Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 3

Tim dressed in his new clothing, relieved it fit a lot better even though it didn't blend in. He left his room and headed for the mess for breakfast. He was picking up some words of Mando since most of the crew only spoke it. He could manage a few phrases a day now, his vocal cords on the mend. He got his food and sat down with Jango and Silas, smiling at them in greeting.

"How are the learning modules going?" Jango asked, and Tim pulled out the datapad and stylus, carefully writing out his full name in basic.

"Timothy Jackson Drake," Jango read and then looked up at him. "That's your name?"

Tim nodded.

"So, Tim is a shorter name."

"Easier," Tim agreed. "Like."

Silas said something to Jango that Tim didn't understand.

"He was asking how your Mando learning is going."

Tim nodded and then wriggled his hand. He listened to them talk, Silas in halting basic and Mando, Jango translating to help them both learn since Silas wanted to get better as basic. Silas wasn't human but Tim wasn't going to ask what he was, that would be rude. There were lots of aliens on the ship and while Tim was curious he would wait till he could read well enough to look things up himself.

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Jaster set his work aside, stretching briefly to work the kinks out of his spine. He then picked up the star charts he'd shown Tim before and the drawings the ad had done. Nothing matched but how was that possible? Was it possible…Tim was from somewhere in Wild Space? Some planets from the area were known, true, their people generally looked down on. But if he was from a world deeper in…it could explain his speaking basic but knowing a different writing type.

But it still left the question of how he had ended up bleeding out on Korda Six. He glanced at the report Mij had shown him. it was a blood test run in Republic space but not their own, usually but he understood why Mij had run it given all the questions surrounding Tim. According to the result chart, if he'd been born on a Republic planet then Tim should be at the Coruscant Temple. He wasn't much above the minimum though, so maybe he'd been missed? Jaster had asked Mij to run the test on him, just for a comparison, and honestly, he hadn't been all that surprised to find out that he barely missed the minimum level.

Should they reach out to the Jedi about Tim? Many would not like it but the Jedi knew places like Wild Space the best. And yet…would they take Tim into the Temple rather than send him home? If Tim was unable to return home, Jaster would prefer he stay with them. His ad liked Tim; he liked Tim too…he seemed to slip into the fold easily enough. But would Tim want to become a Mando?

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Mij checked Tim over and smiled. "You've gained some weight Tim'ika," he praised. "The spices still giving you issues?"

He was pleased when Tim shook his head, he'd adapted quicker than he'd expected to the general ship rations.

"I'm clearing you for light training, if you want to try? Our methods are likely different to what you have been learning."

Tim cocked his head to the side, considering, but he nodded. It would be good for him to train with them, keep his body moving even as they worked to get him to a better weight for his age, hopefully he'd grow a bit too.

Mij was doing some careful research on those who were touched by the Ka'ra as they called it, many of them trained as Goran. He noticed they tended to eat more when able but could go longer without food, using it to sustain themselves somehow? So, they needed to watch Tim's food intake. They would need to keep an eye out for any of the obvious jetii powers too, whether he had training or not. Especially if startled or overly emotional since those were likely to cause an accidental lashing out.

Thankfully, Tim didn't seem too traumatised by what had happened to him, though he would need to see a mir'baar'ur to speak about things eventually. His voice was returning which would make it easier.

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Tim sat down opposite Jaster; he had the feeling he knew why the man had asked to speak with him. "Su'cuy," his voice still sounded raspy but it didn't really hurt.

Jaster blinked and then smiled at him. "Su'cuy, Tim," he returned. "I've had several people going through records and we cannot find any known system that matches your home and you don't recognise any on our charts. We will keep looking ad'ika," he promised, and Tim nodded.

"Where go?" he asked.

"We will not send you anywhere you do not wish to go," Jaster promised which was a relief.

The only people he knew were on this ship and while he was pretty good at making friends thanks to years of changing boarding schools…he didn't want to have to start fresh again in somewhere so alien. And Jango had explained about Foundlings to him even more than had already been explained. He could go with them and he would be given a place to live, food, and education until he was grown and ready to set out on his own.

"The main two options would be remaining with us or going to the jet…Jedi Temple."

The what? He titled his head in question. Since they basically lived in armour, they were really good at reading body language.

"You don't know about the Jedi?" Jaster clarified, and Tim agreed.

What followed was a very interesting explanation but why send him to them? He didn't have powers. And then Jaster showed him the test results. What? How?

But when he really considered it…there'd been those times he dodged…his grapple had latched on at the last second, saving him from a deadly fall…the Joker hadn't tied the straps tight enough…or had he?

He swallowed, feeling a little dizzy, but firm hands gripped his shoulders gently, steadying him.

"Breath with me ad'ika," Jaster ordered, and Tim obeyed. "It's okay, it doesn't change anything if you don't want it to."

Tim slowly nodded as his breathing steadied out. While the idea of Jedi sounded interesting to a point…something told him going to them would not be helpful, was that the Force telling him things? He'd always just thought he had good instincts. How could the Lanterns not know about the Force? He really needed to get to the point he could read basic fully so he could research everything.

"You can stay with us, come to Manda'yaim and live there. There are Foundling homes for ad who have no family, aliit. Or…you could accept adoption."

"Who?" Tim asked, someone would want to adopt him?

He was halfway to being an orphan already with his mom dead and dad in a coma, no one sure if he'd ever wake or not. Sure, Bruce had taken him in as a foster, but it was all business, he couldn't be Robin from a group home or foster placement after all. But no one wanted him for just being him.

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"Who?" Tim seemed genuinely bewildered by the idea that someone would want to adopt him.

"Well, Mij for starters." And sure enough, Tim looked utterly shocked. "Kal as well. And…Jango and I would be very happy if you wanted to join our aliit."

Tim's eyes were wide, mouth agape slightly. He pointed to himself, and Jaster nodded. He nervously bit at his lip, staring at the deck. Jaster stayed quiet, letting the ad think. Eventually, the ad looked up, hesitantly meeting his eyes. And then Tim reached out to tap his hand, Jaster feeling a surge of hope.

"Stay…with you," Tim rasped out.

Jaster smiled at him, reaching out to rest his hands on Tim's shoulders. "Will you be my ad?" he asked to be sure, and Tim nodded shyly. "Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad Tim Drake," he said the gai bal manda very happily. "I know your name as my child, Tim Drake," he said it again in basic.

Tim blinked at him in surprise.

"There is some paperwork but that is all it takes."

"Wish…easy home."

"Most societies make it more difficult than it needs to be," he shrugged.

He then brought out the paperwork, going through it with Tim. He was now Tim Drake, clan and house Mereel. And he signed as Tim Drake and not with the full name he had before. It was up to him what he wanted his name to be.

Jaster wasn't sure if Tim would accept, but he opened his arms in offering and Tim hesitated but then slowly shifted into his arms. "Ner ad," he whispered.

Tim looked up at him, lips moving soundlessly. "Ner buir."

Jaster smiled at his new son, carefully reaching out to stroke black hair, the boy tensing in surprise before relaxing against him. He recognised the behaviour Tim had shown since waking, he was at least somewhat touch starved. Mij's report said Tim had been taken in by someone and that was why his malnutrition had begun to be fixed. He got the feeling he only wanted to meet Tim's buir if armed, definitely dar'buir. But his newer guardian…well, if they ever found Tim's home then they could work out a compromise on custody, depending on Tim's preferences and age.

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Jango grinned and wrapped an arm around Tim's shoulders, making sure he saw him coming. "Welcome to the aliit, ad'ika." And Tim relaxed, had he really thought Jango wouldn't like it?

"Okay?" Tim asked, and Jango nodded.

"I knew buir was going to ask you Tim," he assured him. He sat and Tim sat beside him, watching him curiously. "Before Jas'buir adopted me…I had a family, two buir and…an ori'vod."

Tim frowned, going over the new word. "Sibling?"

"Older sibling," he corrected his translation. "Her name was Arla. She died in the same attack as our buir. We gave Jaster support and a place to hide while he was being hunted by Kyr'tsad and they attacked."

"Sorry," Tim's voice was a raspy whisper, even as he gripped Jango's wrist. He grabbed the nearby datapad and stylus, writing carefully and slowly.

Jason, ori'vod, dead. Dick oldest ori'vod alive. Bruce is buir.

"The ones who took you in?" he asked, and Tim nodded. The mix of Mando'a and basic was good to see, Tim was obviously working on the learning units for both languages.

Man hurt me, killed Jason before.

Jango closed his eyes. "We find your home, we'll deal with him if your buir hasn't," he promised. Older or not, this Jason was likely still a kid. And after killing one, he'd tried to kill Tim too.

But Tim shook his head, looking almost distraught so Jango let it go. Tim wasn't able to communicate enough to explain what was going on.

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Silas sat down beside Tim, offering him a smile and getting one in return. "Jate vaar'tuur."

"Morning," Tim answered in basic, but they'd understood each other, that was good. He'd caught the curious looks Tim gave the non-human crew members and Jango said his planet didn't have their own ships, just a space station so maybe he hadn't seen many before.

"Pantoran," he said, and Tim frowned in confusion. "Species." He kept to single words to keep the explanation simple for both of them.

Blue eyes widened in understanding and Tim nodded. Silas grinned and began pointing out the others, saying their species name in both basic and Mando'a.

Tim was one of them now, Jango's vod. Jango was his friend and Silas wanted to be Tim's friend too. He seemed nice, a bit shy but surely that wasn't surprising since he'd literally appeared somewhere he didn't know and with strangers.

And sharing words was a good way to help build their vocabularies of each other's language. "Spar?"

And that had Tim perking up, eyes bright. Even before finding out, he'd been in training, most of them had picked up on that from the way Tim moved. So, Silas led him to the hold where they had a sparring area.

"Only light sparring!" Mij called out when he spotted them, and Silas nodded.

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Tim carefully stretched, not wanting to risk injury after captivity and then recovery. And Mij was in the room, he didn't want to risk being restricted to bed or something. Silas stepped into the marked ring with a grin and Tim stepped in as well, assuming it meant whoever left the circle first lost. He preferred fighting with a bō but Bruce had been very thorough in his hand-to-hand training. Unlike Bruce, he didn't focus on learning and mastering one style at a time, instead he took bits and pieces from all of those he was exposed to and used what worked for him. He was the smallest and physically weakest of the Robin's after all. But he had been trained by experts.

They circled, watching each other closely, searching for weaknesses. He could feel others watching them but put it out of his mind, he couldn't afford to be distracted. It was even more necessary because neither of them were familiar with the way the other fought.

Silas attacked and Tim blocked, glad the other had removed his armour, not that he wore as much as the others but he'd heard the noise that stuff made when it impacted and knew it would hurt. Tim ducked under another blow, shifting in, and aiming for Silas' ribs.

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Jaster walked into the hold since Mij had commed him. He immediately spotted the two ade in the sparring circle. They were going slow and careful, probably because of Mij's presence. Tim was good, a lot more patient then many his age, watching Silas closely in order to dodge, block, or counterattack. He got the feeling Tim preferred fighting with a weapon but he wasn't bad with hand to hand.

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Tim lay on his bunk, looking around the small room that had become his over the last…weeks? It was very easy to lose track on the ship but Jaster said they would be on Manda'yaim, their home…his new home? There was still a chance he would get back to Earth, one day, but would it be within a reasonable time? Or would he have adjusted by then; would it have been so long that everyone would have moved on without him? Unless he could get home within a year or two, would there be any point in trying? Send a message to let them know he was alive, sure, but to go back after so long?

Would B…would he backslide? He'd been doing better recently, less angry and violent but without Robin to temper him, would he go back to being too violent? Would Dick realise and intervene? Would…would Batman take on a new Robin? He'd always known his place was temporary but being replaced wasn't something nice to think about. Would they be angry that he let Jaster adopt him so quickly? But he felt…safe with the man, he could trust him. He knew his Dad would never forgive him for wanting to be part of another family – whether it was Bruce's or Jaster's. Was his Dad still alive? He'd seen the looks from the doctors during his last visit, they didn't think he was going to wake up.

He rolled onto his side, curling inward and closing his eyes. He wasn't going to cry, he wasn't. He just…he wanted to go home but he was scared, he'd never been scared of Gotham before but he'd never been tortured either. He could now understand all of the people who wanted the Joker to be killed. If confronted with his tormentor, would Tim snap and try to kill him or collapse in a terrified ball and wait for death? He didn't know and that scared him.

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Jaster paused as he heard something…he moved to the door and listened, hearing the muffled noise within. He touched the control and the door opened, unlocked. "Tim?" he called softly, and then he heard it, sobbing. "It's alright ad'ika," he murmured, approaching the bunk slowly.

Without his buy'ce, the room was dark, but he knew where the bunks were and there, on the lower, was a curled-up lump. He sat on the edge and reached out to where he thought Tim's head was, sure enough his fingers found soft hair. And then a shaking body was in his arms and he held on tight.

"It's alright," he murmured. "I've got you, you're safe."

They'd been expecting something like this. Tim had been far too well adjusted since coming out of the bacta tank. So, he leant back against the cabin wall, just holding Tim as he cried, glad he'd taken most of his armour off so it wasn't hurting Tim. He remained like that, even after Tim drifted to sleep on his arms.

The next morning, Tim was stiff and red with embarrassment, but Jaster didn't let him pull away because of that. Instead, he just stroked Tim's hair, assuring him that everything was alright, and gradually Tim relaxed, curling into him. eventually Jaster got them up, waiting for Tim to clean up before heading for first meal, making sure the ad drank plenty of water since he'd cried so much overnight.

Jango and Silas saw and were soon on either side of Tim, protecting him from curious onlookers.

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Tim stood beside Jaster and Jango as the ship came out of hyperspace, watching the streaks of light vanish until they were hovering in space over a planet. Manda'yaim, his new home whether temporary or permanent. It looked so different to Earth.

"Welcome home, Tim," Jaster told him, a hand on his shoulder.

Jango was pressed slightly against his side, his new family supporting him. And Tim smiled, excited with the idea of exploring a new planet.

The descent was so smooth, even as they entered the large dome, and he barely felt the landing, watching everyone secure their helmets before they moved to disembark. Jaster and Jango kept him between them as they stepped onto the planet, Tim stumbling a little, Jaster steadying him.

"Easy, you've gotten used to being shipboard, it can take a few moments to adjust."

They headed into the spaceport, some of the Mando heading off, going home Tim assumed.

"Welcome to Keldabe, Tim'ika," Jango told him, and Tim looked around as they walked out of the spaceport and into the city.

It looked and felt old, stone buildings and narrow streets. But he could hear the bustle of a busy city as well. Voices called out in greeting to Jaster who would respond, Tim catching some words here and there. He picked out where they were heading easily enough, it was a large complex of stone buildings seemingly in the centre of the city. Of course, Jaster was the leader, the Mand'alor.

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It was good to be home and with a new ad too. He would need to be taken to the goran but it was obvious Tim was overwhelmed so it would need to wait until the next day. Thankfully, a room had been prepared for him, next to Jango's already so he was soon settled in with the small bag of belongings he had accumulated onboard.

They would eat in the family karyai to help give him peace to adjust for the next few meals at least. No one would ever rush an ad to adjust to their new life too quickly, it had to be done at their pace.

Tim's room had been well prepared for welcoming a new Foundling, the bedding was warm and brightly coloured, the wardrobe with clothing in his measurements, datapads waiting for him to explore whatever he wished. Though Jaster did wonder if someone had gotten Tim's age wrong given the stuffed Tooka on the bed, but Tim didn't seem upset by it. No, he picked it up, smiling slightly as he squeezed it gently.

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He huddled closer to the others, seeking warmth. It was automatic to reach up but there was nothing there now, nothing but the sting of a very slight burn. He'd made his choice, he didn't regret it, he couldn't. He was following the Will of the Force; it told him his place was with the Young. But huddled in an old sewer tunnel, he couldn't help longing for the warmth and peace of the Temple.

TBC….

mir'baar'ur – mind healer (according to other fics)

Jate vaar'tuur – good morning

buy'ce – helmet

karyai - main living room of a traditional Mandalorian house - a single big chamber for eating, talking, resting, and even the last secure stronghold when under attack