Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 5

Tim ran his fingers through Danny's hair, watching him sleep. He'd learnt so much over the last few days, thing he never could have imagined. At least he'd gotten the window replaced already and had even managed to be seated on a barstool at the kitchen counter when the workmen had come. Even better, they hadn't recognised him. But with nothing else to do, it left him continually going over what he'd learnt.

The thought of Danny being hunted by the people he saved; his identity found out…it was every vigilante's nightmare. But the GIW had no authority outside of America, if they stepped foot in Gotham then he'd have Danny on a private jet to Europe immediately. His id was good enough to get through immigration and even if it wasn't, the Wayne name and money would get him through. And Tim would go with him, he could do casework and WE remotely, wouldn't be the first time.

So how to deal with the Anti-Ecto Acts? Most wouldn't see any issues with them, maybe come at it as a threat to the Meta Protections? Once he would have gone straight to Clark to start digging and bringing them to light but ever since Bruce…things between him and the League, especially Clark, had been very strained. All it had taken was Dick doubting his sanity for them all to follow along, to turn their backs on him despite everything Tim had done as Robin. It had hurt, it still hurt and…he didn't trust Clark anymore, not like he used to. But…Diana, he could approach her. She was a Princess, respected by world governments, and she could get the story out to the press, she could give it to Lois maybe. Diana had been busy with something when it had all gone down, she'd even sought him out after Bruce was back and apologised for not being there, swore she would have listened.

He missed how things had been once, before Bruce was 'killed', before so many had died…before Damian. It wasn't all the kids' fault, other than the murder attempts, his arrival had just lined up with everything else going to hell. His Dad…Steph…Kon…Bart…then seeming to lose Bruce, having Robin taken without even being asked…it had been a really bad time. He'd lied when he told Dick he knew he'd catch him after Ra's kicked him out the window, he'd had a dislocated shoulder and hadn't been able to reach his grapple, had accepted what that would mean. He hadn't been looking to die but if it happened, well, there were worse ways to go. He'd been too out of it, too used to him being dead, to call for Kon which he'd been yelled at for by his friend later, as Kon had pointed out, he'd been in Gotham and would have easily made it. From that height it would have been instant and they both knew it, far less painful than if the stab through the spleen had killed him, and that had gotten more yelling from Kon when he'd used his X-ray vision to check him over only to find a space that shouldn't be there.

Finding out Danny could sense all those near deaths…that made him feel bad.

Meeting Danny had changed his life for the better and he knew it. Before Danny he'd just been existing, filling his time with work either for WE or as Red Robin. It hadn't been sustainable and he'd known that even then but he hadn't been able to stop himself. After they met, he'd been afraid and he could admit it. He'd been terrified that Danny would end up hurt or dead because of him. Relationships with civilians tended to end badly for said civilian. Relationships like Clark and Lois' were really rare in their community, then again, so were ones between heroes that truly worked out and lasted. Knowing Danny had been a vigilante once, could protect himself from Tim's enemies, that fear was far less, not totally gone, but diminished. He'd have to arrange for a spar or something, see how good Danny was without powers.

Danny stirred, blue eyes opening slowly and then he smiled at him, and Tim smiled back.

"Morning," he greeted.

"Morning," Danny yawned. "How long have you been awake?" he didn't move from where he was curled against Tim, head against his shoulder.

"A while," Tim admitted, leaning in for a kiss.

Danny kissed back, shifting to rest one hand at the back of Tim's neck, something he would have never done before sharing the truth. Tim was getting used to the difference in their body temperatures and he knew he'd love it in summer. "Should check your stitches," Danny murmured after a while.

Tim sighed but began undoing the buttons of the shirt he'd been sleeping in. He'd had to order some clothing delivered since he hadn't been able to get his arms up and into a shirt so couldn't borrow any of Danny's. Danny had gotten him into ones when he was unconscious or on the good painkillers but now it just hurt, especially the one on his arm. And then Danny gently pushed his hands aside, undoing the buttons for him. Tim wasn't body shy, hadn't been since Bruce had sent him overseas for training, but he was also very aware of all his scars and now the newly forming ones, but Danny didn't seem to care at all about them, except for the pain they might give him.

Danny got his shirt off and then peeled off the sterile coverings from each wound since the bandages were no longer needed. "The ice helped speed things up, looks like these can be removed already."

Really? Ever since he'd lost his spleen, he'd healed a bit slower. But sure enough, when he looked down, there was no redness or swelling, the skin looked good. "Ice that heals," he murmured. Probably not the weirdest thing he'd ever seen but it was up there.

Danny went to work carefully removing the stitches and Tim lay back, not flinching as each stitch was removed. He barely noticed the sting after so many years.

"So…"

"So?" Danny glanced up before going back to work.

"Would you consider moving in with me?"

"Even with the risk?"

"You said they can't track you here and even if they did, well, the fact we've been dating for years completely disproves all of their theories on ghosts. Which I would very loudly yell to the press. I might not spend time with the others these days, but I was trained by Batman among a lot of other very smart and deadly teachers. Contingencies are what we do and I can think of three already if they did show up before I can get someone looking into the laws."

Danny carefully recovered the wounds since some had leaked a little blood once the stitches were pulled, but that was normal. But he didn't look up.

"Danny?" Tim reached out to him, gently touching his cheek.

"Really?" Danny whispered, glancing up.

"Really. I won't let them hurt you or any other peaceful ghost," he swore.

He'd been able to hack the Pentagon since he was eight, if it came down to it, he could get into the government systems. But for now, he would give the press and Justice League a chance to do the right thing. He knew some of them still looked on him as a loose cannon, one wrong step and he'd be labelled a rogue but to keep Danny and the others safe he'd take that risk. He could vanish if he had to, he'd had that set up since he'd gotten back from overseas. He'd been left with no allies and too few resources once, he hadn't been willing to risk it happening again.

"I won't push, just think about it?" Tim suggested, no matter how much he wanted to push. "My place has a lot of security, so even if someone did track you down it would be very difficult to breach the apartment and even if they did, there are escape routes…including into the Nest."

"Nest?" Danny grinned. "Taking the bird theme all the way?" he teased.

"Well, Batman has the Batcave," Tim shrugged, making Danny laugh.

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Damian headed for his room; hands balled into fists. It was not his fault Drake was so incompetent as to be injured and then not tell anyone. And yet he was the one being punished for it. Robin was benched for two weeks, minimum. It was not like he had tried to kill the elder and he had never been benched for those attempts. Why was Father angry over this?

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Danny walked on Tim's bad side, the wound was on the way to being fully healed but it would take a little longer to get full strength and mobility back in the arm. He was quite happy to ensure the limb wasn't knocked as they walked through the city. It was daytime so as safe as Gotham got but Danny had never gotten his licence and didn't have a car or bike. Even if Tim's had been parked at his place, there was no way he was driving or riding with that arm, not for a few more weeks likely.

He'd never been to Tim's apartment and he was nervous, but also very excited. He understood the reasons and honestly, it'd never bothered him anyway. He knew some people just didn't deal well with others in their home. He'd figured if they did move in together one day (in his dreams) then it'd be a new place to both of them to let Tim adjust and feel comfortable sharing the space. Knowing it had been because he was worried Danny would see or hear something that would give away his night job just made things easier.

The building was in a far better part of the city then Danny's, not far from the WE building which would come in handy. It was a very nice building and a one-bedroom apartment inside probably cost more money than his family had ever seen. An actual doorman greeted Tim formally, holding the door open for them. They headed inside and towards the elevator, Danny shifting the bag containing Tim's uniform and the clothes he'd bought. And of course, they went all the way up to the penthouse, it made sense. There was the most privacy, good balcony if needed, and better security since the button apparently scanned Tim's fingerprint. Maybe he or at least the Wayne's owned the building? The elevator doors opened on a hallway with only one door that Tim soon had open.

Danny stepped inside, glancing around at the massive space but it felt…impersonal, more like a hotel then a home…though there were a few small touches, things that Danny had given him, mementoes of their days out together. Had Tim never tried to make the place his home before they met? Still, the place was bigger than his childhood home! He shook it off and walked with Tim over to the couch, seeing him flagging.

"Bedroom's upstairs?" he asked, and Tim nodded, settling on the couch with a tired sigh. Danny smiled and ran his fingers through Tim's hair. "I'll put your bag there then, you can put the gear away later. Hungry?"

"Probably all out of date," Tim answered with a yawn. "Menus…" he waved at a drawer.

"Okay, I'll order something. Get some rest." He kissed Tim's forehead before heading up the stairs.

The Master bedroom was at the end of the hall and it at least had a lot more personality. Danny grimaced at the smell of stale coffee, seeing the mugs. There was also clothing scattered about, not his business suits but his street clothes. Tim was a mess. He put the bag inside the closet and then moved to strip the bed and gather up the clothing. He dumped it all in the hamper and then went looking for clean sheets, remaking the bed. Once that was done, he collected the mugs and headed back downstairs to the kitchen, putting them in the sink before digging out the menus. He went with something easy to eat and comforting, not surprised the place knew Tim's normal order and address.

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Barbara smiled as she got the ping, Tim was back in his apartment so he must be feeling better. If only he'd give a report on his injuries…but he hadn't done that in a long time. He'd pulled so far away, not that she didn't understand why. At least this time he hadn't been alone. She'd made sure the people who went to fix Nightingales' window wouldn't ask questions or talk about who was in the apartment, it was the least she could do.

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Tim made his way downstairs to his Nest, his uniform still in the bag Danny had carried. He dropped it on a table and then moved to the computer. He was so far behind on everything… he sighed but sat and went to work. He'd catch up on casework for a day or two before heading out on patrol, just to be safe. Danny wouldn't be pleased since his arm was still shaky but he'd go crazy if he didn't go out soon. He knew how to cover for injuries though and he'd just be doing a quick patrol, nothing heavy.

Surprisingly, there wasn't as much work as he'd expected…ah, Oracle had shifted several of his cases to others. She must have realised he was hurt more than he'd reported. And then he found the encrypted file she had left for him, hesitating, before opening it. He watched the footage she'd cobbled together, grimacing as he watched his own near death. No way was he ever letting Danny see it. He grimaced at the short audio file, not exactly angry but not happy either. He could see the reasoning behind it, he'd been out of contact and possibly badly injured. And apparently Jason hadn't looked or anything, just gotten confirmation that he was alive and safe.

Not wanting to think about it, he got up and got out his uniform, looking it over. That was a lot of damage, too much to not compromise it. Good thing he always made sure he had at least two copies. This one was only good for the trash. The cape was salvageable but he didn't bother, not feeling like doing the work to fix it. Instead, he went about ordering the necessary supplies to put together another copy to now serve as the backup while the current backup became the current uniform.

He glanced at his phone when it beeped and smiled at the picture, Danny was home from work and had been pounced by the neighbourhood strays again. They loved him. Would he be good or bad if he and Selina ever met? Huh…cats were connected to death in some mythology, was that why they liked Danny so much?

Tim got out the replacement uniform and began going over it, making sure it'd be ready when he could hit the streets again. But there was something else he could do till then as well. He went back to the computer and pulled up the right frequency, sending the call.

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Diana looked up from the monitor in surprise but picked up her personal communicator. Someone was calling her, not the Watchtower. She checked the caller id and was further surprised by the RR displayed on the screen, but she smiled. They had only spoken a hand full of times since he had given the League the needed data to bring Bruce back so every time he called, it felt good.

She was angry at many of the others, wished she had been there for Robin…Tim. They abandoned a teenager, refused to listen because Dick had declared he was simply overwhelmed by his grief, spiralling. How many of them had died and returned? How hard would it have been to listen to his evidence before deciding he was going mad? And she had heard the whispers, even two years later and after being vindicated, there were still whispers. She could defend Tim when anyone spoke around her but there was little else she could do.

"Hello Red Robin," she greeted gently. Surely a call for aid would have gone through the general channels…except Tim knew how they looked at him, would he call the Justice League for help?

"Hello Wonder Woman," Tim's voice sounded a little stressed but nothing that would indicate duress or imminent danger. "I was hoping we could talk in person."

"Of course," she agreed immediately. She'd only seen Tim in person once since his return to Gotham and she missed him. He wasn't the same wide-eyed child who had looked at them all with awe anymore, but he was still Tim, still one of the smartest mortals she had ever known. "I am on the Watchtower; you can come up."

And that caused him to hesitate. She grimaced; he obviously knew how many still spoke of him then.

"I am on monitor duty, there is no one else here beside J'onn," and he had never weighed in on Tim's mental state since he had refused to speculate without seeing him.

"See you in ten," Tim finally answered.

"I look forward to seeing you."

It was just under ten minutes when the Zeta tube activated and announced the arrival of Red Robin. A few moments later he walked into the room and she turned to smile at him in greeting. And then she frowned.

"Are you injured?"

"I was," he admitted, "not back on patrol yet." He moved to the seat next to her, not limping which was good but…yes, he was favouring one arm slightly though most would not realise it. He shifted, obviously not comfortable and that hurt but was also understandable.

She reached out and took his hand gently. "It is good to see you Tim," she murmured.

He smiled slightly then glanced up at the cameras before touching his wrist computer, she knew he was disabling them, before he pulled off his cowl. She bit back a chuckle at his hair and he sighed, running a hand through it. "Head protection vs cowl hair," he grumbled. And then he met her eyes. "I need your help."

"Tell me," she offered.

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Tim landed easily on the roof and then paused, looking around. He spotted a darker patch of shadows on the roof across from him and then Batman was there. He stood still, not sure what to do. Part of him wanted to leap across and throw himself at Bruce and another wanted to run far and fast. His comm beeped and Tim reached up to activate it, realising it was set to a private channel. "B?" he asked softly.

"Robin is benched," was the reply, and Tim was shocked.

Damian had never even been told no when it came to his behaviour towards Tim, not even the active murder attempts. And now he was benched for what, splitting up?

"You've healed?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah." He didn't need to know his arm still ached.

"Good."

Tim hesitated but then moved, launching himself across the gap, not big enough to need the grapple. He rolled on landing, standing in front of Bruce, forcing his breathing to stay calm. They'd barely seen each other over the last two years, mostly during Arkham breakouts and then they were too busy to actually talk or anything. He moved closer and B stood still, letting him choose how close to get. They'd hugged that time, after Tim had freed Lynx, but…oh why not. He moved closer and then slumped against Bruce as the older man let him, feeling an arm wrap around his shoulders, holding him tight.

"No matter what you choose, you are my son," Bruce murmured.

Of course, he knew what Tim had been considering, what he'd basically been the last few years. Independent, no longer one of the bats. "Thanks…Dad."

TBC…