Work Text:
Tim was feeling…not quite right. He wasn’t getting sick or anything. But he was getting a sense that something was happening.
His days proceeded like they normally did. Wake up at 6am, shower, get ready to go to the office. Make and chug a double espresso from the coffee machine in his kitchen. Get to the office by 7:30 am because Wayne Industries corporate said that the best way for the employees to feel connected to the C-Suite was to be present as much as they can be.
(To Tim and Bruce’s absolute joy, but since Bruce wasn’t CEO anymore, it was just Tim suffering. At least he had his office)
Then he would work for an hour before Tam would show up, then get a debrief of his day. It could be anything like board meetings, going to R&D, working with marketing, approving important hires, going through financials and projects, and way more.
He often would meet with Lucius around this time if there were developments in Bat-tech that he needed to be aware of.
Tim spoke at conferences, attended business meetings with important clients, and pushed charity initiatives while fighting the other shareholders. As CEO, he tried to get involved and help as much as he could for all his employees.
Most loved him, supposedly. Tam said that on employee engagement surveys, the increase in compensation, benefits, and just seeing how hard the CEO was working to improve employee engagement and satisfaction–apparently job applications within Gotham were at an all-time high. Even across the country, there were more out-of-towners willing to apply to Wayne Industries because the benefits were so good.
Yet, despite that, Tim felt bad that he could not hire everyone. He did make an effort to increase funding for social programs for job training and education programs all across the city, even if it didn’t lead to a position at Wayne Industries.
Tim barely even took a salary, with the dividends from the stock he personally owned and the investments that he got from his parents’ inheritance meant that TIm was never lacking. Not to mention that Bruce would take care of all Red Robin expenses, so really, Tim wasn’t spending much at all.
Bruce would also pay for his suits and other fancy clothing as a “Alfred doesn’t trust you to shop for yourself and you're representing my legacy, I can’t let your disaster shopping habits affect the company.”
Wayne Industries also had free employee meals, and as Tim would eat at least 2-3 meals in the office on the days he was there, Tim was barely spending any money at all. His accountant genuinely questioned if his monthly expenses were accurate, and Bruce did too when the accountant forwarded his concerns to him.
Tim also rarely kept actual food at home. All of his meals were takeout or catered at Wayne Industries. He had protein bars or granola bars on a regular delivery and he had some condiments, but Tim barely had time to shower or sleep at home. Let alone get time to cook a meal.
Jason once came to his apartment and was genuinely concerned at the state of Tim’s kitchen. He tried to help but realized that it was not worth it because a lot of the things he brought went back and were still in Tim's fridge the next month he came by.
They mutually agreed to never let Alfred see the state of Tim’s kitchen. He may actually have a heart attack or kill Tim.
But that was before Jason became distracted with maintaining Crime Alley and getting pulled into the Bats’ sphere. Tim rarely sees Jason outside of costume. It's even more rare for Tim to spend time with him these days.
Tim spent all day at work. More often than not, he would be there until right before patrol.
These days he would spend the day until 6–8 p.m. in the office and then go back to his nest to get ready for patrol. Then he scarfed down a snack and headed out for patrol.
Patrols could go anywhere from 9 p.m.–1 a.m. or longer during crises. More often than not Tim would get back to his place by 1:30–2:00 a.m. and then crash after stripping out of the suit and doing a brief cleanup of any injuries.
He would wake up at 6 a.m. and the day would start all over again.
Tim had vacation time. But more often than not, he was putting out work crises that would not allow him to just be away.
If he had to take time off, then it was because he was injured. He could only say that he was feeling ill so many times before someone got suspicious.
Tim may work a lot but he genuinely enjoys what he does. Even if the paperwork sucked.
Tam venomously disagreed with Tim on the amount of time he spent in the office.
When she would ask him what he did for fun, answering “case files” was not deemed acceptable. She also demanded that he take a break after that time she found him unconscious in his office at 4:00 p.m. a few weeks back.
But then there was a PR incident that required Tim’s expertise and the matter was dropped.
Tam started trying to schedule time off for Tim. But even if it did happen, there would be a Bat crisis and Tim would get sucked into it.
Sometimes Tim didn’t mind it, as he would get to see some of his friends during some of these events.
His friends would get on him to hang out more, but everyone was busy. So they made do with what they could during these times.
Occasionally Tam would be able to book enough time for Tim to catch a meal with his friends. Or, if she could swing it, maybe even an evening out with them.
But it was rare.
Tim also didn’t see his family out of costume much. He was still on tense terms with everyone, but it was fine!
If there was one thing that Tim did well, it is just compartmentalizing.
So what if all of his texts get ignored or if they only reach out if they need help.
So what if he rarely went up to the manor on the times he went to the cave.
So what if he saw social media posts of family dinners, movie nights, or game nights.
The one time that actually got to him was when he was asked to cover patrol for a few nights, expanding his route by 2x so that they could deal with something.
Tim was happy to help, until he saw the social media posts of the impromptu family vacation.
He saw Dick, Damian, Duke, and Bruce, and it was evident that it was Jason taking all the public photos.
Cass would never do that to him. She would never force him to cover her patrol routes to go on a vacation without telling him.
Because Tim was nearly hospitalized. He was injured while covering patrol and there was no backup to help him.
He had bruised ribs, a broken finger, and was exhausted. The only reason why he even survived is because the group had a pressing emergency and one of the ninja that Ra’s had trailing him was able to step in and help him before it could get really dangerous.
He collapsed in his office, but luckily no one was around to see it. He checked and deleted the footage. He was only out for a few minutes.
He was able to heal on his own, take his required medications, and keep going. Even if the whole incident reminded him a bit of his childhood.
Tim was fine, he was thriving and he wouldn’t take any criticism.
He had support, funds and the independence he desperately craved.
Danny was… deeply concerned for the man that he was unintentionally overshadowing.
A few weeks back, he was forcefully summoned from Amity by a group of cultists. He was deeply unimpressed with the quality and the goal of the summons.
It would have been perfectly fine. He could have just scared the living crap out of them and removed all methods of how they managed to summon him.
However, they fucked up so bad that, as he was trying to deal with the books and materials that they gathered, a rather bold cultist decided to do something. He’s still trying to puzzle it out.
One of the Gotham heroes, Red Robin (Danny’s personal favourite of the bunch), burst in. When Danny went invisible to prevent being seen, the bold cultist said something—something binding—that forced Danny into the body of the hero.
In all the chaos of trying to arrest all of the cultists and figuring out what was happening, that specific cultist got away and managed to take away the book that they used.
Danny was trapped to the hero, regardless of whatever he could try to get away.
Danny was in an invisible and intangible form that the cultist somehow succeeded in binding in a way that prevented Danny from getting away from the chosen person.
Danny thinks the goal was to bind him to that specific cultist, so he’s kind of glad that it didn’t work.
However, despite that small win, things were not great for Danny.
Oh, he tried everything he could think of to get away from the hero in the first day.
He tried not to discover his identity, but it was pretty hard when the man was almost in agony all of the time. The hero was in various states of injury, getting new ones and healing from old ones.
He was completely exhausted, had some form of malnutrition, and was in a constant state of dehydration.
The moment that the man collapsed to sleep at the end of his long patrol, Danny managed to take the body to the restroom and fully examine it.
(Was it invasive? Maybe. But Danny was just trying to see if there were any visible signs on the hero that could give him a clue to solve his problem and stop overshadowing this poor man.)
The man had taken his mask off, and Danny had tried to avoid looking at his face, to give him some sense of privacy.
However, when Danny traced a really weird scar on the body, he had a startling realization that this man was missing something.
He ran back to the meds that the man had dry-swallowed before going to sleep and looked them up on the man’s phone.
(Face ID is really such a helpful tool.)
He purposely bypassed any information and went straight to the internet.
“... Boost immunity after spleen removal...? Oh shit, I think I know who this is.”
Danny rushed back to the bathroom and looked directly at the face in the mirror.
“Oh, I’m possessing the body of Tim Drake-Wayne.”
Danny knew Wayne Industries. Everyone did.
It was so hard to not know the infamy of Gotham and Batman. Wayne Industries directly supported Batman—everyone knew that.
The young CEO of Wayne Industries went viral when it was announced. When there was an assassination attempt on the poor CEO, it went super viral, with everyone having sympathies for the poor boy.
Seeing the person that Danny was overshadowing was alarming because he was trying to stay under the Justice League’s radar.
But... it could provide him with assistance if he could get in touch with a magical user, and they might be able to assist him.
Danny was also feeling super weak. All of his energy and ectoplasm had been used trying to subdue the cultists and trying—and failing—to separate himself from Timothy Drake-Wayne.
He needed time to recover the energy needed, as whatever was in Gotham was almost toxic, and he had to spend effort on purifying it before absorbing it.
So... Danny was stuck.
Before he could even think of reaching out covertly to gain assistance, he needed to recover and stay with Red Robin/Tim Drake-Wayne.
And what a life he led.
Previously, Danny thought his life sucked.
This man... was one of the saddest men he had ever come across.
He literally only worked all day, in long days, patrolled, and barely slept.
If he wasn’t sleeping, he was working on cases and burning himself out in ways that even Danny didn’t know was possible.
The first morning after Danny resigned himself to playing passenger for a while, he thought that Tim knew what was going on and was purposely trying to torture Danny.
The 12+ hour workdays at Wayne Industries were awful.
Tim was being condescended towards, demeaned, and shoved with more work than any sane person could handle.
This was while he was also patrolling at night but was left almost completely on his own, only having his fellow heroes coming to him when they needed his help.
When he would burn himself out even harder, forgoing sleep and food to help them.
Then they would take his efforts and never thank him.
They would say things like, “Good thing you brought yourself down from your platform to help me,” or other things about needing to prioritize himself but never actually doing anything to help him be able to do that.
Tim Drake-Wayne loved these people. He could feel it.
But Tim never felt loved back.
It was heartbreaking to feel the sense of emotions that he had. All Tim wanted was for someone to put him first, to care for him.
Danny felt his pain when Tim would scroll through his texts, mostly ignored, and when he saw the social media posts.
Danny was with him during that time frame when they lied to Tim about an issue and asked him to take over their patrols.
Danny tried so hard to help Tim on these patrols, but he was still really limited by the stupid cultist and could only observe Tim almost die.
When the ninja popped up out of nowhere (what is up with Tim’s life, man? Ninja? They’re real?!) and saved Tim, he was grateful.
He was exceedingly less grateful when Tim took that phone call with that Fruitloop. (What is it with creepy old men?)
Danny was less than pleased to see the attempts at manipulation. Tim rejected it, but what was startling was that he could sense a bit of Tim’s longing.
Tim’s stubborn enough to not agree, but Danny could almost feel him wavering—just so Tim could have someone in his corner. Someone that actually cares about him.
Danny was saddened to see that Tim didn’t have that.
Oh, Tim’s family might have claimed they did, but it was hard for even Tim, who could rationalize anything it seemed like, to do in this case.
Tim’s family might claim they love him. But did they show it to him? Absolutely not.
Even Danny’s parents, as ghost-hating as they were, still showed that they loved him. Danny never questioned if they loved him, even as fucked up as they were.
Danny realized, as Tim seemed to think about his childhood, that he had never really experienced familial love.
Wait, no, not true.
There was that sister that Tim thought about fondly, and she seemed to be the only one that ever made an effort—texting and calling Tim.
But she was in Hong Kong, and Tim was really good at minimizing his problems. It was a masterclass that Danny hoped he would never need to take.
Tim also never seemed to eat.
Danny peered into his kitchen when Tim was sleeping once and was horrified.
Tim literally had like no food except protein bars and granola bars.
Danny would have questioned how Tim was still alive if it wasn’t for the Wayne Industries catering.
But even then the food was bland and unappetizing. Tim ate like he was only doing it to stay alive, and honestly, it was the saddest thing Danny saw yet.
He would also comment on Tim’s caffeine habits—all the energy drinks and coffees.
But like they say, glass houses, so he cannot judge.
Tim was also horribly isolated, only speaking to his assistant on the regular.
She cared for him, Danny could tell. However, there was still a professional boundary, even if they both straddled it sometimes.
Tim had friends, and he did text them. But seeing them? Rarely ever happened.
The few times Tim was going to a crisis—whether Wayne Industries or Bat related—would make him reschedule.
Danny did have to commend Tim’s friends for trying, but they could only go so far.
Tim seemed wilfully ignorant to just how much his life seemed.
Danny knew that if Tim admitted how shitty he was living, then... actually, Danny didn’t know what would happen, but it wouldn’t be good.
Tim seemed so sad, so detached, just going through the motions because what else could he do.
Danny, in good conscience, could not allow it to continue.
When Tim was sleeping, Danny was ordering food and cosy items to his apartment.
Tim’s apartment barely looked lived in. It was like he had decorators come in once to set it up and then never did anything with it.
It was sterile and unwelcoming.
Danny immediately ordered blankets, pillows, candles, and some personalized items based on how he’d seen Tim react to things.
He put up photos that Tim took ages ago.
He got Tim’s bedroom nicer sheets, duvets, and better pillows.
Really, anything just to make Tim feel more at ease.
It’s not like he was hiding it. All the money being spent and orders were made in Tim’s accounts.
If anything, Tim would think he was just doing it half asleep.
Danny would send emails to get Tam to clear some of his schedule to have Tim see his friends, which always made Tim feel better.
Danny also would send emails to Tam asking to help delegate when absolutely necessary, which Tim only vaguely remembers but has a sense of relief when he looks and sees items off his calendar.
Tam thought that Tim was just trying to take care of himself and would not draw attention to it.
Danny would also do his best to support Tim when he was trying to solve cases, by hinting at connections that Danny made that Tim did not.
In all, Danny was just trying to take care of Tim, because it was more and more evident that Tim did not have that.
Oh, the words that Danny would have with Tim’s family, especially Bruce Wayne.
He would remind everyone that his hands are rated E for everyone.
He genuinely despised the man.
Tim went through everything to save him and he barely seems grateful or remembers he has a son.
Wait, no, he doesn’t. Tim emancipated himself.
If Danny wanted to get technical, Tim was closer to an employee than a member of that family.
And that... that devastated him, because Tim deserved better.
Tim... Tim could be his family.
He could be family with his friends.
Danny was starting to get a crush on the man.
He tries so far and works so hard for everyone.
But no one takes care of Tim.
And Danny... Danny could.
Okay, something was up with Tim.
He was not just overthinking it.
All of a sudden, he’s feeling like there is some force watching over him.
Tim is, like, experiencing sleepwalking or something.
He’s ordering things for his place?
He has food in his kitchen?
He’s emailed Tam asking to lighten or delegate things?
It’s eerie, and he’s not sure what’s going on.
Tim is getting more sleep?
He’s seeing his friends?
All net positive things, but the problem is that he doesn’t remember doing this.
It’s like someone has taken control of him and is making his life better.
Which is alarming.
Despite his life improving, he’s not the one doing it, but they are doing it for him.
DOES TIM HAVE A STALKER?!
HOW ARE THEY GETTING INTO HIS HOME AND EMAIL?
DO THEY KNOW WHO HE IS?
FUCK, TIM NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE.
Okay, Danny you might have miscalculated a bit, of course Tim was going to get suspicious and want to look into it. You’re almost as full strength now anyways and you really need to get back to the Amity and check on the Realms. You tried to pull away before but with no luck. Maybe you can reach out to someone at the justice league, specifically justice league dark. Danny looked into Tim’s contacts and found Sad Trench Coat man, maybe he could help, Danny does own some of his soul anyways and is willing to negotiate.
Tim is becoming more and more paranoid, it's like the stalker pulled back and isn't doing the same things.
But… Tim feels cared for, and not in a creepy way like when Ra’as tries to step into his business. He feels like someone wants to help him, it's weird and his bat senses are firing at full force, but… Tim is tired and honestly, he’s willing to accept some help, if the stalker is willing to own up to it.
“Hi, I don’t know if you're listening or watching me? I just want to meet you. You’ve helped me and I just want to know who you are.” Tim says after a patrol on a Friday night/Saturday morning.
Danny is thrilled to see this, but Tim has really shitty timing because he had arranged for…
Suddenly a portal opens up and… Constantine walks out, startling Tim.
“Constantine? You're my stalker?”
“What the fuck, kid, no?” Constantine denies with a look of horror on his face. He turns and looks at Tim and his face drains.
“I’m here because you got in touch in regards to an overshadowing you’re stuck in?”
“What on earth are you talking about? I didn’t contact you?” Tim questions, mind racing about what was happening.
“I did.” A voice comes from Tim to his horror.
Constantine looks at Tim with horror as the entity that was hiding in Tim makes itself known.
“My… King, you are overshadowing this human?” Constantine says in disbelief.
“King?”
“Red Robin, are you unaware of the Infinite Realms and their King?” Constantine looks like he ever regrets answering Danny’s email.
“What are the Infinite Realms and I have a King possessing me?” Normally Tim is not one to panic, but he’s feeling kind of valid in his panic here.
“It’s the place where the dead go on to, there also being that originate from the place.”
“Sad trench coat man, that is a very broad and incorrect definition, but that is not why I have called you here. I am currently stuck within this body due to factors outside of both of our control. I have isolated the issue and believe I know how to solve it, but I need your help to fix it. I am even willing to give up my portions of your soul, not that it is much at all considering the sheer amount that you’ve traded of it.”
“Of course, I am willing to assist, even without pieces of my soul returned to me, however I would be most grateful if they could be my payment for this.”
“Sad trench coat man, you think you know how to negotiate? I have already said I would give them up, just fix this. It is an issue with—” The entity starts speaking in strange tones, completely incomprehensible to Tim, who is terrified of what is about to happen.
“Yes, I can do that, give me a second to write out the symbols.” Constantine says, ducking away.
“Tim, I can feel your emotions, I know you’re scared, but I would not do this if I did not feel it was the best option for us to be separated. Ever since I have been overshadowing you, I have been watching and helping you.”
“You’re my stalker?” Tim is feeling weird about this whole thing, glad to know who it was but feeling bad that it was someone stuck with him. “I would even want to separate us even if it was at the cost of my own life, especially if you’re royalty.”
“TIM, I do not want you hurt, I have been acting, trying to help and take care of you. I saw how alone you were and wanted to help. You do not deserve the way you are treated and you deserve better. I am not originally from the Infinite Realms, I was a human first, I still live where I am originally from, and I would like for you to come with me. Just a vacation and I can teach you all about the Realms, and more about me. Because… I care for you and I think you deserve to have someone put you first.”
Fuck, it’s like the Entity is manipulating him, but… it’s working, because the entity is right. They saw how Tim lived and truly felt.
The entity knew what Tim didn’t want to admit to himself.
They were the first person? That actually cared and put Tim first.
Tim is… lonely and, quite frankly, he’s going to hold onto the entity that saw him.
“I… yes, I want that,” Tim admits.
Suddenly Tim feels like a sense of delight comes from within.
“Oh, this is great, we can email Tam that you’re taking some vacation days or a temporary leave of absence. (Make it vague and sound like enough that you’re going undercover for a mission so Batman and Co won’t bother you.)”
“Yes, we can do that. Will we have internet there?” Tim questions.
“Well yes, but let’s just leave all your work stuff here so you get a true vacation,” the entity declares, getting Tim to pull his phone out and send two emails, one to Tam and one to Oracle, who will look at it briefly and log it but not reach out as it was flagged as effectively immediate.
Tim is starting to feel a bit of doubt, but Constantine comes back by then.
“Okay, let’s get started. This shouldn’t be too bad, but you might faint due to the experience of being no longer overshadowed. Okay, kid?” Constantine says to Tim.
“Yes, do whatever it takes to separate us, they don’t deserve this.”
“Tim, neither did you,” the entity says. “Go ahead, sad trench coat man.”
Constantine grimaces and then starts chanting.
The air gets thick, weirdly green-tinged.
It becomes more difficult for Tim to hear and the pressure in Tim’s chest increases.
It’s hard for Tim to stay upright, and right as Tim feels himself start to fall and his vision start to darken, he feels something exit his chest and catch him right before he hits the ground.
As Tim passes out, he hears, “I got you.”
Constantine watches the entity—no, wait, the King of the Infinite Realms—catch the young hero.
He cradles him to his chest and stands up with him in his arms.
“Sad Trench Coat Man, the Infinite Realms thank you for your service. Here.”
The King makes a minor motion, readjusting his grasp on Tim to be able to move his hand.
Constantine feels like something has returned to him.
“The pieces I discussed. Now, I must make sure that you cannot speak of what has occurred here.”
“Client confidentiality prevents me from doing so,” Constantine backpedals, trying to reassure the thing.
“Ah yes, I respect that. However, I cannot trust that factors outside your control will make you speak.”
Danny raises his hand and snaps, and it’s like Constantine freezes.
“You are going to forget this entire event occurred. There will be no trace of it. If you question why you have more of your soul, it will be due to being unusually good at betting one evening. If you try and find out why, no one will tell you and you will forget that you ever looked into it. You will also go back to wherever you were previously and just think you overindulged in alcohol the previous evening. You will leave now and wake up tomorrow morning.”
Danny decrees and wills it into happening.
Danny watches Sad Trench Coat Man create a portal and walk through it.
He then looks at Tim in his arms and smooths his hair out of his face.
“I’ll take care of you,” Danny utters, certain that he will.
Danny then creates a portal and walks through it with Tim, making sure to use one of his powers to remotely wipe the footage from the last hour as they leave together.