Disclaimer: not mine

Torn over whether Tim will ever get home or not. After all, either Dick or Bernard could step up in control if the way he travelled made it seem like he died.

Pairing suggestions?

Chapter 3

Dick's mind was spinning, Tim…but not the little brother he'd lost. This Tim was different and yet still so similar. He knew what he'd done was stupid, reckless, but he hadn't cared, he'd just needed his baby bird. But there'd been not one second where he'd felt threatened, Tim's hug had felt the same other than the coldness of his body, he'd even moved with breath, something he did to conceal his species probably. If he still worked as a vigilante then he likely pretended to be human to help keep people calmer.

He got up to the house and found Damian in the kitchen. "Hey baby bat, good day at school? He knew better than to ask if he was in pain, Damian didn't like them fussing. But he allowed Dick to ruffle his hair at least, he'd even hug these days. Dami had come a long way from the traumatised tiny assassin that had first arrived on their doorstep.

"School was as usual," Damian answered, watching him. "Who or what is our guest?" he asked, and Dick sighed.

"You hacked the cameras," he murmured and his brother nodded.

"I saw you in the cell."

"With Tim."

"Drake is dead, Richard," Damian stated firmly, but Dick could hear the concern.

"Ours is," he agreed, hating the words.

And then Bruce was joining them, looking between them.

,

"You told him?"

"Do you think I can't access the cameras, Father? Richard said that it is Drake but that ours is dead." The question was clear.

"Constantine confirmed," Bruce nodded. "He is an alternate version of Tim, from another Earth with different events. He survived his trip to Iraq and is twenty-three, time is flowing differently."

Damian was frowning but it was one of consideration. His youngest had come a long way in the last few years, especially the last two. And he would never be free of the guilt when he saw the prosthetic arm, despite knowing there was nothing he could have done to change the events that led to Damian losing his arm. And that would likely make it more difficult for Damian to accept this Tim, given what he was.

"Four years ago for Tim, the Cave was attacked and his Bruce was killed, he witnessed it, all of you kids did. Tim himself was very badly wounded in the attack, left behind for dead. Jason got your alternate out and sent him to Talia for safety."

"The bats of his world left him behind?" Damian asked in disbelief.

"They thought he was dead and couldn't get to him," Bruce pointed out. "They all would have died if they had tried, Tim is very aware of that. He managed to escape the Cave but was later found by one of those involved in the attack."

Damian was half frowning and half glaring at him. "Father, you are being far too careful in naming the attackers or how they breached the Cave."

Bruce looked to his eldest, this would hurt Dick; to know his counterpart had killed Tim…but he'd had no choice.

Dick frowned in confusion but it soon shifted to horror. "Me," he whispered. "It…it was me; I did this to him?" Dick half demanded and half denied.

"No Dick, it was an alternate version of you who had no choice, he was being controlled. He let them into the Cave and mortally wounded Tim and then he tracked Tim to where he was hiding." Bruce paused, knowing that Damian hated vampires, for good reason, but everything Constantine had done proved Tim wasn't the same kind as theirs, and his actions showed he was a lot like the Tim they had lost.

"Who was controlling him?" Damian asked, alarm well hidden, after all if it happened in one word, it could happen in another.

"Vampires," Dick answered. "You're saying…that Dick is Tim's Sire."

"Father?" Damian's eyes were wide with horror and then his gaze locked on the doorway.

Bruce turned to see Tim standing there in some of Dick's clothing as they were the closest in height and build. The extra two years had allowed Tim to gain a few extra inches and begin to fill out to his adult build but not fully.

"I can come back?" Tim offered, hovering in the doorway.

"It's alright," Bruce nodded at the boy…no, young man for all that he looked like an older teen still.

Tim looked at Damian and smiled slightly. "Hello Damian."

,

Tim greeted this dimensions' version of his little brother, seeing the horror in his eyes and not wanting to cause an even worse reaction. He could hear Damian's heart racing, smell the fear, but why? The wards…calling in Constantine…and now Damian's reaction. "I won't hurt you Damian," he promised. "Another dimension or not, you're family."

He glanced around. "I'm guessing from the wards on the Manor and everyone's reaction the local vampires are very different? And you had a bad run in with them."

Tim approached where they were sitting and chose the seat farthest from Damian. "I don't kill to feed; Wayne Enterprises funds a charity that supplies blood and shelter to any vampires in Gotham and we've been branching out lately into other cities. When Ra's targeted our Damian, we went immediately to help him, we saved Dami but Talia…it was too late. Bernard offered to turn her and she said no, your alternate wasn't as badly off and we got him to a hospital in time. He has issues with Dick, even knowing Dick didn't have a choice in what happened, his Sire had control of him."

"So now he controls you?" Damian's voice had a tremor to it that Tim knew a human wouldn't hear.

"No," Tim shook his head but gently explained the whole thing, including Steph's final death and how Bernard had been turned, Tim's killing of his Grandsire and the transfer of her bonds to him. "I'm still a vigilante, I still fight for Gotham, for Earth."

,

Damian stared at the vampire wearing Timothy's face, though not exactly, this Drake was older than the one he remembered. The expression seemed open, earnest but he still remembered…Timothy hadn't been one of them, already two years dead and cremated, something Damian had put into his own file to have done upon death. He looked to his Father and Richard; did they truly believe he was not like their vampires?

"Constantine confirmed it Damian, he has his soul and his only 'kills' are those he turned. Though, why did you turn Barbara?" Father asked.

"Because she asked me to," Drake answered. "Her health was starting to deteriorate and she'd gotten back with Dick but he didn't feel ready to turn someone again, especially someone he was romantically involved with. She really likes being back on her feet and the Commissioner's never asked about her sudden healing, I think he's just happy that she's happy, even if he'll never have grandkids."

And then Damian realised something, Drake was playing with an unused spoon. "How can you touch that?" he demanded.

"What?" he looked confused, glancing down and then back up at Damian. "It's just a spoon?

"But it's silver," he argued.

"And…?" Drake looked bewildered.

"Vampires can't touch silver," Damian pointed out.

"I guess that's another species difference," Drake offered. "There's not much that affects me that doesn't affect a human. Obviously, sunlight and fire are a risk but not things like silver."

"Then how did you get here during the day?" Richard asked.

"Have you seen Gotham's idea of a sunny day?" Drake smirked. "The average day in Gotham isn't bad, I might get a bit red but it won't kill me. Go somewhere like Metropolis and it'll be a different story."

That was interesting and something it was good the local vampires couldn't do, though they did have ways to get around their sun sensitivity. But the Justice League now knew of those and kept an eye on things.

"What about beheading and staking?" he asked.

"Dami!" Richard chided.

"Pretty sure they kill most beings," Drake answered. "I know having our heart ripped out is fatal. It's how Steph," he swallowed.

So Brown was dead in his world as well, that was interesting. He shifted, arm moving and Drake's eyes moved to it, a frown growing before his eyes went wide. He was not ashamed of his prosthetic, he wasn't, but it was a weakness and he felt the desire to hide it. Vampires were predators and showing weakness to a predator was never smart.

"Damian…" Drake was suddenly beside him, and Damian jerked back, but the touch to his shoulder was feather light. "Who did this?" he asked, eyes flickering from blue to red.

"Tim?" Father's tone was cautious but Drake looked at him.

"Who hurt him?" a slight growl was audible now.

He was angry…for Damian? But he didn't know him, the histories of their worlds weren't exactly the same and his life had been different since Timothy's death.

,

Dick watched his little brothers carefully; glad Tim was so accepting of Dami's prickliness. It was interesting that Tim's kind had fewer weaknesses. And then Tim realised Damian's arm was a prosthetic, Tim moving too fast to see but his touch was so gentle once Dick saw him again. He was angry on Damian's behalf? Maybe their relationship had improved after Bruce's return, he knew Tim had been excited about being a big brother at first after all.

He tensed at the growl but Tim wanted to know who had hurt Damian, fingers ghosting over the limb. Damian's eyes were wide, body tense, and then Tim leant in, wrapping an arm around Damian. Was he…purring? He nuzzled at Damian, scenting him. Damian was stiff in his hold, trembling, and Dick really hoped there wasn't about to be bloodshed but then something seemed to shift, Damian slowly relaxing.

,

Tim held Damian, working to control the protective rage. Who had hurt his little brother? He half expected to be stabbed since this Damian hadn't been around him since he'd left to find Bruce but slowly the teen relaxed against him, breath a bit shaky. "I won't let anyone hurt you," he promised softly.

He could smell the prosthetic, it smelt like Damian but also like plastic and metal. Damian's scent was different to the one he knew too, but everyone seemed to smell subtly different. It was hard to tell with Dick since there was also the difference of this one being human but Alfred smelled different. He'd never gotten to scent his Bruce; they'd all avoided getting close to the coffin at his funeral given the time that had passed since his death.

,

Damian felt a cold arm wrap around him, confining, but nothing happened. A soft, rumble sounded, he could feel the slight vibration coming from Drake's body. He was tense, his real arm was pinned, it would be hard to get free…but then Drake's nose pressed to his throat, he felt his pulse spike in fear, he was…nuzzling? There was no pain, no bite, just that soft rumbling and before he realised it, he was relaxing in Drake's hold.

"I won't let anyone hurt you," Drake promised softly, too softly for the others to hear.

Was this some kind of vampire power? To ensure prey wouldn't fight back by making them feel safe? Because in Drake's arm…he felt safe. Which was crazy, he and Timothy had never gotten along and he knew it was his own actions that had caused it. By the time he had seen and understood the truth of their family, Timothy had been dead. The embrace felt strange, lacking the physical warmth he was used to from his family, the sensation of life from the body holding his.

"Want me to make a better prosthetic?" Drake offered after a while, and Damian blinked.

"Better? This is top of the line," he was somewhat offended on Fox's behalf.

"And my Earth's a few years ahead," Drake pointed out, but then frowned. "But there's more than three years difference in the tech levels," he admitted.

"That would explain the complexity of your comm," Father spoke up.

"I could help upgrade your systems," Drake suggested, eyes bright. "I should also grab my suit." So, it seemed he had the same interests as Timothy, at least some of them.

"Your suite…you said Red Robin to Alfred?" Richard asked.

,

Alfred remained in the background, keeping an eye on everything. This wasn't the dear boy they had lost and yet…but surely his own family had to be panicked over his disappearance. He hoped there was a way to return him to his home but also hoped that perhaps his own family could find some closure during his time with them.

,

"I was Red Robin and then after we dealt with the take-over of Gotham by my Grandsire, I stayed RR for a while but then I moved to Crow. Jason's Batman, Dick stayed Nightwing, Bernard's Jackdaw, Cass is still Black Bat and Duke Signal while Tania is soon going to be Batgirl," Tim explained.

Bruce wondered why Tim had picked the name, was it due to the bird's connection with death? That was rather depressing but did he have any room to comment given why he had chosen Batman? Jackdaw was a bird species closely related to Crows so that was likely why Bernard had chosen the name. If Bernard was Tim's Childe, did that make Bruce a grandparent? No, he was too young for that.

"Are you able to eat or drink anything Master Timothy?" Alfred asked as he placed drinks on the table and Tim gave them a mournful look.

"No," he shook his head. "I really miss your cooking, Alfred."

"I am sure the other me misses cooking for you as well," Alfred patted his shoulder gently.

"He does miss cooking for a full table. With Babs turned, he only gets to cook for three now."

Yes, Alfred would miss that. Speaking of Barbara, he would need to contact the others and let them know about Tim and his condition, better they be warned then to come to the Manor and be shocked.

"Where did you leave your suit, we can retrieve it tonight," Bruce offered, and Tim explained. He'd hidden it well which was good, it wouldn't do for anyone to find it after all. "I'll work on sourcing blood for you, our supplies are typed for transfusions."

Tim nodded; he would already know that. "The preservatives in the bags aren't actually very good, kind of like eating junk food," he admitted. "I can load up the specifications but I can work out a way to source it myself."

He shook his head. "I'll do it."

Tim might be used to being independent but here he had no identity let alone funds. Bruce had preserved their Tim's inheritance, had folded DI into WE, but passing him off as another Drake may be difficult given the investigation into the family to find an heir after their Tim died. And if he was only going to be with them a few months, he could get around not having a legal identity. But if it took longer or if there was no way, then they'd need to work something out.

"I've set you up a room in the family wing, should I arrange blackout curtains?"

"Thank you, Alfred," Tim smiled at him.

"Of course, I shall also see to some clothing and other items as well."

Talking was a little stilted on and off but it seemed Damian was accepting him which was good. And too soon, it was time for him and Dick to prepare for patrol. Before they left, Bruce grabbed a spare Wayne phone for Tim, making sure their numbers were programmed in, the others could be added as they learnt about Tim.

,

Dick found the bag where Tim had said, slipping it over his shoulder, no matter how much he wanted to peak at the gear inside. A rooftop where he could be seen wasn't the best place to do so. B had called a full family meeting in the Cave at the end of patrol and that was when Dick thought of something. Tim had mentioned someone named Duke who was Signal. So, who was he?

He hoped Babs and Cass would be okay with Tim, they had both taken Steph's death very hard. But neither woman was one to place blame on those uninvolved. Tim had nothing to do with what had happened.

He…he wanted Tim to stay with them, but that wasn't fair on him or the family he'd left behind.

TBC…