Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Hello?" Tim asks, his voiced muffled behind the silky fabric bag that was placed over his head the moment he reached into his bag for his car keys

This isn't unusual for Tim. He basically gets kidnapped every other week. Some people want him as their hostage and others want his or his husband's money.

Tim just hasn't discerned what they want him for today.

"Mr. Timothy Jackson Wayne née Drake. Oh how long I have been looking forward to making your acquaintance. It is a pleasure to meet you." A cold, sharp voice says, cutting through the silence like a knife.

"I would say the pleasure is mine, but I'm a little tied up at the moment. ...And I can't see." Tim adds, testing the strength of his restraints. He's normally underestimated, just a pretty rich boy, giving him some wriggle room but not this time.

The bag is abruptly pulled off of Tim's head, light flooding his eyes, overwhelmingly bright. He blinks a couple of times, helping his eyes to adjust to the new environment.

"Huh," Tim exclaims as he studies the man in front of him. Automatically noticing: "You look like Damian."

The man really does look like Damian, almost as though he could be his father or uncle. Obviously Bruce is Damian's dad, so he can't be that. He has the same sharp green eyes, tanned skin, black hair, eyebrows, lips, and nearly all the same features.

The man raises an eyebrow at Tim's bluntness. His straightforwardness always catches his kidnappers off guard. But, he knows that Damian will save him, he always does. So he doesn’t keeps himself too restrained in what he says.

Damian will be here any minute now anyway.

But then the man says something that throws Tim completely off balance: "That is because I am his Grandfather."

Tim doesn't know how to process that. So he dumbly breathes out, "Oh."

"Timothy has been taken!" Damian growls into his phone, clutching it so tightly that he thinks he hears it cracking.

While it is an often occurrence, Damian still detests it. This time, there was no evidence left behind, which can only mean one thing: skill. Whoever has taken his beloved this time knows what they are doing, which does not bode well.

He would not be able to bear it if something happens to his beloved Timothy.

"Calm down," Father says, his voice too calm and soothing considering the situation. "I'm sure he's alright. They don't want to hurt him, remember?"

"No," Damian agrees through gritted teeth. "They want to hurt me. Father, if anything happens to him, I swear I will-"

They want to hurt Batman, who always comes to Timothy’s rescue, or Damian, the rich husband who is eager to pay for his beloved’s safe return.

"Damian, take a breath. You're no good to him stressed. He's smart and he knows how to keep himself safe. He also knows that you will come for him."

"But it is not me he is waiting for: it’s Batman."

"Who is you," Father reassures, voice tender and full of conviction. Damian wants to believe that he is good enough. Father left a hard role to fill.

"Tt. Timothy loves Batman too much. I have planned a reveal, as now that we are married it shall be easier for him to accept this deceit. I should not have waited so long."

Damian knows that Timothy will not be too enraged at him, after all, he loves Damian's counterparts. That was how Damian fell for him.

He remembers how moonlight shone down on a teenager that Damian had never seen before. The blue in his eyes stood out like sparkling sapphires. Once he spotted Damian (who at the time was Batboy), he broke out into the most beautiful smile ever.

A couple of weeks later, Damian found that same teenager at one of the galas he was always dragged to. He could not help himself from making an introduction just to see that smile again.

He sees that smile every time he saves Timothy from the clutches of every low life that threatens to take his beloved away from him. He sees it every time he picks Timothy up from work.

"Damian..." Father says, his voice grave and slightly unsteady. "I've found out who has taken Tim."

Damian pushes the unease down, swallows, and tentatively asks: "Who?"

"Ra's."

Damian’s grip tightens on his phone until he feels sharp edges cutting into his hand. As he incurs his fist, his phone hits the floor, its broken pieces scattering on collision.

Fuck.

"Huh. So does that make you my Grandfather-in-law?" Tim questions, still not really buying the act. "Damian never really told me a lot about you or his mother."

"I am sure he did not," the man claiming to be Damian's grandfather says. "He decided that he did not want to live with us after staying in Gotham for a while."

"Well... I have to admit that I've never been kidnapped for this reason before. That is, if you're not going to use me as a hostage."

"I shall not use you as a hostage, Timothy." The man states, his hands held behind his back. "I simply want to get to know my Grandson's husband. He did not even invite me to your wedding."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe he didn't know you wanted to come? I mean, we only had a small service." Tim mumbles, worrying his lip.

The two of them came to a mutual agreement that their wedding would be private. After being in the spotlight their whole lives, they didn't want to purposely put themselves on display for the public and media’s attention. Plus, gay marriage is still quite new in the upper class and they didn't want that to be fuel for competitions and the like.

"Unacceptable," the man tsks, a sound Damian makes when frustrated. "If he had informed me, I would have prepared the most extravagant ceremony for the two of you."

"If we ever decide to have a public wedding then sure. But um, are you really Damian's grandfather? I mean, it's just that you look so young. And I don't mean that in bad way. I know that some people have children at a young age so of course it's plausible but I mean-"

The man whose likeness resembles Damian raises an eyebrow and sighs. "He did not tell you anything, did he. My name is Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's head and leader of the League of Shadows."

Tim nods along with his villain monologue, I mean this is a villain monologue, right? Or maybe he just has villain vibes. Tim isn't sure. Damian is a hero, Damian's father is a hero, so it makes sense that his grandfather would be too. Except this man is on his mother's side of the family. So, maybe not...

"Right..." Tim drawls as he tries to regain his mental composure, his mind too busy thinking things through, but a sharp pain reminds him of where his attention needs to be. "Um. These ropes are chafing my wrists, can you maybe loosen them?"

Damian's grandfather- Ra's- flicks his wrist, motioning for one of the men dressed in black to do something. Tim would have sighed at the relief washing over him if he didn't spy a dagger.

"That's a sharp looking dagger," Tim comments jokingly as he wearily eyes the man shrouded in black creeping towards him.

Tim squeezes his eyes shut as he braces for impact. He hopes that Damian will save him soon.

"Father," Damian starts as he steps into Batcave with a clear sense of urgency. "I require the Batplane."

"Damian." Father sighs, his voice lowering to his old Batman growl to persuade Damian otherwise. Damian will not sit by while his husband is in the clutches of one of the world's most powerful person, who just so happens to be his evil Grandfather.

"Father." Damian presses.

"Ra's sent a picture of Tim while you were on your way here," Father mumbles, pulling up the photo on the computer for Damian to see. "He seems safe and unharmed. Unconscious, but that's to be expected."

"Seems is a strong word here. He either is or is not." Damian corrects as he studies the picture. Timothy is unbound in transportation with his lips parted in peaceful sleep. Well, Damian hopes it is peaceful. He never knows then it comes to Grandfather.

"He is, Damian." Father assures, standing up and walking over to him with a limp. "Ra's says that he won't harm him."

"Did he say why he took my husband? Is this a ploy to force me return to him? If it is, then I swear I will-"

"You can have the plane, Damian." Father smiles, his eyes crinkling with the action. His hand reaches up and rests supportingly on Damian's shoulder. "Of course, you can."

"Thank you, Father. I just..." Damian trails off. He is not in his right mind when something happens to Timothy, he cannot help himself. Too consumed with concern, fear, and guilt.

"I know," Father sighs, giving Damian a quick squeeze before realising him and passing the keys into Damian's hand.

Damian gives Father a parting nod, a promise to stay safe and bring back Timothy. As he walks up to the Batplane, the door automatically opens and allows him entry. He jumps in, goes through all safety checks, before rising up out of the landing pad.

Damian has already put the plane in stealth mode, cloaking it from everyone and everything, only the cave will receive his signal and transmissions.

Damian switches the thrusters on, getting thrown back into his seat from the G-force as he flies forward at top speed. The journey should not take too long.

Hang on, Timothy.

"There. Is that to your liking?"

"Yes," Tim answers as he gently rubs his wrists to help ease the slight bruising and red. "Thank you. You had me scared for a second there. I thought you were going to have me killed or something.”

"If you are not up to my standards then I will."

"What?" Tim pauses, his eyes flicking up to read Ra's expression for any sign of a bluff but can't find one. This man is being completely honest. That or he has an amazing poker face.

"I'm joking," Ra's tells him, his tone betraying the otherwise comforting fact. Maybe he really will kill Tim...

"I'm sure my grandson shall be here soon, let's move this to a more... comfortable room."

The way Ra's said comfortable sends shivers down Tim's spine, it's eerily ominous. Tim hesitantly stands up and stretches, his back cracking with the action.

Even though he and Damian work out together, Tim still finds himself with a bad posture. It’s mostly because he spends all day trapped at his desk in Wayne Enterprises. But Damian still forces him to take enough time off every so often.

“How long do I have to stay here?” Tim asks as Ra’s leads him out of the small room and down a cavernous hallway. “Not that I don’t want to. It’s just… I’d rather not be stuck here when I have a lot of work to do.”

“You may stay as long as you like. Though I do expect Damian’s presence within the hour. Then we can discuss what happens next.”

“That’s ominous. Has anyone ever told you that you act like a comic supervillain?” Tim jests, awkwardly chuckling a little to ease his uncomfortableness.

Ra’s abruptly spins on his heels, his cape swooshing and flapping. Ra’s’ eyes narrow in on Tim as a wicked smile creeps its way onto his face.

Definitely a supervillain.

Damian slams open the door to a room where a Shadow claimed Timothy is being held. Damian’s eyes flicker around the room, assessing it, before settling on Timothy and Grandfather in the centre.

They are seated at a small dining table that has been set for three. Damian stalks forward, a growl bubbling up in his throat.

“Let him go.” Damian demands, the Batman growl naturally slipping into his voice.

“Timothy is here at his own volition. While I do admit that I resorted to kidnapping him, he has smartly decided to stay.”

“And now we shall take our leave,” Damian replies coldly, holding out his hand for Timothy to take. “Come.”

Timothy blinks at him. He opens his mouth then closes it as he furrows his brows in confusion. Damian is stunned when Timothy turns back to Grandfather and gives a small smile.

“What is going on?” Damian questions, feeling unease churning in his gut.

“He said that-”

“You cannot trust him! He has tried to have me killed multiple times.”

“He told me.” Timothy admits with a grimace, his eyes flicking up to Damian’s. “But. He is my… grandfather-in-law. And so he just wanted to get to know me better.”

“What?!” Damian exclaims with outrage.

Grandfather must have done something to Timothy to make him so pliable to his deceit. Damian knows that Timothy rarely keeps his guard up, allowing him to have some sort of sway over his assailants but this is too much.

“Damian, don’t be like that,” Timothy pleads. Damian’s eyes widen behind the cowl. There is no way that Timothy knows who he is. Grandfather must have told Timothy to gain an influence over him.

“I am not Damian!” Damian protests, recollecting himself. “I am Batman!”

“Of course. My apologies, Batman. But you never talked about your mother’s side of the family, and he doesn’t have any nefarious intentions. Trust me when I tell you it’s okay.”

“What did you do to him?” Damian interrogates as he narrows his eyes in on his Grandfather.

Grandfather sighs, looking faux sad, “you did not invite me to your wedding.”

“I-” Damian starts. He stumbles for an excuse, he did not even think that either Mother or Grandfather would want to be invited.

His mind is reeling. This is all too much.

Tim watches as Damian fumbles for an acceptable answer. This is probably a lot for him to process. He can’t bear to see Damian in such a state.

Though Tim has to admit he’s glad Damian finally showed up, he was reaching his limit, even with his gala training. But when their subject was Damian, Tim had a lot to say about him.

Tim watches as Damian’s throat bobs, “did you want to be invited?”

“I did,” Ra’s answers honestly, dropping his poker face and allowing emotion to shape his features.

“I see.” Damian drawls stiffly.

Tim rolls his eyes at Damian’s emotional constipation. It’s a surprise he even proposed to Tim. But if Tim hadn’t been the one who instigated their romantic relationship, he’d still be single and crushing over his hot vigilante; neighbour; best friend.

Tim pushes himself up and out of the chair, making his way over to his not-husband-husband. Utterly stupid. Tim doesn’t know why Damian still tries to keep his identity a secret from him. Tim thought that he had made it abundantly clear that he knows but… emotional constipation, he assumes.

“This is the part where you say sorry.” Tim reminds Damian. “I’ve been with him for the past hour and the only thing we’ve talked about was you. Damian, he cares, I swear he does. You can’t fake that type of love.”

“I am Batman,” Damian weakly protests. And maybe he is Batman. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism. Or maybe he’s just being delusional.

Tim waits, staring up at Damian. He can see the way Damian’s jaw flexes as he thinks about it. In the end, Damian caves.

Damian clears his throat and puffs his chest out, “sorry, Grandfather. I did not know you wanted to attend.” Damian then turns to Tim. “Can we go now?”

Tim is ready to accept now that they’ve made up but Ra’s interrupts.

“You didn’t get to go on your honeymoon, did you?”

“We planned one but a certain someone was too busy fighting crime,” Tim says, raising an accusatory eyebrow at Damian who grimaces.

“I am so sorry, Timothy. The Justice League required my attention despite my constant efforts to plan a short vacation.”

“Well then why don’t you spend it here? There’s a village you can travel to, many hot springs, servants to wait on you, and a luxurious bed.”

“That does sound appealing,” Tim whispers, leaning closer to Damian.

While he doesn’t really want to spend his belated honeymoon with his husband’s kinda super villainous grandfather, it does sound really good. Tim can’t remember the last time he properly got to relax, and with Damian as well.

“We cannot simply leave Gotham unattended,” Damian counters, arguing for Gotham’s safety. Or maybe his own sanity.

“Gotham has your family taking care of it. I’m sure they’ll be fine for a couple of days.” Tim persuades, sculpting his face into a puppy dog eye look. “Please. Please, Dami. Please.”

“Beloved, I-” Damian starts, cutting himself off when Tim doubles down on his pleading puppy dog eyes. He knows Damian can never refuse them. “Alright.”

Tim lets a victorious smile creep onto his face. He wraps his arms around Damian’s neck, pulling him down into a deep thank you kiss.

“I love you, Dami.”

“I love you too, Beloved.”