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Alright, Tim knew he didn’t sleep much.
He wore that fact like a badge of honour. He found himself proud of the fact that he was able to function as both a regular person and a vigilante running on nothing but energy drinks and sheer determination of minimising the amount of time wasted by such a tedious task.
Tim didn’t need sleep! He had much better things to be doing! Like fighting crime, solving cases, helping out at Wayne Enterprises. You know, typical young adult things.
…alright he supposed it being a vigilante and working at a billion-dollar company was not typical young adult things. But they were typical for him, alright?
Tim had built up his capacity for running on little to no sleep over the years. He started in his childhood, staying up late to run around Gotham and snap photos of Batman and Robin in action. It was the best part of his day, chasing after his idols and seeing them in action. Seeing them and capturing their acts of heroism was the highlight of his day. He enjoyed the thrill of trying to figure out where they would be, following them as they traversed Gotham’s rooftops, seeing their cool fighting moves and being able to immortalise those fights through his photography.
His parents were never around enough to stop him from his nightly escapades. He could stay up as late as he wanted! And as he wanted to stay up late most of the time, he had to learn how to still function at school without sleeping the night before. It took a while to learn how to perfect it, but he managed with power naps at lunch time and generally just being bright enough to breeze through his classes.
Of course, when his obsession with the dynamic duo led to him discovering the identities of Batman and Robin, and eventually led to him taking on the Robin mantle, his ability to run on little sleep was extremely beneficial. It allowed him to spend more time working on various cases and his training, proving himself a useful asset to Bruce and that he was learning and improving quickly in his role as Batman’s sidekick.
…It did also lead to Bruce believing Tim was narcoleptic for a period of time, due to the fact that Tim would fall asleep in a matter of seconds whilst sitting up right, and then waking up again minutes later if it wasn’t one of his designated nap times. Tim cleared that misunderstanding up quickly enough though.
He had to spend more time than he would have preferred defending his ridiculous sleep schedule to his family, given all their concerns. Sure, he knew his lack of sleep certainly wasn’t healthy, but it isn’t like it was affecting him. He was still sharp, fast on his feet, and working effectively. If it did get to a point where his lack of sleep started impacting his work, he would simply sleep for a little bit!
(Or, chug several energy drinks and persist. Whichever he deemed the best course of action given the situation).
He had been working on a case that had called for the latter protocol. It was one of Riddler’s, surprisingly enough. It isn’t that the riddles were particularly complicated per se, but it was long and tedious.
Simple arithmetic that contained too many steps, jumping around between websites to find highlighted letters that spelled out phrases, geographical coordinates he had to unscramble… just to name a few.
But he was so close to the end now, he could feel it! Just a few more phases to go through. He could do it. The end was in sight.
It's just that, by this point, he had been awake for four straight days.
That’s how long he had been at this.
It would have been the smartest thing to step away, to take a break, to sleep. He’d lost count of how many energy drinks he had by this point, the cans stacking up on his desk in the Batcave where he had been sitting, tapping away on his laptop to figure this all out (he had to switch over due to other people needing the bat computer). He knew that was the sensible thing to do.
However, he feared that, if he were to stop, he would lose the train of thought, and be unable to solve the case. Bruce was counting on him to crack this. Tim would get it done the fastest, had the resilience needed to endure its tedious nature, thought fast enough to get through each section without too much hesitation.
He had to do this. He had to!
Tim kept typing, figuring out Riddler’s stupid tedious riddle, kept going and going and going-
“Hehehe.”
Tim’s hands froze on the keyboard.
What was that noise?
He stayed deadly still for a few moments to see if there would be another noise, but after not hearing anything, he shrugged it off and resumed his typing. It could’ve just been a gust of wind or something. Yeah, that’s probably-
“Hehehehehe.”
Tim froze once more.
Now he knows he heard something.
Someone’s in the bat cave.
And he knows it's not one of the bats.
Bruce, Cass, Damian, and Jason don’t laugh (at least, not in the company of others, and certainly not more than a huff of air at best). Dick’s laugh is too loud. A quick glance at the clock tells Tim that Duke will be asleep. Steph isn’t in the country. Alfred’s laugh is much deeper than the one he heard.
There’s an intruder.
Shit shit shit.
Tim doesn’t have time to suit up, and it is likely the intruder has already seen him anyway. The fact that they are in the bat cave is enough to tell the intruder that Tim is a vigilante.
Tim is just going to have to fight.
He shoots up from his seat and runs - silent but fast - to the training area to grab his spare bo staff, arming himself before moving into the shadows to keep himself hidden.
“Little birdy~”
Tim’s blood turns cold when he recognises that sing-songy voice tauntingly calling out at him.
Joker.
How did the Joker of all people find the bat cave?
How did he get in without setting off any of the alarms?
What is he planning to do here?
Tim shakes his head.
No, he doesn’t have time to question that right now. He needs to neutralise the Joker and hand him over to the cops.
Tim creeps along the edges of the cave, moving towards where he thinks he heard the voice coming from, nearer the entrance for the batmobile. He stays in the shadows, knowing he’ll need to use the element of surprise to his advantage. He clutches his bo staff tight, ready to strike. He begins to creep forward, rounding the first corner, ready to strike-
And finds Bruce standing there, in civilian clothes, looking at him with surprise.
Tim glances to his left, just in time to see a flash of green go by. Bruce opens his mouth to speak, but Tim doesn’t give him the chance, grabbing him and pulling him against the wall, frantically gesturing to be quiet. Bruce frowns, raising a single eyebrow as if to ask what is going on. Tim grabs his hand to tap out morse code.
Joker is here.
Bruce’s face shows complete horror before morphing into this strange neutral expression Tim can’t quite parse out. He whispers lowly.
“Why do you think that?”
Tim has to fight the urge to gesture wildly. Surely if Bruce was here, he heard it too right? He frantically whispers to Bruce.
“I heard him laughing. He called out to me, calling me ‘little birdy’. I saw a flash of green over where I came from. He must have moved without me realising.”
Bruce nods slowly.
“Are you sure?”
Tim stares at Bruce in disbelief, before nodding.
“I see you birdy~”
Tim freezes, before pressing himself as flat to the wall as possible. His breath comes in short bursts, his heart pounding out of his chest. Bruce doesn’t seem half as worried as he should be, only serving to unsettle Tim more. Surely Bruce heard that. He had to have heard it too!
“Tim, listen to me.”
Tim looks back at Bruce.
“I promise you, that right now, in this moment, you’re safe.”
Tim frowns. This is not the time for Bruce to be playing good dad. His confusion only increases when Bruce crouches down to Tim’s height, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“The Joker is not here.”
Tim didn’t think he could get any more confused. The Joker absolutely was here. He heard him. He saw him!
“Tim, when was the last time you slept?”
Tim huffs in irritation.
“What does that have to do with- Bruce, what the hell is wrong with you!”
“Hehehehehe!”
Tim’s head whips around, trying to locate the source of the laughter haunting him. Bruce looks at him for a beat, scanning his face. Whatever he is looking for, he must not find, because he sighs.
“Tim.”
The realisation dawns on Tim.
“You can’t see or hear him. He must be hiding himself from you somehow.”
The surprise that overcomes Bruce’s face would be comical in any other circumstance. Right now, it only scares the shit out of Tim. Tim nods to himself.
“Stay here. I’ll cover the rest of the cave. When I find him, you’ll have a better idea of where he is based on where I’m fighting him.”
“Tim-”
“I’ll be okay, Bruce. I can do this.”
Tim doesn’t let Bruce say anything more, already on the move, determined to find the Joker. Tim slowly rounds the corner, back in the direction he initially came, knowing the Joker wouldn’t have slipped past him twice. He scans every inch of the cave, looking for any flash of green and listening out for any more laughter.
When he looks back to where the batcomputer is, it isn’t the Joker he finds.
No, it’s Dick, typing away.
He must’ve entered unaware of what was happening.
Tim thinks about trying to signal to Dick, but decides it was ultimately too risky. Dick would enter the fray when the fight kicks off. Tim just needs to find Joker first.
Just where is he?
Suddenly, Tim hears whistling. Faintly melodic, poorly done but the intent is clear. Tim’s eyes look back to Dick, who doesn’t seem to react to the sound.
Has the Joker hidden himself from Dick too? Or is Dick just that oblivious?
Tim continues to scan the cave, his eyes finally settling in the training area.
And that’s where he sees him.
Joker.
He’s towards the back, looking at some of the bamboo weapons the batfamily keep for their training, his back to Tim.
Perfect, Tim can get the element of surprise.
Tim slowly creeps forward, bo staff raised ready to swing. Carefully, stealthily, he makes his way over to the training area. Just a few more steps. Tim counts down in his head.
Three…
Two…
One…
Tim leaps forward, bringing his staff down on the Joker, only for him to-
…
-vanish?
“What?”
Tim turns sharply on his heel, now in a defensive position, trying to anticipate a strike.
But Joker is nowhere to be seen.
“You okay over there baby bird?”
Tim looks over to Dick, certain his panic is clear on his face.
“Dick! Lock down the cave.”
“What?”
“Tim, please wait a minute.”
Bruce walks out from where Tim had told him to hide, and Tim has no explanation for that.
“He’s HERE! Dick you need to lock down the cave! He can’t get away! He knows who we are! He-”
“TIM!”
Bruce has made his way over to Tim now, both hands firmly on his shoulders.
“When was the last time you slept?”
“Bruce now is not the-”
“Tim. Answer.”
Tim frowns.
“A few days?”
Bruce shakes his head.
“Tim. You are hallucinating due to sleep deprivation.”
Tim scoffs.
“Bruce now is not the-”
“Think about it Tim. You heard a voice that I couldn’t hear. Joker wouldn’t have a way of doing that.”
“But I saw green-”
“Dick, stand up.”
Bruce calls over to Dick, and although a bit baffled by the situation, Dick obliges.
He’s wearing a green sweatshirt.
Bruce turns back to Tim.
“That’s the green you saw.”
“But then what did I see here! He was standing right there!”
Tim points behind him.
“You mean the training dummy.”
“What are you-”
Tim turns, and indeed now sees a training dummy lying on the floor.
Tim blinks a few times at the sight, trying to piece everything together. Dick has now joined him and Bruce in the training area, crouching down in front of Tim.
“Baby bird, Bruce is right. I didn’t hear any laughter either.”
“But I swear I-”
Bruce is about to object, but Dick raises a hand to cut him off, before smiling softly at Tim.
“Tell you what, if you go up to the manor and get yourself to bed, and I mean actually go to bed and sleep, me and Bruce will do a thorough sweep of the cave just to make extra sure there has been no security breaches. I’ll even write up a report and log it in the computer so you can read it later. Deal?”
Tim looks between the two of them, registering a sudden wave of fatigue overcome him. Going to bed does sound nice… and if they aren’t worried right this second… and they’ll check over the cave…
Tim nods.
“Alright, okay. I’ll… I…”
Tim’s eyelids become really heavy, and he sways where he stands, struggling to stay upright.
“Bed…”
Tim falls forward, and Bruce quickly catches him, lifting him and pulling him against his chest.
Tim was out like a light.
Dick and Bruce look at each other with equal amounts of concern and disbelief at the situation that has unfolded.
“We need to keep a closer eye on his sleep patterns.”
Bruce nods.
“Yes. We do. I’ll take him to bed.”
Dick nods.
“I’ll start sweeping the cave.”
Bruce nods, and leaves the batcave, heading all the way through the manor to Tim’s room, setting his son down on his bed and tucking him in. He ruffles Tim’s hair, before whispering a quiet goodnight, closing the door behind him with a sigh.
No one is surprised when Tim doesn’t wake for the next eighteen hours.