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Ever since Bruce Wayne’s return from the time stream, most of his children have been clinging to him non-stop. It’s been kind of sweet, actually. Dick and Jason have been hanging around the manor more, Cass insists on patrolling with him. Even Damian has been hesitant to leave him for more than a little while.
Tim, however, the very child that brought him back, has been avoiding him. He’s been only staying at his apartment, not teaming up for missions, declining invitations to family dinner. It’s odd, not having his second youngest around.
It’s not like he’s been avoiding everyone, in fact he seems to be closer than ever with his siblings. Cass and Damian especially. He is just staying away from Bruce. Until now, that is. When he shows up at seven pm because he’s getting sick.
Unfortunately, it’s the worst timing in the world, because Batman is needed at a Justice League meeting in two hours. Dick is off world supervising something with the Titans, and Jason is patrolling. Which leaves Alfred and Damian.
Now, a year ago he wouldn’t have even considered leaving with one of his kids being ill. But the boy doesn’t have a fever yet, and him and Damian have been mostly friendly with each other for the last two months. So, he leaves to the watchtower with strict instructions to get some rest.
Tim, as per usual lately, says about two words to him before going to lay down on the couch in the library. Bruce doesn’t know why his son hasn’t been talking to him, he thinks maybe the boy is just processing everything that’s happened lately.
He shakes himself off, focusing on the task at hand as he walks in to see the other members of the league. Currently there’s Clark, Diana, J’onn, Barry, Oliver, and Hal. Everybody else couldn’t make it due to other crises and duties they couldn’t stray from. Luckily, Cass and Stephanie are covering for him on patrol tonight. Damian was watching over Tim.
“Batman, glad you could join us.” J’onn greets him
Bruce grunts “I apologize for the delay, I had to deal with something.”
“Is everything okay?” Clark asks him
He just nods, and goes to take his seat. The league doesn’t know he has a horde of children at home. And Bruce plans on keeping it that way for as long as possible. Clark, of course, knows them all. But everyone else just has theories.
They’ve all worked with Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin. And they didn’t exactly hide what their relationship was. But they didn’t say it either, and some of his team members could be a little clueless.
Diana gets up to start talking and he resists the urge to just zone out and worry about his children. He can do that later, he needs to focus right now. This meeting is important, that’s why he came.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of his surroundings though. So when the zeta opens and reveals Tim Drake—bo staff clutched in his hands, domino mask attached to his face, still in his pajamas—he is on his feet in seconds.
The boy’s breathing was all wrong, harsh and congested, and his face was flushed. His fever must have set in. Tim always gets delirious and emotional when he has a fever. He’s always so sleep deprived it just pushes him over the edge.
Bruce steps closer and his son’s head whips to the side to see him, fingers tightening around his weapon. When he sees that it’s just Batman, his shoulders lose their tension. Tim stumbles toward him.
“B.” He breathes “You’re here.”
Bruce catches him, cringing at the heat radiating off the boy’s body. His temperature is already high, and it seems to be elevating even more.
“What are you doing here, Red Robin? Where is Agent A?” He demands
Tim mumbles “Home.”
“Does he know where you are?”
He shrugs and grabs onto Bruce’s arms. Then he coughs, wincing as it hurts his aching chest. Bruce grimaces in sympathy.
“I dunno. He-he’s at home. I had to find you, B.”
“I told you I would be at a meeting, sweetheart. Agent A and Robin were supposed to be watching you.”
“I had to find you.” He repeats
This is starting to feel bigger than just seeking him out at the watchtower. Tim is clearly upset, and not in his right mind.
“You need to go back home.”
He tries to stand up only to be pulled back down in a bruising grip, his son using shaky hands to hold on tight. He has tear tracks on his face, Bruce realizes.
“No! Please don’t make me leave, B. Please, I wanna stay with you.”
The league was probably staring in shock, watching this delirious teenager break down to Batman. But Bruce doesn’t even care as he picks his son up and holds him close. Tim buries his face in Bruce’s neck.
“Let me stay, please.” He whimpers “Please, dad.”
There’s small gasps behind them. He ignores it.
“Alright…” Bruce whispers “You can stay with me, baby. It’s okay.”
He turns around with the boy in his arms and takes his seat back at the table. Tim slips his trembling fingers in between Batman’s wrist gauntlet and glove, feeling his pulse. Bruce certainly isn’t gonna deny him that.
“I apologize for the disruption. Continue, Wonder Woman.”
All of them blink at him. Clark was staring at Tim in concern, probably listening to his heartbeat and monitoring his vitals to see what was wrong. Diana was frowning, and so was J’onn. Barry, Hal, and Oliver just seemed shocked.
Bruce growls “What?”
Tim shifts uneasily at the harsh tone, so Bruce rubs a hand up and down his back soothingly. His son’s chin was still hooked over his shoulder.
“Do you wanna talk about the child holding onto you like his life depends on it?” Oliver asks
“This is Red Robin. You’ve met him.”
Hal squints “Yes, just..y’know..not like this.”
“Like what?”
“A child.” Barry answers “You’re child.”
Diana leans forward to inspect Tim “This little one is yours, Batman?”
He grunts an affirmative. The fact that Tim didn’t appose to being called little means that he is dozing off or just way out of it. His fingers were still pressed to Bruce’s pulse point on his wrist.
“How come we didn’t know that Red Robin was Spooky’s son?” Hal asks
J’onn clears his throat “We are not entitled to the details of Batman’s family life. Is the child alright?”
Bruce dips his head in thanks “He is. He’s just sick, and was panicking about my whereabouts.”
Clark coos sadly, but nobody else seems to hear it.
“I take it that’s because you’ve been presumed dead for the last year and only returned two months ago?” Oliver guessed
“Wait a minute!” Hal exclaims, slamming a hand on the table
Tim flinches, tensing as he turns to see where the noise came from. Bruce hushes him and brings him back in to lean against him, stroking his hair until he relaxes again. He glares at Hal.
The man winces, lowering his voice “Sorry! I just remembered that Red Robin was the one who figured out you were still alive, wasn’t he?”
“Ya, he was.” Barry agrees
Before Bruce can respond to them, the zeta tube opens again. He holds in his sigh when he sees it’s another one of his children. Damian, this time. In full costume, striding toward them hurriedly.
“Father! Red Robin has escaped. I left to get him his tea and when I returned he was gone, he-“
Damian stops when he sees Tim groggily lift his head to look at his little brother. If Bruce didn’t know any better, he’d say his youngest seemed worried. The small breath of relief when he lays eyes on Tim is a little surprising.
Then he comes toward them, looking downright murderous. Bruce thinks that his jaw actually drops when Damian reaches out and grabs Tim’s face with small, gloved hands.
“I told you to stay put.”
Tim huffs, eyes glassy “Needed to find dad.”
“He is busy, you knew that. Did you forget? Are you having trouble remembering things?”
A year ago, that would have been an insult. Now it’s just a genuine question, hinted with concern.
“M’fine.” He mutters
Damian clicks his tongue “You are sick. After what Grandfather did, you have to be more careful with your health. Your immune system is compromised.”
Tim leans forward and knocks his forehead against Damian’s. The younger boy lets him, even keeping their heads together as he chastises him.
“Don’ worry about me, Dami. S’okay.”
His eyes are slipping closed, and Bruce doesn’t have the heart to berate him about not using their real names. Tim is too far gone to even realize what he’s saying.
“Why is his immune system compromised?” Diana asks
“He doesn’t have a spleen anymore.” Damian answers
If anyone else had asked that, Damian would have sneered or insulted them. But it was Wonder Woman, so he replied politely.
Oliver’s eyes go wide “I’m sorry what?”
“Ya, we can’t skip over this.” Barry says “Missing organs are kind of important.”
“I do agree that is concerning.” J’onn adds
Damian pulls away slightly, turning around, only for Tim to just drop his head on his little brother’s shoulder instead. Once again, he just lets it happen, not caring that Tim’s hair is pressed against his cheek.
“It is being handled.” Damian tells the league
He tries to turn around to face Bruce and again, and Tim whines. Apparently he doesn’t want to move from his spot on Damian’s shoulder.
“It is time to go now.”
Tim leans back against Bruce “Wanna stay with dad.”
“Why do you want to stay with your dad buddy?” Clark asks him
“Found him. Gotta keep him safe.” He mumbles
Bruce wraps his arms tighter around his son, trying not to feel guilty at the way Damian and Clark’s expressions both drop. The youngest sighs.
“Fine, we shall stay to protect Father. But you will go lay down in the lounge so you can sleep properly.”
Tim doesn’t answer, just blinks at the boy.
Bruce nudges him “You really should get some sleep sweetheart.”
One again, no response. Damian thinks for a moment, then comes closer to whisper in Tim’s ear.
“What if I got Todd to come sit with you? He can protect you while you rest, and I will watch over Father.”
Finally, Tim nods.
“Okay.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Robin.” Bruce says “He’s busy with patrol, and technically none of you should even be here.”
Hal laughs “Oooooh is somebody else coming? Another child perhaps?”
“Yes.” Damian answers “I have notified him to come to the watchtower immediately.”
“When did you do that?” Oliver asks
“I pressed my emergency beacon sixty seconds ago.”
Of course he did. Why couldn’t the kids just do what they’re supposed to do? Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is, because Bruce has never been able to wrangle any of them.
Diana raises her eyebrows “So he’s gonna show up any second then?”
“Yes.”
“Actually-“ Clark starts to say
Then he’s cut off by none other than the Red Hood, in full gear, walking in. Half of the league stands on alert at the sight of him.
“Woah! Why is the Red Hood here?” Oliver exclaims
J’onn turns to Damian “Is that your brother, child?”
“Eh, sort of.” Jason answers “I heard there’s a baby bird that needs to be watched?”
Bruce nods to the bundle of Tim in his arms, who had fallen asleep again while laying back against the armor on Batman’s chest. Damian points to them as Jason comes forward.
“Red Robin is refusing to leave Batman’s side, he said that he needs to protect him. So I will stand guard while you watch over the imbecile.”
Jason nods “Alright, let’s go Red.”
Tim, of course, doesn’t respond. He’s been mostly out of it since he got here, and he clearly felt safe enough to let some of his guard down. Bruce doesn’t really want to disrupt that, but he knows that Jason will keep Tim safe.
“Come on baby bird, I know you can hear me.”
When Jason gets no response again, he whistles lowly. Tim immediately sits up, and does it back.
Bruce knows his children have a system for that, certain tunes mean different codes and phrases, but he doesn’t know what they mean. He wasn’t allowed to know them, according to Dick. Only the birds (aka kids) can.
“There ya go, come on kid.” Jason says
Tim was swaying, eyes barely open even though he had responded to his brother. It was instinct, more than anything, that made him do that. That didn’t mean he was actually awake.
Jason gets fed up and just goes to take the sick boy, which proves to be a bad idea when Tim flinches away and clings to Bruce. It’s jarring, the sudden alertness that enters Tim’s body at the thought of a threat. It’s sad.
“No.” Tim whines “B.”
“I will keep an eye of him, remember?” Damian says “Go with Hood so you can lay down and sleep.”
“The brat will keep him safe, promise.” Jason adds
Finally, Tim falls into his big brother’s arms, letting himself be scooped up into a bridal carry. Jason bears the weight easily.
He starts walking away, calling out over his shoulder “If you’re not done in an hour, I’m leaving.”
That was most likely a bluff, but Bruce isn’t gonna risk it. He plans to be done within the hour, no matter what. Damian goes to stand guard at his back and he doesn’t bother trying to tell him any different. The boy has an order, so he’s going to follow it.
Bruce finally turns to face the league.
“Let’s continue.”
Barry sputters “What? That’s it?”
“What more do you want?” Bruce asks “Those are some of my children, now let’s get on with it so that I may take them home as soon as possible.”
J’onn frowns “We can reschedule this meeting, Batman, if we need to.”
“I appreciate that, but we really can’t. It’s time sensitive and urgent.”
“He’s right.” Diana agrees “I wish that we could postpone this but we can’t.”
Hal opens his mouth but Oliver just shakes his head at the man, so he closes it and leans back in his chair with a pout. The meeting goes on, painstakingly slow, but everyone seems to be more focused now.
It isn’t until nearly forty minutes later that they’re interrupted again. This time, it’s Clark. He straightens up and gets a certain look in his eye, one that usually means he hears something.
“Turn on the cameras for the lounge.” He tells J’onn, who was standing at the head of the table currently
The Martian doesn’t ask any questions, he quickly pulls up the feed and puts it on the monitor. Tim is lying on the couch, tossing his head and mumbling quietly. Jason is leaning over him.
“Hey, you’re okay Timmy.”
His helmet was off now. Clearly, none of the children really care about concealing identity anymore. Most of the league knows Bruce’s identity, anyway. They just haven’t put together that the Robins and other Gotham vigilantes are his kids.
Tim doesn’t open his eyes as he whimpers “Stop.”
“Easy, you’re just dreaming kiddo.” Jason murmurs soothingly “You’re safe.”
Tim slowly blinks his teary eyes open, and promptly gasps and flinches away. Whatever he saw in his brother’s face, it’s scaring him.
“Don’t.” He breathes, trying to scoot away
Then the league sees Damian come rushing in. None of them had even noticed that he left.
“Todd, what is happening?”
Jason had backed away from the sick kid, and turns to frown Damian.
“I don’t know, I think he’s scared of me right now.”
“Why would Drake be scared of you?”
He doesn’t wait for a response, he’s already kneeling down by Tim to try and get him to calm down. Jason bites his nail, watching intently as Tim looks at Damian and once again, flinches away.
Both brothers look at each other, not understanding what it is that seems to be scaring Tim right now. The boy was squeezing his eyes closed again, not wanting to look at anyone anymore.
Tim wraps his arms around himself, looking small and terrified. For someone usually so calm and confident, it was disheartening.
“Timothy-“ Damian tries
“No—Ra’s..don’t…”
Everybody freezes. Damian’s face goes pale as he backs away. The whole league, Bruce included, stops breathing. It’s Diana who recovers first.
She grabs Bruce’s shoulder “Batman?”
He’s out of his chair and rushing to his son before anything else can happen. It makes sense now, why Tim flinched away from his brothers when he saw their eyes. They’re the exact same green as Ra’s are.
Bruce knows something happened with the demon head when he was gone, he just doesn’t know what. A missing organ, new PTSD symptoms, and several league bases off the map are the only thing he knows. Everything else is not something that Tim is willing to share yet.
That’s probably why he’s been closer to Damian and Jason, because they’re the ones that know that specific brand of cruelty. The fact that Ra’s Al Ghul has traumatized half of his children makes Bruce’s blood boil.
Tim was still curled in on himself, tears streaming from beneath his closed eyelids. Bruce approaches carefully. Jason and Damian watch with a mixture of concern and relief as he does.
“Tim? Tim, sweetheart, can you open your eyes for me?” He asks gently
The boy shakes his head, muttering protests.
“It’s just B, Timmy.” Jason says
“No..not here…he’s gone.” Tim lets out a sob “He’s gone, I failed.”
Bruce feels his chest tighten. His throat aches as he tries to keep his composure. Damian inhales sharply.
Jason curses lowly “Fuck.”
He braves getting closer to his little brother again, crouching down by him and resting a gentle hand in his hair. That usually settles Tim down.
“Hey, you didn’t fail baby bird.” Jason tells him “Look at me, kiddo.”
Tim does, slowly. This time the green eyes don’t throw him off or make him recoil. He recognizes Jason, and immediately reaches for him. It makes him seem so young, like a toddler asking to be picked up.
“Jay, please.” He cries
Jason moves his hand from Tim’s head to the back of his neck, pulling him close. Bruce knows that Jason is weak for that nickname, especially from his siblings. Tim melts into him and cries quietly into his shoulder.
“I’ve got you.”
“I-I don’t…somethin’ is wrong, Jason.” Tim mutters “I don’t feel right.”
Jason cards gentle fingers through his hair “Shh you’re just sick, alright? We’ll take care of you.”
He sniffles miserably, burying his face in Jason’s neck.
“I want dad.”
Damian gently nudges Tim’s shoulder “Look to your left, Drake. He is here.”
Tim swivels his head around, and he finally seems to look at Bruce. It makes him cry harder, reaching for his father. Jason passes him over carefully and he collapses into the Batman suit with full trust that Bruce will catch him.
He does, of course. He will always catch Tim. Catch any of them. The worst part of being gone wasn’t the memory gaps, or not being Batman, or missing time with the Justice League. It was not being there for his children.
They were different. Some in more obvious ways, but they all were. Coming back to new sibling dynamics, new fights, new triggers, it was heartbreaking. In so many ways it makes him feel like he failed them. And this, his composed and guarded son crying in his arms? It’s proving that he did.
“Y’re here.” Tim looks up at him with a relieved smile, tears still streaming down his face
Bruce kisses his forehead, pressing his nose into messy hair “I’m here.”
He’s not leaving again. Not if he can help it. He’s not failing them again. Bruce knows he’s not the best parent, he knows why his relationships with his children are strained. He pushed Dick away, and he failed Jason. He didn’t save Cass or Damian until later, when so much damage had already been done.
And Tim. His brilliant Tim, who saved Bruce when he was at his lowest, but lost everything because he did. The moment he put on the Robin suit he was doomed. And Bruce let him. Then he watched as the boy’s life fell apart time and time again for a mission that wasn’t his to begin with.
Bruce always thought that it was Jason that he had failed the most. As he cradles his third son who’s burning up from fever, muttering deliriously about how he saved Batman, he realizes it might be Tim.
Footsteps interrupt his train of thought.
“Holy shit.” Hal says from behind them “Batman’s a caring father.”
Damian scoffs and Jason snorts, but neither of them say anything. When Bruce looks over at the league he almost wants to smile at the way they’re all lurking there watching from the doorway.
“Is he okay?” Clark asks
Jason waves a hand at him “Come see for yourself, Supes.”
Clark inches forward, and the rest of them try to follow. Damian steps in front of them and they all immediately retreat again. Understandably, considering his glare is scarier than Bruce’s. And he gets…possessive of things that he considers his. Like his siblings.
“You weren’t invited to come closer.” Damian growls
Bruce focuses back on Clark as he kneels down next to them. Tim turns and blinks at him blearily, then starts crying once again.
“Clark..M’sorry.” Tim reaches over and grabs his hand “I-I’m so sorry.”
“What? Why are you sorry? What’s going on, bud?”
He’s using his Superman voice. The soft, kind one that makes him so easy to trust. He squeezes the trembling fingers in his steady ones.
“Didn’t save him…m’sorry.”
“Hey, you did save him. You saved Batman, remember? He’s holding you right now.”
Tim shakes his head, letting out a weak sob. Bruce quickly thumbs away his tears.
“Not him….Kon. I-I couldn’t save Kon. I tried, I promise I tried. I couldn’t save him, Clark. I’m so sorry, I’m sorry.”
“Woah.” Jason mutters
Damian whispers “Oh, Timothy...”
Clark lowers his head for a moment. When he lifts it again, his eyes are teary, but he has a gentle smile on his lips. He lays his hand on Tim’s shoulder so the boy will look at him.
“I have never blamed you for what happened to Conner, okay? It was not your fault, Tim.”
“He-he’s dead, Clark. He’s gone.”
Another sob, shaky fingers reaching up to tug at dark hair. It’s like the room loses oxygen when he says the next part.
“Everybody keeps leaving me. They die, and they go missing, and-and they just leave. They leave me alone.” Tim cries “I don’t wanna be alone.”
Oliver curses quietly from behind them, and when Bruce looks he can see Barry and Diana both crying silently. J’onn and Hal looked mortified, like they don’t want to believe what they’re hearing.
“You’re not alone, Tim. You’re not.” Bruce promises him “I’m so sorry that you were.”
“You will not be alone anymore.” Damian adds
Jason grunts “Especially once Dickface finds out you’ve been sick.”
Tim laughs through his tears, which is an odd, bittersweet sound. But it’s better than the sobs, so Bruce smiles. In front of the Justice League, and half his children, Batman truly smiles.
For now, that’s enough.
***
Three months later, Bruce is once again sitting in the watchtower while listening to Clark discuss strategies for dealing with Luthor’s new scheme. It’s boring, and tedious, and he doesn’t really want to be here.
When the zeta tube opens and Tim Drake stumbles in, unmasked, nobody raises an eyebrow. They understand now. Bruce sighs, knowing his son has a moderate concussion and is supposed to be home resting.
Tim looks to them, and then just stalks forward and collapses into Batman’s lap.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Bruce greets, pulling him close “You okay?”
Tim hums an affirmative “Jus’ wanted t’see you.”
Bruce nods and turns his attention back to the meeting, one hand rubbing his son’s back gently. Clark had only briefly stopped, but carried on once he saw that it was just Tim.
Diana nudges him “Is the child alright?”
She was whispering, as the rest of the team was still engaged in Clark’s presentation.
“He has a mild injury. Nothing to be concerned about.” He replies “Although his older brother was supposed to be watching over him.”
“The Red Hood?” Diana asks
He shakes his head “Nightwing.”
“I see.” She nods “I assume he will be showing up shortly then?”
“Most likely.”
Diana smiles fondly, reaching over to pet Tim’s hair a couple of times.
“We will keep him safe until then.”
Bruce grins as Tim burrows closer to him. Yes, they will keep him safe. In a few minutes his oldest will walk through the door and carry his little brother away. But right now, he holds Tim against him and relishes in the comfort of knowing his friends care about his children.
Nothing will get to them here.