Chapter Three

Two Weeks Later

Since the wounds were in a frequently used place, the stitches had to stay in for two weeks, but today, Tim was glad to be getting rid of them. Jason made sure that Bruce and Dick were not in the cave or manor, and waited till Alfred had gone so he didn't walk in on the two boys.

Jason had done some research last week and found out that with a joint stitch, he had to wait two weeks, so Tim only needed to wait one more week, and today was the day.

"I can't believe we got away with this, Jay." Tim said as Jason started removing the first interrupted stitch from the front of his little brother's shoulder.

"We were careful, but over the past week, I've been getting the feeling that Dick knows." Jason stated, removing a second stitch quickly.

"How?" Tim said, worried now that Dick might tell his father. There was silence as the middle child removed a few more stitches.

"I don't know, but he is Bruce's first protégé, so he does have the training to spot these things." Jason remarked as he finished up with the front stitches and moved around behind and began working on the other set.

Unknown to the two boys, their older brother and father had not left. There was a part of the cave that only the two of them knew about and they were hiding there, hoping that today would be the day that Tim would finally decide to tell.

Back with the boys, Jason finished up with the last of the stitches, but Tim was feeling sad.

"Jason, I think we should tell them. They just have to know, I don't know how, but they do." Tim said, looking his brother in the eyes.

"You're all healed up, I think it's safe to tell him now." Jason said, just wanting to protect his little sibling.

"It's about time." A voice said, and with the tone in it the two youngest Waynes jumped.

"Dick, Bruce; how…I…we… should have told you. It happened the night before we went to the arcade. I was worried you'd take me off patrol if you know I let that hyena sneak up on me and injure me like he did." Tim said, not making eye contact when he saw Bruce coming out of the shadows.

"You know you could have come to us; the important thing is that you're safe, and it seems like Jay's picked up a bit of a talent from watching Alfred for six years." Bruce said, hoping he sounded sincere but also disappointed.

"I'm surprised that hyena didn't break your bones, he must not have bitten down that hard." Dick said, examining the area.

"The only thing that hurt was moving it and I could feel the stitches pull some. How did you two know what happened, and when did you find out." The 13 year old vigilante questioned, curious as to how they knew.

"After we left the arcade, Bruce and I had the same thought, and met up at Arkham. Joker told us what happened, and threatened Joker. By the way, try to get hurt with our next run in." Dick said, but the last part he whispered to his baby brother and Tim just smiled, sensing what his oldest brother was getting at.

"You're not in trouble this time, Tim, but in the future come to me immediately when something like this happens." Bruce said, this time with a sternness to his voice.

"Jason, I know you were protecting him, but you should have known better than to hide this." Bruce said, turning to his middle child.

"I know, he was just so upset that night, I didn't know what else to do." Jason said, looking his father right in the eyes.

"I understand, the same goes for you, in the future, even if you help patch Tim up after something like this, come tell me what happened." Bruce said and with that, he and Dick left out on patrol.

Jason and Tim decided to hang out together for the night, so they went to play some basketball.