Chapter Text
The teeming autumn, big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burden of the prime, Like widow'd wombs after their lord's decease: Yet this abundant issue seem'd to me But hope of orphans and unfather'd fruit ~ Sonnet XCVII
Tim woke up feeling safe, warm and comfortable. It was a new sensation, but one he was slowly getting used to. He stretched lazily, glancing at the clock and - oops it was already noon. Alfred was going to huff at him with that disappointed curve in his eyebrows. Tim had been staying at Wayne Manor for a month already; he wondered how long his ‘new kid’ privileges would let him skate by with such behavior. He probably should get back on a regular schedule but it’d been a while since he’d slept so well. Tim thought his life was over when he’d answered the door at his house expecting pizza and instead got chloroformed, yet somehow it had brought him here.
Tim brushed his teeth and got dressed quickly, poking his head outside his door warily to make sure he wasn’t swept up in another one of Dick’s hug tackles. He was supposed to head back to Blüdhaven today but he’d taken long weekends before. Tim loved spending time with Dick but all the attention was starting to be a bit suffocating. He’d gone so long without hugs, without touch, that getting so much all at once was kind of a lot to deal with. Tim scurried quickly past Jason’s room next door, pushing down the guilt that he shouldn’t be here.
“Good Morning, Master Tim, how nice of you to join the waking world. Even Master Bruce tends to rise before midday.” Tim winced at Alfred’s voice as he snuck into the kitchen. “If you’ll have a seat at the table, I can make you some breakfast or I suppose it would be brunch at this point.”
“You don’t have to, I can just grab a protein bar,” Tim said even as he let Alfred lead him to the table. Bruce gave him an acknowledging nod over some business papers as he sipped at his coffee. He usually worked in his study, had he been waiting for Tim to wake up?
“Nonsense, you will never go without a home cooked meal so long as you are under my roof,” Alfred said firmly. He gently pushed Tim into the chair next to Bruce, hands warm even through the gloves. Part of him wanted to chase that contact when he pulled away. “Would you prefer french toast, pancakes or an omelet?”
“Omelet, with bacon and peanut butter please and with some jelly on top if that’s not too much trouble,” Tim perked up. Alfred looked slightly pained but didn't say anything. “Any chance a guy can get some coffee?”
“You may have a bowl of fruit,” Alfred tutted. “It shall be out soon, young sir.”
“Did Dick leave?” He asked cautiously.
“Yes, he wanted to stay but the department was requesting him back,” Bruce said as he signed something on one of the papers. “Sleep well?” He set his mug suspiciously far away from himself, right next to Tim who greedily snatched it up. He’d probably only get a few sips before Alfred returned but it was better than nothing. There was also something special about Bruce letting him sneak it behind Alfred’s back. Tim couldn’t imagine sharing a cup of coffee like this with his dad. There were a lot of things Bruce did that he’d have never done with his dad.
“Um yeah, I did. So just so you know, I’ll be hanging out with YJ later today,” Tim said casually as he savored the half empty cup. He knew Bruce preferred his black but he could taste sugar and a hint of cream in here, just how Tim liked it. It had been a month and moments like these still made his heart skip a beat. Maybe he wasn’t just here to preserve the secret or out of some misguided sense of obligation. Maybe he was wanted.
Bruce looked up at him sharply and set down his pen with a loud clack. Tim pulled out his most innocent smile. “Nothing big, I swear, we’ll just be stopping by to see Empress’s relatives.”
“You said that last time and you were playing baseball to determine the fate of the world,” Bruce squinted, “ in space. ”
“But-” Tim interjected.
“And the time before that you ended up on Apokolips with a rogue Lobo clone added to your group’s roster,” Bruce deadpanned.
“And it all worked out fine,” Tim said smoothly. “Don’t worry, B, Cassie has been great at leading the team. It’ll be fine, I promise,” he lied easily. What Bruce didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him and telling him that they were possibly helping Anita kill her grandfather probably wasn’t a great idea.
“I can not believe you told those ruffians your name before me.” Bruce grumbled, picking his pen back up and going over the papers again.Tim wanted to explain that it hadn't so much been a conscious telling as a stress induced breakdown but figured that wouldn't help his case. “But regardless, you can’t leave before our appointment.”
“Appointment?” Tim asked.
“The meeting with your social worker,” Tim almost spat out his precious coffee at the reminder. “Which I scheduled for three to account for your late awakening.” Bruce finished with a teasing smile.
“Ah, thanks,” Tim grinned sheepishly. “I’ll start waking up earlier. I, uh, with no one around I sorta fell into some bad sleeping habits and it’s taking me a bit to adjust.” Tim fell into all kinds of bad habits after his folks died. Eating leftover take-out at 4am and calling it good for the day, piles of clothes and dishes and junk lying everywhere, ignoring any kind of house maintenance and support out of fear they’d discover he was alone. It wasn’t until he had some structure in this life did he realize how bad things had gotten. Why had he put up with that anyways? Oh right, because it was way better than getting put up on another shelf like a museum piece.
“Take all the time you need, Chum,” Bruce said with a frown, picking up one of the papers to read it more closely. “No one expects you to heal overnight.”
“What makes you so certain I need to heal?” Tim snapped, instantly regretting it. God, why did he have to keep acting like a jerk? Bruce wasn’t gonna want to keep him if-
“Experience,” Bruce said bitterly, reaching over to steal his mug back. Tim had an aching, painful moment where he thought he was being punished only to realize it was just Alfred coming back with breakfast. He relaxed and reminded himself that Bruce was different than most of the adults Tim has dealt with.
“Here you are, lad, your omelet and fruit bowl. Is there anything else I can get you?” Alfred asked, setting the plate down.
“Uh, what’s the green stuff in here?” Tim questioned, poking at the fruit bowl.
“Avocado, it’s full of the nutrients a growing boy needs and you will eat all of it before you leave this table,” Alfred smirked before retreating back to the kitchen. Bruce was silent but Tim could tell by the way the papers shook slightly that he was laughing. Jerk.
“We might as well get your story straight,” Bruce said, setting down his papers as Tim worked his way through the omelet. “You thought the man who came forward as Eddie Drake was your paternal uncle who you’d never met before. He was, actually, someone seeking your family’s fortune and kept you relatively safe but isolated while he tried to figure out how to steal it. When you were unexpectedly kidnapped, he took what he could carry and ran until Batman found and rescued you which is how you came to me. He is in the wind and not expected to be found.”
“B, I know, we’ve gone over it like a million times,” Tim said with an eye roll. Did Bruce think he was stupid? That Tim couldn’t remember a simple cover story? He was probably disappointed, thinking his Robin would be way smarter if he felt the need to remind-
“I know, I just want this meeting to go well,” Bruce said with a small frown. “Between your parents’ public deaths, the fake uncle and the kidnapping, there’s a lot more attention on you than the other boys had. We really need to be careful with this.”
“Bruce, come on, no one’s gonna connect me with Robin. We covered our tracks pretty well and we even cleaned up some of the older Robin footage to throw people off and-”
“Tim, I’m not worried about that,” Bruce said forcefully before his voice dropped, quieter. “If everything about our story isn’t perfect, they could deny me custody. I- I already had one child die under my care, there’s going to be scrutiny that money can’t wave away. I’ll fight for you, of course, but god knows where you’d end up in the meantime. I’d like to avoid that and make sure everything goes smoothly.”
“Oh,” Tim said lamely. He’d gotten used to Bruce being cold and kinda mean. Tim had appreciated the honesty of the man’s feelings at the time, at least he’d been upfront on not wanting Tim around. But having him act like this, like he cared about what happened to Tim beyond the job... It wasn’t something he was used to. “Got it, yeah. Don’t worry, I know the story and I know what to say. Teachers called social services on my folks once or twice so I know how to sweet talk them.”
Bruce frowned at him again, that specific frown when Tim said something about his parents or the months he lived alone and he didn’t like it. Tim thought about his mom and dad often, missed them even more. It used to frustrate him, how many nights he came back from patrol to cry in that empty house over parents who'd rather travel than stay with him. Grief was weird like that, the Arrangement was living proof. Bruce and the others might think everything was bad but it hadn’t been. His parents had loved him and he loved them back, now it was up to Tim to keep those memories alive.
“We’ll take it slow, keep to the story but,” Bruce paused, “I want you to be honest about if you’re happy with the living situation. I would be upset but understanding if you chose to go somewhere else. I’m sure we could work something out with your foster parents if you wanted to continue as Robin.”
“I don’t want to leave. I want to stay with you and keep being Robin,” Tim admitted shyly. Even a month ago, that would have felt like failure, like he was telling the world he was giving up. But Tim was tired, tired of taking sole care of himself and juggling bills and figuring out where his next meal was coming from. He was mostly tired of being alone and acting like it made him stronger.
When he first approached Batman about being Robin, he thought that it was having a sidekick that kept Batman in line. What he didn’t understand, what took him a year and several tragedies for him to understand, was that it wasn't the cape or the masks that Batman needed but a family. Maybe it was what Tim needed too. “As long as you’re okay with it.”
“More than okay,” Bruce smiled. “If everything goes well today and I’m given more permanent guardianship, I’d like to take you to meet Jason. You two probably wouldn’t have met if he hadn’t passed but I’d like to introduce you, officially, as brothers. I don’t want to talk around what we are to each other, not anymore.”
“Yeah, sounds cool,” Tim said thickly. Sometimes it was all too much, the love and acceptance but he would do his best to be deserving of the kindness shown to him. After all, if Batman could rise out of the ashes of a broken family and find new people to love and care for, well, Tim figured he could give it a try too. And, for the first time, he wouldn’t be doing it alone.