Disclaimer: Don't own them

This is the last of what I already have written so it'll be slower from here.

If Tim does go independent, he should change his moniker to break the tie to the bats, in that case, what name should he use? Not 100% he will break from them but there is a good chance. Should he chose something more ghostly to match his boyfriend?

Chapter 3

Waking was a slow process, his body screaming at him in pain but that wasn't a new thing. He blinked and realised he was still wearing his cowl but lying on a bed…not his own bed or the cot in his Nest or even the medical bay of the Cave. He kept his breathing steady even as he glanced around without moving his head, relieved to find he was unrestrained at least. He spotted his uniform and gear lying on the nearby table in a pile, his boots on the floor. A familiar picture of the Chicago skyline adorned the nearby wall and his eyes widened. He knew where he was, but how had he gotten to Danny's apartment? He remembered fighting Freeze and his guys…the cops arriving…after that everything was hazy.

Noise cut off and he realised it was the shower, his heart racing, making him feel lightheaded. His cowl was in place and there was no sign anyone had tried to remove it. He knew Danny was kind, had a big heart, but to just patch up a vigilante who crashed into his apartment…literally, because he could now see the trash bag and broom across the room and yeah, that was a boarded-up window. He'd pay to get that replaced; Danny couldn't spare the money.

And then Danny walked in, still pulling his shirt down, giving Tim a glance at very nice skin…and a scar. Was that why Danny always covered up? But he'd seen Tim's scars, he'd half collapsed on Danny thanks to his stupid missing spleen and an infected cut. And Tim was dressed in casual clothing…Danny had stripped him…he'd have seen.

He turned his head slowly and Danny looked at him, relaxing.

"You're awake," he sounded relieved. "How do you feel?"

"Confused," he managed to answer, tongue heavy in his dry mouth.

"Here." Danny grabbed a water bottle and held it to his lips, Tim gratefully drinking slowly. "Well, you look a lot better than you did when you crashed through my window."

"Sorry."

"Don't be, you needed help. Sorry about the clothes but yours were soaked and you were heading for hypothermia. You were losing a lot of blood too."

Tim shifted, feeling the pull of stitches from multiple wounds, the weakness of his limbs. He looked at Danny who had perched on the edge of the bed, staring at him, looking for any sign he knew. "I'll pay for the window," he offered quietly.

"Hungry?" Danny asked instead of mentioning the window at all.

Tim considered it but then nodded, he should eat to help get his energy levels back up. "How long've I been here?" talking was exhausting. How much blood had he lost? He didn't feel cold at least and he could feel his extremities.

"It was about 3am when you arrived so," Danny twisted to see the clock, "five hours."

And no one was trying to ask his location on comms, no one had triggered his trackers to find him either, so they either didn't know he was missing or didn't care. He kind of hoped that they simply assumed he'd gone home without checking back in since that was the best option of the lot.

"Food please," he agreed, and Danny smiled before turning away.

He didn't know what to say, how to ask if Danny knew without giving away his identity if Danny didn't. Maybe…maybe he should tell him. He watched Danny empty a can into a bowl and then put it in the microwave in the small kitchen, hesitating. It would break all Bruce's rules but he was about as much a bat as Jason was anymore so why did he have to follow them? Before he could second guess himself, he reached up for the cowl, grimacing at the sharp pain in his arm, struggling a little but in the end, he got it off and let it fall to the bed.

"It's pretty ba…" Danny trailed off as their eyes met. "Tim."

He managed a shaky smile, heart in his throat. "Hey."

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Danny went to the kitchen to get some food. Tim hadn't said anything about him stripping him, yet. Did Tim not realise his scars would give his identity away? Or maybe the idea was they'd both ignore it and pretend he didn't know? His kitchen wasn't the best stocked but he managed a tin of meat and vegetable soup to help with the blood loss at least.

"It's pretty ba…" Danny trailed off as their eyes met. "Tim," he murmured. He'd taken the cowl off so it looked like they weren't pretending. He looked terrible, too pale, the bags under his eyes three times worse than normal, hair lank.

Tim gave a shaky smile in return. "Hey."

Danny crossed the room and set the bowl down, reaching out slowly to stroke his cheek. "You really scared me, Tim. I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance for a vigilante! And that was before I realised it was you."

"My scars," Tim grimaced, and Danny nodded.

"If not for the splenectomy scar it could be brushed off, but that one's very distinctive."

"How'd you even know how to get my gear off?" he looked confused.

"You don't remember?" Danny asked, not really surprised given his condition at the time. He was glad Tim had warmed up and was coherent now, he was actually surprised Tim was managing to speak as well as he was considering how exhausted he looked, it would take longer for his blood to fully replenish.

Tim grimaced and shook his head. He was aware at least which was a good sign, though he seemed a bit sluggish and weak.

"Well, you crashed through the window, landed half on your side and on your stomach. I thought you were dead till you moaned. Rolled you over out of the glass to find your outfit the wrong shade of red with a bunch of cuts in it. Your lips were blue from cold and you were soaking wet, I'm guessing melted ice."

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Tim nodded, he remembered being clipped by more than one blast, which had not been fun, but thankfully never enough to actually freeze him...oh and at least one bullet that his suit had stopped. Imagining Danny seeing him like that made him feel sick. What a way to introduce him to the vigilante life. He listened as Danny explained Tim rousing enough to show him how to get out of the top half of his uniform…and how he'd said Danny's name, if very slurred. Well, it seemed he'd outed himself before Danny had ever seen anything.

"I'm sorry," he told him, and Danny frowned.

"For what, the window?"

"For lying to you," Tim clarified tiredly, all he wanted to do was sleep but he had to tell Danny. "One of the first rules is protecting our identities. I've been trying to figure out when and how to tell you, I swear it. Maybe others in the community would say it's too soon, we've only known each other a year, but I trust you." He needed him to know that and he could feel his energy waning, not surprising.

"It's okay Polaris, just eat and get some more sleep. Do you need to call anyone first?"

He shook his head; he hadn't planned to go into the office today so it'd be fine. Danny helped him sit up carefully so as to not tear any of his stitches and then held the bowl for him while he ate. By the time he was done he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Need the bathroom?" Danny asked, and Tim managed to shake his head, feeling Danny gently ease him back down before moving away.

Tim fumbled to grab his hand. "Stay…s'okay, know…you're meta," he slurred out. Stupid blood loss…

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Bruce checked the system; Tim wasn't expected in the office for the next few days and he wasn't answering his phone. He was understandably…prickly about anything that could be considered an invasion of his privacy these days, but Tim would never let so many checks go unanswered, none of them would.

"Oracle, activate Red Robin's trackers and send whoever he's been getting along best with." And he should know who that is, but he doesn't, not anymore. He once would have immediately said Dick but even with how little he's seen Timothy since his return he had noticed the coolness between them.

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Danny caught Tim's hand as it dropped from his arm, gently placing it on the bed as Tim's breathing evened out, dead asleep. Meta…Tim thought he was a Meta. It would be so easy to just roll with that but…Tim had told him the truth about him, had been trying to work out how even before he'd subconsciously come to him for help. How could he lie, even by omission, when Tim had trusted him with his life and secret?

It was one thing to be a vigilante and worried to tell your boyfriend, but Danny's secret…so much of his life was a lie, even with how they'd tried to keep his records as close to the truth as possible. Added on that, what he was…would it all be too much? Would he lose Tim if he told him the truth? He had time, he wouldn't tell Tim till he was healed and that would take some time. He'd have to watch carefully for any signs of infection too, make sure to give him his antibiotics on time. He wished he could give him back his spleen…maybe he should send a message to Frostbite, maybe there was a way. After all, Tim was being exposed to Ectoplasm by being close to him, if he got to liminal levels maybe they could boost his immune system or something.

Danny reached out and gently brushed Tim's hair back from his face, he needed a haircut but Danny liked the extra length and kind of hoped he didn't cut it. Then again, it might get in the way of his vision which would be risky.

"I love you," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. He felt warm to Danny, but no warmer than usual thankfully. He'd shown no sign of mental impairment either which was a very big relief, between the blood loss and hypothermia…brain damage had been a risk but he'd shown no obvious signs of that. Once he told Tim the truth, he'd find a way to get him to Frostbite for a full check-up, just to be safe.

Even before this near miss, Danny could sense that Tim had been touched by death before, he'd never truly crossed the line but had come very close, too close. Likely when he lost his spleen but there'd been other close calls too which was to be expected now that he knew Tim was Red Robin and therefore had once been Robin. That was what everyone assumed anyway, the old Robins moved on to new identities. The first had been obvious, Robin had become Nightwing and even taken on a city of his own. The second was more difficult and many thought he had died. The current Robin was young and used a sword but…Tim fit the age for the third Robin, who had vanished a few months before Red Robin appeared.

Knowing Tim's identity…no, Danny pushed all the lines and dots that could be connected out of his mind. It would be so easy, obvious, but Danny would not think about it. He knew what it was like to have your identity exposed against your will. It was why Danny Fenton was legally dead, and another reason the idea of Vlad being dead didn't bother him as much as it should, beyond making him the last.

Danny grabbed his laptop and settled in to work on his classwork while watching over Tim.

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She hesitated, but then activated Tim's trackers as Bruce had asked. Unmoving and not too far from Crime Alley, as far as she knew he didn't have any safehouses in the area so why was he there? And checking the data, he'd been there for hours. She brought up Damian's report, seeing no mention of Tim being injured during their takedown...and no mention of going up against Freeze but the man and a lot of his goons had been picked up from their assigned area. Had they split up to handle the two Rogues quicker? Damian had taken Scarecrow down before he ever reached a supply of fear gas, thankfully. But from the police reports, Freeze had been freezing the city already, but they hadn't spotted any of the bats, just one or two birdarangs left behind.

So why hadn't Tim gone home? The location matched an apartment building…and one apartment that had been given extra security work. So maybe it was a safehouse that he had left even more hidden? What could have driven him that deep into hiding though? Looking back through the data, he actually spent a considerable amount of time at the same location. She couldn't find a link back to any of the identities she knew Tim had, but figured he had several no one knew of. And when she brought up the tenants' information, one of them was a close match physically to Tim, Danny Nightingale from Chicago, no wonder no one knew about that identity since it was so different to most of the ones Tim made.

He wasn't answering on comms, he had it deactivated, and his phone was going to voicemail. She didn't want to invade his privacy, something he'd guarded fiercely the last few years. Not that she blamed him after finally digging into the events that had led to him leaving for Europe. If only Cass hadn't flown out that morning, Tim was closest to her out of all the family anymore. Next best…would be Jason.

Barbara frowned and sat back from her monitors. Was this something she needed to have checked or was Tim just trying to get time alone on occasion? Bruce wanted someone to check on him but Tim had become such a loner since his return, still, not responding to any communication was concerning. As much as she hated it, she suspected Tim would soon be independent of the rest of the bats, though she'd keep working with him if he wanted. Dick…Dick had been overwhelmed yes, but Tim had only been seventeen and hadn't been searching for independence the way Dick had at the same age. Just taking Robin from him that way, not listening…everything Dick had done when it came to Tim had been the wrong move. Tim had never truly reconnected with the family after his and then Bruce's return and it wasn't from lack of trying but after a few months, he'd given up.

She'd give him today but if he didn't answer or at least show up for work tomorrow then she'd call Jason to check on him.

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Tim opened his eyes to find himself staring up at Danny's ceiling. What…oh, yeah. He winced when he tried to move, body screaming in protest. It felt like his bruises had bruises but he didn't feel so lightheaded this time. He turned his head to find Danny sitting beside the bed, laptop on his lap but watching him instead of the screen, concern and relief obvious in his expression.

"How do you feel?" he asked softly, reaching out.

Tim lifted an aching arm to take his hand. "Sore," he admitted, and Danny snorted.

"Considering the number of stitches, not surprising." He reached out his other hand and Tim sighed as cool fingers ran through his hair, brushing his forehead. "No fever which is good. Feel up to eating something? You shouldn't take your meds on an empty stomach."

"Yeah," he agreed because he knew Danny was right, the last thing he needed was to get nauseas with so many stitches, throwing up would be agone and risk popping them. He watched as Danny heated up some more canned soup, grimacing, but he knew it would be safer than solids for a while. At least his head didn't feel so fuzzy now, that was an improvement.

"Let's get you sitting up," Danny murmured after putting the bowl beside the bed, leaning over to take Tim's weight as he sat up, pillows supporting him.

He couldn't help the small hiss of pain and then Danny's hand was pressed to his side, cool skin easing the pain, surprising him by the open acceptance of his differences. "Thanks." Maybe knowing Tim's secret was helping Danny be more open about his own? Had he…had he mentioned Danny being a meta as he fell asleep, it was hazy.

"Want some painkillers?"

"Not on top of the antibiotic and that's more important." He couldn't afford to get an infection, not with his immune system.

"You'll need to call Tam and let her know you'll be working from home for a while or off totally," Danny pointed out as he traded the bowl for a glass of water and pill bottle.

Tim shook his head. "I can go in."

"Tim…" Danny grimaced, lingering fear in his eyes, and Tim froze, how badly had his sudden appearance scared him? "You nearly died, as in I was seconds away from having to do CPR. More of your blood was on your gear and my floor than in your body. I was genuinely worried about brain damage from the cold, still am honestly. Obviously not massive levels since you're awake and able to hold a conversation but…"

Oh. He'd…it couldn't have been that bad, could it? He would have been out longer. He looked down at the shirt he was in, one of Danny's so it didn't quit fit right. Danny was taller and a little broader through the shoulders than Tim was so it was baggy. Peeking out from the neck and arm holes were bandages, lots of bandages. "I need to see."

Danny hesitated but then nodded. He carefully helped lean Tim forward a bit, tugging the shirt up and off. Tim slumped back against the pillows and then looked down again. His entire torso was wrapped in bandages and there were sections where the blood had come through. "Should change these any way."

Danny cut through the bandages with scissors and Tim stared at the wounds revealed. Oh. Some weren't all that deep, others held closed with steri strips, but the majority had needed stitches. He'd already had a good number of scars, now he would have even more. And one of them was right over the brachial artery. Looked like he'd have to stick with t-shirt, nothing sleeveless, not that he ever really did. And he never went swimming in public either so that wouldn't have to change.

"Easy Tim, it's okay, you're going to be okay," Danny's voice called him back out of his head, and he looked up into worried blue. "Let's get these rewrapped, okay?"

Tim nodded tiredly, doing his best to shift his weight to help as Danny wrapped the wounds again and with the ache in his ribs it was probably good that they were wrapped. He didn't think broken but definitely bruised, maybe cracked. He remembered fighting, but he didn't remember taking this bad a beating…had he run into another fight after Freeze? He couldn't even help get the shirt back on, Danny having to gently move his arms through the sleeves. What energy he'd had was all but gone, his body slumping in Danny's hold.

"Get some more sleep," Danny murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. He went to leave and Tim fumbled to grab his hand.

"Stay." He tugged tiredly.

"You need to stay warm," Danny denied, the closest he'd ever gotten to saying anything about it.

"Please." he didn't want to be alone.

"Okay." Danny got on the bed, not under the covers with him but he lay beside him, holding him, and that was better.

Tim closed his eyes and let sleep pull him down, feeling safe.

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Jason stared at the apartment, frowning under his helmet at the boarded-up window. It was definitely recent. Surely the Replacement hadn't missed? Had the safehouse been attacked? According to Barbara, the kid had been in the apartment since the night of the breakout, so over a day. Odds were, he'd been hurt and was hiding it, but she was worried. As one of the few bats he could stand and actually talked with regularly, not to mention a great resource, he didn't want to alienate her.

The apartment had other windows he could use as access or he could just use a microphone to listen in. He set it up very carefully, if Timmy caught him…well, the kid could be quite creative when it came to revenge.

"How're you feeling?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

"Not lightheaded or sick anymore, and not as weak," that was Tim, sounding tired and frustrated.

"Good," the other sounded relieved. "Was really starting to think I'd have to call someone, get you a blood transfusion or something."

"Hey, I'll be okay," Tim's voice now was quiet, gentle. "And I'm still paying for a new window so we need to arrange that."

"Once the bloodstains are gone and your gear very well hidden."

"Sorry about the mess," Tim sighed. "I must have been completely out of it to not even stop and knock on the window."

"With the way you smashed through it I'm guessing you passed out in mid-air, I'm very grateful I didn't find you dead in the alley," the other voice was tight with fear.

"I'm here Danny, I'm alive thanks to you."

Well, it seemed Tim knew whoever he was with, trusted them. And Tim was the reason the window was bordered up, did that mean…he'd crashed in as Red Robin? Tim had addressed his companion by name but this Danny hadn't used Tim's. Someone he knew as Red Robin then? They all had their own contacts, informants, and the like. Tim sounded clear enough, in pain, but not in an altered state so it was unlikely he was drugged or had a bad head injury. He listened for a while longer but the two sounded comfortable with each other so he slipped away after contacting Oracle.

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Danny carefully took Tim's weight as they stood next to the bed, seeing the pain Tim was trying to hide. "Yeah, no," he muttered, bending to get an arm behind his knees.

"DanNY!" Tim yelped the last bit of his name as Danny stood, cradling Tim to his chest.

"You're in too much pain to walk, so no walking," he stated firmly, carrying Tim across the room to the bathroom.

Sometimes having a tiny one room apartment came in handy, like making him carrying Tim a lot more believable than in a bigger space. There wasn't much difference in their sizes after all and Tim wasn't light thanks to the amount of muscle he had from his nightlife. Then again, did it matter if Tim realised that he was stronger than he looked when Danny was going to tell him the truth once he was back on his own feet? He helped Tim use the facilities and then carefully used a damp cloth to wipe over his body, at least where he wasn't covered in bandages. Tim had paled a bit from all the movement but he didn't look like he was about to pass out or anything.

Danny knelt in front of him, hands skimming over the bandages, relieved to find he hadn't bled through again. "Want some painkillers now?" Good thing he stocked normal stuff even though it didn't work for him, he didn't have a way to access the kind that did anymore.

Tim shook his head. "I'm okay."

Danny rolled his eyes but accepted the answer, figuring Tim had a reason to turn them down. He only had over the counter stuff; it probably wasn't strong enough to do anything. "Okay. Want me to try to wash your hair? If I drag a chair in it should be high enough for you to lean back into the sink."

Tim touched his hair and grimaced. "Sounds good."

Danny left him leaning against the wall while sitting on the closed toilet, grabbing the chair and setting it in place before helping Tim across. And yes, it was a good height once Tim leant back. Danny made sure the water was warm but not hot and soaked Tim's hair to wash it. He smiled when he realised Tim had begun to dose off as he massaged his scalp. He carefully towelled his hair dry when done and then carried him back to bed, settling him as carefully as possible so as not to wake him.

He still looked pale, but nowhere near as bad as he had that first night and the bruises under his eyes looked a bit smaller too. Tim was recovering, but how long till someone came looking for him? Then again, Tim didn't seem to have much to do with the family, was it the same in their night jobs? Surely, they worked more together then? But when Danny had looked up vigilante sightings online, Red Robin was mostly spotted alone.

If it wouldn't lead the wrong sort to Gotham, it'd be interesting to see if Phantom could be his partner. But even with all the Ectoplasm in the city, it wasn't worth the risk. Sure, the acts weren't as all-encompassing as the GIW had led Amity Park to believe, but Phantom and therefore Danny Fenton was covered because he was a threat. Despite the fact all he'd ever done was try to protect people and then both people and ghosts. They'd labelled him a menace and a threat which meant the acts applied to him. And the bats might be vigilantes but they worked with the Justice League who followed the law. So, he could tell Tim he was a halfa…but if he told him he was Phantom then Tim was obligated to turn him over. Tell Tim everything and lose everything because he couldn't accept or turned him in. He couldn't ask Tim to not do it, not when the League's status could be shaky at times. If Tim could accept what he was, then turning him in…it'd break his heart. If he'd known Tim was a bat, he'd have never spoken to him, never risked putting them both in this kind of situation.

It would be so easy to let Tim just think he was a meta, to keep his life and happiness, but it would all be a lie. He'd message Tucker before he told Tim, warn him and then ditch the phone completely so no one could use him to find his old friend, his brother. For now, he would enjoy the time he had with Tim as he healed.

TBC…

And yep, Danny is only seeing the bad ways revealing himself can go. He's had time to think them through while Tim keeps sleeping.

So the GIW and anti-ecto acts are around, but they exaggerated their scope to the town. They can't just take any ghost and experiment/exterminate, they need to be able to show they are a threat. Sadly, Phantom is on the list as a threat which is why he's in hiding.