Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s been years.

I don’t know you anymore.

(Did I ever?)

Years, and yet the distance between Tim and the rest of the family has only grown; the same path more worn yet winding in circles, stretching on forever but getting nowhere.

Tim never let himself become disillusioned with hopes of becoming something more than what they were (of becoming something akin to family). But at the very least, he thought they’d be able to walk alongside each other for longer, perhaps until something forced them apart.

Silly, isn’t it?

How foolish was Tim, to believe he’d be let in, even for a moment? They weren’t friends. Acquaintances, business partners, maybe. Boss and subordinate. That’s what they were. That’s all they were.

But it still hurt. (It hurt knowing that, maybe, if he’d been even a little more brave, a little less selfish, they might’ve still been there together.) Short, clipped words. Stilted sentences polite and forced. Strangers so familiar that, for a second, Tim could almost fool himself. But it was painfully clear.

“You don’t need me anymore.” (Did they ever really?)

This was goodbye, for good.

And as they part for the final time, Tim thinks, though they are not friends and despite the anger he has towards them, he will miss them. He will forever hold them fondly in his heart.

I hope you’ll be happy.

“Have a good life,” he whispers to no one, hoping the universe will hear it for them.

So he leaves, now-strangers going in opposite ways, walking different paths, never to meet again.

~

He’d been investigating a new gang for a while. And they weren’t Gothamites, that was for sure. Anyone with a shred of common sense would know not to mess with kids so close to Hood's territory and with so few people and resources. Not only have they been stealing shipments of tech, they’ve somehow managed to impersonate some of Hood’s and Black Mask’s men. Not to mention the few missing kids for what appears to be human experimentation. Yeah, it’s not looking good for these guys. And since they’d had to start from scratch here, it made it easier to retrace their steps and find out who they were.

Right now he was on a stakeout, watching them move around inside, trying to figure out what they’re doing. He’d gone in before to inspect their admittedly impressive equipment, but didn’t have much time to learn what it was. From what he was able to glean, however, it didn’t look good. Some sort of particle accelerator among other things, along with what can only be described as a large glass and metal tube. Yeah, no. Again, not looking good, except this time for anyone. 

They did well in choosing an abandoned building without windows or skylights, but their security sucked. No cameras, a few easy-to-bypass guards, and hackable technology. Although to be fair, it would be hard for anyone other than the Bats to hack. And less guards means a better chance of going by unnoticed. Too bad Tim found them anyway. What he wasn’t able to find were the unwilling test subjects, despite there being evidence of at least four separate people having been kept there, which… he really didn’t like the obvious implications.

Unfortunately, they never left behind any useful information on the technology permanently stationed there, always wiping anything that could help Tim figure this out. So he easily planted bugs everywhere and was currently listening to some goons chatting away, waiting until someone revealed anything as to what this was for. Little by little, he was able to collect information to piece together their plan, and it was, yet again, not looking good. If Tim was right, they were trying to develop a method of transportation between two universes, and somehow, they’d already made contact with it before, only on accident. Part of the work was technically already done but from the other side, so now all that was left was finding out a way to send people over there. Now, Tim hoped he got something wrong because it was heavily implied at some point that someone from that universe was actively helping these people, but he couldn’t find out why. What was the goal?

Liam and Gabriel were the faces of the operation, but Emilia was the mastermind behind it all. She’d covered her own tracks pretty well, but not well enough to hide from Tim.

Muffled screaming broke him from his thoughts and he saw a kid, fully restrained, being dragged in towards the machine tube in the center. Okay, well, if ever there was a time to intervene, now was one of them. Tim dove down, swiftly making his way towards an old trash chute hidden in the narrow alley between the building he’d been on the rooftop of and the one he needed to get into. He’d left it just a tiny bit open for this exact purpose.

A wail pierced through the building for a second before being abruptly cut off, but a quick glance at his wristcomputer showed the kid was still there, but was greatly resisting being shoved into the tube. Almost there, just a little longer, please.

Bursting into the room, he took advantage of the element of surprise and blended into the shadows to throw birdarangs at the two men attempting to push the kid in, catching them in the legs and consequently pinning them down to the floor as they fell, as well as taking out the monitor Emilia was standing in front of. Taking out his staff and a smoke bomb pellet, he finally reached the kid, knocked out the people closest to them, threw the pellet on the floor and simultaneously switched his staff for the grapple, scooping the kid up and towards the exit. Now that he could get a good look at them, he realized this was one of the missing kids he’d found out about, Valeria, a meta, just like the rest of the kids they’d grabbed. In the chaos that followed, however, someone had managed to turn on the machine with the tube wide open, causing a loud fizzle of electricity and a steady low light to emit from it. Everyone froze, including Tim, and maybe having gone more than 48 hours without true sleep wasn’t the best thing he’d done recently because, somehow, Liam threw himself at him in that split second of inattention. Really, what a rookie mistake.

In that same second, Gabriel grabbed Valeria into a fireman's carry and she screamed until he managed to shove her into the machine, at which point her scream abruptly cut off. Tim had only grappled with Liam for a few seconds before knocking him out, but that was all it took for Valeria to be gone. The machine seemed to be malfunctioning, sparks falling from where Tim’s birdarangs had embedded themselves, but it was still going. Emilia had a huge grin on her face, so engrossed in another monitor that was barely still working that she didn’t notice Tim coming at her with the staff until he knocked her down and pointed it at her.

“What did you do to her?” He demanded, voice cold steel. This time, he didn’t let Gabriel sneak up on him and whirled around to kick him square in the chest before turning back to Emilia, snarling down at her as she only looked up with pure joy on her face. “What did you do to her?”

Emilia only laughed and whispered, “I did it, it finally worked!” awe evident in her voice.

“Did what?” Tim hissed.

From the floor, Gabriel chuckled, a low, breathy sound. Tim turned his head to look at him, anger growing. “What did you do?”

“It’s not like anyone’s gonna miss her, and you’ll never find her anyway,” he drawled out.

It was only a second, but that distraction had cost another kid’s life.

If only I’d been focusing, if I was just one second faster-

The machine once again caught their attention as it started buzzing louder, the glass tube shattering and the light got brighter, louder, bigger, and Emilia’s eyes grew bigger with them. “No!” She scrambled backwards, crying out over the apparent soon-to-be destruction of her life’s work. “No no no! I can’t start from scratch again!!”

Liam was still unconscious on the floor. Gabriel was slowly, shakily standing up and used the railings surrounding the tube for support. And Tim? Tim saw red. He didn't care anymore.

He threw his staff as hard as he could at Emilia as she tried to rush out with a laptop in hand, and she immediately crumpled to the floor. She’d almost made it to the exit. Gabriel was staring with his jaw wide open, frozen in the perfect position. Seeing that the machine was about to blow, Tim made up his mind.

“Neither of us will be missed.” A manic smile grew on Tim’s face as he pounced, sprinting at him and suddenly, they were both freefalling as Tim tackled Gabriel directly into the machine, laughing like they weren’t about to die. The man’s screaming grew exponentially louder as they neared the ground, and Tim’s laughter died down into something softer, more reserved. His lips twisted up once more, gently this time, and he could think of nothing but the immense relief he felt. Ha, guess I’ll really only sleep when I’m dead.

Moments before he hit the ground, he closed his eyes and sighed, preparing to meet the end. But then, he felt a strange pull and he was floating, weightless for a second before falling again until he actually hit the ground this time with a small oomph.

He lay there, boneless and with his eyes closed for just a bit longer, wondering why he was still alive. Reluctantly, he self-assessed until he had to force himself to open his eyes once he was sure he was unharmed and without much choice at the moment.

Only to find a strange man in all black standing a small distance away, staring at Tim intently, and only at Tim, because Gabriel was gone.

Chapter Text

Jason was the first to find out about Tim, oddly enough. It started out as just a rumor. In fact, he would’ve dismissed it if it wasn't for the deeply strange feeling he got at that moment. And really, he’d already been feeling off for a few days at that point, having only recently returned to Gotham again. So he investigated.

And maybe it was selfish, that the first thing he thought when he found out Tim was gone was that he never got to apologize to him. That the guilt he lived with would only grow, knowing he had been part of the reason Tim was dead.

He knew there was no excuse for what he had done, and no matter what he did, he knew he couldn’t take it back. Not any of the scars on Tim’s body or mind, the permanent trauma he’d left in the boy. Because that’s all he was, wasn’t he? He was just a boy caught up in Jason’s revenge, who didn’t deserve any of his anger. And yet he’d known this from the start, really. He just… hadn’t cared. And wasn’t that a real mindfuck? Jason hadn’t cared. He knew that his problem was with Bruce, and that it wasn’t Tim’s fault he died, or that Bruce didn’t care enough about Jason to not only let the Joker live, but to bring him back to life (although he’s accepted it now, and even knows Bruce had actually wanted to let the bastard die, but was scared of what might happen), but he still let his misplaced anger take control of him. Instead of talking to the kid, he let his stupid insecure jealousy run wild and attack like a mindless animal. And for what? To prove a point to Bruce? To prove he was better than this shiny new rich kid pretending to be Robin?

It didn’t matter that Tim continued to goad him on and poke at his insecurities, that he purposely riled Jason up, because Jason chose to attack him in the first place. He’d planned it, even if he did end up taking it a bit further than intended.

Really, what a joke. Jason didn’t pretend to be a hero, but he hated that he was such a hypocrite. He hadn’t killed Tim, but only barely.

And now Tim was dead anyway.

Tim chose to die, with a resigned smile on his face the way Jason had.

And didn’t that hurt? To see the look in his eyes as he died, so at peace.

After connecting the partially exploded building to Tim, it wasn’t hard to find a few bugs in the building, and the ones that were still intact had captured that moment so well, but failed to show what happened after. The ground-level camera in the alley outside was old, broken, and unable to provide footage. None of the salvaged footage from inside recorded anything past the explosion. Though perhaps that was for the best. Jason wasn’t sure if he’d want to watch it at the moment anyway.

He looked up for the first time since sitting down in front of his laptop to find it was almost noon, going by the sun in the sky. And his alarm clock. He didn’t even notice when it became light out, so engrossed in finding out what happened to Tim. He also couldn’t find it in himself to care for sleep. Sure, he’d taken lives before, but most of them felt justified, or at least not without reason. This? This was completely unfair.

And sure, life was hardly ever fair, he of all people knew that. But the kid had been dealt so many terrible cards recently that it really looked like life had just decided to go “Haha, fuck you” whenever possible. Not like Jason was spared either, but that just made it feel worse. They were painfully similar in that way.

Were.

Another dead Robin?

Jason leaned back from his hunched-over-in-front-of-a-laptop position and sighed, slumping down on his couch.

What now? Should he call Dick? Bruce? He didn’t know if they already knew and just decided it wasn’t something enough to tell Jason. After all, it wasn’t like they got along very well yet.

Cass might be a good start. She’d want to know, if she didn’t already, even if the news came from Jason.

But when he calls her there’s a dead silence at the news and she struggles to form her next words, something that hadn’t happened in a while.

“Tim… gone…”

And her voice may be steady, but he could hear the heartbroken grief for the brother she’d lost in those two quiet words.

“…Thank you.” And then she hung up.

And now Jason knew he needed to tell Dick. Because there was no way in hell they already knew and decided not to tell Cass, especially not if Babs knew.

So he took a deep breath and steeled himself for what was probably about to be a grueling conversation with Dick for the first time in a few months. This was going to be a very long day.

~

Tim looked around frantically now, internally freaking out a bit while still keeping the man within his line of sight. He was also lightheaded, dizzy, and felt a headache was starting to form, which wasn't helping. He didn’t know what happened, because while they were now in an alley, it was not one he’d been near before.

In fact, nothing about this alley was familiar to him. At all. Even the sky was clear and the stars were shining. But the man did not move from his spot and didn’t appear hostile, just cautious.

“Who are you?” The man asked. In Japanese.

Huh, guess that answers one question.

Unfortunately, Tim was not fluent in Japanese. This was going to be a problem, unless the man happened to speak English.

“I am Red Robin. Do you speak English?” He asked in stilted Japanese. Most of what he knew were simple phrases and words related to hero work.

The man shook his head and answered, “Very little,” in English. “Wait.” He used his comm to speak lowly to someone, and then stood silent again.

Okay, so it seemed this man was also a hero. Hopefully Tim wasn’t misjudging anything. Also, Gabriel was still missing, and Tim had no idea where he could’ve gone. It didn’t feel like he fell unconscious, but how did Gabriel escape? Did he land somewhere else? Was he even in the same universe as Tim? Is this why he said he’d never find Valeria? And how did the explosion not kill them? Did something else save them? Was it even an explosion at all, or a burst of energy from the portal?

Tim abruptly broke out of his thoughts, wary as the man approached him slowly. Noticing his sudden alertness, the man raised both hands up as a sign of peace. “My friend speaks English… the station… detective… help you.”

Tim nodded, having caught enough of what he said to get the gist of what was about to happen. It seemed that this man really was some sort of hero. And now he had to follow him to a police station. So he did.

Once there, they searched him, which he hated even if he knew it was coming. Not only was it a huge hassle, what with there being hidden traps built into his suit, he always hated having his things taken away. He felt oddly naked without them. They put him into a holding cell after an awkwardly long silence at the sheer amount of gadgets on him, which, sure, it kinda looked ridiculous after the 20th hidden compartment tool or weapon, but hey, Tim never knew when he might need them. And usually it did actually help to be overprepared, so sue him if he carries around a lot of things. Anyway, now he only had to wait. So he did. So far it was very boring. But Tim hadn’t survived so long in the League of Assassins for nothing. He had lots of discipline. And spite. Mostly spite. He could wait without antagonizing anyone when they’d not even shown any real hostility. The real problem was that he was exhausted. And sure, he was used to running on low energy and maximizing all he had, but he really hadn’t expected to be awake this long. He hadn’t expected to be alive this long. But it was fine, he was fine. He wasn’t even grievously injured. And now… now he had a mission. He did at least want to die on his own terms, close to home. Maybe no one would bury him, but Gotham would always be there for him. Gotham would hold him close and wrap him in her cool embrace and never let go. So he would not let sleep take him until he found somewhere relatively secure to bunker down and pass out in for at least 20 hours.

Chapter Text

Needless to say, he was not happy when he realized he’d dozed off at some point when someone finally came into the room, which was what snapped him awake. He was immensely grateful they’d allowed him to keep his domino on. Small mercies. He straightened and opened his eyes to three men standing around him. One of them was the same one from before, the presumed hero with the floating scarf thing. Another man was blonde, his long hair sticking up unnaturally. Huh. He had a leather jacket and a friendly demeanor, giving Tim a little wave and grin when he noticed Tim was alert. He reminds me of-

And then there was the person now standing directly in front of Tim, holding keys out towards the cuffs they’d put him in since he got to the station. (Apparently, he was considered a “flight risk” even though it seemed the man who’d brought him here was against it.) This guy definitely worked here, if his clothes that practically screamed “detective!!” were anything to go by. Seriously, he could not have been more obviously stereotypical. Well, maybe if he had a pipe and deerstalker…

The blonde man that looked like- the blonde man spoke up first in English, “Hey little listener! I’m Hizashi, and my friends here are Aizawa and Naomasa. We’re just curious about what happened before you got to the alley where my friend found you earlier! Think you could tell us something?”

Okay, he probably wasn’t trying to be patronizing on purpose, so just be straight to the point. The quicker they could figure this out the better. That little nap helped, but Tim could recognize he had a shorter temper when exhausted. He took a grounding breath. “It’s either teleportation or interdimensional travel, but prior evidence points more towards an alternate dimension. Someone built a portal and I found them trying to test it on metahuman kids. I’m not sure why yet, but it seems like they had help from someone here, in this universe.”

The man blinked, staring at Tim. “…Well, of all things I definitely wasn’t expecting that. Are metahumans people with quirks?”

What? “People with supernatural abilities,” Tim shrugged, and the man nodded and turned to translate for the other two in the room.

Okay, so either they’ve had limited or no prior contact with alternate universes, or they don’t quite believe him yet, going by what Tim could observe so far. Which was strange, actually. On the way here, he found there to be a much higher concentration of metas, especially ones with visible or physical differences. He thought of time travel as well, but his recon of the lab plus Emilia’s joyful reaction suggested it was, in fact, an alternate dimension. Either way, one would think their technology would be more advanced in a world more prone to hero shenanigans than his own. Though maybe it is more advanced, and they’ve therefore had less time for what was thought of as theoretical stuff like teleportation and time travel.

Either way, that Naomasa guy said something about truth and “no lying” after both men turned to look at him (Huh. Maybe he was trained in lie detection), but somehow it didn’t seem like he believed Tim anyway. After the first three minutes of discussion, Tim started getting truly annoyed again. Look, he understood that he was quite small for his age and looked young, and that if they hadn’t had much knowledge on the multiverse yet it might seem strange or hard to believe, and that they also kinda had no reason to trust a random kid at all actually, but Tim was tired. He wanted to leave. He didn’t want to start picking fights with anyone here, but god it was hard to stay quiet, compliant, and cooperative right now. Of course he had to figure out where he was, how to get back quickly, and where the others may have landed, but he genuinely actually definitely really needed sleep. Preferably yesterday.

But Tim was a professional, and he refused to let his control slip so badly again, not if he had anything to say about it. So he got to doing what he was best at: planning. Even sleep deprived and exhausted as he was, he could make some semblance of a plan. It was already stupid enough of him to just go with the first person that found him, even if Tim didn’t think the man was lying to him about helping. Actually, that was the problem—Tim didn’t think when he followed the man so easily. But look, it didn’t seem like that terrible an idea at the moment… After all, that’s probably what someone from his world would’ve done when encountering strange, unknown, and seemingly disoriented teenaged vigilantes who don’t speak the same language as them. (Although more than likely they’d go to the JL first. But maybe they didn’t have one of those here?) The man didn’t appear to have any bad intentions either, he just seemed a bit cautious, as anyone would be. But Tim of all people knows that appearances are often deceiving, so yeah, he’s kinda regretting trusting his (probably messed up) gut.

What would Bruce do in this situation? Well, protocol says to first secure shelter and access to basic needs, find out if a Justice League exists that isn’t evil, and make sure no one catches on unless you want them to. He would never have gone willingly with anyone without knowing everything—or anything at all, actually—about them. But Bruce was a paranoid bastard. He could shove it. Then again, he’s usually (annoyingly) right about these things… After all, it’s not paranoia if you’re right.

Okay, so it’s not looking very good for Tim already, but what would Dick do? He’d probably also do some research before throwing himself at the first hero-looking people he sees to ask for help. Actually, Normal Tim wouldn't have done that either. What was he thinking? Oh right, it's already been established that he wasn’t. But come on, cut him some slack, he really wasn’t doing well right after the jump. It was his first time ever experiencing the whole dimension hopping thing for himself! How was he supposed to know his judgement could be so compromised by some stupid post-dimensional-travel disorientation and severe lack of sleep, of all things? …Don’t answer that.

So he’d messed up. But so far it didn’t seem like these people were evil or anything! Then again, they wouldn’t exactly be broadcasting that to him… Fine, he was probably sorta maybe screwed. They knew what he looked like, could plausibly use an “insanity” excuse to lock him up indefinitely, and they had most of his weapons. Yes, most. In the midst of everything that had happened, habit had allowed him to keep a few small things hidden. It was easy to play up the embarrassed and flustered young hero with a sheepish apologetic smile and a ducked head anyway, what with it not being completely faked. The best lies are ones based in truth, after all.

What now? Does he escape as soon as he’s left alone and unmonitored? Does he wait until they take him outside? Fuck, he already let them bring him to a secondary location, but he could try during the move to another one. Does he try to gain their trust and make them underestimate him as much as possible until he sees a chance? He can’t just go along with them, can he? He’s not lucky enough for it to be that easy. Well, he’s already here, and he’s still so tired. Maybe he can wait until they let him sleep? But it would be much easier for them to transport him to another location if he does drop his guard that much… It would even be ideal for anyone looking to capture or restrain him without the struggle. Gods, why did he have to be so stupid? He lived in Gotham, where the police are known to be corrupt!

The men had stepped outside to discuss after a briefly heated moment, though they had likely only gone to stand in front of the one-way mirror, as he didn’t hear their voices get any farther away before the door fully shut. He almost jumped when the door opened again, holding himself very still now. It was Hizashi. His smile was now a bit strained, but he kept his posture open and his overall demeanor friendly and nonthreatening.

“Hey! So my friends and I just need a little more information before we can reach any one conclusion or decision. We do believe you! This is just a bit of a complicated situation, and we’re not sure how to continue from here.”

Tim glanced at the mirror for a moment, then focused back on Hizashi. “So… what agreement did you guys reach? It didn’t look like the detective guy believed me.”

“Yeah, Naomasa knows you weren’t lying, but he just hasn’t ever encountered anything like this before. Actually, none of us have, but we’re trying our best here. We’ve already contacted some people to come and help.”

Oh great. More people who’ll know of me. But also a confirmation that they were new to alternate universes. And the oddly specific phrasing also confirms Naomasa is not only highly trusted, but can reliably tell when someone is lying, enough to just take his judgment as fact. Either they are fools to so easily let one person determine truths from lies, or the man is a meta. Gods, Tim hopes it isn’t another mindreader. Or maybe he’s like Superman?

“But while we wait for them, we wanted to try to get to know you and your situation a bit better, and we’ll try to let you get to know us a bit too, so you can feel more comfortable while you’re here. First of all, what’s your name?”

Not happening. Okay, damage control, try to get them to let their guard down, feed them only relevant information. “I’m Red Robin. I already said that to your friend Aizawa when we met.”

“Oh, we meant your name outside the costume. Knowing your name could help us find any relatives or get started on any potentially important documentation, such as passports if needed.”

“Alvin Draper.”

“O…kay. Cool name.”

“Thanks.” I can feel your judgment from here.

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen.” He was basically eighteen anyway, only a year off, but of course, now was when the man chose to look at him with poorly disguised incredulity. Come on! He doesn’t look that young!

Hizashi obviously didn’t believe him but chose to move on. Whatever. “I’m assuming from your accent that you’re American?”

“Yes.”

“What made you come here?”

“It wasn’t exactly my choice, I was in America right before this whole thing happened, and then I just woke up here in Japan.”

“So both our worlds have a United States and a Japan, and for some reason the portal also brought you here instead of somewhere closer to where you were originally?” He seemed genuinely confused rather than trying to poke holes at his story, so Tim decided to try to give him a genuine answer.

“It’s possible that there was no reason for why I landed here specifically. Though most Earths we know of do have similar geographies, it could be that the destination was completely random, as it seemed these people were still in the experimental stage of development for the portal, however, it is more likely that the coordinates were intentionally set to somewhere here or otherwise closeby, but not fine tuned the way they wanted them to be. From the way it all happened, it's possible that this time, the machine was malfunctioning in addition to whatever imperfections were present beforehand. After all, they had been testing it on unwilling subjects, but they were also human subjects with a shared trait, suggesting they wanted the subjects to go through and likely survive. Or at least have their bodies travel successfully.

“What I don’t know is why Gabriel and I landed in different places if we both went through at the same time while also touching. Though maybe our proximity didn’t matter because, hey, I’m still in one piece, so it didn’t rearrange my atoms with his or anything. It is possible that, because of the malfunctioning, we landed in completely different universes, and that this one is not the intended destination either. Or maybe he did land here, just somewhere I couldn’t see him. Or maybe only I made it through, though it would make more sense if he did instead, since he was closer, but then again, sometimes things like time or interdimensional travel don’t make sense…”

At the sound of Hizashi's throat clearing, Tim was pulled from his thoughts as he abruptly remembered he had an audience. The man seemed shocked more than anything. Confused and a little overwhelmed, but also a bit amused. Probably at witnessing Tim lose himself in a ramble. After all, he probably wasn't expecting such a long and practical (yet still only theoretical) answer to his question. Damn. Tim’s really tired.

“So… you don’t know why you’re here?”

“No idea.” Tim gave a sheepish grin and shyly lowered his gaze. “Sorry, I tend to ramble a lot. Especially when anyone shows any sort of interest.” Okay, laying it on a bit thick, but Hizashi’s eyes soften so Tim takes that as a win for his act.

“You don’t have to worry about that, little listener. It was very informative! I do have to ask though, who’s Gabriel?”

“One of the people who built the machine. Oh. Yeah, I should probably give you a rundown of what happened before this, huh? And maybe a description of the people behind it, too.”

“That would be greatly appreciated!” He said with a big smile.

If you were to ask Tim how he managed to survive through another whole hour of questioning, he’d tell you he didn’t know. In fact, he literally didn’t know. He kinda started going on autopilot during it. Good thing he was used to lying to Batman. He vaguely remembered the other guys coming back in, but at some point he checked back in to the one who found him, Aizawa, having taken the lead (with Hizashi translating). He reminded Tim of Bruce, if a little more lax. And damn, he thought his own eyebags were bad.

Anyway, Aizawa instead took a different route. He started asking Tim about his hobbies, his family, his personal life, his story. Apparently he said one too many slightly concerning things throughout the interrogation. Whoops.

It felt a little less… formal, during this portion of the questioning, which was likely intentional on Aizawa’s part. It seemed like they wanted him to relax and drop his guard, but just to help him feel more comfortable rather than to get him to spill intel. Aizawa even began telling him about his own work as not only a hero, but as a teacher, apparently. He revealed that he worked at a hero school called UA (a hero school????). He even introduced the idea of getting Tim settled in there as an option for his temporary stay here until they could send him home. Really, it was very sweet of him. This stoic, stern man just deciding to help him… Again, he was achingly reminded of Bruce.

But no matter how much he missed Bruce or his stilted attempts at communication and mentor-ing, he had to force himself to forget about it, to focus on the people in front of him right now, and to work to get home. And also to pay attention. Man, he was getting more and more annoyed by the minute, even if it touched him to see a stranger so clearly and sincerely worried for his wellbeing. He just wanted this to be over already, and to find someplace to sleep.

“Why did you become a hero?”

Oh, wow. They were moving into the deeply personal, philosophical part of this now. Tim was so tired. “Because I had to. I couldn’t just sit there and watch when I was the only one who could do something to help.”

“Do you… want to be a hero?”

Okay, how should he go about this? “...I can’t imagine doing anything else.” A half truth. Misleading in that he comes off as sounding stuck, maybe even forced into this life. As much as he hates being pitied, it will be to his advantage here. To be underestimated is to have the upper hand. So at least he has that going for him. Now how else could he seem as small and pathetic as possible without coming off as incompetent?...

It went on for a bit, some probing back and forth that Aizawa (and Tim, unbeknownst to Aizawa) allowed for the sake of getting answers more easily in return. It was odd to have Hizashi be so quiet despite being the translator. His loud appearance somehow blended into the background in what could only be intentional on his part. But he let Aizawa work, at ease and trusting him to do what he had to. Despite barely interacting directly, Tim could tell they were close, likely years of working together and probably more beyond that.

(Maybe that’s what it would’ve been like, for him and Kon, at some point in some distant future. Maybe if Kon was still here, that’s what they would’ve looked like to outsiders already. Maybe-)

“Look, I know your real name isn’t Alvin. I also know you lied about your age. I understand we’ve been asking a lot of questions about your world, and your life, and we’ve been trying to get information to help you as best we can but that it’s still invasive; I know that you might not feel safe here yet, but we do really hope you’ll cooperate with us. We’re not gonna pry it out of you or anything, but do you think you could tell us the truth at some point?” This was the first time Naomasa had spoken up since he'd come back in.

Okay, damn. So evidence was pointing more towards human lie detector Naomasa. Instead of answering, though, he chose to shrink in on himself, looking away with slightly wide eyes.

Aizawa sighed, looking about as tired as Tim felt. “I get that this is a stressful situation for you as well, and you don’t feel safe enough to trust us with that yet. That’s fine.” A pause. “Actually, I don’t think anyone has asked you this yet, but Alvin, what do you want right now?”

“I want to sleep,” he answered immediately, a little too deadpan. Okay, he probably should have thought that out a bit more, stuck to his innocent kid act, but damn if he wasn’t ready to just pass out.

Aizawa and Hizashi both blinked at him, visibly taken aback. Aizawa seemed to have understood without the need for a translation. Then Hizashi let out a startled laugh and Aizawa’s lips twitched in what was probably a smile for him until Hizashi turned to him and went, “He’s just like you!” (which Tim understood the sentiment of without necessarily knowing the meaning of all the words) and Aizawa scowled at him.

“Sorry…” Tim winced, trying to save the act.

Clearing his throat, Aizawa turned back to Tim and his eyes softened again (as they had been throughout the questioning), “Don’t worry about it. Now, we should probably go discuss the next steps with our colleagues, since all that’s left is the legal aspect of things.”

So finally, finally, he was alone. And they were now going to focus on figuring out his living situation until they could send him home. It was going to be right after collecting fingerprints and DNA. (Haha, no.) They had expressed reluctance to put him into any emergency foster care or group homes, not only because of his lack of legal identity and the language barrier, but because of the whole vigilante-from-an-alternate-dimension thing. Then there was a weird question about quirks. (“What’s your quirk? We figured so far that it’s probably an intelligence quirk, but we wanted to ask you.” That word again? “…Yes.”) He figured it was most likely just the word they used for meta abilities here, but since it was a word that meant “a peculiar behavioral habit” he was also a little bit confused. Anyway, on to the escape!

He’d immediately clocked the vents. A classic. A Robin special, really. Sometimes being small wasn’t that bad. There was no way in hell he was gonna let them take his prints and DNA. Absolutely not. His disguises sorta relied on it, after all.

So yeah, though it felt bad to leave so abruptly knowing at least Aizawa and Hizashi genuinely wanted to help him, he couldn’t trust an entire organization. It especially hurt since he was leaving so many of his things behind, he’d have to for now. Unless he could find them on his way out? Police stations here shouldn’t be too different from the ones back home… right?

Sadly, he could not use his wristcomputer, so he had to settle for stealth the old fashioned way, and he was very aware of the narrow time limit. Still, he somehow actually did manage to find his stuff! Most of it, anyway. It was all organized into differently sized containers and envelopes, but everything was labelled in Japanese. He quickly rummaged through the nearest things, stuffing everything he could into his pockets, pouches, and the small recon pack he’d had on him and found again in a container bin. Most of his equipment was fine, and nothing was externally damaged, but it seemed like a lot of his tech was offline, and his wristcomputer wasn't turning on. Dang it.

He didn’t know how much time he had left, but probably not much. As soon as he was satisfied with his quick recount of the stuff he’d brought with him, he scurried back into the vent he came from and navigated his way out. Usually, he’d have a map or someone to guide him out, but vents weren’t usually the most complicated of mazes, so with his experience he managed to make it out only just after he started hearing a commotion about what he was pretty sure was his (finally noticed) escape.

Okay. So. Not ideal, but better than having been caught while trapped inside. Still, he actually didn’t have a plan. He knew absolutely nothing about this place, what was in the area, how far the police’s reach would go, or who would get involved in the search for him. They mentioned a hero committee, and from what he’d learned, being a hero was an actual profession here, meaning they would probably have more than enough manpower, time, and resources to try and track him down if they really wanted to.

Even if he left absolutely no leads to trace back to him, they would probably not end that search anytime soon.

He scanned for security cameras as he stealthily made his way around hiding in corners, taking cover in the shadows. He was immensely thankful it was still nighttime; any advantage was greatly appreciated at the moment. Now to figure out a temporary base…

He could do it, but he’d rather avoid being out in the open to hide in plain sight. With a roof over his head he didn’t have to get rained on while he slept, and he’d feel safer from people finding him.

What would be better: an abandoned building, some hidden alley, or the sewers?

He really didn’t have much (or any) time to go looking around, so he might have to go with the sewers for now… Unless things are very different here, no one would be expecting him to go there, and there shouldn’t be as much security or technology that he’d have to bypass. Not only that, but he’d be relatively safe hiding out there, not needing to constantly be wary of someone finding him and trapping him in. After all, they could technically still send search dogs down there, but it would be much more of a hassle overall. This was his best bet, even with the slim chance that he’d encounter anyone (or anything) else there. The only thing was that, with having to live there, the lack of access to good hygiene was going to be a pain, not just for his own comfort, but for blending in when he did need to go out. Walking around smelling like the sewers really wasn’t gonna help him go unnoticed. But he could probably work around it, at least until he could find a better place to stay, or some more permanent temporary solution. After all, public bathhouses shouldn’t be hard to find, though it would expose him more than he was comfortable with… Then again, he could probably sneak into a gym to shower, or maybe even find a beach with showers if he was near one.

Mind fully made up, he found a fairly hidden manhole cover, put on his respirator, and slipped inside. Staying underground (ha) was gonna be tricky, because now he had no access to really any resources until he went back out, but he had no way of knowing if it was safe to leave. Right now, however, it would probably be best to wait until morning, when the commotion died down just a bit.

With limited resources, the best thing he could do was make himself as different from his current appearance as possible. It might not be a bad idea to go all-out and crossdress, too (as soon as he was able to, anyway). It would definitely be harder for people to link that to him, even if they noticed the similarities. Finding any random dress or skirt and blouse and stuffing his shirt wouldn’t be too hard. He could probably get away with just styling his hair differently, maybe put them into pigtails, but he could also get a wig eventually, which would be better for a more full disguise. Brown or green contacts probably wouldn’t hurt, either. But what identity to take up? Hmm… Well, he could go with the Caroline Hill identity for now and just change up a few details, although the name would definitely draw attention. Then again, he was also white. He wouldn’t fit in no matter what name he had, and it would probably attract more attention if his name was Japanese when he so obviously wasn’t, regardless of any sort of explanations that he also didn’t want to come up with. So Caroline Hill it was.

Now with a plan in mind, he set out to find clothing in the morning. Surely it wouldn’t be too hard once he found a shopping district or area, maybe a thrift store or even a church. If he was lucky, he might find some organization that distributes food and clothing to people. He hadn’t been cataloguing his surroundings as well as he should’ve while running around trying to hide, but he swore he saw a few churches at some point. He just had to be careful not to accidentally go to any shady places or fronts for human trafficking in a world where he had no information or backup.

Alright then. Plans now clear again, he began scanning around for a spot to hunker down and hibernate in.

It took some serious looking around, but eventually he settled in an old, abandoned little storage unit deep in the tunnels. It was clearly unused and uninhabited and no one would be coming here anytime soon, and it even had the added benefit of some meager cleaning supplies. Most of these were unusable, and would probably have to be disposed of, but he could make it work. Plus, his air scanner (which miraculously still worked) told him he wouldn’t die from breathing the air here. He’d still keep his rebreather on just in case, but in the future he really wanted to find a place like an abandoned subway instead. He’d just had no time to look for one, which is why for now he settled on the sewers. Much easier and faster, which was what he’d needed.

Little sleeping nook acquired, now he could just wait it out and finally sleep. He took out a thin emergency blanket and put it down as a precaution, curled up into a little ball in the corner most hidden from the entrance and was out cold the moment he closed his eyes.