Chapter Text
Tim doesn't know exactly how it happened.
He was supposed to be looking after the kid, like Bruce asked him to. He knows everyone needs to look after the youngest. That's what Bruce asks them to do. Regardless of their relationship, when they're patrolling they need to put their differences aside and look out for each other. Dick tries to protect everyone, taking on the role of the older brother. Jason, although more withdrawn and trying to deny any kind of affection, takes a more protective stance with Tim and Damian. Tim… well, Tim needs to look after the little brat. Yes, they never got along, but he never wanted Damian to get hurt either. Things had even been better between them lately.
Tim used to hate him, right at the beginning when Damian arrived bossing everyone around, arrogant, expecting everyone to do what he wanted. As if the kid's arrogance wasn't enough, he saw Tim as a threat and even tried to kill him!
Tim ended up letting go of all that. Yes, he hated Damian for a long time, but then Bruce got lost in the time stream and Tim was the only one who believed he was still alive. Things only got worse when Dick gave the title of Robin to the boy. Tim felt betrayed and abandoned by the only family he had left. Now he can somehow understand why Dick did it, but it still hurts.
Then, Damian died.
He was gone and everything changed. Tim had never thought of the brat as a brother. Calling him that would be strange. However, when Damian died, Tim felt as if the ground disappeared from under his feet. He felt guilty for not protecting him and at the same time he missed him. Tim never thought he could miss Damian. All he could think about was how he should have protected him. Since Damian returned, Tim had tried harder to get closer to the boy. To get to know him better.
This brings him to the present. They are in the Batcave infirmary. Damian has been shot in the stomach.
He's been hit.
Tim should be protecting him…he failed again.
The environment is completely chaotic. Bruce wasn't there when it happened, being on a mission with the Justice League. Tim, Jason, Dick, and Damian were patrolling together.
Tim's hands are trembling. He feels as if he's having an out-of-body experience, observing everything as an external observer, distant from his own body.
Dick's screaming brings him back to what's happening now.
“He’s losing a lot of blood,” Dick says breathlessly, his hands staunching the blood gushing from Damian’s stomach. The boy lies unconscious on the stretcher. His breathing is shallow and irregular. Jason paces back and forth gathering equipment, gauze, needles, everything they need to administer first aid. To their absolute bad luck, Alfred wasn’t home either, having gone visit a relative on the other side of the country.
“Tim, what the hell are you doing standing there? Move, do something!” Jason shouts, as his delicate self. Tim wanted to, but it was difficult to breathe, let alone move. Maybe he was having a panic attack.
“Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can hold on out here, he needs a blood transfusion,” Dick says desperately.
A transfusion. Of course. Tim has O- blood, a universal donor. He couldn't stop Damian from getting hurt, but maybe he could still save him.
“Tim, I don't care if you're freaking out or not, if you don't move now, I'll—”
Before Jason could finish that thought, Tim interrupts him, “My blood is O negative.”
Dick looks at him, already understanding what Tim is trying to say.
Before he can say anything, Jason is the first to answer.
“You want to give him a blood transfusion? Are you sure?” Jason looks at him, his expression somewhat skeptic.
“We don't really have much time to think, Jason,” Tim replies, impatiently.
Jason puts his hands up in a gesture of surrender “Pretend I didn't ask.”
As fast as possible, Jason gathers the needles and other necessary equipment. In a few minutes, he's sitting next to Damian watching his blood being transported into the boy's small body. Tim never stopped to think about how small Damian really is. They end up needing to use a needle specifically for children, since the boy's vein is very thin.
Who would have thought, huh? No one could ever have predicted a scene like this when they first met.
Tim lets his eyes close slowly.
— — —
Tim is there when Damian wakes up.
The boy improved exponentially since the blood loss was controlled and he received Tim's blood transfusion.
"Drake?" Damian asks, his voice hoarse after spending hours unconscious.
Tim grabs a glass of water from a dresser next to the bed and offers it to the boy with a straw. Damian sucks the water with some effort. When he coughs a little, Tim decides to remove the glass.
"What do you remember?" Tim asks. He is curious to know if Damian remembers anything from the moment he was hit.
"I remember pain before everything went dark," Damian says.
Tim feels like garbage, again. He looks down, avoiding eye contact with the brother he failed.
"We're blood brothers, now."
“What?” Tim looks up, looking at Damian.
“We’re blood brothers. You donated blood to me, didn’t you?” Damian says. He seems extremely groggy from the anesthesia. “I spent so much time thinking I was superior to you, being the blood son, but now we share the same blood… in a way.”
“Yeah…it seems like it. Are you feeling alright, Damian?” Tim frowns, worried.
Damian looks slowly from side to side, suddenly finding interest in his own hand.
Yes, he’s definitely feeling the effects of the pain medication. It’s not surprising that he’s being so honest; this isn’t something Damian normally says. He’s not exactly open about his feelings.
“I’m trying to say thank you, Drake. Don’t make me regret it,” he says with some effort, still looking at one of his own hands, like he’s never seen it before.
“Wow. If that’s how you say thank you…”
“Tt, shut up” Damian replies, already closing his eyes. Fatigue finally taking over.
Tim smiles.
He thinks about many things. About how Damian first arrived and about their relationship during that particular time, but not now. Now he just takes the time to think about what Damian just said, drugged or not.
We’re blood brothers