So, I hate to say this, but I won't be able to update for a week. I'm going to camp, and I won't be able to update while I'm there. But, I will be writing on my free time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.
Tim POV
"Who were you with, Timmy?" Dick asked after I got done cleaning the kitchen. The only reason he didn't ask sooner, was because I was supposed to clean the kitchen on Alfred's order. You can ignore Bruce every once in a while, but you never ignore Alfred's order. That is the golden rule in the Manor, even if it's not said.
"I was with a friend." I said, pushing past him to get to my room.
Dick's hand landed on my shoulder, tugging me back towards him. "Okay, what friend?" Dick asked, a look of overprotectiveness in his eyes.
I looked at him weird, frowning at him. Dick was usually never overprotective, not like this. "What's wrong, Dick? You never act like this." I said, tugging my shoulder out of his grip.
Dick frowned, his eyes looking at me nervously. "It's nothing, I'm just trying to make sure your safe." Dick said.
I nodded, then turned back to walk to my room. Dick was hiding something, something I wanted to know about. And I was going to find out.
Dick POV
"Bruce, why can't I go out on patrol? I already did my chores that Alfred told me to do, I haven't done anything wrong. Wait, did I do something wrong?" Tim asked Bruce with his big blue eyes that made shined with innocence and disappointment. Disappointment in himself.
It was breaking me apart to not tell Tim what was really going on, and from the way Barbara was looking, it was killing her too. But we couldn't tell him, no matter how much we wanted to. "No, you didn't do anything wrong, Tim. We just have enough help that you can stay in." Bruce said, keeping a blank look.
I looked away from Timmy's pout face, and continued to put on my Nightwing suit. "Let's go." Batman said, walking towards the batmobile.
"It's okay, Timmy. You'll get to go back on patrol soon, hopefully." I said, ruffling his hair before walking towards the Batmobile.
I got into the front seat as Batgirl got into the back, and I glared at Batman. "He has to know." I said, Batgirl backing me up with her own glare.
"No, he doesn't." Batman said, pressing his foot on the gas pedal.
"Batman, he thinks he's done something wrong. Do you know how much this is hurting him?" Batgirl asked, leaning forward to look at Batman better.
"And how much do you think this will hurt him when he finds out that his older brother is the Red Hood, the new crime lord of Gotham?" Batman asked, making my glare falter.
The rest of the ride was silent, and so was the climb to the roof we were hoping Jason was at.
As it turns out, Jason was here. But us knowing that didn't prepare us for Red Hood punching Batman in the face when he first saw him. "You bastard! It didn't matter to you that one boy died wearing that suit, you had to make it another? And why the hell did it have to be him?!" Red Hood screamed as me and Batgirl kept our guard up for him to do something.
But Jason wanted an answer, so he didn't do anything else. Yet. "So you know who he is?" Batman asked, though it sounded more like a statement.
"Yes. Why the fuck would I not know who the hell my little brother is? You thought hiding his cheek bones would stop me from seeing the resemblance?" Jason hissed, glaring at Batman through his helmet.
"Why did you leave him in Crime Alley?" Batman shot back, making me and Batgirl wince.
We all knew that Bruce wasn't the perfect state of sanity, he dresses up as a bat after all, but asking Jason that question to his face when he was only an arms reach away from punching you? That was just insane.
"Why did I leave him there?" Jason asked before starting to laugh, dark and amused.
"B, you should know why by now. To keep the kid safe. And that's exactly what I'm going to do now." Red Hood growled before punching Batman again, only this time, he blocked.
"How is you scaring him out of being Robin, keeping him safe? He's too much like you, impulsive and brash. He would go out in the middle of the night if I didn't make him Robin, and with what? A bat-a-rang he found in some alley?" Batman asked before aiming his own punch at Jason.
"Then why the hell does he know about you guys in the first place?" Jason asked, his hand twitching for his gun.
"He was in the middle of one of your father's screw ups. Two-Face was looking for his, your dad, and he wound up in the middle of it because your dad was a coward." Batgirl said, shocking all of us from the way she snapped.
"Oh? And how does that end up with my little brother becoming Robin?" Jason asked, scowl on his face when he heard Two-Face threatened his little brother. We might have to warn the Arkham warden for any surprise visits from Jason.
"He ended up in the Batmobile somehow and went up the stairs to the Batcave into the Manor. I caught him trying to steal a golden watch and a wad of cash Bruce had in his office." Batgirl said, not giving Batman the chance to answer.
Jason snickered slightly at the last part, shaking his head. "Well, stealing stuff from B seems to be a family tradition." Red Hood said, looking up at the helicopter that had flown right above us and was shining a beam of light down at Jason for a criminal sighting. Stupid news helicopters.
"Well, Bats, that's my cue. But don't worry, we'll finish this talk later." Jason said before running off the roof with a grapple gun in hand and disappearing into a man hole that had been opened for construction.
"You know, this is the reason why we tell Tim that his brother is a wanted criminal. Because maybe Tim won't get punched in the face by the Red Hood." I said, glaring at Batman.
"We need to get back on patrol." Batman said simply, walking towards the edge of the roof to use his grapple gun.
"One day Batman, you won't be able to use that excuse anymore." Batgirl muttered before following him.
Tim POV
"Master Timothy, what are you doing up? Since you have no patrol, you should be in bed." Alfred said, walking into the kitchen where I was eating my bag of chocolate.
"I... I had a nightmare." I said, sipping my hot milk.
"I am afraid I do not see how drinking scorching hot milk and eating chocolate helps a nightmare, Master Timothy." Alfred said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, when I lived on the streets, my big brother would usually just help me go to sleep after a nightmare by letting my cry into his shoulder. But whenever we had chocolate, like after Halloween, he would heat up some milk so we were sure it was clean and he would give me some chocolate. He said chocolate and warm milk always helped him calm down after nightmares when he had them, so he did the same for me." I said, nibbling on a corner of the chocolate bar.
"I see. Well, I hope I do not see any decrease in the chocolate then, Master Timothy." Alfred said, walking away with a gentle grin.
I nodded, smiling back. Alfred was always nice, always excepting what I did without questioning it much.
I broke a piece off the chocolate and dropped it into the cup of milk. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed, Timbo?" Dick asked from the kitchen door.
He didn't have his Nightwing costume on. Instead, he had a pair of blue night pants on, ready to go to bed.
"Yeah, I guess." I said with a shrug.
"Okay, so why are you eating chocolate and why is the milk steaming like it was boiled?" Dick asked confused.
"It's something Jason told me to help with nightmares." I said after popping a piece of chocolate in my mouth.
Dick froze slightly, then walked over to sit on the cabinet next to me. "What was the nightmare about?" Dick asked, breaking off a piece of chocolate for himself.
"Jason was... was dead. And then you were dead. And Barb was dead, and so was Bruce. Then Joker was hurting me, and he kept on laughing and grinning like hurting me was the best thing he'd ever done. But I never died. And every time I got close to it, he would dump me in some green water and I would feel good as new. Then he started hurting me again." I said, the hot milk running down my throat after I said it.
Dick froze again, except this time, he seemed terrified.
"Dick, is something wrong?" I asked, worried.
His eyes snapped over to me, and he strained a smile. "Fine. Where would you get a nightmare like that, Timmy? None of us would let you get hurt by Joker." Dick said, pulling me into a side hug.
"I know. I just got it today when I remembered Jason. Weird, right?" I asked, leaving out the part where I actually saw Jason.
"Yeah. Well, since your out of chocolate, you should finish drinking your milk so you can go to bed. Bruce probably will get mad if he finds out your up so late for no reason." Dick said, ruffling my hair.
"But it's not really fair, Dick. I mean, I can't just not go on patrol one day and have my nightly curfew change. " I said, finishing my milk quickly.
"Hey, I don't make the rules. I just live by them so I don't get killed." Dick said, walking out of the kitchen with me.
"Why would you get killed? Batman doesn't kill, he just gives people heart attacks." I asked confused.
"Exactly, he's going to kill me with a heart attack." Dick said, making me grin a little.
So, I know it's not that long compared to my other chapters, but I'm trying to update before I leave for camp for an entire week without internet. Review!
