Unlike most kids, Tim was excited for his first day of school.

Since his parents had kept him hidden away in Drake Manor his whole life, Tim had taught himself to read and write and do math and all the other things kids learned in school, and he was excited to see how he stacked up to the kids with the other kids his age.

Tim looked out the car window in awe as they pulled up in the Gotham Prep parking lot. The building was huge, and there were so many kids. So many kids. Tim shrank in his seat as his brothers and daddy got out of the car.

"Hey," Jason said, coming over to his little brother's door. "You remember what I told you?" Timmy nodded. "With words or fists." He said softly but firm. Jason smiled, helped Tim out of the car, and ran with him to catch up to Bruce.

The hallways had Tim so mesmerized Bruce was practically pulling him as they walked to Tim's classroom. When they got there, Tim's eyes were immediately drawn to the map of the world pinned to the back wall of the room. It was so much more detailed than the ones in the books at Drake Manor. He had to get a better look.

He had only taken a few steps when he realized he wasn't holding Bruce's hand anymore. Tim looked back to find his daddy smiling at him. Statistically, one of his children was bound to have no problem letting go on their first day of school. Bruce just hadn't expected it to be his shy little Timmy.

Tim ran back to Bruce and gave him a big hug. "Love you, Daddy." He said softly. Bruce squeezed him back. "Love you too Timmy. Now go have fun." Tim pulled away and ran to study the map for as long as he could before class started.


"Ms. Hathaway! Timothy isn't working. He's daydreaming." The boy sitting next to Tim tattled. Tim sat up straight, embarrassed. Truth be told, he had finished his classwork within the first two minutes and had even shown his work and corrected a few typos on the worksheet.

"Timothy, is this true?" Ms. Hathaway questioned. "I-I-I uh I…" Tim stuttered, blushing. He had stuttered a lot when he'd started talking at home, but after a while, it had just disappeared. But now it was back in full force.

A couple of kids around him snickered as the teacher came over and picked up Tim's worksheet. Her eyes got wide as she looked it over. "Timothy, would you come with me?" Ms. Hathaway asked, and Tim followed his teacher out the door, the sound of more mean laughs trailing behind him.

Tim's mind raced as they walked down the hall. Was he in trouble? Did he do something wrong? He couldn't be in trouble on the first day. That was Jason's thing. Tim was so busy freaking himself out that he barely registered walking into another classroom.

Ms. Hathaway was showing the other teacher his worksheet. The grown-ups came to some unspoken agreement, and Ms. Hathaway left. The other teacher came over to Tim and knelt to his level. "Hi Timothy, my name is Ms. Ashby." Tim gave her a nervous smile and stuck out his hand to shake like Bruce had taught him.

Ms. Ashby smiled brighter as they shook. "Ms. Hathaway says you're a very bright boy and thinks my class might be more your speed. Would you be alright with staying here?" Tim nodded.

Ms. Ashby quickly introduced him to his new classmates, pointed out an empty seat, and continued with the morning lesson.

"Hey!" Tim's blond-haired desk partner whispered. "I'm Stephanie. Welcome to Advanced Placement."

Tim gave her a shy smile as Stephanie turned her attention back to the lesson. Tim did the same. He had a feeling he was going to like school.

III

The advanced placement class was just the right amount of challenging for Tim. He was still faster than the other kids, but it did take him a minute to solve the questions Ms. Ashby asked.

Tim was practically beaming as he followed his class to recess.

He and some of his classmates were playing catch when someone overshot the ball. Tim volunteered to retrieve it and ran to where the ball had rolled to a less busy part of the playground.

Tim spotted Jason kneeling in the grass with some other boys, torturing ants with a magnifying glass. As Tim pick up the ball, the boy who had tried to get him in trouble that morning and one of his snickering cronies snuck up behind him.

"Well if it isn't T-t-tiny T-T-T-Tim." He jeered. "You must think you're real smart, huh? You and your nerdy friends." The boy shoved Tim backward, and his friend held his arms behind his back.

Tim's eyes darted around until they landed on Jason. The older boy had seen the bullies shove Tim and was sneering as he stood up to deal with them. Tim gave an almost imperceivable shake of his head. The last thing he needed was Jason smashing these boys' heads in and getting suspended.

"Hey!" One of the bullies snapped. "Look at me when I'm talking to you. Or do you think you're too good to talk to me? You tell your new smarty-pants teacher you want to go back to normal class. Or better yet kindergarten, where you belong." The boy cocked his fist above his head.

Time seemed to slow as Tim processed the situation. It was two on one, and his arms were already pinned behind him, but he could feel the boy pinning him, loosening his grip. Bruce and his brothers had been teaching Tim how to fight. While he was nowhere near ready for patrol, he was already exceptionally good at using his opponent's weight against them.

Tim dropped to his knees and bent forward, pulling the boy holding his arms over his shoulders and sending him flying into his attacking friend. The two boys landed in the dirt with a thud. They looked up in a daze to see Tim looming over them. "Leave me alone." He ordered menacingly and started back to the main play area.

Tim tensed up when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder but relaxed when he realized it was only Jason. "Babybird, that was awesome!" Jay grinned wildly. "I didn't do much." Tim shrugged, trying to hide the joy of making Jason this happy.

"Bullshit. You kicked ass." Jason told him proudly. Tim was about to remind Jason that they weren't supposed to swear when the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. Jay pulled his brother aside and helped him tuck his shirt back in and dust off the dirt before sending him to line up with his class.


Ms. Ashby had barely settled her students when Ms. Hathaway came in with two disheveled students. Tim sank in his seat a bit as he recognized his bullies.

"Sorry to interrupt your class for a second time today, Ms. Ashby, but these boys seemed to have gotten into something of a fight at recess with one of your students."

"That's him." The main tormentor barked, pointing angrily at Tim. "That's ridiculous!" Stephanie snapped back, standing up to glair at him. "Timothy couldn't hurt a fly." Tim blushed. "Yeah dude." Another boy said. "And if you let this kid beat you up, then you kinda deserve what you get." Some of the kids started giggling in agreement.

"I swear it was him. He had crazy ninja moves." The other boy insisted. "Then how come you two are a mess and Timothy isn't?" A girl in the front asked them. Tim made a mental note to thank Jason later.

The boys started opening and closing their mouths like fish out of water but couldn't seem to string together anything else to say. "Ms. Hathaway, it is clear these boys had an altercation with somebody, but I highly doubt it was Timothy." Ms. Ashby said with finality. Ms. Hathaway nodded as she led the boys out of the classroom.

As Ms. Ashby started her afternoon lesson, Stephanie leaned over to whisper to her desk mate. "I know it was you. Don't worry I won't tell." Tim smiled and motioned for her to be quiet before they got caught.

He knew he would like school.