Patchwork Siblings, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 6 - A Trio of Not-Robins [rough draft]
Tim skips school the next day. He does his best to take care of Jason, though he's not really sure what to do other than feed him and make sure he doesn't wander off. Talon seems fascinated by him, occasionally asking him questions that go unanswered or petting his hair or showing him the little treasures that Talon's collected.
The most life Jason shows is when Tim multitasks by reading aloud the book he's been assigned for school. Jason plops down by Tim's feet and listens contentedly as Tim reads, so Tim keeps going longer than he needs to, reading until his voice goes hoarse. He puts the book down and croaks, "I think it's time for lunch."
Talon makes lunch this time - he's been learning to cook a little bit and enjoys putting together meals for Tim and now Jason. He makes pancakes which are very irregularly shaped but taste okay, and watches eagerly as Tim and Jason eat them. "I did a good job?"
"Yeah, these are good," Tim says.
"Good," Jason whispers. Talon pets his hair. Jason bats away his hand but keeps eating.
After lunch, Tim tries some card games and board games, but Jason doesn't seem to have enough focus for them. When he instead sticks his hand into the box of chess pieces and jiggles it for a minute, Tim fetches a container of beads and lets Jason play with that. Tim tries to teach him how to make jewelry with the beads, but Jason ignores him in favor of burying and reburying his hands in the bead pile. Talon is the one who happily occupies himself stringing bead after bead onto the end of a ball of fine wire, continuing on until the beaded wire is way too long for any type of jewelry.
Tim figures there's no point in stopping them if they're happy.
They all nap again in the evening, then Tim checks the news. No mention of Bruce Wayne. He wrinkles his nose and then tries to decide if he should go out on patrol tonight. It'd be a better night than usual for it, since he got to take it easy all day, but he can't leave Jason behind by himself.
In the end, Tim decides that if Jason could handle himself for who knows how long on the streets of Gotham, he'll probably be fine with Tim to look after him and Talon to protect them. "Here, Jason, take this backpack, it has emergency supplies in it. There we go, on your back, just like that. I have one, too, see? And Talon has stuff, too, but he likes to keep it in his fanny pack instead of a backpack. Come on, let's go."
Once they're in the city, Tim now has two people to walk along hand in hand with. They make an odd trio, but although they get a few second glances, no one pays much attention to them. When they reach a good alley, Talon offers to carry both of them up at once. "No, Talon, just one at a time. I don't want you to get tired. Just be quick so Jason doesn't wander off, okay?"
"Super-quick," Talon says, and kisses the top of Tim's head for no reason.
Once they're on the rooftop, Jason shuffles over to one of the gargoyles and hugs it. Tim nervously tugs him back from the edge of the roof, but Jason pulls away and sits down next to his new gargoyle friend. "Talon, make sure he doesn't fall off the roof," Tim says.
"Yes, Tim." Talon crouches near Jason and watches him alertly. Tim takes out his phone and hunts for interesting things to investigate.
o.o.o
The next two days are a weekend, so Tim is able to stay home and look after Jason without having to rack up any more absences from school. He doesn't really know what to do with the older boy besides keeping him fed and clean, but Jason turns out to be fairly easy to entertain (the hard part is keeping him out of things he probably shouldn't mess with, like the Drakes' artifact collection).
Going out into the city at nights is actually easier than trying to figure out ways to pass time during the day. Their progress is slower with Jason and their group is a little more noticeable, but Jason can definitely hold his own in a fight. He and Talon take out muggers, prevent a few car accidents, and foil several attempted buglaries and a kidnapping, all by themselves without Batman's help. Tim is proud of them. One time, when he stops for a snack break and Jason almost immediately gives his treat away to a homeless woman, they start distributing food and toiletries to people on the streets when they can't find any crime to fight.
On Sunday night, the Bat-Signal comes on, so Tim has them stake out GCPD headquarters. To his surprise, Batman actually shows up after about half an hour. Tim watches through binoculars as he talks to Commissioner Gordon.
"Batman," Jason says.
"Yeah, it's Batman," Tim says absently. "He's busy."
"Dad."
"Yeah. Looks like he's back in town, so you'll get to go home tonight, Jason."
Jason, his eyes clearer than usual, points at Batman and looks at Talon. "Dad!"
"Jason has a dad," Talon says softly.
Tim turns to look at him. "Do you have a dad, Talon?"
Talon stiffens. "Talons do not have fathers or mothers," he says as if reciting something.
"Were you always a Talon?"
"...Is it permitted to answer that question?" Talon asks warily.
"Uh, yeah. Unless you don't want to."
After a while, Talon says, "I think that maybe I had a dad Before. But I'm not sure."
"Okay. That's okay. If you ever remember, we can try to look him up and see what happened to him."
"Oh," Talon says, very softly.
Over on the other rooftop, Commissioner Gordon turns away and Batman sprints on probably-soundless boots to dive off the building. Commissioner Gordon turns back, body language indicating that he has something else to say, but he pauses when he sees no one there. He shrugs and goes back inside.
"That move looks sillier from this angle than it probably does to the commissioner," Tim remarks. To his surprise, Jason giggles.
o.o.o
Now that Tim knows Mr. Wayne is back in town, it's time to send Jason home. When they get to Drake Manor, Tim explains the plan to Talon. "I'm sure that the whole property has defenses, but I don't really know what they are except for cameras. The important thing is to get Jason back to Mr. Wayne or Mr. Pennyworth safely without either of them getting a good look at you. You'll probably have an easier time figuring out the best way to do that while you're in the situation then I would from all the way over here."
"Jason is going away," Talon says forlornly.
"It's better this way, Talon. We can't take care of him for long, and Mr. Wayne and Mr. Pennyworth love him. Jason belongs with them. Okay?"
Talon looks at Jason and says, "I love you, Jason."
Jason looks at him for a long moment, then sets a hand on Talon's chest.
"Okay, let's focus," Tim says. "Here are some options you can choose from: you can put Jason by the front door, ring the doorbell, then get out of sight until Mr. Pennyworth or Mr. Wayne open the door and find him. You could also sneak in through a window and leave Jason somewhere he'll be noticed soon..."
It's very quiet when they leave. Tim watches out the window with binoculars, but Talon is very good at his job, and Tim can't see him no matter how hard he looks. He doesn't see Talon until he hears soft footsteps behind him - Talon's gotten better at not sneaking up on him - and turns to see his friend, now empty-handed. "Jason is safe?" Tim asks.
"Bruce Wayne was upset, but not violent," Talon reports. "Alfred Pennyworth cried and hugged Jason. Jason hugged him back."
"Good. That's good," Tim says, feeling strangely sad. "Good job, Talon."
Talon hugs Tim and announces, "Please very much do not order me to take you to Bruce Wayne's house and leave you there, please. Please?"
Tim huffs out a laugh. "I won't."
"That's good. Because I won't give you to him unless you order me to, and I really very much don't want you to order me to."
"I, um, I love you, too, Talon," Tim says shyly.
o.o.o
Life goes back to normal, or seems to. Tim goes to school and hangs out with Talon. They go out on patrol at night, though Batman is not seen for two nights in a row. The next day, there's a press release about Jason Todd's return. Tim brings home a small cake so that he and Talon can cheer themselves up. They take a nap and go out on patrol, and this time, Tim is able to get some pictures of Batman fighting Clock King.
When they get home, Jason is in Tim's bedroom, slowly sorting all his books by color.
Tim has no idea how Jason left Wayne Manor all by himself, or how he got into Drake Manor. "Jason, what are you doing here?!"
"Tees." Without looking at them, Jason gets up and bumps into Tim in a vaguely friendly way, then into Talon.
Talon points at Jason and says in delight, "Jason came back!"
"He can't stay," Tim says in exasperation. "Talon, you have to take him back."
"...What will happen if I don't obey?"
"Then I'll have to call Mr. Wayne to come get him."
Talon gently squishes Jason's cheeks between his hands. Jason makes an annoyed grunt and pulls away. "I will take you to Bruce Wayne and then you will come back," Talon tells Jason confidently. Tim sighs.
o.o.o
The second time Tim finds Jason waiting for them at Drake Manor after patrol, he gives in to the inevitable. Now, the routine is to come home from school, nap and do homework, listen for the Batmobile leaving Bristol, send Talon to pick up Jason (Tim has no idea how the catatonic teen is making it off the grounds of Bat property all on his own, since Talon always intercepts him only after Jason leaves his home turf), then head into Gotham as a trio.
Jason is nowhere close to being well, but over the next few weeks, Tim notices a bit of an improvement. Jason is still largely nonverbal, but his limited vocabulary does expand a bit, and he spends more time looking around alertly rather than drifting in a blank haze. Sometimes he smiles, or acts deliberately bratty. After days of getting hugged by Talon, Jason adds hugging Talon back and also hugging Tim to the greeting routine.
Tim has to cut patrols short earlier than usual now since he doesn't want to risk Batman getting home before Jason. Tim, Talon, and Jason return to Drake Manor and unwind with warm drinks, hot chocolate or tea or heated milk, before Talon escorts Jason home and then comes to cuddle with Tim in bed.
It's a good routine. Tim still calls Talon and Jason his friends, but privately, he thinks wistfully that maybe this is sort of what having brothers would be like.
TBC
