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Tim wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying. He was just upset. Bruce did so much to him, and he just expected everything to go back to how it was? Without so much as an apology?
He just yelled. Yelled at him for what he did. He didn’t much care where they were. He forgot all about the fact that they were in an abandoned building in Crime Alley– Red Hood’s territory– and just shouted. And Bruce was shouting back.
“Hey.”
Bruce jolted back into Batman as he turned to see the Red Hood standing in the doorway.
“Couldn’t help but overhear. That shit true, kid?”
Tim clenched his fists.
The Red Hood didn’t hurt kids.
“Yeah.” Tim spat.
“Cool.” Hood stepped forward, Batman and Robin both dropping to a fighting stance, but he took up a position between the two, and turned to face the bat.
“Still mourning that dead kid of yours?”
“How do you know about that.” Batman growled. Hood scoffed.
“Little birdie told me.” He tilted his head. “A Robin, to be precise.”
Batman’s hand reached for his batarang. Hood drew his gun.
“And that little dead robin asked me to bring you a message.”
Tim’s mouth went dry as he started walking towards Batman.
“No more dead Robins.” The Red Hood growled, and his finger tightened on the trigger.
“Don’t kill him.” Tim said, sounding more sure than he felt.
“Hm? Sounds to me like he nearly killed you, kid. I’m not fond of people who hurt kids.”
“Gotham needs Batman.” Tim looked the man he still so desperately wanted to call his father dead in the eyes, looking over Hood’s shoulder. “Just like you’ve done good for Crime Alley, this city wouldn’t survive without Batman. And Batman won’t survive without Robin.”
Hood, as if sensing there was some shit Tim wanted to say, stepped to the side. Tim was both grateful for that and he wasn’t.
“Did you just forget what happened to you after he died? Did you forget that even Agent A couldn’t make you stop? Did you just happen to forget who exactly made you sleep when you would rather run yourself into the ground? Who held you back when you almost went too far? Did you forget who kept you alive?”
Tim could see the surprise in Hood’s stance.
“Do you think it wasn’t hard for me? To see one of my idols, morning the other, driving himself on a suicide mission, and to be the adult in that situation? When I was thirteen? To deal with an empty house, to have to keep up with all my schooling, all while babysitting a grown fucking man?”
Batman’s facade broke. No, not broke, shattered.
Bruce stood before him now, hands shaking, as he watched him– the boy he hadn’t even noticed he thought of as his son– grow up too fast, and realizing it was his fault.
“I was mourning him too, you know. I looked at that memorial every single day, knowing he’d hate to have been called a soldier. Knowing that I will never fill his shoes. Knowing full well that when you said Robin-” His voice broke. His lip quivered. His heart ached. “That when you said Robin, you meant him and not me.”
Hood’s hand loosened on the gun. Slightly, imperceptibly.
“Do you think it wasn’t hard, hearing Ja- his name before mine? That when I finally got what I had wanted for so long, it didn’t belong to me? And all the fucking while, I had to watch you and Wing fight and fight and fight some more, knowing who he used to be? Remembering the broken legacy I had to hold, all to keep you from either dying or killing someone else? Watching the crime alley kids realize I didn’t have his accent, realize that some kid from Bristol would never understand them, realize that the one they knew was gone?”
Bruce brought a hand to his mouth.
“And then, all of that, just for you and- and my best friend to hurt me like you did? On my birthday, no less?”
He looked away.
“Some part of me wants it to go back to how it was. Following you and- and him across rooftops. With my camera. I was alone in an empty house, sure, but at least…”
Tim didn’t know if he could get the words out.
“At least I could still play pretend.” He managed to whisper.
He’d say it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That wasn’t true. Distant shouting could be heard. A gunshot here or there. Cars speeding down the road. People kept living and dying, even while Tim’s world stopped turning.
That almost made it worse.
“But you– I still… the rest of me still wants something. Maybe I’m just being selfish but… I like being Robin. Even if it isn’t mine. Even if I’ll never– never be him.”
Hood let his gun fall. Fuck his plan. Fuck the pits, fuck Talia, fuck Batman.
Fuck Bruce.
This was a baby bird that needed help.
For a moment, he struggled with his helmet. Eventually he finally took it off, threw it across the room, and ripped off his domino too.
He moved in two strides, ignoring Batman’s panicked yell, and dropped to his knees in front of the kid.
Recognition dawned on Tim’s face. God this kid was smart.
He didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to do.
So he just did what Dickie would have done.
He pulled him into a hug.
Fuck the plan. This was more important.
He heard Batman growl behind him, but he stopped when Tim started to sob. Started to cling to him.
He heard Tim breathe his name, like he wasn’t sure if he could say it. If he was allowed.
Fuck. Jack and Janet are lucky they’re gone.
“I’m here, bitty bird.” Jason whispered. “Sorry I didn’t get to meet you properly.”
Tim sobbed louder.
“You’re a brilliant Robin.” Bruce gets closer. Jason doesn’t turn, doesn’t reach for a weapon, doesn’t do anything. Tim needs him more right now. “Better than I was. You– you’re brilliant, Timbit. Solved cases even B never could. I’d bet you’d even have found me if I gave you enough time.”
Tim clung tighter to his jacket, like he was scared it was a dream he’d wake up from if he ever let go. Jason was vaguely aware of Bruce gasping and stumbling behind him, as if just catching up to who he was.
“But you– you were–” Tim tries to argue.
“A rough little kid off the streets who needed an outlet. You’re a natural-born detective, Bitty. How old were you when you figured us out?”
He sniffed.
“Eight. I– I saw Di– the first robin do the quadruple somersault. I… was in the audience at the circus. It’s my first real memory.”
Bruce’s gasp behind him told him he never knew about that.
“I connected the dots with you a few days after you debuted. It just… made sense. B took you in, and suddenly there was a new Robin on the scene.”
“See, kiddo? You’re a real genius. Eight years old, and you figured out what no one else ever could.”
Tim laughed a little at that.
“Man, I’m not even sure Barbie could’ve done that. Though her dad’s… her dad. So she cheated.”
There was loud chatter on the comm that Jason just barely couldn’t make out. Tim laughed a little more.
“She says that was rude. And also wants to know why you didn’t tell anyone.”
“Oh, I’m sure her words were much more colorful than that.” He rolled his eyes. “And uh… I was pissed. At B. Long story.”
“Short story, I think.” He whispered. “Clown’s still out there.”
Jason let out a shocked laugh.
“Hah, yeah. Guess it is pretty short. God, you’re a clever kid.”
He stroked Tim’s hair.
“How about we head back to one of my safe houses huh? Get away from B for a while.”
Bruce was notably silent. Not protesting. Good.
“I’ll make you waffles. Good ones. Not like Agent A’s.”
“…Yeah. That sounds nice.”
Jason smiled, pulled back, looked Tim in the eyes– even if he couldn’t see them.
“You’ve done so much good so far, Bitty. I’m so proud of you.”
And god, how little has Tim heard that in his life that he bursts into tears right after?