Chapter Text
Tim:
It's been a while since the dubbed 'Bruce quest’, almost a year, and Tim can't help but think back to everything that had led up to this point. Bruce ‘dying’, Tim believing he was alive, and when he told Dick, he acted like Tim was crazy. Oh, and the fact Dick gave Damian Robin without even talking to him. I mean, it might be a little ironic since Jason liked to think of him as his replacement but the difference is, Jason was gone, not there to care, and it's not like Tim knew he'd be crawling out the grave. There are ofcourse other things.. like Ras… eugh. He'd rather not think of that. And since Bruce is back, along with Jason, who begrudgingly has dinner every weekend and stays overnight after a long patrol or when he's injured and in need of immediate medical attention and Damian, Bruce's biological son is there, making the family bigger than ever, Tim really has no need to stay,— and when he does, it's for when he hogs the batcomputer for cases, or when he gets injured and Alfred and Bruce guilt trip and gaslight him to stay overnight and for dinner the next day.
That's not to say he feels like the others hate him. He knows Bruce, Dick, Cass, Duke, Steph, Alfred, and everyone else loves him. He might even say Jason and Damian see him as their brother if he has the guts. The problem is, they make him feel out of place... Talking over him, ignoring his requests, or favouring others over him. Like he doesn't belong, he's pretty sure he doesn't belong they just keep him because he's essential to the team wether they realize it or not, or maybe they just pity him, that could also be the case.
Jason & Damian:
Jason and Damian missed Tim. He was their brother. Well, that might be a little weird to say out loud, considering the fact that they both tried to kill Tim, but that's besides the point. They missed their brother and wanted him back. See after the dubbed ‘Bruce quest’, Tim did stay in the manor for a month and a half before returning to the nest. Both Jason and Damian enjoyed having Tim there. When Jason found out about Tim’s old ‘birdwatching’ hobby, he asked to see the photos and they bonded over their different perspectives of the story, like when Jason, in his Robin days whining to Batman about wanting ice cream, and Bruce not giving it to him and Jason calling it ‘Batman's betrayal to Robin’ when Tim could only describe Jason as a fussy child in that moment. And then there's Damian, who genuinely admires Tim’s photography skills, climbing in the manor attic to find Tim's old photo binder and using his shots as a muse for his paintings, dragging Tim to watch him paint and make him comment and help with the lighting, or demanding Tim to show him where his photos were on display in Gotham Academy. Needless to say, Damian admired Tim the most out of his siblings, other than maybe Dick but he doesn't have the artistic eye.
"Hey," Steph said, entering the room Jason and Damian were in, breaking the two boys out of their train of thoughts.
"Duke told me you guys were brooding together like bonding birds, and I wanted to check it out." The two turn their head to Steph who just cocks her head to the side, hands in her pocket,
"Seriously though, what's wrong? Me, Duke, and Cass are worried." She sits down on the couch Damian and Jason are sitting on, sitting in the space between the two of them.
"It's just... Tim did so much for the family, and we've just been treating him like trash, well me and Damian have been treating him like trash. The rest just keep brushing him off, and that caused him to keep to himself and not really... hang with us. I'm starting to think we've been making him think the family hates him." Jason admits, his elbows on knees as he looks down his scuffed shoes.
"Stephanie, you, Duke, and Cassandra are close with Timothy, right? Does he think we, the family, hate him? Does he feel left out?" Damian asks, his arms and legs twitching to curl himself into a ball. Steph's face softens a bit, thinking it over.
"I wouldn't say he thinks the family hates him. He knows all of you love him and would give your life for him... but yes. He does feel left out and pushed away." That makes Damian and Jason have a constipated look on their face.
"How... how do we fix it? Make him feel accepted?" Damian asks, almost demanding. "Do things for Tim that you know will make him happy, things that he'll appreciate." Steph advises, giving an akward pat on Damian's shoulder.
"What are those things, what are his wants, needs?" Jason asks, on edge
"You know what, after dinner, before patrol, go to Cass' room, me, her, and Duke will tell you what you should do." Steph says, standing up with her hand on her hip while walking away.
"After dinner, alright!!" She says before hopping away, leaving Jason and Damian alone again, looking at eachother with a determined look on their faces.
In Cass' room:
Damian and Jaosn both awkwardly shuffled in the room, seeing Steph and Cass in her gear and Duke fixing his helmet.
"Oh hey! You guys actually came, I thought you'd chicken out honestly." Steph said, earning a giggle from Cass and Duke.
"I don't 'chicken out'." Damain says, crossing his arms while Jason just responds with an eyeroll.
"Okay, so, like I said, do things that will make Tim happy, but don't push it. So I'd say invite him over for dinner, but that'll overwhelm him." Steph said like a teacher would to a student, no doubt feeling smug that she has to teach her best friend's brothers how to treat him right.
"So what should we do?" Jason asks, sitting on the bed with Damian.
"Gift him something. He's into photography, but he recently broke him camera while photographing evidence for a case, so you guys should buy him a new one." Cass recommends, while she has her chin on her hand, tapping her cheek.
"Oh, and try to make small talk, not a full-blown emotional conversation, just speak to him and include him in conversation." Duke adds, the boy laid down horizontally the bed as he fiddles with the broken pieces of his helmet. Damian and Jason nod along.
"I'll buy him the camera." Damian said, earning a look from Jason that just screamed, 'Hey! I was gonna buy the camera!' Which Damian chose to ignore, and Jason responded in a grumble.
"Fine, I'll treat him to ice cream after patrol." Jason says as Duke sits up.
"Well, I'm gonna go head to my room now. You guys should get going to the cave before B bites your head off for being late." That's earned a collective giggle and an overlapping response of 'Yep', 'Mhm', 'Uh huh', and 'Right' from Steph, Cass, Jason, and Damian respectively.