Chapter Text
Still a Kid
It had been a terribly long patrol. Tim didn’t know the last time they had to call everyone in the way they did. The last time that he felt so amazingly sore as they came home to the Batcave.
“You were too rough” Bruce snapped and Tim found himself looking up from his typing towards the noise. On the other side of the cave, it was easy enough to spot Damian sitting on the med table getting stitches from Alfred. It was also easy to guess what he was being lectured for.
The kid had been with them for quite a while now and he had significantly improved from the little demon child they had originally found. He rarely used his swords and had even compromised to watch family movie night for more than a few weeks now. Tim had given him advice on how to avoid the worst people at the Galas just last week. Unfortunately, as Dick often said, it's one step forward and three steps back sometimes. Tonight had been one of those times.
Robin had been listening to orders from what he could tell, but it wasn’t long before something changed. Arkham had had a massive breakout and the warehouse they were investigating had not only Riddler but also Joker thugs. It’s a really sucky night when they start to team up. Batman had been doing fine until fear gas canisters appeared to start leaking. Robin infiltrated, ignoring a direct order, and took out the canisters before the effects could appear on any of them. As he had been disposing of them, one of the thugs got too close and he resorted to pulling his sword and cutting the guy's leg. Even still the kid had got a cut on his shoulder. Rough night all around.
“I didn’t have time to be gentle-” Damian started to explain but Bruce, as expected, wouldn’t hear it.
“You shouldn’t have been there in the first place! You were on lookout that’s it.”
“What is the point of a lookout if I’m just there to watch you all fail?!”
“Master Damian please don’t yell, I just need to bandage this” Alfred requested sending a glare toward Bruce as well. Tim sighed at their antics. He didn’t see why scolding the kid was that necessary seeing as how things likely would’ve turned out worse without him.
“I was handling it. It’s your job to trust me not to question my orders” Bruce said in a voice that all of them recognized as being closer to the tone he used on inmates than the tone he used with Robins.
“Bruce-” He started but was interrupted before he had a chance.
“You’re benched”
Tim felt like he had been stabbed and he wasn’t even involved in the conversation.
“I-” Damian stuttered grabbing his bandaged shoulder and hopping off the table now that Alfred had finished. “W-what?” he asked confused but Bruce had turned away and Tim was ashamed to say that when he noticed he was coming to the computer he feigned naivety and went back to typing. “Father-”
“Go to bed. Now” Tim flinched at the sound of Damian's rushed footsteps going up the Batcave stairs. That had gone terribly. Almost as bad as the incident itself. What’s worse was that the lack of a comeback was quite possibly the biggest red flag that Damian possessed.
He soon felt Bruce lean over his shoulder to look up at the report he was filling out and couldn’t resist being the Robin in this situation. After all, Dick and Jason had gone home. He wasn’t about to be the first sidekick to let Batman get away with it when he was ‘too much of an angsty *ss’ as Dick so often put it back when he first started.
“Bruce?” he asked hesitantly, feeling out the water .
“What” Bruce responded, neither annoyed or really responsive.
“Don’t you think benching him a bit harsh? He saved us from the gas coming in too strong. I wouldn't have been able to disable the canisters in time.”
“Tim?”
“Yeah?” he felt Bruce’s hand land on his shoulder and found a very exhausted Bruce looking back at him.
“Go to bed.”
“Yes sir”
Tim was just going to sleep on it and let the baby bat deal with his own problems until he passed Damian’s bedroom in the hall. There was far too much shuffling and just a hint of sniffling for him to go to sleep in good conscious. He sighed but paused to knock on the wood door anyway. “Dames? Can I come in?” The shuffling became much quieter but he could still hear the small sniffles. Too late to wait for an invite now.
Opening the door revealed a room completely destroyed of Damian’s usually meticulous organization. “sh*t” Tim whispered doing a quick scan to see that Damian wasn’t visible. He ventured further and was about to panic until he heard a sniffle from behind the closet door. Typical. Walking over and opening the opposite end he easily found a small bat sitting in the corner with a fully packed duffle bag on his lap.
“Go away Drake” Damian muttered, resuming his shoe-tying process now that Tim had found him.
“Yeah I don’t think so Dames” he denied coming into the closet to sit across from his baby brother. It certainly wouldn’t be the last time he crammed himself into such a small space. Robins were small it was their biggest advantage. Well, all except Jason. He didn’t count anymore. “What’s the plan? Going to Dick’s? I can drive y-”
“I’m going to mother's!” Damian snapped whipping at his nose and Tim felt the panic grip his heart so much worse than it had in the cave.
Damian hadn’t threatened to go back to the league for months now. He had even told Bruce last Christmas that he had found the holidays more enjoyable in Gotham, regardless of how cold he was. This wasn’t just three steps back, judging by how serious the kid’s expression was, the was a mile-long sprint in the wrong direction.
“Damian, kid-”
“Don’t! Don’t tell me what to do.” Damian huffed opening the closet door to stand with his duffle bag. Tim didn’t even think before launching across the distance and grabbing the strap to trip his brother. He scrambled to grab his arm before Damian was able to find his footing again. “Let go! Remove your hands Drake” he fought and Tim shook his head.
“No. You can’t just say sh*t like that and then try to leave. What the H*ll are you talking about?” he questioned. Damian seemed to stop fighting just enough to assume the fully sullen position that Bruce so often would display. A mirror image of their parental figure. “Dames?” It was quiet for at least five minutes, and then Tim’s patience paid off.
“I want mother” Damian mumbled using his free hand to cut off the tears that were threatening to fall down his face. He looked like a child who was lost in a park and what’s worse, he sounded like one. The small hitches in his breath and the pulls against Tim’s hold only served in breaking his heart.
“Damian-” Tim cut himself off. What was he supposed to say? ‘No, you can’t miss your mom. You’re the only ten-year-old in the world that isn’t allowed to say that.’ He couldn’t do that. Not when he had said the same thing at his age even though he knew his Mother wasn’t going to help or come for him. “You can’t leave the manor Kid,” he said instead and Damian just dropped his complete weight, successfully pulling Tim onto the floor too, and curled up against the foot of the bed.
“I can never do what he wants. It was e-easier w-with Umi” he sniffled and Tim didn’t think twice about snatching the comforter off of Damian’s bed to make a small burrito around the two of them. Something about blankets always seemed to chase away the worst of things. “I t-try but h-he thinks I d-don’t” he cried shoving the blanket into his face to muffle any sound. He knew that feeling. The training that said children shouldn’t cry. Shouldn’t be too loud.
Tim reached over and pulled the fabric away so that he could bring his brother to his chest in a proper cuddle. Something Dick had taught them all from a young age. He readjusted the blanket to secure his grip before he said anything. “Bruce was scared for you. He is scared for all of us. A lot. He’ll probably apologize tomorrow Kiddo. It was a long night and none of us had sleep.” he reasoned and Damian shook his head.
“He B-benched me” Damian argued grabbing a tight fist of Tim’s spandex undershirt. He probably should have showered but oh well. “Umi s-said I could v-visit” Tim tightened his grip.
“Bruce can’t bench you. Robin isn’t his, it’s ours. Dick is officially in control if we want to get technical, but at the worst it just means you wait a week before patrolling with me for a while.” Tim corrected, rubbing the boy’s back. “I know you miss her Dames, but it’s too dangerous.” and it was. Even if he thought Talia could be trusted, they had been receiving reports that the league was being attacked frequently. The last Jason had reported was that she had gone into hiding.
“I want mom” the sob was enough to make Tim’s eyes water up as well. He wasn’t sure how Dick did this. Deal with sleep-deprived and traumatized Robins. It was the worst part of being a brother. The part that hurt the most.
“I know” he forced, freeing one of his hands to grab his phone from his pocket. With Damian firmly against his chest, it was easy enough to text over the kid’s shoulder. He couldn’t get Damian’s mom, but he could do the next best thing.
He continued to rub Damian’s back and keep him in the blanket cocoon until his tears reduced to just the occasional sniffle. His duffle bag on the floor was long forgotten and Tim was starting to appreciate the mess that warned him of his baby brother's departure plans. It was approximately twenty minutes later when Dick appeared in the doorway covered in sweat.
“Oh honey” Dick gasped coming in and quickly lifting Damian up from Tim’s arms, comforter and all. The oldest batboy was annoying, a cuddle monster, far too perky, and an overall helicopter parent. But, he was also called the mother hen for a reason. He could say things like honey and sweetheart and they all didn’t seem to do anything but accept it. It was shocking that the Robin who was raised by Bruce first was the most emotionally healthy. He could analyze that later.
“I-i” Damian tried to explain switching his clinging to Dick’s shirt but the first Robin just hushed him.
“It’s ok, I miss my mom too, D” Dick assured and Tim felt those suppressed tears surface again. Why were his brothers so sappy and depressing? Dick so rarely, but openly spoke of his love and longing for his parents. Tim could still vividly hear the snaps that ended their happy family unit. “Come on Timmy” Dick called and he looked up to see that the Damian burrito had been shifted to one hip and he was being offered a hand. He took it.
The rest of the night was full of animal documentaries until they all passed out on the couch. And if they woke up with Jason and Bruce somehow in the mix, no one commented on it. Tim just hoped that would be the last time Talia made things complicated.
Tim was far too naive.