Tim loves his kids so very, very, very much. He never wants to hurt them. He wants them to adjust to the outside world at their own rate, in their own time, so that everything only goes well for them.
At the same time, he's been stuck in the master guest suite two days straight, and he is about ready to scream.
He's brought up the topic of going out into the Manor on multiple occasions, and with each mention of the topic, his kids have startled, like they didn't realize that was the next step. Which. Well, of course they didn't really realize that was the next step. Until just about two days ago, they had no experience with anything other than the single room of the Gilded Cage. Of course it wouldn't come to them naturally that there's more than a single room to be in now, even though they spent a brief amount of time in several other places on their way here. It might still be totally overwhelming for them just to be in the master guest suite.
Not that they act like it, though.
Sitting on the bed with Steph, Tim watches Char and Ian practice on the "stairs" set-up Bruce brought in that morning.
"No, more like this," Char says, demonstrating lifting one foot to get to the next stair.
"Like this," Ian says confidently, and he promptly misjudges how far to lift his foot and trips over the next stair.
"Not really," Char says.
Ian scowls up at him.
"That was a good try," Tim offers. "Remember that you can hold the railing too."
"Oh, yeah," Ian says, getting up and patting the railing.
"Where did Bruce even find something that's a moveable set of stairs?" Tim mutters to Steph as Ian tries again.
"It's actually a rehab and therapy thing," Steph says quietly.
"Fair enough," Tim says, and he applauds as Ian makes it to the top of the set of stairs. "Hey, looking good!"
Ian grins and lifts his hands in a cheer.
"Our turn," Sandy says, tossing her book aside. She gets down from the recliner that she and Sonny are sharing and hurries over to the stairs. "Right, Dad?"
Tim decides to try it again. "Actually, I think turns are done for now. We're going to try something else."
"But it's our turn to do stairs," Sandy says.
"It's time for everybody to do stairs," Tim says, and he goes for it. "We're going to tour some of the rest of Wayne Manor."
The reaction is instantaneous: four faces with clear "I don't want to" expressions.
"It'll be fun," Tim says. "I'm sure Aunt Steph has lots of things she can show us. And I know Grandpa Bruce has bought multiple more things for all of you that are waiting out there."
"Grandpa bought us more stuff?" Sonny asks, perking up a little from his spot in the recliner. "More stuff like the stairs?"
"He did," Tim says. "I told him he needed to take it slow on buying presents, but your grandpa isn't really the slow type, so I told him he at least needed to not bring everything in here all at once."
"Ooo," Sonny says, and he hops off of the recliner. "Can we see it?"
"If we go out there, we can see some of it, at least," Tim offers.
Sonny chews on his lower lip, clearly thinking about it.
"It'll be good for all of us," Tim says. "Trust me. It'll be good."
Char nods slowly. "If you say so, Dad, I'll do it."
"Char and I are going, then," Tim says, standing.
Predictably, Ian objects. "Not without me! I'm coming too!"
"I do wanna see the 'presents,'" Sonny says.
Heaving a world-weary sigh, Sandy says, "I guess I've gotta go too, then."
"Good," Tim says. "Steph, if you'll lead the way?"
Steph, who's been watching with what looks like a soft awe, stands up and grins. "Of course."
Tim can't breathe. He can't, he can't do this.
Sandy is missing.
Tim has looked through the whole master guest suite a dozen times, each time more frantically, ordering Char, Sonny, and Ian to stay put on the bed where he can see them the whole time. He's looked under the bed, he's pulled down the shower curtains, he's shoved aside the dresser, he's flung the closet doors open so hard that they banged loudly into the walls.
No Sandy. No Sandy anywhere.
Tim knows he's scaring the boys, but he's so scared himself. He's never been, none of the kids have ever been without him. Where is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt? Is she terrified?
His fingers wrap around the collar still around his throat.
The only thing he can think of is that Ra's somehow pulled her out of the Manor. How long has Tim not noticed Sandy being missing? Could she be all the way back to the Gilded Cage? Could she already have been put through trials and tests without Tim there to stand up for her as best he can? Could she be-
The door to the master guest suite opens.
Tim's focus zeroes in.
There's Sandy.
"Sandy!" Tim cries, his voice breaking, as he rushes to her. He falls to his knees just inside the room and throws his arms around her.
"Hi, Dad," Sandy says, sounding… Guilty? "I didn't mean to. Uh, I meant to go out, but I didn't mean to go out so much? I didn't, I couldn't-"
"Wayne Manor gets everybody lost."
Tim looks up and, for the first time, recognizes Sandy isn't the only one just outside the door.
Jason is leaning a little against the door frame. "I mean, this place really doesn't need to be so big. But it is. Mind-bogglingly-big. Understandable you got lost, kid."
Tim leans back a little. He looks right at Sandy, still trying to catch his breath after all the hyperventilating panic. "I didn't know where you were."
"Sorry," Sandy says. "I thought I could just go a little and come back, and you wouldn't even know. I'm sorry."
Tim sighs heavily. "I forgive you. Please-"
He's about to say "never do that again." Then he reconsiders. Like he'd just thought, his kids have never been without him, nor have they ever been without each other. That's not healthy, not for any of them. They need to be able to develop individually. And after all, he did want them to leave the room, and they've only been on a couple of tours of the Manor as a group to this point. Logically, Wayne Manor is the safest possible place for them to explore being on their own.
Tim pauses and tries again. "Please let me know next time."
Sandy lights up. "I can go out again?"
"You can go out again," Tim agrees. "In fact, I'd encourage it."
Char makes a discontent sound from behind him. "That's it?"
"That's it," Tim says, turning just enough to be able to see Char's face. "It's good for us to go out. And it's good for us to spend time on our own. People are meant to spend time together and to spend time alone. We need both in a balance to be healthy."
Char hums thoughtfully and doesn't say anything else.
Sandy throws herself at Tim as he turns back around. "That's great, Dad!"
"You're welcome," Tim says with a relieved little laugh. "Now go tell your brothers everything you saw."
"Everything?" Sandy asks. "Can I keep a couple things secret?"
"Why do you want to keep a couple things secret?" Tim asks back.
Sandy pulls back and grins. "So I can surprise them when they go out too."
Tim considers that, then he nods. "But happy surprises only. No scary surprises, okay?"
"Okay!" Sandy agrees, and she hurries past him toward the bed.
Tim pushes up off the floor and stands. "Thanks, Jason."
"For what?" Jason says, but the way he's tilting his head makes Tim pretty sure Jason already knows for what.
Tim just looks at Jason.
After a moment, Jason scoffs and says, "No problem. And, you know, well, I know this can't be easy for you. If you ever want to talk about…"
Jason makes a series of vague hand gestures.
Tim raises his eyebrows and waits.
"Coming back from the 'dead,'" Jason clarifies quietly after a pause. "I'm here. Got it?"
"Got it," Tim echoes. "Thanks."
"For what?" Jason says again, but he grins this time.
Tim shoves him a little. "Accept my gratitude."
"Never," Jason says dramatically. "You can take it back to your grave."
Tim pauses, feeling almost queasy. "...Do I have a grave?"
Jason makes a face at that. "Let's cover that later. Deal?"
"Deal," Tim says.
