Chapter six
The next day being Saturday, Tim had fully planned to sleep in as much as possible. There being nothing for him to do until evening as Robin, he hadn't expected his plans to be thwarted. However, at 8 am, he was shaken awake by his parents, both of whom were dressed in business clothes. He rolled over to blink blearily at them.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, Tim. It is time we had a talk." Janet said.
"Right now?" Tim moaned.
"You seem to find all of our ideas distasteful." Jack snapped. He grabbed Tim's arm and yanked him off the bed. The boy agilely twisted and landed on his knees. "Now that you're out of bed, get dressed and come downstairs. You've got five minutes."
After the door shut on them Tim sighed, rubbed his red wrist and got up. He was ready for his parents to go on another trip. They were acting strangely this time and while this meant he actually was being seen by them, he seemed unable to please them. They did not understand him, and he was a little afraid they didn't want to understand him, but mold him into their idea.
He shuffled down the stairs, but did not dare delay too much. He really didn't want to lose his parents. And if they got too mad and hurt him, Bruce might notice. It wasn't that Tim was an idiot. He knew that it was abuse. But it had never been more than a blow or a rough pull. It was impossible to hide their neglect, but that was not enough to get him pulled from his family.
Besides, if he ended up in a foster system, he couldn't be Robin, and he needed to be Robin, now more than ever. Beyond that, he kept hoping that one day his parents would change. He hoped one day they would take an interest in him, just because he was their son. It was a balancing act, to keep his parents from realizing where he went every night, or to keep Bruce from realizing that sometimes the bruises weren't from a fight as Robin.
In the dining room his parents were waiting with breakfast. He sat down, took his plate in silence and waited for them to tell him what was going on.
"Well Tim, I got a call from the career counselor at your school. Ms. Dost is a very nice person and she would like to get together with us to discuss your future. We've planned a meeting after school Monday." Janet began.
"Ok." Tim nodded, wondering why they couldn't have told him this and let him go back to sleep.
"So Tim, we've been thinking that we should plan for you taking over Drake Industries in the future." Jack said. "I've taken a look at your grades and you seem intelligent. We should think about what stuff you should learn. I see that you like to read. I've got some books you should look at."
As his parents began to talk over each other, telling him what he should need for their grand plan, Tim sat staring stupidly at his breakfast, waiting for a break.
Finally his parents went to get up, still talking. Tim glanced up.
"Is this… I mean, do I have to do this?" He asked.
Instantly the full force of both his parents' glares fell on him.
"This is what you're here for." Jack snapped. "Our heir."
"So my future is all planned out, and I have no say in it." Tim laughed darkly. "Why now? Why do you all of the sudden care?"
"This is what is right for all of us." Janet answered coldly.
LINE BREAK BRINGING MY BROTHER HOME LINE BREAK
"Hey Tim!" Dick called as he hung from the trapeze and swung back and forth. Tim glanced up at him and grinned. Dick could always make him smile. The acrobat reached the peak of his swing and let go, somersaulting into the net below. "Thought you weren't coming over until this evening."
"I figured I'd get some extra work in." Tim answered.
"Work? You didn't come to hang with me?" Dick laughed.
"Can I do my stuff and then come play?" Tim replied. "I've just got a test to run."
"Alright. But I expect you up here soon." Dick called, climbing up to the trapeze again.
Bruce was not in the cave and Tim fetched the blood he had taken from his gloves the night before. He set up the various machines to run a number of tests on the blood and send them to his secured computer. After setting the computers to their tasks he hurried to change into his exercise clothes and join Dick on the trapeze set.
The afternoon was spent in flying around, sparring and eventually a hotly contested game of chess which ended when Dick's exuberance sent the board flying. After this game they hit the showers to prepare for dinner. Dick headed upstairs to see if Bruce had returned from Wayne enterprises while Tim went to check his evidence. The younger hero carefully removed the slides of blood from the computer, placed it in an evidence locker and headed for his computer.
He pulled up the results.
And there, on the computer, was a 99% match to the deceased Robin, Jason Todd.
It took Tim several minutes to be able to breathe again. He had already suspected this identity, but this confirmation shocked him. He was grateful that he was alone in the cave. Dick must have been distracted for he did not return to see Tim's pale, shocked face.
Jason Todd. His death was the entire reason that Tim had even become Robin. Why hadn't he revealed himself and claimed the position of Robin again? Bruce needed his son. Tim was an ill replacement. He could never be the son Bruce needed. He was a mere stand in. The position belonged to Jason.
When he came back what would Tim do? Could he make his own position? Would Bruce and Dick even want Tim around anymore? Would he be stuck in the life his parents had planned out for him, separated even from his heroes?
His confidence all the more shaken Tim almost didn't look at the rest of the information. He was actually on his feet before he remember he had subjected the blood to a myriad of tests. To give himself time to compose his features, since he was not ready to share his findings with Bruce, he sat back down and took a look at the rest of the tests.
Almost instantly he was on his feet again with a cry that echoed in the cave, thankfully heard only by the sleeping bats in the darker crevices.
The substance labeled LZ-15 was found in the blood. This was the highly addictive chemical that gave the terrifying Lazarus pits created and used by the terrorist Ra's Al Ghul and his League of Assassins their power. Used on a stable mind it created delusions, hallucinations and violent tendencies. On an unstable mind… Tim shuddered. Jason could not have been stable when dipped in the pit. He had been betrayed by his biological mother, beaten by his mentor's arch enemy, blown up… he was supposed to be dead. But he could not have been dead if he was dipped in the pit. Although the pit could extend life and heal injuries, with the terrible mental side effects, it could not bring back the dead. There had to be a bit of life left, even the smallest bit, for the chemicals to work.
Bruce had long been looking for something to combat the mental side effects. Tim pulled up his research to see if a pair of fresh eyes could find a solution. They would need a solution if they were to save Jason from himself.
LINE BREAK BRINGING MY BROTHER HOME LINE BREAK
"Tim, did you hurt your wrist on the floor tonight?" Dick asked. "Did I catch you too hard?"
"No…" Tim glanced at his slightly swollen wrist and was grateful that there were no bruises from where his father had yanked on for fear that they would have been in the shape of fingers. "Oh."
"This isn't from last night." Dick examined his wrist. "Tim, you should have said something."
"It doesn't hurt, Dick. I barely realized. I don't think it's bad." Tim laughed.
"Well, nonetheless, I will handle patrol tonight. You stay here. Besides, you look tired. Stay in. Bruce, tell him I'll handle it. Last night wore him out I think."
Bruce glanced over his shoulder. "Tim, he's right. You can give me a hand with last night's recordings from Black Mask."
Dick laughed, throwing an arm around his frowning younger partner. "Bruce is rather lonely here I think, Tim. Keep him company. Monday night we'll patrol together." He promised.
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