Inspired by Robin #98.
The Art of Conversation
Written by Acacia Dyre
Warnings: I conveniently, um, don't mention anything about the last panel. This was just an idea from the rest of what happened. I can't remember if Tim has a phone in his room or not so am assuming (to make things easier for me, lol) that he does.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except a bunch of used books and a fat cat, DC is great, they own everyone and everything in this story.
+
It hit him like a ton of bricks, when his father told him about the family, um, problems. Things at Brentwood had just been settling down and then everything fell apart again. Bad things really did come in threes. Alfred left, Kip was kidnapped, and now his father had to take him out of the school. Maybe the last wasn't necessarily bad, but the circumstances certainly were.
Tim knew that his father would do whatever possible to make his family secure, but the plan was already in the works to sell the house, move to a different neighborhood, and for Tim to go to public school. Returning to public school was something he looked forward to, living at home with his own bedroom and avoiding the problems he'd had with too many roommates. However, what school he would go to was unknown. Gotham Heights was a possibility. He wanted to see his old friends, and Steph went to school there also. Did he really want to see her every day in school though? Would she expect them to hang out or for him to join her group of friends? She was older, so maybe she wouldn't want to acknowledge him, plus his image had never been one of excessive popularity. And what if his friends didn't care to renew what they used to have? They had all grown apart and maybe they wouldn't want to be his friends again.
Tim sighed, and looked at the phone he had just set on his desk. He was worrying too much over a situation he had no control over. Plus, there were no answers to most of his questions yet anyway. He just wanted to talk them through with someone. The only problem was that everyone was busy. Or out of the loop.
Dick was in Gotham, Alfred was back at the manor, the regulars were in Gotham, Bruce was in jail. Tim wanted to be angry with Bruce for many things, but it was difficult to choose just one reason at a time. His family financial trouble wasn't as bad as being arrested for murder, but Tim wished Alfred hadn't left when he did. Everyone was focusing all of their energy on Bruce except for him, and Spoiler. She didn't know that Bruce Wayne was Batman, and Tim didn't know what to do, as the others seemed to be covering every possible angle.
His hand hovered over the phone for a few seconds before he picked it up and dialed. He needed to talk to someone, surely they couldn't all be busy 24/7. Someone must care a little.
"Wayne Manor."
Tim almost sighed in relief. "Hi Alfie, do you have a few minutes to talk?
There was a slight pause. "I'm sorry Master Timothy. This is not a good time, perhaps later when Master Richard is out on his patrol."
"Oh. Is Dick there? Can I talk to him?" There was a longer pause.
Dick's voice startled him, "Tim? Need something to do? I could use some help if you can get over here tonight." Dick sounded tired, his voice a little vacant, distracted.
"Um, no. Just wanted to talk to someone. Something happened and I-"
"Can it wait? I'm in the middle of some research. I really should get back to it since Babs just sent over another ton of documents. How they are related I have no idea yet, but I need to get reading I guess."
Tim took the phone away from his ear and stared at it as Dick continued to rant about reading and sitting at a computer when he wanted to be out on the streets or rooftops. There was something about Bruce being an idiot for refusing help and Tim wisely said nothing, but interrupted a moment later. "It's okay Dick. I'll talk to you later." He hung up, feeling worse than before, but got another idea. He rummaged through his gear and found the comm.
"Oracle?" She was online, but it took a long time for a response.
"Can I do something for you, Boy Wonder?" She sounded harried and Tim almost gave up immediately.
"Busy with Bruce stuff? Or do you have a few minutes to talk?"
"Well, that depends. I can do the 'Bruce stuff' while I listen as long as you don't mind unrelated comments." She paused. "Are you coming to Gotham soon? I know you're still upset with Bruce about the identity thing, but we could use your help."
Tim walked over to his window and looked out at the school grounds. "I don't know, I just was…" The words caught in his throat. He was going to be leaving this place for Gotham permanently soon. "Nevermind. I just wanted to talk to someone. I'll call later. Bye." He cut the signal and squirreled the device away quickly. The 'talk to people' idea was just not working out.
There were a few more people he could try, but the way things had gone so far was not promising. He picked the phone up and dialed, hoping that this time it would work. "Hi, Steph?
"Robin! I mean, Tim. I wasn't excepting this, I mean, it's been a while since we talked. Are you calling about Batman? Cause I went to the cave and it was locked up and I had to walk all the way home because I, uh, had a tire problem." She took a breath and Tim was going to interrupt but he was too slow. "So, like what's the deal with the cave being locked up? Batgirl was there but she didn't have anything to say, not that she normally does, but well, you know. No one told me anything was going on. Is Batman out of town or something?"
"I don't know. We haven't been speaking to each other a lot lately, remember? He rarely tells me anything about his plans so maybe he is out of town. Don't let it get to you too much, he does it to everyone eventually. Better you find out now, instead of later, like when you trust him." There was a long silence and Tim shifted the phone to his other ear.
"Oh, um, my mom is calling for me. She must need help with something. I've got to go. See you later?" She hung up without waiting for a response.
Tim held onto the phone receiver, and sat on the edge of his bed. Was there anyone else he could call, and did he even want to try again? There was Young Justice, but they might not want to hear from him right now and this was a Tim Drake problem, and it only impacted Robin… well, another set of problems to worry about. He sat up straight. He would be living with his dad and Dana, have no direct access to the Batcave, maybe he would have to ask Steph for advice on how she got out of the house with her mom and a bunch of criminals downstairs. Of course, her parents knew she was the Spoiler, and Jack and Dana Drake had clue that he was Robin. Which was probably why they were going to be watching him closely, he had been getting into so much trouble at school because of the dual identity issues.
He planted his forehead into his palm and looked down at the phone receiver. It was starting to beep at him for not hanging up. What he wanted to talk about started with a phone call, and now he couldn't get anyone to talk to him on the phone, or anything else. Tim hung up the phone briefly before dialing yet another number.
"Dad? Could I come home tonight, for the weekend? I won't be in the way or anything; I just want to know what's going to happen." He bit his lower lip; "I want to do something to help, if I can."
"Tim, you shouldn't worry about this, it'll be okay." Jack Drake paused, "But Dana and I will pick you up in an hour."
"Thanks dad, I'll see you soon." The comm. unit began to beep from his desk. "Bye, dad." Tim looked at his desk and then to his closet. He had an hour to pack some clothes and whatever else he needed for the weekend, and maybe a few other things to start the moving process. The beeping stopped and he relaxed.
"And why did I do that?" His bag didn't reply, so he continued. "I have no idea."
The phone rang. Tim glanced at it and shrugged, "Okay, fine, I'll answer." He grabbed the receiver, "Hello?"
"Tim, um, I'm sorry about before. I just, well; it's hard to talk about that sometimes. Do you want to talk to me still?" Steph's voice was a little softer than usual.
"It's okay. I'm going home and maybe we can patrol together. Something happened here that I could use your help with, if you want to work with me. I think I might have to ask you for some advice also. But I have to pack now, so I'll call you later?"
"Sure, I'll be around." They hung up together, and he went back to packing his things. The hour passed quickly and soon he was out the door, heading towards the entrance of the building.
The phone in his room began to ring.
+