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Sitting on top of Jason’s Todd grave with a shovel, Tim was starting to question his decision. Which was rather inconvenient. He’d already brought the supplies after all.
Except… he didn’t want to die.
What a selfish thought. It’s not like anyone would miss him. If they even noticed him gone…
Mrs. Mac? He’d told her he was leaving to boarding school. His parents? Not scheduled to come home for at least 4 months, if they didn’t extend their travel plans on a whim again. No teacher or school friend would notice as he’d signed up for online classes this year. So really, his disappearance would not be noticed, and definitely not grieved.
Unlike the boy whose grave he was sitting on.
Jason… Jason was like the sun. Bright and loud. Impossible to ignore. He was good. As Robin, he’d quip and punch better than even Dick Grayson himself. He’d give food to the homeless and check on the work girls. He’d comfort kids and make them smile again. He even made Batman laugh. He was fiery, and proud, and just… magic.
And even outside the costume he was amazing. So smart, and dramatic. He had been starring in all the school plays since he joined Gotham High. He had managed to befriend some of the most stuck up rich brats on campus. He was kind and compassionate and so strong.
And he was gone.
Batman’s… Gotham’s hope had died with him.
Tim’s too, but he didn’t want to think about it.
At first, he thought Batman was just having a bad week. Everyone grieved differently, and if he was punching extra hard for a bit, well, Tim had gotten used to carrying a first aid kit and a burner to call 911 when it went too far.
But it wasn’t just a week, and it wasn’t just hitting a bit hard. It was pure madness. Purse snatchers would get sent to the ICU. Batman stopped dodging bullets. Stopped sleeping. It was as if he was trying to join Jason in the grave and… Tim couldn’t let this happen. Batman needed help, and he needed it fast.
So he’d made a plan. A dozen plans really.
First he went to Clark Kent’s apartment in Metropolis. Begging him to help Batman. He was gently escorted out after being told again and again he wasn’t superman but… Tim knew better.
Then, he hacked his way into the Justice League Satellite. It took quite a lot of work to get the zeta to work for him but he did it. The Justice League was really unhappy about his presence in their meeting room, and they updated their security. His last ressort idea of having Martian Manhunter pretend to be Robin was also not well received. But still, Batman was being a danger to himself and everyone around.
If the Justice League wouldn’t help, then Dick had to come back and be Robin again.
Well, Dick kicked him out of his apartment even after an attempt at blackmailing him.
He tried again but with him dressed as Nightwing instead. Didn’t work.
By then he was getting desperate. So he broke into Jim’s Gorden appartement. He got told « Who are you » « How did you get in here » and « Get out before I arrest you », but Batman was still putting people in the ICU. And he was starting to really worry about « Alvin Draper » getting arrested or blackmailed by every superhero and uncorrupted cop he had access to so… He changed tactics.
If no one could help Batman grieve less destructively, or replace Robin, then he had only one solution.
Not becoming Robin himself, that would be preposterous. He didn’t know how to fight besides gym and karate class. And he’d never get a civilian involved, he wasn’t evil.
No, he had to bring Jason back.
First he thought of cloning but… he didn’t have DNA and while he could obtain some, the new Jason would be missing the memories. And while that was a better plan than nothing, he didn’t want to break into CADMUS and play with life like a mad scientist when there were better options first.
He also looked into Lazarus Pits but breaking into one was even harder than CADMUS and he didn’t want poor Jason to deal with Pit Rage for the rest of his life either. Besides, Ra would probably ask absurd things out of him like his spleen or something. If he didn’t straight up keep Jason like a wild dog. No, that was out of the question.
That’s when he remembered the dark magic grimoire his parents had brought back home years ago. He’d always felt like something was wrong with it, and that was honestly his most viable solution. If it worked, Jason would be back, and if it didn’t, well, Tim could add grave robber to his list of crimes, and proceed with the cloning or pit plan.
And so he was there. Having practiced his sigils on paper, and gathered all the supplies for the ritual. A life for a life, a soul for a soul. Bringing back the greatest thing that had happened to Gotham, for the small price of an unremarkable, invisible boy.
He breathed out and started digging. It was quite laborious, and his arms ached fiercely but he was getting there.
Dirt was getting everywhere. His shoes, his sleeves, his mouth. It tasted like grief and mistakes.
He was nearly five feet deep by now. Still, Tim kept digging. He could question himself when he was dead.
And then he heard a thumping sound.
What. Was. That.
Maybe it was his imagination, or his heart beating so fast he heard it. Maybe it was like in the tell-tale heart and he was just crazy with guilt. He kept digging.
THUMP
Tim froze in horror. He definitely didn’t imagine this one. And coffins were not supposed to make noise.
…
THUMP
He dug faster. He had a boy to break out of his coffin. Soon, his shovel was hitting the coffin, and he started prying at the lid. Why didn’t he bring a crowbar? He didn’t have time to lose, else Jason might pass out from lack of air!
Oh right, the autopsy report said he was beaten out with a crowbar, and he didn’t want Jason to be reminded of his death the moment he woke up…
Somehow, their combined force broke through the coffin’s lid, and as he helped the teen get up, he was faced with his hero’s unfocused stare.
« Jason? »
No answer.
He moved his hand and the boy followed it. Alive and awake but not responsive. Batman would know what to do.
It seemed like Tim got to live another day. All this preparation for nothing… It didn’t matter. Jason was alive, and everything would be good. Jason was alive. Tim wanted to hug the older boy and cry. To keep him for himself and never let go.
But Jason was not looking all that swell, and he couldn’t carry the shovel, his supplies and Jason at the same time. So he took the older boy half over his shoulder and started marching toward Wayne Manor.
It was a long walk, even longer when half-carrying a teenager, but they made it. He knocked on the front door, told Jason everything would be alright, and left.
From his hideaway spot in the tree nearby he saw Alfred opening the door. Pulling the teen in. He watched through the windows as Bruce came up and pulled Jason in the fiercest hug he’d ever seen. Alfred was crying, on the phone with someone, probably Dick. Bruce was crying. The house looked warmer than it had in months.
So Tim turned around. He’d done a good deed. It was time to go back to his house. Except, his was just as cold and empty as it always was. Jason was home. Batman wasn’t alone anymore. And Tim was back to the shadows he was never meant to leave.