Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, if I did Wally wouldn't have died :(
I am really sorry if the characters are OOC but this is my first time writing a Young Justice Fanfic, so constructive criticism is very appreciated.
It was quite late into the night when Batman and Robin, aka Bruce Wayne and Timothy Drake, returned from the Young Justice cave. Tim tried to hurry to his room to avoid the angry lecture he was sure to get from his mentor, his bandaged injuries screamed in protest at the sudden movements. Tim peeled his mask off his face that masked his identity. Blue eyes stared up at the blue eyes of his adopted father, who had removed his cowl.
The mission was a failure. At first he was so happy that Nightwing assigned him as the mission leader. After all, he was always eager to prove himself as a leader. But after that everything went wrong. The thugs that they were supposed to be gathering information on turned out to be working for Joker and Poison Ivy, and of course the villains themselves had to show up.
"Tim, we need to talk about it sooner or later," Bruce growled. Reluctantly Tim turned to face the taller man.
"There is nothing to talk about," Tim tried to dismiss. He knew what was coming; self-conflict and doubt clouded his eyes.
"The mission was just supposed to gather Intel only," Bruce stated, "you were not tasked to engage"
"What were we supposed to do Bruce? Just let them get away?" Tim defended himself, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"As leader you should have made the call and contacted for back up or the league," Bruce argued, "You could have been killed if Dick and the others didn't get there on time. I expect you to work on your training a lot harder"
But what Tim didn't notice was the tone of worry in Bruce's voice, but is was masked by anger. Tim shuffled uncomfortably, he normally tried to avoid any type of conflict in their family.
This time Tim didn't argue back, but any words that he tried to say died down before they reached his lips. Bruce was right, it was his fault. He should have made the call as his team's leader. He screwed up and let his team members down. Tim remained silent as he walked up to his room and changed out of his costume, he then plopped down on his bed staring at the ceiling.
Tim lay wide awake in his bed, his mind kept drifting to the mission. He felt so guilty that he let his team down as well as Bruce, but he also let his brother Dick down. Dick. What did his brother think of him now? Did he think that he was incapable to lead another mission? He had tried so hard to prove himself as a good leader, but would Dick really be angry at him for screwing up one mission?
Was he disappointed? Furious? Or worse, ashamed that he gave him the chance at leadership? Tim just sat up and pulled his knees close to his chest and let his mind be consumed by self doubt.
In another room across the hall, Dick also lay awake. But his thought's weren't consumed by the failed mission. But his Bat paranoia, or whatever Wally called it, was telling him something was wrong. Unable to ignore the feeling he threw his legs over the side of the bed and proceeded to walk down the dark and silent hallway.
Dick stopped short at his little brother's room, he opened the door just enough for him to look inside and check on the younger. He frowned and pushed the door full open at the sight of his brothers' form.
"Tim? You okay?" Dick asked. He moved to sit on the edge of Tim's bed and his eyes expressed concern.
Tim was suddenly alerted to the presence in the room, he cursed himself silently, he had been trained better than that! He quickly wiped any tears that may have lingered on his face before Dick could see them. But it was futile as the older narrowed his eyes in worry and concern at made his brother so sad. Dick patiently waited for his brother to speak.
"I'm sorry…" Tim spoke, barely above a whisper, in such a broken voice that it unleashed a protective feeling in Dick that he felt whenever Tim or Jason had nightmares or were hurt.
"What would you need to be sorry for?" Then Dick realised, "This is about the mission isn't it?"
Dick had known what had happened on the mission he, Kid Flash and Superboy had arrived as soon as they found out that Joker and Poison Ivy would be there as well. After all, Dick was one of the first ones to arrive at the scene, after what happened with Jason at the hands of Joker, he couldn't bare the thought of his other younger brother alone with the mad man.
Tim nodded sadly. "I let my team down, and worse you and Bruce. They got away because I was too stubborn to call in for help earlier and the mission was a failure."
"Hey, stubbornness runs in the family," Dick tried to cheer Tim up, but it didn't seem to work, "Look, we can catch Joker and Ivy another time, and you didn't let us down."
Tim glared at the blankets in front of him, "You should have heard him, he was so angry"
"I think he was more worried about you than angry, after what happened to Jason. He'll get over it anyway…and you'll be back to leading missions soon enough"
"Why would you pick me to lead again anyway?" Tim snapped Dick, "I failed at my first time being a leader! What makes you think I'll do any better the second time around?"
Dick remained silent at first and pulled Tim into a comforting hug. Tim immediately relaxed in his brother's warm embrace, he would never admit that he secretly need the affection he craved from his big brother.
"Have I ever told you about my first mission as leader?" Dick pulled away and looked at Tim shake his head, signalling no.
"It was in the Failsafe simulation," Dick explained, Tim had heard about it but he never knew what actually happened in the simulation, "The alien ships invaded and managed to take down the entire league, which therefor, meant we were in charge. We all went in knowing it wasn't real but when Artemis died we had a hard time distinguishing between what was real and what wasn't. When Kaldur died, I was made leader and long story short I ended up sending all of my friends to their deaths."
Tim's eyes widened as he sat in silence letting the story sink in, "But it wasn't you fault, you were doing what you had to do"
A grin found its way to Dick's face, "I know that now, but not then and it still didn't make it any easier. But what I'm trying to say is that back then I wasn't prepared to be a leader anymore, not after I failed the first time."
"But you are practically the team leader now" Tim spoke.
"Yeah, But I learnt that you shouldn't give up after one mistake, and you shouldn't either. You have a natural talent for leadership, so don't let it go to waste" Dick smiled encouragingly at Tim, hoping that it would be enough to reassure the young bird.
"So you're not disappointed?" Tim asked softly, his voice laced with hope.
"Of course not," Dick assured him, "You're allowed to make mistakes Tim, no one's perfect, but don't let it get you down."
"Thanks Dick, I love you" Tim smiled
"Love you too Timmy," Dick grinned and ruffled his brother's hair, ignoring the playful protests, "That's what big brothers are for anyway"
Tim grinned in response and watched as his brother left. Dick was right, he wouldn't let one failure get him down. He was glad that his brother was always looking out for him.
So this is my first Young Justice Fanfiction :) I hope it is okay. Please review on how I can improve.