I don't own Young Justice. If I did, we would be on Season four or five by now.
No one but Mr. Bruce notices when Timmy entered the room (except probably Cass because she notices everything) and he feels a flush of pride. Jason is curled up in a corner, making a face at a book that tells Timmy that it is most likely assigned summer reading for school. Jason doesn't read books he thinks are stupid unless Alfred makes him. Dick and Cass are taking up most of the room, going through a capoeira routine together on the rug. Damian is watching.
Dick hasn't let Damian out of his sight since he got back from Bialya. He feels guilty about forgetting him, even though it obviously wasn't his fault. (Dick is funny that way.)
"Timmers!" Jason surprises him and is able to pull him in for a noogie. Someday, Timmy will be able to escape but he can't yet so he has to wait until Jason lets go. He doesn't mind too much. It's nice. Jason doesn't care much about personal space with Timmy and his siblings. No one else is allowed in, just them. It makes Timmy feel special. "What'cha doin' here?"
"I came to visit." He glances around the room. Damian is glaring at him and has scooted closer to Dick. "Is that alright? Mr. Alfred said it was."
"Dude!" Jason grins down at him. "It's awesome. I was about to go to sleep watching the two inhuman wonders over here." He jerks a thumb at Dick and Cass, who don't look offended. Dick rolls his eyes and hugs Timmy. Dick gives good hugs, they make him feel warm and wanted.
Dick sits down beside Damian and Cass steals a hug before Timmy even realizes she's next to him. "Parents...home?" She frowns and he shrugs.
"No, they left this morning. For a dig in Egypt, I think."
Mr. Bruce and Dick exchange that look they always give when his parents leave again. It makes Timmy feel awkward.
"Alright." Jason says loudly, throwing his book into the chair he'd been sitting in. Definitely assigned reading. Jason never treated books like that unless he hated them. Timmy remembers that he'd thrown Our Only May Amelia out the window from Mr. Bruce's office at Wayne Enterprises. (Mr. Wayne's office is on the twenty-second floor.) "Let's go do something fun. Summer's almost over, we need to treasure what little we have left."
Cass grins and links her arm with Timmy's. "Pool?"
Mr. Bruce sighs, but Timmy thinks he's trying to hide a smile as he clicks off the television in the middle of Cat Grant talking about the peace negotiations that will be happening tonight. "Remember sunscreen please. We don't want a repeat of last time."
Dick laughs at that and Timmy feels embarrassed. He'd still been sunburned when his parents got back and his dad had thought he was sick. It hurt too. Jason hooks his arm around Timmy's neck and begins dragging him towards the stairs. He trips a bit, not able to see anything other than the floor and his and Jason's shoes.
"C'mon, Timbo. I'm pretty sure you left your swimsuit here last time."
He did.
It is hours later when Mr. Alfred calls them in for dinner, shooing them all into different bathrooms to shower first. The clothes he sets out for Timmy are different from the ones he was wearing when he came to the manor earlier. (Mr. Alfred is magic like that. Timmy has a theory that he can teleport.)
He runs into Dick and Damian in the hallway, Dick is running a towel through Damian's hair, chattering to try and cheer the littlest boy up. (Damian is sulking because Mr. Alfred says he has to wear floaties in the pool. Damian says he's swum rivers and doesn't need stupid things like floaties. Dick says he's just trying to hide that he likes that they have cat faces on them. Timmy thinks Dick is crazy but he also thinks Damian is lying about the rivers.)
Cass appears from nowhere and pulls Timmy to the table. His seat is in-between her seat and Stephanie's, but Steph isn't here today so no one sits on Tim's other side.
Mr. Alfred makes really good dinners, even better than Mrs. Mac, and she makes the best dinners out of any of the housekeepers he's had. More evidence that Mr. Alfred is magic. They are having roast beef tonight, Mr. Alfred says because they worked up such an appetite in the pool and Timmy does feel really hungry. Even hungrier than after he trains with Mr. Bruce or Dick. (He convinced them to teach him self-defense after the last time he got kidnapped with Dick. Jason helped.)
"Are you ready for school to start, Tim?" Mr. Bruce asks him and Tim swallows him mouthful quickly.
"Yessir. I'm looking forward to third grade."
Mr. Bruce frowns and Timmy wonders what he said wrong.
"Third grade? You could easily qualify for fourth grade, at least. Likely fifth."
Timmy shrugs. He knows that Dick skipped a couple of grades and Jason is skipping one but he's already the smallest in his year and moving up to be with older kids would just make that worse. He figured out back in preschool how to keep himself occupied during class.
"I can speak with your parents-" Mr. Bruce starts saying and Timmy interrupts before he can stop himself.
"No!" He shrinks down in his seat under Mr. Bruce's gaze. Mr. Bruce is scary sometimes, its like he's Batman even when he isn't wearing the costume. "I mean, I don't mind. I have friends in my class."
That is true. Bernard is cool and doesn't mind when Timmy says weird things and Darla scares off Walter and Jemima when they try to pick on him. And Stephanie is in his grade. She's one of the oldest kids in the grade too, so she's automatically cool even if she's a scholarship kid. (Timmy doesn't see why that matters. People are weird.)
Mr. Bruce looks at him for a long moment before he nods. "Alright. If you're sure."
Tim smiles back. "I'm sure."
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