BART A.: hey

TIM D.: What's up

BART A.: idk

BART A.: did you have a happy childhood

TIM D.: ?

BART A.: i was talking to gar and some of the others people on the team and it seems like almost no one had like. a good childhood

BART A.: is that a requirement for superheroism? i mean i fit in there but jeez

TIM D.: I don't think it's a requirement, more like

TIM D.: It happens a lot because that's the driving force behind us being heroes?

TIM D.: Like. Batman and Nightwing are both orphans and that i guess made them want to fight crime

BART A.: yeah, i knew about that

TIM D.: Well you are from the future and all

TIM D.: That's not really why you're curious, right?

BART A.: idk thinking abt the apocalypse

TIM D.: Do you know where i live

BART A.: ya

TIM D.: Want 2 come over

BART A.: ya

TIM D.: You only gonna say ya from now on

BART A.: ya

TIM D.: ya

BART A.: ya

Tim was half-asleep when he heard the window opening.

It was Bart, obviously. No robber or criminal would have been able to break into Wayne Manor, but speedsters were another story. Bruce had given up on security measures against them after years of Dick and Wally's friendship. That's what Dick had told Tim, anyway.

Dick didn't share his stories about him and Wally much anymore.

Tim lived at Wayne Manor maybe temporarily, maybe permanently. Bruce was, as it stood, his legal guardian. His father had recently – very recently – awoken from his coma, but he was still too weak to leave the hospital, and it would be a while before Tim could live with him again.

If Tim was being completely honest, he wasn't sure if he wanted to live with his dad again. He loved him, sure, but… he'd gotten used to living with Bruce, being available at the drop of a hat.

Things were going to change a lot, and he wasn't sure how to handle it. Before his mother had died and his dad had gone comatose, they'd been gone, on and off, for most of his career as Robin. They'd had no clue about Robin – no clue about anything in his life, really.

Well. Maybe that would change.

Tim was moving to open the window when Bart vibrated himself through it, landing neatly on the floor. Bart quickly pushed himself up.

"That was pretty cool, right?" he asked. "Barry says Wally couldn't do that till he was nineteen."

Bart was smiling, but Bart smiling didn't always mean he was in a good mood. Tim wasn't exactly the best in social situations, and their starting conversation over text hadn't exactly been the cheeriest thing, so he said:

"How are you?"

Bart sat cross-legged on the floor and glanced up at Tim, eyes cinched up a little. "Are you always so formal?"

Tim blinked. "I… wasn't aware I was?" he said, cringing as he did so because of course that sentence sounded weird too.

Bart shrugged. "Well, whatever. I'm fine, honestly. Like, I'm not great, but hey, who is, right? Anyway. I was texting you cuz I got to thinking 'bout how everyone came to be a superhero and like… it seems like there's almost always tragedy involved."

"I know of a few people who became heroes because of other things," Tim said, thinking back. "But there's definitely not as many."

"Hmmm," Bart said, falling onto his back. "Can I go in your bed."

Without waiting for an answer – Tim doubted it was really a question – he sped toward Tim's bed and rolled onto it. "Thanks."

"Um. No problem." Tim looked around a bit and joined Bart on the bed. "So you realized everyone has had weird tragic pasts and you wanted to know mine?"

"Well, I already know Jaime's." Bart shrugged. "Y'know, skateboarded around, bug got attached to his spine. Not that complicated. The stuff after – that's complicated. But the origin story, not really. So what's yours?"

Tim breathed out in something like a laugh. "I don't think it'll be that interesting," he warned. "My childhood was pretty much fine. My parents were hardly ever home, but when they were, they were nice to me. When they weren't, my parents had housesitters and stuff, so I usually wasn't alone."

"Hm," Bart said, again. "Where were they?"

"What?"

"You said your parents weren't home. Where'd they go?"

"Oh." Tim waited a moment to answer. "Business trips, I guess. They went to a lot of places around the world. They didn't really talk about their work much. Well, they didn't talk that much to me in general…"

"And you became Robin because Jason Todd died," Bart said. "And Batman was taking it badly."

"Yeah…" Tim nodded. Though it had happened over a year and a half ago, the situation in which he became Robin was still fresh in his mind, as if it had only been mere days. "I'd known Bruce was Batman for years by then. It was, um, actually relatively easy to find out."

"Well, we can sure tell you were taught by the world's greatest detective." Bart smiled. "Even though that happened before you were."

"Yeah." Tim turned his Bat-Tablet on and accessed his recordings of the night before. "You were asking about the new vigilante in Gotham, earlier. We were together last night, I mean, there was a criminal who escaped prison, so…"

"What's her name?" Bart asked. "The vigilante, not the criminal."

"Stephanie," Tim said. "She's… definitely something. Inexperienced, but I think she could do really well. She'd do better if Batman would train her, but it looks like that won't be happening anytime soon."

"Did you catch the crim?" Bart asked, shortening the word criminal. Tim thought it was cute.

"No," Tim said. "Steph thinks he's hiding out in one of the abandoned buildings he used to use. Um, the criminal, Cluemaster, he's her dad, so." Tim nodded, twisting his mouth awkwardly.

"That's why she became a hero," Bart guessed. "Good motive."

Tim nodded. He was a little tired, but he liked talking to Bart. Soon the right video file was open, the shots from one camera embedded in his glove and one in his mask.

Steph was standing with her hand against a man's throat, pushing him into a wall. "Where's Cluemaster?" she said, not quite with Batman's growl but with an angry voice of her own.

"Nice," Bart commented. The criminal in the video, however, was less impressed.

"Nice try, kid," the criminal said. "You aren't Batman."

Tim remembered wanting to cut in, but he had to wait — he remembered his first experiences with interrogation, and it was best learned with experience. He'd learned that his first time: no matter how much he studied the techniques, the expressions, experience meant more.

Spoiler, true to her stubbornness, pulled her mask up and spit in the man's face. Tim wasn't sure how necessary that was, really, but the disgust factor seemed to help. The man tried to reel back, but failed to, as he was still against the wall.

"Want me to break your teeth?" Steph asked. Tim was pretty sure that wasn't a phrase, but the man seemed alarmed. "Or are you going to tell me?"

"Listen, I don't know where he is!" The man said, distressed. "I just know some of what he's gonna do. I'll tell you, but you gotta let me go."

"How 'bout this," Steph started, clearly not trusting him. "I keep you here, you tell me, and then I let you go, but only if you stay out of my way after."

The criminal groaned. "Fine, whatever. He's heading on down to Whencher Hall to steal…"

Tim paused the video. "That's her," he said.

"I like her." Bart zoomed in on the ⅓ view of her face. "Ski mask, huh?"

"She had to improvise."

"Yeah…" Bart quieted down again, turning his head to study Tim. It was strange how still Bart could become. Sometimes he was just like what speedsters were generally thought to be, rash and hyperactive, but sometimes he was quiet, too, thoughtful.

"Did you and Cass break up?" Bart asked him.

Tim blinked. He hadn't been expecting that, but Cassie was Bart's friend too. "Yeah," he said. "She, uh, wants to figure some things out, or something."

In actuality, Cassie had admitted to him that she was probably not straight, and she needed to have some time to herself to fully understand her sexuality. Tim got it, and it wasn't like they'd been dating very seriously anyway. He wasn't really upset.

Bart said, "she's gay, right?"

"I don't," Tim started, a little surprised. "I'm not sure if I should answer that."

Bart shrugged. "Tell her I'm gay and she should talk to me," he said.

"Oh."

Bart closed his eyes and put his head to the side, close to Tim's shoulder. "Can I sleep over here?"

Tim was tired, too. "Sure. Bruce probably won't mind."

Bart was already half-asleep, too dreamlike to really hear. Tim pulled his sheets (they were Batman themed) up at him and closed his eyes, too. Maybe he would actually sleep for once, maybe not. It didn't matter, not really.

Late in the night, Tim was still awake, but only technically. The only thing he was failing to do was lose consciousness.

Bart opened one eye. Though it was dark in his room, Bart's face had become pressed against Tim's jaw in his sleep, and when his gaze flitted upward Tim could see the bright green.

"Hi," Bart mumbled.

"Hi," Tim whispered.

Bart said, very quietly and very sleepily, "you're cute."

Tim, just as quiet and more than sleepy, responded. "Am I?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"Hmm…" Bart closed his eyes again for a second, then opened them. "Thank you," he started, almost embarrassed, "for. You've been really nice to me. And helpful."

"I didn't really do anything…" Tim said.

Bart shook his head slightly against Tim's face. "No, you've helped me," he said. "Like, I felt really… awful, a few months ago, but you talked to me and you said that I could talk to Dinah and you and stuff? I think it's helped. Like, not that much, because I'm fucked up, but it still did."

"Oh." Tim blinked. "You're welcome, then. I'm glad that's helped a little."

"I wanted to, like, do something for you, but I don't think I really have anything to offer," Bart admitted. Tim only barely noticed the flutter of his eyelashes against his skin. "You're pretty put together."

"I don't know if I am," Tim sighed. "I think I just ignore things. It'll probably blow up in my face someday, but I'll probably just ignore that too."

Bart nodded his head a little. "At least we're all weird and messed up," he said.

Tim was quiet for a while. Everything he did, everything he said — it was all thought through, cautioned, maybe too much. He didn't initiate most things. Black Canary said to act, not react, but Tim only took that advice in battle.

Tim said, "you're cute, too."

He could feel Bart smile, and place a hand on the other side of Tim's face. They didn't kiss, just laid there, faces pressed together, so close Tim could feel both of their hearts beating.

They slept.

GOTHAM CITY

OCTOBER 31, 11:03 EDT

"So you're moving back into your house soon?" Bart asked. "Can I still visit?"

"Of course," Tim answered. They were sitting on a roof of some Wayne-owned building, their legs hung over the side. Tim had been on rooftops for years, even before he became Robin, but the excitement was still evident. "I'll say I met you through Bruce and Dick. I did, kind of."

"You know Dick and Dick knew Wally and Wally was my first cousin once removed," Bart said. "Just say that."

"I'll, uh, edit that a bit," Tim said. "Barry's kids aren't even two months old, he can't exactly have a grandson."

Bart shrugged. "Maybe I'm Barry's cousin," he said. "I have no clue what's on my official paperwork. Or if I have official paperwork."

"I can look around," Tim offered. "Are you not being homeschooled like Gar?"

"Yeah, but I just speed through the work, so." Bart shrugged. "Is your dad cool? You don't talk about him a lot."

"I guess I don't really know him very well," Tim said. "Maybe I'll know him more now that's he's gonna be. In a wheelchair. So he won't be able to leave on trips for most the rest of my life."

Bart blinked. "You got some issues there, I think, pal," he said.

"Pal?" Tim repeated, teasingly.

"My good pal friend," Bart confirmed, nodding. "Hey, instead– instead of being my boyfriend you could be my palfriend."

Tim laughed through his exhale. "Sounds good, but people might think my gender is pal instead of boy."

"Pal can be any gender," Bart said. "Boy, girl, whatever, we're all pals here."

They continued the conversation lightly, changing into similarly ridiculous topics as time went on. It was nice, Tim reflected, to not be alone. Batman seemed to like being alone and he often encouraged Tim's solitude, but being with others, not just in missions but as friends (or more)… that was nice.

The future, be it something like Bart's or just the impending arrival of Jack Drake's return, could wait.