SCREEN TIME. ( peter parker/tim drake )

/twenty-two

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
" CATFISH "

[ BROOSE has opened up a text with TIMOTHY ]

BROOSE
Timothy, please let Peter know
that he is more than welcome
to stay here for the summer.
— Bruce

TIMOTHY
thanks i will

TIMOTHY
but he probably can't he's
very busy with his science camp

BROOSE
Interesting. Which camp and where?
— Bruce

TIMOTHY
uhhh idk i think it's in upstate ny?

BROOSE
If you don't mind my asking,
you never said why he was
suddenly unable to visit during
February break. I would like an
explanation.
— Bruce

TIMOTHY
family emergency or
something i didn't ask too
many questions

TIMOTHY
unlike you right now

BROOSE
I apologize. But this is
of vital importance. Do
you by any chance know
Peter's middle name?
— Bruce

TIMOTHY
benjamin

TIMOTHY
you're being super weird

BROOSE
Thank you. We will finish
this conversation when I arrive
home. I will see you in less than
half an hour.
xx Bruce

[ ... ]

TIM STARED AT HIS PHONE FOR ANOTHER MOMENT, FOREHEAD WRINKLED IN CONFUSION. He turned to Conner, who was next to him on the couch.

"What do you think this means?" Tim asked, putting the cellphone displaying his chat in Conner's face.

The other boy blinked several times and pushed Tim's arm back enough so that he could read the messages. There was silence for a bit while Conner read and digested, and then his stark blue eyes met Tim's holding his gaze.

"He's onto you."

Tim recoiled, "What— what do you mean?"

There was no way Bruce knew. Tim had kept Bruce as out of the loop as possible, rarely even mentioning Peter's name in his presence. He had hoped that Bruce would forget about Peter, but clearly that hadn't been the case.

"He's onto you." Conner repeated as though it was obvious, turning away from Tim and his phone to continue watching the program.

Tim worried the bottom of his lip, fairly certain that Conner was correct. Both Dick and Jason had advised him to immediately fess up, reasoning that Bruce would inevitable find out anyways, and in the best case scenario he might actually be able to help Tim out. But Tim had avoided coming out to Bruce for months ( and even after he had finally did it, hadn't felt any better about Bruce knowing, not that Bruce had cared in the slightest ) and felt weird talking about Peter in his presence. Dropping this bombshell onto him felt even stranger.

[ ... ]

BRUCE WAYNE WAS A MAN OF MANY TALENTS. He was a good leader, intellectually and athletically gifted, he was great at oral, and his cooking wasn't half bad either. Breaking bad news to someone? Not one of his strong suits. So when his cursory, updated background check of one Peter Parker came back, he was very disappointed to find out that Peter Parker had been shot and killed near a convenience store right before this past year's Christmas. This would have bothered him normally— the boy was a promising fifteen year old, and no one deserved to die like that— but it was even more bothersome when considering the fact that his youngest son was engaged in some sort of online relationship with the very same boy.

It was a real mystery, to say the least.

But then again, Bruce Wayne was the world's greatest detective, so it was nothing he couldn't solve.

The ride from Wayne Enterprises was quiet, with Bruce drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He sat in complete silence— the radio or even one of his CDs would only distract him at this point. There was no easy way to break to your child that they were being catfished, especially when that child was an avid watcher of Catfish. But it had to be done, and once he had ripped the bandaid off he could track down the son of a bitch who was pretending to be a dead teenager on the internet. Because there was nothing more fucked up than that.

By the time Bruce had reached home and slowly made his way inside the house, Conner ( who had been spending a little bit too much time at his house ) was on his way out.

"Mr. Wayne." Conner said, nodding seriously as the man as they crossed paths.

"Conner." Was Bruce's reply.

He found Tim in the den, curled up on the couch watching Catfish. The irony was not lost on Bruce.

"We need to talk about Peter." Bruce said once Tim had acknowledged his presence.

Tim muted the television and turned to face Bruce, looking as though he knew what was coming.

"Peter Parker— your, your boyfriend— he's dead."

AUTHOR'S NOTE
obviously the peter we've been reading
about is fine but rip dc-verse peter lol