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Accidents can happen at anytime, but being part of the Bats, being one of Batman’s many proteges, meant that you were trained to the point that even accidents had prepared answers.
The line snapped above Tim, but he was already halfway through his swing, and the momentum should have carried him a bit of distance to the roof’s edge.
….And it did but the rooftop was slick with grime and rain, the tread of Tim’s boots was a little worn, and the wind was blowing a bit strong that night so the perilous house of cards that came from being a powerless vigilante collapsed and Tim slipped off the roof.
There was a shout from above where Dick had been waiting but the sound was delayed to Tim’s ears. Instead he first felt the sensation of shock and disbelief as the immediate feeling of weightlessness hit, then the panic hit as he reached for his emergency grapple.
His belt was empty.
And in the moment of numbing disbelief that he had no options to save himself from his fall, he failed to notice that he hadn’t really fallen at all. Suddenly a hand was around his wrist and Dick was hauling him back over the ledge to safety.
The rain continued around them, soft and steady, as Tim’s mind whirled with the distorted feelings that were swirling inside.
He should have hit the ground by now.
His heart thudded in his ears.
There was no way he could have pulled himself up. No way that Dick could have saved him.
But instead of being broken limbed or dead on the ground, he felt the warm arms of Dick surrounding him in a tight embrace. “You’re okay Baby-Bird. I have you. You’re okay.”
Tim was gasping for air as his mind refused to process anything. Shock he knew. But why? He hadn’t died, hadn’t even really been in danger? He felt dizzy, his head swimming as nothing made sense. He couldn’t feel the rain, and it was so cold.
“O, need an extraction. Need the car to my location.” Dick’s voice was strong, he didn’t sound upset. Was Tim hurt? Is that why the Batmobile was needed?
Tim felt himself shaking, and then a pressure swelled around him and forced him to relax. It was familiar and just slightly off.
Then darkness and dreams of a certain blue and black acrobat were all he knew.
Tim awoke on the medical cot of the Batcave some time later, though he didn’t have any immediate way of knowing how much later it was. His thoughts raced back through his memories of what happened to carefully catalouge the order of events.
He fell. He remembered the fall and then the subsequent actions clearer now in his mind. It’d happened so fast in the moment, his panic had distracted him, but when he’d slipped off the roof there were actually several odd pieces of the occurrence that didn’t add up to any reasonable explanation.
He had fallen– slipped, watched a span of air pass when he reached for his missing spare grapple, but he’d stopped falling. The feeling of weightlessness registered in his mind as a familiar sensation. Once he received on the regular when Kon would throw him about.
Then there’d been Dick. It was just the two of them on patrol, a special event that Tim always relished. When the incident occurred, Nightwing had been a good ten steps in front of him as Tim slipped, but in that moment of panic, Dick’s face had appeared over the ledge and his arm had snatched Tim’s.
He should have been too far away, Tim should have already fallen too far down, but Nightwing had done the impossible and caught him.
Well the impossible for any standard human… But Nightwing had never been standard had he?
Tim’s mind was racing now with a theory and a puzzle. He had never had reason to question Dick before but last night was irrevocable proof of some Otherness. An Otherness that Tim had a very unique experience with thanks to his best friend of many years.
As Tim slotted the pieces in his mind, the topic of the puzzle appeared before him. Bright blue eyes, concerned as they met Tim’s directly. “Tim, you’re awake. You gave me a scare.” Dick’s hands brushed back Tim’s bangs and a soft kiss was pressed his forehead.
Tim was not to be distracted from the hypothesis rapidly forming. “Dick?”
He hummed in response against Tim’s hair.
“Did you catch me?”
“Of course, Babybird. I always catch you,” strong arms wrapped around Tim as Dick nuzzled close, but Tim had a one track mind.
“How did you catch me?”
Dick finally detached and stepped back to look at Tim's face, “What does that mean?”
It was Tim’s turn to hum in thought as he tapped his chin, “Dick there was no way you should have been able to catch me.”
“But I did Timmy,” Dick smiled brightly and Tim hesitated before dropping his next thought.
“Telekensis.”
Dick froze in his petting of Tim’s hair. “What?”
“How long have you had Telekensis, Dick? And how is this how I find out?”
“Tim, you had a shock,” Dick laughed. “Nothing has changed with me. Now come on let’s get you checked over and ensure there are no other injuries.”
The moment was now so clear in Tim’s mind. He knew what he felt, knew what it was, and just didn’t know how to piece together Dick’s involvement yet. Still, he knew Dick well enough to know not to press further yet.
If Dick didn’t want to tell the truth, nothing would make him.
Or would it? Tim considered the man before him as Dick busied himself around the med bay.
What type of activities could he try that would get Dick to admit the truth?
Tim thought himself a pretty smart guy, but he could admit when his opponent was Dick Grayson, maybe he was up for a bit of a challenge.
Dick wouldn't own up to Tim's theories outright, so Tim was going to be forced to use scheming and trickery.
….Unfortunately, Tim was also obsessively determined to prove his point so only in retrospect could he admit that he might have taken it too far….
At first Tim tried to recreate the incident but Dick seemed to be ready for it. Tim would try to forget his extra grapple and Dick would tuck it into his belt. Tim would try to slip and someone would already be there to yank him back. Steph and Cass had begun shooting him odd looks as he tried making clumsy attempts to trigger Dick into action.
As Tim's efforts became foiled time and again, he grew frustrated to the point of some very irrational decisions
He shoved Stephanie off a roof, but Cass caught her and knocked Tim down in retribution. He tried knocking Alfred's teacup over but Jason caught it (scalding hot tea and all) and finally he decided to cut Jason's line.
He actually tried planning it safely. Jason wasn't a fool and the momentum probably would have carried him to safety, but the problem was Robin was patrolling that night with Hood and Damian's line was the one Tim's special grade batarang sliced through.
It was all too quick as everyone panicked watching the young fall, when at the last second Bruce swooped through and caught his youngest son.
Batman landed on the roof as the panicked vigilantes all gathered around Robin, fretting.
Tim sat down hard on the rooftop, shocked at what he'd nearly done.
Damian though was a ball of fury, shoving all the others off and stalking over to Tim. “What is wrong with you?” He hauled him up by the front of his uniform and shook him.
Tim didn't have a response so he stayed limp as Damian hauled him over to the edge and shoved him off. There was a shout of shock from above but Tim was hanging suspended, not falling. Dick was the first one over the edge, grabbing Tim and hauling him back over once again.
Tim blinked as he was wrapped in a warm embrace, then an angry voice shouted, “Tim, you are certifiably insane!?” Dick shook him lightly causing Tim's head to ragdoll about.
“Over you,” Tim quipped, trying to bat his eyelashes before remembering they were wearing masks.
“I had to slow Robin’s fall so Batman could catch him, you know. You've outed me to everyone.”
“You are both idiots!” Damian hollered as he stalked over to the pair. “Everyone already knew Nightwing could do that and everyone knows you want to kiss! So just do it and leave me out of your insanity!”
Blood rushed to Tim's face, “um, so, TTK is pretty useful for getting out of sticky situations– what if we…?” He jerked his thumb behind him, pleading a case to escape the eyes of their friends and family.
Dick sighed and grinned, “Sure Babybird, just don't ask a million questions.”
“I’m sure you can distract me.”