Disclaimer: not mine

Any pairing suggestions? I know Tim's so for others.

"normal speech". 'internal speech between Tim and the Geth'

Chapter 2

Kon stood before the memorial to the third Robin, Red Robin…Tim. It had been two years to the day since their confrontation against the magician and Tim's… Kon's only hope was that it had been painless. It still hurt to think of him as gone forever and he knew he wasn't the only one hurting. Bart had become less chatty, though he couldn't stop moving or anything, he was a Speedster after all. Cassie too was quieter, he supposed he was too.

He heard a familiar person move up beside him, placing an energy drink down in front of the memorial. Jason had a simple domino on rather than his distinctive helmet.

"He loved you four, a lot. More than he could articulate honestly. Kid had issues with emotions, not surprising given his examples," Jason murmured. "He loved the family too, no matter how much we hurt him."

"You made amends after Tim came back," Kon offered softly. "It was Damian, Dick, and Steph that he still had issues with."

And that seemed to have almost broken Dick once they realised Tim was gone forever. They had clung to hope, after all, Tim had just done the impossible and brought Bruce back when everyone else thought he was dead. So, with Tim vanishing and magic involved, a very thorough investigation had been launched. Every avenue had been explored, Bruce leading the search, desperate to find his son. Three months ago, Red Robin had been declared dead, Tim Drake had already been so over a year ago, Cass wearing the suit on occasion to hide the link between the two.

Dick had always assumed there was time for Tim to come to him, had been 'giving him space'. Kon could have told him that would have worked, hell, anyone who knew Tim could have. And now Dick's chance was gone with Tim.

So why couldn't Kon grieve properly? Why did some part of him cling to Tim, like he was still alive?

But he didn't say anything as others filed in to pay their respects. The whole Bat clan was there, the Titans, the Justice League, many of their faces showing barely concealed guilt. Thankfully, it wasn't open to the public, though Lois and the Fox family had been allowed in.

,

Bruce sat on the couch in Tim's apartment, the place had remained empty since he vanished. His will had left his things to be split among family and friends but the property was given to Jason due to the Nest beneath the building which was on the edges of the Alley. The apartment was still furnished, the artwork on the walls. Even some of his clothing was still in the closets.

He picked up a photo of the two of them, from just before Damian had come to the family. Seeing the happy yet shy smile on Tim's face… he closed his eyes in grief. His son was gone, dead, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Tim had saved him but he couldn't do the same, Bart had been willing to risk the timeline to go back and save Tim but everyone had shot him down. So soon after Bruce had been saved from the time stream, any more alterations could destroy it. Tim would never want them to risk that for him.

His son was gone and the hole he left in their family was obvious. Tim had done so much for them, even when most didn't realise it. Had…had he ever told Tim how he felt about him? Had Tim died thinking he was still angry about Captain Boomerang?

,

Tim had been on Rannoch for almost a month now. He'd completed the biotic training, not sure what he thought of being exposed to element zero to enable it to be possible. Since the research said exposure should be in utero, he really didn't want to know how they'd managed it but they must have done something to him, altered his DNA maybe? How else would they have ensured the nodules formed throughout his nervous system rather than him ending up with brain tumours or something? And instead of the single implant in his brain, they had spread things out through his nervous system to make conscious control easier. He wasn't a master of his new biotic abilities but he had the basics down to an acceptable level as far as he could tell and the Geth agreed with him.

Tim supposed back home he'd count as a Meta now, if they even considered him human anymore. His body was capable of feats he couldn't have done before. He couldn't match a Kryptonian or Speedster, but his rebuilt body was far stronger and faster than a human could match. The metal used to replace his bones was the same as the Geth platforms were made from, which was how they knew his skeleton could survive re-entry now. Not that he was eager to try that for himself, no thank you. Knowing the nanites and cloned spleen would keep his immune system at its best was a relief though, he'd only lost it a few months before being transported but he'd already been sick of the daily antibiotics and crazy cleaning of any wounds to ensure they wouldn't become infected.

But the fact that everyone used lethal weapons was not something he felt comfortable with. Yes, he had trained to safely use firearms but more so that he'd know what the people shooting at him could do. The Geth had made sure he had all the standard weapons that human soldiers used, from a pistol to assault rifles and grenades. Jason would love it but Tim loved the omni-tool. Not that he really needed it but it was a good intermediary until he became fully comfortable interacting with tech with just his mind. It could do some things he couldn't though, like dispensing medi-gel…at least he really hoped he couldn't do that himself.

Today, he would be going to see the ship they had built for him and that was exciting. He'd modified the mask of his armour to be more like those worn by humans, he didn't want to be mistaken for a Quarian, but he also didn't want to be mistaken for Alliance either. He wasn't a soldier and never would be.

He'd studied the ship schematics and training that he'd been given. The Alliance and Turian's probably wouldn't be happy that the Geth had the plans for their new ship, but there was nothing to do about it now. He'd need to name the ship, the Geth didn't really get that, but if he was going to be interacting with others then his ship needed a name. And…he was kind of excited to fly it for the first time. Though why he needed a ship that when actually manned had a crew of around fifty people and could fit even more passengers. It had three decks like the ship it was based on but they were basically all open space for the moment, he supposed he could personalise it as he worked out what he needed. Though there was an engineering area, a spacious bedroom and stocked kitchen, and some detainment cells.

Part of him was looking forward to leaving Rannoch, to being around other people. Yes, the Geth were literally always with him, but it wasn't the same. He was getting good at finding the balance with the Geth, they were always with him now, in his head even when he wasn't trying to connect but they were learning he liked to think about things and come to conclusions on his own. They would guide him when he didn't have the knowledge to make a conclusion but wouldn't influence him, at least not that he could detect.

,

Tim stared at the pitch-black ship before him, smiling when he spotted dark red where the SSV Normandy had blue. And there, on the side, was a dark gold bird…Red Robin's symbol. He wasn't Red Robin here, there were no vigilantes here, not the kind he was used to but it was still nice of them to give him the reminder of home. Did they understand what it meant to him or was it just via research that they knew he would appreciate it?

"You stole the design of the human's most advanced ship." Tim teased automatically, at least they didn't seem to mind his attempts at humour. He used to joke around with the team or Dick but he didn't really do it anymore.

"Only the physical profile of the ship is similar to the SR-1 Normandy. Its internal systems are based on Geth and Quarian designs. Organic interface can be achieved via omni-tools," the platform corrected. "The profile has been altered significantly to differentiate it from the human's ship."

"Why not make it look like a Geth ship, or something original?" Personally, he thought an original design would have been for the best, unrecognisable to anyone thus letting him be something of a mystery.

"A Geth ship would be fired upon immediately. It was deemed that a human ship would be more acceptable to other races as you are human yourself."

Tim turned a deadpan expression on the platform. "I've seen what you did to my body. I am just as much Geth as I am human," he pointed out dryly. He hadn't been able to help himself, despite how sickening the images had been. Gravity had done his body no favours.

The platform tilted its head slightly. "Query: Was that an insult or a compliment?"

"It was an observation," he murmured. Honestly, he still wasn't sure how to feel about it. Was he happy to not be dead? Yes. Becoming a cyborg though? That he wasn't so sure about.

Thankfully, Tim wouldn't have to be at the helm the entire time. Although the Geth were against sending platforms out of the system, they had no problem living in the ships systems and helping out. It also meant that he wouldn't be lonely.

Tim had settled on 'they' for the Geth but sometimes he didn't so much forget as revert to how he was used to things being and considering each platform individually. But then he remembered that there weren't really multiple Geth. There was just the Geth. You spoke to one and you spoke to all. Well, unless they were Heretics.

During the first few minutes of the ship's maiden voyage Tim had learnt an important fact - the Geth were not very adventurous when it came to flying. He'd just pulled a few manoeuvres he'd done plenty of times in other craft that were nowhere near as advanced. Tim loved it as, unlike those craft, he felt he actually was the ship. He didn't need a cockpit as the sensors showed him everything he needed.

The Geth had alarms going off all over the place. They were pushing them into his brain.

Spoilsports. People were forever saying he should act his age, joyriding in a spaceship counted, right? But Tim gave in and headed out of the atmosphere, the alarms going quiet as he set a course for the Citadel - the centre of civilisation in this galaxy. There he would find all the races that were a part of the Council and those who weren't, including the occasional Quarian.

While the Geth flew the ship, Tim lay on his bed with his eyes closed, diving ever deeper into the politics and technology of his new home. There was nothing to hint at a way home…no magic, no time travel, no real gods, nothing. And…he'd been gone for two years now if the timelines were moving together, though he'd spent unconscious or technically dead as they rebuilt his body. Had he been declared dead or missing? Kon, Cassie, Bart…his closest friends…and they'd been there, had seen him vanish. With the damage the spells had been doing, they had to assume he was dead, right? He didn't want that for them, for any of his friends or family.

The technology was fascinating, specifically the technology that was letting them move faster than light and the Mass Relay they were approaching that would take them straight to Citadel space. Mass Effect technology was so different to everything he knew. Sure, alien species back home had FTL tech, but he'd never seen any that was quite like this. Mass Effect relays were basically instantaneous and every inhabited system had one within a few days travel at FTL. The relays were apparently created by a long extinct species, the Protheans, but the Geth seemed to be doubting that since the Old Machine had shown up.

With how little was known of the Protheans, Tim was willing to accept that they hadn't made the Citadel or Relays, there simply wasn't enough evidence for or against as far as he could see in the data. It was like someone had tried to erase them and going back in the data in various archaeological databases, it looked like someone had tried to erase even older races. The Old Machine maybe? Or something else? No one else seemed to see the pattern but it had taken the Geth well over a week using a good-sized server to find the pattern so it wasn't that surprising.

Biotics though…they really did not make sense to him. Honestly, it was clear that there was more to Eezo users than generating 'Mass Effect' field since a Mass Effect field altered the mass of objects within it. With that, levitating, pulling, and throwing objects made sense, it was similar to powers he'd seen back home, even Kon's TTK had some similarities. But how the hell did altering gravity lead to abilities like Reave, the ability to attack a person's health and then siphon it to the user? That said nothing of the Dominate ability.

Tim was very good at science and his work meant he had a pretty good understanding of physics since it was rather necessary for grappling and a lot of what they did, but his knowledge of physics was growing even further as he downloaded more data. Even with everything in the Geth databases, even they couldn't explain those abilities. Maybe an Asari Matriarch could tell him more? With their lifespans and being natural biotics, if anyone was going to know, it'd be them.

The trip to the Citadel would take them several jumps unless he reprogramed the relay and there was no reason to do that. Best not to make waves before he even arrived after all. And it gave him time to ensure the identity he'd created would appear in the correct databases. He had to have an identity but being human meant it had to appear in there, making him a citizen and therefore under their laws. But as Emissary of the Geth, he wasn't really human, he'd never set foot on this Earth after all.

Timothy Drake-Wayne was therefore from a remote colony in the Traverse, one that had made it clear they wanted nothing to do with Earth and the Alliance…and had been destroyed almost a decade ago which meant there was no one to say he hadn't lived there as a child. An orphan, saved by the Geth and then raised on Rannoch for the last several years, not that that would show up in his documents until he announced that he was the Emissary. The Geth had also made it clear that they would not allow the Alliance or Earth government to lay a hand on him if he broke their laws. Backup was always nice.

'Drake Emissary, we have intercepted reports of a Heretic attack on a human colony. Recommend personal intervention as a means of introduction and statement of good intent.' The Geth no longer used the speakers, instead speaking directly into his mind now that he'd adjusted.

"Which colony and how large of an attack?" he asked as he got up and headed for the 'cockpit'.

The information was simply fed directly into his mind like the audio. Eden Prime…and the Old Machine itself. How the hell was he meant to do anything against those kinds of numbers?

"Alliances ground forces are already on site and further reinforcements are enroute. Your prior training and experience would allow you to easily take on the role of a saboteur or infiltrator and enable you to flank the enemy unawares."

Okay, yes, all the bats and birds were trained in stealth, he'd come to the training with excellent experience in it given his old birdwatching hobby. But this was to a whole new level. And they'd be arriving in fifteen minutes, wonderful. That did not give him long at all to plan. But he had all of the colony information at hand, easily marking where the civilians were hopefully holed up. The intercepted distress call did not leave a lot of hope for the Alliance forces already on the ground but since his ship wasn't the only one to receive it, backup should be on the way.

"How am I getting planet side?" he asked warily. He still felt better talking to the Geth at times, it was easier to speak while going over other things mentally.

"We can perform a sub-orbital drop. We will be undetected and you will have surprise on your side."

Images and video clips combined with data on what constituted a 'sub-orbital' drop flashed through Tim's mind. Sure, they'd said his bones could take such a drop, but what about the rest of him? he was still flesh and blood to a point at least.

'Your implanted bone structure was designed to withstand the same stresses as a standard platform. Additionally, your suit is also reinforced to endure the friction of re-entry. Pain input will be terminated until nano-healing bots have completed repairs while al organic matter will be recycled.'

In other words…any blood from landing full weight on his feet would be recycled…and that was not something he wanted to think more on.

"Alright," he murmured, checking over his armour and then adding the weapons to where they attached.

Tim headed for the drop shoot that would fire him onto the planet, not looking forward to it at all. He'd had some practice with the weapons and they were very different to Earth guns since they were basically micro-scaled mass accelerators, using mass-reducing fields and magnetic force to propel miniature slugs to lethal speeds. The idea of such weapons in the hands of a Gotham gang was the stuff of nightmares. Auto-targeting or not, he just hoped he didn't shoot anything he wasn't meant to.

"Not even eighteen and I'm walking headfirst into a war," he murmured, not sure how to feel about that.

"We are grateful for your sacrifice."

For some reason that didn't make Tim feel much better.

And then he felt the ship slowing, seeing everything as if he was the ship, moving into orbit. He braced himself and tried not to hyperventilate as he was fired from the base of the ship.

Screens of information became visible to him as he tracked his own descent and received input from the ship. With his eyes he was able to see the rushing wind beyond his visor. His body was buffeted by vibrations as he travelled at high speed to the ground below.

Sub-consciously he began downloading information about how Geth shock troopers and how they could survive terminal velocity. Then he skipped back to the term 'terminal velocity', again, joy. He really needed a holiday that didn't involve breaking into museums.

Tim began to tense and assumed a Geth landing position as he got closer to the ground, despite his instincts screaming that he was going to die or to try and land the way B and Dick had taught him.

Thud*

The landing was nowhere near as bad as he was expecting. Then information on the Mass Effect fields used to 'soften' his landing came up.

"You couldn't have explained this earlier?" Tim muttered irritably. That hadn't come up in his training or anything after all.

As Tim looked around, he saw dust. His landing was easy for him but not for the ground and he had created a nice little crater. Visual enhancements kicked in and he was able to see through most of the dust. He also saw several Heretic platforms aiming weapons at him.

"Damn it!" he hissed and for the first time, he launched a true biotic attack, grinning as they flew back even as he was ducking down, looking for cover.

He drew the assault rifle as he rolled behind some rocks, taking aim at the platforms as they began rising. The auto-targeting seemed to work as he opened fire, not liking the feel of using any kind of gun. Shooting at platforms was different to shooting actual living beings, because to the Geth, it was like…shooting clothing or something. The programs inside the platform simply left once it was too damaged, so he wasn't actually killing anyone. The idea of shooting to kill was not something he wanted to think of but he knew there was at least one organic lifeform allied with the Old Machine.

Once all of the platforms were down, he checked his own armour but thanks to the cover they hadn't had the chance to bring his shields down. Not bad for his first fire fight. He brought up geological information on the planet, finding he was on the outskirts of the colony and on the opposite side to where a Prothean dig site was marked along with lots of Heretic signals.

Tim began moving towards the colony, seeing as the Old Machine lifted off, whatever they'd come for they probably had then which wasn't good. Nothing he could do about it though, he had to focus on searching for survivors and from the vanishing Heretic signals on the other side of the colony, the fight wasn't over.

Tim scrambled up onto the platforms and froze as he stared at the object on the ledge, scanning it. An operational Prothean beacon! And then he ducked as a Heretic fired on him, watching as strange spikes lowered, humanoid forms standing from them. Okay…they were definitely creepy…more zombie than living…and scans revealed very little organic matter…left…had they been people?

'Alert! Explosive devices detected!' The Geth announced in his head.

"You could just call them 'bombs'," Tim pointed out as he slid between two crates, keeping out of reach of the zombie things.

Four icons appeared on a map in his vision denoting the location of the bombs. He could also see them outlined through walls up above.

'Possible Alliance allies are enroute.' This time the image was of the approaching train.

Well, Tim could clear the platform, make sure they had a safe arrival. He threw a grenade at the zombies, relieved when they went down and stayed down. He shot the last Heretic and moved for the stairs, heading for the nearest bomb which were nothing like the ones he was used to disarming in Gotham so it was a good thing he could directly download the instructions into his head now.

,

They exchanged wary looks as the sound of a small explosion came from up ahead.

"Sounded like a grenade," Kaidan offered, and he nodded in agreement.

A survivor? Or more trouble?

The train pulled to a stop at the eerily quiet far side of the spaceport and the made their way upstairs.

"Bomb, Commander!" Ashley hissed, and he moved to it, letting them cover him as he disarmed it.

"Clear the area," he ordered and they moved out, finding another bomb and then a third…with an armoured figure kneeling over it.

"Freeze!" he ordered.

"Almost got it," the figure answered, male from the voice. There was a beep and the bomb fell silent. They then raised their hands over their head. "If you got the other two on your way in then that's all of them," they said.

"Stand up and turn around," he ordered warily, the three of them keeping the stranger covered.

They stood slowly, keeping their hands up as they turned.

"A Quarian?" Ashley asked in confusion.

"No, I'm human."

"I'm Commander John Shepard, Alliance Navy. This Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," he introduced them.

"Timothy Drake-Wayne," was the answer, "no rank. I'm not picking up anymore Heretic signals and the Old Machine already left, so the colony should be safe now, if you found any survivors. I haven't seen any this side."

"Who sent you and who are the heretics?" John asked, a little less wary at the giving of a human name, especially once he realised the armour had five fingers and not the three of a Quarian. But Ash was right, the armour looked Quarian, but they didn't let others have their armour.

"The Geth sent me and these are the heretics." Was the answer, even as Drake-Wayne toed one of the down Geth, only to freeze as they levelled their weapons at him again.

"These are Geth," John said firmly.

,

"No, these are Heretics. I should know. I've got a fair amount of Geth in my head." Tim had known this wasn't going to go well. At least they hadn't shot at him…yet. He accessed the controls and his helmet opened, revealing his face to them. "See? Human."

"My god! He's just a kid, Commander," Williams sounded disgusted by his age.

"I'm almost eighteen," Tim pointed out.

"Sir, he doesn't seem to be an immediate threat and we do need to secure the artefact," Alenko spoke up.

"Agreed." Shepard nodded as he lowered his weapon. "Williams, you have point. Alenko, watch our rear. Until we can confirm your story you are coming with us," he told Tim who nodded.

"I knew this would be a bad idea," Tim murmured.

'This encounter will provide optimal conditions for meeting with the Citadel Races. We recommend accompanying the Alliance Soldiers. We will pilot the ship to your destination.'

Tim was not happy with this. He'd spent almost all his time as a teen as a vigilante and governments tended to frown on that occupation, even when working with them. And now he was the Emissary to a race most would see as their enemy, especially with this attack. He really had his work cut out for him.

"Why didn't they take my weapons?" he asked quietly.

'They likely believe it to be unnecessary given your age and the fact that the odds are three to one.'

Tim had beaten far worse odds many times, but they didn't know that.

"Who are you talking to?" Shepard asked.

"The Geth. They put a computer in my head and they give me information and talk to me," Tim explained, shrugging. He wasn't going to tell them his brain wasn't exactly organic anymore; he didn't need them any more suspicious at the moment.

"A computer… in your head?" Shepard asked sceptically

"What do you think that biotic implant is in your and the Lieutenant's head?" Tim smirked, seeming to stump them.

They made their way to where the Prothean Beacon awaited, still active.

"Why would the Old Machines want this?" Tim asked, curious.

"Old Machines?" Alenko repeated.

"That huge ship; the Geth call it an Old Machine," he explained, watching as they checked around. He already had all the scans the Geth needed.

"We still aren't sure that this is why they came here. They may have just wanted to wipe out the colony," Alenko pointed out.

"Williams!"

Tim and Alenko turned to see Shepard running towards Williams who was being dragged towards the beacon.

Shepard managed to push Williams away only to be caught up in the pull himself. He was lifted into the air, clearly with no ability to control his actions.

"Commander!"

Tim quickly grabbed Alenko and shoved him away to stop him from being stupid. Unfortunately, he forgot about his recent upgrades and sent Alenko flying to the end of the platform. It wasn't his fault he'd only been around Geth platforms since waking! So, he sent a biotic field after the man, catching him before he could be flung off. And then he hit the deck as the beacon exploded.

TBC…

Poor Tim. Hope you liked the look back to Earth. So far, the amount of time passing lines up. It took the Geth 2 years to get Tim to the point where they could wake him up which lines up with the 2yr anniversary of his 'death' back on Earth.

Hope you like how the Geth decorated the exterior of his ship. Name suggestions? Something tied back to his world.