Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After Tim reunites the Waynes, he couldn't help but feel jealousy rise in him. He watched as Bruce hugged Dick, Jason, Damien, and Cass but not Tim. They forgot that he's even there. Bruce thanked Dick for taking over as Batman, told Jason that he was loved, told Damien that he was accepted for how he was raised, and told Cass that she will never be invisible. But not Tim. When Tim saved Bruce, not once Bruce thanked him, he never felt loved by Bruce when he was Robin, never felt accepted for being his support bird when he was being destructive, and now, he was invisible. He went to his room and packed his stuff, important documents, and his clothing. He placed the document stating that he’s giving the position of CEO back to Bruce, no reasoning nor note to anyone, just the document.

He wrote a letter to every single person in the Wayne manor though he didn't believe that anyone would see it, so he left those under his bed. He left the same night. It's true that Dick saved him when he was falling but that was Nightwing. Nightwing was supposed to save anyone, even villains. Speaking of villains, Tim doesn't even know if he was considered a villain since he blew up the League of Assassin’s bases. For the sake of Gotham and the Waynes, he would leave the city since he knew that he was being hunted by Ra’s Al Ghul.

He was so glad that he got a driver's license so he could drive out of the city. He put his suitcases in his car and drove off the Manor. He looked at the mirror just in case someone noticed and stopped him. He waited 5 minutes, 10, 30, an hour. Nothing. He ignited the car and drove off, and didn't bother to look back. He made sure that every tracker was destroyed, even his phone. He’ll probably just buy a new one with cash just in case Bruce or Barbra pinged Tim buying something with his card.

He doesn't have a destination, just not Gotham, he left his car in the airport as he bought a ticket somewhere in China, he just bought it while he was having a mental breakdown after being saved by Nightwing. He’s not Robin anymore so he’s not part of the bat group anymore. Dick made sure to make him feel that he's not part of his family, Jason kept calling him ‘replacement’, while Damien tried to kill him several times. Cass was the only one that was nice to him, but that wasn't enough.

After hours and hours of being on a plane, they finally landed in Lhasa Gonggar airport. He didn’t realize that he had booked a flight to China. He just shrugged, got some of his cash to be exchanged, and went to a nearby hotel to have a place to sleep in. He thought of taking a rest however he wanted to explore the area since he never went to Tibet. He doesn’t have a wallet since it’s also being tracked by Bruce so he’s been carrying cash in his bag or his pockets. He knew that he wouldn’t get mugged since he hadn't heard news of crime in Tibet.

Nightfall came and Tim decided to come back to the hotel. He noticed that his suitcase was bugged. He sighed knowing that it was Alfred who put it there. He destroyed the tracker, knowing that it would alert the Waynes and Babs. He picked up his backpack and stuff as much clothing as he could, paid for the room, then went out. He threw the luggage away with the rest of his clothing then got a taxi and just traveled somewhere else but since it’s night, he couldn’t get that far so he went to a motel, not too far from where he was but enough so when the Waynes tried searching for him when he wakes up, he got more time to run away.

Bruce hugged his children one by one tightly but he felt like someone was missing. He looked around and counted. Dick, Jason, Damian, Cass… Where’s Tim? He panicked which alerted his children.

“Bruce? What’s wrong?” Dick asked, confused about what's going on.

“Where’s Tim?” Bruce asked. Jason raised his eyebrow.

“What do you mean? Replacement is right…” Jason raised his thumb and pointed to where he last saw Tim, however he’s not there when he turned. “There… Huh. Maybe he went back home?”

“What do you mean ‘went back home’? His home is here in the manor.” Bruce felt offended that Jason told him that Tim’s home isn’t here.

“Why are you looking for the interloper, father? It’s good that he’s not here so our family doesn’t have an intruder in our house.” Damian replied, which made Dick quiet and Bruce pressed his lips together in a straight line.

“One, Tim is neither of those, and two, never talked to Tim like that. He saved me twice. Once when I was so lost in my head when Jason died, and now. So I do not appreciate you talking like that about him.” Bruce scolded Damian, who in return looked down. “Again, where is Tim? Where is my son?”

“I really hate to break this to you, Master Bruce, but Master Tim was never adopted.” Alfred came out from the shadow. “And I saw Master Tim go to his room as I was about to head down here myself.” Alfred was holding a tray of cookies and muffins.

“I never adopted Tim?” Bruce asked in disbelief. “I thought-”

“Bruce, you never did, you were busy training him to be Robin to adopt him.” Dick replied.

“This is perfect, father. You do not bear any responsibilities over the in- Tim. He was just a placeholder as Robin, anyway.” Damian added, which made Jason and Bruce cringed.

“No.” Cass said, glaring at Damian. “Tim. Not. Placeholder.”

“Tt.” Damian rolled his eyes from Cass’ sentence.

“Cass is right, Damian. He was not a placeholder.” Bruce added.

“Wait a second old man. Did you make Tim your emotional support dog while I was dead?” Jason asked with a bewildered look. To that, Bruce didn’t have an answer. “Unbelievable.” He was exasperated. “And Dick just ripped Robin off of Tim and didn’t even bother to tell him until he saw Damian wearing the uniform.” 

“Damian needed it!” Dick tried to defend himself but Jason didn’t budge.

“And Tim didn’t? How old is he, Dick? He’s still a minor. To be honest I’m surprised he even bothered bringing Bruce back when you told the Justice League that he’s crazy, and even threatened to send him to Arkham. Face it, Dickwing, you’re not innocent in this. Don’t you dare glare at me Damian, we all knew that you tried to kill him more than once as well. Dick just doesn’t want to believe that you did so he turned a blind eye.” Jason rolled his eyes as he looked at Dick and Damian. “I know how to hack cameras like you all do so don’t bother lying.”

“Like you were any better. You tried to cut his throat open. I was just following my big brother.” Damian tried to justify his reasoning but Bruce had enough.

Bruce stood up, in turn, making everyone shut up. He went to the elevator without saying a word, Cass next to him and disappeared. The arguing continued when the two of them disappeared.

“Cass. Am I a terrible father?” Bruce asked Cass, softly.

“No. Just. Not good. Not terrible.” Cass replied truthfully which made twitch. They walked to Tim’s door and knocked, but there was no answer so they opened the door and didn’t see Tim anywhere other than the document Tim had left.

“Damn it.” Bruce took out his phone and tried to call Tim but there was no answer. He looked at the trackers and all of them were bundled in one place, which is the manor. He looked for the tracker but all he saw was a burnt phone, wallet, and multiple items that had the tracker on or in them. He made sure that the trackers were capable of withstanding heat and flame, but Tim didn’t.  He told Cass to help him look around the city in the search of Tim. Neither of them saw him but Barbara pinged them to the airport and there they saw his car. Frustrated, Bruce almost destroyed his phone but Cass stopped him. He looked up in the sky, just hoping to see if Tim was already en route or still in the airport. “Tim… Where are you, my son?”

Chapter Text

Tim was panting as he hiked the mountain, there he saw the view of the area, he was mesmerized however he thought that he couldn’t enjoy the view as he was still on the run. He continued to hike until his legs gave out. He sat down and rested.

“Are you okay, young man?” A voice asked. Tim turned around to the person who spoke. “I’m sorry young man, you seem lost.” There he saw a monk who looked at Tim worriedly.

“I’m fine, I’m just resting.” He replied.

“That is not what I meant, young one. You look like you’re lost.” The monk stated which made Tim stop and his breath hitched. “Once you’ve rested, come, the other monks and I could help you while you’re here.” The monk smiled warmly as he stood next to Tim.

“Please, you don’t have to.” Tim tried to decline the monk.

“Don’t be shy, young man. I remember years ago when another young man, a bit older than you, came and was just like you. I still remember him, he was so stubborn but very intelligent.” The monk smiled as recalled his memories. “He dropped out of college and went to search for who he is. He ended up here for a couple of years before exploring the world once more.”

Tim nodded, debating whether to trust the monk or not but since he’s on the run, why not hide with the monks so he nodded. “Alright, I could stay here for a bit… I… I don’t know much about myself and I’ve been trying to look for answers but I never got to.”

“You have a lot of time, young man. Do not overthink who and what you are. The answer might be in front of you already but you do not like the answer.” Tim winced at the statement and just nodded. “But that does not mean that’s who you are going to be forever. Your life can change its course all the time, just from starting small like finding new hobbies. Small things can make huge changes, especially in finding who you are and what you strive to be.”

“I don’t get it.” Tim replied, confused on what the monk was telling him.

“Come, let me show you to our temple.” The monk started walking up the mountain, Tim stood up and followed the monk. “The road is a bit dangerous, so keep an eye out. We do not want civilians up in the mountains as it’s pretty dangerous.”

“Why weren't there any signs?” Tim asked.

“There were, I think your mind was clouded that you did not see them.” The monk replied. “Now, pay attention to the path.” Tim was about to reply but there wasn’t any path in front of him but tall bamboo poles. The monk jumped from one to the other effortlessly, which made Tim on high alert. “Be sure to keep moving unless you want to just sway the pole.” The monk warned Tim.

“Alright.” Tim took a deep breath and started to jump from bamboo to another. He almost missed out but his Bat training kicked in and used his feet to ‘wrap’ the bamboo. He managed to hold his position for a second before using another pole to climb and jump to the path. “That… That was close.”

“You did great, young one. Now, we must continue our journey up.” The monk continued walking which made Tim’s jaw drop as he almost died, well he wouldn’t since he could handle himself, but the monk should have helped him. He continued to follow the monk, and saw him duck his head as a bamboo spike poked out of the side mountain like a trap. “Sharpen your ears while we walk this path, young one” And the monk continued to walk like he knew where the trap was going to be.

Tim wasn’t sure if he should continue following the monk but since he’s already here, he should just continue. He made sure to tune out the birds chirping, the leaves rustling, their footsteps, and soon enough he heard where the bamboo was going to strike, he dodged and weaved through the traps, a few close calls, but he managed to dodge them.

“We’re almost there, young one.” The monk called out as he vanished through the mist. “The mist is very thick, make sure to use your other senses so you don’t fall down the mountain.” The monk’s voice echoed, which Tim thought weird since they shouldn’t be in an enclosed area for the monk’s voice to echo. The stumbled as he tripped over a rock that he couldn’t see, but he managed to catch himself before he fell. He closed his eyes and thought of what Bruce taught him.

“You won’t always have your vision when you’re fighting, especially when the rogues will fight dirty. When I was traveling I was taught to read aura without using my sight.” Bruce’s voice echoed in his mind and remembered that Bruce was just beating his body with a bo staff while he was blindfolded. He winced at the memory. He concentrated and looked for the monk’s aura just like how Bruce taught him, without getting beaten to death. He followed the monk then he felt warmth. He opened his eyes and saw a huge temple with a lot of monks around. There was a wall around the temple and there was a lot of space where monks looked like they’re meditating.

“Young man, follow me and I’ll show you where you can stay.” The monk turned around to look at Tim.

“I’m sorry, but you never really told me your name.” Tim panted as he didn’t realize that he was out of breath.

“Call me Lama Tenzin. I will be your spiritual guide while you’re staying in the temple. You can leave anytime, but you would not have any answers to your questions that are troubling your mind.” Lama Tenzin introduced himself.

“I am Tim Drake Wa-.” Tim stopped himself, is he really part of the Wayne family? He wasn’t adopted so he’ll have to correct himself. “Tim Drake.” He said sternly but felt a pang of loss from not being a part of the Waynes.

  “Well Tim Drake, you passed your first lesson.” Lama Tenzin smiled warmly at Tim who looked at Tenzin confusedly. “In life, there will be times where you would feel out of balance and sway like you are on a bamboo. There will be obstacles that you would not see but you can always predict the unexpected to avoid those obstacles. And lastly, there is no straight path to life, you would feel like you are in the dark. However, you can try and find a beacon to hold onto and use it as a guide to push yourself towards the light. While you would still be uncertain, you would know where to continue your own path.” Lama Tenzin clarified which made Tim silent. He lets Tenzin’s lesson sink in and lets out a shaky breath.

“I would like to learn more, Lama Tenzin.” Tim wiped his tears that he didn’t realize that was falling.

“Let us begin.” Tenzin replied with a warm smile.

Chapter Text

It has been a year since Tim left Gotham. A year when he joined the Tibetan Monks. He thought he’s happy, was he happy? Everyday has been a routine, while yes he learned a lot from them, he felt trapped in a way.

“Brother Tim?” A voice called out. Tim took a deep breath and revealed his location to Lama Tenzin. “Have you thought about your question for yourself?”

“I… I have, and I think I have an answer.” Tim replied, which made Tenzin nod. “I think it is my time to go.”

“I knew this day would come.” Tenzin gave Tim a warm smile. “Just remember that you are always welcome back here.”

“Thank you, Lama Tenzin. May I hug you?” Tim asked.

“Of course, Brother Tim.” Tenzin opened his arms, Tim gave him a tight hug. “Be careful out there Tim. Use the lessons that we taught you.” Tim nodded in their embrace then he pulled away.

“I will. Thank you, for everything.” Tim wiped his tears that he did not know that he had. Tenzin nodded, then left Tim in his room. Tim packed the stuff that he had. He opened his room and saw every monk made a two line outside his room to the courtyard, showing that they cared for him even if he was only there for a year. He smiled brightly as tears started to fall from his eyes once again. He walked to the middle of the court. He saw a table with an unlit incense. He put his stuff down and picked it up. He lit it, closed his eyes, praying, then placed it next to the other incense.

“From now on, Brother Tim will now be called Geshe Tim.” Tenzin announced. Everyone clapped with bright smiles, Tenzin walked up to Tim and handed him a diploma. “Congratulations Geshe Tim on your graduation.”

“Thank you, Lama Tenzin.” Tim said with a wavering voice. He took his diploma, and shook hands with Tenzin. Tenzin pulled away, giving Tim his path of leaving the monastery. He put his diploma in his stuff and started walking out of the monastery.

After leaving the monastery he debated if he should travel back to Gotham or just send his diploma back. He wanted to keep it safe so he decided to travel back to Gotham and put it in the Drake manor himself. He booked a flight the next day and traveled back to Gotham. While on the plane, he was nervous, anxious, and started to overthink once again; however he took a deep breath to completely still his mind.

When he landed back in Gotham, he made sure to cover himself up just in case Babs was looking at the CCTVs around. He knew that his motorcycle would not be there anymore so he thought that he should walk. Walking in Gotham, in a suspicious outfit, he was totally normal. He got a taxi and dropped him off near enough Drake manor just so he could walk there himself.

He took a deep breath and stilled his heartbeat and started walking. He learned that Tibetan monks had been using this technique to make them invisible, while not fully invisible, but only to technology and untrained human eyes. He arrived in Drake manor and opened the door with his keys. He went to his room and removed a framed picture of him and his parents, and put his diploma there. He smiled as he hung up his diploma. He looked at the picture that he removed, he saw that his younger self was not smiling at the photo. He remembered that it was the 48th time they took the same photo, to make it look perfect.

He put the photo in a drawer, repacked stuff in his bag, making sure that it was not bugged, then headed out of his room. He heard rustling and saw Jason in the kitchen, wearing headphones while making dinner. He froze wondering why he was there. Tim did not know what to do which made him call him out. “What are you doing here?”

Jason jumped from the voice and threw a knife towards Tim who caught it and threw it back at Jason who dodged it. “What the f-” Jason started but then saw who spoke and he attacked. “Timmers? Hell, I thought you were dead.”

“I know you wanted me dead, why are you here?” Tim replied nonchalantly.

“Since you’re not using it, I decided to use it.” Jason said as he continued to cook.

“Still wanted to be close to Bruce but too shy to act on it and this is just an alternative way of doing it?” Tim commented which made Jason stop and looked at Tim.

“Watch your mouth, Timmers.” Jason warned. “Why the hell are you here anyway? Shit has been crazy when you left.”

“Hung my diploma in my room. Anyway I’m leaving again so you can continue using my house.” Tim replied, which made Jason raise his eyebrow.

“Diploma?” Jason asked. “You can leave, sure, but where the hell have you been?”

“Loca…” Tim whispered. “Been here and there. Anyway before your daddy dearest finds me I’m leaving.” Tim started to head out but he felt a hand on his shoulder which made him do a back kick then a roundhouse kick to the person who touched him. He saw that it was Dick, who was on the ground, groaning in pain. “What the hell Dick. Why are you here?”

“Good moves Timmy. Where did you learn those?” Jason asked.

“It’s dinner night with Jason.” Dick wheezes out. “Welcome back, Tim.”

“Not back. I’m leaving.” He started to storm off but he felt a small hand grabbing his.

“You must join us, Drake.” Damian said, in a non threatening way. Tim pulled and ignored Damian. He went out the front door and started running. He went into the woods and saw a bright light. He made the decision that going to the glowing light was better than being chased by the bats.

Tim ran into the bright light, temporarily blinded him, and when he opened his eyes he was in a field. It was a grassy field with some flowers here and there, but he saw that he was surrounded by Amazonians. “Tim?” A voice called out. Tim looked for the person who spoke and saw Diana.

“Hello, Aunt Diana.” He said tiredly. He felt his legs weak, as being teleported from across the globe without any warning would. Though he is mortal and this is an act of a god.

“How are you here?” Diana rushed to Tim as she saw Tim barely standing up.

“I saw a bright light and thought that I should check it out, then here I am. Why am I here?” Tim explained then asked.

“I could answer that.” A voice echoed even while they’re in a field.

“Goddess Hera.” An amazonian called out and kneeled. Soon, everyone was kneeling.

“Rise.” Hera commanded. “I brought you here since I have watched you for the past year, and your prayer called out to me.” She told Tim then looked at Diana. “Diana, I want you to teach Tim everything you know, tell no one in your… league, and I will be watching.” Hera commanded and threatened before disappearing. There was a minute of silence as every amazonian was looking at Tim and Diana. Diana turned to Tim and sighed.

“Welcome to Themyscira, Tim.” Diana announced.

Chapter Text

Tim has been training with Diana and the Amazonians for months now and he both felt accepted and yet unaccepted. Sure, Diana and the Amazonians would not hurt him in guise of Hera’s wrath, but  he was the only man on the island which they swore not to soil the lands with men. It's a punishment for the Amazonians but also a blessing from Hera as she was overseeing Themyscira.

“Young Tim.” Diana called him out as he was eating his breakfast. He looked up at Diana, wondering what she was going to say. “I would like to apologize to you as I did not believe your ideas about Bruce being trapped in a time. Dick was… Very convincing with his words.”

“Auntie Diana, it's fine. I got him out and now he's back to being Batman, problem solved.” Tim tried to reassure Diana but she saw right through him.

“But what about you? Are you fine? Are you happy?” Diana asked, not being interrogated, but concerned.

“I…” Tim stopped himself from talking, and thought about it for a minute. “No, and that's why I left Gotham. After trying to save Bruce, I was alone. I had no one, my friends were dead, and the people who I thought were my allies turned their backs against me like I was the next Joker.” Diana frowned but Tim continued. “I almost died multiple times, before and after saving Bruce, yet I never got any kind of apologies, nor appreciation for what I did. Yes, Dick saved me when Ras threw me out the window but he never asked how I was. He saved me because he had to, otherwise people would stop believing in them.” Tim lets out a sigh. “So I left and thought that leaving would help me, it did for a year, but when I went back to Gotham, Jason, Dick, and Damian were just in my house, my parents’ house, like it's theirs.” Tim looked at Diana. “They never really thought of me as their family. I was just an intruder. Bruce never adopted me, not for the lack of trying, but we talked about how I would only be there for when he got over Jason’s death. He would make me go through harsh training, from a grieving father it felt like a death sentence since I was a civilian before everything. And Dick? I asked him to help Bruce but he just ignored me.” Tim’s vision started to become blurry. “I even told him that Damian tried to kill me multiple times but his reason was he was born in a different place.”

“Tim…” Diana puts her hand on Tim’s. “Breathe.” She told Tim and he did not even realize that he was gasping for air. He held Diana’s hand tight as he regulated his breathing.

“Thank you.” He told Diana once he regained his composure. “I’m sorry for unloading everything to you.” Diana responded by  shaking her head.

“Do not apologize, Tim. You went through a lot even for a child.” Diana reassured Tim. “You are still a teenager, however you are learning the path to being a warrior, not just a vigilante.” Diana pats Tim’s head. “Even if you’re not a warrior and a vigilante, you are still a wonderful, smart, amazing person.” She gives him one last pat on the head before leaving Tim with his thoughts.

Tim sat there for a while, alone with his thoughts. While Diana gave him the reassurance, he still doesn’t know if he’s still those things. A vigilante? He has not been one since he saved Bruce. A warrior? He was barely one. He does not know why Diana called him one. He left the dining area after cleaning up his plate, and went to the temple of Hera.

He did not have food with him but he had a bouquet of flowers that he made and offered it to Hera. He closed his eyes as he felt the wind surrounding him. “Hera, thank you for looking out for me. I do not know what I did to gain your protection however I would like to not break it. I may not be a great warrior, nor I proclaim to be one, but I am just a humble man that doesn’t know who he is. May your guidance help me with my journey of finding my answers.” He hugged himself as he uttered every word, and when he opened his eyes, the wind had stopped, and there was a peacock feather on top of the shrine which replaced the flowers. A gust of wind levitated the feather and flew to Tim who opened his hands and the wind placed it on his hands. “Thank you, my Goddess.” He said sincerely. He knelt as he raised his hands above his head before leaving the temple.

He looked around and saw Diana. “Auntie Diana.” He called out and when Diana turned to him he saw that he was in a JL meeting. His eyes widened, closed his mouth, and nodded.

“Wonder Woman, is that my son?” Tim heard Bruce say before leaving the room. He started running, and running, and running until he felt tired. He did not realize that he ended up on the beach. He sat on the sands, watching the waves crash to the shore and watch the sun set. The words ‘Is that my son’ echoed in his mind, wondering if Bruce actually thought of him as his son.

“Hey there Tim.” Donna called out. “Do you mind me sitting next to you?” Tim shook his head, then she sat next to him. “I know you’ve been gone for a year but do you know what happened in Gotham when you’re gone?” Tim thought about it and let out a sigh.

“Even if I learned what happened in the past year, it wouldn’t do anything.” Tim said in a low tone.

“That may be true but know that whatever you’re thinking might be wrong until you know what happened in Gotham. I won’t force you to hear about it, I’ll let you ask me what happened.” Donna said in a soft tone. “Do you want to be alone?”

“I… Please. If Auntie Diana is free, could you tell her where I am? Please.” Tim asked. Donna stood up and nodded.

“Of course, Tim.” Donna replied before leaving Tim alone. Tim laid down and raised his hand with the feather and looked at it carefully. There was a beautiful pattern to it like it was the stars themselves. There were different types of colors that some are even undiscovered.

“I see that Hera has given you her blessing and a material for a weapon.” Tim heard Diana say. He sat up and looked at her confusedly. “The Gods will give their blessing to their champions or high priest/priestess. A peacock feather is the highest blessing and material from Hera. You can think of how you can use it, and I will introduce you to Hephaestus once you think of a weapon, or a shield.” 

“Will that be okay? I’m just a mortal, not a god nor a demi-god. I am also worshiping Hera.” Tim said concernedly.

“While that may be true, there are multiple champions of the gods who were given a weapon from Hephaestus. While Hera and Hephaestus have their feud, they would not bring mortals to their feuds. Not anymore at least.” Diana replied, which did not help Tim’s concern.

“I will think about it.” Tim replied to Diana’s proposal and he stood up. “But for now, I would like to excuse myself as I feel overwhelmed with everything.

“Rest well, Tim. Have a good night.” Diana watched Tim leave and looked at her communicator, seeing Bruce’s messages about Tim. It ranged from anger to desperation. Diana would love to reply but she promised Hera not to say anything. “I apologize Bruce.”

Chapter Text

“Auntie Diana, can I ask something?” Tim puffed as he sat down on the ground as they were taking a break from training.

“What is it Tim?” Diana looked at him as she wiped her sword.

“I know that Kon and Bart are alive, and I want to know how they are.” Tim stated and let out a sigh. “How are Kon, Bart, the YJ?” Diana paused for a bit before answering.

“Bart and the rest of YJ are doing fine, they’re still doing missions. However, Kon was upset that you left Gotham, and he was upset that you didn’t contact him for the past year.” Diana sat next to Tim. “Tim, the Justice League knows that you’re alive and you’re with me. Word got around and it reached YJ and they were not happy that you haven’t tried connecting to them. I told them that they’re not allowed to visit Themyscira without asking for my permission and without your consent on meeting you, even Cassie is not allowed here for now.”

“Thank you Auntie Diana. I… I would like to talk to Kon.” Tim looked down on the ground. “I… I think I’m ready to talk to Kon.” He lets out a shaky breath.

“Okay, I will tell him. When do you like to meet him?”

“Would it be okay if it’s in two days? I think that would help me gather myself.” Tim replied after a second.

“Okay, Tim.” Diana ruffled Tim’s hair then stood up. “Come on, break is over.” Tim stood up and stretched, as they got ready to train once again.

A day passed and he went back to the temple of Hera. He walked up to the shrine and knelt down on one knee. “My Goddess, Hera, I do now wish to question your judgement but I am confused on why you chose me. Why did you choose me as your champion or your high priest? I am not a religious man as I was from Gotham, where it felt like there were no gods looking over the city. I ask for forgiveness with my brashness, that is not my intention.” Tim felt a gust of wind in front of him as Hera appeared.

“Tim, I know you're confused but while you were not religious in Gotham, you became religious in the temple of the monks. While they do not worship the Greek Gods, the Greek Gods were the ones that you know of because of Diana which made you cling onto us. But, I chose you, not as my champion but as a high priest because your dedication to your family was one of your strong feelings, but also your weakness.” Hera stopped to let Tim register for a bit before continuing. “While, yes, you ran away from them, but we both know what you prayed for before you left the temple. You still love them, and your loyalty, dedication, and love towards your family is the reason why I chose you, Tim. I want to guide you with your questions about yourself, and about the people around you. I do not hold your answers but you will learn about it in your journey. Do not forget about what I said.” Hera stated, which felt threatening and intimidating, but she said it with care and warmth that made Tim crumble on the inside.

Tim knelt there for a while, processing everything, while staring at the statue of Hera. “Thank you, my Goddess.” He stood up and walked towards where he last saw Diana. He learned that Diana went to the watchtower so he waited until she came back. Diana came back with anger on her face but when she saw Tim her expression changed. “Auntie Diana, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Tim. Just some words with Bruce since he overheard the conversation Kon and I were having.” Diana lets out an exasperated sigh. “I assume you’re not waiting for me for no reason.”

“I… Yes, I think I know what I want with the feather.” Tim announced which made Diana smile.

“Excellent, come here.” Diana motioned to her side and Tim followed her instruction. “It will be bright for a few seconds so close your eyes.” Tim closed his eyes as he does not want to be blinded by bright light again. “We’re here.” Diana announced, Tim opened his eyes and looked around. They were in a cave and it felt hot. Which is weird since most caves are cold but this one is not. Diana motioned to follow her and they continued to travel down the cave until they reached stairs leading down even more. They reached the bottom and saw a huge area with a lot of weapons and armor around, a huge furnace in the middle, and a man, no, Hephaestus himself was forging a sword. Diana tapped Tim’s shoulder to follow her and went down the spiral staircase and approached the Greek God.

“Diana, welcome back, and you brought a companion.” Hephaestus greeted them both without looking as he continued to hammer a weapon.

“Hephaestus, it is great to see you once again. We would like to ask a favor, to forge something using the feather of Hera.” Diana said carefully but hearing forging something using the feather made him stop hammering. He looked at them and saw Tim holding the feather.

“I see that Hera has claimed you.” Hephaestus said, walking up to them leaving the weapon he was forging. “Let me see it.” Hephaestus opened his hand letting Tim make the decision. Tim looked at the feather and Hephaestus’ hand and placed the feather on his hand. Hephaestus looked at it and nodded. “I could make you various things but it would diminish the effect of the feather. However, I felt that you had something in mind.”

Tim nodded. “I do, Great Hephaestus. I would like to have a bang staff that has a carving of a bat symbol just like this in the middle.” Tim showed the bat symbol. “And a symbol of Hera at both ends of the staff, please.” He took out a pearl from his pocket. “I would also like to offer you this pearl that I found while I was training in Themyscira, as I do not know what offerings should I give you when we ask a favor.”

Hephaestus took the pearl and looked at it then laughed. He pocketed the pearl and smacked Tim’s back, which felt like the handprint had seared his back. “I like you kid. I can make your staff easily. Give me three days and it will be done. Until then,” He looked at Diana. “Tell everyone that no one is allowed to visit me.”

“Understood and thank you, Hephaestus.” Diana replied which Hephaestus waved off.

“I did not do it for you. I did it for him.” Hephaestus replied and waved at them both. “Now leave me be, I am going to be busy.” Then without warning they both disappeared from the forge and appeared back in Themyscira.

“Thank you Auntie Diana.” Tim looked at Diana and smiled.

“Of course, Tim.” Diana smiled back. “Well now that your staff is being made, it’s time for some training.” Tim mentally groaned as he felt tired from everything that happened today but he definitely needed the distraction on what is to come tomorrow when he faces Kon.

Chapter Text

Tim was waiting. Waiting for Diana to come back with Kon, waiting until he meets his best friend once again, and waiting to hopefully still be friends with Kon after their conversation. He felt sick to his stomach, he felt nervous, anxious, overthinking different scenarios on what is to come, but he also felt excited to finally talk to Kon again. He thought he could hear his heartbeat as he felt like his heart was beating faster than normal. He felt his hands cold but sweaty at the same time. Then the light came. Diana came back with Kon, who looked as nervous as Tim, but Tim does not know that. Tim thought that Kon was angry at him.

When their eyes met, Kon immediately ran to Tim and hugged him. No words, just a warm embrace. Tim was shocked but melted into his arms and hugged Kon back. Soon, both of them were a sobbing mess. Diana has left them the moment Tim hugged Kon back to give them space.

“I was scared. I was so scared when I couldn’t hear your heartbeat anymore. When you left Gotham and landed where you went, I could still hear you, but a week after it disappeared, you disappeared. I thought I lost you.” Kon said in a low tone, his voice cracking, and sounded vulnerable, Tim’s heart broke when he heard Kon speak. “I am glad to see you alive, but I still can’t hear your heartbeat.” Kon pulled away and looked at Tim, like he was trying to find something wrong.

“I’m alive, Kon. I think the reason you couldn’t hear my heartbeat was because the Tibetan Monks taught me how to hide myself, spiritually.” Tim explained. “I trained it for a week thinking that maybe Bruce wouldn’t know where to find me in case he asked Constantine, and I kept doing it since it felt like second nature by now.” He continues. “I could stop it, just so you could hear it again.” Tim offered as he looked in Kon’s eyes.

“Please.” Kon’s voice trembled, his eyes were glossy as both of them were crying for some time. Tim closed his eyes and started breathing heavily as if he’s trying to hyperventilate to start up his heart, he started breathing normally again, then he opened his eyes to see a confused and concerned Kon. “I can hear you again.” Kon said and placed a hand on Tim’s chest, feeling Tim’s heartbeat while listening to it.

Tim looks up at Kon and investigates Kon's face. “Why do you have bags under your eyes?” He asked Kon to stop him from listening to his heartbeat.

“I couldn’t get enough rest ever since I couldn't hear your heartbeat. I’ve been haunted by you in my dreams ever since I stopped hearing your heart.” Kon replied and removed his hand from Tim’s back and placed it back to Tim’s hip.

Tim lifted his hands and placed it on Kon’s cheek gently. “I’m sorry for scaring you, and I’m sorry for not contacting you sooner.” Tim apologized then lowered his head. Kon raised a hand to lift Tim’s head by using his finger to lift it back to him.

“Could you tell me what happened in your journey?” Kon asked. Tim smiled and pulled away from Kon’s grasps, held his hand to lead him to his current bedroom. Both of them sat down on Tim’s bed, both looking at each other’s eyes with care for each other.

“Where do I start?” Tim asked himself before letting out a deep sigh. “Well I left Gotham…” Then Tim told his time in the temple, how he technically graduated as a monk, became a high priest to Hera, and did combat training with Diana.

“Wow, that’s a lot.” Kon replied, still staring in Tim’s eyes. “You did this amazing stuff, but how are you?” Which stunned Tim for a bit. “And please tell me the truth.”

“I… I think I’m doing good, I like what I’m doing, I like what I did, and I am looking forward to my next journey. But I still miss them. I miss d- Bruce, Dick, Alfred, Babs, even Jason, and Damian. They’re still my family, they have a weird way of showing it, they show it the same as I do.” He said truthfully as he felt himself getting warm from his words. “All of us are traumatized from when we were young until now, so I understand why they’re like that, and they understand why I’m like this.” He pauses and squeezes Kon’s hand. “However, I wasn’t happy, I’m not sure if they thought of me as a family. Damian tried to kill me multiple times, Jason tried to kill me in the tower, Dick thought I was crazy, and Bruce beat me up multiple times in the guise of training. Saying it out loud does make me sound crazy. But it’s my fault for forcing my way into that family.” He leaned forward and put his head on Kon’s shoulder. “At least when I’m on a journey I could be free and learn new things.” He mumbled. Tim felt warmth surrounding him as Kon wrapped his arms around Tim.

“It’s still their fault for not communicating with you properly, and don’t you say that you didn’t communicate with them as well since you did multiple times, but they didn’t listen. You’re not in the wrong, they are.” Kon said sternly. “Plus, it just means you’re in the no Bat family club.” He grinned as he said it.

“What do you mean by that?” Tim looked up at Kon, since he couldn’t move, their faces were close to each other. Tim and Kon felt each other breathing in close proximity.

“Well,” Kon brushes Tim’s hair back. “All YJ except for Cassie are in the no Bat family, JL is divided though that’s only in your case but most of the time they still get along, and JLD are neutral about things except for Constantine who just doesn’t get along with Batman, speaking of Constantine.” Kon grins mischievously. “Why not ask Constantine to train you to get magical powers or something since you have a divine sugar mama now.” Kon suggested. “Plus it would irk Bruce since you went to Constantine.”

“That is actually a good idea, though I want to do a year of training with Diana and the Amazonians to help with my physical strength more, plus I like to learn more about what being a high priest is to a God.” Tim replied then Kon pulled them down the bed making them lay down.

“But a year is so long! I wouldn’t see you for that long again.” Kon groaned which made Tim chuckle.

“It’s not gonna be a year more since I spent quite some time here now.” Tim explained. “I would want you to stay here with me but you have YJ missions to do and we’ll definitely meet more when I ask for Constantine.”

“Tell me why I can’t stay here again?” Kon asked, like he wanted to hear Tim explain more stuff to him.

“You can’t stay here for a long period of time since this is the land of the Amazonians where no man is allowed, but they made an exception for me, for now at least, because Hera told them to. And I asked you here for just a moment so we could talk.” Tim explained as Kon just nodded while looking at Tim’s eyes.

“Still, it’s gonna be forever to see you again.” Kon pouted, making Tim smile.

“It won’t be, we’ll see each other again before you know it.” Tim grinned before cuddling closer to Kon. “I missed you and the YJ.” He said solemnly. He felt Kon’s embrace tightened.

“I know.” He replied.

“You’re my best friend and I felt like I failed you by not communicating with you properly, the same goes for Bart, and everyone in the YJ.” Tim breathes out.

“I know, but it’s not your fault.” He lifts Tim’s chin so they both could see each other’s gazes. “It hurts more when the people you love neglected you, and please remember that it is not your fault.” Kon whispered, Kon’s cold breath tickled Tim’s eyes making him blink fast.

“Thank you, Kon. Thank you for being my best friend.” Tim whispered before snuggling closer to Kon. They cuddled for a while, until they heard Diana knocking on the door.

“Kon, it’s time for you to go home.” Tim and Kon stood up to walk up to the door and opened it. Both having red eyes from crying, and Tim having messy hair from Kon playing with it. Diana raised an eyebrow at them but didn’t ask anything about it. She led them to the teleporter. Tim and Kon hugged each other once more before Kon went into the teleporter. Diana looked at Tim and asked. “Are you two together?”

“No, we’re just friends.” Tim said, without realizing that he was touching the lasso of truth with his pinky but Diana saw that and she was gonna ask another thing but she did not mean to ask personal stuff under the lasso’s influence. “Thank you for letting me talk to him, Auntie Diana.” Tim smiled brightly. “When should we start our training for the day?” Diana smiled.

“We can do it in an hour, let me just finish some paperwork that JL wanted me to do.” Diana replied. Tim nodded and looked at Hera’s temple. “You should talk to her, I think she really likes you talking to her.”

“I will, I’m just thinking about what to offer.” Tim replied.

“Tea would suffice, you don’t need grand offerings to offer for the Gods, as long as it’s from the heart and with good intentions.” Diana explained. Tim nodded and smiled.

“Thank you, Auntie Diana. I’ll see you in an hour.” Tim waved before going to the kitchen to make some tea.

Chapter Text

It has finally been a year of training under Diana, and guidance of Hera. He learned on using more than just a bang staff, though it’s still his weapon of choice. He learned how to use a sword, a spear, a shield, a lasso, and bow and arrows. While Hera taught him the history of the Greek Pantheon, in these lessons he unlocked more and more on using the special properties of his bang staff.

“Thank you so much for everything, Auntie Diana.” He smiled warmly as he gripped his staff, debating if he should stay for another year but he promised Kon that he’ll see him again.

“You are welcome Tim.” Diana replied with a warm tone. “Are you sure you want to get sent to England?” She asked with concern.

“I am, Auntie Diana. I want to meet up with Constantine to learn about magic, though I could not have any affinity to magic but learning more on how to use the properties of my staff would help me a lot.” Tim explained.

“I know, you could have picked Zatanna or Raven.” Diana sighed.

“I promise not to sell my soul to any demons nor devils nor other entities that wanted my would that Constantine mentions, or introduces me to.” Tim promised and swore it which made Diana feel relieved from his promise.

“Good, because Hera would not be happy if you did, and you don’t want to anger Hera, especially as her High Priest.” Diana reminded Tim which made him nod.

“I know, Auntie Diana. Please tell Donna thank you for training me as well.” Tim smiled, Diana opened her arms for Tim who gave Diana a hug. “I’ll see you around Auntie Diana.”

“I’ll see you around Tim. Now, get ready.” Diana replied and warned Tim. Diana opened the portal and looked at Tim. “Take care Tim.” Tim nodded and walked into the portal.

Tim blinked as he was momentarily blinded from the bright light. As his vision came back, he looked around and saw the gloomy night of London. It was raining, and people were going from pub to pub. He blended into the shadows and used the staff to help him find Constantine. He tapped the staff twice on the ground and the staff glowed gold, green, and blue and a light only he could see appeared and led him to a pub.

He walked in and saw Constantine in the bar drinking. He walked up to Constantine and sat next to him. “John Constantine.” Tim spoke and looked at him.

“I’m currently on vacation, come find me next time, maybe in the next three to five years.” Constantine replied and drank afterwards.

“Sure, I’m here to ask if you can help me learn more about magic.” Tim just asked bluntly.

“And what made you think I would help you?” Constantine finally looked at him.

“It would piss off Batman and he wouldn’t be able to hurt you because of me.” Tim replied, which made Constantine examine Tim if he’s lying. “I should introduce myself. Tim Drake.” He introduces himself which made Constantine pinch his nose.

“I don’t work with the bats.” Constantine groaned.

“I’m not with the bats, plus you might be interested in helping me learn more about this.” Tim explained then he showed his staff to Constantine whose eyes widened from the sight.

“Bloody hell kid. Fine, I’ll help you but we need to know if you have magic in your blood. Not here, follow me.” Constatine stood up, paid for his drinks, then walked out the pub, Tim followed him to a safe house he assumed. “Now,” Constantine picked up a small cauldron and placed it on a table then turned to Tim. “I know I have the reputation of selling my soul to anyone, however this one doesn’t need that. It’s just a simple spell that needs a drop of your blood, not more, not less. I’ll be adding stuff in the cauldron and I need the blood when I tell you to, got it?” Constantine explained.

“Got it.” Tim confirmed then Constantine started adding different stuff in the cauldron, which should overfill but for some reason it wasn’t. Tim pulled out a knife and was ready to poke his finger at John's instruction.

“Now.” Constantine said. Tim poked his finger and added a drop of blood in the cauldron. The cauldron was green before and now it started to turn into different colors. First it was green, then turned into orange, then red, then yellow, then it settled with blue. “Well congratulations kid, you do have an affinity with magic, and from the looks of it, just below Zatanna as well, which is interesting since Zatanna is a Homo Magi.” Constantine added.

“A what? You know you can’t call people that.” Tim replied.

“The hell are you talking about kid? I’m talking about her lineage. She is a Homo Magi, a different kind of human that wields and was born with magic.” Constantine explained. “And you do know that I’m bi, right?” 

“Oh cool, me too. Anyway, when should we start?’ Tim asked, which made Constantine mumble something under his breath.

“Tomorrow, I have something to do tonight.” Constantine put away the cauldron and started walking out, Tim followed him. “The hell are you following me for?”

“I don’t really know this place and you’re the only person I know here so I don’t want to lose the only person I could trust in this city.” Tim proclaimed which made Constantine groan.

“Kid, you’re killing me. Fine, just don’t say anything.” They went to a different pub. Constantine went up to a man, who looked a bit happy to see him. “Chas.” Constantine greeted the man.

“Constantine! Mate, who’s this? Don’t tell me you like ‘em young.” ‘Chas’ greeted Constantine then gestured to Tim. Tim gagged and Constantine pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Mate, that’s gross. This is my new apprentice.” Constantine replied. “Anyway, why did you contact me?”

“Well, you see, I have this problem where whenever I sleep in my bed I always get the same dream, nightmare even, and it’s only when I sleep in my bed. I went to hotels and nothing.” Chas explained. “It’s about some very pale bloke wearing a black trench coat trying to get out of a coffin but the bloke’s eyes were closed like he’s asleep.”

“Very pale…” Constantine stopped and furrowed his eyebrows. “I know who that is. Come on, let’s go to your house.” Constantine grumbled and let Chas lead them to his house and showed them the bed. Constantine and Tim looked around the room as they entered but Constantine stopped by the bed and tore it open. He sighed at the sight of a pouch. “Lord Morpheus, we request your presence as we found your missing sand pouch.” Constantine said out loud and sand started to form next to him and soon enough a tall pale man with black hair and black trench coat appeared. Morpheus picked up the pouch and looked at it, satisfied, he put it away in his coat, then looked at Constantine.

“John, it has been a while.” Morpheus greeted making Constantine scratch the back of his head. Morpheus looked at Tim and Chas, he ignored Chas and directed his eyes on Tim’s bang staff. “Ah, one with the Greek pantheons. Good luck with that.” Then he looked back at Constantine. “I’ll see you soon.” Morpheus disappeared, leaving everyone in silence for a minute before Tim spoke up.

“Who is that?” Tim asked Constantine.

“That’s Lord Morpehus, the Dream himself, one of the Endless. I’ll teach you about them soon enough, but for now, our job is done here. Chas, you’ll no longer have nightmares, but you might as well buy a new one since this one is broken.” Constantine replied. “Time to go kid.” Constantine left and Tim followed.

“Where are we going?” Tim asked.

“Just shut up and follow me.” Constantine said with tiredness in his voice. They went to an apartment and pointed next to him. “Stand here and don’t move.” Tim did as Constantine said and magic swirls around them as they were teleported to a different area, and Tim knows where they are, in Justice League Dark.

“Why are we here? I thought you were gonna teach me magic?” Tim protested making Constantine groan.

“Kid will you shut the hell up for a bit.” Constantine raised his voice slightly. “I brought you here because my magic is unstable so if it’s just the two of us I could have killed you but if the team is with us then they could help you as well.” Constantine clarified. “I’ll find everyone else, Raven, you can talk to Tim for a while.” Constantine ordered and left. Tim froze and turned around and saw Raven, looking at him with confusion on her face but it was covered up immediately.

“I know how you feel, Tim. I’m not going to tell you to go back to Gotham. Dick could be dumb sometimes.” Raven said and walked closer to Tim. “Hello Tim, welcome to JLD. I am a bit surprised that you, out of everyone in your family, wanted to learn magic.” Raven greeted.

“Hello Raven, thank you for trying to help me when I was searching for Bruce. I always felt like you were there but can’t really help much because of missions.” Tim greeted Raven.

“What do you mean you felt like I was there? I was helping but I should have been undetectable with non magic users.” Raven asked confusedly.

“I don’t know, I just felt like I always had a friend with me.” Tim replied with no real answers. “I guess you’re one of my teachers now.” Tim saw Raven smile for a split second before it was hidden.

“I won’t go easy on you.” Raven challenged Tim which made Tim grin.

“I was hoping you would say that.” Tim said with a huge grin.

Chapter Text

Three months had passed and Tim learned a lot of things. One, always be respectful to entities that hold a title or titles as they have a title for a reason. Two, the Endless should never be summoned as summoning one could disrupt the balance of the universe, unless they grant you a permission to summon them for a specific reason. Three, never sell your soul. Four, do not make any deals with the Fae, Demons, and Devils. Five, do not assume you are talking to a human, they could be anything from the Faes to a God or an Endless.

Tim has always known that magic has always been complicated and struggled on how to wield magic. “I’ve been here for three months now and I still can’t do magic. Are we sure that I have magic in me?” Tim asked and Constantine groaned.

“Kid, we’ve been over this. Yes, you have magic in you. We just don’t know what kind. Your divine staff wouldn’t give you magic just because you hold it, you would have magic in you already so it just amplifies it.” Constantine explained once again.

“There are two more types of magic that we have not tried, soul and techno magic.” Zatanna added. “Though I doubt it would be soul so we should try out techno magic first.”

“Considering Tim is already a professional with technology, it should be easy for him.” Raven said as she sat down, legs crossed,  levitating in the air.

“Well that’s out of my expertise.” Constantine sat down and looked at the others.

“Mine too, though we could try a simple force field since it is technically a branch of techno magic.” Zatanna explained then looked at Raven.

“Fine. Tim, get up and let’s go to the training room.” Raven stood up and started to float to the training room, Tim followed, and the rest went to the viewing area. “Stand there and just think that you’re manifesting a shield that will block anything that’s going to harm you.”

“What? How am I going to do a force field if I’m just thinking?”

“Force fields are supposed to be invisible, transparent to the naked eye so it would catch enemies off guard.” Raven explained. “Make sure you’re manifesting that force field or this is gonna hurt.” Raven said before making energy blasts in a size of a pebble and started throwing at Tim. Tim’s eyes widened as he dodged every single one.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Tim exclaimed but Raven did not stop, but made the energy blasts bigger, which Tim is having a harder time dodging.

“Stop dodging and try to focus.” Raven said nonchalantly as she fired a big blast to Tim who raised both of his hands in front of him, trying to shield himself from the impact but nothing came. He opened his eyes and saw the blast was stopped by something. “Great job, now, we’ll continue.” Raven continued blasting and Tim kept the force field in front of him but when Raven started sending some on the sides he panicked and removed his hands in front of him and put it on the side but he got blasted back as another one hit him from the front.

“Don’t overthink this mate, it’s magic, your limitation is yourself.” Constantine said from the sidelines as Tim stood up. “You’re using too much magic, just make a force field before it hits you and don’t make it too big, make it the size of the blast. You’re relying too much on holding it with your hands, use your hands like you’re conducting an orchestra.” Constantine instructed.

“Yeah like that’s easy. It’s my first time and I have no idea how to control it!” Tim snapped as he saw more blasts being sent though he did try what Constantine instructed. Tim started using small gestures to block the blasts then he thought, if force fields are a branch of techno magic, what if the force field rebounds the attacks. He changed the gestures and the blast bounced back and headed back to Raven but Raven set up a barrier around herself just in time.

“Good. We’ll try again next time. Zatanna, Tim is about to pass out since he used too much energy. Probably start with expanding his mana.” Raven explained, right on cue, Tim fell unconscious.

Waking up he was in the infirmary, next to him was Raven, Zatanna, Constantine, and Doctor Fate. Doctor Fate was very intimidating at first but Tim learned that he was wise and kind. “What happened?” Tim asked as he felt his body sore.

“You depleted your mana while making a lot of force field, and since it’s your first time using your mana, it shocked your body when the adrenaline stopped.” Doctor Fate explained.

“Oh, gotcha.” Tim replied. “Sorry, my body feels like I got squished by a crusher. Let me try something.” Tim realized that the Tibetan monks taught him a breathing technique to help him feel refreshed. After his meditation everyone is looking at him in confusion. “What?”

“How the hell did you just replenish your mana that fast?” Constantine asked, slightly raising his voice.

“I just did a simple meditation that the Tibetan monks taught me.” Tim explained making Zatanna and Constantine groan. “What?” Tim asked in confusion.

“Batman says that a lot as well when he astral projected when he was in a coffin.” Zatanna explained.

“I mean, astral projection is a lesson that the Tibetan monks taught me as well, it’s not easy since it took me five months to learn it.” Tim replied then froze. “What do you mean Batman learned it from Tibetan monks?” 

“Yeah he’s been using that excuse a lot, but it seems like it’s not an excuse.” Constantine pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me guess, you’ve learned to block telepathy or anyone reading your mind as well.”

“Yes, and make my heart very silent that if someone tries to listen to it, they could mistake me as a walking corpse.” Tim added. “Though, there’s more but I’ll keep those to myself.” 

“Unbelievable, you and Batman are literally-” Constantine started but stopped himself. “Anyway, tomorrow Zatanna, and Doctor Fate will help you expand your mana.” Constantine stood up and left.

“Constantine was really worried that he ran into the training room as fast as he could and picked you up.” Zatanna whispered and giggled. “I think he is getting soft.” Tim is quiet as he keeps thinking about Bruce and the Tibetan monks. “We’ll see you tomorrow Tim.” Zatanna smiled and left, the others followed.

Tim sat there and wondered how Bruce and the others were doing, though he was still mad that they were in his parents’ house, without his permission. “Kon.” Tim called and heard Constantine yelling but it died down then the door opened. Kon looked at Tim and rushed to his side.

“Are you okay? Did something happen? Was it Constantine? I knew that guy is-” Kon started to panic as he saw Tim in the infirmary bed.

“Kon, calm down.” Tim chuckled and held Kon’s hand to ground him. “I’m fine, I finally used magic.” Tim announced, Kon hugged him.

“Congratulations Tim!” Kon said happily. “How was it?”

“Well, Raven helped and it didn’t feel anything until the training was done, the adrenaline died down and I depleted my mana that I collapsed.” Tim explained, though leaving the fact that Raven was attacking him. “Also, don’t hug me too tight, I can’t breathe.” Kon pulled away, Tim saw Kon with puppy eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Kon apologized, making Tim chuckle.

“There’s no need to apologize, Kon. You were excited and happy for me.” Tim reassured Kon by squeezing his hand. “I… I want to see Bruce, but I’m not sure if I’m ready yet.” Tim laid down and moved closer to the edge, then patted the open space next to him. Kon climbed on the bed and laid next to him, they turned to face each other. “I’ve been here for three months and I felt like I was wasting mine and the JLD’s time with me but today was very exciting since I actually did it.” Tim said sincerely, Kon was smiling warmly as Tim talked.

“I’m really happy for you Tim.” Kon said warmly. “You told me that there are different types of magic, what kind of magic did you do?” Kon asked which made Tim start to tell Kon everything and Kon just listened. They continued to talk for hours until Tim fell asleep, who was snuggled to Kon, and Kon was resting his hand on Tim’s hip and his other arm pulling him closer. Raven entered to check on Tim but saw the sight. She took a picture with the phone Dick gave her when they were still in Teen Titans, and used her magic to bring the two a blanket, then covered them, then left.

Chapter Text

It officially hit the 7 month mark, training under the JLD members. Tim has not mastered the force field yet however he managed to perfect on timing them right. He learned he could make other things, like a ‘ray gun’ as he called it since he used his index finger to shoot a laser-like blast but it’s small to not be seen immediately. He also learned that he could technically use any elemental magic however he needed to think of a gadget or a machine that used that specific element. As an example, since a hair dryer used warm or hot wind, he could mimic how it was used with his hand and use the ‘hair dryer’ anywhere. If he needed fire, he could ‘make’ a flamethrower, or a lighter, or a blowtorch at will, though he was only using those for mundane stuff.

“Kon, why are you here again? I thought the YJ were supposed to be on a mission right now.” Tim said as Kon sat down in front of Tim, letting Tim dry his hair since he went out of the shower.

“Because I wanted to say that I’m leaving before I go.” Kon replied as Tim brushed Kon’s hair. “Plus, I wanted to see you.”

“Kon, I’m not leaving JLD yet.” Tim rolled his eyes as he sat next to Kon.

“I know but it will be forever until I see you again.” Kon complained.

“A month won’t be that long, plus you come here more often than Constantine does.” Tim grinned.

“But still.” Kon let himself fall to Tim’s bed, his shirt lifting slightly. “A month is still too long.”

“Well you better get out of here so you can finish it quickly.” Tim suggested as he stood up, then faced Kon. “Get up, you need to go, and when you come back bring Bart and Cassie.” Kon looked at Tim. “I think I’m ready to talk to them.”

“Okay.” Kon stood up, slightly looking down at Tim to face him. “I’ll be back, Tim.” He said softly.

“Stay safe, Kon.” Tim smiled. Tim and Kon’s gazes lingered for a second longer before Kon left. Tim stretched and lifted himself with a force field and sat down crossed legged and started to meditate. He does not have a laptop anymore, however he could make one in his mind. He hacked into Drake manor’s camera, looked around and saw that the place was spotless, he saw Jason looking at Tim’s bedroom door. He said something but he could not read Jason’s lips, then Jason left. He went to a different camera and saw Damian wiping a window, looked around, then continued to finish it before leaving. Then he went to the living room and saw Dick sweeping and wiping the shelves. Tim is confused about what was going on. He switched to the kitchen and saw Bruce looking at the fridge, Tim zoomed in to what Bruce was looking at and saw Tim’s picture with Bruce. Bruce was carrying a sleeping Tim out of the cave. Another one was Bruce in the middle of a sleeping Tim and Dick with his arms around the two of them. Then the last one was Tim smiling brightly with Kon, Bart, and Cassie. Tim pulled away from his ‘meditation’ and fell off his force field as he did not know what he saw, then he heard knocking.

“Are you okay, Tim?” Zatanna asked through the door.

“I’m fine, I just slipped.” Tim lied as he stood up. “I’ll be out there in a second.” Tim stretched as bones cracked, changed and left his room to train with Zatanna and Raven once again.

A month has passed and Tim was waiting for Kon, Bart, and Cassie to pass through the zeta-tubes. He was fidgeting his fingers as he rehearsed everything in his head but for some reason all the words started to jumble around and do not make sense anymore. The tubes made multiple noises and his friends came out. Bart ran to Tim who immediately hugged him. Tim laughed as he hugged Bart back, then looked at Kon and Cassie who were holding hands. “Congratulations you two, Kon you’ve been here from time to time why didn’t you tell me?” Tim said happily.

Kon and Cassie smiled as they walked up to Tim and Bart and enveloped the two with more embrace. “We wanted to tell you together, and we’ve been together for three weeks.” Kon replied.

“Well the first one was true, we’ve been having an on and off situationship for four months now.” Cassie replied. “We just made it official during the mission when this dingus almost got us killed.” Cassie explained and shot a look at Kon.

“Hey, I didn’t know that they have invisible lasers as alarms!” Kon protested, making Tim laugh.

“I missed you guys, well except for Kon.” Tim joked, which made Kon protest. “I’m sorry that I made you guys wait.” Tim said sincerely, he felt Bart and Cassie’s embrace tighten slightly.

“Don’t be, I know I messed up for not believing you, and I am so sorry for that.” Cassie replied.

“Yeah, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t fast enough to come back so you didn’t feel so alone back then.” Bart added. Tim started to sob which prompted Bart and Cassie to start sobbing. Kon held back his tears as he let Tim talk to Cassie and Bart. After three minutes of sobbing they pulled away from the hug, Tim brought them to his temporary room and they started to catch up. They talked about what Tim had done after leaving Gotham, what he had been through, then he let Cassie and Bart talk about themselves, as Tim was curious as well.

“I only have four more months here and after that I think I want to go around the globe, but I want to finish high school first.” Tim said.

“Where do you want to finish high school though? Gotham is out of the picture, and Metropolis wouldn’t be good right now since it’s being repaired again.” Kon asked.

“I was thinking of going back to England to study internationally, and if they do have an accelerated program I could finish high school immediately and possibly do college as well.” Tim explained. “Good thing I brought my documents with me so I wouldn’t go back to Gotham for now.”

“What are you taking in college though? You have a lot to choose from since you’re definitely going to have amazing grades.” Bart asked.

“I was thinking of taking photography in high school then I’m taking graphics designing in college.” Tim explained further. “I missed taking pictures and I could finally edit them to the right amount rather than overdoing them like how I was doing it when I was a kid.” Tim said excitedly, Cassie and Kon took his hands and smiled warmly.

“Definitely do it, we’ll be waiting for your return, if you ever want to go back to being a vigilante.” Cassie encouraged Tim.

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll even ask Clark to help you with guardianship if they need you to have one.” Kon suggested.

“Don’t worry, I asked Doctor Fate for that, he was also the reason why I want to go back to school.” Tim explained.

“Really?” Bart asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, he said that he saw me very happy in the future and asked about something I liked before being a vigilante and suggested I learn more about it.” Tim explained, Kon and Cassie squeezed his hands. “I’m not being manipulated, they can’t really.” Tim chuckled. “He’s a good guy.” Tim defended Doctor Fate.

“We’re not saying anything, we just wanted you to make a decision for yourself.” Cassie replied.

“I know, that’s why I said ‘thinking’ and not really setting the stone to it yet, making another list of something I could do after learning being here in JLD.” Tim explained.

“Okay, just remember that we’re here for you, okay.” Kon said.

“Yeah and get a phone again! I want to send you a lot of memes!” Bart added. “I missed messaging you at 3 in the morning!” Tim chuckled.

“I do need one… How about this, after JLD, we could go to Star City and look around for one. Bart, you could even choose my phone.” Tim suggested which made everyone excited.

“That sounds fun! I’m definitely bringing you to a boutique shop because you need a new set of clothes.” Cassie grinned.

“Hell yeah, and after that we could hang in an arcade to kill sometime before you go to England.” Kon suggested which prompted Bart to start buzzing.

“Oh dear, now you’ve done it.” Tim laughed as he face palmed himself.

“Can we do that now instead?!” Bart exclaimed. “We totally could do that right?!”

“Four months, Bart. It’s not going to be that long.” Tim tried to make Bart calm down. “I do want to apologize to you guys for coming here after your mission, you guys should be resting.” Kon and Cassie hugged Tim then Bart joined when he saw them hug Tim.

“Don’t be, plus we’re not doing anything, we’re just catching up.” Cassie reassured Tim. “We’ll see you after four months, Tim.” Cassie planted a kiss on Tim’s cheek. Cassie pulled away from the hug and stood up.

“See you then.” Kon smiled warmly as he looked at Tim’s eyes as he stood up.

“Fine, I’ll have to wait for eternity to hang out again.” Bart replied jokingly. He squeezed Tim in their hug and he pulled away.

“I’ll lead you guys to the zeta-tubes.” Tim stood up and led the trio to the room. “I’ll see you guys soon.” Tim smiled brightly as Cassie and Bart went into the tubes and teleported out. Tim looked at Kon who was staring at him. “Congratulations, Kon.” Tim flashed a warm smile to Kon, who went and hugged Tim before leaving through the zeta-tubes. Tim took a deep breath and slowly let it out, then made his way to the training rooms.

Chapter Text

"Can't you just fully join JLD?" Zatanna asked, not wanting Tim to go.

"You know that I'm not ready to be a vigilante again, Zatanna." Tim explained with a sad smile. "I'll try to visit when I have free time though." Tim tried to negotiate.

"No can do, mate. You're going back to school, you definitely need to focus on that first more than anything else." Constantine retorted. "England has a dry sense of humor but they're nice people." Constantine reminded Tim.

"I know, Constantine." Tim smiled and gave Zatanna a hug then Constantine, then he looked at Raven who just sighed and floated down and opened her arms for Tim, who rushed and hugged her. "I'm going to miss you guys. It sucks that Doctor Fate isn't here."

"We'll miss you too, Tim. You know that JL is so adamant with their weekly meetings." Zatanna replied.

"Well, it's time for me to go." Tim pulled away and slung his bag on his shoulder. "I'll see you guys around." He waved before entering the zeta-tube to Star City, where Kon, Cassie, and Bart are waiting. "Hey guys." Tim smiled as he opened his arms, letting the trio tackle him into a hug. "I missed you too." Tim laughed as he hugged them.

"Are you ready for a fun day?" Kon asked, knowing that Tim will be tired especially with Cassie dragging him everywhere.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Tim chuckled. "Though I want to put these away first." He motioned with his bags.

"Can't you make a magic that will just store your stuff infinitely like in video games?" Bart asked.

"You know what, I never tried that. Let's check and hope it doesn't destroy my stuff." Tim swiped the air and pushed his bags in and it disappeared, then tapped his bang staff on the ground to close it. "Now it's time for the test." Tim swiped the air once again and put his head in the storage space and saw his stuff floating. He pulled his head back out and looked at them. "Yup it's there and safe." Tim closed the storage once again.

"You never failed to amaze me." Kon commented. "That just means Cassie will have no problem taking you to any boutique shops since you won't have to carry them." Kon pointed out which made Cassie gasp.

"That is so true!" Cassie exclaimed then grabbed Tim's hand. "We're going on a shopping spree!" Cassie started to pull Tim to every shop they could find. When lunch time hits, they bought ten suits, five hoodies, twenty 'outside' shirts, twenty 'inside' shirts, fifteen shorts and pants, fifteen pairs of shoes, and three scarves. Cassie lectured him on getting more outside shirts since Tim is popular and has an image to retain. It was a cost of being in the news and galas since childhood.

"I'm so tired, can we eat first before going to the tech shop?" Tim asked which triggered Bart's stomach to growl.

"I agree, I am hungry as well." Bart nodded as he agreed with Tim.

"Lunch it is!" Kon laughed then led them to a diner.

"Get whatever you guys like, I'll pay for it." Tim said.

"Are you sure?" Bart asked excitedly.

"I'm sure, get as much food as you like, as long as it's not going to bother the staff." Tim smiled, then turned to the couple. "You guys too, since I know that your metabolism is much faster than a human." Tim said in a hush tone so no one else could hear him.

"You're the best Tim." Kon grinned then called a waiter and they ordered a ton of food while Tim ordered a meal and a side with a milkshake.

"Do you really want to go to England? You could go to Canada since it's closer." Cassie asked and suggested.

"I wanted to go to England since it's the furthest from Bruce and it would grant me more freedom since people might not know me there." Tim explained.

"We could always visit." Kon said then Tim thought of something.

"There might be a way for you guys to visit me a lot, but I will only activate it when you tell me ahead." Tim smiled.

"Oh no, it's his experiment smile." Bart said in a scared tone.

"What, pish, no." Tim grinned.

"Well you've done it, Kon. You've doomed us all!" Cassie exaggeratedly said.

"What? I wanted to visit my best friend." Kon shrugged. "Plus we all know that I'll be the guinea pig between the three of us."

"It's not going to harm you guys, trust me." Tim smiled. They finished eating then left the diner, but Tim gave them a big tip. They went to the arcade and played all day, Kon and Tim battled in a one versus one arcade machine, then Bart and Tim played the dance machine, then Cassie and Tim spent a lot of time in the crane games. By the end, they went to a photo booth where they took a lot of pictures so every one of them had a copy. They went to a park. "This has been the best day. Thank you guys." Tim hugged them, and they returned the gesture.

"I'm going to miss you Tim. I know I'll still see you but you're going to be in England for more than a year." Cassie said in a hush tone.

"Yeah, it would feel like forever!" Bart complained as everyone pulled away from the hug.

"But remember that we'll always be here when you need someone to talk to." Kon added. "Before you go, we didn't forget your phone." Kon looked at Bart who took out a phone.

"Us three and the rest of Young Justice pitched up some money and bought you a phone, you have everyone there, not just us three. You don't have to call or message them instantly, but know that we're just one phone call away." Bart said softly, he handed Tim the phone then smiled warmly.

"I- I don't know what to say." Tim's voice wavered as he looked at the phone, his vision started to blur, then looked back up to the trio. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Tears started streaming down his face as he sob, he pulled Bart in a tight hug, in turn Bart started to sob and hugged him Tim tightly as well. Kon wrapped his left arm to Cassie's waist then motioned to Tim and Bart. Cassie sobbed then they hugged their best friends. In the end they stayed there for an hour of sobbing and banter until it was Tim's time to go. "I'll see you guys around." Tim croaked out as another sobbing fit threatened to arise.

"Go before we sob for another hour." Cassie joked. Tim chuckled, he looked at Bart, Cassie, then Kon.

"I love you guys." Tim smiled before motioning, opening a door knob and opening a direct portal to the Drake's country house in Hertfordshire, which was perfect since he would be taking classes there. He looked around and it was abandoned, but tidy. He went to his room and memories haunted him. Memories of him and his parents having fun, talking, and very domestic. He smiled from the memories then the sad reality hits him. He chose to ignore it and took out his stuff to hang it up. He went to the basement and turned on the breaker to open the electricity. He went to the living room and just sat on the couch. He stared at the window, it was midnight. He took out his phone and opened a a cell service from the US to the UK so he could still use his phone.

Young Justice

Tim: Sent a picture

Tim: It's midnight here, but I'm comfortable

Kon: Jeez I wouldn't have made that speech if you're just gonna message everyone as soon as you're there

Steph: ????? HELLO?!

Tim: Oh I forgot you're here too

Steph: BISH! WHAT!

Tim: Don't you dare tell Bruce or I'm kicking you out from this group chat

Steph: DON'T YOU DARE!

Tim: Try me

Jaime: Welcome back Tim! You've been gone for so long I almost forgot what you looked like!

Tim: I'm not really back, just catching up with my friends.

Jaime: Good cause we have a loooot to talk about!

Tim chuckled as he read everybody's messages. He went to his room, said his good night before staring at the ceiling, in hopes of getting him some sleep.

Chapter Text

Tim got out of his bed as he looked at the calendar. It's his high school graduation. He never told anyone, other than Kon, Cassie, and Bart. Tim was debating whether telling the whole YJ would be good but since he knows Steph would spill everything, he decided against it. He did not even tell them that he was back at school, just out in the world. He had prevented Bruce, and Babs from tracking him with Steph's phone with his techno magic.

He prepared himself for the graduation and as he started walking to his school, his life felt content but there was still something missing. He waved to his neighbours as he became friendly to them. "Good morning Jeff!" Tim greeted as he watched Jeff about to enter his car.

"Good morning Tim! Do you need a lift?" Jeff offered but Tim shook his head.

"I'm all good, Jeff. Thank you for the offer though. Have a great day, Jeff!" Tim smiled brightly.

"You too." Jeff replied, then Tim continued his way to the school. He arrived and saw his classmates with their parents, while he was there alone. He took a deep breath before letting out a deep sigh. He continued to push through the crowd and waited for the ceremony to start.

He thought that he would lay low in school but in the end he became the top academic scoring student. He was assigned to make a speech when he was called. He did not even know what to write. The ceremony started and called up him for his speech. He breathed heavily before he stood up. He went to the stage and stood on the podium. He looked at the crowd and saw a banner with his name. He smiled brightly, his vision blurred as he saw his friends; Kon, Cassie, Bart. Next to them were Zatanna, Constantine, Raven, and Doctor Fate out of costume. His breathing became shaky from the relief of seeing them. He looked at his paper but decided to go against it.

"Good morning, classmates, friends, family, teachers and staff. I am honoured and humbled to address you all on this occasion. I dedicate this speech to everyone to my fellow classmates. Without our hard work and dedication we would not be here. I would like to extend this dedication to our teachers, without their guide we would not be here. This day marks our end in our high school but the start of our new journey in life." Tim paused, smiled, before continuing. "Whether continuing our education, or apprenticeship, joining the work force, travel, or soul searching, this is the start of a new beginning. I am proud of us for having endured gruelling finals week, I am proud of us persevering with the goal of graduating. We did that, everyone should be proud of themselves." He looked back to his friends, his family. "I would like to thank my family, whether it be blood or choice, your help and motivation meant the world to me." He looked back to the crowd. "Let us celebrate the uncertainty of the future and embrace it, facing it with confidence and bravery to achieve the future we want." He smiled brightly. "Thank you." He ended his speech then stepped away from the podium.

He heard clapping as he descended down back to his speech. His heart was beating fast, from the adrenaline of knowing his family was here. The rest of the ceremony was a blur as he wanted to see his family once again. When the ceremony ended, he immediately went to find everyone but he saw a person he did not know would be here nor expected. Bruce. Bruce walked up to Tim and hugged him.

"Congratulations, Tim. I am so proud of you." Bruce said, his voice shaking from reuniting with his son. "We do not have to talk today, nor tomorrow, but just so you know that I love you. They did not know I was here, and if you don't want me here, just tell me. It is your day, and I would like to honour your decision." Bruce said with so much warmth, Tim trembled. Tim did not know what to do but his urge to hug Bruce was too much. He hugged Bruce tightly and cried. "I'm here now, son." Bruce whispered, soothing Tim's anxious head.

"We-" Tim's voice betrayed him, his voice breaking. "I want you to be here, but… But we will talk whenever I'm ready." Tim pushed through with his voice shaking.

"That is all I asked for, Tim." Bruce reassured him. Tim lets go from their embrace, Bruce follows after then when they pull away, he sees his friends, his other family. He ran to them and jumped to Constantine, knowing he would not like the physical contact, he hugged him since Constantine had been dropping by every single week to check up on him.

"Mate, I would die if you continue hugging me, I can feel him staring at me with pure murder." Constantine complained.

"Don't care. Everyone… Thank you." He managed to say before sobbing. Everyone went into a group hug, Constantine in the middle. Bruce walked closer and stood next to Doctor Fate and Raven who was just watching everyone.

"I reserved a restaurant to celebrate Tim's graduation." Bruce spoke up which made everyone flinched. "Unless there was already a plan." Bruce continued, not wanting to step on someone's toes.

"We got nothing, mate, lead the way." Constantine piped up, everyone pulled away from the hug, then Bruce called someone on the phone and a luxury van stopped in front of him.

"Let's go, everyone will fit here." Bruce opened the door and let everyone enter first before sitting down next to Tim who was next to Constantine, then everyone else was at the back. It was very spacious but for some reason Bruce and Constantine were squeezing Tim.

"Can you not squeeze me? I'm dying over here." Tim manages to push through them, then looks at them two who are staring daggers at each other before looking at Tim with soft eyes. "If you want to kill each other, don't drag me into that, I just graduated." Tim rolled his eyes and looked at the back. "I'm coming there." Bruce tried to protest but stopped himself since he does not want to tell Tim what to do. He let Tim go and watched as Tim sat next to Kon and Bart.

Bruce sighed and looked at Constantine who was glaring at him. "You messed up, mate." Constantine whispered, not wanting everyone to hear him but Bruce. "Why are you here and how did you find out?"

"I know." Bruce admitted which made Constantine taken aback by Bruce's honesty. "I came here for Tim, and the headteacher contacted me since he thought that I still have Tim as my ward. I thought the email was a scam but he sent Tim's grades and a picture of him smiling with his classmates. I never told anyone, nor showed that email to anyone, even Alfred." Bruce spilled his guts to Constantine, who was just staring at him. "That is why I'm here." Bruce looked down at his hands, they were shaking. He was shaking. "I want to make things right, not the way it was." He felt tears were about to come out but Constantine grabbed Bruce's hand and grounded him. Bruce looked at Constantine.

"Tell him that. Don't hurt him again." Constantine replied. "Out of all the people you'll hear this from, you're glad that it's from me." Constantine continued. "One more mistake and I would not hesitate to take Tim from you." Constantine threatened.

"Thank you for being there for him." Bruce replied. Bruce was scared, scared that he would push Tim, everyone away once again, but knowing that he had people willing to help him gave him comfort. "Thank you." Bruce repeated.

Kon had a grimace expression which Tim immediately noticed. "What's up, Kon? Did you eat something bad?" Tim asked, which snapped Kon from listening in to Bruce and Constantine's conversation.

"No, just wondering why and how Bruce learned that you graduated high school." Kon explained.

"That's a conversation for another time. We're here to celebrate Tim and not overthink stuff." Cassie reminded Kon then turned to Tim. "Congratulations again, Tim." Cassie smiled brightly.

"Thank you Cassie, now I'll have to get ready for college though it's only a three year degree and not a four year one." Tim explained. "After that I'll have to think of what I want to do."

"Take as much time as you need, Tim. You still have to go through college before thinking about it. I'm sure you'll find your answer there." Kon said softly, put his hand on top of Tim's hand and squeezed it.

"I agree, and even if you haven't thought of what to do after college then you can just hang out with us, both YJ and JLD." Bart added with a bright smile.

"Thank you guys." Tim said softly.

"We're here." Bruce announced as everyone looked outside and saw that they were in front of a fine dining restaurant.

"With our clothing?! Bruce are you mad?!" Constantine complained.

"It's fine, I booked the whole restaurant." Bruce countered, but it did not really help his case which made Bruce sigh. "It will be fine, I told the staff that we came from a high school graduation so our attires would be on the casual side." Bruce added, then leaned towards Constantine and whispered something.

Tim squinted his eyes trying to read Bruce's lips but Bart kept shaking Tim and Kon. "I can eat fancy food now?! I'm so excited!" Bart exclaimed, as he continued to shake Kon and Tim. Tim looked at Kon who looked back at him and shook his head, indicating he did not hear what Bruce said to Constantine.

"Bart, relax, you already had most of these." Tim explained.

"But it's different with each chef!" Bart countered. "Plus, I won't have to wear an uncomfortable suit for it." Bart grinned.

"Boys, let's go." Cassie motioned. Bruce was already out of the van and Constantine was in the process of stepping out but his foot slipped and was about to fall but Bruce caught him. Cassie gasped and looked at Zatanna who took a quick picture of Bruce holding Constantine. Constantine muttered something before pulling himself together and moved to the side. Cassie and Tim looked at each other and grinned, knowing they have a plan now.

"Don't cause a scene, you two." Kon warned then sighed knowing that even with his warning, they will still do their plan.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kon." Tim replied. "We're just… Discussing the seating arrangements." Tim explained.

"Telepathically?" Kon questioned.

"Yup, learned it from-" Tim was about to explain.

"Let me guess, the Tibetan Monks?" Kon cut Tim off.

"Nope, I learned it from Raven, actually." Tim finally explained properly. "Weirdly enough it's a branch of techno magic." Raven nodded slightly from Tim's explanation like a proud teacher. Tim went down as he explained it.

"Magic?" Bruce questioned but shook his head. "Not the right time." He reminded himself. "Shall we head inside?" He asked everyone as everyone finally got out of the van.

"Yes sir!" Bart answered excitedly, then everybody replied with a simple 'Yes'. Bruce led them inside and they were greeted by the staff. They got led to a long table.

"Since it's Tim's graduation, I think he should be here." Cassie started telling everyone where to go. In the end they were sat down like this:

      Bruce Constantine Doctor Fate Raven

Tim

      Kon Cassie Bart Zatanna

Knowing Cassie, she would want an open seat so they could take a picture without someone having to turn around, or so she explained.

"You may order as much as you like." Bruce announced to everyone which made the YJ look at Bart.

"Hey, I'm not going to order that much." Bart tried to make an argument but he pointed at everything in the menu. "Well…"

"You may eat as much as you like, Bart." Bruce said softly, knowing growing boys will always be hungry, especially the speedsters. Then he looked at Tim. "I'm so proud of you Tim." Bruce said with his whole heart, Tim knows it but he was hesitant to accept it.

"Thank you, Bruce." Tim replied, he saw a flash of hurt on Bruce's expression but it was quickly covered up. Tim leaned to Bruce which made Bruce lean towards Tim. "I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt but if I found out that you've placed a bug on me today I will make sure that you will never see me again." Tim whispered, then pulled away. He looked away from Bruce and looked at his friends with a bright smile. He took a glass with wine and raised his glass. "To a new beginning." Tim said happily, everyone raised their glass and smiled.

"To a new beginning." Everyone replied.

Chapter Text

Tim waited for Bruce in the Drake manor on his couch. His heart was pounding so loudly that he could hear it. His hands were shaking and sweating from the nerves. Why is he so nervous? Then he heard a knock. He stood up fast and walked towards the door. He took a deep breath and a long sigh to try and regulate his breathing. He opened the door and saw Bruce. He was holding a bouquet of lilies of the valley, with his quick research with his techno magic to learn what it means, he learned that it means a sign of rebirth or forgiveness to a broken relationship.

"These are for you." Bruce said softly. "I wasn't sure if you would want flowers or not." Bruce offered it to Tim. Tim looked at it for a second before accepting the flowers.

"Thank you, Bruce." Tim replied then moved away from the door. "Come in." Bruce entered the manor and waited for Tim to lead the way. Tim closed the door and used a bit of techno magic to find any bugs in the flowers or if Bruce had them. He detected nothing so he led him to the living room. They both sat down opposite to each other and stared for a minute. "I know you have a lot in mind so I will let you start first." Bruce nodded and Tim could see that Bruce was shaking. The man he always saw as a stoic man, was shaking in front of him.

"Before everything else. Tim, thank you for saving me." Bruce said softly. "Not just once, but twice." He added. "The first time you saved me I did not want to be saved but you still did. I… I did so many atrocious things to you and I would like to apologize to you. My justification of not wanting you to be Robin at the time was extreme because I did not want you to die like… Jason." Bruce choked before continuing. "And the second time you saved, my first words to you was thank you and I would like to apologize to that as well. It should have." Bruce let out a shaky breath before continuing. "When you left, I turned the house upside down just to try and find your adoption papers but no matter how hard I tried, there wasn't one." He started to cry. "Even if you were not my son on paper, I saw you as one of my sons." He sobbed out. "When you saved me, I became a different person, and when you left that person came back." He confessed. "When you left I was devastated. I started hitting rogues harder, and almost killed the Joker again for what he has done to you." He added.

Tim's heart started to pound louder, as memories of what the Joker did to him. He thought he got over the trauma but it was still there.

"Superman stopped me once again but Jason killed him. He learned about what happened and it added fuel to the fire of his hatred to the Joker." Bruce closed his eyes. "After that I felt nothing. I was lost before Dick, Jason, Damian, Barbra, Alfred, Steph, and Cass pulled me out of that dark place. I started doing therapy." Bruce opened his eyes and looked at Tim. "Because I wanted to be a better person, a better father." He concluded before clasping his hands together to stop them from shaking. "I could think of a myriad of reasons why you left but I would hope I could get them from you." Bruce said softly. "Why?"

Tim took a deep breath before letting it all out. "Our relationship was never a father son relationship. It was a business relationship where I stop you from yourself and I become Robin. You trained me to be Robin while I still go back to the Drake manor. When you supposedly died, I brought up you being trapped in the time stream but Dick thought that I was crazy and told everyone not to believe me. Not only that, but he removed my Robin status and gave it to Damian, who tried to kill me multiple times on occasions where no one believed me again. Then Jason is always reminding me that I was just a replacement." Tim blurted it out. "I am just a replacement with no place in the Wayne family. I gave you back the CEO title of Wayne Enterprises since Ra's tried to steal your company. So I don't have any connections to your family anymore." Tim closed his hands into a tight fist. "Tell me, why are your kids in the Drake manor?" Tim's voice was sharp when he asked the question.

"I- There was no excuse. At first I told them to not go there but they kept not following orders and said that they wanted to know more about you and the first place to look for was in the Drake manor." Bruce replied. "Then it became a regular thing that we would visit once a month to eat and clean there just to think that you were with us. We were delusional but it became a tradition that everyone started to like. Damian was adamant of not going but Dick made him come along. I told them everything there. I was hesitant at first, but I did. I'm sorry Tim, I failed you multiple times and I still hope that there is something I could do to have my son back." Bruce added and choked out.

"I have changed Bruce. I am not the same person you once knew." Tim said. Tim saw Bruce wiping his tears and took a deep breath.

"Would you mind telling me what you did these past years?" Bruce asked. Tim shook his head and told everything. From the moment he left the Manor, until Justice League Dark. Bruce listened, he did not say anything but listened to the entire thing. "May I give you a hug?" Bruce asked which made Tim taken aback. Tim just nodded and Bruce went over to Tim's side and hugged him, as tightly as he could but gentle at the same time. "You have been through so much and words are not enough to show you how proud I am of you and who you came to be. Even all throughout your journey, you will always be my son and nothing could change that." Bruce said softly with warmth in his voice. "You are not a replacement. Jason might call you that but to me, you were not a replacement. You are your own person and I respect you." Bruce added. Tim cried, followed by Bruce. Tim wrapped his arms around Bruce tightly.

For years, Tim has missed Bruce. He denied it as much as he could but he was just a teen who left, a teen that wanted parental love, a teen that was broken, a teen that wanted to be seen. Now, Bruce was showing those to him. Bruce who was cold and brutal at first, now a warm and loving man who was sobbing with Tim. Both of them have changed and Tim knows it. They stopped crying after five minutes and pulled away from the embrace.

"Our old relationship could never be fixed." Tim started. "But, that doesn't mean that we can't start a new one." Tim added. "But I would like us to do therapy, just the two of us, to see where this new relationship would lead us."

"I would love that." Bruce replied. "Thank you, Tim. For giving me another chance."

"I-" Tim was cut off when he saw something glowing in the corner of his eye. He looked and saw his staff glowing. He used his magic to pick it up and bring it to him and inspect it. It started to grow brighter. He knew what he had to do. He looked back at Bruce and saw that Bruce is confused, wary, and worried with something he could not understand. "I know this is sudden, but would you touch the staff, please?" Tim asked. "I know it sounds weird and all but-" He was cut off once again since Bruce did it immediately because his son asked. The staff grew brighter, blinding them both. As their vision returned, both of them saw a carving of Bruce and Tim embracing in the middle of the bang staff. "That's new." Tim was the first to say something.

"Was that magic?" Bruce asked, curiously.

"Yes and no, it's Goddess Hera's power, but it did feel magical in some element." Tim confirmed.

"I see. I will not pry anymore, but as long as you are happy with everything, I will support you no matter what." Bruce replied. "Will you go to college or do something else?"

"I had been thinking about it and I would like to go to college, but if it's not for me then I'll just drop out and see what happens next." Tim said as he put the staff back to its spot with his magic. "Can I borrow your phone real quick?" Tim asked. Bruce gave him his phone then Tim unlocked it then added his number in, replacing his old one. He saw his name in Bruce's phone and it was Tim Wayne, not Tim Drake-Wayne nor Tim Drake, Tim Wayne. He felt his heart beating fast once again then gave it back to Bruce. "There, I added my phone number in. I gave it to you because I trust you that you will only contact me and not to track me. Once you start to track me, I will know." Tim warned Bruce.

"I am not that kind of man anymore, Tim. I've changed. Therapy has been helping me a lot." Bruce admitted. "I have a question." Tim hummed, confirming for Bruce to continue. "Are you and Kon together?" Tim was flustered and shook his head.

"No. We're not together, we're just friends. Kon and Cassie are together." Tim answered. "What about you and Constantine? You two looked like there was something there."

"Constantine is my ex." Bruce answered truthfully which baffled Tim. "It was a long time ago. Long story." Bruce tried to brush it off but he knows Tim wants to know more. "Maybe in another time." Bruce smiled at Tim.

"Fine, but I will not stop pestering you until you tell me everything." Tim said with a huge smile then thought about something then made a sour face. "Maybe not everything." Both Tim and Bruce laughed.

"Hey, Tim. I love you, son." Bruce said softly.

"I love you too, Bruce." Tim replied sincerely.

Chapter Text

It has been six months since Tim had enrolled for college, and currently he was studying in his room for the finals of his first semester, that was what he was doing until Kon barged in with tears in his eyes. This made Tim stand up and rushed to Kon.

"Kon, what's wrong?" Tim worriedly asked Kon.

"Cassie and I broke up, it was mutual but it still hurts." Kon blurted out then hugged Tim as he sobbed. Tim closed his eyes as he patted Kon's back, hurt that his friends are going through this.

"It's okay, let it all out." Tim softly whispered, trying to comfort Kon. He opened his eyes. "Kon, I'll make us some tea, hopefully it could cheer you up." Tim suggested but Kon's embrace tightened, Tim sighed. "You can backpack while I make it then." Tim suggested, Kon nodded. Kon pulled away from the hug then hugged Tim from the back and started to float so he did not put weight on Tim. Both of them went to the kitchen, Tim set up the kettle and got a chamomile tea bag. From time to time, Tim squeezes Kon's hand, trying to comfort his friend.

"I'm sorry, you're the first person that I thought of to vent to." Kon said in between sobs, slowly pulling himself off Tim and floated to a chair as he watched Tim make them tea. Tim gave Kon tea and sat down across from him.

"Like I said, you don't have to tell me anything. If you want me to accompany you today, I'm here for you… Until 5 pm because I have class at 5:30." Tim replied, Kon shook his head.

"I can leave, it's fine. I just needed to let this all out before I explode on a villain." Kon admitted. "I- Cassie and I haven't been working out for a year, and both of us were trying our best to work it out but it became too much for us. So we talked and we mutually broke up, but it still hurts." Kon let his heart out. Tim does not know how to react since he has not been in a relationship since Steph.

"Are you two still good together? As friends?" Tim asked curiously, wondering will it affect the YJ dynamic.

"We discussed with each other that we're better off as friends." Kon sniffed then sip his tea. "This is really good." Kon commented. "But we both agreed that it shouldn't affect any YJ missions at all." Tim nodded then made a mental note of it.

"Okay, do you wanna know a secret?" Tim grinned, Kon looked at Tim who knew that grin too much.

"Who's dirt did you dig up?" Kon wiped his tears away as he got even more curious.

"When Bruce and I did our talk, he admitted that he and Constantine were exes." Tim said it with so much excitement Kon got excited off Tim's energy. "And that's not it, ever since Bruce and I had a weekly video chat, he told me that they were together for a year, they dated in secret after their introduction from Justice League Dark, then Bruce and Constantine had a miscommunication which led to their break up. Bruce was telling their stories together with a smile on his face, like he's still in love with Constantine!" Tim told the tale of Bruce and Constantine's past. Kon was processing everything before grinning, plotting.

"You know what I'm thinking?" Kon asked, Tim nodded in agreement and took out his phone.

"I was already in the process of making a group chat for this, Operation Dark Magic is about to begin." Tim made the group chat with Kon, Zatanna, Bart, Cassie, and Raven.

"Why Dark Magic?" Kon asked.

"Dark Knight and a Wizard, what else should their ship name be?" Tim stated it like it was a fact.

"I was thinking about Batstantine." Kon replied then asked in the group chat if their group chat name should be Dark Magic or Batstantine.

"We could workshop it." Tim replied then all throughout that day, until 5, Tim was doing his best to distract Tim, not just by their plan, but also playing a video game with him and cooking lunch for them.

A month has passed and Kon was back to his usual self, which made Tim happy. Tim looked at his phone and saw Bruce calling. He answered and saw Bruce in his office once again. "Hey Bruce, what's up?" Tim greeted the man.

"Hello son, I have some good news to share." Bruce greeted his son. "I managed to make Dick, Jason, and Damian stop going to the Drake manor. I threatened them that instead of Alfred cooking their food, I would be the one that would make them. I made sure to change every lock of the manor and the keys will be kept in secret. If they try to pick the lock, I will get the notification and tell them off." Bruce said proudly. "If you want the keys, I could send them to you via mail, or if you want me to go there personally, I could." Bruce suggested.

"I trust you enough to keep them safe. Thank you, Bruce." Tim smiled as he thanked his dad. "Though if I do go back to Gotham, I'm gonna have to change the locks again."

"You are free to do as you wish since it's yours." Bruce replied, then his expression turned serious. "I have been getting this weird feeling that someone from Justice League Dark is plotting something. Every time we have a meeting Zatanna and Raven would look at me then look at each other with a nod."

"I think they're just communicating with each other via telepathy." Tim tried to brush it off.

"I would have thought of that too, however, Constantine had been telling me the same as well." Bruce admitted which made Tim's ears raise.

"You and Constantine are in contact again?" Tim asked curiously.

"Yes, we've been in contact since your graduation. We have-" Bruce stopped himself then looked at Tim who was grinning ear to ear. "Do not tell anyone." Bruce pleaded.

"Not a soul." Tim lied. "Have you guys gone on a date?" Tim was trying to read Bruce's facial expression, then he saw a twitch of a smile.

"Kind of, it ended up with us stopping a robbery." Bruce sighed.

"Who asked who?" Tim tried to prod deeper.

"Well, it's funny actually." Bruce leaned back to his chair as he relaxed himself. "Both of us asked each other at the same time."

"Like in texts?" Tim was basically grinning ear to ear as he listened to Bruce's love life.

"No, on call. We were on a call since texting could come across as cold." Bruce admitted. "We were going to get some ice cream, then saw a robbery nearby so both of us went into suit mode and stopped it." Bruce told the whole thing. "We have been thinking of going on a second date, but so far we don't have time since there have been so many cases." Bruce sighed.

"I'm sure you two will find some time." Tim replied. "I'm so sorry Bruce but I have to go, I need to go to my class." Tim swung his bag to his shoulder.

"Don't let me make you late. Have fun. I love you, son." Bruce smiled warmly.

"I love you too, dad." Tim replied, without realizing what he said and ended the call. After he hung up, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He said it so casually, like it was second nature. He thought he wasn't ready to call Bruce 'dad' yet, but his brain betrayed him. He started to walk out of the front door to rush to his class, still overthinking about calling Bruce 'dad'. It was too soon for him.

Chapter Text

Tim sighed as he finally finished his finals. He submitted it to the professor as soon as he could and started to head out. He finished a year of college, and he does not know if he wants to continue or not. The repetitiveness of it all bores him. He started to walk back to the manor but he spotted a hurt cat on the street. He looked around and did not find anyone, he approached the cat and did not see a collar. He stopped for a few feet before squatting down. He did not want to scare the cat and make it run away.

"Hey there kitty, do you need help?" Tim asked softly. The cat looked at him with alert eyes then hissed. "I know, but I just want to help." Tim stretched out his hand, opened it showing that it was empty. "I'm not going to hurt you." The cat hissed once again then tried to run away but it stumbled as it fell face first. Tim stood up and slowly walked to the cat before squatting once again. "Please let me help you so you can get back to your feet… or paws." Tim added and tried to reach for the cat. The cat scratched Tim, drawing blood but Tim didn't care, he started to pet the cat, trying to find if it had fleas on it, or hidden injuries on its head. The cat hissed once again and scratched Tim's hand one more time before giving up since it realized that Tim was actually helping it and not hurting it. The cat licked Tim's hand, where it scratched him, trying to apologize. "It's okay, kitty. I know you're scared and hurt, I'm sorry that I scared you. I just wanted to see how bad your injuries are." Tim said softly. "Here, I'll pick you up and take you to my house so I can treat you. I'll try my best to treat your injuries."

Tim tried to pick up the cat but it hissed once again and pawed Tim's hand away, not scratching him this time which is an improvement. He picked up the cat and cradled it to his chest and started to walk to the manor. He continued to talk to the cat just trying to get the cat used to him. They arrived in the manor, Tim put the cat on the table and he went to wash his hands so it does not infect the cat when he's treating it, then accessed the internet in his mind with his magic to look up how to treat a cat's injury. The cat was sitting on the table, looking at Tim curiously. Tim used his magic to get the first aid kit and turned around to the cat.

"I've researched on how to treat a cat and it's going to sting but please be patient because I don't want to hurt you so I'll take it slow." Tim explained to the cat, not really sure if the cat understands him or not. He started to treat the cat's injury, there were hisses and threats of claws but Tim managed to help the cat. "I don't really know your name, but you look like your name is Dexter." Tim smiled as he petted Dexter's head. "It's the first time I've seen a blue cat, and…" Tim saw a red lantern ring on its tail. "Oh." Tim was the only thing Tim was able to say. "Well you're a very interesting cat." Tim smiled then kissed Dexter's head. "Here, I'll bring you to my room so you can lay down on the bed so you can rest." Tim picked up the cat once again then went to his room and placed Dexter gently. "I'll buy some food for you and some treats, you can stay in the house until your injuries are healed." Tim said softly before leaving Dexter alone in his room. He went out and bought a week's worth of cat food and three cat treats, and a cat toy. He went back home and went straight to his room and saw that Dexter was curled up and asleep. He closed the door and laid down next to Dexter, Dexter woke up and was on high alert but relaxed when it saw Tim. Dexter was hesitant at first before it approached Tim and went back into a curled position and went back to sleep. Tim felt happy as this was the first time he had a cat. He took a selfie with the cat next to him and sent it to Bruce and the YJ group chat. He closed his phone before going to sleep.

A month has passed and it was summer break, Dexter decided that Tim was his new owner and stayed with him. Tim was obviously happy about it. Dexter met Kon, Cassie, Bart, Constantine, and Bruce when they dropped by a week ago. Though they dropped by separately, except for Constantine and Bruce who told him that their relationship blossomed and wanted Tim to be the first one they told it about, Tim was happy since Bruce can finally have a romantic relationship and does not want to hide it.

Tim looked at Dexter who was staring at Tim. "I don't have any plans for summer break so I'll finally go to YJ." Tim told Dexter. "You can come if you want, I'll bring your favourite backpack." Tim smiled, trying to convince Dexter but Dexter just closed its eyes and went to sleep. "Fine, I'll bring you some treats when I get home." Tim kissed Dexter's head before changing to something casual before opening a door to YJ's headquarters. He walked through and saw Kon who looked at him with bewildered eyes. "Hey, what's up." Tim greeted Kon who ran up to Tim and hugged him.

"You're here! I'm surprised you're here!" Kon said excitedly. "Not everyone's here though since they're on a mission. Steph and Jaime were called in the watchtower, and Cassie is with M'gann for the mission, though Bart is somewhere around the tower." Kon explained before setting Tim back to the ground.

"Huh, that's good to know. I tried to bring Dexter but he didn't want to come. I don't have anything to do so I'm free for the whole week." Tim smiled as he looked around then back to Kon. "Wanna play any video games or just hang out?"

"Yeah, we could do that, I was just about to play something so we can go to my room and play there." Kon said happily as he reached out and held Tim's hand as he led them to his room. Kon set up the controllers then opened Mario Kart. "You're going down, Tim."

"I'd like to see you try." Tim grinned as they picked their characters and started playing. They got invested and played for hours as they tried to beat one another. They laughed as they bantered, their laughter could be heard which brought Bart to them. They asked him to join which he agreed happily and the three of them bantered and played. "I missed this." Tim suddenly said as the round ended. "I miss us just hanging out and being here in HQ." Tim smiled from nostalgia. He looked at both Kon and Bart who's looking at him with bright smiles. He stretched his arms and hugged the two of them. "I love you guys." Tim said happily, Kon paused the game and hugged both Tim and Bart, then Bart did the same.

"You're always free to drop by." Bart said happily. "Just remember Tim that you're not alone anymore. You have us, and you even have Bruce."

"Exactly, and you could always bring Dexter here so you won't worry that he's alone." Kon suggested.

"I know that, but it's just… college is getting too repetitive and it bores me. But I told myself that I wanted to get a bachelor's degree so I don't want to drop out." Tim groaned as he explained. He pulled away from their group hug and pulled his knees to his chest.

"How about dating?" Kon asked, Tim looked at him in confusion. "Have you tried dating again?"

"Dating people hasn't even come across my mind, plus it would be unfair for them since I don't know what I want to do in my life so I don't want to drag them down with my problems. In addition, there's no one on the campus that I think that's attractive nor I'm attracted to them." Tim explained, Kon nodded and looked away, in deep thought.

"What about other hobbies? Have you actually started your photography hobby?" Bart asked, Tim paused and shook his head.

"I haven't, and I forgot that I wanted to do photography again. Thank you for reminding me Bart." Tim smiled brightly. "Though, I would need to find time for that since I didn't have much free time when college started." Tim sighed and leaned back, stretched his legs out and just stayed there for a bit. He saw Kon and Bart looking at him fondly.

"Just drop a message or a call if you want to hang out again, Tim. We're always here for you." Kon said.

"Thank you Kon, Bart. I will, but for now…" Tim sat up straight and picked his controller back. "I'm beating you guys in Mario Kart."

"No way! I'm beating you guys!" Bart announced, Kon chuckled and resumed the game. They all lost to the CPU.

Chapter Text

Tim has finally finished college, and he was so excited to finally do stuff that he wants which was… Which was… Tim still did not know what he wanted. All throughout college he had started photography once again, and actually applied what he learned in college to edit his photos. He sent Bruce the ones he's proud of. According to Constantine, Bruce had printed those photos and placed them on a physical album, which warmed Tim's heart.

Tim heard knocking on the door, he answered it, thinking that it's Bruce, but it was Hal Jordan in his Green Lantern outfit. "Tim Drake." Hal greeted Tim.

"Hal Jordan." Tim replied which made Hal confused and on high alert. Tim rolled his eyes and let him in. "Come in, before my neighbours see you." Tim stepped to the side and let Hal in then closed the door once he was in. "Why are you here, Hal?"

"How-" Hal was about to ask but Tim stopped him.

"You called me the crazy Robin before. Now. What do you want." Tim said in a cold and sharp tone that made Hal swallow his saliva audibly.

"You are in possession of a Red Lantern, am I correct?" Hal asked.

"Not me but my pet." Tim said, just in time for Dexter to appear in attack mode next to Tim, looking at Hal like he's an intruder. "Dexter, do not attack Hal. He's my dad's co-worker." Tim explained, Dexter looked at Tim then back to Hal but turned back into his relaxed state and rubbed his head on Tim's ankle.

"That is Dex-Starr, a Red Lantern, who was known to be dangerous." Hal tried to explain but fell into deaf ears.

"And yet, he likes me." Tim replied. "I was close, huh?" Tim looked at Dexter who replied with a meow. Tim crouched down and gave Dexter some pets. "Hal, I asked you multiple times now. What do you want?"

"Oh- I, uh." Hal was stammering.

"You thought that who holds the Red Ring is dangerous and you were gonna put them into space jail? No thank you. Dexter and I are happy here living our peaceful life." Tim stood up and pointed out. "Now that you see both of us are not dangerous, and just living a normal life, you can go now. Right?"

"I was here to ask for help." Hal blurted out. Tim looked at Hal in confusion. "It's something to do with the Lantern Corps but I have no idea what was happening, so I wanted to ask another Lantern for guidance." Hal sighed as he let everything out. Tim sighs then looks at Dexter then back at Hal.

"I'll let you borrow Dexter, but make sure that he's safe and if I see a single scratch on him, your head will be underwater." Tim puts a hand on Hal's shoulder before crouching down in front of Dexter. "Dexter, go with Hal for a bit, okay? You can fight if you have to, but be sure to come home safe, okay? Don't hurt Hal, unless he hurts you." Tim told his cat and gave Dexter a kiss on the head. He picked up Dexter and was about to hand him to Hal but Dexter went to his Red Lantern outfit and started to float.

"I will make sure that Dex-Starr… I mean Dexter will come home safe and sound." Hal promised then looked at Tim with sad eyes. "And I am sorry for ever calling you the crazy Robin. You terrified me for how smart you were when you were a child. It's not an excuse, especially as an adult calling you that when you were a child. And I'm sorry for not believing you." Hal apologized sincerely.

"Contact Bruce if you need help." Tim did not have to address Hal's apology, but it was good to hear. Tim opened the door for them and saw them fly away. He looked around if his neighbour saw them but good thing it was a quiet day.

A month has passed and there were still no signs from Hal or Dexter, while waiting he went back and forth from Themyscira and JLD to keep up his training. Tim was getting worried so he contacted Bruce if Hal had been in any JL meetings and was told that he was not. They were going to start an investigation, but since it could be a Lantern situation, they can only do so much.

"So Tim, wanna join YJ again?" Bart asked as he laid down on Tim's couch.

"I'm not sure, Bart. I've been away for so long and I don't know if I should come back." Tim sighed as he sat down next to Bart's head, Bart moved and put his head on Tim's lap. "To be honest, now that I've finished college, I have no idea what I want. I have been debating if I should go back to Gotham or just travel the world." Tim leaned back as he played with Bart's hair.

"You could always visit Gotham for a while before leaving again." Kon said from the kitchen, holding three spoons and three tubs of ice cream. "Plus Bart and I could join you while you're there." Kon suggested as he sat down next to Tim. Bart sat up and picked his ice cream and spoon from Kon, then Kon gave Tim his ice cream and spoon.

"Honestly, that doesn't sound bad." Tim replied with a smile as he started eating his ice cream. "I do need to put this diploma somewhere and I don't want to live here forever." Tim tried to make excuses just to go back to Gotham.

"But why do you want to go to Gotham? You said that you don't want to go back there. Why now?" Bart asked innocently, Tim paused as he tried to think of an actual reason. "Do you want to see how the Waynes are doing?" Tim was just silent as he continued to eat his ice cream. He felt a hand on each of his legs, trying to comfort him.

"I know it's stupid but for some reason… I miss them." Tim said in a whisper, unsure if he wants to vocalize it to the world.

"Which is completely fair. They are… were, your siblings before you left." Kon squeezed Tim's leg. "I know you still love them even with everything that has happened."

"It's just not fair. Even after everything, even if they tried to kill me, even if they said that I'm crazy, I still love them." Tim was gripping the spoon tightly. "I hate them but at the same time I can't truly hate them."

"I am not a therapist or anything but I think that you love them because you have always craved familial love, and you will cling to that love even if it hurts." Bart said softly. "Truth be told, familial love does hurt, and it will continue to hurt, but avoiding them and not communicating with them will hurt you even more. You can talk to them, you can tell them that you forgive them or not, but you don't have to forget what they've done. You can still love them but setting your boundaries and your feelings are much more important than accommodating theirs."

"Where did you pull that up?" Kon asked then Bart grinned.

"I started reading some books." Bart replied with a proud grin. Bart and Kon started to banter while Tim was quiet as he processed everything.

"I'll talk to them." Tim announced, stopping Bart and Kon bantering, then looked at Tim. "I'll talk to them next week, I'll contact Bruce that I'm going to visit next week. I'll go alone but I'll contact you two when I'm done."

"Okay." Was the only thing Kon could reply to Tim. "We'll be waiting." Kon added and squeezed Tim's leg.

"Now, put your hands away from my legs." Tim told Bart and Kon who pulled their hands away and started eating their ice cream. Tim was happy that he has friends that care about him.

Chapter Text

Tim was nervous. He was more than nervous, he was terrified. Knowing that he needed to come back to Gotham just to confront his siblings. But he knows he is not alone. He asked Bruce to be there, he asked Bruce to meet up with him in the Drake Manor, he asked Bruce to be his anchor, his rock, his person to ground him when things got tense.

Tim opened the door and he walked into the Drake Manor in Gotham. Bruce was sitting, waiting for Tim. Once Bruce saw Tim, he stood up and gave Tim a hug. "Everything will be fine, Tim." Bruce reassured Tim then handed Tim the key to the manor. "Just like I promised." Tim smiled but he let out a sigh, a sigh of nervousness.

"Let's get this thing over with." Tim blurted out, holding onto Bruce's shirt as if he needed the support, but quickly let go as he shook his hands and tried to wiggle his arms to get the nerves out. Bruce led Tim outside the manor, and while walking, Tim was looking around, everything was in order, clean, no cobwebs, like someone has been living here. They arrived in front of the Wayne Manor, Bruce looked at Tim with concern.

"I'll be there with you. I won't say anything. Is that alright?" Bruce asked.

"Bruce, I was the one to ask for that, of course it's alright." Tim grinned, Bruce smiled. "I'm ready." Tim announced, Bruce opened the door and saw Alfred, Dick, Jason, Damian, Cass, Steph, and a new kid.

"Welcome home, Master Tim." Alfred greeted Tim, Tim just gave him a nod then turned to the new kid.

"You must be Duke, it's nice to meet you, though probably in an unfortunate circumstance. Tim Drake." Tim introduced himself to Duke who was just admiring Tim. "Cass, Steph." Tim smiled as he greeted them both. Cass walked up to Tim and hugged him.

"You dickhead, you could have told me in the group chat that you were coming today!" Steph laughed as she complained to Tim. "It's nice to see you again."

"You just saw me last week when I visited the tower." Tim rolled his eyes as he fist bumped Steph then took out a gift for Cass. "I'm sorry I didn't contact you sooner, Cass." Cass took the gift but just hugged Tim.

"Little Brother." Cass whispered, then pulled away as he let Tim greet the brothers.

"Dick, Jason, Damian." Tim looked at them individually. Dick was older than before, some white hair coming out from his hair but he could tell that it was dyed before. Jason was still taller than anyone else, older, and looked more like Bruce. Damian was no longer a little kid, yes he's still a teenager, but not like when he first saw him.

"Tim I-" Dick tried to say something but Bruce cleared his throat.

"We should probably head to my office." Bruce told everyone. No one objected, Tim let everyone go first but he saw Duke hanging back.

"You were my Robin." Duke told Tim which made Tim's heart warmed up but hurt at the same time. "You will always be my Robin." Duke added and saw himself since Jason was his Robin.

"Thank you, Duke. We should probably hang out in the future, I'll introduce you to my friends." Tim smiled warmly.

"That would be great." Duke grinned then looked at the stairs then back to Tim. "You should probably go, since you guys have a lot to discuss. I'll hang out here with Steph." Duke said and saw mischief in Duke's eyes.

"Water and glitter, it works perfectly." Tim suggests with a grin then heads up to Bruce's office. He opened it and saw that everything was the same except there were two added frames. One was him and Bruce in his high school graduation, and one had an illusion to project that it was him and Bruce in his college graduation, but in reality it was Constantine and Bruce's picture, smiling at each other lovingly. Tim looked at Bruce who shook his head, indicating that it was not the time. Tim closed the door and stood next to Bruce. Tim was clutching his pants but hiding it from everyone since Bruce was hiding his hand.

"Before we start, I don't want anyone to hurt each other physically." Bruce told everyone. Tim raised his eyebrows thinking who would hurt each other then he saw Cass rolled her eyes from the corner as she put away her weapon. Tim gave Cass a nod, who nodded back, indicating that they got each other's back. Tim was just staring at Dick, Jason, and Damian, he does not know who should start and where to start.

"Drake… Tim, I apologize for my behaviour in the past years." Damian started. "I reflected on my actions when you left, and learned that I was wrong. I'm sorry." Damian continued. "I do not have any excuse for my actions."

"Damian, I'm not angry at you and I already forgiven you way before I left." Tim told him sternly. "I wasn't angry but annoyed, not to you but to what you went through. You were taught at a young age on how to kill, and you were manipulated to try and kill me. I'm angry at your older brother and your grandfather." Tim glared at Dick, and Alfred, then looked back at Damian. "They didn't stop you, they enabled you. I asked for help but they didn't scold you, nor helped me. Instead, they scolded me, and told me to try and understand you. I already understood why on your first attempt, but they prefer an actual Wayne than an outsider." Tim lets out a sigh.

"Tim…" Dick tried to talk but Tim's glare shut him up.

"Tim, I'm sorry." Jason said. Everyone waited if Jason was gonna add something but there was nothing to follow up.

"While your case is unique Jason, I still forgave you. You weren't thinking clearly, you were manipulated, you were infected by the pit, and you didn't want any Robin after you. You could have killed me but you didn't. I saw the regret in your eyes that night. You might not remember this but you hugged me tightly and apologized. You patched me up before running away. When I continued to pester you in patrols, you didn't shoot me. Not once, we banter, sure, but you actually protected me multiple times." Tim reached for Bruce's shoulder, as he needed the support.

"Fuck. Tim, I'm still sorry. I just- I don't know who I even was at that point. It wasn't really an excuse, I shouldn't have listened to Talia, or Ra's, or anyone in LoA." Jason pushed his hair back, Tim knew that Jason was frustrated. He always pushes his hair back when he is frustrated, and close to self-loathing.

"And you." Tim glared. "Let's start from the beginning. I asked you to help Bruce when he was grieving. It wasn't just you who lost someone, he was also grieving. He took out his anger on the goons, small time thieves, and even me. I asked you for help but you let a teenager take the brunt of his grief. I was beaten everyday in the guise of training, I was on the verge of being paralyzed in those. I was beaten by the rogues, a fucking teenager who was just a civilian, who was just trying to not let Bruce not break his moral code. When I tried to bond with you, you pushed me away. It even got worse when Damian came, you poured your whole heart with him. You ignored my pleas. You didn't even bother asking if I was okay when Damian tried to kill me, right in front of you." Tim's eyes started to blur as tears poured down.

"When Bruce died, you took the only thing that was keeping me from being part of this family. You didn't care. You wanted Damian to be your Robin. You wanted to please Bruce's biological son just so you could still feel Bruce's presence. You were wrong. Damian isn't Bruce, he was a kid, and you used him as a tool to salvage what Bruce left, but you didn't care when he was still alive. You kept arguing with him over small things. You kept being angry when he was trying, setting back his progress when he was working on himself."

Tim breathed deeply before continuing. "When I told you Bruce might be alive and was stuck in the time stream, you just looked at me with pity. You thought I was insane, I needed to be put in the asylum. You cut off all of my contact from the League and you expected me to stay? To torture myself in a place where I wasn't wanted? No. I found him and not a single gratitude came. Instead you took over the Drake Manor, thinking that it was yours. No. It's not. It was the only thing my parents left me, one of the only things I had left. Sure Robin is yours but I asked you multiple times to become Robin again. I didn't want to become Robin at all!" Tim raised his voice, he took a sharp breath then continued. "And you." Tim looked at Jason. "Why didn't you stop him?" Jason looked away. "I see. You two are dead to me." Tim looked at Alfred who was standing still, not showing any emotions. "You're not worth my time." Tim looked at Bruce, who was just heart broken about everything. He just wanted his family back, but this was something that had to be done.

An alarm on Bruce's watch appeared and saw it was Green Lantern's emergency call. Bruce stood up, then looked at Tim. "Let's head to the Watchtower. Hal needs help." Bruce knew that Dexter was with Hal, and right now, Tim needed Dexter the most. Tim nodded, anxious that Dexter was hurt. Dread filled him as he was overthinking scenarios that might have happened. Tim summoned a door and opened it.

"It's connected to the Watchtower, let's go." Tim went in then Bruce followed. Tim closed the door and it disappeared both from the Watchtower and the Wayne Manor. He did not bother to listen from anyone's excuses, so he was glad that Bruce asked him. But that thought was pushed back in the back of his mind as he focused on trying to find Dexter and Hal. He heard Bruce say something but it fell into deaf ears as he ran to the meeting room and saw Hal curled up, unconscious, holding something. Then Tim heard it, a meow from Hal. He rushed towards him and saw Dexter perfectly fine, but Hal was not. He was filled with bruises, cuts, and burns. Dexter managed to get out of Hal's grasp and flew towards Tim, who immediately hugged Dexter. "I'm so glad you're okay." Tim whispered then he remembered he was in the Watchtower. He looked around and saw the League members staring at him. He forgot his disguise.

Chapter Text

Batman bursts in, removes his cloak, and covers Tim with it. He glared at everyone. "Why is Green Lantern on the table and not in the medical bay?" Batman asked sternly.

"We tried to pick him up but we kept getting repelled." Superman replied, he looked at Tim then back to Batman. "We asked the Justice League Dark to come over and help us remove that." Tim stood up and covered Dexter with the cloak, cradling the cat, he moved closer to Hal and removed his force field.

"You should be able to carry him now." Tim told Superman before walking out of the room but he was hugged by Wonder Woman. "Hello, Auntie." Tim said softly.

"Tim, let's go to a different room." Diana whispered, then led him to the training room. "I will assume that you had your magic around Green Lantern?" Diana asked curiously.

"It was my magic, though my magic only went up when he went unconscious. When he borrowed Dexter I put up an emergency protection if he ever goes unconscious. The same goes for Dexter." He said as he looked down at Dexter who was asleep. Tim scratches Dexter's head, then looks up at Diana.

"Thank you, Tim. Without the protection magic, Hal would have been…" Diana paused then looked at the door. "Come in." She announced and Bruce went in with Clark.

"Tim, how's Dexter?" Bruce asked, worried about Dexter.

"He's alright, dad. He's just tired. I could tell that both him and Hal protected each other before they both passed out from exhaustion." Tim sighed. "I'm a bit worried that whatever hurt them is gonna come to Earth." Tim frowned from the thought.

"I know, me too. That's why when Hal wakes up, we'll ask him." Bruce agreed. "I forgot to give you this." Bruce took out a domino mask and offered it to Tim.

"It's a bit too late for that, but I don't plan on-" Tim pauses. "I might have to come out of retirement to help out." Tim looked at Bruce. Bruce and Tim stared at each other, silently communicating. Bruce sighed and nodded. "Don't worry dad, I already have an outfit in mind." Tim magically transformed his outfit into his old Red Robin costume with changes. The symbol was changed into a peacock and his cloak turned into wings. His cowl was changed into a domino mask instead, he has black boots that look heavy, and he was holding his bang staff.

"I knew you'll have a magical girl transformation." Steph said as she entered the room with a grin. Tim rolled his eyes and smiled. "Everyone's here, though they're in the meeting room." Steph informed Bruce, who nodded in return.

"Tim, while in your suit, do you want to go back to Young Justice, or Dark?" Diana asked. Tim pondered for a bit, debating if he was too old enough from Young Justice, but everyone there was old, or older than he is.

"I'll join Dark." Tim replied. "I'm sure Constantine and Raven missed me hanging out with them." Tim smiled. Superman entered the training room and looked at Tim who was unsure of what to say. "Superman." Tim said sternly, not cold but not warm.

"T- Red Robin." Superman replied, but with hesitation and guilt dripping from his tone.

"I'll check up on Green Lantern." Tim told everyone and he left the room. He walked to the med bay and used his magic to try and find what was wrong with Hal. What he found was a broken wrist, cracked rib, burnt skin from his thigh, and exhaustion. He looked up at Zatanna who just came in the room and was waiting for Tim. Tim informed Zatanna about Hal's injuries, Zatanna casts a spell to heal the physical injuries but she cannot do anything with exhaustion. "Now it's the waiting game of when he'll wake up." Tim looked down to Dexter, he placed him next to Hal. "You two need to wake up soon." Tim whispered then remained in the room.

"I heard you're joining Dark." Zatanna tried to cut the silence of the room.

"Yeah, since I'm coming out of retirement, I might as well join the group that helped me." Tim smiled. "I would join Young Justice but I'm too old for that, and their team has developed a good synergy between all of them. Adding another person to the mix would throw them off."

"One, you joining back wouldn't throw them off." Zatanna frowned. "Two, yes they all have good synergy between all of them but they still lack a leader, and they couldn't even pick one since you left. And three, you could always form a different team with your friends and give YJ to the next generations." Zatanna sighed. "I don't like you talking down to yourself. You already do that so much before. Tim, you've achieved so much in these past years, give yourself more credit." Zatanna hugged Tim, who reciprocated the embrace.

"Thank you Z." Tim replied. Overwhelmed, he closed his eyes as he tried to process what happened from the manor, until now. He pulled away from the embrace and went into a meditation, trying to clear his mind. Zatanna saw him meditating multiple times before but never with his bang staff. The bang staff started to float and circled around him, emitting four colors; blue, green, gold, and brown. Zatanna had no idea what was going on but knowing Tim, he probably did not even realize that this was happening. Zatanna's theory was that the staff was protecting Tim from any possible attacks that could happen. She would like to try and test it but she rather not test the patience of Hera.

Zatanna left Tim in med bay alone as she was called into the meeting room. Tim was alone with Dexter and Hal, his eyes opened and held out his hand, the staff flew into his hand and reached out his other hand to Dexter's head. He pressed his thumb on Dexter's forehead and saw visions. Visions of what happened. It was all a blur, but he knows for certain that Darkseid was behind this. He gasped for air as he pulled his hand away from Dexter's head and wondered where the idea of reading someone's memory came from. He saw Dexter move, then opened his eyes. Dexter looked at Tim with wide eyes, then jumped on Tim's arms. "I missed you too, Dexter." Tim whispered. Tim heard groaning as Hal slowly woke up.

"Wha-" Hal started to speak before jumping into alert. "Where am I?!" He looked around and saw Tim hugging Dexter. "Oh we're back!" Hal said excitedly and hugged Tim and Dexter. Dexter hissed at Hal who backed off immediately. "Yup, yes sir, immediately." Hal sat down on the chair.

"Thank you, Hal." Tim smiled as he looked at Hal. "You saved Dexter, and just like you promised there were no injuries on him."

"I tried." Hal sighed. "We tried to go back but-"

"I know, I saw Dexter's memories. Though you might have to inform everyone else. They're in the meeting room, and no, I have no idea about what they're talking about. I stayed here so I can keep an eye on you and Dexter." Tim informed Hal. Hal nodded then stood up.

"I should probably go there to tell them what happened." Hal stretched his arms and legs, multiple cracks can be heard.

"I'll help you there." Tim pointed at the wheelchair next to the door. "Since your muscles are still recovering from the fight, you might as well relax since Zatanna only healed your broken bones.

"Thanks, Tim." Hal sat on the wheelchair. Tim put Dexter on Hal's lap who started to knead Hal's thigh. "Thank you, Dexter." Tim started to push the wheelchair to the meeting room. As they entered, everyone stopped talking and looked at the door to check who entered and saw them three. "Hey guys." Hal grinned. "Good news, I'm alive, bad news, Darkseid is back."

Chapter Text

"What do you mean Darkseid is back?" Superman asked, he tried to ask with a stern tone but everyone heard the tremble in his voice.

"He's back and getting close to our galaxy. A month ago there was a distress call from the Green Lanterns and I was told about an entity building something, so I went to ask Red Robin's place to borrow Dex-Starr for help, and we went to the coordinates and saw Darkseid's ship. He's building another army, and I'm sure that Earth is their first target." Hal sighed as if he was trying to catch his breath. Tim went to the side and got a cup of water for Hal since he was not able to drink when he woke up. "Thanks RR." Hal took the drink that Tim had offered and started to drink everything in one go.

"Green Lantern, how long do you think they'll build up the army and how long do you think they will reach Earth?" Batman asked.

"I would say two months, but that's just me guessing it." Hal replied. "But there's a possibility of them finishing up early and getting here in a month and a half." Hal added. Kon walked next to Tim, followed by Bart, Cassie, Cissie, Jaime, and Steph. Tim looked at them in confusion but gave them a nod.

"Bloody hell." Constantine groaned as he entered the meeting room. He saw Tim and he was confused but stood next to Batman. "So you're saying we don't have time to actually prepare for the fight?"

"We could still prepare but it would definitely be harsher than before." Diana replied.

"Great." Constantine replied sarcastically. "Unlike the Speedsters, none of us could slow down time." Then an idea popped into his head then looked at Tim. Tim knew that look, Constantine was possibly selling his soul to another Demon.

"If you have an idea that doesn't cost your soul, this would be the time to suggest it." Batman told Constantine who rolled his eyes.

"I'm not that desperate. I was thinking that maybe Red Robin, Zatanna, and Doctor Fate could work together with their magic. Red Robin could make a room with pure magic so that Zatanna, and Doctor Fate could use their knowledge of time magic to slow down time. The problem is that while everyone would be training, Red Robin would be vulnerable since he would need to concentrate and put his whole energy into that room." Constantine suggested.

"No." Batman replied. Tim looked at him, and read Bruce's body language. Tim knows that Bruce does not like the idea of Tim being vulnerable, and uses up everything to the point of almost exhausting himself again.

"That's the only choice that we got, mate. Without a room of pure magic, time magic wouldn't be able to a lot of people at once." Constantine argued back.

"He's right, Batman. This might be the only choice." Zatanna added.

"Batman, I'll be fine." Tim replied, then he looked at Constantine. "Is there a specific place that you want me to build this room?"

"Yeah, a place that actually has Ley Lines. There are four places that have a strong connection to the Ley Lines. The Stonehenge, in Somerset in England, the first Lazarus Pit in Egypt, and in Gotham. Two out of four are open for everybody to enter so we'll count Stonehenge, and Egypt out, but Somerset, and Gotham would be the only choice." Constantine explained.

"Gotham would be the best choice." Batman sighed, admitting defeat that this was the only choice. "The Ley Line in Gotham was hidden to the public because a dragon came through it. Only I know where it is."

"The hell you mean there was a dragon in Gotham?!" Red Hood asked.

"Long story. The safest one would be in Gotham." Batman replied.

"Gotham it is. Red Robin, tomorrow let's set up the room. I'll help you with it." Constantine told Tim, who nodded.

"Dismiss." Batman ended the meeting, there were still a lot of lingering questions from the other JL members but all will have to wait with the fate of the world on the line. Tim started to push Hal back to the med bay, followed by his old team.

"So why are you guys following me again?" Tim asked as they walked.

"Why aren't you joining YJ?" Kon asked.

"Cause I'm not too old to join, and two, I'm more of a magical person now so Dark would be better for me." Tim replied.

"You can still join Dark but let's make a new team, we don't need a silly name like Titans." Steph walked up next to Tim.

"You do know that I only came back because of Darkseid right? I will probably return to being retired after this." Tim entered the med bay and used his magic to help Hal back to the bed, Dexter floated to his shoulder, as he helped Hal. "You'll be fine by tomorrow." He informed Hal then turned to his friends. "Look, this is just temporary. If I am going to continue being Red Robin, sure, we'll make our own team, but the likelihood of me permanently joining back being a hero is very low." Tim opened a door and entered, which his friends followed, and they were in the YJ base. Tim took out his phone and sent Bruce a quick message of his location, then looked up at his friends.

"But we'll be fighting together again." Cassie tried to argue but sighed from her argument.

"I wouldn't be able to fight since I'll be using my time and energy on making and holding up the room. After your training, I would probably be drained and would be benched since I used up everything." Tim tried to explain it to them. "In addition, I'm more of a background support than an action on the field."

"I beg to differ." Kon replied. "You've taken down everyone here, you've sparred with many League members then they were sore until the next day, you're more capable than everyone here combined." Tim raised an eyebrow from Kon's statement. "The point is, we need you Tim."

"I love you guys, but like I said, this is just a one time thing." Tim sighed and gave everyone a hug. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. It's nice to see you again Cissie, Jaime." Tim smiled, then opened another door before entering. Tim is so confused on why his friends are insisting him to make a team. He thought that they supported him, but it seems like something was off. He walked into the Dark's meeting hall and saw Doctor Fate, Zatanna, Constantine, Wonder Woman, and Deadman were there.

"Perfect, you came in just in time." Constantine greeted Tim. "We can start the meeting. Tomorrow, Batman will lead us to the Ley Line, where Red Robin will make the room. I'll guide you through it but it will be hard to hold because there would be so many people in there. Hopefully the Ley Line would help you ease through the pain." Constantine said with regret in his voice. "Zatanna and Doctor Fate will set up runes and magic in and outside of the room, and Deadman will protect and help you with food and water. Any questions?"

"Yeah, for how long am I going to hold the room up?" Tim asked, everyone tensed up. "I see."

"It's a lot, Red Robin, but this is the only choice that we have." Wonder Woman said with guilt dripping down her tone.

"So I would need to hold it up for a month and a half, how will everyone know that it's time? How will everyone know when to rest before the big fight?"

"That's where Zatanna and Doctor Fate come in, with the runes, it would show us how many days have passed in real time." Constantine explained. "I'm really sorry, Red Robin." Constantine frowned.

"Thanks, I'll be in my old room then so we can all mobilize in the morning." Tim told everyone before leaving the meeting hall and went to his old room. When he arrived in his room, he locked the door and sat down. He closed his eyes and just tried to absorb everything. Today has been a mess, and it continues to be a mess. He hugged Dexter, who purred from Tim's affection. "What is happening?" Tim was confused, puzzled, and worried. He felt old feelings from being a vigilante resurfaced, and now it was haunting him once again. He felt his phone vibrating and saw Bruce was trying to call him.

"Son." Bruce said softly.

"Dad… I'm scared, I'm scared that once I become Red Robin again, I won't be able to stop myself." Tim's feelings started to come out, his frustrations and anger from the morning, his worries and overthinking caught up to him when he heard about Darkseid once again. "I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't, son. I promise you." Bruce tried to reassure Tim. "Where are you right now? I'll come and get you."

"I'm in my old room in Dark, I… I just want to be alone for now…" Tim tried to hide it but he did not want to be alone, he was scared and felt lonely.

"Son, please. I want to help you, I don't want you to be alone, especially now. I'll ask Constantine to bring you here, not in the Wayne Manor but in the Drake Manor." Bruce suggested. Tim started to sob loudly. "Constantine is on his way, okay? I love you son."

"I love you too, dad." Tim replied. He stood up and unlocked his room. Constantine knocked and entered. Constantine immediately hugged Tim.

"I'm sorry, Tim. I really am. I didn't want to suggest this but-" Constantine was cut off by Tim's sob.

"It's okay, Constantine. I… I just want my dad." Tim replied which broke Constantine's heart. Dexter floated and landed on Tim's shoulder, rubbing his cheek to Tim's head. Constantine teleported them to the Drake Manor and met up with Bruce. For the rest of the day, the couple were supporting Tim, never leaving him alone, and took care of him. They all cuddled in Tim's old bedroom when they went to sleep.

Chapter Text

Tim was standing next to Bruce and Constantine as they waited for the heroes to arrive. Tim grabbed Bruce and Constantine's arm as he let out a deep breath. "I'm ready." Tim told them, Bruce looked at Tim with worried and defeated eyes. Constantine held Tim's hand while Bruce did the other.

"You got this Tim, we won't be here for a month and a half but Deadman will entertain you and help you out with whatever you need." Constantine tried to reassure Tim. "He is quite a talker, you know."

"I know, he talked my ear out when he was talking about the afterlife." Tim chuckled, his hands loosen his grip. "You two owe me at the end of this, a month-long vacation with the three of us, Damian, Cass, Steph, and Duke."

"Tim-" Bruce tried to reason with Tim but Tim gave him a glare. "Okay, you pick where we're going." Bruce whispered with a smile. "I love you son."

"I love you too dad." Tim said softly. "Of course, I know the best one." Tim grinned then took a deep breath before releasing it once again. "Constantine, it looks like everyone's here. Please help me set this up."

"Of course." Constantine replied then started instructing Tim on what to do. Tim just followed. Tim closed his eyes and imagined a room where it feels infinite but it has a border. He imagined an apartment styled buildings for the heroes to sleep in, and a cafeteria for them to make some food. Tim's energy was depleting faster than before so he removed his force field from everyone he cared about and himself to gain his energy back. He tapped into the Ley Line's energy then he made a training room for them, and a medical bay. He made white walls on the outside so the heroes could see where they were supposed to go, then he heard Constantine instructing Zatanna and Doctor Fate, then Bruce's voice, then Damian, Cass, Steph, Duke, Dick, Jason, Cassie, Cissie, Kon, Bart, then heroes' voice was passing through as he concentrated in this room.

Silence

That was the signal for Tim to make the walls and door to become invisible, so if someone does find him, it would all be hidden except for him and Deadman. Then he heard Deadman start speaking, he unconsciously laughed when Deadman made a joke or replied in a hush tone, but both of them knew that this was just the beginning. Tim's eyes were always closed, concentrating, with the Tibetan monks' help, he was able to rest while still having his focus be steeled. Deadman helped him with bodily needs like food, water, and toiletries. Tim just chose to ignore those since Deadman was there to keep him safe and alive while he focused on his task.

He heard talking but it was not Deadman but someone else, someone who was obsessed with him. He suddenly felt dread as he heard Ra's Al Ghul's voice. The one that wanted to take his body for his own gain, the one that tried to kill him from, the one that took his spleen, and he's vulnerable with one person with him. Then he hears fighting, shotgun reloading. Swords slashing, Deadman's voice ringing in his ears that everything will be fine so keep concentrating. Then he hears Talia's voice trying to protect Tim, reasoning with Ra's but Ra's was not having it. Tim involuntarily made an anvil from a great distance and made it fall on top of Ra's.

Splat

Everyone stopped on their tracks, Tim tried his best to not think about it but it was eating him alive. He wrote on the sky what was happening but left the part where he might have possibly killed Ra's. He reassured them that someone was helping Deadman. Then he heard Deadman shouting at Talia, something about slapping, but the slap never came then it was back to silence.

He has no idea how long it has been, a week? Two weeks? Maybe a month? But he felt so weak. His mind was beating him down once again from the possibility of killing someone again. The possibility of the training was for nothing, that his help was not enough.

Warmth

He felt warmth after a long time, he heard Bruce and Constantine talking, then Kon, then Bart, then he was surrounded by voices again. He did not know if it was time but Deadman helped him open his eyes, which took away his focus.

"Welcome back Tim. It's been a month and a half." Deadman smiled. Tim nodded weakly as he looked at Bruce who was hugging him.

"We're back now, son. Take some rest, you need it." Bruce whispered. Tim's eyes became heavy, his shoulders slumped, he unconsciously leaned forward to Bruce.

"Welcome back, dad." Tim whispered before everything went silent once again.

"You've done well, young one." A voice echoed in his mind as he tried to look around, then he was in a palace. "We have met again, Timothy." Dream greeted Tim.

"Dream, it is a pleasure to see you once again. But if you let me, why have you brought me to your world?" Tim asked brashly, as he felt the tiredness still weighing on him. Dream walked up to him, observing him.

"It seems like I brought you here at the wrong time. I will call upon you once more, but it would be with Constantine." Dream stood in front of Tim as he finished talking. "Now, wake up."

Tim woke up from his slumber then saw that Bruce was next to him. Bruce noticed that Tim was awake and held his hand.

"Everything is fine, Darkseid hasn't arrived yet but he will be soon. You're in the Drake Manor." Bruce explained. "You've been asleep for three days. Constantine and I have been switching to look after you."

"Bruce, it's your time to-" Constantine entered the room and saw Tim awake. He rushed towards Tim and hugged him tightly. "Kid, you're not allowed to use that amount of magic again." Constantine warned Tim. Tim chuckled then hugged Constantine back.

"I'll try, but considering Dream spoke to me before I woke up, the two of us will definitely be working under him." Tim yawned as he explained. "But that would be down the line." Bruce looked at Constantine with confusion and worry but Constantine held Bruce's hand.

"Okay. Bruce, we'll be fine, and we'll tell you when that happens." Constantine reassured Bruce. "You must be hungry, I made some food." Constantine pulled away from the embrace and held Tim's hand to help him stand up. Tim slowly stood up, still a bit weak since he has not used his legs for three days.

"Do you want a wheelchair, Tim?" Bruce asked, worried about his son.

"I'm fine, dad. I need to move these otherwise it will start aching." Tim smiled at Bruce, as he reached out for Bruce's arm as another support. "Plus, you two are here to help me get back to my feet, quite literally." Constantine groaned from Tim's joke but Tim laughed. They head to the dining room, Bruce and Constantine help Tim on a chair as they prepare the table for the three of them. "What happened when you guys came out of the room?" Tim asked.

"We saw you were still in your floating state so we tried to get out to stop making the room but you were in trance so Deadman possessed your body for a bit to open your eyes and see that everyone was out then you passed out." Bruce explained then continued. "We heard what happened from Deadman and how Ra's tried to take you. Alfred, Ivy, Harley, and Selena helped Deadman but there were too many assassins and couldn't stop Ra's properly, and Talia tried to reason with him but he was too selfish, then…" Bruce stopped. "It's okay, son. You did what you had to do to protect yourself." Bruce squeezed Tim's hand. Tim nodded, memories rushing back to what happened, the guilt and regret was eating him up once again. "I heard from Talia that Ra's is back and more determined to get you."

"Of course he's back…" Tim whispered, it was a reassurance but why is he still feeling guilty? "Was that the reason you guys went out of the room?" Tim asked.

"No, it was the day before we got out and we saw some cracks forming in the room but it was fixed almost in an instant. Bruce tried to get out but he just finished sparring with Diana so he was still weak at that point, the Young Justice tried as well but they were shut down by Starfire since they just finished sparring with the Titans. It was just poor timing and we were so worried but knew that you were in safe hands since Deadman was there." Constantine explained.

Tim have nothing to say after that. He nodded and let his mind wander, he saw Bruce and Constantine talk and ask him about different stuff. He was replying back but his mind was somewhere else. He felt something then reached out to summon his staff then looked up at the sky. "They're here." Tim told them. He summoned Bruce's outfit and gave it to him, then he switched into his Red Robin outfit. He opened a door to the Watchtower. "There's no time to argue, we have to go." Tim pointed at the door, then Dexter floated to his shoulder. "Hello there Dexter." He said warmly as he rushed into the door. The heroes were starting to enter from the zeta-tubes, but they rushed into the meeting room and saw Darkseid's ship. Everyone was talking over each other, clearly not unionized. Tim had enough and tapped his staff on the ground which made a loud sound but no damage to the floor. Silence filled the room as they all looked at Tim.

"Now is not the time to squabble. You all trained for this, you all need to coordinate. I'll grant everyone the ability to communicate with one another so Martian Manhunter doesn't use his telepathy to everyone, which would exhaust him. Those who can breathe in space move to this side," Tim pointed to the right, "and people who can't move to this side." Tim pointed to the left. He granted them a space helmet that has oxygen and a suit that protects their body from space, then turned the suits and helmets invisible. "If you're badly injured just call my name and I will teleport you out. They would not stop until they reach Earth so some heroes need to stay on Earth while the rest will fight." Tim ordered. "Spell casters and non-metas that use weapons will be on Earth, the rest can fight in space." Tim looked at the camera. "Oracle, work with Cyborg to handle weaponry to fight Darkseid's ships." Then Tim looked back at everyone. "Fight to live, not to die. Fight for the people, fight for yourselves as we live on this planet." Tim finished his speech then pointed everyone to their battle stations.

"I'm proud of you, son." Bruce whispered to Tim and smiled.

"Sorry for taking over, it was just too overstimulating and nothing was happening." Tim replied, then Diana placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing, Tim. We needed a voice and you did that." Diana smiled.

"Thank you." Tim whispered. His heart was beating so loud he could hear it. Years before, no one believed him, years before no one was willing to hear him out, years before he felt alone, but it was not the past anymore. Everyone was listening, everyone believed in him, everyone was helping him, everyone put their trust into him. He felt the responsibility of the entire hero community on his shoulder and it was suffocating but he felt a grasp on his shoulder, a gentle squeeze, then looked at Kon. Kon has a bright smile on his face.

"You got this Tim. Just yell if they're not listening properly, and turn up your volume when you're yelling at them so they actually follow you." Kon joked but that joke pulled him out from his possible episode. Tim nodded and hugged Kon.

"Thank you, Kon." Tim said softly, he pulled away and fixed his hair.

"I got something to say after this." Kon said softly, holding Tim's hand. Tim squeezed his hand then nodded, their gazes linger for a bit.

"Places, everyone." Batman barked out an order which pulled away Tim and Kon's trance with one another. Tim saw Bruce looking at them with a scowl, Tim rolled his eyes knowing that he did that on purpose.

"Beat their ass." Tim patted Kon's chest then sat down to his station and made more weaponry to fight the incoming ships. He contacted the monks as well to protect China, knowing that the monks have stations there. He glared at Darkseid's ship, knowing this will be a long battle.

Chapter Text

"Batman, I need you to support Robin on Earth. He needs you there." Red Robin barked out an order as he continued to attack the enemy ships.

"I can't leave you here." Batman countered.

"I'm not alone, Cyborg, Raven, and Zatanna are here with me. We have a way out if things go south." Red Robin argued back. "Go." Batman stood for a second before giving Tim a hug. "I'll be fine, dad." Tim whispered.

"I know. I'll see you later." Bruce replied softly, then ran to the Zeta-Tube chamber.

"Robin, help is coming. Superman and Superboy I need you two to damage the mothership to distract them with repairs. Green Lantern H and Dex-Starr will cover you two. Wonder Woman, go back to Earth and help out Metropolis." Red Robin continued to bark out commands, trying out the best and efficient method on winning this war. Raven was staring at him with sadness. Raven knew that Tim was scared, not because of the war, but because of what happened after that, to what might happen to Tim.

"Everything good, Raven?" Cyborg asked his friend.

"Tim." Raven said softly. "He's overly extending his boundaries that he set up."

"Guys, focus." Red Robin said sternly. "Shit! They're sending unmanned ships to the Watchtower! Focus the weapons on those!" Red Robin glared at the ships, trying to find the weak spots of the ships but there were too many. Zatanna teleported everyone from the Watchtower to Gotham.

"The Watchtower is on fire." Superboy pointed out the obvious. "And it exploded, I'm going to make sure that it doesn't hit anyone on Earth."

"Go for it. Superman, fall back." Red Robin groaned as he felt terrible that the Watchtower was destroyed under his order.

"Red Robin, they're invading Gotham now." Raven pointed out. "But it's not just Gotham, they're about to invade other countries as well. We need to mobilize heroes in those countries."

"Everyone in space, fall back." Red Robin ordered then mobilized teams to different countries.

"Red Robin, Spoiler, and Black Bat required help, they're nearby." Batman informed Red Robin so he immediately ran, like it was second nature. He arrived at the scene and saw Spoiler was about to get stabbed. He used his magic to push the enemies away.

"Thank RR." Spoiler pulled out her crossbow and started shooting the enemies. Black Bat and Red Robin used their melee weapons to take their enemies down but they kept getting back.

"We have to kill them." Red Robin pointed out. "They will continue to get up if we don't." Red Robin announced to everyone, not just Spoiler and Black Bat.

"Everyone, I don't want to alarm you but one is about to reach me." Oracle said in a panic.

"On it." Nightwing replied hurriedly.

"Red Robin, do you need help?" Impulse asked.

"No, but help out the YJ." Red Robin ordered. He looked at Spoiler and Black Bat and they had wide eyes.

"Red Robin, look out!" Spoiler shouted but it was too late. A large hand gripped Tim's head, teasing of breaking it without a problem.

"So you're the one who's barking out orders." A deep booming voice announced his presence. Tim was in a tremendous amount of pain as he felt like his head was about to get ripped out of his body and his skull being crushed. The force field can only do so much but with his limited amount of experience in combat with it, he has not anticipated this amount of power for his magic. Tim heard shouting from his ear, from his friends, and his family. "I don't want to waste any more time so I'll end it right here and right now."

The force field was cracking and Tim was shouting bloody murder, blood started to drip down his head. He used all of his might to try and hit Darkseid's hand from his head. The grip loosened and he fell to the ground. He immediately used his magic. He could not use his magic doors but the best thing he could do was a sphere of force field that looked like a hamster ball. He pulled Spoiler and Black bat in the sphere and started transporting them elsewhere, but Darkseid is on their tail. He saw Spoiler was trying to talk to him but his mind was laser focused on getting them out alive.

"Tim." Cass held Tim's hand to ground him. "Breathe." Tim did not even realize that he was holding his breath. He breathes as he continues to operate the sphere.

"Thanks." Tim breathlessly replied.

"Superman, Superboy, and Wonder Woman are incoming. Batman and Constantine are within 5 minutes from us." Spoiler informed Red Robin. "Green Lantern and Dex-Starr are also on their way here."

"Got it." Red Robin pulled them away from the city to cause less destruction from the fight that was about to happen. "We're heading out of Gotham. Batman, Constantine, follow us."

"Copy." Batman replied.

"There is no point in running, your demise is inevitable." Darkseid's voice boomed behind them.

"Just because you're bald doesn't give you the right to kill people with hair." Red Robin insulted back, knowing that it would not work on Darkseid.

"Not the time for that, Red Robin." Batman said with a groan, but Red Robin could hear a couple of laughter.

They all arrived in an open area with no buildings around, Batman and Constantine next to them. Superman, Superboy, and Wonder Woman are three minutes behind them. Green Lantern and Dex-Starr are ten minutes away.

"Your life ends here." Darkseid rushed towards Tim, everybody was throwing stuff to Darkseid but everything was bouncing off. Constantine finished casting a spell and hurled a fireball towards Darkseid. Darkseid was pushed back, singed slightly from the magic.

"Two minutes." Superboy announced.

Red Robin summoned his drones and fired lighting and fire towards Darkseid, it was holding him perfectly so Red Robin doubled the drones around him. "Enough!" Darkseid roared and flew in front of Tim and grabbed him by his head once again. "You and your silly games will end here." Then Darkseid was thrown away, Tim was dragged by Darkseid, but with the loose grip, he was able to get away and was about to tumble away but he was picked up by Superboy.

"You're not allowed to die." Kon said softly as he hugged Tim. "Darkseid on the other hand."

"Do not kill Darkseid, the balance of the world will be thrown off if you do." Constantine shouted. Curses were heard from the communicator.

"Maiming him should be fine then." Kon replied then gently placed Tim on Bruce's arms. "I'll see you later." Kon said softly flew towards Darkseid who was fighting Superman and Wonder Woman.

Tim was about to say something but it was slurring, his vision started to blur. "He's losing a lot of blood, and his skull is probably fractured from Darkseid's grip." He heard a voice called out. His ears started to ring, his vision getting darker by the second. Then voices started fading out.

Tim woke up, beeping noises were loud, he saw that he was in the cave. A heart monitor connected to him. He saw his family there, waiting, asleep. He thought he should make his heart slow down but it would probably give them a heart attack. Bruce and Constantine lay their heads on the side of the bed, while Dexter was next to him. His friends, the YJ, were asleep on the chairs. Damian, Steph, Cass, and Duke were on a couch. Raven enters the medical bay and sees Tim was awake. She moved towards him and checked if everything was alright.

"You've been in a coma for five months. You had to get surgery because of your cracked skull, plus they had to check your brain if it got damaged." Raven informed Tim as she gave him ice chips. Tim gladly accepted them as his throat was very dry.

"Th-" Tim croaked out but his voice was scratchy so he stopped for a second before continuing. "Thank you…" Tim whispered. He held out his hand to shake Bruce awake. "Dad…" He called out softly. Bruce woke up and saw Tim was awake. He hugged Tim gently to not shake or squeeze him tightly.

"Son… You're awake…" Bruce said with relief in his voice.

"Darkseid can't kill me easily." Tim joked but the name lingered in the air for a while. "What happened?"

"After you passed out, Darkseid was backed into a corner so he retreated. I asked Kon to bring you to the cave since the Watchtower was gone, but Cyborg was able to make the machines to save your life. I- We nearly lost you, son." Bruce's voice cracked.

"I'll definitely thank Victor then." Tim held out his hand and Bruce held it. Tim used his other hand to wake Constantine up.

"For god's sake, kid. You're gonna kill me one of these days." Constantine said out loud as he saw Tim conscious. His voice woke up everybody. "Everyone calm down and don't overwhelm him." Constantine warned everyone.

"Your voice is enough to overwhelm him." Steph joked, which got Tim to chuckle.

"Rude bastard." Constantine said under his breath, then looked back at Tim. "Are you hungry?" Tim nodded. "Good cause I'm going to make you some soup, you'll be eating a lot of soup these next few days so be ready."

"Ugh, can I just have a batburger and call it a day?" Tim groaned.

"I'm sorry son but your stomach can't handle solid foods yet." Bruce delivered the devastating news to Tim.

"The agony!" Tim joked. Duke grinned, Tim knew that grin and learned that they're going to get into so much trouble.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll get over it." Constantine joked back. "But seriously, we are glad that you're awake now." Constantine stood up and hugged Tim before looking at Bruce. "Bruce and I will be going upstairs because he refused to leave your side for a long time and he hasn't showered yet." Tim looked at Bruce with disbelief.

"And you're such a hypocrite." Tim gasped from the revelation. "Both Father and Constantine refused to leave your side."

"Alright, you two love birds need to go." Steph started to pull Bruce and Cass with Constantine. "Come on."

"We'll bring you soup once we're done." Bruce said to Tim before leaving the room. Damian, Duke, and the YJ except for Kon were ushered out by Raven since it was overwhelming Tim with the amount of people. Kon walked next to Tim and held his hand.

"Hey Tim." Kon said softly.

"Hey Kon." Tim replied with the same softness. "How have you been?"

"To be honest, awful. Now that you're awake, the weight has been lifted." Kon sighed and pressed his forehead against Tim's. "I missed you so much." Tim hugged Kon as both of them started to sob. For once, Tim felt at ease. There were problems, sure, but for now, he felt peaceful. Against Kon's embrace, he leaned forward, their lips an inch away from each other. "I love you Tim." Tim's heart warmed up, his heart beating faster and the machine wasn't helping him.

"I love you too Kon, years back." Tim replied. "May I kiss you?"

"Yes." Kon happily replied and both of them leaned more. Their lips met, pressed softly to one another. Bliss, warmth, and love was felt between the two of them. They pulled away and smiled, staring lovingly at each other.

Content.

Tim is finally content, his journey is far from over but his misadventure has concluded as his adventure with his family has begun anew.

[Alternative Ending #1]

Tim woke up, beeping noises were loud, he saw that he was in the cave. A heart monitor connected to him. He saw his family there, waiting, asleep. He thought he should make his heart slow down but it would probably give them a heart attack. Bruce and Constantine lay their heads on the side of the bed, while Dexter was next to him. His friends, the YJ, were asleep on the chairs. Damian, Steph, Cass, and Duke were on a couch. Raven enters the medical bay and sees Tim was awake. She moved towards him and checked if everything was alright.

"You've been in a coma for five months. You had to get surgery because of your cracked skull, plus they had to check your brain if it got damaged." Raven informed Tim as she gave him ice chips. Tim gladly accepted them as his throat was very dry. Tim tried to speak but for some reason there was no voice that came through, not even a grunt. He looked at Raven in panic, and Raven was also surprised. "That… is not normal." Raven said, then clapped her hands once to wake everyone up. They were in a battle stance when they woke up but saw Tim was awake. There was a chorus of worried, scared, and happy messages but Tim was worried that he cannot use his voice. "Everyone, calm down." Raven used her magic to push everyone away from Tim to give him space to breathe.

"Son, how are you feeling?" Bruce asked, Tim tried to talk once again but nothing. He tried to use his magic but nothing came out. "Son?" Raven started floating, chanting, while Constantine was scanning for any sigil or runes on Tim.

"Someone managed to put a silence rune on him." Raven informed everyone as she finished chanting. "And it's located," Raven walked up to Tim and pointed at the left side of his skull. "Here."

"But Darkseid can't use magic." Bruce countered.

"Bruce, he can." Constantine corrected him. "He was keeping it a secret."

"How long have you known?" Bruce growled.

"When he got away." Constantine said solemnly.

"And you didn't tell me or anyone else?!" Bruce said angrily as he stood up.

"Because Tim was top priority!" Constantine stood up as he pointed to Tim, who was crying, but there was no sound coming out. Both of their hearts broke from the sight.

"Everyone out." Kon sternly said. "I think everyone needs to get out." Bruce was about to argue but Raven pushed everyone out with her magic, except for Kon, then Raven closed the door as she left. "Tim…" Kon approached Tim, then held his hand. Tim tried to say something, desperately but nothing. Kon gently squeezed Tim's hand trying to ground Tim but Tim was panicking. "Tim, look at me." Tim looked at Kon with tears streaming down his face. "We'll find a way to get your voice back, and I won't stop until I find it." Kon kissed Tim's hand. "I love you, and I will do anything for you." Kon confessed. Tim pulled his hand away, he tried to sign something but Kon could not understand sign language. Tim motioned for a pen and paper, Kon happily provided.

Kon, I'm broken. You're better off with someone else who could tell you that they love you. You're better off finding someone who doesn't have the trauma that I have, you're better off finding someone better, someone that's not broken.

Kon looked up from Tim with tears in his eyes. "You're not broken, Tim. You're never broken." Kon said, his voice quivered from what Tim wrote. "And don't tell me that someone else is better than you when you're better than everyone else." Kon said angrily.

I'm sorry, Kon.

Kon hugged Tim tightly, sobbing. Tim was staring at the wall.

Broken.

[Alternative Ending #2]

Red Robin summoned his drones and fired lighting and fire towards Darkseid, it was holding him perfectly so Red Robin doubled the drones around him. "Enough!" Darkseid roared and flew in front of Tim and grabbed him by his head once again. "You and your silly games will end here." Darkseid crushed Tim's head, his body fell onto the ground.

"NO!" Bruce screamed, seeing another one of his sons die. But this time, it happened in front of him. Darkseid reached out for Batman but he got pushed by Kon who started beating him up. Superman and Wonder Woman helped, as both of them saw Tim's decapitated body.

"Don't kill him! It's going to destroy the world!" Constantine warned everyone.

"It's better off that way without Tim." Kon said coldly as he removed Darkseid's head. Everyone felt a sudden chill in the air, as darkness slowly took over the sunny day. Kon floated towards Tim's body. He dropped next to him and cradled his body. "I'll be there with you soon." The sun exploded as the balance of the universe was turned. Planets started to explode, and Earth was soon to follow. Kon held Tim's body close, not caring what was happening around him.