I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING
(I know that the ages are inaccurate but I made them like this for the story)
Dick(Nightwing): 17
Jason(Robin): 13
Tim: 8
THE BEGINNING
When Tim was little, he learned that he was not complete. His parents would tell him,
"You need to try harder."
"Be better."
"Just stop."
"Don't do that."
"You can do better than that."
"Try this."
"Do this instead."
It never stopped.
For all eight years of his life, Tim thought that he was not enough. He thought that he always had to change his person. Change his personality, change his hair, change how he dressed.
Everything must be changed.
Tim is not allowed to be Tim.
When his parents would go away, he would stay home alone. Up until he was five, he stayed with a caretaker, until his parents deemed him old enough to stay home by himself.
Though, on some occasions, he would stay with the Waynes. He grew up right next door, but would only see them five to ten times a year. He looked up to the oldest adopted son, Dick and then he became close friends with Jason, when Bruce adopted him as well. He would watch as the two adopted brothers grew up and became the Robins. He watched as Dick grew into Nightwing and Jason grew into Robin.
They didn't have to change who they are. Dick used the skills he acquired from growing up in the circus to his advantage on patrol and Jason used his street smarts he acquired, from being an orphan on the streets, to his advantage in battle.
Tim was just….Tim.
There was nothing that made him think of himself as special. Tim could take pictures, yeah. And he was pretty smart for his age, but the nine year-old was no superhero.
He wanted to leave his house just to take pictures, but he didn't want to upset his parents. They were currently home, and Tim did not want to make their limited time home frustrating.
Last time he disobeyed his father, he was not allowed to eat for two days and he had an angry, red hand mark on his back for a week.
Now, Tim was awaiting his parents' arrival. They were spending the night at a party to celebrate his father having sold a new product to LexCorp.
There was a knock on the door which confused Tim. His parents never knocked. This is their home. Why would they be knocking?
Tim walked over to the door and picked up the stool he placed next to it so he could see through the the peep hole. The nine year-old looked through and saw three men. Two of them were dressed in blue and had matching uniforms while the one in the middle wore a trench coat and had a graying mustache.
Tim didn't want to answer the door without his parents home, but he didn't want to upset the Gotham Police Officers.
Tim hesitantly opened the door and peeked his head around to look up at the three men.
The one in the coat looked down at him with carefully concealed surprise, "Are you Timothy?"
Tim nodded.
"Do you know where your parents are?"
Tim nodded.
"Are you home alone?"
Tim nodded.
"Can you come with us?"
Tim froze.
He wasn't supposed to leave the house. Ever. Not when Mother and Father were in town. And they were. They're just at a party. But these men are police officers. He can always trust the police. Especially Detective Gordon. He helped Batman.
Tim nodded.
*LINEBREAK*
Tim didn't like sitting in the police cruiser. The two other officers went in a different car so Tim could go with Detective Gordon. The seats were uncomfortable and Tim couldn't stop the anxiety clawing a his chest.
Did he do something wrong?
Did Mother and Father give him away?
Are they taking him to jail?
"Are you alright back there, kid?"
Tim looked at Detective Gordon through the rearview mirror and nodded.
"You don't talk much, do you?" The Detective asked.
Tim shrugged. He never really had anyone to talk to. His parents didn't like hearing his voice.
Detective Gordon sighed and continued to drive the car to the police station.
*LINEBREAK*
Tim looked out the window of the police station. It looked to be around midnight and his parents should be home right now.
Are they worried about him?
Did they even notice?
"Timothy?"
Tim didn't even glance at the random police officer this time as he could see the woman in the window's reflection.
The woman smiled at him kindly, "Do you want something to eat?"
Tim thought back to his parents and how they would be mad if he te without them. Tim shook his head. The woman continued to smile at him but her eyes reflected his pity for him.
Tim hated that.
The woman eventually walked away and Tim was left to silence again.
It wasn't twenty minutes later when Tim heard some people walking up the stairs to the roof. He immediately grew curious. Could they be doing what he thinks they're doing?
Tim pulled the window open enough to see the dark sky. He saw exactly what he was expecting.
The Bat Signal.
Tim crouched as he crept up the stairs. The detective was already on the roof, but Tim refused to underestimate the police officers. Especially if Batman was on the roof, so he continued to tiptoe up the stairs.
Tim slowly peeked around the door frame and saw just what he was expecting. The two police officers and the detective standing next to the Bat Signal. But what really surprised Tim, were the two shadows lurking in the corner of the roof.
By the looks on the officers faces, they haven't noticed the shadows yet. Tim just remained amazed as the two shadows finally revealed themselves to the officers.
Batman aka Bruce Wayne
and
Robin aka Jason Todd
Tim let out an amazed gasp which seemed to have attracted the attention of the smaller shadow, Robin, who seemed to shake it off.
"What is it, Detective?" Batman asked gruffly.
Detective Gordon sighed, "Something happened with the Drake family."
The Caped Crusader stiffened, which would have gone unnoticed by everyone on the roof, if Tim wasn't there. "What happened?"
"The Drakes are dead," Tim froze "and their orphan son is in the interrogation room."
A/N: Hey y'all! I'm making a part two to this later on. It might not be the next chapter, but it will be uploaded eventually. I appreciate all the reviews and all the nice comments about the last chapter! Your words of encouragement mean a lot!
