Red Robin... Yum!

Notes:

The Chapter we've all been waiting for... Or maybe it was just me... I don't know but here we go!

*I really, really want a comic series that is just Robin Team-ups, brotherly love, and generally dorkiness... How hard is that to deliver DC?*

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Tim scanned the area from the rooftops. Being in Gotham was still strange, a city that was once his home but was now the center of his worst nightmares. Even the dip into the Lazarus Pit was nothing like losing his mind to the Joker. Now he was back here, the Dark City. The city was the same, the same muck and grime. The same crime, hidden further since the emergence of the Dark Knight.

That was why he was back, Batman needed a reminder on how to do his job. Death was still rampant, and now Red Robin was going to put a stop to it. Or that was what Tim told himself as he returned. Right now, though Tim was just trying to keep himself from going out and taking the Joker out. Even with all the years away, the resolve he thought he built up, the urge was still there. His mind just kept going back to those days, the voice calling out to him. "Come on, kid. You're mine now, the Bat won't come to you. He doesn't care. You were a gift to me."

Shouts below caught his attention. A child was running, a larger man chasing. Something primal erupts in Tim's mind and he leaps down. The kid throws some kind of junk at the man, stunning him long enough for him to hide behind the dumpster. Tim jumps down from the fire escape onto the man, a sickening crunch as he lands on his shoulders slamming him to the ground. Everything is quiet as Tim steps away, no care for his latest victim as a small whimper comes from where the kid is hiding. The faraway sound of feet on grovel on the rooftop he had just left makes Tim jump away into the shadows.

A semi-familiar flash of yellow, red, and green comes down, falling Tim's movements with such finesse that Tim knows before his eyes register that it is Robin. The new Robin, the one that came into the picture after him. The one who probably still has the scar he left him. It's a moment later that another name registers in his mind. Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne's wayward ward. The proverbial street rat juvenile turned into an outstanding young man.

Watching Robin move to the child is almost surreal. The familiarity in his voice, the worry for the small boy's well being is registered and stored for later analysis. The comment from the boy is also noted, with the hope that his presence is not even a thought in the back of his former mentors' minds. The two are gone without any further investigation from the newest Boy Wonder and the Batwing comes to pick them up without a missed beat.

It is later that Tim finds out who the child could have been. Richard Grayson, the last survivor of a family taken down in a tragedy and the newest child to Bruce Wayne's collection. It's another few days before he sees the newest Dynamic Duo, jumping across rooftops with barely a beat missed between the two. The newest Robin flies and tumbles through the air. The effect on Tim's mind is conflicted, the need to rip and tear apart the representation of what he lose equals that of ripping Bruce apart for bringing someone else in that could be broken as well. The role of protector he once was entwined with that of the bloody avenger he has become. It's only the fact that revealing himself so early would destroy his plans that he stays in his shadowed corner.

The next night though, he knows his time hidden is up. Things were supposed to be easy, take out the dealers and make it look like a death delivered from rivals, definitely not the Red Robin. But he was too slow getting out, the dealers were more prepared than he thought. It took too long, their gunshots much louder than his knife and silenced pistols. Things like that always seem to attract the wrong type of intruders, even in Crime Alley.

The Black shadow that was once comforting, now a massive bleak formless terror from his twice ravaged mind. "I thought you said you were not coming back to Gotham."

"Thought I'd come back to see the sights." Tim said as if he was commenting on the weather. "Make sure Big Ol' Batsy hadn't put any more children through hell."

Damian's fist clenched and his shoulders tighten, making Tim wish he could see his face contort under his ever present hood. "Drake..." His voice was a warning and a plea.

Tim knew this. Knew the first Robin better than anyone on the planet. Even before what happened, Tim was figuring out all the buttons on Damian. Years, and many teachers later, Timothy Drake could tear even Damian apart with a few words. "I guess I was too late on that though." A smirk came across Tim's just-too-pale face, "The boy's tiny. What does Bruce expect him to do? Distract the thugs and villains just long enough for Batman to swoop in and save the day?"

"He's not part of this." Damian said, hoping the finality in his voice would catch on. "He is under our protection, that's it."

Tim let out a laugh, flat and with no real melody. "So they haven't told you. Thought you'd be the first one Daddy told." Tim paused before continuing, "Though maybe Daddy has a new favorite. Little Wing seems to work better than you did."

Damian growled, restraining himself. "Told me what? And live Robin out of this."

"Robins always apart of this, Birdie." Tim started to walk around Damian, watching him like a vulture circling a dying animal. "I saw him the other night. The kid was out on his own and Robin picked him up in the Batwing. Wouldn't be surprised if Daddy-dearest inducted him in the club then and there."

Damian watched Tim circling, a knife in one hand and a gas pellet ready in the other. "Why should I believe you?"

"Believe me or not." Tim said, "But let Robin know the Baby-bird didn't take out that guy." Tim was gone as the words reached Damian's ears, leaping from the side of the building with the sound of a grapnel reverberating through the eerily quiet streets.

Damian swore under his breath and relaxed. He was not really thinking he would see Drake that night. It was just a whisper of a whispered Robin that he had been seen, and the gunshots had already brought him here. But Tim was back... And even if he was lying, something Damian knew he'd not do (sure he twisted the truth a bit, but a liar he was not), he really needed to speak with his father. And Jason had told him Dick wanted to see him, reasons apparently too trivial to say over the phone.

Notes:

Let me know what you think of Timmy...

I really should work on him... I love Timmy... But he's a butt to write sometimes...

Maybe I'll bring in Steph in too...