A/N - To refresh your memory about 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. Tim and Kon's interview took place on Tuesday morning and Slade and Dick meet Jason and Cass on Tuesday afternoon.

Lex et al pick Crystal up for the funeral viewing late Tuesday afternoon, which is also when this chapter takes place.

You might want to refresh your memory with Fic #1 in this series (My Soulmate is a Green-Eyed Monster.) It will make a few moments in this chapter hurt a little more if you remember what happened to Steph in that fic.

Chapter 16

Tim was gripping Conner's hand so tightly that it had to hurt, but his soulmate wasn't complaining one bit.

Steph's coffin was heaped with purple tulips and lavender roses and the funeral parlor was filled with dozens of bouquets. Mrs. Brown was floating around the room on Lex's arm reading the cards before they opened the doors for guests. She made pleased noises as she recognized notes from this doctor or that staff member or those nursing friends.

Conner and Tim were trailing behind, also reading the cards, but for the purpose of keeping Tim distracted from the sight of Steph's coffin, which unfortunately dominated the room. He peered curiously into a massive arrangement of white lilies, far bigger than almost all of the other bouquets in the room, wondering who had sent it. Most of the hospital staff seemed to have chipped in on more medium sized bouquets or else sent their own smaller ones.

Tim choked on a gasp. Beside him, Conner stiffened.

"You ok, babe?" Conner whispered sympathetically. Shit. Of course his soulmate had no idea why Tim was suddenly freaking out.

"Yeah - I. Yeah," Tim stammered. "Just surprised that he sent flowers, I guess," he mumbled with his heart racing.

Lex glanced back at them from Crystal's side, and his face softened into an empathetic expression of pain when he saw which bouquet had startled Tim.

"You know Brucie lost his son several years ago," Lex said gently with his eyes fixed on Conner, like he had to assure himself that his own son was still alive and well. "I'm sure Steph's death has been all over the Gotham news. That was very kind of Bruce to send his condolences." Crystal nodded her agreement with tears in her eyes.

"I can't get over my baby girl havin' such an impact on the whole city," she said softly. "Flowers from Brucie Wayne sure is somethin,'" she sniffed. Lex patted the arm that she had linked in his with his free hand.

"Steph seems like she was a remarkable young woman," Lex said gravely. "I wish Conner and I could have known her."

"Well, she might have driven you up the wall," Crystal chuckled as she wiped her nose with a tissue from the numerous boxes thoughtfully scattered around the viewing room. "Bet she and Conner would've gotten along real good, though," Crystal managed to smile over at him.

"I would've liked that," Conner said wistfully. Tim squeezed his boyfriend's hand a little tighter.

"She would've loved you," he proclaimed. Conner gave him a wobbly smile that seemed almost insecure, which was kind of weird, Tim thought. Conner was amazing. Sure, their teachers didn't like him, but he had a tight knit group of friends back at school who clearly idolized him.

Maybe Conner felt nervous about the idea of whether or not he'd be accepted by someone so important to his soulmate? After all, Tim's dad had been completely rude until he'd realized that Conner was Lex's son, but thankfully Conner had seen that his dad was awful to Tim, too.

God, Tim wished he could've told Steph that he'd met his soulmate. She was - she'd been, Tim sadly corrected - so eager to meet hers.

"Nobody in my life gives a shit about me except you and Cass," Steph had proclaimed during one of their late night "What-kind-of-soulmate-are-you-hoping-for?" rooftop conversations. Spoiler and Robin had been lying side by side on their backs watching the patterns of light pollution against the smog in the Gotham skies and rambling on and on to each other about their every secret wish.

"I just hope my soulmate is excited that it's me," Steph had said with a shaky note of fear in her voice.

"Who wouldn't be?" Tim had ignorantly asked, genuinely befuddled. Steph was the brightest light in his life. Except for the fact that he knew he was gay, he would've been crazy hopeful that he'd be lucky enough to be permanently paired with Steph one day.

"Lots of people wouldn't be thrilled to get a non-virgin, teen mom from the Narrows whose dad is a criminal," Steph had muttered.

"Oh, Steph," Tim had breathed out, his heart pierced. He'd wrapped his arm around her shoulders tight. "Whoever your soulmate is, I'm sure they'll love everything about you," he'd promised.

Except now Steph would never rneet her soulmate, and her soulmate would never have the chance to reassure her that she was everything they'd been dreaming of and more. Tim wondered what happened when someone died before getting their soulmark. Had they never had a potential soulmate in the first place, because the Universe knew that they'd never have the chance to meet?

Or was that why some people like Bruce Wayne went for years and years without a soulmark? Maybe his intended soulmate had died young and the Universe had to wait for an appropriate replacement to be born to make up for the loss.

Either way, Steph had died unbonded, one more of her dreams crushed to ash. At least she hadn't died alone, though. Jason had been with her, and Leslie. Crystal had mentioned Batman being there, too, and coming himself to her house afterwards to tell her that Steph was gone. She'd also commented on how angry Red Hood had been at the Bat, but declared that she didn't personally blame Batman for Steph's death.

Tim wondered if she had all the details, though. If Crystal knew that Bruce had fired Steph from being Robin, would she feel as forgiving? Tim felt choked with rage and betrayal and abandonment. He didn't know how he'd ever be able to look Bruce in the face again, despite the fact that he was also desperate to talk to him and get some clearer answers.

"Oh, look!" Conner breathed out in awe as they drifted away from Bruce's lilies and came to a three foot tall heart-shaped arrangement made out of red roses laced with a purple ribbon. "These are from Red Hood," Conner said in a hushed voice with wide eyes as he read the card.

Huh. So Conner was a Red Hood fan? Even if only recently since learning how Jason had found Steph and killed Black Mask? Maybe - maybe that meant that Conner would feel equally awed by the fact that Tim had been Robin. He hoped so, because he'd promised to tell his soulmate his secret tonight.

Except - if Tim hadn't been so careless that his dad had found out that he was Robin, then his dad wouldn't have threatened Bruce and moved Tim away to Metropolis. So Steph would never have become Robin, and - oh, God. What if Conner blamed Tim for Steph's death? Well, maybe he should.

Tim sniffed and rubbed his eyes. Conner dropped Tim's hand only to wrap his arm around Tim's waist, instead, and cuddle him close.

"I've got you, Timmy," Conner said in a low voice full of determination and promise, mistaking his guilty tears for grief. Not that grief wasn't present, too, like an iron band around Tim's lungs, making it hard to draw anything except shallow breaths.

How could Steph be dead?

A soberly dressed funeral attendant entered the room.

"Are you ready to begin?" they asked Crystal. "It's six o'clock." She sighed and reluctantly nodded before dabbing at her eyes. "I'll start the photo slideshow and open the doors," the employee said.

Wait - a slideshow? Oh, God, please no - the huge photo of Steph on the easel by the coffin was bad enough, Tim thought with despair. Crystal had picked a photo of Steph caught in a wide laugh that Tim would never hear again. He didn't think he could stand to see more photos of his silenced best friend.

Tim ground his jaw as the pictures blinked to life on the viewing room wall. Conner started looking at them with interest, but he hadn't known Steph. Of course he'd be curious and want insights into his soulmate's BFF, but all Tim wanted was for Steph to come back. And since he couldn't have that, what he wanted was to not get stabbed in the heart by photo after photo of his best friend still breathing, still smiling, still -

A strangled cry left Tim's mouth.

"Babe?" Conner immediately asked in concern, swiveling his eyes from the photos to Tim.

"I took that one," he brokenly rasped, gesturing to the current photo being projected. "It was for her Instagram."

"Oh, Timmy," Conner choked out. He pulled him into a tight hug. "Do you want to go sit facing away from the projection?" he gently asked him. Tim nodded, blinking away fresh tears. Lex still had Crystal on his arm, and he was amiably introducing himself to the first few people who were trickling in to offer condolences. He glanced over towards them.

Conner shook his head slightly and Lex's eyes softened. He gave them a little nod and turned back around to charm more of Crystal's friends.

Tim was clutching a cup of coffee in his hand and picking at the plate of cookies that Conner had filled up for them from the buffet table full of finger sandwiches and snacks when Lex made his way back over to them some time later.

"You boys all right? No one bothering you?" he clarified.

"No, they're all Mrs. Brown's friends from work so far," Conner said easily. "I don't think they care about us. Haven't seen any reporters yet."

"Good," Lex sighed whole-heartedly. "The press release and Cat's interview should have dropped a little while ago," he said, glancing at his watch. "Evening edition. I'd be surprised if any Metropolis reporters make it down to Gotham before the visitation ends, given it's rush hour, but I'm sure we'll see some at the service tomorrow - who I'll handle," he promised.

"Betcha Vicki Vale shows up tonight," Tim said sourly. "As soon as she hears about the Planet article she'll book it right over here."

"I'll handle Vicki Vale, too," Lex said comfortingly. "She's easy to distract," he winked.

"Ew, Dad," Conner groaned. Tim managed a half-smile that slid off his face into anguish when he heard a gruff voice say his name.

"Oh - Commissioner Gordon," Tim stuttered out as he looked up into a familiar face. As far as Jim Gordon knew, he and Tim had never met - but Tim-as-Robin and the Commissioner had worked together dozens of times alongside Batman. And there beside him was - Tim swallowed.

"I'm Babs," the former Batgirl-turned-Oracle said for the peanut gallery with eyes full of knowing sympathy and haunted pain. "The Commissioner's daughter. I'm so, so sorry, Tim," she said, offering him her hand to shake from her wheelchair.

"So am I, son," the Commissioner added in a thick voice, clapping a heavy hand onto his shoulder. "To lose one of our heroes like that - and so young -" he shook his head, blinking away tears. Babs was squeezing Tim's hand like she wouldn't let go unless he did first, and tears started slipping down her cheeks as Tim squeezed back.

"How did Batman let this happen?" Lex quietly demanded without so much as an introduction. The commissioner made a wet, sad sounding laugh.

"I don't know if I should be relieved or insulted that you didn't ask how the GCPD let this happen, Mr. Luthor," he said in a shaky voice. Lex huffed impatiently. "Don't blame Batman," Gordon said roughly. "Gang war broke out not even a week ago. The city's in turmoil."

"When is it not?" Lex said snidely. But the Commissioner shook his head.

"Not like this," he said in a low voice. "I'm surprised you made it through the city in one piece."

"My car is bulletproof," Lex said dismissively. "And I have an excellent driver." And a terrifying reputation, Tim silently added in his head. He had no doubt that Lex had made a few calls prior to their trip, because they'd had a surprisingly quiet ride through town, even through the Narrows. Quiet even if there hadn't been a gang war going on, come to think of it, Tim suddenly realized.

Huh.

Would Lex be able to actually stop the gang war, Tim wondered? He certainly had the money and power to force a solution - in ways that Batman either couldn't or wouldn't - if only he'd take an interest and bother.

Maybe it wouldn't be quite so bad to tell Conner that he'd been Robin after all, Tim thought, if Conner could persuade his dad to help dial back the violence in the city. Bruce wouldn't like it, but Bruce had let Steph die. Plus, Batman didn't currently have either Nightwing or Robin to back him up on the streets and he was no doubt running himself ragged trying to recontain the powderkeg that had exploded.

Jason might not like involving Lex either, but then again, Jason was far more practically minded than Bruce was and he cared a hell of a lot more about protecting innocents than he did about who should or shouldn't help out in Gotham. Tim decided that he'd ask Jason's advice later tonight (and permission, who was he kidding?) - but he didn't actually have a way to get in touch with Jason, was the thing.

Jason and Bruce had been on the outs ever since Jason had come back to life, and a good half of the reason for it was because Bruce had taken on another Robin - i.e., Tim. Jason hadn't only had his feelings hurt; he'd been enraged that Bruce had dared to endanger another teenager's life after losing Jason to Joker. Tim couldn't even imagine how livid Jason must be over Steph's death, especially after trying to save her.

There was someone clutching Tim's hand, though, whose phone number he did have. There wasn't a person on the planet who Oracle couldn't get in touch with if she wanted to. Tim would have to talk to Conner first about his secret identity, but then he'd call Babs and ask her to connect him to Jason so they could consult.

"It was good to hear from Mrs. Brown that you found your soulmate," the redhead in question said gently to Tim. He wondered if she'd known beforehand. How far did her spyfingers go? Or maybe Bruce had already heard the news on the downlow from either Lois or Clark and passed the news on to Babs, Tim supposed. God. His conversation with Bruce was going to be awful on so many levels.

"Yeah, um, this is Conner," Tim answered Babs, though, as he introduced his soulmate. The blush suddenly staining his cheeks wasn't over being Premarked. It was because of who Conner's dad was.

Tim knew that Babs was well aware of how terribly awkward and potentially dangerous his situation was. He hoped that she wasn't judging him for ending up with Conner as his soulmate. It wasn't exactly his fault, but what did it say about Tim that Fate had matched him with Lex Luthor's son?

"It's nice to meet you, Conner," Babs said kindly, finally letting Tim's hand go so she could offer hers to his soulmate.

"You, too," Conner said politely as he shook. "This is my dad, Lex," he introduced like the well-mannered society son that he usually bore no resemblance to.

Lex flicked his eyes down to Babs, whose eyes shot up to his and narrowed. They regarded each other silently for half a beat. Lex, surprisingly, looked downright wary. Shit, he didn't know, did he? He hadn't given any indication that he knew that Tim was Robin or that Bruce was Batman, so there was no possible way that Lex could know that Babs was Oracle, right?

Babs was a genius. Best hacker on the planet. Except - Lex was a genius, too, and also amazing with computers. OhmyGod, Tim thought in a panic. Did he know? Had he stumbled across Oracle's digital trail one day and pulled the thread and found out? Oh, fuck. Not good not good not good.

"Mr. Luthor," Babs said slowly, extending her hand very, very slowly to shake.

"Ms. Gordon," Lex said in a slightly chilly tone, for once not putting the schmooze on. Oh, crap. Crap crap crap. He looked as reluctant to shake hands as Babs was.

"It's Professor Gordon," Babs said tartly.

"Ah," Lex said in a voice that could care less. His hand still hadn't made it to hers. If Tim hadn't been watching Lex so closely, he might have missed the slight grimace that his father-in-law gave just before their palms met.

Babs jerked slightly as Lex shook her hand. Tim's eyes flicked down and oh my, Babs looked like she was gripping Lex's hand pretty hard. Showing him she could kick ass from her chair? Or going for the intimidation factor, maybe?

"LexCorp could provide you with a motorized wheelchair if you can't afford one," Lex blurted out of nowhere as he stared down at Babs in her manual chair. Tim's eyebrows hit his hairline. "Free of charge, of course," Lex smoothly added.

"I prefer pushing myself," Babs said in a tight voice without breaking eye contact with him - and without releasing his hand.

"Ah," Lex said again, but with slightly more interest this time around. "Well. If you ever change your mind, the offer stands."

"I won't," Babs said brusquely.

"But thank you," the Commissioner interjected, giving Babs a meaningful look. "That's very generous of you, Mr. Luthor."

"Yes, very generous," Babs repeated with scathing sarcasm, finally pulling her hand away from Lex's like it was covered in poo.

Holy fuck.

Oracle v. Lex Luthor was going down right here, right now, with Steph lying dead twenty feet away.

"Jim!" Tim heard an all too familiar voice interrupt. No. Nonono. Why was he here? Shouldn't he be out fighting crime? Trying to keep other kids from getting killed in gang wars that he apparently had yet to control? How dare he show his face -

Bruce Wayne appeared from behind the Commissioner's shoulder and met Tim's panicked eyes.

A/N - Thanks for reading! More to come.

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