It takes time. It takes a not-insignificant amount of time, watching over Tim in his unconscious state. There are bed sheets to be adjusted and changed, intravenous nutrients and pain relief medications to be provided, accounts and photographs of waxing and waning injuries to be made and organized…
And, perhaps most importantly, there are hours of watching and sitting and waiting and caring so very deeply.
Alfred gently curves his hand around Tim's jaw, stroking his thumb across the boy's cheek. The massive bruise that had sat on that cheek only an hour before, when Alfred had switched out with Bruce, has been gone for at least half an hour. Still, it has taken Alfred until now to gather the confidence to cradle Tim's face by that spot.
By accident, Alfred's thumb nudges a bit of Tim's hair out of place. Alfred carefully straightens the bit of hair back where it belongs, so it looks like Tim is merely asleep, not unconscious and functionally comatose.
It aches. It aches to watch this happen, to help but not be able to help enough, to not know when or even if this will be resolved-
But it must be resolved. They will make it be resolved. Dick has been primarily in charge of making the backstory for how Batman and his associates uncovered the truth about Jack and Janet Drake's so-called childcare, taking photos and writing notes, so that they can form their case once Tim awakens. Bruce has been primarily in charge of researching ways to ensure Tim awakens, consulting with all kinds of metahuman specialists as best he can. As for Alfred, he has been primarily in charge of Tim, keeping him as comfortable and cared for as possible.
And he is cared for. Tim is so very cared for. Alfred vows that when Tim awakens, Tim will know just how much he is cared for, just how much he is truly and really loved.
The thought that their boy didn't believe he was loved by them, didn't believe he could be loved, didn't believe he even deserved it… The thought breaks Alfred to pieces.
But the thought that they will have a chance to show him how much they do love him? That thought builds Alfred back up, and he goes back to stroking Tim's cheek, fixing Tim's hair, gazing at Tim's barely-open eyes.
Wait.
Tim's eyes are open. They're barely open, but they're open, and they're clear and alert, unlike the hazed look they've held every other time Tim's neared consciousness.
"Master Tim," Alfred breathes.
Tim cracks a yawn. "Yeah?"
"You're up," Alfred says.
"Yeah," Tim says again, and he props himself up on his elbows and gives a squint to his surroundings. "Uh, why am I in the medical area of the Cave?"
"You're up," Alfred says again, stuck on the simple but powerful realization.
Tim blinks at him with confusion.
"Let me inform the others," Alfred says, thinking quickly. If he hurries-
Alfred stands from his chair and rushes to the main part of the Cave, where Dick and Bruce are thankfully still preparing for the night's patrol.
"Alfred!" Dick says loudly, concern clear in his voice. "What-"
"He's up," Alfred says. "He's awake, he's all right."
Bruce drops the gauntlet that's half onto his hand. It lands on the floor and is immediately ignored.
"He's really up?" Dick asks, but he's already making his way to the medical area, Bruce and Alfred mere steps behind.
Tim fidgets with the sheets, glancing up cautiously as they stride in.
"It's so good to see you," Dick says, plopping down in the chair next to Tim's cot.
"Good to be seen, yeah," Tim says. It sounds more like a question than a statement. "What happened?"
Dick, Bruce, and Alfred change glances.
"We're sorry, Tim," Bruce says finally.
"I'm sorry?" Tim asks with a frown.
"We're sorry we didn't know," Bruce says, voice cracking as he forces the words out. "We love you so much, Tim, and we love you as you are."
Tim looks down and fidgets with the sheets again for a moment. Then he freezes. Slowly, a dawning horror appears on his face, and he looks up at them. "You… You know."
"We know you are a completely lovable person," Dick says firmly.
"And we know you're a metahuman, and we know that doesn't change the fact that we love you," Bruce says.
"You are wanted here," Alfred says. "You are good and you are safe and you are wanted and you are loved. And we know this. And we know that it may take you time to adjust to this, but we will be here to help you."
Tim gapes at them.
"There'll be plenty of time later to talk more about how we want to help you," Bruce adds. "For now, just now we love you."
"You love me?" Tim asks in a strangled voice. "But-"
"No but's," Alfred says briskly. "No conditions of any kind. I rather think there have been too many conditions placed upon you to this point in life. From now on, there is no need to doubt the conditions under which you are able to be loved, because there are no conditions in which you are not loved. You are loved no matter what. You are a metahuman, and you are loved."
"...I can be loved?" Tim asks after several long moments. "Really loved? That's allowed? That's okay?"
"That is more than merely okay," Alfred says. "It is important and true and good."
"But I'm bad," Tim says softly.
"You are not bad," Alfred says.
Tim thinks about that for a moment. "But my parents always said I was bad."
Dick, Bruce, and Alfred exchange glances again, having planned to stall the conversation about the adult Drakes until later.
Carefully, Alfred says, "Your parents were the bad ones. They were wrong to treat you as they did. They were wrong to not treat you as a person, to not treat you as someone who is loved. You are a metahuman, and the root of that is that you are human. You are a person, and you deserve to be loved because of that."
"I can be loved," Tim says again, and this time, it only sounds half like a question.
"Yes," Alfred says emphatically. "You can be loved, and you are loved."
"I'm loved," Tim says softly, like it's the most special thing he's ever heard, and it very well may be exactly that.
AN: And that's a wrap on this spin-off, folks! I'll try to put out another one as soon as I can. I've got plenty of ideas for them! Let me know what you think, because I hope you enjoyed!