Author's note: I haven't written anything- fanfiction or otherwise- in years. With everything going on right now, I thought it would be the perfect time to get back into writing. I received a prompt on tumblr and realized that although I wanted to write a Batman fanfic, I didn't actually know how to write Damian or Tim. I also tried to figure out what it would take for them to work together without them just arguing the entire time. And, well, if you're interested here's my thought process (without really knowing the characters outside of fanfiction):
-They're both logical thinkers; Damian is more spontaneous/get it over with and condescending but thinks very black and white (these assassins are in between them and the hostages, therefore the best logical thing to do is to remove them from the scenario by killing/attacking immediately before more harm can be done); Tim is more thought-out strategy but perhaps thinks too much- better for long missions not quick ones (they don't want to raise the alert so need to be stealthy and find out why the assassins needed the hostages to stop a bigger plan, therefore perhaps some recon is needed first since the hostages seem okay). They're opposites almost but it works.
Lastly, I tried my best to keep both Tim and Damian in character. I just don't understand Damian's character well, and I wanted Tim to be more than just that depressed and smart kid, and I recently discovered that apparently he had more of a fun-loving/quirky personality in the 90s comics, so although I have yet to read them I tried to add a sort of dry sense of humor to him. Let me know if their personalities were a hit or a miss.
Without further ado, and a way longer author's note than intended, here's the story. Enjoy!
Tim needed a coffee. And an advil. Unfortunately, neither of those were available to him at the moment.
Tim laid in the vent, uncomfortably squished to one side as Damian forced his way to the front. Although, really, crawling in vents was always uncomfortable. Seriously, have people who write action movies ever been in an air vent?
Below them stood three burly men guarding a door, through which, as Tim could just barely make out through the small dirty window, laid their missing family members. Tim narrowed his eyes trying to discern the state of Dick, Jason, and Bruce, only to awkwardly push against Damian whose muscles had tensed to jump down. Damian, as Tim really should have expected, pushed back twice as harshly, resulting in multiple limbs banging against the sides of the vent. Both boys froze. Oh, if only Bruce could see them now, acting like a couple of new birds instead of fully-trained vigilantes. Luckily, the men below were too busy bragging they'd caught "the freaky man in a bat suit, heh, who's so tough, now?" that they hadn't noticed the commotion above them. Damian tutted. Amateurs.
"We need to find out what they want with them," Tim whispered to Damian, words barely vocalized. If this was part of a bigger plan or if these men were working for someone more dangerous, they needed to know. It wouldn't do anyone any good to escape but leave the head of a potentially dangerous organization with concrete plans to recapture them. Or worse.
Damian didn't see it that way, if his scoff was anything to go by. "As if that matters. There's only three of them; I can take them out before you can squeeze your way out of here."
"I'm going to take a look around," Tim stated, ending the banter before it escalated. He groaned inwardly. If it wasn't for the situation at hand, he probably could have argued for a while. But, he realized, so could Damian. As much as he disliked the kid, he couldn't endanger Bruce, Jason, and Dick by angering Damian to the point he jumped into a fight with no plan. Tim felt a headache begin to form. Was this what it was like to be Batman?
"You," Tim continued, ignoring Damian's protests, and he once again wondered how the men below didn't hear them (a part of him remarked to himself that if his life were a comic, this would be comic book logic, but as it turns out, this was his actual life and some people were just so stupid they didn't notice when two vigilantes were arguing in air vents), "Are going to stay here and keep an eye on these guys." He began wiggling backwards, trying to get to the junction of the vent so he could turn. "And tell me if anything changes before barging in."
"Tt," Damian scoffed. Again. Tim swears that's the only facial expression the kid was capable of making. "You are not Batman, and I am not your Robin. I don't take orders from you."
"But you won't move because you know you'll endanger their lives if you do," Tim argued back harshly. He, reluctantly, turned his back on Damian as he managed to turn towards another section of the air vent. He didn't expect Damian to stay put for long, but hopefully Tim would be able to do a bit of recon before the younger boy did anything rash.
Hopefully.
His hopes were low.
Tim crawled through the vent, although where exactly he was going, he wasn't sure. He found a few dead ends, and his Red Robin suit would need a good wash after this, but eventually he came across a small room with four more people, their faces glowing in the screen of the computers they sat at.
Tim made note of the number of weapons in the room- much more deadly than the handguns the men in front of the makeshift prison cell carried. He furrowed his brow. Whatever was on those computers could be important. But if he were to drop down and take out the men and women below, the computers would most likely be damaged in the crossfire.
The other option would be to create a distraction, lure them out of the room, and then try to get to the computers while locking them out. After the room was secure, and with the four trying to get to him, Damian could then come around from the back and take them out. That would leave the three in front of the cell without backup and without the grenades Tim would lock in this room. An easy takedown. An easy rescue. They would all get back to the Wayne Manor- or the nearest safe house if Dick, Bruce, and Jason's injuries required it- by a decent hour. He might even be able to catch a couple hours of sleep.
Tim nodded to himself. Time to create a distraction-
"This is taking too long. I have the skills required to take down three measly men," Damian's voice in his ear startled Tim out of his planning.
"Wait, Robin-" Tim cut himself off, already knowing Damian would have exited the vent by now. "Are you serious right now?"
Tim could hear gunshots and shouts, which meant the people below him also could. There was a split second where the men and women paused their work to analyze the situation and possible threat, which was just enough time for Tim to make his own quick decision to take them down. It would be a risk with the weapons and the possibility of damaging the computers, but if they left to join the fight, Robin would be outnumbered. Not to mention, if Damian was caught, where would that leave Tim? Alone against an unknown enemy. He'd either have to try to rescue everyone on his own- possible, he supposed, but getting them to a safe house? Not as likely- or he'd have to make a strategic retreat, get Cass and Steph, and then have a go at another rescue mission. And that assumed no one was moved from this building.
And so, with an exasperated sigh, and with a split second to make his appearance before the people below grabbed their weapons, Red Robin kicked out of the vent. He threw a smoke pellet towards the center of the room. While the enemy was distracted, Tim knocked out the two nearest to him. As the smoke cleared, he avoided a sloppy punch as the other guy charged him. Interesting. Not very well coordinated or physical threats. The only danger they presented were the weapons- which, oh boy, Thing 2 was running to grab. Well, we can't have that, Tim thought, and used his bo staff to knock the man in front of him to the side. Tim leapt over the nearest desk and knocked down the fourth person with a flying kick.
"I have attempted to wake up Grayson and the others." Tim was prevented a response to the civilian name by a lucky strike to his shoulder. Maybe he should have pushed the first guy away a bit further before turning his back. "They are unresponsive and appear to be having trouble breathing."
"Poison?" Tim bit out, dodging a running charge towards him and kicking a chair into the second man.
"Obviously." Damian's scorn was loud and clear. But- and this was a bit but- Tim almost heard some- was that worry? Could Damian actually have feelings besides contempt and arrogance? Shocker.
The first man once again attempted to charge Tim, but the vigilante was long used to having a height advantage in fights. He used the man's momentum to throw him into the second man, which knocked them into one of the desks- oh, there goes a computer. Damn. Tim swung his bo staff while the men were dazed, successfully knocking them out. A quick check around the room showed Tim that everyone was knocked out, and that two of the four computers were undamaged. Seems like his earlier strategy would have been superfluous.
"Report, Robin," Tim said as he bent over to look at one of the computers- and boy, was it weird giving orders like that. Especially to a Robin who doesn't take orders.
And yet it was only a few moments later Damian responded. "Father has begun convulsing. I have moved Grayson and Todd away to prevent them from being hit." It took another moment of silence that Tim realized Damian's unspoken question: What do I do next? And then another realization: Damian was an assassin for sure, had killed and been killed, but he was, at the end of the day, a ten year old kid. Younger than either he or Jason when they'd begun their times as Robin. "Tt. And you wanted me to wait." Or not.
"Keep track of how long the seizure is. Don't touch him." Tim searched quickly but methodically through computer files for any information about the poison and, with any luck, an antidote. He send a quick comm message to Oracle and Alfred informing them of the situation but ultimately was more focused on finding the information he needed. He acknowledged Oracle's response that Steph and Cass were on their way.
Reluctantly, Tim admitted to himself that it was, in fact, a good thing that Damian had jumped in when he had. Bruce, Dick, and Jason's conditions were clearly worse than he had initially believed them to be.
But, Tim rationalized as he pulled up the formulas and copied them onto a USB drive, if he hadn't decided to scout the area, they might have not found the antidote. Tim let out an annoyed sigh as he exited the room and locked the door behind him. Unfortunately, it appeared that he and Damian were actually working well together. Dick would never let him hear the end of it.
Racing down hallways he tried to recall from the air vents- which, harder than it sounds, thank you very much- Tim sent another comm to Damian. "Status? How's Batman?"
"He has ceased his convulsions," came the reply. "Grayson is beginning to awaken. Although how coherent he is remains to be seen."
"Thanks for actually telling me that when it occurred," Tim muttered to himself, slightly out of breath as he turned a corner. And- there. Tim skidded into the room, ignoring the unconscious bodies of the men Damian had knocked out. He took note that Damian currently hovered near Bruce, and that Dick was, in fact, fighting for consciousness, if the groans and half-lidded but glassy eyes said anything.
"We need to get back to the 'Cave," Tim said, taking charge. Which he should, as the older one between the two of them, he believed.
"And how, exactly, are we going to get everyone out?" Damian bit back, crossing his arms. Tim raised an eyebrow under his cowl. Damian looked two parts haughty assassin child, one part slightly-nervous-but-I-refuse-to-admit-it kid. Like- Tim considered bashing his head against the wall- like an actual child. Damn. Dick was definitely getting to him.
"Black Bat and Batgirl are enroute," Tim said, taking Dick's pulse. "Hey. Nightwing. Can you hear me? Do you remember what happened?" He didn't expect a clear response, but figured it was a good idea to test just how out of it Dick was.
He was rewarded with a jumbled mutter that Tim took to mean "ouch". And maybe a few expletives. Tim sighed. Dr. Leslie was going to have fun with this one. At least Tim had managed to find the antidote.
"If I hadn't been here, Father could have been further injured," Damian spat. Tim turned his attention to Jason. Seems like the almost-truce was over. "That's why I'm the superior Robin. You would have had me wait-"
"I was right to go looking for more information," Tim countered once he'd taken Jason's pulse. "If I hadn't, we wouldn't know what the poison is or the antidote."
Damian snarled. "You-"
"But," Tim conceded. And boy, did it hurt his pride to admit it, "If you hadn't been here, you're right. The injuries could have worsened. So. Yeah." Damian blinked at him, supposedly dumbfounded if the demon brat was capable of it. Tim was saved from more embarrassment when Cass and Steph arrived.
Tim sighed in relief.
Crisis averted. Bruce and the others were safe and alive. And now with backup, they'd be able to get to the Batcave safely and manufacture the antidote. Which may take a while, Tim noted. Several hours, he predicted.
Tim and Damian made awkward eye contact. Or, at least, the best they could do with Robin's mask and Red Robin's cowl. Tim looked away first. If he was starting to get along with Damian, then he was definitely more tired than he thought. And with the probability of being up the rest of the night quite high-
He needed a coffee.