A/N - If you're keeping track of the timeline - Steph died on Sunday night. Bruce calls Tim Monday afternoon and then Tim and Conner find out they're soulmates, ending with Tim sleeping over at Conner's; Crystal's drama in Ch. 13 also happens all throughout Monday, and Cass confronts Bruce Monday night and then meets Jason. On Tuesday Bruce calls Dick about Steph's death and then Dick calls Jason, who drags Slade into the phone call. This chapter takes place Tuesday morning, back in Metropolis.
Chapter 13
Tuesday morning
"Hey, Dad! What should we wear for our interview?" Conner called out from his and Tim's bedroom. "Please don't say our school uniforms," Conner moaned as Lex approached from the open living room.
Lex smirked at his son.
"I don't think we need to advertise your plethora of uniform violations to the world, Conner," Lex said with an easy wink for Tim, who giggled in response.
Conner was right. Lex was surprisingly cool, Tim thought to himself, although a now-recurrent pang of guilt and anxiety followed his inner admission.
"Something posh," Lex mused, as he stood in front of Conner's ridiculously overstuffed closet, "but with personality. Show your uniqueness off," Lex smiled, affectionately cuffing the back of his son's neck rather than ruffling his hair, since Conner's black locks hair were once again gelled to lofty heights.
"None of my nicer clothes have personality," Tim said in a worried voice. "I usually wear hoodies and jeans when I'm not at school," he admitted.
"He was a skater boy," Conner hummed with a sexy grin before wrapping his arms around Tim's waist from behind and kissing his cheek. "Can I dress you up, Timmy?" he begged. "I'll make you look really cute. Not that you don't always look cute, but, you know," Conner grinned at him.
"Sure," Tim said with a pleased smile, realizing that the warmth in his cheeks wasn't even from embarrassment this time but happiness.
Tim squeezed his hands over Conner's and leaned back against his soulmate's chest, letting himself be cuddled and trying to soothe his mind from the oddity of waking up in Lex Luthor's home, in bed with his very own soulmate who only happened to be the hottest boy in the world, thank you very much, with the additional benefit of being a clingy sleeper.
Waking up wrapped in a Conner burrito had been amazing and Tim had actually had a few moments of easy breathing before painfully gasping when he remembered that Steph was dead - deadeadeadeadshewasdeadwhyhadn'tBrucewherewasBrucewhy - but Conner had been right there to soothe Tim when every lungful of air hurt and turned to sobs.
When was he going to stop crying? All he did was cry and Tim had thought that he'd cried so many tears when his mom had died that his reservoir had surely run dry, but here they'd come, rolling down his cheeks fresh like the morning dew and twice as plentiful.
It sucked. A lot. And if Tim hadn't had Conner to hold onto, he wasn't quite sure how he would have coped.
"You have skinny pants, right?" Conner said in Tim's ear. "Didn't we pack some yesterday?"
"Yeah," Tim said. "I only brought the black pair, though."
"I can work with that," Conner beamed.
Tim gaped at himself in Conner's bedroom mirror when his style transformation was complete.
"Wow," he breathed out.
"Right?" Conner hummed in his ear.
"Babe," Tim said in awe, taking in his black, green, and blue plaid blazer, only the slightest bit loose since Conner wore them snug, and helped out by the fact that Conner had layered it over a royal blue v-neck sweater that matched Tim's eyes, along with a barely-there blue pinstriped white button-down adorned with a bright orange patterned tie that looked straight out of the seventies.
Conner squealed and hugged Tim tight around the waist, picking him and spinning him around surprisingly easily before setting him back down again.
"What?" Tim said with a smile when he was back on solid ground, turning around in Conner's arms with his eyes sparkling up into his boyfriend's.
"You called me babe for the first time," Conner beamed at him. "I like it, too," he declared.
"Oh," Tim said, a wider smile creeping onto his face. "I'll do it more," he said, stretching his arms up and around Conner's neck and leaning in for a sweet kiss before nuzzling his face on Conner's blazer.
"Your jacket is awesome," Tim said as one of Conner's hands strayed up to scritch the hair on the back of Tim's head that had escaped the gel-induced artful swoop on his forehead that Conner had carefully styled and that Tim's cuddling had no hope of dislodging.
"I'm definitely gonna start wearing velvet more, snugglebug," Conner said in a deeper voice that gave Tim the most delightful tingles in the most delightful places.
Tim giggled and buried his face deeper into Conner's chest, sighing contentedly as his boyfriend rocked him gently back and forth, an arm looped around his waist, with fingers straying to gently trace Tim's soulspot over his clothes.
"You ready?" Conner asked gently when Lex knocked on their door.
Tim took a deep breath, willing himself not to suddenly vomit.
"I got you, babe," Conner said with concern. "And my dad won't let Cat print anything stupid-sounding, even if something comes out wrong when you first say it."
"Ok," Tim said nervously, blinking rapidly as he reluctantly left Conner's embrace.
Conner immediately threaded their fingers together and squeezed Tim's hand tight before leading them out of their bedroom to a waiting Lex.
"Cat and her photographer are set up in the living room," Lex said in a low voice. "If there's any question you're not sure about, or concerned about your answer to, boys, just give me a look and I'll step in," he added.
"Is my dad here?" Tim asked, frowning.
Lex's eye twitched.
"It seems your father had an unfortunate incident with a mugger last night, Tim," Lex said in an even voice without a trace of sarcasm. "His black eye is a bit too bad to cover with make-up, so Allison is going to photoshop some old stock of him into the pictures."
"Does this mean he's not coming to the funeral?" Conner asked his father hopefully, stealing a glance at Tim, whose cheeks were slightly red.
"Yes," Lex said, his eyebrows now going slightly into the air. "I'm surprised your father didn't communicate that with you, Tim," he said with a frown.
"I'm not," Tim muttered.
He'd checked his phone that morning, of course. Twelve dozen times, in fact, not counting the times he'd obsessively checked it last night before going to bed. If only he'd read Steph's text. If only -
But Lex's hands were on his and Conner's backs, gently leading them to the living room where The Daily Planet waited.
Allison the photographer had been delighted with both Tim and Conner's outfits and had artfully posed them for several couples' shots, plus some with Lex, before departing with apologies for another job.
Although Tim had been nervous about Cat Grant's interview, he'd been greatly relieved when Conner took the lead at the beginning, answering Cat's surprisingly fun questions about being Premarked with ease and setting Tim up to simply chime in with agreement on most of his responses.
Tim found himself marveling at Conner's PR skills, in fact, as Conner regaled Cat with a hilariously exaggerated account of poor Ms. Won discovering them cuddling on the grass at school before playing up Jack Drake's approval of him as Tim's soulmate with nary a word about Jack's initially chilly reaction.
When Cat asked Tim directly how he felt about having Lex Luthor as his new father-in-law, Tim didn't even have to pretend to smile as he looked over into Lex's kind eyes.
"Lex is amazing," Tim said with more honesty than he wished for, prompting a warm answering smile to crease Lex's face.
"He, um," and suddenly Tim's throat was tight and he was swallowing hard and screwing his eyes up tight for a minute. "Lex has been really supportive about Steph dying," Tim managed to get out in a quiet voice, willing himself not to think of his own father's apathetic-bordering-on-irritated reaction to his best friend's gruesome death.
Cat's face took on a sympathetic cast.
"Can we transition now to talking about Steph, if that's ok, Tim?" Cat asked gently.
Tim sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve before Conner passed him a box of tissues.
"Sure," Tim said hollowly as Conner's arm wrapped tight around his waist.
"If you need to take a break anytime, or don't want to answer a particular question, you just let me know," Cat said, and Tim nodded.
"From what Lex has told me, your friend Steph seems like a truly remarkable young woman," Cat said with an encouraging smile. "How did you two meet?" Cat asked.
"She was out as Spoiler one winter a few years ago and I slipped on some ice and fell," Tim lied easily, "so Steph came down from the fire escape she was on to make sure I was all right."
"So Steph cared about the community as well as about her quest to help her father get the psychiatric treatment that he needed for his criminal addictions," Cat said smoothly.
"Yes," Tim said slowly, glancing at Lex, who was giving Cat a little nod of approval.
Cat's eyes may have sparkled the tiniest bit back at Lex before she asked her next question.
"And even after her father was committed to Arkham Asylum, Steph continued to support her city as Spoiler, isn't that right?" Cat said.
"Yes," Tim said. "I don't know everything she did," he said with a bashful smile, "but she patrolled Gotham as much as the Bats, I think. Steph's focus was more on helping people out, though, instead of fighting crime."
Which was total bullshit, but whatever. Hopefully Steph would be laughing about it in Heaven, Tim thought despondently.
"Even more despicable what Black Mask did to her, then," Cat murmured, though, looking sincerely troubled at the thought.
Lex grunted in agreement. Tim nodded instead of answering, glancing down at the tissue in his lap as Conner's arm squeezed him a little tighter.
"I have no idea what Black Mask wanted with Steph," Tim said in a low voice.
"Black Mask apparently had quite the crime syndicate, from what I was able to dig up in my research," Cat said regretfully. "Steph could have done something as simple as try to help a child or a sex worker who was caught in his web. We'll never know," Cat said softly, "but we do know that she was a hero and an inspiration to her community."
"Did they catch Black Mask?" Tim asked, suddenly realizing that he didn't know oh so much about what had actually happened to his friend.
Shit. Maybe he should've listened harder to Bruce, but - fuck, he was going to have to call him, wasn't he? He did want to talk to his former mentor, he did - but Tim feared the answers that the Bat might give to his multitude of questions, because there weren't going to be any good ones, were there? Steph was dead - she was dead and she wasn't coming back and whatever Bruce had or hadn't done, it was too late.
Besides, Bruce had fired her. Fired her, fired Steph as Robin barely two months after taking her on. Hadn't he known how much that would hurt her? Why the hell wouldn't he give Steph the same chance that he'd given Tim? Or Jason, or Dick? Steph had more passion and determination than anyone Tim knew, and she loved Gotham with a ferocity that Tim couldn't understand.
If anybody was cut out to be Robin, it was Steph, who'd become her own superhero without any backup, without any training, with nothing but guts and grit. Why, then? Why, why, why?
The nausea swirling in Tim's stomach was threatening to make him bolt to the bathroom, but it was quickly forgotten when Lex said, "Black Mask is dead. Red Hood apparently killed him."
"What?" Tim breathed out, his eyes going wide, and filling with yes, dammit, tears of relief.
God bless Jason. Tim didn't care what Bruce said. Fuck Bruce. Jason killed Black Mask? Hallelujah, Tim thought fiercely, suddenly filled with guilt and a rush of empathy for Jason's neverending rage and bitterness towards Bruce at the Joker's continued existence.
So this is how that felt on the other side of the coin. Oh.
Tim got why Bruce couldn't kill the Joker - he really did, but - fuck, somebody should kill him for Jason. It wasn't right. Even if - oh - Lex was saying something again.
"I'm sorry, what?" Tim said, trying to refocus his eyes on Lex, who gave him an understanding smile.
"Mercy spoke to Steph's mother last night," Lex gently repeated. "Mrs. Brown said that Red Hood found Steph -" he delicately did not say 'being tortured,' but Tim's mind filled the words in anyway - "and Red Hood apparently had to kill Black Mask in order to rescue Spoiler."
There was undoubtedly no 'had to' about it, Tim thought with vindictive glee, but Lex was going on.
"Red Hood rushed Steph to a doctor, but -" and here Lex pressed his lips together firmly, resting his eyes on Conner, instead of Tim, with a deep look of... sympathy? Sorrow? Apology? Tim couldn't be sure what Lex was trying to convey to his son, but Conner shifted uncomfortably in his seat next to Tim as if he understood and shared the sentiment.
Huh. What was that about? Tim wasn't quite sure how he could bring it up to Conner, though, when he had his own secrets, which - oh, fuck, he'd promised to tell Conner about today and - oh, everyone was looking at Tim now, waiting for an answer. What was he supposed to be responding to? Oh, yeah. Black Mask. Dead. Go Jason. Um...
"Black Mask is dead," Tim parroted back to Lex very coherently. "Well."
He paused, not quite sure what he could say that wouldn't look utterly atrocious in print.
Cat saved the situation by gracefully changing subjects, saying, "Perhaps I could ask a few questions about Steph's pregnancy to round out my article, if that's all right, Tim?"
"Sure," Tim said with relief. "Of course."
"Now, I know society frowns upon non-soulbonded sexual relations, most especially at a young age," Cat said, "but maybe you can give me some insight into why Steph decided to have sex?"
"Oh," Tim said, scowling. "She was statutory raped."
Cat and Lex's eyebrows both went up and even Conner jumped a little bit in surprise.
"I mean," Tim said, "Steph told me she'd wanted it and it was her choice. But Dean was twenty and she was fifteen."
"Oh, my God," Cat said, looking absolutely horrified.
The reporter glanced over at Lex, whose eyes had narrowed into something slightly malevolent.
"Appalling," Lex spat. "An adult taking advantage of a young teenager like that?"
"Right?" said Tim. "And it happened not long after the big earthquake hit Gotham. All the bridges were closed and the city was totally cut off and Steph had gone into a thrift store one day to try to find - I don't even know what," he said, "and that's where she met Dean and he just totally manipulated her," Tim said.
He was about to launch into the tale of Steph's prior kidnapping that had, in Tim's opinion, rendered her even more emotionally vulnerable, but Tim suddenly realized that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to piss Crystal off by advertising that she hadn't known her own daughter was missing.
Crystal was… well - um -
"Was Steph's baby daddy - Dean?" Cat said, drawing Tim's attention back to the interview, "was he supportive at all during her pregnancy?"
"Oh, hell no," Tim scoffed. "He was still living with his parents - because of course he was," Tim snarked, "and his family had left Gotham as soon as the bridges reopened. Steph didn't even tell him she was pregnant, thank God," Tim said.
"Wow," Cat said, giving Lex a wide-eyed look. "Well. That was very brave of Steph to carry the baby to term and incredibly self-sacrificing of her to give it up for adoption afterwards. I'm sure a lot of people judged her for her pregnancy."
"Oh, yeah, pretty much everyone," Tim said. "And her family life was shit - oops," he said, blushing before correcting himself - "I mean, Steph's family life was bad before that, because her dad Cluemaster was pretty abusive -"
"- don't print that," Lex murmured to Cat, who gave him a tiny nod -
"- but yeah, Steph's life got much worse after that, because everyone was really mean to her parents about it, like it was their fault somehow, and -"
"- I think Cat gets the picture," Lex intervened, with a slight head shake to Tim, who bit his lip abruptly and shut up.
"Yes, I have plenty for my article," Cat quickly agreed with a big smile for Lex. "I'll be able to paint a very nice portrait of the brave, passionate, and selfless young woman that Steph clearly was."
"Thank you," Tim said softly while Lex beamed approvingly at the reporter and reached out to squeeze her hand in thanks, which - was Cat blushing? Oh, come on, really?
Conner's chest was silently shaking against Tim as Lex helped Cat to her feet and wrapped her arm in his to escort her out after she shook hands with the boys, who had also stood to say good-bye.
As soon as Conner heard the door shut behind the reporter, he dissolved into full on giggles.
"Oh, my God," Tim's soulmate wheezed, laying his head down on Tim's shoulder and hugging him tight as he laughed. "I should be used to it by now, but that is never going to be comfortable to watch."
"Ha ha," Lex gently snarked with a grin as he rejoined the boys in the living room. "Laugh all you want, but wait and see what a beautifully complimentary article we get written for us tonight."
"Oh, I don't deny it works," Conner grinned back at his dad as he sat up and wiped his eyes. "It's just gross."
Tim giggled a little bit, too, when he saw the twinkle in Lex's eye. Lex smiled at him and shrugged.
"An advantage to being single," he said playfully.
"You don't have a soulmate, I guess?" Tim asked Lex curiously.
Lex paused.
"No," he said, and something in his voice told Tim not to ask anymore questions.
Lex was asking a question of his own, though.
"What's Dean's last name?" he said, piercing Tim with a sharp look that made the boy's mouth go dry.
Oh, shit.
That - that was a Lex Luthor, Super-Villain™ patented look of Sinister Intent.
Was that a problem? Tim suddenly wondered. Dean wasn't just an asshole, he was technically a rapist - actually, no technically about it, he was a rapist - and - but - was it ok to let Lex kill Dean? Was Lex going to kill him? Maybe Dean was still preying on other girls, though. And Tim obviously had to pretend that he didn't know what Lex was up to, because Tim had to protect his former-Robin identity, after all, and maybe what Lex did that Tim didn't know about didn't have to bother him. Maybe -
Lex was patiently waiting for Tim's answer.
"Umm…" Tim said, looking up into the ceiling and pretending to wrack his memory banks in order to buy time.
Tim was super glad that Jason had killed Black Mask, right? So maybe it wasn't so bad to just -
"Arthurson," Tim said, feeling his stomach bottom out as soon as he spoke.
Lex nodded without a word and Tim got chills.
"Dad, what are you going to do?" Conner said, frowning.
Tim turned his head to his soulmate, who was looking suspiciously at his father.
"Who says I'm going to do anything?" Lex said innocently.
"Daaad," Conner said warningly.
Shit, did Conner know about his dad? Like, knowknow, know super-villain status know? Or did Conner only think that Lex was going to do something mean? Like get Dean fired (if Dean had even bothered to get a job yet)? Shit, Tim thought to himself, anxiety beginning to season the massive guilt swirling around in his intestines.
"Conner," Lex said firmly, "as previously discussed, multiple times, there are some facets of my life that you're better off not knowing about."
Conner scowled. Lex flicked his eyes over to Tim, who suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights.
"There's no problem, Tim," Lex said authoritatively.
"Ok," Tim half-whispered, not moving a muscle except his lips.
"Go grab your suitcases, boys," Lex said, standing up. "I want to get on the road so we miss rush hour."
"Where are we staying?" Tim asked Lex, wondering if he had booked them a hotel. Crap, that would make it a lot harder to sneak out to see Bruce, if so.
"Your father invited us to stay at your house, Tim," Lex said, smiling warmly, as if he hadn't just been plotting a murder. "Jack sent a spare set of keys over this morning in case you didn't have yours."
"I do have mine," Tim said, "but that's good you have a set now, too," he said.
Lex patted a friendly hand to Tim's shoulder before squeezing his arm around the still-frowning Conner's shoulders and planting a kiss on his son's cheek.
"Don't worry so much," Lex gently scolded his son. "It's my job to handle problems."
Conner sighed. Lex smilingly cupped Conner's cheek and kissed his forehead before heading off to his own bedroom to collect his belongings.
"What was all that about?" Tim whispered to Conner as they went hand-in-hand to their own room.
Not that Tim didn't damn well have more than just a clue as to what it was about, but…
"Let's talk about it later," Conner muttered back. "Tonight?" he asked Tim, looking into his boyfriend's eyes anxiously. "You were gonna tell me about your stuff tonight, too, right?" Conner said, and for the first time, Tim saw nervous doubt in his soulmate's eyes.
"Yeah," Tim said, swallowing down his own worry.
Conner was clearly upset with Lex, no matter how much he knew or didn't know about the depths of his father's villainy. That had to be a good thing, right?
Tim pulled Conner into a hug.
"It'll be ok, babe," Tim said with absolutely no conviction that it would be.
But Conner was hugging him back, and even snuggling into him, and Conner's breathing was evening out, and, well, he was Tim's soulmate, right? They'd figure it out. One way or another.
A/N - Thanks for reading! Comments are love! Next chapter, we'll be back with in Gotham with Jason and Cass, as well as Slade and Dick.
You can follow me on Tumblr as River9Noble - come say hi! And do check out my other stories! lots of rarepairs and Jason and romantic JaySteph, as well as a few other ongoing longfics.