Archive of Our Own ^beta

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He’s My Brother

Tim glanced up from his tablet at a slight noise, seeing the kid shift slightly on the bed before settling again. He wasn’t worried, yet, it had only been two days since he’d come out of emergency surgery. He looked back down at his work, he couldn’t afford any mistakes, not now.

He didn’t tense when familiar footsteps crossed the room nearly silently, a warm hand resting on the back of his neck.

“How is he?” Kon whispered.

“He’s shifted a few times but hasn’t woken yet.”

Kon tipped his head to the side slightly, staring at the small form on the bed. “His heart’s strong, everything sounds normal for someone in his condition.”

Tim nodded, he could read the monitors. But he would worry until green eyes opened.

“It’s going to be okay,” Kon whispered, hand moving to down to squeeze his shoulder, and Tim leant against him.

“Is it? He doesn’t trust me, Kon. And he might not remember what happened given his injuries.”

“You got both of your mask footage off the system, you’ve got proof. And Barry can back some of it up, he’ll listen to a JL member, won’t he?”

“Maybe.” Tim grimaced, some members like Diana, sure? Barry? He wasn’t so sure what Damian thought of him.

Calling Barry had been an impulsive decision. But he had access to Star Labs medical teams and Tim couldn’t trust anyone in Gotham, not with this. And the injuries had needed far more help than he could give. He’d had injuries of his own as well, his left hand snuggly fitted with a brace and six stitches in his right side, thankfully it wasn’t a match to the scar on the left.

“Thanks for getting to us so quickly,” Tim murmured. He was exhausted; he’d barely slept since leaving Gotham.

“Always,” Kon promised.

Thankfully, he’d gotten to them quickly enough that there’d been no time to whip out the Kryptonite. And while Kon had worked to subdue their attacker, Tim had put in the call to Barry who had shown up seconds later, staring in shock before locking the cell and rushing to help him with first aid. Between Barry and Kon, they’d been whisked away to Central City and Star Labs.

And then they froze as there was a soft grunt from the bed, both looking over again. Glassy green eyes opened slowly, struggling to focus on them. Tim got up slowly and moved to the bed.

“Easy Damian,” he murmured. “Don’t try to move yet, you were badly hurt.”

“F’th…w’y…” his eyes slid closed again.

Tim swallowed hard, hands shaking slightly. Kon wrapped his arms around him, supporting him. He wished he had an answer for Damian. It was his fault, he hadn’t covered up what had happened well enough, hadn’t had enough time.

“I’ll stay with him, you need to sleep Tim,” Kon told him.

Tim wanted to argue but he knew Kon was right. He’d covered their tracks as best he could but B would surely realise a speedster had helped, if he looked for them, then the odds were good that he’d find their location. And this time, he’d bring Kryptonite.

“Cassie and Bart will be here soon,” Kon told him, knowing what he’d be worrying about.

B had contingencies for Speedsters but demigoddesses were harder to work around. And Cassie would call Diana for backup if needed. He nodded and left the room for the one that he had been assigned since he was under observation due to his lack of spleen.

Within minutes of laying down he was fast asleep.

Barry watched Robin’s mask footage again. It was a clear case of accidental death. For all of his training, the kid was human and no human could have reacted fast enough to change what happened. Only a Meta or alien could have saved that man. And yet…he brought up Red Robin’s bodycam footage and felt sick. What the hell Bruce? That was his son! He was very impressed with Red, not many people could go toe to toe with the Bat but he’d managed it for long enough for help to arrive.

It had only been a year since the Justice League had learnt of Red Hood’s true identity, knew the conflict it caused for Batman. He was so against killing and yet his son killed. The JL was torn over his methods, some like Diana saw no real issue since those he killed had been given many chances to reform and were the worst of the worst. Others among them were against killing because it was a slippery slope. But things had seemed to be okay between the Bat and his wayward son lately.

So why had he snapped and attacked his youngest, his biological son? The kid had grown up in the League of Assassins, had attacked his siblings, almost killed Tim several times… and Bruce had never done much about it. The kid had adjusted to the no-kill rule, had even been a bit less prickly and arrogant since Bruce’s return.

Had something happened in Gotham that they had missed? The Bat played things close to the chest. Dick was more open but he was off world with Wally and the old team. He had been Damain’s Batman first, had been standing up to Batman for longer than any of the other birds, could he have stopped what had happened?

He would never forget the sight of Tim, sans his suit, kneeling over Damian, putting pressure on the kids wounds and not seeming aware of the blood staining his own shirt. Kon had been holding Bruce, fully suited up and armed, away from the two. From the look on the kids face he’d been close to doing some nasty damage to the man to make him go down long enough to get the two injured birds out of there. So Barry hadn’t slowed, he’d rushed in and knocked Bruce out, locked him in one of his own containment cells. But that wouldn’t hold him for long and unless Tim had managed to get into the Cave’s systems, Bruce would have camera footage of Barry helping the kids.

He knew what he had to do; he’d just never thought it would be Bruce that he would have to report to the rest of the League.

He woke slowly, struggling to open his eyes. Everything hurt but there was the familiar feeling alongside it that said he’d been given painkillers. The white lights and beeping suggested a hospital but then he spotted a familiar form, Superboy. Why was he in the hospital?

“Hey kid, you with me?” he asked, and Damian managed a nod. “Figures you’d wake after I finally got Tim to go get some sleep. Do you need more painkillers?”

“Hap’nd?” His mouth was utterly dry, his throat raw.

“Here, suck on these.”

He was forced to allow the clone to support his head and hold a cup of ice chips for him. But the moisture was very welcome. And Kon-El was not the type to attempt to poison anyone. He had mentioned Drake. Where was Father? Richard?

“Try to go back to sleep kid, you need the rest.”

Damian mustered a glare and the clone sighed.

“Look, I don’t know everything, it’d be better to wait for Tim to wake. He hasn’t slept in over two days so it might be a while. You’re in Star Labs, Central City. Surgery was successful but you’re going to be here for a while.”

Surgery? Central City? Why was he not in Gotham? Had he been on a mission? But in the Flash’s city?

“Tim sent a message to Dick, so he knows to come here when he gets back to Earth. Hopefully he’ll be here in a day or two.”

Good, Richard would be more willing to give him answers. What had he forgotten that had the clone looking at him like that? They did not like each other; in fact, he was sure he hated Damian for his attempts on Drake’s life. And it appeared that Drake was in the Labs too, hadn’t slept…not that that was rare. Had Drake…been watching over him?

He wanted to ask questions but found his eyes closing.

Clark watched the footage in growing horror. No…he wouldn’t…he couldn’t…and yet the proof was staring them all in the face in full colour. He saw the truth of what had happened, Damian had not killed the man, it was an accidental death. He’d even tried to save him, risking his own life, Tim’s cry in the background, the sudden stop to Damian’s motion likely his brother catching him.

Hadn’t Bruce watched their mask footage? Had he just jumped to conclusions? Assumed that Damian had reverted to old training? The kid had been doing so much better in the last year, even the Titans had said that. Dick was so proud of him and even Tim had warmed to him lately.

They were lucky, in a manner of speaking, that Tim had slipped his bodycam back on and grabbed his bō as he rushed into the main room of the cave from the changing room. Without it, they wouldn’t have his view of what had happened. It stopped moving as Tim paused to take in what was happening and likely trying to understand it. Clark couldn’t and he was on his second viewing. It gave a horrifying view of Bruce advancing on his youngest, a batarang in hand. And then Tim was moving, throwing himself forward to intercept.

Watching Tim’s vicious defence of Damian was amazing. He truly was a master of the bō now. Watching him face his mentor and even outthink him was amazing but also heartbreaking. Because that fight should never have happened. The kids hadn’t even been in their suits! Tim had been almost fully changed, left in just the shorts and tank top he wore under his suit when he’d rushed out from the changing rooms at Damian’s cry of pain. Not that Tim didn’t take damage, a batarang digging into his shirt, his wrist slammed into a counter far too hard, lighter hits elsewhere. And then Kon was there, slamming into Bruce, freeing Tim to run to Damian. He ignored his own wounds to begin stabilising the younger boy. And then Barry joined them, moving too fast for human eyesight but Clark could see him even before the footage was slowed.

“How could he harm his own son?” Arthur asked in shock.

“It’s not the first time,” Diana murmured, and everyone looked at her. “Cassie has told me of Tim’s early days with Bruce, they were…not pleasant. While they were training injuries their severity worried his team. However, he would never allow any action, he said that it was alright. And Cassie did not tell me until years later. I assumed it had stopped, that Bruce had been so bad as part of his destructive behaviour after Jason’s death. I spoke with Tim and he swore that Bruce was better, begged me not to bring it up when things were finally good between them.”

It seemed he’d need to talk to Kon. “Do we have eyes on him?”

“No,” Barry admitted. “Unless Tim’s conscious and tracking him. I locked him in one of his cells and smashed the controls but it’s unlikely it held him for too long, especially if someone else returned to the Cave and found him.”

“We can’t let this go. He nearly killed his son, his partner. And may have abused another in the name of ‘training’. What about Nightwing and Hood? Were they treated the same way?” J'onn asked.

“We can ask Dick when he returns from his mission,” Clark decided. “Daina, can you approach Jason?”

She nodded grimly. She was the best option since she had always been Jason’s hero.

“Hey Damian,” Tim murmured, seeing his brother beginning to wake. The heart monitor spiked, his breathing speeding up. “Easy, it’s okay, you’re safe,” he promised. He carefully took a small hand, it was easy to forget how young he was sometimes. The kid was only eleven, even if he’d say twelve, he was still a few months short of that age.

Green eyes slowly opened, taking a moment to focus on him. “Dr…ake.” He coughed and Tim grabbed the cup of ice chips, helping him take some.

“Do you remember waking up before and talking to Kon?” he asked gently.

He frowned faintly but then nodded slightly. “Star Labs,” he murmured.

“Yeah, it was the safest option. You needed immediate surgery and you’re in for a long recovery.”

“Fath-“ Damian cut himself off, eyes widening, panic settling in.

“Damian!” Tim snapped his name, and wide green eyes looked his way. “It’s alright, you’re safe.” Though for how long? “Barry knows what happened, he’s taken it to the JL.” And hopefully they would act, but what could they do without risking all of the Bats id’s coming out?

Jason was shocked to find Diana Prince on his doorstep. Yes, he knew the JL knew his id now but none of them had really reached out.

“Can I come in?” she asked, and he stepped back to let her inside.

“What’s going on?” He asked warily.

He was shocked when she smiled softly at him. “I have missed you little warrior,” she told him. “Bruce said you didn’t want contact with any of us and we have respected that but now…”

Wait… “What?” he stared at her. “I never said that,” he denied, and she sighed.

She sat on the couch and he joined her. “Are you aware of events during Robin’s patrol five nights ago?”

Jason frowned, growing worried. “No, haven’t heard from the kid lately.” Or Tim for that matter. Had they gotten in another fight? They’d been doing better recently.

“He is alive and under medical care, Tim is with him. His wounds were not as extensive, a single stab wound and sprained wrist with a bruised bone. Damian…he has only regained conscious briefly since coming out of surgery.”

Jason froze in shock. For her to assure him that Damian was alive… “What happened to them?” he demanded.

“There’s footage, but you need to stay calm.”

And that warning didn’t help but he nodded. He felt the green rage surge as he watched Timmy crouched in front of Damian’s unconscious form, bō in his hands, defending his little brother, face locked in icy rage… he’d thought his confrontation with B was a one-off event, that he would never harm the others. But he winced as Tim staggered, the batarang obviously cutting into his side. Saw the blow to his wrist, the kid somehow keeping his grip on his bō despite the obvious pain. And then Superboy was there, yanking Bruce away, Tim turning to Damian, letting Jason get a good look at the kid. He felt sick at the sight.

“They’re safe?” he asked.

“For now, Tim believes that they should move once Damian is stable enough since while he moved the footage off of the Bats servers, he can’t be positive that Oracle doesn’t have a copy or that Bruce won’t realise a speedster helped.”

“O won’t back him, not if she sees this.” Jason was sure of that. Babs had always been willing to stand up to Bruce and she had a soft spot for Tim. “I haven’t seen him out on patrol but I doubt he’s still in that cell, not with Alfred at home. Then again, if he saw the blood on the floor he might hesitate, especially with Tim and Damian not answering.”

Diana nodded. “They’re at Star Labs, Central City, if you wish to make contact or visit.”

Jason was relieved to know they were so far from Gotham. His hand drifted to his throat and he took a deep breath. “He’s snapped before…or just gotten sloppy,” he admitted.

“Jason?”

He tipped his head back, letting her see the scar. “It was when I confronted him over the Joker. He threw it at my throat, he could have aimed for my hand, the gun. He always told us to never throw unless sure of your target. He threw it and then hauled the Joker out, left me there. I passed out, woke up in a safehouse. I have no clue who patched me up but from his reaction the next time I saw him, it wasn’t Bruce.”

Her gaze darkened. “Then that is three out of four Robins he has harmed.”

“What will happen?” he asked.

“The League has no choice but to move against Batman and we’ll need to do it in a way that doesn’t risk revealing your identities.”

Tim glanced warily at his tablet, bringing up the secure messaging app. A message from Jason…Diana had shown him the footage and he was with them. He closed his eyes, taking a shaky breath. He wasn’t tearing the family apart. Bruce had done that when he attacked Damian. It wasn’t Tim’s fault, it wasn’t.

He felt a familiar hand grip his shoulder and looked up into Cassie’s worried gaze. She was in uniform, ready to defend them if Batman showed up. Despite the issues they’d had, he would trust her to do so. Things were better, they’d cleared the air a few months after he’d returned to Gotham.

“You’re going to be okay Tim, all of you. We’ll make sure of it,” she promised softly.

“Jason’s seen the footage, messaged to make sure we’re okay.”

“He’s really changed since that night in the Tower,” she admitted. “He’ll keep Gotham from blowing up while you’re all gone.”

Tim nodded. Jason and his gang would do what was needed and the Sirens would help. Jason’s message said that he was sure Babs would side with them and Tim…he thought so but he’d been wrong about people before. But Commissioner Gordon would never stand by such behaviour from Batman or Bruce Wayne and she was a lot like her father. None of them liked child abuse cases and what Bruce had done to Damian…it surely counted.

“Come on Tim, no getting lost in there.” She flicked his forehead, and Tim slapped at her hand before glancing at the bed where Damian was sleeping more naturally now.

He’d regained some colour too which was good. All of the readings were better; Damian was out of danger and healing. The kid was going to hate physio once he was cleared for it. And he was wondering if it’d be safer to get Damian out of the US for said physio. It would be harder for Bruce to track him but surely, he would have been dealt with by then.

“So, what are you planning?” she asked.

“Wondering if he’d be safer out of the country.”

“Maybe, but you’d have less immediate backup.”

Tim nodded, glancing down at his tablet again, checking the tracking programs. So far, no sign of Bruce but for how long?

And then Bart zipped into the room, arms full of snacks, and he couldn’t help smiling at his friend.

Barbara stared at the footage in shock and horror. She couldn’t be seeing…and yet she was. Kon and Barry were there, the boys would be fine, they had to be. And…yeah, those were Tim’s fingerprints all over the system. She dove in, securing his work even further. Tim was very, very good, better than her in some areas. So the two of them securing the Bat systems would keep Bruce out.

And then she logged into the JL systems to ensure Bruce wouldn’t be able to track them via the League’s resources.

Dick laughed and leant against Wally as they arrived on the Watchtower. Everything had gone well but he missed his family. And then he froze as he saw the looks on Clark and Arthur’s faces. No, please not again.

“No one’s dead,” Clark said before he could panic, and Dick relaxed a little.

“What’s happened?”

“It’s best you watch the footage yourself, just…it’s bad Dick,” Clark warned, leading them to one of the small meeting rooms.

Dick watched the patrol footage, feeling horrible about not being there to help Damian cope. But then Tim’s footage loaded and Dick froze, watching in horror. “Dami?” he whispered.

“Alive, Barry got him to Star Labs for medical treatment and Kon followed with Tim. Damian’s regained conscious a few times and remembers most of what happened. He has a long recovery ahead of him but they’re saying he should recover fully with therapy. Tim had a sprained wrist with a nasty bone bruise and a stab wound that missed any organs so it only needed stitches, along with a myriad of milder bruises and cuts. He’s on antibiotics to be safe given his lack of a spleen. He also has to be dragged from Damian’s bedside to sleep.”

“And Bruce?” Dick growled, now that he knew his brothers were safe, he could focus on the threat.

Clark and Arthur exchanged a look.

“We aren’t certain. He has apparently vanished from Gotham,” Arthur answered.

“He has countermeasures for my senses,” Clark reminded him. “So far, he’s off grid. Security around the boys is tight. Kon-El, Bart, and Cassie are with them all of the time and Barry is there as much as possible. Diana too has been spending time there. Tim has suggested moving Damian out of the country once he can be moved to make him harder to find. We’ve removed Bruce from the system here and Oracle is combing through security to remove any backdoor access that he has. Once we’re fully secure, we’ll move them up here at least temporarily.”

Bruce had the ability and resources to vanish. Did he know he was on the run from the JL or just hunting Damian and Tim down? What the hell was going on in his head? Dick had never dreamed that B would raise a hand to either of them. He shouldn’t have left but things had been going so well in the family. Was Bruce being influenced by something? He really hoped so. He’d had his own fights with the man but they had never become deadly!

“Dick…did Bruce ever hurt you?” Clark asked gently.

“What?” he asked in shock.

“We have evidence now of violence against three of his Robins, his sons.”

“Three?” Jason?

“Diana went to him to inform him of what had happened, showed him the footage. Have you seen the scar on his throat?”

“Yeah, he’s never said how he got it…” Please no…

“When he confronted Bruce with the Joker…he threw a batarang at Jason’s throat rather than the hand holding the gun. He then took the Joker and Jason passed out, he’s sure it wasn’t Bruce who patched him up.”

Dick was going to be sick, and Wally was there with a bucket. “I…I knew he was rougher with Tim’s training, more abrupt with how he talked to him…but I never saw anything to suggest this kind of violence.”

“Apparently his team knew, Cassie spoke with Diana who talked to Tim but by then Bruce was doing better and he didn’t want anything to be done.”

He should have stuck around more in Tim’s early days. Why did he never learn? He’d failed all of his little brothers.

“What about Cass and Steph?”

“Still on mission somewhere. We didn’t want to risk distracting them.”

Dick nodded in understanding. “Steph’s only ever worked closely with Bruce when she was Robin and that only lasted two months. I think she would have told Tim at least if something happened. And Cass wouldn’t take it, not these days. If she thought her little brothers were at risk Bruce would have been disabled by now.”

Cass was as anti-killing as Bruce but there were ways to permanently end a threat without killing. Steph was outspoken and tough, if Bruce had hurt her, she wouldn’t have kept it quiet. But Tim? He would have taken it and kept going, pushing himself to be better.

Tim looked up, grip on the throwing disc in his hoodie pocket tightening before he let go. “Dick,” he whispered.

And then he was scooped up into Dick’s crushing embrace, wrapping his arms around him to keep his balance. “Timmy…” Dick choked and Tim could feel him shaking, crying.

He’d expected Dick to go straight to Damian, he was worse off and they were closer, but Dick was hugging him! Sure, things were better than they had been when Bruce was lost but they’d never gone back to how they’d once been.

“I’m okay,” he whispered, closing his eyes and letting Dick take his weight fully.

Dick set him down, carefully touching the tender skin around Tim’s eye. He didn’t even remember taking a hit there but the blackeye that had developed said he had been. “I’m so sorry baby bird,” he whispered.

“It’s not your fault Dick, no one could have seen this coming. I just…I don’t know why this caused him to snap. It was an accident; it could have happened to any of us. Damian tried to save him, if I hadn’t grabbed him…he would have gone over too. Hell, how many people has Batman dangled over ledges to interrogate? Every one of those could have ended just as badly.”

Dick nodded. “Clark said that Bruce has vanished. Have you heard from Alfred?”

“Nothing, but we’re off grid to keep from being tracked. I haven’t touched anything since I scrubbed the Batcomputer after getting everything needed off it.”

“Bab’s backed up your work to be safe,” Dick assured him which was good. “I’m going to head for Gotham in a while, check in with her and Jason and maybe go out as Batman to keep the locals quiet. We’ll work this out.”

Tim nodded and then Damian was stirring and he slipped away to let Dick see their little brother.

“Richard,” he whispered as he realised who was leaning over him.

“Hey baby bat,” his brother whispered, and Damian realised he was holding his hand. “I’m sorry Dami, so sorry. I wasn’t here when you needed me most.”

“Not…your fault. Mission.” He was always so tired. The doctors said it was normal, because he had a lot of healing to do.

“You won’t go back to him. With Tim’s testimony…I’ve applied for emergency custody. If Jason was legally alive, we’d have even more evidence.”

What? Had Father…hurt Timothy and Todd as well? He knew Timothy was injured, had seen the brace. But it sounded like Richard meant before?

“Bruce gave Jason the scar on his throat and…he went too far when training Tim. Tim’s agreed to give court appropriate evidence on his treatment and give a sanitised version of what happened to you. He won’t hurt any of you again. The Justice League is after him and we will find him.”

“Id’s?”

“We’re being careful,” he promised. “Timmy’s paranoid to have about fifty plans to take any of us down without exposing the rest.”

Yes, that made sense. He had defeated Grandfather after all, had earnt the title ‘Detective’. His whole view of him had been forced to shift ever since he had returned to Gotham explosively with Grandfather out for his blood. He had tried to resist it but…Timothy was not what Mother had taught him.

And now he had risked his life twice for Damian – first by grabbing him on that roof and then when Fat…Batman attacked him.

“I’m taking up the cowl again to help keep the peace in Gotham. So don’t worry if you hear about Batman sightings.”

Damian nodded tiredly.

Dick stepped out of the Zeta into the Cave, fully suited up and armed, ready for anything despite reports that the Cave was empty. The Batcomputer flickered to life, revealing Oracle’s symbol. “Hey Babs,” he called.

“Dick,” her voice was flat thanks to the voice modulated. But then the image faded to reveal a live video of her in the Clocktower.

“Anything?” he asked as he prowled through the Cave, it appeared to be truly empty.

“Negative, Batman hasn’t been seen since the attack and I can’t track him anywhere. I’ve shut down all external access to systems so he can’t use the Batcomputer from anywhere but the Cave.”

“Good,” he murmured. “We’re going to have to check the whole Cave for bugs, the Bunker too.” Because Bruce would expect them to use the Bunker if unsure of the Cave. But there was a third option, one none of them had been into, except Cass and maybe Steph. But he wouldn’t say anything in case the Cave was bugged. “I’m heading up to see if Alfered’s still here.”

“Alright, be careful. And stop by to say hi.”

“Will do.”

Jason groaned but went to the door, gun in hand. With Bruce off the rails…well, he’d underestimated what he’d do once, never again. But it wasn’t him, it was Dick. He opened the door to let him in and then was pulled into a hug.

“Have you seen them?” he asked, making sure the door was locked.

“Yeah. Damian…it’s bad but he’ll recover. Tim’ll be cleared for patrol in a week or two as long as he doesn’t get an infection, they’ve got him on antibiotics to be safe. Apparently, they don’t consider caves to be all that sanitary.”

“With Tim’s luck?” Jason asked with a smirk but inside he was collapsing in relief. They’d be alright, eventually.

He heard Dick take a shaky breath. “We could have lost them both,” he whispered.

Jason winced, absently rubbing at his throat. Dick stared at his hand…and the scar.

“Clark said…why didn’t you say anything Jason?”

He shrugged slightly. “Didn’t seem worth it,” he muttered.

“Or you weren’t sure we’d believe you?” Dick pressed, and Jason shrugged again.

“Poetic justice, right?” He’d given Tim the same scar after all, though he hadn’t cut the kid as deep as the Batarang had gotten him.

“NO!” Dick snarled. “Never Jay. You didn’t deserve what he did, just like Damian and Tim didn’t deserve his senseless attack either.”.

“Alright.” What else could he say?

“I don’t know what’s going on his head, if he snapped or something but what he did was beyond wrong on every level. If I’d been around more for Tim’s training, maybe I would have spotted something sooner…”

“Not your fault,” Jason told him. “And Bruce is very good at making his actions seem reasonable.”

Dick nodded slowly. “I’ll be wearing the Cowl tonight, got to make sure people know the Bat’s still around.”

“Alright.” He wasn’t sure it was a good idea given Dick’s likely mental state but he wouldn’t stop him. It had been too long without a Bat sighting and the locals were getting restless. He’d just make sure to stick close enough to back him up if needed.

“The kids would love a visit if you wanted to go see them. Tim mentioned taking Damian out of the country to finish healing. They’ll be going up to the Watchtower once Damian can be moved. Babs and Cyborg have scrubbed the systems thoroughly to ensure Bruce can’t get access. They’re worried that Bruce will be able to sneak into the labs with countermeasures for those guarding them. Tim’s friends are being very protective.”

Yeah, that was a concern if Bruce was looking to finish the job or just make their injuries worse. Surely, with some time to think Bruce would realise he’d nearly broken his own rule and back down. Right?

Dick hated donning the cowl but they had learnt when Bruce was lost in time just how badly things went when Batman wasn’t seen. And he knew Jason was shadowing him which was nice but unneeded. And then the Bat signal lit up and Dick headed for the roof. The Commissioner could always tell when it was him under the cowl but at least he never asked why. The easy assumption was that Bruce was injured or away on JL business. 

He landed and nodded at Gordon.

“No Robin?”

“Injury leave,” he answered tightly. “Red Robin’s out too,” he said in case it was a case where Tim’s skills were needed.

Gordon frowned and then motioned to a section where no one could see them but they would see anyone getting close. “What’s going on?” he asked, voice tight.

“An accident.”

“Don’t give me that Dick,” he hissed softly. They all knew that he knew, but Gordon had never done anything to confirm it…until now. “Bullock and Montaya saw Robin nearly kill himself trying to save that rapist, saw Red barely catch him and nearly go over too. And then no sign of them or the Bat, till tonight with you in the cowl. No signs of any Wayne’s during the day either.”

Dick took a steadying breath, torn. He had to make a choice and he knew it, but throwing the man who had raised him under the bus…but Bruce didn’t deserve his loyalty anymore.

“He…he lost it, when he saw the footage of what happened,” he whispered. “Red barely got to Robin in time, fought Batman till Superboy arrived and then the older Flash. Robin needed multiple surgeries but is recovering. Red’s injuries weren’t as bad but will still have him out of the field for a while. And he’s sticking close to Robin as security.”

“Robin nearly killed himself to save that man!” Gordon hissed in disbelief and Dick nodded.

“We can’t work it out; he watched the footage from both of their cameras. He could have lost two sons that night. If it was a momentary break then Red moving to defend Robin should have snapped him out of it but he went after Red…who I never want to piss off that badly. He was matching Batman blow for blow. The Flash locked him in a cell but he’s gone. Superman tried to track him and nothing. We’re moving the boys to the Watchtower once Robin can be moved, to be safe. And I’ve applied for emergency custody with Red backing my claim. Turns out…this isn’t the first time he’s gone too far.”

“Will you be taking the cowl permanently?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “From last time, I’m well aware it’s not good for me. Maybe if we take it slow, we can shift Gotham from needing Batman to the rest of us being able to handle it. The JL is keeping their hunt for him quiet so I’ll have to stand in there when needed.”

“I can send word to the trusted cops to keep an eye out for Brucie due to a welfare issue. Eventually, you going for custody will come out and they won’t question it.”

Dick nodded, already exhausted.

Tim looked up from his computer as Cassie tensed but then she relaxed so he went back to his work. There was a knock and then the door opened. “Jason?”

“Hey kiddo.” Jason looked him over and Tim stood, moving towards him, Jason hugging him tightly. “You’re okay?”

“No signs of infection, I can probably ditch the brace in a few days and the stitches are due out next week,” he reported, not pulling away.

“I’d have come if you called Tim, I have no issue telling Bruce when he’s going too far.”

“Neither do I,” Tim murmured. “It just…it all happened so fast. I was going to call you when we got upstairs since I figured Damian might need the extra support after what happened. I’ve never lost someone like that.”

Sure, he was probably responsible for deaths when he blew Ra’s systems, but he hadn’t seen them. And the Ninja who died on his team taking on the assassin had known what they were there for, he didn’t feel bad for them, they had been professional killers. And the guy Damian lost was a rapist but still, not a trained and paid killer or mass murderer or anything. It said a lot about how far Damian had come in the last year that his death had affected the kid the way it had.

“If I’d suspected Bruce would lose it, I wouldn’t have taken Damian back to the Cave, we would have gone right to my Next or one of your places that Bruce doesn’t know about. He seemed to have mellowed over you using guns so I didn’t…”

“No one could have seen this coming Timbit. We’ll find him and the JL will run him through all the tests. Maybe he was exposed to something or mind controlled.”

Tim wanted to believe it but he couldn’t. He’d thought Bruce had become better since his early days as Robin but he hadn’t. “I wish…I wish I hadn’t found him,” he whispered. “he wasn’t worth losing my spleen over.”

“But you wouldn’t be you if you hadn’t tried to get him back.”

“I thought he was better but I knew he wasn’t, if he was he wouldn’t have…”

“Wouldn’t have what Tim?” Jason asked.

Tim swallowed but then reached up to the scar on Jason’s throat.

Jason froze. “You knew?”

“I…I was there,” he admitted. “He was keeping me out of everything and acting more erratically than he had in over a year. I wasn’t meant to be in the field so no one knew. I knew the Joker was out of Arkham, figured you were involved and knew Bruce wouldn’t be able to kill him or let it happen, not after…”

“After what?” he asked.

Tim had been there?! He hadn’t seen him but was that surprising when without Bat training the kid used to follow them? Did that mean…it was Tim who saved his life? The thought of Tim dragging him out of the rubble given their size difference, his hands slick with blood as he tried to slow the bleeding…

Tim grimaced, looking away, but then he took a slow breath. “The Joker grabbed me once, taunted Dick that he’d killed another bird…and Dick beat him to death with his bare hands. I’d been locked in with some goons but I got away, found Dick beating him, he thought I was a hallucination at first. And then Bruce showed up…and he resuscitated the bastard while Dick was tending my injuries. And then he screamed at Dick back in the Cave till Alfred got between them.”

Jason swallowed. “How long did he have you? How bad was it?” he asked. The Joker had had Tim…any amount of time was too long.

“About a day?” Tim shrugged slightly. “A lot of bruises, black eye, mild concussion but…I think he had something big planned, to outdo your death… and Dick found us too quickly. I don’t want to know what he might have been planning.”

Jason nodded. His death at least had been relatively quick, the Joker with time to play? Not something he would want anyone to suffer.

“I’m glad Dick found you and…I owe you my life. With what I’d done to you only a few months earlier, no one would have blamed you for walking away. You’re a better person than me.”

“Says the guy who stormed into that mess in California last month to drag me out alive.”

“Dick’s doing good as Batman,” he said to change the subject, seeing Tim’s little smirk.

“He can’t do it forever though, it wears him down too much,” Tim answered, and Jason nodded.

“We’ll work it out.”

Damian stared at the white walls, bored. At least they were a different shade of white to the labs? It was his first time in the Watchtower’s medical bay and at least the food was tolerable. He was healing but it was slow. At least he wasn’t sleeping all the time now but it left him bored.

“Here,” Timothy handed him a tablet. “Might as well get started on your schoolwork.”

He grimaced but took it, he was right. But then they both looked up as Richard appeared.

“Hey,” he greeted tiredly.

Timothy stood to let him take his seat. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah…I just got the paperwork from the court. Damian, you’re now in my custody.”

“Did he show up?”

Richard shook his head. “No lawyer or acknowledgment he even got the notification. That was a mark against him and Tim’s recorded testimony helped. We also had the medical reports.”

“Good thing Bruce never tried to take his job back from me. I’ve been talking with Lucius; Bruce is banned from all WE buildings and we’ve blocked his credentials fully.”

Damian listened, not sure how he felt about it all. He had thought he was safe with Father, that he was different to Grandfather and even Mother but now… And where was Pennyworth? Whenever Damian was injured or sick the man was there to look after him.

“Alfred?” he asked.

“Your pets are safe Dami, I made sure of it. I go back to the Manor and so does Jason to look after them. Batman’s working out of one of Jason’s places for now.”

“I’ll set you up with codes for my Nest. It’s bigger, more secure, and has all the equipment you could need,” Timothy told him.

“Richard, where is Pennyworth?” he asked again.

“Oh,” his brother murmured. “No one’s seen him and he’s not at the Manor. I assume he’s with Bruce but I can’t be sure.”

Alfred had been there since he arrived, supporting and chiding as needed. Did…did he agree with what Father did? But he had been a soldier, surely, he had to understand? Damian had tried to save him, he had!

Tim wanted to believe that Alfred wouldn’t support Bruce but then he would remember his sixteenth birthday and he knew…Bruce was Alfred’s son in every way but blood even if he still called him Master Bruce. He would never truly side against him.

With everything scrubbed of Bruce’s codes and ability to access, Tim was back online, working with Lucuis to deal with everything and running his owns search programs to find the man. It was easier now that the brace was off, though he still had to rest it a lot and take pain killers. It could take months to fully heal which sucked but he had a lot to keep him busy. Technically, he was field cleared but his wrist was a weakness and everyone knew it.  

Staying with Damian was going better than expected, the kid really had mellowed over the last year. And some of it was likely still shock over what had happened. Go trauma bonding! But someone had to stay with the kid and at the moment he made the most sense.

Dick explored Tim’s Nest in awe. Everything was so shiny and new even after a year. It was obvious he kept it very clean and Dick knew why. Tim had become much neater since returning without a spleen. There were vehicles on the lower level, training areas, a small kitchenette, medical bay, changing area with showers, labs…what didn’t it have? It even had a popcorn machine!

And it was obvious Tim didn’t keep the base to himself, not with spare gear for Black Bat, Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Impulse in the same area as Tim’s uniform. It was sad that they seemed the only ones who had been there and that Tim was only opening it to him and Jason because of the situation.

Clark watched as Damian took his first shaky step, relieved the kid was healing well. There’d been no setbacks, unlike the mild infection that Tim had ended up with just before they were going to pull his stitches. Thankfully, it had been dealt with easily enough and Tim was fully healed now. And yet he remained on the Watchtower with Damian…such an amazing change. The two had finally bonded and all it took was being attacked by their Dad.

He didn’t understand what Bruce had been thinking. Had he been thinking? They might never know, it had been two months and no one had found him yet. The longer it took, the more on edge the kids got and he didn’t blame them. Giving Bruce time to plan was not good when he was your enemy.

Dick was doing well as Batman but Gotham had noticed the missing birds. Thankfully, Black Bat and Batgirl were back and picking up the slack. Cassandra was always quiet but when she’d seen her brothers, had learnt what had happened, it was a very eerie quiet. And Clark wondered…what would she do to him? She’d killed once as a child and run from it so he didn’t think she’d do that but…there was a lot that was survivable, so to speak.

Barbara wheeled herself to the desk as quickly as she could, the alarm blaring. She brought up the program and stared. They’d found him.

Tim stared at the man in the bed staring blankly at the ceiling. He looked…smaller than Tim had ever seen him, even when he used to drag him to bed after a night of heavy drinking. It was him though, Bruce Wayne. He could feel Jason’s grip on his shoulder, offering and needing support. Damian was leaning into them, balancing on his single crutch. And then he heard Dick’s familiar steps approaching.

“It’s not good,” Dick murmured.

“Is he a threat?” Jason demanded.

“No,” Dick answered, grief and anger in his voice. “It’s brain trauma and some kind of degenerative condition. He has lucid moments but they’re becoming shorter and rarer. Looks like this has been happening for years, maybe as far back as when Jason died. They only picked up on it when he was admitted because they did more in-depth scans than he ever allowed before. He was completely out of control when he attacked you two, that doesn’t excuse what happened though. He should have sought testing years ago.”

Tim closed his eyes, breathing slowly. Bruce was… had…had he ever known the normal Bruce? How much of the worst times during his training had been because of this rather than alcohol and grief? “Alfred?” he asked softly.

“Is the one who admitted him, under a false name as his son. He comes to visit every afternoon.”

Tim swallowed. He could visit Bruce every day but couldn’t even call any of them. He pulled Damian a little closer, the kid had names his kitten after him! He had forgiven Alfred long ago for his birthday mess but this was unforgivable.

“I’m going back to the hotel,” he stated. “Want to come?” he asked Damian, who nodded.

“Tim?”

“All this time and he couldn’t even email? Let us know he was alive? That Bruce wasn’t a threat? No, I’m done with them both.” He walked away, Damian at his side. Jason and Dick had always had the better relationship with the two older men anyway, for all that Dick and Bruce could scream at each other.

“Do you want to contact Talia?” he asked as they got in the car, glad they bad brought two in case of emergency.

Damian shook his head. “I am unsure what she would do. If she attempted to use a Lazarus Pit on him…what if it just made him worse?”

Tim nodded in understanding. He could see Talia doing it and then Bruce would be an even bigger threat. They would ensure surveillance on the man until he died. As far as the public would know…it wouldn’t be difficult to imply a complete mental break given he’d supposedly taken a mental health holiday when missing in time. He’d talk it over with Lucius, good thing Tim was already CEO.

“Want to grab some fish and chips?” he asked as they drove along the coast.

“I do not need coddling,” Damian snapped.

“Nope, but it is the traditional British comfort food and Alfred would never agree to greasy chips and fish wrapped in newspaper.”

Damian blinked at him before nodding. “Very well.”

“It’s okay to be mad Damian, we all are. Bruce has likely been sick the whole time you’ve known him, maybe even since I signed up. That is hard to accept.”

“But you knew him before, from galas and stalking them.”

“Not really, I saw Brucie Wayne at those things and I followed Batman. Bruce…the Bruce Jason talks about sometimes is not someone I ever truly knew. There were glimpses sometimes, like when my Mom and then Dad were killed. But most of the time, he’s always been angry to some degree.”

“Pennyworth should have told us.”

“Agreed. His first instinct has always been to protect Bruce. In this case, getting him away and out of public eye was the best way to do that. At least he finally realised Bruce had crossed the line and needed help. He could have left him free to come after us again. He would have destroyed Batman’s legacy and with him being a founding member of the JL…that could have had very drastic effects for not just us but the whole League.”

He was angry at both of them, so he got what Dami was feeling. Except it had to be worse in some ways. Tim had walked in with eyes wide open but Damian…he’d come from such a horrible life, thinking that with his father, he’d finally be safe. But in the end, Bruce has destroyed that safety.

“We’ll be okay Dami. You’ve still got family, blood or not.”

“Given that the Drakes are old Gotham money, there might be blood links,” Damian murmured, surprising him.

Tim knew that he was right, he’d never traced his family tree back more than two generations but the odds were good that they’d intermarried at some point, or someone had an affair. The resemblance between him and Bruce was rather clear after all. “We can get tested if you want.”

“You do not want to know?”

“Only if you do. You’re my brother no matter what a test says. We might be fifth cousins or something but that doesn’t change anything.”

“I will consider it, but you are right, we are brothers.” A statement Damian once would have rather died than make.

Tim spotted a likely looking shop and parked, getting out to buy their treat.

Dick leant on the back of Tim’s chair, reading the report. The Nest was their new base of operations. None of them could bare to go back to the Manor or Batcave. Tim had renovated the building, again, linking several apartments together so that they were living together but also had privacy. Dick felt better having all of his siblings close, even if Jason often stayed in one of his safe houses.

There had been public shock and outcry when they had announced Bruce was in a facility but since Tim was already CEO, it hadn’t affected the company too much. They kept more out of the public eye now, without Brucie as a distraction they had to be careful and he refused to make Tim their new distraction.

“You think it’s Joker?” he asked, and Tim nodded.

“He’s been quiet too long and now Batman’s ‘retired’… he’s testing that and us.”

“Wonderful,” he grumbled. “Suit up!” he called and they all moved to get their gear.

Jim waited as the Birds arrived, eyes roaming them. They were just the Birds now, no Bat. He was one of the few who knew the truth about Batman and Bruce Wayne and he felt sick that it had gone on for so long. Nightwing slipped out of the shadow, no longer quite so quippy, Flamebird at his side. Red Hood then appeared with Cardinal and Orphan, Spoiler rushing after them. They had changed their names to distance themselves from Batman. Robin was now Flamebird, Red Robin was Cardinal, and even the girls had taken new or old names. But it was good that Nightwing and Red Hood kept theirs, it gave people a sense of continuity when they hadn’t been sure if Cardinal was RR, at least till he was seen with his bō knocking some goons around.

It had taken time and had not been easy, but Gotham knew she had defenders still, even without Batman.

The End