Chapter 11: One Year
Suddenly it was summertime again, and Harry had the startling realization that he'd survived a year on the streets of one of the most crime-riddled cities in America. And even more startling: despite the hardships, it had legitimately been the happiest he'd ever been. Yeah, sometimes he passed out from hunger. He'd been beaten up by muggers and once he'd fallen off a fire escape and sprained his wrist. He got singed when Firefly, another of Batman's rogues, decided to set ablaze the building next to the rooftop Harry had been on.
And Harry very nearly learned the hard way what was meant by selling kids. He'd been taken by surprise one particular evening on his way back from visiting with Tim on their rooftop, exhausted and hungry, and he was dragged into a warehouse before he could fight back. He glimpsed a dozen other kids tied up or in crates—as in, crates meant for big dogs. As soon as he realized what was happening, Harry pitched the biggest fit he ever had in his life: kicking, screaming, biting, whacking with his steel pipe anywhere he could reach, then Harry did what he did best—he ran like hell.
When he couldn't breathe and his vision was swimming with black spots, Harry finally took cover behind a dumpster—literally crammed between rusty metal and a brick wall, with a leaky trash bag above him balanced over the narrow gap.
After he recovered from the shock and terror and the many, many bruises, Harry had left a tip with Tim about the warehouse, who would in turn leave a tip for Batman—though Harry didn't ask how he managed that. But apparently he'd been doing it for months.
But despite all that, Jason was beside him through all of it, and Tim was always a listening ear. And seeing as Harry had only dreamed of finding even one person who cared about him, it was beyond his imaginings to have found two. The only thing Harry found himself still wishing for anymore was air conditioning. Or at least an electric fan. And in the meantime, Harry kept practicing his magic.
It only took him a few weeks after the first time before Harry could summon his floating candle flame on demand. Many evenings were spent reading by (magic) candlelight, though often Harry was distracted moving the little flame around the room, making it do circles and loop-de-loops and giggling madly all the while. And Jason never once got upset at him for it. Sometimes Harry got a fond but exasperated sigh, but it was almost always accompanied by a hair ruffle, so he knew Jason wasn't actually mad.
Harry was pretty sure he'd never been happier in his entire life.
Halfway through June, they finally got a good enough haul off their latest heist stealing tires that they could take a day or two off from scavenging, actually buy bus passes, and go see Tim at his house, instead of just meeting up on rooftops a few times a week. Tim was fully updated on Harry's progress, but Harry hadn't shown it off at all, because a random floating light on top of a building was bound to draw attention. And the last thing any of them needed was attention. So Tim was super excited to see the magic for real.
So on June 16th, a Saturday, right after their morning yoga, Harry and Jason put on their nicest clothes—jeans with the least amount of holes and/or stains, t-shirts with hems that hadn't completely unraveled, their ever-present hoodies against the morning chill, and Harry's hiking boots (which still fit!) and Jason's combat boots (which…didn't fit quite so well). They carried their backpacks, looking like kids going on a day trip or over to a friend's house for a school project, and hopped on the bus to Bristol.
As agreed, Tim met them at the bus stop in Bristol, practically vibrating with excitement. As soon as they stepped off the bus, Tim grabbed both their hands and all but dragged them along toward his house.
He stopped after a few minutes, because it was a two-mile walk, but then he chattered excitedly nonstop about all the research he'd been doing, and how excited he was, and how amazing it was that his twin brother was a magician (Harry preferred the term wizard; it sounded way cooler). Harry and Jason barely got a word in edgewise.
Almost the second they stepped through the manor doors, Tim turned and demanded to see Harry's magic!
Suddenly feeling shy, Harry said quietly, "It'll be cooler in a dark room."
"Okay!" Tim grabbed their hands again and led them…literally to a darkroom. As in, this was the room Tim developed his photographs in.
"I don't have any pictures developing right now, so a little light isn't going to hurt anything," Tim said quickly. "Now show me! Show me, please!"
Jason grinned at Harry in encouragement, so Harry took a deep breath. It took only one cycle of the breathing exercises to slip into his meditative stance, and it took only one more cycle to bring the flame into being.
Tim gasped.
"That's not all he can do," Jason bragged.
Encouraged, and with Tim's enthusiasm catching, Harry smiled broader and moved the flame around in circles, then figure-eights, sending it all over the room.
Tim's eyes were sparkling, his grin so wide it had to hurt as he stared in awe. Harry flushed a little at the attention, but he was so proud of what he could do.
"I have one more trick," Harry said after a few minutes.
Jason gave a mock gasp. "You've managed to keep a secret from me, little hawk?"
Harry flushed and grinned, nodding. "I practiced at night, after you were asleep."
"What is it? What is it?!" Tim bounced on his toes, his eyes bright and eager.
Harry smirked and willed the flame to change color. He cycled it through all the colors of the rainbow, then split the flame into seven different ones, each one a different color.
Tim laughed in delight.
Jason gaped.
"Holy shit, Harry!"
Harry giggled. "You said 'shit.'"
Tim bit his lip, trying not to laugh.
"Well, yeah," Jason exclaimed. "That you could do just one was already fucking amazing. Now you can multiply them? And change colors? I think that warrants a few curse words!"
Harry and Tim started giggling at the other word Jason used. The colored lights still hovered overhead, causing ethereal colored shadows to dance along the walls. Then Jason joined in the laughter. And then Harry just basked in the glow of his own little mage lights and the wonderful feeling of acceptance and pride and excitement surrounding him, rather than disgust, horror, and fear.
The lights flickered, changing to soft blues and greens with a flicker of pink and violet, as if reading the mood. Tim looked up in surprise and awe, then suddenly he threw his arms around Harry with enough force that he stumbled backward.
"You're amazing and I love you!" Tim exclaimed.
Harry caught his breath, then hid his face against Tim's shoulder as tears stung his eyes. "Thank you. Twin," Harry whispered.
Tim gasped softly, then hugged Harry even tighter. "I love you, twin," he whispered back.
"All right, enough with the tooth rotting. You're both disgustingly adorable." Jason grabbed them both in a tight, tight hug, pressing a brief kiss into both their hair, then turned them around and ushered them out of the room.
Laughing wetly, Harry let himself be pushed, allowing his lights to fade and the room to fall back into darkness as the door closed behind him.
"Now, I don't know about you, Harry, but I want a shower and real food," Jason stated. "You gonna play host, Timmy? Or do I have to show myself up?"
Tim eeped in surprise. "Ohmygod! I've been so rude! Demanding things and not even offering refreshments! I'm so, so sorry!" He bowed his head so low he was practically groveling.
Jason poked the top of his head. "Relax, Timbit. I'm teasing."
Tim hesitantly looked up, and they were both shocked to see his eyes shimmering with tears. "R-really? You—you're not gonna yell at me?"
"Why would I yell at you? You invited us over; it would be even ruder for me to reprimand you for being a bad host."
"But you're not a bad host," Harry cut in as Tim's face fell. "Besides, we didn't come here to be hosted. I dunno 'bout Jason, but I came here to see my twin and my very best friend in the whole world. I don't care that you didn't get us a glass of water or somethin'," Harry finished fiercely. "And if your parents woulda yelled at you, then they suck."
Jason poked Harry in the side. "You sound more and more Crime Alley every day," he teased. Then he pulled Tim into a hug. "Now quit crying, Timberly."
Tim sniffed as he hugged Jason back, laughing wetly at the nickname. He pressed into Jason's chest for just a moment, then pulled back, wiping his eyes. "Um. I have some frozen pizzas. Or, um, TV dinners."
"Pizza," Harry declared. "TV dinners are gross."
"You can only say that because here you're allowed to be picky," Jason said wryly. "But I agree. I want pizza. I don't care if it's only like ten in the morning."
"And we can shower while they cook, so we can be clean when we eat," Harry chirped.
Tim nodded, a hesitant smile spreading across his face. "I remember how to use the oven. From Christmas."
"I'm still gonna supervise, baby bird," Jason declared. "I don't want ya burning yourself on my watch."
Tim nodded, his smile looking a little more genuine. "Okay."
"Lead the way, then, Timbers," Jason said, gesturing dramatically.
Giggling, Tim did indeed lead the way to the kitchens. Under Jason's (and Harry's) careful supervision, he put both pizzas in the oven.
Then Harry and Jason exchanged a look and a smirk.
"Race you!" Harry exclaimed, and he tore up the stairs.
"Hey! No fair!" Jason raced after him with Tim on his heels, laughing loudly.
Harry made it to the guest bathroom first, hardly even out of breath. He laughed and stuck his tongue out as Jason stumbled to a stop just seconds later.
"Me, first!"
Then Tim stumbled up the stairs, huffing and puffing. "How are…you guys…so fast?" he whined.
"Running away from muggers and thugs," Jason deadpanned.
Harry elbowed him. "Exercise. You just sit at home all day. Maybe you could try exercising." Harry shrugged. "It'll be something to do anyway. Jason and I are doing yoga, too."
Tim looked thoughtful. "Maybe you could show me?"
"Sure, Timbelina."
Harry snickered at the nickname while Tim adopted a long-suffering look that looked terribly out of place on his young face.
"My name is Tim," he whined.
Jason grinned. "Ah, don't lie. You love it."
Tim stuck his tongue out. "You're annoying."
Jason smirked back. "But you love me anyway."
Tim scowled. "Unfortunately, I do love you."
Jason's cheeks pinked. He cleared his throat and pushed Harry into the bathroom. "Go get clean, little hawk. I'm gonna help Timbit pick out the most obnoxious outfit for you."
"No! Not Green Arrow!" Harry complained (not meaning it in the slightest).
Jason smirked and shut the door on him.
Harry laughed quietly and started the shower running. They'd been over about a dozen times by now, so they had a routine down. They'd shower pretty soon after arriving, and Tim would wash their clothes while they hung out, eating whenever they felt like it, then they'd stay the night and make their way back in the morning. The only exceptions were those few extremely cold days and nights back in January and February, and a random, extreme cold snap in late March. Then they'd stayed for two or three days in a row, until the temperature went up a little.
Harry took his time enjoying the shower, but he was also looking forward to pizza, so he didn't take too long.
It wasn't until he'd stepped out of the shower and dried off that Harry realized he'd put his old clothes out for wash, but hadn't received a change of clothes in return. He thought he'd heard a knock earlier, so maybe they were on the floor just outside?
Biting his lip and wrapping one towel firmly around his waist and the other around his shoulders like a blanket, Harry peeked out.
No clothes. Old or new.
"Uh…Tim?" Harry called. He was starting to shiver, and his heart was beating hard. Harry had made the mistake once, early last summer, of washing his clothes in a gas station bathroom, but he hadn't had anything to change into. The bathroom was usually empty. No one was ever in that gas station besides the cashier when Harry went. He'd thought he'd be safe.
Then someone had walked in on him.
Harry had stared, his whole face flushing.
The man had looked him up and down, his gaze lingering with a glint in his eye, then walked past him into a stall. And then Harry had heard moaning.
He'd pulled on his soaking wet clothes and high-tailed it out of there, terrified out of his mind. And from then on, Harry had never, ever taken his clothes off in front of anyone. Not even Jason.
There was a crash across the hall, then Tim burst out with a bundle in his arms.
"I'm so sorry! Jason was being annoying, and then we started arguing, and then I forgot!" Tim presented the bundle practically in a bow. "I'm so, so sorry!"
Swallowing hard, Harry reached out with one hand and took the bundle, but the towel around his shoulders slipped. Tim blinked, then immediately shoved the clothes at him and ran back to his room.
His heart pounding, Harry pulled the door closed and locked it again, hugging the clothes to his chest with shaking hands. After a second, Harry thought to use his breathing exercises to try and make his heart rate slow down. And a few minutes later, it finally did. So Harry got dressed, in cargo shorts and—yep, a Green Arrow shirt. Harry laughed quietly; he was never telling Jason that Green Arrow was his favorite, because a bow and arrow was so cool, and he reminded Harry of Robin Hood, whom Harry had loved since the moment he'd heard of him.
Harry was immediately ambushed by Tim when he returned to his room.
"I'm so, so sorry!" Tim blubbered. "I didn't mean to see the scars, I swear!"
Harry tensed, then made himself relax. "It's fine," he said stiffly.
Jason—already showered, his damp hair curling, wearing a Wonder Woman t-shirt and cargo shorts like Harry's—sat up from where he was lounging on Tim's bed. "Harry? Little hawk? What scars is he talking about?"
Harry hid behind Tim. "'S nothing," he mumbled. Uncle Vernon may have only used his belt once, but it left a lasting impression. Harry had almost forgotten about those scars, but now that Tim brought it up, it was just one more reason why he wouldn't ever get changed in front of someone.
Then Jason was there, hugging him tightly from behind.
"I've got scars, too, little hawk," Jason murmured softly. "It's proof we're survivors."
Harry sniffed and hugged Tim a little tighter.
For a long minute they just stood there, with Harry sandwiched between his two brothers(!), then Tim pulled back with a grin.
"I've got a list of magic things you should try! Wanna see?!"
Harry smiled a little wetly and wiped his cheeks. "Yeah. I wanna try all kinds of things now."
Jason squeezed Harry a little tighter before letting go. "Then let's see this list. I need to exercise my big brother powers and veto anything that sounds too dangerous."
"Jay!" Harry complained. "It's my magic!"
"And you were practically comatose for three days the last time I let you practice unsupervised!" Jason countered.
"'S not my fault I fell asleep! And it always faded before!"
Jason poked him. "Don't care. We don't know hardly anything about these powers of yours. I don't want you getting hurt again."
Harry pouted. He would never tell Jason, but he liked that his big brother(!) worried about him. No one ever had before.
Tim giggled. "Don't worry; I'll cross 'shoot lasers' off my list," he quipped.
They both gasped, Harry in mock betrayal and Jason in shock that it was even on his list. Tim laughed and grabbed both their hands, dragging them downstairs.
"Come on! Pizza awaits!"
The other two grinned and let Tim pull them along.