A/N: Thanks to last week's episode, this one might seem like AU… I started writing it a while back, before the episode aired. I apologize to all you wonderful people, but I hope you like it, anyway!
Gotham City was in ashes. Then again, so was the rest of the world, so it really shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. But still, Gotham was the city of the Bats. They protected it like their own personal castle, not letting anyone who didn't belong in or out. It was also home to some of the craziest wackos out there – didn't that count for something?
Seeing it like this – all rubble and stone and ash and glass and bits of paper flying about with the name of some or other villain who'd broken free, because hey, it was still Gotham, - was horrible. Like a sign that the last hope that humanity had – the Dark Knight and his little Birds, were defeated. Now, there was no hope.
The Reach had bombed the city, knowing that the Bat-family was their greatest opposition in their quest to take over the world. They were showing off their supremacy, how completely and utterly helpless all humans were in comparison. They'd killed over five thousand people, Dick Grayson – Nightwing, included. Now the last few cities standing were Metropolis, New York, Paris, Cape Town, Hong Kong, and some quaint little town in Southern Russia. Not much hope for the humans in the wake of destruction the aliens had left behind.
Cassie paced along what had once been Hale Street, as a singed street sign hanging lopsidedly on a pole let her know, the ashes making her footsteps soundless. She had to force herself not to cringe at every step, wondering if she were stepping on the ashes of some drug dealer, or a baby, or a doting mother who made just barely enough to survive. But she had to keep going. She was looking for someone. Looking for Tim.
Two shards of glass made a soft crunching as she accidentally stepped on them. They must've been from a shattered basement window, she vaguely mused. The wind blew up a cloud of ash, causing Cassie to sputter and cough, trying to expel the ash from her lungs. But there was no wind, she had barely enough time to think, abruptly taking a defensive stance as the cloud cleared. It revealed a very dirty, slightly enraged Red Robin. Wonder Girl took an involuntary step backwards in surprise. He was certainly a sight to behold.
Smudges of black stained a thin, pale face. He was skinnier than she'd ever seen him, causing Cassie to wonder when was the last time the young hero had eaten. His hair was dirty, costume a mess. The scowl on his face said more than words ever could have about his displeasure at seeing her. The way his hands curled up into fists at his sides was a telltale sign as well. He was hunched forward, the cape settling around his slight frame. Vaguely, he reminded Cassie of an angry cat she had once found in the alley next to her mother's apartment. She immediately came to a decision that birds and bats were scarier than cats, no matter what anyone else might say.
"Tim…" Cassie breathed, hand finding purchase on a remarkably intact wall to keep her from falling over.
"Get out." His voice was a growl, sounding so much like Bruce that Cassie nearly whimpered. In this moment, everything about him screamed Batman. All that was missing was the cowl. "No metas in Gotham."
Cassie frowned, determined. Whatever Tim had done to himself, tortured himself into believing, she had to end it. She had to get him to come back to them, because the world needed him, and also, regardless of the importance of the former, for one far less selfish reason, as well.
He was Tim.
He was Tim, he was her friend, and he was fragile. Because, yes, while he was also one of the strongest people she'd ever met – no one could deal with two brothers trying to kill you, missions on a daily basis, the Goddamn Batman, and Nightwing's tackle-hugs without coming out stronger than Superman himself, – he was also fragile. Not just because he was normal, mortal, human, breakable, but also because he'd had to put up with two brothers trying to kill him, missions on a daily basis, the Goddamn Batman, and Nightwing's tackle-hugs. He accepted these things because he'd had to, but he didn't handle them. He didn't know how.
She knew this. She'd been there when he broke down, when he'd had the nightmares. It was terrifying, seeing someone who was usually so well-composed, so stoic, break out into tears like she'd seen him do. The twelfth time Damian had tried to kill Tim, he'd left Gotham, left the team, left the entire country to do God knows what. He'd shown up two weeks later at her window, bleeding from several wounds where someone had either tried to stab him or shoot him. Both, Cassie had discovered later on, as she was patching him up. He'd had several slashes on his torso, undoubtedly from a butcher's knife, and several bullets embedded deep into his body. She'd fussed over him for a god few hours before forcing the third Robin to watch Disney movies with her as punishment for being so reckless.
Back in the present, his Bat-like demeanor never fazing her, the blonde stepped forward, towards the menacing Bird and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him in close, tucking her head into his chest, just as she had curled up to him on her couch that day.
Tim was frozen for a minute – the blonde could feel how rigid he'd become in her arms. Then again, Tim had never been much for human contact.
"I'm here to help, Tim," she muttered into the ash-covered fabric that was his suit. He still didn't move. She lifted her most probably black-stained face and tried for a brave smile, the one that always made Diana smirk and roll her eyes at her protégée. "I'm here to help you, to take you back to the others. We're staying in New York for a while, so you can stay at my place, if you want."
She could feel him relax in her arms, if only slightly. His hands came up to rest on the young girl's hips. She knew that, behind the domino mask, his eyes would be wide, lost, as he tried to figure out what to do. He knew Cassie wouldn't force him to deal with his family. Damian had got out okay, so had Steph and Babs, and Jason had thankfully been out of town. Cass was in Hong Kong.
Tim still didn't say anything. Wonder Girl pulled back a bit and reached up to remove his mask. She was one of the few people allowed to do this, and never missed a chance to abuse this privilege. The black material was gently tugged away, leaving in its wake a domino-shaped patch of white skin adorning the upper half of the once Boy Wonder's face. His cerulean eyes looked just as she thought they would – weary, angry, lost. She gave him another soft smile.
"It's gonna be okay," she breathed, her voice sounding much too loud in the silence of the dead city, "I promise. We're all gonna be okay."
Tim's eyes widened as he regarded her for a moment. How could it be okay? They were dead. Gotham – his home – was ruined. How could it be okay?
"They're dead," he choked out, hands tightening into fists on his friend's hips. "Kon, Bruce, Dick… they're all dead."
"Not everyone," the blonde told him firmly, a small frown taking the place of the forced smile, "Jason's still alive. So are Damian, Steph, Cass, and Babs. Gar, Bart, Artemis, Wally, Kaldur, M'gann, Cissie, and the rest of the team are fine, too. And all the people we got out. You're here, and so am I. Doesn't that count for anything?"
She was using logic. And dammit if it wasn't working. Cassie repressed a smile as she saw the wheels in her friend's head turning. There were people out there he loved, who loved him, who needed him. It was time to let go of Gotham and her polluted river, her decaying buildings and the aged gargoyles that sat atop them, her criminals and her killers, her vigilantes and her psychopaths. Tim had to go. He wouldn't move on, not for a while – he'd never been too good at letting things go. Even now, at age 18, he still kept a box filled with old photos of heroes he'd taken as a child. Photos that had now gone up in smoke, along with Wayne Manor…
Cassie continued, not noticing the hitch in Tim's breath, or perhaps taking it as a positive sign, "And all the people who are gone… Would they have wanted you to give up? The Reach needs to be stopped, Tim, and there's no one else smart enough to do it."
Tim nodded once, firmly. She was right, after all. They had a planet to save. "They need to pay," the young man ground out, and Wonder Girl nodded.
"And they will," she promised, lifting her teammate up in her arms. She wasn't going to push him, not today. He'd already agreed to leave Gotham, and he was blaming the aliens, rather than himself, which was far more progress than she'd anticipated.
Cassie had lost her mother to these savages. She wanted their heads as well. For now, though, the Reach and the saving of the world could wait. She had a very distraught Red Robin to deal with, while forcing herself to be content with the knowledge that, after they'd had some hot cocoa while watching a few episodes of Star Wars, and Tim was done ranting about all the scientific impossibilities of the show, they'd talk it all out. Her Tim would come back to her.