Across || Tim Drake + Avengers Crossover

Chapter 9

Tim sat on the edge of a tall building, looking down at the brightly lit streets. The whole city was nothing like Gotham. First off, it felt clean. The air, the weather, everything seemed a little brighter and more lively.

The other thing was that it was quiet. It may have been because he was patrolling by himself and his brothers weren't there to fight about every little thing, but Tim didn't think so. He had stopped several muggings, but the lack of crime compared to Gotham was astonishing. By now, if he were back at home, he would have probably stopped three times as many.

His eyes followed the tiny cars below stuck in the traffic and was suddenly hit with a pang of homesickness. He'd been away from home for longer than this before, but with the prospect of never being able to return hovering over his shoulders, it felt like it had been a much longer time.

Tim had come out to patrol mainly because he'd wanted to feel a sense of normalcy, but now he decided that normalcy was probably the worst thing he could have aimed for. It was worse because everything seemed the same, but also blatantly different. It was the same routine, but one that constantly reminded how far from home he really was. He sighed, momentarily closing his eyes.

At least in the tower, everything was new; the people, the technology, the building. It was easy to forget that he was stranded in a whole other dimension without anyone he could contact and rely upon. It was easy to get lost in the hasty activities of the Avengers whether it be watching Tony work in his lab, hearing stories from Clint or Captain America about the other members or pondering over how this dimension worked. During those times, Tim didn't have to think about himself and focus on living in the present, not about how much he missed his family, how he wanted to eat Alfred's cooking again or simply sleep in his own room.

Tim stretched and got up, deciding to go back to the tower. Besides, if the Avengers noticed that he was gone, they'd question him to no end and they'd probably become suspicious. He turned around, only to jump back in surprise and almost fall off the building.

"Woah woah! Don't die!"

Without notice, webs stuck to the front of his costume and yanked him forwards, away from the edge. Tim fell forwards onto his knees. He stood up, trying to wipe the spiderwebs away, but failed miserably.

"What is this stuff?" He looked at his hands which were pretty much coated in the sticky substance.

"Are we not gonna comment on how you nearly fell off the building and you know, died?" Tim looked up to see Peter standing there with what Tim assumed to be an incredulous look on his masked face. Tim shrugged.

"What can I say? I just like living on the edge." He stepped towards the edge as proof and smirked when he saw Peter tense. He shook his head slightly and moved away. "Okay okay that was a bad one. Besides, I wasn't gonna die."

Peter visibly relaxed and Tim found himself grinning. "Anyways, what are you doing up here?"

Peter pointed to himself. "Well doesn't that line seem familiar. And once again, you're asking me?"

"Don't see anyone else here."

"That's not what I meant." Peter shook his head and placed his hands on his hip. "What are you doing out here? Everyone's looking for you."

"Damn."

Welp, there went the plan to do patrol unnoticed.

___________

Tim sat uncomfortably in his chair as the Avengers stared down at him. He tried to force a smile on his face but stopped when Natasha shot him a glare. Tim strangely got the feeling that they were not happy with him. Okay, it was obvious that they were mad at him.

Peter had gone home after mentioning a curfew from his aunt so Tim was officially left to fend for himself. Not that Peter would have helped him seeing as Tim was technically the only one who did something wrong.

"Where did you go?" Steve asked. In all honesty, Tim didn't really get the point in telling them anything. He knew that they were keeping him confined because they wanted to collect information on him. He'd only followed along because it was in his benefit to have a place to stay and get the government off his back. Of course, he could run away easily and disappear - he had the means, but he couldn't be stuffed.

What annoyed him was the fact that he was not being told that he was being monitored up front. He hated that they were keeping up the pretense of being friendly whilst digging up information on him like he was some child who would overreact if told anything remotely disturbing. He was in a freaking different dimension! How could it get any more disturbing than that? Up until now, he'd been working to appear older to make them trust him more, but clearly, that was not working.

Tim looked away from them and stuck up his nose. If they were going to treat him like a child, he may as well act like it and reap all the benefits. After all, people who had morals could hardly do anything bad towards a child. The Avengers seemed to be slightly taken aback by his behavior, but Tim did not care. With how smart he was, he kind of had a thing against people underestimating him.

"What's his deal?" Tony spoke out to the room. Tim remained as stoic as ever. Steve shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable. An awkward silence ensued, as the Avengers stared at Tim and Tim refused to comply. Tim, seeing as nothing was going to happen if he didn't do anything, decided to finally speak up.

"If you were going to watch me, you should have done a better job. You're obligated through your profession to spy on a potentially dangerous figure, but as that said figure, I don't have to answer your questions." For a moment, Tim felt like Damien and he realized that acting like a brat and making enemies of everyone really wasn't going to be helpful in any way.

He had to think about the future. Acting childish because they treated him that way was being immature and stupid. Besides, he'd probably need their help returning home.

He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. Natasha raised an eyebrow, watching him carefully. Tim faced the team and spoke.

"I'm sorry, I've just been stressed being cooped up in here for so long so I decided to go on patrol. Figured I'd be able to get back before you guys noticed.."

Clint patted his shoulder. "Nah, it's okay, Robin. Well, going out without permission was not okay, but I understand how you might be feeling." Tim gave him a half hearted smile, before turning around as Tony gasped loudly and sending Tim a half incredulous, half pissed off look.

"How did he get past FRIDAY?"