Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tim grappled from building to building, the recognizable feeling of soaring through the sky making his skin buzz.

He heard Damian and Jason arguing on the comms, with Dick trying to mediate to no avail.

"I am of course the superior vigilante," Damian said, obviously trying to rile Jason up. Tim wanted to roll his eyes. The youngest member of the Batfamily seemed to have a goal to try to piss off every sibling as much as possible. Tim wasn't flattered that he was always a target for the current Robin.

"You brat! I'm older and have way more experience than you!" Jason growled back, and Dick tried interfering.

"Guys don't argue on comms," Dick weakly said, but they all knew it was a useless attempt. The poor eldest brother and sibling had been trying since Damian had arrived to get everyone to get along, but with all the things the family had gone through, it would take more than a while.

"I have been trained by the League of Assassins since I was two years old, you imbecile. And even then, I could wield a katana," Damian sounded as if he were internally looking down at Jason -- which, he probably was, even with the boy's lack of height.

"I trained with the league too, Demon Brat," Jason said, and Tim could hear the eye roll from through the comms.

"That is only because you were insufficient and died by the hands of the Joker," Damian snapped, and Dick made a choked noise.

"Damia--"

"Well. I came back to life. I'm the better vigilante because I'm the only one who died and came back to life!" Tim's lips pursed. They were being more immature and petty than when Damian and Tim would argue. But what Jason had said dragged his attention away from that. 

Jason didn't know it, but he was wrong.

In fact, none of them knew it.

Jason wasn't the only one who had died and come back to life.

The sick, bright green memory of the Lazarus water made his brain shutter. He faltered, grapple almost missing its mark. The arguing continued off, but he put it on mute so he couldn't hear them.Hand drifting to the scar above his healed spleen, he tried not to close his eyes.

If he did he would just go back to the moment.

He had never told the family about his experience with the league, and they had never found out. Though Cass knew about some of it. Not everything though. Most of it was about what happened in the catalysts... yeah he didn't want to think of that.

Tim chewed on his lip, suppressing a shudder that wanted to run up his spine and make his hands tremble.

He had changed his cowl to a domino mask. The comments about him looking like a condom had made him realize the awful fashion choice.

Instead, the domino mask he had was specially made so that it hid his bright green glowing eyes just it case.

It didn't really happen usually though. He had an even harder clamp on his emotions since the League.

He grappled away. His patrol was going to be over soon.

When he entered the Batcave on his bike, he saw that Jason was already there.

It was kind of weird, since Jason and Bruce had a pretty strained relationship, so the older always tried his best to stray away from where Bruce was.

He changed out of his suit, instead dressing in a baggy hoodie (that was probably one of Dick's old ones he had stolen before the big fights in between them) and shorts. He took off his domino mask and replaced it with his lenses so his eyes looked its normal, arctic blue instead of the sickening Lazarus green. It was more of a greenish teal now, but there was still a starch difference from his regular eye color. Tim walked out, acting like everything was normal.

It was daily routine now.

"Tim! Hey!" Dick greeted as he and Damian both arrived in the Batcave.

Tim waved without saying anything, but offered a small smile.

Damian scoffed at him. "Drake. Already in your pajamas?"

His smile turned more strained and tight. "Yeah, I'm planning on going to the Nest."

Damian tutted, "I can see why Grayson replaced you."

Dick flinched at Damians words, while Tim tried to put the lid on the steaming kettle inside of him. Damian insulted him a ton, but usually Tim left before he could get on with it.

He and Dick had talked about it, and he had forgiven Dick, but the comment still made his vision tint slightly with green.

Jason looked over, and Tim turned to avoid Jason seeing the bright green shining from behind the contacts, but it was too late.

Jason's eyebrows furrowed, then widened, and Tim practically sprinted to his bike.

Crap. Crap crap crap. This wasn't supposed to happen!

The bubbling rage was shoved down forcefully as he turned his eyes away from the other people in the Batcave.

"Replacement!" Jason yelled, questioning in his tone. Dick had an apologetic but confused look on his face as he quietly reprimanded Damian. Tim ran to his bike as fast as he could, foot accidentally missing it's foothold more than once. He finally lodged his foot in it's place on his bike, and he hit the road faster than Jason could say Timothy Jackson Drake.

He was so doomed.

Chapter Text

Fuck. Fuck. Why today?!

He had gone for -- what? -- around a year without them knowing, and because of this small screwup they could all find out.

It was even worse that it was Jason. 

Tim bit his lip, chewing on it anxiously.

It was still better than Damian, he thinks, but honestly, he didn't know.

Jason might think he's trying to copy him even more. Maybe he'll get beat up.

Tim bonks his head on the bike as he stops at a red light.

He just hoped Jason didn't tell anyone what he saw.

Hopefully his older brother the older vigilante would think that it was just the light, or possibly, a hallucination.

But either way, what was he going to do now? He couldn't take the risk.

He also couldn't go to his Nest, because they knew that he was already planning to go there.

He put in the coordinates for the one safe house that he had told know one about. Even Oracle.

How much time did he have until Jason or somebody else found him? 

The bike shot forward at the green light, weaving through the traffic smoothly and efficiently. 

Tim realized he was still in his pajamas -- a strange sight.

He didn't even bother to grab his helmet, but it wasn't unusual. It was Gotham, after all.

Avoiding Jason was going to be hard, because Dick had convinced the crime lord to come over to the Batcave once in a while. 

Jason was convinced with 'our cases might somehow line up', which was a horrible reason.

Tim liked to think that Jason knew that, and just wanted an excuse to come anyways. It wasn't impossible.

The wind blew around him harshly, and he had to squint his eyes so grit or anything else could blind him.

He was still internally freaking out, but he pushed his screaming thoughts deep down and locked them into a box.

He would freak out later when he had a pillow to scream into.

He opened the door to his safe house, still keeping his eye on any security cameras like he had since he left the Batcave in a hurry.

He pressed his back against the door after he closed and locked it, closing his eyes as he exhaled deeply.

He sunk to the ground, eyes still closed.

Rubbing his face with a hand, he made a noise that was in between frustrated and desperate.

What he was desperate for? He didn't know.

He opened his eyes and hauled himself up with a hand on the doorframe. There was no time to sit in despair.

He needed to make a plan.

What was the plan?

Avoid Jason as much as possible.

Yeah. Not that detailed of a plan.

He didn't know what Jason's plans for the next... however long he had to keep this up was.

Running a hand through his hair, he inhaled deeply, exhaling so loud it sounded like a sigh. 

He didn't even know where to start.

Thinking of what he could possibly do, he decided on a few things.

First, he took out his contacts. There was no reason to wear them in his safe house.

Second, he took out his extra computer, and easily hacked into the Batcave.

He turned off all possible trackers, even the ones he didn't know were on him.

He made it so they couldn't be turned on by anybody other than him, and erased all of his tracks.

Third, he got a cup of coffee. The buzz of even more caffeine in his veins made his brain hum.

Time to get to work.

Okay.

So far, he had Jason's patrol route, places he usually visited, times he visited the cave, and the cases that Jason had.

Tim leaned backwards, his head cushioned against the headboard of his bed. The TV he had put in his room -- a good decision -- was playing a Netflix show.

Pausing the show, he checked his phone for the first time. It was his private phone that didn't have any trackers on it, but of course, he had double checked just in case.

You could never know with the Bats.

And damn, he had a ton of notifications.

Five missed calls, two voicemails apologizing about Damian, and twenty texts from Dick. He was a mother hen after all.

No calls or texts from Damian of course. He hadn't expected them and wasn't surprised to see that there weren't any.

And crap, he had ten calls from Jason, with one long voicemail full of swear words that Tim would never say in front of his mother (he would get severely punished), and a barrage of texts along with it.

These texts included a bunch of, 'replacement did ur eyes fucking glow green' and multiple handfuls of 'we need to talk. now.'.

He rubbed his forehead. Gosh this was becoming a problem.

According to Dick's voicemails and texts, there was no sign that Jason had told their eldest brother, and since there no other signs of a different family member trying to contact him, there were high chances that Jason had kept this from everyone else too.

Finally. Some good news.

He bonked his head against the headboard one, the feeling resonating in his head.

What was he going to do?

He hadn't thought about that yet.

He groaned in frustration, pressing the palm of his hands to his eyes.

His phone ringed. Ugh. He should've put it on silent.

Checking the caller, his lips pursed when he saw that it was Jason. Why couldn't the former Robin just be convinced that it was a trick of light?!

He let the call ring, staring at it with a scowl.

After ten rings, it fell silent again.

Ah. Pure bliss.

It rang again. He was so going to put it on silent after this.

It continued ringing.

Tim wanted to throw it against the wall.

But of course, being the mature adult he was, he did not.

He watched it ring again, pointing the middle finger with both hands at it.

He was a very mature adult.

Chapter Text

Tim twisted the pillow in his hands, his knuckles turning white.

He gulped audibly, his legs curled up to his chest. He was sitting on the couch, sitting in the corner.

He pressed himself deeper into the couch, like he was merging with it. Or melting.

His phone was on silent now -- thank God -- and in front of him on the coffee table.

And next to his phone was a jade box, wrapped up neatly with a gold ribbon.

The tag bore into him, his eyes seeming to burn.

To: My Dearest Detective

Love: The Demon's Head

Tears slipped down his cheeks, his eyes clenched tight in frustration.

No. No no no.

Not right now. Not today.

Why couldn't it be any other day?!

The locked box that was filled with all of his emotions burst open, and he sobbed.

Shoving his face into the pillow, he screamed.

It was full of anguish and desperation, the sound still loud even while mostly muffled by the nice, blue pillow.

Tears wet the fabric, the blue darkening in spots.

Why couldn't somebody have known?

As much as he denied it, he needed support.

He needed somebody who knew about his secrets.

Who could hold him and comfort him.

When was the last time that had happened?

He didn't know.

He cried harder, his eyes slightly sticky from the salty tears.

He felt empty inside. The only feeling left was the aching in his heart.

Tim hugged himself, his body wracking with silent sobs, trembling like a fragile leaf.

He wasn't fragile.

Things didn't make sense anymore. He was Red Robin.

Smart and calculating. The smartest of the Robins.

He held the title of being the greatest detective. Even better than Batman.

He had outsmarted Ra's. Figured out that Bruce was stuck in the time stream when nobody believed him and called him insane.

He barked out a humorless laugh. 

Maybe he was insane.

Maybe the pit just added to it.

When he stared at his hands, tears still dripping down his face and onto his fingertips, he saw the bright bright green shining off of them.

He scrubbed his eyes. To wipe his tears or to try to take the green away, he didn't know.

All of the emotions seemed to disappear. The now unlocked box was empty.

He didn't know if he wanted his emotions to return or not.

When was the last time he had been happy anyways?

His eyes drooped, heavy with exhaustion.

The amount of coffee he had drank ten minutes ago failed to fight it off.

The nightmares would wake him sooner or later.

He fell asleep.

Red Robin perched on the rooftop, his cape billowing behind him from the wind.

He really hoped that Jason wouldn't be tracking him 24/7, but he doubted it.

He was proved right when he heard the telltale sound of somebody landing across the rooftop from him.

Even though he knew it would happen sooner or later, he still panicked.

Throwing down a smoke bomb, he grappled to the next building.

Mid-air, his eyes widened as he saw Red Hood run through the smoke, tackling him.

He lost his grip on the grapple, and they tumbled onto the next roof.

Tim groaned as he rolled to a stop on his side.

He used his hands to push himself up, his ribs radiating pain.

Six feet away from him, Hood was stumbling to his feet, rushing to get up before him.

"Replacement." The crime lord's modulated voice made him push himself to his feet faster, ignoring the pain.

"Hood," he said calmly, betraying nothing. "What do I owe the honor?"

"You owe an explanation," Hood growled, taking off his helmet.

Jason was in a domino, jaw clenched and eyes green. Though not glowing yet. Huh.

"An explanation? For what?" he mustered up a fake confused expression, which was a weak as a flimsy tower of cards.

"Your eyes. They glowed green."

"Huh? No they didn't," he said, but he knew that Hood saw through the lie.

"We need to talk. Now." The order made him twitch, but he carefully kept his expression eerily still.

He had three choices.

One, he could run off. 

Two, he could lie and make up an excuse.

Or three, he could tell Jason the truth and either gain a stronger bond or decimate the flimsy one they already had.

His heart ached for the third one.

Tim opened his mouth, hesitating.

"Okay," was what slipped out, and he both regretted it and didn't.

Jason seemed shocked at his response, openly gaping at him. 

"I... okay," was all Jason said before he strode over, and threw Tim over his shoulder.

"What the fu--" he was cut off by Jason throwing them off the rooftop, his grapple in hand.

Tim clenched his eyes shut. 

He hoped this would end up okay.

Chapter Text

Tim regretted saying yes.

He watched with pursed lips as Jason closed the door behind them. He took off his domino, wincing as the glue peeled off of his skin.

Jason himself took off his helmet, revealing teal eyes that were surprisingly not green with anger. He had expected the older vigilante to be mad about the whole situation.

Jason put the helmet under his arm -- honestly his name should be red helmet (even with the whole spiel about Joker's old alias) -- and led him to the slightly ratty looking couch, watching Tim from the corner of his eye. 

Huh. He had expected the couch to look way worse. 

Due to all of Jason's past safe houses that Tim had found (shamelessly stalked and found), he had expected something way worse.

He was not embarrassed to say he broke into all of them at least once.

He hesitantly sat down after Jason had sat down himself and looked expectantly at Tim, who was now fiddling with his thumbs.

Tim cleared his throat. "So..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"We need to talk."

Tim almost rolled his eyes. "Yes we clarified that. That's why you hauled me over here like a sack of potatoes."

Jason raised an eyebrow at his bland words, clearly surprised that he had accepted Jason's demand request without a fight.

"Okay then. Why did your eyes glow green back at the 'cave?" the crime lord crossed his arms, most likely expecting 

Tim gulped, but forced the truth past his lips with fake nonchalance, "Because I died but got revived by the Lazarus Pits."

Jason's eyes widened, and Tim could hear the click of teeth as Jason's mouth clicked shut.

Silence filled the room.

Tim was undoubtedly panicking on the inside.

Tim was also ignoring the glow of green eyes that were screaming at him from the corner of his eye.

He was doomed. He was undoubtedly, inevitably, fucking doomed.

No, Tim, you did great mentioning the freaking Lazarus Pits that revived your brother colleague after they died!, he thought sarcastically to himself, making a sardonic expression in his mind.

Well, he knew he was from the start, so wasn't this kind of deserved?

He pointedly ignored the fact.

The air was so thick even Damian's katana -- that was sharpened more than once every day -- wouldn't be able to cut through it.

Tim utterly and hopelessly hoped that Jason wouldn't go all murdery on him. Two to three times was enough.

Hopefully Jason agreed with him.

Now, some people might be thinking: Tim, why haven't you gotten all green and murderous after you got dipped in the evil Mountain Dew sauna?

Well, you ask and you shall receive (it matters who's asking but that would just make the sentence a whole lot longer. Oops, basically already did it). 

He internally shook away all of his off topic thoughts. Right, why hadn't he gone all 'stabby stabby' or 'killy killy' yet. 

Well, the truth is that Ra's apparently created a thing that rivaled the pit madness. 

AKA: An antidote.

Well, a mostly antidote. He could still go a little green sometimes.

Ra's didn't want his 'Detective' losing all of his smartness that apparently made him 'very attractive'.

Like, what the fuck, Ra's?! I don't to be your heir or have your babies! Certainly not both!

He was snapped out of his thoughts of flipping off Ra's and hitting him in the nuts with a spiky baseball bat (he would never use his own body parts to do so. As much as it would be amazing, it would be terribly gross) by Jason.

"...What." The way that the other vigilante had flatly said that one word made Tim slightly wince.

"Uh, yeah. Got any more questions?" He winced even more at his words.

"Fuck yeah I've got questions!" Jason angrily exclaimed as he abruptly stood up, eyes surprisingly only glowing a tiny bit, but they were slightly crazed.

Tim bit his lip. He just wanted to go home.

But the right there chance to tell someone was too tempting, a part of him said at the back of his brain. He hopelessly knew it was the honest part of him.

"...Okay." His voice sounded small to his own ears and he had to urge to say it again at the same volume while recording to know just how small it sounded to Jason.

Jason paused to take not of his carefully neutral face and very controlled breathing.

One hitch in his breathing made the crime lord's demeanor and expression soften a little, body relaxing and features smoothing a little out.

Weird. Maybe he was trying to lure him into a sense of security.

Might as well get his words out and confront Jason before he dies.

"If you're trying to lure me into a sense of security it's not going to work and you should just move on to the stabbing. That's what Damian does," he said, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

Jason seemed to take a startled step back, his steps faltering.

"Babybir-- Tim," Jason said, and Tim's face heated up at the nickname.

Jason was obviously trying to lower his guard by pretending to slip up a nickname that he had a crippling emotional attachment to but hadn't heard for at least more than a month.

Obviously.

"I-- shit. Did I ever apologize?" Jason said, breaking through his thoughts once more.

"Huh?"

"Tim." Jason said seriously, kneeling down to look him in the eyes -- well, contacts.

"Yes, person that's going to murder me?" Wow, Tim. Your using of humor as a defense mechanism is absolutely amazing, he thought.

Jason grimaced. "I'm sorry." Sorry?!

That... Tim didn't expect that. 

He didn't even realize that his eyes were tearing up until a tear slipped down his cheek.

A gloved hand wiped it away, and Tim? He didn't feel the need to flinch away from Jason.

Actually? He never had.

He never needed to once he knew that Red Hood was Jason.

Jason. His absolute hero.

He should probably check back into the real world.

"Oh." His own voice felt both numb and full of emotions to his ears.

God, this disn't felt real.

"I'm sorry for trying to kill you all those times. You were an amazing Robin and you're still amazing as Red Robin. You didn't deserve all of that. I broke my number one rule and you got caught in the crossfire of my anger at B because of me." Jason's voice sounded hoarser, and they locked eyes.

He had his contacts on from patrol.

He reached up and took them out, and by Jason's hitch of breath, he knew his eyes were slightly teal.

Jason reached a hesitant hand up, but put it back down.

"Your eyes are turning blue," Jason whispered, and Tim startled.

"That can happen?!"

Jason nodded hesitantly, "Yeah, it happened to me once. When, uh, Dickwing and I had a talk this one time..."

"Whoa," Tim breathed out in amazement, reaching up to his eyes. 

He took out his phone and swiped to get to the camera.

Ice blue eyes looked back at him.

He felt like he wanted to cry.

The contacts weren't even the right color. 

By the way he glanced at the contacts, Jason realized this too and barked out a laugh. 

Tim laughed too, and wiped his eyes, his fingers becoming wet.

"By the way, I forgive you. I forgave you years ago," he said, putting his phone back into the secret compartment in his suit.

"What..?" Jason asked, voice like a whisper.

"You were my hero Jason. You still are. And if wasn't your fault. It was the pits'."

Jason's eyebrows furrowed, moving to gesture at him.

"Ra's decided to actually try to conjure up and antidote for the pit madness and gave it to me once I came out," Tim said, and Jason's eyebrowed furrowed even more, this time in worry of the mention of Ra's.

"Ra's--?!" He was cut off by Tim.

"I'll explain more one day, but you kinda get the just for today, right?"

Jason looked like he wanted to protest, but his eyes softened a little and he nodded, although hesitant.

"Thanks, Jason..." he trailed off in amazement, "your eyes are turning blue."

The green in Jason's eyes seemed to be seeping out, receding to reveal the old blue color it used to be instead of the teal it had been.

Tim watched as Jason gulped. The older vigilante reached out.

And pulled Tim in for a hug.

The warmth sunk into his bones, and he didn't protest, his words dying on his tongue as he was left speechless. 

He hugged back.

He didn't regret saying yes.

Chapter Text

Tim leaned back from the hug, Jason letting him go. When he slumped back into the couch, arms spread out like an eagle. Jason huffed at the sight, but a smile was pulling at his lips.

"So, what now?" Tim asked, staring at the ceiling. Pieces of the roof were peeling off, clinging uselessly to the remains of what was supposed to be called a ceiling.

"I... don't know, do you have a plan?" Jason slowly said, leaning back onto the couch himself, head tilting back to also look at the ceiling.

The older vigilante grimaced at the sight and lifted his head back up to instead analyze his helmet. He took it in his hands and turned it around.

"Not really. The only plan I have I right is to get some coffee," Tim replied tiredly, the bags under his eyes showing more clearly.

Jason snorted, "You have an addiction, kid."

Tim lifted his head to scowl at him, "I do not have an addiction. And don't call me kid!"

Jason smirked back at him. "Sure, kid."

Tim flipped him off, and Jason laughed at him.

Tim stood up, stretching out his limbs as his jaw opened in a huge yawn. "Well, I need some coffee ASAP."

Jason rolled his eyes with an amused smile, putting his helmet down and standing up too. "Fine, fine. Let's go get your addicted self some caffeine."

The younger vigilante showed his surprise. "You're coming?"

Jason snorted. "Yeah. What else am I supposed to do? Plus, it's a good chance to ask you some more questions."

Tim groaned, but he knew that Jason saw the relief that was etched into him. He would never say it out loud, but he felt better having his older brother someone he trusted around.

"We're taking your bike. And I'm driving!" Tim sang, and Jason's eyes widened in horror.

Tim had an evil look on his face as he stole Jason's keys and ran out the door.

Jason followed shortly after him, shaking his head. 'Please say he's a good driver.'

Tim, much to Jason's utter trepidation, was not a good driver. In fact, he was the worst driver in the whole multiverse!

Even worse, the younger vigilante was an adrenaline junkie.

Tim whooped as they went 230 in a 60 zone. At least there weren't that many other people driving in the highway.

Jason gave a very quick and sheepish wave to a grandma driving past them, who looked utterly horrified.

The moment only lasted for a millisecond, and the next moment, the car was well behind them.

Tim cackled, and Jason would never admit to anyone that it sent a chill up his spine.

Jason held on tighter to the boy in front of him, not wanting to tumble off.

"Can't you go any slower?!" he tried shouting, but the wind pulled his words away in a flash.

Tim still heard him though, and Jason was terrified to realize that Tim wasn't even wearing a helmet.

Well, he wasn't either, but that was a personal choice. His bike helmet was left somewhere in his safe house, and he wasn't going out wearing his Red Hood helmet.

"No way!" Tim yelled back at him, a feral look in his eyes.

Jason was never letting Tim drive ever again.

Jason kissed the ground once they arrived at their location. Multiple times.

Tim rolled his eyes at him, a hand on his hip. "Don't be a dramatic baby."

"I'm not being dramatic, or a baby! You're never driving again!" he shuddered, laying on the ground in front of Tim's favorite coffee shop.

"Get up!" Tim whined. "I need my coffee!"

Jason chuckled at the younger's cries, hauling himself up and dusting off his pants, which had nothing on them. His knees cracked, and he groaned.

"You're so old," Tim said, snorting as he pushed past him.

Jason mockingly gasped, a hand dramatically placed on his chest with flourish.

"And dramatic," Tim added, opening the door to the cafe. The bell that hung near the door rang.

"Whatever. Let's get you your coffee."

"Hello and welcome! How may I help you?" the woman at the counter greeted with a smile, and Tim smiled back at her.

"Hi! May I have two quad espressos and a pumpkin spice latte?" The woman nodded at him with another smile and put the order in.

This was one of the only cafes that had all of the seasonal menus no matter what season it was. Hence, the pumpkin spice latte.

"How did you know--" 

"Your drink order?" Tim smirked at Jason as they walked over to a table.

Jason slightly flushed. "It tastes good!" 

Tim held his hands up, "Hey, I'm not judging."

"Hmph. You're such a stalker," Jason grumbled, crossing his arms as he sat down. Tim sat down across from him. 

"Yep," Tim replied shamelessly.

Chapter Text

"So," Jason started, eyeing him. His newly gotten pumpkin spice latte was in his hand, being swirled around as if he were an evil villain. The crossed legs did not help the image. Tim held back a snort of laughter. "Ra's huh."

Tim wrinkled his nose, "He's an ass." Which was, obviously, the truth. Jason, unlike Tim thinking of a villain Jason five seconds ago, did not hold back a snort of laughter.

"Ain't that the truth." Tim let out a hum of agreement and he sipped his coffee, closing his eyes for a split second in pleasure as caffeine fueled him. "How'd you meet him?"

"I, uh, met some of his assassins while I was searching for more evidence," Tim replied easily, obviously not mentioning the fact that he had met them through a bazooka in his hotel room. Yeah... best not to mention that. But the death of two? three? comrades still stung him deep in his heart. He never got to find out if they were revived themselves, but even if they were effected by the pits, he still hoped they were.

Jason raised an eyebrow, "You... met some of his assassins." He said it slowly, as if he didn't comprehend Tim's words.

"...Yes?" He tilted his head, slightly confused. Jason shook his head.

"There has got to be a story behind that," Jason murmured, "they're assassins. Ra's assassins should I add. There's no way you guys just saw each other and made calm small talk."

Tim rolled his eyes, blowing out a breath. "Fine. We fought a lot and then it turned out Ra's ordered them to help me." His brain tuned back to the memories, one clear sound of him breaking Pru's nose upturning his lips a little into a small, sad smile.

"Ra's ordered them to help you?! Why?!" Jason exclaimed, leaning forward with an unbelieving expression.

"Ugh, don't get me started on that. I barely know myself," he groaned, face in his hands. Of course, there were two likely reasons. The first was that Ra's was also trying to find Bruce, so he thought that he could both take advantage of Tim and use him to get more information and evidence. The second was that Ra's had a weird love interest in Tim, which, absolutely disgusting but true.

Tim wrinkled his nose, not even wanting to think of that.

"Also, very important question, how'd you die?" Jason asked seriously, and Tim peeked over his fingers to see Jason with a vicious and violent glint in his eyes. Tim squeaked, straightening up and waving his hands frantically.

"Okay I'll tell you! But don't try to murder anybody," he pleaded, and Jason grunted.

"No promises."

"Good enough for me," Tim huffed, "so there's this cult thing called the Council of Spiders. They're super annoying. Basically the League's sworn enemy or something. And there's this assassin that's super strong called Widower, and he ambushed me and the assassins that were helping me. Two of them died and one of them got their throat slit. I don't know if she ended up dying. So then we fought and then I got stabbed."

"O...kay," Jason said slowly, "and then?"

"The one that got her throat slit was still alive so I managed to get us back to the hotel," he continued, but Jason's waving cut him off.

"Wait. So you got stabbed and then managed to drag you and your... assassin companion to your hotel?! Where did this happen?!"

"In the middle of the desert," he sipped his coffee as Jason spluttered. The memories made his spleen area hurt. Or should he say, the area where his spleen would be if he had one.

"You know what, just continue with your story," Jason ran a hand down his face in exasperation. Tim shrugged.

"So then when we finally made it, Tam found us, and then the League found all three of us."

"Tam?"

"My assistant/Lucius's daughter. She's badass either way. Lucius sent her to find me, which I'm honestly surprised she did, but it wasn't like I was trying to hide myself from her," Tim explained, an elbow propped on the chair.

"...Wow."

"Yep. And then I ended up getting dunked, got the 'antidote', yada yada, and never got to find out whether the three assassins I was with ended up getting dunked too or not." Tim sighed, glad that he wasn't there anymore.

The stinging image of Z, Owens, and Pru still lingered in his mind, and he resisted the urge to squeeze his eyes shut to shut the image out. He instead blew out a breath, instead focusing on his brother? in front of him.

"And then!" He laughed when Jason groaned, but the older literally asked for this, so he continued. "I helped them defeat the Council of Spiders, got my revenge, blah blah blah, outsmarted Ra's--"

"You outsmarted Ra's?!" Jason interrupted, knocking his chair over as he flew up, leaning over the table so much he was practically nose to nose with Tim. Tim himself rolled his eyes and put a hand on Jason's face, pushing him back.

"Yes, are you surprised?" he asked blandly, deadpan.

"...I mean, kind of? No? Yes? Not really? He's a smart ass, but so are you." Jason almost sat down on empty air, causing Tim to smother a laugh, and with a glare, he picked up his chair and plopped back into it. The whole time his pumpkin spice latte was still in his grasp, and Jason took an aggressive sip. Tim tried harder to smother his laugh.

"Heh, well, I did, and then I found B, and a few later, here we are," Tim gestured broadly, again, with another big sip of his coffee with a smile. Jason nodded, letting the entire story (more like a very summarized summary) sink in and process.

"Well... yeah I don't know what to say," Jason replied honestly after a few moments of silence. Tim grinned.

"Me neither. Any more questions?" Jason rolled that thought over in his mind, though there was already a question that he wanted to ask. After another few moments of thinking, he decided to just ask.

"How did Ra's... y'know, make an antidote?" Jason shuffled awkwardly in his seat, but Tim just laughed.

"I honestly don't know," he said, but before Jason could deflate in disappointment, he spoke again, "but I've been trying to find out since I knew about the antidote."

Jason tilted his head, "But you already got the antidote, why would you need to find it again?"

Tim flushed in embarrassment, fidgeting with his sleeves. "Well, uh, I wanted it so I could make it for you." Jason had an honest face of surprise, and Tim turned even more red in embarrassment.

"Really?"

"I mean, of course. If there's an antidote I would want to get it. For you and others who could have been affected," Tim squirmed in his seat, matching Jason when he first asked the question. Jason smiled, open and bright, at him.

"Thanks, Babybird."

He scowled, "Don't thank me, it's not like I've found it yet."

"Still, you wanted to find it for others, including me, so thanks," Jason grinned.

Tim hummed into his coffee, scowling again when he noticed he had finished it. He took of their empty cups and threw them away.

"What should we do now?" he asked as they walked back to the bike, and once Jason saw the malicious glint in his eyes, he rushed to sit on the bike, patting the seat behind him.

"I'm driving this time. There's no way I'm going to let you drive ever again." Tim grumbled as he took the spot behind Jason, and as they slowly and safely backed out of their parking spot with all of the care in the world, Jason answered Tim's previous question.

"I honestly don't know. Do you want to... tell anybody else?"

Tim's nose scrunched up in thought before he shrugged. Jason saw it in the corner of his eye and nodded, accepting Tim's answer. It was his choice to make that decision after all.

In the end, they just decided to drive back to Jason's safe house? apartment? and discuss what to do there.