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One easy night. Just one. That’s all Tim wanted.
He was tired, his ribs may or may not be cracked from an incident on patrol the other night, and oh, did he mention he was so very tired?
So yes, an easy night of patrol would have been great - but of course this is Gotham so there’s no such thing as an easy night, especially when you’re a vigilante.
Every single Bat on patrol had been going non-stop since the night started - there had been an Arkham breakout, leaving Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and the Riddler all at large. And as if that wasn’t hard enough, Arkham breakouts means even more petty crime than usual, so to put it simply, every single vigilante was being pulled in different directions. Even Red Hood was helping out, and Nightwing had come to Gotham early despite originally planning to arrive until the weekend.
The comms chatter was full of the others asking for an assist with something and then no one being able to spare a moment to help unless it was completely urgent. So, it was a really shit night so far.
Red Robin was currently perched outside of one of the many warehouses near the docks, watching through a large window as some goons, who he suspected belong to Scarecrow, were pushing crates of unknown materials into a loading bay, clearly waiting for transport.
Just as he was thinking of a plan to follow the crates to the new location, the rogue himself walked into the warehouse, a few hostages being dragged in behind him.
Shit, this had escalated very quickly.
Now, Tim knew he should 100% call in back up for this, Scarecrow is never pleasant to go against solo and it would be stupid to think otherwise, but, as he listened to the shouts over the comms as Nightwing and Robin found Ivy and began trying to apprehend her, with Batman already responding and heading in as backup, he knew no one would be able to get to him soon enough.
And this was definitely not something he could wait around for backup for, he thought, as he watched the hostages get tied up to some chairs as Jonathan Crane began monologuing about the beauty of seeing just how irrational people’s fears are. He would just have to handle this himself.
Luckily, if he ignored Scarecrow and the boxes of what was likely his newest strain of fear toxin, there really were not that many goons for Red Robin to dispatch. Unluckily, he still had to get Scarecrow, the unknown fear toxin contained and help the hostages.
Fuck, he really was tired, but, no time like the present!
Because he didn’t have a death wish though, he did contact Oracle as he moved towards an opening on the roof of the warehouse.
“Oracle, this is Red Robin - I’ve located Scarecrow along with crates of possible fear toxin at the docks, show me engaging.”
“Understood RR, but wait for backup before proceeding.”
He had moved into the rafters by now, already planning ways to remove some goons discretely to give himself the best chance of success.
“Sorry Oracle, he’s got hostages to test on, there’s no time to wait for backup. Red Robin out.”
As he turned off his comm, he could hear Oracle shouting, whether it was at him for ignoring her or for someone to come and aid him, he did not know, and right now he didn’t care.
He creeped towards a corner of the warehouse where a solitary goon was organising the crates, hidden in shadows. Perfect.
Tim dropped down onto the unsuspecting man, using his legs to trap his arms and covering his mouth and nose with his own hand, preventing any airflow, and the man quickly fell unconscious, falling to the ground with little fanfare.
One down. Many still to go.
He extended his bo staff and crept towards a pair of goons guarding the entrance of the warehouse, sticking to the shadows the whole way. He swiftly incapacitated them without raising any alarms and moved on to the next.
This pattern continued until the only goons he hadn’t taken out were in direct sight of Crane himself, who had, finally, stopped monologuing about how physical and emotional fears differ - which, technically, is very bad because it meant he had a vial full of fear toxin and was approaching the hostages but, also, he says the same shit each time and Tim usually blocks it out.
The first hostage was a woman in her twenties, tears streaming down her face as she did her best to struggle out of her bonds and still without backup Tim knew he had to act now.
He shot his grapple at the ceiling, using it to launch himself at Crane, and kicked the vial out of his hands. Using his bo, he took out the goons closest to him, ignoring the sound of the impact breaking various bones in one of their arms and turned his focus on Scarecrow who had already recovered from the initial impact, and was running at Red Robin, his scythe in hand.
The remaining goons fired a volley of bullets towards where he had been standing which he flipped away from only to find himself in the direct path of a swinging scythe.
Tim jumped out of the way of the first swing, doing his best to keep everyone’s focus on him and not the still crying hostages - he really needed to free them so they didn’t become collateral damage, but right now he had bigger problems. The next few minutes was an extreme fight between the two - Scarecrow’s violent kicks and scythe attacks against Tim’s bo staff defence and acrobatics.
On the next swing of the scythe, his staff met the handle, locking the two weapons together. He dodged a strong kick Crane aimed at his midsection.
“Ah Red Robin, how kind of you to join us. You’re just in time to experience my latest concoction.”
He kicked his foot out at his opponent's ankle, pleased when Crane stumbled back from him.
“Not today Scarecrow, you’ll be back in Arkham before you can say ‘fear.’’
A sharp laugh was all that he heard before the rogue rushed at him again.
Red Robin wanted this though. Using Scarecrows momentum against him, he used his staff to hit the back of his knees and once he was on the ground, he quickly swung his bo down, pleased with the resounding crack of the rogue’s head against the floor as he was knocked out.
As he went to secure Crane’s hands behind his back, the gunfire started up again and Tim had no choice but to dive out the way behind some nearby crates and pray to any deity that would listen to him for the man would remain unconscious for the time being.
The two goons shooting at him were stood behind the hostages, but were so focused on hitting him that they had yet to consider harming them. Good.
He reached for the throwing discs in his utility belt, waited for the moment the goons had to reload their weapons and let them fly over the boxes he was taking cover by. The discs hit their hands, causing them to drop the guns, and provided Tim the opening he needed.
He launched himself over the crates and ran towards the men who were now fumbling around for another weapon. Unfortunately for them, he was faster.
It was quick work subduing the two of them with a few well-placed kicks to both the midsection then the heads, and now he could finally turn his attention to the hostages.
With a small knife he took out from his belt, he first cut the bindings on their hands then their ankles, and once they were free, they all quickly thanked him before running out the warehouse. He wished they would stay around for possible medical treatment, but sadly Tim knew that most Gothamites either couldn’t afford the small health check up or simply refused to be near a rogue any longer than necessary, instead choosing to get the fuck out of dodge.
Speaking of rogues, he definitely needed to actually secure Scarecrow now all the other problems had been dealt with and then call in the capture to GCPD. But when he rushed over to where he had left Crane’s body, he was met with an empty space.
Shit.
He turned on his heel, bo staff out in front of him, trying to spot Scarecrow in the quiet warehouse.
Nothing. He couldn’t hear or see anything out of place. This was so very Not Good.
No, wait, take a moment to breathe and take in your surroundings, he thought to himself, Batman’s instructions from when he was Robin clear in his mind.
And yes! A slight scuffing noise coming from about 15 feet to his left - the sound untrained people can make when trying to move as quietly as they can. Scarecrow was good, but not as good as the Bat’s training.
As quickly as he could, he approached the stack of boxes that Crane was hiding behind, not giving him a moment more to prepare before he flipped over the top, bo staff extended, and forced the staff downwards onto one of Crane’s hands that held his scythe.
A quick grunt of pain was all the reward he received before they were once again locked in combat. Tim lunged forwards, swinging his staff in a wide arc and just narrowly missing Scarecrow’s head before he once again fell back on the defensive, blocking the next swing of the scythe. He spun out of the way, using quick footwork and strikes of his staff to keep the rogue at a distance.
“A question Red Robin - what do you fear when you are alone? Hmm?”
Tim didn’t answer and instead swung his staff in a vertical strike, catching the edge of the scythe and forcing it to clatter to the ground.
He kicked the scythe out of reach before continuing on the offensive, only stopping the hits when Crane also fell to the floor and raised his hands up in surrender as Tim positioned his bo at his throat.
Satisfied the fight was over, Tim reached for the cuffs in his belt with one hand, bo still pressed against the other man’s neck. But when he reached down to secure the rogue, Crane moved quicker than he could intercept and he felt a needle slide into his neck.
“I’ve found my new concoction is more potent in a liquid form, let’s see what you truly fear Red Robin.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Not good.
He fumbled at his belt for the toxin antidote they all carried on hand, but the toxin was already taking effect and his hands were shaking too badly to administer it. Of course there’s no guarantee it would have worked anyway if this was a new recipe, but it still would have been better than nothing.
Scarecrow’s delighted laughs rung in his ears as he stumbled back, abandoning his staff, doing his best to get away- get away from…what?
“Timothy!”
He flinched away from the man that appeared in front of him, recognising the anger in his tense shoulders.
“Dad? I- what are you doing here?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions Timothy! God, what’s the point of all that expensive tuition that we’re forced to pay if it isn’t even doing you any good?”
“No- I- you’re not meant to be here?” His mind was trying to tell him something, but whatever it was couldn’t be heard over his dad’s approaching footsteps.
He hated seeing his dad this angry. He knew he deserved to be disciplined from time to time, but usually the most his dad ever did was destroy his electronics or scream at him, not often had he been enough of a disappointment for that anger to be turned onto him physically.
“Stop being stupid Timothy,” His mother drawled from behind Jack’s shoulder, “you’re well aware of just how much trouble that stunt was going to put you in.”
“No! I haven’t done anything, please- please I didn’t do anything.”
“After all we’ve sacrificed for you and you still treat us with such disrespect,” she scoffed, “our lives were much better before you were born, and they will soon be better again - Jack, dear?”
“Of course Janet.” His dad was smiling as he stalked towards him, a wicked gleam in his eyes, ignoring the whimpers escaping from Tim as he watched his father raise his fist.
Oh. His dad was going to hurt him. He had finally messed up enough for them to take action.
“Please stop, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He begged through his tears, as his father’s fists met flesh.
He flinched at his mothers sharp laugh and the click of her heels as she approached the two of them, briefly resting her hand on Jack’s shoulder to stop him momentarily.
She crouched in front of him, reaching out to caress his face and he couldn’t help but lean into it. But the comfort didn’t last long and he yelped in pain when her nails dug into his cheeks, turning his face towards her.
“Goodbye Timothy. I’m sure you will be more useful dead than you ever were to us when you were alive.”
“No Mom! Please- please don’t do this! I’m sorry. I- I won’t bother you again I promise, just don’t-” he hiccuped, “don’t let him hurt me. I’m sorry.”
She didn’t respond, just moved behind Jack, who now had a baseball bat in his hands. Where did that come from? He-
“You really should learn to man-up Timothy. Take the beating like a man.” His father said, eyes full of disappointment.
“I’m sorry. Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me.” He continued begging for the pain to stop, but it didn’t and oh…he was going to die. He truly was useless.
————
“Red Hood, come in!”
Jason groaned, “What do you want Oracle? I’m busy.”
“Well you need to finish up quickly and then head to the docks to assist Red Robin in apprehending Scarecrow.”
“Can’t one of the other idiots help the Pretender? Why is up to me?” He unloaded his weapon into the kneecaps of the closest of Black Mask’s men as he spoke, already knowing his night was about to get worse.
“Batman, Nightwing and Robin are apprehending Poison Ivy, and Batgirl and Black Bat are too far away and currently occupied with their own fight. That leaves you Hood.”
Ugh, every single day he wishes he hadn’t made nice with the family as it keeps coming to bite him in the ass.
“Fine, but I’m still dealing with a mess here so tell Red to wait.”
There was typing heard over the line as Jason continued his beatdown of the goons surrounding him.
“No can do, Scarecrow apparently has hostages so Red Robin has already engaged. And as he turned his comm off and I have no eyes on that area of the docks. I need you there as soon as possible.”
“Stupid fucking kid,” he muttered as he pistol-whipped the last of the goons, sending off a quick message to one of his men to come and grab the weapons they were smuggling before turning and starting his bike, “Alright, I’m heading there now, what was his last location?”
“I’ve linked his tracker to your HUD, keep me updated.”
A click in his ear was the only indication she was finished with the conversation.
He increased his speed, swerving in between traffic and getting ever closer to the red dot that represented his idiot younger brother. He was about 8 minutes away.
Surely, after everything this family of vigilantes has gone through, including, by the way, Jason himself dying in a warehouse alone, the kid would be more careful and not just jump into a fight with fucking Scarecrow of all people without backup - but no, he just had to stop using his brain because people were in danger.
If Red Robin dies because he couldn’t wait for backup, rest assured Jason will drag him to a Lazarus Pit just to kill him again for being so utterly stupid.
The docks were quiet by the time he finally got there - suspiciously quiet. If Red was fighting a rogue and his goons then there should be some gun shots or some commotion at least, but no there was nothing.
“…Please stop, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Shit that sounded like the kid, he should have fucking waited!
Jason made sure his guns were loaded and crept towards the warehouse where the shout had come from. He would go in guns blazing but if the kid is in a compromised position he can’t risk it, so stealth it is.
Looking in through the open door, he eyed the two unconscious bodies of the men who must have been guarding the door - their hands were zip-tied together and they were definitely out for the count, so therefore not a concern to him right now.
He continued his silent approach, passing more unconscious goons as he went. The kid had certainly been handling this well before whatever went wrong occurred, which as always with Crane, probably included some sort of fear toxin.
His theories were unfortunately confirmed not even a moment later when Red Robin cried out again, although his voice was slightly muffled as though he was covering his head with his hands.
“No! Please- please don’t do this! I’m sorry. I- I won’t bother you again I promise, just don’t-, don’t let him hurt me. I’m sorry.”
Fuck. He tightened his grip on his guns, he didn’t like hearing the kid beg, it reminded him too much of how he used to enjoy those sounds of pain coming out his brothers mouth. They were past it now, but God it was despicable he ever enjoyed it in the first place, and Crane better hope he was no longer here or Jason might just take out some of his rage on him.
He turned the corner of some discarded crates, gun raised and came face to face with Scarecrow who was watching in delight as Red Robin whimpered and shook on the ground, trying to get away from some invisible foe.
He clicked the safety of his gun off, revealing his presence to the rogue.
“Ah Red Hood! Isn’t it just wonderful? Don’t you wish you could just listen to his fear forever, it’s so intriguing.”
“No.”
Tim was still begging in the background but he couldn’t think about it right now, he needed to focus on not killing Crane for so obviously enjoying the pain of someone he cares about.
“You know I had high hopes for my new toxin, but this has passed all my expectations! His fear is just delicious, and so unexpected as well!”
Shit a new toxin means the current antidote might not even work, this night had somehow just got even worse.
“I don’t care.” He fired a shot to the side of the man’s head, grabbing his attention again, “Surrender now Scarecrow.”
Instead of responding, the rogue jumped at him, and kicked the gun out of his hand. After exchanging a few punches, Jason got the upper hand and flipped Crane onto the ground, bringing his fist down against his covered head multiple times until he finally stopped moving.
He grabbed some restraints from his belt and dragged the man’s now unconscious form to a nearby pole and then secured the restraints to that.
He activated his comm as he cautiously approached Red Robin who was still whimpering on the floor.
“Oracle, this is Hood. Scarecrow and his goons have all been dealt with and are currently restrained, but Red was hit by some new strain of fear toxin so I want to get him back to the cave now.”
“Understood, I’ll alert GCPD of the location so they can pick them up as well as the crates of fear toxin.”
“Okay, I’ll grab a sample too, see if B can find a way to reverse its effects. Red Hood out.”
After clicking his comm off, he quickly dug around in a nearby box until he managed to find a vial - and shit it was liquid, no wonder Crane said it was a brand new concoction - and tucked it safely into his belt.
Red Robin was now curled into a ball, violently flinching at whatever he was experiencing. He softened his steps as he approached the younger vigilante, not wanting to scare him any more.
“Kid,” he reached out to touch his shoulder, “it’s not real, I promise whatever you’re seeing isn’t there. It can’t hurt you.”
“No! I’m sorry. Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me. I’m sorry. Please stop.”
Jason flinched away. Shit did- did the kid think he was going to hurt him? Was Tim’s worst fear the Red Hood even after all the assurances he had given Jason that that wasn’t the case? Did he conceal flinches whenever Jason was around, when he playfully hit his little brother? God he was an awful, terrible person. He should have known better than to think the people he had hurt the most had actually forgiven him.
He should leave. Wait for Nightwing or one of the others to help Red Robin, he was clearly just making everything worse.
“Please stop! I- I’ll be better I promise.”
Wait… that doesn’t sound like something he would say to Red Hood? Jason stopped backing away from the downed vigilante.
“Dad! Please s-stop.” He begged.
Oh. Oh. Jason was going to kill someone. The kids greatest fear was his dad? Jason was not aware of this, and if it turns out Bruce wasn’t either, hadn’t noticed someone under his care being abused and therefore sent him back to that house and his dad during the beginning of his Robin tenure, then Jason and the so-called ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ were going to have some words. Maybe Jason could even punch him, that would maybe take the edge of his anger off.
The kid was still quietly begging, hands shaking as he covered his face, and he didn’t seem to be registering anything other than the hallucinations he was being forced to experience. Jason really needed to get him out of here, especially as the cops were on the way now.
He carefully crouched back in front of the younger boy, trying not to scare him again, and briefly injected the current antidote to Crane’s usual fear toxin into his arm. He really hoped that it wouldn’t make it worse and instead had some sort of positive effect even if it didn’t stop the hallucinations entirely.
Tim yelped when Jason grabbed his arms, preparing to lift him up and muttered reassurances to the boy the entire time.
“No...Please stop. I’ll be better.”
Jason removed his helmet and lightly placed his hand on Tim’s cheek, trying to look the other in the eyes, “I’m sorry Red, I know it’s hard, but it’s not real. I’ve got you.”
His heart broke a little when Red leant into his hand despite the violent hallucinations he was seeing. God Tim was going to be so sick of him after this because he was already planning ways to check on the kid more regularly, to make sure he stayed okay.
As he guided Red Robin to his bike, the antidote seemed to finally be doing something. He was still shaking in fear, but at least the begging had stopped.
Tim looked up at him, eyes still unfocused, and whispered, “Robin?”
Oh God, Jason choked. This was all starting to get a bit much, but if it kept the kid a little more lucid then he could play into the role he hasn’t played since he died a fiery death.
“Y-yeah kid, I’ve got you, don’t worry.”
He nodded to himself, allowing himself to be moved onto the bike sitting in front of Jason.
“My dad’s trying to k-kill me Robin.”
“I won’t let him Tim.” He spoke with conviction. Yeah the man might not be alive for Jason to kill today, but he would do his fucking best at making this fear stop for his younger brother.
There was another sob in response, but any other words were lost to the wind as Jason started his bike and sped towards the cave.
————
Tim woke with a groan. His brain felt like it had done a full cycle in a washing machine - and he was in the cave? He had no idea how he got here.
Last thing he remembered had been patrolling…the docks and looking for someone? Fucking Scarecrow. Because of course he was unlucky enough to get dosed with fear toxin without backup. Shit.
He sat up, taking in more of his surroundings and was surprised to see Jason asleep on a chair next to his medical bed. Had it been worse than he thought maybe? Normally the older vigilante avoids entering the cave or manor, especially if Bruce was around.
There were multiple IVs attached to him, and despite his desperate need to take them all out, the last time he did that Alfred had lectured him on his health for a full thirty minutes and he really did not want a repeat of that - so poking them until someone released him was his only option.
Jason’s training must have finally kicked in to alert him there was a change in his surroundings despite being asleep and Tim watched as he blinked himself awake and rubbed his eyes before he got sight of the now-upright Tim.
“Oh shit kid,” he stood up and approached the bed slowly, “you should’ve woke me - how you feeling?”
“I only just woke up don’t worry, and I feel pretty shitty I guess?” He shrugged his shoulders, doing his best not to jostle his arms too much, “But I got dosed with fear toxin right? So it’s not exactly a surprise.”
“Yeah some new concoction of Crane’s - it took us almost two days to synthesise a new antidote and it was bad enough that we sedated you ’til we had it done.”
Oh yeah, that’s very shitty if Tim does say so himself. He definitely had missed a meeting at WE that was very important, but hopefully missing it doesn’t make the board start accusing him of being too young for the job again - that would suck after all the effort he’s put in to change their minds.
“Oh okay. And Crane? Was he caught, y’know, despite me…?”
“Yeah I got him when I got onto the scene.”
Tim breathed a sigh of relief. At least him messing up didn’t meant that a rogue went uncaptured, Bruce would definitely be more angry at him if that had happened.”
Before he could thank Jason though, the man continued talking.
“But, Tim, when I got there he was fucking stood over you as you went through your own personal hell,” he took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself down, “Kid you could’ve gotten hurt - you could have died - why didn’t you just wait for backup?”
“I had it handled.”
Jason huffed, “Timberly, I’m not insulting your work, I saw all the unconscious goons - I know you’re very capable. But c’mon, Scarecrow is still a rogue and he even had his fucking scythe this time, you should have waited. Yeah the others were busy, whatever, but you could’ve waited for me.”
Tim’s hackles raised up, this felt too much like a lecture back when he first started being Robin and Bruce was still comparing him to the previous two.
“I had it handled Jason. I wasn’t being reckless, there were hostages involved, and I did not have time to wait around for you to maybe come and help me.” He argued. “Besides I had my rebreather on, how was I meant to know Crane decided to change it to a fucking injectable toxin this time around?”
Tim's breath hitched as he thought back on the toxin. He couldn’t remember a lot of what he saw but he had a sick feeling in his stomach that his dad had been there, maybe even his mom? Did they hurt him? Is that what he saw? He remembers feeling stupid and…and oh my God, they had wanted him dead?
“Kid? Hey Tim, I need you to breathe for me okay?”
Oh was he not breathing? That didn’t seem good. It might just make his parents happy though. Didn’t matter that they were actually dead, that feeling of being unwanted never went away, and now he’s got new images to his nightmares. Fucking Scarecrow.
Someone moved his hand to their chest, instructing him to take deep breathes that matched their own. When he finally felt himself coming back to himself, he could hear Jason’s muttered praise.
“There you go, just keep following my breaths. You’re doing great Tim.”
A few more minutes passed when Tim finally pulled away, and gave a quick nod to Jason who was still looked concerned.
“Timbo? You good?”
“Y-yeah, sorry about that.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Did you…remember something?”
He just nodded in response, not wanting to get into it right then.
“Shit, okay. Well, if you, y’know, want to talk about it with someone who knows what it’s like, I’ll be there yeah?”
“Yeah okay, just not- not right now. Thanks though Jay, not for just that, but for getting to me in time.”
“Always kid. No more dead Robins, right?” He squeezed Tim’s arm, “now stay there and I’ll let Alf know you’re up and about. And don’t worry I’ll tell him I’ve already lectured you, so he has to take it easy.”
Tim gave him a small smile in acquiesce and watched as his older brother rushed up the stares leading to the manor and did his best to ignore the feeling of his dad’s violent hits on his skin.