forced to a wheelchair or a true change of heart, was never revealed.

Then Jack started therapy, and he watched as the man fell in love with his physical therapist. There was an unknown anger stewing in Tim’s chest as he watched Jack move on. He pushed it down and kept avoiding the man and continued to go out to be Robin. Then Jack discovered his secret and in turn, Bruce’s, which let the man threaten both sides of the Dynamic Duo with releasing their identities if Tim didn’t stop being Robin. Jack thought he was protecting his son, but after weeks of seeing the resentment in Tim’s eyes and watching the boy’s frustration grow, he realized that his son was doing good and gave him his full support.

Then Jack was murdered by Captain Boomerang and the rage that had been simmering under the surface of Tim’s skin boiled over. He was so close to releasing it on the man, once he tracked him down, but he held back in order to not reveal his abilities. Instead, he led the oblivious man through a choice game where if he chose to be good, he would live. But it would leave Tim’s hands clean of murder, because Boomerang would be making the choices himself. But he stopped himself from going through with it at the very end of the line. Not that Batman would ever let him forget how close he had been to breaking his rule.

Then a new player started to make waves in Crime Alley. The unknown brutally murdered all of the leaders of the gangs and sent their heads to GCPD, all while revealing himself to be stealing the name Red Hood. Tim noticed something was up when both Nightwing and Batman started to act different, the smell of deceit heavy in their scents. Then one day the two returned to the Cave after an encounter with the Red Hood and Tim was stunned for a split second at the second scent coming from their equipment. He made an excuse and headed out.

Instead, he sped towards the cemetery that held the bodies of the Wayne family. He ran through the markers until he came to a familiar stone, and he covered his mouth in shock at what he discovered. The grave was empty, with no scent of decay that would be on a relatively new corpse. Instead, there was a trail that had almost been washed away with time. As Tim was called back to the Cave for new orders, he realized three new things, just like that night all those years ago. Jason Todd was alive, he was the Red Hood, and most of all, if he hadn’t come home immediately and was actively fighting against Bruce and Dick, he was out for some type of revenge. Which would probably be why, once he got back, the two older men sent him across the states to stay at Titan Tower.

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Tim had been at the Tower for a few days, just hanging out with the other Titans and solving small crimes in his boredom of basically being grounded. One of the best things about being at the Tower was the fact that none of the others questioned it when he ate one of Kon or Bart’s high calorie bars. They were tastier than the ones that he had used the Drake Industries labs to start producing. They weren’t required for his mutation to work, but they were a quick fix when he had forgotten to eat in a bit.

He was also keeping tabs on the movements of the Red Hood back in Gotham. According to his contacts in the Alley, the man was searching for something and getting angrier the longer he looked. Tim rolled his eyes at that and knew that no matter what Bruce and Dick though, or believed, the moment that Jason realized where the current Robin was, he would beeline for the sake of his revenge. And Tim knew for a fact that neither man had removed the second Robin’s codes from the Tower. And while Tim could do it himself, he was rather intrigued with the reasoning behind Jason pursuit.

The moment he was informed that the Red Hood had left Gotham, he started to prepare. The first thing he did was make sure the rest of his team was out of the Tower and away from the confrontation that was sure to occur. The second was the virus he implanted into the video feed to scrub the interaction and shut the cameras off the moment Tim revealed anything, just in case he had to use his claws or healing. The third and final thing he did was change Jason’s codes to only allow entrance and power outage. And then he locked down the rest of the Tower to funnel the older teen exactly where Tim wanted him to go.

Then he started a pot of coffee in the kitchen and waited. He didn’t put on his suit or ready anything other than his collapsable staff attached to his hip and his knife sheathed on his lower back. He made a cup of coffee and ignored the feeling of his healing factor snuff the caffeine out as he sipped. It was a good thing he actually liked the taste of coffee, and that it helped his image as a coffee addict. He closed his eyes to enjoy the taste and heard the power go out and his eyes flashed as he opened them. His raised cup hid a smirk as his eyes adjusted to the darkness instantly.

His hearing tracked the surprisingly light steps of the Hood as he stalked towards the kitchen. Tim pretended to continue to drink his coffee and ignored the other as he watched from the shadows for a while.

“Did Daddy Bats teach you nothing about situational awareness?” Even though the voice was distorted, Tim could catch Jason’s voice under it.

Tim looked up and met the helmet’s gaze directly, “I’ve known you were here since you cut the power. You’re welcome for leaving your codes alone. A shitty oversight on Bruce and Dick’s part. Especially when they had already gotten a positive DNA match.” He drawled, unfazed even as Jason pointed a gun at him as he spoke.

Tim could smell the rage sloughing from the older man’s frame as he growled, “So the Replacement has brains. How about we see how well you use them when they’re splattered across the wall.” The anti-hero started to storm towards him, violence radiating from him.

Tim set his coffee down and looked at the other with a blank face. Internally he was excited for this fight. He could go all out on Jason, especially when he saw the glowing green of the teen’s eyes. If the other boy had been in a Lazarus Pit, then he would be hardier than most. He watched Jason strike out a pistol-whip to concuss him but compared to both Shiva and the Soldier it was slow and readable. He dodged the whip and pressed a button to extend his staff, causing it to extend into Jason’s gut.

Tim used the momentum of the staff to push Jason away, sweep his feet out from under him and then take off down the hallway and towards a wider space with less breakable things. He heard Jason roar in anger and storm after him. As soon as Tim heard the boom of a gun and felt the burn of a bullet slice through his leg, he knew all bets were off. The wound closed almost instantly, and Tim spun to look at the fuming Jason. Then a sickening smirk spread over Jason’s face.

“Pretender is keeping secrets from the Bats, huh? A little Meta hiding under the Dark Knight.” The words were wicked, and if Tim hadn’t gone through training with two of the emotionally coldest assassins alive, they would have hurt.

Instead, he just snorted and raised an eyebrow, “Cameras are off and you’re juiced up on the Lazarus Pit. No one is going to believe you.” He said before dodging a blow.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to beat it out of you, Replacement.” And with that last statement, the fight began.

Jason was quicker than a normal human, probably enhanced by the Pit, and if Tim had been a baseline human, Jason would have kept him on the defensive and unable to fight back. But Tim wasn’t a baseline human, he was a mutant, and while he was hiding that fact from the rest of the Bats, he was proud of that fact. Wounds that Jason cause healed quickly, and Tim was giving more than he was receiving.

Tim used the combined skills from both of his main teachers and managed to back Jason into a wall. Jason was starting to panic, which Tim could smell, and pulled out a knife and sliced at Tim’s face. Tim jerked back a little and used the moment to sweep Jason’s feet again, a manic grin forming on his face as he took the advantage and slammed him into the floor again. He pinned the larger man and took a little pleasure in Jason’s shocked look.

Jason watched as the smaller teen pinned him with precision that he had only seen in those trained by certain League masters. He saw the feral grin on the boy’s face and stared at the knife wound closing in front of him. It had cut all the way down to the bone and it just sealed without leaving a trace. The other teen slammed his head into the ground, and he gasped as his thoughts slightly cleared of the ever-present rage that was clouding his mind.

Tim stared down into toxic green eyes that seemed to be clearing a bit and had a thought. He tilted his head and then smirked, “Night night!” He said before slamming his fist into the older teen’s temple.

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Tim made sure that Jason would remain unconscious until the younger teen finished his plan. Tim quickly undid all the damage the Red Hood had done to the systems and set the training room where he had led him to clean itself. Then he made sure all the cameras would see was him drinking his pot of coffee before he removed his own code from the Tower. Then he packed a bag of supplies and threw Jason’s arm over his shoulder and dragged him out of the tower and into a car he had stowed away just in case.

From there he sped towards one of his safe houses in the Potrero Hill area and pulled the car into the garage before he pressed a button and activated the elevator down to go down. Once he had pulled the car into its place and parked, he unloaded the unconscious man and dragged him over to his own little med bay area. He hoisted Jason onto the table and quickly placed Superman grade cuffs around his wrists. Then he started to check on the injuries that he had caused the older man. He knew for sure that the chances of a concussion were high, but Tim also knew that he needed to check the older teen’s ribs because he had hit them a few times. Both with his staff and his body.

Once he had sufficiently treated Jason, Tim went to change out of his bloody clothes and dump said clothes in the incinerator. Then he sat back to wait for the other teen to wake up, if only to make fun of him for the skintight dollar store Robin costume Jason had on under his Red Hood clothes. He had disarmed the bombs in the red helmet and used a medical trolley to start dismantling the electronics when he heard the other boy let out a pained groan. He looked up as Jason’s eyes opened and noticed that his eyes were more of a cyan color instead of the toxic green they had been.

“What the fuck hit me?” He groaned as he tried to lift a hand to his head, only to pull on the cuffs. Instantly his eyes gained a backlight of green, and he tugged on the metal with a small flash of panic.

“That would have been my fist, to your temple.” Tim replied as he set down his tools and crossed his arms. Jason’s eyes shot to his and narrowed, but before he was able to say anything Tim started his piece, “Look, frankly I don’t care what you have going on in your head that made you pissed off at B and N but leave me out of it. And for god’s sake, please never wear that dollar store costume again, I almost went blind and it’s worse than Discowing. If you’re gonna try and beat the shit out of me, at least do it with some self-respect.”

“Fuck you. Who are you to fucking lecture me, Replacement?” Jason growled, eyes flashing, “You’re just some sad kid that Batman stuck in my suit before my body even cooled off.”

Tim made a buzzer sound and put up a finger, “Wrong! I literally stalked both Batman and Nightwing for close to three months after your death trying to get N to come back as Robin. I didn’t want it seeing as though I had enough on my plate with graduating high school.” He ignored Jason’s incredulous look at that statement and plowed on, “It took Alfred asking me to save the two dumbasses from Two-Face for Batman to even consider me. And even after that, he shipped me off to Paris for training. I didn’t truly become Robin until almost a year after your death, and that was only because my mother had been murdered, my father was in a coma and Batman didn’t want me falling into someone else’s hands.”

Jason looked like Tim had slapped him with a fish before he shook his head and clenched his fists, “If Bats was letting another Robin into the field, why didn’t he kill the bastard that murdered me?” He demanded, eyeshine dying down a little.

“So, we finally come to the true cause of your rage.” Tim stated and raised his hands in innocence at Jason’s glare, “Pretty sure the clown has some kind of cosmic plot armor.” At Jason’s perplexed look, he continued, “Both B and N made his heart stop. Superman saved the clown from B and B made to difficult choice to resuscitate Joker after Nightwing beat him.”

“HE BROUGHT HIM BACK!?” Jason roared and strained against the cuffs.

“He didn’t want to!” Tim snapped, “But can you imagine the weight of killing someone on Dick’s shoulders?! That would have broken him even more than he was after you died!” When he saw Jason about to snap back, he stopped him with a glare, “Let me ask you something Jason Peter Todd, do you know what despair smells like? How about depression, or regret, or even self-hatred? No? Because I do.” He tapped his nose, “The curse of having heightened senses.”

“Bullshit. And don’t fucking full name me.” Jason’s voice was less anger filled and more incredulous. “There’s no way that Batman would go against his No-Meta rule in order to train you enough to smell emotions.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I’m not a Meta and he wasn’t the one that trained me.” Tim said with a smirk, “That was Sandra Wu-san, also known as Lady Shiva.”

“And you’re alive?” Jason asked, knowing that the woman was known to train apprentices and then fight them to the death, “Wait, there’s no fucking way you’re not a Meta.”

“Did the gene check, and you know as well as I do that Batman does the blood test when he enters your profile into the computer. There isn’t a true test for what I am, at least not that I know of.” He stated blandly.

“And what are you?” Jason asked, and in another universe, it would have taken months to break through his Pit Rage, but in this universe a heavy knock to the head and consecutive vocal punches were able to shake off the worst of it.

In a rare share of trust, or maybe Tim just wanted someone to talk to about his abilities, he raised a hand, “I’m a mutant.” He clenched his fist and his claw came out.

There were a few moments of quiet and Jason scoffed before he said, “And they call me dramatic.”

Chapter Text

After establishing that Jason wasn’t going to attack him immediately after release, Tim uncuffed him and handed him a bottle of water. Jason took it with a suspicious look at Tim, who just raised an eyebrow, “If I wanted to kill you, it wouldn’t be by poison.” He said and he watched the other boy glance down at his hands before taking a drink. Tim ignored the look and pulled out his phone and started to type away on it.

Jason started to tense up at the motion and was about to snap at Tim when the boy let out a huff, “Relax, asshole. I’m ordering pizza. What do you want on yours, cause I’m not sharing mine.” He said pointedly, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

Jason let out a breathless laugh, “Shit kid, you weren’t kiddin about that nose of yours.” He shook his head in disbelief, “Extra cheese, pepperoni and pineapple.” He smirked at Tim’s look of disgust, “Not a fan of pineapple on pizza Replacement?” He asked.

“No, because I’m not a fucking heathen.” Tim stated as he finished the order, “And don’t call me that. I didn’t replace shit.”

“You replaced me as Robin.” Jason pointed out and received a cold glare from the younger boy.

“One, you were fucking dead. And two, the only reason I became Robin was to keep B from killing himself, which he seemed to be spiraling towards.” The mutant said before he threw his hands up and pulled a tablet out and started typing on it. He must have found what he was looking for because he tossed it over to Jason.

“The fuck is this?” Jason started to say before he read the first headline. Has Batman Gone Dark? He scrolled down and read the passage outlining the descent of the Dark Knight. How the vigilante had started to get worse and worse. How he had started to leave regular thieves and muggers broken and on the brink of death. “Wait, this can’t be right. Talia told me that Batman didn’t even mourn me. That he had picked a new Robin and forgotten about me. What the fuck is this shit?!” He looked up at Tim with greener eyes.

“Talia? As in Talia al Ghul? As in the bitch that hated both you and Dick for your entire careers?” At Jason’s slow nod Tim rubbed the bridge of his nose, “And you believed her? And didn’t even think to double check? Seriously?! You just, what, accepted it, trained and then beelined to Gotham to reign terror?”

Jason’s eyes flared, “She was fucking convincing! She had all of these articles about you and B and Dick acting as some family unit.” He snarled.

“You mean the articles about B taking me in after my mom was murdered? Or the one where he gained custody after my dad was? The funerals? Or, how about the charity galas that were held in my mom’s name?” He said, sarcasm heavy in his voice. “She didn’t even tell you I graduated high school. Because neither she nor Bruce even fucking know. But if she had looked as deeply into me as she claimed, that definitely would have been something she used to anger you.”

Jason tightened his jaw and was gearing up to snap back when Tim’s phone started to ring. Both boys were snapped out of their respective anger and looked at the innocently ringing device. Tim picked it up and made a face, “It’s Dick.” He said as he looked at Jason.

“Well don’t fucking answer it.” Jason demanded.

“Oh, right, don’t answer the call of the ‘big brother’ figure that knows his newly undead little brother is gearing to go after his other little brother. Yeeeeeah, that’s smart.” Tim snarked and rolled his eyes.

Jason opened his mouth to say something before closing it, then he let out a curse, “Damn it, you’re right. Fine! Answer it, but don’t fucking tell them I’m here.” He stated, with a finger pointed in Tim’s direction.

“Uh-huh, cause I’m gonna tell the overprotective bats that the Red Hood is currently sitting across from me.” Jason flipped him off at that remark and Tim clicked the answer button, “Hey Dick, what’s up?” Tim could see Jason give him a incredulous look at the cheery greeting.

“Timmy! Hey! Where are you?” Tim put the call on speaker and opened an app on his phone to bounce the signal, “B and I stopped by the Tower to visit and you’re not here. Are you okay?” He sounded breathless and Tim could tell that he had probably run around the tower searching for him.

“Yeah, I’m good. I decided to spend the night at one of my off-grid safe houses. Needed some alone time that wasn’t in a huge tower.” He said as he pulled up the cameras in the Tower.

Jason got up and stood behind him to watch the two vigilantes’ pace (Nightwing) and type away on the console (Batman). Tim looked up at Jason when he smelled the acrid smell of rage start to come from him and tapped his hand. Jason looked down at him and realized almost immediately what Tim had meant, so he took a deep breath and nodded.

“Really? Which one? I can come keep you company!” They watched as the other tapped his phone and started to talk to Batman, “He says he went to a safe house, any luck catching his signal?” When Batman grunted back Nightwing tapped his phone again.

“Did you miss the ‘alone time’ comment, or did you just ignore it?” Tim asked, “I’ll be back at the tower with the other Titans tomorrow. You worry to much.” He smirked and looked up at Jason, “Unless there is something I should be worried about? There’s not is there? Is that newcomer in Crime Alley stirring things up again.”

Jason covered his mouth to muffle his snort at Nightwing’s panicked face on the screen. Batman had also tensed up at the question, signifying that he had patched into the call silently. The two watched as the blue-striped vigilante gathered himself.

“No, nothing’s wrong! Don’t worry Baby Bird. And don’t worry about the Red Hood, we’ll take care of it.” Even on the video screen, Nightwing was beaming.

Tim muted himself, “Doing a fantastic job of ‘taking care of it’, Dick.” He said and Jason let out a laugh before silencing himself as Tim motioned that he was unmuting, “Okay, well I’m going to let you go. There’s another pot of coffee with my name on it.” He listened to Nightwing try and come up with a reason to keep him on the line and he sighed, “And tell B to stop trying to track me, I’m safe, and if I wasn’t, I would know.”

Both older men froze again and Nightwing looked up at the camera and waved, “Yes, hello to you too. And before you ask, no, I’m not sorry. I learned from the best. Goodnight, N and tell B goodnight as well.” And with that he closed the camera feed and hung up the phone.

The silence lasted all of one second before Jason was on his back laughing his ass off. Tim stared at him before he rolled his eyes and headed for the stairs to the first floor. Jason eventually followed him as he wiped tears out of his eyes. Tim shoved a pizza box into his gut and led him to the table in the kitchen.

“It wasn’t that funny Jason.” The younger boy said as he opened his box to reveal a pizza covered in meat with white bits of artichoke hearts on top.

Jason snorted, “Seeing you not only lie, but sass the fuck outta both Wing and the Bat, without getting caught? Hilarious. Seeing you beat Batass at his own game? Priceless.” He then noticed Tim’s pizza, “What the fuck Timberly?! Are those artichoke hearts?”

“Don’t throw rocks in glass houses, pineapple man.” Tim retorted.

Chapter Text

Tim did keep his promise to return to Titan’s Tower the next day, but not before he and Jason spent the whole night going over Jason’s, frankly ridiculous, plans. It took Tim an hour to convince the older teen that, no, he didn’t need to have an all-out battle and make Batman choose between him and the clown, complete with a bomb and in a warehouse. He finally convinced Jason that he should scale back the dramatics to a series of, mostly harmless, pranks. So, in the morning when Tim left for the Tower, Jason left to head back to Gotham to move most of his essentials into the first of Tim’s Crime Alley safehouses. It wasn’t as high-tech as the Potrero Hill house, but it would do while construction was underway on what would be Tim’s main safehouse in Gotham.

Tim, as Robin, had exactly two seconds to brace himself as a pair of arms were thrown over him. Robin sighed as he listened to Nightwing whine about his ‘disappearance’ and how much he missed him, even if it had only been three days. Robin rolled his eyes at his snickering teammates and gestured to the emotional man, “See what I have to deal with for wanting alone time?” He said as he started to shove Nightwing off, careful to stick to ‘normal’ strength, which only resulted in the young man clinging to him harder.

Robin smelt Batman before the vigilante appeared next to him and Nightwing. The boy looked up at him with a raised eyebrow as he waited for the older man to vocalize something. Instead, it seemed like B was looking him over for injuries and when he didn’t find any it seemed to relieve the tension built in his body. The movement was subtle, and most would miss it, but most weren’t genius sponges trained by an assassin sniper. In a rare show of emotion Batman placed his hand on Robin’s head, as if to convey his relief at the boy’s safety.

“Guy’s, you’re acting like you expected me to be hurt or dead. What’s going on?” Robin asked, giving the two the chance to tell the truth.

The two older vigilantes shared a look and seemed to have a full conversation with miniscule movements on their faces. Finally, Batman grunted and Nightwing sighed, “We had, have, reasons to believe that the Red Hood is after you.” Nightwing started, “and we sent you here to keep you safe, but then we got word that Hood had left Gotham. So, B and I determined that he would be headed here.” He finished.

Robin’s mask’s eyes narrowed at the admission, “So you sent me here. To keep me safe? And didn’t even think to tell me about the apparent threat to my life? In what world was that the thing to do?” He asked, voicing the frustrations he had had since he’d figured out why the two had sent him away, “What would you have done if he had come after me? How late would you have been because you sent me away from the safety of being in reach, across the country and to a basically daily abandoned Titan’s Tower.”

He ignored the flinch his caught from Batman at the ‘too late’ comment and plowed on, ranting about the stupidity and ignorance of the two’s apparently flawless plan to keep him safe. He saw Bart filming out of the corner of his eyes, and he sent the speedster a wink as he came to the end of his rant. Neither of the older vigilantes noticed because they were looking anywhere but the shorter teen.

“What did Agent A say about this plan?” Robin asked and his jaw dropped when both men went a shade paler under their masks, “You didn’t ask A? Oh my god, I can’t wait to see how you explain this!” Robin bounced on his feet and clapped his eyes before he spun on heel and headed for the Zetas. Both men froze at his sudden movement, “Bye guys! Bart, send me that video.” He excitedly typed his passcode in and jumped through to the Batcave.

The other two took off after him, but not before sharing a quick look. They arrived back to their home base in time to hear a demasked Tim yelling, “Hey Alfred! Guess what B and N did!”

(>>>)

Tim spent the next few weeks putting the plan he and Jason had cobbled together into action. The first thing he had to do was tell Alfred what the two planned, because the man would somehow know anyway. After being told, Alfred gave the two his permission to proceed and walked away from the two with the promise of Jason’s inevitable visit to the manor for tea. The next step was to get Oracle in on the plan, which was easy, all Tim had to do was place the file of their plan into her servers and wait for her call. The moment he picked up his phone and heard Barbara Gorden’s amused voice he knew she was in.

The plan was simple in the end. The Red Hood would contain himself to Crime Alley for the time being but would be seen sometimes chatting with Robin. For Robin’s part, he would patrol the areas around Crime Alley and ‘coincidentally’ run into the Hood. It would go from short meetings to Red Hood telling his men that Robin was Off Limits and would end with a photo of them sharing a couple of chilidogs hitting the morning paper, curtesy of Tim and a time-delay camera.

The only reason neither of the older vigilantes had realized anything was due to the simplicity of the plan, and the combined efforts of Barbara and Alfred. Barbara kept anything on the two being spotted together saved to a separate system and scrubbed it from the rest of the web while Alfred kept the Bats in line after their abysmal decision with sending Robin away.

Bruce had been just starting his workday when he was notified about the picture in the paper and Dick had been given the paper by a colleague as he clocked in for duty. Both men had the same reaction of confusion followed quickly by fear but had to stuff the reaction down and make it through the day. None of the texts they sent Tim were being answered and by the time they were able to leave work they were panicking.

The two men arrived at the Cave in quick succession and burst in to a scene that stunned them. Jason had a struggling Tim in a headlock and was messing up his hair while laughing. Alfred had been sitting across from the boys with a cup of tea in his hand and an amused smile on his face. Tim tapped Jason’s arm when he noticed the older men standing there. Green flashed through the revived teen’s eyes, and he released Tim before he took a deep breath and stood up. He looked Bruce dead in the eyes and saw what Tim had told him would be there, hope drowning in despair.

The moment was broken when Jason punched Bruce, putting all his rage and hate into the swing. The older man was knocked back and to the floor with Jason towering above him with his fists clenched. Bruce held his chin and looked up at his son, who seemed to be going through a breathing exercise. He could see the glare of Lazarus green dimming until it was back to a sedate cyan. Tim held Dick back while Jason stared down at Bruce. Then he held out a hand and tugged the larger man up easily.

Before either man could speak, an alert went out on the Cave’s computer and Tim was the first there. He pulled it up and tilted his head, “Does anyone know why Talia would request a meeting with ‘The Batman’?” He asked.

Chapter Text

The reason’s name was Damian al Ghul, son of the bat, otherwise known as the son of Talia and Batman. Something had happened in the League and Talia somehow unlocked how to be a good mom and brought Damina here for safety. Jason took the chance to flee the Cave after Batman took off, but not before giving Tim a warning about the kid. The warning gave Tim the feeling that Talia had some reason to hate him, and he wasn’t sure why the woman would have a grudge against a kid she had never met.

Dick warmed up to the kid faster than Bruce, who seemed to be keeping the kid at arm’s length. Tim tried in the beginning to make friends with Damian, but the kid seemed keen on cutting Tim out of the Bats. Tim had never been more thankful for the Soldier’s poison detection training. He also knew the fact that he was dodging Damian’s attempts was making the kid angrier. Tim was amused by the anger and frustration that tainted the kid’s scent. The teen knew that he was instigating at this point, but considering the few times he had tried to point out the attempts resulted in him being told that Damian was just a kid from a rough home.

Damian’s rage came to a head a few weeks after he had arrived. Tim was down in the Cave working on some cases after he had returned from patrol when he smelled the kid coming at him quickly. He moved his head to the side and let Damian fly over his shoulder and the table in front of him. The kid proved that he had training when he was able to land in roll and spin to attack again. Tim kept dodging the brat’s attacks with ease, and watched as his attempts got messier as his anger grew. Tim had gotten into a rhythm of dodging and didn’t notice that they had backed towards the railing until he dodged, and Damian started to go over the edge.

“Shit.” Tim shouted as he grabbed the kid’s leg and tossed him back onto stable floor even as he lost his own footing. He cursed as he grabbed hold of the edge and jerked his shoulder good. He started to climb back up when a boot came down on his hand. The last thing he saw before he started falling was Damian’s smug look.

The crack that came from his back was drowned out by the scream he let out. Tim let out a string of colorful curses as his healing kick started. Within minutes he was sitting up and stretching the kinks out of his newly healed back. A scowl formed on his face as he stood up. Luckily, there wasn’t any blood from his fall, so there was no clean up that he needed to do. He pulled out his grappling hook and checked it over before he used it to ascend to the top instantly. He stormed over to the computer and pulled up the feed to fix the video to show him saving himself.

He was finishing up erasing any evidence of his mutation when the Batmobile roared into the Cave. He looked up and the scowl worked its way back onto his face when Damian exited the vehicle, dressed in a too-big Robin suit. Batman rushed over to him and looked him over, ignoring his insistence that he was fine. He could smell the disbelief coming from Damian and the overwhelming fear-stained relief coming from Bruce as he hugged him.

After Bruce finally left to get unsuited Tim turned to Damian and raised an eyebrow before a feral smirk formed on his face, “Gonna have to try harder than that kid.” He said before he left the room. He tilted his head as a knife flew past it and pulled it out of the wall, flipped the boy off and kept walking. He heard Damian shout in anger as the elevator closed behind him.

(>>>)

The next few weeks passed without much fanfare, but full of things happening. Damian seemed to pause his attempts on Tim’s life, but at the cost of Dick turning his attention away from Tim. The final safe house in Crime Alley had finally completed construction and Tim moved most of his things into it with the help of Jason. Jason also moved most of his things into the newly named Nest and the two started to turn the Nest into their main base. Tim set the computer in the basement up with a backdoor into the Batcave.

Tim was disappointed that Dick didn’t even seem to notice Tim pulling away from the manor, but Alfred did, and he expressed his feelings about it by sending Tim back to the Nest with armloads of food for him and Jason. Bruce was currently away from Gotham on Justice League business and had left Nightwing in charge of the vigilantes and Tim had taken over a lot of his duties at Wayne Enterprises.

Tim and Jason settled into a domestic living arrangement at the Nest, with Tim doing most of the cleaning and Jason the cooking. Of course, the two had their squabbles and whatnot, they were brothers, it happens. During this time, Tim started online courses for college and breezed through the core classes and was excited to start on classes for his first degree. He also set Jason up with getting his GED and once the older teen had completed that, Tim set him up with an ID to start online classes as well.

Tim came home on his seventeenth birthday, not expecting much, but Jason had invited the Titans over as well as his own team, the Outlaws. The group of teenagers and young adults spent the rest of the evening and long into the night playing games and eating junk food. Dick no-showed, which was upsetting.

Then both Kon died, followed quickly by Bart and Tim’s world started to crumble. Then news came from the Justice League that Batman had been killed during their mission against Darkseid and Tim’s world crashed down.

Chapter Text

The vigilantes of Gotham seemed to splinter when the news about Batman arrived. Jason vanished off of the face of the Earth with the Outlaws, and Tim couldn’t be mad about him needing to run. Dick doubled down on taking care of Damian, especially now that the boy’s dad was dead. Which left Tim alone, barely keeping his head above the water. Tim first knew something was not right when Batman’s corpse was sent back by the JL, but he couldn’t tell Dick that the body wasn’t Bruce’s because it didn’t smell like Bruce.

So, Tim started looking for clues as to what truly happened to Batman. He plugged a search algorithm into the computer in his Nest and waited. What eventually popped up were a multitude of artifacts that were in the shape of a batwing and then he saw one article that talked about two archeologists finding a scrap of what seemed to be synthetic clothing but dated back to the stone age. As soon as he saw the names of the archeologists, Tim tore out of his base and towards Drake Estate.

Sure enough, deep in the storage of the Drake’s artifact trove was a box that held a sun-bleached fabric, and Tim didn’t need a detailed make-up of the fabric to know that it belonged to the Batsuit. He packed the clue away and headed to the Cave to talk to Dick and Alfred. The first thing he noticed when he walked in was the scent of trepidation that was scattered through the Cave. Then he noticed that Damian was smug, and when he finally saw the boy, he knew why.

“What the fuck is this?” Tim demanded as Dick rounded the corner in his Batsuit. The older man had the cowl down and a guilty look on his face.

“The Batcave needs an updated security system Batman, it let in a stray.” The demon brat mocked. Tim’s eyes darkened in anger before he snapped his head towards Dick.

Darkened blue eyes raked over the older vigilante and Tim scoffed, “It’s always the next best thing with you, isn’t it” he said, scornfully. Dick’s eyes widened and he went to talk but Tim held up his hand to stop him, “I don’t fucking care what reason you had. Especially if you are about to say that the brat needed a reason to stay.” A flash of guilt shot through Dick’s scent, “You ass, that’s exactly what you were going to say.”

“Tim, wait, listen to me. I couldn’t have you as my partner.” Dick started to try and defend his decision, but Tim was on a role, and he only added fuel to the fire.

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t? And I understand that Robin was yours to give, but to not even ask?” Tim’s voice broke at the end of the question, and he stepped back from Dick trying to comfort him, “Don’t. I just came to talk to you about the chance of Bruce not being dead.”

“Tim, you have to accept that he’s gone. I know that it’s hard for you, but Bruce is dead, you saw his body.” Dick said, pity coating his scent.

Tim raised an eyebrow, “We were given a body and told that it was Bruce. Did you do a DNA test on it? Or did you just accept that it was Bruce and move on?” At Dick’s frozen frame Tim shook his head, “I shouldn’t have come here. You’re not going to listen to anything I say or show you.”

Dick grabbed his arm as he turned away, “Tim, you’re not making sense. Bruce is dead, there’s nothing that can bring him back. You need help baby bird.” He sounded so sure.

Tim ripped his arm out of Dick’s grasp and glared at him, “Pick a bird and stick with them. You ghosted both Jason and I after that brat showed up, so keep up the act. I’m done. I’ll be back when I find Bruce.” And with that he left the Cave.

(>>>)

Tim shut down any and all of the trackers on his equipment and moved the plausible artifact list to his wrist computer. He tried to get in touch with the JL and was booted from the servers. He received a briefing that Batman had called in his concerns about his mental state and until Tim was cleared by the older vigilante, his codes would be frozen. Tim stared at the message as anger boiled in his gut.

He left a note in his files for Jason when he got back and packed his bags. He looked briefly at the Red Robin costume in the display pod before he pulled out a suit he had made. The suit was predominantly black and fashioned close to how the Soldier looked, but with dark gunmetal grey straps and all the metal in a light grey white. The suit was complete with a black lower facemask and a hood that matched the straps on his suit. His suit was finished off by a pair of combat boots and some fingerless gloves that had hidden accessibility for his claws to come out. He looked at himself in the mirror and nodded before he turned on heel and headed for his bike.

He peeled out of the Nest and took off into the night, headed for the airport. He headed to the hanger he had asked Lucius Fox to meet him at. Once he parked the bike, he strode over to the man. Lucius looked him over and shook his head.

“I was hoping that you would never have to pull that suit out of storage, Tim.” He said before he handed Tim a stack of papers.

Tim hummed and leafed through them before he nodded, “Everything seems to be in place.” He said as he signed the forms, “You know what to do with this. I’m trusting you, Lucius.” Tim said as he handed the papers back.

“I know. Just bring him back, yeah?” The older man said before he started to walk away, “Oh, and the plane is automated to come back to Gotham after making it to Europe, so once you’re there, you’re on your own. Be careful.”

Tim rolled his eyes as he boarded the plane, “I’m always careful. It’s the others you have to watch out for.”

Lucius watched the plane take out and sighed, “Good luck, Shrike.”

Chapter Text

The newly minted Shrike bounced from country to country, in search of what he could only describe as plot points for a timeline that Bruce was currently jumping through. He didn’t stop for anything other than to solve a few crimes. He was currently in Paris, France after two successful stops in Madrid and Toledo, Spain, when he caught sight of a glint of a sniper’s scope. He abandoned his hotel room just in time for it to explode.

He shot his grappling hook towards the rooftop that the blast had come from and managed to clock one of the group in the face before he rocketed a booted foot into another. What came next was frankly a sad performance from his wannabe assassins. He briefly wondered how he appeared to the trio as he shrugged off wounds and kept fighting even as they made sound hits. He managed to learn two of their names as they fought, before he heard the crackle of a headset, and he shifted his attention to the one named Z.

“Enough.” Came from the earpiece.

“Master…?” Z questioned, and Shrike cursed internally, knowing there was only one person that could be.

“Disappear.” Shrike had moments to shield his eyes as a flash grenade went off. Though a plus was that he got the last man’s name, Owens. When he was able to look again, the trio was gone and all that was left in their place was the headset. He picked it up, pulled his hood off and slipped the earpiece on.

“Ra’s.” He stated, “What the fuck do you want?”

“Language Timothy.” The ancient man said, “I hold you to a higher standard than your Master.” Tim raised an eyebrow at that, “I’ve been watching you Timothy and I would like to have a conversation.”

“And why should I trust you?” Tim asked as he started to pace on the rooftop.

“Because I believe that you are correct in your assumption that Batman is alive.” Tim frowned under his mask at that, “And I can offer you information on your biological father.”

Tim froze and breathed in deeply, “Okay Ra’s, start talking.”

(>>>)

Shrike slipped into the German Museum of Anthropology in Berlin silently, his boots barely making a sound as he landed on the floor. He swept through the hallways, headed for the piece he had come for as Ra’s kept him company through the earpiece.

“It was painfully obvious, Timothy.”

Shrike rolled his eyes, This man must love the sound of his own voice. “Enlighten me, Ra’s.” He bit back.

“Grayson is hiding something.” The assassin stated, “He has taken up the Detective’s cowl, and my betrayer of a grandson is further degrading himself by acting as his ‘sidekick’. Whatever was going through Grayson’s mind when he chose the boy over you, I will never know. And whoever he has parading around as Bruce Wayne is most certainly not.”

“I wouldn’t know, I left. Though, with that imagination you should investigate writing a novel. You know, instead of running a group of international assassins.” Shrike snarked as he ghosted past shelves of skulls.

“You are a terrible liar, young man. I know that you have been keeping a close eye on what is happening in Gotham. I’ve been watching you. Whatever it is that happened to Batman, it’s obvious you do not believe it. And I have some theories on why that is, considering who your father is.” Shrike scowled at that, but let the man continue, “And while you have the fortune of Bruce Wayne and your own impressive intellect, I can offer you so much more.”

Shrike rolled his eyes and slipped through an open door, “A worldwide network of informants, resources beyond anything you can imagine, and the ability to get anything you need, legal or otherwise.” In exchange for my soul, I’m sure. “All I require is that you share with me what you find. The Batman’s final fate.” Yep.

Shrike stared at the artifact he had come for, “I’d tell you to go to hell, but you’d just come right back.” He said coldly.

Ra’s chuckled, “I can help you, Timothy. For instance, I can tell you that you tripped a silent alarm in the museum you’re in about seven minutes ago.” Shit.

“<HALT!>” A voice yelled in German as the lights were flipped on. Shrike let out a hiss as he was temporarily blinded. He turned to see an obscenely muscled man in a loincloth, “<PREPARE THIEF… PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE HUNT! FOR I AM THE WILD HUNTSMAN!>”

Shrike rolled his eyes and shot off his grappling hook to get to higher ground. He had gotten what he needed and really didn’t want to cause an international incident. He heard the man release his dogs, but was more focused on getting out of the museum with the evidence he had collected and to the sight it had come from. Unfortunately for him, the dogs were faster than normal and knocked the case out of his hands.

Well shit, international incident here we come. He thought as he kicked the dog off of him, Sorry pup. He threaded through the bullets shot by the hero’s accompanying officers before ducking under the man’s axe. He regretted pulling his punch when the one he threw did nothing but make the Wild Huntsman laugh.

Then he was slammed against the wall by his throat, “<THIS HUNT IS OVER! YOU HAVE SKILL LITTLE MAN. YOU AMUSE ME!>” The man was loud and while Shrike knew at least seven different ways to escape this hold, he really didn’t want to hurt the man.

He was the one in the wrong here and he was thinking quickly as he dangled, but then he saw a muzzle flash. He kicked the Huntsman out of the way as the window shattered from the hail of bullets. This is bad, Owens took the shot from outside… He though as the hero shouted about him bringing friends with him.

“<Shut up and stay down, dumbass!>” Shrike growled at him in German as he eyed the two League assassins that entered the room, And now Z and Prudence… Damn it Ra’s.

“Hi. We’re going to kill you now, you Viking knob.” Pru said as she brandished her Uzis, “And probably that horse you have outside, too.” Her accent was thick because of the broken nose Shrike had given her earlier.

Shrike pulled out his staff, because he didn’t want to reveal his claws to too many people, and gave the Huntsman a smack with it before he turned his attention to the duo. He threw one of his discs at Pru because she was the most random of the three, and Owens was probably reloading. Which left him against Z, who was probably the deadliest with his fighting style.

“This is between us, no one else needs to get hurt.” Shrike growled as he blocked Z’s attack.

“Between us? You misunderstand… we are here to help you.” Z spat back and Shrike forced him down as an axe swept over them.

At that moment it seemed as though Pru gathered herself again, “Right then! I don’t fucking care what anyone says, hero! You are dead! You hear me!? Dead! You little s-” Another disc hit her in the nose and Shrike smirked under his mask, Even if it doesn’t take her down, it does shut her up.

“What do you mean ‘help me’?” Shrike asked as they faced the Huntsman.

“The League of Assassins is at your disposal.” He hadn’t even made his choice, but it seemed Ra’s had made it for him. “These men were getting in your way, so the League is going to take care of the problem.” Z stated as he snatched Shrike’s staff and attacked the Huntsman.

Fuck, they’re gonna kill this guy. He thought as grabbed Z, “Ra’s, call them off! Call them off, now!” He demanded as he held the black man back.

“As you wish, Timothy.” The old man said as Z flipped Shrike. The duo vanished from the premises as Shrike rolled into an attack on the Huntsman. He used the momentum of the roll he’d been thrown into in order to slam his boot into the man’s chin which knocked him out.

Shrike stared down at the bodies on the floor of the room and growled, “This isn’t what I wanted. Damn you Ra’s.” He spat as he picked the case up.

Chapter Text

Twenty-nine hours after Shrike ended the fight in Berlin Tim was touching down in Baghdad, Iraq. He looked himself over in the mirror of the airport bathroom and scraped a hand through his messy hair. He ran a hand over the stubble that had already grown on his face, even though he had shaved before his ill-fated museum visit.

This sucks. But at least there’s not going to be anymore baby-faced Tim jokes. He thought as he pulled on a black jacket and threw his duffel over his back. He slipped his aviators on and walked out of the airport. He slipped his shades down and raised an eyebrow at the sight before him, “You’re fucking joking.”

The trio of assassins from before were standing in front of a car. Z had a smirk on his face, Pru looked pissed like normal, and Owens had a smug look as he hung on the door, “Where to, boss?” The man asked.

Pru looked at him, “Weren’t you a baby-faced bitch? Where’d all that fuzz come from?” she asked, and Tim scoffed.

“It’s called shaving, I think you’ve heard of it.” He said with a pointed look at her bald head. Owens snickered and she punched his shoulder.

Before anything else could happen, a voice of authority yelled at Tim to freeze, and he was surrounded by officers. Apparently, his quick travel from Berlin to Iraq had flagged his current alias as a person of interest in the theft. I was careless, fuck. Now what? Tim could feel the fifty-six hours that he’d been awake keeping him from coming up with a smart way out of this one. Then he heard Z start to talk.

“There really has been a misunderstanding, Sergeant.” They looked over at the man, who was holding up a security badge, “Z. Washington, Wayne Enterprises HoS here in Iraq. I’m here as a personal bodyguard for young Tim Drake here while he’s in the country on Wayne Foundion business. You know, the foundation that is providing body armor to US troops? Also, with the fiasco that happened during Tony Stark’s trip to Afghanistan and the fact that the man is still missing, you understand why we’re cracking down on security. You must have Mr. Drake confused with this Draper character.”

Shit, I forgot that Stark was kidnapped last week. No wonder the security is so prevalent. Tim thought as the soldiers checked both his and Z’s IDs. He slipped his hand slowly into his bag and pulled his real ID out and flashed it at the soldiers.

“Why is Wayne sending you here? What are you to him?” The Sergeant asked.

“He’s my adoptive father.” He said with a blank face as he remembered that Bruce hadn’t really treated him like a son, at least not in the last year.

One of the other soldiers said that his clearance checked out and the Sergeant turned to Tim, “Our apologies Mr. Drake. Draper must have gone through another checkpoint. You and your security detail are free to go. And thank your father for me, Bruce Wayne is a great man.” He said as he waved them on.

“I’m going to assume that because Ra’s doesn’t want to piss me off, that you three didn’t hurt any real personnel.” Tim said as he tossed his duffel into the car.

“We were ordered to help, so we’re going to help whether you like it or not. You’re lucky we were able to grab your ‘package’ before the authorities.” Z smirked, “So it’s up to you. We can work behind the scenes and off anyone who gets in your way, or you can work with us and keep us on a leash. Your choice.”

“Are you three going to keep talking or are you going to get in the car.” Tim asked from the driver’s seat. The three looked at each other and Owens shrugged before getting in the back seat. Z sat to Tim’s left and Pru took the final seat in the back.

“You accepted that quickly.” Owens said as he opened a bag of chips.

“I’m to fucking tired to care at this point. Now where am I headed, cause knowing Ra’s, he’s made reservations.” Tim missed the look that the trio shared, and Z set up the GPS to lead Tim to their accommodations.

(>>>)

Tim had passed out as soon as he laid down on a bed and slept through the afternoon. He woke up to the sun already being down. He slipped the earpiece on and Ra’s immediately started to talk with him.

“I trust your accommodations are adequate, Timothy.” the guild leader asked.

Tim sighed, “They’ll do.” He stated as he looked out the balcony.

He moved back into the room as Ra’s continued, “Tell me, Timothy, what are you looking for in this place? You believe that Batman is alive, but you have never told me why you believe this so fervently.” His voice was starting to grate on Tim’s nerves, but he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to give the man more ammo against him.

He looked up when there was a knock on the door and walked over to open it only to see Z standing there, “We should prepare.” He stated.

Tim was about to speak when the older man continued, “This is not Gotham, kid. You cant be arrogant out here, or let your emotions cloud your judgement. Let’s assume you make it past the many military checkpoints, then you’re faced with a landmine riddled desert. Our contacts can navigate that, can you? The people here do not fear you, but they do fear the League. You might have been able to keep your ‘Shrike’ persona from being tied to America, but if you go at this alone, you’ll just end up a cautionary tale.”

“Why are you doing this?” Tim asked, “And yeah, I get that you, Owens and Pru serve Ra’s and that you would die for him, but why are you helping me?”

Z chuckled, “We’ve met, and fought, before this. I was a part of the group attempting to resurrect my Master. I fought to bring him back, just as you are fighting to find your father now.” Tim finally pieced why Z’s scent was familiar, “In the end, our mission was a success. But without him, I was lost and there was no meaning. Bringing him back was inspiring.” He sighed and moved to the window, “I’m an assassin. I kill, it is what I am good at. I serve Ra’s al Ghul, as in all things. But helping you with this mission, I am in a unique position to restore a life and not take it. Your life, and that prospect intrigues me.”

“I’m not going to suddenly be buddy-buddy with you three. I hope you know that.” Tim said as he walked to his bag and pulled out his gear.

Z snorted, “I wasn’t expecting you to. I just need to know if you can work with us. Can a bat of Gotham work in tandem with a bunch of assassins?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Tim snarked.

“And now you have my curiosity. Past work with assassins is not in the file we received on you.” Came the southern drawl of Owens as he climbed the balcony.

“There’s a door for a reason, dipshit.” And that was Prudence’s Geordie accent as she opened the door.

“And now it’s a party.” Tim said as he quickly got dressed, not even caring that there were three other people in the room, “Speaking of the file on me. Does it even tell you that I was trained by Lady Shiva? Or is it still as sad as the one that Talia gave the Red Hood before sending him after me?”

“No shit, Shiva trained you? Man, no wonder you kicked our ass.” Owens whined. Tim just shot him a smirk and pulled up his face mask before flipping his hood over his face.

“Let’s go.” He said and the three immediately got their game faces on.

Chapter Text

Shrike let Z drive this time as he navigated them towards the target under the night sky. Owens alternated from leaning out the sunroof to look through his rifle scope and sitting down in the back. And then he started to tell stories about the others, mostly Pru.

“She walks up to Dusan like she was Ra’s himself, and everyone was silent, thinking he was gonna kill her. And she says to him,” He broke for a moment to let out a manly giggle, “I swear I will never forget this, she tells him he should get some sun, and that he’s looking a bit pale!” He laughed.

“How was I supposed to know! None of you bastards told me and I’d never seen an albino before!” Pru snapped back at him.

“He was called the ‘White Ghost’ for a reason Pru!” Owens said as he slipped back down from his perch.

“Fuck you, you all enjoyed it, didn’t you? Didn’t shut me up, just let me keep talking.” Pru scowled and jabbed an elbow in his side.

“And then, even though the Ghost had broken seven of her bones, she was still cursing at him. So he broke four more.” Owens prodded her with a smirk.

Shrike looked a the smile on Z’s face and then back at the two others, “So me breaking your nose three times in the last four days wasn’t new for you, was it?” He asked, setting Owens off again and getting a chuckle from Z.

“I hate you all.” Pru spat as she pouted.

For assassins, these guys aren’t half bad company. They act like the Titans used to. Before… He shook himself out of those thoughts before he could spiral. The car pulled to a stop and the four piled out.

Shrike paused for a moment as he noticed another vehicle had been following them and the heavy scent of blood emanating from it. He thought for a moment and then turned to Z, “We’ve got a tail, stay alert.” All three tensed and went from relaxed to on edge and watching each other’s backs.

Shrike nodded at them and turned to the cliff that held the cave he was after. Ra’s calls Batman ‘the Detective’. He thought as he climbed. I remember realizing Dick Grayson was Robin, that Bruce was Batman. I remember finding out that I am a mutant and that the man that ‘raised’ me was not my father. I had a moment when I suspected Bruce was alive. It wasn’t faith and it wasn’t a theory. Most would have said that the evidence was insane, that the trail was cold. But I know that body was not Bruce, just as I know that my first clue was his scent. He pulled back his hood and let his eyes adjust to the low lighting. So, I sunk my teeth into my case, and I am not letting it go. Ra’s calls Bruce ‘Detective’, and as evil as he is, I’ve always liked that. I know I’m right; Bruce isn’t dead. He stared at the carving, it’d likeness in the exact shape the bat signal. He’s lost, and this is where it starts.

He spent thirty minutes looking at the wall before he jotted down the plot point and uploaded it to his wrist computer. As he left the cave, he realized that it was downwind and their tail was moving closer at a disturbing speed.

“How do you feel, Shrike?” Z asked and Shrike made a hand motion that Jason had taught him, signaling that a threat approached.

All three made the acknowledgement back, before realizing that the one who made it shouldn’t know it.

“Can we go now?” Pru asked, acting nonchalant. “Are you smiling? Cause I can’t tell, you went and covered that fuzz of yours.” She asked as he walked up to them.

Z was only alive because he was on edge from the warning, and even then, he was barely able to avoid the sword hitting somewhere vital, he dropped to the ground to play dead. Pru cursed as she and Owens spun.

“Assassins…. I am The Widower. Please try to put up a fight.” The creep hissed creepily.

“Z!” Owens shouted and Pru started to threaten the spider. Shrike yelled at them to get down and both had been prepared to avoid death but not serious cuts to their throats. (In another world. Z would have been stabbed in the heart and instantly been dead. Owens would have had his head taken off and Pru would have been almost dead. And Tim would have lost his spleen. But this aint that world.)

“Shit!” Shrike cursed as he blocked one of the assassin’s blades.

“You were not on my list, assassin.” The man licked his lips, “All the better! A wild card.” And then Shrike felt a sword go through his side.

One thing most of humanity knows, is never corner a wounded animal. And never turn your back on a pissed off predator. As the Widower dropped Shrike and started a whole rave about a ‘Council of Spiders’, Shrike’s outer wound sealed, and he stood up silently. Schlikt. That sound was the Widower’s only warning, then Shrike moved. The mutant was past the man before he could even turn. Shrike could feel the poison from the assassin’s blade still coursing through him, but his watched dispassionately as the assailant fell to his knees and his body fell one way and his head the other.

He gave it a moment before he rushed over to Z, who was sitting up and staring at him in shock. And Shrike could understand why, he was assumed to be of the same mind as Batman when it came to killing, but he also knew when push comes to shove, he can stab. He pulled out a trauma kit and handed it to the older man, knowing he would know how to use it best on himself. He then ran over to the others who were holding their cuts and started to patch them up.

He could feel his body burning up as his healing fought against the poison, but he pushed through it to make sure his trio of assassin’s were okay. Once he knew they were good, he fell to his knees to the shock of the others. As his eyes closed he could here Ra’s from the headset.

“Did you find what you were looking for, Timothy?” When Shrike failed to answer the man sounded worried, “Timothy?”

(>>>)

Green, everything was green. Tim came to under water and he claws his way out and into the opening of a cave. He found himself surrounded by assassins and with a Lazarus Pit to his back. A Pit to his back, where he just came from. Shit. That fucking poison wasn’t that bad. He thought to himself. His head hurt a bit, but he realized that green tinging his vision was vanishing alongside the migraine. So, it can heal Pit Rage. Good to know.

He looked up and saw Ra’s walk up to him, “So sorry, but the havoc that the Widower’s poison was weaving on your system would take to long for you heal without a little push.” Damn. Maybe it was that bad. “And considering who your father is, I knew the Pit would not harm you to much.”

Tim latched onto that comment, “My father? You said you know who he is, tell me.” Tim demanded.

Ra’s raised an eyebrow and motioned for a Shadow to bring a file. After that he handed the young adult the file, “Take tonight to look that over, I wish to speak to you in the morning about a business proposal.”

Tim opened the first page to see a name. James 'Logan' Howlett the Wolverine. Who the fuck?

Chapter Text

For those back in Gotham, the last few months had been hell. Alfred had eventually pried the reasoning behind Tim’s disappearance from Dick and had read him the riot act. Following Alfred’s advice, Dick sent Stephanie Brown, also known as Spoiler, to Tim’s Nest to check on him, but the teen had only returned with a handful of broken trackers and a report that Tim’s Red Robin suit was left behind. Dick was prepared for some broken trackers, but he was not prepared for the bloody and broken implants that were part of the pile. Both Tim’s implanted tracker and vital scanner had been removed and left in the same pile as the others, and it broke Dick’s heart to realize how far he’d pushed his little brother.

After the trackers were found, Barbara had been able to gain access to the barest of information from Tim’s servers and had found some of the evidence the former Robin had found. Once she had run the evidence through her own algorithm, she came to the same conclusion as Tim. Once she had the information, she told Alfred and the two of them forced Dick to exhume ‘Batman’s’ body to test the DNA. When the results came back, Dick’s world fell apart again. The realization that he had disavowed Tim, cut him off from the Justice League and showed him no understanding broke his heart. And now, no one even knew where in the world was Tim.

He should have known how bad he’d hurt his baby bird by the look on Tim’s face that last night. And thinking back to how he had been behaving around both of his younger brothers made him realize that he had fucked up with both Tim and Jason.

Speaking of Jason, a leather gloved fist smashed into the side of Dick’s face without warning, “What the fuck, Richard Grayson!?” A newly arrived Jason Todd raged, “I left thinking ‘of course Dickwing will be there for Timmy’ and then I come back from space to find that not only did you fire Tim from Robin, BUT you also instated the kid that has been trying to murder him since his arrival! And Timberly is nowhere to been found!” He had Dick by the collar of his shirt, “You’re fucking lucky that I know for a fact that Baby Bird’s story can’t end like mine!”

“I know! I fucked up! I tried so hard to do everything right and fucked it up instead! I didn’t want this to happen! I thought I was doing the right thing,” Tears were rolling down his face, “I didn’t think he’d leave.” His last words were whispered.

Jason scoffed and dropped the weeping man, “You left him long before he left you.” Dick sobbed at that statement, “The kid is a literal genius, you fucking know that. Why didn’t you even look at his evidence, cause I fucking know he had some.”

“I don’t know,” Dick whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t fucking say sorry to me, tell Tim that bullshit when he comes back, if he does.” Jason spat.

“Boys, boys, you’re both pretty. Now if you would direct your attention to the Batcomputer, I found Tim.” Both men snapped their attention to Barbara’s voice to see Oracle’s symbol on the screen. They both rushed over, and Dick opened the file she had dropped them.

A picture popped up of who appeared to be Tim with three others, two older men and a bald female. Tim’s hair was messy, and he had what looked to be the making of a five-o-clock shadow on his face. He was in a red button up, black jacket, blue jeans and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of aviators.

Jason snorted, “No more baby-face, nice fuzz Timmy.” He muttered as he eyed the other three, “Oh fuck.” He cursed as he recognized the trio.

“What? What is it?” Dick asked as he looked over at Jason, “Who are they?”

“Zeddmore Washington, Prudence Woods, and Jonathon Owens.” The two looked over as Damian finally spoke from his position. The boy had been there the whole time with a contrite look on his face, “They are a team of three that work for my grandfather. Though why they would be helping Drake is beyond me.”

“Guess Ra’s believes Timmy.” Jason stated and Dick realized that in giving Damian a reason to stay, he’d sent Tim right into Ra’s’ hands.

(>>>)

Tim couldn’t sleep because of the information that he’d just learned spiraling through his head. His biological father was an amnesiac man that went by Logan. His list of accomplishments was padded with everything from serving in the army to being a part of an elite task force of mercenaries. And he had served in every war since the 1860s, and even at the age of 176, still looked to be in his early thirties.

The realization that the healing factor that he had inherited could lead to him outliving the people he cared about was tough to chew. He could also now see where he got his facial features from, and his scowl. Apparently, Logan was going by the name ‘The Wolverine’ and making money off cage fights in Canada. He was reportedly, undefeated.

He also read a bit about the Weapon X project but found most of the information blacked out. The most he could gather was that it ended with Logan having Adamantium bones. Eventually he decided to table his thoughts on his father and turn back to something that had been bugging him. The Council of Spiders, a group of assassins that seemed to be participating in a hunt against other assassins.

How did the Widower know where to find us? Ra’s and the assassin trio were the only ones who should know, so did one of them inform this so-called Council? Tim closed his eyes and let himself think, No, none of the trio are at fault. They can be taught how to hide their facial expressions, but they can’t be taught to hide their scent. Which leaves Ra’s, but he also seemed shocked from what I can remember after the attack.

Tim’s eyes snapped open, and his face twisted into a shark-like grin, “I smell a rat.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, Tim was led to a room where Ra's was awaiting him. Inside the room was a table piled high with breakfast foods that ranged from the typical 'all American' delights to a variety of middle eastern goods. Ra's had already started eating and motioned for the young man to sit. Once Tim had sat down servants swarmed to start to serve him, but Tim was watching Ra's. His nose couldn’t make out any poisons or other drugs in the dishes, but he wouldn’t put it past Ra's to try his luck.

"I trust you slept well?" Ra's asked as he placed his utensils down.

"No. You have a rat." Tim stated blandly as he started to eat.

Ra's went still and stared at him, "What makes you say that, Timothy?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. Your assassins didn’t lead an agent of the Council to us, because Widower went for the kill on all of us, and you know that I would survive a sword to the gut and would have ordered the spider to decapitate me if you wanted me dead." Tim rolled his eyes as he stated the obvious, "Which leaves a rat in the system. So let me ask you this, Ra's, who has all the information on the locations of your marks?" The young man watched as toxic green flared to life in Ra's' eyes.

“I wouldn’t kill him just yet though.” Tim said as he took a large bite of a muffin.

“Oh? Do tell Timothy. What would be your plan?” Ra’s asked with an intrigued look.

“Well, obviously this Council is using the information that the rat is providing to set traps for your assassins. How about you set your own trap?” Tim said as he pointed his fork at Ra’s. “Look, I don’t know what you have planned for me here, but you’ve already provided me with the last clue I needed to find Batman and the identity of my sperm donor. I’m not about to pledge myself to you, and I don’t think you expect me too, but I can help with setting a trap.” He paused to take in Ra’s perplexed look, “And hunting down a rat.”

“And what if I do not let you leave after all the pieces fall into place?” The man asked.

“I think we both know that I’m better off willing to help, then unwilling and forced to help.” Tim said, banking on his words hitting their mark.

Luckily for him, they did and the two spent far into the morning plotting.

(>>>)

Eventually Ra’s left for a different part of the base, something about checking in on a side project he had started. Tim on the other hand was led back to his quarters and told to get dressed in his suit, which he quickly did and was led into a meeting room. He knew this was coming because it was the start of his plans with Ra’s. The first thing he did once he was in the open room was move to join his assassin trio.

Both Pru and Owens had bandages around their necks and Z had one around his abdomen. Shrike nodded at them, glad to see that they were healing. Owens grinned at him while Pru scowled, and Z simply nodded back with a small smile on his face. Nothing brings people together like an attempt on their lives. Shrike wasn’t sure when he started to see the trio as his, but he had. He heard a commotion at the front of the room and looked over to see what could only be The White Ghost and a plain looking man. Shrike’s eyes narrowed as he stared at The Expediter, or as he had come to know him as, the rat.

“For weeks now, our assets have been targeted,” Behind the Expediter screens lit up to show murdered assassins, “Fourteen hits total, and two of them happened in unison, which leads us to suspect multiple enemies. With a variety of M.O.s and no pattern to their attacks. But it is clear that they are aware of us and our targets. There have been no witnesses or fatalities from them,” Then the picture on the screen changed to a dead Widower, “Until now.”

The White Ghost took over from there, “Whoever this ‘Council of Spiders’ is, they have declared war on our League.”

“No, this isn’t war. This is a game to them.” Shrike interrupted.

“Yeah, when we were attacked, before Shrike took him out, The Widower thanked us for playing.” Owens cut in after the Ghost ordered them to explain.

“They’re doing this for fun. They’re hunting the League of Assassins for fun.” Z said as he looked over at Shrike. Tim watched the Expediter’s face as the two men talked and caught the flinch.

Got him. Tim thought as the Ghost continued, “Be that as it may, our orders remain the same. Ra’s al Ghul has charged us with hunting these spiders down and ending their arrogance with great enthusiasm. You four are the only people on this earth who have had direct contact with them and survived to tell the tale.” The albino turned to face Shrike, “Ra’s al Ghul wishes for you to lead the League in the endeavor, Tim Drake.”

If I hadn’t already known this was the plan, I might have sat here for a bit and wondered what Batman would do in my situation. But Bruce has never been in my situation. And to top it all off, I have three assassins, that are probably thirsty for revenge, looking to me. Shrike smirked and crossed his arms, “I need access to everything. We start now.”

Then he stood up and walked towards the front until he stood before the two other men. He turned to the Expediter and stared at him, eyes dark and frigid, “But first,” He started before taking the man by surprise and slamming him on the ground, “Let’s start by taking care of a rat.” He had a hand on the back of the man’s neck and a knee in his back, “You didn’t think that I wouldn’t smell the deceit on you, did you?” He growled and the man started to shake.

The Ghost went to grab Shrike, but the trio jumped to his defense, “What is the meaning of this!?” Th albino demanded.

“Well, I had a thought when I was trying to sleep last night. Who would know anything and everything about all the hits that are ordered, right down to the timing? How’s that saying go again? Once is a coincidence,” Shrike started.

“Twice is a pattern.” Owens continued, causing Pru to roll her eyes.

“And three times is enemy action.” Z finished as he struggled to block the Ghost from Shrike.

“And then you call me into this room and introduce me to the one man that fits all of the criteria of a fucking rat?” Shrike mused, “What do you say spider food?” Shrike raised an eyebrow when the Expediter froze, “Oh, thought I didn’t know that either? How about we make a deal? Tell us everything you know, and we’ll make sure to send your ashes to your wife.”

“You don’t have to authority,” The Ghost started to say.

“He’s in charge as of ten minutes ago, remember?” Pru’s tone was sarcastic but was enough to shut the albino up.

Shrike paid them no attention as he focused on the Expediter who was pale and shaky, “What do you say, asshole?”

“Okay okay! I’ll tell you, just don’t do anything to my family.” He said.

“Good boy.” Shrike stated before shaking him by the collar and getting off of him, “Get the information from him and make sure our end of the bargain is upheld.” Tim ordered before turning to the Ghost, “So where is your computer set up?”

Chapter Text

True to his word, after extracting the information from the Expediter and the man had been killed by a snapped neck, Shrike had his body cremated and sent to his wife. And the less said about the spiders that erupted from his body as he burned, the better. The Council of Spiders consisted of eight, now seven, individuals who all had different abilities and fighting styles. And they were all named after different venomous spiders. A member going by Sac was the one to approach the Expediter and inject him with the spiders that would have eventually kill the man.

Even though Shrike was given the names of each of the members, the most he could find was basic information, such as physical descriptions. The only member that he could fully research was the leader of the Council, a young lady named Vitoria, who was going by Wanderer. Apparently, as a child, Vitoria was chased into the rainforest by a group of drunks and fell into a pit of Brazilian Wandering spiders. The venom of this spider could be lethal to a full-grown man and the spider was considered one of the deadliest in the world. She had been eight at the time and she was bitten 319 times.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Vitoria was able to survive due to her mutation activating under the stress and pain of the venom. Her touch became death itself and those that witnessed her murders reported that it was like her skin was secreting the same venom that had threatened to kill her. Her first ever victims were the men that chased her into the forest, followed shortly by her own mother. As Shrike read the report he wondered if Vitoria didn’t know what she was doing, or if she did and liked it.

So, the leader of the Council can kill with a touch and she’s also skilled in close quarters martial arts. A dangerous combination. Shrike thought as he swiped through the rest of the members.

Recluse was reported to be an American man that had lost all of his fingers to frostbite in his early twenties and had them replaced by blades. Goliath was a large man who had been turned into a spider hybrid by experimentation. He had four arms, four eyes, claws, fangs and superhuman physiology, which made him the brute force fighter of the Council. Next was a man called Wolf, who was an expert marksman that had four cybernetic arms that added to his firepower. The final man of the Council went by Tangle and his weapon of choice was a cauterizing garrote. And the final member was the poison expert, a woman called Funnel, who from what Shrike could find, had basic hand-to-hand training and relied heavily on her gadgets.

This is not going to be easy. The young man pulled up the Expediter’s previous contacts with the Council and pieced together an algorithm to copy the dead man’s handiwork. But I wonder how they’ll feel when they become the hunted. And with the press of a button, the trap was set.

(>>>)

I had always thought that the League only existed to protect Ra’s, for the most part. I was content with seeing them as faceless killers that I occasionally fought against. But after having been in their systems, I can see that the League is a business. Each kill they make is under a contract, and they are very selective, which was a surprise to find out. Even more surprising to find was the fact that most of their targets aren’t good people. Shrike thought as he and his three assassins crouched in the rafters as they watched their prey stalk towards the League assassin. Shrike eyed the bladed fingers the killer was sporting and identified him as Recluse. Today, three hits are taking place. A corrupt politician in London, a sleezy CEO in Athens and an adulterous wife in Budapest.

Shrike made a hand movement when Recluse got closer and the four of them dropped down to confront the spider, “Surrender and you might make it out of this mess alive.” Shrike demanded as more nameless ninjas dropped down to surround the man.

This isn’t going to work. Shrike thought as he eyed the man, His body language and scent are screaming that this unwinnable scenario just made his night better. “Get ready.” Shrike muttered so that his team could hear. Behind him he could hear a sniper shot and knew that the League assassin had taken the chance to finish his hit, but he couldn’t focus on that now.

The spider managed to claim first blood and within moments the ninja that had been clawed was dead. The skin around the wounds had turned black with necrosis. Shit. “There’s a neurotoxin on the claws.” Shrike shouted to inform the other and clicked a button on his staff to release the hidden blades.

The fight continued and moved to another roof as Recluse used another ninja to cushion his fall and then stabbed him. Shrike was taking in how the man was moving and concluded that while the finger blades were coated with neurotoxin, the guy wasn’t a meta as far as Shrike could tell. As Z and Shrike continued to fight the man, Pru was thrown off the building by an elbow to the gut and Owens went after her when Shrike threw him a grappling hook in a split second.

The split-second left Shrike open, but he was able to dodge at the last second and slammed his boot into the spider’s gut. Shrike growled at the clawed man motioned for Z to hold as he readied himself.

“You want to keep playing around or are you ready to get serious? Cause I’m starting to get bored with you.” The young man stated.

The other man growled and leapt at Shrike, “You’re dead! Do you hear me! You’re dead!”

Shrike smirked under his mask and knocked Recluse’s hands out to the side as he kicked the man in the chin. There was a shattering sound as Shrike brought his staff down on one set of claws and then a matching shattering noise was heard as Z rushed forward to shatter the other set. The two used Recluse’s shock to quickly tie him up. Shrike looked around and realized that he and his team were the only survivors of Recluse’s attack.

“Hello Recluse. I would talk unless you want to end up like the Widower.” Shrike said as he tilted his head.

“I’ve never been beaten in a fight. You want me to rat the rest of us out? Then fight me again.” Recluse spat. “That’s why you left me alive right?”

“I’m pretty sure we just beat you.” Owens stated as he and Pru walked up.

“Instead of asking me questions, maybe you should worry about how your other ‘hits’ went.” The man said with a grin in his voice.

As he said that, Shrike’s communicator crackled to life, “Shrike, are you and your team alive?” Came the Ghost’s voice.

“Z, Pru, Owens and I survived the fight and managed to capture one of the Council. Have you heard from the others?” Shrike asked and he could tell that Recluse was smug.

“Beta team was able to apprehend the man called Wolf with the help of team Charlie and the EMP you provided and with minimal fatalities. Gamma team encountered Funnel and were able to hold out for team Foxtrot to reinforce them. You were correct in your assumption that each team having an EMP would be a lifesaver. Once Funnel’s devices no longer functioned, she tried to run and was killed trying to escape.” The Ghost sounded almost happy, and Shrike was grinning behind his mask.

The smug scent had vanished and was replaced with the sickly scent of fear as the information sunk in for Recluse. The brunette looked at the four in shock, “How did you know about us?” He asked frantically.

“I’m a hunter. And any good hunter knows how to track and trap prey. Each team we sent out expected to be attacked and we had a failsafe for any of your Council. You surprised me with the neurotoxin, but after the Widower’s poisoned blade, I should have expected it.” Shrike shrugged.

The Recluse started to laugh hysterically, “But there weren’t three traps! There were four games! And you might have caught me and killed three of us, but the fourth game is about to start!”

“At the Cradle, right?” Shrike’s voice was monotone as he raised an eyebrow, “Who do you think sent your precious Council the message?”

“No. You can’t have known.” Recluse refused to believe Shrike’s words.

“Known about what? The spiders that your cohort Sac implanted into the Expediter. Or how about how Vitoria has been leaving a trail of bodies behind as she heads towards Turkey?” Shrike asked.

“You were correct about their next step Shrike. The Cradle has reported two infiltrations, and they appear to be the one called Sac and the beast Goliath. All units are to head back to the Cradle. I trust that you and your team will head there.” The Ghost stated.

“We’ll be on our way after we finish up here.” Shrike replied as he nodded for Z and Owens to get the helicopter ready to go. Recluse stayed silent, shocked that they could have been outplayed.

Then he started to struggle and managed to use the sharp edges of his shattered claws to release himself. Then he leapt at Shrike, aiming to cut him even a little bit with his blades. One cut and the other man would be dead, except that Shrike stood there as Recluse tried. The brunette watched in horror as the cut he’d made sealed up with a hiss and his neurotoxin fizzled out under Shrike’s skin.

“My turn.” Shrike growled and with a schlikt, Recluse was falling backwards and trying to hold the gaping wound on his neck. I really didn’t want to do that. But he tried first.

Chapter Text

The four of them pushed the helicopter as fast as it could go as they headed for Istanbul. As they flew, Shrike went over what he had on the last four assailants. All four of them would be close combat fighters so Pru and Owens would have to stay back and take shots from a distance and maintain that distance. That would leave Shrike and Z to hold their own while near the four.

By the time they arrived, they had a good plan decided and rushed inside to see Sac and Goliath killing any assassin they encountered. Owens made a quick decision, “The bigger they are.” He started and the scream of fury Sac made as he witnessed what the high caliber bullet did as it tore through Goliath’s forehead made the assassin grin, “The harder they fall.”

Pru spared him a snort as she opened fire on Sac with her Uzis. The man cursed and did his best to dodge the hail of bullets as well as block some of the shots with his sickles. Pru growled at him, “Die you annoying fucking bug!”

“Spiders are arachnids Pru, not bugs.” Shrike pointed out as some of her shots hit their mark and the man collapsed to the ground. Then the man started to scream in horror as his own spiders swarmed him as they sensed his imminent death. The team of four stared in shock as the tiny spiders climbed into Sac’s body and the man’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he died.

“What the fuck?” Shrike said in unison with the others. They quickly shook off the disturbing sight and continued through the halls until they reached a central room. Where they ran into Ra’s, who wasn’t supposed to be there. “Ra’s, what the fuck are you doing here? You’re under attack, you need to get out of here. This wasn’t the plan!” Shrike stated as he noticed the blue eyes and not green eyes. Body double.

“The Demon’s Head fears nothing!” The body double said confidently. Then a hand reached around his cape and practically caressed his face, only dropping as the body double started to convulse.

As the body dropped, Shrike was finally face to face with Vitoria and her last companion, “The game is over.” She said with a smug smile.

“You seem to be missing some friends Vitoria.” Shrike said as he watched her.

“So, you managed to eliminate some of my fellow spiders, I killed your master.” The Wanderer smirked, “Ra’s al Ghul, the deadliest man on earth? What an exaggeration. The man was complacent, and his downfall was hubris.”

“Not my master.” Shrike said as he made the hand sign for fake and then escape behind his back to his team. The trio shared a look behind him and faded into the shadows.

“You seem to be in a bit of a situation Timothy.” Shrike turned his head slightly to acknowledge a camera in the room, “It’s a shame the Wanderer declined my offer to join my League. As it is, you probably have a few moments before she learns of my trickery. I do hope your healing factor can keep up with her poison.”

True to Ra’s’ words, the young woman looked down at her kill and scowls, “This is not Ra’s al Ghul.” And the instant she said that Shrike moved in to strike. He didn’t have the luxury to fight without lethality, so he went in with everything his assassin teachers taught him. He stopped for a split second to release his claws.

No hesitation. No self-pity. No second guessing. Fight to survive, kill if you must. He thought as he went one on one with Tangle. Vitoria seemed to stand back and analyze him the way he did her. Use what my teachers gave me. Don’t be any of them. Be all of them. I will win this. The League is at least contract based. This Council doesn’t care. They’ll kill anyone they decide would be an exciting hunt.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Vitoria had decided to join the fray. One of his claws stabbed into Tangle’s shoulder as he pulled the other man into Vitoria’s touch. The man had a moment to shout in shock before he was collapsing from the poison.

Vitoria snarled in rage, “You’ve taken out all of my friends and now, I am going to kill you.” She kicked at his chest and then went for his head with a hand strike.

“That should be easy for you. All you need is one touch, right?” Shrike asked as he dodged and blocked. Really grateful that I changed out the gloves of this costume and even more grateful that I’m not wearing Dick’s first costume.

He jumped back as she kicked up into a standing position, “You fight well, for an American. But you do not seem to be a killer at heart. So why would you serve Ra’s al Ghul?” she asked with a smirk.

Shrike scoffed, “I serve only one man, and he’s not here right now.” He said as they started at each other again.

He realized something was wrong the moment that she smirked in victory, and he wasn’t quick enough to stop her from hooking a finger into the cut Recluse had caused to his suit. He could feel the neurotoxin start to work its way into his blood stream and his healing factor fight it back with a vengeance. Shrike cursed internally before an animalistic rage grabbed hold of his movements.

“Just give up, you’re already dead.” Vitoria crowed happily.

Shrike just growled and the woman had a split second to react before he was on her and using his claws to eviscerate her. He wasn’t in a sane state of mind to notice when her eyes went glassy, and her breathing stopped. Shrike panted from exertion as he stood. The black lines around to spot where Vitoria had touched were shrinking as his body healed. Then he felt a pinch in his neck and had a moment to see an assassin holding a syringe before he collapsed into a puddle of blood.

(>>>)

“Is the project finalized?” A voice asked from a different room, “You’ve removed the toxicity?” It was Ra’s, but it was muffled.

Tim attempted to come too, but something was keeping him just out of reach of consciousness. He could tell that there was a mask on his face and the taste from the air coming in was drugged.

“We were able to synthesize what you asked, and all the tests came back positive that the properties that cause poisoning have been purified.” A different voice answered Ra’s.

“And is it ready for distribution?” The Demon’s Head asked.

“Yes master. Everything is set up to your specifications and the boy is in place.” The other stated and Tim could make out the sound of machines around him as well as the beeping of a heart monitor.

“Start the process and evacuate. We will watch the process from a different base. If he is anything like his father, we do not want to be here.” Ra’s ordered and his voice grew fainter.

“Yes sir.” Tim heard a button click and then the pain started. Needles dug into his skin all the way to his bones, and he had a moment to realize what Ra’s had planned before his heartbeat spiked and it felt like molten lava was flowing into him. Which was really close to what was happening and it left Tim screaming under the mask, bubbles escaping from the sides and into the water he was submerged in.

IT HURTS. IT HURTS. MAKE IT STOP. PLEASE. The only words he could think were thought in repetition. He didn’t know how long he had been there when everything stopped. His body felt like it was on fire, but the pain was fading. His heartbeat was slowing down and the mask was no longer drugging him with each breath.

He reached up and tore the mask off and dragged himself from the tank he’d been placed in. His body felt heavier, but he was automatically adjusting to the new weight. Logically he knew what happened, and as he sat there, he held up a hand and clenched it into a fist. SNIKT Sure enough, the claw that came out was no longer only bone. Now it matched his father’s metal claws, but with the slightest green tinge.

He retracted it and put his head in his hands, why would Ra’s do this? How the fuck am I going to explain the extra weight to the Bats. Fuck.

“Language my friend.” Tim snapped his head up as the voice slipped into his mind.

“Who?” Tim started to ask as the door to the room he was in burst open. He released his claws and was in a fighting stance before he noticed that the group didn’t seem to be hostile, “Who the fuck are you?” he asked as his claws retracted.

The lead of the group, a man with a red and yellow visor smiled, “We’re the X-Men, and we’re here to save you.”

“And I am Charles Xavier, young Timothy. We are here to bring you home.” The now named Charles Xavier stated in his head.

Chapter Text

“So, the renowned geneticist and leading researcher of mutations runs his own school for mutants? And he is also a mutant with telepathic abilities. And he has a machine designed to expand his ability to find mutants in need, which picked up on me being in pain? What the fuck is my life?” Tim groaned as from where he sat on the jet that ironically was called Blackbird.

Tim had been able to convince his rescuers to help him search for his suit and download any information from the computers Ra’s left behind. His whole reason for doing so was to be able to have a better understanding of what the man did, and hopefully find a reason why. He graciously took a towel that one of his saviors handed him. He roughly dried his still dripping hair and looked up at them.

“So, what do I call you?” he asked as he hung the towel around his neck.

The man with the visor spoke from the pilot’s seat, “You can call me Cyclops while in uniform, but outside of it I go by Scott Summers.”

One of the others, the woman with red hair, spoke next, “Jean Grey. I don’t have an alias yet.” She said as she checked his vitals. “You’re quite dehydrated and depleted of electrolytes. Blue Gatorade? I’ll go check if we have some in the ice chest.” Tim didn’t even have a chance to ask for it before she answered. He raised an eyebrow and watched her walk away before turning to the last person on the jet.

“My name is Ororo Munroe or Storm. I go by both interchangeably.” She said with a smile, “And how about you, our new furry friend.” She asked, looking at his messy hair and scruff.

Tim shot her a bland look, “It’s been a long couple of days, and I haven’t had a chance to shave.” He rubbed his hair again before he continued, “And it’s Tim Drake. I held a previous alias, but I’ve been going by Shrike for the last year and a half.”

“Wait, Drake as in current CEO of both Drake and Wayne Industries? What the hell are your doing in Turkey of all places?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, that’s me. And for my reason to be out here, I got mixed up in some assassin bullshit that landed me in the position you found me in.” Tim said with a frustrated huff.

“What I want to know is why a teenage CEO has a vigilante alias and a suit?” Jean asked as she came back in with the Gatorade.

“Probably because I am a vigilante?” Tim said sarcastically as he gladly took the drink. He also rummaged through the bag he had been able to salvage and pulled out a high-calorie bar. He alternated between sipping the Gatorade and tearing off pieces of the snack.

“Are you Robin?” Jean asked curiously.

“I used to be.” Tim said honestly, “I kinda got fired by the temp Batman in favor of a homicidal brat.” A scowl crossed his face as he finished. “Anyways, is there any chance I can get y’all to drop me off near Gotham?”

“The Professor was actually hoping to speak with you face to face, if you’re okay with that.” Storm stated with an apologetic smile.

“Look, I’m grateful for the save and all that, but I really need to get back to Gotham. I have information I need to get to the current Batman about the location of the original Batman. I’m on a time crunch and I’ve already wasted enough time with a bunch of assassins that ended with me being turned into a literal walking lightning rod.” Tim stated before he sighed, “Look, I’ll leave a way to contact me, and I can arrange a meeting after I get the shit I need to do done.”

The younger man watched as the three had a conversation, and even though Tim could hear every word, he couldn’t bring himself to care about what they were saying. Regardless of whether they agreed, Tim would be getting to Gotham, one way or another. He leaned against the wall of the jet and closed his eyes.

“Okay, where do you want us to drop you off?” Storm asked after the three finally came to a consensus. Tim shot her a smirk.

(>>>)

This would be the first time Tim had truly been in Gotham as Shrike. He had the X-Men drop him off at the same airfield that he had left from and once he had done some checks on his bike, he was flying back towards the inner city. He chuckled under his map as the sky opened and started to pour rain.

I really need a therapist. I missed this shitty city. Most people would agree that Gotham is the worst place in the world, me included. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its own charm. He whipped in and out of traffic as his thoughts ran wild But it’s nights like this that I missed most. The sound of rain pouring down and rushing into the sewers, the sirens of squad cars ripping through the streets. And most of all He sped towards a brightly colored villain. I miss kicking Rogue ass.

He used his staff to sweep the man off his feet and then spun his bike around to stop. Shrike took a moment to look the villain over and concluded that this must be the newest incarnation of Killer Moth. He wasn’t sure when this one popped up because he had been out of the loop for more than a year. He smirked under his mask.

“Who-ever you are, I don’t want to fight! I don’t have a problem with you! I just have to get out of Gotham!” The man yelled at Shrike.

“Funny, you just guaranteed a ten-to-fifteen-year stay, pal.” Shrike said before he leapt from his bike to dodge some flash bangs. Don’t know why he’s doing this, but he stinks of desperation. He thought as he knocked Killer Moth’s gun out of his hand. I need to end this quick. I really don’t want to see any of my ex-coworkers yet, if ever again. He winced at the darkness of that thought but shook it off and proceeded to take the villain down, hard.

He passed the Rogue off to the police that had showed up without answering any of heir questions. He then got back on his bike and sped towards his Nest. He pulled into his garage and parked before pulling his hood and mask down. He sighed and looked at the door to the living space, I am not looking forward to the cleaning I’m going to have to do. He thought as he opened the door.

But the moment he stepped into the room he was grappled into a tight hug, and the only thing keeping him standing was the extra weight on his bones. Tim was able to make out the white streak in the black hair and realized that it was Jason attempting to squeeze the life out of him. He chuckled and hugged his older brother back.

Chapter Text

“A note! A single fucking note Timmy!” Jason ranted, “And not even one that told me where to find you! All it said was ‘Evidence that Bruce is alive. Have to leave. Be back soon.’ And then, AND THEN, I look at your files and they haven’t been touched in months and everyone has no idea where you are! The only reason I wasn’t worried about you dying, is BECAUSE I KNOW YOU CANT!” He shouted while shaking the younger man.

Tim really should have expected the riot act to be read to him by Jason, but he was just riding the high of being around his brother for the first time in over a year. He had probably missed Jason the most out of everyone in Gotham. Jason finally stopped yelling at him and pulled him into another hug. Tim tucked his head into the side of the older man’s neck and closed his eyes.

“I’m glad you’re back Tim and I’m sorry for leaving.” Jason’s face and scent both corroborated his words. “I really didn’t think that Dick would drop the ball so bad.”

Tim scowled at the mention of the older man, “Please don’t ruin the moment.” He said as he ran a rough hand through his hair.

The movement drew Jason’s attention, and he chuckled, “You’re a lot hairier than I remember.” He chuckled as he ruffled the younger man’s hair.

Tim smacked Jason’s hand away with a pout, “Didn’t really have time to get a haircut while bouncing around Europe and the Middle East.”

“Speaking of, do I want to know what you got up to with the League?” Jason asked with a serious expression. “Barbie got a picture of you at the airport in Baghdad with a team.”

Ah, evidence that I can’t lie my way out of. Tim thought as he wondered whether he should tell everything or try to bury some of the things he had to do while searching for Bruce. Jason watched his face and could see the wavering, “Timmy, you’re talking to the man who decapitated multiple people and sent the heads to the FBI, I’m not gonna judge you.”

Tim huffed out a heavy sigh before he decided to just tell Jason everything. From the break-ins that he committed to the thievery and smuggling that he did from Berlin to Baghdad. And then he told Jason about killing the Widower, passing out from poison induced pain and waking up surrounded by green. He watched Jason’s fists clench, and his eyes blaze a matching green as the older man realized what Tim meant.

“What?” The word was hissed out and Tim had to fight back a flinch when Jason was suddenly in his face, searching his eyes and hair.

“Ah, I had a white streak for about an hour until my healing factor decided that it didn’t appreciate the lack of pigment and took care of it. And the Pit Rage was healed within the first few minutes.” Tim said as he looked away.

“Why did you have to go in the Pit in the first place? You should have been able to heal from the poison, right?” Jason asked.

“Ra’s decided that letting me heal on my own would take to long, so he had me dumped in the Pit.” Tim said with a scoff. “But after what he just did, I’m pretty sure he just wanted an excuse to bump up my healing factor.”

“What did he do?” Jason demanded.

Tim didn’t answer and instead just let out one of his claws. Jason stared at the new and shiny metal coating and then looked at Tim. He took the younger man’s hand and finally realized why his brother had felt harder than when he’d left. Tim retracted the claw, “Wasn’t my choice. He had an assassin drug me right after a fight where I got poisoned. My body was focused on the poison and not the drug. Was able to slightly push myself to consciousness in time for Ra’s to order the procedure to start. Don’t know how long I was under, and I don’t know how long it took to complete.” His words were stilted because the pain was still fresh in his brain.

“So, you’ve got metal bones? What the hell made Ra’s think to do that?” Jason asked.

“Shit, I didn’t get to that part in the retelling, huh?” Tim asked, “Apparently my bio dad is a mutant like me, and I have a very similar if not identical mutation as him. Only I have one claw while he has three. But he also went through the same process from what I could gather from the file I was given.” He said.

“No shit, you found out who your dad is?” Jason asked.

Tim nodded and pulled out the picture he had kept from the file Ra’s had provided. He handed it over and Jason looked at it and then up at Tim before he started to chuckle.

“Timberly, you’re like a mini-me of this man. You sure you’re not a clone?” Jason joked as he handed the photo back.

“You only say that now, because I haven’t had a haircut in months.” Tim said with a deadpan look, “And no, when I was trying to figure out exactly what was going on with my DNA, I ran a test that confirmed that half of it from my mom. Otherwise, I would have had that thought as well.”

“Okay, but how heavy are you now?” Jason asked seriously.

“Haven’t had a chance to weigh myself, but I’m pretty sure that swimming is now out of the question for me.” He stated with a cynical smile.

“So, no patrols near the harbor. Okay we can do that.” The older man nodded.

“About that,” Tim started with a frown, “I’m not sure I even want to stay in Gotham after we get Bruce back.” he stated as he looked away from Jason.

“I wish I could say that I blame you, baby bird, but I don’t.” Jason said with a sigh, “Dickhead and the demon brat really hurt you.”

“They did, and while I might forgive Dick in time, at the moment I can’t.” Tim said, “But what I can do, is bring back Bruce.”

Jason nodded, “Okay, so what’s our next step then?”

“Bruce is currently lost in time.” Tim finally stood up and moved to his computer set up. He started to plug in his data as he talked, “We need a time machine.”

“So, Booster Gold?” Jason asked as he moved to stand behind the younger man.

“First, we have to tell Alfred that his son is alive. Then we can go to the Justice League.” Tim stated with a scowl, “I would have brought this evidence to Clark, but I’m still pissed off that he just took what Dick said about me at face value and didn’t even care to check up on me.” He was in the endgame of his quest now.

Jason nodded, “Everyone is just coming back from the grave, huh? My one unique thing.” The theatre kid lamented, and Tim chuckled.

He then sat back and looked at the evidence on the screen. This is it. Bruce is alive. Bart is alive. And so is- He was knocked out of his thoughts when there was a knock on his window. He looked over and saw Conner hanging in the air. Conner.

“Was I interrupting something?” The super asked as he entered the window.

Chapter Text

Tim stared at the other man for a few moments, not knowing what to say. Conner looked at him in concern and waved a hand in front of his face while Jason just watched the two.

“Uhm, hello? You’re starting to creep me out. Will you say something?” Conner was cut off as Tim pulled him into a hug. The super was taken aback for a moment before he hugged Tim back, “Tim? Are you okay bud? I thought with the new dark colors that you were trying to be all grim in dark. If so, this isn’t helping.”

Tim held him at arm’s length and beamed, “You’re alive!”

“I thought you already knew that?” Kon’s voice was confused as he looked his best friend over. He’d never seen Tim smile like that and was only now realizing that the other man’s canines were much larger than they should be.

“I knew you were back, and Bart as well, but it happened so fast and I was AWOL so I couldn’t corroborate the evidence and I guess I never let it sink in. And I was in a bad place when I got your message, so it kind of slipped my mind.” Tim was rambling a bit as he soaked in Kon’s presence.

“And now?” Kon asked with a pointed look.

Tim smiled, “I’m not completely out of the dark, but I’m doing a whole lot better than I was.” He stated.

“And a whole lot heavier, and what the fuck happened to your skeleton? It looks metallic.” Kon looked him over with slightly brighter eyes.

Tim rubbed the back of his head and looked over at Jason who just held his hands up, “Uh-uh don’t look at me Timbuktu. You’re the one that didn’t tell your friends your secret.”

“Secret?” Kon raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, so I might not be a normal human, exactly.” Tim said with a sheepish look, “But I’m not a Meta. The general consensus is that what I would be called is a mutant. Got a really good healing factor, enhanced senses, strength and speed, and these.” As he finished he let out his newly metal claws.

“Holy shit! Dude that’s so cool.” Kon said as he took Tim’s hand and looked them over. Tim on the other hand had a moment of relief when Kon suffered nothing from being near his claws. He had been nervous that Ra’s had infused whatever metal he’d forced into him with Kryptonite. “How long?”

“Since I was nine.” Tim stated as he pulled his claws in.

Kon watched as they sunk in and the skin closed behind them, “Does it hurt?” When Tim hummed at the question Kon reiterated, “When they come out, does it hurt?”

Tim shot him a sad smile, “Every time.”

Kon looked at him and then sighed, “We can unpack all this another time. You found something, didn’t you?”

“I did. I’m wrapping the evidence up nice and tight to be able to drop the whole data package on the JL all at once.” Tim said with a smirk.

“You’re still pissed at them, aren’t you.” Kon asked as he sat down on the sofa in the room.

“Of course, I am. The shit I had to go through because they didn’t even give me a chance to show my evidence. And that’s not even the worse part! They fucking locked me out of the global system and threatened to apprehend me if I hacked in.” Tim said as he threw his hands up, “And obviously I could have done it without getting caught, but I couldn’t take the chance that something stupid wouldn’t happen.” He punctuated the end of his sentence with a groan in his hands.

“Sounds justified, pun unintended. How can I help?” Kon asked.

Tim paused and looked over at Jason, “Do you think you could show my evidence to the Outlaws and get them on our side?” He asked and when Jason smirked and nodded the younger man looked at Kon, “Okay, so what we’re going to do is, I’m going to send you back to the Tower with the evidence I have. All I need is for you to get Bart and Cassie on our side. Then we can deliver the evidence as a unit. The more voices saying the same thing makes it hard to ignore.”

Kon nodded, “Sounds like a solid plan. Do you want me to leave tonight?”

“That would probably be for the best. I’ve got a few things I have to take care of in the next couple of days.” He said as he thought about the meeting he had to set up with Lucius Fox. Kon nodded and watched as Tim copied his data onto a drive and handed it to the super.

 “Alright. I’ll see you guys later.” Kon said as he headed for the window again. “And don’t look so down Tim, everything will work out.” And with that last sentence, Kon leapt out of the window and flew away.

“Well, that was something else. You want lasagna? Cause I want some lasagna.” Jason broke the awkward silence and headed to the kitchen.

(>>>)

“Are you sure you want to do this Tim? You don’t want to wait for Bruce to get back?” Lucius asked as Tim sat in front of him in his office.

Tim looked out the window and out into Gotham, “I want to start this, to make it easier for Bruce to slide back into the company. I already have Drake Industries to worry about. Besides, Bruce never actually completed the adoption process with me. He kept putting it off because he found out Jack wasn’t my father, and he didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. So, I don’t actually have any rights to Wayne Industries.”

Lucius sighed, “Alright Tim, if this is what you truly want, I’ll file the paperwork and I’ll let you know when it goes through. Though, what do you have planned, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“As soon as we get Bruce back and he’s healthy enough to take back over, regardless of whether he want to or not, I’m leaving Gotham for good.” Tim stated and he held back a smirk at the shock coming from the other man. “My trip showed me that there is more in the world than a town drowning in its own darkness. As much as I love Gotham, she doesn’t feel the same as she once did, and she has enough knights to protect her.”

“Where will you go?” The black man asked, still reeling from Tim’s admission.

“I’ll probably bounce between New York and California.” Tim revealed. “Keep my head down and run Drake Industries.”

“And the deal between Wayne and Drake?” Lucius looked at the young man.

“Well, with Stark shutting down his weapons manufacturing, I would expect that Wayne is going to be flooded with contracts. Unless they decide to truly downgrade and go with Hammer Tech,” Tim shuddered at that thought, “And because of my stipulations with my company about weapon creation, I suppose, if need be, Wayne Industries can offload some of the defense contracts onto Drake.”

Lucius sighed in relief that Tim wasn’t going to completely cut ties, “I’ll draw up a contract and have it go through legal.” He stated and Tim nodded before he stood.

“As much fun as this meeting was. I’m sure by now someone has informed Dick that I’m here and I really don’t want to see him.” Tim said as the two shook hands. “Have a good rest of your day, Mr. Fox.”

“You as well Mr. Drake.” Lucius said and Tim quickly left the room.

The young man rushed through the building as subtly as he could and when he got to the bottom floor without seeing his brother, he thought he was clear.

“Tim?” And that was said brother.

“Fuck.” Tim cursed and turned. Sure enough, Dick was standing behind him. And my luck has officially run out.

Chapter Text

Tim didn’t even bother to look at Dick once the older man led the two of them to a nearby coffee shop. He could smell the desperation on Dick, but he also thought the man deserved it. Maybe once, when Tim was younger, he would have been the one to initiate the conversation, but now he would just rather leave everything unsaid.

“Are you sure we can’t go back to the manor? Maybe a bit of privacy?” Dick asked as they sat down with their drinks.

“I’ve got nothing to hide. And nothing to say to you.” Tim took a sip of his coffee and ignored the flash of pain that crossed Dick’s face.

“Tim, please.” Dick pleaded, “We have to talk about this. And I can’t say everything out in the open like this.”

“And I can’t say I give a shit. So that’s too fucking bad.” Tim said with a satisfied smirk at the older man’s downcast expression. Is it mean that I’m behaving like this? Yes. Am I still pissed off at Dick for what he did? Also, yes. “Besides, the Manor is the last place I want to be. And the last place that I am wanted.” The last word was snarled.

Dick looked taken aback by the way Tim was acting and Tim realized that the other man had never actually witnessed him without the ‘diligent son’ mask on. The months that he’d been gone had done a factory deletion of that mask, and most of the rest of the ones in Tim’s repertoire. He’d also changed quite a bit physically while he’d been gone, what with the wild, messy hair and facial hair. He could see how Dick was struggling to come to terms with this new him.

“I’m sorry Baby Bird, for everything.” Dick said quietly. “What can I do to prove that?”

Tim let out a cold chuckle, “You only say that because you found out that I was right.” He stated and watched as Dick’s eyes widened, “Yeah, I know about the evidence Babs collected, Jay gave it to me last night.”

“Wait, he knew you were back? Why didn’t he call me?” Dick asked and he must have realized he’d stepped to far because his mouth snapped shut.

Tim raised an eyebrow, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because he’s a good big brother that listens to evidence instead of excommunicating me from a stable support network? Or maybe its because he knows that I really, really do not want to talk to you.” Tim stared the older man down before he downed the rest of his hot coffee and relished in the burn of his healing factor, “As fun as this was, Richard, it could have been an email.” His voice was rough from the heat, but with that he left the other man seated.

(>>>)

 “Heard Dickhead ambushed you after your meeting with Fox.” Jason said as Tim stormed in. The older man took one look at Tim’s face and handed him a pillow. Tim nodded at him, pressed his face into the pillow and screamed.

“He’s insufferable! You would think that he would be smart enough to know to let me come to him when I’m good and fucking ready. But, nooooooo, he just has to have to first word. Fucking dick!” Tim ranted before he spun around and punched a hanging sandbag. The chain holding it broke and Jason was barely able to catch it before it hit anything else. Tim panted and tried to get control of his breath before he finally grabbed the pillow again and screamed into it.

“You know, I’m supposed to be the one with rage issues.” Jason said once Tim had calmed down.

“Yeah, well, I’ve always had anger issues. I just used to be good at hiding it. But over a year of not having to temper it really fucks with the self-control.” Tim said sarcastically with a half-hearted glare. He collapsed back onto the couch and groaned.

“So, what’s next?” Jason asked as he moved Tim’s feet and sat down.

“Depends on how Roy and Kori took the evidence.” Tim said.

“I dropped it off with them this morning, so we should be getting a reply soon enough. And, word of warning, neither of them were thrilled to learn what Dickhead did. So expect a Tamaranean hug. Good thing you got those shiny new bones, yeah?” The older man shook Tim’s legs as he joked.

“And enhanced healing.” Tim said dryly, “I’ve been getting nothing but apologies from Cassie all morning on my Titan’s communicator. Which means that Kon came through and got her to watch it.”

“Were you only worried about getting Wondergirl on board?” Jason asked.

“Jason, Bart is from the future. And he’s a speedster who has literally time travelled. All it would take would be for me to say ‘hey, I think Bruce is trapped in a time funnel’ and he’d be on board.” Tim’s voice was dry and so was the look on his face. “And Cassie is still on my shit list because she took Dick’s side without hearing me out. And she also tried to hook up with me, immediately after Kon died.”

Jason grimaced at that, “Not the best idea she could have had, but, okay, so we’re waiting for answers. What’s next?”

“Once I have the confirmation from the Outlaws, I’ll have Cassie set up a meeting with the Justice League and force them to look me in the eyes while I show them the evidence.” Tim said with a smirk, “But that’ll probably take a few days. So while that is in the works, I need to had to New York.”

“City? What, you planning to take your act to Broadway?” Jason asked, eyes sparkling with humor.

“No, state. I’ve got a meeting to keep and a school to visit in Westchester County. And let's be honest, between the two of us, you're the theater kid.” Tim said as he took out the card that Jean had handed him as he got off the jet.

“Damn straight I am. And this the school the X-Men told you about?” Jason asked, recalling the trio from Tim’s story.

“Yep. You wanna come?” The younger man asked as he flipped the card through his fingers.

Jason shook his head and smirked, “Naw, not my style. You go make friends; I’ll hold down the fort here. You gonna take a Zeta?”

“Well, the trip is a five hour ride without cutting corners, so Zetas it is.” Tim said and he flipped the card to show the front. Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters

Chapter Text

Jason stayed in for the night and the two brothers steadfastly ignored the shadow that was haunting a roof a couple of buildings away. Eventually their older brother decided to stop stalking them and vanished into the night, though that might have been caused by Jason opening a window and flipping him off. Tim was just irritated with the situation.

“So have you contacted Cass yet?” Jason asked after scaring off the Bat. He was talking about Cassandra Cain, daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain, and also their adopted sister. She had left Gotham shortly after Jason had fled and made her way to Hong Kong, all without informing Tim. The younger man couldn’t really blame her for abandoning him, because while she liked to hang out with the two of them, she had always been wary.

“Jay, I’ve been back for less than five days. And one, she’s not even in Gotham, and two, I don’t think she likes me.” Tim stated with a sigh.

“What do you mean? Of course she likes you. What makes you think she doesn’t?” Jason was confused and was trying to piece together what Tim could mean.

“She’s always really cautious around me, like she thinks I’m going to attack or something. Then she gives me these looks when she thinks I’m not watching. I don’t know, maybe she doesn’t like that I was trained by her mom?” Tim asked.

“Timmy, she can read body language, she probably can tell that something is up with you, but she doesn’t know what it is, so she’s cautious. You have to admit that you act uncanny sometimes.” Jason pointed out and frowned at the look of confusion on Tim’s face, “Dude, you give off large predator vibes to even me, how do you think Cass sees it?”

“So, she’s scared of me?” Tim’s voice was small, and Jason pulled him into a hug.

“No, she’s respectfully wary. She wants to ask, but she also wants you to tell her first.” Jason stated.

“How did I not notice?” Tim wondered and glared at Jason when the older man snorted.

“Baby Bird, you’re not the best with basic human interaction.” He held up a hand to stave off Tim’s retort, “I’m not saying that you’re not good at faking it when you need to.”

Tim threw a pillow at him, “I’ll shoot Cass a message before I leave tomorrow, happy?” He asked sarcastically.

“Immensely.” Jason said in a monotone voice as he threw the pillow back, “Speaking of, which Zeta are you planning to use?”

Tim smirked, “Batcave. Dick has a shift tomorrow, bright and early, and the demon brat will be at school. So I can swing by the Cave to use the Zeta and let Alfred know that we’re working on being able to bring his son home. Two birds with one stone.” He said.

“Ha, you hacked Dickhead’s work schedule, didn’t you?” Jason asked with a grin.

“No, Babs did. She sent it to me after I was accosted by Dick, as an apology gift.” Tim stated with a smug look. “So, I’ll head over on my bike after he leaves.”

(>>>)

True to his words, Tim left the Nest thirty minutes after Dick had taken off for his job and sped towards Wayne Manor. He veered off of the main path and headed towards the unmarked trail that led to the Cave. When the waterfall that hid the entrance parted and he pulled in, he wasn’t surprised to see Alfred already waiting for him.

Tim parked his bike and pulled his helmet off, “Hey Alfred.” He said softly with a smile.

“Young Master Tim, welcome home.” The old man said with a fond smile, “You look well.” Alfred took in the wild hair on both the younger man’s head and face, “Would you like a trim?”

“Honestly, that would be amazing.” Tim said as he sat his helmet on the bike. He let Alfred lead him over to the medical area and watched as he pulled out a set of barber tools. Tim sat down where Alfred motioned and let the man get to work.

“I must say Master Tim, you look extraordinarily like your father.” Alfred said offhandedly, which caused Tim to jerk a bit out of shock, which in turn caused the razor in the older man’s hands to slice his face on accident. Tim hissed at the flash of heat and then froze as Alfred wiped away the blood on his cheek to reveal unmarked skin. Alfred hummed, “You were blessed with his ‘luck’ I see. Were you blessed with his other abilities as well Master Tim?”

“You know who my dad is?” Tim asked, shock in his voice.

“He was known as Lucky James while serving in the second World War. A name he received because he was somehow able to come out of every fight with nary a scratch. It was truly remarkable, and I believed he was blessed by Lady Luck herself until I witnessed him get shot point blank and shake it off.” Alfred said and it reminded Tim that the man had fought in the war as British Intelligence. “I heard from some contacts of mine that he’s currently suffering from amnesia and does not remember anything from before the last twenty years.”

“He’s going by Logan nowadays.” Tim said, still stunned, “How long have you known?” He asked. Did I miss covering up an incident? He wondered as Alfred stepped back to look at his work.

“Known about what Master Tim? About James being your father, or about you being a mutant like him?” Alfred asked with a small smile at Tim’s shocked face. “I’ve known since you arrived to be Robin. Remember young man that I am the one that patched you up so many times. I know from experience how long it takes certain wounds to heal.”

“Does Bruce know?” Tim whispered.

“If he does, he never once mentioned it to me. But even if he does know what you are, he will not care Master Tim.” The wise old man said as he placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder. Tim looked to the side, uncertain as Alfred put his tools away. The older man then handed him a small hand mirror and Tim looked in it to see that Alfred had slightly tamed his hair and trimmed the hair on his face to a more respectable level.

“He’s alive.” Tim said quietly as he sat the mirror down.

“I am so incredibly happy to hear you say that Master Tim.” Alfred stated with tears in his eyes. He seemed to pause for a moment before he drew Tim into a hug.

Tim hugged him back, “I’m working on bringing him home, but Jason and I thought you should be one of the first to know.” He said before he let him go and stood up, “Unfortunately, as much as I would like to stay and talk more about it Alfred, I have a meeting to keep out of state.” He stated with an apologetic twist to his lips.

The older man just nodded, “You’re wanting to use the Zeta to travel, I presume.” Alfred said and Tim nodded. “I shall prepare it then.”

Tim thanked him quietly and moved back over to his bike to start it and he slipped his helmet back on. He coasted to the Zeta designed to teleport vehicles and typed in the coordinates for the Zeta nearest to the school and waved goodbye to Alfred. The next moment he was in a new location. He kicked his bike into gear.

The drive to the school was honestly beautiful and so was the road up to the school. The grounds of the establishment were green and vast and the building itself was in truth an old manor. Tim parked his bike next to one of the cars outside and pulled his helmet off to run a hand through his hair. He tucked his helmet under his arm and moved to the door. He gingerly lowered the mental barriers he had been using and wasn’t shocked that after he rang the bell, it opened to reveal Jean.

“Tim! Welcome to the school.” The red head then looked him over and stated, “You sure clean up nice. Come with me, the Professor is in his office.”

Tim nodded and followed after her as she walked down the hallways. As they walked, the older woman told Tim that she was the teacher for politics and also the school’s doctor. And when Tim asked her where the others were, she said that they were in their own classes, teaching. Soon they had come to a stop in front of a large door and Jean smiled before she opened it for Tim and gestured for him to enter. Tim walked in and was faced with the man behind the voice in his head.

Chapter Text

The first thing Tim noticed was the fact that the man was bald, and then he noticed the wheelchair the man was sitting in. The younger man watched as the older man drove around his desk and over to him. He was dressed nicely and suddenly Tim felt a bit underdressed in his blues jeans, t-shirt and jacket combo.

“I am Charles Xavier, Headmaster of this Institute, I trust you found your way here alright?” The telepath asked, “I do hope you were able to take care of things back in Gotham?” He held his hand out for Tim to shake.

“You can call me Tim, Dr. Xavier.” Tim said as he took it with a nod, “The ride itself was uneventful and beautiful, but to answer your second question, yes I was able to get the ball rolling on the things I needed to get done.” He stood back and watched the older man roll back to his desk.

“That’s good to hear Tim, and please, call me Charles, or Professor X if need be.” The older man said with a smile.

Tim snorted, “So you have Storm, Cyclops and Professor X? And a team called the X-Men?” If he couldn’t smell the other man’s amusement he would have stopped, “You sure they don’t call you Wheels behind your back?” he asked with a smirk.

Charles chuckled, “I would not be surprised if they did.” The two fell into a short silence and a bell rang from out in the hallways. The noise was followed by the sound of kids chatter as they exited classrooms and moved on to their next classes.

“Why am I here?” Tim finally asked, “And how were you able to mentally reach me in Europe?”

“To be honest Tim, I was worried about what I heard when I first came across you. Somehow, even while using a device to expand my mutation, I had never encountered your mind while searching for young mutants in need. And then, out of nowhere, there you were. An adult and in immense physical and mental pain.” The telepath started and he looked at Tim with a frown, “So I sent three of my team to rescue you while I stayed here and watched. Only, once they found you, you vanished from my view again.”

Tim raised an eyebrow, “I feel like there is some breach of privacy bullshit in there, no, actually I know there’s some going on.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Okay, ignoring that for a moment, you didn’t answer why you wanted me here.”

“Originally, I had assumed that you did not have anywhere to return to. The short glimpse I had of your mind was filled with betrayal and abandonment, so I was prepared to offer you a place here at the Institute. But then you mentioned Gotham to the others and the pieces fell into place.” At Tim’s confused look, Charles continued, “Gotham is cut off from the rest of the world in terms of those with mind-reading capabilities. No one is quite sure as to why that is, but I believe that it is due to something the Batman put into place.”

“He’s not the biggest fan of telepaths, so I wouldn’t put it past him. Especially when one of the first things he has any of his protégés learn is to shield their minds.” Tim frowned, “So you were going to offer me a place to call home? Just like that?”

Instead of answering him straight out, Charles moved to the window of his office and motioned for Tim to join him, “This land belonged to my parents. Something of an ancestral home. When my mutation developed, I was scared and unsure, so once I was able too, I decided that I wanted to extend a hand and help any of those that felt the same. Give them a place to be themselves and train their abilities in safety. So, I turned my home into a school.” Tim leaned against the edge of the window and looked at the teens playing on the green, “We have faced hardships, yes, and there will be many more, but that is what it means to be human. And even with our genetic differences, that is still what we are.”

Tim hummed in thought, “You’ve really got a good thing going here, don’t you?” He asked as he watched a teen phase through a hedge to scare another teen and then take off laughing, “Where would I even fit in? I’ve graduated both high school and college as of a few months ago and I know how to fight and how to use my mutation, so what is it exactly that you want from me?”

Charles wheeled back over to his desk and opened a drawer to take something out, “I was hoping to extend an offer to you. I know that you already have a team, but I would like to ask if you would like to join the X-Men?”

(>>>)

After his talk with the Professor, Tim made his way back out of the school and back to his bike. He shoved his helmet back onto his head and took off back to the Zeta location. Once he arrived he checked his phone to see a couple of texts from Jason, Cass and Kon.

HelmetHair: Got word back from the OLs. (sent 20 min)

HelmetHair: Needless to say, SF is even more pissed at N. (sent 18 min)

HelmetHair: And A is ready to shoot an arrow at him. (sent 15 min)

HelmetHair: How’d the meeting go? Do you need a rescue mission? (sent 5 min)

Claws’n’More: Meeting was good. Got a lot to tell you. (just now)

Claws’n’More: And awesome to hear. Let me guess, they’re at the Nest? (just now)

HelmetHair: Don’t know what you could mean. (just now)

HelmetHair: Word of warning, expect to heal your back. (just now)

Tim’s laugh was tinged with relief as he read the conversation with Jason. Then he moved on to open Cass’s text and couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his lips.

TimTonTin: Hey, I’m back in Gotham and relatively safe. (sent 2 hours)

TimTonTin: So, J told me that you don’t hate me? (sent 2 hours)

TimTonTin: Do you hate me? (sent 2 hours)

DanceDanceCass: Good. (sent 1 hour)

DanceDanceCass: Coming home. No hate. Love. (sent 30 min)

DanceDanceCass: Baby brother. Worry for. Be safe. (sent 15 min)

Tim sighed at the stilted words that Cass had sent. She had learned so quickly once she was allowed to, but her words were still stiff in their delivery. He sent back a smile emoji and opened his chat with Kon.

CloneyIsland: Cassie is inconsolable. Says you haven’t texted her back. (sent 45 min)

CloneyIsland: I told her you were probably busy (sent 45 min)

CloneyIsland: But her and Bart are in. (sent 45 min)

MetallicTim: First of all, you changed my name. (just now)

MetallicTim: Second of all, OLs came through and are in. (just now)

MetallicTim: And third of all, I was busy. (just now)

CloneyIsland: Of course I did. You got shiny bones. (just now)

CloneyIsland: And that is awesome to hear. (just now)

Tim smirked and shook his head at that and sent a short text to Cassie to calm her down. He then booted the Zeta up and as it started, he took a moment and pulled the item that was heavy in his pocket out to look at it. It was a small, circular device that looked a lot like a Titans communicator but with an ‘X’ emblazoned on it instead of a ‘T’.

Chapter Text

Tim was almost back to the Nest when he slammed his bike to a stop and ducked down a side alley as he caught sight of something. He rolled to a stop and tore off his helmet and glared into the shadows. He could smell them, even if they were trained to hide in the shadows. His lips curled into a snarl as a growl rose in the back of his throat.

“Yo, chill the fuck out boss.” Owens said as he and the other two stepped from the shadows. “I thought we were past the phase where you were a growly grouch with us?” He seemed confused.

“That was before your master decided to be funny and fuse my bones with metal. Now I’m just pissed and just fed up with anything to do with Ra’s.” Tim snarled.

“Oi, we didn’t know anything about Ra’s’ plan. We left when you ordered because you’re the one we owe our lives to now.” Pru said with crossed arms.

“So, Ra’s is now going to be coming after you?” Tim asked with a heavy frown.

“No, he actually blessed our leaving of the League.” Z started with a sigh, “For some reason, he thinks that we will be more useful working with you, even though you are no longer leading the League.”

Tim sensed a new person joining their little talk and couldn’t stop himself from snapping his arm out to hold a metal claw to the intruder’s throat. The only thing that stopped him from taking the other out was the fact that they were quick to duck away from the claw and flipped away to land on the top of a dumpster. Tim retracted his claw and stared at the figure before cursing internally.

Cass “Blackbat.” Tim said in recognition. She just stared at his hands before she looked up at his face.

“Shadows?” she asked quietly as she eyed the assassins behind him.

“Got into some trouble while out of Gotham.” Tim said, “These guys, helped, me.”

Blackbat looked over his face and then nodded. She then moved towards him and took one of his hands in hers. She turned it face down and then back over with a confused look. She rubbed his knuckles and then looked up his sleeve before up at him, “Knife?”

Tim took his hand back and with a SNIKT his claw came out. He could smell her amazement as she took his hand again. She ran a finger along it and down to the opening in his skin.

“Sharp.” She murmured, “Hurts you.” She didn’t ask like Kon had; she could tell that it did. She hummed and let his hand go, “Reason?”

Tim knew what she was asking, “Yeah, these came with a few fun extra features that included some animal instincts. Didn’t know other people could tell.” he said softly.

“Is okay. No fault.” She said as she stepped back, “Have to go. See soon?”

“If I can.” Tim replied and she was gone. He was brought back to the fact that there were three other people present when Owens started talking again.

“So that was ‘The One Who is All’? She’s fucking terrifying.” The southern man said with a shudder. “Not that you’re not scary boss, but she’s on another level.” Owens then dug into his pocket and tossed a small box at Tim.

“She goes by Blackbat, and she’s my sister.” Tim said and he looked inside the box to see a USB stick, “Are you three able to follow me? Cause I would rather get inside before the rest of the bats come out.” The last thing I need is for us to be spotted together by the fucking demon brat. He got back on his bike and kicked it into gear.

“We’ll be right behind you.” Z stated and Tiim nodded as he tugged his helmet back on and sped away.

(>>>)

To say that the atmosphere in the Nest was tense was an understatement. Jason clearly didn’t trust the assassin trio and because of his reaction the visiting Outlaws were also on edge. Tim rolled his eyes and proceeded to introduce them all.

“Assassin trio, the Outlaws. Outlaws, assassin trio. We’re all on the same side, so shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down. I do not have the time nor the patience to deal with whatever the fuck this posturing is.” He said as he hung his jacket up.

The tension in the room didn’t immediately fade away, but the change was noticeable. Especially when Owens just shot them a salute and moseyed over to the fridge to pull out one of the beers Jason had in there. He spent a moment looking for a bottle opener before trotting back over to Tim and giving him a pleading look. Tim gave him a flat look before he sighed, took the beer, and popped the top off with a claw.

He heard Kori gasp from behind him and had half a second to prepare before he was picked up from behind and squished into a superstrength hug. He grunted as he felt some of his metal bones pop from the hug. He grumbled and struggled to escape the older woman’s grasp. He heard Jason snort and glared at him. Kori eventually set Tim down and beamed down at him.

“I did not know that you were a Meta, Friend Timothy!” She stated.

“That’s cause I’m not. I’m a mutant. And yes, before you ask, there is a difference.” He said as he shook out his body from the hug, “Jason says you two have looked over my evidence. Any thoughts?”

Kori looked at Roy, who shook his head, “Nah, dude, the info packet was pretty thorough. You Bats get into convoluted messes, don’t y’all?” The archer asked.

“Not a Bat anymore.” Tim started as he walked over to his laptop, “But the statement is not wrong. Now, you three,” he pointed at the assassins, “What the hell should I expect on this?” He held up the USB stick as he started up the firewalls on his laptop.

“No fucking clue.” Pru said, “Ra’s said something about the contents needing to be brought to your attention.”

Tim hummed and plugged it in and as he waited for it to load up, he pulled his phone out to shoot a couple of texts towards Cassie.

SarcasTim: I hope you’ve calmed down. (just now)

SarcasTim: Think you can set up a meeting with the JL tomorrow? (just now)

SarCassie: I’m calmer. And yeah. I’ll pull some strings. (just now)

SarCassie: Guess I’ll see you tomorrow. (just now)

“Meetings on for tomorrow.” Tim said to the others as he opened the file Ra’s had sent him, “Oh fuck.” He hissed and Jason was behind him in a flash, “This is not fucking good.”

“How the fuck did this slip passed the League?” Jason cursed.

The file that had been sent was a draft of a bill, entitled The Mutant Registration Act. Tim sped through reading it, his face growing darker as he read, “Guess I have another reason to visit the school again, and sooner than I thought.”

Chapter Text

After shooing the assassins and Outlaws out of his Nest and giving the Outlaws the details of the next day, Tim spent the rest of the night researching the bill he had been sent. He was disgusted with what he had found out. It was like someone took what Hitler did during World War II and decided to target mutant kind instead of a religion. Eventually Jason forced Tim to close his laptop and get some sleep.

The two woke up late the next day and Tim had a text on his phone from Cassie with a time to meet at the Tower. The brothers quickly got dressed in their suits and Jason collaborated with the Outlaws as Tim prepared the Zeta tube in the Nest to send them to Titan’s Tower. Jason went through first, fully decked out in his Red Hood regalia and Tim followed after as he pulled up his Shrike mask.

As Shrike stepped out into the Tower he was hit by a wave of nostalgia. The last time he had been here was right before both Kon and Bart had died. He looked around to see the Titans and the Outlaws gathered around the Zeta that would take them to the Watchtower. He moved over to stand next to Hood and he looked at a contrite Wonder Girl.

Shrike sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, “Cassie, it’s not fine, but we’re okay. You’ve apologized enough that now I’m feeling sorry. Besides, its not your fault that Nightwing is an asshole that doesn’t listen.”

After she heard that, a smile spread across her face and she grappled the man in a hug, “I’ll always be sorry for abandoning you Tim.” She stated as she let him go.

Shrike nodded and looked at the others, “Are we ready for this?” He asked and once he received their nods, they warped one by one to the Watchtower. Shrike was the last to come through and the others flanked beside him as he materialized, “Let’s go.”

The group of heroes, antiheroes and vigilantes moved almost silently through the hallways until they came to a large open room. Quite a few members of the Justice League were already seated and waiting for whatever meeting they were called there for. Shrike grinned beneath his mask and stormed in with a purpose. The other heroes in the room were shocked and confused to who it was that just stormed in, but quickly calmed down when the Titans and the Outlaws filed in behind the stranger.

“Robin?” That name came from a confused Superman, who was seated at one of the three heads of the table.

“It’s Shrike as of right now. Use it.” The younger man growled as he pointed at the Super, “And I’m not here for niceties or any bullshit like that. You didn’t want to listen to me when I first started this quest, so now I’m going to make you listen.” He held out a hand and Hood placed his info-stick in it. Shrike then plugged it into the table’s port and downloaded the package, “The real Batman is alive. He has been since his supposed ‘death’. He is stuck in the timestream, and I am sure that both of the Flashes have told you about the fluctuations and irregularities.”

Everyone turned to look at the current Flash, who was Wally West, “I may have mentioned it a few times, but most people don’t actually listen when we talk about time travel related things.”

Shrike rolled his eyes, “That’s because they’re dumb fucks.” He stated and multiple people stared at him in shock for the profanity, “But being the nice fucking guy that I am, and totally not because a stupid ass decision was made to ice me out, I got all the plot points needed to pinpoint where Batman is in the timestream. And I have proof as well as witnesses, so you can’t just sweep all my research under the rug and ignore me now.” He snarled, eyes going dark.

“Ti-, I mean Shrike, we aren’t going to sweep this under a rug. Nightwing had reason to believe that you were not mentally stable.” Superman started.

“Bull-fucking-shit. I’m a fucking genius, and that’s straight up facts. So, when I brought my concerns to Bitchwing, he should have at least had the decency to look into it. Instead, he tore the ‘R’ from me and cut me off from any support that I could rely on.” Shrike interrupted the Super with a glare, “And low and behold, once he actually looked into it, he found out that I was fucking right. So now I’m here, after the blood, sweat and tears that I had to go through, presenting this information.”

“And what is it you want us to do?” Martian Manhunter asked kindly.

“Bring Batman home.” Shrike stated coldly, “And also know that this mission will be my last with the Justice League. Once Batman is back home and stable, I will be resigning.” And with that he stalked out of the room and left it full of stunned people, including his friends.

(>>>)

Tim didn’t stay in the Nest for very long after that. Instead, he packed a duffel full of enough clothes for a couple of days and packed his bikes saddlebags full of essentials. He shot Jason a text and took off north on his bike. This time he didn’t use a Zeta to cut down on the time that it took and instead enjoyed the five-hour trip to Xavier’s school. He managed to get there as classes ended for the day and some of the students watched as he pulled up.

He parked and pulled off his helmet, studiously ignoring the giggles that came from some of the female students that were watching. Storm was the one that met him at the door this time and took in his duffel and computer bag with a sad smile. She probably thought that he was on the run, which wasn’t exactly a lie. She led him to the room that Charles had promised to him and let him get set up.

Tim set his bags down and laid on the bed for a few moments before he heard a knock on his door. He shouted for them to come in and watched as Jean opened the door.

“Hey Tim. Is everything okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, just a lot of crap happened today, and I knew if I stayed in Gotham, one of my brothers was going to be insufferable. And he doesn’t know about this place, so I decided to make good on the Professor’s promise of sanctuary.” He said as he sat up.

Jean sat next to him on the bed, “Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.

“I thought you were the school doctor, not the school counselor?” Tim stated with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, I am, but the school counselor made sure all the teachers know the basics when it comes to mental health, and between you and me,” She lowered her voice a bit, “She’s also a bit of a spartan when it comes to enforcing weekly sessions. But they are immensely helpful, or at least, I found them to be.” She looked over at him and spoke honestly, “I was extremely terrified of my mutation, to the point that I had a block placed on them.”

“And therapy helped?” Tim asked cynically.

“It did. It took many sessions but as of our rescue of you, I’m in full control of my mutation and what comes with it.” She stated, “Now, I know you’re running from something. Do you want to tell me about it, or would you like me to schedule you a session with our counselor?”

Tim sighed heavily, “I’ll take the session. But first, I have some files I need to share with you and the Professor.” At Jean’s raised eyebrow, he continued, “Have you heard about the MRA?”

Chapter Text

The question had caused an immediate stir. Jean had all but dragged him to Charles’ office and he had entered to an already ongoing conversation about the bill. Charles was talking to a large, blue-furred man who was just as nicely dressed as the older man. The two paused their talking as the younger two burst in.

“Jean? Is everything alright?” Charles asked worriedly. There was moment of silence before he turned to Tim, “Tim, what do you know about the MRA?” He asked.

“I know that it is a blatant attack on a minority. But what I can also tell you, is that if it is handled correctly, you can shoot the bill down and hinder any retaliation from those who are for it.” Tim said.

“And how would you suppose we do that?” The blue man asked, “Oh, and pardon me, Hank McCoy.”

Tim shook the man’s hand and then pulled out the decrypted USB that he had received from Ra’s, “I was given this last night. It is the full extent of the bill that is being proposed. Now, a lot of it is legal jargon, which I have no clue how to decipher, but I’m hoping that you will be able too.” He stated as he handed it over.

Hank took the drive gently and the four moved to stand behind the computer at Charles’ desk. Once the bill popped up, the blue mutant started to fly through reading it, “My word. You weren’t lying, this is the full bill. How on earth did you get your hands on this?”

“Peace offering from a pretty terrible man.” Tim said, unwilling to elaborate, “Can you use this?”

“Tim, we can use this and more. With this, we can actually prepare a flawless counter lecture for the Senate hearing in three weeks.” Hank said, his voice amazed.

“Cool. So y’all have three weeks to conspire.” Tim said as he stood back.

“Were you not planning to stay?” Jean asked with a frown on her face.

Tim hummed, “I promised to try a therapy session, didn’t I?” He said and Jean smiled at him, “And I honestly would like to learn more about our kind.”

“That can be arranged.” Charles said with a kind smile, “I’m sure many of our students who witnessed your arrival would love to meet you. And perhaps, if you are up to it, you could help out in a couple of classes. I’m sure the teachers would appreciate the help, and it might work to keep you from becoming too stir-crazy.”

“Really? Me, a teacher’s aide?” Tim’s voice was sarcastic, “Eh, what the hell, why not. It’ll be like a vacation.” He shrugged and the three older mutants smiled humorously.

The first thing Tim had to do after he got back into his room was send Jason a message to tell him he was going to be away from Gotham for a while. Jason, in turn, let Tim know that the JL, after quite a bit of yelling from Wonder Woman at Superman, had gone over the data and had stated they could probably have Batman back by the end of the month. He also let Tim know that Dick had shown up after he had left and tried to convince Jason to talk to Tim.

“I told him to fuck off. He might be able to get away with that with B, but I know he fucked up.” Jason said, “But, anyways, you gave those guys the thing, yeah?” He asked.

“I did. They’re gonna go over it and come up with a gameplan for the hearing in a couple of weeks.” Tim said as he unpacked his bag and used the dresser in his room. Huh, if you had told me a week ago that I would be making myself at home in a new place, I would have called you crazy. Man, there’s something about the promise of fitting in…

“Cool. So, they’re gonna have you what? Picking up homework and passing out tests?” Jason asked with humor in his voice.

“I’m not sure what to expect, but Charles is going to introduce me tonight. Hopefully it goes okay.” Tim said as he flopped down on his bed.

“Timberly.” Jason’s voice was serious enough that Tim sat up, “Are you only staying there because you’re hoping your bio dad shows up?”

Tim froze and he had to think for a moment, “It didn’t even cross my mind to be honest.” He said. He’s right, though. If I stay at a mutant school long enough, the old man will show up. Especially with my luck. Huh. “But I’m thinking about it now.”

Jason sighed on the other end of the line, “Baby bird, I just want to make sure this is what you actually want to do. But if that is the truth, then I hope you have fun”

Tim smiled, “I’ll let you know after my first therapy session.”

“Therapy!? What the fuck? Tim-“

“Love you! Bye!” He drew out the last word and hung up.

(>>>)

True to his word, Charles did end up introducing Tim to the rest of the faculty and the student body that night. He was surprised to discover that he was the youngest ‘staff’ member, followed by Storm who was only a few years older. The rest of the staff were in their late twenties and older. Some of the students were thrilled to have a quasi-teacher that was closer to their age, some were wary about a new face, and some didn’t actually care. Tim also found out that unlike other boarding schools, or schools in general, the Institute didn’t have any true ‘cliques’.

Tim ended up sitting in on a few classes before Scott tried to use him for a demonstration in a PE class. When Scott wasn’t even able to move him, the younger man decided to take over and flip the script on the man. After that he ended up taking over most of the self-defensive courses the school offered, and he actually found himself enjoying the art of teaching. The one thing he couldn’t figure out was why Scott seemed to have it out for him, and it took an offhand comment from Storm for him to realize it.

“He sees you as a threat to his relationship with Jean.”

“What the fuck? Why?”

“Because the two of you have been spending a lot of time together in the last few weeks.”

“Okay, first of, I’m no homewrecker. Second, I’m literally the last person he needs to worry about stealing his girl.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Red hair isn’t my type.”

Back to the students, among them were three that were the closest to his age. Kitty Pryde, who was sixteen and her mutation made it so she could phase through almost everything. A punk of a kid named John Allerdyce that preferred going by ‘Pyro’, who had just turned seventeen and had fire manipulation abilities. And finally, there was Bobby Drake, no relation to Tim, and he checked, but a nice kid who was the oldest of the trio and could create and control ice. Bobby seemed to be the ringleader of the group and was the first to approach Tim and it all fell together from there.

Over the course of the month he was there, Tim would receive updates from the JL on how the mission was going to rescue Bruce. And he was able to derive from the information that Bruce would be back soon. Then it finally happened. On the day of the Senate hearing, Tim received word that they had him and he took off, after letting people know. He told Jean to kick ass at the hearing, stopped by Charles’ office to let him know, waved Storm and Scott off as they left on their mission and then shot a text to the ‘Three Teens and a Teacher?’ chat. And then he was off.

Chapter Text

"So, Mr. Drake, tell me why you're here?"

"For therapy?"

"Well that much is obvious. But why did you feel the need to pursue therapy?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Well, for some, therapy is a way to work through their trauma. Others come in because of depression. There is also stress, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, and even to work through addiction."

"That many things, huh?"

"Indeed. So, my question to you is this. Why are you here?"

(~)

Tim didn’t even bother with putting on his Shrike suit as he rushed for a Zeta. He didn’t really care to, after all, he was done with the JL after this. So, with little thought about what anyone would think, he warped up to the WatchTower in civilian clothes. When he arrived, Wally was waiting at the Zeta point for him to arrive with his cowl down.

“Wow, when Dick said that you had a bit of scruff going on, I didn’t believe him.” The speedster said in lieu of greeting. Tim scowled and then glared at the man, causing Wally to put him hands up in surrender, “Didn’t mean anything by it, Tim. I’m just here to show you the way.”

“When did you get Bruce back?” Tim asked.

“Two days ago.” Wally said, not realizing that the statement would peak Tim’s anger.

“Why the fuck was I not informed immediately?” The younger man growled with his teeth grinding together.

The red-head’s eyes widened, “Um, they decided to tell you after they ran all their checks and had him go through decontamination.”

“Who decided this?”

“Superman and-” He was cut off by the sound of Tim punching a wall. His eyes widened in shock at the dent it caused.

“Dick.” The name was hissed, and Tim seemed to be struggling to go through some breathing exercises.

(~~)

“Welcome back, Tim. How was the homework I assigned?”

“Hey, Dr. Wo’Vic, and it was surprisingly difficult.”

“Oh? In what way?”

“Well, I tried to write down my feelings about what happened in Gotham, but I keep getting hung up on the why.”

“Why it made you so upset?”

“Angry.”

“No Tim, you’re upset. Or I can even say disappointed and feeling betrayed. But I do understand why it would be hard for you to work through the emotions on your own.”

“Why?”

“Because of your mutation. You are a very smart man, Tim, but on top of that intelligence, you also have to deal with some animalistic instincts.”

“So, Gotham was my territory and Dick and Damian chased me from it.”

“Precisely. But since Dick was viewed, at least in your mind and by your instincts, as family…”

“He betrayed me.”

“Which is why you get so mad, so today we’ll work on some exercises to calm down. Okay?”

“Yeah, fine.”

(~~)

Tim opened his eyes after he’d calmed down enough and looked at a wide-eyed Wally, “Let’s keep going.” He said in a rough voice. Wally nodded and they kept walking towards the room that held Bruce. When they arrived, Tim froze at the door when he heard Bruce’s voice for the first time in almost a year and a half. He opened the door to see the man talking to Clark and both men looked up to see who had come in.

“Tim?” Bruce’s voice was a little rough and his eyes were darting over Tim’s frame.

“Bruce.” Tim’s voice was choked, and he strode forward towards the man. Gently, gently, remember you’re heavier. He thought as he stood beside the older man. He didn’t even look at Clark, who was gazing at him with confusion.

Bruce dragged him down and hugged him tightly, “I knew you’d figure it out.” He said and Tim immediately teared up. He folded into the hug and let a few tears fall before the door opened again and he caught wind of a scent of a person he definitely didn’t want to see.

He didn’t move from his spot as Dick started to speak, “How’re you feeling Bruce?”

“About the same since the last time you asked me.” The older man said with a smile in his voice, “How’s Damian been you brought him by?”

Tim stiffened in Bruce’s arms, and he pulled away like he was burnt, ignoring the man’s sound of confusion. He could smell the guilt coming from Dick as he turned to look at the man. Dick’s face was pale, and Tim narrowed his eyes, “What the fuck does he mean by that?”

Bruce looked between the two men and seemed to realize something, “Dick, you told me that Tim was busy and couldn’t come by to see me.” His voice was low.

Tim barked out a cold laugh, “Yeah, and I bet he told you that I willingly gave up being Robin. Or that he helped bring you back. Or anything that made him more than what he is,” His lips pulled into a snarl, “A lying traitor that cares more about his golden boy image than about his brothers.”

Dick winced and looked at the ground and was about the speak when Tim kept going, “Or is it brother, singular? Tell me Richard, if I were to call Jason right now, would he know that Bruce is back?” Another heavy burst of guilt, “Ha, can’t help but burn bridges, can you? Can’t wait for you to burn the one you’ve built with the brat.”

His shoulders were tensed as a hand fell on one, “Tim, breathe.” Bruce ordered and the man couldn’t help but follow the order, “Dick, what does your brother mean by that?”

“You had to be quarantined.” Dick said lamely and Bruce stared him down, “I didn’t know how he would react. He wasn’t talking to me or answering my messages.”

“That’s cause he blocked you Dickwad.” Dick froze at the voice that growled behind him. The older man looked behind him to see Jason standing there with crossed arms and then looked back at Tim, who had his phone in his hand.

“You texted him?” He asked, and he had the audacity to sound hurt.

Tim scoffed, “Of course I did. Bruce is as much his dad as he is yours or Damien’s.” He said before striding towards Dick and punching him.

Dick stumbled back into Jason, who grabbed hold of him and didn’t let go, “Woo, bet that hurt, huh Goldie?”

“Boys!” They all froze at the anger and disappointment in Bruce’s voice, “What happened?” Dick opened his mouth to speak, and Bruce interrupted him, “Not you, Dick. You’ve already tried to lie your way out of this once. Tim, report.”

Tim couldn’t stop the scowl that formed at the order but complied. He told Bruce how he had discovered that the body they had received wasn’t his, how Dick didn’t believe him and fired him from Robin and had given the badge to Damien without talking to Tim, how he’d been iced out of even receiving help from the Justice League because of Dick, and finally how Ra’s had come from the woodwork to offer his help in exchange for help taking down a rival group. If Dick was pale before, he looked like a sheet of paper now.

“Baby bird, why did you go to Ra’s?” He asked.

“Well, you weren’t fucking helping by calling me crazy and telling the JL that I was mental.” Tim said with a scoff, “And I didn’t go to him for help, he sent a couple of assassins after me and it devolved from there.”

“How did you take care of the rival group?” Bruce asked, his face grim as he stared at the younger man.

“The way I was trained to.” Tim said in a bland tone.

“We don’t kill Tim.” The older man’s voice was filled with disappointment.

“I had to do a lot of things I didn’t want to do on my trip. But as far as I see it, the blood isn’t on my hands, its on the ones who refused to help me in the way I needed.” As he said that he stared at Clark and then moved to look at Dick.

“I just wanted you to go to get some help Timmy.” Dick whispered.

(~~~)

“So, Richard wanted to get you help?”

“Hn.”

“Did he have any therapists in mind? Or professionals?”

“No, all he said was that I wasn’t making sense and needed help. All while his shiny new baby bird stood next to him smugly.”

“Hmm, I see. And this is the same child that would have killed you if not for you mutation?”

“Exactly.”

(~~~)

“Except you didn’t say that. You tore the ‘R’ from me and gave it to a brat that, if I didn’t have a hell of a healing factor, would have killed me at least six times by my count.” Tim snarled.

“Ten.” Jason interjected as he let go of a despondent Dick, “You forgot to add the times you avoided him poisoning you, and that was while Bruce was still around.

“What healing factor?” At that question from Bruce, Tim and Jason both realized what they had said. Bruce’s face was stony as he looked between the men, “Timothy Drake, what did you mean by ‘healing factor’?”

Chapter Text

Tim and Jason shared a quick glance before Jason raised an eyebrow and Tim glared at him. Which resulted in Jason throwing his hands up and gesturing to Bruce, which in turn made Tim huff out a breath of air and cross his arms.

“Boys!” Bruce raised his voice a bit, “Enough of the silent conversation. Use your words.”

“Oh, that’s rather hypocritical of you Bruce.” Jason snapped, “Mister King of Nonverbal communication over here telling us to use words? Fuck you.” The man flipped Bruce off.

“I would like to know too.” Dick pipped up, causing both Tim and Jason to snap at him to shut up. He ducked his head and looked away.

Tim looked at Bruce, as if sizing him up, “I have,” he spared a quick glance at Jason who nodded at him, “A healing factor that makes it extremely hard to injure or kill me.” He said, not mentioning the instincts, senses or claws, “Or stay injured.”

Bruce took a breath, “How long?”

“Since I was nine.” Tim stated with his head held up in defiance of whatever he thought could come his way.

Bruce took a deep breath in and when he released it, it was broken, “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked in a small voice.

“No Metas in Gotham.” Tims stated blandly, “It was rule you imposed for the Justice League, and even though I am technically not a Meta, it would still apply to me.” He said.

Bruce looked heartbroken at that, “You’re my son, Tim, I wouldn’t have thrown you out of Gotham for being able to heal.” He said softly, hand twitching like he wanted to reach for the younger man.

As Bruce was saying this, Dick seemed to realize something and he gasped, causing everyone to look at him. There were tears in his eyes as he looked at Tim, “That day in the cave… with Damien…” He trailed off.

Tim smiled wryly, “I wasn’t able to catch myself.”

The tears in Dick’s eyes started to spill and he covered his mouth in shock as he sobbed. Bruce also seemed to realize what his eldest had and was frozen in his bed. He remembered that night, how Damien had smugly admitted to ‘taking care of the pest’ and then racing back to the Cave only to find an intact Tim waiting for them. He had accepted that Tim had been able to save himself and the younger man’s excuses at the time, but now he knew better.

“But there was no blood at the bottom?” Dick tried to reason as his eyes darted from Tim to Jason.

“That’s cause my back hit first and by the time my head hit, most of the momentum had stopped.” Tim said blandly and Dick had to run out of the room. Wally snatched a wastebasket and followed him quickly.

Tim blinked at the display and hummed before he turned back to Bruce, who seemed to be a touch green in the face. The younger man then looked over at Clark who was staring at him intensely, “Keep your eyes to yourself Clark. You wont like the answer and I’m not talking about it.” Tim snapped and the Super looked away abashedly.

“How many times did you almost die while in my care Tim?” Bruce asked in a quiet voice.

“Does it matter? I survived long enough to be able to leave without clipped wings.” He replied, waving off the question.

“Leave?”

“Yeah, bringing you back was my last mission. With the JL and with the Bats. I’ve already moved most of my things out of Gotham and transferred Wayne Industries over to Lucius and he’s holding it until you get back on your feet.” Tim stated.

“But Gotham is your home? You’re not leaving because you thought I’d be mad, right?” Bruce sounded confused, as if he hadn’t realized that things could have changed so much in what seemed like a short amount of time, or that Tim could think such things.

“Not anymore.” Tim’s tone held notes of sadness as he answered both questions, “But, it’s not like I’m going to vanish off the face of the planet, I’m just moving away. Like an adult.” Tim stated with a smirk.

Bruce chuckled wetly, “Is it such a crime to want my kids nearby?”

“No, but if we’re gonna use a bird analogy, since we were all Robins. I’m just leaving the nest.” Tim said as he placed a hand on Bruce’s knee.

Bruce took the chance to drag the younger man into another hug, using the strength that he had to squeeze tightly, not wanting to let his second youngest son go. Yes, his son wasn’t completely human, and yes, his son had killed, and maybe he hadn’t completed the adoption process, but this young man was his son, and dammit he was proud.

Tim’s eyes watered as he caught the smell of pride, acceptance and love practically drowning him from Bruce. He hugged the man back and the two stayed there for a while before Jason joined the hug. Bruce had been making pleading glances at the second son for a time and he had finally relented. Then the trio was joined by a weepy and red-eyed Dick, who had draped himself over them.

Tim still didn’t fully forgive Dick for his slights, but they were closer to that line, and he was able to get the man to promise to take his own suggestion to get some therapy. For him and the youngest Wayne boy, God knows he needs it. Tim didn’t tell any of them, bar Jason, where he was moving, or even where he had been for the last month. Nor did he tell them his plans for the future, but he did tell them not to worry.

Tim spent the next week finishing up his remaining affairs in Gotham. He did check in with Jean on how the hearing went the first night and was told that while some of those that attended were still set on their beliefs, the speech that they had prepared won over the majority. After he got off the phone with her, the younger man immediately hacked into the system to see the current plans with the MRA and placed a bug to notify him if the bill’s inactive status changed. He then opened his business email and grinned at the acceptance letter. Not many people had been applying for Stark Industries internships, and because Tim had sent his in before the big ‘who is Ironman?’ reveal, his was held in higher regard. It also helped that the way he applied was by politely knocking on the firewalls of Stark’s AI.

By the end of his week in Gotham, Tim had signed all of the NDAs and forms needed and was set to start a low-level internship in the R&D department at SI. He wasn’t vying to catch any of the bigwig’s attention he just wanted to pad his own resume, if only to shut up his own board. Then he rode back to Xavier’s. What he didn’t expect when he got there was a scent that he did and didn’t recognize. And when he finally pulled his phone out to check the group chats he was in, he cursed his single-minded focus over the last week.

IceIceBobby: @Timbourine Uh, dude, do you know a guy named Logan?

IceIceBobby: cause he looks just like you! Like dude, he’s hairier, and somehow grumpier

HotTopic: you don’t have a fucking twin you didn’t tell us about right?

Untouchable: Guys, Tim said he wasn’t gonna be logged on for the week, remember? He’s got ‘family issues’ to deal with.

IceIceBobby: Fuck, right. Do you think he’ll mind if I add our new friend?

HotTopic: You mean your girlfriend?

IceIceBobby: Shit up Pyro.

Untouchable: Shit up

HotTopic: Shit up

IceIceBobby: Why do I hang out with you two

The rest of the chat was filled with nonsensical messages, and the agreement to wait until Tim was back to add the new person. Which leads to now-

Timbourine: The fuck do you mean my bio dad was in the school!?

Chapter Text

Tim’s message set off a barrage of outraged answers. He was staring at his phone as he walked into the school and hadn’t taken his helmet off. Instead, he made a beeline for Charles’ office and opened the door to reveal the original trio he’d met, Charles and Hank all talking about something that had happened while he’d been gone. His ears picked up on something about Magneto’s latest mess and then he heard Storm mention his dad. He shut the door loudly to gain their attention and pulled his helmet off with a tired scowl.

“You know, the kids not having direct contact with me is one thing, but I literally texted you last night Storm.” Tim said with a raised eyebrow as he tucked his helmet under his arm. He could tell that some of those in the room were surprised by his entrance, and some were expecting it. Both Hank and Charles shared a look which caused Tim to narrow his eyes at them, “And don’t try to tell me you didn’t notice the similarities between me and the stray you two picked up.” He said as he pointed at Storm and Scott.

Scott smacked a hand to his face as he groaned, “Fuck, that’s why he felt so familiar.” He stated as he looked Tim over.

“I think I chalked the similarities up to missing you?” Storm sounded unsure.

“I was gone a week. And I stayed mostly in touch?” Tim rubbed the bridge of his nose. Something was off, and he couldn’t quite place it.

“It felt like something was missing when you left. Like a hole or something. The children also felt it.” Jean said, as she was coming to the same conclusion as Tim.

Hank took the chance to cough into his hand in order to get everyone’s attention, “I think I might know what is going on.” He looked at Charles once more before pulling out a folder from the bag he had at his side, “Charles and I noticed the difference as well, so I ran some tests, and I apologize for entering your room while you were gone, but it was where your scent would be the most prevalent.”

Tim nodded, “Makes sense. What dd you find?”

“It seems as though you secrete a type of pheromone that makes people like you and want you to be around. And consequently, miss you when you are gone. It is a truly fascinating side effect to your mutation.” Hank stated as he handed the paper to Tim.

Tim looked it over, “This hasn’t happened before. So why is it happening now?” he asked as he looked over at Charles.

“I believe that it is a new development with your mutation, brought about by a combination of the last year of your life and finding a place that you could truly be yourself without fear.” The older man stated.

“For god’s sake, please tell me it’s not going to turn into something that makes people want to pin me to a wall.” Tim said as he hid his face with the paper.

The rest of the room broke out into chuckles as Charles answered, “No one truly knows how a mutation can turn. Maybe you’ll be able to control it, maybe you won’t.” He said, “And maybe when everything settles, it will go away.”

“So, who is Logan to you?” Scott butt in and it seemed that the question had been eating at him.

“He’s my biological father. And no, he doesn’t know. And neither did either of my parents, it was done through a clinic.” Tim said with a shrug, “I only learned who he actually was a few months before I met you guys. But it would be just my luck that he would pop up the moment I leave. Is he still here?”

“He left this morning.” Jean said.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I just missed him!?” Tim threw his hands up and Jean caught his helmet before it could fall. He nodded at her in thanks and plucked it out of the air, before he sat it in a chair. Then he looked at her sharply and then turned his gaze on Scott, “Why do both of you smell like him?” He asked, suspicion ripe in his tone.

Jean’s face went red, and Scott coughed and looked away with his cheeks blazing. Storm turned to look at them slowly and an incredulous smile spread across her lips. Hank looked away, having smelled it as well, but was polite enough not to mention it and Charles just had a smile on his face. Tim realized what had happened and turned around to gag.

“You two fucked my dad? What the hell guys?” He covered his face with his hands.

Storm smirked, “Did he pin you to a wall? Or did you do the pinning?” She asked innocently, even if her face revealed anything but innocence.

“Storm! No! I don’t want to think about my dad fucking two of my friends!” Tim pointed at the white haired woman, “And you two, I don’t want to fucking hear about it! I am so glad that I am moving.”

“So, you got the position?” Charles asked, and Tim wasn’t surprised that the man knew.

“I did,” He confirmed, “and luckily, I’ll be fulfilling the internship in NYC and not in California, like I first thought.”

“So, you’ll come and visit?” Storm asked hopefully.

“Yep, you guys aren’t getting rid of me that easily. I’ll just have to reduce my hours here to maybe weekend supplementals for kids who need extra help.” He said and he could see what he said surprised Charles.

“You are planning to continue your help around the school?” The older man asked.

“Of course. I’m not going to abandon these kids just cause I got another job.” Tim said with a smirk, “Especially now that I know that Logan has been here. He’ll probably come back, and that means hanging around is the best way to get ahold of him.”

Charles started to nod his head when the doors to his office opened and Tim’s trio of students tumbled in, followed by another girl with white-streaked hair. The other girl looked over the entire room quickly and then landed on Tim before her face brightened. Then before anyone could react, Tim had an armful of a happy teenager who was hugging him.

“Logan! I thought you’d left!” She was saying and the room got awkward.

“Uhm, I know I look like him, but I’m not him.” Tim said, and the moment she realized that the voice coming from the man she was hugging was not Logan’s, she jumped back. Tim gave her a gentle smile though and held out a hand, “Name’s Tim.”

She stared at him in complete bewilderment, but held out a gloved hand cautiously, “I’m Rogue. Why…” She trailed off as she looked at his face.

“Logan is my dad. Not that he knows.” He said. “And I’m guessing you’re the one that these three stooges have been raving about in the chat? By the way, you can add her.” He said as he pointed at the three, who had the decency to look a bit ashamed for barging in.

“Sorry Professors.” The trio said in unison and then Kitty continued, “What do you mean you’re moving?” She asked Tim.

“I got an internship with SI. Specifically, the one located in NYC. Which mean I will likely not see Stark himself, since he’s based out of California.” Tim stated, cutting off Kitty’s fangirl excitement over the possibility. He still received a lot of excitement from all three teens, and even the newest one. He also seemed to get the sense that he might have jinxed himself by saying that.

Chapter Text

Tim definitely jinxed himself. He had been working at his internship for a few months now, using his time off to bounce between Gotham and the Institute. He’d really enjoyed the work he had been doing over the months, and the conversations with the others in the department. He also had been enjoying the shop talk he had been having with what he believed to be one of the, probably many, AIs on his assigned Stark tablet. Or that’s the truth he’s been forcing himself to believe, studiously ignoring the fact that the one on the other end seemed to be using him as a sounding board. But that proved nothing about being jinxed.

The reason he had jinxed himself was evident when Anthony ‘Tony’ Stark himself walked into the Stark Industries New York Research and Development labs and immediately made a beeline for him. The older man stopped at the side of Tim’s desk with a wide smirk on his face. Tim looked up at him with a sigh.

“Is there something I can help you with Mr. Stark?” Tim asked, inwardly cursing his luck.

“Yup, up and at ‘em Ducky, you got a new roll to play here.” Both Tony’s words and grin spelt out doom for Tim.

Tim frowned and looked down at his workstation and then up at the genius, “What are you talking about?”

The older man didn’t answer, instead Tony looked at Tim direct supervisor and shouted, “I’m stealing the intern and you’re not getting him back.” With that the eccentric man started for the door, leaving Tim to follow behind him. Tim shared a look with his now ex-supervisor and glared at the man when all he got in return was a sympathetic shrug.

>>> 

So, the so-called ‘AI’ that Tim had been talking to and bouncing ideas around with had been Stark himself, which retro-actively wasn’t that big of a surprise. And the reason Stark had practically stolen him from his internship was because he had recently promoted his PA to working CEO and the woman had turned it around on the man, insisting he still needed a PA. Thoughts raced through Tim’s mind as he processed the information being told to him.

Then Stark mentioned that Potts had tried to move someone from the legal department and a puzzle piece clicked into place. Tim narrowed his eyes at Stark and noticed the knowing smirk on the man’s face.

“Was it the red head?” Tim asked and when the older man shot him a look, he continued, “Because she’s definitely shady and planted to grab your attention in particular.”

“How do you figure?” Tony asked with a bemused look.

“First off, modeling pictures in her resume? For the legal department?” Tim scowled as he read said document on his tablet, “Smells like you have more than one plant if this drivel made it through.” He stated as he scrolled. “And don’t look confused on how I have the document. I asked JARVIS nicely.” His frown got deeper as he continued to read, “This resume and cover letter, as well as the so-called references are, in my opinion, shoddy at best. I assume you’ve looked into everything and reached the same conclusion if you pulled me out of my internship?”

Tony nodded, “Got it in one, Greenhead. Pep can’t complain about me needing a PA and she cant say anything about you being just an intern considering your extensive list of achievements that are well documented and public. And the added plus for me gaining someone with actual intelligence to banter with instead of a drone.” The billionaire grinned.

Tim sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “And it’ll piss off the people trying to get ‘Rushman’ into your inner circle?” Tim pinned Tony with a cold stare and then rolled his eyes when he received a wider grin in return, “My schedule stays the same and I’m not treating you any different than I did while pretending you were just an AI in the tablet.”

“Sold!” Tony crowed.

“And I want to know why you haven’t told anyone that you’re dying.” Tim watched as Tony froze at those words and the older man’s hand twitched towards his chest. “Tony… I can read between lines enough to see that you’re not okay. And I’m smart enough to recognize the signs of poison.” He then turned his tablet towards the older man, “And your AI is very concerned with your well being and was kind enough to open a page on Palladium poisoning for me.”

Tony looked into a camera on the ceiling, “Et tu, JARVIS?” He said as he regained his composure. Then he turned his attention back to Tim and was serious for once, “This stays between us.” Tim nodded and Tony continued, “I haven’t told anyone because I am trying, desperately, to find a solution so that I don’t die. I transferred the CEO position to Pepper because I don’t have the time or energy to be the head of a company and search for a cure. No one other than Pepper and Rhodey know that this,” he tapped the glowing arc reactor in his chest, “is implanted and keeping multiple tiny shrapnel fragments from tearing my heart to pieces. Unfortunately, it’s powered by Palladium, hence the poisoning.” His laugh was tinged with self-deprecation, “The thing keeping me alive is also killing me slowly.”

Tim sucked in a deep breath, mind racing, “And you’ve already run through all of the elements that could help.” He muttered before remembering something Alfred had said about the last Stark Expo, “Wait. Do you still have any of your father’s old things?”

“Tucked away in storage. Though, we did bring out most of the things that had to do with the Expo to try and emulate it, why?” Tony narrowed his eyes at Tim.

“Stay with me here. My adopted grandfather went to the last Expo and I remember him saying that he had wished he could have had more time to exam the model because he wanted to figure out if it was his imagination or if the model was shaped like a atomic structure.” Tim’s voice was face paced as he talked, “And don’t ask me how Alfred would know, the rest of the family just accepts that he knows everything.”

Tony’s eyes got a dangerous gleam, “JARVIS, have someone bring everything to the house.” He turned to Tim, “It’s the best guess we have. And if there was anyone that could still be teaching me new tricks from the grave, it’d be my dad.” He muttered before straightening and slapping a smile back on his face, “Now! Let’s get you introduced as my PA slash personal intern! Have you ever been to Monaco?”