#or worse everyone is happy Danny found Bruce but no one acknowledged Tim was always right and everyone treated him like he was crazy

[menolly5600]

But what if Tim's mental health was still shaky. The family worried about him, but didn't know how to get him to accept closure and try to heal. Tim avoided most of the family because he felt betrayed and abandoned. But also he hated how they pitied him and how he felt like they were trying to control him by trying to get him to move on and give up the last embers of hope that his second father was still alive.

Danny didn't treat him like that, though. So he would talk to Danny more than the rest. Danny even listened and took Tim seriously instead of writing him off as disturbed and mentally ill. Danny even went to the ghost zone and asked around his contacts and the flip side of Gotham if Bruce had become a ghost.

But because of his estrangement, Tim didn't call his family for help. He was killed and his body used as a vessel to resurrect Ra's al Ghul from Hell. And Ra's revealed his return in Tim's body, by entering the manor by pretending to be Tim. He then killed his failed heir-spare-body Damian in a surprise attack. This also eliminated the Batman because Damian had taken up the cowl. He'd become Batman as a way to continue his Father's legacy and feel close to Bruce, because he never had the chance to be close to him in life.

Ra's didn't feel threatened by Dick as Batman so took out Damian first. Dick had been horrified, caught off guard at seeing 'Tim' murder Damian. For a heartbeat he'd thought Tim had gone mad. Then Ra's gloated and attacked Dick. And Dick realized Tim had already been gone, dead too, because of Ra's.

His whole world collapsing around him, Dick breaks and attacks to kill Ra's. In the fight, Dick managed to run Ra's through with a broken chair leg, but Ra's badly injured Dick and crippled one of his legs. Ra's is still gloating as Tim's body bleeds out, about how the Lazarus Pit will heal him fully once again with Tim's fresh body.

Then Danny arrives, drawn by the commotion from playing games on his computer in his room. His father bleeding from a gut wound and a mangled leg, his brother's corpse, and his uncle dying as he gloats in a stranger's voice. He slams into his uncle's body, ripping the stranger's spirit out of him. Except in doing so, he finds there's nothing else in Tim's body, just an empty shell.

Even as Danny tears apart Ra's soul in grief and rage, Dick cradles Tim's body and tries to stop the bleeding. Dick is crying, trying to wake Tim even as he apologized to him for hurting him, for not being there for him, for not saving him. Tim's body dies in his arms, no soul to keep holding on.

It takes a long time for Danny to convince his dad to let go of Tim's corpse and to the Batcave to get medical treatment. It took Jason arriving after Danny called him to get Dick to let go, and carry Dick to the medbay.

In the aftermath they were all broken.

Danny is desperate and consumed by the need to do something, anything, to fix things. It was his fault for not sensing the foreign soul possessing his uncle's body. He's the one supposed to know about ghosts and spirits.

He's helping Jason going through Tim's apartment, removing anything incriminating about the nightlife. And he comes across Tim's notes and theories about Bruce lost in time. It's more proof than he'd ever seen before from his uncle's theories. Tim had given up trying to show the family his scant evidence so had never shown Danny.

And Danny recognized the description of the bat embroidered cloak in the poems. He'd seen it. It was in a backroom in the manor, mostly used for storage. He'd found it while exploring the nooks and crannies of the estate.

And he made a crazy decision. He was going to fix this. No matter what it cost him.

He went through Tim's notes and evidence. He gathered up what he needed and hugged his near-catatonic dad, and left a note for uncle Jason. He tore a portal into the Ghost Zone and began his search through the past to find his lost grandfather. It took him years spent outside of time, searching through the timeline.

And when he found Bruce, he told him a little white lie. He told him he would take him back to Danny's time. There was no need to traumatize his grandpa with what had happened. That timeline wouldn't exist much longer.

Instead, he brought Bruce back as close as he could aim to the time uncle Tim had returned to Gotham after his notes indicated he'd found sketchy proof in a desert cave.

So what if it was before Dad had ever found him. His family would be alive and together. Tim had been right all along, and he wouldn't have to suffer his mental health breakdown and his family thinking he'd gone crazy. Damian would get to know his bio dad, instead of clinging to shadows and echoes. Dick would have his whole family together and would get to be Nightwing again even earlier this time. Uncle Jason wouldn't have to see Uncle Tim falling apart and wouldn't blame himself for Tim pulling away from the family. He'd have a chance to get closure with his father, Bruce, and heal from his death trauma. Aunt Cass would come home instead of staying abroad all the time. Great grandfather Alfie would be alive to see his son home again. His family being okay was more important than Danny being part of them too.

And it wouldn't really matter if, after dropping Bruce off at the right time, Danny went back to Clockwork's lair and returned the time amulet that kept him existing outside of a timeline that no longer existed. Well, he wanted his grief to end too.

But Danny hadn't exactly anticipated that his grandpa was as bad as Tim when it comes to letting family go. When Bruce realized his grandson had left him in a time before he joined the family, and that future wouldn't happen, he decided to find his grandson early. It might take years, and he might offer Dick an out if Dick felt too young to adopt yet, but Bruce doesn't let go and give up on family.

Bruce was sitting in front of a fire. He had just gotten done cooking his dinner, and had began eating. A teen he didn’t recognize sat next to him. Bruce barely paid the teen any attention; in this time period, kids were more fiercely independent than the teens of his age were.

“So,” The teen drawled, getting his attention.

Bruce internally growled. He didn’t want to make small talk. Just as he was about to tell the teen off, the teen continued speaking.

“What’s Bruce Wayne doing in 1732?”

He choked on his food. He hadn’t heard that name in years. He had gotten stuck in the past during a League mission, and apparently, nobody could save him… or maybe they didn’t know when to look. He had covered his tracks well, since he didn’t want to disturb the timeline too much.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He deflected.

“Oh? So we’re playing it like that?” The teen hummed, swinging his legs. “You won’t be born for over two hundred years, in a city that doesn’t exist yet, to fight crime as the vigilante known as Batman.”

The teenager was a time traveller. Hope sparked him his chest. Maybe… maybe he could go home. “You’re a time traveller.” He chose to ignore the part where the teen knew he was Batman.

“Yeah,” The teen said. “I’m Danny. I’m from your future, about, uh, five years after you vanished? Dick adopted me. Found me dead in an alley and brought me back to life. Brought me into the fold, and stuff. I have powers, and one of them is to travel in time. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find where you went.”

The teen looked like adoption bait. He could understand why Dick would’ve adopted him. But then again, he was still stuck on the part where Dick had adopted a kid at the same age he had adopted Dick.

“Are you here to take me home?” He asked.

“If you want to.” Danny hummed, “But uh, can’t be to the time you left. Timeline disruptions and all that, yknow? I can take you to my time. It’s like… ten years after you vanished.”

“Please.” Bruce begged. And how far had he fallen to beg a teen?

Danny grinned. “Dad’s going to be so jazzed!”

[space-dreams-world]

While, it sucked for Tim, Dick had it worse as he had to deal, with Gotham in general, Red hood, multiple people abandoning him, raising Blood-son Damian Al-Ghul Wayne, dealing with Wayne Entriprises that would be Tim expertise and Tim has a habit of going off the deep end when his love ones die and Dick doesn't even get to grieve that Bruce is gone.

We need to talk about Damian being a big brother to Danny, Uncle Jason, and Dad Dick. And as well as Bruce, he has to deal with the fact that the last time he saw his bio son, he was an angry murder assassin that he had a hard time connecting to see that the boy is a well respected, well behaving son.

So, yeah, it sucks for Tim, but his crazy jaunt put Dick in a position that wouldn't be fair to him. And I love that Dick sees everyone equal to him and Tim's self doubt and history of neglect is unable to process that he can grow up and be his own person, without having to stagger in his emotional relations with the bats.

Bruce was sitting in front of a fire. He had just gotten done cooking his dinner, and had began eating. A teen he didn’t recognize sat next to him. Bruce barely paid the teen any attention; in this time period, kids were more fiercely independent than the teens of his age were.

“So,” The teen drawled, getting his attention.

Bruce internally growled. He didn’t want to make small talk. Just as he was about to tell the teen off, the teen continued speaking.

“What’s Bruce Wayne doing in 1732?”

He choked on his food. He hadn’t heard that name in years. He had gotten stuck in the past during a League mission, and apparently, nobody could save him… or maybe they didn’t know when to look. He had covered his tracks well, since he didn’t want to disturb the timeline too much.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He deflected.

“Oh? So we’re playing it like that?” The teen hummed, swinging his legs. “You won’t be born for over two hundred years, in a city that doesn’t exist yet, to fight crime as the vigilante known as Batman.”

The teenager was a time traveller. Hope sparked him his chest. Maybe… maybe he could go home. “You’re a time traveller.” He chose to ignore the part where the teen knew he was Batman.

“Yeah,” The teen said. “I’m Danny. I’m from your future, about, uh, five years after you vanished? Dick adopted me. Found me dead in an alley and brought me back to life. Brought me into the fold, and stuff. I have powers, and one of them is to travel in time. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find where you went.”

The teen looked like adoption bait. He could understand why Dick would’ve adopted him. But then again, he was still stuck on the part where Dick had adopted a kid at the same age he had adopted Dick.

“Are you here to take me home?” He asked.

“If you want to.” Danny hummed, “But uh, can’t be to the time you left. Timeline disruptions and all that, yknow? I can take you to my time. It’s like… ten years after you vanished.”

“Please.” Bruce begged. And how far had he fallen to beg a teen?

Danny grinned. “Dad’s going to be so jazzed!”

[luminanightfall]

#everyone would be uncomfortable there#all the regret over everything and anything regarding Tim's time travel theories#or worse everyone is happy Danny found Bruce but no one acknowledged Tim was always right and everyone treated him like he was crazy#dpxdc#dp x dc#time travel au#Danny changes the timeline because of tragedy#it's like a reverse Dan situation#he couldn't cope with grief and trauma of losing his family so changed time to fix it#menolly writes

Bruce was sitting in front of a fire. He had just gotten done cooking his dinner, and had began eating. A teen he didn’t recognize sat next to him. Bruce barely paid the teen any attention; in this time period, kids were more fiercely independent than the teens of his age were.

“So,” The teen drawled, getting his attention.

Bruce internally growled. He didn’t want to make small talk. Just as he was about to tell the teen off, the teen continued speaking.

“What’s Bruce Wayne doing in 1732?”

He choked on his food. He hadn’t heard that name in years. He had gotten stuck in the past during a League mission, and apparently, nobody could save him… or maybe they didn’t know when to look. He had covered his tracks well, since he didn’t want to disturb the timeline too much.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He deflected.

“Oh? So we’re playing it like that?” The teen hummed, swinging his legs. “You won’t be born for over two hundred years, in a city that doesn’t exist yet, to fight crime as the vigilante known as Batman.”

The teenager was a time traveller. Hope sparked him his chest. Maybe… maybe he could go home. “You’re a time traveller.” He chose to ignore the part where the teen knew he was Batman.

“Yeah,” The teen said. “I’m Danny. I’m from your future, about, uh, five years after you vanished? Dick adopted me. Found me dead in an alley and brought me back to life. Brought me into the fold, and stuff. I have powers, and one of them is to travel in time. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find where you went.”

The teen looked like adoption bait. He could understand why Dick would’ve adopted him. But then again, he was still stuck on the part where Dick had adopted a kid at the same age he had adopted Dick.

“Are you here to take me home?” He asked.

“If you want to.” Danny hummed, “But uh, can’t be to the time you left. Timeline disruptions and all that, yknow? I can take you to my time. It’s like… ten years after you vanished.”

“Please.” Bruce begged. And how far had he fallen to beg a teen?

Danny grinned. “Dad’s going to be so jazzed!”