#Tim Drake is Not an Only Child

[bluejaysandblackbats]

robin's egg blue

Fandom: Batman, DC Comics

Summary: Tim's mom finds out who Batman is and stops Tim from becoming Robin in this AU.

Chapters: 1/?

Characters: Janet Drake, Jack Drake, Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Cassie Sandsmark, Helena Sandsmark, Diana Prince

Relationships: TBA

Additional Tags: Canon Divergent AU, Janet Drake Lives, Jack and Janet Drake Get Divorced, Civilian Tim Drake, Tim Drake is Not Adopted, Tim Drake is Not an Only Child, Janet Drake-centric, Tim Drake Does Not Become Robin

Chapter One: something has to change

Janet looked at the photographs in Tim’s room, careful not to disturb anything. As she gently searched through the clutter for an explanation. Sifting through dirty laundry and soda cans was the least of her worries, and to her dismay, she found exactly what she’d been looking for. Proof of Tim’s comings and goings through a few receipts and tickets, some from Blüdhaven and others from Manhattan. All on the dates he was supposed to be on a school trip. “Jack, do you know where Tim is?” Janet shouted. 

Jack stopped in the hall and looked at her with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. “Huh?” Jack asked. Janet shook her head.

“Nevermind, Jack… I think we should spend some time with Tim,” Janet replied. Jack held up a finger while he went to the bathroom to rinse out his mouth. By the time he returned, Janet had stepped into the hall and shut Tim’s door on her way out. 

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“Tim. Our son. I want him to be with us,” Janet answered, “I don’t want to miss any more of his life.” Jack scratched his head. Janet sighed.

“What?” Jack asked.

“I’m sorry, but are you having some sort of brain malfunction right now? What? Huh? I want Timothy Jackson Drake with us. I want to see our son grow up. I am tired, Jack. If we are absent any longer, we could lose him,” Janet emphasized as she walked past him to her office. 

Jack followed closely behind her and sat down in his chair in the corner of the room, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I know what you said, but I’m trying to get a better understanding of what you want to do. Do you want to take him with us? Do you want to stay home with him? What are you saying? What’s your plan, Janet?” Jack asked. Janet’s face dropped into her hands as she tried to think of an answer. Her fingers arched and combed through her hair. “Listen, I’d love to spend more time with Tim, but we can’t drop our lives, and we can’t expect Tim to drop his—.”

“I think this is why things aren’t working… We’ve become business partners and drifted into a loveless marriage kept alive by our business and the fear of disappointing the child we never see,” Janet sighed, “This is swallowing our family whole.” Janet looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him as he sank into his recliner. And as if something clicked, Jack shot up in his chair and leaned forward.

“What changed? Something changed just now when you were in his room. What aren’t you telling me? You said we’re gonna lose him. What did you mean when you said—?” 

Janet held up one finger to keep him quiet. She listened to the sound of Tim’s footsteps as he ran up the stairs and past their office. “I miss him. That’s all,” Janet lied. If she told Jack the truth, she risked him blowing up on Tim and forcing him to shut down. But it was more than that. She couldn’t stop shaking as she said it, but Jack never looked at her anymore. Not really. He wouldn’t have noticed. His mind was always on his work. “Do you think he noticed us?”

“No… Tim’s in his own world. He’s always been that way,” Jack replied. 

“Stay here, I want to check in with him really qui—.”

“I can—.”

“No, you get some rest. Okay?” Janet whispered. Jack nodded as he shut his eyes to take a short nap in Janet’s absence. 

The hallway felt miles long as Janet walked to Tim’s room. She wasn’t sure how to approach the situation, but she couldn’t stay silent after what she’d seen. She stopped outside his bedroom door and hesitated long enough to hear Tim’s music blaring on the other side. Janet knocked with an uncomfortably heavy hand and the music stopped. She knocked softly a second time to reassure Tim that he heard correctly. “Just a minute! I’m changing!” Tim shouted. She waited patiently without a word, almost softening at the sound of his voice. It’d been so long since she heard Tim’s voice. Her assistant always had her phone, and Janet could only assume that he was deleting Tim’s voicemails. 

Tim swung the door open, and Janet embraced him. He tensed with shock, not expecting to see her, but he quickly reciprocated, tightly wrapping his arms around her. 

“Mom, what are you doing—?” 

“Can we talk for a minute? Also, I wanna apologize ahead of time. I invaded your privacy without meaning to, and I—.” Tim let go and backed away from her. “Tim, I would like to speak to you… Can we talk in your room?” Janet asked. 

Tim let her in, and she shut the door. “Am I in trouble?” Tim asked. “You’re scaring me.” He sat on his bed and she sat in a chair across from him. 

“No. Of course, you’re not in trouble. I love you… And I—. Tim, I found something that scared me,” Janet whispered. She lifted up a pizza box on Tim’s desk to reveal the pictures she found. “Did you take these?” Tim nodded, expecting Janet to shout at him. He’d seen her tear people to shreds for much less. “They’re good, but I—.” Janet’s words caught in her throat, and she started to cry. Tim shot up, his eyes wide as he tried to figure out what to do. Tim had never seen his mother cry before. “This was so dangerous, Timmy. What if something happened to you out there? I wouldn’t have—. Where was I when you took this?” 

“I think you were in Mozambique or Madagascar… Mom, I—.” 

“Is it because you’re lonely?” Janet interrupted as she tried to wipe her tears away. “Is it because we’re not home enough?” 

Tim frowned. “You weren’t supposed to notice I was gone… I just wanted to help Batman remember that Gotham needs him,” Tim explained quickly, so he wouldn’t give way to tears. 

Janet tried to collect herself, but she was already in the middle of a severe panic attack. Her mind raced through every tragic accident that Tim could’ve fallen victim to. She wouldn’t have been able to prevent it. 

“Mom, I—. I’m not gonna do this forever. I just need to remind him to see how reckless he’s—.”

“But, Tim—. You can’t do this anymore. You’re my only baby. I—. I—. Let me talk to him as your mother,” Janet replied. As soon as she said it, she realized how irrational it sounded. But she was desperate to stop Tim from getting hurt. 

Tim smiled and shook his head. “Mom, all due respect, but I—.”

“I climbed Mount Everest before you were born, I hiked Huayna Picchu the summer before you were born, and I’ve paddled an uninterrupted twenty-seven hours from Cuba to Florida with you strapped to my back—. All this is to say that I’m much tougher than you give me credit for. I’m your mom, and I have to keep you safe even if it’s from yourself. There’s only one you,” Janet whispered. She pinched his cheek, and he wanted to argue… But it was his mother. He probably would have argued with Jack about it, but Janet had a way of convincing people that her way was the only way. 

She looked at the other pictures that she found and glanced at Tim. She wiped her tears away. “These are—.” Janet cleared her throat. “These are really good, Tim. Don’t be discouraged from following through with photography… Um… Have you eaten yet?” Janet asked. Tim shook his head. “Okay. I can probably rustle something up. Don’t tell your dad about this. I didn’t want him to blow up before I could talk to you. I wanna talk more about this later. Okay?”

[emo-batboy]

A Wild Battinson (Social Media AU)

Part 57 (Masterlist)

Part 58 Coming At Some Point

@bruciemilf

Hey so uhh it's been a while. (If you look closely, squint a little, I literally made some of these photos over a year ago. I feel SICK. This AU is ancient.)

Here’s the SNL episode once again for the uninitiated.

Okay so hear me out. I know a lot of people were excited to see Caleb discover the batcave yada yada but the #1 rule is No One Figures It Out. Otherwise, the entire point of the series is obsolete and it ends. (Tim does find out ofc but not Caleb. None of the main cast. No OCs.) So he gets let go from babysitting Dick and Jason, mostly because Bruce and Alfred realize their mistake, and he never sees the batcave. RIP. ANYWAYS hope y’all forgive me. Didn’t realize I was implying that until everyone started screaming about it in the comments. Caleb is still blissfully unaware :)

No idea when the next part is coming out. I am currently in an airport banging this out before I convince myself not to post it AGAIN but you guys deserve better. It’s the holidays. So Merry December 19th-ish. Peace :)

[onnahu]

So funny thing about the batsiblings is that they all were the only child and now they ended up in a spandex sect or whatever the hell is going on

[ruenii]

Tim, [pointing his staff at the human traffickers]: YOU ARE OUTGUNNED

Jason, [hyping him up]: WHAT?

Tim: OUTMANNED!

Jason: WHAT?!

Tim: OUTNUMBERED OUTPLANNED

Jason: PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES!

Tim: PUT YOUR GUNS DOWN ON MY COMMAND

Jason: HAND EM OVER!!

Tim: THIS IS HAMILTON MY RIGHT HAND MAN!

Jason, [getting his guns out]: PWO PWO PWO PWO PWO-

Goons: *shaking* what the FUCK are Batman feeding his partners--

[superbat-lmao]

A “buddy” vigilante story where Jason and Tim go back in time during Dick’s time as Robin, when the Worlds Greatest Detective was still young.

Basically, they significantly change the past and in the most annoying way possible. Tim knows that no one will know it was them and has been pretty morally flexible about the whole thing. They go down the list of rogues, down the list of siblings, bickering about it the whole time.

Jason kills the Joker, Tim rescues Cass, and both of them try and get one over on the other about their past selves.

Because Tim tries to talk baby Jason into stealing the Bat’s tires early while Jason’s out murdering Zucco, and Jason’s out snatching Tiny Tim and his camera from rooftops trying to leave him gift wrapped in the batcave while Tim’s out stealing info from Luthor.

It’s one giant clusterfuck but they’re successful because Tim and Jason combined are absolutely lethal and no one ever saw them coming.

Meanwhile, they keep running into Robin and absolutely losing it over seeing their oldest brother so young and angry.

Dick tries to track them down after they killed Zucco, he wants to ask why. What the hell they could possibly be doing or why that would matter to them.

Tim pushes Jason off a roof.Jason lights Tim’s ancient computer on fire. Tim tears a book in half. Jason takes pictures of Tiny Tim and sets them as his wallpaper. It’s a comedy, your honor.

And probably the worst headache Batman will ever get.

[hyperblue]

tim drake, protective mama bear on a verge of insanity: get your hands off my daughter

kon, under his breath: ...dammit I'm a slut for this man

[batfaesar]

Everyone in the batfam was an only child before they became one of the family and I think that makes it more understandable for their dysfunction

[ghost-bxrd]

Prompt:

Actor Au!

Where Batman and Co. are the most popular TV series and they’re currently filming Jason’s death.

Only Bruce goes so deep into acting he breaks down for real upon the part where he arrives at the warehouse and digs through the rubble for his child.

[adoptable-fanfic-prompts]

Red Robin Writing Prompt

Tim only told Jason that Jason had been cleaning up Gotham the ‘easy way’ is because Tim knows for a fact how easy killing is. He had his first kill before he was even 7 years old.

No one realizes this until Joker makes Tim “choose” between shooting one of two batfam members and Tim just picks up the gun without hesitation and shoots the Joker in just the right spot for it to be fatal but for it to not be an instant death.

Tim turns to Jason, “Like I said: Easy way out.”

[feyburner]

🥹 maybe some Steph and Timmmy next? Steph giving Tim a piggy back ride for example?

Stephanie “He said he wanted to come along, it’s not MY job to say no” Brown

[thelaughingmagician]

Batman (2016) #125

[bluejaysandblackbats]

robin's egg blue

Fandom: Batman, DC Comics

Summary: Tim's mom finds out who Batman is and stops Tim from becoming Robin in this AU.

Chapters: 2/?

Characters: Janet Drake, Jack Drake, Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Cassie Sandsmark, Helena Sandsmark, Diana Prince

Relationships: TBA

Additional Tags: Canon Divergent AU, Janet Drake Lives, Jack and Janet Drake Get Divorced, Civilian Tim Drake, Tim Drake is Not Adopted, Tim Drake is Not an Only Child, Janet Drake-centric, Tim Drake Does Not Become Robin

Chapter Two: the end

They sat at the dinner table for their first family dinner in what felt like years. Janet poured apple juice into Tim’s cup before kissing his temple. Jack cut his steak into little bite-sized pieces while Tim made Janet’s plate. “Oh, Tim, you don’t have—.” 

“I want to,” Tim interrupted as he served her. Janet smiled and sat between Jack and Tim. Jack dug in while Tim made his plate and Janet poured a glass of wine for herself. 

He held up his empty glass, and she poured wine into it before announcing, “Your father and I wanted to discuss something with you.” 

Tim dropped his fork and took a sip of his juice. Jack was so engrossed in his meal that he didn’t hear his cue to speak. Janet’s jaw tightened as she nudged him. “Oh, um… This steak was cooked to perfection. Isn’t that right, Tim?” Jack asked. 

“Jack… Our discussion,” Janet emphasized through her teeth. 

“Oh! Tim, your mom and I were thinking about spending more time with you… And we wanted to know if you’d consider traveling with us,” Jack explained. Janet paused, waiting for Jack to keep speaking. 

“Or… We could stay home more,” Janet added. 

“We didn’t discuss that, Janet,” Jack whispered. Janet’s jaw jutted to the left as she realized Jack had no intention to stop traveling for work. Tim opened his mouth to speak, but a rapidly escalating argument cut him off. Tim tried to look down at his plate as he stuffed his face to ignore his pounding heartbeat. He hated it when his parents fought, but they usually tried to argue in the privacy of their bedroom. And they never argued about him before.  

The argument burned out of control like a forest fire until Janet said the one thing she couldn’t take back. “This is why I want a divorce!” Janet shouted. Tim couldn’t stomach it anymore. He pushed away from the table and rushed to the guest bathroom to throw up. Jack stood up and wavered as the wine took effect, and Janet rushed past Jack to check on Tim. 

“Tim? Can I come in?” Janet asked. Tim didn’t answer. “Make noise if you want me to stay outside.” Silence. 

She opened the door just wide enough to slide inside, and she sat on the floor beside him. He couldn’t stop shaking as he hunched over the toilet. Janet hesitated before rubbing his back, expecting him to flinch away or snap at her. Instead, he burst into tears. “Oh, Timmy… Sweetheart, I shouldn’t have said that. I meant it, but I shouldn’t have said it like that,” Janet whispered. Tim cried into the toilet bowl until Janet pulled him into her arms. “I know… I know, but it’s been a long time coming. It wasn’t your fault. You’re a good boy.” Janet held him close as she kissed his temple. 

“But you said it because—.” 

“I said it because it should’ve been said months ago… Maybe even years,” Janet interrupted, “I love you so so much. Your dad loves you too. He has his own way of showing it… But don’t ever doubt that we love you.” 

**

Janet stepped out of the shower, and Jack leaned forward in his chair, holding his head in his hands. “Janet…”

“What do you want me to say, Jack? Do you want me to lie to you? Say I didn’t mean it? Do you wanna pretend it doesn’t repulse you to sleep in the same bed with me?” Janet asked.

Jack sat up and pointed his finger at her. “Don’t you act like you weren’t acting like a twenty-year-old kid on spring break when we were in Liguria. Let’s go to the club, Jack. We were just dancing, Jack—. ”

“Jack, that was two years ago. I was right in front of you the entire time. I was drunk and nothing happened. You were looking right at me the entire time,” Janet whispered, “Is your ego really that fragile? You can’t handle the idea that I had fun dancing with a friend of mine—.” 

“Don’t do that. Don’t pretend like you want to fall in love with me again. You didn’t want to rekindle this marriage, you were afraid—.”

“Stop,” Janet’s voice broke as she whispered it. Tears welled up in her eyes. 

“You’re afraid of who you are without me,” Jack replied. 

Janet sucked in a breath and shook her head. “And you aren’t? Aren’t you scared? We’ve been in this for seventeen years! We have a son! Everything is going to change… Everything. If I thought for a second that this could work—. When were you gonna talk to Tim? I held him tonight. He cried in my arms over this. If I could fall madly in love with you again and you with me, if I could watch Tim grow up if I could make everything fit into place—. Do you even want to be a father, Jack? You haven’t once given any consideration to Tim’s feelings,” Janet replied as she walked past him. She grabbed her pillow. 

“Where are you going?” Jack asked. 

“Guest bedroom… After I tell Tim that we love him because I’m tired of fighting,” Janet muttered. Jack sighed, letting Janet leave the bedroom.

Janet ran into Tim in the hallway, and he rubbed his arm. “Mom,” Tim whispered. Janet smiled at him.

“It’s okay, sweetie. We’re not gonna argue anymore. I was just about to say goodnight,” Janet whispered as she held back tears. Tim forced a smile and nodded. “I’m done traveling, Tim… I mean it. We love you so much.” 

“Mom… What’s gonna happen?” Tim questioned. Janet sighed and shook her head. 

“I don’t know,” Janet replied, “I think we could finally leave Gotham once this year is over… And I didn’t forget what I promised you.” She tapped Tim’s nose. 

“Are you going by yourself?” Tim questioned. Janet smoothed Tim’s hair down and leaned forward to look him in the eye. 

“It’s gonna be fine. I promise I won’t yell at him,” Janet replied. 

Tim grabbed her arm. “No, that’s not what I—. Maybe we should talk about a few things before you go,” Tim suggested. Janet yawned and nodded. 

“Okay… Sure, let’s sit in the guest room and talk… Oh, and before I forget, we need to deep clean your room tomorrow after school. Tim, I love you sweetheart, but your room is just ridiculous. What’s going on in there?” Janet chuckled. Tim rubbed his neck. 

“I’ve been a little busy lately,” Tim whispered. Janet laughed and let Tim into the guest bedroom before she climbed into bed and turned the TV on. 

Tim sat beside her, watching the TV while Janet stared at him. “You were so alert as a baby… Always observing… And so quiet. No one could make you laugh except for your dad. He once told me that you made him feel special. I think we were all at our happiest back then,” Janet whispered, “I never wanted kids before I had you… And I don’t know… Something shifted when I was pregnant with you. All I could think about was what it would feel like to hold you in my arms. Your birth was probably the closest I’ve ever gotten to a spiritual experience. It was frightening and painful, and I wanted to die… And all of a sudden, you were there and in my arms, and I knew I’d never accomplish anything greater than you in my life.” Janet sighed. 

“I’m sorry—.”

“Don’t be. I’m so proud of you… But you’re so selfless and driven that it frightens me a little bit. So, I want you to tell me more about this Batman business,” Janet whispered. Tim took a deep breath and nodded before telling her everything from the very beginning.

[emo-batboy]

A Wild Battinson (Social Media AU)

Part 20 (Masterlist)

(Part 21)

@bruciemilf Back to our regularly scheduled chaos

[snakeredbirdbatkatana]

In a way this was the best outcome.

Timothy Drake was always meant to die.

He cheated the reaper when he was nine knife at his throat chasing around vigilantes who wouldn't have ever known him as anything other than a statistic.

He survived past fifteen which for any boy who wears those bright colors knows is an achievement.

Luck is what they will say.

Bad luck specifically wrong place right time at least in his mind.

Bleeding out with his brothers surrounding him.

A bullet he took before it could reach Damian.

He can see him he looks terrified standing a good two feet away which is an accurate description of them a gap that neither boy could ever seem to close.

Jason lost his mask somewhere he can feel the press of his fingers trying to keep blood in. Demanding it. Hopeing for a miracle. That's Jason Todd.

Holding him Dick's arms wrapped around him whispering

"I have you sweetheart I know it hurts, Dad's coming baby just a little bit longer."

He remembers a poem he found right after Jason died he had wondered if Jason raged fought tooth and nail to keep breathing.

But with all his brothers here his Father on the way he can't think of a better time.

As his breathe slows and he feels his vision fade he doesn't fight.

Lying in his brothers arms Timothy Jackson Drake takes his last breath.

Peacefully falling into the night.

There was no rage only a sense of peace for a tired hero who could finally rest.

[junespriince]

Little Chickadee meet little Sparkle au

8yo Dick, picks up 3yo Wally: so this baby kid flash?

Barry: yeah, this is apparently him at three years old according to Iris.

Dick, looks at the tiny boy in his arms: and his dad hated him!? Adults are useless.

Bruce, sighed: can't wait for Constantine and zatanna to fix this... Alfred where's the leash? *Leaves*

Dick, gives Barry, Wally back: I will make sure nobody hurts him again.

Barry: aw, that's so sweet of you.

A few hours later

Bruce: I told you to watch him, how could you let him get away!?

Barry: he said he went to the bathroom, how was i supposed to know he would leave, the time I knew him he listened in Central!

Wally, fussy because people are yelling:

Bruce: where could he have gone to, all his usual hits are protected.

Barry: ... Oh my god, OH MY GOD HE'S AFTER RUDY!

Bruce: Rudy?

Barry, grabbing his things: Wally's shitty bio dad, he read Canary's file on Wally and asked me questions.

Bruce: AND YOU GAVE THEM TO HIM, FREELY!?

Barry: I'm sorry I forgot he was blood thirsty as a child, okay!

Jason, holding a now crying Wally: hush it dipshits, and he's like eight how far on foot could he have gone.

Tim: he knows about the zeta tubes.

Jason: oooo, yeah that mother fucker dead dead.

Cass: I also saw him grabbed Barry's phone and called up Iris.

Barry: SHIT MY WIFE GONNA GO TO PRISON! I GOTTA GO!

[shit-talker]

Another idea to do with this post I made;

They aren't raised together. The deal between Shiva and David is still intact when they're born, and when Shiva ends up having 3 kids, it presents a perfect opportunity for David Cain to put in a proper experiment with these kids. He takes Cass, raises her as he did in canon, and tells Shiva to raise Tim how she sees fit, and then they give Jason to a struggling couple in Gotham city, just to see if their genetics really do create the perfect child assassins, or if they have to foster the ability into them, and who's better at it.

Tim and Cass end up meeting when they're around 5 or 6, and they end up fighting then, too. It's a pretty even fight, all things considered, but eventually Cass ends up with a knife to Tim's throat, and Tim ends up with two daggers pointed from behind Cass's head and their parents decide to stop things there.

Jason, meanwhile, is being raised just as he was in canon. His dad gets arrested around this time, and he's left alone with his mother, completely clueless to his siblings currently battling it out in a different continent.

David forces Cass to kill when they're 8, and it fucks Cass up. She ends up hunting Tim and Shiva down, and while she still hasn't figured out talking, Tim is able to get that something bad just happened, and they have to go now. So, they run off together and end up in Gotham about 2 years later.

They're 10 when they run into Jason, who immediately gets freaked out because he and Tim look literally identical, but there are a few basic differences, and Cass just looks like them if they were a girl. Jason, newly homeless after his mother's death a few months before, shows Tim and Cass the basics of Gotham, and in exchange, Tim and Cass show Jason how to handle being homeless (and how to fight properly)

Tim and Cass technically can speak English, Tim moreso, but it's definitely not a perfected thing, and Jason becomes a sort of translator for them.

When Jason ends up stealing Batman's tires 2 years later, he runs to get back to Cass and Tim, who are admittedly and annoyingly better at fighting than him. Bruce obviously follows him, and when he stumbles across 3 kids who look a hell of a lot like Lady Shiva, he just has to take them home.

(Other post on this AU)