Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Conner Kent had, on several occasions, been told that he was quite smart.

The same could not be said for Superboy. Seeing as they were the same person, there were often moments in which Conner justified making very stupid decisions by thinking he’ll just wear the Superboy outfit while doing it and bam problem solved, now the only person knowing it was Conner making stupid decisions would be Clark and Clark already knew how good he was at that.

Now that we have established how the decision was justified we should take a look at said decision.
Conner had been fascinated with the bats ever since he saw them stop a bank heist in under five minutes and then disappear before anyone even noticed, he was immediately plagued with questions, did the Robins come from a different planet like Hawkgirl or were they metahumans? did Batman create them? And why were their Wings do different from the ones Batman and the various women of the family possessed?
Of course he had heard of them before, it was very hard not to even if he didn't live in Gotham, one question on why he couldn't fly over it was all it took for Clark to tell him the story like an ancient legend.

So apparently the Batman had just appeared one day and started punching criminals, some thought he was an ancient deity others thought he was just some guy in a suit, not even the justice league knew what he was, then one after another there were more of them first a young boy with blue and black bird wings they called Robin but it didn't stop with him, more and more winged people started roaming the roofs of Gotham like some kind of avian mafia family and maybe they were, nobody knew, but at least he hadn't heard any reports of them decapitating people so maybe not.

Now years later through various title changes “Robin” was a middle schooler with black and green wings, Clark theorized that the original Robin was now called Nightwing and Conner didn't have reason to doubt him yet.
But that was the problem wasn't it? It was all just theorizing no facts and no contact with the subjects, if Lex Luthor had taught Conner one thing it was that you always check your experiments, no scratch that the first thing Lex had taught Conner was tax fraud but he couldn't really use that for superhero stuff.

So here he was gearing up to fly over Gotham, his target was the one they called Red Robin, after copious amounts of research Conner had decided on him because he was the one who seemed closest in age, maybe it would help him in his quest to find out more about the strange family.
Stepping softly out of his bedroom window, the wind welcoming him into the night, he let himself fall forward.

Flying was something he loved, the freedom of being Superboy was usually the only reprieve he got from his life as the LexCorp heir and future, after he was discovered about three years ago there had been a stretch of time only Luthor cared about him, Superman was horrified, understandably so but still, he had taken his sweet time coming to terms with everything. Out of options Conner had gone back to Lex and began training as his successor, it was mostly boring things like etiquette and statistics, his only glimpse of light were the science lessons he got.
Since Lex Luthor was stupidly rich every one of his tutors was someone incredibly accomplished, only the best of the best or something, Conner had excelled at at biology , desperate to understand his own and naturally curious as he was.
Then a year later Superman came along, offering a way out and a cape. Conner took the Superhero identity but stayed at LexCorp, he didnt want to leave his only father figure behind, morally ambiguous as he may be, and Lex let him be Superboy they both knew he knew but as long as no one talked about it and Conner didnt go around spilling company secrets they stayed in a strange sort of co-parenting limbo where Lex has Conner on weekdays and Clark did the mentoring whenever Conner choses to jump out of his Window to fly around.
Like right now for example except he really hoped to not meet Clark right now.

Conner zips past Metropolis skyscrapers feeling the wind whip his skin with cool night air.
He watches as the ground below him changes from gray streets to open fields over winding rivers and lastly, crossing the huge bridges that connect Gotham City to the rest of the continent, the dark rooftops of the bats’ territory.
His feet meet dark concrete as he lands silently on top of an old building.

No backing out now.
He feels the city around him murmur, hissing of secrets he couldn't see even with his heat vision. It is clawing at his leather jacket and making him realize how sheltered his life in metropolis had been, the sounds of at least six different robberies, the snapping of bones and the high pitched screams of bystanders.
This was such a bad idea, he is not prepared for any of this, it seems as if the city is alive, throwing its worst aspects before his feet to make him leave, it doesn't want him here, the foggy air is stuffing his lungs with ash.
Conner shakes himself, he is not just some guy who wandered in here he has super powers and a mission, said mission is currently: finding red robin by searching the spots he is often seen at, talking to and maybe befriending the other hero and lastly flying home and never telling anyone about what happened. Sounds foolproof, which is why that's exactly what he is going to do.

The first few places he searches, all random rooftops, he made himself a little map and noted down every place of interest, turn up empty.
Only rats and crows for companions his enthusiasm begins to dwindle, maybe he should just skip phase one and two, just going home sounds very appealing right now.
But then just out of the corner of his eye he spots a movement, the rustling of feathers too big for a bird and a flash of red.

Conner whips around, catapulting himself to the edge of the roof to look down, the adrenaline shutting down his brain for a moment, he spots it again chasing the flashes like an overgrown dog set after a butterfly.
Every time he thinks he has it the figure slips out of his grasp, they vault over smokestacks like its nothing, getting lost in the shadows behind walls and fences but never disappearing completely.
Pulling him out into the night like a tidal wave Conner gets swept along buildings he's never seen, gets lost in the strangely warm darkness of Gotham, he doesn't know if he'll ever find his way back, or if he even wants to.

The chase leads him into a dark alley, all his senses zeroed in on a piece of red fabric hanging off a fire escape. He lands softly completely forgetting to look around and curiously approaches the fluttering material.

Just as he reaches toward it a piercing headache splits his perception, a hand wraps around his throat and he feels it adorned with the familiar sting of kryptonite.
Before he registers it his knees hit the ground, followed shortly by the side of his head.

The only thing he sees before his vision goes dark are huge red wings standing out against the gray alley.
If he was a dog then what he chased definitely wasn't a butterfly. Maybe he did find Red Robin.

Chapter Text

Something is holding his wrists down, no, his entire body is fixed to a chair, his limbs still feel like lead.
Conner groaned quietly while he tries to lift his head, it's the only part he can actually move.
Sluggish as if through water his neck muscles comply and he finally opens his eyes.

Conner blinks, the room in front of him seems to be some kind of warehouse, no windows and too big for an interrogation room even though he feels like it is only a matter of time before he'll be introduced to some bat torture techniques.
The walls are impossible for him to see through, they were obviously prepared for someone with his skill set.
He feels dread crawl up his spine, he's helpless, powers nullified his senses dulled he would die in here and nobody would care because he isn't superman and the world doesn't actually need him.
Oh great, now hes hyperventilating what a superhero he is.
His hands clench but at least he can move them again the sickness is also receding but his heart is trying to beat him up from inside his body. Throwing itself against his chest, its painful and Conner is breathing way too fast he can hear his own blood rush, the sound gets reflected off of every wall around him, closing in.

“you just talked yourself into a panic attack in...” the voice paused, “about thirty seconds”.
Conner's head snaps up he notices that a white door to his side has opened, a guy about his age leaning against the frame.
Conner is momentarily stunned out of his spiral, so that's Red Robin at least the name fits. Hes wearing a skintight black and red suit, an x of what looks like belts around his chest, black hair that's longer than expected for a superhero but not tied back falls around his face, framing delicate features.
It takes Conner a moment to notice the wings still partially hidden behind the door, feathers fading from bright red to nearly black. Too stunned to speak he just stares, apparently long enough for Robin to clear his throat “Are you okay?” he asks as if he didn't tie Conner to a chair, the kryptonite poisoning also going ignored.

“No!” Conner responds incredulously “everything hurts, I cant feel my legs and I'm tied up in someones basement, does that sound okay to you?” There he goes again pissing off dangerous people, maybe its the kryptonian DNA but lately he seems to have the survival instincts of a pet hamster, like the ones that crawl behind your fridge and just die leaving you to find its dehydrated corpse when moving out, oh maybe that's what Clark will feel like when he finds Conner's body dumped in the Gotham River at least hell be more hydrated than the hamster.

Red Robin looks mildly amused “you could have ended up so much worse believe me, I wont harm you, probably, I just have a few tests I want to run. Actually if you could describe me your exact symptoms I can just finish the first one right now” his wings fluff up as he says it, almost like he's exited.

“I already told you how I feel ’general pain everywhere’ that's it.” Conner debates with himself for a moment but ultimately decides to continue being stupid, he was kind of curious about the results.
“What do you mean tests, you want my blood or something, aren't you supposed be fighting crime?”

“I am and I do, just on break right now,” the other boy leaves his spot at the door stalking over to Conner's chair, his feet barely making any sound on the concrete floor.

Conner leans back as Robin studies his face, way too close, Conner could count his freckles from this distance, if Robin had any, which he does not.
Somewhere in Conner's brain opens a folder titled red Robin, two mental notes being filed away.
Number one: no sense of personal space. Number two: does not have freckles.
Any information is good information if you're trying to research while tied up.

“You have a piercing, how?” Robin is still staring him down.

“What? Oh no that's fake.” Conner had completely forgotten about the clip on earring that was part of his costume, he just thought it looked cool but being indestructible made piercing appointments a bit too awkward.

Robin didn't respond at first, he just stood up to press a few buttons making some kind of desk slide out of the wall which he jumped onto, letting his legs dangle, then with the most matter of fact voice Conner had ever heard he said: “I want to pierce you ears.”

“No!” it came out more shrill than Conner had intended.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Robin looked at him blinked once as if he was actually considering his answer, “I want to test how fast it heals, do you not want a piercing?”

This was going way too fast for Conner one moment hes waking up tied to a chair and now he's, still tied to a chair, debating whether or not a complete stranger who was also a very dangerous vigilante could shove a needle through his ears. “Could we postpone that, like not a hard no just, if you want me to allow you to do that, which I would appreciate, I need to know you a bit better and also trust you.”

“So… if I get you to trust me I get to do my experiments and you wont complain or try to kill me?”

Conner nods.

Robin pauses and starts looking at Conner with that strangely intense stare of his, “I am not sure how to do that” he admits quietly.
Suddenly he jumps up obviously getting an idea wings fluttering, blowing air in Conner's face.
“Wait here I'll be back” he says over his shoulder before nearly running out the door.

Conner just sits there, stunned the exchange still getting processed in his head “You know I can't leave right?”

←♦→

Tim runs out so fast he nearly hits his wings on the doorway, that would have been so embarrassing, he quickly shuts it to avoid Superboy seeing anything that might make it obvious how little Tim actually knew what he was doing.

He had nearly begged Bruce to be the guys babysitter for the time being and Bruce had agreed on the condition that Tim wasn't allowed to hurt him, kinda hypocritical since Superboy had chased him first, who knows what would have happened if Tim hadn't noticed him.
Standing in front of his Computer he realizes that he hadn't even asked Superboy what that was about, the excitement of finally getting to know more about him had completely erased the thought from his mind.
He will have to ask next time for now he has a call to make.

Calling anyone in his family was out of the question, they would make fun of him until eternity and most of them also had no clue how to socialize, no he needed someone a bit more normal and also someone who still owed him a favor.
If befriending Superboy was what he had to do to experiment behind Bruce's back, then that is what he would do, it didn't count as hurting him if Superboy allowed it right?
And also maybe coincidentally Tim also thought that Conner was just a little bit very hot, getting to know him better, for scientific purposes only obviously, could only be beneficial.

With a deep long suffering breath he pressed the call button, his screen lighting up with a smiling face a moment later “Hey, Tim how are you?”

Oh how he dreaded the words he was about to say but sometimes you had to make sacrifices.

“I need your help, Steph.”

Chapter Text

“Tim, I love you, but-” Stephanie massages her forehead, Tim thinks that's a bit dramatic but maybe she has spent too much time around Dick lately, “So you kidnapped a Super-”

“It wasn't actually that hard”

“Shut up I'm talking,” Her head emerges from her hands to glare at him, “You kidnapped Superboy and Batman allowed you to do your whole evil scientist thing until big blue shows up, which is questionable enough.”

Tim is about to answer when a held up pointer finger interrupts him so he just nods, but it should be mentioned that Tim is not evil and he also hopes Superboy knows that.

“What I don't understand is where the problem in that situation is for you, from his perspective obviously, but we have enough kryptonite to take out an army.”

Tim internally says goodbye to his pride and dignity “He said I can test his healing if he trusts me enough to let me pierce his ears, which would be very important for my mission, but I don't know how to do that so I called you, the trust thing I mean.”

Stephanie is silent for about ten seconds just blinking at him, Tim thinks she is fighting the urge to make fun of him. “You want me to help you make a friend?” she coos as if he is a middle schooler on his first day in a new class. “Of course I will help you but I need you to promise me I get to tell every one of your siblings about this.”

“I'll leak your catfish Instagram accounts to Bruce if you tell anyone about this,” Tim hisses. he knew this was a bad idea but he was currently out of good ones.

Steph looks at him like he just threatened her first born “Don't you dare! I thought we were friends, you know I need those for my investigations and I'm pretty sure you have a few as well I just haven't found them yet.”

He doesn't laugh at her because Red Robin doesn't do that but he does smile a bit.
“And you never will, so do we have a deal? I keep the blackmail to myself and you help me function socially like a normal person?”

Stephanie narrows her eyes at him before she grumbles: “I have to ask Babs to find you accounts this wont be the last time you hear from me Mr. Drake, but in the meantime yes ill help you.”

This time Tim does laugh because fuck Red Robin, Steph knows his secret identity anyways.
His stomach fills with that fuzzy warm feeling he gets every time he is reminded that there are actually people that even want to know him and his wings fluff up a bit, hopefully Steph cant tell, having feelings is so embarrassing.

“I just need his trust we don't have to be best friends or anything” he distracts.

“You better not be, that's my job” She seriously needs to stop saying that stuff, hes not nearly healed enough to believe her.

Steph rubs her hands together, great, now shes committed “Alright lets do this”

The next ten minutes are spent with Steph telling Tim that he should get to know Superboy before doing any experiments, which Tim thinks is stupid because the experiments are there to get to know him, probably not in the way Steph means but that's just splitting hairs.

“You should play twenty questions”

“No.”

←♦→

Conner jolts awake as the door to his cell is thrown open.

“Wake up were playing twenty questions,” Red Robin says, sitting down in front of him.

The guy is so incredibly strange, kind of endearing but also creepy considering Conner still hasn't gained any of his superpowers back. He really prefers having his superpowers.

In the last half hour Conner tried very hard to reach his TTK he almost feels naked without it like one of his limbs fell asleep and is now refusing to wake up, not even any static just nothing.
He has managed to keep himself out of panicking solely because of the fact that RR seemed so incredibly unprepared for any kind of violent interrogation, Conner was beginning to get the idea that this wasnt even a room meant for that, his chair was just standing there without anything securing it to the ground and it was also a regular lawn chair which he hadn't noticed at first.

But at least Conner had come up with a plan, even if his position wasn't ideal at the moment he could still continue his research, he just had to be sneaky about it, not his forte but he would make do.
He would study Red Robin and then maybe find out where the rest of the Bats came from while hes at it, Lex Luthor probably won't miss him unless he starts publicly working for someone else and Superman will just assume he wants to focus on his studies or something, no harm done.

Despite the strangeness of playing party games with his captor the idea does play right in Conner's cards.
“Okay sure, do I get untied for that?”

“Ill think about it, you start.” Red responds, surprising Conner.

It would probably be beneficial for Conner to start by asking something simple, something reasonable for his situation and not suspicious so he tries: “Where am I?”

“My main safehouse at the moment, I cant tell you the exact location but I can tell you that you are not actually in my basement.” at the statement his face does something that could maybe be described as a reassuring smile but painted by one of those people who drew cats in medieval times, that is to say Conner is not reassured.

Red seems to remember hes supposed to ask a question when Conner doesn't respond, he's too busy thinking about medieval cat paintings.
“Oh yeah right uhh, how does your telekinesis work?”

Clearing his head Conner responds as honestly as he can: “I don't really know, its like- like I have nerves in the air around me and can feel anything that's going on, like your hands but everywhere. So like hands it can also touch things but its always active, I cant explain it as anything else but I can pick up people and fly with them by only touching them at one point.” He fights the urge to facepalm (pretty useless since his hands are still tied), he is usually not this bad at talking.

A tiny computer on Reds wrist gets powered up which he starts typing into.

“That's pretty interesting, so you don't need to do the princess carry stuff?”

This is the exact moment Conner realizes that he has gotten way too comfortable around a guy who could kill him because as he opens his mouth the usual Superboy persona takes over and he doesn't say something like “no that is not necessary for me” but instead: “You disappointed, pretty boy?”

He is going to die in here and it will be his own fault.

Chapter Text

Tim might have forgotten how to function, no amount of Batman training could have prepared him for this moment, no backup plans in case the guy you tied up in your safehouse suddenly starts flirting with you.

The moment those words left Superboy's mouth his wings had instantly come up to cover his face, great now he looked like a very flustered ball of feathers.
Tim silently assured himself to take this to his grave, nobody will ever know.

It wasn't that flirting was unexpected for Superboy, quite the opposite really, in every video Tim had seen in his research, he was nothing if not thorough, it seemed to be his main course of handling social interaction and the rational side of Tim's brain, the one currently quieted down by an air raid siren going off in his head, tried to tell him that Superboy probably didn't mean it and was just like that, but Tim just wasn't used to being flirted with (excluding Harley Quin because she was definitely like that) he had no idea how to react.

Slowly lowering his wings and doing everything to avoid Superboy's eyes, why are they pretty, its unfair, he forces out: ”That's your question?”

Superboy, screw him, Tim is going to throw something at his face (preferably kryptonite), leans forward as much as his bindings allow and smirks (ew disgusting stop that).

“Yeah, why not, I'm curious.”

“No I am not disappointed, first off,” Tim points at his back ignoring the still puffed up feathers, “i can fly, and secondly I prefer not to be touched.” that may be a lie but he has survived so far without physical touch and he will continue to do so.

Superboy just continues his stupid smirk and says: “Shame.”

After Tim narrowly avoids breaking Batman's no killing rule, the game passes pretty uneventfully, Superboy doesn't seem too devastated when Tim tells him that he will stay under surveillance until Superman returns to earth and Tim finds out that Superboy chasing him was part actual stupidity and part some kind of laser focus that his creator implemented to make him less likely to be distracted when fighting, by things like dying civilians.
Tim has some words he would like to tell said creator, most of which would make Jason very proud.

Tim also comes to the realization that he, to his sorrow, cannot keep Superboy tied to a chair for the coming weeks and promptly orders a few things one would need for a temporary bedroom, at least watching him assemble an IKEA bed will give Tim time to test his problem solving skills.

“Does that mean we're roommates now?” Superboy asks after Tim inquired about his eating habits, apparently it is not normal to only eat every second day and having a captive means keeping said captive alive and un-malnutritioned.

Tim proceeds to leave the room without answering, to establish dominance or something.
One night has to be manageable not being able to lie down Tim has had worse so it should probably be fine, even for someone from metropolis.

←♦→

To Conner's surprise he actually survived the first day, he isn't sure how long that's going to last but still, has to count for something right?
The thing currently bothering him is the fact that red robin is kind of cute, sure the flirting was an accident but the way he reacted had triggered something in Conner that just wanted to scoop him up into his arms and gift him homemade cookies or whatever birds eat.

Ever since Red Robin had untied his hands Conner had been very careful not to touch him even if he really wants to, hes a very physical person by nature, better not give him a reason to hate Conner more than he already does, yes he is cute but the look of absolute disgust Conner receives every time he tries to talk to him makes his feelings very obvious.

The way Robin moves just makes concentrating kind of difficult, he doesn't seem at all impacted by the added weight his wings, which Conner also wants to touch, provide, every step completely silent, every movement deliberate and thoroughly thought out, it makes him fascinating to study.

Lost in thought sitting on the small bed in the corner of his room/cell about a week after Conner's stupidity landed him in Gotham, the book he was reading completely forgotten, Conner comes to the conclusion that he really needs to meet the rest of Red Robins family to make accurate assumptions about his mutations, after all some of the weirdness might also be his personality.

“Ah fuck,” there's a loud thud outside his door, maybe something crashing into a wall Conner isn't sure, he has only had access to his superpowers during testing the past week and the room is pretty well insulated.

He jumps up as his door slams open, prepared to fight whatever comes bursting out only to promptly drop his stance when he spots Robin leaning against the door frame the exact moment the other notices him.
“I knew I forgot something, stupid Spoiler could've warned me,” he mumbles, ignoring Conner and letting his head fall against the wall.
He seems off, his usual straight stance nowhere to be seen something about the way he speaks is slightly slurred the way Conner usually only sees in intoxicated people, it makes his skin crawl, this isn't normal, something is wrong.

Conner speaks softly, he tries not to startle him: “Are you okay?”

Red Robin pauses for a moment “… not really, I mean, probably will be but I forgot I had a super in my emergency room and that's not a good sign is it, I'm talking too much, I should stop talking now.”

Oh yeah something is definitely wrong, “What happened?”

“Just Ivy, shes usually not that strong though, I got hit with some kind of pollen, didn't even notice until I was saying goodbye to the others, I usually lock myself in here until the effects fade,” Robin is smiling, drug induced no doubt but its still turning Conner's brain to mush.

Said brain mush formulates the following response: “I can leave if you want me to.”

The death glare he expected never follows, instead he hears a soft laugh, god bless his memory, that will be forever ingrained behind his eyes.

“You think I'm stupid?” Robin steps closer, forcing Conner to walk back against his bed, “I am a master detective you cannot trick me.”

A single finger against Conner's chest makes him sit down on the edge, suddenly there is a body in his lap, warm hands holding his face, sharp nails along his jaw and the white lenses of a domino mask directly in front of it.

Robin seems to be studying his features, there is something curiously clinical about his touch, separating individual hairs to look at them as Conner fights the urge to reach out at the feathers curled around them like a little personal sunset.

Sober Robin would not be happy about this, sober Robin would kick his ass, he needs to deescalate the situation.
“Uhh buddy, I think non high you will regret this later, … sooo you should probably lock yourself in another room and go back to disliking me a normal amount instead of hating me after this, because I have no idea what to do right now.”

Robins brow furrows, “i don't hate you,” he whispers and proceeds to completely ignore everything else Conner said, at least he tried.

The only other option Conner sees is to just let him do what he wants, so far no ones gotten hurt and Conner doesn't think trying to move him by force will do much good, guess this is his life now.

Oh, there are fingers in his mouth, Robin is looking at his teeth and hes suddenly very thankful to have received a toothbrush with his furniture that he could use in the small washroom connected to his.
It feels more like a dental exam than any kind of sexy but Conner's heart is still beating out of his chest. If he wasn't kryptonian he would probably be collapsing from lack of oxygen to his brain or something because because he has completely neglected breathing for the past few minutes.

Removing his hands from Conner's mouth and wiping them on his shirt, (Conner would complain if they weren't borrowed from his captor), Robin stares up at him, making Conner realize that he is still shorter than him even when sitting in his lap.

“You're so big… like a woman.” Robin mumbles.

The only thing keeping Conner's brain running despite the compliment is his confusion, last time he checked human women were usually smaller than the men, at least in metropolis, maybe Gotham was different though.

Before he can dwell on it for too long he feels a weight on his chest looking down reveals a sleeping Red Robin, slowly tipping to the side. Guess he's sleeping on the floor tonight, just in case Robin wakes up in the night and decides its never too late to commit murder.

Chapter Text

Tim wakes up in his emergency room, blinking up at the familiar ceiling, vague memories swirling in his head, he is hungry, everything feels weird.
Since when does he have a bed in this room?

He doesn't, he knows he doesn't because he shredded the last one during a run in with fear toxin, so why is he not on the floor?

Panic seizes Tim's chest, doing his best to control his breathing as to not alert any enemies who might be nearby, he scans his surroundings.
No footsteps, no audible signs of life at all, he cant see anything but the ceiling without moving his head so he goes through his plans while keeping his eyes closed.

He needs to calm down and remember what happened last night, after their fight with Ivy he had excused himself from Batman, cant let the family find out he got hit or he'll have to go with them to the Batcave and he needs to be at his safehouse, why did he need to be at the safehouse though?

Oh fuck, Superboy!

Tim sits up frantically, eyes flying open, wings spreading so fast that he hits the left one against the wall, ouch that was stupid.

His panic shifts, he is in less immediate danger, yes, but he also had ample opportunity to do something really dumb last night, who knows what the pollen told him to do, what if he killed the guy? He quickly checks his kryptonite pouch, still closed, good.

Tim spots him laying on his back next to the bed, he isn't breathing, in his panic Tim completely forgets about the Super part of Superboy and scrambles to his side, wings shielding him from invisible and nonexistent threats.

Tim starts shaking the body in front of him, dread clouding his mind, he wasn't actually serious about killing Superboy, hes not moving.
“Hey, wake up!” he screams it, as if screaming at the dead has ever worked, as if his father didn't stay just as dead as he was when Tim had begged for him to respond.

But Superboy does move, a lot actually, he sits up ans wraps his arms around Tim, Superboy feels warm and very not dead.

“You're okay, everything's okay,” he says softly against Tim's hair, Tim hates it, he is not a child, he doesn't need to be held, but he still lets Superboy do it.

Tim lets himself get wrapped up in strong arms and realizes he hasn't felt like this since he stopped being robin, since he started isolating himself from the other bats, only meeting for missions despite getting invited to come back home.

He also realizes that he's shaking, fuck, he really needs to get a grip this is embarrassing.

“What happened?” Superboy asks, no whispers, like hes scared of startling Tim, that's what he gets for being weak, only pity and glass gloves.

Tim frees himself and immediately regrets it, missing the warmth at his chest, he stands up.
“Nothing its just residual effects from Ivy's pollen, I cant really remember what happened last night so when I couldn't see you breathing I thought I killed you,” he keeps his voice steady, banishing all emotion from it, at least his training counts for something.

“Oh, I'm so sorry, I don't really need to breathe when I sleep 'cause of my kryptonian DNA, you didn't hurt me don't worry,” Superboy hesitates for a moment, looks to the floor avoiding Tim's eyes, “You uh fell asleep on me,” oh hes blushing and Tim's pretty sure he himself is too, “You sat in my lap and kinda, god I don't know how to say this, mapped out my face with your hands.” The last sentence goes up like question, as if he doesn't really know what Tim was actually doing. “Oh and my chest too, mhm yep, that's it, no hurting.”

Yes killing him would have been the better outcome, fuck the PTSD this is worse, Tim cant look at him, he wants to sink into the ground, he can never show his face to Superboy again, he will have to leave Gotham in shame, get a new identity and start living in France or something.

That would be something he'd do, get high and throw himself at the hottest guy in his vicinity, who is also his captive and cant leave, oh god did Tim assault him?
“I… I have to apologize, I touched you without permission, I am so, so sorry, if you'll excuse me ill just go and commit suicide, maybe take out the joker on the way out, you know?”

Superboy gives him a strange look, “I didn't mind, I could have probably just picked you up if I was uncomfortable, you're way too light by the way, I just thought it was best not to touch you cause you said you don't like it, I had no idea what I was meant to do.” His head is tilted like a dogs, the words way too kind for Tim's brain to understand, something about Superboy triggers his instincts, Tim wants to give him things, to see him smile and it scares him.

“It was still not okay for me to do,” Tim stops to think, long overdue, he notes, since Superboy actually doesn't sound like hes mad or has any negative feeling towards Tim for that matter, maybe he can still hope to gain his trust before Superman returns, mission study a half kryptonian is back online, the fact that Tim might also want Superboy to like him because of non mission related reasons gets pushed to the back of his head for the moment.

“You get one request, if I can fulfill I will, if not you get to pick something different, that's my try to make it up to you.” Bad idea Tim, he has had a lot of those recently.

Superboy is back to his old self it seems, he should have known it wouldn't take long, “You really don't have to do that, I usually don't complain about cute guys sitting in my lap, though I prefer them to be sober if you ever wanna do me the favor-” Tim shuts him up with a hand over his mouth which Superboy proceeds to lick.
Tim lets out an inhuman shrieking sound and wacks him in the face with his wing.

“Now that is something a normal person would apologize for,” Superboy winks.
Tim should have hit harder.

Trying to hide his blush Tim responds: “it was necessary and you are invulnerable, take the offer or don't, I don't care.” He is lying again and maybe he even hopes Superboy can tell, because he does care.

“I wanna see the sun. I just miss it and I technically need it to survive.” I wouldn't be smart to let him out but it feels cruel to deny him, the lamps in this room can't replace the real thing.
If he asks Steph for help again they should be able to apprehend Superboy even in a worst case scenario and a strange, selfish part of his brain wants Superboy to meet his family.

He sighs, “Okay but if you try anything stupid Superman wont have much left to collect when he comes back.”

“Dude, I would believe you but you just freaked out 'cause you thought you hurt me, I think you just don't want to admit that you like me.”

He was right, oh god he was right, time to repress a lot more feelings for the next few weeks, Tim is sure Superboy doesn't mean any of the nice things he says but he can't help reacting anyways.

Chapter Text

The day they're set to go outside Conner can't seem to settle, energy thrumming through his veins the whole time he waits for Red Robin to arrive.
He has tried everything at this point: meditating, reading and running around his room, he even learned how to do a handstand which had been quite difficult without his TTK.

He is nervous and not used to it, nothing has ever made him feel like this but the fact that Red Robin seems to trust him enough to actually do this, Conner cant shake the fear that hell somehow fuck this up.
After he witnessed Robin's breakdown a day ago the vigilante had seemed strangely more comfortable around him, standing closer, he even smiled one time.
Conner is scared to destroy that, he's so far refrained from asking any more questions about the incident.

Now he's staring at the ceiling, thoughts still circling around the fact that he actually wouldn't mind not seeing the sun for another week if it meant Red would smile at him again.
Not the greatest realization to have when he is still half convinced the guy hates him, well, hate is a strong word more like the guy views him as a moderately annoying inconvenience living in his house.

He gets pulled out of his thoughts by a woman laughing outside his door, her voice is strong and clear like the icy rivers Conner flew over to get here.

“-bet he is,” Conner hears her say as the door swings open revealing a very exhausted looking Red Robin standing next to a tall figure clad in purple and black, mask covering the lower half of her face a hood over the top half.

“Spoiler, Superboy,” Red Robin speaks up, stepping forward, “Superboy, Spoiler.”

Conner isn't really sure what to say so he just waves at her.

Spoiler steps fully through the door bat wings unfurling behind her, “Did you kidnap a model?” it's aimed at Red Robin but Conner still feels chastised for some reason.

“I actually wasn't really kidnapped, I came to Gotham even though I wasn't supposed to so I guess it's fair,” Conner shrugs, not reacting to the model part of the comment.
Robin is giving him that judgey look again but hes gotten used to it over the past week, developing immunity.

“I could conduct a study about Stockholm Syndrome with you two,” Spoiler deadpans, elegantly sidestepping Robin's elbow aimed at her ribs. She seems used to the other vigilante's antics which fits in with Connors research, Spoiler and Red Robin are frequently seen patrolling together, usually joined by a second woman called black bat.

“We don't have time for that, the sun is up for about another two hours, lets go,” Robin gestures at the door and both Spoiler and Conner begin moving.

Spoiler in front of him, Red Robin behind him Conner gets escorted through a small corridor to a spacious balcony where both bats take off into the air Conner pressed against Robins chest, claws digging in his arms.

It makes sense to not let him fly, Conner is pretty sure he'd be faster than the bats, the position is just very unexpected and very intimate. His heart rate is doing things that would kill a normal human.

By the time they land on a rooftop nearby he can't really think about anything else than the points of contact between them, hyper aware of his own body and every part of it that is touching Red Robin.
His brain is now about as useful as a toaster that someone cut the cord off of, could be used as a paper weight maybe.
Someone should tell Lex Luthor that his greatest weapon could not only be bested by kryptonite but also attractive men.

Red Robin sets him down gently, hands lingering briefly on his shoulders.

Fighting to regain function of his cognitive abilities Conner focuses on Spoiler who, he just now notices, is laughing at him.
A few strands of blond hair have fallen out of her hood as she bends over, wheezing, “dude, you are so red right now,” she stage whispers.
Conner ignores her, he could have figured that out on his own, his face is burning up.

He needs to distract himself, now!
“So why do your wings look different?” he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Long story, very boring but I am willing to graciously tell you, since he would never do it,” Spoiler gives Red Robin a heavy side eye, “took me two years of annoying him to get answers.”

“Is the information confidential?”

She waves his concerns away with a hand, “nah, most of us are just secrecy freaks don't worry.”
Settling in with her legs dangling off the roof she starts: “ So, Batman is some kind of ancient protector spirit no idea what exactly but he was chosen by the city, the Robins in turn were chosen by him the wings just happen once they spend enough time around B, simply put it just means that everyone chosen by Gotham gets the bat wings and everyone chosen by Batman gets the bird wings.

In my case the wings aren't actually attached to my body but to the suit cause I was chosen really late and my bones are heavier than the others, my girlfriend was born with them though, as far as we know.”

“How'd you get the suit though?”

Spoiler shudders the eyes under her hood appear haunted, “It was disgusting, I grew it, like snake skin- couldn't go outside for a month until it shed.
My god having armor plates fused to your body is a feeling I wish on no one, but I cant fault her I don't think Gotham knows how people work or she wouldn't keep giving us these quirks.”

Suddenly being raised in a tank sounded quite appealing, at least Conner was never that uncomfortable, well that was a disturbing discovery, fascinating but still disturbing.

Red Robin clears his throat behind them his tone condescending: “I'm sure its a great idea to give Superman's mini me information about our powers, you wanna go ahead and do our identities next?”

Spoiler turns around, the two having some kind of silent argument that Conner isn't privy to. It ends with Spoiler nodding in his direction and Robin rolling his eyes.

Conner accepts his fate of not understanding their relationship and turns his face towards the sun, letting it warm his face. He feels the light flood inside his veins turning his insides into lava, something that's actually pleasant for him.
But there is something else slowly despite his eyes being closed the world around him begins to take shape the way sound bounces off walls sculpting a picture in Conner's mind, the air around him an extension of his consciousness he feels the rough structure of the roof and the fabric of Red Robins suit.

His powers- they're back! He could escape right now but that would end his chances to- to what?
Keep flirting with Red Robin? If he was being honest his attention had shifted in the past few days, the bats mysterious shenanigans were still intriguing to him especially after the whole skinsuit thing (ew) but he finds himself way more invested in actually building a friendship with them.
Being the protege of a billionaire with questionable morals didn't yield a lot of them.

Now that that's decided he should probably find out how to make friends but it wasn't a complete disaster so far, considering the circumstances.
He also had a feeling that Red Robin himself wasn't any better at it, he didn't have a frame of reference for though.

“I need you to know that I'm just as tall as Superman, calling me mini is insulting my honor as a clone and is also discrediting Lex Luthor in my creation.” he addresses them.

Spoiler is the first to answer with a simple: “Excuse me?”
Followed by Red Robin, no less eloquent: “What the fuck?”

The silence that follows is so uncomfortable that Conner feels pressured to say something, he floats a few feet above the ground. “Am I supposed to be able to do that?”

“Yeah I wanted to test what would happen,” Red Robin says absently, “can we go back to the fact that Lex Luthor is your- uh what exactly is he?”

“My dad I guess, he raised me from sixteen till now, I don't get why you're surprised though no one else hates Superman enough to make a clone of him.”

Spoiler shakes herself out of her freeze, “I never really thought about how that happened I think Batman knew but he never tells us anything and if it doesn't concern Gotham we don't need to know.”

“We do now, I have so many questions,” Robin interjects only to get cut off by Spoiler: “That'll have to wait, I still have somewhere to be and a girlfriend to meet so lets get you back inside.”

Conner turns to Robin: “Are you going to carry me again?”

“No.”

“Please?” he is crossing lines but he doesn't really care.

“Ugh fine.”
Wait what?
To his surprise the other actually stalks over and picks him up.

Conner is very relieved when they arrive in his room where Spoiler and Robin don't come in, at least he can gay panic in peace.

The door closes and he collapses on the bed like the teenage girls in movies nearly kicking his feet.

←♦→

“When did that happen?” Steph stares at him her finger pointed at the closed door.

Tim doesn't get what she means but he still gently pushes her into his kitchen out of hearing range, “When did what happen?”

“You getting a boyfriend, or do you carry every person you kidnap like that?”

“I didn't kidnap him, he told you.” Tim defends himself.

“All I got from that conversation was that he didn't mind getting kidnapped, I'm going to take your silence as confirmation that he's your boyfriend by the way.” She is raiding his fridge for snacks making a disapproving sound at only finding coffee.

Tim doesn't comment on her expectancy for him to keep normal food when the only thing he really eats are small animals, it's just easier for him but Steph didn't get the weird feeding habits the rest of them have. “He is not my boyfriend.”

“Well he should be or at least I think he wants to be,” she mimics making heart eyes at Tim.

“Superboy flirts with everyone, that's just how he is.”

He hears Steph's head hit the table, “My dear Tim, you are so stupid. I'm going to change my approach: would you want to date him?”

Tim considers for a moment the answer is yes with a lot of exclamation marks but there has to be a less embarrassing answer, no there isn't. eh Its not like Steph doesn't know how weird he is, “I would yeah.”

“Problem solved if he says no, he won't, then you just give him to Jason and never think about it again.”

“Your problem solving skills astound me, alright I don't believe you but I'll try just to tell you you were wrong.” He really hopes she isn't wrong.

Chapter Text

Tim does not try, instead he stalls for another two days which consist mostly of Superboy flirting with him until, at the end of day three, he gets hit in the face with the reality of their situation.

“We will be handing Superboy off to Superman tomorrow at 10 am, you will come with me along with aerial supervision from Oracle.” Batman is looking down at him through his cowl, privately Tim doesn’t really get why he even wears it, Bruce is by far the least human of them only rivaled by Cass and Jason in terms of scare factor.

“You will bring him to your balcony at nine thirty i expect him to be able to fly.”

Tim just nods, slightly dazed, had he really forgotten about the fact that Superboy is only still living in his safe-house (at this point he should be honest with himself and just call it his house) because he has to, because he is a captive.

No forgetting isn’t really the right word, more like conveniently pushed to the back of his head to never think about, if he had thought about it the conclusion would have been rather unpleasant, as most of his thoughts are.

The way home from the Batcave is a blur, his thoughts still circling around Superboy and his next steps, if Steph is right and he really does have a chance of dating the guy (unlikely) why hasn’t Superboy said anything about it?

Apart from a few flirty remarks he has treated Tim with a surprising sense of normalcy, the occasional lingering glances that Tim attributes to his curiosity about the general Bat weirdness are easy enough to ignore.
They could pass as roommates, one of the reasons that made forgetting he would eventually leave so easy.

He is so in thought that he nearly smacks against his bedroom window, not that the room gets much use but it does contain a bed and it’s the only one he can open per finger print, very convenient when traveling with wings.

He guesses that Superboy is already asleep because he can’t hear the usual chaos that accompanies the Super, it’s strangely melancholic being in the silence again, it shouldn’t be, that’s how he spent the last two years but the reminder of having someone around him is as painful as it is needed.

No matter what he thinks now tomorrow at this time there wont be any speculation on why it’s quiet, he will be the only thing making noise and Superboy will be sleeping in his own bed and going back to his own friends, maybe Tim will make a good anecdote for parties, ‘hey remember the time i got kidnapped by some computer nerd’.

Something in him really doesn’t want Superboy to leave and he can’t seem to make that part shut up.

←♦→

Staring at the ceiling is a pretty good past time, it gives Conner time to think.
The past few days had been strange he’d thought him and Robin were growing closer but after setting him down in his room something about his demeanor had changed he looked downright pained every time Conner made an attempt at flirting, sometimes he just spaced out looking through Conner at the wall behind him.

Conner’s abandonment issues took it as a sign that Red Robins patience was wearing thin, he had overstayed his welcome and his use so now they are both waiting for him to leave.

Some rational part of his brain holds onto the opinion that not everything is about him and that maybe Robin just has something on his mind right now, unrelated to him, therefore not his business.

He’s been contemplating whether or not to tell the vigilante his real name for a while now, he already made it easy for him and Spoiler too find it by mentioning his relation to Lex Luthor, there wasn’t much more harm to be done anyways.

Conner hears Red Robin approach about thirty seconds before he actually lands, having his powers back was the only good thing to happen after their little excursion.

His steps are nearly impossible to perceive even with Conner’s hearing, his heartbeat is the only thing giving him away, faster than usual, though Conner tries to keep his invasions of privacy to a minimum sometimes it’s nice to know there are other people around.

There is a knock on his door, another strange thing that started recently is Conner actually getting privacy, he’s still pretty sure Robin has cameras in his room but nobody’s perfect.

Conner throws a ‘come in’ in the door’s direction, slowly sitting up.
Seeing the other is always a strange experience, it’s like petting a really aggressive cat, he wants to push his luck, despite his better judgment he gets the urge to make a fool of himself to make Red Robin laugh.

But even through his delusions he notices the sour expression on his face.
“Congrats you’re going home tomorrow.” He sits down on Conner’s desk chair looking gracefully uncoordinated as usual.

Well that does put some pressure on his musings, he just cant seem to pull himself out of his usual demeanor to hold an actual serious conversation.

„Finally deciding to get rid of me?” Conner knows that the other probably didn’t do much deciding but his self deprecation doesn’t really have another outlet right now.

Robin is giving one of his looks again, the last few days he’s looked more sad than angry. “No I- Superman has returned to earth, I’ll wake you up tomorrow when we need to leave.”

He makes a small pause, something Conner can’t decipher playing out behind his eyes.
“Sleep well.”

Wow such a heartfelt goodbye, Conner tries to keep his annoyance down but the constant switch ups from something happening between them to Red Robin just treating him like a prisoner again is getting on nerves that no scientist ever taught him how to deal with.

Looking at it from a rational perspective Conner would like to argue that none of his stupid actions in the last month actually had a bad outcome for him, might as well go all out before going home.

He takes a deep breath allowing himself a second to collect his thoughts before saying: “My name’s Conner by the way, Conner Kent.”

The way Robin’s head turns around before the rest of his body does should be alarming but Conner has already given up on survival instincts and is fully embracing his endearment for any occurring strangeness.

Robin’s eyes stay locked on Conner’s face while the rest of him slowly turns, when he is fully turned in the right direction his head tilts to the side still inhumanly silent as he studies Conner, as if Conner might be less in need of a psych evaluation from a ninety degree angle.

“Why would you-” Robin cuts himself off to continue staring, his wings seem to fill out the whole room behind him, a feather in every crevice.

“Just in case you want to stay in touch you know.” Conner shrugs, the truth is he is desperate for any kind of connection, losing whatever Robin and him had going on would make the past weeks nothing more than an incident in his LexCorp file.

Conners words don’t appear to ease the others confusions, “would that be something you want?” Robin asks, a furrow visible between his strangely perfect eyebrows.

He is stalking closer so incredibly akin to a predator, head staying still while his limbs silently creep forward, that Conner briefly forgets about being a superhero, the moment holds him trapped in the mind of a field mouse looking up at a shadow above.

Speaking probably isn’t the best idea right now so Conner resorts to nodding.

“Interesting, I will consider it.” With that he lets his wings drop, demeanor transforming into something at least passably human.
Conner can’t help but smile, at least he tried whatever happens now depends on Red Robin.

And depend it does because, before quickly leaving the room, the other whispers out a name.

“Tim Drake.”

Chapter Text

About the origin story

Tim is tired, he should be used to not sleeping for days, and he is, but something about the constant anxiety that had been plaguing him since last night left him as not much more than a shadow on the floor of his room.

He was desperate for connection, analyzing his feelings instead of actually feeling them was the best way to fool any therapist into thinking he was well adjusted, it would be good enough for him right now.
So yes he really wants to keep in touch with Conner (still weird to call him that) especially after Conner had told him he wanted to.

The problem with revealing his identity was just the fact that Conner would no doubt research him, Tim knew his curiosity well enough by now. Tim could respect some light stalking that wasn’t the issue, the issue would come after the stalking.

He is sure that Conner will be disgusted by what he finds.

←♦→

Conner gets woken up about an hour before they’re set to leave, Tim explained that the handover was scheduled for midday as a show of good will to Superman since sunlight makes the use of kryptonite less effective.

“Am I banned from Gotham after this?” There’s no real reason behind the question Conner just can’t stand the silence.

“You were banned from Gotham before this too, you just never bothered to ask.”

Yup that tracks.

“Would dating you get me unbanned?” flirting always works when things get awkward worst case scenario is the other person just leaves.
Tim glares at him from his spot in the floor he’d refused to sit on Conner’s bed for some reason, Conner thinks he should try modeling for paintings if he can remain unmoving for that long.
By that long Conner means the thirty seconds it takes him to answer.

“I don’t waste mental capacity on things that’ll never happen.” He looks away.

“Ouch, and here I thought I was growing on you,” irony is always the best way to hide disappointment, “didn’t think you found me that repulsive.”

Tim shakes his head, he still won’t look at Conner, “I don’t, you wouldn’t be the problem.”

Isn’t that quite the interesting development, Conner is just about to solve the hell out of Tim’s apparent self worth issues when Tim suddenly stands up.
“We should leave, Batman is very punctual.” He’s out the door before Conner even registers what happened.

Stumbling after him (he’d gotten used to not flying the past weeks) Conner complains loudly: “Aw come on we where having a moment, talking about feelings is important!”

“Feelings are a hindrance to rationality, I don’t need them to fight crime.” Tim surprises Conner by actually responding.

There is way too much to unpack in that sentence and too little time, by the time Conner looks up Tim is already in the air, waiting for him.
It’s the first time Conner actually sees him fly, the sight leaving him breathless. Tim’s wings seem partially transparent against the sun, making them softly light up, a thousand glowing feathers shifting against each other to frame the most beautiful person Conner will ever lay eyes on, he should be used to how pretty Tim is but he isn’t, he never will be.

He is so screwed if Tim could at least have an off putting personality all would be great but no, he may be incredibly strange, despite or maybe more so because of that he’s also incredibly endearing, he clearly cares a lot, he’s just somehow someone Conner likes to a degree he had never thought himself capable of.

“Are you okay?” oh right staring openly isn’t socially acceptable and he has somewhere to be.
Instead of responding Conner takes off to follow Tim into the sky, very blue for Gotham standards if he may say so, just like Tim’s eyes, god is he screwed.

Conner gives up on doing conversation CPR in favor of sinking into self pity for how much of a loser he has to be to be this infatuated with someone who lives in a city he can’t even visit.
Tim seems deep in his own world, they fly in comfortable silence.

The handover is a lot less spectacular than Conner expected, he gets handed over to a very disappointed Superman with the Bats looming ominously in the background.
“We will talk about this in Metropolis.” Clark tells him and they turn around to take off.
There’s a light tap on Conner’s shoulder, Red Robin, Tim looks up at him.

Conner isn’t sure what he want’s so he blurts out the first thing he thinks of: “I still owe you a piercing.”

The small smile taking up residence on Tim’s lips is reward enough, “So you trust me now?”

“Sure, what about you?”

Tim tilts his head again before responding: “Jury’s still debating.”
Conner gets the feeling he is lying.

“Goodbye, Superboy.”
“Goodbye, Red Robin.”

And then he sees Gotham fade away beneath him, slowly fading away into the familiarity of his city’s cold Skyscrapers, the glass reflections seem too bright for him now.

He doesn’t really listen to the lecture he receives from Superman, something about not stressing the relationship between Gotham and Metropolis and how stupid he is.

Of course Clark manages to make it sound less mean but whatever.
The biggest surprise comes once he gets to his room only to find Lex Luthor waiting for him. He really doesn’t know what to expect but getting pulled into a stiff hug by the man sure wasn’t it.

He looks rougher than Conner remembers him, usually very concerned about his image. Even his voice sounds strangely unsure, “I have done some reflecting over the past weeks, I now realize that I may not have shown to you how much I actually care about you, Conner. I thought you would be best off on your own if I gave you enough opportunities to learn from other people, but losing you made me have to confront some things.”
He takes a pause to release Conner from the hug, inviting him to sit down next to him.

“I just wanted to ask how you’re doing.”

Conner is confused first and foremost, in the three years since his release from the tube Lex had been about as active in his life as a math teacher, sure Conner saw him every day but apart from occasionally getting praised for academic achievements they didn’t really have a parental relationship, until this very moment Conner hadn’t even known it to be something he wanted.

“I’m okay, just a bit tired, the Bats are pretty nice, I assume Superman has filled you in on what happened?” Conner gets ready for lecture number two.

“He did, you should know that my opinion of you remains quite high, trespassing isn’t something I condemn.”
No lecture it seems, that’s great.

Lex excuses himself with a very awkward pat on Conner’s shoulder and a promise to eat breakfast together the coming morning.

Guess he has an actual father now, he should probably tell someone but the only person he can think of is probably out punching bad guys in Gotham.
Speaking of: Conner boots up his laptop and types in Tim’s name, expecting to maybe find an Instagram account or a yearbook picture, he doesn’t.

Attached to about ten different articles he sees pictures of Tim, but not his current self the pictures show a boy looking no older than a preteen.
The first article reads: Millionaire heir dead at twelve, the shocking story revealing tragedy in Gotham’s elite.

The words won’t wrap themselves around Conner’s head, he keeps digging until he finds the actual police report stating the murder of the Drake family, going over how Tim’s mother had died on scene while her son and husband passed away in the hospital a day later. To his horror there are autopsy pictures attached, he recognizes Tim but he can’t bring the strong vigilante and the frail dead child together in his mind.

He’s still staring he can’t tear his eyes away, can’t make sense of what he’s seeing.

Tim Drake is dead.