Patchwork Siblings, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter 12 - Together [rough draft]

And so it goes for the next few hours. Each of the boys is quite competent in his own way, and their complementary skills shore each other up when they band together. They have each other's backs, and ample reason to trust each other. When Batman and Nightwing are distracted halfway through patrol with a serious serial killer incident, Batman doesn't feel too great a pang leaving the younger boys behind.

When the killer is apprehended and his latest target rescued in the wee hours of the morning, Batman, with Nightwing at his side, rushes back toward the trackers, only to find Jason lounging peacefully on a rooftop with Charlie as Tim scrolls through social media. The boys are fine.

Batman's slowing heart rate ratchets back up a few minutes later when a rip opens in the fabric of the universe and a bunch of colorfully-dressed people come tumbling out.

Charlie instantly springs to his feet, shoving Tim and Jason behind him. Batman seizes a fistful of batarangs and hears the crackle of Nightwing's escrima sticks.

"Spot-on, Cyborg!" one of the newcomers crows. "He's right there! Get him!" The whole group launches themselves straight at Charlie, who rushes to meet them. Batman flies into the fray, wondering why in the world the Titans are attacking.

"Everyone, STOP!" There is such command in Nightwing's voice that the entire brawling group, even Batman, pauses for a moment. "Charlie, back up, I'll handle this."

"Batman?" Roy Harper (Batman doesn't recognize the uniform he's wearing) says. "What's he doing with the Talon?"

"And who's that?" Garfield Logan asks, pointing at Nightwing.

"Some local hero we don't have in our universe," Cyborg says, his cybernetic eye glowing as he sifts through data.

Raven glides forward and lifts her hands. "Please pardon our intrusion. A criminal from our universe was accidentally sent to yours, and we are here to apprehend him."

"You're here for Charlie?" Tim pipes up in dismay.

The fear in his voice sends a pang through Batman's heart. He growls, "There aren't any criminals present." Not technically true, but in this universe, at least, Charlie hasn't done anything worse than any of the other vigilantes have, and Jason is attached to the man. "This is my city, and you're trespassing."

"Um, hello, assassin alert?" Wally West says, pointing at Charlie. "This dude is a Talon. He works for a creepy bird cult and kills people. Has he not been causing trouble over here?"

Tim peers out from behind Charlie's body. "He's reformed. And he doesn't go by 'Talon' anymore, his name is Charlie now."

There's an incredulous pause. "So, what, 'Speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send Charlie for your head'? Doesn't have quite the same effect there."

"Better meter, though," someone snorts.

"Charlie doesn't work for the Court of Owls anymore!" Tim insists. Charlie stiffens, but does not dispute the assertion.

"Guys, look," Nightwing speaks up, "Charlie being from an alternate universe actually explains a lot. I think he's my counterpart in your world. In this world, I was never an assassin and I never worked for the Court of Owls. I've been Batman's partner since I was a kid, and I was actually the leader and a founding member of your team, the Titans."

The bristling group of vigilantes starts to calm down, and more explanations are exchanged in between introductions. The other world's Titans apparently have a history with Charlie as Talon: on the Court's orders, he captured some of them for experimentation and later tried to kill them all. During a battle, the Titans were ambushed by a third party, a group of their usual foes with bad timing. As the Titans, Titans West, and Talon all struggled, one member of Titans West was careless with a teleporter gun and Talon was hit. It took Cyborg some time to track him down, but once he did, they chased down the missing meta and now here they are.

"You don't have to take him back, though," Tim pleads. "He didn't commit any crimes by choice, the Court made him do those things. He hasn't done anything bad here, and if the Court of Owls even exists in this universe, I don't think they know about Charlie. But if you take him back to your world, they'll probably try to kill him for defecting."

Charlie seems very distressed. Jason noticed and has been cuddling into him, which seems to be the only thing preventing Charlie from leaping up and fleeing.

"Charlie," Nightwing says, "do you want to go back to the other world you came from? Or do you want to stay here with Tim and Jason?"

"Please," Charlie whimpers. "Tim is my Owl. I belong to him, no one else."

Tim's face colors. "We're still working on reversing the brainwashing."

"In any case," Batman puts in firmly, "Charlie has no wish to return to your world, and my partners and I are strongly opposed to his being extradited. He has caused no harm here, and we have need of him."

The Titans exchange looks. "I suppose...that is all for the best," Troia says. "Our primary goal was to retrieve Talon-"

"Charlie," Tim corrects firmly.

Troia nods at him. "We meant to retrieve Charlie for sake of this world, but if he has done no harm and is wanted here, and he wishes to stay..."

Starfire reaches to cup Charlie's face. He looks at her, his eyes straying in fascination to the flaming tips of her hair. "Charlie, do you renounce your old masters and pledge to do good from now on?"

"I obey Tim's orders now. Not theirs." He lifts his hands unhappily. "They made me hurt people. Tim doesn't."

Starfire looks at her companions. "I see no reason to take him."

Arsenal sighs. "So we made this trip for nothing, then."

"Not nothing," Tempest speaks up. "It was our duty to see this matter through, and now we have discovered it has been arranged to satisfaction."

"Yeah, well, we came all this way," Changeling points out. "Might as well do some sightseeing before we go back."

Nightwing grins. "I have just the place." He takes them away to introduce them to this world's version of their team, and they probably won't come back to Gotham before returning to their home universe. Batman is not sorry to see them go.

o.o.o

A few months later, things have settled down. Tim thinks he probably ought to be more upset than he is that he's been legally removed from his parents' custody, but he doesn't actually have any complaints about his life now. He's living in Wayne Manor with Charlie, Jason, Bruce, and Alfred; Dick comes to visit almost every week. It was weird having to get used to getting nagged about eating and checked on all the time to make sure he's healthy and happy, but he's adjusting. It's not so bad.

He and Jason are not allowed out in the field yet. He's mostly bothered by the lack of good photography opportunities these days, having to make do with supervised excursions that have nothing to do with patrol. But he's been helping a lot on comms and Jason's condition has gradually been improving as he undergoes various treatments and therapies. He still hasn't regained his full mental faculties and might never be the same as he was before his apparent death, but he clearly loves his family and he doesn't seem to be unhappy with his life. Seeing everyone dote on him and loving Jason just as he is, Tim knows it could be a lot worse.

Batman's primary focus has been eradicating their world's Court of Owls. Hunting and taking down the highest ranking members is a long and painstaking process, but at least they managed to deal with the Talons early on. Some of the actively malicious ones, like William Cobb, had to be permanently eliminated, and a lot of the Talons wanted their suffering to end and to be laid to rest at last. But there are a handful who managed to cling to a bit of both sanity and conscience, who weren't ready to turn their backs on the world yet. They've been undergoing rehabilitation, and the Bats hand-picked most of their guardians to ensure they will be well cared for. Charlie visits them all frequently.

As for Charlie, Bruce took charge of him, too. Although Bruce was wary at first and seemed to see it as a 'keep your enemies close' sort of thing, it's pretty clear by now that he's warmed up to the former assassin and now has an extra (albeit technically adult) son. Charlie goes to therapy twice a week and studies with a tutor while Tim is at school, and Bruce has been using both his WE and Justice League connections to look into treatments for the more unpleasant aspects of Talonization.

Charlie also works as a vigilante in either Gotham or Blüdhaven almost every night since he completed Batman's training and tests, though he's not yet allowed to patrol solo. He's kept a low enough profile so far that the general public isn't yet aware of him, though that will probably change soon.

On Dick's suggestion, Charlie participates in a lot of extracurricular activities, mostly for the socialization aspect, and Nightwing frequently brings him along to Titans Tower. (Sometimes he brings Tim and Jason, too, if there are no missions planned, and they all hang out. At first, Tim's fanboy squeeing warred with his indignation at being basically treated like a pet, but he soon realized the advantages of ingratiating himself with a whole slew of superpowered beings.)

Charlie has befriended the entire team by now, and next week, they're going to officially induct him as a member of the Titans. The only reason they're delaying is because Charlie has been working with Alfred on a superhero costume (Dick is banned from helping with the design, despite the fact that Charlie likes all his terrible suggestions), and Tim is brainstorming names for him. Charlie won't be a nondescript shadow for much longer.

It's Friday afternoon; Bruce and Tim have just arrived home. Tim stops by the kitchen to greet Alfred and pick up a snack. He hears approaching footsteps - Charlie, with his enhanced hearing, must have heard him arrive even across the vast length of Wayne Manor. Charlie practically skips into the kitchen and scoops Tim into his arms. "Tim! I love you and I'm happy you're back!"

"I'm happy to be back," Tim says, enjoying the feel of being hugged.

"We are flying kites. You have your snack?"

Tim waves the apple he's been munching on.

"Alfred," Charlie announces, "I will steal Tim so he can fly kites with Jason and me."

"I do hope you didn't leave Master Jason alone on the roof," Alfred comments. Charlie freezes. Alfred smiles. "Better return to him at once, then. And dinner will be ready soon, please listen for the signal."

"Yes, Alfred!" Charlie bounds off with Tim still in his arms.

They climb out on the roof where Jason is lounging on a towel, holding a book he isn't actually reading, gaze lazily following the kites dancing in the golden sky. Charlie sits down next to the frame where the kite strings are tied and finally lets Tim out of his grasp. "Look, Tim! They're flying!"

"They are," Tim agrees. He settles on a spare towel and lies back. "They're beautiful."

"Yes. Dick and I are building gliders for our suits. Soon, I will be able to fly on patrol like the kites."

"Batman better let me out to take pictures of that," Tim comments.

Charlie gives him a sly smile. "I follow your orders first, and his second. I will sneak you out if he says no." Apparently, Charlie imprinted on this world's Tim because the adult version of Tim in his own world was an Owl. Owl-Tim had, according to Charlie, treated him comparatively well, but Tim is still not impressed with his other self.

Tim grins. "Sounds good."

"Go for it," Jason murmurs sleepily.

The three brothers lapse into companionable silence until it's time to go down to dinner.

o.o.o

A/N: I've been meaning to write a bonus chapter about the Owl-Tim from Charlie's home universe, but the upheaval in my real life lately means that I haven't gotten around to it yet.