Ooooooh. The Batcave is AMAZING. His head whipping around from side to side to see as much of it as possible as he gets out of the Batmobile, Tim can hardly contain himself from running around all wild. The only thing keeping him remotely calm is reminding himself that he's here for a reason: make Batman realize his parents aren't abusive.
So Tim stays still and grips his hands together in front of him, inwardly chanting to tell himself: don't get in trouble, don't get in trouble, don't get in trouble.
"This way," Batman says, tilting his cowled head toward a desk with a set of large computer monitors.
Tim follows, with Nightwing and Robin close behind.
Batman seats himself in the chair in front of the desk, then he turns back toward Tim. "I suppose…"
"You suppose…" Nightwing repeats curiously.
Batman sighs and takes off his cowl.
"As if we didn't already know we're keeping him," Robin says under his breath, and Nightwing laughs a little.
Tim blinks at them, confused, then at Batman. Or, well, at Bruce Wayne? Now Tim's more confused. "You suppose what, Mr. Wayne?"
"Wait, he isn't shocked? You already told him?" Robin asks.
"I didn't have to tell him," Mr. Wayne says heavily. "He figured it out."
Robin's mouth drops open. "No way. Nuh-uh. No."
"Yes," Mr. Wayne says. He sounds tired, but to be fair, it is pretty late at night, Tim thinks, stifling a yawn.
"How?" Robin asks, more like demands.
Mr. Wayne points at Nightwing.
Nightwing's mask goes up at the top, like he's raising his eyebrows. "Me? Why, what about me?"
"Apparently, if a vigilante does an acrobatics move such as a quadruple somersault, something that only a Flying Grayson could do, it makes it apparent enough to a child that said vigilante is a Flying Grayson," Mr. Wayne says dryly.
Robin doubles over with wheezing laughter. "Holy-"
"Hey!" Nightwing says. "When I was little, a quadruple somersault was the best way to get up speed and force to punch bad guys at my size."
"And now that you're old?" Robin manages to get out through wheezes of laughter. "And now-"
"I'm not-" Nightwing begins indignantly.
"Boys," Mr. Wayne says, trying to cut them both off. Then, when Nightwing and Robin both continue, he says louder, "Boys! This is not the point!"
"What, Dickie's always-gotta-be-performing spirit giving away our identities to a baby is somehow not the point?" Robin asks.
"I'm not a baby," Tim protests. "I'm ten."
"Oh good, the baby's ten," Robin says. "If that's not the point-"
"Oh yeah, the point is that the baby is a child abuse case," Nightwing says as if suddenly remembering something.
"I'm not a baby!" Tim says again. "And I'm not a child abuse case either!"
Mr. Wayne turns back to the computer and types something in rapidly. Then he swivels in his chair and points up at the biggest of the monitors. "Read that out loud."
Tim does so dutifully. "'To inflict physical or emotional mistreatment or injury on (as one's child) purposely or through negligence or neglect and often on a regular basis.'"
"The dictionary. You went to the actual literal dictionary for this," Robin says in disbelief.
"Do you have a better idea?" Mr. Wayne says.
Robin thinks for a moment.
Before Robin can say anything, Tim says, "That doesn't prove anything."
"Does it mention whether or not the child needs to have 'deserved' it?" Mr. Wayne asks.
"No, but, but that doesn't prove anything," Tim says hotly.
Mr. Wayne scrolls down slightly and now he reads out loud. "'The infliction of physical or emotional injury, also: the crime of inflicting such injury.' Child abuse is a crime."
"I'm not arguing against that," Tim says. "I know hurting kids is bad."
"But only if they don't deserve it," Nightwing says in a questioning tone.
"I mean…" Tim says, unsure of how else to put it. "Yeah? My parents aren't criminals. They aren't bad people. They love me, and I love them. They wouldn't abuse me. I know they wouldn't."
"Even if they love you and you love them, they've still mistreated you," Mr. Wayne says. "By your own admission, they've slapped you-"
"But not that hard!" Tim interjects.
"Hit you with a belt-" Mr. Wayne continues.
"But just a couple of times!" Tim says.
"Locked you up for lengthy periods-" Mr. Wayne says.
"But only when I deserved it!" Tim says desperately. "They wouldn't, they don't, and besides, they aren't around all that much! So it doesn't happen often! They're supposed to be home every other weekend, but it's mostly much less than that, so it's not a big deal!"
Mr. Wayne leans forward on the desk and puts his fingers to his temples.
"So they're not home to hurt you too much?" Nightwing asks.
Tim nods eagerly. "Exactly! And Mrs. Mac is mostly nice when she's around, and even she's not always there."
"So you're saying we can add criminal neglect and possibly child abandonment to the charges?" Nightwing asks.
Tim… Tim was not saying that! "No!"
"Okay, okay, stop," Robin says. "Just quit it, okay?"
Tim breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe Robin's on his side?
Robin steps toward Tim and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Listen. Abuse is not okay. Hurting a kid is not okay. And kids do not deserve to be hurt. Never."
Oh. Never mind then. Tim's lower lip trembles despite him doing his best not to let it. "But, but how else are consequences supposed to work? How else can parents be parents, and how else are kids supposed to learn?"
Mr. Wayne looks up from glaring at his desk like he was Superman instead of Batman and trying to glare a hole right into it. "Actually, I know how. And I think you should know too."
Tim frowns. "What?"
"Your parents aren't in Gotham much, correct?" Mr. Wayne asks.
"Correct," Tim says slowly, not knowing where this is going.
"But we are," Mr. Wayne says.
Robin gasps with what sounds like delight and offers Nightwing a high-five, which Nightwing immediately accepts.
Tim tries to ignore them. "What do you mean?"
"I'd like you to stay with us for a while, just while your parents are gone," Mr. Wayne says. "I'd like you to see how consequences are supposed to work, how a family can work without kids needing to be hurt. Would you be willing to stay with us?"
Tim gapes at Batman. That's… Tim gets to hang out with the Waynes while proving to them his parents don't need to go to jail? That's the PERFECT idea. "Oh, yeah, please! I mean, I mean yes, that works."