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Tim Drake watched as the chatbox showed the “GalacticGhost is typing” and stopped over and over with something close to anxiety creeping up. He didn’t know what Danny was trying to tell him but the longer and longer it took, the more anxiety seemed to creep up in Tim’s chest.
He and Danny had been online best friends for nearly a decade at this point, messaging one another every day since they were both just a couple of lonely eight year olds with far too much internet access. Danny had become Tim’s closest confidant, his very best friend, tucked away behind the safety of his computer screen.
GalacticGhost: I got accepted into GIT for college. I haven’t decided if I am going to accept it or not, but the scholarship is amazing and they have the best technology institute in the world. I know we have the whole thing about not meeting each other in person but, we’re eighteen now and I just think it’s time we meet each other, you know? So, anyway, I’m going to be in Gotham next week to tour the school and learn more about their Climate System Science and Engineering program. So, if you want, maybe when I’m there we can get dinner?
Tim laid back on his bed and stared up at his phone above him.
Danny was coming to Gotham.
It was just asking for trouble.
He and Danny knew everything about each other, except for Tim’s after hours activities. But Tim liked it that way, he liked that Danny just knew him for him, just was friends with him because he was friends with Tim. He liked that Danny didn’t have a connection to the hero world, that he wasn’t tied to any of it. Danny was his sense of normalcy.
But if he came to Gotham, it would mean that there was a chance he would have to tell Danny, he would have to break that sense of normalcy that he had clung onto so tight. There were times where he had needed that sense of normalcy, where he was in the middle of the desert fighting for his life against the Council of Spiders and losing his mind looking for his father that the messages from Danny talking about ordinary things like school made him feel just a tad bit better.
Danny’s normal, civilian life was a balm on Tim’s weary and tired soul. If he came to Gotham, would that change? Tim wasn’t sure.
What he did know, though, was that as the years had gone by, his feelings for Danny grew. He found himself falling more and more in love with the other teenager and it would be nice to finally meet him in person, especially after all these years.
Tim chewed on his bottom lip as he looked over the text again. It was probably time for him to finally tell Danny about his hero life, especially if he was wanting to do anything about the feelings he was dealing with. Which, the more he thought about it, the more he did.
Life was finally settling down now. He was taking a bit of a step back from the hero world, was trying to go to college himself and just take a break. Besides, he told himself before that
ShutterbugTim: I think that could be a lot of fun. Text me your flight information? If you want, I can come pick you up from the airport and you can stay with me while you’re here?
The response was nearly instant, Danny giving him all of his flight information.
GalacticGhost: I’m really excited to finally meet you in person, Tim.
Tim grinned and let his phone fall to his side. He was finally going to meet Danny Fenton in the flesh. He stared up at the ceiling for a heartbeat before he shot up.
He was meeting Danny and Danny was going to stay at his penthouse. Blue eyes whipped around as he took in the disaster that was his bedroom.
His guest room was somehow even worse. It had a bed in it, sure, some dressers as well. But it was also covered in boxes and files that Tim had never taken down to the Nest. He wasn’t even sure if the bed had bedding on it, and if it did it was likely so musty from dust and disuse, he would need to clean and freshen out the entire room.
God, fuck, he would also need to buy actual groceries or something. He grabbed his phone back up and started searching meal kit delivery sites, it would be the best thing to do. He never fucked up those meal kits and it could be a way to impress Danny with cooking skills. Even if it was just him following the directions. Gotham Fresh was a good one from what he heard from others. It would be his best bet on getting good fresh meals without having to stress about what to buy or cook.
Tim fell back on his bed once he put in his order and stared up at his ceiling. Now he would just need to get the energy to clean the guest room.
Tim Drake’s foot tapped impatiently as he stared at his phone, waiting for the moment Danny would text him and tell him that he was walking through the gate. They had gone over the plan plenty of times. Danny had already told him he landed he made sure Tim knew when he would land, what gate to meet at and even what he was wearing to make it easier for Tim to find him.
That didn’t make any of the anxiety go away, though. Not when he was finally going to meet the boy he had been in love with for so long now, not when he was so very close to seeing Danny in person for the very first time. He had told his father and everyone in his family he would be MIA for the next week and to not worry about him, that he would just be meeting up with a civilian friend for the time being. No one had really said anything, of course, most of them more focused on their own lives to really care about his.
He doubted they noticed, they barely noticed that he had spread his previous patrol routs across all of them within a few months of his return from rescuing Bruce. But he told them, nonetheless that he would be largely unavailable.
Tim shifted from foot to foot as his phone buzzed letting him know Danny was heading his way. This was it, he was meeting Danny and he had no clue how he was going to do it.
Did he just hold out his hand? Say “Hi GalacticGhost, nice to finally meet you?”
No that felt stupid.
Did he call him Danny or GG? Did it matter? Did Danny have a preference? He would probably die if Danny called him Sk8 like he did online at times.
Maybe he shook his hand and introduced himself? A good old “Hi, I’m Tim. Nice to finally meet you.”
That would be good, that would be the safest, wouldn’t it?
He scanned the crowd in front of him before his eyes landed on a somewhat familiar figure. Well, mostly a familiar face. A face he had seen on his screen a million times.
Danny was taller than he expected. Logically he knew that Danny was six foot, but seeing it in person was actually insane. The man was wearing a pair of old worn out jeans, a whole worn in the knee, a red flannel and a NASA t-shirt, his usual uniform from what he remembered from his conversations with Danny and any pictures his friend sent him throughout the years. His backpack was slung over one shoulder as he dragged a rolling suitcase behind him.
He still hadn’t spotted Tim, which was likely a good thing considering Tim was so caught up with staring at him like he was a piece of meat. He was rocking on his heels when their eyes finally met and a giant grin formed on Danny’s face before he bounded towards him.
“Tim!” He exclaimed before throwing his arms around Tim’s waist and pulling him in for a bear hug. Tim froze in his arms before a laugh bubbled out of his lips and he wrapped his arms around Danny’s shoulders.
It happened in slow motion, the way Danny’s head dipped down just a bit, a breathless laugh escaping the taller man’s mouth just moments before Tim found himself craning his head up just a little more until their lips just barely pressed against one another.
The vigilante froze, feeling ice flood his veins before he felt Danny squeeze him tight and deepen the kiss between them even more. Slowly he felt himself relax in Danny’s grip until the two slowly pulled away and Danny gave him a dazed, goofy smile that had Tim practically melting into a puddle.
“Wow, is that how all Gothamites greet visitors or am I just special?” He asked, smiling down at Tim who was desperately trying to reign in his emotions as he stared up at his best friend.
He let out a soft, nervous laugh as he pressed his hand to Danny’s chest. “You’re just, uh, you’re just special like that. But don’t go around kissing anyone else, they might mug you,” Tim told him, his voice shaky as he took a step back. Danny’s hands fell from his waist and he grabbed his suitcase once again.
“I’ll make sure to remember that, but I don’t think there’s anyone else I’d be interested in kissing,” Danny told him as the two started walking out to where Tim’s chauffeur waited for them.
“You’re not…mad?” Tim asked, tilting his head to look over at the other man. Danny snorted and stepped outside, Tim close behind him.
“No, Tim you’ve been the subject of my daydreams since we were like twelve,” he said, bumping his shoulder against Tim’s. The shorter man let out a soft laugh, feeling the tightness in his shoulders slowly fading as he let Danny’s deep, gravelly voice wash over him. This was it, this was everything he thought he would never have, everything he had ever wanted.
Tim said nothing as he led his best friend towards the town car where Monty was already waiting with the back door open and ready. He was one of the driver’s from WE and probably one of Tim’s favorites considering he always made sure to leave some snacks and energy drinks in the back of the car, always under the assumption that Tim hadn’t eaten. Usually he was right.
“Thanks for waiting, Mont,” Tim said, flashing the man a grin as the two climbed into the car. Danny let out a low whistle.
“Fancy,” he stated, taking in the interior of the car as if it were a foreign thing he had never seen before and not just a normal Cadillac Escalade.
“I would have driven you myself but thought this would be better for us to talk,” Tim said as the car started moving. “So, I’m currently staying at a penthouse on the top floor of Wayne Enterprises because as you know, I—”
“Have no concept of work-life balance, yes, Moth, I know,” Danny teased, elbowing Tim lightly. Tim felt his cheeks heat up as he elbowed Danny back lightly. Danny had called him Moth for as long as Tim could remember, the nickname stemming from Tim’s complaints that the only nicknames for Timothy was Tim or Timmy, both of which felt boring and unoriginal. Danny had started calling him Moth as a result.
“So, what’s on the agenda while I’m here?” Danny asked, resting his arm behind Tim’s head, causing Tim’s heart to stutter a beat.
“Today we’re going to let you get completely settled in at the penthouse, I took the rest of the afternoon off to help you get comfortable. Tomorrow we’re going to go on a tour of Gotham Institute of Technology, then I was thinking I could show you around Wayne Enterprises,” Tim listed off. “Of course, you’re here for like four days but unfortunately I have a board meeting in two days so I figured you could either hang out at the penthouse or go check out the city. Although, if it’s the later, I’ll probably have my brother, Jason, go with you so that you’re not alone.”
“I can tour the city by myself,” Danny said, giving him a single dimpled smile.
“Nope, you scream outsider which means you’re the perfect victim for a mugging and I’m not letting that happen to you, I’d never forgive myself. Besides, Jason has guard dog face, he’ll be great at keeping people from bothering you,” Tim said and Danny let out a soft laugh.
The look on his face told Tim that the other man was clearly humoring him by accepting the guard dog idea but Danny didn’t know Gotham, he didn’t understand just how bad it really was. The outside world thought they knew, but they didn’t, not really. Only someone living in Gotham could truly understand just how bad of a cesspool Gotham City really was.
“Alright, if you say so,” Danny finally said with a hum. “What about after that?”
Tim let out a hum. “I figured we could hit some of my favorite places in Gotham, the space museum, the arcade, maybe go to the skate park?”
“Three things I love, sounds like a great week,” Danny said, smiling at him. He was looking at Tim with this sparkle in his blue eyes that seemed to steal Tim’s breath away.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” He finally asked, pressing his fingers to his burning cheek.
Danny shook his head and suppressed a smile. “No, not at all. I just can’t believe I’m finally getting to see you in person. You’re just, tell me if you don’t want this to be more than friends, Moth, because you’re just even more beautiful in person,” Danny rushed out, his cheeks a dusty pink color.
Tim’s breath hitched and he reached over, grabbing Danny’s hand where it had balled up into a fist in his lap and slowly uncurled his fingers before twining them with his own, feeling the raised skin of his scars press against his own. He looked down at their intertwined hands for a moment, two scarred hands interlocked together.
He remembered as if it had happened yesterday. Danny had stopped responding to him for a week when they were fourteen. Tim had half a mind at the time to fly to Amity Park to check on the man when he finally called him. His parents had asked him to plug in one of their inventions and it had electrocuted Danny, sending him straight to the hospital and leaving him with scars up his arm and across his torso. According to Danny he had even died for a few minutes before coming back.
Tim had been terrified. He had spent the next week convincing himself that he didn’t need to send Batman to Amity Park to save Danny. But the two had an agreement.
As they were both kids of neglectful and verbally abusive parents it was an unspoken agreement between the two that they didn’t mention it, didn’t report it, and instead just acted as support. If Tim complained about the fact that his parents hadn’t been home in four months, Danny would say “that sucks, my parents forgot my name yesterday” and the two went on from there.
The day Tim’s mother had died was one he would never forget. Danny had sat on voice chat with him for four hours, Tim sat in silence, grieving a mother he never really knew, why Danny info dumped about the first ever space mission.
When Danny’s parents had died later that same year and he had moved in with his just as neglectful godfather, Tim realized that the two were far more alike than he thought.
Danny was Tim’s twin flame, he understood him in a way that many in this world didn’t and Tim would be forever grateful for him because of that. Bruce wasn’t a bad dad, not by any means. But he could be emotionally stunted at times, and even now Tim couldn’t help but wonder if Bruce actually loved him or if he took him in out of obligation to Robin.
“I think I’ve been in love with you since we were kids,” Tim finally whispered, staring down at their interlocked hands, running his thumb along the side of Danny’s hand. “I want whatever you’re willing to give me, Dan.”
“What if, after your board meeting we go on a date, then? Get dinner and just talk?” Danny asked, looking at Tim. “I know we’re doing this so out of order and in such a weird way but I can’t imagine doing it any other way.”
Tim smiled. “I’d like that, I’d like that a lot.”
Danny gave him a dazzling smile and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Tim’s forehead. “Good. Me too.”
Danny let out a low whistle as he set his bags down as soon as they stepped out of the elevator.
“I know you’re like a millionaire or whatever but it’s one thing to know it and another thing to actually see it,” Danny said with a laugh.
Tim smiled. “Your godfather is literally a millionaire and lives in a castle.”
Danny shook his head. “It’s different, man. Totally different. You actually have taste.”
“Tam technically has taste. I asked her to furnish everything when I moved in a few months ago,” Tim said with a soft laugh.
“Maybe she can come and do Vlad’s castle next,” Danny joked as Tim eld him through the penthouse. he quickly showed him around to the different rooms before he froze in the hall.
“I don’t want to be presumptuous,” Tim started, his words slow and careful. “But you can either stay in this guest bedroom, or you know, sleep in my room…with me?” The end of the sentence came out in a questioning squeak as Tim’s cheeks burned furiously.
Danny let out a laugh. “Let’s go on our date first, then we can talk about sharing a bed,” Danny teased, running his knuckles against Tim’s cheek. His blush seemed to burn hotter as he stared up at Danny who had a soft smile as he looked down at him.
“For now I’ll stay in here. Okay?”
Tim swallowed and looked Danny over before he nodded his head. “Right, okay. Good idea. I’m just, I’m gonna go start us something to eat. You get settled in the guest room, uh just ignore random clothes or whatever, my siblings and friends crash here sometimes,” he said before he spun on his heel and ran away with his tail between his legs.
The next two days were a whirlwind. The tour of GIT was fascinating and Tim found himself wondering if maybe he also wanted to go there for school, he was thinking about attending college after all. Once he got his GED, of course, but the entire tour had him daydreaming of what it could be like. Of him and Danny living together, going to school together, spending their lives together. He wanted it. He wanted it so badly it hurt.
But he also knew that he was eventually going to be pulled back into the hero world and that was the problem. He didn’t know where Danny fit in his hero life, or if he even could fit in the hero life.
The next day with the tour at Wayne Enterprises had been fun too, getting to just talk shop with someone who understood what Tim was talking about, who had a genuine interest, especially once they got to the Research and Development department and the two had even more fun.
Tim had even tried to convince him to work as an assistant in R&D despite Danny’s rebuffs. Something something felt weird dating the CEO and working for him. Even teased Tim of being a nepo baby for even thinking that it was a normal thing to do so.
But the two days had been fun, the two of them had such an easy friendship that it felt natural for Danny to be there in person, for them to spend time together. In fact, it felt like the empty spot Tim had within him had been filled by Danny’s physical presence in his life. It was wonderful and amazing and now Tim had to figure out how to convince Danny to choose Gotham rather than the three other schools he had talked about touring.
Not that it would be too hard to do.
“Mr. Drake-Wayne?” A voice asked and Tim shot his head up to look at Lucius staring at him with an unamused look on his face. Beside him, Bruce stared at him with a confused, small smile on his face. “What did you think of that plan?”
Tim scanned the packet in front of him and the whiteboard at the front of the conference room. “I would like to think it over for a few days and do a further cost-budget analysis to see if it would actually be something that we would benefit from.”
Lucius nodded once and continued on with the agenda. Bruce tilted his head at him, a question in his eyes that Tim dismissed with a shake of his head.
His phone buzzed and Tim looked down to find a text from Danny.
GalacticGhost: Hey, so I was thinking and before we go on our date tonight there’s something important I need to tell you first. I feel like it’s the kind of thing you need to know before deciding to be in a relationship with me.
Tim froze as he read over the words again, his heart racing faster. Fuck. Fuck. What the hell could it possibly be? What could be so bad that it could stop Tim from wanting to be in a relationship with the man he was about eighty percent sure was his soulmate? How bad could it be? How terrible of a thing could it be that Tim would ever in a million years stop wanting to be with him?
He chewed on his bottom lip as he responded with a quick affirmative and slipped his phone back in his pocket before he tried once again to pay attention to the meeting. Bruce gave him another look that Tim shook off and started reading over the packet, following along with Lucius as he went over their strategic plan for the Neon Knight’s Program.
“Tim,” Bruce said as soon as the meeting ended and the two were alone in the conference room. Tim gave his father a tight smile.
“Yeah?” Tim asked, gathering his things.
“I know you’re off the rest of the week, which is… good. You need a break,” Bruce said. “Is everything alright, though?”
Tim frowned and nodded his head. “Things are fine, it’s like I said in my message. I’m spending some time with a friend who’s visiting this week.”
“But you’re alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Bruce stared at him for a moment, his gaze unyielding. “What friend?”
Tim chewed on his bottom lip. That was the thing. For as long as he had been friends with Danny, he had never once shared him with anyone. Never told anyone about his online pen pal. Danny was his and no one else’s. He wanted to keep it that way, even if it wasn’t realistic.
“And old childhood friend,” Tim responded, giving his father a dubious look. “Don’t be weird. I’m fine. Now, I have to go. My friend and I have a dinner reservation soon so I need to get upstairs and get ready.”
Bruce nodded. “Alright, hrm, come by the manor once you are back,” Bruce said before he clapped Tim’s shoulder and squeezed it tight before he led Tim to the elevators.
Tim nodded and bid his father a farewell before stepping into the opened doors.
As soon as the doors opened to his floor Tim all but sprinted out of the elevator to find Danny. The man was laid sprawled out on the couch playing on his video game. He looked up at Tim as he walked into the room and gave him a soft smile.
“Hey Moth,” he said with a hum as he set his game to the side and sat up.
“Hi,” Tim said and sat beside him. “You wanted to talk?” He asked nervously.
Danny nodded and took Tim’s hand. “Quit stressing, I can see the gears in your head going a thousand miles a second. It’s nothing super horrible, I didn’t like murder someone. But it is important that you know.”
“What is it? Is everything okay? Is it Vlad?” Tim rushed out. Danny smiled and shook his head.
“Vlad is Vlad,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s just— look remember when I got in that accident when I was fourteen? And I was like in a medically induced coma for a week?”
Tim nodded slowly.
“So, I lied. I uh, I did go to the hospital for it, but the doctors said I was fine. In fact, I had a clean bill of health. But what they didn’t know was that I died.”
“You told me they said you legally died for a few minutes,” Tim said with a frown.
Danny nodded. “I legally died for good,” Danny told him carefully before he launched into a version of the story that just seemed—well it seemed completely and totally unbelievable. At least for anyone who wasn’t intrinsically wrapped up in the unbelievable the way that Tim so intimately was.
“The last four years I’ve been doubling as a ghost hero for Amity, fighting crime, fighting ghosts, hell fighting Vlad who’s also a ghost,” Danny said with a snort. “If we’re going to get into a relationship that’s something you need to know about me. I’m mostly retired now, I mean I never really wanted to be a hero in the first place. I was kinda just thrown into it out of a sense of obligation. But I also don’t know if I’ll forever be able to fully step away from that kind of thing. The powers I have, I want to use them for good, I want to be good. I want to do good.”
Tim gave him a small smile. “Well, you’re in luck then,” he started and his smile turned into a grin as Danny reared his head back to give Tim a wide eyed, surprised look.
“Because minus the whole being dead thing, I’m in the same boat,” he whispered before he launched into his own tale of becoming Robin to save Batman, of never feeling like he could stop because there was always something stopping him but how he just needed a break. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to stay away forever for so many of the same reasons as Danny, but he also had a desperate desire to experience life as an ordinary man for a few years, to just be Tim.
“Maybe we can figure it out together, then?” Danny asked, taking Tim’s hand in his. Tim grinned and scooted closer until they were pressed against one another on the couch.
“I wouldn’t want anything less,” he said quietly, leaning froward and giving Danny a soft kiss. Danny smiled as he deepened the kiss, squeezing Tim’s hands tight. Tim pulled back and rested his forehead against Danny’s.
They were going to figure it out. Together. Just as they had been for the last ten years, they would be together.