TW INJURIES AND CANON LEVEL VIOLENCE ALSO CANNON DEATH AND KINDA DEATH
THIS IS HELLA LONG TOO GRAB SOME POPCORN GUYS I DECIDED TO DIVIDE IT INTO TWO
This is kinda Tim centric at first? It is supposed to happen a few months after Damian becomes Robin, at first Dick is still Batman, and Tim is mad at him. But the story is more about Tim and Damian and me fixing their relationship so they can be the brothers they are. Took a lot to write tbh. Like, months.
I just kinda rewrote Damian's first months as Robin. Maybe even like the first year, this got longer than expected.
I don't really write Tim a lot, he's not my favorite Robin, so he might be OOC. Ugh I hate that, I need to read more comics with him in them XD
This is not too linked to cannon but it is though. I also moved some events' timeline, it's kind of messy. Some scenes are literally from the comics with a few changes or things added or moved times.
This was the closest Tim had ever been to Gotham for months. He had been at the League working on a way to prove that Bruce was not dead by bringing him back. Maybe that way Dick would actually believe him. Maybe he could finally get Robin back. You know, the title he won after years of proving himself to the family and Gotham and Bruce.
He was back to America, just a couple hours away from Gotham, he had stayed the night on a motel. He had found a lead that leaded him to Wayne Manor, he just hoped he didn't found Dick...or the brat.
Last time he checked they were living on that penthouse, so it shouldn't be a problem.
But right now he didn't wanted to see them, so he would try to do it as fast as possible. And he would try to keep as low as possible, he didn't want Dick's attention...or Jason's, if he was in Gotham at the moment.
He used the fake alias of Alan Jones, after the night passed he got to his pickup at the afternoon and drove the next two hours to Gotham, three to Bristol, to Wayne Manor.
As he arrived he could feel an overwhelming feeling on his chest, it had actually hurt more than he expected to see the manor again. He had left months ago, and there were still so many things in there ha hadn't picked, he even had left his old camera and photos in his room-or well, his old room.
The room he hoped he could get back once he brought Bruce back, and once he was Robin again.
And once the brat was back again with his mother.
God, he hoped he would be able to bring Bruce back soon.
He decided it was too suspicious if he stayed long outside the manor, someone might see him.
Getting into the manor was easy, just like stealing candy from a child, not that he would ever do that...maybe Damian would, Jason too. Hell, they would definitely do that.
The manor's security wasn't hard to hack, after all he had done it multiple times before. He even helped Bruce to upgrade it.
Tim went upstairs without thinking about it, he walked towards his room in muscle memory, he only realized that when his hand was already in the doorknob.
He shook his head, but just entering a couple minutes wouldn't hurt, right? No, he needed to find it, he knew it had to be somewhere...he knew-His mental dilemma was interrupted by a sound coming from downstairs, it wasn't very loud, but he could hear it perfectly with the silence at the manor.
He ran to the stairs, the sound was coming from the Batcave, he knew that sound, but he just wanted to make sure it was what he thought.
A distress signal. Not anyone's distress signal.
Batman's distress signal.
Dick's distress signal.
By this time he was patrolling, and looking at the map with the signal he was at Arkham.
It didn't took Tim much to suit up and taking a cycle. Yes, he was angry at Dick, but he wasn't an asshole, he wasn't going to let him on his own? What if he died? He might be angry at him, but he didn't want to be guilty for his death.
He wasn't able to hack into their com lines because of the lack of time, and he had broke his communicator months ago, but it didn't took him long before he was already half way there when he was able to hear the police sirens.
He stopped quickly to ask one of the cops what was going on. Apparently one of the crazy people in Arkham had found a way to take control over the place and had freed some of the people in there.
Some of them had already escaped.
Tim got again to his cycle and drove as fast as possible. He arrived a couple of minutes later.
He fought his way inside, using smoke bombs and taking down some regular crazy people, he could see Dick not far away taking down Poison Ivy.
He looked angry, but away from that he didn't look hurt. Tim didn't really get why had he used his distress signal, where was the rest of the family? Where was the brat? So much for Robin and he couldn't even help Batman.
Batman finally took down poison Ivy, and ran to the other side of the room.
Why was he running to the other way? Was he-
Oh.
Tim noticed a small bundle of rocks, probably from a wall, or from the ceiling, but Dick was frantically taking the rocks away.
"Robin!"
Oh.
Tim seriously thought about leaving and search for other crazy villains in Gotham. Yeah, he maybe was a little bit of an asshole.
But it was the brat they were talking about! The demon!
Dick was able to finally take all the pile of rocks from the top of a small boy, why did he looked smaller than Tim remembered? Or was he always that small? Weren't children supposed to grow with time?
Dick grabbed the boy and took him out of the rocks,he carried him on his arms in a bridal style, and finally turned around.
Turned around and see Tim, who was in his Red Robin suit, standing there, doing nothing.
If the cowl wasn't covering Dick's eyes he could have seen the way his brother's eyes opened and teared a bit.
"Ti-Robin?" He said, but not in his Batman voice, but in his voice. He noticed it, he cleared his throat and continued with the Batman voice. "I, I didn't saw you."
"I just arrived...I heard your distress signal."
Batman nodded.
"Ro-"
"Red. Red Robin." Dick already knew his name. How dare him call him Robin after what he did. "Im going to search the ones who escaped."
Batman shook his head. "No, Batwoman and batgirl got it, I need you to help me with Robin."
Tim shook his head was he seriously asking him for that? He could feel his blood boil. "I don't work for you Batman, we're equals, remember? You said it. I'm going out."
And he left his brother standing in there, and didn't looked back.
***
He received a call from Batman not long after. He had find a lead to find Killer Moth and was really close until the call.
"What?" He said annoyed, and tired, he had been on the rooftops for hours now, and it had just started to rain.
"Red Robin. I need your help."
"If it is about the brat" He refused to call him Robin. "You already know the answer."
"Red I really need your help."
"No."
He kept running.
"Red-"
"N O."
"TIM"
He then stopped.
"Please, Damian was poisoned. I need your help with the antidote." Dick sounded tired.
He was glad he couldn't Dick's face or he would have felt like the biggest asshole in history.
"Fine."
He turned around and started getting back to his cycle.
***
"Master Tim" Alfred looked as if he was about to hug him, but he maintained his posture. "This way please."
Tim followed Alfred to the medbay, where the boy was laying, he didn't have shirt or mask, and he was unconscious.
"Tim, I'm glad you're here."
Dick looked tired, Tim couldn't remember if he looked that tired a couple hours before.
"I would really like to talk to you, but right now I need help, Damian was poisoned, I fear it was by the dagger that made that cut."
Dick looked at Damian's shoulder, where a nasty cut had been made, he could see Alfred had already closed the wound, but it was very red, and deep. The skin around it didn't looked healthy.
The kid was very pale, his usually tanned and dark skin was too white. He had sweating going down his face, and he looked in pain.
Was he seriously about to refuse helping him a few moments ago?
Actually yes, he was an asshole.
It wasn't the kids fault all his madness at him...well mostly, he had tried to kill him, but after going to the league now Tim could understand a little more his reasons.
Tim had been a threat for him, he had been on his way to become Robin, and eventually Batman. He wasn't even sure if that's what they kid actually wanted or if it was just his mother and grandfather in his head.
He actually felt bad for the kid, after being at the league for a couple months he had been able to see how they treated people in there...normal assassins, he couldn't imagine what the heir was supposed to go through, he doubted he had any privileges, if anything, Talia and Ras would have been harder on him.
It hadn't even been the kid's fault to become Robin, if it wasn't because Dick became Batman he would have become Robin. Dick have had his reasons of giving Damian the Robin mantle, but even having his reasons he had no right.
And Tim has been mad at both of them when he should have only be mad at Dick.
They had all lost a father.
***
Damian heard multiple voices during his sleep...if this thing could be described as such. It was darkness, pure darkness. It wasn't only the kind of dark that you would get when you close your eyes, but it was more the type of darkness you would get inside a deep cave. When there's no way of seeing the sun and no way you know we're you are, when you can't even feel anything and you're just alone without a way to guide yourself.
It was terrifying, or at least until he heard the voices.
They started as muffled voices and noice, just as if they were underwater, he could simply not recognize what they were saying, but he knew it was familiar voices.
He focused himself into hearing the voices around him, after a couple of minutes they started taking form. And making sense.
They were his family's voices, or at least he thought that, because he could hear Dick's voice...but he wasn't sure who was the other voice's owner.
He tried to focus, tried to ignore the total darkness and void he was stuck in, and tried to focus on the familiar voice...he had heard it before, but why couldn't he-
Oh.
If Damian could frown he would totally have done it. It was Drake's voice. Drake was with Grayson. Why was Drake with Grayson? And where were Drake and Grayson? And most importantly, where was he?
He focused again on his voices trying to ignore the fear rising on his chest, he forced himself to focus and relax his breathing.
"—poison was very deadly...surprised he's still alive."
Who was Grayson talking about? Who had been poisoned?
Memories started coming back to Damian, he remembers an outbreak at Arkham, arriving with Batman into the chaos, Poison Ivy was out, they were fighting her, but Damian was stupid and he forgot that Poison Ivy wasn't the only one they had to worry about, nor the only one that could have poisoned things.
Or daggers in this place.
He wasn't even sure who had been the one that was able to sneak behind him, and when Damian realized it it was too late to avoid the dagger, at least he could try to avoid being hurt at vital organs.
That didn't worked much, because the moment the dagger cut his shoulder he noticed it was a deep cut. He kicked the man that had stabbed him and looked at his shoulder. He was bleeding, like, a lot. His head was feeling dizzy with that much blood coming out of his shoulder.
But he knew that wasn't the only thing, he sure was bleeding a lot, but his shoulder was hurting in a different way, he could feel the pain expanding through his veins.
Weird, unless...
Poison.
He had been poisoned, he knew far too well the feeling.
"Robin!" Batman yelled at him so he could move from one of ivy's plants coming at him.
Damn, he was too late, it hit him hard, and threw him to one of the walls, making the already unstable room to tremble.
And finally the ceiling fell on too of him.
So the next thing he remembers is this. Waking up in the dark void with nothing but voices on it.
Was he at the medbay? He was pretty sure he was.
Nice. Damian was really enjoying this day...if it hadn't passed multiple days since he passed out.
He had to open his eyes didn't he? Huh.
He tried as hard as he could to open his eyes, but it was way harder than closing them, after a few tries he was exhausted. But he finally was able to open his eyes, at least a bit.
He noticed he had an oxygen tube on his nose, he tried to take it out-
"Damian, stop!" He could feel a hand on his shoulder.
He looked at his right and Drake was standing right at his side, hand on his shoulder.
"D-Drake?" His throat was dry.
The teenager nodded. "Here." He gave him a glass of water and helped him sit and drink it.
"You gave us quite a scare Lil D." Dick said. "I'm glad Tim was in Gotham or I don't think you would have survived the poison.
Damian frowned and looked at Tim. "Drake?" He said surprised.
"Hey don't be so surprised! I am pretty smart you know, even your grandfather said so."
"Grandfather?"
Tim rolled his eyes. "Yes, I was with him, not the point. But I'm seriously surprised you lasted so long without getting the antidote, most people have minutes, an hour if they're lucky, you got almost 5."
"Grandfather."
This time it wasn't a question, but an answer, and Tim knew it.
Dick closed his fists and not for the first time wanted to punch an old man.
Damian was oblivious to this, he still refused to believe his mother and grandfather had abused him for years.
Dick just hoped he would slowly start to realize the truth.
***
Tim was looking at the boy sleeping. He had only been awake for an hour or so, Tim could tell even that had taken way to much energy from him, at the moment Alfred finished the boy closed his eyes again.
He wondered how such a small thing could be so deadly. That little boy who he had worked day and midget to save with Dick from the horrible fever he had got after the poison left his system.
Damian had stayed unconscious for almost 72 hours before waking up, Tim didn't want to leave for some reason, so he had a lot of time to think about stuff, mostly his relationship with Damian.
He heard how Dick and Alfred talked about him. He sounded like a nice kid, but he wouldn't know, because he left without even talking once to him. They had only fought, Damian had felt like Tim was a threat and obstacle in his way to become Batman, and Tim was scared of Damian replacing him both as Robin and as Bruce's son.
It was selfish, the second one at least. He had done everything on his power so Bruce wouldn't spend time with Damian, the boy who had grown without a father for so long, wanting nothing more but meeting him.
But not Bruce was gone, lost in god knows where. And Tim just hoped he was able to bring him back, he missed his dad, and Damian deserved a chance to know him, for real.
Tim was writing something, he had been searching for clues about Bruce during his free time. This was interrupted when the brat woke up again.
"Why are you still here?"
Tim looked at the angry kid without knowing what to answer.
"I—you're welcome? I mean I did saved your ass a couple of times while you were unconscious."
"Yes I know, now you have proven yourself and that you're better than me, so why are you here?"
Damian looked at the Robin's uniform, and Tim was getting an idea of what he was talking about.
"Damian I'm not-I don't...ugh. Look, I'm not Robin ok? No matter how much I want to, I can't. You're Robin, and for what I've seen, you have proven yourself worthy of being called that, I think Dick made a good choice."
"Tt. Stop it. It's clearly you're a far better Robin than me, so I'll pack my things before Grayson arrives."
"No, you stop it! Packing things?! What are you talking about, where do you want to go? You're not going anywhere with those injuries after I just saved you a couple of days ago."
"To the league, of course." The boy rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. "Father isn't here, and Grayson got you back, so I see no point—" Damian didn't finished.
"Look kid. I may not know you, but Dick does, and I can see that he absolutely loves you, he adores you. There's no way he will fire you as Robin. Yes I'm back, I don't even know for how long, but you will still be Robin ok? Batman needs Robin, and I don't think I'm the Robin he needs."
Damian stayed quiet. Drake apparently meant it.
They both stayed quiet for a long couple of minutes, with only the sound of their breathings and Tim's pencil.
"I'm sorry." Damian finally said after thinking.
"What?"
"I said I'm sorry." Damian was not going to say it a third time if Tim was just wanting Damian to humiliate himself.
"Yeah, I heard it, but for what?"
"Are you seriously that stupid? Or do you just chew water?" Damian clicked his tongue. "I'm sorry for everything okay? For pushing you, for almost killing you, and then stealing Robin from you."
"It's ok. You weren't the one who decided I wasn't Robin anymore." Tim stoped writing and put a hand through his hair as he sighed. "But still...being almost murdered isn't something someone can exactly just forgive..."
Damian flinched and looked down. "I know. But it doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't have done it. I was just...you were in my way."
"I know."
"Grayson was sad after you left, Pennyworth too. I can say they have missed you dearly, and it was my fault."
"It wasn't entirely your fault, I was angry at Dick, angry at him for giving you Robin, for becoming Batman, and for not believing me." Tim looked at Damian. "Dick and Alfred speak amazing things about you and how you have changed...I would, like to get to know you Damian. I know we are legally brothers, but I have barely ever talked to you. Maybe it will be easier to forgive you if I know you."
"I would enjoy that too...Drake."
***
Another couple of months passed. Dick had convinced Tim to stay with them at the penthouse, and Tim had agreed. He had been searching for Bruce during free days without Dick's help, he knew his older brother knew, but he knew he still didn't believed him.
He would make him believe.
Tim and Damian's relationship was...complicated. Some days they would just like to stab each other, mostly Damian wanted to stab Tim. But there were also moments of peace and mutual liking.
They didn't liked each other, they didn't hate each other, it was just an indifferent attitude towards each other as they don't knew much. They still needed time for that.
They had even helped each other at a case, and they had started patrolling together sometimes when Dick was in no state to do it.
Dick was getting better, Alfred was relieved by this, his grandson had started going down in physical and mental health after everything happened. Tim being here had helped him more that he expected. He had started smiling more again, saying jokes and laughing.
He was happy Damian was starting to know this part of his mentor.
Damian and Tim also did some stuff together sometimes, Dick had found him reading in the same sofa once. And Tim had taken Damian once on a city Tour to his favorite places and places he knew Damian would like.
Damian would never admit it, but he had loved it, specially the art center and the animal shelter.
Dick wondered if he should get the kid a dog.
Alfred refused. He said a cat was better, specially in an apartment. No matter the size of it, it didn't had a garden.
What mattered was the fact that everything was starting to get better.
Until it wasn't.
***
Batman and Robin had been outside on patrol for a couple of hours, Red Robin hadn't been able to go because of an injured wrist a couple of weeks before that. He had stayed with Alfred on the coms.
At some point he wasn't able to hear anymore any of their lines, the noise completely stopped.
Alfred looked at him, they both stayed silent for some couple of horrible and agonizing minutes in which Tim typed furiously at the computer trying to reconnect the lines before they heard anything from them again.
(Interruption, I did an English exam for my classes, apparently I'm intermediate level, so a B1. Just, random fact lol)
"-Obin? Can you hear me? Red Robin?"
"Batman!" The voice in Tim's voice was clear, he was about to get changed and ignore his injured wrist to go out if the silence lasted any longer.
"What happened? Are you ok?" Tim asked over the line.
"Robin was shot, multiple times all along his body and spine."
"I'm sending the batmobile to you, hold on" Tim's surroundings froze for a fraction of second, he could feel himself tense, his relationship with Damian was just getting better.
"Oh lord is he...?"Alfred didn't finish his sentence before Batman interrupted him.
"Unconscious. He's alive, but in critical condition, prepare the medbay for our arrival."
Alfred nodded even though Dick couldn't really see him at the moment, and moved towards the medbay, Tim started helping him, but he couldn't really remember what he was doing, he felt as if he was underwater, he tried to focus, but he can only remember some fragments.
Batman and Robin arrived, Dick quickly got out with the young boy on his arms.
He looked so young, so young and hurt. He was full of red, blood dripping down his body.
Damian was just a kid, godammit. He should have never let Dick take him out, he had already lost almost his entire childhood at the league, why putting him in danger again by taking him out to the streets? Why not protect him and let him have the rest of his childhood?
He could see Alfred and Dick placing him on the bed, Alfred ripped his uniform quickly, and he asked Tim to help him take the boy's clothes off.
Tim did so, but he didn't feel physically in there, seeing this little boy like this made him feel weird...he had a headache that wasn't really a headache, more like some pressure on his head that also made him feel as if he was levitating.
He tried to focus. He couldn't start doing this when Alfred needed his help to save Damian, when Damian, the brat, needed his help.
He did the best that he could to focus on Alfred's voice instead of his younger brother's hurt body, full of scars of all kind of colors. Scars that painted his body the same way his brother's hands painted on a sketchbook when he thought nobody was looking.
He should probably give him some art stuff after this. Literature and art were the only hobbies, aside from fighting and anything assassin related, that Tim knew Damian had.
Alfred and him extracted the second bullet from Damian's body, Tim was checking on his vitals and data.
"Master Timothy, come here." Alfred was about to extract the other bullet and close the wound, but something called both men's attention.
Tim looked at the place of Damian's back that Alfred was painting, the bullet had entered a very specific place on his spine.
"I'm afraid the damage may have been too big, we might need to check on the consequences."
Tim nodded and continued to help Alfred on closing the wounds.
His headache never left.
***
They were at the League's base.
The damages caused by the bullets was too much, and after Thalia had found out she had ordered to bring him to the island.
Apparently Thalia had spare parts for his son. Like if he was some sort of Frankenstein.
It was terrifying.
Tim was at Alfred's left, looking the surgery they were doing to replace Damian's spine with some metal one.
"It's incredible what technology nowadays can do." Alfred spoke.
Tim nodded, Talia said that there weren't any huge risks for the surgery.
Tim hopped she was right.
In the inside he hadn't still forgave completely that Damian tried to kill him, but somehow the kid had also grown into him in those few moments they had spent together. He wanted their relationship to work out, to become a brother's kind of relationship and not the just some people living in the same house they currently had.
***
Days passed after this, Damian was in a wheelchair, before they had left he had spoken to his mother, he had only come out to say that she would no longer help him.
He didn't said much more. But it wasn't difficult for Tim to understand that Damian had chosen Robin and their family over the league, and that his mother wasn't probably very happy with it.
Tim was.
***
Damian was still on a wheelchair and Tim was on the last week of mandatory recovery that Alfred had forced him into.
He had decided to continue with Bruce's case, but after long frustrating hours of trying to figure out something that he couldn't he decided to take a break.
More like Alfred forced him to, but he won't admit it.
He had decided to go to the rooftop with his old camera. God, it had been really long since he had used his old friend. He just missed taking pictures of things, and the view from the building wasn't bad.
Tim hadn't expected Damian to be in there too, with his sketchbook.
Probably Alfred had left him here after the kid had asked him, and was going to get him back after he finished cooking.
The kid was clearly not expecting him to arrive, as he almost flinched when he heard him voice. Damian tried to quickly hide his sketchbook somewhere in his wheelchair.
Damian's first instinct had been actually to throw his sketchbook to him, those were some League reflexes, but he didn't wanted his brother to see his drawings.
Tim approached him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's ok Dames."
"What are you doing here?"
Tim looked at his camera and turned it on.
"I thought the view was cool for some photos. I love the colors by the way. Were you drawing the sunset view?"
Damian looked down at the sketchbook. It was useless to deny now. "Yes..." Damian looked down, if Tim had been looking at his body language and not to the sunset through his camera he would have been obvious that the boy was ashamed.
"I didn't knew you could draw. You have never drawn around us, not around me at least."
Both stayed silent. Damian finally took out his sketchbook again and flipped through the pages.
"You know, I think it is like photography."
Damian looked at him, waiting for an explanation.
"You know, both of them are art, colors are very important, light, shadows. And photography relaxes me because I enjoy it, I can see that drawing is the same for you."
Another couple of minutes were silent.
"I-Mother didn't liked it... she said it was useless to learn more, she doesn't likes it when I draw." Damian murmured, he didn't even noticed he had said it out loud, either way Drake had clearly heard him.
Tim nodded, taking some pictures of the landscape and looking at them.
"It can be very helpful, you could help us draw a suspect for a case sometime."
Damian started thinking, maybe this wasn't as useless as he thought. It could be helpful as Tim said, and it wasn't a horrible way to spend his time on the wheelchair after all.
Both brothers stayed in there for some more hours, it was sort of a quiet bonding time. Damian liked it.
Oh, and somehow the next morning he woke up and there was a new sketchbook with color pencils over his desk, none of them ever said anything.
***
Tim hated Talia. Yeah, he hated that bitch. And deathstroke too by the way. They were assholes.
His little brother was already out of the wheelchair, he had to stay a couple of weeks more because of the incident were Dick and him reanimated a...wrong Bruce, or that was a way to say it.
Damian had to walk and throw his wheelchair to defend himself, even when the doctors had clearly specified that he needed to be sit in certain wheelchair he had just threw or otherwise there was a chance his spine wouldn't totally solidify and he would end up being paralyzed on his legs.
That wasn't the point though.
He knew they shouldn't have trusted Talia. There was nothing good that could ever come from that woman. But if they hadn't trusted her, Damian's spine would be in a worse shape than it was, and would be paralyzed.
But Damian itself might would have been in a better shape.
"You did what!" Tim had yelled at his older brother when he had brought his little brother on his arms, unconscious.
"I had to, it was the only way!"
"It was the only way you could see at the moment you dick, someone just doesn't electrocutes a little kid Dick."
Now they were reanimating the boy after the shock he had just received. He just hoped that his spine was fine and out of the control of Talia and deathstroke.
He also hoped that old man had received a worst shock.
"Don't you dare to die on me brat." Tim said as he tried again to reanimate the boy.
The boy's body shook as he opened his eyes and gasped.
Tim gasped too but in relief.
"Can you like, try to not be dying for a moment? It's getting pretty annoying."
Damian snorted.
"Tt, moron."