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“It’s okay, Love, just breathe… That’s it…”
The voice was almost as nice as the fingers carding through his hair. He felt like he should know it for some reason, even though it had never been so gentle with him.
“Breathe, my Love, it’s okay Timot- Tim. It’s okay.”
Tim hummed.
The fingers felt so nice, the darkness calling him back.
“Tim?”
A new voice.
Not a woman’s.
“Tim, can you hear me, Lad?”
Also familiar, though this one didn’t sound like it had not said those words before.
Words were weird. They always had been. Humans are weirder. Then again, words were made by humans so that kind of makes sense but does it make sense? What even is sense?”
“Why isn’t he waking up?” The woman asked, scared for some reason.
“Give him time.” The man said. “Tim? Tim, we’re right here with you Lad. Just keep taking those deep breaths for us Lad.”
Lad.
Another weird word.
Lad Lad Lad Lad.
Tim liked that word, or at least he liked it when that man used it for him.
“Tim, if you can hear me I need you to squeeze my hands.”
Hands were another weird word. Like, obviously they would have existed wether or not humans had dubbed them to be hands, but could other creatures really have hands if they weren’t people? Wouldn’t it just be weird grabby feet things?
The hand wasn’t in his hair anymore.
Tim gave off a pathetic whine before he could stop himself and all at once the fingers were running through his hair again. It felt nice.
Nice was a nice word.
Word was a weird word.
Weird was and even weirder word, who the hell even decided to make it so… So…
“No no no,” The man said, lightly tapping Tim on the wrist. “Try to wake up for us, Tim.”
Tim didn’t want to.
He wanted to sleep.
He needed to sleep.
His body… It was hurting. It was hurting and he didn’t want to hurt, not when these people were being so gentle with him, so warm. He just wanted to sleep forever with the woman carding through his hair and the man holding his hand and…
And Tim was on his side.
He tried to sit up but his body wouldn’t let him, exhaustion absolute, his eyes barely even cracking open.
“There you are,” The man said warmly.
Tim gave off another sound, one no less pathetic than the whine had been.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Give him time, Mrs. Drake,” The man said.
“He usually wakes up faster, we should call the hospital, make sure he’s-”
And Tim was all at once sitting upright because there was no way in fuck he was going to go to hospital. Just as quickly he was tilting to the side, barely caught by warm arms before he could slam down onto the ground.
Tim’s head spun all the same and he curled up into a ball, his stomach protesting.
The man shifted, bracing Tim up against him and while it was warm and familiar, Tim tried to move away from it all the same. His legs kicked out strangely, feeling a million miles away, but the man did not let him stand nor did the man let him disappear into the nothingness.
“Breathe, Tim,” The man rumbled.
Tim was breathing.
He was breathing, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, he was.
He was also readjusting against the man because his body was hurting and people were touching him and nothing was making sense and his body was hurting. No one was ever allowed to know when he was hurt. The last time someone knew he was hurt, they had tried calling his parents and then he had to have sit there in the first aid office in embarrassment knowing full well that they were a thousand two hundred and fifty one miles away.
No.
No one could know that he was hurting.
No one could see him be weak, it was unbecoming of a Drake if he were weak, it was unbecoming if…
Tim whined because everything hurt.
The man hushed him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.
“We’ve got you, Tim, everything’s okay.”
“Ww… Pen…”
“You’ve had a seizure but everything is going to be okay.”
Tim tried to push against the man holding him, feeling for some reason that he should be standing up for some reason. He should be doing something other than still being here on the ground laid up against a warm familiar chest with a hand holding his own.
The hand was soft, but when it squeezed his own it squeezed too tightly.
Tim whimpered loudly and the hand loosened all at once, the woman taking in a sharp breath.
That woman… Tim should know that woman. She was… She was meant to be important. And the man, he was even more important.
“Ww…”
“You’re alright, Lad,” The man said. “You’ve had a seizure.”
Seizure.
Another weird word.
Weird. Weird. Weird. Everything was weird. Everything was… Everything was hurting.
“Give him time,” The man warned but it didn’t feel like it was directed at Tim.
“Something is obviously wrong.” The woman countered.
“It was a long seizure.” The man said. “It’s to be expected that it would take longer to come out of.”
That man…
He was… Special.
“Dad?”
“Yes, Lad,” Dad said warmly. “It’s me.”
The woman held Tim’s hand a little tighter, her sharp nails digging into his skin.
“Every… Fuzz…”
“Tim, just keep taking in deep breaths and things will start making sense soon.”
Tim’s head rolled, wondering if things made sense yet.
Then he tilted his head up, looking to the man and wondering if that’s what was meant to make things make sense.
Makes sense.
Sense.
Sense is a weird word.
Senses are a weirder concept.
Like how do you know what things taste like or feel like or smell like or… Or… There were other senses too.
“Just relax, Son, take all the time you need.”
Hearing was a sense!
Finally, things made sense! Except… No. No it didn’t.
“Weird.” Tim declared, his voice slurring.
Tim’s head rolled down now, almost as if his neck didn’t quite have the strength to hold it upright. The woman was weird too. Her forehead was creased as if she were worried about something even though there was obviously nothing to be worried about.
If there was something to be worried about, Dad would have told him, because that’s what Dad’s do.
At least, that’s what Dad’s are supposed to do? Tim couldn’t really remember. He couldn’t really remember having a Dad before either.
“Tim,” The man said. Dad. Dad said. “Can you try to focus on my voice?”
“Voice.” Tim echoed.
“That’s great, you’re doing great. Do you know where you are?”
“Ground. Arms. Hand.”
The chuckle that earned was warm and Tim’s heart warmed alongside the sound because he had earned that.
“Try again, Tim. Take all the time you need.”
Tim frowned. He had answered the question, hadn’t he? His eyes burned because he had failed. He had failed and Dad was going to be upset with him and the woman was going to be disappointed and he didn’t want to disappoint her again, never again.
“Hey hey,” Dad rumbled.
But the tears were already falling and the woman was reaching out with her free hand and she was cupping his cheek and brushing the tears away.
“Mom?” He croaked.
Her eyes grew wet for some reason then, her smile shaking.
“I’m right here, Love. I’m not going anywhere.”
“But… But you need to…”
Tim’s head tilted forward but Dad kept it from falling too far forward.
His head hurt and his muscles hurt and maybe it had been a witch. Maybe it had been a witch that had put him under a spell or something because everything felt wrong and Dad was holding him as if he wasn’t trusted to stand up and Mom was cupping his cheek and maybe it had been a witch because everything felt weird.
It was weird and confusing and Tim didn’t like being confused but the arms around him were warm and the hand in his own was becoming familiar even though it had never been there when he was growing up but it was here now.
It was here now and it wasn’t going away.
No. It was going away. Everything was going away because everything aways goes away.
Tim’s sob was broken and even the kiss on the top of his head did nothing to soothe him because soon enough the warm arms were going to go away too and Tim didn’t want them to go away.
“Something is wrong.” Mom declared.
“He’s just waking up,” Dad said, his voice almost tight. “It’s hard.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
Tim cried harder because they were fighting and he didn’t want Bruce and Janet to fight and-
And Bruce and Janet.
Fuck.
He’d called Bruce Dad.
Worse still, he had called Bruce Dad in front of his own literal fucking mother.
The witches spell must have been strong though because as Tim squirmed against Bruce’s chest again, everything felt distant once more. Almost like… Almost like… Almost.
“Tim,”
Tim’s back arched hard and he slammed against Dad’s chest.
“Tim, it’s okay,”
Another spasm took over and Tim gave off a choke, his vision greying.
Tim was being lowered back down onto the ground again, being kept on his side even as his body jolted hard again.
“It’s okay, Love,” Mom said.
Her voice was breaking as if she were scared and he didn’t want her to be scared, he wanted her to be okay.
But the witches spell was still all powerful and his vision and awareness were fading and he… He didn’t want to go into the darkness. He wanted to stay awake, needed to stay awake. He wanted to stay with Dad, he wanted the pain to stop and he wanted to…
Wanted to…
Tim didn’t know what he wanted to do.
All he knew was that the nothingness was absolute.
Bruce smoothed Tim’s hair from his face, checking once more for any sign of fever at all.
Tim didn’t so much as hum in his sleep, though at least his breathing was deep and even. The boy had yet to fully wake from his latest seizure and while Janet had wanted to stay by Tim’s side for as long as it took for him to wake fully, he had asked Alfred to give her a cup of tea.
“You should go rest.” Bruce said.
“Not until he wakes.” Janet said primly.
“Mrs. Drake.” Bruce sighed.
“I have promised to be in Timot- Tim’s life, and I will keep to that promise.”
Bruce leaned against the side of Tim’s bed, looking directly at her.
“Mrs. Drake. Janet. With your own epilepsy, you need to make sure you get all the sleep you can. Go rest, I’ve got him.”
Janet sat a little straight but if she was insulted by his mention of epilepsy, she didn’t mention it. As Bruce watched, she thumbed the bracelet on her wrist, the near identical one that sat on Tim’s own wrist.
While it had been a few months since the revelation of her diagnosis, and the more important revelation that Tim had actually known for quite some time already, things were still normalising amongst their strange little arrangement.
Janet still lived at Drake Manor but she was over many days of the week, though she did not often visit on the days where she had her therapy sessions or parenting classes.
It was good to have her actually working hard to prove herself worthy of Tim’s time and energy but there was still considerable progress to be made, within Bruce also. With Dick and Jason, their mother’s unfortunately can never be involved with their lives again. With Damian, Talia was across the world and while she did come occasionally, she had made it very clear from the beginning that Damian was here in Gotham for a better life, a safer life, and as such Talia cannot frequently leave the League to be with him.
And Duke’s parents…
Bruce cupped Tim’s cheek, remembering what it had been like when Duke realised that his parents weren’t going to be coming back to him.
Cass and Steph’s experiences with parents weren’t any easier.
And Tim’s relationship with Janet was far from simple. As much as she was trying now, it was to make up for years of neglect even if that neglect was according to her own logic a way to protect him.
No.
Tim’s relationship with Janet was not simple, but it was something to nurture all the same for as long as it was something that Tim wanted.
The quietest of mumbles passed Tim’s lips.
“Son?”
Tim’s head tilted to the side and Janet was already leaning forward with a start.
“Love, I’m here, your Mommy’s here.”
Tim’s movements slowed, his muscles relaxing.
“Why isn’t he waking?” Janet demanded.
Bruce forced himself to take a steadying breath.
“It is hard for him.” He said for what felt like the thousandth time. “Give him a chance.”
Tim readjusted in the bed, giving off a whimper.
Bruce checked his forehead again as if he could have developed a fever in just a few minutes. Then, deciding his own hand was not an accurate enough reading, he leaned over to Tim’s bedside table. From the top drawer he took out the digital thermometer they kept in it.
Tim had been incredibly insulted when he had first noticed that Jason had put in in there, though his anger had been mostly quelled after that very same thermometer had noticed a fever before it got dangerous, keeping Tim out of being admitted to hospital again.
The thermometer toned.
No fever.
He checked again, just in case.
No fever.
Tim hummed, readjusting again. Then his breathing picked up, his chest moving far too quickly.
“Shh… It’s okay…” Bruce soothed.
Tim relaxed again.
Dark eyes cracked open, closing again just as quickly.
“That’s it Tim, come back to me. To us.”
“But the…” Tim mumbled. “The… Witch she…”
When Tim’s body eased back into sleep once more, Bruce still stayed right by his side.
As much as he did not want to agree with Janet, Tim’s difficulty in stirring fully this time around was starting to concern Bruce. But with no sign of fever and no known injuries from Tim’s two seizures earlier today Tim’s protocol dictated that he could stay at home.
Then again, Bruce’s concern was reason enough to take him in.
Tim started stirring again, though he still did not come fully awake.
“Tim,” Bruce said loudly. “Try to squeeze my hands.”
Tim only pulled away from Bruce’s contact instead, curling away with him with a groan.
“Tim.”
“Love, wake up please, we’re worried.”
“Gg… Go way… Gg…”
If Janet had not been here, Bruce might have commanded Red Robin to report, it was always a sure fire way to get someone’s full attention but seeing as they were keeping their secret identities under wraps for as long as possible from Janet, Bruce could not risk it.
Tim shifted in the bed, curling tighter then stretching out. It wasn’t a seizure, but it wasn’t Tim’s normal either.
“Two hours.” Bruce said.
“What?” Janet looked to him.
“If he isn’t fully awake and aware in two hours, we will take him into the hospital.”
“Two hours is too long.” She said.
“Give him time.” Bruce said. “Have faith in him.”
Janet pursed her lips. Then she nodded. As soon as Bruce pulled fully away from Tim, Janet was reaching out instead going to hold Tim’s hand once more. Tim flinched away instead, giving off a whimper.
Tim fully settled once more.
Just in case, Bruce checked his temperature one more time.
Still within normal range.
It was another hour before Tim showed any sign of waking again. His breathing had picked up, sweat beading on his brow even though he still did not have a fever, his body shifting beneath the light sheets as if he were trapped in a nightmare.
Bruce tried to coax him out of it but Tim couldn’t hear him, his panic only increasing.
Janet was trying too, though her clipped tone was expressing her worry far too much if she was intending on calming him and not scaring him even more.
“The spell… Need to… Need to break…”
“Shh, Son, it’s okay.”
“The witch she’s, she’s…”
A tear rolled down Tim’s cheek and it broke Bruce’s heart to know that he was so scared.
“Gotta break… Break the spell… The witch… The…”
“What’s he talking about?” Janet demanded.
“Tim is just confused.” Bruce said.
“Because something is obviously wrong. Enough of this. I’m calling an ambulance.”
“Not yet, Janet.” Bruce said firmly.
“He’s off his head!”
“He’s scared and confused and he needs time.”
“He needs help.” Janet shot back.
When Tim gave off a broken sob, Bruce put a hand on Tim’s shoulder. Tim jolted away from the touch as if it had burned him, new tears mixing with the old. All at once Tim was fully slumping again, unconscious, his nightmare seemingly passed.
But then Tim’s hand twitched. His breathing changed, almost catching, his eyes fluttering.
“Janet.” Bruce barked.
As Janet rushed for her phone, Bruce eased his Son onto his side. Tim’s seizure started outright, growing stronger, but just as quickly as it had begun it had ended again, barely lasting for twenty seconds.
Bruce gave Tim time to stir and by some miracle he actually did this time.
Exhausted dark eyes flicked towards Bruce, taking a long moment to focus on him.
“Bb… Bruce?”
“It’s me, Tim, you’re alright Lad.”
“Diz…”
“That’s alright. I’ve got you.”
“Know.” Tim mumbled.
Or it could be ‘no’. It could be doubt, and Bruce couldn’t even blame Tim if it was doubt that someone was really there for him even though Bruce and the others had tried so hard over these last few months, years even, to make him feel loved.
There was no taking back what had happened to him as a child, no matter how much Janet was now trying.
“Tim? Can you squeeze my hands?”
“Diz… Dizzy.”
“I know, Tim, you can rest soon.”
“Need… Need to patrol.”
“Squeeze my hands, Tim.”
But Tim was pulling away from Bruce again, biting his lip as if he was in pain.
“Rest.” Bruce told him.
“No.” Tim said.
Tim tried to sit up but his body didn’t quite seem to be responding the way he wanted it to. His legs kicked out instead, his arms incapable of lifting his weight just yet.
“The witch, she’s… She’s gonna spell everyone. Need to beat her.”
“Tim,”
“Need to beat her.” Tim insisted. “Need to keep everyone safe.”
“Everyone is safe, Son,”
Tim’s breathing was picking up again.
Janet came ever closer but as Tim was getting more agitated, Bruce kept close by too. It wasn’t that he expected Tim to hurt Janet, but he was obviously still confused and if he was convinced that there was some kind of threat, he could very well lash out if anyone were to touch him right now.
“Tim.”
“No real names.” Tim said.
“Tim,” Bruce repeated firmly.
Tim blinked hard and then again.
“Tim.” He echoed. “Tim… Feels weird. Feels… Dizzy.”
All at once Tim’s eyes were blowing wide. Instantly Bruce had him sitting fully up, an arm around Tim’s back while his other hand held out a small bucket. Tim shuddered strongly as he threw up but Bruce was right there to calm him through it.
Janet had however moved sharply back, never one to have dealt with vomiting kids.
“Go.” Bruce commanded.
“I will do no such thing.” She snapped back.
Bruce did not have the time to deal with her right now, not when Tim was so obviously unwell. Tim lurched forward again with a miserable sound and Bruce was right there with him, even as Janet turned her nose up in disgust.
“Bats, I don’t…”
“It’s okay, Tim.”
“Must have been…” Tim eyes fluttered. “Ivy… No… No, witch. Spell. I’ll be fine Batman, promise. Promise.”
Bruce checked Tim’s temperature.
“Batman… Gotta… I’ll keep you safe. I’ll…”
Tim’s altered awareness slipped completely back into unconsciousness.
Bruce stayed right by his side all the same, checking his temperature one more time only to find that there was still no change. If Janet was not here, Bruce would have long since brought Tim down to the Medbay to run a tox screen just in case he had somehow been exposed to something.
Given that Tim’s seizures had been far more managed recently compared to what they have been these past few months, Tim had been insistent on returning to his training. It had been made abundantly clear to Tim, and to every other vigilante on their team, that Red Robin was not to go out on any patrol, mission or task at all until he was fully cleared by Leslie that it was safe to do so.
Bruce had even made it clear that it wasn’t just Red Robin benched, but Timothy Jackson Drake, just in case the ever planning Tim had intended on going out under a different identity. Given that Tim had then put on a perfect Gala smile at that, Bruce knew that that had been exactly what Tim had planned to do.
Tim’s epilepsy was going to be a life long condition. It was simply his life now, even if he got frustrated by it, even if it caused fears within each of them. It was part of Tim, just like how being a Vigilante was a part of Tim too.
He wanted to help people.
Bruce wanted to help him help people, but Bruce also wanted to keep him safe.
While until today Tim’s epilepsy had settled to a new normal of a seizure every few days, Bruce was still hoping that they would be able to reduce the severity and frequency a little more before they could risk him out on the field, if ever.
Bruce did not want to permanently bench Tim but by that same token they needed to go about this carefully. On the streets of Gotham and during missions beyond, any fight could cause undue stress on Tim’s body not to mention the incredibly high risk of head injuries.
Given that a head injury just recently could have damn near killed Tim, Bruce had been ever more hesitant to think that he should be allowed to go out as Red Robin again. Oracle had offered Red Robin to become more of an accessory like she was but while he was proficient in similar skills, his real passion still lay within helping people directly.
Tim’s head tilted to the side.
He looked young like this, younger than usual, and Bruce wanted nothing more than to keep him safe.
Janet was still hovering but her brows were pinched.
“Is the ambulance on its way?” Bruce asked.
“Yes.” She said. “Though it should have been called hours ago.”
“There’s no fever, no injuries, just sustained confusion and difficulty fully waking.”
“This is unacceptable Mr. Wayne.” She insisted. “Timothy should have been looked after by experienced professionals the moment he had the second seizure.”
“He doesn’t like hospitals.” Bruce said.
“No matter.”
Bruce leaned back, though he took Tim’s hand into his own first and squeezed it tightly.
“Enlighten me, Mrs. Drake,” He said. “When was the last time you experienced a seizure?”
She did not answer, at least not immediately. Something else she was still working on apparently, the acknowledgement of people other than Jack knowing of her condition. It would have been ‘unseemly’ for the wife of the Drake estate to be known to have epilepsy even though it was simply a medical diagnosis.
Janet’s lack of acknowledgement of her condition was much of the reason why Tim himself had not felt safe enough to acknowledge his own because he had been raised to believe that weakness was unacceptable.
Tim was shifting again.
His breathing got far too quick, chest heaving.
He was sick, he must be sick, this wasn’t just a few too many seizures in a single day. Something was wrong, something had to be wrong.
“She’s she’s- the witch, she’s… Batman we need to stop her, we need…“ Tim rambled. “Batman, we need to stop her.”
“It’s okay Tim.”
“Why does he keep talking about Batman? I don’t understand.”
“He’s confused.” Bruce said simply. “Easy Tim, easy, you’re alright Son.”
“No, no names, Robin, call me Robin… Need need…”
Another seizure started, though this time Tim’s hand just got far too tight, his whole body locking up.
Bruce soothed him through it best he could, talking to Tim softly and reminding him that he was safe, that he was loved, that everything was going to be okay.
Janet was coming closer now but when Tim’s back arched a little off the bed she shot right back again.
“If you can’t handle it, go.”
“I will not leave him so stop thinking that I will!”
“You have left him!” Bruce roared. “Time and again!”
Tim’s seizure worsened and he gave off a godawful choke that tore Bruce’s heart in two. He tried to focus on calming Tim but Janet was still yelling and Tim was still shuddering.
“You always act like I chose to leave Timothy when you know full well that I had no choice!”
“You had every choice! He was a child and you left him alone for months at a time and- Fuck. Alfred! Alfred, get in here!”
But no matter how close Alfred was, as vomit pooled in Tim’s mouth Bruce knew that it was not going to be quick enough. He scrambled to get Tim into his arms, lifting him and getting out of the room even before Janet had a chance to blink.
Tearing through the hallways, Bruce held his Son close as he trembled, unable to breathe.
Bruce took three steps at a time down to the Cave, beelining for the Medbay. Just as Bruce had placed Tim on his side on the cot, Tim was already jolting forward again, more sick coming up.
“What the fuck’s going on?” Jason boomed, all at once by Tim’s side.
Jason smoothed down Tim’s hair as Bruce scrambled to get everything he needed to keep Tim from aspirating on his own vomit.
“Seizure.” Bruce grunted.
“Figured that, B, I mean why the fuck is she down here?”
Bruce didn’t even bother to acknowledge Janet Drake standing there, focusing solely on saving Tim’s life. He moved quickly, stabilising Tim’s airway and putting him on both oxygen and an IV, pushing medication to try to prevent yet another seizure from starting.
It was only when Tim was out of direct danger, his pulse and heart rate steadying, that Bruce even took a breath himself.
Gripping the edge of Tim’s cot, Bruce watched Tim simply breathe for several long moments, looking for any sign at all that he was in distress.
“What…”
Bruce did not turn to Janet.
“Is all of this?”
She sounded like she might faint but honestly Bruce could not bring himself to care whatsoever. This had been close, far too close, even if Tim was already sleeping peacefully again.
Jason, still carding fingers through Tim’s hair, took Bruce’s silence as permission to speak.
“You know,” Jason’s grin showed far too much teeth. “Now we’re gonna have to kill you.”
“Jason.” Bruce rumbled.
“What? She’s the one who’s looking like her jaw’s about to fall off. Let me guess, Your Great Majesty, you didn’t know that your perfect little Timmy’s from a family of vigilantes?”
“I- What, I don’t-”
Janet’s weight shifted.
“Jaylad.” Bruce said.
“Got it.” Jason said.
Bruce did not tear his focus away from Tim’s breathing as Jason went towards Janet, ready to catch her if she should drop.
She did drop, but when Jason cursed loudly Bruce finally whipped around to her. Jason had Janet on her side as her body jolted unnaturally in the same way that her son’s had done hundreds of times in the last few months.
“Give her Ativan.” Bruce said.
“A bit busy Old Man,” Jason snapped back. “The Kid’s fine, get the meds.”
Bruce watched as Tim’s chest rose and fell, his heart rate consistent and steady.
“Bats. Now.”
Bruce forced himself away from Tim’s bedside, getting the required dose from the dispensary and kneeling beside where Jason had Janet on her side. Jason kept her steady as Bruce injected it and within another jolt or two Janet’s body was settling.
Pulling away, but not before confirming that Janet was still breathing, Bruce’s focus immediately returned to Tim. Tim still did not have a fever, but he hadn’t stirred yet either.
“Gee, thanks Bruce,” Jason said. “Gave the poor woman such a big shock that she went into a seizure.”
“Jason. Not now.”
“Sorry, just… Tryn’a lighten the mood. What’s going on with Tim?”
“Seizure. Multiple. Difficulty breathing.”
“Have you taken a break?” Jason asked.
Bruce ignored him. He checked Tim’s vitals again.
Jason carefully lifted Janet from the ground, setting her on one of the remaining beds. He kept her in the recovery position for now, though he was with it enough to start placing monitors on her even though Bruce’s head was spinning far too much to have even considered it.
“You’re losing your edge,” Jason said.
“Not. Now. Jason.”
“I’m just saying. You’re obviously freaked. Whatever happened with Tim… It wasn’t your fault, okay? These things happen, right?”
Bruce checked Tim’s hand to see if it would reflexively curl around his own. It didn’t. Tim was unconscious, though he was still currently stable.
For three whole minutes of mercy, Jason remained quiet.
“You know,” He said suddenly. “If she’s really staying in his life this time, she was bound to find out.”
Tim’s chest was rising and falling but there still could be something wrong, he could have aspirated after all, he could slip into another seizure at any moment, he could stop breathing, he could…
“Bruce. We need to talk about this, work out a way that she won’t tell anyone.”
“Is she breathing?”
“Yeah. Still unconscious though.”
“Mark down that she had a seizure at-”
“Bruce. Identity shit.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Bruce ground out.
Another small mercy was the fact that Jason didn’t immediately throw that right back at Bruce’s face. Instead he just sighed, coming back over to Tim’s bed. Jason leaned against it, facing Bruce, though he set his hand on Tim’s leg.
“Have you taken a break?” Jason asked.
“We must ensure that Tim’s seizures are also documented and-”
“Not what I asked. Have you taken a break? When was Timbo’s first one today?”
Bruce tensed. He checked for fever, and then again.
Jason waited him out.
“Thirteen hours.”
“And have you left his side at all in those thirteen?”
“He was confused and scared and-”
Bruce’s eyes widened because Jason was gripping onto his wrist. Bruce prepared to defend himself but all Jason did was tug him down onto the bed next to him.
“Tim’s okay. Sure, that was scary as fuck, but he’s okay at the moment. His Mom’s fine too, just sleeping it off. Before Tim started having episodes, when was the last time you slept? Actual genuine sleep, not that creepy two second nap thing you do.”
“There was no time.”
Jason hummed. He bumped his shoulder against Bruce’s and Bruce did his best not to flinch from the contact.
“How about I take him for the night? Dickie’s coming around later, Tim will be just fine with us. And I guess she is too.”
Bruce twisted towards Janet Drake.
“This is going to be irritating, isn’t it?”
Jason’s grin was bright.
“That’s it, come back Babybird… That’s it.”
Tim was warm, Dick’s voice warmer.
He went to sit but Dick kept him laying down. Tim pushed Dick’s hand away, sitting anyway, and by some miracle Dick actually let him.
“Take it easy, Timmy,” Dick said softly.
“I’m fine.” Tim said.
Then he blinked, looking around himself.
Cave.
He was in the Cave.
He was in the Cave’s Medbay and there was an oxygen mask on his face. Grumbling in frustration, he pulled it off because he was getting real fucking sick of waking up with them.
Just as Tim prepared to throw it, specifically away from Dick who was honestly just watching on in amusement, Tim’s hand stilled.
“Mom?” He croaked.
In an instant Tim was shooting off the bed but Dick was faster, keeping him from standing or more likely falling.
“She’s okay.” Dick said. “Hey hey, breathe Timmy, she’s okay.”
“But but, what’s she doing here, she can’t be here, she-”
“Tim.”
Dick squeezed his hand tightly, waiting until Tim managed to look up at him.
“She’s okay.” Dick said. “Just resting. She had a seizure too but she’s okay.”
“Too.” Tim echoed. Then he blinked hard again. “Oh. I… I didn’t get spelled.”
“Uh,” Dick stared. “Sorry Bud, but you’re gonna have to explain that one for me.”
“The witch.” Tim said.
“Still not helping. Hey Jay, I think he might still be a little out of it after all.”
“I’m fine.” Tim rolled his eyes. “I’m saying that I wasn’t put under a spell, obviously.”
“Obviously.” Dick said.
Tim’s attention drifted back to Janet Drake.
She looked… Older, somehow, older than Tim had ever seen her.
A seizure, Dick said. It was one thing to know that there was a very real chance that Tim had inherited his epilepsy from his Mother but it was another thing entirely to know that she had actually had a seizure recently.
Tim had convinced himself time and again that while they shared a condition, at least she was her usual not-so-perfect perfect self that he had always known her as.
“Can I…”
Tim couldn’t meet Dick’s gaze all of a sudden, fiddling with the oxygen mask instead.
“Tim,” Dick set a hand on Tim’s knee. “Your Mom’s okay. I promise. Just let her rest.”
“Does she know? That… That I’m Red Robin?”
“Honestly, Bud, we’re not really sure if she’ll remember any of this. You know, Jay suggested we just hoist her up to the spare bedroom upstairs and gaslight her if she ever mentions Caves full of Bats and Supercomputers.”
Tim hummed.
It would be for the best.
Even if he wasn’t actively Red Robin for the near future, he had every intention on getting strong enough to be able to go out on Patrol again. He wanted to help people, really help people, and the thought of Janet getting in the way of that somehow sent a chill through his blood.
Then again, she had been… Trying.
His Mom still got annoying, still said things that fight like a lance to the chest, but she was trying. She was doing her therapy and her classes and she was actually visiting frequently even if some days Tim would rather not deal with all the complexities between the two of them.
Janet was becoming a part of his life, for what might be the first time in his life. And another integral part of his life was being a vigilante.
Being Red Robin.
Being a part of something bigger, being a part of making peoples lives just that little bit better.
“Would it be so bad?” Tim asked. “If she knew?”
“Tim,” Dick sighed. “We’ll work it all out, I promise, but you need to get some sleep.”
“Where’s Bruce?”
“Knowing B,” Dick smiled. “He’s just about to come flying in now that you’re- Right on time.”
Tim’s chest grew warm as Bruce strode right in, instantly by Tim’s bedside. Bruce cupped Tim’s cheek, checking him over, then when he was satisfied he pressed a kiss to the top of Tim’s head.
“You should be resting.” Bruce said lowly.
“Oh really?” Tim couldn’t help but smile. “And here I was about to go on Patrol with Dick, right, Dick?”
“Hah hah very funny, Bud.” Dick said.
Given that Bruce’s eyes had bulged, it was actually pretty funny.
It felt good to have his Dad, and his Mom, right there with him, and Tim was starting to wonder if Janet really should know about this other part of him.