Tim watched silently as Jason climbed out of the window with a duffel bag on his shoulder he avoided all of Wayne manor's elite security and was picked up by a cab. It was odd and Tim lived in Gotham with Batman and Robin as his neighbors. He didn't like to call it stalking, but there just wasn't another word for it. He was lonely and somehow like a lost duck he imprinted on them. He could see Wayne manor with binoculars and so he watched them as one might birds.

It was pathetic and he know it. Tim felt pathetic and stalkery when he checked Jason's laptop history and saw that he bought a ticket to Ethiopia. Tim also bought one. The wonders of a credit card and the internet.

He was filled with bad ideas. Tim packed a bag and his favorite camera his curiosity getting the better of him. The Wayne's in a way had become the family he loved like his own. It was for that reason he went through customs and sat on a plane right beside Jason Todd because life hated him apparently. Why did he have to sit beside Robin? He could probably see right through him.

"Hi, I'm Tim," he introduced himself, he couldn't resist. It was dumb, but all he had to do was blend in and Jason might not sense that anything was wrong. Plus, he might never meet him again.

"Jason." Oh, the face he made and the tone was plain to see how much he didn't want to talk to him.

"What are you doing in Ethiopia, or rather what will you be doing?" Tim asked as he fiddled with a camera he had around his neck. He needed to know Robin and Batman had gotten into a shouting match a few nights ago and Jason had been benched.

"I have family there," Jason replied while looking even more upset at him. Tim's mind was whirling, family? Jason's Dad was in prison and his mom had died years ago after an overdose. This was terrible. Why would Jason leave Bruce, Alfred, and Dick they liked him! Didn't he realize that!

Tim pulled himself out of that train wreck of thoughts and cheerfully said, "That's cool. Ethiopia has the most wonderful things to take pictures of that's why I'm going to take all the pictures I can. Gotham is pretty but I can only take so many pictures of the same things before it gets repetitive. Another gloomy day, the red sun that is bizarre, but no one questions anymore. Ethiopia is going to be great to photograph a real yellow sunset. I think that's going to be my favorite thing a real sunset and it's going to be warm there. What family are you going to see there?"

"My bio mom," Jason replied still looking annoyed.

"Wow, did you know about her for very long? or were you adopted?" Tim asked needing more information to go on. He finds her a year after being adopted by Bruce Wayne well know billionaire and Gotham Prince. That's a real coincidence for sure.

"It's a long story. I was raised by my dad and stepmom who later died and then I was adopted and now I'm meeting my bio mom, Sheila Haywood," Jason replied. That made more sense in Tim's mind. Surely though Bruce wouldn't have stopped him from seeing his mom.

Tim suddenly had a solid plan ahead he now knew what Jason was up to. He was prepared to do anything to make sure this woman deserved Jason.

"Do your adopted parents know where you're going? They must have really freaked out when they found out that you have a living parent," Tim said still fiddling with the camera adjusting the focus on the camera and taking a stereotypical picture of the plane's wing on the runway. Like a normal kid would.

"I kinda took his credit card and bought a ticket on impulse to meet up with her. He'll be mad, but he'll get over it," Jason said. While Tim stopped his eyes from bugging out. That was a horrible idea Jason must have had one concussion too many.

"Oh, you didn't ask for him to come along?" Tim asked hoping he would think about his actions.

"No, better to ask for forgiveness than permission and all that, you know?" Jason explained as if that made up for the whole running away to a foreign country and stealing a credit card.

"Oh, oh, I wish I was adopted in some ways. You know someone chooses you instead of being a mistake. That's what my dad called me once, he didn't think he could hear me, but I did. It's cool that you have a bio mom, but it's cooler that you have a dad that wants you," Tim said laying on guilt was something that he must have inherited from his mother. He wanted Jason to see Bruce and realize how good it was to have a father that loved him. He hated bringing up that comment his Dad said once when he was drunk.

"Your parents are fine with you going to Ethiopia to take pictures by yourself? What are like six?" Jason asked thoroughly annoyed.

"Oh, they let me pick something out for my birthday and Christmas. I usually choose money so when I need to do something or get something I can. They don't mind and it's good to have in case they forget," Tim tapered off the last bit because Jason didn't care. "I'm ten, by the way, I know I look small."

Tim brought out his notebook and went over the plans he'd made in a code that he made. Let Bruce knew Jason was leaving. Make Jason want to come back home. Get every scrap of information on Sheila Haywood and get home in once piece before Mrs. Mac got back from her vacation. He was suddenly tired all the adrenaline that carried through the harebrained plan left him he flagged down and stewardess and requested a blanket and for the next few hours, he slept like the dead.

When Tim did wake up he thought about laying on some more guilt but thought better of it. The inflight meal was average he ate it remembering the half-eaten cereal he'd left that morning.

Jason bumped shoulders with him and motioned at his airplane meal. "You want it?"

"I'm fine with my meal. It's really not that bad compared to some of the things I've eaten at boarding school. The altitude is what messes with your taste buds. I watched a.." Tim stopped and then stared at his half-eaten meal, "Sorry."

"What for? I should be the one to apologize I was rude before. I'm sorry Tim. Also, I don't think I could eat this by myself I think the only spice the chef had was salt so they overcompensated. This is bad." Jason replied.

"I thought I was being annoying and I was about to tell you about a documentary on how airline food is prepared it's really lame. Don't worry about it, you weren't that rude," Tim placated they weren't friends and it wasn't good to think that Jason cared about him anything like he did for the Wayne's.

"What hotel are you staying at?" Tim asked wanting to know if his information was correct.

"The Ambassador Hotel, in Addis Ababa, it had good online reviews and wasn't that far from where my mom is working. I kind of left her a message and just left. I hope she isn't mad about me coming. I just wanted to meet her once and know why she left me. Bruce wouldn't ever do that to me," Jason muttered under his breath.

"She has to be happy to meet you, I mean I like you and I don't even know your favorite color. Even if she doesn't like you; you can always go back home to Gotham. You won't have to wonder anymore why she did it. That has to be worth something, being able to know people do things and why they did them to you," Tim paused and hoped he sold it well enough before saying, "I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"I guess. Bruce will be mad for a little while, but he'll get over it. I'll forget about the old hag or I'll know my mom is complicated and didn't want me. I shouldn't have come," Jason sighed.

The plane landed safely and Tim watched as Jason disappeared into the crowd like he was never there. It was time to put his plan into full effect. Tim checked into a hotel near Jason's and with the carry on luggage he brought he set up his laptop. Bruce was on a private plane that should come in sometime around midnight. The preliminary information on Shelia wasn't good so far he'd seen two marks against her that should have cost her the right to practice medicine. The rest of the police reports and places of employment would be back later the next morning.

For now, Tim would have to be content knowing that he might have helped a little. He ordered room service not wanting to wander around too much in Ethiopia he wasn't on home turf anymore.

He stayed up late reading about what was going on in Gotham and found no mentioning of the Joker missing from a breakout in Arkham. He was glad that Bruce prioritized Jason over the Joker, but the man had been out for some time. Who knows what he was doing while he was free? Batman would take care of it later. Robin mattered more.

Tim went to sleep on accident and when he woke up the hotel surveillance showed that Bruce arrived and met up with Jason in the lobby. The police reports and background checks were back and as Tim read over the preliminaries the darker it got. Tim quickly printed them out and slipped it in an envelope. He was glad he dressed in his shabbier clothes, no one spared him a second glance as he slipped in the swanky hotel. Tim wasn't sure what the going rate was for a bribe, but the concierge's huge eyes told him he wouldn't tell anyone when he tipped him and explained he never was there. He would later replace the footage with Ozone Dragoste Din Tei on a loop. It would be like he was never there and no one would be the wiser. He would always be invisible and he liked it that way.

He watched the footage of Bruce and Jason returning and getting the reports. They charted their plane to go back home to Gotham within the hour and so did Tim. He had enough time to take pictures or the city. It was so different than Gotham. The ride home was boring compared to the first one he was seated by an old lady that slept the whole time and another kid a few years older than he was. He listened to podcasts and counted the hours till he could get home and finally relax.

Bruce and Jason made to the manor safely and so did Tim by Uber. Drake manor was the same as always a little chilly, but comfy. No messes or anything out of place. The mail hadn't even had the chance to pile up. Tim didn't have to worry about Jason suddenly recognizing him as the pathetic kid on the plane, because Jack and Janet didn't like to bring him to any high society functions and Tim never pressed. Having the superpower of being invisible was too handy to throw away. It wasn't even like he was that rememberable Jason didn't have a reason to look for him and that was fine. Tim looked at how happy the Wayne family was out on the porch that evening eating supper and playing with the dog. The cost of traveling was one of the most expensive things he's bought and his emergency fund was completely wiped out, hopefully, his mom and dad didn't forget to make sure he got his months allowance. That would be bad on so many levels.

That night he went out and tried to find Batman and Robin, but instead found that they took the night off. There wasn't anything to take pictures of when they weren't there. He had a few pictures of Ethiopia that he was really proud of he would have to go through and edit the best ones. Tim turned back to his house at twelve. He couldn't stop thinking about how it would be to have a parent that immediately went after you when you disappeared. That cared more than to refill the balance on the credit card. Tim wasn't that smart when it came to relationships, but losing Jason would have broken Bruce. If he was taken out in a random villian attack no one would have noticed for weeks. Hot tears welled up as Tim tried to push the intrusive thoughts away.

He would never become apart of the Wayne family no matter how much he wanted or pretended.