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Tim lay sprawled across the couch, scrolling on his phone. Jason was late once again, probably caught up in some sort of tussle with the drug dealer he was supposed to stop. While he would be out on patrol with Jason, B-man has been roaming a little too close to crime alley lately and Jason doesn’t want him to: one, figure out that the new Red-X is Tim, Two, invade Jason’s territory. They made a truce and he’s sticking to it.
Which, is bullshit because if Tim remembers correctly he was just out in Blüdhaven helping Dick out with a mission.
Tim sits up and stretches, sighing contently- well, he’ll just have to make dinner without Jason. He’s sure he can come up with something.
He slides off the couch and pads into the kitchen, he yawns and opens the fridge scanning for something that’ll catch his eye. Now, usually Tim is allowed nowhere near the kitchen due to the fact that.. he had burned one to many dinners and breakfast’s and Jason had declared him a lost cause. But, Jason still wasn’t here and he was hungry. It doesn’t help that Jason is more of an ingredient household instead of a snack household.
He hums happily at the sight of a bag of shredded cheese, this will do nicely. He takes it then hurries back to the couch.
…
An hour later, a very grumpy hood enters the apartment. “Stupid fucking-“ he removes his helmet, his gaze immediately falling onto Tim’s, he sighs and runs a hand down his face before heading to the kitchen
“How was patrol?” Tim asks, clicking pause on the remote, hopefully Jason is in one of his moods where he sits next to Tim and begrudgingly watches Tv with him and not shutting Tim out for the night by hiding in his room.
“Fine. Have you eaten?” Jason’s response was short, but not aggressive… still not giving away anything. Jason has gotten a lot better at not being aggressive with Tim over the year he’s been living with him. Now it’s more aggressive protectiveness.
“Uhm… no..? I had shredded cheese earlier if that counts.” Tim slinked off of the couch and towards the kitchen
“Shredded cheese?” Jason grunted and began to pull out random ingredients “At least you didn’t try to cook. I don’t need a fiery apartment on top of all my other shit.”
“Soooo, I take it the patrol didn’t go well then.” Tim pushed himself up onto the counter and kicked his legs back and forth
“I said it went fine.”
“No, you have that face.”
“What face?” Jason the did… the face!
“That one. The one that says ‘Everything went to shit tonight.’” You know that one imagination meme, well imagine Tim doing that but instead of the word imagination it’s that.
“Well-“ Jason glared at Tim before giving in. There was no point in hiding it, Tim would find out anyway.
“I had a run in with the bat tonight.” Jason shuddered
“Oh. Did… the bust go wrong?” Tim asks, cautiously. This topic could go two different ways.
“No actually, it was all going great until he bust in. Apparently he had also been tracking this case and once he saw me in there with a gun pointed to my head he just felt the need to jump in.” Jason cut up a few vegetables “Like it’s the first time I’ve ever had a gun pointed to my head.”
“Mm.” Tim hums “You should let me take on the rest of the case, I mean, it is a simple drug dealer and B doesn’t.. know I’m Red X. What’s the harm? I barely talk anyways and if I do I have my voice modulator.”
“No. Tim, we’ve had this conversation once and I’m still saying no. It’s way too risky, He’s the ‘world’s greatest’ detective for a reason. The second you did anything Tim like he’d know it’s you.” Jason placed the vegetables in a pan before turning towards Tim
“Jason, he hasn’t seen me or heard from me in a year, my parents are dead- I don’t think Dick has tried to look for me at all, and again, Bruce didn’t care all that much for me.” Tim tilted his head “And I want to be on the streets more. I want to help, even with the little stuff.”
“Again, it’s Batman.” Jason sighed, rubbing his temples. “But.. Fine, tomorrow, we can go out. Deal with a few muggings. I’m sure the yelling I gave him will keep him away for a bit. But- if you see any signs of him anywhere you report to me immediately and get out of there. Kay?”
“Hell yeah! Thanks Jay!” Tim hopped off the counter and pulled his very angsty older brother into a hug(very uncharacteristic of him, sure-Tim did love hugs but never initiated them-but he did want to piss his brother off in the ‘I’m going to chase you around this apartment and tackle you’ kind of way.) and it worked!
Tim and Jason spent the rest of the night watching cheesy romance movies and gossiping about the hottest gossip in Gotham before Tim ended up passing out on his older brother’s shoulder.
Jason carried him to bed and(not so secretly) tucked him in. “Night Baby bird.”
“Mmph, Night Jay…”
…
Red X patrolled the streets, Red Hood not so far behind-most likely interacting with some of the kiddies-and while X usually would join him in his not-so menacing silence he decided to walk the streets instead, see what he’s missed in his absence.
A yelp came from his left and Tim immediately changed his direction to the sound, he could handle this-probably a simple mugging-he disappeared into the shadows and watched as a man attempted to steal a woman’s purse, how cliche.
He began to stalk closer before a thud came from above. What the fuck?
He stepped further back into the shadows and watched as Batman fell into the alley and easily disable the man.
Red X in response made himself known. By stepping out into the dim light of the alley, he said nothing, just watched as Batman slowly turned towards him acknowledging his presence.
“X.” Short and simple, so, he was on B’s radar. Interesting, he hadn’t done anything to threaten Batman at all… maybe it was because he was working with Red ‘I work alone’ Hood, it made him as equally as dangerous he supposed.
“You’re crossing a lot of lines by being here.” His modulator rasped. B shifted just slightly.
“I was hoping I could talk to Hood.”
Tim tilled his head slightly, cautiously stepping forward towards B. He was looking for any lies, deception. He’s known B long enough to know when the Bat was lying, why do you think Tim rivaled his detective skills?
Tim let himself fade into nothing before appearing behind Batman, staring intensely.
Batman didn’t move, he was just waiting. Why..? Any other criminal who did this would be on the ground and disabled by now. Maybe he knew he would get his ass kicked by Hood if he did anything-ruin the truce-alright.
“It won’t be pretty you know. I mean, what about your oh-so-fragile truce? I could just take you out now. Make it easier for him.” Tim knew he had no chance on taking THE Batman on by himself, but might as well be cocky while he had the chance. He knew Batman wouldn’t do anything unless X actually attacked. Empty threats never did anybody any harm anyways.
“X, I just want to see Hood. That’s all then I’ll leave you and your territory alone.” His voice growled.
Red X didn’t respond, instead he disappeared back into the shadows of the alley and clicked his small distress button, Hood would be here in a few. Meanwhile he can get his ass out of there before Hood knows he actually stayed and talked with B-and hijack the footage his suit recorded before Jason even gets to see it-Tim disappeared and reappeared in a different alley. God.
He then took off towards Jason’s safe house, hopefully Roy isn’t showing up unannounced today, it’s already hard enough to lie to Jason imagine lying to Roy.
…
Annnnd of course Roy is here.
Tim sighed and ‘nonchalantly’ entered the apartment, sneaking in would only get him caught and have Roy be suspicious of him. “Hey Roy.”
He clicked a button on the side of his neck and a hiss came from the face place. He flipped it open and watched as Roy kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. “Hey Tim-Bit, how was Patrol?”
“Uhm, Good. I gotta go write a report for Jason real quick. Encountered B tonight so, you know.” Tim pulled his cowl off leaving his hair sticking out in multiple directions
“What’s he doing in crime alley? Doesn’t he and Jason have like- a treaty or something?”
“Yes. They do but, something came up last night and now he’s just… back.” He carefully peeled off his gloves “Now, leave me be before I stick you to a wall with one of my X’s.”
“Kay, maybe we could order out? I was thinking Mexican. Or Bat burger to be petty since Jason’s gonna be home late.” Roy changed the channel on the tv
“That’s evil and you know it… but… alright.” Tim snickered “I’ll be done in an hour max!”
…
Tim had successfully written a mission report and altered the video footage! Wonderful! Now… bat burgers.. boy was he hungry.
He quickly changed out of his suit and into civvies then hurried out to the living room. Roy was still watching Tv.
“Okay, done. Food?” Tim sat down next to Roy who pulled him closer “Already ordered. You’re lucky I have someone willing to deliver bat burger here.”
“Yeah. When do you think Jay is getting back- Oh there he is.” Tim watched as Jason stormed into the room and past the two, not even acknowledging them. Oh yeesh, this wasn’t good.
“FUCKING ASSHOLE!” Jason screamed, his fist hitting a wall.
Tim took this as a sign to slide off the couch and hurry into his room. Fun hang out times with Jay and Roy would have to wait. This was something Tim didn’t want to deal with.
…
After a very eventful session of listening to Roy push Jason’s buttons to the point he was screaming things had finally settled down.
Tim timidly exited his room and glanced around, Jason was grumpily munching on a bat burger and Roy was watching arms crossed. Good.. that was good. “Everything alright..?”
“Yup, come and eat baby bird.” Roy gestured for him to come on over. Everything was calm. Jason was still here, he isn’t going to leave or disappear.
“Kay..” he sat down next to Jason and reached for his own burger.
They sat in silence for a while.
“I know you talked to Bruce.” Jason ripped another bite off his burger, not looking towards Tim.
“W-What?” Tim sputtered.
“I’m not stupid Tim, I was once your age and you’re just as stubborn as I am.” He clicked his tongue “That being said I am benching you.”
“What! That’s bullshit! He doesn’t even know it’s me- that and I was making sure he wasn’t here to kick your ass for some dumb shit. You both didn’t necessarily end on good terms last night! I’m allowed to look out for you too Jason!”
“No. I look out for you, you in return listen. I know what’s best for you kid.” He set his burger down and leaned back “You’re still benched.”
Tim glared, a flare of anger erupting inside of him. This wasn’t fair! He didn’t do anything wrong- “You’re such a dick! Tim yelled, standing back up. He wasn’t hungry anymore “I’m allowed to help you! I’m- I’m allowed to make sure you’re safe too! I’m not some little kid!”
“Tim. I’m not arguing with you about this, you’re 15 and I’m currently your guardian. You’re benched that’s final.” Jason finally looked at Tim. His eyes narrowed and tired.
“FUCK YOU! And Fuck you too Roy! God- You’re both so overbearing it’s insane! I can’t even do shit without getting benched!” He stormed off, towards his room and slammed the door shut. Well, whatever, he still had his suit(he hadn’t put it away yet) and put it back on. He’ll show Jason. He was Robin before he was Red X and Robins had a really bad habit of not listening.
…
X stood on a roof, just a little outside of Crime alley, he knew this would just piss Jason off more than if he stayed in Crime Alley but, he genuinely could not give less of a shit right now.
“Mm.” Tim huffed and dropped down into an alleyway, and glanced around. Someone was here.
He peeled an X off his chest and threw it behind him. It stuck Batman on the chest and exploded. “Oh shit.” He paused, cautiously stepping close. Did he accidentally kill Batman? It wasn’t his fault! The guy was standing behind him menacingly and he didn’t know it was actually Batman!
There was a groan and Batman stood again. Oh thank god.
Tim just stared, watching Bruce adjust himself from the surprise explosion.
“Apologies for startling you X.” He grunted. “I saw you were in the area, why are you here? Hood never lets you leave the Alley.”
“None of your business asshole.” He hissed and backed away, he didn’t like this. Being alone. Without Hood-maybe it was a bit stupid of him to leave-fuck.
“Look- X. I mean no harm to you and Hood. Can we talk?”
If Tim were dumb, he might think Bruce was being desperate with him. Which, Tim isn’t. This was a trap. Bruce was trying to corner Tim, get him to spill whatever information he had on Jason to get him back to the manor.
So, Tim just let himself disappear.
….
(A few weeks later)
“Jason! Hand my Sundae over!” Tim chased Jason around the restaurant(They were having a great night. A day for bonding-Dick’s idea-and just getting over their grudges from the past week)
“No! I still don’t understand how you were able to calculate all 7,818 jellybeans!” Jason hurried behind the counter and pulled the jar towards him. “It was supposed to be hard!”
“It’s because I used a complex algorithm based on the dimensions of the jar!” Tim retorted, resisting the urge to leap across the counter.
“Yesterday you ran into a wall and said that carrots are fruits!” Jason quipped back.
“Well yesterday I was sleep deprived! Now hand over my ice cream fatson!” Tim jumped across the counter and tackled Jason with a yell. Sure, Jason was bigger than him but since when has that ever stopped him?
Roy peaked his head out from the kitchen window and laughed “He did get it right Jason, I think you owe him.”
“Haha! Yes!” Tim sat up and pumped his fists into the air. “Ice cream for the proud winner! Tim Drake!”
“Yeah yeah, whatever kid.” Jason pushed Tim off of his body with a loud ‘Oof!’
Tim scrambled to his feet and scattered to the kitchen before Jason could enact any sort of revenge. “Can I pick what flavors I want?”
“Yuuup. We have… Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry annndd, Mint chocolate chip.” Roy gestured to all of the flavors.
“I want… Mint, Chocolate, and Strawberry. Oh! And extra chocolate syrup… and.. Whipped cream.” Tim glanced back at Jason who was busy dusting his jacket off.
“You’re gonna get a cavity with all that sugar.” Jason drug a finger through the whipped cream and licked his finger shamelessly
“Ugh! Gross! Jason!” Tim whined and pulled his bowl closer to him, reaching over to grab a spoon and digging in. “Thank you Roy.”
“No problem kiddo.” Roy ruffled his hair before leaning over to attempt a kiss on Jason’s cheek. He was instead shoved away playfully
“So-“ Tim said in-between bites “What’s going on for tonights bust? Do I get to kick some ass or am I purely ‘Watch out Jason! On your left!’ Tonight?”
“Depends, you feeling up to fight tonight? Or do you wanna be our eyes.” Jason reached for another bite of Ice cream but was swatted away by Tim.
“I feel like being a menace.” Tim hummed happily
“You’re a menace either way.” Jason leaned against the counter; crossing his arms. “But, alright you can be on the ground, BUT- You have to be extremely careful-“
“Yeah yeah, be careful. If you see anything suspicious and unrelated to the mission, report it immediately and haul ass out of there. If I spot the B-man I don’t have to run but I can’t say anything just make my way back to you and if I see ANY sign of Joker I immediately scurry my happy ass back to you and Roy. Hauling ass away from Joker doesn’t work all too well as we’ve all learned.” Tim paused “But… I wasn’t talking necessarily about the mission.”
“So glad you’re learning Timmy, it’s a wonder that you’re actually listening- wait. What do you mean?” Jason’s eyebrows furrowed
“Well, I have my own mission. I’ve had my… eyes on… other things. There’s been someone new roaming our streets and I want to see who it is.” Tim winced as Jason looked absolutely exasperated
“What?! Tim- Fuck no! You’re not-“
“But Jason! I promise I’ll be careful! I swear to it! It’s on crime alley and it’s only recon!” Tim leaned across the table, hands carding through his hair.
“Jay…” Roy placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder “I think this would be nice for the kid. He needs to go out on his own sometimes, I’m sure we can put some tracking devices on him and have a live video feed active while we deal with our bust. Remember, the birdie needs to leave the nest on his own sometimes. You’ll always be his mama bird anyway.”
Jason scoffed and looked away(was he BLUSHING?!?) “Urrghhhh! Fine! Fuck. fine. Tim, you can go.”
“Hell yeah!” Tim pumped his fists excessively and finished his ice cream. “I’m so ready for this!”
…
Tim adjusted himself down on the roof and watched as a boy in a leather jacket and glasses moved through the area, interesting. He jumped to another roof and hummed curiously he crouched down and squinted towards him. He looked like someone he once knew.
A time before Red X. Young Justice, he was still Robin.
Superboy… Tim had quite an embarrassing crush on him. But loved him dearly. Not the anyone would have ever known.
He blinked and let himself come back to reality… the guy was gone. Fuck.
“You know I don’t really appreciate being watched.”
Tim whipped around to see the man standing behind him. He had.. an S on his shirt. So this was Superboy. Why was Superboy here in gotham? And why did he look so different?
“These are my streets. And you’re a newcomer.” Tim stood, stretching. Superboy wasn’t much of a threat(as long as Tim didn’t piss him off)
“Last I heard these were hood’s streets.” Kon glared, eyes drifting down just slightly before glancing back up at Red X. So… he was a tad bit pissed, wonderful.
“We share. Now, what are you doing here Superboy? I don’t think the Big B likes having metas in Gotham. He’s made it pretty clear.” Tim placed his hands on his hips.
“I’m here for answers. Let’s just say, I need to talk to Hood.” Kon grimaced.
“Psh, everyone always wants to talk to Hood! But what about me? Red X! The basically better version of him. Here, you can ask me the same questions you’ll ask him. I basically know the answers to everything.” Tim stepped closer, he began to circle around Kon.
And… Conner just stood there. Hands clenched. Eyes following Red X. “Fine. What do you know about Tim Drake?”
X paused. “Hm, well. I know he went missing quite a while ago. He was… the son of Jack and Janet Drake but was adopted by Bruce Wayne. His disappearance was all over the news.”
“Correct. And Red Hood was the one who took him. That… asshole. Stole my best friend and I’m going to either ONE. Get answers or TWO kill him.” Kon hissed
“Mm.” Red X stopped behind Kon, it… hurt not telling him who he was. SHIT- Red Hood was most definitely watching or ON HIS WAY- The live feed on his suit. Shit shit shit!
“Well, Kon.” Tim purred, tilting his head, slinking closer “You won’t find him here. Hood has had nothing to do with it.”
“BUT HE HAS!” Kon whipped around “Tim went missing the night Hood attacked! How-Do you know my name?”
FUCK. Fuck. FUCK. “Well, who am I to not do research on Superman’s family especially when they work so closely with the bat? Kal-El. Kon-El. Jon-El. I’m not stupid. It’s practically common knowledge.”
Kon stayed silent eyes… narrowing. Then he spoke. “Tim?”
What?
“What?”
“Tim.. is that you?”
“Uh- No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Soo, maybe he should stay a silent vigilante. Never talk ever. He’s taking a vow of silence after this.
Conner approached, slowly. As if he were trying not to startle a wild animal. He was backing Tim into a wall, and… Tim sorta wanted him to. He didn’t want to disappear on Conner again… he wanted a friend. More than just Roy and Jason. He wanted love.
“I-“ Tim felt his back hit the fire escape wall, and… Kon just stood there. Staring.
“Conner..” Tim whispered, his hands reaching up-he was basically on autopilot at this point-and releasing his mask. He pulled the cowl off and stared, eyes wide. “N-Now, before you yell… I just- I just- I want you to hear me out.”
“I know I left- But what other options did I have! B was keeping me benched and you were all gone! And I- I couldn’t keep living the way I was! so when Hood gave me the opportunity I took it! I had to!” Tim looked away, he couldn’t meet Conner’s gaze. “Well! Go ahead! Say something! Scream shout! Stop being so stoic Kon!”
Conner brought his hand up and placed it on Tim’s cheek, pulling his gaze over to face him. “You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you.”
Tim just… stood there. Absolutely frightened. He… wasn’t mad? How could he not be angry with Tim? For leaving?
And.. Then something VERY unexpected happened. Kon leaned in and kissed him.
Tim stood there absolutely stunned for a moment before leaning in, tears streaming down his face-when had he been crying?
Soon, Tim pulled away for air. And let out a wet laugh. “H-How did you know?”
“There’s only one person I know who has your sass. Your smarts. I know you Tim, in and out. You were my best friend and… maybe something more. You left before I could ever tell you how I felt… and I thought I would never get the chance to ever again..” Kon’s hand caressed the side of Tim’s face and he shamelessly leaned into it.
“Why aren’t you angry with me?” He sighed.
“How could I ever be? Tim there is nothing you could ever do in this world that would make me truly angry with you. frustrated sure, I was mad for a long time but never towards you. I was angry at myself for not staying at the tower, angry at Hood for taking you, angry at Batman, the world. But never you.” He pressed his forehead against Tim’s “I get why you left. But I hate that it ever had to come to that. I hate that everyone pushed you away. I hated myself for it for a long time.”
“Conner…” Tim gently rubbed his nose against Conners “You’re.. such a sap. One.. more question, why only come now? A year later?”
“I… had a lot of other things to deal with. Like myself. And, I couldn’t necessarily bring myself back to Gotham knowing you were gone. It hurt way too much.” Kon pressed a small kiss against Tim’s lips, then another. Soon there was no more room for talking and Kon had Tim pinned up against the wall, Tim’s legs wrapped around his waist and hands through Kon’s hair.
Tim let out a pathetic noise as Kon bit Tim’s bottom lip. “Mmph, Conner..”
A thud came from behind the two. And Kon whipped his head around. Hood and Arsenal were standing there. How wonderful.
Tim let out a dazed noise and let himself fall from Conners arms. “Fuck.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing with my brother?” Jason growled, guns out.
“Jason wait!” Tim scrambled in front of Kon, slowly coming to his senses. “Roy-“
“Do look at me kiddo, I already tried to reason with him. But, someone decided to leave comm’s on and well..”
Tim felt his face go bright red with embarrassment. “I- JASON! I can explain!”
“You can go HOME Tim. I’m going to deal with the riff raff.”
“No! No one’s doing anything. Calm down. Conner’s a friend! A… A good friend. We haven’t talked about what we are- anyway! Just. Why don’t we talk about this later Kon, I’ll… see you later?”
“No! No! You will not be seeing him later! If he doesn’t leave right now I’m shooting him.” Jason aimed his gun at Kon’s head.
“I don’t think your bullets-“
“KON! Just- Go.. please? We’ll talk more later I promise.” Tim placed a hand on his chest “Now shoo before he kills you.”
Kon stared at Tim for just a moment before pressing a kiss against his forehead and taking off.
“You’re… grounded.”
“What! For how long?!”
“You’re grounded for till college.”
“FOR TILL COLLEGE?”
“FOR TILL COLLEGE!”
“That isn’t fair! The amount of times I’ve caught you and Roy making out on roof tops and I didn’t say anything!” Tim crossed his arms.
“Timothy Jackson Drake. Get your ass back to the safe house NOW. I need to put kryptonite everywhere.” Jason pointed in the direction of the apartment, foot tapping impatiently
“Whatever, I’ll just sneak out anyway.” Tim grumbled and stomped away.
“What was that?!”
“NOTHING! Fucking asshole.” Tim slid his cowl back on and grappled away.
…