#tim is lying to bruce

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home: Arc 2 Part 10

Happy Wednesday!

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.4k

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The sun was high in the sky when Tim stirred the next morning. He and Bart were the only ones still in the guest room; Cassie and Conner must’ve gotten up already.

Bart had an arm tossed over his torso and his head was shoved into the pillow inches from Tim’s. No way to extricate himself without waking his friend, so he let his eyes close again. It was a long night and they deserved a lie-in.

But it was not to be. Moments later, the door banged open and Conner was there.

“Rise and shine, sleepyheads!” he called out. “Breakfast is ready!”

Bart grumbled into the pillow and Tim nudged him with his elbow. Without opening his eyes, he mumbled, “Don’t think we’re gonna be given a choice, Bart.”

“But, Rooob,” Bart complained, “you’re comfy.”

Tim yawned. Cassie ran into the room and jumped on the base of the bed.

“Come on, guys! It’s almost noon!”

“That early?” asked Tim. “I changed my mind. Give us another hour.” He covered his eyes with his arm and tried to roll over without displacing Bart’s arm. Bart pulled him closer.

“You’ve gotten like twenty calls from Bruce, Tim. You might want to answer them.”

Shit, Bruce. Tim missed morning check in and Bruce must be panicking. He grumbled and pushed himself up so he was sitting against the headboard. “B’s a worrywart.”

“Dick’s called a few times too,” added Cassie.

“They’re both worrywarts.” Tim yawned and held out his hand, and Conner passed over his phone.

Bart sat up next to him with his own grumbles and rested his head on Tim’s shoulder so he could see the screen as well.

Conner had only been slightly exaggerating. Ten new calls from Bruce, three from Dick, and one from Alfred. His texts, on the other hand…

Tim opened the group chat and sent a message.

Tim: We’re fine. Just had a late night and needed to sleep in.

After a moment’s hesitation, he added,

Tim: Return will be delayed by a few days. Will give ETA when I have more information.

Immediately, he received an incoming call from Bruce. Bart laughed against his cheek.

“No way am I sticking around for a bat interrogation. Kon, you mentioned breakfast? Are the Drs Fenton around?”

“Nope, they’re gone,” said Cassie.

Tim answered the call as Bart pushed off the bed. He and Cassie left discussing breakfast options.

“Hey, B,” said Tim as soon as the call connected.

“Report, Robin. What happened? Why’d you miss check-in?”

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to. Stayed up late catching up with my friend and then overslept this morning. Everything’s fine.” Tim expertly ignored Conner’s raised eyebrow. Why did everyone make such a big deal about lying to Batman?

“Hn.” Shit, that was Bruce’s I’m-not-sure-I-should-believe-you ‘Hn.’

Tim let the silence drag on. If he got too defensive, Bruce would absolutely know he was lying through his teeth.

“You just overslept?”

“Yep. Stayed up late playing a video game. It had to do with ghosts.” And sprinkle in just a bit of truth.

“Set an alarm for tomorrow. Do not miss any further check ins. When will you be returning? I need to arrange attendance with your school.” Bruce was clearly not happy.

“It’ll probably be a few more days. I’ll give you an update on this evening’s check-in. After Danny gets back from school.”

“I want all your homework completed by the time you return to Gotham, Tim.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you need help with transportation?”

“Nah. Conner’s agreed to take me back.” Not that he had asked. He looked up at Conner and raised an eyebrow in question.

Conner rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly and nodded. Tim grinned back and gave him a thumbs up.

“Very well. Is his phone working yet?”

“Uh, let me ask.” Tim looked up to Conner. “Is your phone working yet?”

Conner shook his head. “Nah, they weren’t able to get to it. But Cassie’s and Bart’s are.”

Tim relayed the information to Bruce who merely hummed. “Very well. Your next check in will occur before nine PM, Tim.”

“You’ve got it, B. Talk to you then!” Before Bruce could ask any more questions or begin to doubt his lies, Tim ended the call.

“Dude, I can’t believe how easily you lie to him.”

Tim shrugged. “I don’t get why people think it’s such a big deal. You just have to know what he’d expect and play into that. So long as he doesn’t learn Danny is also a superhero, this’ll be easy. And my chats with Danny are so encrypted not even Bruce will be able to hack them.”

Conner just shook his head. “Whatever you say. Now, come on downstairs. Cassie and I’ve been listening to the news and we’ll give you the rundown on what’s going on.”

“Where are our hosts anyway?” asked Tim as he followed Conner through the house.

“They went to Danny’s school to give an assembly on ghost safety and help implement some new security protocols for the students.”

“Danny’s not gonna like that.”

On the way down the stairs, Tim heard the voice of a newscaster.

“…why Phantom has hidden his connection to the Justice League. Perhaps we were too quick to judge him a menace. Though the Fentons still insist that all ghosts are merely posthumous consciousness implanted on ectoplasm and evil. I suppose we will just have to see. Either way, the combined work of Phantom and the Teen Titans has appeared to scare away the invasion last night. Due to their hard work, no casualties occurred, however the city did suffer hundreds of thousands in property damage.”

Cassie passed him a bowl of cereal and selection of protein bars. “We heeded your warning about cooking, so you’re stuck with a cold breakfast of stuff Kon and I picked up at the store.”

“Thanks.” Tim took it and started eating. “So what do we know?”

“The ghosts seem to have disappeared,” said Cassie. “But I don’t know if I trust it. They could be hanging around invisible or possessing people. The Fentons left for Danny’s school about half an hour ago and according to the news, the mayor will be there as well.”

“We’re hoping that’ll be broadcasted as well,” added Conner. “Considering how many times the mayor said he’d be at the school this morning when he was giving his press conference, I feel like he’ll want it publicized as much as possible.”

Tim nodded. “At least by publicly associating with him, our presence seems to have helped Danny’s reputation as a hero in the town. He’s been struggling with that.”

Bart snorted. “Wonder why. His parents love his alter ego so much.”

On the TV, the newscaster said, “Now, let’s switch to our correspondent live in Casper High!”

“Looks like it’s starting! Think we’ll see Danny in the crowd?” asked Bart.

Tim shrugged and moved until he was sitting right in front of the TV, eating mechanically as the mayor proved he was only there for the photo-op.

At least until the assembly was interrupted when a giant humanoid-wolf creature attacked. “Shit,” said Tim as he tried to call Danny.

Who of course didn’t pick up.

“I’ll go see if there’s anything we can do to help!” said Bart who was gone before Tim could agree or disagree.

Five minutes later, his phone rang. He set it to speaker before answering. “What’s going on?”

“The wolf escaped, but Danny wants us to stay put. His parents will be returning soon and he doesn’t want us to raise any suspicions. Since this time it’s only one ghost, he should be able to handle it.”

Tim ground his teeth. ���Fine. But tell him to keep us in the loop.”

“Will do!”

The call disconnected. And a minute later, he had a new group message.

Danny: Hey, Tim. I’ve added Sam and Tuck to a group chat to keep you up to date at Bart’s request.

Tim let out a breath and added Cassie, Bart, and Conner.

Tim: I’ve added my friends to make it even easier Tucker: Tell Conner I’ll work on his phone as soon as school’s over Tim: He says thanks

And then Bart was back.

Tim sighed. “So I guess we’re sitting tight until the Drs Fenton return. I feel blind right now.”

Cassie sat next to him and bumped their shoulders. “We’ll figure this one out just like we have all the ones before.”

Conner sandwiched him on the other side. “Yep. And the Fentons don’t seem like the type to hide information. They’ll tell us everything we want to know.”

“You’re both right. We’ll fix this and be home before we know it.”

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Next

A little bit of a quieter segment after two weeks ago, but all the action is happening with Danny and co. It'll pick up shortly, though!

I'm afraid I'm no longer doing tag lists, but please check out the subscription post if you want notifications when I update!

[oncillabrigade]

Finally read Robins!

I have a lot of thoughts, but I just want to say this panel is the funniest thing I've ever seen:

[rock-in-robins]

"Tim feels abandoned" "he's being ignored" "tim is jealous of the attention they give damian" "tim is-" tim drake would break out into actual literal hives at the thought of anything resembling an adult monitoring him, he'd starting hissing like a feral cat if Bruce tried to get involved with his business, he'd saw his own arm off if his family tried to demand he checks in more than once a month with heavily coded messages

[chiyana]

this is the stupidest crossover possible but I want Tim to make House his doctor

yes that House

why? He needs someone who is very good, will not give up or send Tim out to a different specialist just because his medical condition is difficult, will not be overly concerned about the danger Tim puts himself in, and will lie on Tim's medical records AND to Batman/Bruce Wayne/all of the Bats without hesitation or fear.

House is and will do all of those things without hesitation. He has no shame, no boundaries, he WILL get into a public fight with Bruce Wayne if it means keeping that man out of his patient's (and House's) business. He will help Tim lie to and gaslight the rest of his family without hesitation.

in exchange, Tim is his favorite patient. Not because they get along, necessarily, Tim is a know-it-all little shit and they constantly bicker and House hates how practically every facet of Tim's existence is a lie (and Tim thinks House is a smug know-it-all jackass who is needlessly cruel and callous bc he thinks the world owes him and never delivers just bc he's in pain, news flash a lot of people are in pain and manage not to be assholes) BUT, 1, Tim brings him really interesting cases and problems, and 2, Tim NEVER lies to House about his medical conditions or what he was doing when they happened.

He lies about literally almost everything else under the sun TO everyone else, but he is 100% completely upfront and honest about his medical history and what is going on with him with House.

admittedly it takes a while for House to realize Tim ISN'T lying to him because some of the shit he says is completely insane ("the vigilante thing is pretty obvious but what do you MEAN you got the Apocalypse virus TWICE, AND SURVIVED, AS A FOURTEEN-FIFTEEN YEAR OLD")

but once he realizes Tim doesn't ever lie to him, he becomes House's favorite patient because at least TIM gives him all of the data he needs as best he's able the moment he asks. At least House doesn't have to waste his time following up on bogus information or figuring out the truth, he can just get right into the meat of the medical issue at hand.

also it's so fun to lie directly to Batman's face, know the man knows, and know he can't do anything about it

[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.

[voiider]

I've read a few fics where Something Happens (Tim accidentally kills someone) and Tim calls one of his older brothers and they come and help him cover up/hide a body but like,, if Damian killed someone (accidentally or otherwise) Tim would not even hesitate that body is already melting in acid. He has crime scene cleaners on retainer and enough blackmail that they'll never say anything.

Tim has like 7 contingency plans for this Exact problem and he is going to do his big brotherly duty of helping his younger sibling cover up a mistake/laps of judgement.

And Damian is waiting for the other shoe to drop bc this is the perfect time for Timothy to oust him. He broke father's rule and now he'll be sent back

But Tim continues to say nothing and eventually even corners Damian and is like "bestie you gotta c h i l l they know somethings up I can't keep using puberty as an excuse for you" and Damian is like "why wouldn't you use this opportunity to prove you're the better son. To finally get me out of the house and claim your place is the heir" and Tim is like "uh im your older brother this is my job" and Damian is like "it is an older brother's job to help hide their younger sibling's murders??" And Tim is like "yeah absolutely except don't go to Dick or Jason only go to me or maybe Cass if I'm not around I think Dick would have a conniption and we don't want Jason to relapse"

[leafsheep]

Batcave shenanigan:

Duke: *jokingly pretending to be Jason by putting on his helmet and talking in a deep “ooo I’m so scary” voice* pew pew, pew pew pew!

Tim and Bruce: *standing in horror bc they know there’s a bomb in that helmet and you have to take it off a specific way to so you don’t accidentally set it off*

Duke: *taking off the helmet with no issue* when did you guys become no fun?

Jason: *walking in just in time to see him remove it* what the fuck, who fucked with my bomb?

Duke: oh no it’s still working, I can show you-

Bruce: NO-

[silverwhittlingknife]

can we have a hint about what the spring break tim patrol chapter of red letter day contains? (you kept having dick say "if the joker shows up" and tim's "he won't." for me to be convinced that goes off without any trouble)

i'm sure it'll be fine. :D

i am delighted you're enjoying the story <333 i haven't updated it in soooo long but i got some very sweet comments lately so i have been looking at my scribbles again <3

[jojosquires]

Two in one week in honor of Tim's b-day (*kazoo noises*)!

In today's very special episode, two birds and two speeds. A lot of references to pop culture and previous chapters. Jealousy. Confusion. Bart's foolproof guide to finding a Bat. These idiots finally making headway on the mystery. And *checks notes* trouble in the Batcave? And more jealousy as a treat!

Enjoy or don't. Just make some good decisions today. Take a walk or eat a vegetable or something! K, bye!

[trashmakerarticle]

I keep thinking of tim having rusty bones when he has spent too much time at the bat commuter or smth, he cracks them like he’s a glow stick and everyone is just wondering if he’s bones are okay,

Tim, standing up from the bat computer having his bones crack as he stands: *old man sounds*

Tim, twisting his body in weird ways to crack his bones: *old man noises enhances*

Everyone in the batcave: tim what the fu-

[littlefankingdom]

Hot take, but I'm happy Bruce gave Batman to Jean-Paul during Knightfall instead of Dick.

Why? Well, Bruce is physically and mentally in an awful state. If Dick had seen him like this, no way he would have listen to the "don't approach Bane" order (he never does), and he could have got badly hurt!

And, yeah, Jean-Paul didn't listen either but, as much as I like him, I care less about his ass getting beaten by Bane than Dick, and he also wore a fucking huge armor.

Anyway, Bruce was not made aware by Tim how badly Jean-Paul was doing as Batman or he would have give it to Dick AND ALSO, he immediately said to Tim he didn't want to call Dick because he knows Dick would hate to be Batman. Like, he preferred to give Gotham to someone he barely trust than to make his boy do something he would hate, he is trying!

[charlieeenby]

you put me in the ground, i ain't done

chapter 3: two's and three's

jason comes home

warnings and tags: talon Dick Grayson, miscommunication, lying, good sibling Dick, angry Jason, hurt Jason

title from i ain't done by the crane wives

Talon was curled around Tim when they head a sound. Sitting up, they listened closely.

“Talon?” Tim questioned softly.

“Noise.”

“Do you know what it was?”

Talon shook their head no, still listening.

As they went to put their head back down, they heard it again, and this time, Tim reacted as well. Talon pulled out their knife and tugged Tim closer.

There was a series of thuds, then the doors to the den flew open, revealing Bruce and a man in a red helmet that Talon quickly identified as the Red Hood.

Hissing, Talon tucked Tim behind them, glaring at Red Hood. Their hiss made Hood stop and look over at them.

“What the fuck?” he yelled out, staring at Talon. “You fucking replaced me!”

Talon was confused. They had never met Red Hood. How could they have replaced him? “Don’t know you.” they said.

Hood froze.

“What?”

“Don’t know you, can’t replace you.” Talon said, still very confused.

That made Hood turn back to Bruce. “You didn’t tell them?” he yelled.

Bruce winced. “It wasn’t necessary for them to know.” he said and Talon frowned.

“Know what?”

Hood reached up and pulled his helmet off and then peeled of his mask. Talon stared at his face. They knew that face.

That was Jason’s face.

“Jason?” they asked softly.

“Yeah, that’s me-oof!” Jason yelped when Talon grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Mine. My Jason.” black tears ran down Talon’s face, one of their hands coming up and petting Jason’s hair. He was back. Their Jason was back. He was home.

“I’m here, T, I’m here.” Jason whispered against Talon’s neck.

Talon dragged Jason over to the couch they’d been sitting on with Tim. They shoved Jason down and sat between Jason and Tim, pulling them both close, humming and purring.

“Talon, what’s happening?” Tim whispered.

“My Jason is home. My Jason and my Tim. Mine, mine, mine.”

“Just go with it, kid.” Jason said. “They get like this when they’re worried and happy.”

“I know, but I don’t – I don’t know what’s going on.” Tim said.

“How did you end up here?”

“Talon found me and then after they ran into me a few times, they brought me here and said I was staying.”

Jason snorted. “Sounds about right. Kinda did the same thing to me.”

“First baby bird.” Talon said, and Jason smiled. “Not replaced. Second baby bird. Both my baby birds.” Talon needed Jason to understand that. “Both mine.”

Jason shifted so he could press his forehead and nose to Talon’s. Then he nuzzled their noses together. “I know, T. Shoulda known you’d never replace me.”

“My Jason.” Talon murmured. Then they turned and pressed a kiss to Tim’s forehead. Tim preferred forehead kisses to the nuzzling Jason preferred. “My Tim.”

“T, I don’t mean to alarm you, but I thought Jason...died.” Tim said hesitantly.

Jason snorted. “I did. But I came bak, got dumped in a Lazarus Pit. The League of Shadows trained me and sent me back here so I could take over Gotham.”

Talon huffed. They didn’t like that and what they knew of the League of Shadows wasn’t good. “Stay here now. Not allowed to leave. Stay.” they pulled their baby birds closer, anxiety creeping up their throat. “Stay.”

Tim shifted, tucking into Talon’s side. Jason pressed his face against the junction of Talon’s shoulder and neck, like he had a child. Talon hugged them tightly.

Bruce shifted in the doorway. “Talon-”

“No. Baby birds stay.” Talon growled, cutting him off. “Mine.”

For a moment, Bruce considered arguing, but decided that he wanted all three of them to be here and he’d missed Jason. So he sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

Jason was acting weird. And Talon hated it. Their little wing was too jumpy and skittish, startled by every little noise. They tried to make him feel safer, but it never seemed to work the way they wanted. It would either make it worse, or it only worked for a short period of time.

Talon slipped into the kitchen, grabbed Jason’s favorite snack, and then left the manor, using the sewers to get to Jason’s apartment.

They wished Jason would stay at the manor, but he seemed very angry at Bruce, so Talon respected Jason’s decision.

It took a while for them to arrive, but when they did, they easily scaled the fire escape, and tapped gently on the window, and waited.

Jason appeared a moment later, frowning. His frown softened but didn’t disappear. He slid the window open. “T, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“Snacks.” Talon said, holding up the box they had with them.

That made Jason’s frown return. “You came all the way here for...snacks?”

“No. Time.” Talon frowned. “Time together.” they said, after finding the right words.

Jason blinked. “You came here to spend time with me?”

“Yes. And snacks.” Talon said, waiting for Jason to smile. He always did before he died when Talon brought him food, especially his favorite snack.

He didn’t smile.

Talon tilted their head. “Talon leave?” they asked, not sure what to do now.

Jason sighed. “T, it’s just, it’s not a great time, okay?”

“Okay. Later?”

“Later what?”

Talon frowned. “Time together later.”

“Sure.” Jason said, but Talon didn’t like his tone. But they didn’t want to upset Jason more than they seemed to have already. So they nodded.

“Okay. Talon loves Jason.”

“Love you too, T.”

Talon set the box on the floor under the window, then pulled back and waved. Jason waved, then slid the window shut.

As Talon started to move away, they heard the window’s lock snap into place.

Their heart snapped as well.

[theglidingbat]

I find the idea of bruce sleeping with Tim's dad hilraious

Also because this random thing popped in my head:

[after bruce does something dumb]

Tim: smh hetrosexual people

Bruce: where?

Tim: *looking at bruce as if he's dumb* you bruce

Bruce: Tim,did you not know I was bisexual?? I mean did jack never tell you? I'm publically out as well

Tim: why would my parents know that??

Bruce: so they didn't tell you anything...at all...

Tim: well, my mom did tell me to stay away from you cause you were "a sinner" and "a weirdo" and- ohhhh, but wait why would my dad tell me something like that-

Bruce: don't think about it tim

Tim: Bruce...what do you mean "jack never told you"

Bruce:

Tim: BRUCE!?

Bruce: I was in highschool-

Tim: BRUCE WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

Bruce: language young man,also I think I hear the bat-signal

Tim: oh no old man, explain now

Bruce: I uhm...may or may not have had sexual intercourse with your biological father...

Tim:

Bruce:

Tim: what...?

Jason *from a distance*: HE SAID HE FUCKED YOUR DAD REPLACEMENT

Bruce: if it helps it really wasn't that enjoyable-

Tim: okay- I'm gonna leave-

[ghestlin]

You guys ever think about Timothy Jackson ‘First month as Robin and nearly killed Two-Face’ Drake I sure do

[blankerthought]

I can't put it in now but i need to write a fic where bruce just straight-up has been lying about his age for years and gotham's record-keeping is so fucked he's been getting away with it. other heros are like 'damn batman's so limber for a guy who's just hit his fourties' and bruce is quietly trying to remember if he said he was 41 or 40 because he's still 37

[goatsghost]

robin war #2

i love (and by love i mean mmmm) how dick, like six issues ago, revealed he was actually alive this whole time and did get punched about it, but managed to get his family on board enough to join him with his robin war antics. only to betray them a second time and get them all arrested???? dick???? maybe learn from your mistakes and actually talk things out with your siblings every once in a while????

but clearly the “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission” works wonders for him thus far, so might as well see what breaks the camel’s back later on !