A Light in the Dark
A/N: Again I love that people are following and favoriting this story but please I would really REALLY love some reviews so I know what it is you love and if there is anything that is OOC or something.
It has been asked so I will put it here, there is NO SLASH in this story. Later on there will be an issue with a sexual assault but nothing in detail just words skimming on the outside of it, enough to know what it is but but no detail What. So. Ever.
Reviews! Please!
Shout out to my wonderful beta Alex Skywalker!
Chapter 5
After breakfast, Jason bounded up the stairs to check on Tim. He hoped the boy had listened to him earlier and was taking a shower. Jason slowly entered Tim's room, happy to find the room empty and the sound of the shower running coming from the bathroom. If possible, the room looked messier than before. Jason looked around, wondering if he should clean anything up but decided against it, knowing how it would make him feel if someone went around picking things up in his room. Speaking of which, he would have to make the inevitable journey to that place at some point today.
Jason was about to leave when he noticed a photo album open on Tim's unmade bed. He knew it hadn't there before, when he'd come to get Tim for breakfast. Jason sat on the bed, going through the photo album from the beginning. Jason felt like he knew Tim well enough, but hoped the photo album might help him find a way to engage with Tim-to help him past this. The photos started out with pictures of Tim and his biological father before the man had passed. He had been killed by Captain Boomerang via a boomerang to the chest. Tim had been the one to find him.
Soon the pictures were replaced with photos of Tim and Bruce. The photos were from all over the world, their "other job" no doubt taking them there. There was the Eiffel Tower, snowcapped mountains, and other world monuments. After the pictures of Tim and Bruce were pictures of the brothers, Dick and Damian with Tim. There were even a couple of pictures of Jason in there though Tim wasn't in those pictures. That impressed Jason; it showed him…respect. It was around the pictures of Tim with Dick and Damian that Jason started to notice that all the pictures were posed, everyone was happy,…well, Damian was the exception, though Jason could see a smiling smirk on Damian's face in one of the pictures. There were no candid photos and Jason wondered if Tim kept those photos somewhere else. Jason knew that Tim loved to take photos, so where were all of the rest of the photos Tim took?
After the brother came Tim's friends. More specifically, they were of his best friends…the ones that were lost. Pictures of Tim with Bart, Connor and Stephanie. Jason noticed some marks near the photos of Connor…..wet dots…tear strains. Tim didn't cry. Jason remembered Dick telling him that out of all of them Tim had yet to cry over Bruce's death. Even Damian had shed a couple of tears when they had brought Bruce's body home Dick had said. It was then that he sadly realized he had never seen Tim cry…..never. Jason thoughts turned morbid as he realized the photo album was only of the people Tim has lost in his life, with the exception of Dick and Damian. Had Tim thought he had lost them too? Or was it the family he felt he lost?
"Jason?" What are you doing?" Tim was standing there, hair wet from the shower, bare chested but with shorts on. Now that Jason was seeing Tim without the shirt he could clearly see the outline of the boy's ribs. Tim still retained some muscle in his arms but overall had lost a lot of….well…everything: weight, muscle; that smile, the sparkle of excitement in his eyes that he first saw on Tim as Robin in pictures.
"Jason? You're staring."
"Sorry."
"What are you doing?"
"Hmmm? Oh," Jason was embarrassed he was caught unaware. "I was just coming to check on you and came across your photo album and was just looking at it."
"MmmmmHmmm." Tim picked up the photo album from in front of Jason and put it on his desk balancing it on top of a pile of junk that looked like it would fall over any second.
"You miss your friends," Jason started. He didn't dare say Bruce; it was too soon, too fresh, even for Jason.
Tim looked everywhere but at Jason, finally settling his eyes on a spot on the far wall. Tim bit his lip and simply nodded as if he didn't trust his voice. Jason took it as a sign to continue.
"I didn't know them. What were they like? Were you and Connor-"
"I don't want to talk about this Jason." Tim turned his back to Jason and looked out the window he was standing in front of. His prominent shoulder blades that were sticking out caused Jason's brow to furrow in concern. Tim was shutting down.
"Tim, I just-"
"I'm fine. Really, Jason, I'm okay." Tim was echoing Dick's sentiments from when Jason first showed up to the cave.
"No, you're not," Jason challenged.
"That's the pot calling the kettle….look, I don't want to fight. I'm more than happy to be your brother but I can't be your charity case."
"Tim, you're aren't my-"
"I don't want to FEEL like your charity case then, ok? I think you of all people can respect that."
Jason's mouth closed from it's open and shocked position. He could understand that. He could even respect that.
"Okay," Jason said standing up slowly from the bed and heading for the door. He turned back before exiting. "Tim, as your brother, I'm concerned, okay? So I'd like to see you out of this room at some point today. I know we have a lot to talk over…..as a family." Jason didn't get a response- not that he expected one- and closed Tim's door behind him, heading downstairs.
When he got downstairs he found Alfred dusting some things in the living room where Damian was playing a video game.
"Where's Dick?" Jason asked Alfred, disappointed the older man had gone back to cleaning the first chance he got.
"I believe, Master Jason, he had some business to take care of in the cave."
Jason nodded, deciding to leave Dick alone. He noticed the game Damian was playing and approached the ex-assassin.
"I know this game."
"And?"
"And, I bet I know it better than you."
"Tt. If you are offering a challenge, Todd, then you know I am accepting."
Jason grabbed a controller.
"Prepare to have your ass handed to you."
"Must be nice to dream Todd."
Alfred could only roll his eyes at Jason's use of foul language. It has always been Master Bruce who had chastised the young man about his bad habits. Alfred just didn't have the heart to do it. He continued to watch his two young charges as they proceeded to the challenge of the video game, a small smile touching his lips.
The bat's cries echoed off the walls of the Bat-cave as Dick Grayson once again sat alone in front of the computer banks, resetting some passwords and taking care of some business. On the main computer screen a warning came up. It read:
"It has been 2 weeks since Operation Mortalitas has been reset. Do you wish to reset or download program?"
Dick didn't know what to do. He knew the bat-computer was set to delete certain things if Bruce wasn't there to reset them after a certain time, but he thought he had reset everything. Or at least that Bruce had told him everything about what would need to be reset in case of emergency. He hadn't told him about this.
Mortalitas…Dick knew he had heard that foreign word before. After looking it up he tentatively pressed download. Once the file finished downloading it opened and displayed across the main screen, illuminating Grayson's face as he whispered, "Oh God."