Part 4 – Tim
Tal'i stared at Ry'an. Alien eyes glaring at alien eyes. A stuck out frown facing bubbling lips.
"I still don't like him," Tal'i announced to the room as Ibn placed Ry'an on a mat on the floor for some exploring time.
"He's your little brother Tal'i," Ibn pointed out, "you don't have to like him. However, you can't give him away. He stays."
"Boo," Tal'i moaned but she didn't press the issue nor did she try to unsettle her little brother. Ibn considered it improvement.
Off to the side, Ibn's brother, Jason Todd, chuckled.
"It's like watching you and Dick all over again," he commented with a smirk.
This comment was strange to the people from that past.
"What?" Dick and Damian questioned, looking for more information.
"Well, back then it was more 'your big brothers', but the idea was still the same."
"We are not a family," the Jason of the past said. He wanted to shout it out and punch the point into his future self. "What are you on?"
"We're not a blood related family," Jason agreed. "And I'm surprised you find that the point of interest, rather than how you're obviously talking to yourself."
Dick smiled at that comment and past Jason glared. He didn't care that it didn't faze his future self a bit, he just wanted the man to know how displeased he was without giving him more ammunition to use against him.
Ibn frowned at his brother.
"You know what, maybe if you didn't shoot me-"
"What?" Ibn's Jason squeaked in brotherly outrage. "You attacked Timmy long before that!"
"What?" A third voice stated, walking into the room and the end of the conversation.
"Hey, Tim," Carrie greeted the newcomer with a smile and a wave.
"Carrie," Tim greeted. He adjusted the rectangle frames on his face and scanned the room. "Damian. Jason. People out of time."
"Oh, great," Ibn sighed, placing his head in his hands.
"Hi, Uncle Tim!" Tal'i greeted.
"How'd you get here, bro?" Ibn's Jason questioned.
Future Tim smiled.
"I've been here since dawn." He pointed down, indicating the cave below the manor. "Sort of."
"Better question; why are you up here?" Ibn asked with a long-suffering look.
The people from the past watched this interaction with rapt attention. It was basically the future Timothy and Damian talking. Talking, not fighting or arguing. And while Ibn didn't seem happy to see him, Ibn hadn't seem happy to see anyone so far.
"Right. Bruce sent me. He thinks he may have figured out the cause of today's little time slip," Ibn's Tim explained. "Something about a tracking bracelet?"
"Tal'i's bracelet?" the future Jason questioned as he pulled off his suit jacket, revealing the white shirt and red vest beneath.
"Why would- you know what, I'm not even going to ask," Ibn said. He would read his father's notes later to figure out what it was in Tal'i's bracelet caused this. And then he would have a talk with his father about why he gave Tal'i a tracking bracelet which could cause time slips.
"Good idea," the future Tim said. He walked over to Tal'i and knelt down. "Tal'i, could I see your bracelet? Grandpa Bruce wants to look at it."
Tal'i frowned at her uncle.
"No. Mine," she announced, grabbing her bracelet and holding her arm close.
"Tal'i," Ibn sighed.
"Come on, Princess," Jason said, joining his brother in the attempt to get Tal'i to part with her bracelet. "Grandpa will make your bracelet better."
Tal'i considered this for a moment.
"But it's mine."
"And it will still be yours," Tim said. "We'll bring it back."
"Oh goodness," Carrie groaned, walking over. She knelt by Tal'i and reached out. She didn't let the child's grip and pouting face stop her from prying her hand away and unclipping the bracelet. "Tal'i, I'm going to take your bracelet to your grandpa and, if you're good, he might take you to the zoo later."
"The zoo?" Tal'i questioned. Her face lit up and the bracelet was forgotten. "Can we see the elephants?"
"If you're good and let me take your bracelet to your grandpa."
Tal'i made a happy noise as she nodded.
"I want an elephant!" she told Carrie happily. "I'll love it and care for it and call it Bat-Phant!"
"Yeah," future Jason snorted in sync with is past self, "if Grandpa Dick didn't get an elephant, I don't think you will."
"Grandpa?" past Dick repeated in annoyance. It was alright when the kids said it, but from Jason it sounded like an insult.
"You're not getting an elephant," the future Tim pointed out.
"Killer of children's dreams," the future Jason taunted in his ear as Tal'i frowned at her uncles.
"Why not?" Ibn shrugged, to the shock of the people from the past.
"I'm sorry?" Bruce spluttered.
"Awesome, Damian!" Dick praised.
"Seriously?" past Tim sighed while past Jason just laughed.
"What do you need an elephant for anyway?" Damian growled at his future self in irritation.
The people from the future just smiled as if this was expected.
"Mar'i said no more animals, remember?" future Tim pointed out.
"Get another Bat-Steak and I'm in," future Jason said.
"It was Bat-Cow and you are disgusting!" Ibn growled at Jason.
"O-kay!" Carrie stated, wrapping her arms around her time's Jason's and Tim's shoulders. "We have the bracelet now, let's go guys!"
Tim didn't let Carrie lead him away. Instead, he moved towards Ibn and waited for Jason and Carrie to leave.
"Tal'i, go play with the dog," Tim said. Tal'i ran off, calling for the young puppy they had brought in off the streets a few weeks before Ry'an had been born. The group followed her, Tim and Ibn at the front and the people from the past behind him. "How are you holding up?"
"How do you think?" Ibn responded darkly but also tiredly. Every part of his being wanted to be working at getting the people out of time back where they belonged before something happened however, he was just supposed to sit around and wait for others to solve the problem.
Never had a Tuesday been as unbearable as this.
Plus, he kept getting awed looks from past Bruce, stabbing glares from his younger self and a variety of looks from the younger versions of his brothers. Ibn couldn't help looking at his younger self and wondering why he had been so angry.
"Bruce is working towards a solution, I know because I was helping him. Jason and Carrie are down there right now, also helping. We have an idea what caused this so we can fix it."
"Are you going to make us forget this?" Dick suddenly asked from behind them.
Ibn and his Tim turned to face them. Ibn knew that Dick was probably the most unsettled of the group, although he was good at hiding it under interest in this time.
"This future is not set in stone for you," Ibn started, "in fact, my father has told of many different futures he has sometimes had the chance to glimpse. Some were darker than this, some were simpler."
"You will remember that you came to the future, maybe even recall some strong emotions. However, we won't let you remember specifics. After all, this isn't how you should find out about Mar'i," Tim finished.
"Yeah, how did Mar'i come about?" Jason asked Dick. Their Tim, the past Tim, looked between them with a worried expression.
Dick's hands clenched and he turned away in shame. Then a deep and slightly accented voice said;
"Well, when a man loves a woman-"
Future Tim knocked Ibn over the head. Past Tim breathed a relieved sighed and linked grateful eyes with his future self.
Damian glared and Ibn shrugged. He was rescuing Dick from having to answer that question.
Tal'i leapt across the yard, tossing a ball to a small dopey-eared black dog. Ibn placed Ry'an in the playpen on the porch.
The people from the past watched Ibn and the Tim of the time talk with mild interest. Mostly though, they were talking amongst themselves.
"I don't like this," Tim was saying, looking over at his future self with worry.
"Now you know how I feel," Jason pointed out.
"As they said, this is only one possible future," Dick pointed out, "and it's not that bad."
"Not that bad? I'm working for the Boss again!" Jason snarled, pulling out his gun.
"I'm talking with Drake," Damian growled, crossing his arms.
"Stop." Bruce's flat tone was enough to make the boys pause, although Damian didn't twitch the way the past and current Robins did. "Fighting now won't change anything."
"Good decision," future Tim pointed out. He had a smile but was holding a staff. "We won't let you fight around the children."
"Too much of a chance for them to get hurt in the crossfire," Ibn added.
"And that's a no-no," Tim finished, collapsing his staff and putting it away.
There was a moment for the people from the past to absorb the united front the two of them made.
"Man, you two are creepy!" Jason finally declared.
"Your future self agrees at times," future Tim pointed out with a cold smile. A musical tone rang through the area and he sighed.
"Who is it?" Ibn asked.
"Steph." Tim groaned, "look at all those emoticons. Babs should never have shared that set with her."
"You mean the Bat Clan sticker ones?" Ibn questioned, looking over Tim's shoulder. He winced at the images of smiling Batgirl characters holding a pose. "Oh yeah. That's a lot. Looks like she's trying out the new set."
The phone rang again. Ibn caught a glimpse of the screen.
"And there's Harper Row's." Her little character came complete with taser gun.
"Those women scare me at times," Tim said softly. Past Tim raised an eyebrow at that statement.
"So, Replacement can't talk to women, huh?" Jason mused.
"I can too!" Tim responded.
"I'm not the best," Tim told his past self. "And these two, together, are intimidating."
"They do fight crime after sundown," Ibn pointed out. "Intimidating is the most basic of skills they require."
Future Tim just glared at his brother while the people from the past stared at Ibn and tried to figure out how Damian grew up into this guy.
"There's no way Bruce raised him," Jason whispered to his Tim. Past Tim nodded his agreement. Ibn was just far too, and it was an odd word to apply to Damian's future, bright. He had a life outside of Batman and the vigilante lifestyle. He was also married with kids, something Bruce, Tim and Jason didn't really factor into their futures at all because of their work as Batman, Robin and Red Hood. Damian had only ever thought about Batman in his future. Finding other things was a shock but he was starting to question whether this was a bad future or not. Initially, he had thought so.
"It's possible. I mean, Bruce has grown up somewhat in this future as well," Dick whispered to his two brothers, careful to make sure the person in question was out of earshot.
The phone went off again.
"It's Kon," future Tim said. He read off the message and a thoughtful frown appeared on his face. "Looks like trouble. I guess I'll have to put a rain-check on your little problem."
"Little?" Damian growled in annoyance. He didn't think it was a 'little' problem. He looked up at his father, noticing that Bruce had a deep frown on his face as well.
"What's happening?" Ibn asked, trying to see the screen. His brother kept moving the phone so he couldn't see.
"It's Tuesday. You can't come," Tim said. "Besides, it's just that situation in Manhattan I was monitoring. Looks like it's about to go off."
"Go off?" past Tim questioned as his future self darted inside.
Ibn poked his head through the door and shouted;
"Take my Bat-plane! But if you crash it or otherwise put it in the path of destruction, you're paying for a new one!"
"Fine!" Tim shouted back.
"Really?" Bruce questioned with a raised eyebrow at the older version of his son.
"I need someone to test it. I tried something new with this model," Ibn responded.
"What's going on in Manhattan?" Dick asked.
"Someone's probably going to hold the island for ransom or something. I know the situation could possibly end with Manhattan's destruction." Ibn shrugged. "I'm sure Tim can handle it."
"That's… nice?" the young Tim said, trying to absorb all this information. He must have some connection to New York. It sounded like he had a team there. Or at least, someone to work with.
Also, Damian could tinker. He made a mental note to keep the brat version away from his laptop. And to not take the Bat-plane an unknown number of years in the future.
"And what about us?" Jason demanded to know.
"We're still waiting for a solution," Ibn responded calmly. "Look, this is not the first time we've dealt with time discrepancies. It's probably not even going to be the last time, unfortunately. Time travel always gives me a headache."
"Your tea, sir," Alfred said, appearing when most needed as always. Although, Ibn had gotten into the habit of requesting tea every Tuesday at this time.
Ibn picked up the tea and inhaled the musky scent, letting it calm him with its warmth.
"Thank you, Alfred," he said. The throbbing in his forehead faded a little as he took a sip.
"Also, your father wishes to utilise some of Birdwatcher's contacts so he appears to be on his way here," Alfred said, thankfully waiting until Ibn had swallowed the first sip so he didn't choke or splutter over the tea. "Master Bruce needs him to collect a few things."
"Great," Ibn groaned. He regretted not hacking into his father's notes. What exactly had Tal'i's bracelet done which required use of Birdwatcher's contacts? Many of those contacts were in the spy game.
"I thought you might appreciate the warning."
"Yes. Thank you, Alfred."
The people from the past watched this exchange with curiosity.