This is the idea that started this story in the first place. I wanted to write a story where Jason saved Tim from his parents (and in the original comic story lines his parents were neglectful at best)

Chapter sixteen

Jason watched Dick go through his trapeze act for the fourth time. Eight days ago Jason had told and shown Dick his concerns about Tim. Since then both had watched him closely or followed his parents. Bruce had already once told Dick that he trusted Tim to tell them if his parents were abusive and neither Dick nor Jason were sure they could bring the concerns to their mentor, who sometimes, well most of the time, stuck with what he believed over everyone else.

Dick landed on the pad. He took a long drink of water and then walked toward Jason.

"We are going to have to ask Tim." Dick said.

"What? He'll just lie to us. If he hasn't asked for help, why would he tell us now?" Jason answered.

"Maybe he doesn't realize that Bruce would take him in if his home life was bad." Dick sighed. "He's obviously been neglected since he was little. Bruce's small praise makes him beam for days and he is always excited when any of us give him attention. I mean when we give Tim attention. As Robin he will demand attention, for his work. But when it's a matter of taking him out to dinner on his birthday…"

"So sit him down, tell him he's got a real family and that he has to give up his horrible parents… Though I'm not sure it would work. Take it from someone who knows. My dad was always hitting me before he ran off. I never would have reported him before that, because I thought he'd one day be proud of me and turn out to like me as I was." Jason pointed out.

"So we keep stalking him in hopes that we see his parents hit him, or worse?" Dick demanded.

Jason kept silent. He wondered if anyone had ever give him that talk if he would have given up his dad for a good home.

"Horrible birthday present." Dick muttered. "But it's got to be done when we take him out tonight. Jason, we've got to try."

LINE BREAK BRINGING MY BROTHER HOME LINE BREAK

Jason stepped out of the shower and was glad that Tim was turning fifteen. If it had been Dick's birthday they would have ended up in some two-bit comedy club. Tim had said he'd like to go skateboarding. He even belonged to some skateboard club. Jason foresaw a lot of tumbles in his future. Hopefully Dick, who admitted he had never done it either, would have the same problem.

As Jason dressed his phone buzzed to let him know he had a message waiting.

He pulled his shirt on and picked up his phone while tossing his towel towards the corner with the laundry basket.

The message was from Tim. "Uh… hey Jason. Dick's voicemail is full so I thought I'd call you… Um, my parents… my parents decided I should go with them to the Charity… thing. Wanted to be together for my birthday and all… so… yeah."

Jason was pounding on Dick's bedroom door before his phone finished asking if he wanted to delete the message. "Dick!"

Dick came to the door in just his boxers. "What?"

"Listen."

Jason held up the phone between them and replayed the message. Dick went pale. "That isn't right. Jason, call Bruce. He's at that charity thing now."

Jason had forgotten all about that. He called Bruce. First time it went to voicemail. Dick was coming out when Jason's second call was picked up.
"What's wrong?" Bruce demanded.

"Are the Drakes there?" Jason yelled.
"Yes. Did something happen to Tim?"

"Bruce, is Tim there with them?"

Silence. Jason was trembling with anger and Dick pulled him down the stairs towards the garage. He could imagine Bruce scanning the room.

"No. Tell me."

"Think he's hurt. Bad enough that he left a halting, slurred message on my phone saying his parents wanted him to go to the shindig tonight. Bruce… I think his parents hurt him."

Dick pushed Jason into the car and ran around to the driver side.

"We are heading the Drake house now." Dick yelled so that Bruce could hear.

"Call me when you get there." Bruce hung up.

"I hope he goes Batman on them." Jason spat. Dick was already pulling into the Drake's driveway. The house was dark. Jason was out of the car before it stopped and ran up to the front door and pounded on it.

"He's not gonna answer it if you freak him out." Dick shoved Jason aside and picked the lock in ten seconds.

"TIM!" They both yelled as they burst into the house. Dick ran for the stairs. "His bedrooms up here."

A light was on in the kid's bedroom, but the door was shut. Dick knocked and called to Tim. They heard a small clatter and then vomiting. Dick crashed his shoulder against the door, ignoring the lock this time. Both young men rushed into the bedroom. Tim was in his bathroom, hunched over the toilet. He looked up at them, face pale, but blood leaking from the left side of his head, over his ear and down his neck. A second wave of vomiting assured them he had a concussion. Jason yanked his phone out.

"No!" Tim cried, wiping his mouth. "Please don't."

"You need a doctor." Jason yelled.

"If they think… they'll take me away and I can't be Robin if they take me away. Please Jason. Don't call them." Tim burst into tears, then returned to the toilet.

"Tim, did your Dad do this to you?" Dick knelt by their little brother as Jason wavered over hitting send on 911.

"He didn't mean to. I was talking back to him… he wanted to send me to boarding school for a better education and I didn't want to leave here…" Tim rocked on his knees.

"Call Bruce." Dick mouthed at Jason. Right. Bruce would know what to do.

He stepped into the painfully neat bedroom and felt anger rise up in him again. Tim always had to have everything neat. Probably his parents demands.

"Jason." Bruce said.

"He's got a concussion. Jack did it." Jason spat.

"I'm on my way. Have you called the police?"

"He doesn't want me to. He says he can't be Robin if they take him away."

Jason thought he heard Bruce grit his teeth. Or maybe it was Jason's own teeth.

"Can Alfred take care of him?" Bruce asked.

"Yes, but you can't be serious!" Jason yelled.

"Jason. I'm not leaving this untouched. He needs to know we aren't going to give up on him, and if he was injured enough to tell a lie he got caught in, then he's not thinking clearly enough to understand that we want what's best for him. If we take care of him and come up with a plan with him, then…" Bruce sighed.

"Then he'll know we really care." Jason finished wearily.

Dick carried Tim out of the bathroom. The boy's left arm was carefully nestled against his chest. Apparently Jack had injured more than the boy's head. Jason took a deep breath. "We'll take him to the manor."

Tim looked relieved at those words.

"Alright baby bird. Let's get you in some clean clothes. Jason grab that bag and throw some clothes in it." Dick took over. Jason left Bruce on the line so he could hear everything. "Hey buddy, can you look at me?"

Tim's pupils were dilated as he tried to look at Dick. "Concussion." The boy ground out.

"Anything you want me to bring? You aren't coming back here." Jason growled.

Tim looked alarmed.
"You're coming home." Dick soothed when Tim tried to stand up. "You are coming home."

"I… don't…" Tim was turning green. Dick got him back into the bathroom barely in time.

Jason grabbed a couple changes of clothes and dug out a small box that was tightly and triple locked from under Tim's mattress. He threw that in the bag as well. Dick had soothed Tim and changed him into clean clothes be the time Jason was done. Bruce was swearing at idiots on the road as Dick carried Tim, with some plastic bags to throw up in, out to the car. Jason had an armful of Tim's stuff that seemed most important to him and he had intentionally left Tim's bedroom a mess. Let the Drake's do something about that.

Tim didn't throw up any more, though he heaved a little in the short drive back to the manor.

Jason tore inside, letting Dick carry Tim in, and raced to the Kitchen for Alfred. Alfred had been left out of the loop but when he learned the reason Jason was yelling at the top of his lungs, the old butler was shocked and angrier than Jason had ever seen Alfred before, including when Bruce was being a melodramatic jerk. Within moments Tim was in the safe care of their butler/medic/grandfather. Dick looked sick once he knew Tim was safe and had to leave the room to calm down. Jason had had his temper tantrum and remained to help Alfred carefully clean the nasty, swollen head wound and examine the boy's arm.

Jason knew the injuries to Tim's arm. Jack Drake had yanked the boys arm up behind his back. And Tim had let him, though he could had defended himself, and won, at any time. Tim's shoulder had been badly sprained again, after just being dislocated. Jason wanted to give Jack a beating or worse.

"Timmy, you gotta stay awake." Jason murmured as Alfred worked and the boy looked exhausted. "Just for a little while."

"I know." Tim's words still sounded slurred. "Jay, I don't want to get taken away."

"You're gonna live with us. You are not going back to Jack and Janet." Jason swore.

Tim's brow furrowed as Alfred finished wrapping his shoulder. "Live here?" He asked, in obvious surprise.

Jason couldn't answer, because there was a lump in his throat.

Bruce was suddenly in the room, still in a monkey suit with a black tie. He spoke gently to Tim, telling him that he would be alright and that no one was going to take him from being Robin and that Jack and Janet would not be allowed to hurt him again. Tim fell asleep to this gentle soothing and a big, calloused hand softly stroking the uninjured side of his head. Bruce remained by Tim's side for a quarter of an hour in silence. Jason sat on the floor by the door and felt limp as a wet noodle as his anger gave way to horror and grief.

It was the kid's birthday.

And his dad had given him a concussion and a sprained arm.

Bruce got up and turned to Alfred. "I need to talk to Dick and Jason. Stay with Tim."

"OF course." Alfred answered, busy cleaning up his tools.

Jason followed Bruce into the hallway. Dick was sitting on the floor outside. He looked like he'd been through the ringer.
"I called Babs. She's got the birds out tonight. They aren't getting the reason. That's staying in family. Cass and Stephanie are on their way over… Babs was afraid Cass might go after the Drakes if Stephanie didn't keep her straight." Dick mumbled.

Bruce and Jason sat down on the floor as well. The three men sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Bruce sighed. "Jason, did you already suspect?"

"Yeah. I got a whole file on my suspicions." Jason answered.

"Bruce, how could we not see this?" Dick demanded.

Bruce was silent. He leaned his head back and stared stonily at the wall above Dick's head.

Anger rose in Jason.

"I'd like to know the same thing. You've known this kid for more than two years and none of you saw this?"

"OF course not." Bruce snapped. "I didn't want him – not at first. I was busy trying to chase him away! He wouldn't have dared showed any weakness to me. Why do you think it has taken so long for him to settle into the Robin? I wanted him to leave. I tried to chase him out…"

It took Jason a moment to realize that Bruce was having a major moment of crisis.

"Bruce..." Dick tried to interject.

"Dick, I hit him in training. I tried to scare him off. How does that make me any better than his parents." Bruce snapped.

"Bruce, you were training him. You were harsher than with Jason and I, but he is the best Robin out of us three. You never hit him because he argued with you."

Bruce sighed. "I still didn't see the signs. I thought he was being careless, forgetting injuries, or just not realizing that he needed every injury checked out."

"The kid did dislocate his shoulder while stopping a bomb and lied to all of us so perfectly we didn't know he was hurt." Jason pointed out, still wondering why when it was so obvious that Bruce, Dick, Jason and the rest welcomed Tim. Even when Jason came back, Tim was still Robin.

Hurray! They all know! Tell me how I did!