Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 7

Tim watched the building he'd seen the two vanish into, waiting for backup.

"What's up Little Red," the familiar modulated voice called, boots scuffing having already alerted Tim to his appearance. Jason was considerate like that these days, not sneaking up on him. He definitely preferred being called Little Red over Replacement.

Tim indicated the warehouse. "Two new arrivals via some kind of portal, felt like magic. Late teens or early twenties, one of them appears injured. They haven't interacted with anyone, just found the warehouse and appear to have bedded down for the night. Though I spotted some movement too small or big to be the two who came through the portal."

"New gang?" Jason asked, fiddling with the controls for his helmet to get a closer look.

"Maybe. B's on his way, I alerted them to magic users before they headed into your territory."

Jason nodded. "What the hell?" he sounded shocked so Tim looked back at the warehouse, seeing what had caused his reaction.

"What is that?" he blinked, were they hallucinating?

"Not a gang member," Jason grumbled, hand resting on a gun.

"They're…patrolling, securing the warehouse," Tim murmured after watching for a few minutes, seeing others moving in the darkness. "Magical constructs maybe?"

"Why not?" Jason shook his head, the red helmet catching the light briefly.

Tim watched the strange creatures curiously, taking in their actions when others passed by. "I think they're just serving as protection. With one of the two possibly injured, it would make sense."

"Maybe, but no one's gotten real close to the place yet."

Tim glanced at his brother and then back to the warehouse. "There's one way to find out." He prepared his grapple to get down to the street.

"Tim…"

"Names," Tim answered before launching himself off the building, landing easily on the street below. He put his grapple away and slowly approached the warehouse, comm on, half listening to Jason grumbling as he walked.

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Vanitas snapped awake instantly, eyes closed as he used a Thornbite to get a look at the approaching figure. Human, male, most of their face and head covered, a cape down his back. Was it a uniform of some type? There was a symbol on the chest, over the two crossed…belt things. He carefully shifted away from Sora who mumbled in his sleep before resettling.

He made his way to the nearby window to watch for himself, seeing the man was standing near the door, body relaxed, hands empty. What did he want? There was nothing aggressive in his stance and Vanitas couldn't sense anything dangerous, nothing beyond the normal levels of Darkness in the human Heart.

"Hello? I just want to talk," the stranger called.

Vanitas frowned, wary, but then opened the door enough to slip through, staring at the strangely dressed figure. He'd seen enough people on the street when they arrived to know that was not what the everyday people wore.

The cowled figure offered a small smile. "Hello, I'm Red Robin. You're new to Gotham?"

"Passing through," Vanitas offered. "Not looking for trouble," he added.

He really didn't want a fight, not with Sora sleeping nearby and his magic barely at usable levels yet. Vanitas had never held with the whole World Order thing, but under the circumstances keeping their heads down was the best thing.

"Is your friend hurt? Do you need medical help?"

"No, he'll be fine."

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Jason watched from the rooftop as his idiot little brother approached the warehouse where the potential magic users were hidden. At least he'd left his comm on so Jason could listen in, but magic was fast, he might not get a shot off in time to save him, especially with how close he'd gotten. From a distance, the dark-haired young man who emerged could almost be Bruce adoption bait, great. And of course, that was when he felt the arrival of the others.

"Red's made contact," he called out to them, feeling Bruce move up beside him.

"Hmph, Drake's being an idiot," the brat scoffed.

"Seems to be going well so far," he defended.

It was weird but despite everything he'd done to the kid, Tim kept giving him another chance. Anyone else would have walked away after everything Jason had done to Tim but not the baby bird, he was tenacious like that. And it wasn't just so the others would let Jason around either, the kid was just…not afraid of him. He'd never have fallen asleep around him if he was but he had, he'd even slumped against him, just the two of them on a rooftop towards the end of patrol. Sure, Tim'd been exhausted but he never would have fallen asleep unless he felt safe.

So, he would return the trust and let the kid handle the situation but while also watching his back.

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He carefully checked the monitors and then adjusted the medications. It wasn't surprising considering how long Riku had been kept under, his body could be kept unconscious but he had lost weight and muscle which meant the dosage of drugs needed changed. It was a delicate balance to keep him in the correct state and not allow him to sink deeper and risk death or too far the other way and let him begin to wake.

Ansem straightened up, just watching Riku's chest rise and fall slowly. How long could Riku's body hold out? Sooner or later, his health would fail, but was he still human enough for that to matter? Would he become a true Dream Eater when that happened?

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Tim kept his body relaxed, seeing the suspicion in red eyes. The colour was a little off putting but the other hadn't made any moves that could be considered threatening. And then the door opened and the other person stumbled out, half asleep by the looks of it. They looked very alike, brothers? Though this one had lighter coloured hair and blue eyes, no…. there was a touch of red in them.

"Vani?" the newcomer mumbled.

"You should be sleeping," the newly named Vani tugged him against his side.

"Got cold," was the answer even as the younger boy leant into him, at least Tim was assuming he was younger off the way they were interacting. It reminded him a little of a few times when he was around Dick when he was younger and tired.

"We're not alone Sora," Vani murmured, nudging at him.

Sleepy blue eyes blinked at him so Tim smiled.

"Hello," he greeted and the other jolted, waking up more.

"Uh, hi. Who are you?" he stayed pressed into Vani's side, head tilted curiously as he took in Tim's gear.

"Red Robin."

"I'm Sora and this is Vanitas. He kind of forgets to introduce himself most of the time," Sora smiled at Tim, and Tim couldn't help smiling back at him. "So, is that really your name or a title or something?"

"Code name I suppose you could call it. Vigilantism is technically illegal after all, so we don't use our real names," Tim explained. If they arrived by portal then who knew where they could come from, better to talk then upset them if there was a chance for the interaction to be peaceful. His comm was quiet, the others listening in.

"Vigilantism?" Sora asked, still leaning on his brother.

"Do you need to sit down?" Tim asked gently, seeing him shift his weight slightly, favouring one leg.

"Sora?" Vanitas glanced at his leg too, so definitely a known injury. A disability maybe?

"It's fine," the younger denied, getting a roll of red eyes, and then he yelped as he was scooped up in a bridal carry, the older brother holding him easily despite how close they were in size.

Tim couldn't help chuckling at Sora's reaction but glanced around, grabbing a nearby crate, getting a nod from Vanitas who set his brother down on the crate, making the younger pout slightly. His shirt shifted a little and Tim saw the black lines under his skin, radiating out from one spot just beneath his throat. Sora caught his gaze and yanked his shirt closer, eyes wary suddenly.

"I got hurt but I'm fine now. We're just trying to get home; we just needed to stop and rest for a bit. We don't want to cause any trouble," Sora explained.

"Where's home? We could help you get there," Tim offered. One of the League could or they could just get them seats on a plane, or even the batplane if they couldn't go commercial.

But Vanitas shook his head. "Nowhere you could get us to."

"Thanks though," Sora gave him another smile.

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Mickey raced through the halls, Donald and Goofy at his side, weapons in hand. Minnie was at the Cornerstone, protecting the World but…something had breached the protections…Riku! No, they would not lose him! He slammed into the doors of Riku's room, throwing them open, fire burning along his Keyblade, the spell firing at the Nightmares.

"Riku no!" Goofy yelled, launching his shield at the Nightmare looming over the comatose teen. It hit, but another Nightmare took its place.

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Sora frowned, rubbing at his chest, something…he shook it off, focusing back on Red Robin as he explained what he and others like him did for their World. It sounded interesting, kind of like what they did but on a smaller, non-powered level.

"Sora?" Vani asked, and he shook his head, it was nothing, right?

They were way too far away and he hadn't felt anything from anyone except Vanitas since waking on that first World.

And then Red Robin tilted his head slightly, one hand moving to his covered ear…listening to something? "Yeah, I'll offer," he murmured. Did he have something like a Gummiphone under there? He then focused back on them. "There's a spare safehouse nearby if you want to use it. It's an apartment so there's a kitchen, bedrooms, running hot water and the like. It's fully stocked with food, clothes, and medical supplies. It's one of Red Hood's, he's my older brother. He's not using it at the moment though so it's vacant."

A real bed and hot shower? Sora looked at Vani, pleading. He could feel it, they could trust Red Robin. Vani looked from him to the other and then sighed but nodded. Sora grinned and turned back to Red Robin. "Thank you, that sounds great." He stood up and they followed the local from the warehouse, the Unversed vanishing as they did.

Sora walked with Vanitas beside him, ready to support him if needed but he had to get used to moving without help. He just had to watch his step so he didn't get his foot caught since it still dragged. It was improving and he refused to believe one day it wouldn't be fully better. He longed to run across the beach back home and he would, one day.

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Donald sent spell after spell at the Nightmares, healing the King and Goofy as needed as they fought to protect Riku. "they've cut the lines!" he yelled, noticing all the leads and tubes going to Riku suddenly fall limp. That wasn't good! Riku had to be kept comatose for his own health!

A Nightmare slung Riku's limp form over its shoulder and then vanished.

"NO! RIKU!" the King screamed but there was nothing they could do, Riku was gone.

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Vanitas stretched and then looked down at the head of brown hair resting on his chest. There were two bedrooms but sleeping separately hadn't felt right after so long having only each other to rely on, having had to protect and care for Sora while he'd been practically comatose. They'd used all the hot water last night too, it had been great to get fully clean. He carefully slipped out from under Sora and went to find the kitchen, Sora was back to eating solid food but he still couldn't handle a lot or anything too strongly flavoured but he was getting there. And the main room was large enough to try and work on getting Sora's strength back, magic might be a bit risky though.

He wasn't sure why Red Robin and his brother were helping them, maybe seeing their own family bond in them or something? He wasn't very good at recognising positive emotions in others, that's what Sora was for.

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Jason checked the security system on the apartment the brothers were stashed in, no one had left and no one had tried to get in either. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he'd offered the place but…they were just two kids trying to get home and one had been hurt. Maybe that hit a bit too close to home for most of the family, add in that the two looked like they could be their brothers too… he was getting soft. They'd been there two days now, maybe he should introduce himself, check to see how they were.

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Kairi sat on the bed; a pillow clutched to her chest. It smelled like the shampoo they'd been using on Riku still, one of the few signs he'd ever been in the room. The medical equipment had been cleaned up and set aside, hopefully for his return but so far, they had no clues, no trail to follow to find him. And even if they did…would he still be Riku? How much closer to being a Nightmare was he already? Even and Ienzo had agreed that he'd have come out of the coma by now, the drugs out of his system. But he'd be very weak, vulnerable and probably confused. In such a state…he'd be an easy target.

She buried her face in the pillow, shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

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Tim carefully led Sora through some stretches to help his injured leg loosen up and hopefully regain some strength. He could feel Vanitas keeping an eye on them but it didn't bother him, he was just being a good brother. Tim was a stranger after all, no matter how much help he'd given them the last few days. The fact he wore a mask probably didn't help, though he'd avoided asking too many questions, despite Bruce wanting him to press for answers. He'd picked up enough to realise that where they came from was very far away and that they, or at least Sora, had fought to save the universe. Vanitas had also said a few things that led him to believe the brothers had fought on opposite sides for a time and that once they left…it was very unlikely they'd ever return again.

Sora winced and Tim relaxed back.

"Break time," he announced, and Sora slumped in relief.

"Ow," he mumbled.

"Sora?" Vanitas called, and Sora rolled his eyes.

"It's fine Vani," he answered. He then looked at Tim. "Thanks, for everything."

"It's not problem." Tim hesitated, Bruce wouldn't be happy but they weren't a risk, they weren't even from Earth so his identity wouldn't mean anything but trust to them. He took a breath and then reached up to remove the domino he was wearing instead of his cowl since he wasn't in uniform. It felt weird wearing a mask with jeans and a t-shirt but he had wanted to help the brothers relax by wearing civilian clothing.

He looked up, mask in hand, and found Sora watching him with wide eyes. "My name's Tim," he offered nervously. He hadn't told very many people over the years and it was always nerve-wracking.

Sora grinned at him. "Nice to meet you Tim."

Vanitas just nodded at him, studying his appearance for a moment.

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Bruce watched the surveillance, frowning at the sight of Tim's bare face as he worked with the brothers. He wasn't sure what he thought of the two, he'd contacted Constantine and Zatanna to see if they knew anything about the kind of magic that had brought the two to Gotham. They hadn't caused any trouble, hadn't really left the apartment beyond using the fire escape to go up to the roof on the one clear night they'd had to stargaze.

Jason had dropped in on them as well, it was his safehouse after all, but Tim was over there almost every day. He seemed to be really working to help the younger with physio on his bad leg and from the way he'd climbed the fire escape it looked to be helping. He didn't like magic but the brothers had convinced his children they meant no harm and were just resting between legs in their journey home. He hoped they were right to give that trust.

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Jason smirked as he pinned Vanitas, waiting for him to tap out before letting the kid up. He was scrappy, stronger than he looked, and very fast, but he obviously had no formal hand to hand training. The kids had admitted they were used to magic and blades, not getting in with their bare hands. So, to burn off energy, Jason had started working with Vanitas on that while Tim kept up the physio with Sora. They'd even got to watch Vanitas and Sora work on the younger brother's magic which was neat. Sucked that Sora had to relearn because of whatever had happened to him, but it was very good for them to get to watch.

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Demyx held Ienzo close, running his fingers through his hair to help him relax. Everyone was on edge since Riku had been taken, most terrified he would appear as something other than himself. Would they even recognise a Nightmare version of the kid? He'd been chatting with Lea and Leon about better security for the Castle but without magic there wasn't a lot that could be done. Demyx was working on the fountains, lacing the water with his own powers to act as at least an alert to strangers. He'd like it to do more, but he didn't know how, most of what he could do, he'd had to figure out on his own over time.

Lea had done something to all the fireplaces, stoves, anything that made a flame to ensure the fires couldn't burn down the buildings in a fight. And Aqua had done something with magic too to add to the protections on the town. Even all together, it wasn't enough to keep the Heartless and Dream Eaters out, but it made the buildings safe for the people to shelter in when they did attack. But there were too few magic users and too many Worlds to protect even half of them.

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Tim cheered as Sora completed his last lap of the room with barely any sign of a limp. After weeks of intensive work, it looked like his leg was as good as it was going to get. Maybe with more time, he'd get full function back but it would be wait and see. He was glad the brother's had agreed to stay and let them help with Sora's rehab, he liked them and so did Jason. Dick liking them was obvious, he pretty much liked everyone. Bruce was watching over them with a paranoid eye but that was Batman.

Tim would be sad to see them leave, especially when they'd probably never see them again. They didn't talk much about where they came from or how they'd ended up so far from home, but they'd seen war and death, all the family could tell that. Sora wasn't even entirely sure of his own age because of everything! He'd been sixteen the last time he'd seen his other loved ones though and the best bet of the Bats, after Sora had agreed to an x-ray and mild blood work, was that he was nineteen. Who knew what they would return home to, or if there was anything there still to go back to.

He'd started teaching Sora to fight too, mostly upper body while working on helping him with his leg. How to throw a proper punch, blocking, things like that. He'd even started him with a bō to widen the range of weapons he knew, plus it was easy to fashion one out of many everyday objects. Now that he was walking better, they could do some proper training.

"Tim?" Sora flopped down in a chair.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you do this? The whole vigilante thing?"

Tim blinked at the question, glancing at his new friend, finding he looked curious. It wasn't something he'd had to explain very often, few people asked. Jason had once he'd gotten closer; he'd told Conner too. Most of the bats knew, the old Young Justice once he'd finally revealed his identity to them. Other than that, he guessed they assumed he came from wherever Batman got his Robins from.

"I worked out who Batman and Robin were when I was nine. Used to follow them around, taking photos," Tim smiled at the memory. He'd been so sure of himself back then, not unaware of the danger of Gotham at night but sure nothing would happen to him with his heroes so close. He'd been naïve and very lucky. The second Robin, Jason, was my hero, my Robin. And then one day…he was gone. Jason was declared dead so it was pretty easy to realise what had happened. And Batman, he changed. He was getting too violent, unfocused, making slip ups he shouldn't. I knew if he kept going the way he was, either he'd kill someone or end up dead himself. I tracked down the original Robin, he's Nightwing now, and tried to convince him to go back but he wouldn't. So, I…I blackmailed Batman into taking me on as Robin because Batman needs Robin."

Sora was staring at him with wide eyes. "You blackmailed him?!"

Tim chuckled. "Yeah, I knew his identity, the id's of quite a few heroes by then via process of elimination. Threatened to tell if he didn't start sorting himself out. Not the best start to what's meant to be a partnership. Understandably, he sent me away for a lot of my training so I had an interesting mix of teachers." That was an understatement.

"Do…do you ever regret it?" Sora asked softly, gaze on the floor.

"I don't regret the lives I've saved, the criminals I've stopped, I've helped save the world. Sometimes…sometimes I regret the price to my personal life," he admitted.

"I didn't ask for this, didn't go looking for it. My home…it was destroyed and the one who should have had this power had already been taken by Darkness so it came to me instead. All I ever wanted was to go home with my friends. We managed a few months and then got called back because of the mess that ended with me a long way from home. And it was because of what I did, I knew the risk, but I had to save Kairi. I knew it could…could kill me, instead I ended up stripped of magic and weapons and dumped on a World," he shuddered but then pulled his shirt down.

With the shirt pulled down, the black lines radiating out from what must have been a wound, heading down towards his heart and around his shoulder then up under his hair when he turned his head, with his hair that length they were hard to see. So long as he wore a collared shirt it was basically invisible.

"Vani saved me, literally burnt out the infection. I stabbed myself in the heart because I'd rather be dead than what this would have done to me," he admitted, and Tim felt sick.

Hesitantly, he reached across the coffee table to touch Sora's hand. He wasn't big on physical contact but Sora was and Tim wanted to offer support and comfort. Sora looked up at him, eyes shiny with tears.

"You've got a very good big brother," Tim smiled, and Sora nodded.

"Never had one before," Sora murmured, and Tim was curious but he wouldn't ask. There could be many reasons for the two to have been raised separately, even with no knowledge of each other.

"Dinner?" Tim offered instead, and Sora nodded, getting up to help him reheat some of Alfred's food.

After the meal, Tim headed out for patrol, glad when it was a slow night and he could turn in early. He went back to his Nest to change and then upstairs to his apartment, pausing at the sight of familiar tanned skin and black hair already in his bed, smiling softly at the sight. "Light night?" he asked, knowing the other would have woken when Tim rode into the Nest.

"Yep," Conner rolled over, smiling softly at him as Tim crawled in beside him.

He chuckled as his boyfriend yanked him close, wrapping around him. "Missed you," he murmured, kissing him.

"Missed you too. How're the new guys?"

"Sora's as healed as he'll probably ever get and back to a healthier weight. I don't think they'll be staying much longer."

"I know I'd be very eager to get back home in their shoes," Conner admitted, he'd know after all. He'd been revived in the future, a long way from home and those he loved.

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Sinking…drowning…Dark…so Dark…noise…crooning…where…

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Sora snapped awake, breathing heavily, eyes wide as he looked around. There was nothing there. He pressed a hand over his pounding heart, frowning slightly. Something…something was wrong. He could feel Vani watching him, ready to move if needed. "Something feels wrong," he whispered.

He heard Vanitas take a deeper breath, stretching out his senses. "Nothing here," he said after a few moments. He reached up and put his hand to Sora's chest. "Huh." He sat up and turned the lamp on. "Your powers are definitely growing, looks like you're trying to reconnect to the others."

That was good, right? They'd know he was alive then, unless it would distract them? Who knew what was going on back home, hopefully peace but they hadn't had peace since the Islands fell. And something definitely felt…off, because he couldn't reach out properly or because something really was wrong back home?

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Terra looked up as the doors slammed open, Ven running in.

"They found him!" he yelled.

Aqua and Kairi appeared from the deeper in the library at the noise. "Ven?" Aqua asked.

"Riku, they tracked Riku," he answered.

"Riku?" Kairi whispered, pale, and Ventus nodded. "Let's go."

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Vanitas didn't need any connection to Sora to feel how torn he was over leaving. They had stayed longer than they had planned, had become close to the local vigilantes, but they still wanted to return home. They'd had no reason to help them, but they had. There'd been no reason for Tim to help Sora with his recovery, for Jason to teach Vanitas more about fighting without his abilities. He really didn't get humans.

And now they were having a party to say goodbye. So weird. But it was making Sora happier so he would put up with it. And then Jason put a gift down in front of him while Tim gave Sora one.

"Go on, open them," Jason smirked at him.

Vanitas carefully opened it, staring at the strange fabric within, it felt…like the stuff their vigilante gear was made of.

"Vanitas can make his own battle gear," Tim spoke up. "But it's always good to have something else as a backup and you can't do that. It's not as tight as what we wear since you're not used to that."

Sora held up a pair of pants, a shirt and jacket also visible. Then a box was pushed towards each of them by Cass, holding brand new boots within. "Hey, this is your symbol," Sora announced, touching the sleeve of the jacket, and Tim shrugged.

"Something to remember us by." He turned the jacket to reveal the bat symbol on the other sleeve.

Vanitas found them on his own outfit as well.

"Our gear gave some protection from magic when you tested it," Jason shrugged slightly.

"Thank you!" Sora grinned, obviously trying not to cry.

Sora's gear was in red and black with some yellow and blue through it. Vanitas' was red and black too with a few hints of a sea green…the colour of Ventus' Wayfinder.

The party lasted for a while, everyone enjoying the excellent food. But the next day the two got dressed in their new clothing and then joined Tim, Jason, Cass, and Dick joined them in the alley they had arrived in to say one last goodbye. Vanitas managed not to attack when Dick hugged him, the eldest of the brothers was just strange in wanting to hug everyone. All of them hugged Sora and he didn't seem to have any issues with it.

Vanitas stepped away and opened the Corridor, already wrapping his magic around Sora, happy he didn't need to use as much anymore. Sora was stronger than he had been after the disaster of his exam now, it shouldn't take him much longer to get to a point where a proper magic teacher would be a good idea. Now he just needed to summon his Keyblade.

"Bye!" Sora waved at the group who all waved goodbye and then the stepped into the Darkness.

TBC…