"Don't kill Dick or Jason."
Tim looked away from his computer screen towards one which had been blank a second ago, but now sported Oracle's mask.
"…okay?" He agreed tentatively, glancing back at his screen. He didn't think he'd been giving off any particularly homocidal vibes recently, but who knew? This series of carjackings was leading to nothing but dead ends, for all that he was sure it was tied into the uptick of heroin in the east quarter.
"Don't even maim them." It was strange to hear Barbara's voice from the Oracle mask, but it made him turn and actually give her his full attention. "I'm serious Tim. I don't know what they're up to, but I need them both for an op in two weeks. No lasting damage."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Tim informed her, bemused. He didn't make a habit of injuring people other than criminals without cause. Jason hadn't committed a crime they could prove in months, and Dick had shown no indications towards a life of crime since that unfortunate incident with the mob. He didn't routinely injure allies. Well, except for that time Jason tried to steal the last blueberry scone. He regained feeling in his arm within the hour though, so that didn't count. All's fair in love, war, and Alfred's baking. "But I'll keep that in mind."
"Good." She said, and signed off of his computer, leaving the screen blank once more. Tim moved the window detailing the connections he was investigating between the car-jackings and the drugs, and opened a window to work on tightening his security. Barbara should not have been able to get through to him like that without his system warning him.
It's like a game. She breaks in, he improves his system, she breaks in again. Someday he'll stump her, but she will probably never stop being cryptic.
Why would he want to kill Dick or Jason?
~~~
Because they were up to something. Tim was entering data into the Batcave's powerful computer, but he was also using the reflection in the neighboring dark monitor to watch Jason watching him while he pretended to work on his bike. The bike Tim himself had almost entirely reworked last week in a fit of frustrated energy. It was perfect. Tim would be tempted to take offense, if Jason wasn't so obviously not really working on it. He was instead watching Tim. And undoubtedly planning something.
Once Barbara had called his attention to it, it was obvious. Tim was actually a little bit embarrassed that he hadn't noticed before. He was supposed to be a detective, after all.
Still, he didn't normally keep that close tabs on his allies - he wasn't Bruce, and didn't want to be - but Dick and Jay were supposed to be family. He should notice when something changed with them. Besides, they were notorious for getting into trouble, especially when they worked together.
It was a mixed comfort to see that they were actively trying to keep whatever it was it from his notice. On the one hand, they were pretty good at covert when they wanted to be so he hadn't lost his observational skills entirely. On the other, that meant that whatever they were up to involved him.
Barbara's tone had seemed to imply she thought they were setting up for some kind of elaborate prank - like that time they replaced his bo-staff with one rigged to say 'leaping lizards, batman,' and other gems from the duo's stint in short-pants every time he hit something; Batman had sent the fuming teen home within 15 minutes, and Tim had gotten his revenge by wiring both their coms to play the Macarena on repeat almost inaudibly for *days* - but Tim didn't think so.
He had in fact ruled out some sort of elaborate prank rather quickly. They were watching him an inordinate amount, mostly when they thought he wasn't paying attention - and to be fair, he hadn't been - but it wasn't mischievously. It was more contemplative, than anything. They had been trading off watching him nearly constantly for almost a week.
Tim wondered if this was the start of another intervention in his eating or sleeping patterns. He hoped not, especially coming from both Jason and Dick at once. Their methods didn't tend to be all that compatible, especially when they took exception to his diet. Tim didn't really feel like being simultaneously subjected to cereal and chilly dogs.
Besides, he was eating, when he remembered. This case was just frustrating him. Still, even Bruce had seemed concerned last week, putting a rare hand on Tim's shoulder and leaning down to peer into his eyes, which was weird. Bruce was all for personal space. Tim had brushed him off, gently. He was fine, and he thought he had a break in the case.
Maybe I should have been paying more attention, though, he thought, as, with Dick's entrance into the cave, Jason gave up even pretending maintenance on his bike.
It was just the three of them in the cave this evening. Bruce was at a charity gala, which they had thankfully all been excused from, and wouldn't be back until the early hours of the morning, likely. Damian had been forbidden to patrol, and so had snuck out to patrol.
Tim wondered when Bruce would realize that forbidding Damian to do something just made it more likely that he would.
Dick had just gotten back from tracking him down to make sure he at least was patrolling with Abuse, and doubtless to extract a promise to be back before dawn.
Dick's bike rolled to a stop next to Jason, and Tim watched them exchange looks, and a covert brush of hands as Dick dismounted.
Really. It's not like Tim hadn't known for months they were together. He might not pay attention to everything, but something like Nightwing spending way more time in Jason's territory without getting maimed was going to attract his attention, especially when it followed a sharp decrease in Red Hood's level of violence.
More power to them, was Tim's tentative opinion, though he understood keeping it low-key in the Cave.
Hmmm, maybe they were working up to tell him? Rather than planning an eating-intervention that would doubtless involve copious amounts of saturated fats and sugar and them both ignoring his protests about fitting into his suit and oh my god just because you both have freakishly unfair metabolisms doesn't mean I can eat whatever I want to.
Ooop, they were headed his way. Congratulate them. Remember that you are happy for them. Happy, not jealous. Happy.
"Whacha working on, Timmy?" Dick asked, draping himself across the back of the chair, hands coming to rest on Tim's shoulders while his chin dug into the top of Tim's head. Jason slouched just beside him, leaning over into Tim's space as well.
Tim hadn't been planning to go out tonight, so he was just in an oversized sweatshirt and baggy pants. That meant he could feel the rough-scrape of the Nightwing's gauntlets on his shoulders. He could smell Gotham and the night emanating from the kevlar blend of Dick's suit, and leather, oil, and cigarets pouring off Jason's jacket. It was a heady mix.
"Data for the Carlton case," Tim told Dick, trying to ignore the way that Dick's slightly kneading hands made him feel, the way their combined scents enveloped him. Dick and Jason were together. Any flirting on either of their parts was simply reflexive. "My computer is running too many other things right now, so I'm borrowing Bruce's."
"Done soon?" Dick voice was muffled, as he'd ducked his head to rub his nose through Tim's hair, snuffling a little. Heat rose in Tim's cheeks and he glanced sideways at Jason, expecting him to protest the way that his boyfriend was practically inhaling Tim's hair. Jason just looked back at him, so close, face unreadable.
"Y-yeah?" Tim stuttered a bit, disconcerted by the way they were acting. Were they pulling a prank after all? Lulling him into a false sense of security? "I just have to finish putting these in, and then it's going to have to run for a while. I'll be done in ten minutes."
"Great," Dick purred, nose nudging just above his right ear, breath hot in his hair, as his hands slid down Tim's arms to cup the sides of his elbows. "I have to go change, then we have the house to ourselves. Alfred's gone to bed, so I vote popcorn and movie night the lounge. That movie you liked, it just came out on DVD."
"Okay," Tim agreed, near mindless with the sensations Dick was stirring in him.
"See you in ten minutes, Tim." Dick hummed, pulling away slowly. He brushed along Jason's side, who turned his head to watch him sashay away, heat in his eyes.
"I'm happy for you two." Tim blurted it out, trying somehow to distract himself from the way that heat stirred in his own gut whenever Dick was nearby, amplified by Jason's presence.
Jason's head whipped around to stare at him, surprise writ large on his face.
"What-?"
Tim verbally back-peddled, glancing away. Maybe they really *didn't* want anyone to know?
"I mean-! That you are getting along so well! That you've gotten together- are getting along together…." Tim trailed off as Jason's expression slid from surprise to amusement. Wow. If only Cassie could see him now. 'I lie to Batman' indeed. Geez, he must be even more tired than he thought.
Jason cast a fond look at him, before directing it towards the showers, where steam was pouring out now as Dick took a quick shower. He leaned against the chair, sending another wave of his heady scent at Tim.
"I suppose everyone knows, then?" He asked Tim ruefully.
Tim shrugged.
"Not sure," He said, not trying to lie after his spectacular failure. "I noticed, but Steph still doesn't know you that well, and Cass hasn't been back in town. I'm not sure Damian cares enough to notice. Bruce… who can tell? And Alfred…"
Jason snorted. "Alfred knows everything." He recited the Batfamily truth. "He probably knew before we did, somehow."
"Yeah," Tim acknowledged, turning back to his data-entry, trying to ignore the way Jason stayed so firmly in his space, and the way it sent tingles of awareness up his right arm, which Jason was *almost* touching.
He lost himself quickly in the number, tuning out the world with determination, trying to finish within the deadline he gave Dick.
He hit enter, and watched the program begin to crunch the numbers seconds before Dick's footsteps, deliberately audible in rebuke for Tim not being done yet, reached him.
Jason reached out and took Dick's hand when he reached them, flushing lightly at Dick's surprised eye-flick towards Tim, and growling embarrassedly at Dick's thrilled smile when Tim didn't look surprised.
Dick reached out with his unoccupied hand to grasp Tim's hand and pull him up out of his chair.
"Movie time!" He cheered, practically bouncing as he led them towards the stairs out of the Cave. "I'll make the popcorn. Jay, would you grab us something to drink?"
He held their hands all the way up the stairs, only letting go at the very top, in what Tim knew to be a small blind-spot in Bruce's surveillance network. He dropped Jason's hand to pull him in to the tenderest kiss Tim had ever seen, just a light brush of lips, as his hand caressed his nape.
He was still holding Tim's hand.
When he finally turned to Tim and let go of his hand, Tim could feel his face flaming, and hoped it wasn't obvious in the dim light. Dick leaned in a pressed an equally delicate kiss to Tim's cheek.
"Set up the movie?" He asked, continuing when Tim nodded dumbly. "DVD is on the coffee table in the lounge."
He sauntered off, leaving Jason to laugh softly at the flummoxed look on Tim's face and clap him gently on the shoulder as he too walked away, hopefully before he noticed just how much Tim's body had liked that kiss.
He was going to go set up a movie, to spend several hours, if he knew Dick, cuddled up tight on the couch with two men who made his blood boil, and who both happened to be off limits because they were *together.*
He was so screwed.
It was, in Tim's opinion, nearly sacrilege to not pay due attention to this movie. He had thought the other two would like it; it certainly had enough actions, and explosions, to keep their attention. He'd honestly expected Dick to be crying within 10 minutes. Instead, no one was paying attention.
He wondered what the geek version of a Hail Mary was, because he was sure he needed to say a bunch because he *couldn't focus.* Maybe reciting the Prime Directive?
Though he's not sure anyone could blame him for not being able to pay attention, when he was sandwiched tight between two of the hottest men in existence, who haven't stopped flirting with each other - *or him* - for the entire length of the movie thus far. He would never have pictured Jason for a cuddler, but the older man had leaned into his side gradually. 20 minutes after the movie started he was pressed as tightly against Tim as Dick had been from the moment they had sat down. Between that and the popcorn bowl they had put in Tim's lap that they both kept reaching into - yeah. Tim was a bit distracted.
Tim reached out, dislodging both the heads that had been resting on his shoulders and pressed pause on the remote.
Something was going on. He wanted to know what it was before they made him be inattentive to the goodbye scene. The geek gods might forgive a lot, but not that.
"Tim?" Dick asked, breaking off from a teasing comment to Jason about the time they had defeated Mr. Freeze with a packet of chewing gum and a potato launcher. Tim would have doubted the story if he hadn't read the incident report, filed by Batman himself.
"What's going on?" Tim asked, slipped away from them both entirely to sit on the coffee table facing them, Jason's hand falling away from his thigh as Dick's dragged across his stomach, leaving cold, tingling trails behind them. They flowed seamlessly together to fill the space between them where he had been. Tim wouldn't try to deny the twinge he felt when they filled his spot so easily.
Dick looked back at him calmly, his only tell a tiny bounce in his leg.
"What do you mean, Tim? We're watching a movie."
"No." Tim shook his head. "I'm watching a movie. You are…touching. Touching me."
There had been an inordinate amount of touching. Hot hands on him, and strong bodies pressed against him, teasing words directed not just at each other, but at him.
Dick shot Jason a panicked look. When it was returned, they both took a deep breath.
"We weren't going to say anything," Jason said, apropos of nothing. "Because, well, you've only dated women. Arianna, and Steph, and Tam."
And wow, how did he even know about all of that? Had Dick told him? Why was Dick talking to Jason about his dating history? Was this where the prank started? Were they going to try to set him up with someone?
"But then Superboy keeps turning up with pie, and Kid Flash keeps showing up to wow you with the new things he's learned," Dick interjected, frowning and clutching Jason to him harder, until he grunted.
"And the Brat keeps pulling your pigtails." said Jason, freeing an arm to reach out and tug on a lock of Tim's hair that was falling into his eyes.
"And *Bruce*." Tim had known intellectually that Dick could growl like that, but wow.
But-
Wait-
What?
"Hold on! Kon brings me pie because Ma Kent worries I don't eat enough, and Bart comes over to play video games because they both like the games, and the pace of them is still good training for him." Tim insisted, staring at them. Had they hit their heads? "Damian is trying to kill me, not 'pulling my pigtails,' and I didn't even want to know what you think Bruce is doing."
"They're all flirting with you, is what they are doing. Jockeying for your attention. " Jason growled, a fierce, possessive look in his eye as he sat forward, grip tight on Dick hand and his own thigh. "They all want you baby bird. And why not?" The look in Jason's eyes as he stared at him made Tim blush, *again*. It was hot, but not simply lustful.
"We just wanted to put in our bid before you took one of them up on it." Dick's voice rasped along Tim's nerves when he spoke, leaning his head against Jason's shoulders and nearly scorching Tim with his eyes.
Jason broke in, nearly on top of Dick. "We want you with us. Want you to be ours."
Tim stared at them, flabbergasted.
"They are *not* all flirting with me!" He said, before Jason's statement caught up with him. "W-want me?"
"Hmmm," Dick murmured, eyes hooded and hot as he stared at Tim and kneaded at Jason's thigh. "Want you in our bed. Want you to come home to us at night. Want to hold you on the couch while you read reports, or we watch stupid television, or our favorite movies."
"Want to cook for you in our kitchen, make sure you eat right. Want to drag you away from your computer at night, and keep you in bed until late in the morning." Jason picked up where Dick trailed off, and god, no one had the right to sound that sexy outside the bedroom. "Want to make you late for meetings, and send you to the office mussed and marked. We want to drive you crazy, and make you mad."
"We want to be the place you come when you are angry, or tired." Dick reached out to him, laying a hand on his knee. Jason did not reach out, but held tighter to Dick, supporting his next words. "We want to love you. We do."
They were serious? They were offering him a place with them, not just on the outside of their own relationship, but as a central part. Not as two and one, but as three.
This was something he could have?
He looked at the serious faces before him. He leaned forward, and watched them flow just as seamlessly apart to envelop him between them, creating space for him effortlessly as they tugged him back into their arms.
This was something he could have.
"Okay." He said, watching happy smiles spread over both of their faces. "Okay. Rule one of dating Tim Drake, though."
They both looked at him seriously. Ready to do whatever it took.
"Stop talking through Pacific Rim. Oh my god, guys, really, this is like, the Queen of geek movies. It's just not done! It's like me-"
At that point they both simultaneously tackled him off the couch, shutting him up with tickling fingers and innumerable kisses.
Tim rolled with it, giving back as good as he got, laughing through protests and sweet kisses.
He'd make them watch the movie some other time. Then they would understand.
He dared them not to cry at Chuck and Stacker. He dared them.